Not only was the food tasteless and undercooked completely but it was also really expensive. The pot stickers were very doughy and undercooked, the fried rice literally tasted like dirt and not even the white rice was good...how do you even mess something like that up?! I really would recommend saving yourself money and from a stomach ache and not eat here.
Review Source:I've had the General's chicken twice and it's just not good. I don't know how to describe it except it has no flavor. The first time the chicken was so soggy I didn't bother to finish it. The second time it was better but still a little soggy.
I want to like this place because it's so close but I'm sure it wouldn't be any different if I gave it a third chance.
Was on a quest for ice cream or frozen yogurt or something to combat the 80 march heat (can't believe I can say that in Chicago this year!!?) and happened across this place. Just glanced inside momentarily and saw a sign for real fruit smoothies.
I was suspicious, but wanting to get out of the heat and because I'm often easily distracted, I walked in and asked about them. They really blend fresh fruit and ingredients, no smoothie mix crap, so I said I'd try one.
Got the papaya smoothie with tapioca and WOOOOOOAAA blew my mind. Watched them put perfectly ripe papaya and fruit juices into blender and serve in minutes. SO fresh and delicious, its now my go-to for hot days.
The best part? It was huge, and like $3. Can't beat that. And they're open late I see?!! I just decided I'm going on a 10p quest.
I am staying with a friend in Wicker Park while I am waiting for my furniture to be delivered and after doing some research last night we decided to have Eat First deliver to us.
It was definitely not as inexpensive as the reviews that I read online. We paid $27 for dinner for 2 and my entree was even the small portion.
As for the food, it was good. I will definitely recommend this to my friend when she gets back to keep on hand for a decent Chinese delivery.
We had 10 packets of soy sauce, 10 packets of sweet & sour sauce and only 2 spicy mustard. Which was the only one we use, so that was a little disappointing.
However, as I said the food was good so it really is A-OK in my book.
One of my favs. Very cheap and alot of food. You can get 2 dinner specials, delivered, for under $15. The food is pretty solid. Dinner specials come with large portions of fried rice and a egg roll. Normally one dinner special at $6 lasts me two days and I am a fat mess. This place is a staple.
Review Source:The fact that I'm sitting on my bathroom floor in front of the toilet is all I need to say . What ever I ate frm here , be the crab Rangoon , orange chicken or fried rice ; I'm sick as a dog at 2am . I will never eat here again . Ever ! I might be scared frm this & won't touch Chinese food for a longg time .
Review Source:Good food for a reasonable prices. They have all your basic Chinese dishes. But if you come here, you can't leave without trying one of their smoothies. They have some of the best & widest variety of smoothies, and you can even combine flavors. If you're not sure what to have, you can't go wrong with a pineapple smoothie.
Review Source:We had been ordering take out from Eat First for several years and we were always amazed, at the quality of the food, the promptness of their deliveries and the great value of their food. Unfortunately a couple of years ago, all ot the above changed, and we had stopped ordering from them. On kind of a whim, we ordered take out again a few months ago and low and behold not only was the food as good as it orginally was it is now even better and the value even more incredible!
Most of the Dinners on the Special Menu, which is varied and fairly extensive, are not more than about $6.50 for a complete dinner. The dinners include, a really good egg roll, a portion of shrimp fried rice that is almost impossible for one person to finish, an excellent entree and a fortune cookie.
Eat First is an unbelivable value with excellent Asian take out cuisine
.
Close your eyes. Imagine a quick takeout chinese restaurant. Â There are a few seatings available but no one eats there. Â The food is good and price is CHEAP. Â That is exactly what this place is. Â Your stereotypical chinese takeout. Â I've moved out of this area but wish I had one near me as good as this one.
Oh, and don't forget to open your eyes.
This place is as good as its name: "Eat First Two." I'm fairly sure they got lazy on that in more ways than one. Not to mention, the layout of their restaurant is super strange; the kitchen is in the middle and there are two dining areas in the back and front. Depending on which door you enter, that is the area in which you eat. I guess its cool if you're into that surprise "where will I eat this time?" sort of thing.
When we ate at "Eat First Two," the strangest thing happened...and I can honestly say it was a first for both of us. Well, we started out enjoying the food, but as we thought about it... we flat out disliked it. Although their portions are gigantic, I guess the food just gets sickening after a while. It's really bland and when there is a spark of flavor it's strange and virtually indescribable.
The sesame chicken was just okay. The orange chicken was alright. The crab rangoon, however, was absolutely terrible.
The perks of this place:
1. It's cheap
2. It fills you up.
3. The menu is massive (it takes up the entire back wall).
4. I promise you won't crave Chinese food for a while after.
5. Its name.
Eat First II, the only reason I'll be back is if I'm really really hungry and you're the only thing around to eat for miles (which won't happen so I guess I won't be back).
I'm really taking the time to write this review based SOLEY on the smoothies and vegetarian egg rolls.
If I lived closer, I would go there every day just to get those two things.
I'm extremely picky about my smoothies. But here, there are so many flavor choices! And you can mix too! Delicious.
Being a vegetarian, it's hard to find flavorful veg friendly foods with tons of flavor. I ordered the egg rolls from here as a snack one day, and BAM. So good. So much flavor.
Insta-yelp review.
Meeeehhhh....
When I order chinese food I'm expecting a huge portion I can have for a second meal. I mean, thats why we order from the corner chinese shop, right? Cheap food AND leftovers. If thats what you have in mind, Eat First isn't your best bet. And I was sad. The portion of meat is really small (I'm talking like 5-8 small pieces of chicken) and an OK amount of rice.
The crab rangoon had had some sort of spice in it. When I order crab rangoon I'm thinking rangoon means its gonna be in a cream cheesy filling. Nop. Not the case. I mean doesn't "rangoon" mean cream cheeesy in Chinese?:)
The watermelon bubble tea tastes like I'm biting straight out of a watermelon. I mean literally its like a mashed watermelon in my cup mixed with water. Its good. I didn't realize I had to ask for the tapioca balls and I kinda miss them:( But its awesome anyway.
AND its cheap, A-OK you go, Eat First. I'll give you extra credit for being so dang quick, the lady on the phone told me it'd be 10 minutes, and I didn't quite believe it, but it was sitting and waiting for me 10 minutes later.
You know, I was expecting a tummy ache or possibly worse, but what I got was actually pretty delicious. For like $12 I got a beef and broccoli and a plate of assorted veggies and everything was fresh and yummy and delicious. I mean, I even saw fresh broccoli action happening when I put in my order. That's impressive for a place that looks like it could have done some serious damage to my intestines.
Review Source:Eat First II is pretty meh.. I wasn't incredibly thrilled by either my egg rolls or the crab meat rangoon, but that being said, it still filled my need for them. The food was ready quickly enough, and the prices maybe not at dirt cheap as it should be for the quality produced.
I probably will be back, just because it is unbelievably close to my apartment, but my expectations are set pretty low for future returns. As for atmosphere in the restaurant, there is none, grabbing it to go works alright for me. Â I have had *worse* Chinese food before (that's a shout out to you, Pony Express in Pilsen), but there are tastier cheap Chinese take-out places to be found.
This is my go-to place for fast Chinese food in the area (and I'm Chinese). Â Service is decent, they're a big abrasive but still nice. Â If ordering on the phone, make sure to get your order confirmed. Â Twice we've called and asked for the dinner special (which is cheaper) and they gave us the regular dinner, which of course costs more. Â Quick delivery, but I do live closeby.
They have 2 entries. Â One on Milwaukee, strett parking is usually easy, or you can park at the hydrant. Â The other entry is from the parking Jewel/Kmart parking lot. Â Both sides have seating, but the one on Milwaukee has more. Â
Lunch and dinner specials are great deals, you get a nice size portion of your meat entree, Â a TON of white or friend rice, and an egg roll. Â It's like $4-5 for the lunch and $6-7 for the dinner special.
Pan fried dumplings are awesome. Â Even if I get takeout they are hot and crispy when I get home. Â We always get the pork friend rice without bean sprouts and green onion (bf doesn't like). Â Since they take the veggies out, they overcompensate and put in tons of pork. Â
General Tso's chicken is awesome. Â It only comes in a dinner portion though (no special). Â Everything is your standard fast Chinese fare, but everything is all average to above average tasting. Â Good size portions.
I've had a handful of items on the menu, the one item I've had so far to complain about is the black bean scallops. Â Yes, scallops are expensive, but the dish was about 70% sauce! Â So I won't be getting that again.
The boba tea/smoothies are good. But the food is eh...the veggie lo mein is very very light in color and doesn't taste like any lo mein I've had anywhere else. And they put tomatoes in it, which is sort of strange to me.
And my fortune cookie seemed to have some cardboard baked into it. It was definitely brown and fiberous. Not that they make the fortune cookies there, but they do come from some place in Chicago. ick.
Plain old regular American-ized Chinese food. Â Not sure you need the menu--it's just all the normal stuff you'd expect to be able to order. Â It is really quite inexpensive, and once you figure out what you like, I find it to be quite consistent. Â That said, I haven't exactly trolled the menu. Â I found that the Kung Pao Chicken is yummy enough for me and I don't deviate. Â I go back again and again for it.
Review Source:I stumbled upon this place in my quest to find decent Chinese food in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. Â Unfortunately, the food wasn't very good. Â
The first time I went, I ordered the Mongolian Beef lunch special. Â It tasted faintly of orange chicken, probably a result of using the same wok from another customer's order. Â The fried noodles underneath the beef were stale. Â It came with chicken fried rice, which was o.k., and a small egg roll. Â The egg roll was a standard cabbage-filled roll; the only good thing about it was that it was piping hot and crunchy.
I decided to give Eat First one more shot a few weeks later. Â I ordered the Empress Chicken lunch special. Â Maybe they didn't clean out the wok from their last order, because it tasted like orange chicken again! Â I just ate the chicken fried rice and egg roll.
Overall, the only good thing about this place is it's close proximity to the Division Blue Line stop and cheap prices. Â If you're desperate for Chinese food in that area, there are other restaurants that are just a little better (but not by much).
Your basic not even average (Americanized) Chinese delivery.
Others remark that the portion sizes are large... I beg to differ, I've seen larger "lunch" size portions for $3/entree less (China Station!). Â We ordered enough that we thought we'd have leftovers... we didn't. Â Not that we wanted leftovers of this, it wasn't really worth keeping.
The crab rangoon was terrible. Â Terrible. Â It had grilled/sweated onions in it? Â It was a little like French onion dip...
Food itself kind of bland. Â
No coupon? No free egg roll? No nothin.. Come on, this is Chicago where these places are a dime a dozen, nearly everyone will give you something if you ask. Â It was more money for worse food than we can get at a handful of other Chinese delivery places.
Not very good. Â
General Tso's chicken (yes, I'm a big fan of the Americanized Chinese food and I'm not embarrassed by this in the least) was soggy and sauce was way heavy on the five spice. Â Too sweet, not crisp.
Mu Shu Pork wasn't too bad, the pancakes were pretty decent but too large. Â Better than those places that send tortillas!
The worst part of this meal was the crab rangoon. Â Totally bizarre. Â It seems what they do is to sweat A LOT of onions, mix them with a tiny spot of faux crab and cream cheese and you get a wonton stuffing that tastes like French onion chip dip. Â Just heavy and soggy and weird.
I asked for a couple packets of sweet and sour sauce and nothing else (to be enviro-friendly). Â It seems they thought I wanted 100 packets of sweet and sour to compensate for the other missing packets. Â
Delivery was quick and cost $2.
Basically I have been too nice in some recent reviews and needed somewhere in the hood to hate on..
It really is just all around bad Chinese food. Â Everything tastes the same (bad) and looks like it came straight from the food court. Â Additionally, the customer service is so awesome that they charge for the little packets of soy sauce and hot mustard. Â I mean come on, they have to know that the hot mustard is the only way their egg rolls are edible!
Eat First is just blah. Â If you want Chinese food, head up the street to Papajin. Â It is not that much more expensive and well worth it anyway.
The food at the Eat First II isn't exceptional, but it's not bad, either. I think the place has a really funny name. It's like, what happens second?
They have this really awesome soup called ""Yogurt Beef". I was in the mood to try something new, and was very glad that I did. Like egg drop, but with beef and a little sour!
The Orange Chicken is heavily breaded, and reminds me of the "Asian ZIng" boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. But not as good. The Kung Pao lacks flavor. The egg roll is tasty, as is the fried rice. The dumplings  were quite average.
However, the best part about Eat First II is the price! Can't get much cheaper for Chinese in the city.
I have been here a few times for a quick take out. I do not have any complaints. This is not a place to sit and eat, just get the take out.
So far I have tried the chop suey, orange chicken, kung pao chicken, empress chicken, Mongolian beef, mu shu pork, and other items. The chop suey is OK, nothing great. The orange chicken has a kick to it. It is more batter than chicken. The shrimp fried rice is good but the egg rolls are bad.
I like their bubble teas because they do not ad extra sugar syrup. They make it with fruit, ice, and tapioca pearls...no additives.
The food is not great but it is OK for a fast take out Chinese food. I never had any health problems either. I will definitely go back when I have had a long day and do not feel like going out to eat. This place is dirt cheap, the portion sizes are adequate, and it is within walking distance to my house.
Really a two stars but, an extra star for the mango bubble tea.
There is a $10 minimum on credit cards.
Well, I don't want to dis the place, but I'm not a huge fan of the food. Â It is fast service, but the atmosphere is quiet boring.
I would, however, recommend their fruit smoothies. I love the pineapple one. They also have strawberry, watermelon, mango, avacado, melon, and a few others. Don't get the tapioca if you have texture issues, as I do.
The smoothies do hit the spot on a cold day.
ehhhhh.
so got home froma  long, annoying day at work, and my friend and I decided a little chinese food would make everything better... we opened up my parents take out menus and pulled at random...
Eat first was what we decided on....
I'm not that impressed-
It is cheap and fast, but, kind of bland-
Portions were large, but i didn't want seconds...
even the fortune cookies were just ok-
Very Americanized Chinese food.. Â The price is right the portions decent, the flavor just isn't there in my opinion.
So because Jessica M. wasn't impressed with this post I've decided to change it up a bit... Â I absolutely HATED the food that Lee C. and I got from Eat First. Â Instead of wasting your money on this crap I think you should go to a good sushi restaurant. Â Or if that doesn't suit your fancy then you should head out to the Ghetto (Humboldt Park) and get food from the Chinese restaurant near my house (North ave. and Spaulding).
I hope that's better Jessica M. if not let me know I'll readjust again if needed.
First, yes, prices are cheap and the food was prepared fairly quickly. Â My hot and sour soup with seafood was very spicy and had a lot of seafood, I would have again. Â My shrimp and lobster sauce, however, I would not order again. Â I will go back again and try something else though.
Review Source:Reasons to order from or dine-in at Eat First:
1 - The portions are HUGE!
2 - Chicken fried rice
3 - Mongolian beef
4 - The portions are HUGE!
5 - Egg rolls
6 - The portions are HUGE!
7 - Extremely reasonable prices
8 - Great, fresh taste...every single time
9 - Quick service
10 - Sesame chicken -- YUM!
11 - Did I mention the portions are HUGE?? :)
They are cheap. They are fairly good and you can pretty much always get a couple of free eggrolls. Their delivery menu has coupons for free food depending on how much you order. Their dinner/lunch special (eggrolls, fried rice and a portion of entree of your choice) is usual way enough food for me. They are friendly on the phone and the drivers are nice too.
I like their Mongolian beef (how original!) and their shrimp fried rice. The dumplings also hit the spot for late night cravings. This is very far from healthy food but it works wonders as evening-after-a-long-day comfort food. When you don't want to cook anything and you feel like staying in your couch, it is the place to call.
Finally, their delivery is lightning fast and I live quite a bit away from them. I can't seem to go that fast between the restaurant and my home in travel time alone. My wife speculates that the driver roams the street of the neighborhood with all the food one could want ready to serve ! Or maybe he just knows the side streets better than I do.
They are missing a star because their crab rangoon is just unedible.
When we were going through the 3rd trimester, Eat First was a staple - they have free delivery in our neighborhood and make some of the best traditional Mandarin dishes nearby. Sure I wish there as an Indian restaurant in our neighborhood, but Eat First satisfies the cravings of a spicy pork friend rice or the wonton soup. What's better than a Sunday night with bad TV than this??
Review Source:
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