This is bar none, the worst Chinese food I've ever had. General Tso would have been pissed if he'd known they would some day replicate his recipe this way. The food was delivered in a Whole Foods Grocery Bag, my chicken dish could have been mistaken for some sort of soup it was so liquidy, and the consistency inside of the crab rangoon couldn't pass for cream cheese. Â
According to Grub Hub reviews, Alex called the food "stellar", and Megan generically said "it's the best chinese food i've ever had." Two possibilities, Megan and Alex don't have any sort of cognitive abilities, or they don't exist. Â Never eat here.
I have never been to this place, but delivery was good.
I like darker friend rice which this place is good for. Â I was not too impressed with their soup. Â I ordered rice and soup only since i was feeling sick. Â Their "Oriental Vegetable Soup" was horrible and very bland! Â seemed like few veggies cooked in water.
My 3 stars are only for the "Vegetable Fried Rice Dinner"! which saved the day! Â I would give them 4 start if they improved on amount of veggies, and 5 if i can actually get something else with the rice that's equally as good!
Hard to find a good chinese restaurant these days, particularly if you live in the west loop. Â We came across Yu Choy and we love their pork and vegetable fried rice because it tastes so fresh and is not laden in soy sauce. Â The egg rolls are ok - not the best and certainly not the worst. Â Acceptable. Â We take our food to go.
Review Source:I called these guys and asked if their shrimp tempura was actually tempura and not plain-Jane fried shrimp. Not to be a snob about it but I was really craving the Japanese style fried shrimp at the time. Got Cantonese fried shrimp instead.
Got sweet and sour pork and lo mein as well. They tight seal the pork so don't expect crunchy goodness. The lo mein was unseasoned noodles with large amounts of vegetables and sparsely hidden meats.
Only reason a friend and I went here was because we had an amazing discount. I'm a big fan of authentic Chinese, and this was probably very authentic. However, that doesn't mean it was good.
I had the beef fried rice, which was errr edible. Other than that it wasn't much. The rice seemed a bit damp and was very dark, yet utterly tasteless. There were maybe 5-7 individual bean sprouts in the large container in addition to tiny morsels of beef and rice. I've never had friend rice with so little extras! Where's the egg, carrot, onion, etc? The orange chicken wasn't much to call home about either. The breading was bad, and I had no idea I was eating chicken.
Service was fast and they accept LevelUp and Belly, but the food isn't worth half the price...
This is not Chinese food. It is some kind of Asian, Arab, American mixture (I will not elevate it with the word fusion) The oil vat needs changing this year.
Decor: Greasy formica.
You get what you pay for. 2 specials: (main + eggroll + soup) Â + 1 ice tea + tax = 21.00 for Lunch.
If you need to fill up and you need fast & cheap this is the place.
Honestly it just wasn't very good. Â I think it would be if they had changed the grease in their fryer in the past couple years. Â You see they fry everything, which would be fine, if it didn't taste like old grease and have a slight dirty brown color rather than golden. Â
Wanted to like this place, but wont be giving it another chance either..
For quick, easy and delicious Chinese, Yu Choy is hands-down the best Chinese in the city. Dishes are served with many fresh vegetables, flavorful sauces, and their menu offers brown rice and states "no added MSG" - which is pretty hard to come by. Many dishes are full of fresh crunchy peppers, mini corns, mushrooms, bamboo, and water chestnuts to name a few. The restaurant space is nothing special, but their delivery service is always amazingly quick and reliable.
My only "con" I can think of for Yu Choy is that they sometimes over-fry dishes. I love the General Tso's Chicken and Governor's Chicken, but they can be tough at times. Egg rolls too.
Favorite Dishes:
Hot and Sour Soup
Hunan Beef (excellent; I get this every time)
General Tso's Chicken (delicious sauce + flavor)
Governor's Chicken (love the added broccoli)
Chicken Two Delight (the black mushrooms are awesome)
Again, nothing over the top, but a solid choice for delicious delivery that's pretty healthy and won't break the bank (they have some good coupons online and on their menus).
Consistently good food, and on-time delivery. I first heard about this a few years ago when a place I was working frequently got deliveries from this place. It's relatively quick if you don't call ahead, and if you do, it's always ready. The fried rice, crab rangoon, and orange chicken are very good. As someone else said, there aren't earth-shattering innovations there, but for basic Chinese food it's good. I do wish they had more entrees that equally combined meat and veggies, though. The orange chicken, for instance, while delicious, has almost no vegetable content.
Review Source:Totally serviceable for your local Chinese joint. Â This place isn't going to blow you away with cutting edge culinary splendors, but it's a solid option for Americanized Chinese. Â The prices are reasonable, the food is good and the service was great.
My boyfriend and I pass Yu Choy multiple times a week on our way to the dog park and this past weekend we finally decided to stop in for lunch. Â The place was a ghost town, so we were treated like royalty because I think they were just so excited to have guests in the restaurant. Â I think it was one of the managers that served us - he was super friendly, very attentive and made sure we had a great meal. Â He comped us our fried rice sides, which I thought was a nice way to make a good impression on us. Â Frankly, by going out of his way to thank us for stopping by and giving us that level of service, he's won himself a set of repeat customers. Â We'll definitely order from here again.
So disappointing.
My boyfriend and I moved to Chicago in August and we have been on a quest to find good chinese delivery since then. So far, we have had terrible luck, and Yu Choy was no exception. The experience started off poorly with the guy on the phone being rude to my boyfriend - maybe that should have tipped us off as to what was to come. I will say, they got here promptly, well under the hour wait time they had quoted us. But that is the beginning and end of the good things I have to say.
We started with the vegetable pot stickers: ick, mushy, no flavor. My boyfriend got the egg rolls (I'm a vegetarian) and took just one bite before tossing them.
For my entree, I had the Szechwan Vegetable Delight - I was excited because the description made it sound spicy and flavorful (my main issue with the other places we have ordered from has been the incredible level of blandness). The actual thing was just eh. No real spice to speak of and there was so little sauce that most of the veggies were completely tasteless, not to mention rubbery. Blah, all around.
My boyfriend got the chicken and broccoli - a "house special" that says it is going to come in their "very own special sauce." There was absolutely no sauce whatsoever, and the chicken was plain and bland. He had to dump tons of soy sauce on it just to eat a few bites.
Needless to say, this will be added to our growing list of Chinese places NOT to order from again.
I wish there were negative stars. Yes, it was that bad. Terrible, in fact, to contradict other reviews I've seen here that totally mislead me into trying it. Oh, where to start. I'll start with the menu item they refer to as "lo mein" but was definitely more like something my Grandma, bless her soul, as a school cafeteria cook in the 50's, would have considered to be "Chinese" food. They used strange little white glass noodles - not what you expect when you get lo mein. The meat that came in the noodles was the stereotypical "mystery" meat. I am not sure if it was chicken or pork, but I am certain it was DISGUSTING. I think they fried it a week or two ago. So it was cold and slimey. I had a hard time not spitting it out after a bite. I have a strong stomach and have never had a food-borne illness, but this dish challenged me. I seriously considered vomiting it up. I was concerned that it wasn't safe to ingest. The other dish we ordered was the general tso's chicken, and it was less offensive. Still not particularly tasty or fresh. Also, they forgot to bring the crab rangoon we ordered, which is 50% of why I love going for "Chinese" food. Oh, and they were out of hot tea. Isn't that a staple at a "Chinese" restaurant? Really? It's like a bar that runs out of beer, or BK running out of the whopper.
For those of you who liked this place, I truly feel bad if this is what you consider to be good Chinese food. It's so not. Having lived in other parts of the country I've been fortunate to experience really good and even sometimes, AUTHENTIC Chinese restaurants, and unfortunately, this place gives a bad name to the whole genre.
Please please PLEASE - do NOT waste your time here. I can't suggest a better Chinese alternative in the neighborhood because I can't find one. But don't come here. If I find a better place I'll let you know. I really do want to find a local mom 'n pop neighborhood kind of place to satisfy my rangoon cravings.
Oh, Big Bowl (I know, it's a chain), is pretty decent. They are into the organic and sustainable thing so that's a plus. You at least know where your meat came from and aren't left wondering what that mystery meat is you've just consumed.
Solid option for late night delivery.
Not great, but not terrible. Order Americanized stuff and you'll get exactly what you were hoping for. They are well packaged and delivered hot. At my door in less than 45 minutes. I'll definitely be ordering again since they have coupons so often!
Ick. Bland. Nast.
I don't expect Chinese food to be a culinary experience, but I was entirely underwhelmed by Yu Choy. I've had much better Chinese from the grocery store. The Orange Chicken was 99% fried dough and 1% chicken-like substance. In fact, there were fried balls of dough that had no chicken inside. The vegetable dishes have little to no flavor. And what's up with the no fortune cookies? Scam!
As a side note, Chinese places should not serve hamburgers and sandwiches.
Pluses? Extremely fast, and the plastic containers they use for takeout hold up way better than the typical boxes. You can easily (if you can stomach the food) make two to three meals out of the entrees.
I order take-out from Yu Choy from time to time. I finally decided that their entrees are awful, after recently ordering Chicken Lo Mein and getting some type of Chicken-hunan dish with some ramen-type noodles sporadically throughout, I decided I will no longer order from here. Not chicken lo-mein, not very good, I am sure there has to be better Chinese somewhere in Chicago.
I've had their chicken and broccoli before...it is pretty bland but not awful.
I do enjoy their Crab Rangoon, but their Eggrolls and dumplings are a little too "mushy".
I'm pretty sure the only way I would eat here again would be on a dare.
We were given the wrong menus. Our appetizers tasted like they were fried in peanut oil that George Washington Carver used.
I'll admit, our main courses weren't gross...but they weren't good either.
As a side note...I'm not too sure any Chinese people work there. Maybe they know something we don't.
p.s. They have BBQ ribs on the menu. Not Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs...Southern BBQ Ribs. Huh?
Lunch munchies. Craving for slippery beefy wide rice noodles. Nearest dealer? Yu Choy.
I ordered the beef chow how, Â egg rolls, and the meatless hot and sour soup, all in lunch portions. Beef chow how was great, generously sized for lunch (I had *maybe* half and will easily have lunch for tomorrow as well), and perfectly chewy/slippery. Egg rolls were your standard fatty crunchy treat. The real star was the hot and sour soup which, for just about $3, is going to be my default go-to in future, trumping the 7-11 $3.20 can of chunky beef stew I usually grab if I forget to pack lunch.
Not the cheapest in town. They do lunch portions, but not lunch specials, so no entree-egg rolls-fried rice-soda deals here. Still, worth it.
ETA: They may in fact do lunch specials. Call and ask. And delivery is superfast. Did I mention the egg rolls? Damn they're good. Small selection of American favorites like ribs, fried chicken and shrimp also available.
I was in the mood for some good, old fashioned, down and dirty Chinese food - like the stuff I used to get as a kid, and happened upon Yu Choy! I was pleasantly surprised to find an evening special dinner (most of the time you are lucky to find a M-F lunch only deal). I loved my meal; the fried rice was great, too! The serving was so generous I got around 3 meals out of it. And the nice plastic take-out containers are great to use again and again! Definitely will be back!
Review Source:I'm no Chinese food connoisseur, and I won't pretend to be a foodie, but Yu Choy is definitely a-ok. I work a few blocks away so I end up eating lunch there once every couple of weeks. It's quick, it's cheap, and it's tasty. I love that they offer brown rice, and their lunch portions are the perfect size for your midday meal.
I wouldn't make a special trip here or order delivery for a group dinner, but you can't find a better deal in the costly neighborhood. Even the McDonald's nearby is pricey. Check it out!
We were in search of any open food establishment on New Year's Day. We drove around in circles, researched YELP on our smart phones, however could not find any location open. Â After about 30 minutes we found Yu Choy!
There was one other patron when we walked in. Â Naturally it being a holiday we thought nothing of it. Â The dining room looked a bit unkempt. Â I ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken and it was very tasteless. Â I took two bites and I was done!! Â The restrooms were dirty. Â Ugh!!
Chinese food in Chicago is the absolute worst. Yes, I know that many of the places in Chinatown get good reviews, but it really shouldn't be hard for a couple of Chinese people to put together some tasty standard Americanized Chinese food at a local spot. Maybe it's because there are no Chinese people working in any of the spots? What kind of Chinese place serves pizza and Italian beefs? Yeah, pretty much all of these types of place in this city.
I've gotten to the point where I only order soup and fried rice from Chinese restaurants because for whatever reason the chicken in all of these places is disgusting, the sauces in every dish are the same, and overall its so blech I don't even know why I bother.
Well, I bother because I'm Jewish and from NYC and Chinese food is as important to a NYC Jew as corn beef sandwiches and matzoh ball soup hence the reason why I have to settle and I mean REALLY settle for something resembling greasy, MSG rocking goodness.
OK, so Yu Choy was my go to delivery place when we lived in the loop. It was always there in like 15 minutes and I ignored how bad everything else was as the egg drop soup and pork fried rice were pretty decent. When we moved to the West Loop I looked for a place that may be equally as shitty if not a tad better and came across Jim Ching. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/jim-chings-restaurant-chicago">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a> This review is for them too, but I'll give Jim Chings two stars for the following reason:
In the past four months when ordering Chinese, we've turned to Jim Ching. I stuck with egg drop soup and pork fried rice and tried a chicken dish for shits and giggles. The soup and rice were actually tasty, the chicken was disgusting. They too have pizza, french fries, and Americans working the Wok. However, a few days ago, I decided to order from Yu Choy and I realized that their soup and rice was way worse than Jim Chings which is a pretty amazing feat in and of itself.
With that said, Yu Choy has been peaced out of my menu drawer and while two star restaurants aren't "my thing" - Jim Ching will have to get my business when I need the soup and rice fix.
If anyone knows of any Chinese people looking to move to Chicago please let me know.
When the Tsang on Wells closed for some reason, this is where the orders came from and they were always decent, until recently. Â Very recently.
I've ordered the Mongolian Beef a thousand times and the last few, its been blech. Â The last time, it went straight to the garbage. Â Not even an argument could save it. Â The quality of the meat is really compromised.
And no fortune cookie.
I ordered from Yu Choy yesterday, as I was in the mood for greasy Chinese food after a long day/night of drinking. Â I waivered over 2 or 3 stars, but I'm giving it 3 stars for a few reasons: they were earlier than what was expected, the food was super hot when it got to me (I had to wait a good 10 minutes before I could even try the soup!), it's cheap, and most importantly, it was the greasy Chinese I wanted. Â I ordered a few things for variety and to have as leftovers: Â chicken fried rice, lo mein, and egg drop soup. Â All were good (again, not great, but good), and the portions were enormous. Â The soup alone was enough to feed 10 people.
Now, if you're looking for truly good Asian cuisine, this is most definitely not the place for you. Â But to cure a hangover? Â I welcome you, Yu Choy!
After a couple of pints I decided to make my way to the lovely brown line (grrr....) and it hit me that I was starving. My stomach had had enough. ANY kind of sustenance would due at that point. "MMMM CHINESE", my stomach screamed as we passed Yu Choy.
Hmm...the person behind the counter was so flippant I imagined this going through her head, "la la, tra la la".
I ordered the Beef and Broccoli. Eh. The sauce was a little slimey, but the vegetables were cooked perfect and the beef was tender. The rice was a little overcooked and rather mushy.
Can't say I would come back here.
Yu Choy is only 2 blocks from my work so on average, I'm here once a week. Â After a quick review of the menu, you'll probably be surprised to see BURGERS made the long and distinguished list. Â The multi-cuisine format may work for the Cheesecake Factory but c'mon guys, this is a downtown corner Chinese restaurant. Â Keep it simple and you'll have a pleasant experience.
The staff is so friendly! Â They always know what I'll be having-- either the wonton soup or the pork pot stickers. Â Both are tasty. The soup's broth is somewhat bland, but the scallions and generous portion of pork-filled dumplings are what make this soup stellar. The pot stickers are great on their best day, however, sometimes they're a bit undercooked and you'll have to chew your way through a sticky, gummy consistency. Most of the time they're great, though. Â
I've also tried the egg rolls (along with 2 fellow co-workers) and we all agreed that they were delicious!
Stop by for carry-out if you're in the 'hood. Â Super fast, super friendly and super cheap better-than-average Chinese food.
Ok, so I DID ask for American Chinese food.
And that's what I got. Â Don't expect real chinese food or gourmet chinese food, but considering the price and amount of food I got, this place is decent. Â I don't know how much other people eat, but I can seriously get at least 4-5 meals out of one order (delivery too!). Â The delivery came quickly and I live about 8 blocks away, in fact less than the expected time. Â
The egg rolls were... Â nothing special. Â I'd say pass.
The General Tso's Chicken - I asked for it with broccoli instead of bell peppers which they did do. Â The Chicken comes separately - interesting concept. Â Kind of a weird vinegar-y after taste but overall ok.
The Shrimp Lo Mein - first time I ever had lo mein with thin egg noodles instead of thick noodles, but, whatever... Â it had a decent amount of actual food i.e. shrimp, veges. Â
Overall: Â not great, not bad, if I am starving again and want take-out, I would definitely still consider this place
The only thing worse about Yu Choy than the gawdawful food is the music they choose to noise pollute Wells St. with. Â What does hip-hop have to do with (bad) Chinese food, eh Mr. Choy? Â What are you trying to tell us? Â Are you compensating for gastronomic terrible-ness by providing passers-by a little bit of way-too-loud Fall Out Boy? Â Hoping to drown out the groans of indigestion-riddled diners with some Beyonce? Â Working on improving your culinary skills to the beats of Rhianna? Â
I seriously doubt that last one is true, so please, turn the music down and concentrate on not sucking.
I have to be completely honest. Â I live very close to Yu Choy, and I still can't bring myself to go in there. Â I have never had anything better than pretty horrible chinese food from there. Â I feel bad for rating them poorly, as the staff is truly friendly (which is why I give them even the one star) ...
But if this is the last real restaurant open in my neighborhood, and I absolutely have to eat...I will walk to Mickey D's. I have no recommendations, other than to avoid it, until they take some pointers from Friendship or Moon Palace.
So most of the Chinese food in Chicago is easy to hate, but I can't hate this place. It's too... okay.
Besides being reasonably priced and fresh, they don't mind making ingredient substitutions and manage to keep the orders straight. 3 stars for that alone.
There are little bonuses, too. For example, you can get just about anything steamed (rather than fried). Or you can get a beef, fries and cannoli. It's a junk food free-for-all. The vegetarian section of the menu is pretty extensive by itself, but since they also substitute tofu for any meat, there are a lot of choices.
Chinscratcher: If you eat in, your portions are large enough to feed three people. If you carry out, they're appropriate for one person.
The place is kinda beat with little atmosphere, but I can always count on hearing some Milli Vanilli while waiting to carry out.
I can't believe the reviews on this place so far. I love Yu Choy! I always get the chicken or beef fried rice, but my friends also really like the Kung Pao and the Sweet and Sour Chicken. They lose a star from me b/c deliver takes about an hour no matter when i order, and i only live 8 blocks away and they refuse to keep my information on computer. (maybe i shouldn't be lazy and get take-out, but i can't handle the winters here). Â But the food is always hot when it gets here and so yummy! My out of town friends ask to order from here when they are in town. Â Maybe my expectations aren't that high for a downtown area chinese place, but i really recommend them.
Review Source:A hotel concierge said it was open for another twenty minutes. Â I got there in five and had to bang on the door for a while to be let in. Â I should have just walked away.
This is the worst Chinese food in Chicago.
I couldn't finish the Crab Rangoon because it had some strange pepper taste that's not supposed to be in the dish. Â The Pot Stickers were mushy and the Egg Rolls had peanut butter in them for whatever reason.
AVOID
I actually feel a little bad for this place. Â Because I've eaten at a veritable cornucopia of Chinese places here in the Em-Dub (once again, Midwest), but this is the only one whose name I remember. Â And hence, this is the only one who will incur the wrath of all that is unholy and unsavory with Em-Dub-ern Chinese food.
I never realized how often I eat Chinese food. Â 4, maybe 5 times a week at least. Â And since I've been here for nearly 14 days now, the lack of decent Chinese places is hurting me. Â Like, literally. Â I've been throwing up because the food is so bad. Â (It hurts figuratively too. Â Throwing up my own ethinicity's food is like trying to bleach the yellow tint out of my skin)
Anyways, I'm trying *really* hard to get my Chink on, but the Em-Dub just ain't working with me. Â Take this here restaurant, Yu Choy. Â The chow fun I ordered was um, deep fried (what?!?) and now gooey or chewy like it's supposed to be, but crispy and crunchy. Â I ordered a bowl of won tons, and the meat was a bit *too* processed tasting. Â I bite in again, and I look. Â Inside it's pink. Â But it's not raw. Â And I don't see any actual meat particles. Â I think, wait, could it be .. NO! Â Is it.... SPAM won tons?!?
As a side note, I was hanging out with a friend from San Francisco who, unprovoked by me, said "Chicago chinese food hella sucks. Â I would give my left nut for some San Tung now." Â I'd go a bit further, though. Â I'd give away my yellow-tinted skin for some San Tung now. Â Gots Damn.
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