My mom and I used to come here for years to pick up some quick dim sum because it was always so busy. We couldn't find a seat but recently I think it's gone downhill. We walked in Monday early evening, and it was a Ghost Town. Only one person came in after us. We ordered dim sum, and we saw that two items were added to our order that we never ordered. They were potstickers and a Chinese sausage rice. We have potstickers and Chinese sausage at home a lot so we don't go out to buy it. We tend to pick items we can't make at home for dim sum like shrimp dumplings are harder to make at home than a potsticker. The rice came with the Chinese sausage was very old like dry and a little soggy at the same time. I also have never had spare ribs like they did. There was a lack of black bean taste. The turnip cakes were soggy which is weird because you need to pan fry them and it was clear there was some frying but the inside was super goopy. Turnip cake can be a little goopy but mostly it had more integrity than what we got. The only good things we had were the fried shrimp rolls and the pumpkin rolls. The stuff that was deep-fried. And I noticed that one item I did order ended up not being added to our check so we were never given that. I don't think I can come back here for dim sum anymore. it was a $46 meal of sad items. Not worth the price. Maybe we'd come for entrées. Someone got fried rice and noodles and those looked decent but I wasn't able to see up close. read more

See all

This is an old Chinatown mainstay... it has renovated (a little) over the years, but it's still a bit, um... less-than-posh. It can't help itself. It has a lot of history and baggage and manners baked into it. We went for dinner (although they do serve dim sum during the daytimes). It is a standard menu (multiple variations for beef, chicken, seafood, veg, etc). The food is familiar but a little bit "brighter" than the usual takeout places that dot along the strip malls. We had the typical beef spareribs, General Tso's chicken, honey walnut shrimp... but we also had an off-menu eel dish. Secrets! But what separates this place is that this is where the locals end up eating (we saw plenty that evening). Maybe it's the familiarity or the lack of tourism marketing. It's not exactly traditional, but is not exactly high-concept-fusion. Just a place where the locals meet up when they don't to cook in. read more

See all

Perfect for a big family. The table fit 10 people easily, with plenty of room in the middle for all the food! They have a good variety of choices on the menu, from more authentic/traditional to more American style, so everyone in our group was able to find something they liked. (Yes, the General Tso's chicken is very good!) We also enjoyed some off-menu eel dishes that were delicious! (It seems they're not on the menu because it's not always available.) This restaurant is in Chinatown, so don't expect easy parking. read more

See all

(Review based on 3.5 stars) China Cafe is located in Chinatown, on a corner. I decided to stop by here on a Friday afternoon, around 2 pm to order some food to go since my husband was becoming quite hangry (I don't know why he always lets himself get so hungry... before realizing). We came in and were greeted by the lady at the counter. She gave us menus to look over. After deciding what we wanted, she ended up helping this customer who had came in after us. I was fine with this but my husband was annoyed (he was hangry remember?) as we had to wait longer. This woman ended up making a watermelon smoothie that he ordered, so that took time. Anyways, we ended up ordering: Number 2, Siu Mai, $4.58 (before 4 pm) prior to tax- This came in an order of 4. Quite oily (maybe even the most oily that I have ever had) but was tasty. Number 6, Chiu Chow, $4.58 (before 4 pm) prior to tax- (also known as fen gao) One of my favorite dumplings that I like to order at dim sum places. The dumpling wrapper is transparent, typically heavily filled with meat, vegetables, etc. This came in an order of 3. Also very oily, but typically this dish comes oily in other restaurants. Number 36, Pan Fried Turnip Cake, $4.58 (before 4 pm) prior to tax- This also came in an order of 3. I really love turnip cakes and always order this when we have dim sum. Tasty but as you would have guessed, this was also incredibly oily. Number 43, Shrimp Rice Roll, $4.88 (before 4 pm) prior to tax- The one item that wasn't that oily was these rice rolls. Came in 3 pieces with large pieces of shrimp. ------------------------ (Total= $20.80 after tax) Please note that the prices are before 4 pm. The prices go up by another $1 after 4 pm. All the items I ordered were medium, as there are sizes of orders you can order that is shown on their menu. I don't think the employee actually asked me what size I wanted but I would have picked medium anyway (unsure of how much each order would be). I appreciated that the employee packed plastic utensils and chopsticks before I had asked. Just as I had mentioned above, the food was really oily. I know that is to be expected because this was made at a restaurant but this was the oiliest dim sum I have ever had (and yes I do frequent restaurants with dim sum regularly). Wait time for our order wasn't too long. I used the restroom, which was clean enough, while I waited. I don't know if I would come back to be honest. There are so many other restaurants here in Chinatown and think I would rather try another place. But the price of the food itself is cheaper than some of the other restaurant menus that I did take a look at though. read more

See all

I have mixed feelings about this place. My family loves this place, and come here weekly. The food itself was good, with an emphasis on traditional Cantonese dishes. Service is kind, but the ladies working here will not check in on you unless you request them to! Come in here with an open mind because you will not receive the traditional doting service that you may be used to at other restaurants. This place definitely needs a DEEP cleaning. The floors were so sticky, and I'm not sure they remodeled the place in a while! It looks the same as the day I went here 10 years ago. There were even cobwebs behind the counter LOL. If you are looking for a comfortable and cute aesthetically pleasing place to dine, this is not your place. If you're looking for affordable, large/generous portions of Cantonese food, this is your place! read more

The food is delicious! Portions are huge! Big tables with spinning centerpieces make it easy for big parties to share entrees. The waitress is always kind and patient in explaining the dishes. read more

They honored our request for no garlic or onions and all of the dishes were still extremely flavorful and delicious! On Choy - Had more stalks than leaves, but it was a softened so it wasn't difficult to chew, absorbed the sauce and flavors well! Fish Filet with Chinese Broccoli - Fish was good, the Chinese broccoli could have been cooked a little longer to be easier to bite and chew, but that's just my preference. Beef with Snow Peas - The beef was very savory and the peas and carrots were yummy too! Beef Chow Fun - the thinner noodles is different than what I'm used to, but I liked that the noodles were a little pan fried! Had A LOT of been sprouts read more

See all

Lady at front desk was very nice and helpful, has a restroom but it charges 2$ per person

Though this is only my first time in Chicago Chinatown, I can already tell there are two parts to the Chinatown, the new and the old. The new Chinatown is located northerly outside of the gate, it has more contemporary restaurants and trendy hangout places. And the Old Chinatown starts at the gate, more or less for tourist purposes, there were some souvenir shops, stores, and old school restaurants including China cafe. Just by the look of the restaurant, China cafe has seen better days. The inside of the restaurant was dated, quite spacious, many tables, however, maybe due to Covid, not much patrons... Their menu covers a lots of diff foods variety, from traditional Chinese dishes to a full list of dimsum. We ordered some durian bun, egg tarts and etc... I didn't expect much, coz it was very affordable, but they turned out okay! The waitress was very courteous and friendly, she walked us thru the menu and provided us with recommendation. Overall, I have a good experience at China cafe. I give it a soild 3.5 star! read more

China Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Looked small, but once you walk in you see the other side. Very friendly. Started with a lychee smoothie, which was sweet and refreshing, the dim sum was ok, the stuffed eggplant was very good but the mango jelly was a bit underwhelming, the fried fish dish was excellent, flavored perfectly between the garlic and the ginger was just amazing, I had the shrimp egg foo young, fresh and piping hot, and the portion was huge, I could only eat one. The only real low point was the sleeping staff member that was snoring, but food was good. read more

The food is great, and reasonably priced. Got a handful of dim sum dishes + seafood crispy noodles. The dim sum dishes taste great, and the noodles very crispy with a generous portion of squid and prawns. Don't forget to ask for the chilli oil. The chilli is fried then oil added. Not too spicy, very aromatic This will be a stable when we visit. read more

Rule of thumb if you're looking for good authentic Chinese food: The restaurant should generally have 3.5 stars on Yelp. This is because there will always be vindictive, non-Chinese 1-star reviewers who are complaining about ambience, cost, or other non-relevant things, or simply upset because the place doesn't serve their favorite but completely inauthentic orange chicken. If a Chinese restaurant has 5 stars, then beware of a PF Chang's style establishment catering to a certain palette and demographic. This place serves authentic Toisan-style Cantonese Chinese food. We ordered the salt and pepper baked pork chops, boiled shrimp, salted fish eggplant clay pot, and clay pot eel over rice. The clay pot eel over rice was not on the menu but was my favorite dish. It is local to Toisan area of China, and it looks a bit like fried rice except that it is cooked in a clay pot to give the rice a burnt and crispy texture and consistent charred flavor. Overall very nice flavor and execution. The sauce for the boiled shrimp had a great flavor of soy sauce, jalapeños, cilantro and sugar, and the shrimp tasted very fresh. The eggplant was similarly well executed and had a nice balance of umami flavor from the salted fish. The pork chops were also nicely breaded and crispy, without overwhelming saltiness or spiciness. Overall, a great food experience. read more

See all

Came in for my 1st time today.Food took quite a bit longer than I'd hope.They also told me they dont carry hot mustard.And I ALWAYS have hot mustard on my eggrolls.Had I known that I wouldnt of even ordered eggrolls because to me it IS THAT SERIOUS.Anyway,I ordered boiled beef in Sichuan sauce.Bowl was HUUUUUUGE!!!! Easily could have fed two people and it was delicious!!! Perfect!!!! Will return.Hope they read my review and start having hot mustard. read more

China Cafe - 66. Boiled Beef in Spicy Szechuan Sauce - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Was brought by a friend who recommended this place as we explored Chinatown for the afternoon. China Cafe serves huge portions, that are packed with flavor! During our visit, I got the Broccoli Chow Mein. The dish was well-flavored and balanced. I loved how the outer part of the noodles was crispy while the rest of the noodles were soft. The only downside was having to wait for the waiter. Eventually, after a few minutes passed by, I had to go and get the waiter for the check and to-go containers. Apart from that, I would visit again. read more

Not a lengthy review as I just popped in for a quick bite while touring China town. This place has a very extensive menu and would be great for dine in. I ordered their pork and vegetable steamed buns to go. Let me honest that the China food scene in Tampa Bay doesn't compare to any Chinatown I have been to and rarely are steamed buns on the menu. Decided to give that a try and NOM NOM NOM! I inhaled them all ha ha. I bun was super soft and sweet and the savory filling was delicious. So I think I need the chef to teach me how to make those. I also got a mango smoothie to go with it which was not too sweet which is good for my taste but it was refreshing. I would come back here for some more of their menu items. Pop in when in Chinatown. read more

See all

Recently visiting Chicago with my children I decided to try every restaurant in Chinatown This restaurant particularly stood out, the environment was clean, and the server was friendly and that makes a dining experience that much better not to mention the food was delicious. We intentionally order things we had never ordered before. Anywhere in the US when I'm we've eaten Chinese food and everything was delicious cooked perfectly, and at a fair price in my opinion I'm not gonna even bother reading the negative reviews because I can tell you after visiting this restaurant twice in our 10 day vacation And that's only because we tasted every other restaurant all through the Chinatown area read more

Dim sum options in Chinatown are plenty and none of the ones that I've tried really stand out to me in a super bad or good way. With that said, this is another dim sum restaurant you can't go wrong with. The only dish I felt was overcooked and mushy was my lotus leaf rice. Among the non-dim sum dishes was a hong Kong BBQ options like crispy pork and duck which were scribbled out and we were told they didn't have that. I don't know if that's temporary but those are popular meat dishes you should always be prepared for if possible. Service was fine contrary to other people's experiences. read more

See all

Workers take bteak whenever they want to. They tell customers there no one working you need to wait until they come back to get your food. They put the phone off the hook so no one can call in when workers are off walking around chinatown. Mmmm...wonder why they have no business. read more

In the middle of old chinatown, I've eaten here maybe 3-4 times and came back yesterday for their 20% off lunch dim sum, which was not bad, but not stellar either. The dishes are very fairly priced, but nothing was crazy delicious, just standard dim sum! The restaurant itself is quite large and clean, but a little on the older side. The best thing I had was the complimentary soup of the day when you order a lunch special; it was a soybean, meat, carrot broth, so good! The lunch specials are very worth it ($5-8, comes with rice and soup and dish) so those I'd recommend if you want a quick lunch. The dim sum ranges from around $2.68-5 for each dish. read more

See all

Walked by this place and went in. Food was so good! The egg tarts were phenomenal!!! I am still dreaming about these. Warm super flakey....delicious. The pork buns were also phenomenal. We got a ton of food...and everything was super hot and very tasty. Loved this place!!! And prices were reasonable. I Liked the atmosphere, as well. read more

China Cafe - 81. Peking Duck - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

We used to think this place was a hidden gem, my wife and I always made a stop when we visited Chicago. I took my wife and entire family of grown children there today for lunch, and I kept telling them how great it was going to be. Doh! We ordered a bunch of dim sum and other dishes, and we barely were able to eat any of it because it tasted so nasty...and we were hungry! We didn't take any of the leftovers home... the only reason I didn't give it one star is that the food was very reasonably priced. I feel bad leaving a review like this, but someone needs to tell them. read more

China Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in Chinatown because they do a good job with both dim sum and dishes. They completely remodeled a couple years back so now the place is pretty modern, with LED lighting and such. I've had too many of the dim sum varieties to remember but here are the ones that stick out for me: - BBQ Pork Buns - Creamy Egg Yolk Bun (possibly my #1 dim sum) - Egg Yolk Paste Bun (possibly my #2 dim sum) - Fried Taro Dumplings One of my favorite Chinese dishes is 椒盐玉子豆腐 (Salt & Pepper Japanese Tofu). The first time I had it here was probably the best I've had in Chinatown but the second time wasn't as good unfortunately. read more

China Cafe - salt and pepper Japanese tofu - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Taking a little trek away from Chicago's center city to find this little gem was totally worth it. Found on the Main Street Of China Town, China Cafe is competing with a number of other authentic restaurants with more or less average ratings in Yelp. So I resulted to old fashioned networking ideals, I spoke to a local :). Hello and Could you help worked wonder. A resident expert who I accosted highlighted a few of what she judged to be the best restaurants on the strip. I settled on China Cafe once she used a few key words: authentic (check), customer service (check), various selections (check), reasonably priced (check, check). Consider trying the potstickers, might well be the best I've ever had. It bears mentioning that there is an entire team of waitresses, no one seems to be attached to a particular table but not once did I feel neglected. As for the food, two thumbs up, it will definitely spoil you for any future take outs. read more

See all

When we got in there the guy rudely asked "what do you want". Then he sat us down and followed up with once again "what do you want". After we were done eating and paid, a lady DEMANDED a tip. when leaving we saw a worker in the corner sleeping on chairs. chow mein was not good but the orange chicken, sweet and sour chicken were good but I will never eat here again. I will also never recommend this after experiencing this customer service. read more

I'm surprised by the low reviews bc I actually enjoyed this place a lot! I went with a couple of friends during lunch time on a weekday and it was empty. We ordered a ton of dim sum and it only up ended up being 6 dollars each and we were STUFFED! I loved the taro cake and shrimp dumplings. During lunch time, they also have a discount so we were getting a DEAL. Score! read more

China Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

A bit of a mixed experience for me... it's kind of interesting because the food is a little above average but there's different factors that prevent this restaurant from getting an additional star for me. To start off with the good factors, I went earlier in the morning when they weren't too busy so I was able to experience a meal with excellent food temperatures and receive excellent service. The seating was pretty comfortable with a nice modern decor (although, the mix of colors and furniture choices prevent it from getting marks for decor from me). The hours are surprisingly long with a huge menu. Now for the not so positive aspects -- Much of the food did have good textures but was pretty bland overall. There were some that were done comparably well to some of the best dim sum restaurants in Chinatown, however there was also a lot of inconsistency in the quality between dishes and nothing really felt very premium about any of the dishes (although the price was pretty low overall). None of the dishes were particularly memorable for me. They didn't have the flavor complexity or texture variety that would've made them really stand out but several dishes were executed a bit better than others: Baked egg custard bun -- Very nicely prepared dough and aromatic custard. Beef & Cilantro rice roll - great texture on the rice roll (nice and elastic, slightly chewy) Stuffed eggplant - Very tender eggplant, nice flavor with the shrimp filling Congee with beef - Does need a bit of salt and maybe pepper (and even some soy sauce), but the texture of the congee itself is very good and the beef is tender (which goes well with the small bits of ginger). Zhong Shan Style dumplings - what really stands out here is the skin which is a bit thicker than what you'd typically find on a dumpling but is actually surprisingly soft and chewy. Creamy egg yolk ball -- Could really use more egg yolk but this is fried very nicely and contains sweet glutinous rice that is very soft and chewy Steamed pork patty /w preserved vegetable - done better than a lot of other restaurants in Chinatown since the pork is a bit more fatty but also slightly on the salty side. Overall, although there are several dishes that were enjoyable -- they were really better executed versions of the common food you'd find in Chinatown. There were also items such as the fish roe steamed dumpling and steamed beef ball that were below average. With this considered, China Cafe is a restaurant capable of breaking away from the pack to get 4 or 5 stars, but mixing some very nice elements of food and decor with poor ones really limit it from scoring any higher, even with the lower prices considered. With a few tweaks though, this restaurant could really change its identity and build a strong brand based on quality. First, renovate the restaurant to be consistent with the attractive modern look everywhere (it's like 60% there). Second, reduce the size of the enormous menu and focus on the dishes that can be executed well (a few poor to mediocre dishes can really ruin the good experience of the rest). read more

See all

Tip, full menu is available after 11:00 am. We started by ordering off the dim sum menu, the waitress informed us that we could order off the full menu after 11:00 am. We ordered the large egg drop soup and the waitress warmed us that it was for 5 people. read more

See all

Tried a variety of dim sum, all delicious! (Potstickers, shrimp dumplings, fried rice paper with shrimp, and meat stuffed sticky rice) For entres we ordered the half roasted bbq duck and new age Walnut shrimp (honey walnut shrimp) and they were so good! And the portions were HUGE! Happy to be eating this again and again as leftovers read more

China Cafe - New age 151. New Style Walnut Shrimp Fireeee - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Friend and I walked to Chinatown and saw this place, we walked inside and it wasn't the most beautiful Chinese restaurant but when the food got served it was ohhh my so delicious, my first time ever eating frogs and they taste very surprisingly good. No weird odor of the frog meat and was so soft. The roasted duck was seasoned very well and the skin was so crispy but very tender on the inside. The steamed whole fish was lightly seasoned with a very good sauce not overly seasoned with sodium. The server was a young girl very good to customers and very attentive, my son spelled the water on the floor but even with how busy she was offered to help me clean the floor. Overall was a good experience and would gladly come to this place again. read more

China Cafe - Yellow chived frog and half roasted duck. - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The POS machine in the store was broken, so we had to wait half an hour for them to repair it, Therefore, we didn't want to tip, and the waitress in the store asked us to tip 20%, which was a very bad experience. read more

Stopped by for dessert after dinner down the block. A lady came to greet us and gave us a menu. There were several tables eating family-style dinner and the food looked good from afar. After attempting to order some things that they were out of, we decided on a mango smoothie. It tasted like real mango and was delicious. read more

China Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

China Cafe was an evening option because I was on foot in the area so I figured I'd go ahead and grab dinner. Honestly, even though this place didn't have the highest Yelp review the pictures of food looked great so I figured I would chance it because different day different situation people and food can vary.  They had just completed a nice remodel and the space looks really nice apart from the plastic tablecloths. For some reason, Chinese food in St. Louis is different from other cities so I was unable to get a St. Paul or hot braised chicken. After the staff saw my disappointment, they pointed to other options and even allowed me to order from the lunch menu. That was so kind and I really appreciated it. I went with the orange chicken plate, added fried rice instead of white rice for an extra dollar and the most expensive vegetable eggroll I've ever purchased in my life for a whopping three bucks. I walked around in circles for quite some time so I was under the impression everything would be hot, fresh and everything coming out going to other patrons looked very delicious and well presented. The food was just okay and on the level of hot bar food. The chicken coating wasn't crisp but rather soggy and the orange sauce was just okay. The vegetable eggroll was the highlight and I wished I ordered another. China Café was sustenance for the evening but I don't foresee a second visit. read more

China Cafe - Remodeled dining area - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

BYOB, no fees. My go-to Seafood Feast for $50 - for 3, no brown bag. You need to be okay with a few fun with effort dining. The BEST CRAB RANGOON in Chicago! It was a good accident as I normally don't order it. Addictive! SOUP BOWL serves 4+. $20 HK STYLE LOBSTER has addictive add-ins and salty spices (all I can detect is the rehydrated dry shrimp) that goes great over rice. Lobster with shell is strategically chopped to gain easy access to meat. Be careful with shell. Fork is great to scrape and pry meat. $9 SALT N PEPPER SHRIMP can be eaten in its entirety. Don't look into the guilt-inducing eyes. :-) SERVICE is always hit and miss. English is sparse sometimes, but that's normal around here. It's an opportune time for you to learn, point and show ordering technique. :-). Should be fun. read more

See all

My family and I were at the China Cafe for nearly 2 hours and only received half our order. Bathrooms were sticky and disgusting. Would not recommend this place to anyone, not even my worst enemy. read more

I went here for dinner while visiting Chicago and it didn't disappoint! Everything was super flavorful and the staff were very accommodating of me being a vegetarian- they even made a vegetarian mushroom and taro dish for us specially even though it wasn't on the menu. They also substituted meat in the black bean chow mein for tofu, which was delicious, salty and saucy and mixed well with the crisp of the noodles. The salt and pepper tofu was perfectly crispy, seasoned, and fresh from the oven, and the pea shoots were also extremely tasty and had a good crunch and garlic flavor. If I could eat those pea shoots every day I would definitely have more vegetables in my diet. read more

Servers were very rude and dismissive but the food was very good. I the general ambiance it's a very cozy quiet lunch or dinner spot for friends or by yourself. read more

Perfect authentic Cantonese food. This is the kind of food I crave when I want some really yummy comfort food. My favorite dishes were the eel clay pot and eggplant/fish fillet clay pot. Flavors are simple, but tasty -- just how I like it (some places' sauces/flavors are just too overwhelming)!! read more

I cannot give this place more than 1 star due to the fact that they continually fail health inspections. This turned out to be a failed recommendation by someone I'll never trust again (LOL) I knew something was funky as soon as we got our food. So when I got home I decided to see if there'd been any complaints about them. See below for recent summary of inspections. 14. Previous serious violation corrected, 7-42-090 - comments: live roach activity (7) still seen on premises in kitchen area. Additional pest control service needed. Critical violation 7-42-090 | 35. Walls, ceilings, attached equipment constructed per code: good repair, surfaces clean and dust-less cleaning methods - comments: clean the encrusted grease on the ventilation hood and filters. | 33. Food and non-food contact equipment utensils clean, free of abrasive detergents - comments: violation corrected. | 34. Floors: constructed per code, cleaned, good repair, coving installed, dust-less cleaning methods used - comments: violation corrected Other known inspections July 20, 2017 (Pass) July 3, 2017 (Fail) June 29, 2017 (Fail) June 27, 2017 (Fail) June 19, 2017 (Fail) June 12, 2017 (Fail) June 7, 2016 (Pass) May 10, 2016 (Pass) May 3, 2016 (Fail) read more

China Cafe - Gross. - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

As a Cantonese myself. I found this place as legit as many restaurants we have been to in Asia or other major Chinatowns. Can they steam a fresh fish 'just right'? Yes. Can they make dishes with 'wok chi' (mastery in cooking food in high heat with a wok)? Consistently yes. Case jn point was the lobster with ginger and scallions we had last night. Are their dim sum dishes made to order? Yes. They even have unique items like durian steamed buns. We used to go to restaurants in the new part of Chinatown that often have long lines until we walked around the old part of Chinatown and wanted to try out this restaurant a couple of months ago. We have been back at least 4 times now with many more in our future. If you are like us who expect good authentic Cantonese food while supporting locally owned mom-and-pop shops, give this place a try. read more

I ordered following below for dip sum and they were good to eat. Roast duck, roast pork, Chinese broccoli, shrimp roll, and stuffed eggplant. Only complaint was the duck wasn't hot. We asked for them to heat it up and they did that right away. Pork belly skins were crispy and delicious. Went there again the next day and ordered roast pork, stuffed eggplants, and shrimp rolls to go. Note: They only validate parking for dine in only. read more

China Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois