Many Nashvillians head to this strip mall in Madison for China Cottage’s bubbling hot pots and other Chinese classics. Popular choices here include General Tso’s tofu, crab rangoon, crispy beef, and the seafood hot pot.

Ryan and Ann Bernhardt’s East Nashville location may not check all the marks on a Chinese food purist’s bingo card, but their inventive Southern take on the cuisine is most definitely worth noting — and ordering. Standouts include chicken fat fried rice, chiu-chow home fries, and fiery “chile noodz” featuring Mr. Aaron’s original chile noodles. The menu changes frequently, so be sure to pop on over to their website and check out their offerings before placing an order.

*TKO is currently open only for curbside takeout and delivery.

Germantown’s fast-casual ode to comfort Chinese cuisine offers a variety of options for those craving warm, steamy baskets of bao. Along with their addictively fluffy buns, Steam Boys also

serves up handmade dumplings stuffed with pork or shrimp, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), hearty noodle soups, bao and dumpling bowls, and liters of Thai milk boba tea to go. Additional locations in Hermitage and Nolensville offer a similar menu.

This Charlotte Pike strip mall spot has long been a favorite for Nashville locals. Sichuan cold appetizers like mala beef tendon and sliced beef tripe are solid choices here, as are the rice rolls and mapo tofu.

This Brooklyn transplant dishes up blisteringly spicy bowls of Chongqing noodles, also referred to as “xiao mian” in Chinese, which translates to “little noodles” in English. In Chongqing, xiao

mian are popular wheat-based, numbingly spicy noodles served either with or without soup, using Sichuan pepper, plus a wide variety of meats and vegetables — the perfect antidote to a

chilly fall evening. Meet Noodles Nashville menu offers 16 varieties of noodle bowls along with special snacks like sesame seed balls, dumplings, and takoyaki.

China Spring has been providing locals with all of the typical U.S. Chinese restaurant staples in reliably generous portions since 1999. Cantonese-style lo mein, moo shu, fried rice, egg rolls and egg drop soup are all options on the menu and are offered with a variety of fillings that range from beef, pork, and chicken to shrimp and lobster. The General Tso platter and bourbon chicken are popular go-tos.

A consistent win for casual, family-friendly dine-in or for takeout, this strip mall success story in Brentwood serves up stellar regional Chinese food — something not often easily found in Music City. Here, the pro move is to stick to the Schezuan side of the menu, where standouts include everything from crispy scallion pancakes, salt pepper spare ribs, and potato threads to spicy beef tendon and chili oil-coated crispy frog legs.