What Mei Li Wah Bakery is known for
Mr. and Mrs. Chan, immigrants from Taishan, opened Mei Li Wah on Mott Street in 1968 after Mr. Chan trained at Gum Moon bakery; a 2008 health-code closure was followed by reopening. Its char siu roast pork buns and pineapple bun — a sweet crumb topping, no real pineapple — have drawn Chinatown lines for decades.
Mei Li Wah (also spelled Mei Lai Wah) was opened in 1968 by Mr. and Mrs. Chan, immigrants from Taishan, China. Mr. Chan had arrived in the US in 1943 and struggled to find work as a Chinese immigrant before landing a job at Gum Moon bakery, where he learned the baking trade; once he'd saved enough, he opened the Mott Street shop with a fellow Taishanese friend, using what he'd picked up on the job.
For decades the shop operated as an old-school coffee-shop hangout, where locals gathered over cheap dim sum, fresh buns, and strong coffee to trade gossip and argue politics. It closed briefly in 2008 after a health-department issue — prompting public outcry from a neighborhood that didn't want to lose it — before reopening.
Its char siu roast pork buns, available baked or steamed, remain the signature order, and the roast pork pineapple bun (char siu bo lo bao) — named for its sweet, crumbly topping rather than any actual pineapple — has drawn new lines of customers since the shop went viral on social media in recent years.
How ORBIS reads this city
Best for — Char siu roast pork buns and the pineapple-topped bo lo bao.
USA
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