Houston's original Chinatown was east of downtown, but starting in 1983 families and businesses moved southwest to Bellaire Boulevard in search of cheaper property, and a new district took shape. Today it covers roughly 2.37 square miles between Alief and the city of Bellaire, and while many call it Asiatown, the name is debated because many communities share the area, and its restaurants cook Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Malaysian and Thai food. A handy rule of thumb: Chinese businesses tend to sit inside Beltway 8 and Vietnamese businesses outside it. The best way to experience it is to eat, and to keep eating. Start with Viet-Cajun crawfish at Crawfish & Noodles, then work through noodle shops, bakeries, dim sum rooms and tea shops in the plazas. Hong Kong City Mall, behind its landmark gate on Bellaire, is the anchor and a good place to wander between meals.
What to expect
- Built for driving: most restaurants sit in strip-mall plazas along Bellaire Boulevard.
- Street signs along Bellaire are in both English and Chinese.
- The area is a mostly treeless plain, so walking between plazas is hot in summer.
- No rail runs out here; METRO local buses serve the area.
What to do
- Eat Viet-Cajun crawfish at Crawfish & Noodles
- Wander Hong Kong City Mall
- Graze your way through the plazas on both sides of Beltway 8
Where to eat nearby
- Crawfish & Noodles
What to see
- Hong Kong City Mall
- Bellaire Boulevard dining corridor
- About 2.37 square miles in southwest HoustonArea
- About 12 miles from downtownDistance
- Development along Bellaire began in 1983Origins