Empire Restaurant - Gold Coast

I feel the need to share my love for Empire Restaurant. I used to live in the Gold Coast, and this was my go-to cheap Ameri-Chinese takeout. It's still my favorite beef lo mein in the city, and even though I live in Lakeview now, I will take special trips to takeout from Empire. I think Empire has been mentioned in another thread as Restaurantplace.com's favorite hot and sour. It's not too shabby. It's dark, spicy, and they add tofu skin. (I LOVE TOFU SKIN!). Ok, back to the lo mein. For $9.42, I got an overflowing box of lo mein. It's almost all noodles and beef, very little soy beans and scallions. Somehow the inbalance seems right. The noodles and beef are all I really want in this dish. It's pretty oily, but really really flavorful. They figured out how to add the right amount of soy sauce (most places don't add enough). The rest of their menu is big, but there are some dishes that are pretty run of the mill mediocre. If you like corn starchy egg drop soup, they serve that too. If you call in your order, don't expect the woman to ask you your name, phone number, or tell you how much it costs, or even say goodbye before she hangs up on you. She's got your order, just go with it. I actually find that kind of charming



This portion barely dented how many noodles were in the box


I would not recommend dining in. It's pretty dingy, and not in the best part of the neighborhood. One time I came in here to pick up an order and a beggar actually asked me to buy him dinner while the owner tried to shoo him away.

Empire Restaurant
49 W. Division St.
Chicago, IL
312-943-6818
no website

snap203 wrote:I would not recommend dining in. It's pretty dingy, and not in the best part of the neighborhood. One time I came in here to pick up an order and a beggar actually asked me to buy him dinner while the owner tried to shoo him away.

Yeah, the gold coast is rough, man.

Love,
John

Snap203 -
I totally feel you on Empire's Lo Mein. Big fan. I haven't been there in forever plus a day, but seriously, I used to love their lo mein. The counter lady taught me that "la" meant spicy, and when I walked in, she would actually just ask me if I wanted la la la lo mein or la la yat gow mein as soon as I walked even if there was a line in front of me. We were cool like that. From a post in 07:

seebee wrote:WAY back in the day when I used to tend bar in the state/division area, there was a tiny little sushi bar on S side of Division a few doors west of Empire chinese joint. Pretty sure Empire is still there, but the sushi bar has to be long gone, and as an aside, Empire is possibly the best lo mein in the city...
Had to search for address, might as well post it. I used to LOVE this place's stir fried Lo Mein dishes, and Yat Gaw Mein soup. Tiny hole in the wall, best for carryout. I would get noodles only, and sometimes sesame chicken. The noodles were the stars here though. Haven't been in probably three years, but it was still the same lady barking orders to the cooks, and the lo mein was exactly the same. Chewy noodles (NOT RAMEN NOODLES, THANK YOU) Nice and dry, no gloppy corn starch gravy in sight. Sure, I wound up off track here, but if this place is still in business, maybe someone else can get turned on to a carryout gem for lo mein. I'm rarely in that area anymore, but I always think about stopping in if I am.

Empire Restaurant
49 W Division St,
Chicago 60610

Happy to report that the same lady is there from 2007. Sometimes she cooks too. In fact i'm pretty sure she cooked my noodles last night since she was there by herself. Glad to hear you like the noodles as much as me.