Xi'an style hand-pulled noodles aren't all that common in the United States, so it's nice to have Gene's in the Boston area. Even though it's likely the only one of this type in these parts, Gene's still produces a thoughtful product. The hand-pulled noodles are fantastic, with a lot of aspects I love about noodles. They're warm, texture-perfect, and extremely flavorful. The chili, cilantro, and garlic increases the complexity of flavor though it doesn't make for date food. The sauce on the bottom is a combination of savory and vinegary. However, if there's something I can pick on this noodle bowl is that there might be a bit too much sauce. Also, if you do take-out, plan on eating this within twenty minutes or else you'll have a clump of noodles. Lesson learned. The lamb skewers have a lot of cumin flavor to it and is definitely worth getting. The hint of chili is nice and the lamb isn't too gamey. Service is pleasant, and the place is okay in terms of cleanliness. Gene's provides some restaurant diversity in the area. read more

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Beat hand pulled pork noodle soup in New England! It's super tasty and plentiful. My new favorite!

Delicious and a great deal. We came here right when they opened at 11, were the only people eating in the dining room (felt very safe!), and got our noodles hot and fresh. I appreciate that they have some great veggie options along with their famous lamb choices. Be sure to ask for what you want, since there are varieties (soup noodles vs the standard hand pulled option, etc.). And don't leave without a tea egg! read more

Bam! This place delivers taste, flavors and spice in a bowl of deliciousness. Go go go.

Noodle heaven! Ignore their name, noodles are their game! Their noodles are what our dreams are made of. Thery're fresh, spicy, sour, super tasty, and totally affordable! Go here for amazing cheap eats! read more

Very interesting menu - I had wanted to try Gene's for awhile and finally got the chance on a quiet weeknight. My spice level red flag was at high alert when ordering as the menu asks not spicy, half spicy, normal spicy and more spicy. I was right and it turned out I was smart to select half spicy for my lamb noodle soup. It was pretty spicy at the end. You definitely do not need to order extra noodles like I did (so many noodles) as it's pretty hardy with the regular amount of noodles and veggies like potatoes and carrots. Lovely broth. As I said, got a bit spicy toward the end but I would order again. My dining partner went with normal spice for his intestines soup and he was really feeling it. He's much better with spice than I am but he said he'd do half spice in the future. That soup was interesting - I did not taste it but it got rave reviews. I also tried a lamb skewer; no opportunity to select spice level and it was extremely spicy. Finally, we tried the pork flatbread and that was really nice. Oddly, kind of bland compared to the other dishes but it worked really well on the bun and had a nice taste. You get contacted with an automated message when your order is ready. Parking was tricky, as was exiting that part of Woburn which was the only drawback. Prices were very good and the meal was done in no time. We'll for sure return! read more

I love Gene's - both the Woburn and Chinatown locations. The Woburn location is a little less hectic than the Chinatown location, which can get a more crowded. This location does not exactly have the most romantic ambiance so maybe best for takeaway. In the many times I've been to Gene's, some items on the menu are way better than others (to me): Top picks: #4 Hand-Pulled Noodles - INSANELY DELICIOUS #10 Hot Sour Dumpling Soup - absolutely fantastic tangy broth. The dumplings were fine, but didn't blow me away --- next time I'm going to try #16 Hot Sour Hand-pulled Noodles Soup instead, Meh: #1 and #3 flatbread sandwiches - always a bit dry and underwhelming #5 House noodle soup - Found this to be an underwhelming soup read more

The place is pretty modern for a Chinese joint. They have computers to take orders and large TVs that display their limited menu. It is an Asian restaurant but it's obviously clean. The staff are friendly and the service is quick. We went on a Saturday and the place is packed. I wouldn't recommend it for a party larger than 6 as you'll never get enough tables next to each other. Now, those hand pulled noodles....they aren't what I expected. The noodles are thick and wide, almost like chow foon. They are chewy! To me that's not a good thing. I guess you gotta be a true Asian to appreciate hand pulled noodles. We got their signature pulled noodles, several lamb skewers (not as cheap or good as the ones in Flushing, NY), some cold noodle dish, and pork buns. The bread for the buns are kinda like eating a bagel. The pork was far from special. Yeah, we aren't going back to this place. Feeling disassociated with our lunch, we felt compelled to stop by Hot Breads next door for some amazing chicken Tikka buns. read more

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You know how there's fancy pants Parmigiano-Reggiano and then there's the sawdust (literally!) in the green shaker you grew up with? (Or at least, I did.) Now, bear with me because I'm about to draw an analogy. As in the former is analogous to NYC mini-chain, Xi'an Famous Foods and alas, the latter is analogous to this place. Okay, so I was totally prepared to love this spot. But as it turns out, I don't get the raves. At all: Weekend Only Xi'an Cold Noodles: I'm a longtime fan of the L'iang Pi Cold-Skin Noodles from Xi'an Famous Foods, featuring cucumbers, cilantro and lots of spongy cubes of gluten, plus a very chili oil forward, flavorful sauce. This looked like it would be similar so I was excited to try it. Sadly, it barely contained any gluten; almost none, really. And the sauce was so, so lacking in flavor. Lamb Kabobs: I liked the cuminy seasoning on these, and the lamb was nice and tender, but it left a funky after-taste I didn't care for. Note that the skewered lamb consisted of really tiny cubes of meat, though at 1.50 per Kabob, it's hard to complain. Flatbread Sandwich with Lamb: Now you would think this place would deliver on its eponymous Flatbread, but it was weirdly dry, tough, and bland. And the filling was mostly sauteed onion with the occasional bit of meat. Xi'an Famous Foods does this sooo much better. In every way. Hot & Sour Dumpling Soup: This was my favorite of the bunch. Not terrible, though the dumpling skins were too thick and the broth could have used more sumpin' sumpin'. This was our most disappointing meal by far during a recent two day eating frenzy in the Boston area. Am going to go ahead and assume this location and its outposts are the only Xi'an eateries for miles, so maybe people have nothing to compare them to. And yet.... Let's just say this was my first exposure to Xi'an cuisine. Based on this experience, I doubt I'd be rushing back to try it again. All the 4 and 5 star reviews are a real head scratcher for me. read more

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I've been here once and probably won't return...only because I'm not in the area often. I was slightly confused about the menu and the background of the food. There was an excessive amount of sprouts in my bowl and very little meat to noodle ratio. The flavors were good though. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - After I took off most of the sprouts, this was all that was left of noodles and meat. - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

Beware of this place if you normally use credit card and don't use cash to purchase food. This restaurant is Cash only. They will recommend to next door and use the ATM which charges you $2.00 fee. Total scam of business. Overall, we were not happy with the food. My noodles had too much SMG in the broth. Their spicy dumplings are not hand made, and not as fresh as well. read more

3/5 My favorite type of Chinese food is the food from the Central Chinese regions. So when I heard that there was a restaurant in this area owned by people from Xi'an, I was so excited! I might be a bit biased because I've had pretty good and authentic Xi'an food, but this was not it . The quality of the hand pulled noodles and the flavor of the dishes just tasted like a lesser version of the real thing. The lamb sandwich was the most disappointing thing I've tried from Gene's. I don't know what kind of bread they are using for the sandwich but it is not "shao bing". I would give this a 2/5, but I'm tacking on another star because I think my standards are really high when it comes to this type of food. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - #4: Hand pulled noodles - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

Their hot and sour soup with hand pulled noodles and lamb is one of the best I've ever had. A cold weather must-have. So comforting.

Worst service ever, wait... no service at all... we spent $60+ with $8 tips, with no service, and they didn't even want to provide cheap plastic bags for left overs...the food is so-so with cheap utensils, not worth it. read more

Reasonable prices and tasty food. They were quick to make it and on request did a few additions for us, highly recommend them for their cumin tasting food, as good as if not better than Xian Foods of NYC. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - Great place, highly recommend # - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

A little hole in the wall spot in Woburn -- very unexpected. I liked the simple and straightforward menu. Always prefer the small restaurants that are really good at one thing vs. overwhelming menus like Cheesecake Factory that makes everything under the sun. Hand pulled noodles are delicious. Spicy, authentic, affordable (I think a bowl of noodles is like $7). My friend got the lamb soup, which I will definitely have to try next time. The pork sandwich was very average, there was a little too much bun and slightly dry. I need to come back and try the noodle soup and the skewers. You wouldn't expect a place like this in Woburn... but it definitely is a spot worth checking out. read more

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This one is as good in the one in Boston, and since it's so close to where I live, I'm gonna be coming here constantly. If you've never had Xi-An style noodle before, you really have to do yourself the favor of getting a #4. A few things to keep in mind: The vibe inside is a bit :/ Hand pulled noodles do not travel well, I highly recommend eating in. It's cash only, but cheap enough so that you might just incidentally have enough money on you to get something good (the #4 is $6.00). The drink selection has much to be desired. read more

Wow!! Since finding out about this place I have either dined in or ordered take out at least once a week. The hand pulled noodles are easily one of the best things I have ever eaten in my LIFE! The inside of the restaurant is small, and you order on a kiosk but don't let that prevent you from coming in here. Easily the best soup in Massachusetts, honestly maybe even America. If I could I would eat here every single day, breakfast lunch and dinner. Gene I don't know who you are but I would put my life on the line for you (and the hot and sour hand pulled noodle soup) read more

There's alot going for this place but it's not perfect. To begin with the lamb skewers were delicious! Get a bunch... Now the hand pulled noodle.. I think you either like the vinegar flavor you or don't. I think they do a good job of making it authentic but if you're unsure about the flavor share some with someone before ordering a whole bowl. I would also ask for some extra cilantro as it really dampens the vinegar sourness and brings out some more herbal flavors. Also bring some wipes if you wear glasses. The noodles are traditional so slurp and bite because your chopsticks won't help much. I would suggest asking for them to be cut up. I know not traditional! But if you don't want to wash your face and glasses that's your option. Finally, it's interesting to walk into this place and have island music blasting from the kitchen. I say turn down the music and turn up the heat. Also offer larger bowls so that there is room to mix the ingredients. Small bowls look better in photos but are impractical if you don't want lamb juice all over . read more

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Decor - 2 stars. Clean but lackluster. However this means this place is authentic! Food - 4 stars. We ordered the following: 10 skewers for $13.59! Wow, that's great. House noodle soup - solid! I love the sour soup and the tons of pork in the bowl. The only issue I had with the dish is the veggies. They look like mixed frozen peas and carrots. I'd like fresh veggies plzzzzz. Cumin lamb handpull noodle - super yummy! I wish I ordered this one. The noodles are al dente and the sauce they put in is out of this world. Give the whole dish a thorough mix before you dig in. Mountains of shredded carrots and bean sprouts balanced nicely with the noodles and the meat. We will be back to try other dishes! read more

This is the most authentic Chinese restaurant that's close to us. I only gave it 4 stars because I've been here 3 times and still haven't found my favorite dish. My husband on the other hand has ordered the lamb hand-pulled noodles every time and he loves it. I've tried: House noodle soup- not good. The pork was good, but it had way too many potatoes chunks and I'm not sure why it had frozen peas and carrots in it. It was also very sour for some reason. Sweet and sour hand-pulled noodles- it was good and I would probably order this if I can't find my favorite dish. It was definitely sweet and sour and the hand-pulled noodles were very good. Hot and sour dumpling soup- it was okay. It was literally just dumplings in a hot and sour broth. We will continue to go here and hopefully next time I will find a favorite here! Oh ya, this place is cash only! read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

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House Noodle Soup and lamb skewers. The lamb was a bit salty but it was cooked well and the seasonings were close to the street food in Northern China. House Noodle Soup had hint of vinegar and right amount of mala spice that are well balanced with the hand pulled noodles. This is a must place to visit in Boston if you are a noodle lover like me. And the price was very reasonable. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

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The #16 hot sour hand pulled noodle soup is one of my favorite things to eat on this planet. It's consistent both at the Woburn location and in Chinatown. For $8.40 ($9 with tax/cash only) you get a massive bowl of fresh pulled noodles swimming in a savory broth with layers of flavor. Sweet, sour, heat, with lots of textures...it's pure comfort food. The ambiance is nothing to talk about but you don't notice because your face is two inches from the noodle bowl the entire time. Take your friends here when they visit from out of town and look like a savvy, in-the-know foodie. read more

#16 hot sour handmade noodle soup is the best dish on menu. Lamb skewer meat has unchewable tendons. No spicy dry hand pull noodles had zero meat, not worth ordering. read more

Being well acquainted with authentic, traditional Chinese food and the history of Chinese food, I tend to grade Chinese restaurants more harshly. The Chinese food that Americans are used to are dishes that usually stem from the Guangdong area, better known as Cantonese food, and Sichuan/Szechuan area, which is known for its numbing spice. Your traditional takeout dishes like orange chicken and sweet and sour pork often are Americanized versions of Cantonese/Guangdong food. Gene's cafe serves up Xi'an food, a city in the middle of China. The most famous foods from Xi'an are probably the hand-pulled noodles and roujiamo, which is the flatbread they serve. The pork roujiamo served at Gene's had a dry burnt/overcooked bun that lacks the traditional flavors you'll find from a baked bun. The shredded pork filling itself is on the greasier and bland side, and lacks the depth of flavor that is often developed through hours of stewing and simmering. The hand-pulled noodles are much better, however. I got the hand-pulled lamb noodle soup. The hand-pulled noodles are fantastic, with the texture and flavor being amazingly spot-on. The broth itself is good as well. You just need to remember to mix the chili oil on top with the actual broth for the full flavor impact. The lamb skewers had an iconic xi-an taste with a little bit of heat and a little bit of I believe cumin. The house hand-pulled noodles, a dry noodle dish, was pretty solid. It has a huge garlic flavor (a suan ni, aka minced garlic, flavor profile) and a sauce that has a lot of heat (not the numbing mala heat) and a good amount of acidity to it. In my opinion, the acidity (which I believe came from a Chinese vinegar) could be toned down just a tad. read more

Ok the food here is pretty good. Everything tastes fresh and very unique. Hot and sour noodle soup was good; lots of meat on top, noodles were thick and chewy, nice broth although it wasn't as flavorful or hot and sour as i was expecting. The noodles were pretty big and it makes a huge mess whenever you try to slurp it lol so get lots of napkins. Lamb skewer was delicious and tea egg was ok. My only concern was the service. The girl at the front who takes your order is kind of weird. Doesn't greet you when you enter nor does she ask you what you would like. Maybe it's a cultural difference i'm not sure about. Also when my food was ready, they didn't even tell me it was ready. They just leave it up on the counter to let it set and wait. You wouldn't really have an idea about which food is whose! Also because of that, my food was just sitting there getting cold for 10 minutes. Anyway, i'll be back and try a different item. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - Hot and Sour Hand-Pulled Noodle Soup with Tea Egg and Lamb Skewer - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

My wife and I are considering Woburn in our home search. No joke, it's places like Gene's that have turned Woburn Center into a food destination that is part of the reason (along with the low property taxes, of course). I've seen people say that #4 is spectacular but some of the other dishes, not so much. I have now made my rounds of at least three dishes on the menu, along with the tea eggs and lamb skewers. I can now conclude that EVERYTHING ON THE GENE'S MENU IS BOMB! Yes, the #4 hand pulled noodles that come with a mound of garlic on top that you delicately stir in prior to ripping into them are great.....but so was the lamb noodle soup (#5) and the Xi'An cold noodles (#8). Warning, the #4 noodles look spicy, they AREN'T. The lamb skewers look timid, they are VERY HOT. Not only is their food super authentic but so are the attitudes of the workers. I constantly get smiles from everyone at the counter to those clearing tables, which is really refreshing to see no matter the restaurant you are in. Sure, the place is tiny but the turnover is quick and so is the food that comes out to the front counter and they yell out your number. No gimmicks here, just low prices and legit grub that will leave you wanting more. My only very minor complaint is that they don't take credit cards, which likely keeps most of the dishes in the $6-8 range. Fine, I'll suck it up and go grab some cash across the street if I get this level of quality on each and every visit. Keep doing what you're doing Gene, we hope to be back a ton of times. read more

Love the concept, the prices, the small authentic menu. I stopped by this week for lunch and had the hand pulled noodles and the pork flatbread sandwich. I loved the noodles- in the mild to medium spicy VERY garlicy sauce. The noodles were long thick and dense- chewy and a tad difficult to eat with chop sticks. The pork sandwich was just ok- it was a bit greasy and just too much bread for my liking so I just ate the pork filling which was really fresh and tasty. Very nice and friendly service! I cant wait to come back and try more items. I had severe garlic breath and taste all afternoon! read more

As good as they say. For approximately $7, a large bowl brimming with flat, stretchy, doughy, mis-shapen, wonderful, delicious noodles can be had. They comedic her with lamb or not. The lamb is slow braised and shredded. Chili oil and diced chilis along with scallions coat the noodles and the lamb giving a firey touch to the dish. Pay when you order and take a seat, your pleasure will begin shortly. Absolutely phenomenal treat to have. read more

Woburn Center has exploded with fantastic ethnic restaurants recently and Gene's has just made it an absolute must visit. Not everything is 5 stars at Gene's, in fact there is only thing that makes it 5 stars, the #4, hand pulled noodles (6$). This dish is beyond 5 star worthy. The noodles are perfect. The noodles are perfectly dense and chewy, flavored with a great combo of oil,chili powder, and cilantro. The cilantro herb provides a great fresh contrast to the rest of the dish which is quite heavy. The noodles were consistent. Each one was perfectly done. I don't think the noodles themselves are filling enough for a dinner, so you'll probably want to get something else as well. The beef flatbread (4$) was disappointing, lacking flavor other then the scattered sauteed onions. The lamb skewer ($1.50) was a lot better providing much more flavor, although the spice distribution was random, some bites were hard to swallow loaded with spice and others had no spice at all. The lamb itself was tender and tasty, although one piece (out of 4) was almost all fat. If you don't want the hand pulled noodles, the house noodle soup was great, filled with noodles (not the same as the house pulled), veggies and tasty pork. This was a filling meal for $6.50. Tip : CASH ONLY! read more

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Best noodle I have ever had in my life!! It's hard to not to give 5 stars to Gene's. Everything here is excellent, from the service to the food. Okay, there's no real-service at Gene's, no one's gonna lead you to your table, take your order, bring you the food, and then get your bill. But it's always great and feel pleasant to see a warm and friendly smile behind the counter while walking into Gene's. First off, order food at the counter and seat yourself. And then wait for your number's called and walk up to take your flavorful food from the same counter. Finally, indulge yourself in the food. Enjoy! We have tried almost everything on the menu except the #8 Xi'an cold noodle. And we are fond of the well-known hand-pulled noodle the best. You know, of course, that's what makes it famous for. But everything else is also as good as the hand-pulled noodle, especially the other variations of hand-pulled noodle, such as #2 and #9. Speaking of #9, the cumin lamb hand-pulled noodle, I have noticed it's quite popular among the limited menu. I love it very much as well and I bet you will fall in love with it too, but the prerequisite is you love cumin lamb. They have some new side dishes, and we have tried two of them today. The first one is Chilled braised beef and the other one is chilled pork tripe. Both of them were tasty! Come and enjoy the amazing texture of their fab hand-pulled noodle. You won't regret it. Note: Cash only. read more

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It's a BYOW(water) restaurant, they don't serve free water. Astonishing service. Food is ok, quite salty. read more

probably the most unique Chinese dish I had in the states. if you like noodles in general definitely worth a try. don't forget to add some lamb skewers on the side. read more

Hand pulled noodles are hard to find in MA. Tasty ones are even harder! The texture of the Xi'an hand pulled noodles are chewy which I prefer. I ordered the lamb noodle soup which was very messy to eat. The noodles were all dangled together in the soup which made it difficult to pull out of the soup. Maybe my chopstick skillz suck ass so the noodles kept splashing back into the soup as I tried to pull a strand out. I totally made a mess on my clothes from all the splashes. The slices of meat were on the dry side so I had to suck down a lot of liquid to eat that. The soup had a nice flavor, not too bold. For the mess, it's not worth to intentionally driving up there since I'm not a local of that area. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

Very authentic XiAn food. They don't have many choices but almost every dish tastes great. You can choose to have the dishes made non spicy. Place is small but have plenty of high chairs which is baby friendly. Owners are very friendly. The only thing is they accept cash only. read more

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe - Lamb stew noodle - non spicy. 不辣的羊肉烩面。 - Chinese Near Me - Woburn, Massachusetts

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Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe A Poem A quaint little place in Woburn on Main Street Where you'll find some great food you'll want to eat Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe is where it's at And you'll find some great options as a matter of fact Hand pulled noodles that are so darn yummy And succulent pork sandwiches that make a happy tummy So many flavors and spices cooked to a T For a meal, lunch or dinner, it's a place you have to be There is a nice variety of options, but not a lot Which is good, because it's made to order and perfectly hot I highly recommend if you are in a certain mood To grab some awesome fantastic and delicious Chinese food. read more

This restaurant was pretty disappointing and....disgusting. The hand-pulled noodles were dry, doughy, and there were globs of dried hot peppers stuck unevenly all over them. The pulled pork sandwich was very bland - It was just pulled pork on bread with little or no seasoning. The chilled noodle has no vegetables or garnish, aside from bean sprouts (gross). .... shouldn't an authentic Chinese restaurant have Chinese chefs? I'm all for equal opportunities and everything, but having two Latina women in plain view cooking your Chinese food seems....off. Update: it's now 3 hours later and all I taste in my mouth is potent garlic. Ugh. read more

YUMMY!!!! first time at the new location and second time at their restaurant. house noodles, spicy noodles, lamb noodles with shredded bread inside, beef/pork flatbread, so delicious. I'm SO happy they moved closer to me, that means more visits! and will have to go try their spicy chicken pasta dish. their hand pulled noodles is pretty darn delish. a must try. thank God for authentic places like this in Boston. lamb skewers, was too salty today and also fried. not my fav but at least they offer it! The owner and family are always there, super friendly and sweet. read more

Ordered two bowls of noodles today. Noodles are very salty. The soup are even worse. Taste like they put two or three times more salt than normal. read more

I'm always skeptical everytime I try a new Chinese restaurants( cause most of the time there's always a problem every time I visit one) But Gene's is exceptional! My friend and I got #4 hand pulled noodles, #10 dumpling soup, and #16 hot and sour soup. My favorite was #16. The broth was just right, maybe a little salty but that's okay, the noodles were BOMB. So I highly reccomend new comers to try #16 Definitely coming back for sure! read more

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