Double Happiness is a Teochew noodle shop located on Argyle. This family-run restaurant is known for their Teochew noodle soups, their side dishes, and the addictive fried garlic that you can add to your noodles.
I always make it a habit to visit this hole in the wall whenever I'm in Chicago. They've been a long mainstay in the Argyle neighborhood. The neighborhood has seen better days with the pandemic shutting down a lot of local business, but this restaurant remodeled a few years prior and still remains open.
Prefacing my review by warning that the noodle soups all have pork in them. If you cannot eat pork, I recommend not visiting since you won't be able to enjoy their noodle soups.
FOOD
For our visit, we got two #6's, the Assorted Mixed Noodle Soup, the #9, the Fried Radish Cake with Egg, and the #13, the Shrimp Roll. If you don't know what to order, they have pictures behind the counter of their most popular dishes, so just point at those.
The star of the show is the Shrimp Roll. Fried to perfection and full of flavor, you cannot go wrong with this. It comes with a sauce, which you can use to help enhance the flavor, but it is not necessary. The Shrimp is a perfect partner to the Noodle Soup as you can use the soup to complement the "yeet hay" of the Shrimp Roll.
There are a bunch of options for the noodle soups, but they are in essence very similar. I like to get my egg noodles cut thin, but it's completely up to you. The egg noodles are better than the rice noodles, but, once again, it's completely your preference! Per the usual Teochew tradition, there are a bunch of sauces provided at the table. I heavily recommend using the fried garlic sauce and adding it to your noodle soup to give it even more flavor!
The Fried Radish Cake is hit or miss. It used to be much better in the past, but there wasn't too much flavor in the actual Radish Cake this time around. If you only want one appetizer, choose the Shrimp Roll.
SERVICE
Standard Asian small family restaurant service. Walk in, sit down, they bring you a menu, order with the server, they bring you food, pay at the counter.
Because it's standard Asian small family restaurant service, the service you receive may vary from visit to visit. The servers are very friendly with their regulars, especially if you speak the language, but they generally leave you alone otherwise. They are quite responsive if you ask for something though, but sometimes, they will disappear into the kitchen. With service like this, you know it's an authentic restaurant!
COST
Noodle soup ran about $11-12/bowl, which is pretty cheap. For what you are getting, the price is a steal. I can't remember how much the appetizer cost, but I think it was around $8-$9 for an appetizer.
SETTING
Double Happiness is a hole in the wall, so the decor isn't too much to write about. There is a TV though, which is nice if you need a distraction while you are waiting.
As mentioned, Argyle has seen busier days. However, parking still might be a bit difficult during peak hours. Sometimes you can grab a spot on the main street, but there is usually parking on the side streets. Double Happiness is also right next to the train station, so if you travel by train, you can get here pretty easily.
Double Happiness doesn't get too busy, so you will never have to wait for a table, especially if you come for dinner. It's great for a quick meal!
Double Happiness is the ultimate hole in the wall experience. Don't let the decor fool you, you can't get a better noodle soup for a better price!
4.75/5 read more