This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in all the suburbs!! It's traditional Chinese food Not an American Chinese place like a PF Changs. It's a nice place but not fancy. Great for everyone- families, couples etc. The service is good - everyone works hard there. Dinner time is busy and they do close at 9pm so you need to be seated by 8pm. These are our favorite dishes there: *Chongqing Popcorn Chicken (it's addictive!) *Eggplant with garlic sauce *Peking Duck Highly recommend this great local spot!! read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - Menu order .068. Chongqing Popcorn Chicken - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Decent food, service not so much. Wanted to try something different for my lunch break so I went to this location. It was raining and chilly outside so I decided on something soup based and got myself a bowl of rice noodle soup with fatty beef for my protein. For an appetizer, I got the pork belly with garlic sauce. I really liked this because the pork was thinly sliced and the sauce was rich and flavorful. The rice noodle soup was spicy and hot and the serving was plentiful, so I took the rest to go. As for the service, I was the only one in the restaurant and the server was standoffish and was on his phone most of the time. No big deal but I was really peeved when I said I wanted the rest of my noodle soup to go and he just gave a container and a plastic bag. I usually didn't mind packing my own to go but in this instance, the bowl was bulky and I wasn't sure how I was going to transfer the soup without spilling. I wish the server was a little more thoughtful and offered to help but nope, he just went back to his phone. It would be better to just order take out from this place because the dine in experience was underwhelming. read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

After some amazingly delicious meals at Peppercorns, I was a tiny bit disappointed in my last takeout order from here. Granted, I did try a few different things this time, and generally, the flavors were still good but it just didn't blow me away as much as it has in the past. Double-cooked pork: I generally love this dish. They slice the pork super thin but for some reason, Peppercorn's pork belly slices often are a bit flabby and floppy--I want a bit of wok hei or crisp to it! This time it was still good but the pork belly was a bit salty while the garlic greens could've used a tad more flavor. Not very spicy. Fried fish with chili: This one was a new dish for us. I thought the flavor was good BUT the fish was over-fried and tasted kind of fishy. Loved the green beans in it though! Not very spicy, again. Mapo tofu: Always a hit. Theirs is super thick but has plenty of mala flavor. Also, the portion size is great! Dry pot cauliflower: Loved that this dish came with a bunch of different veggies. I know, it's not the best takeout dish since if you dine in for a dry pot dish, usually the food inside can keep cooking away and caramelize. It's a more mild flavor and definitely need to mix the dish to get the sauce on everything. I used to like this spot more than Chengdu Impression because it felt like the flavors were more complex. Would still go again as everything was still delicious, though! I'm surprised it doesn't have a higher rating on Yelp! read more

BEST CHINESE FOOD I live in Indy, and I legit drove up for the day to eat here. Walnut shrimp is BOMB. Spicy beef noodles are amazing! Do yourself a favor, and COME HERE. Youll thank me later. read more

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I saw online that they are closing this location and moving to Koi. My friends and i came in about an hour and twenty minutes before close and they were so friendly and accommodating. We split some dishes family style and everything was really good. The eggplant kinda tasted like barbecue, the ox tendon was in fact spicy and delicious and the tofu curry had a very mild flavor, although I enjoyed it. read more

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I got the Dan Dan Noodles for take out this last time, they were just OK. So just OK that now over a week later I still have half the container sitting in my fridge. So I must not have liked it that much to let it rot and basically throw away money. read more

Really bummed this place closed, had great Chinese food and actually provided delivery now be prepared to pay twice or three times the amount to order at any other Chinese restaurant bc it's all through GrubHub. read more

Haven't been here for over a year because of dietary restrictions since having a baby. We live 30 minutes from Peppercorn and the drive is definitely worth it. Cold noodle is our to go order every time. My husband ordered the millet soup because he is not feeling the best. The soup is always my comfort food. The food is better than I remembered! We also got some 052. Fried Short Ribs w/ Chili Pepper, would also strongly recommend. Missed my days in graduate school when I was able to come here multiple times a week. read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - Millie soup, dry pot 148. Dry Pot Pork Intestine. 027. Cold Noodle w/ House Special Chili Sauce. 129. Shredded Pork w/ Garlic Sauce. - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Service: Fast, clean, polite waiter. Quick ordering. Food: 1. Egg drop soup 4 stars 2. Cucumber salad 3 stars: the thin tofu is too rubbery and it doesn't need the chopped up parsley. 3. Rice - perfect 4. Walnut shrimp - 4.5 stars could use a slight honey drizzle. Ambiance: Soft music playing, mostly bossa nova, clean tables, decor is clean and uncluttered read more

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12/07/22 - I met my buddy here for lunch today around 1:15pm. It was kind of nice cause we missed the lunch & dinner crowd. What a difference a few hours makes. We ordered 3 dishes Fried Fish Fillets w/chili peppers Chongking Popcorn chicken w/chili peppers Salt fried Tofu All 3 of these dishes were awesome. The menu selection is huge but I found myself craving the first 2 dishes, Fried Fish Fillets w/chili peppers & the popcorn chicken w/chili peppers as both dishes are excellent & I have had them before. The only issue I have is MORE fish fillets & chicken & LESS chili peppers. Dam this is becoming one of my favorite Chinese restaurants read more

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My family's favorite authentic Chinese food place in Evanston area. If you love spicy food, this is a great place to experience the Chinese spicy food, typically in its sichuan region. Because the food is very authentic, it could take a while to acquire taste. But they are so special and different peppers have different flavors. Quite a food adventure. Service could be slow when it's busy. Casual dining vibe but also good for gatherings given they have big round tables. Love the place! read more

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Stopped by Peppercorns Kitchen in downtown Evanston for lunch, which features a variety of Sichuan dishes on the menu. We ordered the pork belly with garlic sauce as a cold app, along with sauteed fish fillet with vegetables and taro chicken. The flavors and the cooking was good, especially for both the pork belly and the fish, but I would have liked more pork belly to be included in the dish. There were only a couple of pieces of meat, and while the dish looked full, it was really just a bunch of cilantro/scallion taking up volume. The restaurant is modern and clean, along with being relatively quiet, which makes having conversation with your party easy to do. read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - fish fillet w/ vegetables - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Affordable price and friendly service - wonton soup: delicious and warming - chili chicken: so so - beef tongue: tender, but too salty - pea shoots: always a must order - bok choy: so so - fish in sichuan pickle: delicious read more

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Peppercorns was recommended to me by another fan of Chengdu Impression in Edgewater, which I think has excellent Sichuan food. I was hoping to find something similar in Evanston. Unfortunately, Peppercorns was a much more watered down version. Except for one dish, the green peppercorn fish. This was sufficiently fiery, green, and numbing... but didn't actually contain that much fish, and only had maybe one chopstickful of noodles. Otherwise... the eggplant with garlic sauce was as sweet as dessert, and the salted egg tofu was pleasant but a little bland, with random pieces of like, frozen carrot and corn thrown in there occasionally. read more

We ordered their popular ribs and fried fish filet from Uber eats. We both liked the filet the most and would reorder. The pork ribs could be more tender. Both dishes were a little too greasy for my usual liking but they were too spicy. They looked spicier than they were. read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - Fried fish - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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I wish they make things spicier, rather than a tuned-down version of Szechuan food. We got Fish Filet w/ Clear Noodles & Bean Sprouts in Chili Oil Soup, which is good but I wish it was spicier. House Special Grilled Pork Ribs taste like Mongolian beef but in ribs form. Double-cooked Pork was a bit bland, and so does Sauteed String Beans. Nothing is bad, though I was hoping for more flavorful and spicier dishes. read more

[Peppercorns Kitchen] Sichuan inspired restaurant located in Evanston This is my go to restaurant when I am craving Chinese food. Taste is decent and consistent 1. Xinjiang style sautéed beef, sautéed string beans, steamed fish, and my go to Tomato beef brisket soup 2. Vegetable flat noodle 3. Braised Duck with Taro jelly 4. Sautéed string beans 5. Tomato beef brisket soup https://peppercornskitchen.com 620 Davis St Evanston, IL 60201 read more

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Tried this place with some friends. We got scallion pancakes to share for the table and I ordered the eggplant garlic. Scallion pancakes: 10/10 - these were super yummy (although a little extra oily) but I loved them Eggplant: 6/10 - it was decent but not as spicy as I was hoping for, but it did come with a side of rice. The portions were a good size and I had leftovers for the next day. **NOTE: their menu hasn't been updated and real prices were 20% more than what we saw!!!! Ended up being a surprise on the bill, so hope they update their menu soon! read more

I thought the best dishes for Peppercorns came from their less conventional menu items. Pork Kidney in Green Peppercorns was tongue-numbing but flavorful, while Xinjiang Style Sauteed Lamb had bold flavors speckled with bits of cumin and pepper flakes. The other dishes that I tried were a bit more toned down Szechuan food, such as House Special Fish Hot Pot and Mapo Tofu with Ground Pork. The only disappointed dish that I found was the Crispy Sticky Rice Brown Sugar (also known as ciba rice cake), but that may be my fault for ordering dessert at a predominantly savory-style restaurant. Our waiter was attentive to our large table, and every order came at a steady pace. read more

Kind of hard to spot as it is in between a bunch of restaurants. Stopped by for lunch and had a great meal! The portions were large for two people. I had the egg drop soup which was as I liked it and my boyfriend had the hot n sour soup which spicy and had tofu in it. For appetizer we got the Dan Dan noodles without pork and it was so flavorful also a huge portion for an appetizer. For mains we got the Mongolian chicken and shrimp fried rice. Both were super delicious but I wish it was a little spicier. The service was very fast and friendly! read more

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I usually don't give three stars, but the food was too oily and not as tasty... I wasn't expecting authentic Chinese food, but I was hoping for something tasty. Both the stone pot beef brisket rice noodle soup and the kung pao chicken were overly oily... I am not so sure if I would stop by again. read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - Stone Pot Beef Brisket Rice Noodle Soup - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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We ordered take out via Uber eats, porpcorn chicken, sliced beef shank, chili pepper fish, sliced beef in chilipepper sauce. When i order this, i do not know this is actually a Sichuan restaurant, but the food certainly is, pretty authentic. They packaged pretty well, this is actually my first time ordered take out on US. Good experience. read more

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We returned to give it another try. Had takeout so maybe slightly unfair. We had the onion pancake. I like these crispy. These are not. Ugh. We also had the beef brisket noodle soup. Portion size is good. Lots of noodles. Unfortunately also lots of gristle on the beef. Totally ruined it. This is our last time here. BTW the reason we came back is they add gratuity to your bill if there's more than 5 in your group. I missed it the first visit so doubled the tip. The restaurant let me apply it towards my second order. read more

Came here for a late lunch on a Saturday randomly with my Dad. It was not busy we were seated quickly however service was a little bit slow. The menu is quite detailed with a lot of pictures which helps to understand what you may or may not order. We ordered quite a few dishes and wanted to try a little bit of everything however our favorites was definitely the chili fried fish but it was not spicy unless you eat the peppers and chili flakes that are in it. I would come back and try other plates I wish the service would improve as the food definitely speaks for itself. Lastly parking downtown Evanston can be quite a challenge and I most days and most times you will pay. read more

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Everything is good but the shiitake chicken stew is next level, go get it. I also like the house special ribs and chili sauce dumplings. You can still go if you're with family and friends who don't like spice -- all the Chinese/American standards are good too. read more

Decided on a closer spot to the house to keep from driving all over Chicago to grab some food and dine-in. The fried fish looked decent, so does the Chongqing popcorn chicken. We are so hungry after our first spot didn't work out. No dine-in, only carry out, they are in the middle of remodeling. We are not having much luck for Sichuan tonight. Bummed. I am really craving Sichuan, but really prefer to eat it hot and in too. read more

I've visited peppercorns kitchen a couple of times. The food is authentic Chinese but I'm mostly disappointed with the service. The service is slow in general, and they don't notice us until we've waved at them for a couple of minutes. They forgot our extra serving of rice until we asked again. When we are getting the check, the server forced us to tip 18%, which is totally not worth the service. read more

Pretty good dining experience, a little too much peppercorn flavor. The fried fish, and sticky rice desserts were amazing. The duck was mediocre at best, do not recommend. The service was mid as erll, we did not get any attention after the food was served. read more

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Peppercorn it good Szechuan restaurant. You have to willing to try the Chinese spicy. Because 65 percent of the food in the menu is spicy. They do have different levels of spiciness jut follow how many red dot following the line item. Three dot is the most spicy. Guess what. This second Szechuan restaurant that Antony Bourdain has visit in Chicago area. This said a lot about the restaurant. We got two special from the board and three from the menu. We started with a app of wonton in chili sauce. It is not the best I ever have but best for the Evanston. Our second dish is the snail meat in pepper spice. The snail meat is slice for easy bite. Our main dish is mapotofu, the house special grilled pork rib, special on the board hand made fish ball soup. I like the rib because it has it own special touch to it. The meat rib was detached from the bone. The fish ball is soft due to pure ingredients of the fish. It has the hand made shapes that squeeze into hot soup to broil. Very well thought out dish. Our service was great. The dining was pleasant. read more

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If you're familiar with Sichuan foods, I'm sure you'll love this place. I mostly go here for the spicy food and overall have not been served a bad dish yet. We came here on Xmas and they were very accommodating and kept the waitlist organized and fair. Here are my Asian American-y recommendations Spicy lovers: wontons in chili oil, popcorn chicken, any of the fish dishes Not so spicy lovers: bokchoy and shittake mushrooms, house noodles, salt and pepper tofu When I don't want to burn my insides or eat with a numb mouth, I will tip toe around the chiles and avoid the peppercorns. read more

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It had been well over a year since I ordered a meal delivery from Peppercorns Kitchen in Evanston. My first order was pretty bad - hadn't ordered again until this week. But I thought maybe my experience had been a one-off or perhaps things had improved. When I ordered again this week it was obvious that Peppercorns was still quite shockingly bad. Somehow, every item in my order was tasteless. It's hard to imagine how that's possible but, oh well, the restaurant chef has figured out a way to create completely tasteless Chinese food. I won't be ordering again. read more

Surprised to see a lot of negative reviews for this restaurant! My families has ordered this numerous times and always gotten a great meal. Most recently we decided to visit in person for my husbands birthday and oh. my. gosh! It was soooo much better in person! All of our dishes came out hot and super crispy! The crunch on the general tso's and crispy shrimp was so satisfying! My two favorites I recommend getting if you decide to stop by is the spicy beef noodle and general tso's chicken, they are so flavorful! read more

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I really had high hopes for this establishment, I was sure the food was going to be amazing Judging from the Google photos. We were so wrong! The pork dumpling appetizer was just plain awful, we couldn't even describe the taste it was that bad. The dish my boyfriend ordered (garlic chicken) tasted like it came out the freezer and popped in the microwave. I ordered the chongqing popcorn chicken but the meat tasted nothing like chicken!! Everything was just awful and we will never eat there again read more

The interesting menu drew me in and I might come back to try more of the dishes listed. The dry pot tofu I had was nicely flavored and well spiced, reminding me of some of the more authentic dishes I've had in Chicago's Chinatown. However, a bunch of things might keep me from returning, mainly that this is not a well-run place. I ordered shrimp spring rolls. They were out. Well, no problem. I understand how how that can happen at a small family-run place. So instead I ordered off of the Friday-Sunday special menu, choosing steamed shrimp dumplings. You guessed it - within a minute my server was back telling me they were out of those as well. And this was on Friday at lunch just as the specials menu took effect. That's simply poor planning on their part. Things didn't improve from there. My friend ordered a beef dish. A different server, not ours, came by with the same dish made with chicken. He said he'd ordered beef. She had no explanations. He elected to keep the dish and just eat it so it wouldn't go to waste, but if it were me I would have returned it. As it was, the chicken was mushy and the dish didn't come with enough rice. My tofu, as I said, had excellent flavor, but it was hard to find much tofu amid all the onions and peppers. It also didn't come with much rice. Service was quick, I'll give them that. And the atmosphere was quiet and conversation-friendly with no obtrusive music, not a given at restaurants these days. I'm guessing there may be better Chinese places around, but I still want to try their popcorn chicken and a few of the more exotic dishes. I'm definitely not hurrying back, though. read more

The service is good, the atmosphere is nice, and the food is great! I went with a group of my girlfriends and we had a great time trying multiple dishes! All the dishes were on point was very delicious! The Chongqing Popcorn Chicken is very spicy but so addicting! The only thing missing here is bubble tea! read more

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I have been on the hunt for spicy wonton dumpling appetizer in chili sauce. FOUND. Check. I passed by this location on my way to aloha poke in Evanston. The place was poppin on a Saturday night so I knew it was real. The next day, I had to get me some. The menu is super overwhelming! Regardless, doing some research and extensive searching we got : spring rolls and spicy wonton as appetizers and an order of the chicken stir fry that was super spicy. Everything was delicious but super super spicy. I was a fan from the start. Chili peppers are my favorite and they were drenched -yes I would like some chicken with my peppers please ! The downside was-skimped on the meat-all peppers! Still delicious ! Nom.nom.nom! The spring rolls were small but crunchy. I believe they were veggie inside. Wontons were amazing-highly recommend! The parking blows and the wait sucks. It's well worth the wait! read more

My family is on a hunt of the best Szechaun restaurant around town. After reading the great reviews, we decided to give it a try. We started with beef wrap. It was very good except the large amount of cilantro which I didn't care for. The ox tendon was well seasoned and not too spicy. The cold noodle had a nutty taste that was delightful. Our eggplant tofu and mongolian beef were also very delicious. The restaurant isn't fancy. The staff were very friendly and attentive. We had a wonderful experience and would definitely return. read more

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This is my go to Chinese place in Evanston. It's a large space so there's usually seating and the menu has plenty of variety but they do each thing well (based on the few dishes I've tried so far). Service is fast and the waiters are nice but would definitely recommend going with a Mandarin-speaker to make ordering and menu-clarifying easier. Cold Noodles: We expected glass noodles but these were more like angel hair pasta noodles. Still tasty and refreshing. Good replacement for white rice if you're looking to lower your carb intake. Not too spicy. Eggplant with Garlic Sauce: They do this classic dish justice. Not too salty and not too much sauce. Eggplant is fresh and pieces are cut into to the perfect size. Great dish to share. Chongqing Popcorn Chicken: Very popular dish. It's a Szechuan restaurant so it's no surprise they do spicy well. It's got a bit of a kick but isn't unbearable, even for someone that can't handle spice. Great sharing dish. Dry Pot with Wood Ear Mushroom and Chicken: This place does dry pot well. Lots of veggies, decent portion size, good flavor, and not too saucy. If you're looking for more veggies, I'd recommend getting the wood ear mushroom dry pot and adding chicken. This is def my go to dish. It's meant for sharing but I could probably eat this by myself. This is a good place to go if you like family-style meals and want to try a bit of everything. It's good for both spicy and non-spicy foods and portions are significant. read more

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Great service, delicious Chinese cuisine, and if you want, great American Chinese food too! (Trust me, I'm a random white guy) read more

Peppercorns Kitchen - Green pepper Preserved Egg - Szechuan Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Great addition to Evanston, if you like chili pepper (szechuan) sauce laden dishes, this is the place to go in the area. My heat tolerance is higher than their standard spice they use for their dishes, so next time I'll ask it to increase the spice level. The service is a bit slow when I was here for lunch, looked like they were short staffed. I ordered the house special ribs and chili wonton, my coworker the fried fillet with chili pepper. The chili wonton was delicious, the pork ribs was crispy and tasty with the chili sauce, but will order for it to be spicier next time. I tried some fried fillet, it was a bit overcooked but the flavor was there. They do offer lunch specials but we opted to order from the chef special and appetizer. The portions are large you can definitely share. Overall, we had a great lunch. read more

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