I've been to Three Dots multiple times so I figured I should probably leave a review…read more The place is dark and intimate and fun to hang out in. The wall of rums dominates the back of the bar, and it's super fun to watch the bartenders mix drinks. But you need to talk to them. They will give you recommendations and adjust drinks to your liking, or make you something that is not on the menu. The food is also quite good. Mostly smaller plates, appetizer style, but sometimes larger items too. The place is not cheap, but you're getting good drinks and great ambiance. If you can find the entrance in the alley, you need to check the place out. Wear a nice Hawaiian shirt!

This was another fortunate find randomly while walking around downtown Chicago. Seems to be a super…read morepopular place based on the number of reviews this place has. It was hard to find, but we discovered the entrance is in a back alley and bar is located downstairs. We loved the Tikki Bar theme. Drinks were good but a little watered down which was disappointing. Overall, it was a unique experience in the city.

Came by for drinks after work and had an amazing time. Great hospitality from Lee definitely plan…read moreto come dine with him again.

Sunda New Asian has a modern, upper class atmosphere. Clean, good vibes…read more We got the brussel sprouts and the Kamayan Feast, which were pretty decent. The brussel sprouts were great, tangy, and I really liked the shallot crisps. I expected a little more from the Kamayan Feast, which though the adobo pork belly and the lumpia provided a solid flavor profile, I feel like the Kamayan Feast provided more in terms of quantity than quality. Overall I would maybe go again once I'm back in Chicago.

Ordered through door dash for the drunken noodles and have ordered 3 times since already, lol…read more Amazingggg food, flavor, quality chicken, and spice. Best $12 ever spent. The crab Rangoons are AMAZING as well, which says a lot because I have tried at least 30 in the city. These are top 5. Lastly, beef chow fun was okay. It didn't have much flavor and the beef was tough/hard to bite through so not a fan of that.

I've been going to Serai for years, which makes this review especially disappointing to write. I'm…read morenot sure if there has been a change in management or the kitchen, but this was by far the worst experience I've ever had here. The food was completely underwhelming, and when we shared our concerns with the staff, nothing was done to address them. The service was equally disappointing. Our server spent much of the time sitting on her phone while we waited for basic service like water refills, being asked about drinks, and receiving the drinks we ordered. We repeatedly had to get up and find someone just to receive attention. As for the food, the gyoza was bland and tasted like unseasoned pork. The lemongrass beef stew curry, which was highly recommended, arrived cold, had an odd texture, and lacked any real flavor. Most shocking of all were the drunken noodles. I've ordered them countless times over the years and always considered them among the best in Chicago. This time, I couldn't get past a single bite. Every dish was left unfinished. We didn't finish a single plate and didn't take any leftovers home--something that never happens for us. Between the poor service and incredibly disappointing food, this was an awful dining experience from start to finish. Unfortunately, after being a longtime customer, I won't be returning.

Sunday Funday with a fantastic first visit to a Chinatown gem!…read more I felt like Chinese food today, and rather than eating at my neighborhood regular, I wanted to go straight to Chinatown for the most delicious, authentic experience. Thanks to my deep dive and discovery on Yelp, MCCB turned out to be the perfect spot to achieve this. The restaurant has held its Michelin status for five years now, and for my first time visiting, the flavors here were incredible. Please note: the restaurant signage is not easily visible from the street since the storefront faces inward toward the mall plaza, and while looking for it, I ended up asking a local man and his wife for directions. He was so kind and welcoming that he unexpectedly left his wife on the sidewalk, my husband in the car, and walked me right across the street and into the mall to point it out from the inside! WAIT TIME: there is a 1 to 1.25 hour wait period to be seated for a table, and a $10 fee via credit card is required to secure your spot, which is then fully transferable to your bill upon checkout. The wait is a great time to walk, explore the shops, restaurants, all Chinatown has to offer, and get your steps and miles in! SERVICE: our first server, Allen, was a bit on the stiff, curt side, but overall nice. However, we had to move from a two-top table to a four-top to accommodate all the dishes we were trying. In that changeover, we were blessed to get one of the BEST servers there, Ashley, who made the experience wonderful. FOOD: we ordered an absolute feast, starting with three starters. The Cheng Du Style Dumplings were fantastic. The Crispy Crab Rangoons were actually not mini at all and had a great crunch. The Szechuan Style Cucumber was a bit underwhelming and a slight bit on the soft side for my tastes, as I prefer my veggies crunchy even when cooked. We ordered everything with the mild heat option so there was no overwhelming spice, just great flavor. For the main dishes, we started with the Cauliflower Flank Steak and added broccoli to it, which was a fantastic addition. It is cooked in an oyster sauce and has none of the standard sweeter seasonings of the other dishes. I chose this to balance a sweet and salty rationing across my dishes, finding that MCCB is a great place to get that perfect balance. The Chicken in Spicy Garlic Sauce was perfect with the mild heat option as well, and the Honey Black Pepper Flank Steak was also incredibly savory, tender, and good. We paired everything with garlic string beans, white rice, and a great jumbo shrimp fried rice. I preferred water, while my husband had a few Diet Cokes. The food comes out hot, fresh, and bursting with flavor. PARKING: parking is convenient--there is street parking or you can use the two north and south lots within walking distance. The north lot is on Archer and Wentworth, and the south lot is on Cermak and Wentworth. Validated parking is permitted for a maximum of 3 hours, and you will only pay $3 with the validation. Just make sure to stay within that time limit and get it validated, because if you go over the 3 hours or forget the validation, you will have to pay the full price for the lot. PRICE: the pricing here is very reasonable for a Michelin-recognized restaurant. Our dinner came out to just under $146 total, which offers phenomenal value given the large portions and top-tier quality. If you are seeking high-quality, delicious Sichuan food in Chinatown that completely lives up to its multi-year Michelin status, and can be customized perfectly to your spice comfort, this is a great place to go. Highly recommend and will return with family!

MCCB's is one of Chinatown's most popular restaurants and I can see why…read more Pros: The food is very good. My favorite items are the orange chicken, garlic green beans and their dumplings. Although orange chicken is relatively basic, there's isn't! It's crispy, orangey and savory. The best I've had. Their green beans, easily rival din tai fung's and their dumpling super good as well. A great broth, bouncy chewy wrapper, and super flavorful filling! The restaurant itself is cute & service is pretty decent, as well. Cons: Their crispy chili chicken wasn't my favorite, but I'm not the biggest fan of Szechuan chilies or dark meat. There was also a tang in the after taste of the chicken that I didn't love, but it was fresh and the crisp was really nice! There's also almost always a wait and the place and tables are pretty small, so if you're like me and like to order a lot of things, you may have trouble fitting things.

We got delivery and oh my gosh it was amazing!!! So many gluten free/gluten friendly options to…read morechoose from. The noodles, the chicken, the dessert options! So flavorful and I wish I had time to eat here twice during the vacation. Half charcoal chicken- unreal loved it with the rice Chili peanut noodles- the texture of the noodles was amazing and paired well with the chicken Dessert we had their banana bread item and carrot cake which all were gluten free and amazing

Food was really yummy. We had the Char Siu Bun, Elote Bun, Lo Mein and Chicken…read more Service was prompt. The chicken did take a while to come out but that was ok. Kinda casual but date night heavy.

Duck fried rice, every time…read more How have I not raved about Chef's Asian masterpiece? First off this place is super cool. The decor is interesting and brightly colored and each room has a bit of a different vibe. There's also a neat bar in the middle. For food we love the aforementioned fried rice with the runny duck egg, moo shu, bbq pork baos, chongqing chicken, Dan Dan slap noodles (natch) and those delicious green beans! We usually end up ordering a bunch since we've lived in the neighborhood for decades. Easy West Loop walk home leftovers for the win. Yes chef!

Lot of the food missed for me. The only thing I really enjoyed a lot was the goat slap noodles. The…read morechewy texture of the noodles and flavor was good, but offered barely any meat. A couple callouts on the mapo tofu, why does it not come with rice? Also the white rice we did have to buy as a side comes in a small bowl, making it difficult to scoop. The other mention is the overwhelming amount of peppercorn, taking away from the flavor and instead numbing the mouth. The green beans were not worth it and the chocolate sesame dessert was really disappointing to share. I don't recall much vanilla soft serve or chocolate shaved ice, if at all. The sesame flavor was really distracting away from the chocolate chunks and wasn't good overall. The service was weird with us not getting our rice right away with the green beans. We also had to ask about the noodles and it came out very late as we were almost done eating.

The burger is worth the hype! We came here looking to try the burger specifically. One thing of…read morenote, they only serve the burger at the bar after 7PM (I believe you can have it in the regular dining area before that time, but after 7PM, you can only order it at the bar!). The burger has a really rich and decadent miso butter that makes this burger so unique. If you want to double down on the miso butter, then order the oyster mushrooms (so delicious!). For another great side, the crispy chili cauliflower is very filling and tastes great! The ambiance of the restaurant is elevated yet casual and great for any event whether that be a date night spot, a get together with friends, or to celebrate a special occasion! The service is wonderful, our bartender was able to provide really great recommendations based on our preferences and what we were leaning towards so that we could share the perfect amount of food! Definitely will be coming back soon to try more of their menu!

My first time at Mott St, and it lived up to the hype! I'd seen so many recommendations on social…read moremedia, but what really drew me in was all the Michelin recognition. We tried plenty of dishes, and the standouts were the Stuffed Cabbage and the Oyster Mushrooms. The mushrooms were so delicious we ended up ordering a second round! The stuffed cabbage had crispy rice on the bottom, char siu pork, and soft cabbage. It was the perfect mix of textures and flavors. We also ordered the steak, which took quite a while to come out, but they did warn us about the wait ahead of time. One tip if you're coming for dinner and want their famous burger: they don't serve it for dine-in after 7pm! You can still order it to go, so we grabbed one after our meal. Overall, the food was amazing, and the ambiance, vibes, and lighting were just as good. I'd definitely recommend it and can't wait to come back!

The porcini Gruyère soup dumplings were honestly life changing. Delicious. The indoor/outdoor…read moreseating was super refreshing and service was fast. Would def come back!

Bigsuda has really delicious Korean food with a somewhat upscale vibe inside. They're known for the…read morepan seared mandoo (pot stickers) with the crackly crust. You can't go wrong with any of them. The cabbage tofu pocket is one of our go-to items here. It's a stuffed inari and when you bite into it you get a mouthful of salad in a pleasant way. The blueberry gives it a nice sweetness. The crunch crunch shrimp was good too. It's deep fried shrimp wontons, and the inside was actually really juicy from the shrimp. I do want to make special note of their water, it tastes really refreshing and comes in a nice steel bottle. Service is good they brought the plates out in a way that doesn't overload the small table and they are quick about taking empty bowls away. One thing that could be improved was the lighting and fan situation. At the specific two-seater table we originally say there's a ceiling fan that is right below a ceiling light. This caused a quick flickering that was really distracting. We told a server and were able to be moved to a different table slightly further away where it was less noticeable. It's definitely not a good lighting experience and highly suggest the owners address this. Most tables aren't affected by this though.

Del Seoul - Chicago Sometimes the best food finds happen…read morewhen you're simply walking by and your nose says, "Wait a minute... what's cooking in there?" That's exactly how we ended up at Del Seoul! We were walking by, saw the food, smelled all that goodness, and knew we had to stop. Even one of the diners told us the food was good and that we would enjoy it. That was all the confirmation we needed! Del Seoul is a quaint little spot with a dining area that isn't very large, along with additional seating on the side. When you enter, you place your order at the counter. One thing to know if you're dining with a group: everyone in your party must be present when ordering. We had a group of four, and they prepared a table for us. Ordering was easy, and Reilly was very friendly and helpful, which made our first visit even better. We started with the Kimchi Fries for the table. I didn't really taste much of the kimchi flavor, but the fries were still good. We also grabbed a bottle of Mango Soju to share. It wasn't overly sweet, and we decided shots were the way to go. Cheers! For my meal, I ordered the Bulgogi Bento Box, which came with grilled, thinly sliced flatiron steak with sautéed onions, an egg and scallion omelette, mixed greens with ginger vinaigrette, and steamed rice. The bulgogi was the star for me. The steak was tender, flavorful, and very tasty, and everything in the bento box worked well together. Definitely a satisfying meal! What started as a simple walk-by turned into a delicious Chicago food stop. If you're a Chicago native or visiting the city like I am, give Del Seoul a try. Sometimes you just have to follow the aroma! Five stars from me!

This is a casual counter-service spot where you order first, grab a seat, and they bring the food…read moreto your table. The vibes were laid back and perfect for a quick meal. 7/10. Service was great. They explained where everything was. 8/10. The tacos were good, but nothing really stood out. 7/10. They were a little too heavy on the slaw and mayo for my taste. The Sesame-Chili Shrimp Taco was my favorite. The shrimp stayed crispy and had the best flavor. The Sambal Fish Taco was a little soggy, while the Kalbi, BBQ Pork, and BBQ Chicken were all on the drier side. I honestly still prefer traditional Mexican tacos over these. The K-Town Chicken Wings (7.5/10) were my favorite item. They weren't breaded, but the sweet soy, chili, and garlic glaze was delicious. The skin had a nice firm bite, which I really liked.

now *this* is great okonomiyaki…read more coming from seattle and very recently having a disastrous experience at the only okonomiyaki spot in our area (you can read my past reviews for that), my two friends, my partner, and i were looking forward to having great okonomiyaki. thankfully, gaijin delivered! we came by on a friday night, and it was fairly busy. we wouldn't have been surprised if we were turned away since we didn't have a reservation. they ended up making space for us thankfully and we didn't even have to wait long at all. the inside of the place isn't that big, but it's not so tiny that it's cramped. when you sit down, if you are in a large enough party, you sit down in front of a flat stovetop to keep your okonomiyaki warm when the waiter brings it out to you. we started with some drinks. they were all very good - next time i'm trying that espresso goma-tini! i did get a lychee martini though, and it was a little strong of a pour but i still really enjoyed it. onto the okonomiyaki. we all ordered different ones so we could try them. every single one of them were delicious. i got the tofu osaka-style, my partner got the beef osaka-style, one of my friends got the fried shrimp osaka-style, and my other friend got the traditional hiroshima-style. each okonomiyaki is prepared perfectly, not too thick and not overly saucy (so it doesn't get soggy). the flavours are quite rich but also really nicely umami. sometimes, too rich of a sauce kind of overwhelms me, but the ratios are well-balanced. overall, truly recommend this place. probably some of the best okonomiyaki i've had. next time i'm in chicago, i'd love to go again. there's so many options to choose from and i want to try them all!