Love Joy Yee's and their delicious fried rice with eel and shrimp. The mango lychee smoothies are delicious too. The place is always booming and the prices are good. read more

I always come here and I like this place. Things they need to improve is their service, bathrooms needs to be clean. The server had a hard time understanding me which made it difficult to order. We never saw our server after giving us our food and never got a refill on our drinks. I like the food and I like that we got our food fast, but there our many little things that I feel should have been better read more

Good bubble tea, decent food. Not too expensive. They deliver, which is a plus for college kids that don't want to walk to go get non-dorm food, but it's nothing spectacular. read more

Ok., so I decided to give Joy Yee's another try...I ordered the exact same thing to see if maybe I just consumed it on an 'off' night previously- The spicy basil chicken over rice. This time around, it was 100% better! It had a lot more flavorful sauce and lots more spice! It was like I had eaten at a completely different restaurant, judging from the difference. So, I can say that I am now a fan of Joy Yee's after this second go-round....I just hope my other delivery experiences will be the same as the last! read more

Big menu and lots of standard and non-standard asian items. IF you want a good range average asian foods (chines, japanese, thai, vietnamese, korean), this is the place to go. Short ribs are a popular choice there. My favorites are the fruit freeze drinks - mango freeze in particular! read more

Come here hungry!!!! Ate here twice when I was in Chicago and really love the selection. Huge menu! The bubble teas are delicious and huge. My tarot tea was made with coconut milk - big plus! This is more of a family style place - the portions are huge. Everything is pretty tasty and affordable. Some flavor lacks because of the size of the dishes - but soups here are delicious. read more

It is impossibly to go to this place and not find something you want to eat; their menu selection is HUGE. The portions are generally enormous for the same price as a regular serving elsewhere in Evanston. Definitely a good place to go if your intent is to pig out for a bargain. The bubble tea and Thai coffee are both delicious. read more

This place has a massive menu, with all types of Asian food. It's big and busy and loud, and probably the best reason to go is for their huge assortment of beverages and ice cream drinks. 527 Cafe, right next door, offers better Korean and Thai food in a quieter environment. read more

Their food is okay. Nothing very special. I want to say their menu is too extensive. Three to four pages of different variety of Boba to choose from! Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese cuisine all in one. However, the food was not bad but not great either. :( Lunch special was okay. The portion was pretty small. read more

I've literally never wrote a review and I told myself to move on since its been 2 weeks but I have never in my life gotten worse service before. First thing first, I'm not sure if its normal for the employees to use half the restaurants tables to cut vegetables. To start out, walking in to the restaurant we asked to be seated for 3. The entire restaurant was open but they insisted to put us in the back by a family with loud kids. I asked the waitress if we could sit by the window instead and she immediately gave me attitude and didn't want us to sit there, eventually we did but I didn't necessarily want to go through an argument just to sit down. Once we sat down and the waitress immediately left. After 25 minutes of waiting around for a cup of water (asked for it twice) and ready to order I've had enough and walked to the front and I asked nicely if they could let our waitress know that we are ready. There are at least 6-8 employees standing around doing nothing but laughing and showing each other videos on their phone. A new woman showed up, annoyed that she had to take a break from her phone to take our orders. Then walked to her friends and started whispering to them and then they all started laughing in our direction. Regardless, we placed our orders and waited for our food. Once it arrived I right away noticed a huge difference from previous times that I came to this restaurants, the portion was literally cut in half. The tapioca in my bubble tea was half frozen and falling apart. The food was still good but definitely not filling. Getting water refills was another huge challenge because they literally wouldn't get off their phone to come help you. Once we finished eating, it took them an additional 20 minutes just to bring me the check from when I originally asked for it. When my card and bill came back to me I started writing my tip and signing the bottom but then I noticed that the waitress was literally leaning over my shoulder, almost touching it, just so she could read the tip right then and there. When I was done she picked it up in front of me, put it close to her face and examined it for a minute before moving on to my friend and doing the same to him. We gave 15% even though the service was bad and she still looked at us really mad, this is probably our second interaction because she ignored us the entire time we dined in. All in all, I will never come back here and I'll make sure to spread my word.. read more

Wish there was one of these closer to home. Joy Yee's has an assortment of Asian cuisines, all done pretty well. The huge portions satisfy the biggest appetites. The lunch specials don't skimp either, the portions are still substantial. I have not ordered a dish I did not enjoy. I always come back to beef cubes and tomato rice (little folks enjoy it as well). The have high chairs, plastic utensils, and the place is busy enough that a little bit of noise is drowned out. Always a solid bet. read more

The food was like any American Chinese food. It's a step up from Panda Express, but only because they serve you the food. The vast menu had pictures for every single dish, which could be seen as considerate, but it was more of a big inconvenience for my group. It's hard to tell what's good or to even decide what to order because it takes 20 minutes just to sift through it all. By the time you reach the end, you will have forgotten what was at the beginning! And the Boba here is pretty standard. Service wasn't anything special, either. Overall a very eh experience; I would rather visit a real authentic Asian restaurant like any of those around Joy Yee. read more

I don't know why but they were closed today when I went in the afternoon, even though there was no signs or anything on the door.

I love the bubble tea and smoothies The entrees r delicious too especially Mongolian beef and chicken fried rice. read more

The food was pretty good. I'm from San Diego, so we're spoiled with many different varieties of tasty Asian restaurants. Getting seated was easy. I've read reviews where there's a wait, but that wasn't the case for us. The menu is a bit overwhelming as they had pages and pages of Chinese and Vietnamese food. Also this is largest bobs menu selection I've ever seen. I would suggest skimming through the pictures of the menu on Yelp to figure out what food you might order otherwise you will be spending quite a bit of time reading the menu. Service was quick and not so cordial but don't let that turn you off. I would try this place out if you're craving noodles or Chinese food...this seems like it's the only restaurant of its kind in the neighborhood. I think the next best thing would be to go to China town in Downtown Chicago. read more

At one point in my life I ordered from Joy Yee's once a week for ten weeks, and subsequently got a friend hooked. I loved Joy Yee's so much that I once formed a Facebook group devoted to this particular Joy Yee's. I want to credit the bubble tea/fruit smoothie craze in Chicago to Joy Yee's. Drink flavors I enjoy are mango, mango lychee, taro, avocado, and papaya. The aforementioned are made with real fruit except for taro. For my 21st birthday, I "drank" a FISHBOWL sized mango smoothie with tapioca and was in heaven. However, the best drink Joy Yee's offers is the mango green jelly: mango smoothie with green grass gelatin at the bottom of the glass, and fresh pieces of mango at the glass rim. Yum! Food I've had that's really good: Korean beef stone bowl rice (back when I could eat beef), Korean BBQ short ribs (again, back when I ate beef), and orange chicken. My favorite entrees to order and split with a friend are the black mushroom chow mein and sweet and sour shrimp or chicken. Food I wasn't impressed with: baked eel over rice, lemongrass chicken, mango chicken fried rice. FYI, the entree portions are huge and make for great leftovers. This Joy Yee's tends to be pretty busy every night around 7 pm, especially on weekends when Northwestern students are around. You can also call ahead to make reservations, but they will not seat you until your entire party arrives. read more

First time here. Very fresh and tasty food and fast service. Serving size is what to expect. Price is under 10 dollars. Overall a 5/5 lunch. read more

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Joy Yee's is a good option if you're going with a group of people who feel like eating Asian food but can't decide what. Why? Because Joy Yee's makes many popular Asian dishes (i.e., Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai) at a 3-4 out of 5 star level. But the bubble tea has got to be the best part. It's the prettiest and largest! I also don't like that it gets so darn crowded and busy in here. Seating is a little uncomfortable (in Evanston and in Chinatown) b/c the tables are placed SO close to each other. If you're lucky, there is maybe a 6" gap between your table and your neighbor's. This particular location is in a good part of Evanston where it's near other ethnic restaurants (tapas and African) and cafes. read more

Oh, Joy Yees! How I missed thee! I got to go back a couple of weekends ago, and boy was I happy to be there! I loaded up on kimchee fried dumplings, hot and sour soup (def not as good as I remember it), the pineapple, chicken & shrimp fried rice (so amazing!), and the mapo tofu over rice (also not so good -- what happened?). And of course, a big ol' cup of mango tapioca drink. DEEEEELISH. Sooooo glad to be back, although when you leave you end up smelling like you came out of a deep fryer or something. read more

Why can't this place be in DC? Pros: - Huge selection of food - Chinese, Korean, bubble tea, shaved ice... - Picture-laden menu with photos of almost everything on the menu. - Service is very quick! - They were open on Christmas Day (and 3/4 full with a huge line for takeout)! - The portions are huge! I came here to meet some friends for dinner after a Christmas lunch at home. Service was quick and portions were huge as always! Definitely try the bulgogi, and the beef cubes. I've also had various fried rice dishes and soups in the past. I really want to try the Shabu Shabu in their Chinatown location next time I'm in town. read more

Ever felt overwhelmed because of TOO many options on a menu? Well, if you haven't then this is a perfect place to start. I believe I had the Korean beef over rice and I made my own tapioca drink - a mix of avocado/banana with tapioca because I just could not for the life of me pick out from their menu. My boyfriend had some gigantic soup that he could not finish but everything we ordered we loved. The portions are GIGANTIC, so if I had known that, we would have def split the meal. The best part are the prices because for the size of portions, the prices are amazing. I didn't like the decor of the place - or more so the blindly bright and ugly color of the walls and the very uncomfortable chairs, but I guess you pay for what you get. The service is good considering how unbelievably packed it was on a Friday night, and we got seated right away, though we were cut in line by two girls who have no consideration of getting BEHIND people who are waiting ahead of them... whatever. We will def be back because there are just way too many yummy things to pick from...! read more

I love Joy Yees, just not at this location. First of all, the seats were uncomfortable!!!! but I didn't care for it as much as I cared for how much rude and unapproachable the server my cousin I got. I should have listened to my friend when they said the Joy Yees' at Chinatown was much better than this place.... The food that my cousin and I got was a little tasteless compare to my previous Joy yees experience. I wish they put a little more effort but w/e we got a good lunch deal...the food I guess matches it's price...NOT! I can get way better food under $15 that I spent in that place. read more

Affordable, delicious, great service. If you love eating meat more specifically ribs then I would strongly recommend you to get the Korean BBQ ribs! Those are absolutely amazing!! The lettuce wraps are great too. read more

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This is one of the first restaurants that I checked out in Evanston when I moved in. The restaurant is packed and you dine elbow to elbow with other guests. Most diners are NU students and this restaurant is catered to serve students. Service was quick and efficient - may be mildly friendly too. Don't expect too much from food in terms of taste but the portions will be abundant to pack. My companion got sea food fried rice and I got the vegetation noodle soup. They are nowhere close to being healthy but they will fill your belly for long (And perhaps deposit some fat in waist line too). Average food, average restaurant in Evanston. read more

Did not dine in here, but ordered dinner delivery using GrubHub. For a party of 4, we got: 1) Thai Spicy Basil Chow Fuun with Chicken 2) Beef Cubes in Tomato Sauce 3) Stir-Fry Udon Noodle with Beef Brisket Our order arrived earlier than we expected (less than an hour). We thought everything was very very yummy. No complaints. We particularly enjoyed the taste of the tomato sauce in the rice in the Beef Cubes in Tomato Sauce (we also did not see any tomato sauce in the dish). There is plenty of basil flavor in the Thai Spicy Basil Chow Fuun with Chicken for any basil lover to appreciate. The udon was thick and chewy with the tender beef brisket. The food did not taste too much like American-Chinese food and we would definitely go back to order again. The portions of these 3 dishes were generous enough for 4 people that there were still leftovers. read more

Been here a few times, and I did liked it, but found it WAY overcrowded. Even for an Asian restaurant we were packed in too close the the screaming kids around us. I can live with that, however. I had awesome beef friend rice, and my friends ordered the pineapple rice...took photos of it wih their cell phone cause it was just outta this world. Their food is never a disappointment, but try to avoid this location on a Saturday... read more

Joy Yee's and I have had a very complex relationship over the years. When I first moved to Chicago, I frequented this place with my friends three (ugh OMG sometimes four times a week) because it was the only good place to get Asian food in Evanston. I'd grab lunch and/or dinner with my colleagues after class or a meeting at Joy Yee's because the food is plenty and the price is right. Now, I say I've had a complex relationship with Joy Yee's only because while it's not necessarily the *best* (or most "authentic") Chinese food, it's absolutely the best for Evanston. I love the garlic Chinese broccoli. The beef cubes with tomato is also a staple dish among our friends. Surprisingly, I also think they have delicious pad thai noodles. Their lychee boba freeze (oooh and lychee + kiwi) is heavenly. You also can't beat their lunch specials... especially with their annoyingly-good egg rolls. Ugh that stuff is so addictive! Why does it have to be so good? All that fried egg roll batter and that savory interior! Yikes I'm salivating just thinking about it now. The servers are generally attentive and sometimes a bit too efficient. It's like: sit, order, eat, *finish your last bite*, "okay here's your check." Which... can rush the pleasure of dining at times. My friends and I particularly enjoy it when Andrew is our server. He's incredibly nice and a couple years ago we went there so much we practically established a friendship with him. He knew our "favorites" and "usuals" and always remembered names (even if he had only met them once!). Joy Yee's... you wanna let go and stop going, but somehow it always sucks you in... But how can you not go? The food is addictive and totally student-friendly! To tapioca and huge plates of fried rice! Enjoy. read more

Came here recently with my bf and some friends from my study group, and it reminded me to review this place. I actually can't count the number of times I've eaten here or gotten takeout from here, but trust me it's a lot. I'm highly amused because their menu has all kinds of Asian stuff (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai) and yet everything tastes pretty similar. Highlights: 1. Fruit freezes. I think the drinks here are definitely their highlight, but these are my favorite. They're made fresh (you can see the wall of fresh fruit behind the counter when you walk in) and it tastes like I'm eating a frozen watermelon/mango/whatever fruit. Don't get the lychee though because that one is not as great as the others. 2. Spicy shrimp basil chow fun. Get the shrimp! They really make the dish great. 3. Governor's chicken. Tastes kinda like General Tso's chicken or sesame chicken (basically this is sesame chicken without sesame seeds). You can't not order this. 4. Beef cubes, everyone raves above this so I don't think I need to explain Other things I've gotten here that are just okay (this is not everything, just some): pad thai, the big pho bowl that's the size of my head, orange chicken, broccoli beef, dumplings, pineapple fried rice, calamari, several types of boba Overall, solid place. It's not the best but it's consistent and the portions are ginormous. read more

Huge menu with lots of choices, and "big" portions, but it has never been my favorite place to eat. Though it's definitely more authentic than some other Asian restaurants, the food is usually a huge dish of rice with a little meat/veggies on top...filling but not what I want to be paying for! Beef cubes are my favorite dish here, but the main reason I come is for the fruit freezes. Mango is superb, but try other flavors as well! The boba is very inconsistent, but does the trick. read more

My family and I loves this place. This is where we bring all of our family and friends that comes from out of the country. THEY ALL LOVE IT. I know some people don't think this is a good place but it is always packed and difficult to find parking. But it is SO good for group dinners. It is affordable and really good plating. It has a family-size sharing plate. My family always order sooo much food but it will never go to waste because you can alwayz eat it for leftovers. My dad and I love thier seafood platter. My sisters loves any food in thier bamboo plating. But I also love thier soup and korean BBQ. The only thing I don't love is thier bubble tea, it is always too watered down. I will always recommend this place. read more

My friends and I enjoyed this place so much. We had 3 appetizers, and three entrees for a total of $68, great deal! My friends loved it and can't wait to come back. Great food at a great price, and huge portions as well. Everything was good except for one entree, the Korean seafood soup which did not taste authentic at all and was really flavorless and watered down. The restaurant was nice enough to void that entree as we sent it back, and we appreciated this gesture very much. I guess what I learned is that when in a Chinese restaurant, stick to the Chinese dishes- which are very worth it here. read more

Just really bad. The food quality sucks, and the prices are absurd. I've given them the benefit of the doubt a couple of times now, but it's just been off oh so many times *sigh*. So sad - I genuinely wanted to like this place. Plus side - they got bubble tea. read more

I'm not really a big believer in pan-asian restaurants. The menu is enormous, and I think if they shrunk the menu down to half the size, everything would be much better. As it is, the food is good: a few great dishes, some mediocre ones, and some terrible ones. The beef cubes over tomato rice is my go to dish and the bubble tea is excellent. On a side note...the chairs are not my favorite. They don't particularly look that great and aren't terribly comfortable. read more

For the Chicago area, Joy Yee's is the place to go for bubble (boba) tea, the bubble or boba are the large tapioca pearls that come with the drink. My favorites are the avocado or the coconut with red bean drinks. They use fresh fruit for their smoothies but they use powder for their taro and green tea so I'm not a fan there. I've tried their restaurant food and it's only mediocre. I wouldn't recommend it for Asians but others may enjoy it. The decor is rather sterile as is their wait staff which lacks enthusiasm and congeniality. read more

Good spot but definitely need better service they have no customer service skills what's so ever and will not explain to you what's on the menu not going to lie good place to eat you just better just exactly what you want read more

[3.5 for the drinks!] My friend from Berkeley came to visit and as he's an NU alum, we decided to hit up some of his old favorites (which I'd actually first heard of my from my mom's friend in Hong Kong who still remembers the place!). We actually arrived incredibly early, only 5 minutes after Joy Yee's opened, so there was no crowd and we got a nice spot near the window. Our server was also incredibly prompt and carefully described the differences between the noodles for us. He then took custom drink orders (which is nice because they'll blend together flavors for you at the same price) and brought us back HUGE tapioca drinks. Yum. For the actual dishes, my friend ordered a good one - beef lo mein - and I ordered a pretty bad one - chicken chow mein. I should have known better, of course, but I hadn't had crispy noodles in a long time. The beef lo mein was well-flavored and the meat was tender. Mine, on the other hand, suffered from dry, overcooked chicken and bland noodles. I probably would have rated this place higher had I ordered the lo mein, too. It sounds like Joy Yee's can make some good dishes but if they're not consistent then you've got a 50-50 chance of hit or miss, so...be careful what you pick! read more

Mixed of Asian dishes & a large extensive drinks menu including a variety of tapioca drinks. It's generally crowded by the college students so don't be surprise if you have to wait for a table. Their food is certainly not something I'd rave about - I ordered one of their baked rice in bamboo pot specialty. I got the chicken & black mushrooms with baked rice. Typical taste, nothing special to comment on. While my companion got a wonton lo mein - again the taste was mediocre. We've certainly had better, but then since there are limited Asian places in Evanston, it's not a bad place to stop by when you're craving dishes that reminisce mom's cooking back home. However, I was impressed by their drinks. Definitely enjoy the large amount of choices - I got their red bean milk tea with tapioca while my companion got the avocado freeze. The red bean milk tea has strong red bean flavor unlike most places - not too sweet, just right for my taste. While the avocado freeze was blended smoothly and again just enough sweetness. Even if I don't stop by for their food, will definitely go again for their drinks. read more

Yaaa for Joy Yee! I absolutely love this place. Joy Yee is a Pan Asian restaurant with a wonderful selection of bubble teas. I've never been dissapointed with their food at all. Its a great place for a quick dining experience or ordering for delivery. The only downside to Joy Yee is their service and environment. They've recently remodeled so the place does look a bit shnazier. However, I always feel like i'm in a drafty warehouse when eating there. Further, the place is run like an efficient assembly line, getting you in and out as fan as possible. Now with that said, as long as you go to Joy Yee with the expectations of having great food and drinks, then you'll love going there! read more

I have dreams about joy yee's baked rice and their strawberry/lychee drink. I came here for a late lunch on a weekend but was seated right away. My friend and I ordered the spring rolls for an appetizer and shared their noodle soup and malaysian seafood over baked rice. The spring rolls were average, and the pho was average too. The star of the meal was definitely the baked rice! It was slightly on the salty side that day but every other time I've had it it was delicious so I forgive them for having an off day. For dessert I got the strawberry lychee smoothie with lychee jelly...D-LISH!! Fast and friendly service, big delicious portions, cheap prices = a very happy situation read more

Your typical run of the mill Chinese food. It's a good place for college students on low budgets. The food isn't too greasy for a Chinese place and the service is fast. The people that work there aren't too proficient in English but it doesn't really affect the overall experience too much I would say. The boba is probably the best part though--I usually go just for the boba. read more