Good carry out menu. Tasty appetizers and lunch menu. Very good portions of food. Food hot. Speedy service. Fresh food. We tried the string beans, got it real spicy, very good. Ordered the string beans numerous times thereafter. read more

They could start serving sushi and hibachi again and they could also have dine-in. They make the excuse that they can't find help and it's total BS! read more

Have gotten the pad Thai here before and the sauce tasted like ketchup. Recently got a Thai iced tea and it tasted very artificial. Would not recommend. read more

Food used to be excellent Low Mein Noodles and Shrimp Egg Foo Young bland - no flavor Removing this place " off my list " Sad -as always great food . Used to go when you could actually sit down Guess things change read more

Did a last-minute order from this place based on convenience. Food was OK, liked the flavour. Would have been great to have a bit more communication with the boy in the front. read more

I ordered the Veggie Delight and it was delicious. The portion was generous and it was very flavorful. I'm looking forward to trying another entree. read more

Best Chinese food around. No one can top their egg rolls. Food is always fresh and staff are friendly

Ordered carry out. Order was ready and on time and my order was correct. While sitting waiting for my food to be rung up I saw in 5 minutes at least 8 people come in for carry out and/or dine in which is a good sign. The pad see ew was good but a little too spicy for my liking. The noodles were too crunchy for me. There were also mushrooms in the dish which I've never had in this particular dish before. Thai tea was good a little on the sweet side. The Thai coffee was average and there was not enough cream in the cup even when I asked twice. The cashier was super nice and I would give her 5 stars but for the food and cost 3 stars. read more

Tai San Chef - Pad See Ew - Thai Near Me - Darien, Illinois

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The Smoothies here are delicious. Sweet but not too too sweet. The food that I had here was so-so. Not the best, not the worst. Will likely not get food here in the future. I asked for pineapple fried rice. Got chicken fried rice instead. I called to report this. They told me that Pineapple fried rice is not something that they make! It's even pictured here on YELP. read more

DONT GO HERE ! I waited 20 mins in line to get my food , which was a call in order. Cashier answered the phone with customers in line. Restaurant Smells really bad like old mop water. Food was cold. And when addressed cashier got in my face and said "you no want it" read more

Very disappointed. This was our go to take out place. Tonight: Hot green curry- no flavor, no heat. Mongolian beef also sad! No flavor! None! Both dishes terribly bland! Panda Express has better Mongolian beef. What has happened to this place? Will not be going back. read more

Restaurant is around the corner from my new house, so I decided to try it. Kept it safe by just ordering the chicken fried rice... what could go wrong, right? Well apparently a lot. Decided to eat my leftover rice later that evening, to only bite into a long piece of black plastic. Thank goodness Im a slow eater... could've choked on it. Probably, won't go back... might not be so lucky next time around, smh. read more

This restaurant is a pleasant surprise but it's hard to appreciate if you aren't familiar with Cantonese cuisine. I tried a variety of dishes and items and was in general happy with what I received. The eggdrop soup (with corn) and hot and sour soups were a little above average. There was a little more care than normal put into the preparation but didn't make a strong impression. The smoothies were surprisingly good. Few places outside of Chinatown get a good mix of flavor without being excessively sweet. The biggest surprise was that the tapioca (boba) was both soft and properly separated. Many places outside of Chinatown tend to freeze the boba instead of preparing it fresh, resulting in suboptimal texture and clumping. The beef chow fun was probably the best dish with thick rice noodles that were fried to be very crispy. This was paired with tasty, tender beef. The crispy duck was prepared exactly as advertised -- crispy. Like the beef chow fun, I felt like I was eating Chinese junk food (but it tasted so good I couldn't tell myself to stop). The Szechuan string beans were also a solid choice with good flavor and texture. The item I was disappointed by was the shrimp pad thai. It was prepared in a almost Hong Kong style tomato sauce and didn't taste bad, but I was hoping for a contrast in flavor. Overall, a solid choice if you're in the area or you want a bit different flavor from the cuisine you get in Chinatown. read more

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Tai San Chef used to be our go to Chinese restaurant, however, it's completely gone down hill over the past year. We tried it again tonight hopeful we would get a "good" order but we're severely disappointed. The food was burnt and when we called the owner to tell them they said that it wasn't true. We let them know we just wanted a credit and would send them a picture and at that point we were disconnected. We called back and they said if we were unhappy to not order again. Again, we said we just wanted a credit for the burnt food and they hung up on us. We called back one more time and said if they saw the food they would agree with us and by now you can guess the outcome (hung up on). Very peculiar behavior and so here's a picture of our food. We cannot recommend and really disappointed that the owner would not not even listen to us or see the picture. Here it is for you all. read more

Tai San Chef - Burnt food. No apologies or refund and hung up on. Unbelievable. - Thai Near Me - Darien, Illinois

Tai San is one of my favorite Sushi places. We have ordered in and sat down, and I definitely recommend sitting to eat. The Menu is pretty large, so there's more options than just sushi, but that's what I tend to order every time. We've always had spectacular service here (especially after coming so often). They do recognize their regulars and treat them well. I haven't noticed a quality decline like some of the other reviews have mentioned- food has been consistently good over the past two or so years we've been ordering from here. read more

This is still our constant go to for Chinese and Thai right now. Soon hopefully sushi will be back but until then we at least get take out from here at least 2-3 times a month. Favorites and extra hot red chicken curry. Moo shu beef. Veggie chicken for the girls. She seseme chicken. Get a free large fried rice for $40+ dollars. So can't complain. We love it. Delicious. read more

I am honestly so confused by this place. We visit family in the area about once a year and I always look forward to the Pad See Ew here, they get the noodles so wonderfully crunchy, they are the best noodles I've ever had. The Pad Thai on the other hand is pretty disgusting... overcooked, mushy noodles, generic, bottled sauce, and hardly any veggies at all. I know that the owners are not Thai but how can they do one noodle dish so well and fail so hard at another??? Egg rolls are good. read more

The pineapple fried rice is amazing I've been eating here since they opened. Wish I could order sushi for delivery. But the chinese combo fried rice, potstickers and bbq pork are a great second when we don't get sushi. read more

Tai San Chef - Pineapple Fried Rice - Thai Near Me - Darien, Illinois

They have a basil chicken dish that I can only find at two Thai joints in the entire city and burbs and it's so fricken good. Good price points and easy take out. read more

Very disappointed in this our once fav place..this was our 2nd and last carry out try and it wasn't any better. Once we recommended it to everyone for the fresh flavors but I don't think anymore. The sauces were like jell and and veggies were missing that crisp stir fry we had come to enjoy. Now it's just like any other corner oriental, it might be for you but it will be awhile before we go back. It's always been clean and quick service. Maybe when sit down comes back those great meals will too. read more

This is our favorite Chinese restaurant. Our favorite dishes here are the barbecued pork appetizer, Mongolian beef and orange beef. Great delivery service too. Egg rolls good too. read more

My husband and I have tried a few different dishes here a couple times since we moved into the area May 2021. We haven't had any bad experiences, it's just been a convenient local Asian cuisine takeout restaurant for us. HOWEVER, this week, I needed some soup and something with protein that didn't have a ton of cheese in it (totally not like me, but I was sick!). I ordered won ton soup, an egg roll, and beef lo mein. I've had the egg rolls here every time I've ordered and they're delightful. Basically everything up until this week has been, for the most part, pretty average. This week though, I added just a couple drops of hot sauce to the soup and lo mein and my world changed. The couple drops of hot sauce brought all of the incredible hidden flavors out to dance on my tastebuds!! The textures for all the food were melt in your mouth, and not even a little bit slimy. The only thing the food here has been missing (from what I've tried so far, mind you) is that kick! The flavors are there but I needed a little extra punch! You can absolutely tell that the ingredients used are healthy and fresh, so I knew this would be our spot anyway, but now that I know the secret to making this one of my favorite spots for Asian cuisine I am beyond sold!! So excited to try other items on the menu!! For reference, my husband and I have tried the following: -egg rolls -crab rangoon -shrimp fried rice -chicken fried rice -Mongolian beef -sweet and sour chicken -beef lo mein -won ton soup read more

Have carried out here three times. Each time has been perfect, b e s t Crab Rangoon's we've had in the suburbs! Vegetable egg rolls too! I ordered Chicken and mixed vegetables, chicken cooked to perfection and vegetables arrive alive. Husband, General Tao's chicken, delish each time. Highly recommend! read more

Went there today because I've been craving pad si ew.. I've actually ate it like 5 times in the past two months but all different places trying to find the best... today I've stuck gold. THIS IS THE BEST. So good and had shrimp fried rice too and it was amazing. The guy working was super nice I think he was the owner. I'd recommend to anyone! read more

I feel like Bart Simpson after he ate that bad Krusty-O ... only I didn't eat anything bad, per se. But I would 'se' that the amount I ate was bad- very bad. Because Good God, am I in pain now. Okay, maybe I feel more like when Bart Simpson is imagined in the future being morbidly obese as media folk stare and take photos. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJQEl5vcAo God, I love that quote. Only I'm not the 8 second version. Oh no. I'm the 11 minute loop. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpa1oCfpW3k Hyup... it's not a pretty scene up in my person right now. And holy hell was I happy the bathroom is one of those giant single person dressing-room types of loos (has one for the Fs and one for the Ms, too). It restored my faith in Jeebus, that's for sure. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVwCYJj4THQ&feature=related But I don't blame Tai San Chef, or their 20 page menu of Chinese, Japanese, and Thai creations. I blame my gluttonous habits and the broken switch in my head that should be saying "Stop eating, Stupid!" Overall, the food was aight, yo. I could probably go a 3 star but their portion sizes are no joke, I really liked my veggie soup, and the place is unassumingly large and WAY cuter than I had expected inside. A few notables~ -Their first menu page shows a bunch of photos of bubble tea and has a flavor list but says 'smoothies'. Just to be sure, I asked my server guy and he said they don't have bubble tea, only smoothies... Bummer! Until I see a table across the way who clearly has bubble tea. I assume he made a mistake and I decided to just say the flavor I want while pointing to the bubble tea on the menu and just hoping I got what I wanted. What did I get? A plain ole frickin' smoothie. LAME! What's a girl gotta do to get some boba around here? -My Spicy Basil Leaves and tofu dish wasn't very spicy and it had that super thick syrup-y sauce I've found to be indicative of Chinese food restaurants who try to add in some Thai tastes. To me, it's just too heavy and you don't get to taste the veggies the way you would if it were the thinner Thai chili sauce. -My fortune cookie arrived broken. :( -Free (and delicious) almond cookie at the end -The place was PACKED at 6:00 on Wednesday evening -Service can run a bit behind but it appeared as if just one young guy was serving all 15 tables in the area where I was sitting. NOT an easy feat. Keep this in mind and tip well- that boy busts his ass. -Like I said earlier, the veggie soup was delish! -The spring roll order was HUGE and though not very flavorful, I did still enjoy it as a filler. I would go back to try their hibachi, sushi, or the super cheap Mai Tais I've heard about, but I think I'd stay away from the Thai food as it doesn't seem to be their specialty. read more

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So Ive loved this place for around 2 years. Even when I was a broke college student who could only afford one "eating out" meal a month this was my place of choice. I loved this place so much that when I moved out of the area I would request this restraunt when I visited friends in town. Hell when I had friends from outta state come in I would even bring them here just because the food was so astounding. Well the food is still astounding but now the service is horrible. I just moved back into the area and Ive been so excited to eat here. Now I never want to eat here again. The last two times Ive ordered they have made just getting the food a nightmare. 1st occasion: I ordered food without meat online(cant eat all that delic chicken ). Ive done this before when I lived in the area, food come, its full of meat, there goes my dinner. I call to request a new meal, they blame me, then admit the system no longer allows changing the food online(have to call), then admit they took out the statment on their ordering page that would have told me that in the first place. . After all that fun conversation they try and refuse to make me a new dish, instead offering a credit for one meal. 2nd occasion: both happen at same apartment location, remember this. I call as I was told before hand and Im so excited. Delicious food, this time correct the first time, doing exactly what they ask so no bumps or issues. I call and now the same location is to far. I ask why, they say they deliver only 6 to 7 miles out. This apartment is 7.1 miles out . I inform them that they have delivered to this location before and it has never been an issue distance wise (order wise is a different story). The man on the other line responds pissed off, put out, and honestly pretty rude, informing me I will get my food in an hour. Ive been missing this restraunt for the 10 months Ive lived outta town, I was that annoying friend that would suggest the same restraunt when I visited my friends in town. I moved back and Ive been here for only a month, excited before the move and elated after the move just because of Tai San. As of tonight I will never order their again. These hoops are not worth the jumping. Time to break in my wok and learn to make all my favorites myself. Less cost, less headache, more leftovers. Sounds like a win. read more

Had the ginger chicken lunch here with the hot and sour soup. The soup was quite flavorful and the chicken flavor well balanced . On second visit had the orange chicken- it was OUTSTANDING I didn't care for the egg roll - over cooked and tough. I would stop back in and try out the other items on the menu. read more

I've tried this place multiple times over the last few months. The quality and taste is very consistent, the spice level as well. I love the Thai Food I've tried- especially the Pad See Eiw. Their mushroom soup is delicious. read more

Disappointed. Me and my friend met up here for lunch as the reviews are pretty good. It was crowded when we got in and had to wait for about 5 minutes before was seated. We thought that was a good sign. We looked up the long menu and then got our usual order of Thai food: Chicken Pad Thai (lunch special) for her and Red curry with Shrimp for me. The Egg roll was huge with thick wrapper. It tasted OK. Pad Thai arrived first and came with Fried rice. Not type of Pad Thai she liked. A bit mushy with no much flavor. Fried rice was just OK. Red curry was served with chicken. I didn't realized it till I took one bite. Well chicken didn't taste good and curry sauce was too salty. I told the waiter that it was wrong dish. He said I ordered Chicken. My friend confirmed that I ordered Shrimp. He did cooked another red curry with Shrimp for me which tasted better but still too much salty and not enough sugar and coconut milk. I think i might have the better chance with the Chinese food here instead of Thai. I have nothing against Chinese Chef cooking Thai food or Mexican chef cooking Chinese food but the dish has to taste good. I guess I'm picky as a gentleman next to me told the waiter that his food was excellent and asked the waiter to send the compliment to the chef. So there are people love their food. It is just not my type. read more

I really wanted to like this place after reading rhe reviews. Honestly. I sat at the sushi bar and ordered two forgettable rolls. I asked the chef what he recommended without pause he recommended the most expensive roll. I asked him if he recommended anything else, he said "that one"....ok buddy. When he was making the rolls I could smell the fish, not a good sign. I actually ate one roll, tried the other and couldn't do it. Gross. I sent it back, the manager was very gracious and took it off my bill. Well I'm a big guy one roll ain't gonna cut it. I ordered off the Japanese dinner menu. Garlic beef. It came out fast. I'm not gonna lie, it had this weird smell, like not beef. Seriously, I don't write the kinda reviews, look at them. But I tasted it and the meat was soft and tasted mostly ok. But it had this smell man. And at this point all I can see is dog meat or cat meat on my plate, and all I could think is it was sorta edible. I'm not saying it was those meats, but I'm also not 100% it was beef....anyway. Couldn't finish it due to my own head hating the fact I might be eating Fluffy. That's my honest experience there. And oh, I also managed to get a MASSIVE dust cobweb from under the sushi bar wrapped up in my leg... I was wearing shorts.... read more

Our family tried this restaurant lately. very impressive by the fried rice and appetizer. The owner was very friendly. Definitely will go back again! read more

Updated 5/2/09 Not sure what has happened to this place between my last review when I gave it a 4 stars to current but the quality of food at this place have DEFINITELY went down. The last time I was there, we ordered a Thai Sour soup and it was the worse thing I've ever seen presented for almost $6. It was basically water, with raw humongous pieces of veggies floating on top. The mushrooms looked like it just came out of packaging the length of your thumb. The tomatoes were cut just as big. I can't believe how they would expect to charge a premium for this soup. Plus, it tasted nothing like Thai soup; in fact, it tasted like they just dumped seasoning and mixed it in for 5 minutes and served. So we asked the waitress if the soup was suppose to taste like this, and when she said "yes!", we sent it back. She wasn't nice about it or seem apologetic at all. My other dish was the Pad-See Eww and the noodles came out black and burnt. As first I thought it's OK if it's just a few burnt strands but half of my dish was burnt. They also put the same white mushrooms like the ones from my soup into this noodle dish (whoever heard of mushrooms in your pad see eww?). But while the noodles were burnt, the mushroom was raw. So final score: it was a mistake and this place will never have my patronage again. Why? Because both the food's quality have come down to a bare minimum and that their service isn't really up to par for the price that they charge. I would have given it 2 stars but the indifferent and ill-mannered customer service just didn't leave me with a good taste in my mouth, literally. ======== The sushi maki seems alright but nothing too special or set apart from the ones you get in a box at a grocery store. Their Thai dish are not too bad, particularly the Pad See Ew. Their Thai curry dishes is alright too but could use more flavor and coconut intensity. I was a little disappointed in the bubble tea because it didn't taste like they used fresh fruits but powder instead. The bubble themselves were too soft and not chewy. But the bubble tea is a pretty cheap (under $3) so in that sense, you can't expect Joy Yee's standards. read more

We got spicy tuna, tuna rolls, panang combo curry, and pad Thai combo. The sushi was ok, nothing special but not bad. Expensive for the quality. The panang curry was not panang. The sauce looked like mucus, there was no flavor. The pad thai was bright red and didn't have any peanut flavor. Really bummed because I was looking forward to the Thai. read more

I had a craving for fried rice and egg rolls. The fried rice was excellent. The egg rolls were crispy on the outside but mushy on the inside. It was late in the day so maybe that was why the egg rolls were mushy. I'll try them again sometime. read more

This is our favorite Thai/Chinese. Recently, due to the pandemic, they are closed a couple days a week so we ordered from another Darien Chinese restaurant with good ratings. Honestly, the egg rolls were ok, but the Orange chicken was all breading & the pot stickers were huge but all doe. If you want some delicious pot stickers, egg rolls, thai basil rolls, thai fried rice, crazy noodle beef, moo shu beef or chicken try Tai San read more

This is place is ok for a hibachi meal, but nothing particularly exceptional. They also offer Thai and Chinese, but the menu looked a little more fast foodish to us. The hibachi meal was accompanied with a nice, watered down hot mustard/soy sauce which went well with the steak, and which I haven't encountered at other Asian restaurants. Strip mall location with convenient parking. read more

Tai San Chef - Storefront - Thai Near Me - Darien, Illinois

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First, this place is everything, which makes it less of each in my opinion. First dish, first stop, China and some Cucumber salad. It was just cucumber and juice. I normally have this and there is a little more to it than just a cucumber in a sweet sauce. Second dish, quick jump to Japan, the sushi was OK flavor-wise but fell apart with the touch of the chop stick. Main dish and a stop in Thailand for some panang curry and pad thai. I wish I could remember these more but the panang was rockin' good, like the only food item we would order again if we come back here... but the pad thai, large, large, large disappointment with its lack of flavor. Finally, the reason we stayed through the mediocre dish after dish... $4 Mai Tai drink special. These are totally worth you dropping a $20 on drinks alone. If you come here, drink specials and appetizers only would be my recommendation. Make it your own happy hour... There you go, create your own 'I'm-happy hour'. read more

Tai San Chef - Thai covered in sauce :( - Thai Near Me - Darien, Illinois

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There's no way that I can compete with Candice's review so like Bart Simpson, I'll have to be happy underachieving. Brought my 3 month old here for lunch while my wife was at work. Very friendly staff. One of the owners came by to sit and play with my lil punkin while I ate. I should probably clarify that by lil punkin, I mean my daughter, lol! The sushi I had was good. Tasted fresh and I enjoyed the preparation. I also ordered some sweet and sour chicken to go for later and didn't care for that as much. I personally am not a fan of the sauce directly on the chicken if it's a to go order. Everything gets soggy, and that's no fun for anybody. All in all, I loved the sushi and will definitely be back to try more of that insanely ginormous menu! read more

Tai San Chef - Shrimp tempura and spicy salmon rolls - Thai Near Me - Darien, Illinois

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Good noodles and sauce in the Pad See Eiw. The Pad Thai was just okay. Fried rice is yummy.

Decent food. Needs a friendlier staff. We usually get carry out from Tai San when my girlfriend is in the mood for Chinese since it's close by. Not the best Asian food around the area. The service is slow, the employee's tend to be rude. The main reason I continue to come back to Tai San is there smoothies. They have one thing right with their tapioca smoothies. Other than that there food is mediocre. their staff needs to learn to smile and thank their customers. I actually have been coming here for years e and would order take out a few times a year to maybe once a year now. For their food I usually order the hunan beef and which tends to be very runny and you don't get a good portion for what you pay. Their shrimp fried rice is good and I can honestly say the freshness has always been consistent. Pricey for what you get as well. I used to spend $40 plus every time I deff cut back. Only reason we come back is because they have amazing smoothies. I get the mango coconut! Very delicious on a hot summer day. Other than that I would say tai san is slowly but surely coming off my list of Asian/Chinese food places to eat at. read more