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    Eat First

    3.5 (135 reviews)
    InexpensiveChinese
    Open 12:00 pm - 10:00 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Order Eat First Takeout or Delivery

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    Business Info

    EAT FIRST ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Divey
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Dogs allowed

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    Reviews With Photos

    Wonton Noodle Soup (Won Ton Min)
    Ronald W.

    Main service is take out here. Only one table and a counter against window with 6 stools. Restaurant is clean. Large Cantonese menu serving old style Cantonese food to American taste. Ordered standard lunch food of Win Ton Noodle soup to eat in. Even though ordered as eat in it was served with a container of soup and wonton and noodles in a round to go container. It should have come in a bowl. They did not have a good soup spoon or chopsticks until I asked. Soup contained 8 meaty wonton. Noodles had little flavor probably because it was not in the soup. Texture of noodles ok and not too soft. Soup was ok but not real flavorful. Char siu, cabbage and onions were garnishes. If you are craving Wonyo noodle soup this place will do but if they don't have a bowl or reasonable spoon I'll take it to go. Location is a small strip mall next to the blueline El stop. Parking was not full. There was a constant stream of takeout customers.

    This is supposed to be hot and sour soup with seafood...
    Mark P.

    Got the hot and sour seafood, soup.. no seafood in it, not sour. Think the cap fell off the power shaker while they were making it ...I cannot finish it, I would not have served it if I owned the place.

    cars parked in a parking lot
    Jose L. B.

    Food is great, service is great and the portions are MASSIVE.. my 1st time back in a long time and they haven't skipped a beat.. I was able to take it too go, so I can make my bus.. LoL..... check this place out of you're in the area and in the mood for good Chinese food..

    Roach in my food!
    Serena A.

    I have been ordering food from this establishment for 7 years now, at least once every other week and last night when I put my food on a plate there was a roach in my yu shan chicken. When I called to complain the woman on the phone didn't sound surprised. I can deal with late food or cold food but hair or a roach in my food is an absolute no no. The woman said well can you just bring the food back and we'll give you a full refund. Excuse me? It's in the trash and I'm not repacking the roach infested food and bringing it back but I will bring a photo and my receipt.

    Orange chicken
    Wesley S.

    Absolutely disgusting. The orange chicken is dry, tough, and oily. The "chicken chow mein" looks like slop and is inedible. I'm pissed off it took an hour and I'm still sitting here starving. Complete waste of $22 I called to let them know they can't be serving this to people and she insisted that I didn't like the style.

    Happy Family
    Anna M.

    This is my go-to Chinese place. I've been to others in the area but this is the best! Faves: Empress Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, and Happy Family. Also Wonton soup, pot stickers and egg rolls. People who know me know of my love for Chinese. Can't go without my comfort food for too long. Get the Avocado smoothie!

    Ian C.

    This is a "hidden gem". I just moved to the area one evening and stopped by my Chase bank. I noticed the place, small and cozy, and thought I'd give it a try. I ordered the chicken and pea pod dish, rice, and the two egg rolls. It was great. Chicken and pea pods could have used a SLIGHT bit more flavor, but was otherwise fantastic. Good quality and quality. The egg rolls were also great. Lots of filling and for a great price. The place is more of a take out or delivery, but has about five tables, and a bar like area for about six people. The owners were friendly, and food was prepared quickly. Despite being busy with take out orders and delivery, only waited about 15 minutes on a Thursday evening. L If only more Chinese places in Chicago were like this.

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    9 months ago

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    4 months ago

    Quick, delicious, & big portions. It's exactly what I thought it'd be and that's exactly what I wanted it to be.

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    10 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great food, reasonable prices, timely pick up, close parking. Rice and fortune cookies included with each meal.

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    2 years ago

    Best Chinese food. Good portions and it's always consistent... best crab Rangoon ever. I drive far to support this place!

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Fantastic food, great service. My go-to for local Chinese food! Best egg rolls, Mongolian Beef and Mushu pork around!

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

    I love this place!! Always great service and yummy food! This place definitely deserves a higher rating

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    14 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Order from Eat First all the time. Fast delivery, great food, large portions. Order the combo appetizer-it's delicious!

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    8 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    5 years ago

    We have been ordering from here for years. Love the food and quick service Great neighborhood restaurant

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    5 years ago

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    4 years ago

    go to Chinese food. my family and i have ordered from here for yearssss and it's never a disappointment. definitely recommend!!

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    4 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    6 years ago

    They have the best fried rice and egg foo young. Has that fresh Asian cuisine taste I absolutely love. Good portions and descent prices.

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    8 years ago

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    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Eat First

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    I always enjoy dining at MingHin, especially because I'm a big fan of Asian cuisine. I've visited…read moreseveral of their locations, including Arlington Heights and Naperville, and I was excited to try this one as well. The experience was wonderful from start to finish. The food is consistently delicious no matter which location you visit, and that's one of the things I appreciate most about MingHin. The restaurant has a great atmosphere, the service is excellent, and every dish is prepared with the same high quality. I had a fantastic meal and will definitely be coming back again!

    I feel like the first hint was that all the other restaurants had lineups to go in and walking into…read morethe establishment we were able to get a table, no problem. Especially in Chinatown in Chicago for there not to be a lot of people in this restaurant kind of concerning, but we didn't wanna wait in line and Google said that the reviews are really good for this place. Mind you we did get dim sum so who knows if the regular dinner dishes would be better. We ordered the staples as attached in the photos. Everything was warm, but not hot. Lacked a lot of flavor. The hottest dish that came out where the shrimp spring rolls. Can't go wrong with those to be honest. Again, like I said, maybe their dinner is better. If I had to compare price wise, I feel like it's comparable to Toronto prices.

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    Dining room
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    MCCB Chicago 时尚食谱

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    This was my 6th time trying to go to MCCB and I finally did it. If you want to come here, make sure…read moreyou have adequate time to wait for this place because it gets busy. The only downside is if you want to put your name down, it's a $10 fee. MCCB has bumped up my list of Chinese restaurants in Chicago. We ordered the Dan Dan noodles, green beans, special grilled fish with mala (amazing presentation), dry chili chicken, and mapo tofu. I loved everything we ordered and the mala had a good quick. My boyfriend even said that the special grilled fish looked like an "emperor's meal." The flavors are absolutely amazing and the price is not too bad. I can't wait for the next time I go to MCCB!

    If there's a China town around us we have to go for the food!…read moreTik tok kept recommending this 4 year in a row Michelin recommended restaurant and had to try it. The place is a little spacious but the wait and line is always out the door no matter what time of the day you go. Plan ahead to walk around and explore while you wait. (There is no early waitlist and there is a $10 deposit that goes towards your food.) After an hour wait, we got sat and already had water at the table. Our server was really nice and gave us some good recommendations. Everything we had was absolutely delicious. The shrimp fried rice was nice soft and ... fried! The short ribs came paired with white rice with an amazing sauce. And the salt and pepper beef is to die for. The crab Rangoon's definitely had a little bit too much onion for my taste but overall, this was such a wonderful dining experience. Definitely must try. I would come back again.

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce
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    Dai Yee's Asian Kitchen

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    Dai Yee's Asian Kitchen is the underground emperor of late-night Chinese food in Chicago, the spot…read moreyour Uber driver, your bartender, and every chef in the city whispers about when they're truly hungry. Tucked into a no-frills corner on the South Side, Dai Yee's looks modest from the outside, but step in after 10 p.m. and it's pure magic. The room is packed with everybody--sneakerheads, nurses coming off shift, club kids, cops, and couples on first dates who somehow heard the legend. The vibe is chaotic in the best way: woks roaring, orders flying, and that unmistakable perfume of sizzling garlic, ginger, and chili filling the air. The food is straight-up stupid good. The Hong Kong-style salt & pepper smelts are crackly, spicy, and gone in 30 seconds. The beef chow fun has that elusive wok hei (breath of the wok) that most places only dream of, wide rice noodles slick with smoky char and tender flank steak. The black pepper beef tenderloin is velvet-soft, glossy, and aggressively peppery in a way that makes you order extra rice just to survive the happiness. The Singapore noodles are bright curry perfection, and the Mongolian beef is saucy, crispy-edged, and borderline addictive. Portions are straight out of the 90s--massive trays that could feed a family of four for under $15. Cash-only, BYOB, and everything comes out blazing hot in under ten minutes even when the place is slammed. The ladies running the show are legends: fast, funny, and they'll roast you (lovingly) if you can't handle the spice level you asked for. If you leave Chicago without hitting Dai Yee's at least once (preferably at 1 a.m. with a six-pack), you didn't really experience the city. This is real-deal, no-filter, soul-satisfying Chinese food that reminds you why we fall in love with restaurants in the first place. Dai Yee's isn't just a restaurant; it's a Chicago institution in the making. I'd wait in line in a blizzard for those smelts. See you at midnight.

    11/26/25 - I drove by here w/my wife today to eat lunch based on the reviews only to find that this…read moreis a pop up restaurant where you go & pick up your food & go. Dam I was disappointed we went away empty. Based on the reviews I really wanted to try this place but alas it wasn't meant to be. How do you give a rating to a restaurant you didn't eat at? Sorry I can't give you a 5 star rating but it's hard to judge on not eating your food

    Photos
    Chicken Lo Mein, Yu Shin Beef (Hot), General Tsos Chicken (Hot)
    Chicken Lo Mein, Yu Shin Beef (Hot), General Tsos Chicken (Hot)
    Mocha Lava Bao Bun
    Mocha Lava Bao Bun
    Sesame Chicken and Beef Fried Rice

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    Lao Peng You

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    We went in as a group of five. The wait was short and we got a table easily. Seating is tight and…read morethe interior is basic. We started with house beer, then worked through chicken potstickers, tofu skin salad, the xian bing (freshly baked crispy bread stuffed with cumin lamb), and dan dan noodles. The dan dan noodles were the standout, tangy and spicy in a way that turned almost addictive. The xian bing was a close second, the crust crackly against the rich, cumin-heavy lamb. A solid meal in a no-frills room.

    Visited Chicago from NYC and reached that point in the trip I had to have asian food or it was…read moreover. Took the trek here and this was probably the best beef noodle soup I've ever had. I don't normally eat spicy besides like kimchi level but this was the perfecttttt level of spice before I'd be bothered by it. The rich but clear broth complimented the crispy bok choy, tender beef, and smooth noodles well and had such flavor profile throughout. Most importantly, I didn't feel like it was heavy or had that saltiness sometimes left in my mouth for noodle soups - just felt clean and rich. Putting this on my go-tos every time I come to visit now. It is a bit expensive I will say for what I'm used to for a beef noodle soup but perhaps that's the nature of the city or the ingredients being high-quality? I also wish they offered a smaller size for dumplings so I wouldn't have to choose either/or considering the noodle portion is pretty sufficient.

    Photos
    Dining room
    Dining room
    Beef and green onion dumpling soup
    Beef and green onion dumpling soup
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    Dining area
    Duck Duck Goat

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    This was my favorite stop at my visit to Chicago earlier this month! Duck Duck Goat checks all the…read moreboxes from gorgeous interior and sultry ambiance offering different looks for each room, to mouth-watering dishes and stunning cocktails. We had the Dan Dan Slap Noodles, Crab Rangoon and Xiao Long Bao that had us wishing we came hungrier to try more dishes. The chef offers a new, fun twist to Chinese favorites; the pineapple and mascarpone-almond filling in the Crab Rangoon was excellent! Our wonderful server recommended the Dan Dan Slap Noodles, it being his favorite dish, and it did not disappoint! The Chai'd and True cocktail had me rethinking my opinions on bourbon it was so delightful. Come hungry!

    We made reservations for brunch on a Sunday. This place was packed when we arrived and we were…read morestill able to get seated right away. It's crazy it's completely died down by the time we were finished with our meal. The service was great, the interior decor was beautiful and the staff was friendly. The dim sum offered for brunch was good as well but pricey. Especially since some dishes were only offered with two pieces. If you have a party of three then you're kind of forced into buying two of the same dishes. Which is strange. Traditionally most dim sum dishes have three pieces. Rarely see 2 pieces being offered especially for double the price. We ordered their Jiaozi, Char Sui Bao, crab Rangoon, chilly chilli noodles, and their Xiang long Bao. All were great. The chilly chilli noodles is served cold and was very flavorful. The Xiang Kong Bao was amazing. The potstickers was probably my favorite dish and it's mess up char Sui Bao. We were going to order wings but they had ran out I guess by 12pm on a Sunday. I was also going to order fried rice but it wasn't offered for brunch. Overall despite the priciness of the menu, we still enjoyed our food and the service. I obviously knew what I was getting myself into by visiting this place, and can definitely see myself returning in the future.

    Photos
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
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    Eat First - chinese - Updated June 2026

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