From new fusion restaurants with modern vibes and incredible flavors to traditional, mom-and-pop shops with experience perfecting dishes, these restaurants are dishing up some of the best food in Chinatown.
If you have a hankering for Szechuan food, you can’t go wrong with JMC. From the chili wontons to the exceptional shrimp dry hot pot to the perfectly simmered beef, your tastebuds are in for a treat. Pro-tip: you might get a discount if you pay in cash.
Everything is better on a stick, right? Well, the folks at Friend BBQ certainly know a thing or two about skewers. This cozy location has all the favorites with beef, chicken, and lamb generously seasoned with chili, cumin, and other magic. The best part? They’re open until 2 in the morning so you can get your late-night fix.
Is there anything better than freshly made noodles? At Slurp Slurp, you’ll have to make a few decisions. First, if you want long, hand-pulled noodles or thicker, knife-cut noodles. Next, choose if you want them “dry” in a stir-fried entree or “wet” in a soup. From there, you can add meats, veggies, or anything you’d like for a filling, stellar meal.
If you’re looking for a quiet meal with a romantic ambiance, try Moon Palace. Popular dishes include flavorful soup dumplings, shanghai noodles (kind of like spaghetti with an oriental twist), and hot and sour soup which is chunky and delectable. Other specialty entrees include dong po pork and beef lo mein.
Looking for a fun night out with friends? Then don’t miss this gem. Happy Lamb serves up fresh cuts of lamb and beef, high-quality seafood, and crisp veggies that you cook in a hot pot with flavorful broths. If you’re really hungry, try their all-you-can-eat option. This place fills up quickly so be patient since you might have to wait for a table.
Bringing Japanese culture to Chicago, this joint has a focus specifically on ramen. Their menu includes four types of ramen broth with multiple high-quality ingredients added to make the dish even more delectable. The folks at Strings make fresh noodles daily using only their unique dough mixer and noodle maker imported from Japan.
Searching for Chinatown’s best dumpling? Well, here you go. QXY specializes in handmade dumplings stuffed with everything from sea urchin and mackerel to lamb and beef. BBQ skewers are also a favorite. If you’re in the mood to DIY, learn how to make handmade dumplings (they offer classes for free!).
Experience Chinese fusion in the heart of Chinatown at this Michelin-star restaurant. You can choose from the usual suspects of Mapo Tofu, Beef Chow Fun and the like, or try something more contemporary like Baby Geoduck, Millionaire Style Fried Rice, and Fusion Chili Crab. For a more comprehensive experience, try one of the various Prix-Fixe menus.
Check out Chinatown’s newest restaurant. Dolo is one of the only eateries in the area to offer a full bar with wine, beer, and cocktails. They also have an adorable outdoor patio to stuff your face with gourmet Dim Sum, bento boxes, steamed buns, dumplings, and more.
Feeding a big crowd? BBQ King House has everything you need to fill up hearty eaters. Their Dinner for Ten which comes with everything from beef ribs and salted chicken to fish maw soup and lobster. With their extensive menu, you’ll make the whole squad happy.
Photo Credit: Vu Rooftop Website
View the Best Bars Near Chinatown
Looking for a great place to have a drink before or after dinner? Here are some of the best bars near Chinatown.
Located in the heart of Chinatown, Chi Cafe offers affordable, late-night cuisine with traditional items like fried rice, noodle soup, and lo mein. If you’re feeling adventurous, try their variety of house favorites including sizzling pork intestines, stir-fried pig blood with chives or sprouts, or lamb with a special sauce.
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Featured Image Credit: Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings Facebook Page
Time Out Market Chicago will reopen today after five months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the area underwent a massive facelift, the Fulton Market District in Chicago has been the hub for fine dining, great drinks, and the best in group weekend hangout spots the city has to offer. Time Out Market became the latest addition to the swanky strip of nightlife in November 2019 and has become a staple in a few short months. It reopens with their own version of a ‘phase one’. To ensure social distancing and safety measures take place, Time Out Market in Chicago will have a slightly different look than before. It will feature a third-floor rooftop terrace with gorgeous views of the skyline and a new sidewalk patio dining area that sprawls on to Fulton Street. Also, to maintain consistency within the Market, they will open with eight eateries and two full bars as part of phase one.
Here are the eight chefs that return today, (per TimeOut):
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Arami: One of the city’s finest sushi spots is moving to the first floor with a hit list of contemporary Japanese eats from executive chef Joseph Fontelera.
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Chef Bill Kim: Caramelized pork dumplings are back, baby! Kim specializes in unique takes on casual Asian cuisine, packing his menu with crave-worthy eats.
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Chef Brian Fisher: The chef behind Michelin-starred Entente switches up his menu to showcase golden fried chicken, decadent mac and cheese and cornbread with jalapeño honey butter.
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Dos Urban Cantina: Husband-and-wife team Brian and Jennifer Jones Enyart have expanded their offerings to include even more tacos, loaded nachos and ceviche. Don’t fret: Jennifer’s chocolate cake is still available.
Duck Inn Dogs: Chef Kevin Hickey cranks out a lineup of decadent dogs that are loaded up with ingredients like spicy duck chili, tajin lime crema and apple-caraway kraut.
Lost Larson: Bobby and Bree Schaffer are back to make your mornings a little sweeter, with a pastry case packed with flaky croissants, frosted cinnamon rolls, cardamom-scented buns and a robust coffee and tea program.
Mini Mott: There’s no denying that chef Edward Kim makes a damn fine burger. Sink your teeth into layers of American cheese, hoisin aioli, pickled jalapeños, pickles, miso butter, sautéed onions and a cloud of sweet potato frizzles.
Pretty Cool Ice Cream: No matter the season, we’ve always got room for a popsicle (or two) from Dana Cree’s repertoire of nostalgia-filled frozen treats.
The post-COVID version of Time Out Market in Chicago features some of the best the food hall has to offer. Mini Mott boasts arguably one of these city’s best burgers. Chef Brian Fisher’s take on fried chicken is so mouthwatering that you can make a trip to the Time Out Market, stay all day and eat it at least three times while there. The cornbread with jalapeño honey butter would be a top-three food item on any human’s list of favorite foods.
From a non-food standpoint, the new space at Time Out Market in Chicago will feature plexiglass partitions highlighting quotes about the great city of Chicago from notable Chicagoans such as Barack Obama, Chance the Rapper, Jane Byrne, and Anthony Bourdain; who we know isn’t from Chicago but might as well have been with the love he had for this city.
As Bourdain famously said, “you never really know somebody until you share a meal with them.” Time Out Market is as good a place as any to share a meal with someone, or a small group of people, with options at your disposal.
At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.
Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!
Featured Image Credit: Time Out Chicago Facebook Page
For Chicago Bears fans it is deja vu all over again as it relates to the quarterback position. The team just completed its first full week of practice and with the off-day Monday, began week two yesterday and unfortunately, the message delivered by reporters was an all-too-familiar one. These reports may have come as a bit of a surprise considering the narrative coming out of camp last week.
You see, last week there was a lot of talk about how the tight ends, Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet were very impressive. After the dearth of productivity out of that group last year, this was a welcome change. As it related to the quarterbacks, there were reports that Mitchell Trubisky was holding the slight edge over Nick Foles.
However, a deeper dive into those tweets and reports told the truth. Yes, Mitch may have HIS best practice as a Bear, but that isn’t exactly a high standard against which he’s being judged. Furthermore, the reports were simply that he looked better than Foles.
However, you didn’t see anyone tweet that either quarterback looked good by traditional standards. That was telling. Comparatively speaking, one may have looked better than the other, but when you judge them against league-wide standards, they are still underperforming.
That was confirmed by many reporters following practice on Tuesday. Both Brad Biggs and Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, along with Zack Pearson made it pretty clear that the quarterbacks have underwhelmed so far. Yes, one may be slightly outplaying the other, but up to this point, it appears to be a battle of mediocrity.
According to Biggs, the “Bears struggled to move the ball through the air today, a somewhat recurring theme to this point.” Wiederer was a little harsher. He stated that neither Mitch nor Foles has found any kind of groove yet and that “there has been very little evidence that this offense is headed for the top 20 in the NFL.” He concluded, “if Nagy is at all scarred by 2019, a few of 10’s wild pitches today will cause insomnia.”
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Many fans were ready to spike the football and declare the quarterback competition over. Others were touting the “improvement” Mitch had demonstrated in practice. Well, it appears many of those reports were overblown. And as more and more reports flow out of camp casting significant doubts on either quarterback’s ability to be even average, the focus and all the fans’ ire should shift to Ryan Pace.
Could the Chicago Bulls become an ideal trade partner for the recently-swept Nets?
It’s an intriguing question, to say the least. The Chicago Bulls may not be the same team they are by next season’s start. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets have a much-anticipated 2020-2021 campaign awaiting them.
The Nets were recently swept by the defending champion Toronto Raptors, and all but one game were blowouts. The roster, as it stands though, wasn’t built to withstand a playoff run. However, next year? That’s a different story.
Next season, the Nets will get back both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, both of whom missed significant time this past season — Durant missing the entirety of the year and Irving playing just 20 games.
Getting Irving and Durant back instantly makes them a contender in the East, but one more piece just might put them over the top.
Back to the Bulls, now. Under new Vice President Arturas Karnisovas, the team could look differently in just his first offseason with the organization. If he sees potential to add future assets or build upon the players he wants to see stick around, don’t be shocked to see a major deal go down.
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The Nets may also have one heck of a turnaround at their head coaching position, of which there are tons of rumors floating around. One of them has Gregg Popovich leaving San Antonio to coach Brooklyn — wouldn’t that be something.
If the Bulls and Nets were to engage in talks, let’s take a look at some deals that would benefit both sides.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 14: Matthew Highmore #36 of the Chicago Blackhawks controls the puck during a summer training camp practice at Fifth Third Arena on July 14, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The ChicagoBlackhawks had some really nice moments from Matthew Highmore.
Of course, the Chicago Blackhawks saw their legendary veterans play well in the bubble. Especially against the Edmonton Oilers, you got exactly what you needed from Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Corey Crawford. Depth is the key to winning so the Hawks needed some of their young guys to step up as well and they did. The usual suspects like Dominik Kubalik and Kirby Dach played well but Matthew Highmore was also one of the more unsung heroes of the whole thing.
Undrafted
Highmore wasn’t drafted to the NHL so you know that he had to work extra hard to make it where he is today. He came from the Saint John Sea Dogs of the OMJHL. He was a good player there in junior but not successful enough to get drafted. He did manage to sign a pro contract and was pretty good for the Rockford Ice Hogs in 2017-18 where he scored 24 goals and had 19 assists for 43 points in 64 games. Not bad for the undrafted kid.
2019-20 regular season and bubble
Highmore is a depth piece, make no mistake about it. He isn’t someone who is going to bloom into this star player or anything but at 24 years old, it is fair to assume you can get more of the same from him for a long time and that is a guy who is ready to play and work hard whenever you need him. He might be a scratch and he might play based on the circumstances but he will always be ready.
In 36 games played this season, he only had two goals and four assists for six points in 36 games. That isn’t a production level that is going to keep you in the lineup a whole lot but it also depends what else you bring to the table. He was extremely useful in the playoff bubble as he had three goals and one assist for four points in the Hawks’ nine games. Kids like this who work hard tend to prove themselves come playoff time and that is what Highmore did.
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Future
Highmore may or may not be a guy that can be on a good team’s fourth line. Corey Crawford had some nice words of endorsement during their time in Edmonton which speaks about his character but it is hard to predict his future. He had a good showing in these playoffs so that might earn him a chance to be a regular in the lineup once next season rolls around.
He is signed through the 2021-22 season and could be back and forth between Chicago and Rockford. He might not be a guy to stick around by the time this team is really ready to compete again but he deserves the opportunity to show his stuff going forward after what he did in these playoffs. If anything, he is an easy kid to root for but we will see how his career shakes out.
ChicagoBulls (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
It took a while, but the Chicago Bulls finally fired coach Jim Boylen after two pitiful seasons. Here are three replacements the team must avoid.
As the weeks went by after the Chicago Bulls introduced their new EVP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas, fans and reporters alike wondered how long it’d take for the other shoe to drop. That other shoe being, of course, head coach Jim Boylen.
It was just a matter of time, everyone thought. Surely, the Bulls wouldn’t keep Boylen on board as coach after a 39-84 record. Right? As the days passed, reports began to swirl about team ownership being hesitant to fire Boylen either because of money or loyalty.
It turns out that the concern was overblown, and the Reinsdorfs appeared to be waiting until the last possible second to fire Boylen. The former (has a nice ring to it) Bulls coach was fired on the final day of the NBA’s regular season.
Karnisovas said he thought it was a good timeframe to make the change because of the draft lottery that was looming. He also said he wanted to be deliberate with the decision. The Bulls ended up with the fourth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft after the lottery.
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The team made it known that the search for a new head coach would start immediately. There some names of great candidates being thrown around like Philadelphia 76ers assistant Ime Udoka and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.
That’s a great start, but there are also candidates that could be disastrous hires. Here are three head coaching candidates the Bulls should avoid.
The ChicagoBears have a significant injury on their hands at training camp.
On Wednesay morning, as the Chicago Bears prepared to practice in preparation for the 2020 NFL regular-season opener at Halas Hall, running back David Montgomery left practice with a significant injury per multiple reports.
This is clearly a significant issue that the Bears will now have to deal with. Keep in mind that in an offseason where most of it was virtual, many expected Montgomery, the teams third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, to breakout in 2020 and possibly become a workhorse running back.
The Bears were clearly high on Montgomery as well, who averaged just 3.7 yards per carry a year ago. There were multiple reports of him showing up to Halas Hall this year in better shape as well. Now that he’s injured, the Bears running back depth chart has also taken a hit.
Depth at running back was already an issue, even with Montgomery healthy. Tarik Cohen is expected to have a bounceback year and become a gadget player. Then there are guys like undrafted free agent Artavis Pierce and Ryan Nall, both of whom have potential but haven’t proven that they can handle a bigger role. Hey, maybe we get a good look at Cordarrelle Patterson now.
The timing of this injury is also significant as well. All offseason, the Bears elected not to bring in a veteran running back like Devonta Freeman because the entire organization from general manager Ryan Page to head coach Matt Nagy and running backs coach Charles London had high expectations for the second-year running back.
While this is still a developing story, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, we don’t know how long Montgomery is going to be out. Depending on the timeline, younger names like Pierce and Nall now have a real chance to prove themselves. Second, even though the Bears may be confident in Nall and Pierce, they should still bring someone like Freeman in for a tryout. This would allow the team to use Freeman as a replacement for Montgomery or a potential one-year stopgap for Montgomery for 2020.
Overall, this is the first Bears starter who could be expected to miss some time. In what is expected to be an already uncertain season, things just got even more uncertain.