Great food! This place has the most authentic chinese food among the group, even though it is a bit expensive comparing to the other chinese restuarant in china town, it is worth a visit.

Phoenix is the top bird! I've been a loyal customer of Phoenix for one reason: the food is terriffic. Even the bubble tea house downstairs is great for late night study breaks and game playing. Very crowded for dim sum, it is best to make reservations. The owners are great people, and they care about the food.

Long wait, but worth it It's true, if you don't arrive early for dim sum on the weekends, you'll grow old waiting for a table. But once you are seated you won't be disappointed. Carts come around often, and there's a pleasing variety of dishes - something for everyone. We especially love the dumplings, pork buns and shrimp wraps. And the price is quite reasonable. On my last visit, five of us stuffed ourselves to overflowing on dim sum for about $12 a piece, all said.

Hot and delicious Food is excellet and service friendly. Manager is a pleasant host.

ONE OF THE BEST IN THE US Having eaten many DimSum lunches and Dinners, I would rate the food as authentic as it gets. I love the menu suggestions from the managers. The wait staff could be be helpful, but overall the experience was very good. The authentic chinese food was worth it.

home run for dim sum Our family (with 3 small kids) had a great experience. Language barrier was a little tough, but our two waitresses were very friendly and attentive, especially to the kids. Food was fantastic--something for everyone. It was a weekday morning-the place was almost empty. No dimsum carts were circulating, but we ordered from the dimsum menu, which was fine, but we ended up with way too much food because when the carts did start coming by, we thought they were bringing what we ordered, so we just kept taking things! Comminucation was the only down side.

Enjoyable Event I have been at your restaurant at least 12 times in the last 4 months. The last three times I was there I was treated as a very special customer. There was a manager by the name of Jimmy Tse that visited our table several times during our stay. In the past no one ever asked us if everything was OK or not. Since Jimmy Tse has been on board he always makes sure we know what is available and even gets it for us or sends a waitress over with it. We usually spend $60.00 for four people. We are usually there on Saturdays around 10:00am. It's nice to see Jimmy. He's very professional. Keep up the good work.

Phoenix flies high Absolutely drop-dead scrumptious dim sum. Entrees are superb, too. And prices are surprisingly low. My two brothers and I eat way beyond satiety to gluttony for about $80 total.

A Taste of Home The Phoenix Restaurant is the best in Chicago. The Dim Sum is authentic, and dilicious. Although the wait is long, but it's worth it. Or you can choose to go early, or early afternoon, the wait won't be that bad. I found the Dim Sum price is affordable, while the other dishes might be a little bit too high. But I'm more than satisfied with everything.

Good place for Cantonese Seafood This is one of the better Cantonese restaurants in Chicago, but that's not saying much. The food is nothing like the Cantonese food in Hong Kong, of course. What makes this place better than the others in Chicago is the fresh seafood selection, which are well prepared. Although the flavor is authentic Cantonese, the price is a bit high, considering that the food is somewhat rustic. The decor is generic with minimal investment on silverware and plates with the typical stainless steel teapot and some chipped plates. I would overlook all of these things if the prices were lower. But for place that charges $15 for a small plate of Heart of Shanghai Bok Choy and $26 for steamed sea bass, I guess expected more. But I guess it's as good as it's going to get without flying to Hong Kong. Expect the usual Chinatown service.

Are you sure you're rating the right place? First of all, if you want dim sum go down-stairs, if you want a meal go up-stairs! If don't come early the wait will be long, especially for dim sum. I don't know how the dim sum can be cold and greasy when its steamed and brought right to you...although the dim sum is a bit cooler when served off the carts - I'm not sure if they are still using the carts because they didn't use them the last couple times I went. I've only been upstairs, once, but the service was great and has a better atmosphere. I go weekly for dim sum and have never had a bad experience. The food is pretty authentic - so if your looking for watered-down Americanized "Chinese" food, go somewhere else!

Be Adventurous Dont bother with Dim Sum if youre going to show up late or just order fried rice; youll be better off getting take out and pretending that you know Chinese food. Ive had Dim Sum all over this country, from San Francisco to NYC and the biggest commonality is usually the poor service and cramped dining area of which the Phoenix possesses none. The whole point to Dim Sum is to experiment. Your experience would be incomplete without half of your dishes being something youve never had. The jellyfish is excellent, by the way as well as the squid. This is definitely the stall-style seafood Ive been looking for in a city thats notorious for peanut butter in their egg rolls.

Great Dim Sum The restaurant is very clean unlike many other restaurants in Chinatown. The service was quick -- just make it clear you are there for dim sum. Their dim sum menu includes an 8x10 card with photos of all of the items. The waiters and hosts were attentive. For two people eating dim sum, it cost $25 w/out tip. Keep in mind most of the items on their dim sum menu contain shrimp. We went after lunch, around 2 p.m., and it wasn't crowded.

One of Chinatown's biggest and best restaurants, with dim sum to die for. The Scene
Two banquet-sized, second-floor dining rooms (total seating for 500) are tastefully decorated with white-clothed tables--and none of the kitsch and glitz found at nearby Chinatown Square. Service is speedy and friendly; communication can be tricky if you're not familiar with the menu.

The Food
From the exotic (shark fin soup, spicy jellyfish) to the mundane (lemon chicken, orange beef), Phoenix's lengthy menu brims with tasty, platter-size portions of traditional Chinese dishes, with some pan-Asian influences thrown in for good measure. Excellent dim sum brunch happens daily from open till 3pm; be there early, or you'll wait one to two hours. Don't miss light, flaky spring rolls and zingy hot and sour soup. Favorite entree? Shrimp in a crispy "bird's nest"--subtly sauced and piled with fresh snow peas and carrots in a crunchy taro root nest.

Dim sum It's clean. It's good. It's going to be a long wait on Saturday or Sunday. Another authentic place for dim sum.

Authentic Chinese Coming from a very traditional Chinese family, Phoenix is where I always take my visiting relatives since it is one of the best spots for an authentic Cantonese Dim Sum or Dinner. Food is great, service is quick, there is a great 2nd floor view of downtown and the price is very reasonable.

Authentic Chinese cuisine Clean restaurant, consistent and attentive service even at peak hours. But the food: It's all about the food. Top notch.

Great food, go on off hours I had to write after the terrible and somewhat misinformed review before this one.

My point: If you go during peak hours for dim sum don't complain when you have to wait 'heaven forbid' 30 minutes for a seat.

Bad points: lines and waits can be long (go on off hours), the staff though friendly don't seem to know much english, slightly over-priced.

Good points: AWESOME dim sum with an incredible variety. Great location right off the red line.

To me the food mades up for any bad points. If you want a waiter filling your glass every minute, english, no waits, plain food go somewhere else. If you want something authentic and good your at the right place.

fast service even on a saturday night take a pass on their fried calamari, too greasy and they do not give you a dipping sauce. i had to ask for lemons. kung pao chicken is good. shrimp fried rice not too greasy, we also had their shrimp it was good. huge portions we had to take some home. overall food is allright. no harm in trying this place out. the food arrived fast even on a saturday night. fast service.

happy with the food but not the service Great food. Bad customer service. It seems like they serve their own langauge spoken first and bring the food to them often. i hardly had anyone came to my table show me the Dim Sum items. i was waiting to get in for 30 mins.i only have 4 dim sum items.Lucky i ordered some dish on the sides. Ohh well i am happy with the food, it taste good but not the service.

A Chicago must stop Whenever we come to Chicago we have to stop at Phoenix. The dim sum is simply awesome. We were there yesterday and the food was incredible as always. We enjoyed everything we had and we tried a variety of dishes. The shrimp dumplings are the best! The service can be spotty but we were seated near the door to one of the samller rooms and were able flag down any cart that appealed to us and usually they stopped every pass.

I need to set the record straight about Phoenix If you go into Phoenix with a Western attitude that you will be waited on hand and foot, your experience may suffer. We have been going to Phoenix for years with excellent results and food. Went again last Sunday and they now have a picture system to assist ordering if the carts are not out. If you see something on a cart that you want, go to the server and request it be brought. If you don't see something coming around, request your server to get it for you. If you just sit there and expect every type of dim sum to be brought to your table, you may be dissapointed. We got every thing that we wanted in an hour period. It was all excellent from 'Dragon Claws' to tripe with turnips. I just had to counter all these negative reviews.

So so incredible-- the food was outstanding and reasonably priced, we got to watch the sun set over the Chicago skyline and the buildings light up as we ate this magnificent dinner! Definitely was a must-have destination experience, would most definitely come back! It seems a little sketchy at first because it's on the second floor but damn is it ever worth it! Getting to see that view while drinking the delicious tea and eating the authentic Chinese cuisine is an experience I will not soon forget!
-Alyssa M.

We made a day trip to Chicago from SE WI by way of train for our daughter's ninth birthday. She's a big foodie and very adventurous when it comes to trying new foods so I thought dim sum would be right up her alley. I'm so glad we happened upon Phoenix Restaurant. The food was delicious and the staff was great with answering all of our questions.
-Jessica S.

In Chicago for the weekend and came here for an early lunch. And it's good that it was an early lunch seeing as it took me pretty much all day to digest how much food we got. Very ample portions and everything was delicious. Loved the dim-sum and I think it was reasonably priced. Would definitely return.
-Samuel F.

Amazing food!! I am normally very picky about Chinese food, but this place has wonderful dishes with a lot of flavors!!!! The prices were also really reasonable. I highly recommend the beef chow fun and fried rice. I don't feel like you could go wrong here!!
-Jackie L.

I wanted to try some authentic Chinese food and I was so glad I tried Phoenix. The food was amazing and the menu was clear so a novice like myself could understand what it was I was ordering. The staff were also very friendly and did not make me feel out of place. Definitely coming back.
-Sharmila V.