Beijing restaurant lists go stale fast. Places close, move, or quietly become tourist traps while their reviews stay online. The list below is deliberately short and skewed toward institutions that have been trading for decades — several since the Qing dynasty — because those are the ones still standing when you arrive, and the ones whose addresses can actually be confirmed.
Show the Chinese column at the taxi window. The English names are for you, not for the driver.
The list#
| Restaurant | Chinese | Address | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quanjude (Qianmen) — Peking duck | 全聚德（前门店） | 北京市东城区前门大街30号 | Line 2, Qianmen (exit B) |
| Bianyifang (Hademen) — Peking duck | 便宜坊（哈德门店） | 北京市东城区崇文门外大街18号国瑞城4楼 | Lines 2 and 5, Chongwenmen |
| Duyichu — shaomai | 都一处 | 北京市东城区前门大街36号 | Line 2, Qianmen |
| Donglaishun (Wangfujing) — lamb hotpot | 东来顺（王府井店） | 北京市东城区王府井大街198号 | Lines 1 and 8, Wangfujing (exit E3) |
| Jubaoyuan (Niujie) — lamb hotpot | 聚宝源（牛街店） | 北京市西城区牛街5-2号 | Line 7, Guanganmennei |
| Kaorouji — grilled lamb | 烤肉季 | 北京市西城区前海东沿14号 | Line 8, Shichahai |
| Yaoji Chaogan (Gulou) — chaogan | 姚记炒肝店（鼓楼店） | 北京市东城区鼓楼东大街311号 | Line 8, Shichahai |
| Huguosi Xiaochi — Beijing snacks | 护国寺小吃（总店） | 北京市西城区护国寺大街93号 | Lines 4 and 6, Ping'anli |
| Shaguoju — casserole pork | 砂锅居（西四店） | 北京市西城区西四南大街60号 | Line 4, Lingjing Hutong |
| Fengzeyuan — Shandong | 丰泽园 | 北京市西城区珠市口西大街83号 | Line 7, Zhushikou |
The duck question#
Quanjude is the famous one, founded 1864, and roasts its ducks hung over open fruitwood fire. It is also the one most thoroughly discovered by tour groups, and opinions on whether it still deserves the reputation are genuinely divided.
Bianyifang is older — its lineage runs to the fifteenth century — and roasts differently, in a closed oven heated by burning straw rather than over a naked flame. The skin comes out less lacquered, the meat more tender. If you only eat duck once, this is the more interesting version, and the quieter room.
Both need booking. Duck takes time to roast and the good houses do not improvise.
Eating the rest of Beijing#
Lamb. Copper-pot lamb hotpot is the winter dish. Donglaishun is the grand old name; Jubaoyuan on Niujie, in the Hui Muslim quarter, is where the queues form and the mutton is hand-sliced. Kaorouji, by the Shichahai lakes since 1848, does the other lamb tradition — grilled over a metal griddle.
Breakfast and snacks. Huguosi Xiaochi is the institution for Beijing small eats, served canteen-style. Yaoji, under the Drum Tower, is the chaogan place — a thick garlicky stew of pork liver and intestine that is a genuine local taste rather than a tourist one. Go in willing.
The old cuisines. Shaguoju has been serving casseroled pork since 1741. Fengzeyuan is the city's grand Shandong house, and the dish to order is its braised sea cucumber with spring onion.
How to order without Mandarin#
Most of these have picture menus, and pointing is entirely normal. For the ones that do not, the camera translation in Google Translate or Pleco handles a Chinese menu well — download the offline pack before you fly.
Ordering works by the table, not the person: dishes arrive in the middle and everyone shares. Two or three dishes plus rice suits two people.
For regional context and what to eat elsewhere in China, see the regional cuisine guide. For the sights, see things to do in Beijing.