My lovely wife and I were visiting Edgewater on a very rainy Saturday. When the steady drizzle turned into a downpour, we thought it would be a good idea to go for an early lunch. We decided to check out En Lai Asian Grill on Broadway. It supposedly opens at 11AM, but when we tugged on the door it was still locked. Seconds later the proprietor came to open the door, and we sat at the window table so that we could watch passersby battling the elements. We practically had the restaurant all to ourselves during this early lunch slot, and that was fine with us. We were pleased that they offer lunch specials, and they are good on a Saturday as well. Each lunch special comes with a can of soda. I went with a plate of beef lo mein, certainly a decent sized portion for lunch that satisfied my craving for noodles. My love enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken, which comes with fried or white rice. It was nice that the sauce was served separately in the bowl (with a few chucks of pineapple) so that they do not soak the breaded pieces of chicken. I wouldn't say En Lai is a destination restaurant, but the food is pretty decent and our total bill including tax was under $20 for our two lunch specials - not too shabby. Now about that rain... read more

We live in the neighborhood and wanted to try something new for takeout and opted for En Lai. They have a huge menu with a lot of options from sushi to noodles to curry to soups, including Korean, Thai, Indian, and Japanese dishes. The don't skip on the portion sizes and everything is pretty well priced. We ordered veggie chow fun, tofu curry, spring rolls, and gyoza. The food was ready quickly (it was a slow day for them) and traveled well. It looked like they had a huge dining area for people who eat there. The food was pretty good! Nothing incredible but Asian comfort food that warms you up and really hits the spot. We will definitely order from them, especially as you can get a small discount if you order ahead on their website. read more

Terrific food, expansive menu, large portions, and an overworked, but attentive and very organized waitress. Ambience is not the greatest, but it is in the neighborhood and always reliable! Prices are very fair. We enjoyed our dinner very much! You can eat in or do take-out. Will definitely come back. read more

Great value - the food is nothing super unique and although they had "hot and spicy" tagged to a variety of dishes, I found it to be quite un-spicy. For example, I got kung pao chicken and there was one red chili pepper in it. The flavors were good, but rather Americanized Chinese food. The lunch special offers great value though - pair some dish with fried rice for basically $10 feels like what so many places had like 10 years ago. read more

great food and service! their orange tofu (served with rice and broccoli) is so die for! food is served quickly and the workers are very kind and attentive. there's plenty of seating inside too! read more

Very good quality food, large portions, and reasonably priced. What more could you want? The Orange Chicken was excellent, very tasty.

Good only okay Asian food. It's far from the best but it's not bad though. En Lai is a pretty Americanized Asian restaurant in Edgewater. Has quite a few classics as well as modern. This has pretty okay prices. Came here for a lunch and wanted Chinese. It's not that big inside but it wasn't busy when we came in. There's many people who order takeout. Helps it not be as crowded. It's about $12 for an entree. I got the General Tso's Tofu. This is a typical version. Hot sauce. The tofu was crispy and not tough. Basically it's okay for Asian. It's better than it looks. The prices are pretty affordable for big portions and there's plenty for vegetarians. read more

En Lai Asian Grill - General Tso's Tofu - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Ordered Kung Pao chicken zero favor no spice and loaded with celery??? I've never seen such a thing. So disappointing.

I've lived in the area for a couple years now & finally got around to trying En Lai, as it's walking distance from me. I got carry out today around 1PM - it wasn't busy at all, and in fact, was really cute inside & would be willing to try it again for dine-in. The crab rangoons were solid. The shrimp fried rice was pretty bad, and the shrimp was very stinky. The veggie pan noodles were absolutely bland & unpalatable - again, I'd be down to give it another try because they do have a huge menu, and maybe I just got stuff that they don't specialize in. But I'm not going to lie, the pan noodles were absolutely disgusting. I don't like leaving bad reviews on small businesses but if I could save someone the $40 wasted on bad take out I will gladly share my first experience. read more

The food is perfect! I'm so happy this is close by! I would have put a picture but I ate the food, oops.

Fast service, good at making it mild for kids, and really pleasant staff. I wouldn't travel from another neighborhood to go here, but it's a reliable place for comfort / easy take out option. read more

I've gotten takeout from here twice now. I'd say it's pretty quality, although from going inside to pickup, all the tables are deserted and the lighting is pretty dim so it's kinda weird vibes. However, the food was great. The fried rice and crab rangoons were tasty! I loved the string bean chicken, and the General Tsos was also really good -- it had broccoli in it which was unusual but a nice addition. In general I would say it's always been hot and fresh, but some pieces of meat and veggies could've been better cooked. read more

Very consistent with the food. The prices are very spot on with other restaurants in the area.

Delicious and quick food! Ordered general tso and Seasame seed chicken. Definitely would recommend!

The food is always delicious, great Delivery and lots of food! A good choice for fast delicious Asian food

Delicious. It was such a beautiful day that we walked from our place to Whole Foods. On the way there we saw this place and checked out the menu and decided to order. Sooo good! We went light probably because we had just spent the afternoon buying groceries and new we had a ton of food at home. Picked up salt and pepper tofu and beef chow meln. Both containers contained hearty portions of delicious food. The tofu was super tasty! This may become our go to place nearby right in our hood! Sorry...no pics. We were ravenous when we got home and ate ASAP. Next time...I promise. read more

Decided to give this place a chance. My first time having their food. I found them thru Uber Eats and it's close to my apartment. I order Curry Fried Rice with Beef, 2 Egg Rolls, and Coke. The menu was easy to read I had no problem placing my order. I didn't excepted to be so much good I have leftovers for the next couple days. The Curry Fried Rice was good. Not too spicy just a right amount. With Pineapples, Peas, and Carrots. Instead of white rice I substitute with Brown Rice. The Egg Rolls was good. Extra crispy how I like it. The next time I'm craving Curry I will come to the restaurant with my boyfriend. read more

En Lai is our neighborhood Chinese takeout go-to. Of all the Chinese delivery restaurants in the Andersonville/Edgewater area, we've always liked it the best. Dishes here taste a bit fresher and of higher quality than some of the other options in the area. While I know it isn't the very best Chinese takeout I've ever had, it's the best within our delivery area by quite a lot. Our go-to's are the basics, but they are always done right: pot stickers, sesame chicken, combination lo-mein, beef fried rice, beef with string beans, orange chicken... They typically deliver pretty quickly as well. Every once it a while, it will take the full-quoted time, but more often than not, they are quick. Thankful they are in the neighborhood! read more

A little Asian that is too cl across Whole foods. But don't let it fool you, the foods are delicious. read more

En Lai Asian Grill - Menu for England ASiian Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

We love this place! Great fast and fresh food that we enjoy often. I really don't agree with the rating it should be a solid point higher. I enjoy the egg rolls, lo mein, orange chicken and curry chicken. read more

I'm about to post my first bad review of En Lai. Though it's been a long time coming... Have ordered from here more times than I can count. Generally the portions are large, and lots of people consider that a positive. I've had good and also great food from this place in the past. I've also had very mediocre food from En Lai. That suggests it's hit or miss. Tonight was a BIG miss. I actually go out of my way to ensure that indie restaurants such as En Lai get as much profit as possible from my orders. So, long ago, I stopped using 3rd-party delivery apps like Grubhub (etc.) as they take a deep cut from the restaurant's margins. This was also the case tonight (about 1 hour ago) when I ordered food directly from En Lai. If the owner would like to reference the order I placed it was 1.) egg rolls, 2.) Kung Pao Chicken and 3.) Mongolian Beef. And it was delivered to my building 3 blocks down the street east of the restaurant (Glenlake). My complaints... The delivery driver has always been the same person. Even when I ordered through Grubhub. He's always unfriendly, gruff and uncaring, disaffected in a way that suggests its a bother for him to deliver the food ordered. And in the past, has been quite indignant where tips are concerned: demanding and offensive. (And we work in the industry and understand the definition of proper and good tipping.) I'm guessing he's one of the owners as the resto seems to be a family business. If so, he should probably work on his customer service skills. And on to the food... Tonight it was downright awful. All of it. The egg rolls were tasteless. The Kung Pao Chicken was fried to death -- the chicken was overdone and incredibly dry, and tasted like leftover protein. The Mongolian Beef was slightly better, it was saucy (a positive) but overall bland (think steam table banquet fare), and it contained far too many onions (and I'm a fan of onions). And, yeah, the same guy delivered the food and appeared upset that he had to wait 3-5 minutes waiting for the elevator to get us to the lobby to pick it up due to Covid restrictions. We've given this restaurant way too many chances and the benefit of the doubt in the past and have gone out of our way to support them through the pandemic. But since they don't change, and don't seem to appreciate the effort, we won't be doing it again. Sayonara, En Lai. read more

Until today, En Lai was our go-to Chinese joint, two blocks from our house, that we have ordered from dozens of times for the past three years. This afternoon, a small live bug crawled out of my Udon noodles as I was eating them. As. I. Was. Eating. Them. Instant one star and we'll never order from them again. It was a GrubHub order and we got a full refund. We're very disappointed, but you get zero chances when you serve us live bugs, YKWIM? Eww. Just OMG eww. read more

All I wanted was some good orange chicken..... my favorite place doesn't deliver to my house anymore so I searched and searched. After feeling like I could eat anything I settled on this place. First, I debated between one and two stars. Two stars because the crab rangoon was actually pretty tasty however one star because it was completely soaked in oil. I had to use four paper towels to squeeze all the oil out. Now the main dish. It is an inedible. Look at the pictures. The chicken inside of what it's supposed to be orange chicken seems as though it was cooked in the microwave and lost all moisture. It was literally crunchy inside. Or just filled with dough, or filled with this disgusting looking dark meat. read more

See all

I wouldn't say I liked how the tofu was prepared. The tofu was hard to chew. I may try another dish in the future

'Clean' and fresh Americanized Chinese food. Delivery always arrives hot, fresh, not overcooked. Traveling to China often has me not wanting Chinese food in the U.S. This is an exception. They are very accommodating for vegan too. read more

The service here left a lot to be desired. I ordered delivery near the Andersonville area The delivery took 2 hours {I'm literally 10 min away)& there was a missing item, but when called to let them know I was hung up on..that is the first & last time I'll ever order from there. The food was not good at all. Waste of money. Customer BEWARE!! read more

PLEASE LOOK AT THE PHOTOS ATTACHED!! After looking at the photos let me ask you one question, Does that look like we'll cooked chicken?! No it's not, THAT CHICKEN IS PINK AND RAW. Now I didn't want to be a "Karen" and fuse too much about it, I just wanted my money back and carry on with my day. However, that's not the case... I went up there and showed the lady the pictures of the raw sesame chicken I purchased the night before and she tells me that the chicken was completely cooked and "juicy" and continued to tell me that they purchased their chicken precooked and bartered and it's "double fried". Well McDonald's gets their nuggets pre-fried and their chicken never looks pink in the inside. I asked her for a refund and she says I can't because I didn't have a receipt but I had the virtual receipt and she still tried to offer me food for free (after I tried offering her my card to look it up in the system she wouldn't accept it as a form of proof of purchase). After declining and stating I just my 16.75 back she tries to offer me a $10 bill, I asked for the managers phone number and she wouldn't give it to me. Then she offered me money again this time a $5 bill. My partner then proceeded to call her out that she is offering us less money. After endless bickering and her telling me I couldn't contact the manager I took the $10. However PLEASE DO NOT EAT HERE! They are very unsanitary and their customer service is PITIFUL! (I could've got salmonella from the chicken but they didn't care... read more

En Lai Asian Grill - Sesame Chicken - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great local spot in Edgewater that has a ton of Asian options! We've ordered them through DoorDash twice and will continue to do so!

FUCKIN DONE! I'm fuckin done looking for a bomb add Asian food restaurant. American Asian food. No fancy pants BS, just good fucking food! Goyza AND orange chicken! You cannot get this combo elsewhere. Goyza is Japanese and orange/seasame chicken is Chinese's. PROBLEM SOLVED! En Lai! Baby egg rolls, yes, BABY FUCKING EGG ROLLS! It's like god really wanted to fuck over my diet. These are my favorite! Bottom line, I will NEVER EVER swear to fucking god order from another wanna be everything shitty Asian restaurant. Look no further I will order from En Lai EVERYTIME! read more

I'd like to update my review I went here tonight in hopes to find some good food fast ! The girl who took my order was fast and nice and I ordered noodles and crab Rangoon and it was all amazing and very tasty I would eat here again, first experience wasn't the best but I'm glad I gave it another try! read more

After ordering here many, many more times I can comfortably say En Lai makes some of the best "takeout" Chinese-American food I've had. Things you should order: Mongolian chicken, Hunan chicken/beef, moo goo gai pan, egg rolls, potstickers, chicken fried rice, chap chae. read more

July 2019 UPDATE: Noticed this restaurant was open on time on multiple occasions when I walked by so I've tried them again a few times. Seems to have a new manager and the untrained front staff are gone. The current staff seem to be on top of things Prices have increased a bit but service is back to what it used to be. They may have a new cook too, because the quality of the food we've ordered recently has been quite good and my wife and I find the chicken dishes particularly flavorful. There was a pricier competitor Thai place further north on Broadway but they didn't make it. It's nice to be able to recommend En Lai again. UPDATE: Decided to give En Lai another chance and ordered take out dinner. Staffer seemed unsure, maybe new? When I got home, discovered order was incomplete. Walked a half mile back for replacement, but no apology was offered. After walking home the second time, discovered the brown rice was only half cooked. Maybe it has new management, but if you can't cook rice or fill andorder four 4 items accurately, or open during posted hours, what's the point? read more

I ordered Kung Pao chicken last night that was just terrible - I threw it out, as it was inedible. It's a dish with fried chicken chunks and veggies... the chicken tasted like it had been fried the night before and then reheated or refried and foisted on me. Never again with this place - I would give negative stars if that were an option read more

En Lai is likely Edgewater's best Chinese spot. Everything is "good," to "really good." Moreover, you can't go wrong with their relatively large portions-per-price ratio. It will be a regular spot, for sure. read more

Amazing food and consistent quality for the last 5 years. I moved out of Chicago for a couple years and was craving this restaurants beef pad thai and nothing satisfied my craving! I almost cried when I came back home and had it again. If you steer away from thai food because of a really intense taste your not used to, come to En Lai! Its americanized enough where my palate can take it and its definitely my go to when ordering out read more

I get food from here all the time. Consistent. Quick delivery. What more do you need when your drunk and you want that good Americanized Chinese food? "Did you get the sugar chicken?" Only joking. I will eat here again. read more

I have only ordered for delivery. For an appetizer, two entrees, two drinks, and tip all under $40. Always hot, lots of food, fast and fresh. Good, solid delivery Chinese. Proud to support a neighborhood restaurant. read more

Oh, how I wanted to like this place--it's just around the corner, open long hours, good value, wide variety of pan-Asian dishes. I've given it many, many chances and I reluctantly have to give it only two stars (the second star is because it offers brown rice and it's exceedingly convenient with quick delivery). But the food? Oy. Either grossly underseasoned (weird Vietnamese summer rolls that can't make up their minds whether they're rolls or banh mi wraps; cold noodle/chicken/bean sprout salad that took every Asian condiment in my cupboard to be palatable), undercooked (broccoli requires a steak knife) or indistinguishable from each other: nearly every dish comes in some sweet brown gloppy sauce that I suspect is either the only sauce they make or even prefab commercial teriyaki. Except for some bean sprouts, peapods and the occasional baby corn, all the vegetables they use are American--inexcusable in this diverse Edgewater 'hood with a plethora of not only Asian grocery stores but Asian produce in regular supermarkets. For supposedly "Chinese" dishes, they're from no region in China I can recognize (not Cantonese, Hunan, Szechuan, Shanghai, Taiwanese nor even generic Mandarin--much less anywhere in China I've visited). And the food violates a primary tenet of Chinese cookery: the chef, not the eater, should do the work; the food should be able to be picked up with chopsticks and downed in a bite or two, rather than gnawed in front of one's fellow diners. The vegetables (over-reliance on regular broccoli and inexplicably crinkle-cut carrots) are not only undercooked and drowning in the aforementioned brown glop, but require a fork and (sharp) knife to cut into edible pieces. The chicken & beef pieces also require cutting up. The omission of phô is also inexplicable. I will grant, though, that they make a pretty good hot & sour soup (which could be spicier) and jap chae--hard to find at more than a few Korean restaurants (including Bibim Town and DAK). But alas, I'm low-carb now and noodle-centric stuff is off-limits to me, as are rice and batter-fried stuff. I shouldn't have to rinse off dishes in a colander to make them edible (much less palatable & distinguishable from each other). I truly wish they were better--I believe in supporting hyper-local businesses. read more

There is something about terrible service that makes me never want to visit a place again. The food is okay as well as the ambiance. The service is hit-and-miss. Sometimes they feel like they want to be nice and other times they don't feel like they want to be professional. I would rate the food as a 3 and 1/2 Stars but everything else I'm going to have to give a 1 * 2. read more

Honestly, this is the freshest tasting Chinese food I have ever had. And I've consumed a lot of Chinese cuisine. I've become a regular here in the last few months due to a recommendation from a friend who lives in the area. I was impressed by how clean they maintain their restaurant. The service is friendly and fast. And the food is always hot and fresh. The portions are generous and will put you into a food coma. The delivery service is also very speedy and the food is always hot. My favorites include the Pepper Steak, Crab Rangoon, Miso Soup, Shrimp or Chicken Fried Rice, and the Chicken Sizzling Plate. And make sure you take advantage of the 11-3 lunch specials. Great place! I highly recommend it to anyone! read more

See all