Despite persistent rumors for months, it seems the report of its death was an exaggeration. Mr Chow, the storied Chinese restaurant that has been on the corner of Hudson and N. Moore for two decades and in existence for nearly seven, is still open and it appears it will stay that way. Here’s my evidence:

• They just applied to CB1 for a renewal for their liquor license.
• A neighbor told me that someone who lives in the building told him that Mr Chow is staying!

So not exactly rock solid, but as good as we can do for now.

The restaurant chain *did* close its location at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in May 2025, which may have started some of the rumors? I also heard that their lease was not renewed.

And since I had never given the place much thought since we went there for the first and only time in what must have been 2006? 2007? here’s the Wikipedia entry:

Michael Chow, son of Chinese Peking Opera grand master Zhou Xinfang, studied art in London before embarking upon a business career in parallel to his acting career. On February 14, 1968, Chow (he’s 86 years old now) opened the first Mr Chow at an old Knightsbridge curry house in London. The waiters were Italian and there weren’t any chopsticks. “It was like telling people the world was square,” Chow said in a 2011 interview in The Telegraph. Soon, The Beatles frequented the restaurant.

In 1974, he opened a second location in Beverly Hills. Then in 1979, he opened the third on 57th Street, which became a hot spot for creative luminaries in the 1980s. “Suddenly it was like a repeat of the Sixties London happening in New York — the city was at the epicentre of art world, and the fashion world… Andy [Warhol] started coming in with Julian [Schnabel], Jean-Michel [Basquiat], his girlfriend Madonna and Keith [Haring],” Chow recalled in the Telegraph interview.

Tribeca opened in 2006, Miami Beach in 2009 and Malibu in 2012.

And here we are.

The dining room here is designed in black and white lacquer with original art by Julian Schnabel, Andy Warhol and Helmut Newton. The bar opens at 5p, an hour earlier than the kitchen. And it turns out you can order in from Postmates or DoorDash!

Mr Chow
121 Hudson at N. Moore
(212) 965-9500
Monday to Saturday: 6 to 11:30p
Sunday: 5:30 to 11:30p