Phoenix Restaurant

I make the trip here about once every month or two when I come to Chinatown. Consistency is near perfect, great dim sum, and friendly, fast service. We go with groups of different sizes, and always order quite a bit of dim sum! We've enjoyed almost everything we've tried, but the standouts are the Xiao long bao, BBQ pork crepes are the best in the area, and you can't go wrong with fried shrimp rolls. And use copious amounts of the hot chili oil, of course! Unfortunately, the days of feasting on dim sum and receiving a laughably small bill are over...the dishes haven't shrunk, but the prices have gone up over the past few years. I'm not marking them down for that: it's the same at every dim sum place I've been to. Just a sign of the times, I guess.

Excellent traditional dim sum like the old country. All the classics are quite good - anything shrimp, anything taro, chicken feet, steamed short ribs, egg tarts made the old fashion melt-in-your-mouth way They also had English/Mandarin speakers (this was a Saturday) so don't be a shy! Bonus: they have pretty great views of the main plaza area

An authentic dim sum experience! I was thankful to go with a friend who speaks Chinese so she could help us…otherwise I might have been a bit confused but I actually liked that. It felt like we were transported into China for the hour! Fast service. Variety of interesting foods on menu. Certainly fun to go with a group of adventurous eaters. We Ioved the bbq pork buns…”It’s like a donut with meat inside”🤣- 8 year old with us The pot stickers were big and packed with flavor. Dumplings were all good but not incredible. Make sure and ask for extra chili oil and soy sauce. I would return for a fun experience and interesting food at a reasonable price!

7/17/2023 Still classic HK tea house vibe and flavors. The only decent dim sum place left for us 😂 2022 We returned after a 9 years hiatus. It still tastes like it should! I was delighted to find the Lotus Leave Sticky Rice with chicken without pork or shrimp 😂 while the rest of the ladies complained it is not authentic without them. Nonetheless, they hit all the right spots for dim sum reminiscent of childhood. So for the nostalgia of seeing the square from the floor to ceiling picture window, for the authentic Cantonese flavors, the great chrysanthemum tea, the witty waiter and attentive service, a 5 star is warranted to keep the legacy of this place going in Chicago Chinatown. Besides, they updated their menu to be quite veg. friendly. So no excuse 😆 go find something yum!

We recently had the pleasure of revisiting this dim sum restaurant, and it instantly transported us back to the days when it was our absolute favorite. The nostalgic flavors and the warm presence of the familiar staff created a truly memorable dining experience. During our visit, we were treated to a variety of outstanding dishes, but the real stars were the fun rolls. To dim sum enthusiasts, a plate of tender fun rolls filled with beef or tofu sets the golden standard for a quality establishment, and this restaurant certainly exceeded expectations. The flavors were well-balanced, and the texture was just perfect. Another standout dish that delighted our taste buds was the beef offal. Its bold and savory profile made it an instant favorite at our table. However, we were a bit disappointed to find that our beloved dish, the fresh squid in shrimp paste, was no longer available. It was a dish we always looked forward to, and its absence was felt. Despite this minor setback, we are eagerly anticipating our next visit to explore more of their delectable offerings. We are confident that the restaurant's exceptional dishes and the warm hospitality of the staff will continue to make it a favorite spot for dim sum enthusiasts like us.

Located on the street directly across the main Chinatown square, Phoenix is a popular spot— expect a wait especially for weekend dimsum, which is what my friends and I came for. The interior is large, spacious, and decorated simply. Our orders came out pretty fast and the servers were kind. They were attentive in refilling our tea kettles, but never refilled our waters unfortunately. I felt that while all the dimsum dishes were good, the menu selection was a little limited in terms of meats and vegetables, compared to other dim sum places I’ve tried in the area. There didn’t seem to be as many meat options and there were basically no vegetable options besides a stuffed eggplant dish, which wasn’t that good in my opinion. Despite that, they made all the other dishes really well—from custard buns to egg tarts (and taro egg tarts) to shumai to crepes. Everything tasted super fresh. We ordered a lot of things (most of them are pictured), but a couple of the standout ones were: - Taro Egg Tarts: delicious and unique; I’ve never seen this offered at any other dimsum spot I’ve been to and I lowkey liked it even more than the traditional egg tart. -Steamed Malay Sponge Cake: this is also a pretty unique menu item that I don’t commonly see at other dimsum spots, and it was really good, spongey, and flavorful! - Chicken Feet with Homemade Sauce: A dimsum staple, the homemade sauce addition was really good. - Short ribs with pepper: Tasty and well marinated, nicely textured meat. - Beef crepes: I normally don’t love crepes, but the beef crepes here were really good in my opinon. It was also a bit more expensive than the other dimsum spots in Chinatown that we’ve been to—for our group of 10, it came out to $27 per person, which is a bit hefty.