I admit, expectations were iffy when we picked up the phone to order take out dinner from Sidewalk Kitchen. Prices were low, and the menu seemed unsustainably extensive; we attributed all this to the local college crowd's potentially lax food standards. We ordered broccoli chicken, and savory fish filets, and walked across the street to pick it all up ten minutes later. Back in the hotel room we were delighted to find it all so well wrapped the food was still piping hot. The broccoli was steaming and *just* cooked through, still a bit crunchy. Chicken slices were tender and the red chili flakes added just the right touch of heat. The fish fillets just held their texture, the sauce light but savory. Plenty of fresh steamed white rice, plus napkins, plastic flatware, and better-than-average disposable chopsticks. Could not ask for a better take-out Chinese dinner. read more

Came for dinner yesterday for the first time and can definitely see myself coming back. They serve authentic Hong Kong style food, all of which was really good. We ordered the short ribs with black pepper sauce, congee, fried breadstick (for the congee), green beans with garlic, 1/4 roasted duck, and the Ma Po Tofu- my favorite of the bunch. It didn't have the spice I was expecting, but I was completely satisfied nonetheless. Even just the green beans and garlic were fantastic- super flavorful, and you can tell all their ingredients are fresh. The meats were nice and juicy and the complimentary sauces with the duck were perfect. I also ordered the mango smoothie which was was just the right amount of sweet. It was a pretty big portion and it felt like they didn't skimp out on it. Well worth the price. It fills up quick so try to get in early! read more

Sidewalk Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

We went for the congee varieties and they were rich and smooth with well prepared ingredients. The very large bowls were more than we could finish for lunch. They are highly recommended. read more

One of the best Chinese restaurant in the twin city. The food is authentic Hong Kong fare, though they also dabble in the more americanized Chinese cuisine as well (though I highly recommend trying more adventurous dish). The garlic fried chicken is quite delicious, and Sidewalk has one of my favorite version of garlic eggplant in the TC. Also I took my girlfriend of over 2 years here as a first date.... And we're still dating... Maybe there's magic in the food here read more

The food here is delicious! And it is not that expensive for the large amount of food you get. And the menu here is huge so there is definitely something here you will like. I always get the General Tso chicken, and it is always great. I have tried their other things on the menu and they are great too. The specials come with the entree, side, egg roll, and soup. The soup was okay, but the egg roll was awesome. I have gotten the fried rice side and the lo mein side and thing the lo mein is better. The friend rice is still good though! If you are around the UMN campus and want some good Asian food, this is definitely a place you should check out! Very friendly to college students for pricing! Super cheap for lunch. It is not that far of a walk from campus at all. read more

Sidewalk Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Good restaurant for dine and takeout. Due to the lockdown haven't been able to dine in since early this year but ordered takeout today and my go-to entree is the BBQ Pork + Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup. Very yummy just like dining in. read more

Sidewalk Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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The Sidewalk Kitchen shares an outside door with Bona which is my go to Vietnamese restaurant so today instead of turning left and going into Bona, I turned right and entered Sidewalk Kitchen. I was not impressed. Sidewalk Kitchen is small and there was a large family group of Chinese who occupied most of the space so I was seated in the back near the bussing area and the rest rooms. Although it isn't usually a great choice I ordered the lunch special. It came with a small bowl of what I believe was sweet and sour soup and an egg roll. I ordered the shrimp and broccoli. The soup was flavorless, the egg roll wasn't bad although not nearly as good as what you can get next door at Bona. The shrimp and broccoli was rather bland with western style broccoli instead of Chinese broccoli. There was actually not much food and I was still hungry when. I finished. Service was very slow so I am glad I wasn't in a hurry. Usually the restaurants near the University of Minnesota campus get your food out in a hurry. The large group may have caused them service problems. When I left I noticed what appeared to be a more authentic menu on a bulletin board near the door. I should have tried that. If you are interested in Chinese food I would recommend walking another half block to Hong Kong Noodles I came back today with two friends and my experience was much better. As I suggested in my previous review, we did not order the lunch specials and everything was mumore authentic and better tasting. I had the beef chow fun. It was very good. One of our group had the orange chicken which was also good. This dish is often cloying sweet at venues like Panda Express but here it had just the right sweet citrus tang. The other member of our group had a chicken dish with dried hot peppers which I didn't catch the name. He liked it. I found the dried peppers a little too much. Service was friendly. I saw members of the staff hand making dumplings which bodes well for a future visit. I was recently back with a friend and ordered from the Chinese menu which is posted near the front door (with English subtitles of course). The wait staff really discouraged our ordering from this menu, I suppose because we weren't Chinese. Since they are near the University of Minnesota they have a large native Chinese clientele and I guess they thought we might not like what we ordered as the food from this menu seems fairly authentic and not Westernized. It was almost comical as our server kept herding us away from the Chinese menu, handing us the regular menu and telling us our choices from the Chinese menu were very spicy (they weren't). We persisted however and she finally relented and took our order. The dishes from the Chinese menu are somewhat different from the regular menu so be prepared not to get the standard tastes. Also you may have to persevere to order from this menu. There was a lot of food so you may want to be judicious in how much you order. We could not finish ours so the staff probably felt that they were correct in assuming that "they won't like it" even though we did. Service was a little sullen maybe because we were assertive in ordering off of the Chinese menu. read more

Hands down the best authentic Hong Kong / Cantonese restaurant in the Twin Cities. Just came here with family over the weekend, and we ordered a ton of different dishes, and we were very impressed. Reminded us of the places we love whenever we're in LA or San Diego. Their kitchen has an authentic Chinese BBQ oven and so have really good roasted duck and pork. Also excellent standard dishes like beef chow fun, Singapore style noodles, and probably some of the best congee I've ever had (pro tip-- get the one with the hand-made fish balls). I have no idea why these other reviewers are saying they love this place, but since it's not 100% like the places in Hong Kong or LA, they give it 4/5 stars. I mean we're in Minneapolis, MN, we should all just be grateful that there's a place as good as Sidewalk Kitchen here and give it the full 5/5. read more

Love this spot for their pea tips dish, delicious beef chowfun, bbq wonton noodles, and fried custard! The owner is super friendly and my friends and I love going to this spot! read more

$17 for green beans. I make better garlic string bean for $4 in my house. This place is alright, nothing special. But everything is $10 more than it should be. read more

The place could be good but if you don't know the owner or doesn't speak CHINESE, your service priority is last. Sat down for 15 mins, no menu. A group next to us sat down after us. Got serve and help and apparently order all the dishes I want and now they were out of all the roast selection. Which it's fine, maybe 30mins later a guys sat down after us, got a half plate roast duck. So what does mean? Try to go and take my dad out to eat, and got treated like a outsider! NEVER AGAIN we spent $120 I rather go to Hong Kong Noodle going forward! read more

The beef hor fun and handmade wantons with soup was ok, but the roast duck fails drastically as it was not as succulent and maybe their duck was just not fat and roasted in comparison to #Houseofwu roast duck (see my earlier reviews raving over their roast duck). Personally prefer #hongkongnoodles restaurant next door over the same street instead. read more

I'm a regular in my own way. The food here is so dependable. Everything tastes good, no matter what you order. The hotpots are to die for, esp no. 2 read more

Love all the dishes, lots of variety of food on the menu. We ordered many of them. Forgot to take pictures of the tofu and watercress with garlic dishes, just wanted to dig in:) Very delicious and great presentation. Open kitchen. Highly recommended:) ! read more

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The location is right in the heart of the University of Minnesota so there are lots of students nearby. There is no designated parking of their own so there is a lot of street parking nearby so keep in mind when there is an event or weekends it will be packed so plan accordingly. We started with the Princess Fried Rice, this has a hardy amount of seafood sautéed as well as some meat. Really flavorful and just the perfect balance of everything. The squid I wish was a bit crispy but the flavors were on point. The squid wasn't over cooked so not chewy and the salted egg yolk just melted in your mouth. The jumbo prawns with salted egg yolk was so satisfying in the sense that it was crispy and you could eat the whole thing just like a crispy chip and again not over cooked. Perfectly cooked and juicy. The beef chow fun was balance between noodles, veggies and proteins. The perfect amount of sauce so it wasn't too dry either. We also ordered the egg flower soup which I didn't get a picture of. If you order a small it's probably enough for 1 person, a large will feed a few people. The soup wasn't anything too fancy but there was something comforting about it. The nice thing is I didn't need soy sauce in any of the dishes because they were all perfectly balanced with the right amount of flavors. It's a small place but I never feels like it's crowded. read more

Sidewalk Kitchen - 22. Beef Chow Fun - Chinese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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I was so let down with this place. It used to be my favorite Japanese food on campus, but it is now just another Chinese food stop. That in itself would've been alright, but the kung pao chicken was crazy salty to the point of being inedible. My friend said there food was also too salty, but not to the degree I experienced. Of course it wasn't a complete failure. The service was nice and polite and the environment beautiful. It looks clean and polished inside, but I feel that good food is the most important aspect to me when choosing where to eat. I guess sometimes the price really does reflect on quality. I paid just under 7 dollars for an egg roll, soup, rice, and the chicken, but I don't think I'll be going here again. read more

Sidewalk Kitchen - Kung pao chicken - Chinese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Sidewalk kitchen still my favorite restaurant!! Yummy, just wanted to update my review with a pic of the garlic fried chicken so people can see how tasty it looks!! read more

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This is the best affordable and authentic hong kong style Chinese food available. It's actually so nice that this is so close to the U and apartments in Stadium Village so that us college students have this as an option. Really nice staff too, super open to helping you out with the menu!! read more

My friend recently brought us a feast from Sidewalk Kitchen. Since we're not able to visit our family as often - this was so heartwarming. PorkBelly with tangy pickled vegetable - packed with layers of juicy fatty tenderness and flavor. Delicious Cantonese style crispy chow mein - balanced so well by the sauce and shrimp. Fried pork chop - so guiltily delicious, made in fresh oil, and perfectly seasoned. All this was paired with simply and healthily made baby bok Choi. (I yelled at my friend for not bringing fish - because I miss it so much and it is so good here.). Sidewalk kitchen is truly a gem on the UMN campus that has never disappointed my taste buds. read more

I've been going to Sidewalk Kitchen for four years and absolutely loved it. They have always been extremely consistent with their food. However, the past few times I've gone, the food has been lackluster. The general tso chicken has been barely edible because it is so salty. I'm giving it three stars because I used to love this place so much and hope they bounce back. read more

Surprisingly good. Note they do have a small parking lot on the east side of the building, which we will use next time. We got adventurous and tried new dishes. The service was attentive and fast. The food portions are big enough. My only minor annoyance is that we weren't offered chopsticks to eat our food. Yes, we were two pasty white individuals but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy using them. read more

Sidewalk Kitchen - Brew with XP Sauce - Chinese Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

I love this place. It's actually my go to place for take out when I'm in the area and have had a busy week. I really like the poached chicken. This is a simple dish, but the ginger sauce that comes with it really takes it to the next level. But really, all the dishes I've ordered have been good, from meat dishes to veggie dishes. read more

This is the most fancy 大排档 Dà pái dàng (cooked food stalls, popular in Southern China like Guangdong province and HK) that I have been to, well this is in MN after all. For those who have never been overseas, the food stalls lined up on one side of street and each offers something special (think state fair but way better food) and congee stalls are very popular in the South. Congees are 4/5, be ready to pay $11 to $12 for it though. I recommend two: 手打魚蛋粥 (has fish ball in it) and 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (has thousands year egg in it, yes it's scary looking but many people in China eat this in congee, or by itself with finely chopped ginger root and soy sauce). Half of their menu are still Americanized Chinese food: sesame, mongolian, broccoli, kung pao, sweet and sour, etc. It's all good, they need to stay in business so menu needs to satisfy American taste and Chinese taste. Will return soon. read more

Excellent food and service, i have high standard with authentic chinese food and this place is as authentic as you can find anywhere. tThe food is very flavorful and there is an amazing variety. i would definitely come back for more read more

One of our favorites! The portion size is great for the price! We love the deep fried sole fish and salted egg squid! The place is a little smaller, but don't let that fool you! We are always happy with what we order! read more

Very good option for Chinese carry out. I've been here a couple times when in town. My go to dish here is the Szechuan Chicken. Can't go wrong with the crab Rangoon either. read more

I just arrived in Minnesota today and was excited to see a 4 Yelp starred Chinese restaurant directly across the street from my apartment. I ordered ma po tofu, Shanghai steamed mini pork buns, and kalbi ribs and was ready to tuck into some dope food for dinner. All I got was disappointment. The ma po tofu was super runny/soupy and had little to no pork to speak of, despite being listed as a pork dish. There was some pleasant heat to it, but that was the only redeeming quality. I'm guessing the steamed pork buns came straight out of a bag and tasted like it. The biggest disappointment was the kalbi ribs. The picture posted on yelp looked deliciously crispy, but in reality it was drowned in a tasteless brown sauce. The quality of the rib meat was straight up doo doo, to put it lightly. It was gristly, fatty, and chewy and reminiscent of something you might feed to a dog. I am concerned for my tastebuds if this is what passes for 4 star Chinese in Minneapolis. read more

"Our Chinese restaurant is known for its modern interpretation of classic dishes and its insistence on only using high quality fresh ingredients." That line sounded good and seemed to gel with the higher prices. I love tasty food items and would gladly pay a premium for good execution/flavor. It could be that I miss ordered. Unfortunately, the Pan Fried Pot Sticker (8) 煎鍋貼 arrives in what appear to be store/supplier bought wonton wrappers. I can make my own dumpling dough and it's tasty and worth the effort. Szechuan Spice and Yangtze Restaurant seem to make their own dough and it's tasty and worth the effort, as well. Despite the off-putting texture of the dough, the pork filling wasn't all that tasty/memorable. I was equivocal about the dipping sauce, but, either way, it doesn't save the dish. I won't be having decadent/mastabatory food cravings for these dumplings, which I can't say the same for some other places. They do warn you that the Kung Pao Chicken 宫保雞丁 is spicy. There are peppers in it. But, overall, it was also pretty bland and not particularly spicey unless one is venturesome enough to eat the, leathery, peppers. The darkish hue of the sauces promises flavor that doesn't seem to materialize on the palate. Ultimately, non-tasty food items at premium prices will make me quite hesitant to try Sidewalk Kitchen, again. read more

This was delicious! There are many many choices, from authentic foods to Americanized foods. There was definitely enough variety to give my family enough options to choose from. We ordered takeout and our food was fresh and hot. The service was amazing and very friendly. You can tell that, as a customer there, you matter. They legitimately care about making you happy and making sure you get exactly what you are looking for out of your meal. We would absolutely go back! read more

Very good! I ordered the pan fried potstickers, and sesame chicken dinner combo, with lo mein. I was very impressed by the potstickers, they were BIG and very flavorful! The dipping sauce you get with them is AMAZING!! I would drink it if it was socially acceptable. The lo mein wasn't as flavorful as I like, but still good. Good mix of veggies and not too soggy or mushy. The sesame chicken said spicy, but I didn't taste much spice. Maybe a zing or two. Chicken was crispy and the sesame sauce wasn't too sweet. The egg roll with my combo dinner was so good! Super crispy wrapper, super flavorful on the inside. Service was good, food arrived fast. I'm not in this area often, but to anyone who is, I recommend this place! Good job sidewalk kitchen! read more

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The food is good, the staff is Timid but I would recommend the food. Lots of Asians there and lots of authentic asian food

Everyone spoke so highly of this place but it was such a let down for us. It was our first time there and were prepared to have some of the best Chinese in the Twin Cities but were disappointed. It struck us as odd that they moved a couple already sitting at a two top to a bigger table and sat us at the deuce when we were the ones who ordered more but no worries. The food was mostly bland and non flavorful. We wanted to try all the popular foods that kept popping up on Yelp. The Poached Chicken was all fatty skin, there were two out of 8 prices that actually had edible meat. The potstickers were store bought and fried too dry, and their Chef's special of the Sizzling Hot Beef Tender Shortribs with Black Pepper Sauce were ANYTHING but tender. While the sauce was good, the meat was extremely fatty and chewy. Half inedible and wasted. The service was non existent. You could tell they favored certain tables/guests because they never once came to clear or refill. Then to end the dinner, the moment the server laid down the check, he tried to rush us out so that he could use our chairs for a larger party and asked if we were leaving soon because they needed our chairs. We hadn't even been given the chance to put the credit card in the check holder yet! With their unsavory food at a premium price, it's hard to say I'll come back. read more

This new restaurant has stole my heart since it opened! The location was perfect as it was only a few minutes walking from the light rail station, and super near school, perfect to grab lunch or dinner! The place was clean and did not have the overwhelming smell of a typical Chinese restaurant! The service was nice, friendly, and fast! Fried chicken wings were crispy outside, tender inside, seasoning was in point Honey BBQ spare ribs and pork were delicious, but similar to other places Roast duck was marinated beautifully, but it was a shame the skin was not crispy King Prawn and salted egg yolk is a must try! Highly recommended! Worth the price! Szechuan styled fish was spicy and delicious! 1st time trying such a unique dish was a great experience! Another one is the beef brisket stew something with noodles (sorry I forgot the name) was delicious too! The beef was flavorful, but has to be eaten fast or the flavor is not the same when cold! Can't wait to try other dishes at this place :) read more

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Love it here. Simply put this place is serving up some authentic Hong Kong style dishes!! I seriously might have found my second hk noodle (I still love you hk, don't worry) but it's always nice to try new things and I just love that this place is serving some bomb ass food! People think all Chinese food is the same but that's cus "people" usually get kung Pao chicken, skip that.. do yourselves a favor and get that roasted duck or anything on the chef specials!! They got the duck hanging in the windows and the aroma literally travels outside of the restaurant, like how can you even resist? My friends and I got the half roasted duck, fish maw soup, fried tofu and my favorite dish out of the four, the tung choi w/ belecan sauce... it was soo good like if I was a vegetarian that would be my everyday meal type of good. I had to hold myself back from over ordering though because there were so many things I wanted to try! I've already mentally planned what my order will be during my next visit lol definitely getting the sizzling galbi, the poach chicken and some seafood. Oh and btw .. the HK milk tea... just order it. Pretty self explanatory. Service was 100% the guys were super nice! Parking might be a beech but it's ok plenty of street/meter parking around the area. I imagine it might get crowded during dinner time since the space isn't that big. Anyway def. try this place out, I highly recommend! read more

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Walking into this restaurant, you immediately get the smell of a decent clean Chinese restaurant (compared to say Leanne Chin or a buffet). Since I went on strike with another Chinese restaurant on campus that shall not be named, i have been looking for something to fill that gap, and Sidewalk Kitchen may have met that criteria! The environment has a more modern feel with some old Asian touches. Plus, the servers were all super friendly and attentive to their customers. There is a large menu with many options for whatever your feeling, from noodle soups to rice dishes. Granted having such a large menu does not guarantee everything on the menu is amazing or will meet everyone's taste buds. I tried the duck wonton noodle soup, a favorite dish of mine anywhere I go. I would say it was decent, the broth had flavor and that hint of sweetness I like. I did not love their wonton meat or the wrap around it should be thicker and personally I prefer a thicker egg noodle as well. I also got a fried tofu appetizer which I enjoyed! The coating could have been saltier/sweeter as well but it was not too greasy and their dipping sauces were good. My friend got the sweet and sour fish which was coated in red sauce that looked like too much sauce. I thought my Hong Kong milk tea was very good on that hot day. They also have bubble teas. Next time I would like to try their yellow chicken with ginger, another favorite Asian food item of mine, they were sold out when I went. Overall this meet criteria for you typical Asian restaurant. There are some good and some not so good items so you can't always win them all. read more

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Wow, Sidewalk Kitchen was certainly fantastic. Phenomenal menu items, friendly staff, beautiful atmosphere - what more could you ask for? I really wanted to try Japanese Style Fried Tofu, I am happy that I did, it was fantastic! All of the staff are extremely polite - you definitely feel welcome and looked after. Sidewalk Kitchen... The place is really cool. read more

I ate here before the pandemic and it was good. Figured we would order some takeout from here since there's not a whole lot else to do on a Saturday night. The mini pork bun sauce was so sour I'm pretty sure it was rancid. The fried rice was just rice, not fried at all. It was white, maybe a little yellow from oil, and tasteless. The lo mein was just egg noodles used for noodle soups. I understand everyone is hurting right now, but you can't charge full price for half-done dishes. Will never be ordering from here again. I guess this is what we get for trying to do a good deed. Helping a local business by ordering out when we didn't really need to. read more

Very friendly and accommodating. Food was also delicious and authentic. 5/5 stars, best Chinese food around campus

Be cautious of what you order. This restaurant does have a few things that I have liked in the past, but there were some things that have knocked down the rating. One thing you have to try is the salted egg yolk squid. It gives the fish a buttery, rich quality unlike anything you've ever had at a Chinese restaurant. That being said, not everything is good. For instance, I ordered the Walnut Honey Shrimp and it was gross. It tasted like they candied the walnuts with an orange flavor and just topped the shrimp with straight up mayo. So, they do have some delicious food and some questionable items on their menu too. Buyer beware. read more

The phenomenal service that we had from the entire staff would've made this a five star visit just by itself. The food, though, was all delicious as well. We had: - BBQ Pork - Shanghai steamed pork buns - Kung Pao Chicken - Braised Beef Noodle Soup - Deep Fried Mantou - Milk Tea, Lemon Tea, Mango Smoothie Everything was super tasty, especially the BBQ pork and both teas. The Mantou made my GF very nostalgic for her time in China! Highly recommend. read more