The original location was opened by restaurateur Mei Ping "Barbara" Matsumura and chef Kiu Sang "Joe" Si in 1995 in Flushing, Queens, followed by branches in Manhattan Chinatown and Midtown Manhattan.

Ms. Matsumura has opened over a dozen restaurants in the New York City area, including the popular Haru sushi chain, while Chef Si also opened Joe's Ginger one block from the Manhattan Chinatown location of Joe's Shanghai, building on the original concept but incorporating the influence of other Chinese cuisines, most notably from Hong Kong.

[2] The most famous dish at Joe's Shanghai is the pork or crab meat xiaolongbao,[3] a type of small Chinese steam bun, in which the soup is encased inside the dumpling.

[4] In 1996, Ruth Reichl of the New York Times gave Joe's Shanghai two stars out of four.

For the borough of Manhattan, he chose two dozen soup dumplings from Joe's Shanghai.