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And now for a *really* important question: is there a good Chinese restaurant in Chicago?

Brian Leiter

Tried The Phoenix in Chinatown:  solid B, some dishes B+.  Tried Lao Sezchuan, also in Chinatown:  a C, if I were feeling generous (maybe our expectations were too high, given the hype).   Tried Big Bowl, the 'chain' on the North side:  C+, and not exactly Chinese.

So what do readers recommend for Chinese in this city?  Szechuan preferred, but am interested in all recommendations.  (Any readers who want to weigh in with recommendations on Japanese/sushi places also welcome.)

UDPATE:  Warm thanks for all the really helpful responses already!  May I also ask for any recommendations for good Indian restaurants in Chicago, especially if they are also kid-friendly.

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33 responses to “And now for a *really* important question: is there a good Chinese restaurant in Chicago?”

  1. Nathan Jun

    Brian,

    For sushi, I *highly* recommend Shiroi Hana and Matusya, both on N. Clark in Wrigleyville. For great Chinese try the Ken Kee Restaurant in Chinatown. The best Thai food in all of Chicagoland is made at Thai Spice on Devon near Loyola.

    Nathan Jun

    Reply
  2. brn

    If you're willing to travel to Uptown, Silver Seafood on Broadway is excellent. I've also heard good things about Lee Wing Wah in the Chinatown Mall on Archer. Avoid Chen's in Wrigleyville.

    Reply
  3. Jonathan Cohen

    Although it would now be out of date, it would be worth tracking down from someone in the Chicago linguistics department a copy of the late James McCawley's meticulously researched, self-produced, self-distributed guide to restaurants in Chicago. As memory serves, it specializes in Asian (esp Chinese) and African cuisines; he said it was intended to complement Chicago magazine by covering cuisines they tended to ignore and ignoring cuisines they tended to cover. Since McCawley often recommends places with no English-language menu or else a very pared down English-language menu, it is useful to study from, and take along, his book *The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters* (U Chicago Press, 1984). I don't know when the latest version of the restaurant guide was produced (McCawley passed away in 1999). I can say I used the guide profitably in the mid-90 when I was in Chicago. But I'll bet it still contains many useful suggestions for Chinese restaurants (inter alia).

    Reply
  4. Jonathan Cohen

    Update: should have searched before the last entry, but here's the 1998 version of McCawley's list:
    http://linguistics.uchicago.edu/people/McCawley_Chicago_Food.pdf

    Reply
  5. dor

    I like Dee's Restaurant located at 1114 W. Armitage (just west of Lincoln park). While it has the ambiance of the neighborhood rather than a Chinatown restaurant, both my Chinese girlfriend (and New York Chinese at that)and her Mother also like it.

    btw: They also serve sushi

    Reply
  6. Jacob T. Levy

    For sushi, Sushi Wabi. Vong is recommended, but is Thai(ish), not Chinese or Japanese. I share your view that Phoenix is ovrerrated.

    Reply
  7. jrg

    Emperor's Choice in Chinatown was quite good many years ago (although I always went with a native speaker (my father), which in my experience often results in getting better food). I don't know what the quality is like these days. It might be worth a try if you'll put up with Cantonese cuisine. And of course it's more convenient to HP than the north side places.

    Reply
  8. Aleksey

    If you haven't already, look through http://lthforum.com. It's a great resource on Chicago's dining scene. Maybe start with the "Great Neighborhood Restaurants" section.

    Reply
  9. Lally

    Evergreen in Chinatown (end of Wentworth, green awning). Order the salt and pepper shrimps in the shell, hot and sour soup, mongolian beef, seasonal shellfish dishes of all sorts. Amazing!

    Reply
  10. Ian

    Aleksey failed to note that the lthforum, the great resource on Chicago's dining scene, is named after a Chinese restaurant: Little Three Happiness, in Chinatown.

    Reply
  11. pm

    Renga Tei on Touhy, in Niles, is a wonderful sushi spot.

    Reply
  12. Jacob T. Levy

    Indian is easy. Go to Devon Street; point in random direction; eat there.

    Reply
  13. ade

    …not exactly what you were requesting, but there is a very good Ethiopian restaurant on 4801 N Broadway called Demera. Highly recommended.

    Reply
  14. allison

    For Sushi, Oysy (there's one on S. Michigan and one on E. Grand) is a good choice. Klay Oven on Orleans is a good Indian place in the loop. They have a decent lunch buffet on the weekends.

    Reply
  15. Julia

    Unfortunately, this is not in Chicago, but for Szechuanese food "Chung King" in Los Angeles (San Gabriel) is terrific. I prefer Hunanese, though, for which Hunan Chili King (San Gabriel) is magnificent.

    Reply
  16. Thom Brooks

    If you enjoy Thai, I recall "Star of Siam" as being amazing.

    Reply
  17. john doris

    You might also give Lao Sezchuan another try. My experiences there have been excellent. — Doris

    Reply
  18. Lori

    best sushi place in chicago:http://www.miraisushi.com/
    Levy points out Devon St. for Indian, in my view best one is the Viceroy.

    Reply
  19. Ian

    Best Indian I've had is, as Jacob suggests, on Devon. It's a South Indian (vegetarian) place called Udupi Palace.

    Reply
  20. carl gillett

    Silver Seafood in the north seems to have gone downhill through being too popular. The chinese barbecue restuarant (Sun Wah?) on Argyle Street, across from the the awesome vietnamese Tank Restaurant, and just outside of the El, is VERY good for barbecue — duck, pork, chicken, in large portions.

    I second the recommendation to just go to Devan — the chat restaurants and indian sweets are also extremely good. Spices galore, and very cheap, to take home from the mega-stores there, too.

    Reply
  21. a

    There are excellent Indian restaurants on Devon on the far north side of Chicago. I recommend Tiffin.

    Reply
  22. D Jagannathan

    I second Ian's suggestion of Udupi Palace for Indian food. Superb.

    Reply
  23. John Casey

    At the moment, the wife and I (and friends) highly recommend Khan BBQ at the corner of Devon and Western. More Pakistani BBQ than Indian, but kid friendly (it's huge and usually full of kids).

    A place that used to be the pinnacle of Indian eats was Bhabi's kitchen on Oakley (I think). I went recently, it's still very good, but his prices had nearly doubled (entrees now 14 or so). Hema's kitchen (about which Bhabi talks a lot of trash), is still really popular. Last time I went it was good and still fairly cheap.

    India Garden and Tiffin are upper end (both have liquor licenses), probably not kid friendly–but good.

    One of my favorite Indian/Pakistani places–ok, two of my favorites. Ghareeb Nawaz (the easternmost place on Devon). Very low end, almost fast food. Slightly more fancy, but still with a parking lot full of cabs, is Shan's on Sheridan road near Foster (in the Vietnamese neighborhood). Best Samosas I've had anywhere.

    A good and very affordable Sushi place (Midori) can be found on Bryn Mawr down the street from Northeastern Illinois University (just east of Kimball). On that same street one has almost 10 choices of Korean restaurants as well.

    Enjoy.

    Reply
  24. Brian

    Just to add another voice, let me note that I tried Oysy, having heard good things about it, and thought it pretty mediocre. I would never go back. But, as they say, "no disputing matters of taste"!

    Thanks again for all the opinions–more welcome!

    Reply
  25. Scott Wood

    You didn't ask, but I recommend dipping into Chicago's wealth of Vietnamese restaurants. My personal favorite is Tank Noodle, not only for their delicious pho, but for the owner's dark sense of humor (When I visited, the servers were all wearing fatigues). I'm an out-of-towner, so some suggestions from locals would be welcome, for Brian and for myself.

    Reply
  26. NR

    The best Indian is on Devon Avenue. Mysore Woodlands is tops, then Uru Swati, Udupi Palace- all kid-friendly.

    Good Chinese is infamously difficult to find in Chicago. Young's on the north side is the best I've found so far.

    Reply
  27. David Ebrey

    With the caveat that I am a vegetarian, for Chinese I really like Honeymoon Cafe on Argyle. Having just moved from California, I was worried about moving into an Asian neighborhood — would it really be as good as in California? I haven't found anything as good as the very best in the Bay Area or LA, but Honeymoon Cafe is really good. Try the "Japanese style" salt and pepper tofu.

    Tank is also quite good. So is Ba Le, on Broadway and Argyle, which is a Vietnamese sandwich (Banh Mi) shop.

    I've had great and mediocre meals on Devon, so I would not suggest just trying places randomly. It is a lot of fun to walk around, though.

    Reply
  28. Michael McIntyre

    Another vote for Udupi Palace. It's South Indian and vegetarian, so don't go there looking for Tandoori. If it weren't so far from Hyde Park, I'd have set up shop there and eaten my way through the menu already.

    Reply
  29. David Lundeen

    Devon Street on the far north side is the place for more authentic and cheap Indian (and Pakistani, and other South and Central Asian) food. Ask a local, preferably someone originally from that part of the world. Jaipur on Randolph Street is pretty decent too, as is Klay Oven in River North. You've hit on some good places in Chinatown. Some years ago I regularly enjoyed Chen's in Wrigleyville and its sister Koi in Evanston, though they are definitely more expensive than Chinatown.

    I recommend the TV show Check Please on Sunday nights on the local PBS station for learning about Chicago eats.

    Reply
  30. David Lundeen

    Like a previous commenter, I specifically recommend Khan BBQ on Devon.

    Reply
  31. Trevor

    LTH Forum is a great foodie discussion board that includes this list of Great Neighborhood Restaurants: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=20908&sid=013c890ca53013152ae7f5d90b82708f.

    Reply
  32. Matt

    The other commenters have already mentioned a lot of the places I've had good meals at, but for what it's worth here are my suggestions:

    Wrigleyville:
    Matsuya (Sushi — only place I've found Nattomaki here)
    Tango sur (Argentinian fare)

    Devon area:
    Hema's Kitchen (Indian; very cheap and tasty)

    North-side Chinatown (Broadway & Argyle):
    Tank noodle

    Evanston:
    Campagnola (more or less Mediterranean fare)
    Oceanique (seafood)

    Reply
  33. Andrew Kunsak

    Brian, for Thai i would recommend the Taste of Siam in the south loop.

    Reply

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