This was my first time at Joy's, and I had a wonderful time! We were seated right away, and the servers were very attentive. The restaurant was very quiet, as we went on a Tuesday evening. They gave us time to look at the menu, and then came over with waters and to take our orders. We ordered the veggie rolls to share, my friend ordered the chick pad Thai, and I ordered the pad see ewe. Everything was delicious! read more

See all

This was a cute restaurant in a good walkable place of lakeview. The service was really quick. We were able to get seated right away and they were very attentive in making sure our drinks were always filled. This is a BYOB place and they do not sell their own liquor but will provide a bucket of ice for you to keep your liquor. I got the drunken noodles and thought they were ok but I wouldn't get them again. I wanted something cozy that I knew before, however I would go back because they had a lot of noodle dishes I hadn't seen before. My friend got the curry and she really liked it. read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Drunken Noodles - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Very nice room. Indifferent (Oh this is so beneath me) to lackadaisical service. Food? While my friend who owned a Vietnamese restaurant and successfully tweaked her recipes for the American pallet, the same cannot be said about Joy's. Why in the world put so much sugar/sweetener in a savory dish? Why? I don't expect Golden Noodles to taste like cotton candy. I don't think it was a mistake because we were one of the only customers in the place. My friend's noodle dish was noticeably smaller than mine. Unacceptable. We have better options in the same neighborhood. read more

We stopped in and had a decent time. The crab rangoons were a delicious starter. I was in the mood for curry, they don't have many options so I went with the green curry. It was ok, nothing spectacular, but I finished it all! The drunken noodles had great flavor, just wish they were spicier! Overall the experience was pretty decent, the service is great and the food comes out quick! read more

See all

The coconut curry was delicious!!!! Got a takeout but the place was so cute so will return to dine in. read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Coconut curry - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Good Thai. Decent baby enrolls and fantastic iced coffee for dessert. Service was better from the male servers, which seems to be the pattern lately, since I've started emulating the TikTok Bold Glamour filter, haha. read more

See all

never misses. best coconut curry soup. don't sleep on this spot. it is one of the few places i've gone back to over and over.

We ordered two dishes for carry out! The drunken noodles and the pad woon sen, I've never tried either of them but they were both so good! And the amount you get is crazy!! I love getting bang for your buck! No wonder they've been around forever!!! read more

I came here for dinner with a girl friend! We were seated and served quickly! I thought the pad see ew was alright, nothing too unique or memorable. The restaurant is huge though with lots of seating. read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Pad See Eiw & Rice Bowl - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I used to get Joy's frequently, they have great portions and good food but my most recent order on 12/31 had a fingernail in the food. This is absolutely unsanitary and I will not return after this experience. read more

See all

Thai milk tea is very sweet and tasty, if you get it with no ice, I would recommend diluting it milk. The boba is horrible, do not get. Tastes like it's been sitting out for hours. Service seems rather disorganized, but the employees are nice. Surprisingly roomy inside, although most people seem to prefer sitting outside. Honestly would be 2 stars since the boba was so bad (thai milk tea itself is fine though, it's premixed I think), but other people's food looked really good and the portion sizes looked big, so bumped up to 3 stars. read more

I've been a loyal customer since 2001. Unfortunately the food quality has diminished over the years. It makes me sad but I have to move on.

Super great and authentic Thai food. Place was close to empty on a Saturday at 7:30pm. Food came out super quick and super hot. All dishes are reasonably priced and delicious. Highly recommend this place! read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Rice Bowl with tofu - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

My husband and I have lived in the area for 33 years, and we have been going to Joy's since they opened. It has always been a great place for fast, inexpensive, and tasty Asian food. And it's in Boy's Town, so it's a fun place to be on a warm summer night. The past few years, the food has seemingly dropped in quality, but we just brushed it off as off nights for the restaurant. Tonight, while running some errands, we placed a phone order for chicken pad Thai and a spring roll...basic stuff. Within minutes we arrived at the restaurant and the order was ready. I know they are quick to make items, but they seemed to be ready too quickly. We had the food home in minutes...so it had not been sitting around. Everything was awful. The pad Thai noodles were dry and almost flavorless. Other than a few pieces of grizzly chicken (I had to spit one piece out of my mouth), there were no scrambled egg bits, scallions or anything else you'd expect to find in a decent pad Thai. The spring roll was dry, too. The wrapper was leathery and hard; the filling was dry. Honestly, these are two easy to make items...staples of any Asian restaurant. And with the price charged there should be no cutting back on the ingredients. These items were so dry, and ready so quickly, we guessed that they were premade, not made fresh to order. You lost me tonight, Joy's. There are just too many other places to get a decent, quick Asian meal, to put up with mediocre, almost inedible food. read more

i have never seen a Penang curry that poorly done 1. The vegetables - carrots and cucumbers are not cooked. 2. There is no rice offered by the restaurant in the dish, you get this greasy oily fried stuff made by flower. Not sure I am suppose to do with that. 3. They literally just put the curry they already cooked in the container and then put raw veggies and fried stuff in the other and call it a day. If you like your dish that thoughtless and takes 3 mins to prepare, then you should try their panang curry. read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Carrot that not cooked. - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Ordered drunken noodles and crab rangoons for takeout. The crab rangoons were fine, a little cold, but very small. The drunken noodles were also lukewarm and had absolutely no taste. Sadly unimpressed I had high hopes after reading other reviews. read more

Unfortunately, this restaurant suffers from what a lot of them do - trying to be too many things, and all of those being done to mediocrity. If you're a Chinese restaurant, great. Do that well. If you're a Vietnamese restaurant, do it well. This place severely lacked flavor and nothing tasted anything like the culture that created it. The meal was just a bummer. read more

Got takeout & it was so tasty. I got the Phuket noodles with chicken--highly recommend! The portion is pretty big so you have enough for two meals too (at least I did). read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Phuket Noodles - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Note to everyone: they have a new website and the process is a bit confusing. We apparently did not indicate that we were ordering for delivery. They called us back after closing to say they had canceled our order. We've been customers for over 20 years and spent well over $1000 here over the years, but we will not be doing business with this place again. Buh bye... read more

One thing about Joy's Noodles is that it's consistent! Whether I'm dining in or grabbing some take-out, I can always count on the flavors and the portion size to be just what I need. This is my go-to spot for Thai food in Lakeview - It's also really nice to sit outside in the summer and people watch on Broadway. The staff are friendly and efficient. They get your order fired right away, constantly refill your water, and don't try to pressure you to get more food or dessert. We love the Pad Thai which could probably feed 2-3 people but who wants to share?! For appetizers get the cucumber salad or the veggie rolls! read more

Ordered in food for delivery. Pad Woon Sen with Tofu was good and more flavorful than others I've had elsewhere. Pad Thai was good and generous with bbq pork tips. The Noodles Soup Special was light but bland. Plenty of typical Thai dishes to choose from. read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Pad Woon Sen, Noodles Soup Special, Baby Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon, Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

WoW! I was craving Thai Food and ordered randomly through Seamless Delivery a week ago! Amazing presentation of the food-HOWEVER; it was the QUALITY and PORTION SIZES of the food that were OUTSTANDING. I ordered: Crab Rangoons Baby Egg Rolls Chicken Pad Thai The Crab Rangoons were the BEST that I HAVE HAD since moving to Chicago! The oil that they were fried in was fresh as it was light and did not weigh down the filling. The same for the Baby Egg Rolls. Furthermore, the dipping sauce was PERFECTLY ON-POINT! The Chicken Pad Thai was also a HUGE portion and had a substantial amount of quality chicken mixed in with the noodles and bean sprouts with a side of lemon. I would definitely order again in a heartbeat! PS. Sorry I ate the Pad Thai and therefore no pictures-sooooo good! Also my video of the Baby Egg Rolls would NOT UPLOAD. Sorry! read more

See all

Enjoyed the outdoor atmosphere, the patio in the back. Please water your flowers :0 Food was good, service was great. Love having you in our neighborhood! read more

Been ordering from Joy's since the 90's - tonight is the last time. It's changed and I don't know what happened. New owner? New cooks? I have no idea. Tonight's order, as well as our last order, was bland. Pad See Eiw Beef ($18) and Pad Thai - the most straight forward dishes had only a hint of flavor AND the meats were tough. I thought maybe I am sick, but my husband verified "something's off." Disappointing. Bye Joy's! read more

Stopped in for an early dinner on pride parade weekend. The menu was easy to get through and had lots of favorites to choose from. I selected the chicken coconut curry, which was delicious and the perfect level of spice. Service was attentive without being disruptive. We will stop again next time we visit town! read more

Used to love this place-- went during the week, restaurant and bathroom weren't that clean, service was sad and food was okay... not sure what happened but won't revisit anytime soon. I think they can do better read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice was a delicious surprise. I came across Joy's Noodles & Rice on Grub Hub while randomly searching for a Thai restaurant. I had never heard of the restaurant but it had fairly good reviews so my husband and I decided to try it out. Joy's Noodles & Rice menu is what you would typically find at many Thai restaurants. I am a creature of habit so I opted for the Pad See Ew and a pot sticker starter. The ordering experience was pretty smooth and the food as delivered in a timely fashion. The Pad See Ew was consistent to other Thai places so I was happy about that and the portion sizes are decent. The potstickers were okay nothing that I would highly recommend. I easily got two meals out of my order which is always a plus. I would definitely visit Joy's Noodles post-COVID to enjoy the BYOB portion of the restaurant. read more

I got the coconut chicken curry here and it was fantastic. Nice and creamy with a nice amount of spice. The cucumber side salad was pretty refreshing too as I went on a very hot day. The ambiance was very relaxing and open-air as you can walk between the restaurant and outside pretty easily. A great neighborhood spot in East Lakeview read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Coconut chicken curry - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Ordered GrubHub pickup from here. Was so excited to try because I walk by this restaurant every day. When I walked in one of the employees saw me right away and came over to help me. He was really nice and quick. The green curry chicken was great. That's always my favorite Thai dish. The white rice was steamed perfectly. Then for fun we got the veggie stir fry. I was so excited they had baby corn. Those are always so fun! read more

Great food and service eat in and take out! We've lived in the neighborhood for 4 years and just found it last summer. The best!

Looked really inviting from the outside especially with the open air seating - however just DON'T is my suggestion Yelpers!! Consider this a PSA. I was with friends at the Lakeview Arts Festival this weekend and decided to walk in to preview the menu which looked like a nice menu of noodles and rice dishes and very reasonably priced but in the restaurant's defense, it was just after 1:30pm on a Sunday during a street festival so it was probably just after the lunch rush and about half the tables were still not bussed from those who dined-in... but that's not nearly the disturbing part!! I wanted to wash my hands before sitting down so I went to the ladies room and eeekkkk!!! I spotted several Cockroaches (or maybe they're large Beetles IDK - see pictures) around the sink area and floor. If that's not gross enough, just to the other side of the restrooms is the Kitchen!!! Pretty sure my facial expression said it all and immediately I had zero appetite for this place. See I have this theory: how a restaurant keeps their restrooms is very likely how they keep their kitchen too so no thanks bugs on a plate just isn't for me. We ended up walking a little bit further down Broadway St. and found a neat little spot that was showcasing the football games across the TVs. read more

See all

Such a disappointment. I know this is kind of an institution and many people rave about it. However, my experience was far less than stellar. Been a long time since I started this review so I'm struggling to recollect all the issues, but, I seem to recall communication issues (language barriers) with the staff. I don't care so much about that, I love living in a multicultural society. However, I don't have to struggle too hard to recall that I'm certain that the food tasted REALLY off, almost as if they'd just had the exterminators in and the chemicals seeped into the food... not that I know what rat poison actually tastes like. read more

Just took out from Joy's for dinner last night, we live around the corner from here, and it's hard to resist the aromas daily, and this would be our 100+ dinner there. The Pad Thai, Pad Kee Mao (flat, broad rice noodles with vegetables and choice of protein, mild to medium heat) and NP Pad Thai (glass noodles version of Pad Thai) and the Rama Special (steamed broccoli and chicken with a creamy coconut-peanut sauce, mild) are the usuals that we get here, it's very authentic and best of all, the staff are very welcoming and hyper efficient. The back garden dining is a treat on a nice summer or shoulder season evening. read more

Love this place. It was my go to Thai place when I lived in Lakeview. It was close enough to pick up when nice outside, and the delivery fee wasn't too high for when I ordered. I've had the pad Thai, pad woon sen, drunken noodles, lard na, and Pad Prik Noodles and enjoyed them all. I've also had the pot stickers, which were tasty, and the crab rangoons, which were pretty good. I do wish they had more filling. I dined in person once over the summer in the back patio, and service was great, and the restaurant was clean. The patio was cozy and pretty quiet, considering the restaurant right on Broadway. It should be noted that it is BYOB. read more

Great takeout every time I've ordered (mostly the Pad See Ew). Reliably good Thai food!

BYOB... a bonus when you're 22 and broke... and still, when you're 36 trying not to be broke! I saw a picture of the coconut curry with shrimp ($12, but $15 with shrimp upcharge) on Yelp... it was so good!! Very filling, I might pop, but I couldn't stop! Comes with a cucumber salad which is nice. Large restaurant, practically empty 5-6:30 on a Monday... but I guess that early bird time :-) read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Coconut curry - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

The food was better and the waitress was nicer the second time at the restaurant. They also did individual checks for 6 of us BUT BEWARE they ADD THEIR TIP!!!! I don't love when restaurants do that but it is what it is. My cashew chicken was much smaller and not quite as good as other restaurants where I have had it. I guess I'm getting a little sick of higher prices and smaller portions. read more

Best general tso's chicken, Rice, its amazing! Great place, Great enviroment. if youre in the area STOP IN. thank me later

Overall, the place was decent but not great. We got two appetizers - Tom yum soup and spring rolls. The soup was good but the rolls weren't good at all. I had a crispy Pad Thai with shrimp which in my opinion was the best I have had so far! But my bf was disappointed with the Beef and broccoli entree read more

Joy's Noodles & Rice - Beef and Broccoli - Thai Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Very good. Ordered for take out. The chicken satay appetizer and the coconut curry were delicious