The 10 best Chinese restaurants in Chicago

Chicago eats Chinese food in a lot of places that are not Chinatown. The Cantonese barbecue counters of Argyle Street, the Northern dumpling houses of Halsted Street in Bridgeport, a Sichuan room in a Michigan Avenue hotel and the noodle shops along the Cass Avenue and Golf Road corridors all belong in the same conversation. This list covers ten Chinese restaurants around the city and its suburbs with the most consistent reputations, whether you want a first visit to Chinatown, a weeknight in Westmont or a birthday dinner downtown.

The list favors kitchens that cook one regional style well, with a deliberate spread across Cantonese, Sichuan, Northern, Korean-Chinese and Chinese-American food, and gives weight to places that have kept a room full for a decade or more. Most meals here are cheap by restaurant standards: a plate of dumplings runs $10 to $13 in Chinatown and Westmont, and a bowl of noodle soup is about $16 in the suburbs. The exception is Shanghai Terrace, where four truffle dumplings cost $21 and dinner runs $31 to $50 a person before the duck.

How we chose

The order reflects how consistently each restaurant shows up across independent local coverage, including The Infatuation’s Chinese and Chinatown guides updated in February 2026, Block Club Chicago reporting, and the Michelin Guide’s Chicago selections, plus longevity and named, dated awards. Sun Wah BBQ’s 2018 James Beard America’s Classics award and MingHin’s run of Bib Gourmand nods from 2016 through 2019 carry weight, as does a restaurant that has kept a neighborhood full for a decade or more. Newer places had to be praised by more than one outlet to make the top ten. No restaurant was ranked on a single site’s star rating, and every one was checked against the restaurant’s own website or a 2026 news mention to confirm the doors are open.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Sun Wah BBQ

Roast ducks hang in the front window at https://windycitymagazine.com/business/sun-wah-bbq/, the Cheng family’s Hong Kong-style barbecue house a block from the Argyle Red Line stop in Uptown. Most people come for the off-menu Beijing Duck Dinner, which the kitchen carves tableside with steamed bao and house hoisin, then turns the rest of the bird into fried rice or noodles and finishes with a duck-bone soup. The dinner feeds three or four and is dine-in only. The barbecue counter, congee and beef chow fun keep regulars coming on ordinary nights. Sun Wah takes the top spot on the longest record and the biggest award on this list.

Hours: Mon-Wed 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Thu closed; Fri-Sun 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Address: 5039 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• The family opened on Argyle Street in the spring of 1987 and moved around the corner to a renovated carriage garage on Broadway in 2009.
• The James Beard Foundation named the restaurant one of its America’s Classics in 2018.
• Reserve the duck dinner ahead, especially on weekends, because the kitchen plans its birds days in advance.
• The restaurant takes a 40-minute break at 2 p.m. every day, so a late lunch means arriving before then or after 2:40 p.m.

See the full directory listing

Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings

Better known by the initials on the sign, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/qing-xiang-yuan-dumplings/ is the Northern-style dumpling room on the second floor of the Richland Center at Wentworth and Archer in Chinatown. The wrappers are chewy and the fillings are juicy, running from pork and sour cabbage to lamb, wagyu beef and crab roe, and you pick boiled, steamed or pan-fried. Most orders land between $10 and $13, with seafood versions up to about $30, and frozen dumplings are sold to go. Second place comes down to a decade of packed tables and a menu that does one thing better than anyone else in the neighborhood. The Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop is a short walk.

Hours: Mon-Sun 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 2002 S Wentworth Ave, Ste 103, Chicago, IL 60616

Why they made the list

• The business started in 2014 as a stall in the Richland Center food court and moved upstairs to a standalone room the next year.
• Block Club reported in March 2026 that a second full-service location was about to open at 2018 W Division St in Wicker Park.
• General manager Jesse Li told Block Club the Chinatown original is “always packed, always a long wait.”
• The Wentworth Avenue room is walk-in only and BYOB, so arrive before noon or after 8 p.m. to skip the line.

See the full directory listing

JM Seafood

Every table at https://windycitymagazine.com/business/jm-seafood/ seems to have the same centerpiece: twin lobster sticky rice, a platter of ginger-scented rice topped with two pre-cracked lobsters, Chinese sausage and salted shrimp. The rest of the Cantonese menu at this Bridgeport restaurant holds up, with beef and oyster mushrooms in a glossy sauce and pumpkin slices fried in salted egg yolk as the usual second and third orders. This is a family and big-group place, loud in a good way, with plates meant to be shared. Third place goes to the strongest recent reviews of any restaurant here, held back only by a shorter track record than the two above.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: Bridgeport, S Halsted St between 31st and 35th streets

Why they made the list

• The Infatuation scored the restaurant a 9.0 in September 2024 and listed the restaurant first in its May 2025 Bridgeport guide.
• The same outlet kept JM Seafood near the top of its citywide Chinese restaurant guide in February 2026.
• Tables go fast on weekend nights, so call (312) 285-2688 ahead to get on the waitlist.
• The 8 Halsted bus stops out front, and the Sox-35th Red Line stop is about a 15-minute walk.

See the full directory listing

Lao Peng You

A small BYOB noodle and dumpling house in Ukrainian Village, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/lao-peng-you/ has felt like a crowded house party since opening on Chicago Avenue in 2019. The name means “old friend.” Handmade wide noodles go into a spicy beef soup and into cold sesame noodles with chili oil and peanuts, and dumplings come boiled in a sour, spicy broth with fillings like pork and dill or beef and cilantro. The green onion bread and the cumin lamb bing are worth an order for the table. Fourth place reflects a kitchen critics keep returning to, with a four-day week that keeps the restaurant from ranking higher.

Hours: Thu-Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; closed Mon-Wed

Address: 2020 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• Seating runs first-come, first-served with a text waitlist, and Saturday at 7 p.m. is the hardest time to get in.
• Every check carries a 4 percent charge that funds staff health insurance.
• Frozen dumplings are sold online for the days the shop is closed.
• The 66 Chicago bus stops at the door, and weekday afternoons are the calm window.

See the full directory listing

MingHin Cuisine

Dim sum in Chicago is a volume business, and https://windycitymagazine.com/business/minghin-cuisine/ runs the biggest room in Chinatown Square with the most consistent kitchen. Har gow, pan-fried turnip cakes and Malay steamed egg cake are the standards, and ordering happens on an iPad at the table, which makes it easy to overshoot. Dim sum runs all day, every day of the year, and the dinner menu of Cantonese roast meats, clay pots and lobster is a solid backup for a banquet. MingHin lands fifth as the safest first dim sum stop in the city, a place where a group of ten can eat well on a Sunday without a plan.

Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to midnight; Sat-Sun 8 a.m. to midnight

Address: 2168 S Archer Ave, Chicago, IL 60616

Why they made the list

• The Michelin Guide gave the Chinatown location a Bib Gourmand every year from 2016 through 2019.
• The north and south Chinatown lots at Wentworth and Archer charge $2 for up to three hours with validation from the restaurant.
• The chain has grown to include a Naperville dining room at 1633 N Naper Blvd with a free lot, plus rooms in Lakeshore East, Streeterville and Rolling Meadows.
• Weekend dim sum starts at 8 a.m., an hour earlier than on weekdays.

See the full directory listing

Shanghai Terrace

The splurge on this list is https://windycitymagazine.com/business/shanghai-terrace/, the Chinese dining room inside The Peninsula Chicago in Streeterville, styled after 1930s Shanghai with a greenery-lined outdoor terrace. The menu moves between Cantonese, Shanghainese and Sichuan dishes, and the two orders to build around are the lobster, chicken and truffle dumplings and the Peking duck, carved tableside and folded into thin pancakes with cucumber, radish and hoisin. This is the pick for an anniversary, a client dinner or parents who want tablecloths. Sixth place reflects a room that draws strong reviews but costs three or four times what the rest of the list does.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 108 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611

Why they made the list

• The truffle dumplings cost $21 for four pieces, and OpenTable listed a $31 to $50 per person range in June 2026 before the duck.
• The Infatuation scored the restaurant an 8.1 in December 2024, and Block Club included the terrace in its 2026 rooftop guide.
• Book ahead for a terrace table in summer, and budget for valet or a garage, since there is no free parking on the block.
• The Chicago Red Line stop at State Street is a short walk west.

See the full directory listing

Chef’s Special Cocktail Bar

The team behind Giant in Logan Square opened https://windycitymagazine.com/business/chefs-special-cocktail-bar/ on Western Avenue in Bucktown as a loud Chinese-American bar where the food is taken as seriously as the drinks. The kitchen cooks tighter versions of takeout standards: mapo tofu with real heat, shrimp toast, sweet and sour chicken and dan dan noodles. Bar seats are first-come, first-served and fill early, so book a table if you want to sit down at 7 p.m. on a Friday. Seventh place goes to the newest restaurant on the list, which has the current Michelin nod but a shorter history than the places above.

Hours: Mon-Sat 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sun 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Address: 2165 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Why they made the list

• The Michelin Guide’s Chicago Bib Gourmand list names the restaurant, and as of September 2026 the list includes no other Chinese restaurant.
• Happy hour runs 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily and brings dan dan noodles to $13 and an old fashioned to $9, per The Infatuation’s Bucktown guide updated in August 2026.
• The bar opens at 5 p.m. every day, so this is a dinner and late-night stop rather than a lunch option.
• The Western Blue Line stop is a few blocks south, and the 49 Western bus runs past the door.

See the full directory listing

Chef Xiong Taste of Szechuan

Sichuan cooking in Chinatown has several strong addresses, and https://windycitymagazine.com/business/chef-xiong-taste-of-szechuan/ has been the steadiest since opening on Archer Avenue in May 2019. The menu runs long enough that first-timers should stick to the greatest hits: cold jelly noodles in black bean sauce, wontons in chili sauce, grilled pork ribs, popcorn chicken served in a wicker basket and a proper mapo tofu. The room is upscale by neighborhood standards, which in practice means a quieter dinner than the food-court spots up the street. Eighth place reflects a reliable kitchen that has yet to pick up a named award.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 2143 S Archer Ave, Chicago, IL 60616

Why they made the list

• The restaurant’s own site credits the head chef with 35 years of Sichuan cooking.
• The Infatuation kept the restaurant on its February 2026 list of the 30 best restaurants in Chinatown.
• The dining room is BYOB, and reservations are taken by phone only at (312) 877-5258.
• Street parking on Archer is metered, so the Chinatown lots on Wentworth are the easier option on weekends.

See the full directory listing

Katy’s Dumplings

Suburban Chinese food’s best argument sits in a Cass Avenue strip in Westmont. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/katys-dumplings/ is named for the Northern-style dumplings, and those are good, but the hand-pulled noodles are the reason to drive out. The spicy beef noodle soup is $15.95, thick tangles of fresh noodle in a garlicky broth with pickled greens and big pieces of beef. Pork and chive potstickers are $12.95 and the stir-fried pancake with pork and onion is $15.95. The room is no-frills with a strip-mall lot out front. Ninth place goes to the best noodle bowl in the western suburbs, ranked below the city entries because the coverage is older.

Hours: Tue-Sun 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Mon

Address: 665 N Cass Ave, Westmont, IL 60559

Why they made the list

• Chicago Magazine, the Chicago Reader, the Tribune and Eater have all written up the noodles, and Eater named the restaurant an essential suburban restaurant in March 2024.
• A bag of 50 frozen dumplings with house chili oil goes for $45.
• A second location is open at 1113 Lake St in Oak Park.
• Downtown Westmont’s Metra stop on the BNSF line is about a mile south.

See the full directory listing

Yu’s Mandarin

Golf Road in Schaumburg is where https://windycitymagazine.com/business/yus-mandarin/ grew from a single neighborhood dining room into three restaurants, with sister locations in Wheeling and Vernon Hills serving the same menu. The draw is the house noodle section: Peking noodles, the zhajiangmian of the menu, Taiwan beef noodle soup and a spicy seafood noodle soup, alongside live-tank flounder, snapper and lobster at market price. The menu also carries a Traditional Cuisine page of Korean-Chinese dishes, which is unusual for the northwest suburbs. Tenth place reflects a solid family restaurant whose reputation rests more on the house menu than on recent independent reviews.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Fri 11:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Sat 11:15 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11:15 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Address: 200 E Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173

Why they made the list

• Peking noodles are $11.50, Taiwan beef noodle soup is $15.95 and the spicy seafood noodle soup is $16.95.
• The Korean-Chinese page includes a cold-and-hot yangjangpi salad and a $49.50 sea cucumber with green onion.
• The kitchen closes between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, so plan a late lunch around the gap.
• Reservations run through Resy on the restaurant’s site, and the strip on the north side of Golf Road has its own parking.

See the full directory listing

Also worth knowing

For a West Loop night out, Stephanie Izard’s https://windycitymagazine.com/business/duck-duck-goat/ at 857 W Fulton Market cooks hand-pulled noodles, dim sum and a limited nightly Peking duck, and OpenTable listed the restaurant in its June 2026 roundup of the city’s best Chinese restaurants.

Dim sum with a cocktail is the pitch at https://windycitymagazine.com/business/dolo-restaurant-and-bar/ at 2222 S Archer Ave in Chinatown, where everything is made to order rather than pulled from carts and the private lot holds about 25 cars.

Bridgeport’s Northern Chinese standby https://windycitymagazine.com/business/potsticker-house/, at 3139 S Halsted St, is the place for long pan-fried potstickers, soup dumplings and lamb with cumin when the wait at JM Seafood is too long.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Chinese restaurant in Chicago?

Sun Wah BBQ in Uptown tops this list on the strength of a 1987 founding, a 2018 James Beard America’s Classics award and the tableside Beijing Duck Dinner. Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings in Chinatown and JM Seafood in Bridgeport rank second and third, with JM Seafood holding the highest recent score from The Infatuation, a 9.0 in September 2024.

Where is the best dim sum in Chicago?

MingHin Cuisine in Chinatown Square runs the largest and most consistent dim sum room in the city, with har gow, turnip cakes and Malay steamed egg cake served all day, every day, and a Bib Gourmand each year from 2016 through 2019. Dolo Restaurant & Bar on Archer Avenue makes every order fresh instead of running carts, and Shanghai Terrace at The Peninsula serves a pricier version downtown.

How much does Chinese food cost in Chicago?

Most plates of dumplings on this list run $10 to $13 at Qing Xiang Yuan and $12.95 at Katy’s Dumplings, and a bowl of noodle soup is $15.95 at Katy’s and Yu’s Mandarin. Happy hour at Chef’s Special brings dan dan noodles to $13. The high end is Shanghai Terrace, where four truffle dumplings cost $21 and OpenTable lists $31 to $50 a person.

See a place we missed or a detail that has changed? Send us a correction.