Ive been coming here for several years now, about once per month, mostly because my Asian Organization meets here the first of every month. This place is known for their dim sum; an assortment of asian style dishes served on small plates, perfect for sharing and cheap enough that you and your party can order several and pig out The dim sum here is pretty good, not the best. I think Phoenix restaurant is slightly better, but overall, Furama has a good array of dim sum selection....One of the largest in the city. This place is also good for their fruit shakes with tapioca pearls. I suggest you order a shake to end your meal. The place is very large with two floors and it is always packed on the weekends, especially on Sunday mornings till early afternoons. It is a great place to eat with a large group of people and everyone will always find something they will like. If you are unfamiliar with Dim Sum , the Dim sum's are brought to your table in wheeled carts; if there is something you like, you just select it.....that easy. I have to warn you though that once you go Dim sum, then table etiquette is thrown out the door as everyone makes a rush to grab their favorite dim sum before somebody else at the table grabs them all. The only complaint about this place is I wished the place could be cleaner, especially the washrooms. I always try to avoid the washroom if I can, but mostly cannot avoid it as I have to pee before my one hour commute home. Avoid it like a plague if you can; they are sometimes out of toilet paper and always out of hand soap, Yuck !!! Also, because of the rush of people on a Sunday, it is always hard to flag down your waiter; I suggest you place all your drink order, water, soda and extra napkins when you are first seated, cause that is the only time you will see your waitress and after when you are presented with the bill. Tips: There is free parking next door (with validated parking in the restaurant), but the parking gets full fast. Best time to get the free parking is before 11:30 am before the mad lunch crowd, else it you can find parking on the streets around Broadway. read more

As a dim sum lover, this place is a good place to start. And yes, they deliver too...for those FROZEN winter days! This is one of the few places that still have the carts. The food is pretty fresh earlier than later...so it pays to get there early (on top of the fact that this place can get crowded past 11 am). Some dim sum highlights at Furama include: jellyfish, quail egg dumplings and sticky rice (mochi) dishes. And the service has been phenomenal...we even had a waiter last time that served us chili on each of our plates! But be forewarned...some waiters are not very fluent with English...which again, makes my Chinese very useful here. read more

Really enjoyed the dim sum on my first visit. Everything was hot, flavorful and fresh and there was little problem getting served and the waitress made it clear she'd be happy to track down harder to find anything on the 100+ item menu not coming by on the carts. If anything the service can come at you a little too fast. Favorite items were pork dumplings, sticky rice with meat and sesame balls. Free parking is an appreciated bonus. read more

Yummy--blurg?!? Well this mixed experience I know for sure was because I've been spoiled by living a short walk from NYC's Chinatown for a number of years. I try my best to keep an open mind and manage said expectations but certain things can't be ignored (on both sides). What NOT to get here, char siu bao, chicken feet, or spare ribs. Blurg!!! The chicken feet were overcooked and obviously artificially dyed red. This same dye was used on the bbq'd pork of the char siu and to add insult to injury the dough of the bao was blah. Finally, the spare ribs weren't great, not even good, just okay but I prob won't get them again. Now what was good was anything steamed and made with shrimp, the rice, and a number of the fried dumplings. This portion of the menu is what saved Fruma from getting a 2 star rating. This and their service was exceptionally well executed. (Very odd to being served by teens instead of old ladies with iron hands impervious to steam) Anyways, if this is the best Chicagoland has to offer, meh. read more

Ordered from here through GrubHub. It's tasty. It's super fast (GrubHub always says an hour or an hour and 15 minutes, and the restaurant manages to get here in 35-40 pretty consistently), it offers dim sum, and it's not ridiculously expensive. Recently I placed an order for: - pork steamed dumplings - 1/4 roast Cantonese duck appetizer - barbecue pork bun - pan fried shrimp and chive cake - veggie egg foo young For 3 people. We had tried before and ordered things like the - Fun Roll - Shrimp Toast - 1/4 Cantonese duck - Wonton soup - Crab Rangoon - Egg rolls And had been disappointed by everything but the Cantonese duck, which wowed us. So we ordered again with totally different things, and loved it so much I can't explain. It was exactly what we wanted, so yeah. Go with what we ordered, if that's your taste. read more

I'm a fan - I have had dim sum all over the US and in China - Furama is my go to on the North Side - now that they have the 2nd generation kids pushing the carts - you can get a bit more info on what you are eating free parking but the lot can be packed depending on the holiday - Dim Sum carts on the weekend - not always during the week - good selection and often some surprises - read more

I went to Furama with my boyfriend at about 8:00 PM on a Sunday, so I'm guessing that's why my experience was a bit different than other reviews. I've never had dim sum, and I was so excited to try it and see food brought to me, but when we sat down, we were given menus with regular and pricey Chinese food on it. I KNEW there must be dim sum thanks to Yelp, when the waitress finally came over to us, we asked about dim sum, and she brought over a menu with pictures. There were no prices so we were a little worried, but ordered 5 tasty looking dim sum along with a fried rice and a bubble tea. The dim sum were brought out as they were ready, which was nice because we were very hungry and they seemed to be taking awhile. This is why the place gets 3 stars: it all tasted awesome. The sesame balls were the best I've ever had, they were crispy and hot and awesome. The different baos all had yummy and sort strange things in them, so you probably can't go wrong with the buns. After we finished all five dishes, they brought us our bills, sans the fried rice and bubble tea. I was pretty upset because I was very excited about my Mango/Coconut bubble tea, but we had been in there so long that we just paid and left. But I must say, for (free) hot tea and 5 awesome dim sum dishes, it only cost $16 and that was quite enough for the two of us. I guess moral of the story is, don't go late Sunday night. read more

Excellent selection with lots of traditional dishes. The price point is very good too! I like it, my 7 yo daughter likes it, so we will keep coming back! I hope to see you! read more

Furama Restaurant - Very cool decor! I'm having Columbus Day Dim Sum! - Dim Sum Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Sunday brunch time - food and service were ok. Nothing about their buns, sticky rice or any thing else was memorable to our party of 4. They had also ran out of Tsingtao beer. read more

I enjoy coming here for dim sum. But you have to be in the right mood for this place. First and foremost, it's not a pretty establishment. Dim sum is served upstairs in a giant hall. All tables are covered with what appears to be white trash bags. Service is quick and effecient. Hot tea is always good...and crazy hot. And you can eat and get out almost quicker than going into a fast food establishment. So many carts and so many items to choose from. For those of us who did not grow up with this, I consider dim sum to be an adverturous breakfast. There's one dish for me that stands out - - baby squid in a spicy curry broth. Good God, this dish is absolutely divine... read more

Let's be honest: Furama is fantastic. I first got familiar with Furama when I started using GrubHub. I am ALWAYS up for Chinese, and while I had tried a few restaurants in the area, Furama has consistently impressed. The menu is vast, ranging from great dim sum selections to American-Chinese classics. I order from Furama through Grubhub at least 2-3 times a month...it's just that good. My favorite dishes are the BBQ Pork Bao (very similar to what we have back home in Hawai'i known as manapua), Garlic Shrimp with Green Beans...heck, everything I've ever ordered from this place has been delicious. It reminds me a lot of a restaurant I grew up with in Hawai'i called the Silver Dragon. It definitely conjures up a lot of great memories. I have had the opportunity to dine-in with Furama. The place is very ornate and inviting, the staff is also very polite. The menu was a bit confusing and didn't contain a lot of options I am used to on Grubhub, but they were still available...I just had to ask for them. I would definitely recommend the restaurant take a look at better organizing/explaining the menu for Dine-In, but the food is so great I could really care less! read more

First time eating here. Very large place with a second floor likely used for morning dim sum. I had the beef in a Phoenix nest (number 410 in the beef portion of the menu). It was quite good and the Phoenix nest is totally edible. There Lychee cocktails was refreshingly good. What I really liked about this place is there large diverse menu. There are many items you can try. So it never gets old or boring. They are in the vibrant Uptown neighborhood in a large Asian area. Very exciting neighborhood. Definitely eat here. read more

See all

I love Furama. I have found the food to be as consistent as the Phoenix - which is pretty much the gold standard for Dim Sum in Chicago. And Dim Sum "consistent" is a pretty variable term, since the food is on rotating cart - meaning it can be fresh from the kitchen, or on its 5th lap around the restaurant. The staff is mostly teenagers who can be a little sullen, but are usually helpful. Several times, they've gone back to the kitchen to grab us specific dishes that we couldn't find on the carts. They also make excellent bubble tea, probably my favorite banana & tapioca in the city! I recommend Furama to northsiders who don't want to make the trek down to Chinatown, or to anyone who doesn't want to wait for an hour at the Phoenix. read more

The worst dim sum ever. Soggy, no taste. Clearly things had been reheated from a freezer. Never coming back.

Mediocre dim sum but the extra star is for the fact that it's the only restaurant I know that serves dim sum on the north side. The choices offered seemed to have decreased and it's like pulling teeth hoping that the cart you want comes around to your table. For a while, I just sat there watching all the carts sitting in one location, hoping that maybe the powers that be would notice that my table of six was still starving. I give the "managers" (I'm not really sure if they were) credit, they were extremely pleasant and tried to address our needs immediately if we caught their attention. Our waitress was also very helpful. In terms of decor, there really isn't much to look at. Somewhat similar to a cafeteria but with somewhat of an extra effort to distinguish it as a restaurant. Basically, no ambiance, you go for for the food. It doesn't compare to getting dim sum at some of my fave locations in Chinatown but when I need quick fix and don't want to make the trek south, Furama will tide me over. They do have a free parking lot to the side of the building, but don't count on getting a spot in it during the weekends. read more

I hope you like green onions. Every entree I have ordered here has been way too heavy on the green onions, and its disappointing to order something like vegetable lo mien and have the vegetables consist of nothing but green onions, thin strips of carrot, and chopped up baby corn. My problem with an over-representation of green onions aside, I think their food is decent. Their vegetarian egg rolls are pretty tasty and a little on the greasy side, and that's a plus as far as I am concerned. I have ordered numerous vegetarian dishes here, and none of them really stand out. I've found service to be stiff and kind of unfriendly, but they are pretty efficient. I love their free parking lot and token system. I plan on coming back for dim sum someday, but will likely skip on them the next time I am looking for carryout. read more

When we don't feel like driving the drive to Chinatown for some dim sum, Uptown Furama here we are. The same decor and food that they serve at the Furama in Chinatown, so I find much comfort that. Yummmm, I usually leave this place in a coma induced by the overeating. The waitstaff is on point here, I swear we had a waitress that had supersonic ears and came with our request fast. Never fear if you have never had dim sum, picture menu included. So point and choose =) Parking is a bit harder on the weekends, so park in the lot south of Furama. You can validate your parking ticket for free parking for 2 hrs. read more

This place is legit! My first time trying dim sum and I loved it. Was with a group of friends so we pretty much got one of everything to try. Bottomless hot tea. There were so many things I loved, I even tried the Chicken Feet and it was delicious! I loved the sesame balls too they are so good! read more

See all

If you love Dim Sum, you'll love this place. The service is great and the food is better. Their takeout is also always on time. The menu is huge and I haven't had much that wasn't great. Check it out! read more

Let's face it, no one goes to eat dim sum for the atmosphere. You go for the food. This place is basically a warehouse turned restaurant "slash" cheesy Chinese wedding reception hall. Don't let that turn you off, because it just means that there's a lot of space, and you never have to wait for a table, even on Sunday late morning, quite possibly the most popular meal time in this city. The food is plentiful and the servers walk around with carts full of the different dishes. For the more unique dishes, you can order off the menu. The food quality is great. But all this aside, the best part is the price. Every time I go there, I overeat, because I can't get enough dumplings, red bean-filled sesame balls, and any one of the many other dishes, and I don't think I have ever paid more than $15. This place is best hit with a group of people so you can try many different things. I actually prefer this place to most places in China Town. The only thing that I am not as impressed with here is the bubble tea. Otherwise, everything else is great. Oh yeah, and every once in a while, you get a cart-pusher who is personally insulted when you don't take something from their cart. But these are about the only negative things I can say about this place. read more

Went here for the first time and let me tell you I was not disappointed. A group of us went on a Monday. We ordered dim sum but by marking down what we want. The have the dim sum carts but only on Sundays. We ordered several different dishes and each dish that come out was better than the last. Even my son who is a very picky eater loved the spareribs and duck. Yes the duck!! I was even surprised at how much he tried and ate. I live out in the far suburbs, but will definitely try to come out again when I get the chance. read more

Furama Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This review is all about creature comforts. Is this place better food wise than the places on the south side? No. This place is more about the old Chinatown-style tea parlours and the homey feeling I got when I walked in there with my husband today. The dim sum basics are all there, and executed just like I expected. Not spectacular, but good- and that was more than enough for me. For any people out there who grew up around and remember what Chinatown in NYC was when they were kids (circa 70-80's) this place really strikes up some nostalgia. It's not fancy or modernized, it is what it is. Sorry that this may be a bit cryptic, but it's hard to articulate why I like this place so much. We'll be back! read more

Finally tried this restaurant. Now that i have been here the reviews make better sense. They do have carts but the carts arent designed to sustain the heat, so food was not steaming hot. If you want steaming hot, put the order in to one of waiters. When the food was steaming hot, it was really good. BBQ pork was great, beef rib was also good but i would recommend only if you like pepper. Shu mais were great too. read more

Classic delicious Dim Sum! Huge place so easy to get in on the weekends! Perfect for a holiday meal or larger groups! They bring selections around on carts and you can order items from the kitchen as needed! Highly recommend both the far north and Chinatown locations! read more

This is pretty decent dim-sum place if you want to stay on north side. Plenty of dim-sum to choose from and for those of you who knows me, I can just about eat anything they throw at me. That includes chicken legs folks, But I find it "too much nibbling for too little reward" so I usually don't order it. But everything else? It's fair game son! And all the stuff on the dim-sum menu tastes great! Free parking lot (don't forget your coin), closer than chinatown and good dim-sum. What else can you ask for? If you ain't into dim-sum, walk across the street and get yourself some Pho you loser. read more

Furama has reliably average-to-good cheap dim sum and absolutely fantastic boba drinks. I usually end up coming here for breakfast, in order to beat the crowds that all show up at once come noon. I like my dim-sum ladies all to myself, okay? It's an exercise in self-restraint. You try resisting 3 or 4 women all waving dumplings and noodles in front of your face and insisting that you try them because they're 'very good' and all but slamming them down, stamping the paper, and running away. (I actually had a lady do this in San Francisco at New Asia.) Honestly, I like to go early because the food's fresher and the selection is better. But beware being early, when you have to actually pass up some dishes in anticipation for the better ones. Patience is a virtue in a dim sum restaurant even more than everywhere else. I always pass up the plain shrimp dumplings in favor of the shrimp-chive dumplings, and the plain pork shumai in favor of the pork shumai with little shrimp on top. I wait for the chow mein (which is fantastic here, actually, more than mere chow mein) and the char siu bao. The selection really isn't that extensive for a dim sum restaurant, and most of the dishes will not exactly wow you, but they will satisfy a dim sum craving for sure. And I ALWAYS make sure to leave room for the egg custards and a crazy boba drink. If you can, off the top of your head, think of a fruit that they can't put into their boba slushies, congratulations. It's difficult. Jackfruit, avocado, blueberry, honeydew, cantaloupe, it's all there. My favorite gross-sounding drink is a honeydew and avocado smoothie with boba. Trust this, it's awesome for some reason. read more

Second time at Furama. I see this place becoming my go to Dim Sum spot. Much easier to get to this part of town from my house than Chinatown. I avoid the lines, the rush. The service is amazing. The food is equally amazing. The Beef Ginger Hot Pot is my favorite along with the traditional Dim Sum fare. read more

I have been ordering occasional delivery from Furama for the past 5 years, and have seen a slow decline in the quality of ingredients. My order yesterday (nothing special: pot stickers, egg drop soup, and sweet & sour chicken) was almost inedible. Disclaimer: I have never eaten in the restaurant nor tried their dim sum. Delivery was often under 10 minutes. read more

Eight friends and I showed up at Furama on Sunday around 11:30a for dim sum. The place was less than half full, so we didn't have a problem getting a seat. The service was fast and attentive, although some carts took longer than others to come around. Most of the servers spoke English, which was helpful for my group of primarily non-Chinese speakers. Alternatively, you could order off the menu. The food was decent, as were the prices, but it was nothing to rave about. Some Vietnamese food, such as spring rolls and a kind of shrimp salad, could also be ordered off the carts, although you wouldn't normally find those in a dim sum place. I should probably qualify that statement by saying that I'm an ABC who grew up in LA, so I know my dim sum. The thing that really annoyed me was the fact that they charged us $0.85 per person for tea. Tea should be free, damn it. read more

This was my first Dim Sum experience and you can bet I am a believer now. You start eating as soon as you sit down! The dining room on Sundays is huge, so I can't imagine ever waiting for a table either. We got in and out in less than 30 minutes with bellies full of yumminess. The dining room on Saturdays is smaller and less charming, but still very fast. I'm a huge dumpling fan, so this was heaven for me. Any kind of meat and veg can be found in dumpling form here. And the selection is big enough for adventurous AND picky eaters (they have a fried cart). I haven't been able to compare it to the Chinatown location, but I hope to soon! read more

Delivery took an hour and the quality of food didn't justify the wait at all. We got 5 things and here's how I feel about them: 1. Spring roll: deep fried, but tasty, obviously they made it fresh. thumbs up. 2. Beef with bitter melon: meh. a little slimy, no distinctive flavor. thumbs down 3. Chow Mein: noodles were a bit greasier than i'm used to and i'm pretty sure they used the exact same beef as in #2. thumbs down 4. Moo Shoo Pork: the pork was pretty good but the pancakes they had with it were enough for half the filling and tasted chalky. thumbs undecided 5. Scallops in ginger sauce: sauce was not ginger! it tasted like curry sauce that you get out of a box. scallops were kind of rubbery. thumbs down So the point is, it's not that great and I wouldn't order from them again. read more

The best dim sum place ever. Hands down. You get soo much food for such a good price. The best day to come here is Sunday. Just come here on Sunday for brunch, and you will definitely get the full vibe of the dim sum experience. Just order everything and try it. Ah-maz-ing. Drool. read more

Amazing dim sum as good as anything in China town. Shu Mai had perfect texture and flavor. Stuffed eggplant was a revelation

Chinatown in uptown, one of very few Chinese restaurants in the heart of little Vietnam the menu is good by Chicago standards but the Dim Sum is comparable to Chicago's best, in fact I can only think of one or two in Chinatown I like better. The convenience of location and parking make it the north side's obvious choice. In fact it is my Mandarin sister-in-law's first pick for an impromptu family brunch (Dim Sum). If you want Chinese food but don't want the travel to or congestion of Chinatown, I highly recommend you try this one. read more

Furama Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

They have traditional dim sum (think of tapas but with Chinese food) and you can usually find parking int he residential area, too. Their taro fried balls are pretty good here! Decently priced and as I said before - I usually think of Furama as the dimsum place off the beaten path of Chinatown. It's not bad if I don't feel like driving all the way down to the southside. read more

I ate here once, after helping some friends move to Uptown. I can't remember the name of the dish I had, it was some kind of chicken and came in a reddish sauce with lots of onions (I love onions). It was good, but I think it might have been more the fact that I was completely starving when we went in. It's your typical Americanized Chinese fare. The interior is really dark and kind of dingy, overly ornamented with tapestries and things. I kind of felt like I had traveled back in time to a Chinese joint from the early eighties. The waitress was a bit surly, but fairly attentive, and if I could remember what the hell the name of that chicken dish was (Hunan chicken, maybe? I'm not sure), I'd order from there again. read more

I love dim sum. Last year my quest was to find the best dim sum in the bay area - I'm pretty sure I found it (or at least 2 top contenders). The dim sum at Furama is mediocre. None of the dishes were good but none were awful. I wouldn't go back. Here's what we got: BBQ pork buns: really lacking meat filling, which made me kind of sad since this is my favorite dish at all other dim sum places. 2.5 stars Shrimp rice noodle roll and shrimp and scallop roll: definitely disappointing. The size and quality of the shrimp did not seem good. The shrimp were small, not fresh and did not taste all that good. 2 stars Shumai and taro cake: pretty good; 3.5 starts Sesame balls were standard good, with the right amount of delicious red bean inside. 4 stars I'd rather just go to Cermak. read more

A solid dim sum spot in Uptown. Totally didn't realize there was a pocket of Asian-ness that far up North, but a friend suggested dim sum and off we went. Sundays upstairs they do the push cart system and the "if you can flag us down you can order system." Apparently the rest of the week they do a la carte dim sum all night. All the dim sum staples are available here and it's on par with most of the places I've been. Which means nothing to you, but there you have it. read more

Furama satisfied my dim sum craving on a Sunday morning. It was the only place we could find within a couple miles of our apartment (without having to trek all the way to Chinatown) -- and for that alone, I give this place 3.5 stars! The dim sum was decent, although not the most fresh. If you're looking for high quality dim sum, stray away from this place, but if you're looking for a quick and dirty substitute it will do just fine! read more

My wife and I were craving dim sum and after our previous Chinatown excursion ( a woman was cutting chickens behind the restaurant in the parking garage!) we decided to head uptown. We wanted to try Silver Seafood as it got good reviews and was recently reviewed on Check, please. Unfortunately they were closed so we went to our backup. Maybe I'm just spoiled having lived in SF, LA and NYC but frankly the dim sum was cold, not very fresh tasting and left me craving a true dim sum experience! The service was quick (serving cold food unfortunately) and they had parking but I wouldn't recommend this place. read more