Friendship Chinese Restaurant

Love this place… this is the only place I will eat orange chicken from. I also love the coconut rice. They always forget to give me extra sweet & sour and today they delivered my coconut rice and it was burned.

Logan Square restaurant would not accept an expired Groupon for the amount I paid, even though the voucher clearly states that the paid amount never expires. Spoke with a manager (I think) by phone, who would not give me his name, or his bosses name. Instead of trying to resolve, he yelled and somehow we got disconnected.

I was really surprised to like the food here. I found the place by accident so my expectations were low. First, the food was not salty. That was such a relief. I hate when all you can taste is salt. Second, there was a variety of colorful veggies in my dishes… a mix of different colored peppers, carrots, & broccoli. A nice change from the usual cheap onion and green pepper combo restaurants use to cut corners. We had pot stickers (full of pork), vegetable rice, sesame beef and honey chili chicken where I could actually taste the honey.

My group of eleven had a really bizarre experience here on Christmas Eve 2015. We had a reservation for an alcove of the restaurant reserved for large parties. We arrived and were seated. Fifteen minutes passed before anyone came to fill our water glasses. Another ten passed. Then someone came to take our drink orders. No drinks arrived. One of us got up to ask if we could order some appetizers. No waiter arrived. Then the lights went out. Yes, the lights in our part of the place went completely out and we sat in the dark. One of us went out to request help. A waiter came in and noted the lights were out, but made no attempt to turn them on. We sat in the dark another five minutes, then all got up and left. At the door I told the man at the cash register about our experience. He could not have cared less. Really weird. Needless to say, we will not be going back.

The appetizers we ordered were good. I liked the wings. That was about it. The service was so bad. Not rude, just really really really bad. Absent. I’m usually of the mindset «who gives a shit about the service, or ambiance, it’s all about the food,» but I think this dinner changed my perspective.
Our meal took over two hours and we ordered within ten minutes of sitting down, and we had to hunt down the waiter for the check after gobbling down our food. The servers didn’t have the slightest clue whose dish was whose (there were six of us) or even if they had the right table. There is also a bit of the language barrier there with the food runner (not the waiter though, but he was very scarce). The runner would ask, while holding the plate above our eye level, «Chicken?», to which one of us would ask «Sesame Chicken?,» «Honey Chicken?» and then he would leave and bring it to another table. This happened a couple times before we all had what we ordered. It was probably an hour and a half wait for our main courses without a single check-​in from our server. I was planning on drinking that night, and only managed to yell out and order one drink as the waiter was flying by. I felt awkward having to do that but it was getting ridiculous. It’s an $ 8 corkage fee. So if I ever get dragged here again, I’m bringing my own.
Our main courses were sub-​par. Both of our entrees came out cold, the honey chicken tasted like a funnel cake was left to soak in oil, and the barbarian beef was super fatty and oily, despite being described as grilled. The veggies that came alongside the meats were cooked well.
We told them how much we wanted on each card, and they screwed that up too, so I paid the 10 bucks extra just to get out of there.

Again… we are here… still fantastic! The foods atmosphere! ! Definitely coming back

This one really hurts to write. I used to live in the area of Friendship’s Logan Square location until about eight years ago. It was a serious go to place for my Chinese jones when it would come up. Their Salt
And pepper beef was KILLER! The crab Rangoon was really awesome and I loved the orange chicken. I moved further north over eight years ago and I haven’t had it until last night.
Boy have things changed, and not for the better. The salt and pepper beef had neither any salt or pepper, it was flavorless and greasy. The Rangoon was soggy beyond comprehension and devoid of flavor and the crispy pork chop was again soggy as hell and zero flavor other than cooking oil.
You guys had a GREAT, unique thing going here. What happened? Now it’s pretty indistinguishable from a lot of the run of the mill Chinese places with steep prices. More controls and quality checks in the kitchen are needed.

I’ve had their food delivered both when I lived in Logan Square and now in Wicker Park. They really have the packaging down-​the containers are strong and you want to keep them for reuse. The order is put in a cake box which is smart-​the dishes rest even in it. Yes, they are expensive, but the quality of the seafood and how it is cooked as well as the beef (notoriously not a good choice in many Chinese restaurants) makes the price worth it. Shrimp was delicate-​perfectly cooked– which seems an accomplishment to me for delivery. Don’ know why we qualified for a free side of sushi, but Thanks — My criticism is of their fried rice — we had the shrimp– which is kind of weird in texture and not as good as their other dishes. It’s funny that their chocolate fortune cookies which seem original and fun are pretty tasteless compared to the usual. Overall, really like this place.

The food Is really amazing. Too bad they don’t serve cocktails anymore. I hope they bring the bar back
Now they serve sushi which it was pretty good

If you haven’t been to Friendship in a while, go back. I have been a couple of times several years ago and took my girlfriend there for the first time tonight. We were both impressed. This place has seriously changed.
The service staff was very pleasant and accommodating. We were seated within moments of entering, the waiter was helpful, and the food was prompt.
I ordered the Temple Feast and the seasoning was balanced perfectly. My girlfriend ordered the Snapper and said it was very tasty. It was enough for her to have some left overs.
The atmosphere was very relaxing and it would be a great place for a date. We walked there but there seemed to be plenty of street parking.
I don’t usually write Unilocal reviews but after reading others and disagreeing I thought I’d make an exception.
Happy Dining!

My boyfriend and I discovered this place a couple of months ago near our apartment. We were really excited, considering that all the other neighboring chinese take out restaurants are god awful.
The inside of the restaurant is really nice. It has very nice furniture and the ambiance is very calming. Though the two times we have dined here, it has always been dead empty. And I guess the hostess is the server because there is literally no one else in the restaurant other than her.
When we first went in, a girl was on her cell phone at the host stand. She was speaking loudly in Chinese, and held out her finger to tell us to hold on a minute. It would have been fine, until we figured she was on her cell phone for a personal matter because she was laughing so much. It only took a couple of minutes for her to seat us, but we thought it was unprofessional to be on her personal phone and to keep us waiting in the first place.
So we sit and look over the menu, but every time my boyfriend had a question about an item, she basically read right off the menu. Okay, whatever. So we put in our first order, and she came back and told us there was no tofu. Alright, that’s fine. So we ordered a pork chop dish. She comes back about fifteen minutes later to tell us they don’t have the ingredients to make it either. … Why did it have to take fifteen minutes for you to tell us that?
Already annoyed, the food took another forty five minutes for the hostess to finally bring it out.
In all honesty, the food is pretty good. But we prioritize customer service and menu knowledge over food quality any day. If she were to apologize and try to make our dining experience better, then sure, we would come back and give them another try. But she didn’t. And for that reason, we are never coming back.
And onward we go on our search for a half decent chinese restaurant in this neighborhood.

So I came with my gf because she had a Groupon from over a year ago. She was quite suprised as to how much the place has changed and how it has turned out to be aiming for a high scale dining experience.
I found the place too look spectacular inside. Nice plate setting, interior well decorated. It was warm and inviting. We started with appetizers, pecking duck rolls. We received 3 rolls on a bed of what seemed to be like a spicy cucumber mango pepper salsa. Those were yummy. Thumbs up.
Then for main course we had spicy shrimp and garlic rice with barbarian steak. The rice was noticeably different. Very light colored rice. Usually fried rice is darker. That’s not to say that it wasn’t good. A bit lacking on the shrimps however. But the barbarian steak was great! Very succulent strips of steak perfectly flavored with a nice crisp to them on a bed of veggies. Broccoli, watercress etc. Somewhat pricey for some Chinese food but definitely worth it. I’ll be coming back here.

Food — Great, much better better than your average Chinese takeout
Price — Expensive, even considering the good quality
Service — Terrible when you get takeout. They seem very understaffed. When you call, if may take over a minute for anybody to answer. When you pick up your order there is usually nobody at the front to assist you.
So the food is great, if you are willing to deal with some other issues!

Ordered delivery over 2 hours ago and still no food. Tried calling 10 times and no answer then I tried my other phone and the guy picks up then promptly mumbles something before hanging up. Tried calling a couple more times before leaving a voicemail (it takes about 3 minutes before their voicemail kicks in) stating that I will be declining this charge unless someone gives me status on things. Still no response 30 minutes later so going to have to cancel the charge.
Edit: Now 30 minutes after I post the review they call me and say if I want the order, it will be there in 45 minutes. An hour later the order comes. They offered no apologies, no comp, no discount for a 3+ hour late order.
The food is AVERAGE and it cost $ 52 in total for barely any food. Literally at any other Chinese place what I ordered would’ve been a «Lunch or Dinner Special» for $ 5.95-$ 8.95 yet I paid $ 52 for this supposedly high-​end garbage? No drinks thrown in, no specials, no coupons. For a Dragon Bao I expected a kick, but it was just a plain bao. Orange Chicken is sponge like and even though they threw oranges in the mix you don’t taste them at all! 3 bite sized Egg rolls for $ 6.95? Ironically they threw in more dipping sauce than egg rolls and there’s hardly any Peking duck in them?
The teriyaki chicken fried rice was plain chicken fried rice. There was no hint of teriyaki in it at all. So they messed up my order as well.
To top it all off my fortune cookie read «Good things come to those that wait.» What kind of madness is this? This goes on my do not recommend list.

I came here months & months ago and am finally writing a review! It was kind of a last minute decision to come here, so we just walked in not really knowing that they were closing soon. I think we got there somewhere between 30 – 45 minutes before 10pm. Once we realized, I felt bad but everyone in the restaurant was still so nice. Nobody seemed annoyed by us nor did they make us feel rushed. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it is actually a very cute, cozy and well decorated place. It ended up being romantic which we liked. We didn’t know how big their serving sizes were, so we both ordered orange chicken and chicken fried rice for ourselves. The server tried to encourage us to try something else. Had I known they were portions to share, we probably would’ve ordered something different to try. We also ordered crab Rangoon for an appetizer. The whole meal was great, but the crab Rangoon was my favorite part. They were very light and crispy! Not heavy or thickly fried like usual. They were also warm and fresh. The best I’ve had. Overall it was a very good experience. Food was pricier than we expected, it ended up being around $ 45 before tip for the 2 of us if I remember correctly, but I would definitely go back.

So we’ve been getting food here for years. 4 years ago this place was amazing, great portions, awesome service, great value.
A year or so ago, we realized they had raised prices and changed portion sizes fairly significantly, but we liked it so we didn’t care. Unfortunately the quality had dropped noticeably too. Every now an then we would order again, just thinking: «we’ll give it one more try».
Most recently we ordered on a Thursday night, spending $ 50 on a sesame beef, orange chicken and crab Rangoon. I was SO hoping it would be good for the price. When it arrived, the rice was cold and seemed like it had been microwaved, but poorly. The chicken was soggy and not hot. Crab Rangoon were smaller (again! — basically 6 quarter sized bites for $ 7) but still delicious.
Because I was so bummed and this was basically the last chance we’re going to give them after being disappointed so many times, I called Friendship. I just wanted to let them know. The employee was nice, said sorry. Said she couldn’t do anything about portion sizes. Said she’d let the owner/​manager know and they would hopefully get back to me. Haven’t heard anything.
Other upscale Asian joints are in the neighborhood now. I love what they do, just easy tasty Chinese food, but it got too expensive, too small, and too inconsistent for us to want to drop $ 50 and cross our fingers again.
BUMMER, Friendship. R.I.P.

Friendship is the only Chinese restaurant that gives out chocolate fortune cookies! They are going for upscale, and the message comes across from the exterior, but I have yet to be convinced that kind of attention to detail is placed on the food. I ordered the teriyaki-​miso salmon lunch special as take-​out. The food was boxed and put in a shopping bag, which was fancy, but for what I had ordered, it was excessive.
The proportion of the salmon was appropriate for one person and the teriyaki-​midi glaze complemented it very well. Lunch specials come with egg drop soup and chicken fried rice — neither I cared for. The soup was super starchy and the chicken fried rice was moist/wasn’t fried enough so it just tasted like chicken mixed in rice. Their prices are higher than what you’ll expect to pay for Chinese food, but I think that there is promise — I would take advantage of their specials and give Friendship another shot on their other signature dishes.

I’d recommend getting take out, if possible…
We had a large party (18) on a Friday night, but called ahead to make a reservation. The ambiance inside is great after you pass the very questionable stairs leading to nowhere.
There were two to three other parties in the restaurant at any given time, but our service was still slower than molasses.
Our server was also the bartender… oh and she had to bus tables too. It took 45 minutes until our order was even taken. I had to leave cash and leave before our check even came, two and a half hours later.
Other than that, the food was good. We had the crab Rangoon (solid!), Peking duck, Sichuan vegetables and spicy scallops and shrimp… all of which were good. Too bad the management doesn’t know how to run a restaurant.

I usually order takeout from Friendship when I’m in the mood for Chinese. I saw a Groupon and thought it would great to eat inside the restaurant for a change.
The restaurant was clean and had a nice ambiance to it. For a Saturday night, it wasn’t too crowded at all. Service was a tad slow because a large party was at the restaurant, but we weren’t in a rush or anything. For appetizers, we decided to get crab rangoon and egg rolls. Then for main courses, we got 3 dishes — Lo Mein, Honey Chicken, and Sesame Beef. Rice comes included also. I enjoyed everything we got and the presentation was surprisingly nice. Three dishes was a little too much for 2 people. I think two mains and two appetizers are plenty enough for the portion sizes they gave. I was so full and we had enough for another meal, so we took it home.
Friendship Chinese is definitely my go to Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood. I would come back again.

Where do I start? We ordered the crab rangoons (delicious in flavor), honey chicken (4/​5, needed some spice or something. Overall a little bland), sesame chicken (I wasn’t a fan. Bland again), and chicken fried rice (very good). So you could say overall the food was decent, although the side dishes were stronger than the entrees.
Inside was super nice, our carry out was packaged nicely and ready really fast, and they were friendly and efficient on the phone when we ordered.
The reason for the 3 star review though, is 2 entrees and 2 sides cost a whopping $ 53, for CARRYOUT. I could’ve had the same dishes done equally as good delivered for $ 35 from any of the other 10 Chinese restaurants in the area.
I won’t come back without some sort of coupon.

Once/​month they feature a tasting menu and it’s reservations only. For $ 10, it definitely gives you a chance to try out new items.
Here’s what was on the menu tonight (heavy on the seafood– if you are allergic or don’t like seafood this may not be for you as one person in our party realized):
1. Chilled seafood salad and herbed goat cheese w rosemary dressing: meh. Very creamy and tasted like mayonnaise to me. I’m not a fan of mayo so I really didn’t like this dish. The seafood was tiny scallops, shrimp and crab. The dressing really masked the flavor or the seafood. Didn’t really agree with my stomach
2. Roasted sweet corn bisque w mini crab cake soufflé: my favorite dish of the evening. The corn bisque was delicious. Flavor in every bite. I practically licked the bowl. And the crab cake was cooked perfectly. I wanted to take a pot of this bisque home.
3. Almond crusted shrimp w gingered egg drop tomato dressing: ZERO flavor. The almond/​shrimp flavor combo tasted awful. The shrimp seemed kind of fishy to me. Combine that with the almonds and zero spice… yuck.
4. Peppercorn beef tenderloin w wok tossed garlicky green bean rice and tempura confetti (yes you can make tempura confetti). This was tasty. The sauce was flavorful and the beef was tender. It was a little on the sweet side but I liked it.
5. Coconut pineapple ice cream w peanut butter chocolate torte: let me preface this with the fact that I don’t like chocolate. So I just ate the ice cream. The ice cream was standard. How can you go wrong w coconut and pineapple? The other diners were split ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on the chocolate torte. Some said it was too rich and heavy while others loved the chocolate peanut butter combo.
Initial service starts slowly. The seating starts at 6:30pm but they don’t serve food until 7. They spend a half hour trying to get you to buy their $ 40 bottles of wine. You won’t leave before 10pm and the restaurant closes at 10. But when all is said and done $ 10 to have a 5 course meal is an awesome deal and it’s not even restaurant week!