Chinese in Niles/Glenview?

Hello all, been reading this forum for quite a while, it's been a great help. Thank you for everyone's contributions...

We just recently moved to the southwest portion of Glenview and are looking for some solid Chinese food. It seems very hard to find good Chinese in the burbs. We are very close to the Pita Inn in Glenview on Milwaukee so that would be a good reference point.

Thanks again!

China Chef in Morton Grove is very good and its not too far from the pita Inn on Millwaukee you mentioned. They have excellent Mongolian Beef and Fried Rice.

China Chef
5920 Lincoln Ave
(between Marmora Ave & Mason Ave)
Morton Grove, IL 60053
(847) 967-6050
www.chinachef.org

http://www.yelp.com/biz/china-chef-mort ... =date_desc

China Chef would be my recommendation as well.

Lenghtly LTHForum China Chef thread --> here

The Palace Restaurant in Morton Grove is mentioned in several locations on LTH. Food is solid Cantonese with some interesting chef specialities. Owners are incredibly friendly and are more than willing to accomodate any special dietary requests.

Palace Restaurant
9236 Waukegan Rd.
Morton Grove, IL

http://www.thepalacecantonese.com/

Thirding the China Chef love!

China Town Express in Morton Grove if you want decent Cantonese food (read: good for the suburbs, so so against other restaurants in Chinatown). Their family menus (dinner for 3, 6, 8, etc...) are a decent value and they allow for substitutions.

6121 Dempster Street
Morton Grove, IL 60053-2953
(847) 967-8822

If you want good wonton noodle soup/7 treasures type food, then go to Wonton Gourmet in Des Plaines.

1405 Elmhurst Road
Des Plaines, IL 60018-5526
(847) 427-1183

Any non-Cantonese recommendations?

Unfortunately, not so much.....

Chinese do-it-yourself is well represented, however, at Richwell Market on Dempster in Morton Grove. An outlier of the city's larger Richwell Market, this place is packed with most of what you need to prepare Chinese, plus they always have a few roasted ducks available.

Richwell Market
6120 Dempster Street
Morton Grove, IL 60053-2951
(847) 929-2228

Also, if you head a bit farther west, there are a number of Chinese places along Golf Road in Hoffman Estates, many of them serving some of the less familiar dishes (duck tongue salad, for example) or making noodles on site. How close to home do you need to stay?

If you don't mind a bit of a drive, this place makes their own noodles on site:
Yu's Mandarin
Mandarin & Szechwan Cuisine
200 East Golf Road. Schaumburg, IL 60173 | tel: 847-882-5340

And straight up Milwaukee Ave, going north, is Golden Chef, which has been written up a couple of times here. Not in Glenview, but only a couple of miles up the road, in Wheeling.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20314

So not like being in the heart of Chinatown, but there is decent Chinese available.

I'd agree that all the restaurants mentioned so far are well worth visitng. I'd like to add Golden Chef in Wheeling to the list. Very consistent good food and, with one waitress exception, good service. The owners are friendly and have a "healthy" section on the menu with low fat or fat free dishes. It certainly isn't a Little Three Happiness experience, but for good Chinese in the burbs it's a go.

Golden Chef
600 S. Milwaukee
Wheeling, IL

pacent wrote:If you want good wonton noodle soup/7 treasures type food, then go to Wonton Gourmet in Des Plaines.

1405 Elmhurst Road
Des Plaines, IL 60018-5526
(847) 427-1183

Here's an earlier thread:
Wonton Gourmet gets a vote from me. Some of my favorite fried rice there.

I'd like to confess a weakness for Senoya, a pan-asian buffet with Korean emphasis. It won't be mistaken for fine dining but most of the items are fair or better. At $12pp or so, it's reasonable and I've never had an unpleasant experience.

Can you tell me a bit more about Senoya? I have three kids who like a variety and the price seems about right.

JACEY wrote:Can you tell me a bit more about Senoya? I have three kids who like a variety and the price seems about right.

Senoya
8750 W. Golf Rd.
Niles, IL 60016
847-299-7717
It's a buffet that leans towards Korean. Also good BBQ and noodle dishes.

The last time I ate at Senoya was maybe 5 weeks ago. I was in a terrible rush and had the buffet. I will never eat there again. Even the rice was bad. The noodles were disgusting, seriously I'd take any New China Buffet in town over this place. They dream of Panda Express quality.

I just saw a commercial on Chinese TV for a restaurant on Pfingtsen road called Szechwan North. I looked up the website and it says the place is owned by Austin Koo. Despite the restaurant's name, the "Specialty Chinese" menu seems to contain more Taiwanese and Northern Chinese dishes than actual Szechwan cuisine. For instance, the specialties include Niu Rou Mian (beef noodle soup), a Taiwanese dish that has received a lot of attention on LTH. Has anyone had this dish at Szechwan North? The only mention I can find of this restaurant was under a buffet topic.

Szechwan North
2857 Pfingsten Road
Glenview, IL 60026
(847) 272-0007
http://www.szechwannorth.com/

d4v3 wrote:I just saw a commercial on Chinese TV for a restaurant on Pfingtsen road called Szechwan North. I looked up the website and it says the place is owned by Austin Koo. Despite the restaurant's name, the "Specialty Chinese" menu seems to contain more Taiwanese and Northern Chinese dishes than actual Szechwan cuisine. For instance, the specialties include Niu Rou Mian (beef noodle soup), a Taiwanese dish that has received a lot of attention on LTH. Has anyone had this dish at Szechwan North? The only mention I can find of this restaurant was under a buffet topic.

I've eaten at Szechwan North any number of times, both at its present location as well as its previous location in Old Orchard. It's the kind of semi-fancy suburban Chinese place that serves really good versions of "fancy" Chinese, like orange beef, cashew chicken, etc. in a white tablecloth environment. Ordering Niu Rou Mian there is something that wouldn't necessarily enter my mind. If you've got to take your parents to a Chinese restaurant it would be a good safe choice with pretty decent food, though.

stevez wrote:I've eaten at Szechwan North any number of times, both at its present location as well as its previous location in Old Orchard. It's the kind of semi-fancy suburban Chinese place that serves really good versions of "fancy" Chinese, like orange beef, cashew chicken, etc. in a white tablecloth environment. Ordering Niu Rou Mian there is something that wouldn't necessarily enter my mind. If you've got to take your parents to a Chinese restaurant it would be a good safe choice with pretty decent food, though.

Thanks Steve. Actually, my mother was born and raised in Harbin, China, so she is pretty adventurous when it comes to Chinese and Korean cuisines , but I get your meaning (my Irish-Canadian dad was a whole different story). I have driven past Szechwan North, and my impression was that it was a place much as you described. By looking at the American menu, I can see that (like Austin Koo's previous downtown ventures ) it is Szechwan in name only. Like many Chicago area "Szechwan" restaurants, the only nod to the cuisine is a few "yu hsiang" dishes (pardon the wade-geils spelling but that is what their menu uses). In fact, I was surprised to see it advertised on Chinese TV, so I took a look at the (not so secret) Chinese menu and saw some authentic (but mainstream) Taiwan, Shanghai and Beijing dishes. There was nothing as exotic as "Old Couple's Lung Slices", but some interesting looking dishes, nonetheless. I was surprised to see niu rou mian at the top of the menu, along with those pickles which are served before many meals in Taiwan (which I love, and may be worth the trip by themseles). I was just curious if anybody had ever ordered off of the "Chinese" menu there.

Dave,

If you decide to go there to check out the "secret" menu, let me know. I'd love to accompany you. Finding some good hidden dishes would spice up my future visits to that restaurant.

Both times I've eaten at Great Beijing I've enjoyed it. Although it's a little out of the way, it's not too much further than China Chef.

6717 North Lincoln Avenue
Lincolnwood, Illinois 60712
(847) 673-5588

If you go to China Town Express, skip the fruity drinks and don't forget the lotus paste buns.

d4v3 wrote:I just saw a commercial on Chinese TV for a restaurant on Pfingtsen road called Szechwan North. I looked up the website and it says the place is owned by Austin Koo. Despite the restaurant's name, the "Specialty Chinese" menu seems to contain more Taiwanese and Northern Chinese dishes than actual Szechwan cuisine. For instance, the specialties include Niu Rou Mian (beef noodle soup), a Taiwanese dish that has received a lot of attention on LTH. Has anyone had this dish at Szechwan North? The only mention I can find of this restaurant was under a buffet topic.

Szechwan North
2857 Pfingsten Road
Glenview, IL 60026
(847) 272-0007
http://www.szechwannorth.com/

I haven't had their Beef Noodle Soup but their Taro Duck is one of my favorite restaurant dishes anywhere. One of the owners is a friend of my Taiwanese aunt, who owned a restaurant herself. She in fact held my cousin's engagement banquet there, even though our huge extended family all live in the city and some in Chinatown. So yes, even Chinese parents like the place.

while we are talking about szechwan north, i've had their beef noodle soup at both szechwan north and their fast casual outpost, dragonfire in buffalo grove. they are solid, though the noodles are from a box i'm pretty sure.

(and not sure if it's a dragonfire only thing but their taiwanese pork w/mustard green noodle soup is pretty good)