Chik N Stix

I come here every single time I'm in the mall, with friends and family. We've never had a problem with any of our drinks or food in the past two years that we've been coming here, and even then my wife has been coming to Chik N Stix before she even met me, and always enjoyed this place. Our favorites are the Avocado Fruit Freeze, and and Milk Bubble Tea, as far as drinks go. To be honest, we tried the other freezes and teas haven't been disappointed, its just the tastiest to us were the two ones I mentioned.

They have really nice Horchata Freezes The tapioca pearls are the best part, we usually ask for extra (at no charge). Also, their food is really delicious. Our favorites are the Peanut Chik'n and the Garlic Shrimp (however beware if you aren't used to eating shrimp with the shell still on!). The sides are okay...the eggrolls are good and the noodles are tasty. I personally enjoy the yellow rice the most.  ...just a tip, they now offer little cards that they stamp every time you order a fruit freeze, and after its filled you get a free one (I think its like, ten before the free one, but if you have a group or if you just go there here and there it fills up fast). I don't think a lot of people are aware of this, though. But now anyone reading this is, lol.

My last comment on this place is the staff. Now, the man with the glasses can seem like he's rushing you through things, but personally I think its just funny. Might not come off that way to others though, and I don't blame anyone for feeling that way. However the rest of the staff is really nice, they even remember you if you go there enough (for us its to the point where they can almost always predict what we're going to order! Ha). Just keep in mind it is mall food so its not fancy cuisine, but it is good food and the fruit freezes are refreshing.

This rating is based on their "bubble tea".  

Walking the LONG mall of Gurnee Mills sure does make some people quench their thirst!

Chik N Stix had some bubble tea and as we came upon their stand, I wasn't "surprised" from my first impression since it was still a mall food court.  We were offered samples which was surprising because you can't really give samples of frozen drinks often.  We were rushed through our drink order and in the end, our total experience turned out to be so BAD.  If you have had bubble tea before, it's all about the tapioca balls and the drink part is a plus to this new fad of drinking.  

We had Mango, Avocado, Taro, and Watermelon. Sounds delish right?? The drink part itself was good but once a bubble came into my mouth, it was out right GROSS!  The bubbles were old and I kind of could tell by the appearance already but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I was crossing my fingers that maybe it was just my drink but ALL of our drinks were this bad.  I couldn't continue with my drink (nor could anyone else) and we all threw them away immediately since we couldn't "get around" the bubbles as we were drinking.  Trust me, we tried to savor our drinks by spitting the bubbles out, but that in itself was too much work as you're walking around the mall (let alone disgusting if others were to see you do it too)

I was embarrassed, not for this venue, but for my family members that came down to visit IL and to come upon this bad experience with Chik N Stix.  We ended up making up for this horrible experience of bubble tea by ordering some at Joy Yee's (they never fail!)

I LOVE Chik N Stix. My favorite is the peanut chicken... sorry to those who are allergic. The best part is that it comes with a yummy yellow rice that isn't quite spanish, isn't quite asian... but is tasty nonetheless.

The best part is you can get fresh fruit smoothies and drinks. My favorite drink would be the mango green tea. They use some kind of fancy jasmine-y leaf so it's not just your regular lipton stuff.

They've got a bunch of rotating items too which are always a treat to try. My hubby's staple is the #5.