"New" Anne's Mandarin- Hey, that's not bad

Was feeling the pull of delivery Chinese tonight and recently had a menu for the "new" Anne's Mandarin stuck in my gate- new management and a new chef, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. My usual delivery choice in the "Americanized" Chinese genre is Papajin. Friendship Chinese, imho, is just too inconsistent to spend $40 on. Papajin has never blown me away, though, although their mu shu chicken is consistently good with house-made pancakes.

But, anyways, tried Anne's which is considerably cheaper than Papajin AND offers small/large sizes on their entrees, a bonus for those of us with only 2 folks in the house. When I called, I was asked very politely for my phone number and if I could be called back, as he (Gary- possibly the owner) was speaking with a customer. He did in fact call back in about 5 minutes and took my order. I was pleasantly surprised when he said they were out of string beans, as the string beans hadn't looked good that day. Always good to know there's some thought given to the quality and freshness of the food-- don't know that I can say that bout all the chinese places round this neck of the woods.

We ordered a TON of food, as we were hungry and wanted to sample as much as we could to determine if it was worth ordering again.

Egg rolls: large, with a hint of peanut butter and actual discernable chunks of veggies and chicken contained within. I thought they were quite good but my husband, who doesn't care for peanut butter in egg rolls, thought they were only okay

Steamed potstickers: handmade, small, delicate and good with ground pork, ginger and garlic. Came with a vinegar/soy dipping sauce and some chili sauce to stir in. Highlight of the meal for me.

Orange chicken: Everything that orange chicken should be! Crispy, with a sweet/spicy sauce with ACTUAL red chilis and discernible slices of orange peel. Meat was tender, mostly thigh meat, and, who whould've thunk it, from an actual chicken.

Veg Lo Mein: The low point of the meal. A little scorched tasting and a bit dry.

Cashew Shrimp: my husband's entree which I didn't get around to sampling. He enjoyed it but will probably order something else in the future as the vegetables employed were cheifly celery, mushrooms and water chestnuts, he was hoping for some more vegetables, and the menu didn't really describe the dish fully. But, good garlicky flavor and cashews, according to him- and reasonably sized and well-cooked shrimp- not tiny rubberbands.


The "small" sizes were more than enough that we have a bit left over for tomorrow. Honestly, the "small" portions seem about the same size as the portions at Papajin- where identical entrees are at least $3 more.

We're moving it to the top of our "Chinese" list and hope that the quality will continue.

Give it a try if you're in the Lincoln Park or Bucktown area. Not too shabby.


1550 W. Fullerton
Chicago, IL 60614
773 348-0890

Good to know! I've despaired of having good take-out Chinese in Bucktown, since I think Papajin is overpriced and they only have Wonton soup for two. Did you ever try the old Anne's? It was pretty bad.

I had never tried the old Anne's as it groaned its last breath before I moved from Lakeview (where, by the way, Yen's on Clark falls into the same category of "that ain't bad).

I am quite pleased with the new Anne's for the same reasons as you.

Don't expect it to change your life, and don't expect it to replace your favorite Chinatown haunt (mine is Lao Sez Chuan). But, every once in awhile when you need some egg rolls and orange chicken, it will get the job done quite well and remarkably cheaply- esp. compared to Papajin and Friendship.

I looked for an online menu to point people to should they want to give it a try but can't seem to find one. If you'd like a .pdf of a scan of the menu, let me know.

I'm currently converting all my takeout menus to .pdfs I am a foodie and a tech geek. No wonder high school sucked. That musical theatre thing probably didn't help either...

bananasandwiches wrote:I looked for an online menu to point people to should they want to give it a try but can't seem to find one. If you'd like a .pdf of a scan of the menu, let me know.

I'm currently converting all my takeout menus to .pdfs I am a foodie and a tech geek. No wonder high school sucked. That musical theatre thing probably didn't help either...

Seems like a ton of work that's reproducing something that's already being done. Menupages.com doesn't have Anne's yet, but you could submit it.

http://chicago.menupages.com/

I have been a fan of New Anne's for a while now, but in recent weeks they have not been answering the phones. I haven't had time to stop by the storefront and see if they're still in business. Any thoughts or news of this?

ajenkins82 wrote:I have been a fan of New Anne's for a while now, but in recent weeks they have not been answering the phones. I haven't had time to stop by the storefront and see if they're still in business. Any thoughts or news of this?

I haven't ordered from them in a little while. I know they are closed on Tuedays, and occasionally the phone will ring quite a bit before anyone answers...

Just called now and no answer...hmmm...perhaps they are on vacation?

I'll swing by there tomorrow and let you know what I can suss out.

If anyone lives in the immediate area and can do a drive by, feel free to report your findings here

I live in the area and swung by today to see what the deal was and a sign on the door read "closed for redecorating". I always wondered about this spot and am happy to hear that its not bad, I havent been in there since the late 80's or maybe early 90's when it used to be a hamburger place called "Glenn's" and they had great biscuits and gravy and from what I remember a great burger, my dad used to take me and my cousins there for breakfest early in the morning when we would go on roadtrips and I remember it being bombastic.

Still closed for redecorating.

Le Sigh.