Phoenix Restaurant

This place is great! The best service I have ever experienced in Chinatown! Water and tea refilled often without having to ask, empty plates cleared as soon as the last piece of food is taken. Food is very good. See my photos for what we ordered. Some dishes greasier than others, but that’s expected for deep fried items. Our bill was higher than normal for dim sum, but that’s partly because we ordered A LOT and because we tipped generously due to the exceptional service. We will definitely come back here the next time we are craving dim sum.

Tourist Trap Gone Right!
I did not realize going into Phoenix that this was a tourist trap — in other words, a place where they can get away with seemingly higher prices for the same quality foods as its neighbors.
Location/​Décor — located on Archer, right across the street from what I call the Chinatown mall, Phoenix cannot be missed. With its loud lights in the window paired with the dominant moniker, it is no shock as to why so many people just migrate here. Inside reminds me so much a hotel banquet room. Very interesting. It is very spread out. One big open room. I thought that this would have been a two story restaurant but it wasnt. I liked the fishtanks at the entryway and in the dining room. It gave it a very modern feel.
Service — yo, these waiters are all hot, ha! I felt as though they were all characters from Tekken! Seriously, one of the guys looked just like Jin Kazama. Anyway, they were all very prompt and courteous. No small talk. Which is fine.
Drinks –waters for all. So I can’t say much else.
Food — fabulous! Very pleased with what we ordered!
*Pork Belly in XO Sauce — took longer than anything else to cook. I believe they simply forgot about it and had to put the order in when we reminded them. The issue with this we had all of our other dishes already on the table so by the time we got the pork belly, everything else was warm not freshly hot. 4 stars however! The pork was tender, and fell right off the bone. Spectacular flavor.
*Szechuan Chicken — Delicious. Standard. Chicken pieces were great in size. Juicy and the breading was not overdone. 4 stars.
*Chicken Fried Rice — THIS is what sold me. The chicken fried rice is the BEST in Chinatown that I have had so far! Seriously! Order this. Mixed with the pot belly… I was in heaven. 5 stars.
*Steamed white rice — cooked perfectly. No crunch, but not chewy. 4 stars.
Price — $ 40 for two people really is not that bad for the amount of food we received. I just know we could have spent $ 10/​$ 15 less over on Wentworth for the same thing.

Have you ever had dim sum with 6 middle-​aged Cantonese women? If not, you must try it, and you must try it at Phoenix. There is close-​by parking and Phoenix has great huge windows for feeling extra-​cozy since you’re inside or daydreaming. The dining room was not overcrowded and prime tables were easily available.
As the only African in the restaurant, I feel pretty qualified to give an accurate review on the cuisine. There is a printed menu from which you may choose. The siu mai hit the spot, but the baked pork bun really changed the game. You gotta order this secret menu item! I was very satisfied with the assortment of foods and appreciated not feeling sick after I over-​ate.

My parents and I have been coming here for years. The food is amazing and they are accommodating for large groups. Make sure you get the steamed fish. If you are a little squeamish then I would say something because they usually bring the fish to the table before cooking it. But I find it as a nice little touch because I get to see the product that I am eating.

good Dim sum choices. Its not easy if you do not speak Chinese here

I used to love this place. This has been our family go-​to dim sum restaurant for 15 years. I’ve been there twice in the last 6 weeks– both times a total disappointment.
The first of these two visits took a total of two hours. The same food carts kept circulating with no refreshing of the selection. A couple of times we were asked if there were specific items we were waiting for, we put in our requests and were told they would be out shortly, but we never received those items. Both the kitchen and the service were slow and disappointing.
The second of these visits was on Christmas Day. We checked in for our reservation (made 6 months in advance) and were told our table would be ready in 15 minutes. After 15 minutes we were told it would be a half hour. Then about 20 minutes after that we were told it would be another 30 minutes– putting us at more than an hour past our reservation time. We were finally called for our reservation and, as we were walking to the table a different group sat down there and we were told we would have to wait. This happened two more times before we decided to leave and go elsewhere.
We found out that the restaurant changed ownership last year– clearly the new owners don’t manage a crowd well. If you decide to go there on a busy day be prepared to literally fight for a table. If you manage to win the musical chairs game, no one will tell you to move– even if the table was intended for another group.
I wish I could offer a review on the good but we never got as far as eating anything.

Prices as of 12/​24/​2015 :
S: 3.15
M 3.65
L 3.95
XL 4.55
The dim sum is pretty good. No push carts. Har Gow had big chunks of shrimp and the skin was made nicely. Cheong fun was good, Mochi was good, everything was pretty good. Prices were higher but the dish sizes were good sized. Very nice décor and the service was OK. Will probably scout the area a little more for lower price Dim Sum with same quality but would return here again.

1.5 hrs till any dish other than soup shows up.
Horrible service.
Inattentive manager.
No waiter.
Skip skip skip.
There are many good places in Chinatown.

I grew up eating in Chinatown all my life and I never really understood how my parents knew where to eat. Phoenix’s reputation when I was growing up was simply the expensive place with mediocre food. But my mom asked me to go for some dim sum one day and recommended Phoenix. I asked her, «Isn’t that the place no one really goes to?» But, apparently people are more into Phoenix nowadays because they got a new chef and are trying to change things up. Is that true? I have no idea. But, it was free dim sum for me so I will really go anywhere for free food.
The restaurant is a classic big restaurant in Chinatown with a large dining hall. We got dim sum staples for the most part. We always get pork and preserved egg congee, shrimp crepes, turnip cake, chicken sticky rice, shiumai, chicken feet, bbq pork buns, and egg tarts. All were pretty good! The one thing that really stuck out was the bbq pork bun. They’re doing this new thing where the bun is more flaky and crispy on the outside. Really good! Sorry I don’t know the actually name, but I bet there isn’t really a name for it either.
This was my first time here and it was good! There are plenty of good places for dim sum in Chinatown, so I’m just going to add this to that list.

Make sure to come Sunday mornings to get the full dim sum experience– order off the carts! Before moving to Chicago, I didn’t realize that many places have sheets with pictures to order dimsum off of. Anywho, when it comes to authenticity, I would suggest coming here: Hong Kong style small dishes pushed around on carts. I’d say the best number to come is 4 since most things come in 4. Still, the more people, the more dishes you can try!
I like to order what I typically order at dim sun: har-​gow (shrimp dumpling), shumai, bbq pork buns, xiao long bao, crispy shrimp rolls, turnip cake, chicken feet, pork/​veggies wrapped in bean curd skin, deep fried taro, etc.
I guess I’d say this is as good as it gets when it comes to authentic dimsum in Chicago’s chinatown.

My husband & I came here because we use to go to Three Happiness but they closed and we are in need of a new dim sum place.
We walked in on a Saturday at about 9:30 am. The dining room wasn’t too busy and a lot of open tables.
They don’t have carts that go around like what you would think. They had a printed menu on the table where you checked which dishes you wanted. We picked several things. We were able to add to our order as we wanted (we were still hungry). The dishes came out petty quickly, which was nice.
We will definitely be back because the service was good and the food was great.

For being one of the only cart-​pushing, lady-​yelling dim sum restaurants in the area, I am disappointed that I can’t give Phoenix a higher rating.
Where you are seated can make or break the difference, and in this case, not even the food could save the meal.
A few of my students and I came at 11:00am and was able to be seated quickly. Okay, so far so good, until they took us to the table that was right next to the cash register! It was a small 5 – 6 seater table that was away from the kitchen doors and next to the crowd of hungry crowds awaiting to be seated.
Needless to say, it was incredibly difficult to flag down a lady to come wheel her cart over (since the main banquet hall was in the opposite direction), and whenever they did come, they usually ran out of items that I really wanted! It took forever to get us our first plate, and it wasn’t until the end of our Sunday brunch that we got some har gow. I even needed to be assertive with my Cantonese to get them to come over.
I wish I could have been happier with the meal, but looking at the other options available in the area for dim sum, you are much better off checking boxes off a menu instead of waiting for the cart to come. Perhaps dinner here is better since extra attention would be given, but for Sunday dim sum, I’ll take a pass.

It’s worthwhile to note that wait time on a Sunday at 1:30pm for Dim Sum can be a disaster. Our group of 7 scheduled to meet up at just that time and we expected the worst but fortunately enough, we received the best outcome. We all arrived within seconds of each other and were seated right away! If you’re all about that ‘instant’ lifestyle, you’ll enjoy this place. I’ve averaged about 30mins wait times at most other Dim Sum places (mostly at Cai), but not here. This is not to say that Phoenix is unpopular, it’s one of the most talked about Dim Sum restaurants in Chinatown, the food and service speak for themselves.
Very authentic a la carte experience where the servers circulated the tables with small trolleys and make stops announcing what it is that is on the cart. Menus are also available if you don’t see your favorites around. The cart wielders are friendly and take requests to cut items down to smaller sizes.
Our table aimed to eat as much as possible. We demolished all the traditional items such as seared dumplings, shrimp egg rolls, sticky rice with chicken, egg tarts, mango jello, shu mai, soft tofu, chicken feet, taro cakes, shrimp ho fun, crispy sesame balls, bbq pork buns, beef tendons, and this only covered less than ¼ of the items available.
In terms of food quality, I’d say it’s excellent. The food all came out piping hot, resembling freshness and promptness. I didn’t feel the typical after effects of MSG as I normally would at other restaurants, but since we all overate, we had a slight food-​coma, but that’s expected.
Attention couch potatoes, if you are reluctant to leave the house in fear of missing a big game, you can leave with a peace of mind because there are multiple TVs hung on the walls for catching all the play-​by-​plays, not to mention this location has a clean environment and not all the hustle and bustle of your typical Chinese Restaurant.
Looking forward to my next visit!

We came back to try Phoenix dim sum, with the restaurant under new ownership. We found the dim sum quality and pricing to be virtually unchanged. Large, medium, and small dim sum servings go for $ 3.99, $ 3.65, and $ 2.85, respectively. If anything, the weekend morning crowd seemed a bit smaller than in the past, and that could be taken as a positive development if you’re one of those that don’t like waiting for a table.

New ownership and management. dim sum no longer the same. overpriced mediocre dim sum and very unsatisfying … I miss the original phoenix.

I’ve been here a few times before for dim sum, which is why I feel bad about giving them a one star, but the dinner was one of the worsts that I’ve ever experienced.
First off, the host didn’t know what time they opened. We got here 15 minutes after it opened and he told us they were still closed.
The service here is awful. The waiters are so unfriendly and give off the vibe that they do not want to be here at all. We had to hunt down a waiter just to place an order. It took over 45 minutes for us to get our food, and there were only two other tables filled.
As for the food, it was awful! The calamari was so chewy that it was hard to chew through, and it came semi-​cold. The vermicelli tasted like nothing, so it was a weird experience eating without being able to taste anything. The hot and spicy eggplant followed suit and also had no taste. I tried to drench it in sweet and sour sauce, but that didn’t even help. The sweet and sour pork was the worst. It was only sour, and had a gross aftertaste. I think the only okay thing here was the rice, which is hard to mess up.
On top of all that the place smelled bad, there were no refills on soda, and cost way too much for what we got.

This would not be my first choice for dim sum in Chinatown, but it’s a viable option and it’s still ridiculously cheap to leave stuffed!
My friends and I came here after the Chicago Chinatown 5K. It was one of the few places to be open relatively early on a Saturday. We really wanted dim sum and my friend had eaten here before, so she could vouch for it.
The menu seems to be quite a bit smaller than that of places like MingHin or Cai but it had many of my favorites. We ordered some pork turnovers, pork shumai, shrimp dumplings, BBQ pork buns, and a few other delicious dishes.
The first few plates came out quickly since it wasn’t busy and we could order directly from the menu (wish it had pictures). We had to wait a little longer once people started showing up for the brunch rush. That’s when the carts came out and you could point at whatever looked good and have it set on your plate… If you had a plate.
One of my friend’s had his plate taken from him between rounds and it wasn’t replaced. Once the cart ladies came out our waiter basically disappeared and the employees were so hurried that they didn’t notice and bring another. Luckily, we were almost done with the meal, so he just borrowed one of our plates to eat his last bun with a bit of soy sauce.
I left completely full for about $ 8. I’d definitely come back.

With what other people have said, Phoenix is much improved in terms of décor with the remodeled dining rooms and the service has improved– everyone being dressy does help give it a premium feel and the speed and quality of actions such as refilling tea, removing old plates, and taking the check has also gotten better.
The food remains okay, better than the worst dim sum places in Chinatown but not as fancy as what you’d find in Ming Hin, Cai, or Lao You Ju. The food temperature has definitely improved from before though and the food is less greasy. With all the previous issues resolved, this restaurant has now become a pleasant place to take friends for a nice afternoon meal. Very good place for fellow Unilocalers to take great photos in natural light if you can get a window seat as the other dim sum restaurants have less seats you can get by a large window.

This review is specifically regarding Dim Sum. I have been coming to the Golden Phoenix for a long long time and have to say it is by far the best Dim Sum in the city. I try other places but at the end of the day the Phoenix is still the best. On Sunday’s Dim Sum is served and if you come at 10:00am the Dim Sum is served on carts. This is traditionally the way is should be done and more fun! Everything is so fresh and tastes fantastic. My kids love it too and are always looking forward to our next visit.
I’m sure if you have gotten to this point of my review you know that I’m a fan. I highly recommend the Golden Phoenix.

The New and Improved Phoenix Restaurant is here! It has a new décor and I almost didn’t recognize their dining room when we first walked into the place to meet up with my mom and her husband. We were impressed by the new look. It looks fresh, and vibrant. Like someone gave Phoenix a new heart and body. We had dinner there few weeks ago.
The servers are so professional even offer up some table side cooking for us too. They sizzle up the beef tenderloin for us table side it was tender and delicious with the black bean pepper sauce.
We also had their E-​mein (E Fu noodles) lovely flat noodles with vegetables and mushrooms yummy. Their stuff tofu with shrimp delicate and savory good comes with some choy. Shrimp and walnut dish was sweet and the walnuts were toasted to perfection. You don’t need to order a main vegetable here because they put vegetables as a garnish with the entrée’s which is so nice. I can’t believe i’m leaving this great review for Phoenix. I use to try to avoid this restaurant because their dim sum was oily and overrated. Now, I might give it a shot someday.