Beloved Toronto noodle restaurant closes permanently after making waves online
A restaurant specializing in Chinese noodles has served its last bowl for now after building a considerable buzz online during its short-but-sweet time in business.
Ask some of the city's preeminent social media foodies — @lawlam.eats or Clement Leung of @insta.noodls fame, for example — and they'll tell you that, when it comes to Xi'an-style bang bang noodles, few shops hold a candle to General An Potsticker.
Decreed the "best Chinese hot chili oil noodles in the city," and an all-time favourite dish of many, the noodles at General An Potsticker made an impressive impression on Toronto's food scene, despite the restaurant's considerably short year-and-a-half stint in business.
Chewy, hand-pulled noodles, spicy sauce and an equally satisfying lineup of potstickers will do that for a business.
Still, no matter how much popularity a concept can achieve, outside forces can — and often do — still win out: a lesson that General An Potsticker's owners have now learned, as they close the restaurant citing a series of challenges.
In a post announcing the closure, the General An Potsticker team says that "a number of factors, including a rent increase, limited space, and the lack of AC," led them to the decision to close down their North York location.
Despite the challenges, though, they note that "looking back on the past year and a half, we feel nothing but gratitude. We truly would not have made it this far without your support."
It may not be the end of General An Potstickers forever, though. In the caption of the post, the team is sure to note that "if noodles are sold at this same location in the future, they are not from us," but adds the breadcrumb that "when we make our comeback, we will announce it on Instagram."
Toronto may not have to go long without its beloved Xi'an noodles. Hopefully.
General An Potsticker was located at 5317 Yonge St.
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