My only complaint is that it is quite pricey. Never seen boba cost so much but the bottles do compensate for the price. So many options. Service is quick. There was a lot of seating. I got the mango sago and it was so refreshing and not too much. I loved every bit of it. Would definitely return. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Finally went to a spot with quality boba drinks! Got the cookie drink was delish and a great selection of drinks. Although customer service was mediocre as always in Chinatown it seems... the place is nice and will be back for drinks. Their food isn't bad either. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Cookie drink - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Such a cute spot! I'm not big into bubble tea, but their mango boba was fantastic. They allow the option to customize your sugar, so that you can choose how sweet you want your drink to be. Their ice cream and waffles have generous portions and they're delicious. Our group enjoyed the food and the staff was fantastic. Looking forward to returning! read more

The atmosphere in this restaurant is amazing and it smells divine the moment you walk in. From bubble waffles to ice cream, there's an endless selection of items to pick from. The staff are also very friendly. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Passionate Strawberry Bubble Tea - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

On this visit we were celebrating a birthday. Follow us on this joyous occasion! First of all, this location is in the Chinatown Square Plaza. If you have never been, this plaza is huge and celebrates the Chinese culture showcasing their food, arts, crafts, fashion, etc. It is an electrifying experience walking around! JoyYee Plus is located in the second floor of the plaza. It's an awkward location, but we overlooked it because we were excited for the experience. The restaurant is neat and modern with modern seating and furniture and some Manga paintings on the walls that make it exciting to walk into. But that's about it for ambiance. No music or staff interaction other than the waitstaff. The main reason for the visit was the Shabu Shabu offering and the choice meats available. The menu is large and with some incredible options covering all food groups and menu choices! I wanted to order one of each! We ordered Mango Crab Rangoons, Japanese Fried Calamari and Chicken and Pork Potstickers. They were fantastic! The Rangoons were so crispy and tasty! The calamari had a good blend of all pieces and done in a lightly battered finish which allowed more of the calamari flavor to show through than the oil trapped in the batter. The potstickers were good too. We also ordered Truffle Oil Egg Fried Rice with Bulgugi Ribeye and Crawfish Fried Rice. Both were EXCELLENT! The Truffle oil ribeye Wes soft and buttery and very flavorful. The shrimp were plentiful and I asked for it made Spicy and was just right. For the Shabu Shabu we ordered Kurobuta Pork Belly, Premium Short Ribs, American Kobe Eye Kalbi, American Wagyu Chunk Ribeye and Australian Wagyu Beef. All were cut thin, meat was good quality and had good marbling and looked amazing! The broth was lightly spiced and complimented all the cuts perfectly. I wish the waitress would have told us more about the sauce station available ($2 per person) so that we would have experienced all the flavors with all the great cuts. Deserts were good but the person who made them took 20+ minutes to produce. The fresh Mango Sunday was really good. All in all, it was a great day. The food was great, but the place lacked the trained service to make it great. Will we be back? Definitely! Their food is worth the trip. But their service has to improve for it to be a great place. read more

They wrote "The Joy Yee Of Sex" and instigated the phrase "Joy-yeen The Club." Now they are serving up pretty decent bubble waffles (egg waffles, egg puffs), and a host of milk teas and fruit teas in oddly-designed containers. The brown sugar milk tea at the waffle place is a decent effort and comes in a huge weird sealable plastic container that makes putting the straw in and taking it out again a little problematic. Not that I have any problems sticking it in and getting it out... but. Anyway. The egg waffle is a little dry but I'm sure it's better if you get it with the ice cream and other toppings. It's just great that they have brown sugar for the tea. Not one of the better incarnations of it though, really. The service is nice except that if you don't keep your receipt then it will cause a real problem because they might not want to give you your stuff. They said that someone else had taken my stuff but after much deliberation and discussion they were willing to give it to me anyway. I had to fight for it. And fight. And fight. They would have gladly kept my $11, no big deal. After an argument, they decided to re-make my stuff (which someone else had taken). Once they decided to replace my stuff, they were perfectly nice about it which is something. The products are between 3 and 4, but due to that negative drama experience and the chunk of time it cost me, I'm going with 3. read more

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My go to to get ice cream or bubble tea, hard to find parking and long lines. Overall I love it. read more

This place was recommended to us by our friends when they were in Chicago last. We came to this Joy Yee Plus instead of the original one because it seem less intimating with all the options and choices but we were wrong. It was still overwhelming and intimating especially when there's no space to go from there entry to the ordering counter. The menu of drinks is extensive for flavors tea. The one thing that was intimating is the menu on the door doesn't match to the one on the board and so if you forget what you were going to order you get flustered because you have to run back to front entrance to see what it was that you were going to order. My husband ordered the Sparkling Butterfly Pea Tea with rose and cranberry and it was different. Oh and there was a warning that pregnant women are not to order to drink. He enjoyed it and felt it tasted refreshing. I had a "cousin Amanda" and it had pineapple, kiwi, and oolong tea I think. The prepper had to look up the drink in the menu to see what ingredients goes into my drink which stands to say that less is more. Maybe have less choices on the menu and focus on perfecting the few before offering a whole load of options. The sign on the wall as we entered mentioned a soft opening. This place offered bubble tea, bubble waffle and ice cream. They have the best taro flavored ice cream I've ever had. There's even mini chunks taro. I didn't think I would like it but it was different and unusual from the popular flavors of strawberry, mango, vanilla and chocolate. I wasn't going to get ice cream but saw that they had durian and taro flavor, I wanted to sample and was sold on the taro and they do not skimp on your scoop of ice cream. Besides sweet drinks and treats, they also have mini hot pot. The hot pot looks delicious. Would have love to try but we were running out of room in our belly for food. Overall, service was good with great tea and ice cream. Space is limited but will definitely return to try more flavors. read more

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Amazing boba! Every drink I've tried has been delicious. I also love the cup they come in. Definitely recommend this spot if you're looking for delicious boba. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Butterfly Tea with lychee jelly - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

My boyfriend brought me here for boba drinks and I was super happy! I've been going to Chi town for awhile and never thought they have Joy Yee plus different from Joy Yee where we usually eat. We ordered from a kiosk. Anyway he got me the waffles with ice cream in it and also the boba drinks. Everything was really good! The only downside in this place is that it's very very small and chances are there won't be any available seat for you to enjoy your dessert especially if you guys are larger group. Be prepared to wait or take it to go. Sadly. ‍ read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Well, we have been in many place like this in the past. However, this is completely different with the others. The place is crowded and well maintenance (maybe just open). So, I ordered my favorite drink which was Thai tea and took over 10 minutes to get it. I took first sip and stop taking it right away, because it was using very strong artificial flavor compared with others. If you're tolerating with artificial drinks and this is place for you. The reason I give 3 stars because the place is well clean and they used pretty nice containers for the drinks. read more

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Was in Chinatown in Chicago and saw a place that sold milk tea! And so after dinner, headed in. They have egg puffs here! They also have actual food here too, so if you want some of that, you can get it here too HAHA. This really reminded me of Tea Brick in LA because of the names that they used. So I got a little excited at that point. I decided to order a matcha egg waffle, sweet rose milk tea, and The Jasmine Fruit teas. It took about 10 minutes for everything to be made. The teas are gonna be faster to make, and the waffle/puffles will be made one at a time since they gotta make sure they watch the time for them. Sweet rose is a rose oolong milk tea with vanilla ice cream and strawberry jelly. Jasmine is strawberry, mango, passion fruit with green or black tea with strawberry and mango pieces. For the Jasmine, I went with the green tea and got it with haif sugar. It was a bit underwhelming. There wasn't really a good tea flavor in there and the flavor combination was way weaker than I expected :( It was supposed to be a jasmine green tea with fruit but it felt like a way watered down version of it. No bueno. The sweet rose, also half sugar, was way better. Instead of the fragrance of the rose, it gave you the sugar version of it. It's okay, at least this drink was drinkable for me. The matcha egg puffle was decent. It didn't really have the strong egg or matcha flavor but it smelled good and tasted decent. If you're not here for the dessert, stay for the hot pot! :) read more

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Update: I'm taking 2 stars away because of a recent experience here. My friend and I got the dessert bubble waffle and sat at a table for 8 that was for "dessert orders only." The table itself was small, and I saw employees telling people that came after us that that was the only available table to sit at (6 chairs were already occupied) so people were getting their desserts and leaving. To me this is VERY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. People pay for their food, they should be allowed to sit inside and eat it. Who wants to eat an ice cream bubble waffle outside at night in the winter? Also, you have two floors and you only have 1 table for people who are ordering desserts? This is unacceptable to me. At least offer/direct people to head over to Joy Yee so they can sit there and enjoy their desserts. We are paying customers too - even if we're not ordering hot pot. I don't think I'll be back any time soon after this experience. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Review: Joy Yee Plus is one of my favorite places in the city to grab dessert. My favorite (and the only thing I've tried) is their ice cream and bubble waffles. The space is small and tight, especially during their busy times. It can be hard to maneuver and to wait for your food. Another problem I have is sometimes when it's busy they've told me dessert is for carry out only. If I'm a paying customer, I feel like I should have the right to sit down and enjoy my food. C'est la vie though, you know what you're going to get when it comes to service in Chinatown. The dessert makes up for where the space itself is lacking. I love that the bubble waffles come in different flavors! The texture is nice and they give it to you fresh. The ice cream there is also worth it as they have unique flavors. I wasn't wowed by the durian ice cream, but the black sesame ice cream is really good. I really like the Black and Red Ice Cream Bubble Waffle - it comes with black sesame ice cream, red bean, mochi, and pocky. The contrast in texture between the crispy bubble waffle, the gummy mochi, the thick red bean, and the smoothness of the ice cream is to die for. Their green tea soft serve ice cream is also really good. If you get the ice cream and bubble waffle I highly suggest you share! I have never attempted to eat it on my own and have seen a lot of people throw part of it away because they can't finish it. While the service isn't always the best, this dessert shop is definitely worth a try! read more

I love Joy Yee, and I always get boba when I'm in Chinatown from Joy Yee! While I've been to Joy Yee Plus before, this was my first time since the re-opening and the new menu items besides the shabu shabu. The cost of boba here is more expensive than the regular Joy Yee (which is overpriced) but i think it was bigger than the regular Joy Yee and it comes with a container which you could re-use, so it's somewhat excusable. Since I normally enjoy fruit smoothies, it would honestly be a lot cheaper to go to any of the restaurants in Chinatownthat serve fresh fruit smoothies bc it's basically just fruit in a blender, but if you want to try some of the teas or cheese foam or anything then it's definitely good to check out!! I got the mango smoothie, and my friends got two of the newer drinks. One was one of the sparkling pea teas (the ombré one in the picture), but I don't remember what they were called. The sparkling pea tea one was really pretty because of the ombré and it did have a little bit of fizziness to it. The other one had a lot of fruit in it, so it was pretty good too! If you're craving more of the unique/aesthetic drinks, then definitely go to joy Yee plus! Otherwise, regular joy Yee is cheaper I think. And if you just want a smoothie, I would recommend going to any other restaurant as long as you don't mind that it might not be as gram worthy read more

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Didn't tried their drinks but I had their Hong Kong style bubble waffle with black sesame. It smelled amazing and was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Hong Kong style bubble waffle with black sesame - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Enjoyed both the shabu shabu (hot pot) and ice cream on two occasions during our weekend trip in Chicago. High quality seafood and decadent flavors. This was one of our favorite food moments doing the shabu shabu! We actually ended up purchasing a burner and pot for us to make at home! The restaurant seems to be busy after sunset until close everyday. It's a smaller restaurant that has a constant flow of customers purchasing ice cream waffle and bubble tea. I would recommend any of the teas or ice cream as well as slotting some time to do a hot pot with friends. YouTube how to prior or figure it out like we did. It's addicting and fun! Hope you all enjoy as well. :) read more

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So many options for food and drink. I went in with the intent of getting some milk tea and trying their durian ice cream options. I was pleasantly surprised with their numerous offerings and had a hard time to choose. Ordering was easy using their touch terminals. Ended up getting a pina colada drink with boba, and some bubble waffles. The waffle itself was alright but could have been a bit fluffier. The drink was quite good and tasted much like a regular pina colada. I did like how the cups were square which made for easier packing for storage. May have to try more of their options next time I go, so until next time! read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

joylee plus. awesome !!!!joylee plus... clean quick service.... everything on the menu is awesome !!!! read more

Joy Yee Plus - Joylee plus.. deeeeelicious fruit tea !!!! - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The place smells amazing! The ice cream i got was $10 but it was worth it in my opinion it was big and had a waffle with it and oreos and mini candy bars in it, It was delish. Also had got a Thai Tea togo, They have options on how sweet i want it. Also tried my friend's dessert and it was bomb. They have a kiosk you can order at, but the staff was very helpful. Only took about 10 minutes for all four items , and they were very busy but the service was very fast.. read more

Swish swish at Joy Yee Plus! That is exactly what we did at this Boba - Shabu "esque" restaurant in Chinatown Square near Chicago's south side. A friend and I had been day tripping through the Windy City and by the time we made it to Chinatown Square our voracious appetites were in need of a serious fix. We were starving and super indecisive...go figure. Yet our indecisiveness was instantly quelled when we discovered Joy Yee Plus. Joy Yee may look Ike a typical Boba place but there is so. Much more to this place, namely the Swish Swish. It's called Shabu Shabu in Japanese, which translates to ¨Swish Swish in English. And NO Im not talking about that cool Katy Perry song, ya know the one called swish swish fish... Anyhoo, we were seated within minutes upon entering Joy Yee and the hostess handed us an enormous menu to select our meats and veggies to swish in the boiling hot pot and burner that was set on our table. How to order The lazy American way is to simply select one of the ¨combos¨that are put together by the restaurant and are listed in the menu. However, the problem with this is, ¨whaddaya do if you don't like the greens they choose or the type of noodles.¨ Yep, this was our dilema so we decided to go ä la cart with our meal. We ordered each item one at a time Ramen noodles, baby bok choy, shiitake shrooms, baby spinach, a double order of thin sliced fatty beef..and our meal turned out to be simply devine. The entire meal, cooking and eating took about 90 minutes in all. And yes... with this hearty comforting meal we put our hunger to rest. Good times, good food, and good conversations...what a better way to spend an evening out on the town. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Honestly great shabu shabu! Plenty of variety even if you don't eat the meat sets, the appetizers are super filling, and their dessert bobas are obviously unmatched! One set may not be enough for2, but add ons are diverse and plentiful read more

Not sure how I feel about this place.. I came from out of town and misread the times they were opening and we ended up coming 30 minutes before they actually opened. We were able to get in and sit down.. I only came in because my mom and I was being harassed by an older male who was homeless. We just hurried up and tried to get inside of an establishment to feel safe. It was cold and windy outside as well. We aren't familiar with the area being from out of town. As we are sitting at a side table with a chair down, the rude girl that told us we could come in proceeds to talk about us in another language to her coworkers in the back. She sets up the place and starts angrily slamming chairs down and acts like she's in a bad mood so we move out of her way. That's now how you treat customers that are willing to wait and order. Anywho we ordered a milk tea and the fruity tea, I believe the cadence and I don't remember the name of the milk tea. It was okay. Milk tea was too sweet and didn't wow me. Fruity tea was nice and refreshing with real fruit in it. Came in reusable cute plastic bottle, good for insta pic but not worth it. Overall I didn't feel welcome and don't think ill be back here. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Milk tea (not sure which one) and the cadence - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I was zooming around town with one of my special out-of-town guests, as we were looking for some interesting local dining experiences. One evening we wound up at Chinatown Square, which is chock full of Asian dining establishments. My companion spotted a place that served shabu shabu, so we went to Joy Yee Noodle Plus as I have never tried shabu shabu before. This restaurant has an interesting split personality. While some customers are seated at certain tables with bubbling cooking cauldrons, others lined up for a chance to order eye-popping handcrafted Asian-style desserts. Shabu shabu is sort of a hotpot way of self-cooking your own meal, and the name is supposedly representative of the sound of the ingredients being swished around in the cooking vessel. I am not very adept at cooking, but my friend seemed to know what she was doing, and whatever she did not know she picked up from watching a nearby customer who became our unofficial cooking guide. At first the two of us ordered a set menu of food items, but on second thought we decided to order a la carte so that we could actually order things that we would like to eat (ramen noodles over glassy vermicelli noodles, and Chinese spinach over cabbage). Ordering the ingredients separately was definitely the way to go for us, and the total tab still seemed reasonable. After we secured a selection of toppings and sauces for our upcoming meal, the plates of ingredients were brought out to us (beef soup base, thin slices of beef, ramen noodle, mushrooms, Chinese greens). The initial part of cooking was somewhat awkward, with loose noodles and splashing sauces aplenty, but after a couple of belly laughs we got into a rhythm of cooking and eating. The server replenished the broth in the pot several times, and eventually we created a healthy and hearty soup loaded with so many ingredients. Somehow the vegetables came out incredibly flavorful in the end. Shout out to the staff as they all seemed to be working really hard for the diners this evening. As much as we enjoyed the colorful parade of desserts being consumed by other customers, we were a little full to order dessert. The shabu shabu at Joy Yee Noodle Plus was a fun, tasty and wonderful dining experience for the two of us. read more

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My first time at this store. The inside is cleaned and organized. The staff is friendly and quick. There are some tables for the customers who are waiting for their drinks. I tried Thai tea and coffee. Both were served in big size reusable boba cups. I chose coffee over the Thai tea because the sweetness. Thai tea was more sweet than the coffee. I will definitely come back in the future. read more

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Ordered the durian avocado sundae, a plain bubble waffle, tiger stripes, cant make up my mind, a dragon fruit drink idk the name of and the sweet rose. The drinks were pretty cheap considering you get a cute reusable cup with it. Durian avocado sundae was amazing. I love that the durian icecream wasn't too overpowering. My brother had the bubble waffle and he said it was the better than the ones he had everywhere else (nyc, Toronto, taiwan) I didnt like the tiger stripes that much since it was a bit too sweet for me but my brother liked it. The dragon fruit drink was a slushi, my dad had asked the cashier what she recommended as long as it had mango and he thought it was pretty good. I loved the cant make up my mind. I ordered it on a whim since I didn't know what I wanted. Overall the drinks were good but since the place is so popular we had to wait over 30 minutes for our drinks. Great to try but probably won't come back until they fix the wait times read more

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This dessert shop has an extensive dessert flavor options - especially for fruit and milk teas. There are also lots of ice cream flavors and tapioca and bubble waffles variations. The service is pretty fast but there aren't many seats in the store. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Pretty cool reusable plastic cups. Drinks were about $7-8. It got busy but they are very fast and efficient. Drinks were a solid 6/10. - we had the passion fruit mango butterfly tea and a mango smoothie read more

Absolutely amazing, joy yee never disappoints. The drinks were very unique and delicious, even though I was intimidated at the choices and what to get. I went with the lavender float and it was delicious. Next time I'd like to ask for no ice though read more

Joy Yee Plus - Lavender float - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The thing about most Chinese dessert places in Chicago is that they generally look better than they taste and Joy Yee Plus is one example of that. I got a s'mores bubble waffle dessert. I also tasted samples of the plain yogurt (good!) and green tea yogurt (tastes like watered down green tea). The bubble waffle was lacking in flavor (not as soft, fluffy, and eggy as the ones in Toronto). The ice cream was more on the icy side and needed a heavier dairy concentration. The marshmallows were barely heated through (almost no browning!). Another downside is that all desserts must be taken to-go. You cannot be seated if you only want dessert. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Almost $10 dessert - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

After closing for months due to remodeling, I am very happy to see it open for business again. I love the new decor, light fixtures and new(er) dessert section. In addition to the bubble drinks, they now serve ice cream and waffle dessert with fruits and ice cream. There's not much more I can say about their hot pot other than it's simply the best. The friendliest staff you'll ever meet who provide superb service. Cold weather is just around the corner, I'm sure my best friend and I will be visiting again soon! read more

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Best shabu shabu in town!!Too many option for a sauce and everything.Beef soup is a must!!after covid they operate only on the second floor, So people can easily missed this place.Been there twice after reopen but not seem to be busy at all,So shout out to them!! read more

Joy Yee Plus - so many vegetarian option. - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Expensive but fancy! They let us try the charcoal and durian ice cream for fun. Rose milk tea had excellent balance and flavor. Banana nutella bubble waffle was good! Boyfriend wanted more chocolate than hazelnut but the toppings were legit. Fun and flavorful. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Nutella banana bubble waffle - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Best summer night treat in China town. Their ice cream is the best so make sure you get the egg waffle with ice cream and toppings. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Egg waffle with taro ice cream, mango bits, mini mash mellow, sprinkles, and matcha pocky sticks. - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

My favorite smoothies and bubble tea. The fruit teas also looked good with fresh fruit. I recommend 30-50% seeetness level read more

Joy Yee Plus - Taro smoothie with tapioca - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Was in and out within 5 minutes. Ordered the Passionfruit strawberry drink as it was in their special menu and caught my eye. When the drink came out I was excited as it was a very pretty looking drinking. However, the taste was a bit on the sweet side. Next time I'd probably go for one of the tea blends to try to even out the sweetness. The fruit inside the drink was a good visual as well but the taste was just ok. Can't blame them for my own drink choice though as I'd gladly try a different one. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Usually, my family loves coming here. However, today we were sorely disappointed. We ordered food and were told it would be a 15 minute wait. After about 30 minutes and several annoyed looks by us, they told us they were just beginning to prepare our food. After another five minutes we decided to get a refund and just leave. We will not be returning in the foreseeable future. I'm not blaming any specific workers, but this whole experience was just extremely disappointing. read more

Only came here for the very unique drinks that they offered. Wide varieties of drinks to choose from I recommend the 3 Lovers, #27 and #28. Rather than a original bobba drink cups, this location gives you a bottle and it's up to you whether to reuse the bottle or recycle it! read more

Joy Yee Plus - #27 and #28 - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

If I can give this place a zero star I would. This place have terrible service. Extremely unorganized. We waited in line and sign in our name for a table and these couples came after us. And sign our name after us too. Yet they argue and fought for our table that we been waiting for. After causing a fuss because these worker are not keeping order of who is coming in. We left upset because it's not even worth trying to argue with these line cutting people lwhile the waiters don't even know what's going on. Don't try this place it's a headache and you will be starving forever. - addition to this review, this was recently added to the store. *Look at attach photo* this place is racist! They simply are attacking Vietnamese people. Let me remind you this is in China town and this sign is written in Vietnamese and English. It should have been written only in English. I hope no one will go to a place that attack a certain race. read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I gained a quick addiction to what seems to be an up and coming brand in the Chicago area. I came in here and ordered a cherry sunrise tea and immediately got hooked! So much that I bought three teas in one sitting, and made a trip back before getting on the plane to go home. Service is friendly and great, for they seek to accommodate their customers. I saw hotpot/shabu shabu and wish I had more stomach room to come back for that. My friends all acclaimed Joy Yee Plus for their creative flavors and tastes. I sampled some Thai tea flavored ice cream and if I had room for more food I probably would've gotten it too. It tasted rich and fresh. I would've had one of the various interesting flavors available. Definitely would come back and recommend to those who come in the area! read more

Amazing drink! Definitely a must try. Wish they had Joy Yee Plus where I live. It's definitely somewhere you'll want to visit more than once! read more

Joy Yee Plus - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois