Great for large groups and has many different options if you can't decide on what you want to eat. Huge drinks as well for cheap!

Just got the avocado smoothie with tapioca. The smoothie is good as it always is. Tapioca is chewy. I like it. Smoothie is creamy and smooth. I like avocado smoothie a lot. It costs ~$7. Totally worth it. Service is fast. I got my drink within 2 mins, which is amazing fast. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Avacado smoothie - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Perfect place to grab smoothies with the kids! The flavors are great and the lines are long but quick! Service is quick and friendly for the most part. Be sure to listen for your number on your receipt or you will miss it. There's a restaurant of course but many come for the smoothies and tea! read more

This was a random stop. Extensive menu that was placed outside of the door. Hard to read the menu while there were a lot of ppl checking it out too. all in the way lol Our drinks were prepared pretty fast. Large sized cup. Good! I accidentally got mango chunks instead of tapioca balls lol read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Berry blast and mango - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Joy Yee Noodle has a huge menu and tasty food. I had a little bit of everything, chicken lo neon, garlic shrimp udon, and beef noodle soup--super flavorful and filling. The bubble tea is great with tons of options. It can get busy and a little loud, but overall it's a fun spot with big portions. Worth a visit! read more

I went to Joy Yee for lunch today and enjoyed it! I got the Vegetable Fried Rice which is honestly some of the best I've had to date - it was perfectly cooked, the flavor was great, and overall delicious. The service was also great and very attentive. I will say that our table was a bit dirty when we sat down which was a bummer but the service and food made up for it. I will definitely be back and am looking forward to it - thanks, Joy Yee! read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Vegetable Fried Rice - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Finally ate in (instead of takeout). Service is prompt and kind and while the place lacks a bit in decor, it definitely gets the job done. Portions are even larger when dining in and we had enough for at least two meals. Highly recommend the Vietnamese appetizer platter. I'd order that just as a meal in the future. read more

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Joy Yee is a must-try in Chicago. Their menu is so large that you'll find something new to try every time you go. With such a large menu, it may be difficult to specialize in a single dish, but I enjoyed their Grilled Squid and Korean Kimchi Beef Fried Rice. The portions are very large which is why I am content paying more for the food. You must also try their bubble tea--the cups are very large! In my experience, the staff was very nice, but it's a large restaurant so there may be around a 20-minute wait time depending on when you go (I went at lunchtime). *safe for nut allergies* read more

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So the boba smoothie here is my favorite of pretty much of all-time - there are very few places that match this place (though making your own with fresh fruit comes super close!) so I try to get one whenever I'm nearby. Joy Yee has really perfected the strawberry smoothie down to using real fruit and having great chew and flavor to the tapioca balls - only con? A bit pricy at $7-8 :( But a treat is a treat! Food-wise - Joy Yee has a pretty ridiculous amount of selection - the menu is legit a book. You either are going to know what you want and look for it oorrr you'll turn page after page and end up ordering Sesame Chicken (haha). I got the Thai Basil Chicken, which was my favorite when I used to live closer by, which, the prices at this location have gone waaay up. I know inflation and all is the narrative, but the higher prices are probably the main reason the wait isn't ridiculous anymore (we just walked in.) Quality-wise, it's the same Joy Yee standard - solid quality, not amazing, but good enough and a safe choice since there's something for everyone. The rest of the fam got galbi fried rice and a lemongrass chicken (the eggplant dish is also good!) - and they're all solid choices. Overall, Joy Yee has been established for many years, and it's reliable quality is its main reason why. Prices are on the high side, especially for Chinatown but I guess if the market will bear it, then I can't blame them :) Can't wait to come back for another strawberry smoothie with boba (I also get half sweet for the record haha). read more

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Another Joy Yee experience, I was in the area, so I decided to come here since it's been awhile. I ordered the crab rangoon, garlic shrimp fried rice, and the Malaysian string beans. I love this place and it will always be my favorite go to whenever I want some good Chinese food. Also, every time I go.....I have to order two milk teas; one with my meal and one to go! The absolute best! read more

We ordered the Thai Tea (got the boba balls on the side because my wife had never tried them before), and we shared the lemongrass chicken over garlic noodles. Both were absolutely wonderful. We said it just might be the best Chinese food we've ever had. It was so good that we had to ask our server more about its origin, and he said the restaurant was a Thai / Vietnamese / Chinese fusion. That was another first for us! We will absolutely come back again and again. read more

told me that it was chicken broth and it was pork broth and I am seriously allergic to red meat

Bubble tea always solid. Food very average. Nothing bad, nothing great. Service was friendly.

All I have to say is that, if you want the freshest, most refreshing smoothies in Chinatown, you have to get them at Joy Yee's. I think because so many people go there, their fruit is always fresh. They also have the smoothie game down, with the perfect sugar, ice, and fruit ratio. As for the food, most of the dishes are pretty good. We ordered the ribs & garlic noodle, fried squid legs, and seafood crispy chow mein. The chow mein was crunchy and flavorful. On the other hand, the squid legs lacked seasoning. They were still crispy and good, but maybe the chef forgot to add salt. The garlic noodles could also have been more flavorful, but the ribs definitely made up for it. They have a slightly sweet taste and were finger-licking good. Joy Yee is known for their big presentation of foods (they use big dishware), and the three dishes we ordered was more than enough for 2 people. We had to pack half of it to go! Though their prices are not the cheapest, I would still recommend splurging once in a while to try their food and drinks (a must)! read more

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Joy Yee Noodle serves dishes from all across Asia -- Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese ramen, and a few American dishes. The menu was large, almost on par with Cheesecake Factory, and all of the menu items came with pictures. My friend and I wanted ramen, so after we got boba drinks from Joy Yee Plus, we came here, unfortunately that was a mistake. They sell almost everything, but they specialize is boba and milk teas, and that's the only thing I would get if I were to come back. The food was a 3/5. I ordered regular Chinese food (vegetable fried rice, sesame chicken, and pork egg rolls) while my friend ordered the shrimp ramen. The ramen wasn't actually ramen but just a noodle soup, which was disappointing for someone's first experience with a dish. The service was fine, you didn't have a set server, all of the staff pitched in to help all tables. The food came out fast, probably 10-15 minutes for all of the food we ordered and you can pay your tab on the mobile tablets the servers place your order on. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Shrimp ramen, vegetable fried rice, 4 Vietnamese Fried Egg Rolls, sesame chicken - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

An incredibly good place for Americanized Asian cuisine. It's not quite authentic but it's kind of close enough. Joy Yee Noodle has a few locations, including this one in Chinatown, obviously not the place to go for authentic food there. It has many favorites such as the bubble tea and has pretty good food. They have the best prices with the lunch specials. Come in at lunch and save a bit. It's when we came in the last time here. The menu is full of typical Americanized favorites, but don't let it be a turnoff. A lot of great stuff is here. The best items may actually be the teas and smoothies. I most like the Black Out. It's about $6 for most smoothies. This one is made with coffee jelly, grass jelly, coconut freeze, and tapioca. It's kind of like a milkshake. This is a good choice for vegans. Both of us got the Orange Tofu lunch special the last time here. It's about $10 for a lot. This comes with a few vegetable potstickers and rice. It had a moderate spice to it. This was a nice amount of food for a lunch. Best time is at lunch where you get the best prices for the most amount. It has another location in University Village, which is good too if that's more convenient. They mostly have the same menu at these. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Black Out And Orange Tofu Lunch Special - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here for the desserts because it had a large menu. Ordered the boba soft serve but they did not have tapioca at 1pm. Ended up adding crystal boba for an additional cost (worst decision ever). The matcha wasn't as creamy. It tasted more like a blend of a icy sherbet and soft serve. 6/10 The crystal boba was like gelatin cubes, not a fan. It does not have taste. 1/10 Also ordered Strawberry Grapefruit Fruit Tea, it had no tea taste. More like flavored water. 7/10 Overall nice location with cute decor but not very good for dessert. Could be better. But not the worst choice if you're in the area. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Matcha soft serve with crystal jelly - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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There are so many options in Chinatown, and if you're looking for a massive menu sure to please most, stop into the massive Joy Yee! Here's a look at the pros and cons of this Joy Yee: PROS: + The space was clean and the tables were plentiful - besides the busy lunch hour, you're sure to get a table here. + Their boba menu is MASSIVE - literally two fulls pages of photo options! I love being able to see what my options look like, so this was a huge plus. + Their portions are also massive! We ordered the ribs, pad see ew, and green beans with shrimp to split between two of us and had to take more than half of it home. + We loved their green beans and kimchi! + Service was brief but attended to our needs. CONS: - The boba was massive but didn't wow me with flavor - I'd probably go to one of the boba-only spots in the area instead next time. - The noodles didn't have exciting flavor in my opinion, and the ribs were a bit skimp on meat to bone ratio. - We'd likely order different next time, but for three plates and two beverages, our bill was steeper than I'd expected for lunch. It's a great spot for tons of options and large portions! I'm just more likely to try a new spot the next time I visit. read more

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Joy Yee's is the best boba in Chicago no questions! I've been coming here for the better part of a decade every time I'm in the Chicago area and have visited several of their locations as well! This one, located in the "new" Chinatown, is my personal favorite given the surrounding shopping opportunities! What I find a bit hilarious is that Joy Yee serves a fulllllll menu of delicious food as well, but a lot of people, perhaps even the majority?, come here for their boba! I've had their food here before, and it's definitely good, but at least for me, majority of the time I come here is for their boba, not their food! The most recent time I came to Joy Yee's, there was a separate side window for people to order their boba without coming into the restaurant, to help with the traffic and flow in the general Chinatown area, which was really efficient! My go-to ordering strategy for drinks here is to always go with a fruit smoothie (blend of more than one fruit typically) and also a more traditional boba tea option! Joy Yee's got so much fresh fruit, so it's important to get a fruit-based boba for sure at least! All of their drinks are delicious though, so you really can't go wrong!! Do yourself a favor and come here next time you're in the Chicago area - I promise you won't regret it! read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Joy Yee Noodle, in line at their side ordering window for drinks! - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This was my second time stoping by and this go round I tried the Beef Pho. The food came out fast and was great, we also tried the OX sauce shrimp chow mein with chicken instead, that was good as well. I will definitely be back this winter to get my pho fix. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Beef brisket pho - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Joy Yee has seriously grown so much over the years! I have seen it at a really small corner to their expansion and then their other store. It's great to see how much business they have accumulated over the years, and it helps that they are located in the heart of Chinatown in Chicago. The drink menu can be so overwhelming, but I always always recommend their fresh fruit / fruit teas instead of their milk teas. I feel like their milk teas cannot compare to other places in the area. Nothing terrible about Joy Yee's milk teas, but there are just better milk teas out in the same area. Grab their refreshing fruit teas, you can't go wrong. As for food, there's a large menu, and I love the number of pictures on the menu. It helps so much when trying to decide what to eat. If I go, then I normally have the same palate of foods and make it family style (where you're sharing with the others at your table). It's always a meat dish, veggie dish, and either some rice or noodles. My boyfriend's favorite is surprisingly the pad thai LOL. Sometimes about the tarteness or so with it, but I agree it's great. The noodle soups are honestly really great in the Chicago cold, so I highly recommend them! You can't go wrong with the pho! Everything is so filling. If you are doing family, you could order dishes based on the number of people with you and still have leftovers. If you have any food allergies, they are able to answer the questions better than the pictures/words can describe on the menu. But, if you know that you are going to an Asian restaurant, know that they use very common ingredients like soy, gluten items, and so on. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Bathroom stall had an entire mopping station and wasn't clean. No hot drinks to order on a freezing winter day. Fried rice was soggy. To top it off, a meal was billed differently than advertised on the picture menu and instead of honoring the menu price, service pointed to fine print, "subject to change." Though we've been to this chain before, after quibbling over a nominal amount because of the business' menu mistake they wanted us to pay for, we won't come back. read more

Date Visited: 2024-02-18, Chinese New Year (!!) ~ 1245pm Came to Chinatown for the parade, but after arriving and realizing we needed to be in place for the parade probably 2 hours prior, we decided to high-tail it to Joy Yee for lunch. We figured we could get in before the parade let out. and yes! We were able to be seated. I have the Sesame Chicken (along with some crab rangoons!)...and it was prepared perfectly -- just the right amount of crunch -- not mushy like other Chinese restaurants away from Chinatown. The rangoons were perfectly sized -- but to this day-and-age, I don't understand the number they serve -- not 4 not 6, but 5; either way those were delish as well. Service was good; server was always ready to get whatever we needed. They kept the water flowing -- but I noticed they have a weird policy -- you only get a water pitcher if you have 3 or more people. It would have saved much time to have our own so we did not need to keep asking for water. As for price -- well over the years , the price of Chinese restaurant food as climbed up and up. Our total for two people was in the range of $50 (2 main dishes and 1 appetizer plate)...so it is pricey -- but that seemed to be everywhere in Chinatown. Endgame: Would I come back here? Probably; but definitely when its warmer and certainly not when as crazy. read more

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I really like the boba tea here. It comes in a nice container and the popping boba is very tasty and refreshing. It is a tad pricey but otherwise I like it read more

5 stars for the bubble tea. This is my favorite bubble tea place in Chicago. Joy Yee is the place I went to for bubble tea with friends during college. I've introduced several people to bubble tea here and they walked away loving it. The menu for bubble tea is so vast - you're bound to find something that you like - and the boba, jellies, popping pearls, and all other types of accompaniments are all excellent and exactly how those things are suppose to taste. You don't have to sit down at the restaurant to get bubble tea - you can order bubble tea at a dedicated counter. Even when I've been on busy times in a large drop group of people, we've never had to wait long to get the bubble tea: they work extremely quickly fulfilling the order. You can't get better than here for bubble tea in my opinion. As for the food/restaurant itself, the food is okay. I don't think their food offering is as great as their bubble teas so I've only sat down here a couple of times. It's servicable - there's nothing bad about it - but nothing really stands out. They don't do one particular dish incredibly well (the downside of having such a vast menu of Asian food from many different cuisines). I think when there are many other restaurant options in the area, I'd rather go somewhere else for food. Would highly recommend for bubble tea - but for food, try one of the other places in the area. read more

Loved the food. Great for Pho after a night out and the service was great. I really like the variety of food choices and boba drinks as well. read more

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Food was very good and fast, but it wasn't until after I left that I realized an 18% tip had been added to the bill and then I tipped 15% on top of that. I'm surprised that was done for just a party of four. read more

Described as a must-check-out place when in Chicago, this Joy Yee boba spot in Chinatown is fine... I think there are certainly comparable ones like this elsewhere. - weekends: lines could be long specially on the noon / post lunch hour and during hot days - drinks: are good with the popping boba, but definitely recommend making them 50% or 75% sweetness because even for someone who loves sweet stuff, the regular 100% was too sweet - they take credit cards and your receipt prints the order number - but you must be close to the window to hear them call it out read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Red guava Mango freeze with lychee popping boba / outside - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The best Asian food I have ever had, it was fantastic and I will go back. The waiter was so nice and always there when me and my daughter needed him. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Fabulous appetizer - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Joy yee noodles was amazing when I went. Me and my family went as a party of 10 on New Year's Day! They still sat us when their restaurant was at its busiest. The ambiance is comfortable and hustle bustle in one room. The jumbo beef pho was huge (picture below). The water cups were made of metal, a nice feature that kept the water cold and provided a unique experience. The service was so fast we couldn't even finish a conversation before we got our food. Overall amazing place would definitely recommend. read more

Since I last reviewed Joy Yee several years ago, I have visited maybe 2 times a year. Long story short, its a decent spot to get some Asian fusion cuisine. Many of the dishes have regressed in flavor but that just speaks to how great the food was many many years ago. Bubble teas are still good. However, the main factor behind the 2 stars is the service. First, apparently a party of 4 now justifies a mandatory 18% tip. SEE PICTURE. Be careful, they will still ask for a tip on the signed receipt and you might accidentally double tip! Our server came twice to take our drink order and then our food order, then he was never seen again for the rest of the night. In fact, I had to reach out to someone else to get our check. He was pretty impatient to my friends visiting from out the state, and extremely dismissive when my friend asked about protein options. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Mandatory 18% tip on groups of 4 now - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

One of my favorite places in chinatown! they have a large menu with a lot of options. great options for vegetarians. go to dishes are the tofu pad kee mao and vegetable thai basil fried rice! the portion sizes are always huge for the price you pay! read more

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I visited as a party of 3 and after we left the restaurant I was wondering why the bill was so much higher than I expected. It turns out the server had automatically added an 18% tip to the bill... for a party of 3. And because that is not normal practice and was not brought to our attention, and the itemized receipt was taken away when it came to signing the credit card receipt, we tipped again on top of that. No where upon entering the restaurant and being seated was there a sign about the 18% auto gratuity. Keep in mind this is a near fast-casual restaurant as waiters do not greet you or really even talk to you until you wave them down, write your order and leave immediately. No thank you upon giving the bill, the service was nearly nada. Onto the food, the pork chop was tender and grilled really well. I was pleasantly surprised by the pickled daikon carrot on top of the dish. And noodles were garlicky but soggy and overcooked. Boba was ok, red bean was ground up into milk tea so it was super grainy. Boba portions are HUGE so be prepared for that portion size. Needless to say, the tipping situation left such a bitter taste and poor reflection of restaurant that I'm not sure if I would even want to come back and try anything else at the risk of overpaying. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Pork chop garlic noodle - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Classic spot. Vast menu of drinks and food. Big family congregation spot in china town, so popular. Every time I visit, I find myself coming back and the food is hearty. Nothing that blows the socks off but you'll definitely satisfy your taste buds and stomach. Grab a drink too. The cups are big but cute and it's a fun experience. read more

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Today Joy Yee's in Chinatown wasn't crowded. We went there at 8pm, we were immediately seated and even though I was expecting it to be cold, the room temperature was pretty nice. I liked my food, I had a tasting for glass noodles and got exactly what I was looking for even though this wasn't my first time trying glass noodles. We also didn't feel rushed at all unlike other times. I have been going to Joy Yees since 2018 and I can say this is one of the few times I've enjoyed going there. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Mango with strawberry topping - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The bathrooms were so dirty. The food was good and so was the service, but the bathrooms terrible.

I like this establishment but was quite disappointed, in their deceptive behavior the other week. I had ordered the beef tendon udon as it is one of my fave items on the menu. When the ordered arrived it was sliced beef udon and not tendon. I told the wait staff that the order is wrong, we ordered tendon. The wait staff said, oh that is tendon. I politely said "no that's not tendon, this is just beef", he then said to me "oh sorry, we don't do tendon anymore and it's beef only". I asked him why didn't they tell us prior to ordering because it's quite deceptive, and said, "oh sorry and walked away". Of course the charge on the bill was for tendon which I feel would be incorrect as tendon may be higher than beef. Though it's not really about money but the principle of deception Needless to say I will not eat here again, read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Beef "tendon" udon - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here with some family friends who are local to Chicago and they had great things to say about this place so we decided to come for dinner one night. We had about a 30 minute wait before we were seated. I can agree that it was a good experience. The food was amazing and very large. Expect to leave with leftovers! It is a bit chaotic inside and the servers are running all around. It can be hard to hear with all the background noise going on. I would be interested in coming back the next time I'm around Chinatown. read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I went on a Friday night and was able to be seated right away. The food came out so quick. The garlic shrimp fried rice is AMAZING. The sesame chicken is great, not too much breading. The beef udon noodles is a must order. read more

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I was recommended this place for their fruit smoothie/slushes. The avocado/durian freeze was solid. They put the perfect amount of avocado/durian and it wasn't watered down and unlike some other places it does not taste artificial. The watermelon lychee slush was very refreshing. We ordered at a counter outside and came on a weekday so we waited just 5 min for our drinks. Apparently the line can be pretty long so we got lucky. I definitely recommend and will come back on my next visit!! read more

Joy Yee Noodle - Avocado durian smoothie, watermelon lychee slush. - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois