Once, I was starving...and for some reason craving Chinese food as of NOW! So, I walked into Lin's Garden and ordered the lunch special. Bad idea.
I recall that there was meat of some sort, hidden in a mass of sticky, salty gravy, and accompanied by perhaps the worst egg roll I've ever had the misfortune to experience. The food was appalling and I would never, ever eat here again.
The place looks a little shady (which to me is kind of charming) but the food is delicious and the prices are good. The people are polite (delivery drivers included) and basically, I've never had a problem here. I recommend the BBQ pork fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, Lin's squid, and many many more. Delivery service is also nice, no problems.
Obviously, this place isn't some fancy restaurant so don't expect that kind of deal, Lin's is an excellent small local business.
GR8 Chinese food.
I grew up in Logan Square, and though I now live in Portage Park, I still haul ass to Lin's. I love just about everything on the greasy menu, but especially; Crispy Shrimp! (OMG!!) Pot-stickers are better here than most I've tried. I also Recommend the Combo LO-MEIN. Mmm Mmm. Never let a fat guy start talking about good eats! It's a hole in the wall so ur better off doing takeout. I'll race ya there!
It's not the greatest food but sometimes I just get a craving for pho and of course I'm too lazy to get my ass up off the couch and really travel for it so Lin's suffices. I'm accustomed to my pho having very thin slices of rare beef brisket, which is not what you'll find here. The beef is cooked before it's put in the broth and it's incredibly chewy and thick. Oh well, at least it's close by
Review Source:So again, I'm in the "It's Sunday and I don't want to cook " Mode, and having been out the previous night partying it away in this oh so beautiful city, I was in need of food.
I called my usual place "Tasty China" on North ave by Spaulding and they were closed. So I decide to give this place a try. The man on the phone was very nice and said my food would be delivered in 30 minutes, which it was.
While ordering I asked for specials, the man said " We have no specials!" I asked if 9.95 for a supposedly "Large" Orange Chicken included anything such as a can of pop or an egg-roll? Or if there were any Lunch specials, he said "Nothing is Free here!" Â (I wasn't asking for free food!!!)
We ordered a "Large" extra spicy Mongolian Beef and a "Large" Orange Chicken which came in small containers and looked like they would only fill up my 6 year old! Are you kidding me?? This is a "Large?" Can't imagine what the small looks like?
Gets worse......
The Orange Chicken was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Basically it was a bad imitation version of KFC's  popcorn chicken with a few drops of soy sauce and a hint of orange peel. It tasted like cardboard. I'm no expert but I think orange chicken it suppose to be saucy like and orange, not tan like, dry with soy sauce. The Mongolian Beef was just as bad.
I called to complain and the person who answered was a woman and she said she has been in business for 20+ years and that everyone liked the food there. She would not allow for me to speak and kept repeating the 20+years.
Tasty China has Lunch Specials for about 8$ that come with a Fried Rice on the side and a can of pop and is way tastier than this Lin's Gardens crap.
I will NEVER ever order from there again. I ended up throwing the food away.
If I had a dog, I wouldn't even feed it to him.
This is my neighborhood chinese place. Â It looks a little suspicious on the outside, but turns out the food is really good. Â The common items on the menu are sufficient, but its the lin garden items that are amazing. Â Great balance of meat and veggies, along with a great hot sauce.
Review Source:OK, I'm Asian and I may not be Chinese, but I've had my fair share of authentic Chinese cuisine. Â But you know what? Â Sometimes, lots of times, I crave American-Chinese food that's greasy, kinda grimy, and totally cheap. Â I want to pretend like the TV shows so I eat my beef lo-mein out of the box too (it does taste better that way). Â
Lin's Garden is my pick out of all the hole in the wall "Chinese" places around the city. Â I love the couple, they are so cute and they're actually Vietnamese so I suppose it makes sense they sell pho too. Â Please go and support the owners, they are just darling.
I used to live 2 blocks away from them and miss it dearly. Â I have a flashier (but just as cheap) joint really close to my current Pilsen apt, but it ain't the same... it ain't the same.
CASH ONLY.
I had the Lin's Garden pork which I figured must be good, since it's both pork and named after them. Â The pork itself was not horrible but the broccoli and carrots were woefully undercooked. Â And worst of all, the sauce wasn't good; spicy but not flavorful. Â
I went for the large (somewhat assuming I'd have leftovers based on other reviews) but it was a pretty average size portion. Â
I was planning on trying the pho there since it's so close to where I live but now I highly doubt it.
A chilly spring night and months passing since my last bowl of Pho enough was enough. Â We stopped in to Lin's Garden, only a few blocks from the train station. Â We walked in around 7:45pm and were the only people inside for our whole meal. Â
The atmosphere is nothing short of a hole in the wall Vietnamese resturant, clingy plastic tablecloths, CASH ONLY and a TV in the back playing random primetime shows from the CW.
The fried wantons were ok, some where fried to the point of creating a hole in the dough; which was ok with me. Â we both got Pho and it hit the spot. Â Filling, warm broth, miles of noodles and just enough beef. Â Keep in mind this is not americanized Chinese, your beef will have connective tissue throughout just chew through it. Â Although I would have liked some thai basil or bean sprouts to add on my own the pho was only 6 bucks; what can you ask for. Â
If I am stuck in logan square with a craving for pho I will be back, as long as I remember cash.
finally found a Chinese delivery place close to Logan Square. easy ordering via phone. Â reasonably priced Mu Shu Pork. Â delivered in 30 minutes. Â very hot food but it came only two blocks. Â average food quality. Â four large already prepared Mu Shus with sauce, plenty left over. Â website says free delivery but the charge was $2.00. didn't mind paying that.
Review Source:I'm on a mission to try every hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in Chicago. And since I share the same family name as the restaurant, I had to pay a visit.
The biggest surprise is that the food doesn't taste like some of the other nearly Chinese restaurants, who must've use the same brand of sauces and frozen eggrolls. Lin's eggrolls are more similar to the Vietnamese variety, with thin, crunchy skin instead of doughy. The sauces in their dishes taste less sugary than your typical take-out joint, which bring more attention to the ingredients.
This place is just different enough from other northside joints, and reminded me of home cooking. Very pleasantly surprised.
Lin's Garden is wonderful! I speak from delivery experience, though always driving by Lin's is what prompted the ordering. Timely, timely arrival of food! Friendly service!! Not overpriced!
I'll second that someone mentioned the "small" portions of their Chinese food are more than enough for one meal. I enjoyed the curry shrimp! It actually wasn't greasy at all! Maybe I ordered the perfect thing, but it was nice. Rad eggrolls, too.
One thing though: they will not make a sweet & sour tofu.
Cash only for Lin's. I'm looking forward to ordering from here in the near future. Ever since the close down of Sai Mai Thai in Logan Square, I have yet to find my place for that asian-american fast food fix we all get from time to time. So I'm hoping this is where Lin's comes in. This review may get edited in the future as more experiences rack up.
Lin's! 4 stars from me, not three!
This place popped my Pho cherry and it was good. $5.95 for a huge bowl of tender beef, noodles, and peppery broth. And all of the accoutrements necessary...limes, sirachi chili sauce, hoisin sauce, fresh bean sprouts. The owner made sure we had the chopsticks, fork, and spoon we needed to devour these huge bowls of love. Strangely enough, the place is a Chinese restaurant but they have a pretty good bowl of Vietnamese soup.
Review Source:Need a pho fix but landlocked in Logan? You can get the basic type here, with most of the usual greens and goodies you'd expect on the side: sriracha, fresh bean sprouts, cilantro. The one thing I really miss is the Thai basil. Also, it'd be great if they could add other Vietnamese items to the menu.
But pho isn't the only thing going for this place. The owners are friendly and will chat with you if you have a moment, and even the small portion of their freshly made (though of course a bit greasy) Chinese entrees could easily pass as two small meals. Since it's made to order, you can make special requests. I've had the Shrimp with Vegetables spiced up with additional pea pods without a problem or upcharge.
The sparsely decorated dining room won't appeal to all, but having a quick, tasty, and customized meal on the cheap wins with me.
If you want cheap, slightly greasy and probably not very good for you Chinese food (and who doesn't), then this place will totally do the trick. Â
I got the broccoli bean curd, which was above average - the tofu was all firm and un-slippery, and the veggies were crispy-ish. Â On the nice lady's recommendation I also got the Hunan chicken, which tasted a little...Mexican? Â But it was still good. Â The chicken was super-tender.
They've got small sizes of all their entrees, which I love, 'cause it means you can try more stuff. Â They also have a whole squid section I'm gonna have to get in on the next time I go.
No reviews on Yelp for this location, no reviews on Grubhub, decide to take a chance.
Phone rings 6x.
Irritated older woman answers in broken English, "Hello."
I ask her if they take credit cards, she doesn't seem to understand at first, but then says yes.
I place the order.
She says a whole bunch of stuff I can't understand and then it sounds like she's going to hang up.
I remind her about my credit card.
She says she doesn't take credit cards.
Order cancelled.
I will never know...
This place is awful. The inside looks more like a beauty parlor than a restaurant and the food was unbelievably uninspiring. The rice looked like it had been sitting out all day and the taste was awful. For 5.00 the portions were kid sized and their egg rolls had too much pork in them.
Rather than going back, I'd sooner look for another Chinese restaurant to spend my money in.
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