New China Restaurant

Run, don't walk away from the restaurant.  What a disaster.  Went there last night with seven people, only one other table of people being served. Got a glass of water that was chipped in two places so could easily have cut my lip.  Never got a plate or napkin or knife or spoon, though asked for it a couple of times.  Food came and I had nothing to eat it with and the waitress wasn't coming back with the utensils so I had to take them from an empty table.  Some in the group didn't get their food until 50 minutes after ordering (hey, Chinese places are known for quck delivery). Plus, the gratituity was already added to the bill -- otherwise I would tip them absolutely nothing.  This is a miserable place to go.  It also looks depressing and no light out front to help us find the place.  My first time there last night will be my last.  

Don't make the same mistake.  Don't go to this place!

Please note this is not the same owners of new china like in the 90's. They cared about what they served. I have been going there for 20 years and yesterday the food was so bad that I had to write a review.  The quality of food was poor, thin and cheap meat I would not serve this to my dog. The egg rolls had corn and rice in them, it's like they stuffed the cheapest food they could into it. They over charged us it may have only been a dollar but when the food is bad the portions are small and the prices are up you take notice. I would suggest to anyone in skokie to go somewhere else the food was so bad we spent 50 dollars and threw away all the left overs.

I'm SO conflicted about what to write about New China.  I've had New China and it's been excellent...  I've also had New China and had it land squarely in the middle of "meh" territory.  I wish I knew what the variable was (ex:  "excellent on tuesdays!"), but I have yet to decipher it.

The restaurant itself is unassuming.  It's in a double wide berth, but strangely it's rare that you see someone actually eating in.  Almost always you'll run into another person who is there for take-out, so that's a great sign.  But I don't think I've ever seen more than two tables occupied simultaneously.

Parking is very hit-or-miss, mostly on the miss side.  The restaurant is in a strip mall with few spaces in front.  Additionally there is another restaurant in the same strip, so that puts additional pressure on the parking.

The food varies between GREAT and mediocre.  Shrimp with lobster sauce?  GREAT!  Mongolian beef?  Ehhhhhh....  Sometimes spicy things are marked as spicy, sometimes they're a little bland.  I haven't ordered enough things enough times to find out (yet) if it's a variation in how they spice the dishes or if the dishes themselves are inconsistent.

If you're looking for the bottom line, I'd summarize it as a solid Chinese place that occasionally strays into great territory.  (Which, now that I'm thinking about all the mediocre-on-their-best-day chinese food around, is better than most!)