Before I called Chicago home, I would make a near 60-mile pilgrimage to Joy Yee's Noodle Shop via the Metra, to the Red Line, & finally to the Cermak/Chinatown stop on a regular basis. It was that good. The restaurant was once this tiny store-front, packed with tables one on top of the other, & you had better believed there was always a well-worth wait to be seated.
Fast-forward in time, & the Joy Yee's Noodle Shop we have today still offers their excellent, all-encompassing menu (this is one of the few Asian fusion places in the city where I can order perfectly prepared miso soup, Vietnamese spring rolls, Pad Thai, & a tapioca smoothie all in a one-stop location...) but they have expanded their space in more ways than one.
Joy Yee's opened-up the back-room to diners, with a bright atmosphere overhaul of the entire establishment, & casual seating. The restaurant offers perfect people-watching views in the bustling Chinatown Square Plaza.
Joy Yee's Noodle Shop also offers something very unique: a front area, to-go smoothie ordering station. Perfect on city Summer days, you can choose your smoothie ingredients, & the friendly smoothie professionals pass your fresh concoction to you through a window. (My favorite? Green tea tapioca smoothie!)
Came here 2 days ago and ordered their popular beef cubes tomato rice. I have been ordering this for years and most of the time it is good. Although, it has been good on more times than not, this time was by far the worst I have ever had. The beef was different. It was chewy and when you bite into the meat, it is red. I complaint to the server and I didn't ask for another one, I just asked them to cook it some more. They brought it back out and it was just a little better, still chewy and red. I just took it to go and threw it away when I got back home after throwing it in the microwave and it still didn't taste right. Also, we ordered the Pad Thai Chicken and Shrimp. This was below average for the most part. Nothing compared to authentic Pad Thai. Like I have said before, this place is definitely overrated... I won't ever come here to eat, unless my friends come here and I am too lazy to pick a place.
Review Source:No joke: I had a hard time finding bubble tea in Singapore and Hong Kong that rivals Joy Yee's. Â They have so many fresh fruits, rarely use powder flavors, and their boba is always top-notch, not too mushy or chewy. Â I used to live 15 minutes from this place, and I would go regularly. Â Now living in the Southwest, I miss it like crazy. Â
The food is hit-or-miss, depending on what you order (the menu is HUGE) and who the chef is on that particular day. Â My favorites are the shrimp eel fried rice and flat wide rice noodle with beef. Â Your best bet is to go with a group and order many different things to get a few winning dishes. But really, why get food when you could just have the bubble tea?
so good! Â so so so good! Â i crave this place at least once a month! Â i love their spicy basil chow fun with shrimp. Â you know i've been here more than once.. that title alone is a mouthful alone. Â they have big portions so come hungry or plan on sharing. Â and their bubble teas are equally great! Â i love their banana coconut, avocado, triple berry, taro, and thai iced tea beverages. Â avocado? Â hey~ as weird as it is.. i became a fan! Â if you're a foody like me and like to try a little different give this one a go.
Review Source:I used to go to Joy Yee's when it was a small restaurant down on the far west end of New Chinatown. That was several years ago, and they have since moved near the main square.
I brought the kids down for lunch before the Chinese New Year's Parade this year, thinking it would be the spectacular experience I had always known.
Alas. I remember the cuisine being more on the Thai/Vietnamese fresh and light side, but most everything we ordered (even Thai and Malaysian dishes) were constructed with a heavy brown Chinese sauce base. They seem to really be catering to the Bubble Tea crowd a little more.
Nevertheless, it was nice to return. I'll have to try some of the other dishes next time around, and see if they stand up to what I remember.
I remember this place when they first opened. A shiney fusiony restaurant in the middle of classic chinatown. After the place became popular, I can't help but notice that their quality and service has gone down. It's a classic problem that all great, growing brands face. Now when I go in, I have to fight through a storm of people there just to get bubble tea. Bring back the old Joy Yee please!
Review Source:When I come to Chinatown from the burbs, this is one of the many places that I would come here for dinner with friends and family. Â You got to order their fresh smoothie with your meal or just come here and take it to go. Â In warmer weather they have a walk up window on the side of their building.
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The place does get pretty busy during the weekend. Â Inside it's bright with white tables and colorful walls. Â They also have a 2nd floor if you have a bigger party like us, 15 people! Â It's good for private parties as well.
I enjoy seeing the "fake" food displays in the storefront window of what they serve. Â I know it's fake but makes your mouth water! I'll take one of each please, LOL!
Their menu is huge with many different kinds of Asian dishes and they do have pictures of some of their popular dishes as well which helps. Â
I love their food, Â it's fresh and quick. Â They serve family style sizes that you can share. Â Yes it's a lot of food if it's just the two of you unless you only order 1 dish to share or you don't mind taking a lot of food home.
Since I was with my group of friends we ordered one dish each and shared with each other and we STILL had food left over to bring home! Â I Â like leftovers...
The service is quick but the servers don't really talk to you, just take your order and serve done...next.
My favorites to order from here:
-Pineapple Chicken & Shrimp Fried Rice
-Chinese Broccoli in Oyster Sauce
-Szechwan String Beans in Garlic Sauce
-Korean BBQ Short Ribs
-Beef Cubes with Tomato Sauce Rice (The rice taste a bit sweet like fried ketchup rice).
-Their different big bowl noodle soups
-Vietnamese Spring Rolls (cold)
-Chicken Teriyaki Fried Eggs Rice
-Lemon Grass Chicken Wings
-Crab Rangoon
I don't care much of their Thai dishes as it doesn't taste as authentic as I'd like. Â I LOVE Pad Thai and theirs tasted like the sauce came out of a package mix.
Smooties/bubble teas
-Avocado Milk Tea with Tapioca
-Milk Green Tea with Tapioca
-Milk Tea with Tapioca
-The fresh fruits freezes are good as well.
I'd go back to this location with friends and family or if I'm entertaining out of towners.
In a city where Chinese food seems to have a little margin of quality, with most restaurants having a "sure I'd eat there again for delivery maybe" but no enthusiasm, Joy Yee's is one of my favorites. Â They deliver for lunch as well (30$ for 3 people, can't beat that!)
I've been coming to this location and the Evanston one for years, and in my experience here are some faves:
Vietnamese spring rolls (mango and crab.. YUM)
Mongolian beef
Lettuce wraps
Koreon Kimchi Stone Rice bowls
All the fried rice dishes...
I have to say other than the Chow Udon or Koreon noodles, they're not my fave. Â The chow mein truly is dried, and you can get better pad thai at MANY other places.
All in all, very authentic, pretty delicious, and get a bubble tea or one of those fruit with sprite things they have. Â And pretty inexpensive!
Love the bubble tea. Â I can't find bubble tea anywhere else that has fresh fruit in it as good as Joy Yee's does. Â I like either the almond milk tea or the mango freeze. Â The menu is extensive and some might find it overwhelming. Â Lots of pan-asian food. Â I love the eel fried rice. Â Service is not great but it's still worth going because the food is good and the bubble tea is the best. Â Sometimes you do have to wait about a half hour depending on how busy it is.
Review Source:...Ah, the ultimate college kid hangout.
 The menu is super huge; it feels like I'm taking an exam each time I order!  The selection of bubble drinks is the best in Chinatown & my brother swears by their softshell crab!  The food is pretty darned fresh & tasty though some items I referred elsewhere (example; banh mi).  Make sure you don't go super hungry because the line to get in is often rediculous; especially come summertime.  Still, it's worth going there.  ; )
LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! The food, the bubble tea, the atmosphere, the wait staff... can't say how great they all are.
BUT, on my last visit (my 3rd), on one of THE most coldest days in Chicago's history (wind chill of -20) the management/staff, decided it was a good idea to prop the back door open letting in the frigid cold. It made for a very uncomfortable dining experience. My boyfriend and I sat across the room from the prop door and we were really cold. I noticed the thermostat on the wall reading 64º inside and that doesn't show how cold it was with the wind blowing in. I can understand IF they were getting a delivery, but nothing but staff were going in and out of that door. It was obvious to us it was a way outside for staff to smoke cause we could smell it.
We were highly disappointed because out food was served hot and by the time we went for a second helping, the food was COLD. At least the cold kept our bubble tea chilled. The mango milk tea was AMAZING and so was the eel! The service was quick and polite.
I am indifferent about going back, especially in the winter time. I do not understand WHY they felt the need to prop a door open during business hours on a very cold day. I am really disappointed! Â
I would have given them a higher score if it wasn't for the unpleasant lunch we had where we had to endure the bitter cold while eating lunch inside. Hope they wise up next time.
Get the honey pepper short rib hot plate. Â You will not be disappointed. Â Except when you start dreaming about it and wake up and realize you weren't experiencing it's awesomeness. Â Then you might be a little disappointed. Â But who ever said short ribs for breakfast wasn't acceptable???
Review Source:Joy Yee is an all-in-one restaurant in the heart of Chicago Chinatown. Featuring Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean cuisines, you can find virtually anything in their humongous menu.
I was a little concerned with the fact that such a large selection of food would sacrifice the quality or authenticity, but to my surprising, most items that I tried were well above average. Couple of dishes worth noting:
* Orange chicken. For the first time, I can finally taste the "orange" of the orange chicken. The orange zest was the cherry on top.
* You typically can't go wrong with their fried rice. Especially the eel fried rice loaded with all kinds of seafood and a chunk of flying fish roe on top. Also the Singapore pineapple fried rice, which is served in half of a pineapple serving as a bowl was the ultimate example of good presentation.
* Korean short ribs. Chewing on the bones and sucking on the juicy Korean bbq sauce while watching those bones pile up, nothing is more fun than this.
Joy Yee is also famous for its specialty fruit drinks, smoothies and bubble tea, however their bubble tea is average at best. Unless it's your first time trying, I wouldn't recommend it--try another drink.
This place shocks me of their generosity. They provide quick service, a lot of delicious foods for a cheap price. Generally I don't care about the amount of food served, because if it's a lot but doesn't taste good I wouldn't even eat it. I choose quality of quantity, but this place they have both quality and quantity for a cheap price. They have a lot of efficient servers who are quick and ready to fulfill all your needs at any moment. I'm not really into Bubble tea, but they serve really really fresh fruit Boba's. The decor isn't anything fancy, but it's simple and clean! =) I highly recommend =)
Review Source:The bubble tea is really, really great! In fact, in our short stay in Chicago, we commuted to Chinatown twice for the drinks. Both times I had some variation of the lychee freeze, which was excellent and tasted of fresh ingredients. The tapioca had great texture and remained its chewiness until the end.
When we returned the second time, we decided to eat at the restaurant. The food was average to above average. We got the red snapper (the fake one in the window display really called to us). The dish was beautifully arranged. We were disheartened by the scarce amount of meat on the fish, but the flavor was good. We also had the malaysian seafood bamboo pot, which had great flavor. (Full disclosure: we were suckers for the novelty of the bamboo pots.) Finally, we also had the oyster omelet, which did not impress, but was decent enough.
Now, the service. With good humor, I can say that it was hilariously atrocious. When we arrived, the waiter briskly waved us to the table and literally flung the menus on the table. He took our drink orders, but never brought them over to us. After 20 minutes, I walked up to the drink counter and grabbed them myself. He cleared the table with a  begrudging attitude, and when we paid the bill, it took much longer than necessary for us to get our change.
In summary, I would definitely recommend going for the drinks, and maybe just order to go.
Only had a 5 minute wait for a table of 2 on a Saturday night.
Ordered the Spicy Pork, Pho, and Beef Cubes. The 1st two orders were just ordinary but what I can't stop thinking about at this moment are the beef cubes which were just godly.
Back home in Michigan we have bubble tea, but this is the first time I ever had bubble tea made purely from real, fresh fruits. My friend got the Taro bubble tea and twas absolutely amazing. AH-MAYY-JINGG
The service was also excellent. Our waiter always checked up on us and our food came quickly, despite being so packed.
When I return to Chicago I plan to return here simply for my beef cubes and taro tea.
Busy place, very open and bare. We were lead to the second floor which was cold in the winter and sat quietly up there. The first floor was loud and hopping.
Service was great and our food came quickly. We split 4meals between 5 people and probably could have done with 3.
Pad thai, korean beef bulgogi over rice, sesame chicken and sweet and sour chicken were all great!
Cute chairs!
It was too cold for a smoothie but they had many options! Can't wait to return.
Full disclosure this is for the bubble tea selections only. Â I've never eaten here. Â It's a good place to stop off for a digestif of fruit, tapioca, and milk tea deliciousness.
The choice list is extensive and it's usually a mad-house. Â Even on cold wintry days. Â
They won't validate your parking though, unless you dine-in. Â Fair enough.
I usually get something with taro and find that it always hits the spot. Â My friend today got the taro milk tea hot, and said it was very potent and lacked any taro flavor. Â
It's quite possible that in the melee that is getting your finished drink, we grabbed the wrong one. Â It did match the ticket, so maybe hot isn't the way to go.
The menu at this restaurant is INSANELY BIG! I've never been to a restaurant with a menu as huge as this one. It has EVERYTHING! Any type of Asian food you want, plus a huge list of drink (something they are known for).
All the food was fine. My concerns are that since this place has such a huge menu, the quality of the food goes down. The pho didn't taste as good as it could have been and neither did the kimchee fried rice, but this menu does satisfy everyone's cravings. Great for loud and large groups.
The drinks are your typical pearl, smoothie drinks. I order a lychee sprite and regretted it afterwards. Sounded so good, but it really was lychee syrup with Sprite soda. I could have made that. What a waste of $3.50.
Bubble Tea is the best in Chicago...no place with as many fruit options as this place.
I had the seafood curry, and I'm not a big fan of octopus in general, but the flavor of that dish made the whole thing bearable...especially the crab.
The lemon grass chicken wings used to be my staple at the one in Evanston, then I finally just branched out and started experimenting with the menu and was never upset with any choice i made here...ever.
I'll definitely see you next time I 'm in Chi Joy Yee. ;-)
Chinatown!! Or so I thought. I remembered the area to be a lot more um, exciting, than it actually was. True, I was 16 the last time I wandered around here, posing like Posh Spice in front of my Chinese zodiac sign and buying Buddha statues, but still.
Anyway, I digress. The bf and I stopped in to Joy Yee's for lunch and this review would've been a solid 3.5 stars if not for a teeny weeny detail....
Pros:
HUGE menu. Thank God for the genius who decided to put pictures next to the food otherwise I would've been completely lost. I can't quite remember what we decided to order, but it was delicious.
Service. It was really busy, but we were seated immediately and the service was decent- attentive enough.
As for that teeny detail-
Upon completing our meal, I went to the bathroom, only to  find myself in close proximity with an employee who shoved her hands so far down her pants that I though she was digging for gold and promptly returned to work.
I nearly lost my lunch, and God, I wish I had. Cleanliness, is definitely an issue. I don't know if the employee washed dishes or prepared the food, but that image was burned into my retina forever.
The menu is overwhelmingly extensive. Â That is actually pretty cool.
The food is hit or miss. Â The Korean Spicy Pork Hot Plate is the most amazing thing I've ever had from there (and it is, in fact, amazing). Â Other stuff can sometimes be bland (I would not get the Chop Chae -- super bland). Â I think I might go again and ask the server for recommendation.
Joy Yee's is a solid restaurant choice, if you are looking for a wide selection of various Asian food and boba tea in Chicago. Located in Chicago Chinatown, Joy Yee was a great re-visitation for me as I haven't been back here for a couple years.
We ordered about 5 dishes for 2 guys. Wayyyyy too much. We were hungry at the time so the serving size wasn't really on our minds. Serving size were very large for each dish. We, guys, just wanted to eat everything. We, guys, tried our best. We got stuffed with some good stuff though so we were pretty happy afterwards. At least, I was..
So on this visit, I really came for the bubble tea. The Taro really hit the spot after my massive meal. I'm definitely coming back here on my next visit to Chicago.
Well the main thing is... You better come to this place with a BIG appetite. The food portions are way more then enough for one person.
Prices are decent. Not cheap but nothing that will break your pockets.
The reason for the 4 stars, well.... The place did not look to clean. The 1st floor was really slippery. One of the waiters actually slipped, But was able to catch his balance. Not sure why the floors were so wet. Anywho we all had to tip-toe are way through to get to our table.
Overall the food was good. :-)
Come starving. As many others have mentioned, portions are huge and are really made for sharing. Growing up in the Chicagoland area, I've been to Joy Yee's over many years, even to its initial location. Food hasn't changed much over the years and the consistency is rather nice. You definitely get quantity over quality at this place. Food isn't bad, and it rather hits the spot on those occasions where your body craves greasy asian food, but the food isn't something to go nuts over.
Yesterday, I got the vietnamese sandwich & mini pho pairing. The mini pho is not as mini as you'd think. It's a decently sized bowl. Probably a small or medium-sized bowl at a normal pho restaurant. The french bread was fantastic. Super airy and toasty. I'd definitely get it again.
And I don't know why people complain about the service and cleanliness. It's not a high-scale restaurant and it's chinatown...enough said.
I went there for the first time 10 years ago. Today was my second time...and my last.
The first sign of mediocrity or disaster is to go to a restaurant and see Vietnamese, Malaysian, Korean and Chinese on the same menu. We were starving so we shrugged it off and went for it anyways. My fiance craved the bibimbop and I ordered the Spicy Beef Shank Noodle Soup. Both were very subpar and not very authentic. Service was ultra shabby as we weren't checked on the whole dinner.
Upon finishing the meal, I ordered a watermelon freeze with the popping boba...the only decent highlight to the meal. Once we paid the check and headed for the door, a server that never waited on us the whole night popped out of nowhere and accused us of trying to walk out without paying. After everyone in the restaurant stared at us, I politely pointed to the waitress who settled our tab. She set it straight, but we didn't even get an apology or anything for looking like a bunch of crooks.
My fiancee was pissed, I'm really not, but my experience of Joy Yee's has definitely soured.
1 amazing friendly service for LATE NIGHT eats!!!
2 awesome menu with every type of asian food you can get and fuse together
3 fresh and large smoothies, milk tea, and boba available
4 super vibrant clean atmosphere
5 great for large groups
6 the FOOOD was so tasty, I wasn't really full after eating a load
7 the menus have photos of all the dishes available, when the dish comes out its even better looking than the photo.
8 just order everything, it'll be hard to be disappointed
-1 they make you pay for rice per bowl served, but they give you a lot.
Just go and try it. Â awesome experience, I couldn't talk much, was to busy eating.
Came here for boba and definitely the best boba in Chicago. Not the best boba I've ever had but they counter above average boba with a huge selection of teas, freezes, and other variations of drinks. My favorites so far are the Green Tea Freeze and Taro Freeze. My gf enjoyed the honeydew and jasmine tea drinks.
One time, we also thought we'd get the 7-color/flavor shaved ice and were extremely disappointed. My idea of shaved ice includes fruits, condensed milk, and red beans or something similar on the bottom under the ice. The Joyyee shaved ice is missing the condensed milk and red beans. Drastically lacked flavor that was not helped by the basic syrup they poured over the ice.
Food-wise all the rice dishes are great. I had the Japchae/soup combo and the japchae was really bland. Soup was good though. I feel like getting food here multiple times would be bad bc all the food kinda starts tasting the same after a few times in quick succession.
Huge portions, cheap prices, massive menu. Many options even for the pickiest of eaters. I went there with three of my sisters on our last mini-trip to Chicago, and we spent $100 and had lots of leftovers.
For those who like boba, try their avocado boba tea - you will NOT be disappointed!
I feel a bit ashamed for saying this but I feel like I've been slurping on artificial drinks all my life. They have either been made with some flavored syrup or some disgusting powder.
I couldn't leave Chicago without trying some of the best bubble tea they had to offer. People were slurping on these Joy Yee cups around Chinatown, even the old, which would reach the pinnacle of your curiosity: this place must be damn good. Joy Yee restored that hope that au-natural drinks still exist. So much joy!
The juice station in the back is huge with an extensive list of drinks, it was so hard to find something unique. In the end, I stuck with the Strawberry Green Jelly - WOW! I don't think I've ever had something so delicious in my life. An au naturale strawberry smoothie with actual strawberries blended and green grass jelly, topped with some fresh fruits. Boy, it makes all the New York bubble tea shops look like cheapskates.
Best of all, it was filled past the dome lid and the fresh mangoes, honeydew and watermelon will have you gushing for more. For only around $4 for a large drink, it is more than reasonable-priced. The drinks are fresh, creative and delightful, there is nothing more to ask for in a drink. I really wish there was a Joy Yee by me. Hell, if I lived in Chicago, I'd make the effort to make a pit stop here everyday.
The only thing that turned me off was the cashier girl taking orders, who seemed a bit annoyed. Can't blame her since the menu is huge (and sort of vague) but wouldn't kill to be nicer.
Food: Average  Drinks: EXCELLENT
Joy Yee is the place to go for bubble tea in Chinatown or nevertheless, all of the Midwest! Â If you go inside, the decor is visually appealing with the bright colors and contemporary setting. Large quantities of fresh fruit used for the bubble tea can be seen by the walls. Â
Food: Â Warning-- the menu is LARGE. It will take you at least ten minutes to flip through all the pages and to recover from anxiety. Â The food selection is more pan-asian. I've had some of their Korean dishes and they weren't bad. Â Food here is only average. With a restaurant that serves SO MANY entrees and having it be pan-Asian, it's expected.
Drinks: WONDERFUL. They have literally around a hundred flavors and they can customize it however you want. It's rare to find fresh smoothies and this place excels at it! I always get the Strawberry Freezes because they are the freshest strawberries ever! Mmmm
Their menu is ridiculously long, and maybe that accounts for their lackluster dishes in general. You simply cannot excel at everything.
Their smoothies, by contrast, are fantastic. Fresh, fruity, creative, good sizes, and reasonably priced. Look at the line formed at dinnertime. You know you can't be mistaken.
Torn. Completely. There are some awesome pros to this place, and some really bad cons. Since I had more pros than cons, I gave it 4 stars. But really I want to give it 3.5.
Pros:
-HUGE portions - seriously...share. Each portion is big enough for at least 2 people. We (all 4 of us) ordered something different and ended up sharing.
-HUGE menu - they have everything from your very American sesame chicken to curry. There's something for everyone.
-Awesome fresh fruit smoothies - I love watermelon so I just got that with tapioca. AWESOME. Nothing compares. And they have a huge variety.
-Overall really good food - everything I tried tasted very good (although I wasn't a fan of the seafood chow mein)
-Cheap for what you get - for how much food you get, this place is more than fairly priced
Cons:
-Smells really weird - like dirty socks....and you don't get over it.
-Crowded - seats are super close to one another. No privacy at all. It's almost hard to get around since it's so crowded.
-No consistency in servers - couldn't even tell you who served us because we had at least 3 different people come to our table. The service was not the greatest.
-Long wait- we didn't have much of a wait, but I noticed a line at the door numerous times. There's not really a waiting area or a hostess either.
Would I go back? Yes....but it wouldn't be my first choice honestly.
This place is so overrated! Â The food is really bad, but that's to be expected from such a large menu attempting to cover so many different types of Asian cuisine. Â They go for quantity over quality, and the flavors are really bland.
I will concede, however, that the drinks are quite tasty. Â They are freshly blended, and the smoothies are very thick and rich. Â Just make sure you don't eat here.
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