I had always ordered delivery from here and loved their beef noodle soup, but I'm so glad I visited in person! When I visited, only one Chinese lady was running the restaurant since there weren't that many people dining in. She was incredibly sweet and attentive and offered us many free sides as we waited for our food, including some szechuan wontons. We got the green peppercorn fish and pork intestines, and they were both great portion sizes. My boyfriend and I love trying Szechuan restaurants and this one is definitely one we will continue ordering delivery from and dining at. read more

Dongpo Impression - a bowl of soup on a table - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Dongpo Impression always has such great deals when you order online! This time there was 15% off, $1 Scrambled Egg Tomato, $1 Sichuan Diced Chicken, and 1 free small item (either Spicy Sichuan Pickle or red bean soup). We also ordered Sichuan Bean Jelly, Famous Dongpo Pork, Pork Rib Mashed Rice, and Stewed Pork Balls. Everything was less $60 including tax and tip which is such a good deal! It'll definitely last our family a few meals. Everything was so tasty! The Famous Dongpo Pork is fatty meat but the fat absolutely melts in your mouth and the fried tofu pairs well with it. The Pork Rib Mashed Rice was super flavorful and my parents said it reminded them of when they used to eat it back home in China. This is quickly becoming one of our go-tos for takeout in Chinatown! I'd definitely recommend stopping by or ordering online! read more

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Outstanding authentic sichuan cuisine, everything we ordered was delicious and packed with flavor. Our meal included the numbing wontons, eggplant crushed chilies, cumin lamb and the boiled fish fillet. Highly recommended!!! read more

The food was amazing, one of the few restaurants when you ask for spicy, it is actually spicy! Loved it. Such great service and, the staff was so kind and even gave us a sample. A hidden gem in Chinatown for sure. Would recommend the chicken and eggplant cannot go wrong with them read more

Dongpo Impression - Hot and Hot n Sour Soup, Yushiang Eggplant (I think lol) and mapo chicken . - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Today I ordered their most popular Pork Preserved Veggie and the famous Dongpo Braised Pork. It was delicious! I will definitely come back! read more

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The food here is next level. I had the beef noodle soup and enjoyed every bite of the generous portion I was served. The waitress was knowledgeable and patient with questions. They were even able to accommodate my egg allergy. Thank you for the delicious lunch! read more

One of the best places in Chinatown. The food, the service, the affordability, and atmosphere were great. I definitely recommend! Will return here again! read more

Dongpo Impression - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The restaurant was previously called Yan Bang and recently changed their name. We ordered spicy boiled fish, deep fried eggplants and a cold kidney appetizer - they were all really spicy and tasty although too salty and oily for my taste. The owner saw me crying due to the spice so she gave us a complimentary cold dessert to cool me off. The meal also came with complimentary peanuts and pickled turnips. Their other specialty were spicy skewers. If you order dishes, there is no minimum requirement for number of skewers you have to order. Their price was also more reasonable than many Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Will definitely return to try more dishes. read more

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Round two! I asked (begged) them to make my food spicy this time. They used a lot of chilis, but the chilis themselves aren't spicy. A person who can't eat spicy food would be proud of themselves for eating this. Side note* This place is so slow!! Early 2000s Home of the Hoagy slow. I ordered my food at 5:28p, it wasn't ready until 6:50pm!!!! read more

Dongpo Impression - Chili eggplant and string beans no meat - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Ordered 毛血旺（Chongqing style beef maw and pork blood cakes) last night. It was so gross and smelly - do not order from this place. They put pork intestines in and it ruined the whole soup as if they did not wash it at all. I have had this dish elsewhere and it does not taste like that. Asked for a refund just for this dish, and they refused saying it's supposed to taste like shit I want to see the owners eat the whole thing in front me and I'll gladly pay him. It's a good price to see a shitshow read more

I'm adding this restaurant to my regular rotation for Chinese takeout/delivery! I ordered three of their popular dishes (sliced pork and pepper stir fry, baby bok choi and mushroom, and Sichuan sliced beef in chili sauce) for delivery and the food was excellent. It was still hot even though I didn't get around to eating it for a while. They threw in two complimentary small items (a sweet congee and a pickled veggie dish) to my order. I'll be trying their other stir fries in the future! read more

Got Dongpo delivered last night. It's 1.6 miles from where we were at and it took an hour to get here, long time but that's fine. I'd rather them take a long time and make delicious food than get bad food quickly. However the food was not good. The egg drop soup looked great but was tasteless. The chili chicken was dry and tasted old, the only flavor was spicy and was otherwise very plain. The mapu tofu was way too acidic and the flavor was incredibly unbalanced. Mapu tofu is my favorite dish and I order it everywhere I go, this was the first time I could barely eat it. The one dish that saved our dinner was the boiled fish, that was a 10/10 and next time I would just get that. The food might be better when dining in, but the food delivered left lots to be desired. read more

Ah yes, good ol' Szechuan... infamous for that hot hot heat. For me it's an interesting heat that isn't that spicy to where it burns the mouth but makes me sweat like no other. A nice way to clear the sinuses. Anyhow, we stopped by the other night here for dinner. No issues finding parking on Cermak and street parking costs $2 an hour. Overall ambiance is casual and they seemed to have gutted the tacky decor I had seen in photos. Walls and decor are pretty minimal and non-existent. For food to start you off, they serve some pickled veggies mixed in with peppers to let you know they are indeed Szechuan from the get go. For food, we tried the lamb sauteed with onions, boiled fish (spicy!), and an order of pan fried noodles. If you're not a huge spciy person, probably just one spicy dish is more than enough. Overall, a solid meal and while I enjoyed the boiled fish it did leave me drenched in sweat by the end of the meal but couldn't get enough of it over steamed rice. Anyways, you've been warned. 'Til next time, cheers! read more

Dongpo Impression - Lamb - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Ordered delivery and their cabbage is full of black spots. Other dishes are actually pretty good not sure why they use bad cabbages. read more

Dongpo Impression - Chinese Cabbage - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Below par hygiene and services with average food. We will probably never come back again.

First time dining in at Dongpo Impression and it was an excellent impression. Although the restaurant is under renovations, the service and food were impeccable. The shrimp fried rice was cooked to perfection and flavorful! The sichuan wonton were fresh, hot and the perfect spicy as seen in the picture. I didn't get a picture of the mixed vegetable soup because it was to good not to indulge in it. The vegetables were fresh and the broth was clear and tasty. My favorite dish for sure was the delicious mixed vegetable soup especially on a cold rainy day. read more

Dongpo Impression - Sichuan Wontons - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Simply the best. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. So kind and welcoming. We loved every second of our meal and cannot wait to go back. A gem of a restaurant. Nice to have a new favorite Chinatown spot. Support this restaurant!! It's so tasty! read more

I had been wanting to try this place out for a while, it's always exciting to visit restaurants with food from my hometown. I finally came here for a farewell lunch with 15 others. The place didn't have individual rooms like some other Chinese restaurants, but we got to sit at the back of the restaurant, which gave us a little bit privacy. The service was very slow, because according to the waitress there was only one chef and it was very difficult to handle groups this big (our fault? lol) But they did have lots of delicious dishes. I was very impressed by the variety of food. Here you can find some dishes that are quite authentic Szechuan and others not at all. But that doesn't mean they don't taste good. However, the reason I'm giving four star is that their food was never too spicy although they were claimed or supposed to be, and it felt like some dishes were made without enough care/effort as they should have. A couple of recommendations: the specialty beef stew and their fish dishes are very good. The rest are on par with some other Szechuan restaurants. Besides their delicious food, another thing I really loved is how affordable everything was. Lots of their dishes are below $10, and you get a decent amount of food. I'd recommend coming here with several friends (not too many unless you don't mind waiting for a long time), so that you get to try more dishes. read more

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Everything Was amazing the food was perfect the people are really nice they even gift me something for free

We've ordered delivery a few times now, and their food is always consistent and delicious. They were so sweet too in adding free dumplings to our meal. Appreciate this place a lot as it is very good and affordable. Good authentic Sze Chuan food. Fast delivery too! read more

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I had the lemon chicken and it was very good. The chicken was crispy under the sauce and we'll cooked -not dry. I'm definitely coming back. The portion sizes were good. Food is served in a big dish and you get a clean plate ( family style) . We had leftovers. Reasonably priced. read more

Found Dongpo via Yelp while searching for some spicy szechuan food to order for delivery the other day. Was surprised with it's close proximity to my house and as a frequent visitor of Chinatown I'd never heard of it! Glad I trusted my gut and went with it instead of ordering from one of my regular spots. Bc this might BE my new regular spot. Ordered the dried chili chicken and (I believe) the cumin lamb - both were incredibly delicious!! The chicken was bone-in and cut into thin slices, and there was a ton of it! They def don't skimp on their serving size of meat. The heat was perfect, spicy enough to warm you but not overbearing or taking away from flavor. You can also taste the numbing powder in there which I love. The lamb was also very generous with the meat portion and flavor. Slightly sweet, but with a nice spice afterwords. Ended up having a fair amount of leftovers, which I was able to enjoy the next day. Then I took any leftover sauce and made into another dish! So basically got three meals out of two entrees. Prices are fair and delivery was fast and efficient. I will def be ordering from here again! read more

Arrived in Chicago hungry. Where is my first stop? CHINATOWN! I take every opportunity to get authentic Chinese food which is hard to come by in the city I currently live in. Yea I know I'm so Chinese, lol! I had heard a lot about another restaurant Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown but after reading mixed reviews, I decided to come to Yan Bang Cai instead. I parked just outside the restaurant on the street with no problem. Parking is $2 per hour which seems to be the norm in Chicago. The restaurant was very clean and well decorated. It was quite empty during lunch hour on a Thursday when I visited. Being the only customer, I was able to chat quite a bit with the server in Mandarin. She told me because of the Chinatown location most ppl live nearby are Chinese. Chinese ppl don't like spending money so they usually bring lunch to work and that's why there aren't many customers for lunch. But it usually gets very busy at dinner time. Hmm, that makes sense. Guess I'm not so Chinese after all b/c I eat out all the time, lol! She also told me the owner/chef came from Sichuan province in China so the dishes are very traditional Sichuan style. I studied the menu for a bit and ordered the pork in garlic sauce (Yu Xiang Rou Si) and a cold dish appetizer beef slice in chili sauce (Fu Qi Fei Pian). My order came quickly. And the portion was big enough for two people to share. I have to say the beef slice in chili sauce was the BEST! It was very authentic and addicting! I highly recommend it if you like spicy dishes! It was just like the flavor you would taste in China. The pork in garlic sauce was good but not great. I don't think I would order it again. But then again I think I might have ordered the wrong dish b/c it isn't really a Sichuan speciality to begin with. I'll deff have to try something else next time. My server was nice and attentive. My bill came to be around $18 plus tip. It was a bit steep for one person but I think it is actually reasonable if you consider the portion of the dishes. Overall, I was very satisfied with this restaurant. I'd totally come again on my next trip to Chicago! read more

Dongpo Impression - Beef slice in chili sauce (fu qi fei pian), excellent! - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I was craving spicy fried chicken in Chinatown and my husband and I wandered in here by accident and it was a lovely accident! We arrived at the restaurant about 15 minutes before closing and was worried that they will half-a$$ make our food in a hurry, but that was not the case at all. What did comfort me was that most of the dining guests were Mandarin speakers We ordered the Sichuan Spicy Lamb and Zigong salt miner's fish for dinner last night. Both dishes were absolutely delicious, authentic, and in generous portions. The flavors were complex and the ingredients were very fresh. This meal definitely made me forget about my fried chicken craving! I am excited to come back and try other dishes. YBC is way better than 老四川 (Lao Sichuan) and much better value. I will be bringing my parents and in-laws the next time they want to go to Chinatown for a meal! Waitstaff was nice and their English was good. This place also gets BONUS points for offering Wi-Fi in the restaurant! Now I can watch K-Dramas and eat delicious food while avoiding most social interactions. Awesome! read more

This restaurant was alright for me. The decor is unique, service pretty decent, food came out fast and hot, and prices are a little on the high side for Chinatown (closer to suburban pricing). The flavors are pretty good, but doesn't seem too distinguished from other similar restaurants - for one that boasts several pages on their menu about regional specialties. With that said, they do have a wide variety of spicy dishes that come in a good portion size with nice presentation. But really nothing stands out that would really pull me away from one of Tony's restaurants. Here are some of my notes on specific dishes: Song's Three-Bean and fish soup: Nice light soup with pea shoots and seasoned with just the right amount of white pepper. The fish is tender and lightly flavored. A bit pricey for a soup that doesn't contain more complexity and body. Quick-fried Seven-step duck: Probably the most skillfully prepared dish I tried. With the multiple cooking steps, in the end it tastes something like a mix between twice cooked pork and smoked duck with tender meat witht he flavors of onion and jalapeno coming through strongly. However, chopping it into pieces rather than slicing in a way to minimize the inconvience of bones while eating really took away from a great dish. Spicy cumin lamb: The lamb and its marination are flavorful and tender - salty with a light aroma. The cumin here is definitely noticable but not robust like preparations you find elsewhere although the flavor of the garlic was nice and strong. Not too spicy and good for a nice meal in the winter. Zigong Salt Miners Spicy Pork: The pork has a bouncy texture and the pepper flavor is noticable, however this dish really could've had stronger and more distinctive flavors. Crispy eggplant in fragrant sauce: The batter for the eggplant was definitely crispy, however it was fried fluffy like what you find in a Chinese Buffet rather than using a nice thin tempura-like batter. The eggplant flavor itself was barely noticable although the sweet vinegar sauce tasted great with the batter. Squirrel-shaped fish w. two flavors: Comes in two flavors. The orange sauce is tongue-numbing spicy but really has little depth to it. The brown sauce is a sweet vinegar. Both pieces of fish looked great with a real flower next to it, but it did not come out crispy at all. Pork belly with mustard greens: Pork belly come out very tender with a great amount of fat on it. But this dish tastes exactly the same as any other preparation in Chinatown for the same dish. I would've preferred maybe to see a slightly different type of pork used or a regional flair to it. Glutinous rice balls w. sesame stuffing: Strong egg flavor balanced with a light wine. A little on the sweeter side but not excessively so. Light hint of ginger and good body to the soup. The sesame filled rice balls are soft and provide just the right amount of chewiness. This one was the best executed dish of the ones I tried. In summary, the food here is pretty good however I put it at 3 instead of 4 stars because of its prices for the quality, lack of uniqueness, and inconsistent execution accross dishes. read more

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The food is out of this world, phenomenal flavors and very generous portions. Welcoming and friendly atmosphere!

On an early Saturday afternoon, my friend and I paid visit to a near-empty Yan Bang Cai. They certainly deserve more attention than this. The menu is far from generic as is its competitors, the Lao empire. There are a vast amount of choices to select from and a few entrees even fared rabbit meat. For two, we shared the shredded pork with jalapeno peppers and spicy lamb with cumin. From the pictures, the lamb appear blazing hot but it's quite the contrary. The jalapeno peppers held most of the heat. Neither dishes sent us running in circles, screaming for water but do prepare yourself with napkins and at least one glass of ice water. They will come in handy. A minor deduction here and there lead to the four-star review. The paper covering our table was stained with grease as was a napkin that they gave us. read more

Dongpo Impression - Shredded pork with jalapeno pepper - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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What happened to great Sichuan food? Dongpo impressions was fine but offers nothing that would make a trip to Chinatown worth while. First of all, my home made dong po rou is in a whole different class. It always should melt in your mouth. The Impression was not so good. Then the ma la dry pot was spicy but not so flavorful. And then: No beer!!! But the tea was fine. This place would not survive in Boston, but it's good enough for Chicago I guess. read more

I was super excited to find two dishes on Dongpo's menu I haven't been able to find anywhere else in Chicago: Big plate chicken (called Szechuan chicken stew here) and sliced beef stir-fried with hot pepper (beef with wild chili). I ordered takeout; the lady giving me the order was very nice--probably an owner?--and even gave me a cold cucumber appetizer gratis. Of course I'm feeling great now about discovering this restaurant. The dishes looked like how I remembered when I had them growing up in China. I eagerly took a big bite of the stir-fried beef--and had to spit it out immediately. It was like the cook had tried to add salt and dropped the entire jar into the wok. I was very disappointed because I could detect flavors at the edge that tasted authentic but the amount of salt rendered it edible. I really tried to eat more--temper the intensity of salt by mixing it with plain rice but it was like eating a whole spoon of salt, just not possible. Then I tried the big plate chicken, still very salty but not enough to be inedible. The dish I remembered has a more diverse mix of flavors interacting with the heat. This one is kind of just extremely hot and salty. My experience of overseas Szechuan restaurants is divided between the ones whose approach is just to make heat the singular dominating experience of every dish and the ones that actually allow ingredients unique to each dish to come through. Based on this dish, I have to put Dongpo in the former category. So I ended up having to throw away the beef stir-fry and eat only a little of the chicken. The big plate chicken I remember having were so addictive and fragrant with spices I was always helping myself to bowl after bowl. I still have a quarter of this stuff in the fridge a month after ordering--they do give you a lot of food here! Maybe it was just a bad night for them or these were not the stars of their menu. I do feel serving an inedible dish is pretty unacceptable and have to dock steeply for not catching such a major mistake. read more

Dongpo Impression - Beef with wild chili. Looked so delicious but a likely accident with salt made it inedible. - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Hole in the wall - had the Zigong Pepper Chicken and Zigong Eggplant. The eggplant was the stand out - salt and pepper fried. read more

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Wanted some good Chinese food and thought Chinatown would be the spot. Went based on their rating on yelp and was VERY disappointed. The place is now painted white btw. Ordered: Fried potstickers(weren't fully cooked, raw meat), fried rice, hot & sour soup(for one person but came out in a huge bowl), and szechuan small plate chicken.... waitress put in a wrong order and we got some sort of stew with things I can't tell you what it was(see picture). Main issue was service & communication barriers. We didn't end up eating anything and left. They did accommodate our bill though because we didn't eat it. read more

Dongpo Impression - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Incredibly good food and great service! We ordered the sole, chili chicken, and ma pa tofu as main entrees, and each we would order again. Spicy, and not over the top with Szechuan peppercorn, this is now my favorite dinner spot in Chinatown. The owner even gave us extra dishes for free - the egg and tomato scramble was delicious. Even beyond the amazing food was the warmth of the staff - the lady who attended to us was very nice, and seemed genuinely happy to see us. Looking forward to the next visit. read more

This place is absolutely fire. Definitely worth the visit. Szechuan Wontons are must try. Food was amazing, staff even nicer!

This restaurant is amazing. They always give you free food, based on how much you order. I usually order one appetizer, one noodle, and a few entrees, and we usually end up with two to three dishes for free from them. It's on the spicy and oily side, so you can ask for less oil and less spice, but for that price, you can't beat the amount of food you get. read more

Dongpo Impression - $70. Everything circled was on the house. - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Stay at home,time to order ,I like the authentic Sichuan dishes,such as Sichuan chicken stew,don don noodles ,meizhou chili chicken,meizhou pork ribs ,salt miners ' beef read more

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This is authentic Chinese food. My husband and I were able to order "Fu Zhu" a tofu salad that wasn't on the menu we used to enjoy in China. The nice woman also gave us a desert. If you relax your standards and step outside your comfort zone you will be treated to real Chinese food, not American Chinese food. read more

I agree with opinions from some other reviews that the food is awesome but the service was lacking. I care about the food more and I was thoroughly happy with the food so 5 stars! First about the service. Went on a Tuesday night around 7PM and the place was pretty empty, however the waitresses like to hide behind a screen so hard to get their attention. I was ok with walking over to get their attention if needed. Another couple came in around 8PM, sat down and not was greeted for a whole 10 minutes, they eventually just left. Also, the waitress gave terrible advice on how much food to order. We had originally decided on 3 cold dishes and 2 entrees and we asked her whether she thinks that's enough for 3 people. She said no, so we ordered one more entree and then realized that we are going to have a ton of leftovers. The food is great. Ordered: 1. Mouthwatering chicken. Seriously tender chicken with great sauce. It wasn't too spicy but the flavor was amazing. And it was a lot of chicken for only like $6 or $7 2. Cold noodles. I forgot the name, this wasn't that special but I wanted some cold noodles for a hot day. 3. spicy wonton. I loved these. Great texture of the wonton skins, good fillings and sauce, and good level of spiciness. 4. Stir fried cabbage, simple and good dish. 5. Salt worker's beef. It really looks and tastes like another Sichuan dish called Boiled beef. The beef was tender with good spices. 6. Pickled fish soup. This was my second favorite. Loved the fish and the vermicelli noodles. I would definitely come back again as there were many other dishes on the menu I'd like to try. read more

Yan Bang Cai is located right next to Cathay Bank and the Fire Department in Chinatown. I never even knew this restaurant existed until I read an article on it. Definitely a hidden gem in Chicago's Chinatown. The interior - Outdated interior and decor, reasonably sized restaurant, plenty of seating. The Food - Huge menu filled with a variety of Szechuan dishes. My personal favorite is the Spicy beef noodle soup, probably the best I've had in Chicago. The broth is rich in flavor and definitely has a kick to it. I would recommend the tea smoked duck, and the pork belly in garlic sauce. Pork belly has a spicy then sweet flavor to it, great fat to eat proportion. It was my second time having tea smoked duck and it gets better every time, truly a unique flavor. The pricing - Reasonable pricing, the beef noodle soup is around $11 per bowlPork belly is an appetizer priced at $6, you get your bang for buck on this one. The tea smoked duck is a bit more on the expensive on $15+, but then again it is duck; I highly recommend it. Parking - Plenty of meter street parking around the vicinity of the restaurant. The service - Service is meh, could be better. Waiters rarely check up on you. The few times I've been here I have always had to request water refills. Overall Delicious noodles Mediocre service Delicious noodles Definitely would be back soon Declicious noodles read more

Dongpo Impression - Spicy beef noodle soup. - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The folks working here were formerly at Lao Sichuan. They bring their own twist on Sichuan food with an emphasis on high quality ingredients and authentic preperation. Recommend any of the DongPo specials but also Stir Fry pork on specials menu and Heart Breaking Bean Jelly. Er Sao and the other folks who work here are super nice! read more

Dongpo Impression - Chili Chicken - Szechuan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The original YanBangCai was changed to a new restaurant with the same location "DongPo Impressions", and still selling Szechuan food. We came in for lunch on Saturday, not a lot of people there. The staff was kind and attentive, the place was fairly clean, but the table had too much oily residue, which really made you wanna say no to this place. We ordered Dandan noodle and sour/spicy tofu with beef. Dandan noodle was just okay, we barely got any meat in there. The tofu with beef was actually impressive , with real Szechuan peppercorns in there, spicy but not overpowering. I could not say this place was not good, but there are just a lot other Szechuan restaurants much better than this one. read more