The first time I came here was over a year ago. I ordered the spicy cumin lamb noodles to go. I recall it was a rainy and a not so glamorous day. The noodles were overly spicy to the point where I couldn't enjoy the flavors of the cumin. I love spicy food but it had reached a level where the emphasis was on the hotness and not the spicing. I also got a stomach ache the next day and did not do so well digestion wise, so I never ate there again—until yesterday. I was suddenly craving spicy hand-pulled noodles and decided to give it another try. It has been over a year. People seem to love it, maybe I just had a bad day last time?
Food
I decided to order the spicy cumin lamb hand-ripped in noodle soup and spicy cumin lamb again. I asked for mild spicy because last time the spice level was absurd. The hand-pulled noodles were delicious—this is the exact type of noodles I prefer—similar to Spicy Village. The cumin lamb was exceptionally well seasoned. Very authentic. I also ordered the spicy cucumber salad and tiger salad. The tiger salad and cucumber salads were also very well seasoned and fresh. They are right when they say it's best to eat immediately. Take-out was not a good idea.
I also tried the famous liang-pi cold skin noodles and I personally did not enjoy it. Not to say it was not good but I prefer the cumin spice flavor. I do not recommend the lamb dumplings. Lamb in dumplings does not go well in my opinion. The flavoring was just off. Most people I've spoken to also did not recommend the dumplings. You're better off by going to Prosperity Dumplings or even Spicy Village.
Cumin lamb noodle soup
Quality
The quality seemed to be pretty solid the second time around. Xi'an Famous Foods is very popular so they must have a high turnover of ingredients, which is a good sign. I did not get a stomach ache the next day so that is always positive.
Ambiance
The store itself is a bit dirty in my opinion. I've been to the Midtown and Chinatown location, and the latter is even less appealing. I'm also slightly OCD, so uncleaned tables make me uncomfortable. They don't have any waitstaff—hence the excessive "dirtiness". But just keep your eyes on the food. You are purely there for the food. Eat and get out.
Price
Compared to Spicy Village it's definitely more expensive. But compared to everything else, it's pretty damn cheap. I'd expect to pay about $10-15 per person for two dishes each—which is more than enough food.
Spicy cumin lamb
Spicy cucumber salad
Liang-pi cold skin noodles