One of Brooklyn’s favorite hotpot restaurants is currently gearing up to open their first ever Manhattan location.
Laojie Hotpot is a popular Chinese hot pot restaurant based out of Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Offering all-you-can-eat hotpots with fresh beef and vegetables, Laojie features six different broths to complement their authentic dishes, including a tomato base, bone cylinder soup, dark chicken ginseng, a mala spice broth. The restaurant is especially popular among locals thanks to its affordable prices and the free milk tea pudding that accompanies every meal.
Now, owner Jinshun Chen is taking his popular hotpot restaurant across the river to the East Village, where he intends to open a brand new location at 105 Bowery. Their first ever Manhattan location, the new restaurant will be replacing Little Sheep, another popular Hot Pot restaurant that highlighted Mongolian cuisine. Little Sheep was owned by Yum China Holdings, an offshoot of Yum! Brands that has since become China’s leading restaurant company since separating in 2016.
Themed after 1970’s China, Laojie Hotpot places a special emphasis on music and invites guests to pick their own playlists and enjoy beautiful melodies while they dine. While the Brooklyn location featured a very popular karaoke night, Chen has not included karaoke or live music on his application with the community board. The location will also feature enough space to comfortably sit 52 guests inside at one time.
While the space does not feature a standing or sitting bar, Chen is applying for a beer and wine license for the space. Their original location was known for its inviting happy hours, so Laojie loyalists will be happy to know that the new location will continue to offer their favorite drinks. Chen is currently proposing operating hours of 11:00 AM – 12:00 AM every day, seven days a week. According to a phone conversation with Chen, the team is still too early into development to give a clear timetable for opening. IN the meantime though, their sunset park location remains open, and you can follow Laojie on Instagram for all future updates.
