Order came within 5 minutes, Good. Food warm not hot, some pieces still cold, so it's a microwave job, BAD.  Food tastes ok. I am sure it would taste a lot better if it was freshly cooked. There are day and evening  parking validation so be aware when you get parking validation. They make mistakes and you will have to walk back to get exchange or pay full price for parking
Review Source:I ordered from Lao ShangHai to fulfill a soup dumpling craving, and was not disappointed. Â I'll admit the soup dumplings (xiao long bao) are not the best ones I've ever had, but they COME TO YOU (I used GrubHub) and are still damn delicious. Â They are less soupy than other LA counterparts I've had, which are more prone to explode in your mouth with the first bite. Â We got 8 soup dumplings with this order (only $5.95). Â Anyway, on to the other food!
We ordered the Shredded Pork and Pickle Mustard Green Noodle Soup, which comes packaged separately (noodles, stock, and meat/sauce) for you to mix at your leisure. Â It was okay as far as soup goes. Â I had to add Sriracha to make it more flavorful.
We also got the Beef with Hot Pepper Noodle Soup. Â This was delicious, but be warned: the green things in the soup are peppers. Â They are hot. Â I know this sounds self-explanatory, but some people (ahem my fiance) may disagree. Â Very flavorful and I would definitely order it again. Â Additionally, the portion sizes here are generous.
I'd definitely order here again, especially on cold winter nights. Â The order got to us a full 30 minutes faster than we expected, which made our late night snack at a more acceptable eating hour. Â Either way, I'm bookmarking this place!
This is another one of the Lao's chain in Chinatown Square. Unlike Lao Sze Chuan, this place isn't anywhere near as busy and you will get seated right away. I used to like coming here occasionally, but now I rarely come here.
My favorite thing to get here is the xiao long bao and the dry chili chicken. They are known for the xiao long bao, which is a soup dumpling made of pork. It is pretty good and we always order 2 (16 dumplings total). The dry chili chicken is good here, but I like their other restaurant, Lao Sze Chuan's, a little more. Other than these 2 dishes, everything here is just okay.
The thing that I hate about this place is their service. It is consistently horrible. The waitress always seems to busy talking to other co-workers that you have to raise your hand or ask for them before you can get any service. There is no reason this place should have horrible service because it is always half empty when we eat here.
It's been a mission of my father's to conquer Emperor Hu's restaurants. On the list was Lao Shanghai.
Similar to the other Lao's, Shanghai delivers on its food. The menu will look awfully familiar, as I've noticed Tony has repeated items on his massive menus. As an overall, this Lao just didn't do it for me, or the padre.
Food was okay, not as spicy as Sze Chuan or Ma La, as Shanghai is not known for its spicy foods.
Service was lacking, though we expect that going into most Chinese restaurants (complete generalization, though we have enough evidence to make this generalization).
Did this scare me from the Lao empire? Nah. I'm most definitely going to hit up the others...in due time.
Wow, we were so disappointed after hearing so many good things about this place. Â The shanghai dumplings were decent but the rest of the dim sum was bad. Â We ordered 3 family style dishes to share (short ribs, beef with pea pods, and salty pork) and everything was bland. Â The seafood tofu soup tasted like water...bland and cold.
Review Source:Great food! Â We specifically went there to have the Shaolong Bao AKA soup dumplings and found them to be wonderful. Â The skin is hand made and the serving is generous. Â The lunch specials were very good, reasonably priced, and authentic. Â Service was very attentive. Â This was our first trip, but it makes me want to try the Tony Hu's other restaurants like Lao Beijing, Lao Szechuan, etc. Â In response to the comment about the frozen dumplings, the reason why the skin is thicker is because they are hand made. Â If you are looking for factory made dumpling skins, they are thin and more delicate. Â They are out there, but it depends on your tastes.
Review Source:I went to Lao Shanghai on a Monday afternoon with my girlfriend. We paid our $2.50 to park in the lot and walked around the mall for a bit before finding the front door.
I had been craving Soup Dumplings and this seemed to be the most universally heralded destination in Chinatown so that's where our meal started. I think it would be hard to mess up Xiao Long Bao and they did not prove me wrong. The dumplings could've been "soupier", but in the end they were hot, soft and savory. We polished them right off.
We followed up with bowls of Hot & Sour and Wonton soups. Both were better than average, but you don't expect too much there.
For our main entrees we got the Seafood Platter (Shrimp, Scallops & Whitefish in a savory sauce with vegetables) and Mongolian Beef. the seafood was a star of the meal and really left us both scrambling over the last scallop. I wanted to get the Twice Cooked Pork, but my girlfriend's aversion to spice led us to Mongolian Beef. It was good, but nothing I'd order again.
We also got a $5.50 glass of Cabernet and $6 glass of Rice Wine and our total bill came to about $50 + tip with a small amount of leftover beef.
If you're looking for cheap Chinese food then the Lao chain is not for you, but if you are willing to pay a little more for reliably high quality authentic cuisine then definitely check out any of the 4 Chinatown spots. I've been to three and always stumble away full, fat and happy.
**PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU ARE COMING FOR THE XAO LONG BAOS**
Just got take out from Lao ShangHai and felt aggravated enough to stop eating and write a yelp review. We just got delivery for dinner tonight and ordered xiao long baos, eggplant one other seafood dish.
We opened up our xiao long baos and they looked EXACTLY like the ones that we buy frozen from any Chinese supermarket -- the dough is tough and thick and the meat is pink and looks frozen. We called and they confirmed it -- they BUY FROZEN xiao long baos -- they don't make them fresh in house -- yes, the ones you buy for $3 Â a pack. The other dishes were okay, but the frozen dumplings made me lose my appetite.The only upside is that they didn't lie about it....
How can you claim Shanghainese food when you can't even make a soup dumpling?
Tony Hu might be taking over Chinatown, but we won't be going to any of his restaurants. Never ever going back again.
Does good food compensate for bad customer service? My answer, no.
The food here is about 3.5 stars but today when they forgot to pack my 2 left overs (the scallion pancake and the crab meat soup) that's why this review is only 1 star. I most likely won't be coming back here anytime soon and to get my point across to the owner of all the Lao restaurants, I would have to skip all of them. But with alternatives like MingHin and Cai, it should be easy to skip the Lao's. When I asked the waitress about the leftover, she said they threw it out by accident. She offered a "discount" or a free dish. I explained to her I only wanted my 2 dishes because I was saving it for my son cuz that's all he likes. I asked if they can just remake half portion of the pancake and soup. Without checking with the kitchen she says no. Now why cant they make a half portion of soup??? Come on, we all know soup in Chinese restaurants are all just reheat and add water. And half order of scallion pancake is also very easy to do. It's not like I am asking for half of a peking duck or half of a steak. Long story short she got $0.00 tip and I will by pass the Lao restaurants for a while unless the manager or owner reaches out to me to explain why they couldn't remake half order of scallion pancake and crab meat soup.
We ordered carry-out from Lao Shanghai a few months ago and it wasn't too memorable. Our order consisted of xiao long bao, Shanghai-style chow mein, and stir-fried rice cake. The chow mein and rice cake came into these small plastic boxes that were barely filled. The flavors were very bland. I thought the Shanghai cuisine was known for its sweet flavors. Guess not? The xiao long bao came into eight pieces. They are small dumplings filled with shredded pork and soup. This was only the dish that was on par. They came with containers of soy sauce and vinegar. Just the way I like it with xiao long baos!
Review Source:Authentic Shanghainese food.
Although I am not Shanghainese, I eat Shanghainese food almost every day whenever I visit my parents in Hong Kong. While Lao Shanghai's food is not the best Shanghainese food I ever had, it is authentic and decent enough that I would order delivery from there again. The wait for the delivery, however, was almost an hour and a half, so I would recommend you ordering your food way in advance. 1 star off.
Today I ordered the vegetable dumplings, the vegetarian duck, and the shredded tofu with vegetables, and a soup with tofu and vegetables. The skin of the dumplings was too thick, but the filling was decent. If you crave for dumplings, I would recommend getting them in P.F. Chang and Big Bowl instead. (Ironic, right?) 0.5 star off.
I ordered vegetarian duck and the shredded tofu with vegetables because they are rarely offered in Chicago's Chinese restaurants. The former was oilier than I expected, but it still tasted authentic. 1 star off. I really like eating the shredded tofu with vegetables, which was authentic. The translation in the menu is not an accurate description of the dish, but since the vegetable that was used in the dish only came from Shanghai, I comprehended the difficulty of translating it.
The soup barely had any flavor. I thought I was drinking gluey water. One star off.
I would definitely order the shredded tofu with vegetables from Lao Shanghai again. I rarely go to Chinatown, but I would consider going to Lao Shanghai in person in the future.
Food: 3
Decor: N/A
Service: 2
Lao Shanghai delivered the nice change of Chinese cuisine we were looking for. Â The dishes we had were not overly spicy, and not over-sauced, but also a change from the Cantonese style that we often have in Chinatown. Â We had:
cold appetizers - jelly fish and vegetarian duck
stewed duck in soup
xiao long bao - classic Shanghai soup dumplings
sticky rice siu mai
cumin lamb
spicy beef short ribs
sugar-vinegar pork ribs
peapod leaves
Shanghai noodles with pork
Shanghai style fish filet
It was all good, but I particularly enjoyed the xiao long bao, cumin lamb, spicy beef short ribs, and the fish filet - all of which are Shanghai specialties.
The place is small with limited seating, but clean with modern decor. Â We had a reservation and it worked ok, but we did beat most of the vibrant crowd with a 6:30pm reservation. Â They also validate if you park in one of the two main Chinatown lots.
Massive portion sizes! This place is contributing to the fattening of American a#$##$ and I welcome it!
They would get that 5th star but they are in ordinately expensive for the neighborhood and I'm quite confused by it. They are pretty good quality, good atmosphere, decent service, and they have a unique menu - but they could cut a buck or two off the average bill and it would be 5 stars.
The highlights are the spicy lamb they serve. Its really sharp and delcious. They also have some unique soup dumplings that are plump, delicious, and served in diabetes-inducing portions.
Enjoy, I hope you know CPR.
I'm not sure how the food is. Â Well, not really.
My husband and I wanted some Chinese food last night. Â After ridiculously good food at sister restaurant Lao Sze Chuan, we went on GrubHub and ordered from Lao ShangHai. Â Our order was placed at 10:01 PM and the original delivery time was 10:51. Â When we completed the transaction, it moved back to 11:21. Â Okay, whatever.
The food didn't get to our place until 11:41. (We live maybe 10 minutes from Chinatown.) Â My husband got the food from the driver and came inside. Â I opened it up SO EXCITED for my orange beef. Â
Unfortunately, there was orange chicken instead. Â I called the delivery driver immediately. Â After some communication issues, he said the restaurant was closed, so he'd call a manager and we'd get our orange beef today. Â The manager didn't call me today, so I called him to ask what the situation was.
He asked me if I planned to place another order. Â I told him I didn't eat the chicken because it wasn't what I ordered (I'm not one of those people who do this to be jerkish.) and that they could have it back. Â Because I work at a restaurant, I know it would just be thrown away, something he confirmed.
I asked him what we'd do about it, and he said I could order again. Â I said I didn't intend to pay for more food when my original order was wrong. Â He said okay. Â I told him I just want a refund because I'm not buying anything else from there. Â Really, why should I have to pay for another order of food because they got the first wrong? Â That's nonsense.
My husband said the duck he ordered was pretty good, but the food was only warm (at best) when it arrived. Â
Lao ShangHai, you just lost two really hungry customers.
Good Chinese food is hard to find in Chicago when I compare it to Houston, but you have to eat what you can get when the craving calls.
Lao restaurants are reliable and fairly consistent. Lao ShangHai was one that I had heard good things about and was taking people from out of town here for the first time. I was a bit concerned as I hadn't been there myself yet, but was had a pleasant experience.
Like all Chinese restaurants, the service is spotty. The food on the other hand had it's high and low points. Here's what we ordered:
- szechuan string bean = consistent with the same dish as other Lao restaurants, but a bit greasy from frying of the beans
- shanghai style chow mein - didn't have a "wow" factor, but was good and one of the better dishes we had that night
- walnut shrimp - how could you not like fried shrimp in mayo (unless you don't like mayo) and with candied walnuts; one of my favorite dishes as a child and brought back some nice memories for me
- crispy duck - huge disappointment; had no flavor and not much meat; dry and over cooked - DO NOT ORDER
We also got some beef and pork dishes. Can't remember what they were, but it must haven't been that good since I can't recall.
Like I said before, for a Chinese restaurant in Chicago, this is as good as it gets...
So, I got this as a delivery off of GrubHub. My food? Crispy Sesame Beef - it was excellent. No complaints. Delivery was even pretty reasonable (about an hour for 4 miles away.) 5 stars!
I didn't make a mistake and click 1 star by accident, however. My girlfriend ordered beef and broccoli. She was loving it, it was delicious. Then. She found part of a chicken foot in it. A chicken foot. Minus 4 stars.
So. The food was good, just with an added surprise. The meal was ruined. We won't be ordering from here again!
I had such a good experience at Lao Sze Chuan that I had to see what the other Laos have to offer. This one did not disappoint. Soup dumplings are bite-sized, flavorful, and served in a surprisingly mild "umami" sauce. The seafood platter was very fishy without being overbearing, and any dish that serves head-on shrimp gets mad points from me. The Mapo Tofu was spicy and came with silky-smooth tofu. The star of the meal, however, was the Yu Shaing eggplant - an incredible mixture of bean paste and chili oil served with fresh, perfectly tender Chinese eggplant. The price ($29 for all of the aforementioned) is essentially unbeatable.
In summary, I'd say this is comparably good to Lao Sze Chuan; while I wasn't blown away by any of the dishes to the extent I was by the dry chili chicken at Lao Sze Chuan, the food at Lao ShangHai was more uniformly delicious. I may be a white boy, but I'm a Jewish white boy, and thus would like to think I know a thing or two about Chinese food. This is definitely the real deal!
Psst, you want to know a secret about Chinese restaurants?
Since I'm so awesome, I'll give you four. Â Let's count with me, children:
#1: Â It's all about the value-service equation. Â This is a spectacularly simple relationship I've learned from years and years of my parents dragging me to Chinese restaurants, regardless of whether we're in the middle of the boondocks of Adirondacks or the metropolis of Shanghai. Â The worse the service, the better the value of food. Â It's that easy.
#2: Â Note how I said "value of food," not "quality or quantity." Â That's important. Â Value is very simply this: Â would I pay the same amount of money to eat this again? Â Would I rather have a Chipotle burrito? Â
#3: Â Don't make a reservation at a Chinese restaurant unless you have a wedding party or you have at least 50 people. Â If you do make a reservation, expect that they're going to "lose it" or "get your phone number/name wrong." Â I'm sorry. Â Not to be racist or anything -- considering I am Chinese -- but I don't think Chinese people understand the concept of waiting for customers to arrive and turning away people who are already there. Â I think our attitude is much more like, "a bird in hand is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than two birds in the bush." Â That's why I always go early or late (and luckily for non-Chinese people, we define "late" as "after 8:00 PM").
#4: Â Don't waste your time ordering vegetables, unless it's pea-tips. Â
Given all that, Lao Shanghai's value to service equation is kinda iffy. Â The soup dumplings (or xiaolongbao) are probably some of the better I've had in Chicago, but let's face it, I can get a pack of 30 from Chinatown Market for $4.99 and heat it up myself in my rice cooker and they taste pretty damn close (trust me). Â They do have really good noodles, the Shanghai chow mein being the dish that did my eating partner in. Â So this lands it in the solid three-star territory, good but there's plenty better in Chinatown.
Came here on a groupon and will definitely be coming back. Â We ordered the xiaolong bao, szechuan fish fillet, empress sizzling lamb, walnut shrimp, black pepper short rib, and pea tips. Â Everything was SO BOMB. Â There was no talking once the food came out cause we were all busy stuffing our faces as fast as we could.
Only reason I didn't rate 5 stars is that the service is quite bad. Â After putting your name down with the host for a table, make sure you are clearly visible at all times or they will give your table away to someone else. Â Also, it took us a solid 10 minutes to get our drinks. Â For those who like soda, be aware that you get a can and a glass of ice. Â No free refills here.
Seriously terrible food at this establishment! We came for lunch and was not impressed with the food at all. we ordered
preserved pork - too sweet and rotten! not a good combination
fried fish - really not fresh fish
beef ribs - ok, too oily
pea shoots - ok
really disappointed in the food and the service was ok. will not come back.
I was really excited about this place when it first opened because I had a wonderful experience of Shanghainese food in New York and Toronto. The one item on the menu that I was the most excited about was the shanghai soup dumplings (xiao long bao). If you haven't had it before, it's definitely something to experience. They are dumplings are filled with meat or seafood with soup. What's unique is that the soup remains in the dumpling, a delicious phenomenon. I won't get into the details of how they do it but just imagine how the collagen in bone marrow turns into gelatin after being cooked for hours in stock. Â
Although the xiao long bao wasn't as good as what I experienced in New York or Toronto, they were enjoyable enough for my friends who never tried them before. Unfortunately for me, I have eaten excellent soup dumplings that are hard to surpass. At the Lao Shanghai, the wrappers were too thick and absorbed a lot of the soup so that there wasn't enough broth to enjoy. I still enjoyed them since this the broth was flavorful and the wrappers were cooked well.
Overall, my first experience at Lao Shanghai was enjoyable. The interior is clean with a modern dark wood interior. The food came out quickly and we received good service. I would definitely go there again and try some of their other items. Based on other people's responses, I'm sure that there are other items on the menu that they are better known for.
Had dinner here the other day and it was good.
Soup Dumplings - They seemed a little smaller than most places. It was ok.
Cumin Lamb - This was good, but had a strong taste and I think it was star anise.
Black Pepper Beef - If you like pepper, then this is your dish. It had that spiciness to it, but made me keep eating it. Also, the beef was tender.
Seafood Platter - I only had a little and it was ok, maybe a bit bland.
Service was fine, but we received our soup dumplings and cumin lamb pretty quick, but the black pepper beef came out like 5-10 minutes after and then the seafood platter took another 5-10 minutes to come out.
Not bad for my first time in Chinatown! The wait wasn't long for a Friday night, about 20 minutes, and the restaurant is small enough that the noise wasn't distracting. It was a little confusing in terms of the wait staff because so many different people kept coming by that we didn't know who to order from.
We weren't fans of the drunken fish appetizer...it just seemed weird that it was cold and that there were bones in it. The crab rangoon and the steamed dumplings were delicious, though. I thought my entree, the spicy fish fillets, was ok but nothing special. I kind of expected the spice to be blended into the breading, but that wasn't the case..it looked like there were just bits and pieces of jalapenos surrounding the fish on the plate.
So, it was fine, but I think I'll keep trying other places in Chinatown before going there again.
I think I'm over Tony Hu's restaurants. The restaurant is too sterile, too clean and prettified for Americans. It's doesn't have the authentic charm that made me first fall in love with Lao Sichuan 10 years ago.
While the servers are polite, I'd much prefer them speak to me in Chinese than their broken, overly stiff English.
The food was fine....nothing super delicious. The soup dumpling was lacking soup. The cumin lamb was fine, nothing to write home about. Everything was just fine, no bursts of flavor... just kind of boring.
My quest for xiao long bao in the Windy City led me to Lao Shanghai's front doors. Having had a subpar dining experience at Tony Hu's other award winning Lao restaurant -- i.e. Lao Szechuan -- I was a bit skeptical. Much to my relief, Lao Shanghai exceeded my non-existent expectations.
Eight plump and juicy xiao long bao were excellent starters. Rich in flavor and chewy in texture, the only thing that could have possibly made this appetizer a flawless one is the amount of broth spewing out from these "soup dumplings."
Mains were Lao Shanghai's signature Shanghai style fish fillet and the beef with green peppers (jalapenos.) Teeming with taste and rich in quality, both dishes were perfectly executed. At first glance, the Shanghai style fish fillet did not look too promising, but the wine sauce proved me wrong. Wanting to sample as much Shanghai cuisine as possible, we ended our meal with an order of the sweet red bean pan cake. Flaky dough encasing a thin layer of red bean, this was as good of an end to the meal as the xiao long bao were to the start of the meal.
Servers are polite and friendly, however, diners have to be aggressive in getting their attentions as the restaurant was short-staffed -- even during peak hours. Dining area is a bit cramped although better decorated than some of the restaurants in the Chinatown Square.
Now that I have tried the second of third Lao restaurants, it looks like a trip to Lao Beijing is in order next time I'm in the city.
I really enjoy eating my meals before or after lunch/dinner rushes. Parking is so easy, there are always tables and you get lots of attention from your server. So, after JN said he was craving xiao long bao (and he NEVER wants to eat asian food, well, hardly ever) we hopped in the car for an early Chinatown dinner. A 4:30pm arrival in Chinatown made street parking really easy. There was only 1 other table at Lao Shanghai when we walked in and most of the staff was at another table prepping green beans. Mmm, green beans.
Anyway, we ordered:
2 steamers of xiao long bao
Vegetarian duck (cold appetizer)
Hot and sour soup (yeah, weird, but I was really cold that day, and it was good!)
Tong cai (ong choi) stir-fried with garlic
Pork, mustard greens, and peas (the peas are actually edamame)
The menu is pretty enormous and ordering for 2 was a little painful, as I really had to hold back. But I really like this place and will be back soon (hellooooo pork belly).
Everything was delicious! I absolutely adore food from Shanghai because their vegetarian cold dishes are incredible. All made from bean curd products, it is very different from the fake meat you find here. This means: order the vegetarian duck!!!
As for the xiao long bao, I don't know where else to get good xiao long bao in this city. Place bao in spoon, bite little piece of wrapper off, SIP hot salty soup (mmmmmm), put some vinegar with ginger pieces into bao through opening, and nom nom nom. Repeat. If I wanted to be picky, I would say that the wrapper is a little on the thick side and they seem to only use pork as filling in theirs. My favorite xiao long bao are the pork and crab (!!!) ones but then again, I was in Shanghai.
They don't always have tong cai but if they do, it is such a treat. Also know as the vegetable with the hole in the middle, I eat this every chance I get.
We really had a lot of fun here. JN got to practice his Chinese by reading the menu, I got to feel at home by ordering in Chinese, the servers were really friendly and the food came out fast.
I love every one of Tony's restaurants. He does authentic regional Chinese cuisine so well. We're totally throwing Lao Shanghai into our Chinatown rotation.
*Channels 1990 Julia Roberts - post-skank, newly 'prettied' in a snooty Rodeo Drive boutique*
Big-a$$ Hat? Â Check.
Jewelry? Â Check.
Pretty pretty princess dress? Â Check.
"Hi. Â You're the manager around here, right? Â You work off [Yelp reviews], don't you? Â [points to below review] Â Big Mistake! Â HUGE!!"
I set up a reservation for 13 hungry Yelpers to dine at Lao Shanghai as the restaurant of choice during the Chinatown neighborhood tour. Â I spoke with the manager, confirmed my party's number, time of arrival, preference of table and tastes. Â From scouting the location, I knew that the restaurant valued the positive reviews from Yelpers. Â
Excited from reading the reviews, I was set for great food and an exciting review set to the tune of "Boom Boom Pow." Â (It was going to start "I ate some Bomb Kung Pow, I said, "It tastes like 'Wow!'" Â Tragic, the loss.) Â Such a review was never to occur. Â After a morning of snafus, crowded plazas and a foretold fate of marrying a mean, nagging woman, I (and the rest of the tourists) showed up at 2:28 pm for our 2:30 pm reservation. Â Awesome Alice S took the point while I held the door for the others. Â She spoke to the manager, furrowed her brow and called me in. Â The manager had given away our table not ten minutes before. Â Listen to me: THE MANAGER GAVE AWAY OUR TABLE BEFORE OUR RESERVATION. Â Un.Acceptable.
I tried to stay calm. Â I asked him when ("Uh, just a second ago."). Â I asked him why ("Uh, I don't know."). Â I asked him what (now) ("Wait for another table."). Â I asked him where ("At these tables." Â "YOU MEAN THE TABLES WITH PEOPLE JUST STARTING THEIR MEALS??!!"). Â By the time I got to "how", I had to leave. Â I was going to hurt him. Â I had 13 hot and hungry people I had led to Chinatown and promised a great meal. Â That wasn't going to happen through no fault of my own - but from the willful unprofessionalism of Lao Shanghai's management.
As we walked the green mile to Happy Chef, I looked back at the front window. Â It was full of positive Yelp reviews. Â After our group's p!ss poor treatment at the restaurant, I wonder where those reviews came from and if those reviewers had had reservations. Â You like Yelp reviews, Lao Shanghai? Â I got your review right here!
This review is for the management at Lao Shanghai.
It is an unfortunate situation when a group with a reservation is turned away because management is incompetent. Our group had made a reservation in advance, confirmed earlier that day, but when we arrived minutes before our reservation time, it was apparent no table would be available for us. The one table that could have accommodated us was occupied, and just recently. That group had not yet been served their food. I believe that those people took over our table.
If they had just walked in off the street and helped themselves to what they thought was an open table, when in fact it was reserved, it was up to management to tell them that the table was not available. Instead, management chose to tell us to wait 10 minutes or so for some other tables to open up. Looking around it was clear that no one in the whole (very tiny) place was going to be ready to leave in that time.
Let me add that the group that took our table had a number of children. Nothing against children, but they just do not eat as much as adults do; so again management made the wrong choice in seating them at our reserved table. We would have spent (and probably tipped) a lot more than that group.
There are so many other great choices in Chinatown, why waste time with a poorly run establishment? Despite several positive Yelp reviews plastered on their window, I will not be back to try Lao Shanghai, as this experience left a definitely bad taste in my mouth.
A Chinese food whore like myself giving a place only one star? Â What in the hell? Â Well, let me tell you. Â The awesome Johnny T. organized another amazing Neighborhood Tour and made a reservation for some group grub at 2:30 PM on a Saturday. Â He even made sure to confirm the reservation a few hours ahead of time. Â
We show up - before our reservation mind you - to find a bunch of taken tables with no room for us. Â The majority of tables didn't even have their food yet, which means we had zero hope of them opening up any time soon. Â Instead of just admitting their fuck up and apologizing for giving our table away they give us the bs line that they'll be able to seat us w/in something crazy impossible like 15 min. Â Super suck. Â Seriously, we had a large group and were just left scrambling - not cool. Â And crab-rangoon-block my ass? Â They're lucky my Chinese food lovin' ass wasn't PMS ragin' that day cuz otherwise I prob would've made the news that night.
Johnny T had made a reservation for our party of 11 for 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. Â He also called a few hours ahead to confirm that day. Â We showed up at 2:28, only to find out they had given our table away shortly before.
I could understand if we were late, but we weren't, so giving away our table was just poor form. Â I don't care how your food tastes according to other yelpers, you lost all respect from me and any desire to try your establishment. Â If you don't want to honor reservations, then don't let people make reservations.
Apparently reservations mean nothing to some people.
Our tireless Neighborhood Tour organizer called Lao Shanghai and made reservations for our large group at 2:30 on Saturday. Prior to the tour Johnny T. also stopped in personally to confirm that everything was set for our meal.
Imagine our surprise to walk in at 2:20 to a packed restaurant with no open tables! Not only were all of the tables full, but most tables hadn't even received food yet. When we questioned the same host from earlier we were told that our table was given away a few minutes earlier and that we'd have to wait 10-20 minutes, which seemed unlikely given how many people hadn't eaten and our party's size.
WTH! WHO GIVES A TABLE AWAY BEFORE THE RESERVATION TIME?!
As a result of their inconsideration and incompetence we were forced to find another place that could accommodate our group of 11 on a Saturday afternoon.
* The only reason this place gets a second star is that lots of Yelpers seem to think their food is great, unfortunately I wouldn't know about that.
once you've tasted it, every night after you will dream of:
Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao Xiao Long Bao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao XiaoLongBao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao xiaolongbao
and crab!
Hot, hot, hot!
Hot #1: the soup. Â I'm particular about hot and sour soup. Â Don't pass up the hot and sour soup here! Â This stuff is served hot and is flavored with just the right amount of vinegar. Â Additionally, there are huge chunks of mushrooms and other goodies. Â I'll make the long trek on the red line for the soup alone, which rates hot #1 four stars by itself.
Hot #2: the beef. Â The sliced beef and maw appetizer was, in fact, spicy. Â Not overwhelmingly spicy, but just about right. Â My only beef with the dish is the lack of it and the overabundance of maw. Â I couldn't quite stomach all of it.
Hot #3: the freeze. Â The mango smoothie was refreshing and not too sweet. Â Use caution with the fat straw because it can lead to several moments of brain freeze. Â Ow.
Add the pork with peas and mustard greens dish for an entrée to satisfy.  Yes, the peas are edamame.  The dish was alright and nothing to rave about.  There are plenty of other choices on the menu, so I'd lean toward something else if I find myself here again.  The plus is that the portion, including rice, was more than enough to feed two.
A final, bonus hot: the check. Â A dinner for two for just under $30 makes this not such a bad deal. Â
With so many other places in the area to try, it's not likely I'll rush back, except for a craving for my #1 hot.
Trusted reviewers on Yelp is what led us here! That and the "send to my phone!" feature - bueno!
But, the Hot and Sour soup was what kicked the stars into the stratosphere. Praisethebabyjeezus, I've found a replacement for my dirty little Best  Hot & Sour Soup EVER shop that went out of business (read: health dept. closed it) in my neighborhood a year or so ago. It was tangy, delicious, hot and SOUR. Only problem is, this place is 20+ Red line stops from my hut. No matter, I could have ordered a 50 gallon drum of this stuff and called it a day.
There was more goodness to come, though. More HOT! Szechuan Sliced Beef with Maw. The sliced beef was great, and supah hot yummy. The Maw was . . . well, it's stomach lining, people. Intestines. It had the flavor of beef, but the texture was what put us off it after awhile. So, the beef was devoured, but maw stood alone.
Split an entree - the pork with mustard greens and peas. The "peas" turned out to be edamame! I liked this entree a lot, and with the addition of rice, it was plenty for two to share.
The menu was very well designed, but overwhelming! So much good stuff to try, a return trip is most def in order.
Washed down with a Tsing Tao and some hot tea, and you have a great place. Clean, bright, well designed, lively restaurant. Clean bathrooms. Bil: $29 for two. That goes down pretty easy too.
I wish that I had a better experience here but we didn't. Â When we first came in, there were only two other groups before us so we expected quick service. Â We placed our order for xiao long bao, potstickers, Shanghai chow mein, sesame beef, and Szechwan green beans. Â Then, another couple came in after our small group. Â Then, we received our xiao long bao but without spoons, which can be essential if your wrapper accidentally spills soup out. Â We requested spoons, but then, 3 groups of 10 people came in and our spoons were forgotten. Â After waiting, we finally ended up devouring them and were disappointed that the soup dumplings were warm at best - I like them steaming hot.
After another 15 minutes, our potstickers came out and my husband swears that he bit into a cold one. Â We think that our potstickers were cooked and then, left on a counter somewhere since they were lukewarm at best. Â We noticed that the couple that arrived after us received excellent customer service and they received all of their food before us even though we ordered after them.
The three large groups also received about four dishes while we awaited our remaining entrees. Â When we finally did receive our food, everything was just lukewarm, still good, but warm. Â We were a bit disappointed by the temperature and when we tried to flag down a waitress, they were too busy with the large groups. Â When we finally flagged one down, they brought us our bill. Â We were disappointed that instead of seeing what our issue was, they just brought us our bill without us asking for it or having finished eating. Â Also, another minor thing - my husband pointed out that that the other two groups that got their bill before us got fortune cookies with their bill and we didn't.
A part of me is hoping that this was just a fluke and our bad experience with customer service and their lukewarm food since I've heard such great reviews from friends.
Decent to great food. Â I really enjoyed the different soup options and the eggplant entree (SO delish). Â But the soup dumplings were a bit of a disappointment, unfortunately. Â They were good, but not jaw-dropping. Â I suppose I'll have to wait for my next homecoming visit to my beloved NYC for the real deal at Joe Shanghai's.
Reasonable prices for the quite large portions of solid - albeit Americanized - Â food. Â
Service was fine and the space was pleasant. Â I do, however, suggest that they increase the number of staff --- sometimes it was a bit difficult to draw their attention for missing spoons/napkins and the check at the end of the meal.
The most consistent and delicious restaurant I've had in Chicago's Chinatown, and believe me, I've tried them all. The decor is simple and utilitarian - about 20 dark wood tables in close quarters. The menu is fairly long and includes a lot of dishes that aren't strictly Shanghai-ese, but once you pop that first steaming mouthful, you won't care about anything except the next  mouthful and the next and the next...
Based on multiple visits, the best dishes are the Empress Shrimp (crisp shrimp tossed in a heavenly creamy sauce... omg, I'm salivating just thinking about it), Bok Choy with Winter Mushrooms, and the Pork Belly. Avoid the Soup Dumplings unless you're really jonesing. Simply not soupy enough - I'll wait for my next trip to NY for the good stuff.
This is my favorite of the Tony Hu restaurants because I like Shanghai cuisine more and my meals here have been more consistent. Lao Szechuan can be a bit schizo and I'm willing to gamble with a lot - A LOT! - but not with the belly.
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