Delivery is doubtful. I do not think Katys delivers. Oddly some areas seem to have quite a lot of foods that are delivered including Chinese others do not. I do not think any place delivers around me but pizza places unfortunately.

Well, maybe they'll consider it for their Oak Park location. A lot of Chinese restaurants around here deliver. With the exception of Yilin in Forest Park, I'm not sure I'd want these other restaurants' food delivered to me if I were trapped on a desert island. My door, however, would also be open for Katy's.

Count me in as a fan of Katy's. At the Westmont location last week, with snowflakes blowing, the wind biting and the lunch rush over, I tucked in to the Fish with Pickled Cabbage soup, Spinach with Garlic and the Scallion Pancake with Pork. The Scallion Pancake (pretty similar to a dish not nearly so well prepared that I had in Xian) knife cut savory pastry/pasta with pork was, yes, one of the heads up and take notice flavors of the year. The soup, however, was the sleeper star--I was expecting it to be prepared with sour Sichuan pickled vegetable but rather it was true to how it was labeled on the menu--local and purely done pickled cabbage, perhaps betraying some Harbin DNA?

Altogether it's enough to make me want to move to the west suburbs to eat there every day during the winter.

The Naperville location had a fire. No one was injured. Hopefully they'll reopen soon.

(Not sure how long the article will be there.)

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130203/news/702039777

Any word on the new pak park location? Just really hoping it will be a reality this spring.

From further upthread...

stevez wrote:They are planing on opening a branch in Oak Park near Lake and Ridgeland. Opening date is scheduled for sometime in March.

The Naperville location as a message on its answering machine saying that they are closed and updating their kitchen "for a few things" and will be open "next week" (no date specified). I wonder how long this message has been that way.

StevenHB wrote:The Naperville location as a message on its answering machine saying that they are closed and updating their kitchen "for a few things" and will be open "next week" (no date specified). I wonder how long this message has been that way.

Hi,

You might want to call their other location for clarification:

Katy's Dumpling House
665 N. Cass Ave.
Westmont, IL 60559
(630) 323-9393

Regards,

Steve Drucker wrote:... the Scallion Pancake with Pork.

I can't get past this one dish, I keep ordering it over & over.
Not that quantity is what I search for, but the amount of food served is insane, I had lunch, then took leftovers home for Mrs Sweet Willie & I to split at dinner.

I Just called Katy's in Westmont, and asked if they had any info on the new location in Oak Park. The lady said, oh yes, please hold. Another lady got on the phone and said, yes, it's already open, but she did not have the phone number, but it's on Lake Street, and if I looked up H-U-T-O-N-G on google, I would find it??????

I called the Naperville location, same story. 1113 Lake Street, (old Hutong address) and it is open.

What the hell? Has someone scoped this out? Hutong website is the same. Bizarre!

More than likely, I'll be running a recon mission before the wknd is over.

We are here at the Oak Park location now. Mr. Red Shirt is in the house. Here's the deal: Hutong is maintaining its identity here, and a more limited selection of Katy's favorites are being offered as a "special menu." Will report back on the food later!

tapler wrote:We are here at the Oak Park location now. Mr. Red Shirt is in the house. Here's the deal: Hutong is maintaining its identity here, and a more limited selection of Katy's favorites are being offered as a "special menu." Will report back on the food later!

That seemed to be the case when they opened the Naperville location as well. They took over an existing restaurant, kept the menu and slowly started adding some Katy's specialties. I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience and trying the new location myself next week.

Good to know this is par for the course for them. I was worried. Nice that the area, a Chinese desert for so long, will now have both Yilin and Katy's.

So is Katy's currently in charge there? Just easing into ownership? Just curious how Katy's can exist within Hutong.Two chefs? Parallel cooks?

Wondering what might be brought over on the "special menu"?

Dan Dan Noodles? Dumplings?

Oh, Boy!

So I hadn't noticed when we entered that the outside awning had been rebranded as Katy's, complete with adorable logo:



Here is the "special menu" with Katy's items:



We just got a couple of old favorites--the beef noodle soup and the pork pancake, along with an order of xiao long bao ("juicy steam buns")

In brief, it tasted like Katy's. The only noticeable drop-off from Westmont was the texture of the noodles. In both the soup and the pancake, the noodles fell shy of that signature chewiness that sets them apart. The flavors were spot on, especially when they obliged our request for Katy's chili oil, which goes so wonderfully with the pancake.



One of the women working there (maybe a holdover from Hutong?) came out and asked us to be very candid about how the food measured up to the other Katy's locations. We told her exactly what I've written here, and she listened intently. Mr. Red Shirt came to our table; he recognized us from our many visits to Westmont. He said that we were the first patrons to have ordered off the "special menu." I sure hope the word spreads and Oak Park embraces its new noodle shop; and hopefully the Katy's empire will continue its march eastward!

Katy's Dumpling House, Oak Park
1113 Lake St
708-383-9888
http://www.hutongcafe.com/

I don't see dan dan!
Everyone, if you like their dan dan, if you go, please make sure to ask them to start making them.

This is surely most excellent news. Any idea if they have any of the cold dishes. I love the marinated cukes.

Tasted just right to us for carryout tonight. VI, I haven't seen the cucumber pickles at the other locations in about two years (that may just be my luck), but plan on making a campaign here. "Oak Parkers do love sourness!" Or something.

It's an honor to have them in the neighborhood; I had no real complaint with Hutong, but this is a rather miraculous upgrade.

I've had no problem finding cukes. What I think we need to campaign for is all the rest: pig ears, tripe, etc. That we're ready for more than noodles.

Santander wrote:I haven't seen the cucumber pickles at the other locations in about two years (that may just be my luck)

No. It's not your luck. They stopped making the pickles some time back. I ask about them every time I visit Katy's (it's to the point where I don't even ask any more, they just automatically tell me "no pickles" when I start to place my order).

stevez wrote:

Santander wrote:I haven't seen the cucumber pickles at the other locations in about two years (that may just be my luck)

No. It's not your luck. They stopped making the pickles some time back. I ask about them every time I visit Katy's (it's to the point where I don't even ask any more, they just automatically tell me "no pickles" when I start to place my order).

Odd, because my wife and daughter remember having them, and we have been to Katy's within the last two years, regardless of the implications.

Vital Information wrote:
Odd, because my wife and daughter remember having them, and we have been to Katy's within the last two years, regardless of the implications.

The pickles returned for a brief moment in time around a year ago, but quickly disappeared again.

We went to Oak Park tonight. The waitress from Naperville is Joanne Yu, and she was happy to see us. She reported that Naperville also re-opened Friday night. And that the traffic on 290 is terrible, which is not news to any of us who live here.

The pork-fried shredded pancake is as good as Westmont. But even Westmont now has some veggies (very good spinach with garlic). I'm hoping some make it to Oak Park as well.

...as predicted, and only 6 years later. It's an empire! May Mr. Red Shirt give Mr. Hu a healthy run for his money. The cartoon avatar noodle man is a great start.

Just called, asked about Dan-Dan.
"We don't have it now, but maybe next week."

We had lunch there today: beef noodle soup, pork and chive potstickers, and dry chili noodles with shrimp. All were very good, portions were slightly smaller than Westmont's but the quality was spot on and we left full and ready for a Sunday afternoon nap

I'm glad we have Katy's 20 minutes away instead of the hour it usually took in the past.

I've been to the new Oak Park location twice now, and came away happy both times. The new place looks spic and span, like an Asian version of Naf Naf in Niles. Almost chain like, but don't let that put you off.

Katy's Oak Park




Operationally, it's pretty much the same as the original Westmont location, just slicker looking. You place your order at the cashier in front, then sit down and wait for your food. They do give you a nifty number to put in a stand on the table so they know where to deliver your order, but that's the only operational difference at this location.

When Katy's took over the location there was an existing menu of pan-Asian favorites with Thai, Japanese and Chinese items. After sampling one of the items form the old menu, I'd say stay away from that in favor of the one page typed sheet of Katy's standards, which are executed as well as at the other locations.

I've now been able to try several of the Katy's standards.

Katy's Oak Park Xao Long Bao


These have arguably the best filling in the city, but are somewhat marred by slightly too thick wrappers. I still enjoyed them, though.

Katy's Stir Fried Onion Pacake W/Pork


This was every bit as good as the version served in Westmont. I suppose there might have been a slight deterioration of the noodles because they are made in Westmont and shipped to Oak Park, but that's only a small quibble and very well might just be my imagination.

Katy's Pickled Cabbage with Pork Belly Noodle Soup




This is one of the items they recently began offering in Westmont. Although I tried and loved the fish version of this soup, the pork belly version that I had in Oak Park was even better (to my taste). The broth was subtle, with a nice sour flavor thanks to the pickled cabbage and a pronounced backnote of ginger thanks to big chunks in the bowl. I highly recommend this soup on a cold day!

All in all, I'm ecstatic to have an outpost of Katy's closer to the city. I'm not sure it will completely replace Westmont as my preferred location, but at least I'll be able to visit Katy's more often. ATTENTION OAK PARKERS: They deliver, which makes me a very jealous guy.

Do you know where they stood on the entirety of the menu. When I went, a week ago Monday, they had only about 4 "Katy" items, not even the XLB, from the one page menu.