Review Fat Rice - Chicago

Fun fusion restaurant! I got the house made beef noodles and really enjoyed it. My only hesitation was that the beef pieces were really small compared to the noodle width so I felt like I was getting too much noodle in each bite. The prices were reasonable and the service was fast and friendly! The atmosphere was a lot of fun too and it’s walking distance to Logan Square Improv which is another plus.

The food is simply amazing and it just feels so warm overall. It's comfort food on another level. From the consistency of the noodles to the spiciness and tanginess of their sauces this is a place that we will not forget. Can't forget to mention their pastries... One word "YUMM" must try it! You'll be back for more.

We had incredible noodles and dumplings on the patio. I liked the patio a lot, it was a nice place to be. We had both the shrimp and the pork dumplings. I did prefer the pork dumplings. I also liked the beef noodles. Was yummy

The crispy rice was great! Loved the dumplings & fried rice, desserts too. The pork noodles could use a little flavour, and a little less fattyness. Overall great time and would definitely return!

Might be my new favorite place! We came here during happy hour to take advantage of discounted menu. The smoked tofu fried rice is a must! Jalapeño corn fritters and charcoal chicken were delicious! If you are used to eating spicy food then you’d have to ask for extra spicy for peanut chili noodles !

I recently visited after a few months of venturing out to other restaurants and honestly, I don't know why it took me so long to come back! The hospitality is amazing! Shout out to Abby, Jess, and Erick who all contributed to an amazing dinner experience for myself. I like to dine by myself and have brought one other individual with me and every time, the food, the customer service, the drinks all remain consistent. This is a restaurant I recommend to everyone who's looking for a superb asian cuisine. There's SOO much creativity behind each and every dish, you would've thought the chef was God's right hand. The food is art all around. If the dish/dessert doesn't look appetizing, it's most likely one of the best flavored item on the menu. Get ready to blow your taste buds away!! Cheers 🥂✨

Finally there are some asian fusion food that actually makes sense to me. It’s Macanese, everything are so naturally. The chicken were juicy and full of flavor and the egg tarts are some of the best ones I have ever had in North American!

Wow! Noodle bird at Fat Rice has some of the best and quality Asian food I have had. It was easy to find a spot and an employee quickly came over to clean off our table. Since it was our first time here we went up to the counter and the employee explained that we have to order at the counter when we are ready and gave us some great recommendations. We ended up ordering shrimp dumplings, peanut noodles and spicy cucumbers. Everything was fantastic but my favorite was the homemade dumplings. Also they offer a variety of fun self serve hot sauces. The restaurant had street parking and isn’t very large, so plan accordingly. However, noodle bird at fat rice is well worth any wait and I would absolutely recommend it.

This is a part cocktail lounge, part cafe, part home kitchen serving fusion Portuguese-Chinese food that hits so perfectly it literally heals my soul. Every time I eat here my day is demonstrably better. Their pork bun was so good it allowed me to process my parent's divorce. This is a glorious gem of a place that will earn your affection at bite one.

This is a great gem of a place! We started with the fresh made daily iced tea (it’s a different flavor each day) and the samosas. The samosas were very tasty and a nice start to our meal. Everything only got better from there. The green curry mussels were amazing— we practically licked the bowl clean. The sauce was delicious and the mussels nicely cooked and flavorful. The bread that came with the mussels was nice and crusty on the outside but lovely and soft on the inside. Along with that, we had garlicky greens which were a lovely side dish. Next we had the beautiful hash. It was meaty and the eggs on top were perfectly cooked— allowing the yolk to run beautifully when cut. Finally we had the peri peri chicken. The chicken has a great flavor but, a word of warning, it is very spicy. Our server seemed kind of new. He warned us about the mussels being spicy (they weren’t), but didn’t say a word about the spice level of the chicken. Overall, this was a very enjoyable meal— I will definitely be back. We skipped dessert because we went to the Fat Rice Bakery instead. You can check out my review of that, if you are interested.

Takeaway: All-around great Chinese / Portuguese fusion with stand-out charcoal grilled proteins and an absolutely incredible egg tart (probably best in the city). I also want to flag the negative notoriety that owner Abe Conlon had garnered due to his workplaces practices and insensitive handling of DEI issues (most notably the cultural appropriation baked into the walls of this place). I'm focusing mostly on my personal experience in this review, but want to echo and acknowledge the many employees that have had poor (at-best) experiences under his management. Context: Dined in for dinner with two friends and did the meal for four. I haven't had a ton of Macau food before specifically (other than egg tarts), but have had plenty of Chinese food and a good amount of Portuguese. What I Got: Spicy Cucumbers (7.5/10) Cucumber salad (featuring wood ear mushrooms) tossed in a spicy sauce. I thought the sauce here was top-notch (and saved it the whole meal to mix with my rice later on), but the cucumbers themselves were perhaps a little bit disappointing. They were a bit too bitter for my taste and distracted from the overall great flavors (mushrooms were awesome though!) Ginger Cabbage Salad (6.5/10) Name kind of describes it all. This probably tastes exactly how you imagine it. Certainly not bad and a decent complement to the richer flavors that come later on, but nothing special by itself. Pork Dumplings (8/10) Thinly-wrapped ground pork dumplings served in a garlic & chili sauce - very reminiscent of a Sichuan-style chao shou with both the filling and the sauce. They did a great job at getting the perfect balance of savory and spicy with the sauce and you can really taste the quality of the pork they use. I could eat dozens of these. Smoked Tofu Fried Rice (7/10) Coconut rice stir-fried with tofu, curry sauce, and an array of different vegetables. While not something that could carry a meal on its own (which is how I feel about the vast majority of fried rice), I thought this was a great complement to the rest of the meal, particularly with the char siu (who doesn't love meat and rice). Put some of their chili oil on it if you can! Char Siu BBQ Berkshire Pork (8.5/10) Char siu over coconut rice with (uncooked?) scallions on the side. First of all, it's sort of weird that the scallions weren't better incorporated into the dish, but I'll just let it slide as decorative garnish I guess. The pork itself is great - tender in a way that is pretty different from most char siu I've had in the past. I don't know if I necessarily prefer it like this over the traditional way, but certainly appreciated the switch-up. Ultimately a pretty impressive char siu that doesn't stray too much from the classically sweet grilled pork that I've loved my whole life, while still being its own dish. Half Charcoal Chicken (8/10) Perfectly charcoal grilled chicken in a lemon / garlic / chili sauce over a bed of coconut rice - what more could you want? This was a wonderfully cooked half-chicken - the breast was a bit dry, but that's how grilled chicken breast almost always turns out. This reminded me heavily of a refined peri-peri chicken - perhaps there is a Macau-equivalent here, but that's all I was thinking about while eating this. Not that that's a bad thing - I adore peri-peri chicken. There's an undercurrent of spice here that is balanced by the various sources of rice that were provided. Egg Tart (9/10) Portuguese-style egg tarts, on-par with the best I've had in my life and certainly the top ones in Chicago. Perfectly flaky crust with a custard that's just the right balance of gooey and runny with a precise sweetness that will keep you craving more and more

First time dining here and was not disappointed. Flavors were really good with each dish. Make reservations early if you plan on going because they fill up fast. The bakery next door was just as good.

This place has a good vibe to it, I believe that this is created by the delicate fusing of Macau/Chinese elements to the overall design of the restaurant. In terms of the food, the qualities are pretty decent. We ordered the egg tart and the "Fat Rice" Arroz Gordo. Egg tart is not something you can get everywhere in the US, let alone good ones. This is why I was really happy when I tried their egg tarts—they are really good! The texture of the custard is rich and smooth, the crust is soft, and the caramel is browned just to the right level. The only thing that I had a problem with is that the tarts were not served fresh so the crust lost some of the crunchiness. Hope it will be fresh the next time. The Arroz Gordo was, on the other hand, a little underwhelming. For the meats, the sausage and the shrimp were great, the char siu and the chicken tasted a little dry, but still alright. The rice itself was pretty bland, and it was only tasteful when combined with the mushroom soy sauce that they provides. In general, I wasn't too impressed by this signature dish of them. Nevertheless, I think this place is very worth a visit.

Amazing restaurant with friendly stuff and unique style food. Everything from the bakery looks super delicious. The Portuguese egg tart is a must have! Haven’t had any better egg tarts than this one in Chicago area. The Fat Rice has a variety of meat in it, including beef, pork, chicken, and topped with two prawns.

This place has the best pastries!! Try the egg tarts or the morning bun and you will be in heaven. The food here is excellent as well…I recommend the Veggie Mac and the Shrimp and Rice. Excellent service, amazing bakery!

Tasty Asian fusion with lots of gluten free options. Don’t miss the cornbread fitters, spicy shrimp & charcoal chicken.

Noodlebird at FatRice with its casual ordering and atmosphere delivers a diner experience up a notch with some amazing Asian food. We did the custom dinner for four special with the following choices: Proteins: Char Siu Pork, Spicy Jumbo Shrimp Sides: smoked tofu fried rice It then also comes with coconut rice, pork & ginger dumplings, ginger cabbage salad, spicy cucumbers and egg custard tarts. We also added some shrimp dumplings and guava donuts. Some highlights the char siu pork had amazing burnt ends that delighted, smoked tofu rice was spectacular highly recommend a generous dollop of the attack! Of the nightcrawlers cherry bomb ghost pepper hot sauce on this one. The crews highlights were the pork, shrimp dumplings, tofu rice and and guava donuts and the ghost pepper hot sauce. We purchased a bottle then and there. One note: it is nice to see the restaurant prices to pay fair wages, however this was missed on our first order and so 20%+ tip was automatically selected on our first order which for four people can add up and when it's already priced in feels a bit mischievous to autoselect.

What can I say... It's amazing. We only stopped because we drove past and saw they had a picture of a very specific Portuguese sausage I was searching for on their windows (they don't make it any more). But now this is the only place I'm willing to drop an ungodly amount of money as a broke teacher. The food, no matter what you get, is amazing. The fact that pretty much everything is gluten free? Even better. My non gluten free partner also loves it. You should definitely go. Get the jalapeño corn fritters, too.

Came here with a group to celebrate a birthday. Since we were a large group the restaurant gave us a fixed menu of a variety of samplings. At $45 per person not including drinks, tip, or tax I hoped the food would be excellent. It was far from excellent. We were served olives with pits, pickled cabbage, pickled carrots, fava beans, and a large bowl of burned rice with pineapple pieces layered with sausage, pork, 3 giant prawns and a few clams. This is the most disappointing meal I've had in a long time. It always surprises me how restaurants like this stay in business, over charging for terrible food. At the end of dinner it ended up being $60 per person. I would have rather spent my hard earned cash on groceries. The one star was for the attentive wait staff. Needless to say our entire group left feeling like we got ripped off and wanting a burger.

We were so pleased with our first visit here. The dumplings and arroz gordo were delicious. Dani was very attentive and pleasant. After lunch, we stopped in next door at the bakery, and we happened across the kitchen staff learning about a new dessert. We were given samples and they were fantastic. We will definitely come back and recommend this lovely place for others to experience. Thank you so much for your hospitality and good luck.

Possibly the best lunch ever! Staff were very helpful with menu choices and wine pairings. Love the bottomless quality offered. The Arroz Gordo is art in a bowl. Enough for 3 folks. Glad we finally made the trek!

The food is amazing. The best dumplings I've ever had (and I've lived in Hong Kong and Tokyo). This place is not cheap, but it's worth it; be ready to splurge to get the full experience.

Back for a second visit, I was again delighted with the delicious cocktails, the waiter who explained everything and was attentive, the selection and quality of the food, the perfect pace of the meal, ease of parking, and the great music. We had only been given the options of 5:45 or 9:00 reservations. I would have preferred 7ish but 5:45 worked out okay. Make your reservation far in advance- it’s worth it. Wonderful restaurant!

Legit one of the best meals of my life. Service was awesome, food was incredible, even the homemade soda was perfect. Leave room for the egg tart. Make reservations. Eat everything.

Amazing food, Entertaining staff, and the best chef in Chicago, Eric Sjaaheim! An experience I will never forget!

A bit over priced, the food did not create an explosion of flavor in my mouth. I was excited about trying the place, but will not become a regular any time soon.

Dre was awesome as our server and the food was mind blowing! Highly recommend it!!

Minus the limited seating space, this place really delivered in terms of awesome food and ambiance! The rice dish with the chicken, prawns, sausage, pork, tea egg, mussels, and raisins (probably left out a bunch) was amazing. Go early!

Fantastic!! Incredible food and spectacular service!! Highly recommend!!

Food was fantastic! Incredible menu but portion sizes are somewhat small if you are a big eater, fortunately we aren't. Highly recommended!

Went there for Father's Day was surprised that my husband got a free drink, to celebrate the day from fat rice. We ordered the prawns for an appetizer, and they gave us little towels and Loughman to wipe her hands after we de-shelled them. They were delicious and the special sauce. We also ordered little samosas for an appetizer for the four of us. I had their chewy rice noodle stirfry and it was amazing! Everyone like their dish. Would go back there!

The food was amazing!!! Went here for the first time on May 18, 2017 and was totally blown away by the complex flavors of the food. Service was attentive. Our server was pleasant and personable, as was the woman who took reservation (the day before) and greeted us at the door, other than that, no one really spoke to us. That was a bit strange. The only drawback was music was too loud and made it difficult to have a conversation across the table. All together, the food and drinks are really something to experience and I plan on returning because there are so many more items on the menu that I want to try.

Loved everything! The decor, service And most of all the food. Very knowledgeable staff.

After reading about this place in several different magazines, we finally made it in... and wow, the food was delicious. Staff was friendly, and the decor is pretty cool. All around fantastic experience, and a fabulous start to our Chicago get-away. We will be back!