Nom Wah Tea Parlor - Nolita

Nom Wah and Dim Sum

Nom Wah’s first location was not always about dim sum. The original restaurant opened as a tea parlor and bakery in 1920 at 13-15 Doyers St. Located in what was nicknamed the “Bloody Angle”. The nickname stems from street’s sharp corner and warring gangs who took advantage of this.

Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Nom Wah Tea Parlor was first and foremost a bakery. Serving dim sum was a secondary priority. The most beloved specialty were the mooncakes, which caused lines to lead out the door.

Several years after Wilson Tang took over the restaurant from his uncle, Wally, he looked to expand the Nom Wah brand. In March 2015, Nom Wah opened its Philadelphia location at the edge of the city’s Chinatown. The menu has some differences: riffs on Chinese-American classics and rotating Cantonese favorites.

Following this initial expansion, Nom Wah opened its first fast-casual dining spot in 2016: Nom Wah Nolita. The second-generation approach at the Nolita shop has also paved the way for the brand’s next chapter in frozen dumplings, now available nationwide via Goldbelly.