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    Silk Road

    3.7 (138 reviews)
    InexpensiveChinese
    Closed 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Order Silk Road Takeout or Delivery

    Silk Road Photos

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    SILK ROAD ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Quiet
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Silk Road

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    King Kung Pao Chicken
    Milva G.

    I went for lunch and ordered at the counter. There was a pretty long line but they moved quick. I got my food in approx 15 minutes. I ordered the Kung Pao chicken that was supposed to be spicy but was lacking a bit of flavor. The serving were a good size and I got a small.

    Spicy Chicken & Egg Roll
    Patrick M.

    I love this place. It's a bit off the beaten path as it's tucked in the alley behind the 20 South Clark building. When you walk in an order your food it is usually in your hands within 15 seconds. The spicy Chicken is absolutely delicious. I like to as for a fork every time I go just to mess with the ladies behind the counter because I know they already threw it in there. Their disdain makes me smile.

    House special shrimp. I asked them to make it spicy.
    Taquanda H.

    A good spot to try if you are in the loop area for lunch. My food was fast, exactly how I ordered it, tasty and reasonable.

    Spicy chicken
    Mike M.

    Silk Road is a no frills, no nonsense hole in the wall Chinese joint that aims to satisfy even the largest of appetites during the weekday lunch rush. In an area full of chains, generic bar food, and overpriced markets and food halls, it's nice to finally find a place to get your fill for under $10. Even though there are tons of great authentic Asian or trendy "Asian Fusion" type spots in the area, sometimes I'm just hungry and looking to get stuffed on greasy ass generic Chinese food. Silk Road is a little bit of a hidden gem, tucked away in an alley along LaSalle, just north of Monroe and LaSalle. It seems to be a go-to spot for the IT crowd and any other local professionals grabbing a bite during the lunch hour. It's pretty bare bones with just the food counter, a water cooler, and then a decent seating area with a bunch of tables. Food: This ain't authentic Chinese food, but that don't mean it doesn't totally hit the spot. Silk Road knows their target audience. They deliver generous portions of meat and rice dishes to the masses. Their bread and butter are their chicken dishes: Orange chicken, Kung Pao chicken, Sweet and Sour chicken, and my personal favorite the Spicy Chicken. Pretty much any sort of deep fried breaded chicken dish is their specialty. The spicy chicken has large chunks of breaded chicken tossed in a spicy sauce with carrots, onions, and green peppers. The sauce isn't overly sweet like the Orange Chicken, and not too saucy either. It's almost a paste-like consistency. I wouldn't say it's over the top spicy either, just enough heat to enhance the flavor. People looking for a little extra kick usually get more sauce on the side. One lady packs part of the styrofoam container with rice and the other just fills up the rest of it with liberal scoops of chicken. And I mean liberal. They literally don't care about being so exact like they do at Chipotle. These ladies just pack that shit until it won't close. If you're a meat lover, Silk Road will not disappoint. I almost always complain about portions being too small, and even I struggle to finish the entire thing. I'd say the chicken to rice ratio is closer to 2:1 rather than half and half. They have other items on the menu as well, but they'll take longer to get since it might have to be made to order. Service: Silk Road is a well-oiled machine. They churn people out QUICK. Most of the time my food is already packed and sitting on the tray before I even get my credit card out of my wallet. The beauty of having a small menu is you can just keep churning out mass quantities of the same 3-4 dishes and keep the line moving. The line gets pretty long during prime time lunch hours, but I've pretty much always been in and out with my food within a few minutes. Pro tip: There's actually two registers, one when you walk right in and another at the end of the counter on the right side. The main line can get pretty long, and I almost never see anyone else taking advantage of that second register even though the guy is waiving people over. Overall, Silk Road is a permanent fixture in my lunch rotation. It's by far the best value work lunch I've found in the area and I like it better than its nearby competitor Sixty Five Chinese. I just can't get enough of that spicy chicken!

    Spicy Chicken
    Avanti A.

    This place is the best Chinese option for the food you get and the price you pay. They have daily specials which comes upto $10 per individual. Chinese in the alley I call it...the food tastes good. And one interesting factor I've noticed is with any order you get more meat(if it's in your order) than the rice or noodles so if you are a meat lover you will completely enjoy this. And the amount of food you get on a regular order is ...omg it's more than one person am handle. They have two sizes of order ..small and regular. I tried both and the quantity is really more on both for me. I had to struggle through to complete it. For the taste it's good too...i have ordered Schezwan chicken fans spicy chicken from here. Spicy chicken as the name sounds is by far the best I have tasted here. Their fried rice is good too. Although, I am not a an of their noodles. This place gets super busy during lunch hours, still the staff are quick to serve and deliver. You will be out of that place in no time. Cheap and good !!

    Spicy Chicken
    Kay Y.

    Finally got to try the spicy chicken. It's hard to find this kind of takeout here in Chicago so I was really happy to get here finally. I went during lunchtime and there was a line (very popular place for pickup lunch). The food was pretty good huge portions but the vegetables are not cooked all the way (they are crunchy). Altogether around $10-11. If it was a little cheaper I'd probably come all the time.

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    3 months ago

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    1 year ago

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    4 months ago

    Food was good and tasty. I love the food. It was delicious. I've been there a couple of times. Recommend this place.

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    7 months ago

    They must have a new recipe for the spicy chicken or they are coming back on cost. Not nearly as good as it used to be unfortunately

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    9 months ago

    My favorite for year but they have changed how they prepare the spicy chicken and it's not as good

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    MCCB Chicago 时尚食谱

    MCCB Chicago 时尚食谱

    4.5
    (1.2k reviews)
    1.8 mi
    $$

    5/5 for the food. There wasn't a dish that was not cheap delicious and well made. Well....there was…read moreone but only bc I don't like raw onions. Avoid the crab rangoons if u don't like raw white onions either lol. But their dandan noodles were a highlight. Their food was spicy too I loved that! There will be a wait just FYI and they don't really take reservations but it's worth the wait. Also....their food is family style. So order multiple dishes w multiple ppl bc u will be taking it home!! Humongous portions and cheap too.

    I had been wanting to try MCCB for a while, but I also went in with tempered expectations. In my…read moreexperience, Michelin-recognized restaurants can sometimes be a little overhyped, so I expected to be somewhat let down. Thankfully, that wasn't the case--I enjoyed the meal overall, even if it wasn't a "wow, this is the best meal ever" experience. The biggest surprise for me was the dried chili chicken. I almost didn't order it because so many reviews said it was overly salty and spicy. We asked for less salt, and they were happy to accommodate. I actually thought the spice level was very manageable, and it ended up being one of my favorite dishes. The orange chicken was another pleasant surprise. I expected it to be a basic, Americanized option, but it was delicious and ended up being one of my favorites of the meal. My friends really enjoyed the dan dan noodles, which seem to be one of their signature dishes. Personally, I thought they were good but not particularly memorable compared to everything else. The mango shrimp was tasty as well, but it wasn't something I'd consider a must-order on a return visit. Service was great. The waiter was friendly, accommodated our request for less salt, and we were seated immediately. We arrived about 10 minutes before opening on a weekday to line up, and that seemed to work well. overall a great experience!

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce
    Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce
    Szechaun style stir fried duck

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    Szechaun style stir fried duck
    Shang Noodle - Chicago

    Shang Noodle - Chicago

    4.3
    (503 reviews)
    1.1 mi
    $$

    We were in Chicago for a really quick trip and passed this restaurant as we walked downtown. We…read morethought it looked interesting, so we popped in. It was a very quaint but contemporarily designed space with neutral tones. The staff was very friendly, and we were seated immediately having beat the work crowd. For drinks, I had the Take It Easy, and my friend had the Purple Paradise. I usually go straight for wine but opted for a mixed drink this time. Both of our drinks were great choices. For dinner, we each tried something different and opted for the spring rolls appetizer, the King Mushroom Chicken, Singapore Vermicelli Noodle and Spicy Chili Shrimp with a side of fried rice. Everyone loved their meals. They were absolutely delicious! I had the vermicelli dish, and I couldn't have asked for a better mix of ingredients. It was a little spicy but not too much. The service was great, and our server made solid recommendations across the board. There were many dishes to try, and if I lived in Chicago, this is definitely a place I'd return again.

    Decent choice on a whim! One person got the lobster noodle dish and thought it could be more…read moreflavorful. I got orange chicken and felt it could be more fresh and the sesame chicken was very similar; thick sweet sauces. The soft shell crab had a very thick and greasy batter Big hits were the pad see yuh and chicken fried rice. Loved the dim sum BBQ bunz and soup dumplings. Service was meh but my party had been waiting for a while for the final people to show up, so I don't really fault them for that. The restaurant was cozy and clean. We would be back for them bunz and noodz

    Photos
    Interior
    Interior
    King Mushroom Chicken
    King Mushroom Chicken
    Purple Paradise

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    Purple Paradise
    MingHin Cuisine

    MingHin Cuisine

    4.0
    (1.2k reviews)
    0.9 mi
    $$

    I haven't been to a MingHin location in over 6 years, and after having dinner here last weekend, I…read morewish I could come back again tomorrow already haha. We ordered like the PERFECT amount of food and best variety. Roast duck: I honestly don't know if I've ever had duck before, but I'm a duck believer now. The skin on theirs was the perfect crispy shatter texture and the duck was sooooo juicy! I don't know why I was always so worried about it being gamey. They give you fluffy steamed bao buns, a sauce, and scallions on the side as well as duck fried rice! Turnip cake: Obviously a must any time I come to dim sum. I've never seen turnip in any other form than this. Japanese salt & pepper tofu: My FAVORITE dish ever. Any fried salt & pepper tofu always makes me happy. They use a creamy egg-like tofu and the outside is lightly crispy with amazing aromatics stir fried in. Steamed white rice on the side is perfect with this. Loved everything else my dinner buds picked and we were super full by the end! Service was good and food came out fast and scorching hot! ***Parking in the area is treacherous (not the restaurants fault, but reconsider driving if possible bc cell signal can be zero to none around the garages if you get lucky) ***Their website allows you to request a reservation as long as it's 3 hours before your desired time. We came on a Saturday evening around dinner time and there was plenty of room for us to get a table immediately as walk-ins!

    Please be advised, they do not take Apple Pay!…read more Both the egg yolk buns and shrimp friend rice were delicious! I went on Sunday afternoon and there were few parties dining in, so we were able to sit and get our food quickly.

    Photos
    Restaurant interior
    Restaurant interior
    Fish and tofu in clay pot
    Fish and tofu in clay pot
    Tea & Tea

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    Tea & Tea
    Sun Wah Bar-B-Que

    Sun Wah Bar-B-Que

    3.9
    (2.1k reviews)
    6.6 mi
    $$

    This was my first time trying a Chinese barbecue spot in Chicago, and it definitely won't be my…read morelast! I went with someone who knows the city well, and they recommended the duck fried rice. I had never tried it before, and it was absolutely delicious so flavorful and satisfying. We also ordered the wonton soup and egg rolls, and both were really tasty. Everything came out quickly, and the service was warm and efficient, which made the whole experience even better. The prices were very reasonable for the quality of the food, and I'm already looking forward to bringing my friends and family here next time. Great food, great service, and a place I'm excited to come back to!

    This is a tough one. Not happy at all. With all of the wonderful legendary Chinese places closing…read moreover the past few years (Kow Kow, Hong Min, Pekin House, and even the best egg rolls at Mee Mah), Sun Wah has been solid over the years- their whole duck is legendary and incredible. BUT, as wonderful as the food is, the last 5 visits have been dreadful. The angry waitresses are part of the deal, but when we're spending a few hundred bucks on dinner, enough is enough. Asking for extra sauce and being told NO- asking for extra bao wrappers and being told NO, asking for extra daikon for the duck when we're given a half full dish in the first place in unacceptable. And like I said, that's part of the deal. And the food is so good that you put up with it. But what happened last week was the last straw. We ordered egg rolls, 2 large dumpling soups, pot stickers, a whole duck, medium ribs, sweet and sour chicken, and for an appetizer, a medium BBQ pork. When the server brought the pork, first, it was cold. I guess that's also the deal. Sometimes it's hot, sometimes totally cold. But this time, and I'm not exaggerating, more than half of the order was pure white fat. Not fatty pork, white solid fat. we tried chewing git to see if there was any meat, but no. So, I finally got the servers attention and showed her. She looked at it, and then walked away. I assumed she was going to bring us a new order. Instead, the owner walked over. I showed her the 2 plates- 1 plate with half of the solid white fat, and the other plate with chewed up fat pieces. Instead of apologizing and bringing over a new order, she said "sometimes the pigs we get are very fatty". So I replied something like "sure I get that, but you can't serve this to customers" and " can you please bring us a new order of actual pork and not just a plate of fat"??? and she then looks down at both plates and says "you already ate it so we can't do anything. I tell her that, no, I didn't eat anything- you can see a plate with chewed up and spit out fat, but she literally WALKS AWAY. So then of course we wait for her to bring a new order over, but that never happens. And we're loyal customers for many many years, and she knows us. This extreme lack of care for your longtime customers is nauseating. Like I said, we've put up with it for years because we love the food (as well as putting up with the many health code violations over the years), but after this huge fuck you from the owner over a few bucks worth of pork? We're done. And our friends are done. This rude pathetic refusal to admit that you're serving inedible food and take care of your loyal customers with a few dollars in pork will now cost you THOUSANDS of dollars every year, because we have now told 20 of our friends to stop going, and they all agreed with us. Bad move Momma SunWah..........

    Photos
    Sun Wah Bar-B-Que
    Fried rice
    Fried rice
    Fried rice with duck

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    Fried rice with duck
    Duck Duck Goat

    Duck Duck Goat

    4.1
    (2.2k reviews)
    0.9 mi
    $$$

    Duck Duck Goat lived up to all the hype and everything I have ever heard about it. One of the best,…read moreflavorful meals I have had in a long time. I was able to get a last minute reservation for me and my friends, and we were even able to sit inside. The teapot "group" drink was hard to pour, but that was truly my only complaint of the night. The potstickers melted in your mouth and the scallion pancakes were so unique. We could not get enough! The dan dan noodles were our other favorite. The inside is so cute, intimate, and dark, yet lively and fun at the same time. The perfect restaurant for any occasion!

    I really wanted to love Duck Duck Goat as it was recommended by a friend. The atmosphere was great…read moreand the drinks were good. A few dishes, like the Duck Fried Rice, Pork Belly, and Beef Noodle Soup, were actually pretty solid. But the rest of the night was just so frustrating that I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. The Jiaozi were the first big letdown. The menu said they were beef short rib and bone marrow, but they didn't taste like that at all. The filling was just super mushy and the flavor was just weird. The manager and the food runner were nice when we mentioned it, but our actual server was a disaster. When we tried the Goat Noodles, all we could taste was cumin. It was so overwhelming that it covered up everything else. We couldn't even tell if there was actually any goat shoulder in there. When we told our waiter, she couldn't care less. She got totally defensive, wouldn't even listen to us, and just said, "Oh, I told you when you ordered that the dish is cumin forward" and walked away. It got worse when the bill came. She was holding on to the payment machine so hard and almost yanked it right out of my friend's hand. She was staring at it to see what we were tipping. It was so awkward and incredibly rude. No thank you, no nothing. She just grabbed it and left. The place has potential, but they really need to fix the food and retrain the staff. A cool vibe doesn't make up for bad food and awful service.

    Photos
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Join us for Dim Sum every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
    Duck Duck Goat To Go - Order via Caviar or Tock.

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    Duck Duck Goat To Go - Order via Caviar or Tock.

    Silk Road - chinese - Updated August 2026

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