Tried take out on two occasions....veggie spring rolls were very well done and a solid choice. The wonton soup was acceptable/average. The spicy chicken salad was tasty, and packaged properly for take out (hot fried chicken in on carton, salad in its own larger container, and the dressing in a third container). The noodles were poor.....over cooked and more like spaghetti than lo mein.
(3)
Brittany S.
My mom and I are the biggest Pei Wei fans ever, we used to have these in Northern California but they have since then all closed. My mom and I went here for dinner around 7pm on a friday night. There was a very short line to wait through and we only waited about 5 minutes for our food. I had my favorite, mongolian steak, soooooo good! I love the sauce, they give you lots of it so it's great for spreading on your rice as well. There were lots of empty places to sit, the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. We had a great experience, I wish we had Pei Wei out here!
(4)
Mike X.
Portions are way to small. You will leave this place hungry. Food was just ok.
(2)
Aaron P.
We went here with a BOGO coupon and had a pleasant dinner. It was basically empty on a Monday evening around 5:30 PM, with just a slow stream of people coming in one by one for takeout. The food was hot and flavorful. I had the new Black Pepper entree, which was good, but I will get something else next time. My wife had the Caramel entree, which seemed to lack any refined flavor. This location does not have all of the menu offerings of a traditional Pei Wei, but is a great place to pop into for a quick dinner or lunch. The staff was pleasant and the restaurant was reasonably clean. For beverage drinkers, they have two of those mix-your-own flavor Coke machines.
(4)
Jai R.
Serving Asian food, this tastes like Panda Express, but they have their own gimmicks. Outside of the food orders, this place is essentially a self serve. The East Ontario location is clean which is a plus. Servings are rather small which is a minus. On the balance, it's an okay place for fast food.
(3)
Crystal C.
I want so badly to like you Pei Wei! You are located right around the corner. The restaurant is very clean and open. You are right next to an Epic Burger so that I can head that way and then feel guilty about my calorie intake and choose you instead. But there is an issue that we can never get past, which is your ridiculously SMALL portion sizes! I assumed that restaurants did research on these kinds of things so that they would know customer expectations, but obviously they saved some money by skipping that step. Unfortunate, those savings are not passed on to me since Pei Wei is super expensive once you take into account the portions - like $$ instead of just $ expensive. We are talking almost $14 for a meal that I will eat every bite of in one sitting, which is pretty crazy to me. This place is most often compared to Panda Express (which is a fair comparison) but they have much better quality and each item is prepared to order. While I'm on that subject, you can pretty easily add and remove ingredients from dishes, but when I tried to have the beef in one is my dishes prepared well done they had no idea what I was talking about! I mean, really? They had to go get the chef from the back and I had to tell him what I wanted. When you try to order online there was no way to write specific notes about preparing the meal, you only check off what you wanted and didn't want. Who designs a website like that? There isn't even a way to say, "extra napkins please." I was so excited when Pei Wei came here and now I just sad...cause the food is delicious! Mongolia Beef - I will miss you. Maybe can still see each other on my birthday and when someone else is treating?
(2)
Christina A.
I giving this place 2/5 because the Thai salad was awesome and only cost about $2. The lettuce rolls were also great. They tasted exactly like the dish they serve at PF Changs. I also ordered a spicy chicken dish (I believe it was one of their featured dishes). The chicken was deep fried and it was not advertised as fried. In addition. It was covered in a sweet (not spicy as advertised) sauce. I wouldn't go back. The Thai salad and lettuce wraps were great, but the entree was worse than the Chinese food you get at any mall food court. I love PF changs. Their lamb dishes and PF changs signature soup are always great. I hoped for more.
(2)
Jonathan L.
Really happy that I found a Pei Wei in Chicago. It's obviously not authentic Chinese, but it's tasty. I usually order one of the Pei Wei classics, like Kung Pao, Pei Wei Spicy, or Japanese Teriyaki. They have two sizes: market and large. The market is plenty. I think the prices are reasonable, but others might think it's expensive. They do give free fortune cookies though.
(4)
Vanessa L.
I was really excited to hear about this opening by my job as i have eaten at the Elston location. I was really bummed to find out that this location is a market location therefore it doesn't have all the foods that a regular Pei Wei has. I ended up having a shrimp and rice meal. The shrimp was battered and fried and tasted gross. It had a slimy consistency and the rice was really dry and bland. I did love the coke machine but the meal just turned me off completely.
(2)
Sarah S.
Awesome food. Good atmosphere. Amazing soda machine!!
(4)
Odranre B.
today, i had to give it another chance and the result was still the same - low to mediocre food, panda express taste better. the inside decor was nice and clean though. but the food was not good. i went there on a friday at 12noon and there were less than 10 people eating.
(1)
Gia S.
Went for lunch yesterday as I had heard good things. On the online menu nutrition, it said there are 2 ways to cook (one with lower calories). When I got there, the option was not on the menu and the staff was unsure of it. I got the Pei Wei Shrimp, very good with brown rice. My friend got egg rolls that literally needed to be blotted with around 4 napkins. We held upright and grease just dripped out in a steady stream. TERRIBLE! Cute place though and awesome soda machines.
(3)
Sally L.
Expensive for what you get. Not very good taste. There is never enough sauce on your meal and the chicken was undercooked. Wont be dining here again.
(1)
Lauren B.
The food is fine... but the girl (Brittany) that lets you know that your food is ready is one of the rudest people. Be ready to be spoken to like you are an idiot and beneath her.
(2)
Kristen P.
This place teeters between 2 and 3 stars. I live around the corner, so this is a convenient option for me. Most of the food doesn't have much flavor (even the spicy stuff), and some it (ahem, sushi rolls) is clearly made well in advance and left to try out in the fridge. The staff here is horrible. Of all the times I've been here, I think one person has greeted me with a smile and an authentic energetic hello. Everyone else's behavior ranges from completely apathetic to downright rude. They often mess up carry out orders (like today, no lettuce with my chicken lettuce wraps?!) - so check the contents before walking out the door. It could be better, both the food and service, and I am hoping it will improve...
(2)
Joanne S.
If there were a 1/2 star I would give that. Sushi, made hours ago... stale. I won't ever go back
(1)
Erica P.
Always short staffed with less than enthusiastic employees. They always take way too long and the food comes up short, either too dry or too greasy. The place needs a good cleaning and tables are left with trash on them for way too long before they are cleared and crumbs are scooped from the floor. No ambiance whatsoever. Given them more than one chance, they always disappoint. It's so obvi this place is a franchise, skip out and try a local Chinese place instead, I'm sure the attention to detail and customer service will surpass this place that looks like it's hanging by a thread.
(1)
Rick T.
Slapdash Asian. In the same way that Chipotle is slapdash Mexican. Except the Chipotle people don't get all ghetto when they's cleaning up the tables, yo.
(3)
Vanessa R.
Can't decide what eat for lunch today: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese? Don't worry, you can now get it all under one roof at Pei Wei. This is a great addition to the Streeterville area and offers a nice lunch option in an area overcome with sandwich and burger places. Tons of seating options to seat your lonesome self or a large group if dining in and fast service if you are taking your meal to go. I opted for some basic chicken fried rice and it was very good - not super salty like some rice dishes can be and a good amount of lean chicken. Oh, and they have fortune cookies for free! (I love me some fortune cookies). You can order a small or large portion which is great, especially since I almost always tend to have food leftover and then it goes to waste. Lots of options from noodles, rice dishes, signature dishes and even some salads. Several gluten-free options available too. Also, their website has very comprehensive nutrition information so you can make an informed choice before placing your food order. Overall, fast service and plenty of menu choices. Great addition to the area!
(3)
Andrew B.
The food is good but they could do a lot more to keep the line moving during the lunch rush. The slow guy on the register just can't keep up.
(3)
Deirdre L.
Meh is right. Can't substitute meats in the salads. Its chicken or nothing - not even tofu. Spring roll is like 1 mini egg roll with sweet and sour sauce for 5 people. Pei Wei Spicy thing with tofu is just ok . Quick and clean but probably won't be back.
(2)
Jamie B.
It's great to have a good Chinese restaurant in a neighborhood that's lacking in the Chinese food arena. Cheap, quick, serves beer and wine if you're in the mood, and food is pretty tasty-- this is a spinoff of PF Chang's,
(3)
Melli Y.
Yuck. Panda express is better than these wannabes. Overpriced, bland, and small. Also got the order wrong and brought out the wrong meal. While i was eating my plate almost finished my dad was waiting for so long! Plus I'm a super slow eater. It wasn't even the long wait for his plate. Wouldn't go back.
(1)
Michael S.
Great Food.... Everything is fresh...however i use to work here i wanted to grow with the company & after 6months working there 6days a week they cut my hours to 2days a week...thats the loyalty i get coming in when someone called off...they decided to cut me because they cancelled one of the areas in the restaurant...i quit..thanks Anthony...but none the less great food.
(5)
Cason M.
Unhappy with the speed of getting food. I have had two difficult situations there, was thinking about going back today and my friend said he had bad experiences on wait as well as a manager yelling at customers. Can we get a better chinese food place in streeterville, please?
(1)
Jean L.
The definition of terrible americanized chinese food. I haven't been to a pei wei for over 3 years. Having lived near one in Newport Beach, CA, I used to go maybe once a month. I don't remember it being this bad. But I got to Chicago and thought, hell - why not? The only thing this place has going for it is the convenience and the portions. Bland. Just all around not so good. I walked in and ordered. The cashier was just nonchalant. She asked if I had the pei wei rewards and I told her I didn't know what that was and asked if she could tell me more. She just said "well you just sign up..." ..Well no shit sherlock. Thanks for the explanation. Anyhow, I'd rather pay the extra $2 to go to big bowl down the street on ohio.
(1)
Chris Z.
For some reason the beef teriyaki with white rice wasn't as good as before. Maybe because there's more lettuce and more uncooked onions than the beef. Maybe there's a new guy in there. I think I'll be skipping this place for a while. Quality went down way down than before. I work one block from this spot and it's a daily lunch place when I'm working. One star for whatever.
(1)
Jamie M.
More like Pee-Ewwww! This proved to be a classic example of why you should pay attention to online reviews before dining in a new place. Despite the postings, I convinced the wife we should walk around the corner from our apartment and sample the "Five Unique Flavors From Five Asian Food Styles". So, the first sign of a bad restaurant experience? Completely, and utterly, empty dining room on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. Second sign? Only one guy working the sushi bar, while also staffing the empty kitchen. Third bad sign? Not an Asian in sight. The menu options are pretty simple - a small offering of four and eight-piece sushi slices, including a Mango California Roll for just $3.50 for the four-piece and $6.99 for the eight piece Spicy Tuna Roll. Entrees are offered as stir-fried, or "Wok'd", where you pick out your protein - chicken, veggies or tofu for $8.69 or Steak or Shrimp for $9.69. You then select your rice - a glop of greasy brown or Spackle-like white ... or for a $1 upcharge you can take your chances with the rice noodles or fried rice. Toss in an extra buck or two for "spicy" sauce or extra protein. We decided on the Wok'd Orange Peel Steak and the Kung Pao Shrimp, along with a four piece of Spicy Tuna Roll and Sweet-n-Sour soup. First, the soup was so gelatinous and grossly thick from being over cornstarched, that the heavy, china spoon actually stood straight up in the bowl - see the photo above. Absolutely disgusting. The Wok'd entrees were tasteless, with both proteins saturated in the same bright red sauce, despite being completely different orders. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked, the green beans were completely raw. My carrots in the Orange Peel Steak were so hard and rubbery, I thought they were boiled poker chips. The meat was chewy and could have passed for overcooked chicken. Service was minimal - three people delivered the sushi and two entrees -each about three minutes apart. We never saw the server again. Lesson learned.
(1)
Adam L.
Stopped by this place to get some sushi to go. You can not beat the prices on their sushi, between 3 and 4 dollars for a half roll is a great deal. The sushi is pretty good, will stop by this place again, when in Chicago.
(4)
Lassiter G.
Food is good but customer service sucks. I ate in and the lady tossed my plate at me. The guy that rang me up was a jerk.
(2)
Irene G.
Recently just discovered this place -how did it take me this long?! It's currently on the top of my list for a quick and filling lunch since it's close to work. The Ginger Broccoli with steak is very good. I haven't tried the Original size portion for any of the entrees but a small is enough for me. The great thing is you can order online and pay when you pick up your order.
(4)
Tim M.
It was nice and quiet on my visit here during the week, which is a bad sign. I've eaten at other locations around the country and have felt they've been consistently bad. The food is tolerable but the service can vary. This location has the worst. You might as well eat the tofu since their meats aren't that good. At least the tofu tastes like chicken. Oh yes, they also have pints of Kirin for $6, if you're in the mood for a cold beer. It's really the only redeeming quality of this place.
(3)
Laura C.
Decent ambiance and attentive staff (I visited around 6 pm on a Monday, though, and it was dead). I ordered the small (it was huge) tofu and vegetables lo mein, and while nothing spectacular, I thought it was pretty darn good. Simple, no fuss Asian inspired dishes at decent price points. And - unlike Panda Express - I didn't feel sick afterwards! I'd be interested in trying their spring rolls and other sides. Stay tuned.
(4)
Jessie Elizabeth J.
First and last time coming here! Staff are inattentive and cold, but that can be excused. Well the table we sat at was broken and rickety, and the second one we moved to was STICKY! I ordered a variety of "sushi" and a chicken wrap. The "sushi" was hard, tasted stale and fishy and so loosely rolled it was falling apart on the plate. I've had edible sushi even from walgreens compared to this disturbance. As for the chicken wrap, the peanut sauce it came with was straight peanut butter, what a joke. My boyfriend ordered a chicken vegetable stirfry and was served chunks of deep fried, questionable chicken that was neither spicy nor flavorful but overtly salty. The first time I have ever been pushed to asking for my money back, we left after a few tortured bites. How is this place in business?
(1)
Robert S.
About as close, cuisine-wise to my old favorite, Ben Pao (R.I.P.). Nice place--roomy, casual enough for an easy dinner but classy enough to be a lunch date kind of place. It's a little more than just fast food, and the menu is confusing. Work through it, and you'll understand. Took me a couple times before I settled into a routine: Original chicken with Teriyaki sauce and steamed rice complemented with a 2-pork egg roll side. Skip the fountain drink, and the whole meal is around $13. They have noodle dishes as well. Tourists: this is NOT Panda Express. Keep walking.
(4)
Matthew D.
Seriously has gone down a very steep hill! While having my order taken by an inexperienced girl, a male coworker came over while I was In The middle of ordering and asked if he could take a cookie for free.... She let him too! Ordered Mongolian beef, spring rolls, and a soda. $17. Restaurant was empty except for all employees sitting at a table hanging out. Sat down at a table which was sticky. Changed table 4 times before I gave up and just took a great deal of napkins! Went and got a soda. Almost every soda that I wanted on machine was unavailable! So I settled... There was a medium size liquid/water spill by machine. Instead of wiping up, they just put a yellow no slip sign up. Received my food, order was correct however received Mongolian beef, 2 minutes later the egg rolls, two minutes later the extra sauce on side I requested. Seriously?! Mongolian sauce was thick and gelatinous on side and on meat. There was no crispness to beef like before. White rice tasted left over. I turned me off the whole meal as I realized how horrible this place has turned. I used to love this place and always recommended it. Now I will do the opposite and never return too... This 100% are the leaders of this organization's fault. All team members are only as good as their direct report. Shame!
(1)
Kevin Y.
Lukewarm food served with a piping hot side of attitude from a hip, young staff. Never again.
(2)
Beth S.
I wondered if I visited this Pei Wei on an off day, but the reviews make me think otherwise. I came in here on a Saturday before seeing a movie; we wanted to come here because we thought a traditional sitdown restaurant would take too long. Well, as it turned out, this took much longer than expected as well. We came up and ordered, and it was clear they were very understaffed. In fact, the two stores are solely for the effort that the staff was obviously at least trying to put in. When I walked up, the woman at the counter had to take a phone call. I noticed that in the 45 minutes I was there, there were almost a dozen pick-up orders either called in or picked up, despite the handful of people in the restaurant. It seemed these orders were getting priority. A friend ordered ahead of my boyfriend and I, and it seemed that none of us received any food until AFTER the prior person had finished his/her food. I have had Pei Wei plenty of times before, and it was decent, but this was just ... bland. Absolutely nothing special. It seemed to me that not only were they understaffed.. a lot of people looked like they were training. Maybe this place is well-staffed during work-week lunch, but on a Saturday night? There were maybe five people working. Ridiculous. Pei Wei, step it up and hire some people in this location.
(2)
Judson J.
Sushi was great got the kung pao sushi and California roll. Pad Thai wasn't that great but the staff was very friendly. Tips of my rangoons were burnt but filling was full of crab and the sauce accompanying was amazing.
(4)
Eric W.
Ordered mongolian beef and fried rice. got brown rice and some sort of strange beef jerky stips (see pic). I've compared it to the other times i've gotten mongolian beef as well as pei wei's own pictures and I can say with 100% certainty what I got was not mongolian beef. Vegetables had no flavor tasted just as bad as the beef jerky. couldn't bring myself to eat more than two bites of the meal. worst meal I've eaten in the past 2 years by far.
(1)
Cary W.
A nice place for a quick bite in Chicago. Love Pei Wei! the service is friendly and fast!
(5)
Hillary M.
I'll be honest - I feel like I have gone through a love-hate relationship with Pei Wei. When the place opened about a year ago near my place, I was SUPER excited to have a nearby cheaper quick Chinese option, because I love me some Chinese food. But...the first couple times I tried it, the food was just not enjoyable. It wasn't the normal Chinese flavors you expect, the brown rice accompaniment was dry and awful and it was never satisfying. But I must be crazy because I tried it again to try and convince myself that it was good, and one day it all changed - IT WAS GOOD! They changed their recipes or something and it became addicting and delicious. Our regular dishes are the Caramel chicken with extra sauce, add spinach. And the Mongolian steak. I'm also a sucker for the Thai wonton soup, it's not the best soup ever but it's just something I like with my PeiWei.
(4)
Chris A.
Meat tasted like it was cooked in last weeks oil, vegetables were soggy and rice was over cooked. For the price, go to the PF Changs down the street
(1)
Kari H.
It was my first time here after getting a $10 gift card. This place is rather hidden on Ontario St as people don't seem to eat at the restaurants along this less-traveled street. The place is big with plenty of tables but there were only a few tables there on a 7pm weeknight. We were greeted by a friendly employee upon walking in. We took a few minutes to decide what to order. They were out of the sushi rolls with tuna in them. Bummer. We ordered Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Original and Thai Dynamite Steak Original with a fountain drink. The Pei Wei Spicy Chicken was super sour and sweet. t wasn't that spicy despite the abundance of bright red pepper flakes. We inhaled the steam from the food and coughed from the vinegar smell in the dish. The snap peas were super fresh and crunchy. The circle-cut orange slices might look boring but added a firm sweetness to the dish. It was served with plenty of white rice. The chicken was breaded and deep-fried so it added a nice crunch to the dish. There seemed to be plenty of chicken, too. Yay! The Thai Dynamite (Steak) was a favorite of the employee taking our order. I thought it was okay - I would try another dish next time. The steak was lightly breaded and deep fried and there was a small amount of thick sauce. The beef pieces were crunchy and settled atop a bed of sliced green onions and red peppers. The dish seemed to have a lot of salty seasoning and the green onion and red pepper didn't suffice to minimize the saltiness. The brown rice I ordered with the dish, however, helped balance out the saltiness but it was a bit dry. Luckily, I had a fountain drink. The fountain drink served to quench my thirst. One of the machines was almost completely out of order. Perhaps only 2-3 soda brands were available. The working machine, located closer to the kitchen and on the left side of the back counter, gave the drink a weird, almost algae-like taste to the drinks. I tried different drinks (orange coke, sprite, ginger ale, sprite with peach) and they all had this weird taste to it. I wonder if it was the pipe on the machine that had algae on it or the water pipe servicing the machine that had algae in it or the water source servicing the machine that had algae in it. I'm not sure what it was but the soda tasted off. The service here is excellent. The team members seem to get along well with each other and the server who brought food to our table told us what the dishes were as they brought them out to us. Service was quick and the employee who took our order asked us if we had any questions when we were ordering, which was nice of her. The ambiance is very nice. The lighting is great as it's very well-lit and bright. The dark tables go well with the brick walls and the restrooms are quite clean. I'd like to come back again to try out their other dishes such as the Pad Thai next time. I'll give the fountain drinks another try, too. Maybe I'll try the smaller-sized dishes (4oz vs 8oz of meat) since 8oz is a bit too much for me.
(3)
Jimmye A.
Understaffed and poorly managed. There was only one employee on the floor taking orders, packaging take-out, and serving food. It's been 42 minutes since I placed my take-out order, and I'm still waiting...
(1)
Robert W.
I used to come here quite a bit, but looks like things have gone downhill. Mongolian beef was very salty and the pop machines were both broken. I asked for a water instead and never received it. Not coming back.
(2)
Scott G.
Got pad Thai veggie and tofu. Too much sauce which had an overly acidic taste. Tried the different meals my coworkers got and each different sauce had that same taste. The vegetables seemed frozen and thawed. Tofu was limp and unappealing when it could've been crisped up in the wok.
(1)
marc c.
Very disappointed - food had a funny old oil taste. There must be a reason at noon the place is empty. Only good part of the meal was the brown rice. Usually love PF changs but this is nothing like their food.
(1)
Matthew V.
Long wait times, missing online orders, and frequently incorrect orders - suggest you skip this Pei Wei!
(1)
Jessica W.
For $6.99 at Pei Wei I get a huge portion size of their thai lime & chile chicken salad that I find absolutely delicious. Sometimes I substitute shrimp for the chicken and if I ask for the meat steamed, rather than friend, or without sauce, they are extremely accommodating. I love being able to have delicious, healthy options at an asian diner. Also, they offer discounts if you have a Northwestern Wildcard!
(4)
Nelson M.
Restaurant update I visited again with a recent BOGO offer from Pei Wei website and decided to try the market size portion of seared crispy shrimp which was 6.95. The food once again was fresh, but the size of the dish was ridiculously small. Even my wife who is never a big eater was staring at me and said "why is there only 6 shrimps in my meal". This is overpriced and I think I will go to Panda Express instead next time.
(2)
Mansi K.
Good place to grab a quick bite if you are mood for something asian. Food quality is amazing.. Portion size great, ambience is very standard but I would expect it to be any different for this price point. I would go there again!!
(4)
Angela R.
I went here for the take out, found that the food didn't travel as well as I hoped. Just wishing now that I had stopped next door at Potbellies or Epic Burger. Would have then at least been full after eating junk food.
(2)
Matt m.
While the lettuce wraps with traditional chicken are tasty, keep in mind they can be quite messy. (Better eaten while alone)
(3)
Jen K.
I've gone to a Pei Wei before and needed a quick, healthy bite. There was a long line during lunch. It went by quickly and I ordered a bowl and edamame. It was pretty healthy and under $10 so I was happy with my choice. It took a very long time to get the food out and some of the edamame was brown when I opened up the box. Don't know if I'll go back, not really worth it to me, when there are so many other options around.
(3)
J B.
I had the Mongolian Beef with fried rice. The food was pretty good and the service was okay, but the pricing is a bit high. Add that with a drink and I walked out spending over $20. For that price, I will clearly go to Chinatown and get some food that is much better. I am not sating I would never eat here again, but I won't miss it if I don't.
(3)
DJ F.
I actually like Pei Wei for a quick meal, but this location is consistently bad. The food is bland, literally no flavor whatsoever. A simple veggie and brown rice meal came out swimming in Spicy Pei Wei sauce. A soggy, flavorless, over-priced mess. And the spinach I paid an extra buck for? 3 wilted leaves! The location in Logan Square is good, I've stopped in there on occasion while shopping. But I've given this location several tries and, despite being literally next door to my office, I will not be coming back.
(1)
Greg G.
I came here for the first time last week and I was pretty excited to eat here and check it out. The restaurant has a nice set up, it's clean, lots of tables, big open kitchen so you can see them cooking your food. They have not one, but TWO Coke Freestyle soda machines (the machines with like 100 different flavors) so that's cool. Okay let's get to the food part.. I ordered the Pei Wei Spicy with steak. I like my food to have a little bit of kick. This had ZERO kick, it was not spicy at all! The steak pieces were also awkwardly big. They were too big for bite size, so I had to cut everything, but it was really difficult trying to cut through this awful meat. I almost broke a plastic knife cutting this steak, it was awful. The whole dish was kind of bland.. It seemed like it was frozen steak bits from Dominiks covered in glaze that was not spicy at all then piled onto rice and mixed in with a few vegies, it wasn't good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I'll have to try one of their stirfry dishes IF I go back.. Also it was expensive.. I think I paid like $11 for my meal and drink. No thanks.
(2)
Karen C.
I am SO happy to have another new lunch option around my office that isn't a sandwich, a sandwich or a sandwich. Like everyone else said, this is a spinoff of P.F. Chang's... it's a small "market" location so they don't have a full Pei Wei menu, but that's just fine with me. I've been going with the teriyaki chicken & a side of edamame... plus they have that awesome coke machine where you pick your own flavors. The entree dishes come in 2 sizes, and for the price, you can't beat it. $8 for a fresh-cooked and delicious lunch beats a $5 Subway footlong in my book any day. Outdoor seating in the summer, plenty of indoor seating, and a help-yourself fortune cookie basket. I love this place.
(4)
Kat T.
This location had a taste testing event last Friday, prior to their official opening date. I tried the Mango Salad, which was really good. Today I tried their Chicken Lettuce Wraps, also very good. For those concerned about sodium intake, the food here might have a very high content of it. It's a busy location during lunch and the kitchen staff are in a frenzy preparing dishes cutting down the wait time significantly. The prices are reasonable and the selection diverse. Seating area can be quite limited during the lunch rush hour. They have two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and also serve mango iced tea. Overall, the food is very flavorful and pricing reflective of the area.
(4)
Vina O.
Very clean and spacious. The food isn't bad at all for Americanized Chinese food. Even though everything is under $10, portions are pretty small, even the "large" size. Their crab wontons are pretty amazing! Definitely a good place to bring small kids or babies as well. :)
(3)
Fabiola I.
Food is pretty bland, we got three different dishes and it all tasted the same. Portions are tiny! We ordered large and it looked like a small. Not worth the trip back.
(2)
A H.
Pei Wei is a run-off-the-mill diner serving their watered-down version of Asian food. I won't say it's bad, but it's not tasty. Fast service though. Great for take outs. Their "fusion" of Asian cuisines is a bit odd. We got spicy stir fried Chinese noodle that, literally, tasted like bits and pieces of different parts of Asia. But we were hungry!
(3)
Nancy H.
Pei Wei has the best lettuce wraps! The ginger dish is fabulous. I have never been disappointed. Their food is always fresh and it's cooked to order. Please come back to the Inland Empire!
(5)
Cindy F.
I honestly wanted to like this place but it was not very good. One star for the service, they are friendly. The first time I came here I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. It was basically spaghetti noodles with chicken. The flavor was very mediocre but essentially they just dump the sauce on top (pre-made) and you have to mix it up in the small container that your noodles are in. I decided to give them one more try so I ordered the pad thai with tofu and vegetables spicy (5 on a scale of 1-5 in spiciness). 1) There were no vegetables. 2) The tofu was sliced so thin that it disintegrated into tiny pieces in the pad thai 3) They just dumped a whole load of sriracha sauce which didn't make the pad thai extra spicy, just extra sriracha-ey. It had more of a vinegar like taste to it. 4) Pad thai shouldn't have a gravy texture to it, which it did, and the noodles they used were really stringy and rubbery. I personally would not recommend this place.
(1)
Ken L.
I didn't know Lean Cuisine opened a restaurant. I LOVE it! I usually eat Lean Cuisine in the winter. So now, when I am out and about in the summer, I can just drop in this place, spend like 3x what I spent for those frozen isle containers, to get a freshly made unfrozen isle container! The dinning in experience is really the best, cause the food really look like a damn Lean Cuisine. Same sized plastic container, portion is about the same as well, if not smaller. Comes with all the plastic utensils, plastic trays, and plastic cups you need. Don't ever go to Panda Express ever again. Cause they would really fill you up. As everybody knows... "wow, that Lean Cuisine really filled me up," said no one, ever. I need to put in a note in the suggestion box and tell them to install a TV. Cause I usually enjoy my Lean Cuisine while watching TV at home.
(1)
Barbara B.
This place hits all of the wrong notes. It's trying to be upscale, but then serves everything in plastic containers reminiscent of tv dinner trays. The prices are about the same price as some of the local thai places that include sit down service and real plates. Food: I tried the chicken lettuce wraps once as a main course. VERY filling, and actually pretty tasty but covered in oil. I also tried the Chicken Lo Mein a different time for lunch which was very disappointing. It was basically a tray full of noodles with barely any chicken or vegetables in it. The sauce was also greasy and too sweet. Their menu also doesn't explain which dishes have deep fried meat and which are not. I would honestly be happier at a Panda Express.
(1)
Samantha E.
I didn't know there could be such variety in a chain restaurant. All the other Pei Weis I have ever visited had the whole selection of oil, vinegar, chile paste, and mustard to make my own PF Changs sauce mix. All they had here was Sriracha and soy sauce. The portions were small and even though we ate in restaurant, we were still given to go containers. The food was all the same and still delicious but I am used to getting big portions.
(3)
Kristi M.
Was thrilled to have an Asian restaurant so close to work, but am sorry to report that I was disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Mango salad and it was not worth the money. There were 3 small pieces of chicken and the breading on them was heavy and hard. The worst part was there was very little salad in the container (less than half-filled)!!!! For over $6.00, I would at least expect there to be an adequate amount of lettuce in the container. Probably my fault for going to an Asian restaurant and ordering a salad, so I definitely won't do that again. I have had a noodle dish from their Elston location and it was definitely much better. I'm willing to give this place another try, but will order something with noodles or rice so that I'm still not hungry after spending $6.00.
(3)
Minu L.
Hmm. We were excited to hear about a new Asian fast food place opening so close to work. I would say its average. I tried the mangolian chicken - it was OK. The chicken was little too sweet for my taste, and the scallions could have tasted better if they were fresh. It has white mushrooms on it and I like mushrooms. Their dishes come in two sizes- a market (small) size and a large size. Large size just has extra meat on it. The small portion was decent priced and good enough for lunch. It wasn't bad, but that's it. Wasn't great either. They also have fancy coke machine, something I haven't seen elsewhere yet. The store was super clean, servers and host were friendly and very nice. I liked the ambiance too. It was very nice given that its a fast food Asian place. Now they can really really improve on their taste and quality. I would have preferred to have fried rice with my meal, but they just offer white and brown rice. Rice was fresh. Given that its a new place with nice decor and decent priced menu, what lacks is taste. The food tastes just like any other Asian / Chinese fast food place. I have had better.
(2)
Michael S.
Ordered the market size Hong Kong BBQ w/steak and was impressed w/the portion size. The sauce was good and my veggies were crisp and still had their own flavor, not drowned out by the sauce. The GF and I also had the pork egg rolls, which were awesome, the crab wontons, which were good, and the chicken lettuce wraps, also good. I'm not sure what the name of the sauce was w/the chicken wraps, but it was outstanding w/the pork egg rolls. We will be going back.
(4)
Lisa N.
Love the portion sizes and reasonable prices, but HELLO sodium! The 2 dishes I tried (lemongrass noodle salad and lettuce wraps) were so salty I could almost feel the fluid moving out of my cells. Even the cucumber-basil salad had an overly salty flavor to it. When I looked up the nutritional data, the lemongrass salad had 1400 mg of sodium! Too much for this gal...
(2)
Michael S.
Great Food.... Everything is fresh...however i use to work here i wanted to grow with the company & after 6months working there 6days a week they cut my hours to 2days a week...thats the loyalty i get coming in when someone called off...they decided to cut me because they cancelled one of the areas in the restaurant...i quit..thanks Anthony...but none the less great food.
(5)
Cason M.
Unhappy with the speed of getting food. I have had two difficult situations there, was thinking about going back today and my friend said he had bad experiences on wait as well as a manager yelling at customers. Can we get a better chinese food place in streeterville, please?
(1)
Jean L.
The definition of terrible americanized chinese food. I haven't been to a pei wei for over 3 years. Having lived near one in Newport Beach, CA, I used to go maybe once a month. I don't remember it being this bad. But I got to Chicago and thought, hell - why not? The only thing this place has going for it is the convenience and the portions. Bland. Just all around not so good. I walked in and ordered. The cashier was just nonchalant. She asked if I had the pei wei rewards and I told her I didn't know what that was and asked if she could tell me more. She just said "well you just sign up..." ..Well no shit sherlock. Thanks for the explanation. Anyhow, I'd rather pay the extra $2 to go to big bowl down the street on ohio.
(1)
Chris Z.
For some reason the beef teriyaki with white rice wasn't as good as before. Maybe because there's more lettuce and more uncooked onions than the beef. Maybe there's a new guy in there. I think I'll be skipping this place for a while. Quality went down way down than before. I work one block from this spot and it's a daily lunch place when I'm working. One star for whatever.
(1)
Laura C.
Decent ambiance and attentive staff (I visited around 6 pm on a Monday, though, and it was dead). I ordered the small (it was huge) tofu and vegetables lo mein, and while nothing spectacular, I thought it was pretty darn good. Simple, no fuss Asian inspired dishes at decent price points. And - unlike Panda Express - I didn't feel sick afterwards! I'd be interested in trying their spring rolls and other sides. Stay tuned.
(4)
Jessie Elizabeth J.
First and last time coming here! Staff are inattentive and cold, but that can be excused. Well the table we sat at was broken and rickety, and the second one we moved to was STICKY! I ordered a variety of "sushi" and a chicken wrap. The "sushi" was hard, tasted stale and fishy and so loosely rolled it was falling apart on the plate. I've had edible sushi even from walgreens compared to this disturbance. As for the chicken wrap, the peanut sauce it came with was straight peanut butter, what a joke. My boyfriend ordered a chicken vegetable stirfry and was served chunks of deep fried, questionable chicken that was neither spicy nor flavorful but overtly salty. The first time I have ever been pushed to asking for my money back, we left after a few tortured bites. How is this place in business?
(1)
Jamie M.
More like Pee-Ewwww! This proved to be a classic example of why you should pay attention to online reviews before dining in a new place. Despite the postings, I convinced the wife we should walk around the corner from our apartment and sample the "Five Unique Flavors From Five Asian Food Styles". So, the first sign of a bad restaurant experience? Completely, and utterly, empty dining room on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. Second sign? Only one guy working the sushi bar, while also staffing the empty kitchen. Third bad sign? Not an Asian in sight. The menu options are pretty simple - a small offering of four and eight-piece sushi slices, including a Mango California Roll for just $3.50 for the four-piece and $6.99 for the eight piece Spicy Tuna Roll. Entrees are offered as stir-fried, or "Wok'd", where you pick out your protein - chicken, veggies or tofu for $8.69 or Steak or Shrimp for $9.69. You then select your rice - a glop of greasy brown or Spackle-like white ... or for a $1 upcharge you can take your chances with the rice noodles or fried rice. Toss in an extra buck or two for "spicy" sauce or extra protein. We decided on the Wok'd Orange Peel Steak and the Kung Pao Shrimp, along with a four piece of Spicy Tuna Roll and Sweet-n-Sour soup. First, the soup was so gelatinous and grossly thick from being over cornstarched, that the heavy, china spoon actually stood straight up in the bowl - see the photo above. Absolutely disgusting. The Wok'd entrees were tasteless, with both proteins saturated in the same bright red sauce, despite being completely different orders. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked, the green beans were completely raw. My carrots in the Orange Peel Steak were so hard and rubbery, I thought they were boiled poker chips. The meat was chewy and could have passed for overcooked chicken. Service was minimal - three people delivered the sushi and two entrees -each about three minutes apart. We never saw the server again. Lesson learned.
(1)
Adam L.
Stopped by this place to get some sushi to go. You can not beat the prices on their sushi, between 3 and 4 dollars for a half roll is a great deal. The sushi is pretty good, will stop by this place again, when in Chicago.
(4)
Lassiter G.
Food is good but customer service sucks. I ate in and the lady tossed my plate at me. The guy that rang me up was a jerk.
(2)
Irene G.
Recently just discovered this place -how did it take me this long?! It's currently on the top of my list for a quick and filling lunch since it's close to work. The Ginger Broccoli with steak is very good. I haven't tried the Original size portion for any of the entrees but a small is enough for me. The great thing is you can order online and pay when you pick up your order.
(4)
Tim M.
It was nice and quiet on my visit here during the week, which is a bad sign. I've eaten at other locations around the country and have felt they've been consistently bad. The food is tolerable but the service can vary. This location has the worst. You might as well eat the tofu since their meats aren't that good. At least the tofu tastes like chicken. Oh yes, they also have pints of Kirin for $6, if you're in the mood for a cold beer. It's really the only redeeming quality of this place.
(3)
Michael S.
Great Food.... Everything is fresh...however i use to work here i wanted to grow with the company & after 6months working there 6days a week they cut my hours to 2days a week...thats the loyalty i get coming in when someone called off...they decided to cut me because they cancelled one of the areas in the restaurant...i quit..thanks Anthony...but none the less great food.
(5)
Cason M.
Unhappy with the speed of getting food. I have had two difficult situations there, was thinking about going back today and my friend said he had bad experiences on wait as well as a manager yelling at customers. Can we get a better chinese food place in streeterville, please?
(1)
Jean L.
The definition of terrible americanized chinese food. I haven't been to a pei wei for over 3 years. Having lived near one in Newport Beach, CA, I used to go maybe once a month. I don't remember it being this bad. But I got to Chicago and thought, hell - why not? The only thing this place has going for it is the convenience and the portions. Bland. Just all around not so good. I walked in and ordered. The cashier was just nonchalant. She asked if I had the pei wei rewards and I told her I didn't know what that was and asked if she could tell me more. She just said "well you just sign up..." ..Well no shit sherlock. Thanks for the explanation. Anyhow, I'd rather pay the extra $2 to go to big bowl down the street on ohio.
(1)
Chris Z.
For some reason the beef teriyaki with white rice wasn't as good as before. Maybe because there's more lettuce and more uncooked onions than the beef. Maybe there's a new guy in there. I think I'll be skipping this place for a while. Quality went down way down than before. I work one block from this spot and it's a daily lunch place when I'm working. One star for whatever.
(1)
marc c.
Very disappointed - food had a funny old oil taste. There must be a reason at noon the place is empty. Only good part of the meal was the brown rice. Usually love PF changs but this is nothing like their food.
(1)
Matthew V.
Long wait times, missing online orders, and frequently incorrect orders - suggest you skip this Pei Wei!
(1)
Judson J.
Sushi was great got the kung pao sushi and California roll. Pad Thai wasn't that great but the staff was very friendly. Tips of my rangoons were burnt but filling was full of crab and the sauce accompanying was amazing.
(4)
Eric W.
Ordered mongolian beef and fried rice. got brown rice and some sort of strange beef jerky stips (see pic). I've compared it to the other times i've gotten mongolian beef as well as pei wei's own pictures and I can say with 100% certainty what I got was not mongolian beef. Vegetables had no flavor tasted just as bad as the beef jerky. couldn't bring myself to eat more than two bites of the meal. worst meal I've eaten in the past 2 years by far.
(1)
Cary W.
A nice place for a quick bite in Chicago. Love Pei Wei! the service is friendly and fast!
(5)
Barbara B.
This place hits all of the wrong notes. It's trying to be upscale, but then serves everything in plastic containers reminiscent of tv dinner trays. The prices are about the same price as some of the local thai places that include sit down service and real plates. Food: I tried the chicken lettuce wraps once as a main course. VERY filling, and actually pretty tasty but covered in oil. I also tried the Chicken Lo Mein a different time for lunch which was very disappointing. It was basically a tray full of noodles with barely any chicken or vegetables in it. The sauce was also greasy and too sweet. Their menu also doesn't explain which dishes have deep fried meat and which are not. I would honestly be happier at a Panda Express.
(1)
Samantha E.
I didn't know there could be such variety in a chain restaurant. All the other Pei Weis I have ever visited had the whole selection of oil, vinegar, chile paste, and mustard to make my own PF Changs sauce mix. All they had here was Sriracha and soy sauce. The portions were small and even though we ate in restaurant, we were still given to go containers. The food was all the same and still delicious but I am used to getting big portions.
(3)
John G.
Tried take out on two occasions....veggie spring rolls were very well done and a solid choice. The wonton soup was acceptable/average. The spicy chicken salad was tasty, and packaged properly for take out (hot fried chicken in on carton, salad in its own larger container, and the dressing in a third container). The noodles were poor.....over cooked and more like spaghetti than lo mein.
(3)
Brittany S.
My mom and I are the biggest Pei Wei fans ever, we used to have these in Northern California but they have since then all closed. My mom and I went here for dinner around 7pm on a friday night. There was a very short line to wait through and we only waited about 5 minutes for our food. I had my favorite, mongolian steak, soooooo good! I love the sauce, they give you lots of it so it's great for spreading on your rice as well. There were lots of empty places to sit, the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. We had a great experience, I wish we had Pei Wei out here!
(4)
Mike X.
Portions are way to small. You will leave this place hungry. Food was just ok.
(2)
Aaron P.
We went here with a BOGO coupon and had a pleasant dinner. It was basically empty on a Monday evening around 5:30 PM, with just a slow stream of people coming in one by one for takeout. The food was hot and flavorful. I had the new Black Pepper entree, which was good, but I will get something else next time. My wife had the Caramel entree, which seemed to lack any refined flavor. This location does not have all of the menu offerings of a traditional Pei Wei, but is a great place to pop into for a quick dinner or lunch. The staff was pleasant and the restaurant was reasonably clean. For beverage drinkers, they have two of those mix-your-own flavor Coke machines.
(4)
Jamie M.
More like Pee-Ewwww! This proved to be a classic example of why you should pay attention to online reviews before dining in a new place. Despite the postings, I convinced the wife we should walk around the corner from our apartment and sample the "Five Unique Flavors From Five Asian Food Styles". So, the first sign of a bad restaurant experience? Completely, and utterly, empty dining room on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. Second sign? Only one guy working the sushi bar, while also staffing the empty kitchen. Third bad sign? Not an Asian in sight. The menu options are pretty simple - a small offering of four and eight-piece sushi slices, including a Mango California Roll for just $3.50 for the four-piece and $6.99 for the eight piece Spicy Tuna Roll. Entrees are offered as stir-fried, or "Wok'd", where you pick out your protein - chicken, veggies or tofu for $8.69 or Steak or Shrimp for $9.69. You then select your rice - a glop of greasy brown or Spackle-like white ... or for a $1 upcharge you can take your chances with the rice noodles or fried rice. Toss in an extra buck or two for "spicy" sauce or extra protein. We decided on the Wok'd Orange Peel Steak and the Kung Pao Shrimp, along with a four piece of Spicy Tuna Roll and Sweet-n-Sour soup. First, the soup was so gelatinous and grossly thick from being over cornstarched, that the heavy, china spoon actually stood straight up in the bowl - see the photo above. Absolutely disgusting. The Wok'd entrees were tasteless, with both proteins saturated in the same bright red sauce, despite being completely different orders. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked, the green beans were completely raw. My carrots in the Orange Peel Steak were so hard and rubbery, I thought they were boiled poker chips. The meat was chewy and could have passed for overcooked chicken. Service was minimal - three people delivered the sushi and two entrees -each about three minutes apart. We never saw the server again. Lesson learned.
(1)
Adam L.
Stopped by this place to get some sushi to go. You can not beat the prices on their sushi, between 3 and 4 dollars for a half roll is a great deal. The sushi is pretty good, will stop by this place again, when in Chicago.
(4)
Lassiter G.
Food is good but customer service sucks. I ate in and the lady tossed my plate at me. The guy that rang me up was a jerk.
(2)
Irene G.
Recently just discovered this place -how did it take me this long?! It's currently on the top of my list for a quick and filling lunch since it's close to work. The Ginger Broccoli with steak is very good. I haven't tried the Original size portion for any of the entrees but a small is enough for me. The great thing is you can order online and pay when you pick up your order.
(4)
Tim M.
It was nice and quiet on my visit here during the week, which is a bad sign. I've eaten at other locations around the country and have felt they've been consistently bad. The food is tolerable but the service can vary. This location has the worst. You might as well eat the tofu since their meats aren't that good. At least the tofu tastes like chicken. Oh yes, they also have pints of Kirin for $6, if you're in the mood for a cold beer. It's really the only redeeming quality of this place.
(3)
Jessica W.
For $6.99 at Pei Wei I get a huge portion size of their thai lime & chile chicken salad that I find absolutely delicious. Sometimes I substitute shrimp for the chicken and if I ask for the meat steamed, rather than friend, or without sauce, they are extremely accommodating. I love being able to have delicious, healthy options at an asian diner. Also, they offer discounts if you have a Northwestern Wildcard!
(4)
Nelson M.
Restaurant update I visited again with a recent BOGO offer from Pei Wei website and decided to try the market size portion of seared crispy shrimp which was 6.95. The food once again was fresh, but the size of the dish was ridiculously small. Even my wife who is never a big eater was staring at me and said "why is there only 6 shrimps in my meal". This is overpriced and I think I will go to Panda Express instead next time.
(2)
Mansi K.
Good place to grab a quick bite if you are mood for something asian. Food quality is amazing.. Portion size great, ambience is very standard but I would expect it to be any different for this price point. I would go there again!!
(4)
Angela R.
I went here for the take out, found that the food didn't travel as well as I hoped. Just wishing now that I had stopped next door at Potbellies or Epic Burger. Would have then at least been full after eating junk food.
(2)
Matt m.
While the lettuce wraps with traditional chicken are tasty, keep in mind they can be quite messy. (Better eaten while alone)
(3)
Jen K.
I've gone to a Pei Wei before and needed a quick, healthy bite. There was a long line during lunch. It went by quickly and I ordered a bowl and edamame. It was pretty healthy and under $10 so I was happy with my choice. It took a very long time to get the food out and some of the edamame was brown when I opened up the box. Don't know if I'll go back, not really worth it to me, when there are so many other options around.
(3)
J B.
I had the Mongolian Beef with fried rice. The food was pretty good and the service was okay, but the pricing is a bit high. Add that with a drink and I walked out spending over $20. For that price, I will clearly go to Chinatown and get some food that is much better. I am not sating I would never eat here again, but I won't miss it if I don't.
(3)
Kristen P.
This place teeters between 2 and 3 stars. I live around the corner, so this is a convenient option for me. Most of the food doesn't have much flavor (even the spicy stuff), and some it (ahem, sushi rolls) is clearly made well in advance and left to try out in the fridge. The staff here is horrible. Of all the times I've been here, I think one person has greeted me with a smile and an authentic energetic hello. Everyone else's behavior ranges from completely apathetic to downright rude. They often mess up carry out orders (like today, no lettuce with my chicken lettuce wraps?!) - so check the contents before walking out the door. It could be better, both the food and service, and I am hoping it will improve...
(2)
Joanne S.
If there were a 1/2 star I would give that. Sushi, made hours ago... stale. I won't ever go back
(1)
Erica P.
Always short staffed with less than enthusiastic employees. They always take way too long and the food comes up short, either too dry or too greasy. The place needs a good cleaning and tables are left with trash on them for way too long before they are cleared and crumbs are scooped from the floor. No ambiance whatsoever. Given them more than one chance, they always disappoint. It's so obvi this place is a franchise, skip out and try a local Chinese place instead, I'm sure the attention to detail and customer service will surpass this place that looks like it's hanging by a thread.
(1)
Rick T.
Slapdash Asian. In the same way that Chipotle is slapdash Mexican. Except the Chipotle people don't get all ghetto when they's cleaning up the tables, yo.
(3)
Vanessa R.
Can't decide what eat for lunch today: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese? Don't worry, you can now get it all under one roof at Pei Wei. This is a great addition to the Streeterville area and offers a nice lunch option in an area overcome with sandwich and burger places. Tons of seating options to seat your lonesome self or a large group if dining in and fast service if you are taking your meal to go. I opted for some basic chicken fried rice and it was very good - not super salty like some rice dishes can be and a good amount of lean chicken. Oh, and they have fortune cookies for free! (I love me some fortune cookies). You can order a small or large portion which is great, especially since I almost always tend to have food leftover and then it goes to waste. Lots of options from noodles, rice dishes, signature dishes and even some salads. Several gluten-free options available too. Also, their website has very comprehensive nutrition information so you can make an informed choice before placing your food order. Overall, fast service and plenty of menu choices. Great addition to the area!
(3)
Andrew B.
The food is good but they could do a lot more to keep the line moving during the lunch rush. The slow guy on the register just can't keep up.
(3)
DJ F.
I actually like Pei Wei for a quick meal, but this location is consistently bad. The food is bland, literally no flavor whatsoever. A simple veggie and brown rice meal came out swimming in Spicy Pei Wei sauce. A soggy, flavorless, over-priced mess. And the spinach I paid an extra buck for? 3 wilted leaves! The location in Logan Square is good, I've stopped in there on occasion while shopping. But I've given this location several tries and, despite being literally next door to my office, I will not be coming back.
(1)
Greg G.
I came here for the first time last week and I was pretty excited to eat here and check it out. The restaurant has a nice set up, it's clean, lots of tables, big open kitchen so you can see them cooking your food. They have not one, but TWO Coke Freestyle soda machines (the machines with like 100 different flavors) so that's cool. Okay let's get to the food part.. I ordered the Pei Wei Spicy with steak. I like my food to have a little bit of kick. This had ZERO kick, it was not spicy at all! The steak pieces were also awkwardly big. They were too big for bite size, so I had to cut everything, but it was really difficult trying to cut through this awful meat. I almost broke a plastic knife cutting this steak, it was awful. The whole dish was kind of bland.. It seemed like it was frozen steak bits from Dominiks covered in glaze that was not spicy at all then piled onto rice and mixed in with a few vegies, it wasn't good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I'll have to try one of their stirfry dishes IF I go back.. Also it was expensive.. I think I paid like $11 for my meal and drink. No thanks.
(2)
Karen C.
I am SO happy to have another new lunch option around my office that isn't a sandwich, a sandwich or a sandwich. Like everyone else said, this is a spinoff of P.F. Chang's... it's a small "market" location so they don't have a full Pei Wei menu, but that's just fine with me. I've been going with the teriyaki chicken & a side of edamame... plus they have that awesome coke machine where you pick your own flavors. The entree dishes come in 2 sizes, and for the price, you can't beat it. $8 for a fresh-cooked and delicious lunch beats a $5 Subway footlong in my book any day. Outdoor seating in the summer, plenty of indoor seating, and a help-yourself fortune cookie basket. I love this place.
(4)
Kat T.
This location had a taste testing event last Friday, prior to their official opening date. I tried the Mango Salad, which was really good. Today I tried their Chicken Lettuce Wraps, also very good. For those concerned about sodium intake, the food here might have a very high content of it. It's a busy location during lunch and the kitchen staff are in a frenzy preparing dishes cutting down the wait time significantly. The prices are reasonable and the selection diverse. Seating area can be quite limited during the lunch rush hour. They have two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and also serve mango iced tea. Overall, the food is very flavorful and pricing reflective of the area.
(4)
Vina O.
Very clean and spacious. The food isn't bad at all for Americanized Chinese food. Even though everything is under $10, portions are pretty small, even the "large" size. Their crab wontons are pretty amazing! Definitely a good place to bring small kids or babies as well. :)
(3)
Fabiola I.
Food is pretty bland, we got three different dishes and it all tasted the same. Portions are tiny! We ordered large and it looked like a small. Not worth the trip back.
(2)
A H.
Pei Wei is a run-off-the-mill diner serving their watered-down version of Asian food. I won't say it's bad, but it's not tasty. Fast service though. Great for take outs. Their "fusion" of Asian cuisines is a bit odd. We got spicy stir fried Chinese noodle that, literally, tasted like bits and pieces of different parts of Asia. But we were hungry!
(3)
Nancy H.
Pei Wei has the best lettuce wraps! The ginger dish is fabulous. I have never been disappointed. Their food is always fresh and it's cooked to order. Please come back to the Inland Empire!
(5)
Deirdre L.
Meh is right. Can't substitute meats in the salads. Its chicken or nothing - not even tofu. Spring roll is like 1 mini egg roll with sweet and sour sauce for 5 people. Pei Wei Spicy thing with tofu is just ok . Quick and clean but probably won't be back.
(2)
Jamie B.
It's great to have a good Chinese restaurant in a neighborhood that's lacking in the Chinese food arena. Cheap, quick, serves beer and wine if you're in the mood, and food is pretty tasty-- this is a spinoff of PF Chang's,
(3)
Cindy F.
I honestly wanted to like this place but it was not very good. One star for the service, they are friendly. The first time I came here I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. It was basically spaghetti noodles with chicken. The flavor was very mediocre but essentially they just dump the sauce on top (pre-made) and you have to mix it up in the small container that your noodles are in. I decided to give them one more try so I ordered the pad thai with tofu and vegetables spicy (5 on a scale of 1-5 in spiciness). 1) There were no vegetables. 2) The tofu was sliced so thin that it disintegrated into tiny pieces in the pad thai 3) They just dumped a whole load of sriracha sauce which didn't make the pad thai extra spicy, just extra sriracha-ey. It had more of a vinegar like taste to it. 4) Pad thai shouldn't have a gravy texture to it, which it did, and the noodles they used were really stringy and rubbery. I personally would not recommend this place.
(1)
Ken L.
I didn't know Lean Cuisine opened a restaurant. I LOVE it! I usually eat Lean Cuisine in the winter. So now, when I am out and about in the summer, I can just drop in this place, spend like 3x what I spent for those frozen isle containers, to get a freshly made unfrozen isle container! The dinning in experience is really the best, cause the food really look like a damn Lean Cuisine. Same sized plastic container, portion is about the same as well, if not smaller. Comes with all the plastic utensils, plastic trays, and plastic cups you need. Don't ever go to Panda Express ever again. Cause they would really fill you up. As everybody knows... "wow, that Lean Cuisine really filled me up," said no one, ever. I need to put in a note in the suggestion box and tell them to install a TV. Cause I usually enjoy my Lean Cuisine while watching TV at home.
(1)
Melli Y.
Yuck. Panda express is better than these wannabes. Overpriced, bland, and small. Also got the order wrong and brought out the wrong meal. While i was eating my plate almost finished my dad was waiting for so long! Plus I'm a super slow eater. It wasn't even the long wait for his plate. Wouldn't go back.
(1)
Kari H.
It was my first time here after getting a $10 gift card. This place is rather hidden on Ontario St as people don't seem to eat at the restaurants along this less-traveled street. The place is big with plenty of tables but there were only a few tables there on a 7pm weeknight. We were greeted by a friendly employee upon walking in. We took a few minutes to decide what to order. They were out of the sushi rolls with tuna in them. Bummer. We ordered Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Original and Thai Dynamite Steak Original with a fountain drink. The Pei Wei Spicy Chicken was super sour and sweet. t wasn't that spicy despite the abundance of bright red pepper flakes. We inhaled the steam from the food and coughed from the vinegar smell in the dish. The snap peas were super fresh and crunchy. The circle-cut orange slices might look boring but added a firm sweetness to the dish. It was served with plenty of white rice. The chicken was breaded and deep-fried so it added a nice crunch to the dish. There seemed to be plenty of chicken, too. Yay! The Thai Dynamite (Steak) was a favorite of the employee taking our order. I thought it was okay - I would try another dish next time. The steak was lightly breaded and deep fried and there was a small amount of thick sauce. The beef pieces were crunchy and settled atop a bed of sliced green onions and red peppers. The dish seemed to have a lot of salty seasoning and the green onion and red pepper didn't suffice to minimize the saltiness. The brown rice I ordered with the dish, however, helped balance out the saltiness but it was a bit dry. Luckily, I had a fountain drink. The fountain drink served to quench my thirst. One of the machines was almost completely out of order. Perhaps only 2-3 soda brands were available. The working machine, located closer to the kitchen and on the left side of the back counter, gave the drink a weird, almost algae-like taste to the drinks. I tried different drinks (orange coke, sprite, ginger ale, sprite with peach) and they all had this weird taste to it. I wonder if it was the pipe on the machine that had algae on it or the water pipe servicing the machine that had algae in it or the water source servicing the machine that had algae in it. I'm not sure what it was but the soda tasted off. The service here is excellent. The team members seem to get along well with each other and the server who brought food to our table told us what the dishes were as they brought them out to us. Service was quick and the employee who took our order asked us if we had any questions when we were ordering, which was nice of her. The ambiance is very nice. The lighting is great as it's very well-lit and bright. The dark tables go well with the brick walls and the restrooms are quite clean. I'd like to come back again to try out their other dishes such as the Pad Thai next time. I'll give the fountain drinks another try, too. Maybe I'll try the smaller-sized dishes (4oz vs 8oz of meat) since 8oz is a bit too much for me.
(3)
Jimmye A.
Understaffed and poorly managed. There was only one employee on the floor taking orders, packaging take-out, and serving food. It's been 42 minutes since I placed my take-out order, and I'm still waiting...
(1)
Beth S.
I wondered if I visited this Pei Wei on an off day, but the reviews make me think otherwise. I came in here on a Saturday before seeing a movie; we wanted to come here because we thought a traditional sitdown restaurant would take too long. Well, as it turned out, this took much longer than expected as well. We came up and ordered, and it was clear they were very understaffed. In fact, the two stores are solely for the effort that the staff was obviously at least trying to put in. When I walked up, the woman at the counter had to take a phone call. I noticed that in the 45 minutes I was there, there were almost a dozen pick-up orders either called in or picked up, despite the handful of people in the restaurant. It seemed these orders were getting priority. A friend ordered ahead of my boyfriend and I, and it seemed that none of us received any food until AFTER the prior person had finished his/her food. I have had Pei Wei plenty of times before, and it was decent, but this was just ... bland. Absolutely nothing special. It seemed to me that not only were they understaffed.. a lot of people looked like they were training. Maybe this place is well-staffed during work-week lunch, but on a Saturday night? There were maybe five people working. Ridiculous. Pei Wei, step it up and hire some people in this location.
(2)
Hillary M.
I'll be honest - I feel like I have gone through a love-hate relationship with Pei Wei. When the place opened about a year ago near my place, I was SUPER excited to have a nearby cheaper quick Chinese option, because I love me some Chinese food. But...the first couple times I tried it, the food was just not enjoyable. It wasn't the normal Chinese flavors you expect, the brown rice accompaniment was dry and awful and it was never satisfying. But I must be crazy because I tried it again to try and convince myself that it was good, and one day it all changed - IT WAS GOOD! They changed their recipes or something and it became addicting and delicious. Our regular dishes are the Caramel chicken with extra sauce, add spinach. And the Mongolian steak. I'm also a sucker for the Thai wonton soup, it's not the best soup ever but it's just something I like with my PeiWei.
(4)
Chris A.
Meat tasted like it was cooked in last weeks oil, vegetables were soggy and rice was over cooked. For the price, go to the PF Changs down the street
(1)
Scott G.
Got pad Thai veggie and tofu. Too much sauce which had an overly acidic taste. Tried the different meals my coworkers got and each different sauce had that same taste. The vegetables seemed frozen and thawed. Tofu was limp and unappealing when it could've been crisped up in the wok.
(1)
Odranre B.
today, i had to give it another chance and the result was still the same - low to mediocre food, panda express taste better. the inside decor was nice and clean though. but the food was not good. i went there on a friday at 12noon and there were less than 10 people eating.
(1)
Gia S.
Went for lunch yesterday as I had heard good things. On the online menu nutrition, it said there are 2 ways to cook (one with lower calories). When I got there, the option was not on the menu and the staff was unsure of it. I got the Pei Wei Shrimp, very good with brown rice. My friend got egg rolls that literally needed to be blotted with around 4 napkins. We held upright and grease just dripped out in a steady stream. TERRIBLE! Cute place though and awesome soda machines.
(3)
Sally L.
Expensive for what you get. Not very good taste. There is never enough sauce on your meal and the chicken was undercooked. Wont be dining here again.
(1)
Lauren B.
The food is fine... but the girl (Brittany) that lets you know that your food is ready is one of the rudest people. Be ready to be spoken to like you are an idiot and beneath her.
(2)
Jai R.
Serving Asian food, this tastes like Panda Express, but they have their own gimmicks. Outside of the food orders, this place is essentially a self serve. The East Ontario location is clean which is a plus. Servings are rather small which is a minus. On the balance, it's an okay place for fast food.
(3)
Laura C.
Decent ambiance and attentive staff (I visited around 6 pm on a Monday, though, and it was dead). I ordered the small (it was huge) tofu and vegetables lo mein, and while nothing spectacular, I thought it was pretty darn good. Simple, no fuss Asian inspired dishes at decent price points. And - unlike Panda Express - I didn't feel sick afterwards! I'd be interested in trying their spring rolls and other sides. Stay tuned.
(4)
Matthew D.
Seriously has gone down a very steep hill! While having my order taken by an inexperienced girl, a male coworker came over while I was In The middle of ordering and asked if he could take a cookie for free.... She let him too! Ordered Mongolian beef, spring rolls, and a soda. $17. Restaurant was empty except for all employees sitting at a table hanging out. Sat down at a table which was sticky. Changed table 4 times before I gave up and just took a great deal of napkins! Went and got a soda. Almost every soda that I wanted on machine was unavailable! So I settled... There was a medium size liquid/water spill by machine. Instead of wiping up, they just put a yellow no slip sign up. Received my food, order was correct however received Mongolian beef, 2 minutes later the egg rolls, two minutes later the extra sauce on side I requested. Seriously?! Mongolian sauce was thick and gelatinous on side and on meat. There was no crispness to beef like before. White rice tasted left over. I turned me off the whole meal as I realized how horrible this place has turned. I used to love this place and always recommended it. Now I will do the opposite and never return too... This 100% are the leaders of this organization's fault. All team members are only as good as their direct report. Shame!
(1)
Kevin Y.
Lukewarm food served with a piping hot side of attitude from a hip, young staff. Never again.
(2)
Robert W.
I used to come here quite a bit, but looks like things have gone downhill. Mongolian beef was very salty and the pop machines were both broken. I asked for a water instead and never received it. Not coming back.
(2)
Robert S.
About as close, cuisine-wise to my old favorite, Ben Pao (R.I.P.). Nice place--roomy, casual enough for an easy dinner but classy enough to be a lunch date kind of place. It's a little more than just fast food, and the menu is confusing. Work through it, and you'll understand. Took me a couple times before I settled into a routine: Original chicken with Teriyaki sauce and steamed rice complemented with a 2-pork egg roll side. Skip the fountain drink, and the whole meal is around $13. They have noodle dishes as well. Tourists: this is NOT Panda Express. Keep walking.
(4)
Jessie Elizabeth J.
First and last time coming here! Staff are inattentive and cold, but that can be excused. Well the table we sat at was broken and rickety, and the second one we moved to was STICKY! I ordered a variety of "sushi" and a chicken wrap. The "sushi" was hard, tasted stale and fishy and so loosely rolled it was falling apart on the plate. I've had edible sushi even from walgreens compared to this disturbance. As for the chicken wrap, the peanut sauce it came with was straight peanut butter, what a joke. My boyfriend ordered a chicken vegetable stirfry and was served chunks of deep fried, questionable chicken that was neither spicy nor flavorful but overtly salty. The first time I have ever been pushed to asking for my money back, we left after a few tortured bites. How is this place in business?
(1)
Kristi M.
Was thrilled to have an Asian restaurant so close to work, but am sorry to report that I was disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Mango salad and it was not worth the money. There were 3 small pieces of chicken and the breading on them was heavy and hard. The worst part was there was very little salad in the container (less than half-filled)!!!! For over $6.00, I would at least expect there to be an adequate amount of lettuce in the container. Probably my fault for going to an Asian restaurant and ordering a salad, so I definitely won't do that again. I have had a noodle dish from their Elston location and it was definitely much better. I'm willing to give this place another try, but will order something with noodles or rice so that I'm still not hungry after spending $6.00.
(3)
Minu L.
Hmm. We were excited to hear about a new Asian fast food place opening so close to work. I would say its average. I tried the mangolian chicken - it was OK. The chicken was little too sweet for my taste, and the scallions could have tasted better if they were fresh. It has white mushrooms on it and I like mushrooms. Their dishes come in two sizes- a market (small) size and a large size. Large size just has extra meat on it. The small portion was decent priced and good enough for lunch. It wasn't bad, but that's it. Wasn't great either. They also have fancy coke machine, something I haven't seen elsewhere yet. The store was super clean, servers and host were friendly and very nice. I liked the ambiance too. It was very nice given that its a fast food Asian place. Now they can really really improve on their taste and quality. I would have preferred to have fried rice with my meal, but they just offer white and brown rice. Rice was fresh. Given that its a new place with nice decor and decent priced menu, what lacks is taste. The food tastes just like any other Asian / Chinese fast food place. I have had better.
(2)
Michael S.
Ordered the market size Hong Kong BBQ w/steak and was impressed w/the portion size. The sauce was good and my veggies were crisp and still had their own flavor, not drowned out by the sauce. The GF and I also had the pork egg rolls, which were awesome, the crab wontons, which were good, and the chicken lettuce wraps, also good. I'm not sure what the name of the sauce was w/the chicken wraps, but it was outstanding w/the pork egg rolls. We will be going back.
(4)
Lisa N.
Love the portion sizes and reasonable prices, but HELLO sodium! The 2 dishes I tried (lemongrass noodle salad and lettuce wraps) were so salty I could almost feel the fluid moving out of my cells. Even the cucumber-basil salad had an overly salty flavor to it. When I looked up the nutritional data, the lemongrass salad had 1400 mg of sodium! Too much for this gal...
(2)
Vanessa L.
I was really excited to hear about this opening by my job as i have eaten at the Elston location. I was really bummed to find out that this location is a market location therefore it doesn't have all the foods that a regular Pei Wei has. I ended up having a shrimp and rice meal. The shrimp was battered and fried and tasted gross. It had a slimy consistency and the rice was really dry and bland. I did love the coke machine but the meal just turned me off completely.
(2)
Sarah S.
Awesome food. Good atmosphere. Amazing soda machine!!
(4)
Crystal C.
I want so badly to like you Pei Wei! You are located right around the corner. The restaurant is very clean and open. You are right next to an Epic Burger so that I can head that way and then feel guilty about my calorie intake and choose you instead. But there is an issue that we can never get past, which is your ridiculously SMALL portion sizes! I assumed that restaurants did research on these kinds of things so that they would know customer expectations, but obviously they saved some money by skipping that step. Unfortunate, those savings are not passed on to me since Pei Wei is super expensive once you take into account the portions - like $$ instead of just $ expensive. We are talking almost $14 for a meal that I will eat every bite of in one sitting, which is pretty crazy to me. This place is most often compared to Panda Express (which is a fair comparison) but they have much better quality and each item is prepared to order. While I'm on that subject, you can pretty easily add and remove ingredients from dishes, but when I tried to have the beef in one is my dishes prepared well done they had no idea what I was talking about! I mean, really? They had to go get the chef from the back and I had to tell him what I wanted. When you try to order online there was no way to write specific notes about preparing the meal, you only check off what you wanted and didn't want. Who designs a website like that? There isn't even a way to say, "extra napkins please." I was so excited when Pei Wei came here and now I just sad...cause the food is delicious! Mongolia Beef - I will miss you. Maybe can still see each other on my birthday and when someone else is treating?
(2)
Christina A.
I giving this place 2/5 because the Thai salad was awesome and only cost about $2. The lettuce rolls were also great. They tasted exactly like the dish they serve at PF Changs. I also ordered a spicy chicken dish (I believe it was one of their featured dishes). The chicken was deep fried and it was not advertised as fried. In addition. It was covered in a sweet (not spicy as advertised) sauce. I wouldn't go back. The Thai salad and lettuce wraps were great, but the entree was worse than the Chinese food you get at any mall food court. I love PF changs. Their lamb dishes and PF changs signature soup are always great. I hoped for more.
(2)
Jonathan L.
Really happy that I found a Pei Wei in Chicago. It's obviously not authentic Chinese, but it's tasty. I usually order one of the Pei Wei classics, like Kung Pao, Pei Wei Spicy, or Japanese Teriyaki. They have two sizes: market and large. The market is plenty. I think the prices are reasonable, but others might think it's expensive. They do give free fortune cookies though.
(4)
Jimmye A.
Understaffed and poorly managed. There was only one employee on the floor taking orders, packaging take-out, and serving food. It's been 42 minutes since I placed my take-out order, and I'm still waiting...
(1)
Beth S.
I wondered if I visited this Pei Wei on an off day, but the reviews make me think otherwise. I came in here on a Saturday before seeing a movie; we wanted to come here because we thought a traditional sitdown restaurant would take too long. Well, as it turned out, this took much longer than expected as well. We came up and ordered, and it was clear they were very understaffed. In fact, the two stores are solely for the effort that the staff was obviously at least trying to put in. When I walked up, the woman at the counter had to take a phone call. I noticed that in the 45 minutes I was there, there were almost a dozen pick-up orders either called in or picked up, despite the handful of people in the restaurant. It seemed these orders were getting priority. A friend ordered ahead of my boyfriend and I, and it seemed that none of us received any food until AFTER the prior person had finished his/her food. I have had Pei Wei plenty of times before, and it was decent, but this was just ... bland. Absolutely nothing special. It seemed to me that not only were they understaffed.. a lot of people looked like they were training. Maybe this place is well-staffed during work-week lunch, but on a Saturday night? There were maybe five people working. Ridiculous. Pei Wei, step it up and hire some people in this location.
(2)
Matthew D.
Seriously has gone down a very steep hill! While having my order taken by an inexperienced girl, a male coworker came over while I was In The middle of ordering and asked if he could take a cookie for free.... She let him too! Ordered Mongolian beef, spring rolls, and a soda. $17. Restaurant was empty except for all employees sitting at a table hanging out. Sat down at a table which was sticky. Changed table 4 times before I gave up and just took a great deal of napkins! Went and got a soda. Almost every soda that I wanted on machine was unavailable! So I settled... There was a medium size liquid/water spill by machine. Instead of wiping up, they just put a yellow no slip sign up. Received my food, order was correct however received Mongolian beef, 2 minutes later the egg rolls, two minutes later the extra sauce on side I requested. Seriously?! Mongolian sauce was thick and gelatinous on side and on meat. There was no crispness to beef like before. White rice tasted left over. I turned me off the whole meal as I realized how horrible this place has turned. I used to love this place and always recommended it. Now I will do the opposite and never return too... This 100% are the leaders of this organization's fault. All team members are only as good as their direct report. Shame!
(1)
Kevin Y.
Lukewarm food served with a piping hot side of attitude from a hip, young staff. Never again.
(2)
Robert S.
About as close, cuisine-wise to my old favorite, Ben Pao (R.I.P.). Nice place--roomy, casual enough for an easy dinner but classy enough to be a lunch date kind of place. It's a little more than just fast food, and the menu is confusing. Work through it, and you'll understand. Took me a couple times before I settled into a routine: Original chicken with Teriyaki sauce and steamed rice complemented with a 2-pork egg roll side. Skip the fountain drink, and the whole meal is around $13. They have noodle dishes as well. Tourists: this is NOT Panda Express. Keep walking.
(4)
Kari H.
It was my first time here after getting a $10 gift card. This place is rather hidden on Ontario St as people don't seem to eat at the restaurants along this less-traveled street. The place is big with plenty of tables but there were only a few tables there on a 7pm weeknight. We were greeted by a friendly employee upon walking in. We took a few minutes to decide what to order. They were out of the sushi rolls with tuna in them. Bummer. We ordered Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Original and Thai Dynamite Steak Original with a fountain drink. The Pei Wei Spicy Chicken was super sour and sweet. t wasn't that spicy despite the abundance of bright red pepper flakes. We inhaled the steam from the food and coughed from the vinegar smell in the dish. The snap peas were super fresh and crunchy. The circle-cut orange slices might look boring but added a firm sweetness to the dish. It was served with plenty of white rice. The chicken was breaded and deep-fried so it added a nice crunch to the dish. There seemed to be plenty of chicken, too. Yay! The Thai Dynamite (Steak) was a favorite of the employee taking our order. I thought it was okay - I would try another dish next time. The steak was lightly breaded and deep fried and there was a small amount of thick sauce. The beef pieces were crunchy and settled atop a bed of sliced green onions and red peppers. The dish seemed to have a lot of salty seasoning and the green onion and red pepper didn't suffice to minimize the saltiness. The brown rice I ordered with the dish, however, helped balance out the saltiness but it was a bit dry. Luckily, I had a fountain drink. The fountain drink served to quench my thirst. One of the machines was almost completely out of order. Perhaps only 2-3 soda brands were available. The working machine, located closer to the kitchen and on the left side of the back counter, gave the drink a weird, almost algae-like taste to the drinks. I tried different drinks (orange coke, sprite, ginger ale, sprite with peach) and they all had this weird taste to it. I wonder if it was the pipe on the machine that had algae on it or the water pipe servicing the machine that had algae in it or the water source servicing the machine that had algae in it. I'm not sure what it was but the soda tasted off. The service here is excellent. The team members seem to get along well with each other and the server who brought food to our table told us what the dishes were as they brought them out to us. Service was quick and the employee who took our order asked us if we had any questions when we were ordering, which was nice of her. The ambiance is very nice. The lighting is great as it's very well-lit and bright. The dark tables go well with the brick walls and the restrooms are quite clean. I'd like to come back again to try out their other dishes such as the Pad Thai next time. I'll give the fountain drinks another try, too. Maybe I'll try the smaller-sized dishes (4oz vs 8oz of meat) since 8oz is a bit too much for me.
(3)
Vanessa R.
Can't decide what eat for lunch today: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese? Don't worry, you can now get it all under one roof at Pei Wei. This is a great addition to the Streeterville area and offers a nice lunch option in an area overcome with sandwich and burger places. Tons of seating options to seat your lonesome self or a large group if dining in and fast service if you are taking your meal to go. I opted for some basic chicken fried rice and it was very good - not super salty like some rice dishes can be and a good amount of lean chicken. Oh, and they have fortune cookies for free! (I love me some fortune cookies). You can order a small or large portion which is great, especially since I almost always tend to have food leftover and then it goes to waste. Lots of options from noodles, rice dishes, signature dishes and even some salads. Several gluten-free options available too. Also, their website has very comprehensive nutrition information so you can make an informed choice before placing your food order. Overall, fast service and plenty of menu choices. Great addition to the area!
(3)
Andrew B.
The food is good but they could do a lot more to keep the line moving during the lunch rush. The slow guy on the register just can't keep up.
(3)
Eric W.
Ordered mongolian beef and fried rice. got brown rice and some sort of strange beef jerky stips (see pic). I've compared it to the other times i've gotten mongolian beef as well as pei wei's own pictures and I can say with 100% certainty what I got was not mongolian beef. Vegetables had no flavor tasted just as bad as the beef jerky. couldn't bring myself to eat more than two bites of the meal. worst meal I've eaten in the past 2 years by far.
(1)
Cary W.
A nice place for a quick bite in Chicago. Love Pei Wei! the service is friendly and fast!
(5)
Crystal C.
I want so badly to like you Pei Wei! You are located right around the corner. The restaurant is very clean and open. You are right next to an Epic Burger so that I can head that way and then feel guilty about my calorie intake and choose you instead. But there is an issue that we can never get past, which is your ridiculously SMALL portion sizes! I assumed that restaurants did research on these kinds of things so that they would know customer expectations, but obviously they saved some money by skipping that step. Unfortunate, those savings are not passed on to me since Pei Wei is super expensive once you take into account the portions - like $$ instead of just $ expensive. We are talking almost $14 for a meal that I will eat every bite of in one sitting, which is pretty crazy to me. This place is most often compared to Panda Express (which is a fair comparison) but they have much better quality and each item is prepared to order. While I'm on that subject, you can pretty easily add and remove ingredients from dishes, but when I tried to have the beef in one is my dishes prepared well done they had no idea what I was talking about! I mean, really? They had to go get the chef from the back and I had to tell him what I wanted. When you try to order online there was no way to write specific notes about preparing the meal, you only check off what you wanted and didn't want. Who designs a website like that? There isn't even a way to say, "extra napkins please." I was so excited when Pei Wei came here and now I just sad...cause the food is delicious! Mongolia Beef - I will miss you. Maybe can still see each other on my birthday and when someone else is treating?
(2)
Christina A.
I giving this place 2/5 because the Thai salad was awesome and only cost about $2. The lettuce rolls were also great. They tasted exactly like the dish they serve at PF Changs. I also ordered a spicy chicken dish (I believe it was one of their featured dishes). The chicken was deep fried and it was not advertised as fried. In addition. It was covered in a sweet (not spicy as advertised) sauce. I wouldn't go back. The Thai salad and lettuce wraps were great, but the entree was worse than the Chinese food you get at any mall food court. I love PF changs. Their lamb dishes and PF changs signature soup are always great. I hoped for more.
(2)
Jonathan L.
Really happy that I found a Pei Wei in Chicago. It's obviously not authentic Chinese, but it's tasty. I usually order one of the Pei Wei classics, like Kung Pao, Pei Wei Spicy, or Japanese Teriyaki. They have two sizes: market and large. The market is plenty. I think the prices are reasonable, but others might think it's expensive. They do give free fortune cookies though.
(4)
Vanessa L.
I was really excited to hear about this opening by my job as i have eaten at the Elston location. I was really bummed to find out that this location is a market location therefore it doesn't have all the foods that a regular Pei Wei has. I ended up having a shrimp and rice meal. The shrimp was battered and fried and tasted gross. It had a slimy consistency and the rice was really dry and bland. I did love the coke machine but the meal just turned me off completely.
(2)
Sarah S.
Awesome food. Good atmosphere. Amazing soda machine!!
(4)
Robert W.
I used to come here quite a bit, but looks like things have gone downhill. Mongolian beef was very salty and the pop machines were both broken. I asked for a water instead and never received it. Not coming back.
(2)
Judson J.
Sushi was great got the kung pao sushi and California roll. Pad Thai wasn't that great but the staff was very friendly. Tips of my rangoons were burnt but filling was full of crab and the sauce accompanying was amazing.
(4)
Angela R.
I went here for the take out, found that the food didn't travel as well as I hoped. Just wishing now that I had stopped next door at Potbellies or Epic Burger. Would have then at least been full after eating junk food.
(2)
Matt m.
While the lettuce wraps with traditional chicken are tasty, keep in mind they can be quite messy. (Better eaten while alone)
(3)
Hillary M.
I'll be honest - I feel like I have gone through a love-hate relationship with Pei Wei. When the place opened about a year ago near my place, I was SUPER excited to have a nearby cheaper quick Chinese option, because I love me some Chinese food. But...the first couple times I tried it, the food was just not enjoyable. It wasn't the normal Chinese flavors you expect, the brown rice accompaniment was dry and awful and it was never satisfying. But I must be crazy because I tried it again to try and convince myself that it was good, and one day it all changed - IT WAS GOOD! They changed their recipes or something and it became addicting and delicious. Our regular dishes are the Caramel chicken with extra sauce, add spinach. And the Mongolian steak. I'm also a sucker for the Thai wonton soup, it's not the best soup ever but it's just something I like with my PeiWei.
(4)
Chris A.
Meat tasted like it was cooked in last weeks oil, vegetables were soggy and rice was over cooked. For the price, go to the PF Changs down the street
(1)
Scott G.
Got pad Thai veggie and tofu. Too much sauce which had an overly acidic taste. Tried the different meals my coworkers got and each different sauce had that same taste. The vegetables seemed frozen and thawed. Tofu was limp and unappealing when it could've been crisped up in the wok.
(1)
marc c.
Very disappointed - food had a funny old oil taste. There must be a reason at noon the place is empty. Only good part of the meal was the brown rice. Usually love PF changs but this is nothing like their food.
(1)
Matthew V.
Long wait times, missing online orders, and frequently incorrect orders - suggest you skip this Pei Wei!
(1)
Jessica W.
For $6.99 at Pei Wei I get a huge portion size of their thai lime & chile chicken salad that I find absolutely delicious. Sometimes I substitute shrimp for the chicken and if I ask for the meat steamed, rather than friend, or without sauce, they are extremely accommodating. I love being able to have delicious, healthy options at an asian diner. Also, they offer discounts if you have a Northwestern Wildcard!
(4)
Nelson M.
Restaurant update I visited again with a recent BOGO offer from Pei Wei website and decided to try the market size portion of seared crispy shrimp which was 6.95. The food once again was fresh, but the size of the dish was ridiculously small. Even my wife who is never a big eater was staring at me and said "why is there only 6 shrimps in my meal". This is overpriced and I think I will go to Panda Express instead next time.
(2)
Mansi K.
Good place to grab a quick bite if you are mood for something asian. Food quality is amazing.. Portion size great, ambience is very standard but I would expect it to be any different for this price point. I would go there again!!
(4)
Jen K.
I've gone to a Pei Wei before and needed a quick, healthy bite. There was a long line during lunch. It went by quickly and I ordered a bowl and edamame. It was pretty healthy and under $10 so I was happy with my choice. It took a very long time to get the food out and some of the edamame was brown when I opened up the box. Don't know if I'll go back, not really worth it to me, when there are so many other options around.
(3)
J B.
I had the Mongolian Beef with fried rice. The food was pretty good and the service was okay, but the pricing is a bit high. Add that with a drink and I walked out spending over $20. For that price, I will clearly go to Chinatown and get some food that is much better. I am not sating I would never eat here again, but I won't miss it if I don't.
(3)
Kristen P.
This place teeters between 2 and 3 stars. I live around the corner, so this is a convenient option for me. Most of the food doesn't have much flavor (even the spicy stuff), and some it (ahem, sushi rolls) is clearly made well in advance and left to try out in the fridge. The staff here is horrible. Of all the times I've been here, I think one person has greeted me with a smile and an authentic energetic hello. Everyone else's behavior ranges from completely apathetic to downright rude. They often mess up carry out orders (like today, no lettuce with my chicken lettuce wraps?!) - so check the contents before walking out the door. It could be better, both the food and service, and I am hoping it will improve...
(2)
Joanne S.
If there were a 1/2 star I would give that. Sushi, made hours ago... stale. I won't ever go back
(1)
Erica P.
Always short staffed with less than enthusiastic employees. They always take way too long and the food comes up short, either too dry or too greasy. The place needs a good cleaning and tables are left with trash on them for way too long before they are cleared and crumbs are scooped from the floor. No ambiance whatsoever. Given them more than one chance, they always disappoint. It's so obvi this place is a franchise, skip out and try a local Chinese place instead, I'm sure the attention to detail and customer service will surpass this place that looks like it's hanging by a thread.
(1)
Rick T.
Slapdash Asian. In the same way that Chipotle is slapdash Mexican. Except the Chipotle people don't get all ghetto when they's cleaning up the tables, yo.
(3)
DJ F.
I actually like Pei Wei for a quick meal, but this location is consistently bad. The food is bland, literally no flavor whatsoever. A simple veggie and brown rice meal came out swimming in Spicy Pei Wei sauce. A soggy, flavorless, over-priced mess. And the spinach I paid an extra buck for? 3 wilted leaves! The location in Logan Square is good, I've stopped in there on occasion while shopping. But I've given this location several tries and, despite being literally next door to my office, I will not be coming back.
(1)
Nancy H.
Pei Wei has the best lettuce wraps! The ginger dish is fabulous. I have never been disappointed. Their food is always fresh and it's cooked to order. Please come back to the Inland Empire!
(5)
Greg G.
I came here for the first time last week and I was pretty excited to eat here and check it out. The restaurant has a nice set up, it's clean, lots of tables, big open kitchen so you can see them cooking your food. They have not one, but TWO Coke Freestyle soda machines (the machines with like 100 different flavors) so that's cool. Okay let's get to the food part.. I ordered the Pei Wei Spicy with steak. I like my food to have a little bit of kick. This had ZERO kick, it was not spicy at all! The steak pieces were also awkwardly big. They were too big for bite size, so I had to cut everything, but it was really difficult trying to cut through this awful meat. I almost broke a plastic knife cutting this steak, it was awful. The whole dish was kind of bland.. It seemed like it was frozen steak bits from Dominiks covered in glaze that was not spicy at all then piled onto rice and mixed in with a few vegies, it wasn't good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I'll have to try one of their stirfry dishes IF I go back.. Also it was expensive.. I think I paid like $11 for my meal and drink. No thanks.
(2)
Karen C.
I am SO happy to have another new lunch option around my office that isn't a sandwich, a sandwich or a sandwich. Like everyone else said, this is a spinoff of P.F. Chang's... it's a small "market" location so they don't have a full Pei Wei menu, but that's just fine with me. I've been going with the teriyaki chicken & a side of edamame... plus they have that awesome coke machine where you pick your own flavors. The entree dishes come in 2 sizes, and for the price, you can't beat it. $8 for a fresh-cooked and delicious lunch beats a $5 Subway footlong in my book any day. Outdoor seating in the summer, plenty of indoor seating, and a help-yourself fortune cookie basket. I love this place.
(4)
Kat T.
This location had a taste testing event last Friday, prior to their official opening date. I tried the Mango Salad, which was really good. Today I tried their Chicken Lettuce Wraps, also very good. For those concerned about sodium intake, the food here might have a very high content of it. It's a busy location during lunch and the kitchen staff are in a frenzy preparing dishes cutting down the wait time significantly. The prices are reasonable and the selection diverse. Seating area can be quite limited during the lunch rush hour. They have two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and also serve mango iced tea. Overall, the food is very flavorful and pricing reflective of the area.
(4)
Vina O.
Very clean and spacious. The food isn't bad at all for Americanized Chinese food. Even though everything is under $10, portions are pretty small, even the "large" size. Their crab wontons are pretty amazing! Definitely a good place to bring small kids or babies as well. :)
(3)
Fabiola I.
Food is pretty bland, we got three different dishes and it all tasted the same. Portions are tiny! We ordered large and it looked like a small. Not worth the trip back.
(2)
A H.
Pei Wei is a run-off-the-mill diner serving their watered-down version of Asian food. I won't say it's bad, but it's not tasty. Fast service though. Great for take outs. Their "fusion" of Asian cuisines is a bit odd. We got spicy stir fried Chinese noodle that, literally, tasted like bits and pieces of different parts of Asia. But we were hungry!
(3)
Cindy F.
I honestly wanted to like this place but it was not very good. One star for the service, they are friendly. The first time I came here I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. It was basically spaghetti noodles with chicken. The flavor was very mediocre but essentially they just dump the sauce on top (pre-made) and you have to mix it up in the small container that your noodles are in. I decided to give them one more try so I ordered the pad thai with tofu and vegetables spicy (5 on a scale of 1-5 in spiciness). 1) There were no vegetables. 2) The tofu was sliced so thin that it disintegrated into tiny pieces in the pad thai 3) They just dumped a whole load of sriracha sauce which didn't make the pad thai extra spicy, just extra sriracha-ey. It had more of a vinegar like taste to it. 4) Pad thai shouldn't have a gravy texture to it, which it did, and the noodles they used were really stringy and rubbery. I personally would not recommend this place.
(1)
Ken L.
I didn't know Lean Cuisine opened a restaurant. I LOVE it! I usually eat Lean Cuisine in the winter. So now, when I am out and about in the summer, I can just drop in this place, spend like 3x what I spent for those frozen isle containers, to get a freshly made unfrozen isle container! The dinning in experience is really the best, cause the food really look like a damn Lean Cuisine. Same sized plastic container, portion is about the same as well, if not smaller. Comes with all the plastic utensils, plastic trays, and plastic cups you need. Don't ever go to Panda Express ever again. Cause they would really fill you up. As everybody knows... "wow, that Lean Cuisine really filled me up," said no one, ever. I need to put in a note in the suggestion box and tell them to install a TV. Cause I usually enjoy my Lean Cuisine while watching TV at home.
(1)
Melli Y.
Yuck. Panda express is better than these wannabes. Overpriced, bland, and small. Also got the order wrong and brought out the wrong meal. While i was eating my plate almost finished my dad was waiting for so long! Plus I'm a super slow eater. It wasn't even the long wait for his plate. Wouldn't go back.
(1)
Barbara B.
This place hits all of the wrong notes. It's trying to be upscale, but then serves everything in plastic containers reminiscent of tv dinner trays. The prices are about the same price as some of the local thai places that include sit down service and real plates. Food: I tried the chicken lettuce wraps once as a main course. VERY filling, and actually pretty tasty but covered in oil. I also tried the Chicken Lo Mein a different time for lunch which was very disappointing. It was basically a tray full of noodles with barely any chicken or vegetables in it. The sauce was also greasy and too sweet. Their menu also doesn't explain which dishes have deep fried meat and which are not. I would honestly be happier at a Panda Express.
(1)
Samantha E.
I didn't know there could be such variety in a chain restaurant. All the other Pei Weis I have ever visited had the whole selection of oil, vinegar, chile paste, and mustard to make my own PF Changs sauce mix. All they had here was Sriracha and soy sauce. The portions were small and even though we ate in restaurant, we were still given to go containers. The food was all the same and still delicious but I am used to getting big portions.
(3)
Deirdre L.
Meh is right. Can't substitute meats in the salads. Its chicken or nothing - not even tofu. Spring roll is like 1 mini egg roll with sweet and sour sauce for 5 people. Pei Wei Spicy thing with tofu is just ok . Quick and clean but probably won't be back.
(2)
Jamie B.
It's great to have a good Chinese restaurant in a neighborhood that's lacking in the Chinese food arena. Cheap, quick, serves beer and wine if you're in the mood, and food is pretty tasty-- this is a spinoff of PF Chang's,
(3)
John G.
Tried take out on two occasions....veggie spring rolls were very well done and a solid choice. The wonton soup was acceptable/average. The spicy chicken salad was tasty, and packaged properly for take out (hot fried chicken in on carton, salad in its own larger container, and the dressing in a third container). The noodles were poor.....over cooked and more like spaghetti than lo mein.
(3)
Brittany S.
My mom and I are the biggest Pei Wei fans ever, we used to have these in Northern California but they have since then all closed. My mom and I went here for dinner around 7pm on a friday night. There was a very short line to wait through and we only waited about 5 minutes for our food. I had my favorite, mongolian steak, soooooo good! I love the sauce, they give you lots of it so it's great for spreading on your rice as well. There were lots of empty places to sit, the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. We had a great experience, I wish we had Pei Wei out here!
(4)
Mike X.
Portions are way to small. You will leave this place hungry. Food was just ok.
(2)
Aaron P.
We went here with a BOGO coupon and had a pleasant dinner. It was basically empty on a Monday evening around 5:30 PM, with just a slow stream of people coming in one by one for takeout. The food was hot and flavorful. I had the new Black Pepper entree, which was good, but I will get something else next time. My wife had the Caramel entree, which seemed to lack any refined flavor. This location does not have all of the menu offerings of a traditional Pei Wei, but is a great place to pop into for a quick dinner or lunch. The staff was pleasant and the restaurant was reasonably clean. For beverage drinkers, they have two of those mix-your-own flavor Coke machines.
(4)
Odranre B.
today, i had to give it another chance and the result was still the same - low to mediocre food, panda express taste better. the inside decor was nice and clean though. but the food was not good. i went there on a friday at 12noon and there were less than 10 people eating.
(1)
Gia S.
Went for lunch yesterday as I had heard good things. On the online menu nutrition, it said there are 2 ways to cook (one with lower calories). When I got there, the option was not on the menu and the staff was unsure of it. I got the Pei Wei Shrimp, very good with brown rice. My friend got egg rolls that literally needed to be blotted with around 4 napkins. We held upright and grease just dripped out in a steady stream. TERRIBLE! Cute place though and awesome soda machines.
(3)
Sally L.
Expensive for what you get. Not very good taste. There is never enough sauce on your meal and the chicken was undercooked. Wont be dining here again.
(1)
Lauren B.
The food is fine... but the girl (Brittany) that lets you know that your food is ready is one of the rudest people. Be ready to be spoken to like you are an idiot and beneath her.
(2)
Jai R.
Serving Asian food, this tastes like Panda Express, but they have their own gimmicks. Outside of the food orders, this place is essentially a self serve. The East Ontario location is clean which is a plus. Servings are rather small which is a minus. On the balance, it's an okay place for fast food.
(3)
Kristi M.
Was thrilled to have an Asian restaurant so close to work, but am sorry to report that I was disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Mango salad and it was not worth the money. There were 3 small pieces of chicken and the breading on them was heavy and hard. The worst part was there was very little salad in the container (less than half-filled)!!!! For over $6.00, I would at least expect there to be an adequate amount of lettuce in the container. Probably my fault for going to an Asian restaurant and ordering a salad, so I definitely won't do that again. I have had a noodle dish from their Elston location and it was definitely much better. I'm willing to give this place another try, but will order something with noodles or rice so that I'm still not hungry after spending $6.00.
(3)
Minu L.
Hmm. We were excited to hear about a new Asian fast food place opening so close to work. I would say its average. I tried the mangolian chicken - it was OK. The chicken was little too sweet for my taste, and the scallions could have tasted better if they were fresh. It has white mushrooms on it and I like mushrooms. Their dishes come in two sizes- a market (small) size and a large size. Large size just has extra meat on it. The small portion was decent priced and good enough for lunch. It wasn't bad, but that's it. Wasn't great either. They also have fancy coke machine, something I haven't seen elsewhere yet. The store was super clean, servers and host were friendly and very nice. I liked the ambiance too. It was very nice given that its a fast food Asian place. Now they can really really improve on their taste and quality. I would have preferred to have fried rice with my meal, but they just offer white and brown rice. Rice was fresh. Given that its a new place with nice decor and decent priced menu, what lacks is taste. The food tastes just like any other Asian / Chinese fast food place. I have had better.
(2)
Michael S.
Ordered the market size Hong Kong BBQ w/steak and was impressed w/the portion size. The sauce was good and my veggies were crisp and still had their own flavor, not drowned out by the sauce. The GF and I also had the pork egg rolls, which were awesome, the crab wontons, which were good, and the chicken lettuce wraps, also good. I'm not sure what the name of the sauce was w/the chicken wraps, but it was outstanding w/the pork egg rolls. We will be going back.
(4)
Lisa N.
Love the portion sizes and reasonable prices, but HELLO sodium! The 2 dishes I tried (lemongrass noodle salad and lettuce wraps) were so salty I could almost feel the fluid moving out of my cells. Even the cucumber-basil salad had an overly salty flavor to it. When I looked up the nutritional data, the lemongrass salad had 1400 mg of sodium! Too much for this gal...
(2)
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Address :227 East Ontario Street
Chicago, IL, 60611
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : No Waiter Service : No Drive-Thru : No Caters : Yes
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
John G.
Tried take out on two occasions....veggie spring rolls were very well done and a solid choice. The wonton soup was acceptable/average. The spicy chicken salad was tasty, and packaged properly for take out (hot fried chicken in on carton, salad in its own larger container, and the dressing in a third container). The noodles were poor.....over cooked and more like spaghetti than lo mein.
(3)Brittany S.
My mom and I are the biggest Pei Wei fans ever, we used to have these in Northern California but they have since then all closed. My mom and I went here for dinner around 7pm on a friday night. There was a very short line to wait through and we only waited about 5 minutes for our food. I had my favorite, mongolian steak, soooooo good! I love the sauce, they give you lots of it so it's great for spreading on your rice as well. There were lots of empty places to sit, the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. We had a great experience, I wish we had Pei Wei out here!
(4)Mike X.
Portions are way to small. You will leave this place hungry. Food was just ok.
(2)Aaron P.
We went here with a BOGO coupon and had a pleasant dinner. It was basically empty on a Monday evening around 5:30 PM, with just a slow stream of people coming in one by one for takeout. The food was hot and flavorful. I had the new Black Pepper entree, which was good, but I will get something else next time. My wife had the Caramel entree, which seemed to lack any refined flavor. This location does not have all of the menu offerings of a traditional Pei Wei, but is a great place to pop into for a quick dinner or lunch. The staff was pleasant and the restaurant was reasonably clean. For beverage drinkers, they have two of those mix-your-own flavor Coke machines.
(4)Jai R.
Serving Asian food, this tastes like Panda Express, but they have their own gimmicks. Outside of the food orders, this place is essentially a self serve. The East Ontario location is clean which is a plus. Servings are rather small which is a minus. On the balance, it's an okay place for fast food.
(3)Crystal C.
I want so badly to like you Pei Wei! You are located right around the corner. The restaurant is very clean and open. You are right next to an Epic Burger so that I can head that way and then feel guilty about my calorie intake and choose you instead. But there is an issue that we can never get past, which is your ridiculously SMALL portion sizes! I assumed that restaurants did research on these kinds of things so that they would know customer expectations, but obviously they saved some money by skipping that step. Unfortunate, those savings are not passed on to me since Pei Wei is super expensive once you take into account the portions - like $$ instead of just $ expensive. We are talking almost $14 for a meal that I will eat every bite of in one sitting, which is pretty crazy to me. This place is most often compared to Panda Express (which is a fair comparison) but they have much better quality and each item is prepared to order. While I'm on that subject, you can pretty easily add and remove ingredients from dishes, but when I tried to have the beef in one is my dishes prepared well done they had no idea what I was talking about! I mean, really? They had to go get the chef from the back and I had to tell him what I wanted. When you try to order online there was no way to write specific notes about preparing the meal, you only check off what you wanted and didn't want. Who designs a website like that? There isn't even a way to say, "extra napkins please." I was so excited when Pei Wei came here and now I just sad...cause the food is delicious! Mongolia Beef - I will miss you. Maybe can still see each other on my birthday and when someone else is treating?
(2)Christina A.
I giving this place 2/5 because the Thai salad was awesome and only cost about $2. The lettuce rolls were also great. They tasted exactly like the dish they serve at PF Changs. I also ordered a spicy chicken dish (I believe it was one of their featured dishes). The chicken was deep fried and it was not advertised as fried. In addition. It was covered in a sweet (not spicy as advertised) sauce. I wouldn't go back. The Thai salad and lettuce wraps were great, but the entree was worse than the Chinese food you get at any mall food court. I love PF changs. Their lamb dishes and PF changs signature soup are always great. I hoped for more.
(2)Jonathan L.
Really happy that I found a Pei Wei in Chicago. It's obviously not authentic Chinese, but it's tasty. I usually order one of the Pei Wei classics, like Kung Pao, Pei Wei Spicy, or Japanese Teriyaki. They have two sizes: market and large. The market is plenty. I think the prices are reasonable, but others might think it's expensive. They do give free fortune cookies though.
(4)Vanessa L.
I was really excited to hear about this opening by my job as i have eaten at the Elston location. I was really bummed to find out that this location is a market location therefore it doesn't have all the foods that a regular Pei Wei has. I ended up having a shrimp and rice meal. The shrimp was battered and fried and tasted gross. It had a slimy consistency and the rice was really dry and bland. I did love the coke machine but the meal just turned me off completely.
(2)Sarah S.
Awesome food. Good atmosphere. Amazing soda machine!!
(4)Odranre B.
today, i had to give it another chance and the result was still the same - low to mediocre food, panda express taste better. the inside decor was nice and clean though. but the food was not good. i went there on a friday at 12noon and there were less than 10 people eating.
(1)Gia S.
Went for lunch yesterday as I had heard good things. On the online menu nutrition, it said there are 2 ways to cook (one with lower calories). When I got there, the option was not on the menu and the staff was unsure of it. I got the Pei Wei Shrimp, very good with brown rice. My friend got egg rolls that literally needed to be blotted with around 4 napkins. We held upright and grease just dripped out in a steady stream. TERRIBLE! Cute place though and awesome soda machines.
(3)Sally L.
Expensive for what you get. Not very good taste. There is never enough sauce on your meal and the chicken was undercooked. Wont be dining here again.
(1)Lauren B.
The food is fine... but the girl (Brittany) that lets you know that your food is ready is one of the rudest people. Be ready to be spoken to like you are an idiot and beneath her.
(2)Kristen P.
This place teeters between 2 and 3 stars. I live around the corner, so this is a convenient option for me. Most of the food doesn't have much flavor (even the spicy stuff), and some it (ahem, sushi rolls) is clearly made well in advance and left to try out in the fridge. The staff here is horrible. Of all the times I've been here, I think one person has greeted me with a smile and an authentic energetic hello. Everyone else's behavior ranges from completely apathetic to downright rude. They often mess up carry out orders (like today, no lettuce with my chicken lettuce wraps?!) - so check the contents before walking out the door. It could be better, both the food and service, and I am hoping it will improve...
(2)Joanne S.
If there were a 1/2 star I would give that. Sushi, made hours ago... stale. I won't ever go back
(1)Erica P.
Always short staffed with less than enthusiastic employees. They always take way too long and the food comes up short, either too dry or too greasy. The place needs a good cleaning and tables are left with trash on them for way too long before they are cleared and crumbs are scooped from the floor. No ambiance whatsoever. Given them more than one chance, they always disappoint. It's so obvi this place is a franchise, skip out and try a local Chinese place instead, I'm sure the attention to detail and customer service will surpass this place that looks like it's hanging by a thread.
(1)Rick T.
Slapdash Asian. In the same way that Chipotle is slapdash Mexican. Except the Chipotle people don't get all ghetto when they's cleaning up the tables, yo.
(3)Vanessa R.
Can't decide what eat for lunch today: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese? Don't worry, you can now get it all under one roof at Pei Wei. This is a great addition to the Streeterville area and offers a nice lunch option in an area overcome with sandwich and burger places. Tons of seating options to seat your lonesome self or a large group if dining in and fast service if you are taking your meal to go. I opted for some basic chicken fried rice and it was very good - not super salty like some rice dishes can be and a good amount of lean chicken. Oh, and they have fortune cookies for free! (I love me some fortune cookies). You can order a small or large portion which is great, especially since I almost always tend to have food leftover and then it goes to waste. Lots of options from noodles, rice dishes, signature dishes and even some salads. Several gluten-free options available too. Also, their website has very comprehensive nutrition information so you can make an informed choice before placing your food order. Overall, fast service and plenty of menu choices. Great addition to the area!
(3)Andrew B.
The food is good but they could do a lot more to keep the line moving during the lunch rush. The slow guy on the register just can't keep up.
(3)Deirdre L.
Meh is right. Can't substitute meats in the salads. Its chicken or nothing - not even tofu. Spring roll is like 1 mini egg roll with sweet and sour sauce for 5 people. Pei Wei Spicy thing with tofu is just ok . Quick and clean but probably won't be back.
(2)Jamie B.
It's great to have a good Chinese restaurant in a neighborhood that's lacking in the Chinese food arena. Cheap, quick, serves beer and wine if you're in the mood, and food is pretty tasty-- this is a spinoff of PF Chang's,
(3)Melli Y.
Yuck. Panda express is better than these wannabes. Overpriced, bland, and small. Also got the order wrong and brought out the wrong meal. While i was eating my plate almost finished my dad was waiting for so long! Plus I'm a super slow eater. It wasn't even the long wait for his plate. Wouldn't go back.
(1)Michael S.
Great Food.... Everything is fresh...however i use to work here i wanted to grow with the company & after 6months working there 6days a week they cut my hours to 2days a week...thats the loyalty i get coming in when someone called off...they decided to cut me because they cancelled one of the areas in the restaurant...i quit..thanks Anthony...but none the less great food.
(5)Cason M.
Unhappy with the speed of getting food. I have had two difficult situations there, was thinking about going back today and my friend said he had bad experiences on wait as well as a manager yelling at customers. Can we get a better chinese food place in streeterville, please?
(1)Jean L.
The definition of terrible americanized chinese food. I haven't been to a pei wei for over 3 years. Having lived near one in Newport Beach, CA, I used to go maybe once a month. I don't remember it being this bad. But I got to Chicago and thought, hell - why not? The only thing this place has going for it is the convenience and the portions. Bland. Just all around not so good. I walked in and ordered. The cashier was just nonchalant. She asked if I had the pei wei rewards and I told her I didn't know what that was and asked if she could tell me more. She just said "well you just sign up..." ..Well no shit sherlock. Thanks for the explanation. Anyhow, I'd rather pay the extra $2 to go to big bowl down the street on ohio.
(1)Chris Z.
For some reason the beef teriyaki with white rice wasn't as good as before. Maybe because there's more lettuce and more uncooked onions than the beef. Maybe there's a new guy in there. I think I'll be skipping this place for a while. Quality went down way down than before. I work one block from this spot and it's a daily lunch place when I'm working. One star for whatever.
(1)Jamie M.
More like Pee-Ewwww! This proved to be a classic example of why you should pay attention to online reviews before dining in a new place. Despite the postings, I convinced the wife we should walk around the corner from our apartment and sample the "Five Unique Flavors From Five Asian Food Styles". So, the first sign of a bad restaurant experience? Completely, and utterly, empty dining room on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. Second sign? Only one guy working the sushi bar, while also staffing the empty kitchen. Third bad sign? Not an Asian in sight. The menu options are pretty simple - a small offering of four and eight-piece sushi slices, including a Mango California Roll for just $3.50 for the four-piece and $6.99 for the eight piece Spicy Tuna Roll. Entrees are offered as stir-fried, or "Wok'd", where you pick out your protein - chicken, veggies or tofu for $8.69 or Steak or Shrimp for $9.69. You then select your rice - a glop of greasy brown or Spackle-like white ... or for a $1 upcharge you can take your chances with the rice noodles or fried rice. Toss in an extra buck or two for "spicy" sauce or extra protein. We decided on the Wok'd Orange Peel Steak and the Kung Pao Shrimp, along with a four piece of Spicy Tuna Roll and Sweet-n-Sour soup. First, the soup was so gelatinous and grossly thick from being over cornstarched, that the heavy, china spoon actually stood straight up in the bowl - see the photo above. Absolutely disgusting. The Wok'd entrees were tasteless, with both proteins saturated in the same bright red sauce, despite being completely different orders. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked, the green beans were completely raw. My carrots in the Orange Peel Steak were so hard and rubbery, I thought they were boiled poker chips. The meat was chewy and could have passed for overcooked chicken. Service was minimal - three people delivered the sushi and two entrees -each about three minutes apart. We never saw the server again. Lesson learned.
(1)Adam L.
Stopped by this place to get some sushi to go. You can not beat the prices on their sushi, between 3 and 4 dollars for a half roll is a great deal. The sushi is pretty good, will stop by this place again, when in Chicago.
(4)Lassiter G.
Food is good but customer service sucks. I ate in and the lady tossed my plate at me. The guy that rang me up was a jerk.
(2)Irene G.
Recently just discovered this place -how did it take me this long?! It's currently on the top of my list for a quick and filling lunch since it's close to work. The Ginger Broccoli with steak is very good. I haven't tried the Original size portion for any of the entrees but a small is enough for me. The great thing is you can order online and pay when you pick up your order.
(4)Tim M.
It was nice and quiet on my visit here during the week, which is a bad sign. I've eaten at other locations around the country and have felt they've been consistently bad. The food is tolerable but the service can vary. This location has the worst. You might as well eat the tofu since their meats aren't that good. At least the tofu tastes like chicken. Oh yes, they also have pints of Kirin for $6, if you're in the mood for a cold beer. It's really the only redeeming quality of this place.
(3)Laura C.
Decent ambiance and attentive staff (I visited around 6 pm on a Monday, though, and it was dead). I ordered the small (it was huge) tofu and vegetables lo mein, and while nothing spectacular, I thought it was pretty darn good. Simple, no fuss Asian inspired dishes at decent price points. And - unlike Panda Express - I didn't feel sick afterwards! I'd be interested in trying their spring rolls and other sides. Stay tuned.
(4)Jessie Elizabeth J.
First and last time coming here! Staff are inattentive and cold, but that can be excused. Well the table we sat at was broken and rickety, and the second one we moved to was STICKY! I ordered a variety of "sushi" and a chicken wrap. The "sushi" was hard, tasted stale and fishy and so loosely rolled it was falling apart on the plate. I've had edible sushi even from walgreens compared to this disturbance. As for the chicken wrap, the peanut sauce it came with was straight peanut butter, what a joke. My boyfriend ordered a chicken vegetable stirfry and was served chunks of deep fried, questionable chicken that was neither spicy nor flavorful but overtly salty. The first time I have ever been pushed to asking for my money back, we left after a few tortured bites. How is this place in business?
(1)Robert S.
About as close, cuisine-wise to my old favorite, Ben Pao (R.I.P.). Nice place--roomy, casual enough for an easy dinner but classy enough to be a lunch date kind of place. It's a little more than just fast food, and the menu is confusing. Work through it, and you'll understand. Took me a couple times before I settled into a routine: Original chicken with Teriyaki sauce and steamed rice complemented with a 2-pork egg roll side. Skip the fountain drink, and the whole meal is around $13. They have noodle dishes as well. Tourists: this is NOT Panda Express. Keep walking.
(4)Matthew D.
Seriously has gone down a very steep hill! While having my order taken by an inexperienced girl, a male coworker came over while I was In The middle of ordering and asked if he could take a cookie for free.... She let him too! Ordered Mongolian beef, spring rolls, and a soda. $17. Restaurant was empty except for all employees sitting at a table hanging out. Sat down at a table which was sticky. Changed table 4 times before I gave up and just took a great deal of napkins! Went and got a soda. Almost every soda that I wanted on machine was unavailable! So I settled... There was a medium size liquid/water spill by machine. Instead of wiping up, they just put a yellow no slip sign up. Received my food, order was correct however received Mongolian beef, 2 minutes later the egg rolls, two minutes later the extra sauce on side I requested. Seriously?! Mongolian sauce was thick and gelatinous on side and on meat. There was no crispness to beef like before. White rice tasted left over. I turned me off the whole meal as I realized how horrible this place has turned. I used to love this place and always recommended it. Now I will do the opposite and never return too... This 100% are the leaders of this organization's fault. All team members are only as good as their direct report. Shame!
(1)Kevin Y.
Lukewarm food served with a piping hot side of attitude from a hip, young staff. Never again.
(2)Beth S.
I wondered if I visited this Pei Wei on an off day, but the reviews make me think otherwise. I came in here on a Saturday before seeing a movie; we wanted to come here because we thought a traditional sitdown restaurant would take too long. Well, as it turned out, this took much longer than expected as well. We came up and ordered, and it was clear they were very understaffed. In fact, the two stores are solely for the effort that the staff was obviously at least trying to put in. When I walked up, the woman at the counter had to take a phone call. I noticed that in the 45 minutes I was there, there were almost a dozen pick-up orders either called in or picked up, despite the handful of people in the restaurant. It seemed these orders were getting priority. A friend ordered ahead of my boyfriend and I, and it seemed that none of us received any food until AFTER the prior person had finished his/her food. I have had Pei Wei plenty of times before, and it was decent, but this was just ... bland. Absolutely nothing special. It seemed to me that not only were they understaffed.. a lot of people looked like they were training. Maybe this place is well-staffed during work-week lunch, but on a Saturday night? There were maybe five people working. Ridiculous. Pei Wei, step it up and hire some people in this location.
(2)Judson J.
Sushi was great got the kung pao sushi and California roll. Pad Thai wasn't that great but the staff was very friendly. Tips of my rangoons were burnt but filling was full of crab and the sauce accompanying was amazing.
(4)Eric W.
Ordered mongolian beef and fried rice. got brown rice and some sort of strange beef jerky stips (see pic). I've compared it to the other times i've gotten mongolian beef as well as pei wei's own pictures and I can say with 100% certainty what I got was not mongolian beef. Vegetables had no flavor tasted just as bad as the beef jerky. couldn't bring myself to eat more than two bites of the meal. worst meal I've eaten in the past 2 years by far.
(1)Cary W.
A nice place for a quick bite in Chicago. Love Pei Wei! the service is friendly and fast!
(5)Hillary M.
I'll be honest - I feel like I have gone through a love-hate relationship with Pei Wei. When the place opened about a year ago near my place, I was SUPER excited to have a nearby cheaper quick Chinese option, because I love me some Chinese food. But...the first couple times I tried it, the food was just not enjoyable. It wasn't the normal Chinese flavors you expect, the brown rice accompaniment was dry and awful and it was never satisfying. But I must be crazy because I tried it again to try and convince myself that it was good, and one day it all changed - IT WAS GOOD! They changed their recipes or something and it became addicting and delicious. Our regular dishes are the Caramel chicken with extra sauce, add spinach. And the Mongolian steak. I'm also a sucker for the Thai wonton soup, it's not the best soup ever but it's just something I like with my PeiWei.
(4)Chris A.
Meat tasted like it was cooked in last weeks oil, vegetables were soggy and rice was over cooked. For the price, go to the PF Changs down the street
(1)Kari H.
It was my first time here after getting a $10 gift card. This place is rather hidden on Ontario St as people don't seem to eat at the restaurants along this less-traveled street. The place is big with plenty of tables but there were only a few tables there on a 7pm weeknight. We were greeted by a friendly employee upon walking in. We took a few minutes to decide what to order. They were out of the sushi rolls with tuna in them. Bummer. We ordered Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Original and Thai Dynamite Steak Original with a fountain drink. The Pei Wei Spicy Chicken was super sour and sweet. t wasn't that spicy despite the abundance of bright red pepper flakes. We inhaled the steam from the food and coughed from the vinegar smell in the dish. The snap peas were super fresh and crunchy. The circle-cut orange slices might look boring but added a firm sweetness to the dish. It was served with plenty of white rice. The chicken was breaded and deep-fried so it added a nice crunch to the dish. There seemed to be plenty of chicken, too. Yay! The Thai Dynamite (Steak) was a favorite of the employee taking our order. I thought it was okay - I would try another dish next time. The steak was lightly breaded and deep fried and there was a small amount of thick sauce. The beef pieces were crunchy and settled atop a bed of sliced green onions and red peppers. The dish seemed to have a lot of salty seasoning and the green onion and red pepper didn't suffice to minimize the saltiness. The brown rice I ordered with the dish, however, helped balance out the saltiness but it was a bit dry. Luckily, I had a fountain drink. The fountain drink served to quench my thirst. One of the machines was almost completely out of order. Perhaps only 2-3 soda brands were available. The working machine, located closer to the kitchen and on the left side of the back counter, gave the drink a weird, almost algae-like taste to the drinks. I tried different drinks (orange coke, sprite, ginger ale, sprite with peach) and they all had this weird taste to it. I wonder if it was the pipe on the machine that had algae on it or the water pipe servicing the machine that had algae in it or the water source servicing the machine that had algae in it. I'm not sure what it was but the soda tasted off. The service here is excellent. The team members seem to get along well with each other and the server who brought food to our table told us what the dishes were as they brought them out to us. Service was quick and the employee who took our order asked us if we had any questions when we were ordering, which was nice of her. The ambiance is very nice. The lighting is great as it's very well-lit and bright. The dark tables go well with the brick walls and the restrooms are quite clean. I'd like to come back again to try out their other dishes such as the Pad Thai next time. I'll give the fountain drinks another try, too. Maybe I'll try the smaller-sized dishes (4oz vs 8oz of meat) since 8oz is a bit too much for me.
(3)Jimmye A.
Understaffed and poorly managed. There was only one employee on the floor taking orders, packaging take-out, and serving food. It's been 42 minutes since I placed my take-out order, and I'm still waiting...
(1)Robert W.
I used to come here quite a bit, but looks like things have gone downhill. Mongolian beef was very salty and the pop machines were both broken. I asked for a water instead and never received it. Not coming back.
(2)Scott G.
Got pad Thai veggie and tofu. Too much sauce which had an overly acidic taste. Tried the different meals my coworkers got and each different sauce had that same taste. The vegetables seemed frozen and thawed. Tofu was limp and unappealing when it could've been crisped up in the wok.
(1)marc c.
Very disappointed - food had a funny old oil taste. There must be a reason at noon the place is empty. Only good part of the meal was the brown rice. Usually love PF changs but this is nothing like their food.
(1)Matthew V.
Long wait times, missing online orders, and frequently incorrect orders - suggest you skip this Pei Wei!
(1)Jessica W.
For $6.99 at Pei Wei I get a huge portion size of their thai lime & chile chicken salad that I find absolutely delicious. Sometimes I substitute shrimp for the chicken and if I ask for the meat steamed, rather than friend, or without sauce, they are extremely accommodating. I love being able to have delicious, healthy options at an asian diner. Also, they offer discounts if you have a Northwestern Wildcard!
(4)Nelson M.
Restaurant update I visited again with a recent BOGO offer from Pei Wei website and decided to try the market size portion of seared crispy shrimp which was 6.95. The food once again was fresh, but the size of the dish was ridiculously small. Even my wife who is never a big eater was staring at me and said "why is there only 6 shrimps in my meal". This is overpriced and I think I will go to Panda Express instead next time.
(2)Mansi K.
Good place to grab a quick bite if you are mood for something asian. Food quality is amazing.. Portion size great, ambience is very standard but I would expect it to be any different for this price point. I would go there again!!
(4)Angela R.
I went here for the take out, found that the food didn't travel as well as I hoped. Just wishing now that I had stopped next door at Potbellies or Epic Burger. Would have then at least been full after eating junk food.
(2)Matt m.
While the lettuce wraps with traditional chicken are tasty, keep in mind they can be quite messy. (Better eaten while alone)
(3)Jen K.
I've gone to a Pei Wei before and needed a quick, healthy bite. There was a long line during lunch. It went by quickly and I ordered a bowl and edamame. It was pretty healthy and under $10 so I was happy with my choice. It took a very long time to get the food out and some of the edamame was brown when I opened up the box. Don't know if I'll go back, not really worth it to me, when there are so many other options around.
(3)J B.
I had the Mongolian Beef with fried rice. The food was pretty good and the service was okay, but the pricing is a bit high. Add that with a drink and I walked out spending over $20. For that price, I will clearly go to Chinatown and get some food that is much better. I am not sating I would never eat here again, but I won't miss it if I don't.
(3)DJ F.
I actually like Pei Wei for a quick meal, but this location is consistently bad. The food is bland, literally no flavor whatsoever. A simple veggie and brown rice meal came out swimming in Spicy Pei Wei sauce. A soggy, flavorless, over-priced mess. And the spinach I paid an extra buck for? 3 wilted leaves! The location in Logan Square is good, I've stopped in there on occasion while shopping. But I've given this location several tries and, despite being literally next door to my office, I will not be coming back.
(1)Greg G.
I came here for the first time last week and I was pretty excited to eat here and check it out. The restaurant has a nice set up, it's clean, lots of tables, big open kitchen so you can see them cooking your food. They have not one, but TWO Coke Freestyle soda machines (the machines with like 100 different flavors) so that's cool. Okay let's get to the food part.. I ordered the Pei Wei Spicy with steak. I like my food to have a little bit of kick. This had ZERO kick, it was not spicy at all! The steak pieces were also awkwardly big. They were too big for bite size, so I had to cut everything, but it was really difficult trying to cut through this awful meat. I almost broke a plastic knife cutting this steak, it was awful. The whole dish was kind of bland.. It seemed like it was frozen steak bits from Dominiks covered in glaze that was not spicy at all then piled onto rice and mixed in with a few vegies, it wasn't good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I'll have to try one of their stirfry dishes IF I go back.. Also it was expensive.. I think I paid like $11 for my meal and drink. No thanks.
(2)Karen C.
I am SO happy to have another new lunch option around my office that isn't a sandwich, a sandwich or a sandwich. Like everyone else said, this is a spinoff of P.F. Chang's... it's a small "market" location so they don't have a full Pei Wei menu, but that's just fine with me. I've been going with the teriyaki chicken & a side of edamame... plus they have that awesome coke machine where you pick your own flavors. The entree dishes come in 2 sizes, and for the price, you can't beat it. $8 for a fresh-cooked and delicious lunch beats a $5 Subway footlong in my book any day. Outdoor seating in the summer, plenty of indoor seating, and a help-yourself fortune cookie basket. I love this place.
(4)Kat T.
This location had a taste testing event last Friday, prior to their official opening date. I tried the Mango Salad, which was really good. Today I tried their Chicken Lettuce Wraps, also very good. For those concerned about sodium intake, the food here might have a very high content of it. It's a busy location during lunch and the kitchen staff are in a frenzy preparing dishes cutting down the wait time significantly. The prices are reasonable and the selection diverse. Seating area can be quite limited during the lunch rush hour. They have two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and also serve mango iced tea. Overall, the food is very flavorful and pricing reflective of the area.
(4)Vina O.
Very clean and spacious. The food isn't bad at all for Americanized Chinese food. Even though everything is under $10, portions are pretty small, even the "large" size. Their crab wontons are pretty amazing! Definitely a good place to bring small kids or babies as well. :)
(3)Fabiola I.
Food is pretty bland, we got three different dishes and it all tasted the same. Portions are tiny! We ordered large and it looked like a small. Not worth the trip back.
(2)A H.
Pei Wei is a run-off-the-mill diner serving their watered-down version of Asian food. I won't say it's bad, but it's not tasty. Fast service though. Great for take outs. Their "fusion" of Asian cuisines is a bit odd. We got spicy stir fried Chinese noodle that, literally, tasted like bits and pieces of different parts of Asia. But we were hungry!
(3)Nancy H.
Pei Wei has the best lettuce wraps! The ginger dish is fabulous. I have never been disappointed. Their food is always fresh and it's cooked to order. Please come back to the Inland Empire!
(5)Cindy F.
I honestly wanted to like this place but it was not very good. One star for the service, they are friendly. The first time I came here I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. It was basically spaghetti noodles with chicken. The flavor was very mediocre but essentially they just dump the sauce on top (pre-made) and you have to mix it up in the small container that your noodles are in. I decided to give them one more try so I ordered the pad thai with tofu and vegetables spicy (5 on a scale of 1-5 in spiciness). 1) There were no vegetables. 2) The tofu was sliced so thin that it disintegrated into tiny pieces in the pad thai 3) They just dumped a whole load of sriracha sauce which didn't make the pad thai extra spicy, just extra sriracha-ey. It had more of a vinegar like taste to it. 4) Pad thai shouldn't have a gravy texture to it, which it did, and the noodles they used were really stringy and rubbery. I personally would not recommend this place.
(1)Ken L.
I didn't know Lean Cuisine opened a restaurant. I LOVE it! I usually eat Lean Cuisine in the winter. So now, when I am out and about in the summer, I can just drop in this place, spend like 3x what I spent for those frozen isle containers, to get a freshly made unfrozen isle container! The dinning in experience is really the best, cause the food really look like a damn Lean Cuisine. Same sized plastic container, portion is about the same as well, if not smaller. Comes with all the plastic utensils, plastic trays, and plastic cups you need. Don't ever go to Panda Express ever again. Cause they would really fill you up. As everybody knows... "wow, that Lean Cuisine really filled me up," said no one, ever. I need to put in a note in the suggestion box and tell them to install a TV. Cause I usually enjoy my Lean Cuisine while watching TV at home.
(1)Barbara B.
This place hits all of the wrong notes. It's trying to be upscale, but then serves everything in plastic containers reminiscent of tv dinner trays. The prices are about the same price as some of the local thai places that include sit down service and real plates. Food: I tried the chicken lettuce wraps once as a main course. VERY filling, and actually pretty tasty but covered in oil. I also tried the Chicken Lo Mein a different time for lunch which was very disappointing. It was basically a tray full of noodles with barely any chicken or vegetables in it. The sauce was also greasy and too sweet. Their menu also doesn't explain which dishes have deep fried meat and which are not. I would honestly be happier at a Panda Express.
(1)Samantha E.
I didn't know there could be such variety in a chain restaurant. All the other Pei Weis I have ever visited had the whole selection of oil, vinegar, chile paste, and mustard to make my own PF Changs sauce mix. All they had here was Sriracha and soy sauce. The portions were small and even though we ate in restaurant, we were still given to go containers. The food was all the same and still delicious but I am used to getting big portions.
(3)Kristi M.
Was thrilled to have an Asian restaurant so close to work, but am sorry to report that I was disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Mango salad and it was not worth the money. There were 3 small pieces of chicken and the breading on them was heavy and hard. The worst part was there was very little salad in the container (less than half-filled)!!!! For over $6.00, I would at least expect there to be an adequate amount of lettuce in the container. Probably my fault for going to an Asian restaurant and ordering a salad, so I definitely won't do that again. I have had a noodle dish from their Elston location and it was definitely much better. I'm willing to give this place another try, but will order something with noodles or rice so that I'm still not hungry after spending $6.00.
(3)Minu L.
Hmm. We were excited to hear about a new Asian fast food place opening so close to work. I would say its average. I tried the mangolian chicken - it was OK. The chicken was little too sweet for my taste, and the scallions could have tasted better if they were fresh. It has white mushrooms on it and I like mushrooms. Their dishes come in two sizes- a market (small) size and a large size. Large size just has extra meat on it. The small portion was decent priced and good enough for lunch. It wasn't bad, but that's it. Wasn't great either. They also have fancy coke machine, something I haven't seen elsewhere yet. The store was super clean, servers and host were friendly and very nice. I liked the ambiance too. It was very nice given that its a fast food Asian place. Now they can really really improve on their taste and quality. I would have preferred to have fried rice with my meal, but they just offer white and brown rice. Rice was fresh. Given that its a new place with nice decor and decent priced menu, what lacks is taste. The food tastes just like any other Asian / Chinese fast food place. I have had better.
(2)Michael S.
Ordered the market size Hong Kong BBQ w/steak and was impressed w/the portion size. The sauce was good and my veggies were crisp and still had their own flavor, not drowned out by the sauce. The GF and I also had the pork egg rolls, which were awesome, the crab wontons, which were good, and the chicken lettuce wraps, also good. I'm not sure what the name of the sauce was w/the chicken wraps, but it was outstanding w/the pork egg rolls. We will be going back.
(4)Lisa N.
Love the portion sizes and reasonable prices, but HELLO sodium! The 2 dishes I tried (lemongrass noodle salad and lettuce wraps) were so salty I could almost feel the fluid moving out of my cells. Even the cucumber-basil salad had an overly salty flavor to it. When I looked up the nutritional data, the lemongrass salad had 1400 mg of sodium! Too much for this gal...
(2)Michael S.
Great Food.... Everything is fresh...however i use to work here i wanted to grow with the company & after 6months working there 6days a week they cut my hours to 2days a week...thats the loyalty i get coming in when someone called off...they decided to cut me because they cancelled one of the areas in the restaurant...i quit..thanks Anthony...but none the less great food.
(5)Cason M.
Unhappy with the speed of getting food. I have had two difficult situations there, was thinking about going back today and my friend said he had bad experiences on wait as well as a manager yelling at customers. Can we get a better chinese food place in streeterville, please?
(1)Jean L.
The definition of terrible americanized chinese food. I haven't been to a pei wei for over 3 years. Having lived near one in Newport Beach, CA, I used to go maybe once a month. I don't remember it being this bad. But I got to Chicago and thought, hell - why not? The only thing this place has going for it is the convenience and the portions. Bland. Just all around not so good. I walked in and ordered. The cashier was just nonchalant. She asked if I had the pei wei rewards and I told her I didn't know what that was and asked if she could tell me more. She just said "well you just sign up..." ..Well no shit sherlock. Thanks for the explanation. Anyhow, I'd rather pay the extra $2 to go to big bowl down the street on ohio.
(1)Chris Z.
For some reason the beef teriyaki with white rice wasn't as good as before. Maybe because there's more lettuce and more uncooked onions than the beef. Maybe there's a new guy in there. I think I'll be skipping this place for a while. Quality went down way down than before. I work one block from this spot and it's a daily lunch place when I'm working. One star for whatever.
(1)Laura C.
Decent ambiance and attentive staff (I visited around 6 pm on a Monday, though, and it was dead). I ordered the small (it was huge) tofu and vegetables lo mein, and while nothing spectacular, I thought it was pretty darn good. Simple, no fuss Asian inspired dishes at decent price points. And - unlike Panda Express - I didn't feel sick afterwards! I'd be interested in trying their spring rolls and other sides. Stay tuned.
(4)Jessie Elizabeth J.
First and last time coming here! Staff are inattentive and cold, but that can be excused. Well the table we sat at was broken and rickety, and the second one we moved to was STICKY! I ordered a variety of "sushi" and a chicken wrap. The "sushi" was hard, tasted stale and fishy and so loosely rolled it was falling apart on the plate. I've had edible sushi even from walgreens compared to this disturbance. As for the chicken wrap, the peanut sauce it came with was straight peanut butter, what a joke. My boyfriend ordered a chicken vegetable stirfry and was served chunks of deep fried, questionable chicken that was neither spicy nor flavorful but overtly salty. The first time I have ever been pushed to asking for my money back, we left after a few tortured bites. How is this place in business?
(1)Jamie M.
More like Pee-Ewwww! This proved to be a classic example of why you should pay attention to online reviews before dining in a new place. Despite the postings, I convinced the wife we should walk around the corner from our apartment and sample the "Five Unique Flavors From Five Asian Food Styles". So, the first sign of a bad restaurant experience? Completely, and utterly, empty dining room on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. Second sign? Only one guy working the sushi bar, while also staffing the empty kitchen. Third bad sign? Not an Asian in sight. The menu options are pretty simple - a small offering of four and eight-piece sushi slices, including a Mango California Roll for just $3.50 for the four-piece and $6.99 for the eight piece Spicy Tuna Roll. Entrees are offered as stir-fried, or "Wok'd", where you pick out your protein - chicken, veggies or tofu for $8.69 or Steak or Shrimp for $9.69. You then select your rice - a glop of greasy brown or Spackle-like white ... or for a $1 upcharge you can take your chances with the rice noodles or fried rice. Toss in an extra buck or two for "spicy" sauce or extra protein. We decided on the Wok'd Orange Peel Steak and the Kung Pao Shrimp, along with a four piece of Spicy Tuna Roll and Sweet-n-Sour soup. First, the soup was so gelatinous and grossly thick from being over cornstarched, that the heavy, china spoon actually stood straight up in the bowl - see the photo above. Absolutely disgusting. The Wok'd entrees were tasteless, with both proteins saturated in the same bright red sauce, despite being completely different orders. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked, the green beans were completely raw. My carrots in the Orange Peel Steak were so hard and rubbery, I thought they were boiled poker chips. The meat was chewy and could have passed for overcooked chicken. Service was minimal - three people delivered the sushi and two entrees -each about three minutes apart. We never saw the server again. Lesson learned.
(1)Adam L.
Stopped by this place to get some sushi to go. You can not beat the prices on their sushi, between 3 and 4 dollars for a half roll is a great deal. The sushi is pretty good, will stop by this place again, when in Chicago.
(4)Lassiter G.
Food is good but customer service sucks. I ate in and the lady tossed my plate at me. The guy that rang me up was a jerk.
(2)Irene G.
Recently just discovered this place -how did it take me this long?! It's currently on the top of my list for a quick and filling lunch since it's close to work. The Ginger Broccoli with steak is very good. I haven't tried the Original size portion for any of the entrees but a small is enough for me. The great thing is you can order online and pay when you pick up your order.
(4)Tim M.
It was nice and quiet on my visit here during the week, which is a bad sign. I've eaten at other locations around the country and have felt they've been consistently bad. The food is tolerable but the service can vary. This location has the worst. You might as well eat the tofu since their meats aren't that good. At least the tofu tastes like chicken. Oh yes, they also have pints of Kirin for $6, if you're in the mood for a cold beer. It's really the only redeeming quality of this place.
(3)Michael S.
Great Food.... Everything is fresh...however i use to work here i wanted to grow with the company & after 6months working there 6days a week they cut my hours to 2days a week...thats the loyalty i get coming in when someone called off...they decided to cut me because they cancelled one of the areas in the restaurant...i quit..thanks Anthony...but none the less great food.
(5)Cason M.
Unhappy with the speed of getting food. I have had two difficult situations there, was thinking about going back today and my friend said he had bad experiences on wait as well as a manager yelling at customers. Can we get a better chinese food place in streeterville, please?
(1)Jean L.
The definition of terrible americanized chinese food. I haven't been to a pei wei for over 3 years. Having lived near one in Newport Beach, CA, I used to go maybe once a month. I don't remember it being this bad. But I got to Chicago and thought, hell - why not? The only thing this place has going for it is the convenience and the portions. Bland. Just all around not so good. I walked in and ordered. The cashier was just nonchalant. She asked if I had the pei wei rewards and I told her I didn't know what that was and asked if she could tell me more. She just said "well you just sign up..." ..Well no shit sherlock. Thanks for the explanation. Anyhow, I'd rather pay the extra $2 to go to big bowl down the street on ohio.
(1)Chris Z.
For some reason the beef teriyaki with white rice wasn't as good as before. Maybe because there's more lettuce and more uncooked onions than the beef. Maybe there's a new guy in there. I think I'll be skipping this place for a while. Quality went down way down than before. I work one block from this spot and it's a daily lunch place when I'm working. One star for whatever.
(1)marc c.
Very disappointed - food had a funny old oil taste. There must be a reason at noon the place is empty. Only good part of the meal was the brown rice. Usually love PF changs but this is nothing like their food.
(1)Matthew V.
Long wait times, missing online orders, and frequently incorrect orders - suggest you skip this Pei Wei!
(1)Judson J.
Sushi was great got the kung pao sushi and California roll. Pad Thai wasn't that great but the staff was very friendly. Tips of my rangoons were burnt but filling was full of crab and the sauce accompanying was amazing.
(4)Eric W.
Ordered mongolian beef and fried rice. got brown rice and some sort of strange beef jerky stips (see pic). I've compared it to the other times i've gotten mongolian beef as well as pei wei's own pictures and I can say with 100% certainty what I got was not mongolian beef. Vegetables had no flavor tasted just as bad as the beef jerky. couldn't bring myself to eat more than two bites of the meal. worst meal I've eaten in the past 2 years by far.
(1)Cary W.
A nice place for a quick bite in Chicago. Love Pei Wei! the service is friendly and fast!
(5)Barbara B.
This place hits all of the wrong notes. It's trying to be upscale, but then serves everything in plastic containers reminiscent of tv dinner trays. The prices are about the same price as some of the local thai places that include sit down service and real plates. Food: I tried the chicken lettuce wraps once as a main course. VERY filling, and actually pretty tasty but covered in oil. I also tried the Chicken Lo Mein a different time for lunch which was very disappointing. It was basically a tray full of noodles with barely any chicken or vegetables in it. The sauce was also greasy and too sweet. Their menu also doesn't explain which dishes have deep fried meat and which are not. I would honestly be happier at a Panda Express.
(1)Samantha E.
I didn't know there could be such variety in a chain restaurant. All the other Pei Weis I have ever visited had the whole selection of oil, vinegar, chile paste, and mustard to make my own PF Changs sauce mix. All they had here was Sriracha and soy sauce. The portions were small and even though we ate in restaurant, we were still given to go containers. The food was all the same and still delicious but I am used to getting big portions.
(3)John G.
Tried take out on two occasions....veggie spring rolls were very well done and a solid choice. The wonton soup was acceptable/average. The spicy chicken salad was tasty, and packaged properly for take out (hot fried chicken in on carton, salad in its own larger container, and the dressing in a third container). The noodles were poor.....over cooked and more like spaghetti than lo mein.
(3)Brittany S.
My mom and I are the biggest Pei Wei fans ever, we used to have these in Northern California but they have since then all closed. My mom and I went here for dinner around 7pm on a friday night. There was a very short line to wait through and we only waited about 5 minutes for our food. I had my favorite, mongolian steak, soooooo good! I love the sauce, they give you lots of it so it's great for spreading on your rice as well. There were lots of empty places to sit, the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. We had a great experience, I wish we had Pei Wei out here!
(4)Mike X.
Portions are way to small. You will leave this place hungry. Food was just ok.
(2)Aaron P.
We went here with a BOGO coupon and had a pleasant dinner. It was basically empty on a Monday evening around 5:30 PM, with just a slow stream of people coming in one by one for takeout. The food was hot and flavorful. I had the new Black Pepper entree, which was good, but I will get something else next time. My wife had the Caramel entree, which seemed to lack any refined flavor. This location does not have all of the menu offerings of a traditional Pei Wei, but is a great place to pop into for a quick dinner or lunch. The staff was pleasant and the restaurant was reasonably clean. For beverage drinkers, they have two of those mix-your-own flavor Coke machines.
(4)Jamie M.
More like Pee-Ewwww! This proved to be a classic example of why you should pay attention to online reviews before dining in a new place. Despite the postings, I convinced the wife we should walk around the corner from our apartment and sample the "Five Unique Flavors From Five Asian Food Styles". So, the first sign of a bad restaurant experience? Completely, and utterly, empty dining room on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. Second sign? Only one guy working the sushi bar, while also staffing the empty kitchen. Third bad sign? Not an Asian in sight. The menu options are pretty simple - a small offering of four and eight-piece sushi slices, including a Mango California Roll for just $3.50 for the four-piece and $6.99 for the eight piece Spicy Tuna Roll. Entrees are offered as stir-fried, or "Wok'd", where you pick out your protein - chicken, veggies or tofu for $8.69 or Steak or Shrimp for $9.69. You then select your rice - a glop of greasy brown or Spackle-like white ... or for a $1 upcharge you can take your chances with the rice noodles or fried rice. Toss in an extra buck or two for "spicy" sauce or extra protein. We decided on the Wok'd Orange Peel Steak and the Kung Pao Shrimp, along with a four piece of Spicy Tuna Roll and Sweet-n-Sour soup. First, the soup was so gelatinous and grossly thick from being over cornstarched, that the heavy, china spoon actually stood straight up in the bowl - see the photo above. Absolutely disgusting. The Wok'd entrees were tasteless, with both proteins saturated in the same bright red sauce, despite being completely different orders. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked, the green beans were completely raw. My carrots in the Orange Peel Steak were so hard and rubbery, I thought they were boiled poker chips. The meat was chewy and could have passed for overcooked chicken. Service was minimal - three people delivered the sushi and two entrees -each about three minutes apart. We never saw the server again. Lesson learned.
(1)Adam L.
Stopped by this place to get some sushi to go. You can not beat the prices on their sushi, between 3 and 4 dollars for a half roll is a great deal. The sushi is pretty good, will stop by this place again, when in Chicago.
(4)Lassiter G.
Food is good but customer service sucks. I ate in and the lady tossed my plate at me. The guy that rang me up was a jerk.
(2)Irene G.
Recently just discovered this place -how did it take me this long?! It's currently on the top of my list for a quick and filling lunch since it's close to work. The Ginger Broccoli with steak is very good. I haven't tried the Original size portion for any of the entrees but a small is enough for me. The great thing is you can order online and pay when you pick up your order.
(4)Tim M.
It was nice and quiet on my visit here during the week, which is a bad sign. I've eaten at other locations around the country and have felt they've been consistently bad. The food is tolerable but the service can vary. This location has the worst. You might as well eat the tofu since their meats aren't that good. At least the tofu tastes like chicken. Oh yes, they also have pints of Kirin for $6, if you're in the mood for a cold beer. It's really the only redeeming quality of this place.
(3)Jessica W.
For $6.99 at Pei Wei I get a huge portion size of their thai lime & chile chicken salad that I find absolutely delicious. Sometimes I substitute shrimp for the chicken and if I ask for the meat steamed, rather than friend, or without sauce, they are extremely accommodating. I love being able to have delicious, healthy options at an asian diner. Also, they offer discounts if you have a Northwestern Wildcard!
(4)Nelson M.
Restaurant update I visited again with a recent BOGO offer from Pei Wei website and decided to try the market size portion of seared crispy shrimp which was 6.95. The food once again was fresh, but the size of the dish was ridiculously small. Even my wife who is never a big eater was staring at me and said "why is there only 6 shrimps in my meal". This is overpriced and I think I will go to Panda Express instead next time.
(2)Mansi K.
Good place to grab a quick bite if you are mood for something asian. Food quality is amazing.. Portion size great, ambience is very standard but I would expect it to be any different for this price point. I would go there again!!
(4)Angela R.
I went here for the take out, found that the food didn't travel as well as I hoped. Just wishing now that I had stopped next door at Potbellies or Epic Burger. Would have then at least been full after eating junk food.
(2)Matt m.
While the lettuce wraps with traditional chicken are tasty, keep in mind they can be quite messy. (Better eaten while alone)
(3)Jen K.
I've gone to a Pei Wei before and needed a quick, healthy bite. There was a long line during lunch. It went by quickly and I ordered a bowl and edamame. It was pretty healthy and under $10 so I was happy with my choice. It took a very long time to get the food out and some of the edamame was brown when I opened up the box. Don't know if I'll go back, not really worth it to me, when there are so many other options around.
(3)J B.
I had the Mongolian Beef with fried rice. The food was pretty good and the service was okay, but the pricing is a bit high. Add that with a drink and I walked out spending over $20. For that price, I will clearly go to Chinatown and get some food that is much better. I am not sating I would never eat here again, but I won't miss it if I don't.
(3)Kristen P.
This place teeters between 2 and 3 stars. I live around the corner, so this is a convenient option for me. Most of the food doesn't have much flavor (even the spicy stuff), and some it (ahem, sushi rolls) is clearly made well in advance and left to try out in the fridge. The staff here is horrible. Of all the times I've been here, I think one person has greeted me with a smile and an authentic energetic hello. Everyone else's behavior ranges from completely apathetic to downright rude. They often mess up carry out orders (like today, no lettuce with my chicken lettuce wraps?!) - so check the contents before walking out the door. It could be better, both the food and service, and I am hoping it will improve...
(2)Joanne S.
If there were a 1/2 star I would give that. Sushi, made hours ago... stale. I won't ever go back
(1)Erica P.
Always short staffed with less than enthusiastic employees. They always take way too long and the food comes up short, either too dry or too greasy. The place needs a good cleaning and tables are left with trash on them for way too long before they are cleared and crumbs are scooped from the floor. No ambiance whatsoever. Given them more than one chance, they always disappoint. It's so obvi this place is a franchise, skip out and try a local Chinese place instead, I'm sure the attention to detail and customer service will surpass this place that looks like it's hanging by a thread.
(1)Rick T.
Slapdash Asian. In the same way that Chipotle is slapdash Mexican. Except the Chipotle people don't get all ghetto when they's cleaning up the tables, yo.
(3)Vanessa R.
Can't decide what eat for lunch today: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese? Don't worry, you can now get it all under one roof at Pei Wei. This is a great addition to the Streeterville area and offers a nice lunch option in an area overcome with sandwich and burger places. Tons of seating options to seat your lonesome self or a large group if dining in and fast service if you are taking your meal to go. I opted for some basic chicken fried rice and it was very good - not super salty like some rice dishes can be and a good amount of lean chicken. Oh, and they have fortune cookies for free! (I love me some fortune cookies). You can order a small or large portion which is great, especially since I almost always tend to have food leftover and then it goes to waste. Lots of options from noodles, rice dishes, signature dishes and even some salads. Several gluten-free options available too. Also, their website has very comprehensive nutrition information so you can make an informed choice before placing your food order. Overall, fast service and plenty of menu choices. Great addition to the area!
(3)Andrew B.
The food is good but they could do a lot more to keep the line moving during the lunch rush. The slow guy on the register just can't keep up.
(3)DJ F.
I actually like Pei Wei for a quick meal, but this location is consistently bad. The food is bland, literally no flavor whatsoever. A simple veggie and brown rice meal came out swimming in Spicy Pei Wei sauce. A soggy, flavorless, over-priced mess. And the spinach I paid an extra buck for? 3 wilted leaves! The location in Logan Square is good, I've stopped in there on occasion while shopping. But I've given this location several tries and, despite being literally next door to my office, I will not be coming back.
(1)Greg G.
I came here for the first time last week and I was pretty excited to eat here and check it out. The restaurant has a nice set up, it's clean, lots of tables, big open kitchen so you can see them cooking your food. They have not one, but TWO Coke Freestyle soda machines (the machines with like 100 different flavors) so that's cool. Okay let's get to the food part.. I ordered the Pei Wei Spicy with steak. I like my food to have a little bit of kick. This had ZERO kick, it was not spicy at all! The steak pieces were also awkwardly big. They were too big for bite size, so I had to cut everything, but it was really difficult trying to cut through this awful meat. I almost broke a plastic knife cutting this steak, it was awful. The whole dish was kind of bland.. It seemed like it was frozen steak bits from Dominiks covered in glaze that was not spicy at all then piled onto rice and mixed in with a few vegies, it wasn't good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I'll have to try one of their stirfry dishes IF I go back.. Also it was expensive.. I think I paid like $11 for my meal and drink. No thanks.
(2)Karen C.
I am SO happy to have another new lunch option around my office that isn't a sandwich, a sandwich or a sandwich. Like everyone else said, this is a spinoff of P.F. Chang's... it's a small "market" location so they don't have a full Pei Wei menu, but that's just fine with me. I've been going with the teriyaki chicken & a side of edamame... plus they have that awesome coke machine where you pick your own flavors. The entree dishes come in 2 sizes, and for the price, you can't beat it. $8 for a fresh-cooked and delicious lunch beats a $5 Subway footlong in my book any day. Outdoor seating in the summer, plenty of indoor seating, and a help-yourself fortune cookie basket. I love this place.
(4)Kat T.
This location had a taste testing event last Friday, prior to their official opening date. I tried the Mango Salad, which was really good. Today I tried their Chicken Lettuce Wraps, also very good. For those concerned about sodium intake, the food here might have a very high content of it. It's a busy location during lunch and the kitchen staff are in a frenzy preparing dishes cutting down the wait time significantly. The prices are reasonable and the selection diverse. Seating area can be quite limited during the lunch rush hour. They have two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and also serve mango iced tea. Overall, the food is very flavorful and pricing reflective of the area.
(4)Vina O.
Very clean and spacious. The food isn't bad at all for Americanized Chinese food. Even though everything is under $10, portions are pretty small, even the "large" size. Their crab wontons are pretty amazing! Definitely a good place to bring small kids or babies as well. :)
(3)Fabiola I.
Food is pretty bland, we got three different dishes and it all tasted the same. Portions are tiny! We ordered large and it looked like a small. Not worth the trip back.
(2)A H.
Pei Wei is a run-off-the-mill diner serving their watered-down version of Asian food. I won't say it's bad, but it's not tasty. Fast service though. Great for take outs. Their "fusion" of Asian cuisines is a bit odd. We got spicy stir fried Chinese noodle that, literally, tasted like bits and pieces of different parts of Asia. But we were hungry!
(3)Nancy H.
Pei Wei has the best lettuce wraps! The ginger dish is fabulous. I have never been disappointed. Their food is always fresh and it's cooked to order. Please come back to the Inland Empire!
(5)Deirdre L.
Meh is right. Can't substitute meats in the salads. Its chicken or nothing - not even tofu. Spring roll is like 1 mini egg roll with sweet and sour sauce for 5 people. Pei Wei Spicy thing with tofu is just ok . Quick and clean but probably won't be back.
(2)Jamie B.
It's great to have a good Chinese restaurant in a neighborhood that's lacking in the Chinese food arena. Cheap, quick, serves beer and wine if you're in the mood, and food is pretty tasty-- this is a spinoff of PF Chang's,
(3)Cindy F.
I honestly wanted to like this place but it was not very good. One star for the service, they are friendly. The first time I came here I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. It was basically spaghetti noodles with chicken. The flavor was very mediocre but essentially they just dump the sauce on top (pre-made) and you have to mix it up in the small container that your noodles are in. I decided to give them one more try so I ordered the pad thai with tofu and vegetables spicy (5 on a scale of 1-5 in spiciness). 1) There were no vegetables. 2) The tofu was sliced so thin that it disintegrated into tiny pieces in the pad thai 3) They just dumped a whole load of sriracha sauce which didn't make the pad thai extra spicy, just extra sriracha-ey. It had more of a vinegar like taste to it. 4) Pad thai shouldn't have a gravy texture to it, which it did, and the noodles they used were really stringy and rubbery. I personally would not recommend this place.
(1)Ken L.
I didn't know Lean Cuisine opened a restaurant. I LOVE it! I usually eat Lean Cuisine in the winter. So now, when I am out and about in the summer, I can just drop in this place, spend like 3x what I spent for those frozen isle containers, to get a freshly made unfrozen isle container! The dinning in experience is really the best, cause the food really look like a damn Lean Cuisine. Same sized plastic container, portion is about the same as well, if not smaller. Comes with all the plastic utensils, plastic trays, and plastic cups you need. Don't ever go to Panda Express ever again. Cause they would really fill you up. As everybody knows... "wow, that Lean Cuisine really filled me up," said no one, ever. I need to put in a note in the suggestion box and tell them to install a TV. Cause I usually enjoy my Lean Cuisine while watching TV at home.
(1)Melli Y.
Yuck. Panda express is better than these wannabes. Overpriced, bland, and small. Also got the order wrong and brought out the wrong meal. While i was eating my plate almost finished my dad was waiting for so long! Plus I'm a super slow eater. It wasn't even the long wait for his plate. Wouldn't go back.
(1)Kari H.
It was my first time here after getting a $10 gift card. This place is rather hidden on Ontario St as people don't seem to eat at the restaurants along this less-traveled street. The place is big with plenty of tables but there were only a few tables there on a 7pm weeknight. We were greeted by a friendly employee upon walking in. We took a few minutes to decide what to order. They were out of the sushi rolls with tuna in them. Bummer. We ordered Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Original and Thai Dynamite Steak Original with a fountain drink. The Pei Wei Spicy Chicken was super sour and sweet. t wasn't that spicy despite the abundance of bright red pepper flakes. We inhaled the steam from the food and coughed from the vinegar smell in the dish. The snap peas were super fresh and crunchy. The circle-cut orange slices might look boring but added a firm sweetness to the dish. It was served with plenty of white rice. The chicken was breaded and deep-fried so it added a nice crunch to the dish. There seemed to be plenty of chicken, too. Yay! The Thai Dynamite (Steak) was a favorite of the employee taking our order. I thought it was okay - I would try another dish next time. The steak was lightly breaded and deep fried and there was a small amount of thick sauce. The beef pieces were crunchy and settled atop a bed of sliced green onions and red peppers. The dish seemed to have a lot of salty seasoning and the green onion and red pepper didn't suffice to minimize the saltiness. The brown rice I ordered with the dish, however, helped balance out the saltiness but it was a bit dry. Luckily, I had a fountain drink. The fountain drink served to quench my thirst. One of the machines was almost completely out of order. Perhaps only 2-3 soda brands were available. The working machine, located closer to the kitchen and on the left side of the back counter, gave the drink a weird, almost algae-like taste to the drinks. I tried different drinks (orange coke, sprite, ginger ale, sprite with peach) and they all had this weird taste to it. I wonder if it was the pipe on the machine that had algae on it or the water pipe servicing the machine that had algae in it or the water source servicing the machine that had algae in it. I'm not sure what it was but the soda tasted off. The service here is excellent. The team members seem to get along well with each other and the server who brought food to our table told us what the dishes were as they brought them out to us. Service was quick and the employee who took our order asked us if we had any questions when we were ordering, which was nice of her. The ambiance is very nice. The lighting is great as it's very well-lit and bright. The dark tables go well with the brick walls and the restrooms are quite clean. I'd like to come back again to try out their other dishes such as the Pad Thai next time. I'll give the fountain drinks another try, too. Maybe I'll try the smaller-sized dishes (4oz vs 8oz of meat) since 8oz is a bit too much for me.
(3)Jimmye A.
Understaffed and poorly managed. There was only one employee on the floor taking orders, packaging take-out, and serving food. It's been 42 minutes since I placed my take-out order, and I'm still waiting...
(1)Beth S.
I wondered if I visited this Pei Wei on an off day, but the reviews make me think otherwise. I came in here on a Saturday before seeing a movie; we wanted to come here because we thought a traditional sitdown restaurant would take too long. Well, as it turned out, this took much longer than expected as well. We came up and ordered, and it was clear they were very understaffed. In fact, the two stores are solely for the effort that the staff was obviously at least trying to put in. When I walked up, the woman at the counter had to take a phone call. I noticed that in the 45 minutes I was there, there were almost a dozen pick-up orders either called in or picked up, despite the handful of people in the restaurant. It seemed these orders were getting priority. A friend ordered ahead of my boyfriend and I, and it seemed that none of us received any food until AFTER the prior person had finished his/her food. I have had Pei Wei plenty of times before, and it was decent, but this was just ... bland. Absolutely nothing special. It seemed to me that not only were they understaffed.. a lot of people looked like they were training. Maybe this place is well-staffed during work-week lunch, but on a Saturday night? There were maybe five people working. Ridiculous. Pei Wei, step it up and hire some people in this location.
(2)Hillary M.
I'll be honest - I feel like I have gone through a love-hate relationship with Pei Wei. When the place opened about a year ago near my place, I was SUPER excited to have a nearby cheaper quick Chinese option, because I love me some Chinese food. But...the first couple times I tried it, the food was just not enjoyable. It wasn't the normal Chinese flavors you expect, the brown rice accompaniment was dry and awful and it was never satisfying. But I must be crazy because I tried it again to try and convince myself that it was good, and one day it all changed - IT WAS GOOD! They changed their recipes or something and it became addicting and delicious. Our regular dishes are the Caramel chicken with extra sauce, add spinach. And the Mongolian steak. I'm also a sucker for the Thai wonton soup, it's not the best soup ever but it's just something I like with my PeiWei.
(4)Chris A.
Meat tasted like it was cooked in last weeks oil, vegetables were soggy and rice was over cooked. For the price, go to the PF Changs down the street
(1)Scott G.
Got pad Thai veggie and tofu. Too much sauce which had an overly acidic taste. Tried the different meals my coworkers got and each different sauce had that same taste. The vegetables seemed frozen and thawed. Tofu was limp and unappealing when it could've been crisped up in the wok.
(1)Odranre B.
today, i had to give it another chance and the result was still the same - low to mediocre food, panda express taste better. the inside decor was nice and clean though. but the food was not good. i went there on a friday at 12noon and there were less than 10 people eating.
(1)Gia S.
Went for lunch yesterday as I had heard good things. On the online menu nutrition, it said there are 2 ways to cook (one with lower calories). When I got there, the option was not on the menu and the staff was unsure of it. I got the Pei Wei Shrimp, very good with brown rice. My friend got egg rolls that literally needed to be blotted with around 4 napkins. We held upright and grease just dripped out in a steady stream. TERRIBLE! Cute place though and awesome soda machines.
(3)Sally L.
Expensive for what you get. Not very good taste. There is never enough sauce on your meal and the chicken was undercooked. Wont be dining here again.
(1)Lauren B.
The food is fine... but the girl (Brittany) that lets you know that your food is ready is one of the rudest people. Be ready to be spoken to like you are an idiot and beneath her.
(2)Jai R.
Serving Asian food, this tastes like Panda Express, but they have their own gimmicks. Outside of the food orders, this place is essentially a self serve. The East Ontario location is clean which is a plus. Servings are rather small which is a minus. On the balance, it's an okay place for fast food.
(3)Laura C.
Decent ambiance and attentive staff (I visited around 6 pm on a Monday, though, and it was dead). I ordered the small (it was huge) tofu and vegetables lo mein, and while nothing spectacular, I thought it was pretty darn good. Simple, no fuss Asian inspired dishes at decent price points. And - unlike Panda Express - I didn't feel sick afterwards! I'd be interested in trying their spring rolls and other sides. Stay tuned.
(4)Matthew D.
Seriously has gone down a very steep hill! While having my order taken by an inexperienced girl, a male coworker came over while I was In The middle of ordering and asked if he could take a cookie for free.... She let him too! Ordered Mongolian beef, spring rolls, and a soda. $17. Restaurant was empty except for all employees sitting at a table hanging out. Sat down at a table which was sticky. Changed table 4 times before I gave up and just took a great deal of napkins! Went and got a soda. Almost every soda that I wanted on machine was unavailable! So I settled... There was a medium size liquid/water spill by machine. Instead of wiping up, they just put a yellow no slip sign up. Received my food, order was correct however received Mongolian beef, 2 minutes later the egg rolls, two minutes later the extra sauce on side I requested. Seriously?! Mongolian sauce was thick and gelatinous on side and on meat. There was no crispness to beef like before. White rice tasted left over. I turned me off the whole meal as I realized how horrible this place has turned. I used to love this place and always recommended it. Now I will do the opposite and never return too... This 100% are the leaders of this organization's fault. All team members are only as good as their direct report. Shame!
(1)Kevin Y.
Lukewarm food served with a piping hot side of attitude from a hip, young staff. Never again.
(2)Robert W.
I used to come here quite a bit, but looks like things have gone downhill. Mongolian beef was very salty and the pop machines were both broken. I asked for a water instead and never received it. Not coming back.
(2)Robert S.
About as close, cuisine-wise to my old favorite, Ben Pao (R.I.P.). Nice place--roomy, casual enough for an easy dinner but classy enough to be a lunch date kind of place. It's a little more than just fast food, and the menu is confusing. Work through it, and you'll understand. Took me a couple times before I settled into a routine: Original chicken with Teriyaki sauce and steamed rice complemented with a 2-pork egg roll side. Skip the fountain drink, and the whole meal is around $13. They have noodle dishes as well. Tourists: this is NOT Panda Express. Keep walking.
(4)Jessie Elizabeth J.
First and last time coming here! Staff are inattentive and cold, but that can be excused. Well the table we sat at was broken and rickety, and the second one we moved to was STICKY! I ordered a variety of "sushi" and a chicken wrap. The "sushi" was hard, tasted stale and fishy and so loosely rolled it was falling apart on the plate. I've had edible sushi even from walgreens compared to this disturbance. As for the chicken wrap, the peanut sauce it came with was straight peanut butter, what a joke. My boyfriend ordered a chicken vegetable stirfry and was served chunks of deep fried, questionable chicken that was neither spicy nor flavorful but overtly salty. The first time I have ever been pushed to asking for my money back, we left after a few tortured bites. How is this place in business?
(1)Kristi M.
Was thrilled to have an Asian restaurant so close to work, but am sorry to report that I was disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Mango salad and it was not worth the money. There were 3 small pieces of chicken and the breading on them was heavy and hard. The worst part was there was very little salad in the container (less than half-filled)!!!! For over $6.00, I would at least expect there to be an adequate amount of lettuce in the container. Probably my fault for going to an Asian restaurant and ordering a salad, so I definitely won't do that again. I have had a noodle dish from their Elston location and it was definitely much better. I'm willing to give this place another try, but will order something with noodles or rice so that I'm still not hungry after spending $6.00.
(3)Minu L.
Hmm. We were excited to hear about a new Asian fast food place opening so close to work. I would say its average. I tried the mangolian chicken - it was OK. The chicken was little too sweet for my taste, and the scallions could have tasted better if they were fresh. It has white mushrooms on it and I like mushrooms. Their dishes come in two sizes- a market (small) size and a large size. Large size just has extra meat on it. The small portion was decent priced and good enough for lunch. It wasn't bad, but that's it. Wasn't great either. They also have fancy coke machine, something I haven't seen elsewhere yet. The store was super clean, servers and host were friendly and very nice. I liked the ambiance too. It was very nice given that its a fast food Asian place. Now they can really really improve on their taste and quality. I would have preferred to have fried rice with my meal, but they just offer white and brown rice. Rice was fresh. Given that its a new place with nice decor and decent priced menu, what lacks is taste. The food tastes just like any other Asian / Chinese fast food place. I have had better.
(2)Michael S.
Ordered the market size Hong Kong BBQ w/steak and was impressed w/the portion size. The sauce was good and my veggies were crisp and still had their own flavor, not drowned out by the sauce. The GF and I also had the pork egg rolls, which were awesome, the crab wontons, which were good, and the chicken lettuce wraps, also good. I'm not sure what the name of the sauce was w/the chicken wraps, but it was outstanding w/the pork egg rolls. We will be going back.
(4)Lisa N.
Love the portion sizes and reasonable prices, but HELLO sodium! The 2 dishes I tried (lemongrass noodle salad and lettuce wraps) were so salty I could almost feel the fluid moving out of my cells. Even the cucumber-basil salad had an overly salty flavor to it. When I looked up the nutritional data, the lemongrass salad had 1400 mg of sodium! Too much for this gal...
(2)Vanessa L.
I was really excited to hear about this opening by my job as i have eaten at the Elston location. I was really bummed to find out that this location is a market location therefore it doesn't have all the foods that a regular Pei Wei has. I ended up having a shrimp and rice meal. The shrimp was battered and fried and tasted gross. It had a slimy consistency and the rice was really dry and bland. I did love the coke machine but the meal just turned me off completely.
(2)Sarah S.
Awesome food. Good atmosphere. Amazing soda machine!!
(4)Crystal C.
I want so badly to like you Pei Wei! You are located right around the corner. The restaurant is very clean and open. You are right next to an Epic Burger so that I can head that way and then feel guilty about my calorie intake and choose you instead. But there is an issue that we can never get past, which is your ridiculously SMALL portion sizes! I assumed that restaurants did research on these kinds of things so that they would know customer expectations, but obviously they saved some money by skipping that step. Unfortunate, those savings are not passed on to me since Pei Wei is super expensive once you take into account the portions - like $$ instead of just $ expensive. We are talking almost $14 for a meal that I will eat every bite of in one sitting, which is pretty crazy to me. This place is most often compared to Panda Express (which is a fair comparison) but they have much better quality and each item is prepared to order. While I'm on that subject, you can pretty easily add and remove ingredients from dishes, but when I tried to have the beef in one is my dishes prepared well done they had no idea what I was talking about! I mean, really? They had to go get the chef from the back and I had to tell him what I wanted. When you try to order online there was no way to write specific notes about preparing the meal, you only check off what you wanted and didn't want. Who designs a website like that? There isn't even a way to say, "extra napkins please." I was so excited when Pei Wei came here and now I just sad...cause the food is delicious! Mongolia Beef - I will miss you. Maybe can still see each other on my birthday and when someone else is treating?
(2)Christina A.
I giving this place 2/5 because the Thai salad was awesome and only cost about $2. The lettuce rolls were also great. They tasted exactly like the dish they serve at PF Changs. I also ordered a spicy chicken dish (I believe it was one of their featured dishes). The chicken was deep fried and it was not advertised as fried. In addition. It was covered in a sweet (not spicy as advertised) sauce. I wouldn't go back. The Thai salad and lettuce wraps were great, but the entree was worse than the Chinese food you get at any mall food court. I love PF changs. Their lamb dishes and PF changs signature soup are always great. I hoped for more.
(2)Jonathan L.
Really happy that I found a Pei Wei in Chicago. It's obviously not authentic Chinese, but it's tasty. I usually order one of the Pei Wei classics, like Kung Pao, Pei Wei Spicy, or Japanese Teriyaki. They have two sizes: market and large. The market is plenty. I think the prices are reasonable, but others might think it's expensive. They do give free fortune cookies though.
(4)Jimmye A.
Understaffed and poorly managed. There was only one employee on the floor taking orders, packaging take-out, and serving food. It's been 42 minutes since I placed my take-out order, and I'm still waiting...
(1)Beth S.
I wondered if I visited this Pei Wei on an off day, but the reviews make me think otherwise. I came in here on a Saturday before seeing a movie; we wanted to come here because we thought a traditional sitdown restaurant would take too long. Well, as it turned out, this took much longer than expected as well. We came up and ordered, and it was clear they were very understaffed. In fact, the two stores are solely for the effort that the staff was obviously at least trying to put in. When I walked up, the woman at the counter had to take a phone call. I noticed that in the 45 minutes I was there, there were almost a dozen pick-up orders either called in or picked up, despite the handful of people in the restaurant. It seemed these orders were getting priority. A friend ordered ahead of my boyfriend and I, and it seemed that none of us received any food until AFTER the prior person had finished his/her food. I have had Pei Wei plenty of times before, and it was decent, but this was just ... bland. Absolutely nothing special. It seemed to me that not only were they understaffed.. a lot of people looked like they were training. Maybe this place is well-staffed during work-week lunch, but on a Saturday night? There were maybe five people working. Ridiculous. Pei Wei, step it up and hire some people in this location.
(2)Matthew D.
Seriously has gone down a very steep hill! While having my order taken by an inexperienced girl, a male coworker came over while I was In The middle of ordering and asked if he could take a cookie for free.... She let him too! Ordered Mongolian beef, spring rolls, and a soda. $17. Restaurant was empty except for all employees sitting at a table hanging out. Sat down at a table which was sticky. Changed table 4 times before I gave up and just took a great deal of napkins! Went and got a soda. Almost every soda that I wanted on machine was unavailable! So I settled... There was a medium size liquid/water spill by machine. Instead of wiping up, they just put a yellow no slip sign up. Received my food, order was correct however received Mongolian beef, 2 minutes later the egg rolls, two minutes later the extra sauce on side I requested. Seriously?! Mongolian sauce was thick and gelatinous on side and on meat. There was no crispness to beef like before. White rice tasted left over. I turned me off the whole meal as I realized how horrible this place has turned. I used to love this place and always recommended it. Now I will do the opposite and never return too... This 100% are the leaders of this organization's fault. All team members are only as good as their direct report. Shame!
(1)Kevin Y.
Lukewarm food served with a piping hot side of attitude from a hip, young staff. Never again.
(2)Robert S.
About as close, cuisine-wise to my old favorite, Ben Pao (R.I.P.). Nice place--roomy, casual enough for an easy dinner but classy enough to be a lunch date kind of place. It's a little more than just fast food, and the menu is confusing. Work through it, and you'll understand. Took me a couple times before I settled into a routine: Original chicken with Teriyaki sauce and steamed rice complemented with a 2-pork egg roll side. Skip the fountain drink, and the whole meal is around $13. They have noodle dishes as well. Tourists: this is NOT Panda Express. Keep walking.
(4)Kari H.
It was my first time here after getting a $10 gift card. This place is rather hidden on Ontario St as people don't seem to eat at the restaurants along this less-traveled street. The place is big with plenty of tables but there were only a few tables there on a 7pm weeknight. We were greeted by a friendly employee upon walking in. We took a few minutes to decide what to order. They were out of the sushi rolls with tuna in them. Bummer. We ordered Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Original and Thai Dynamite Steak Original with a fountain drink. The Pei Wei Spicy Chicken was super sour and sweet. t wasn't that spicy despite the abundance of bright red pepper flakes. We inhaled the steam from the food and coughed from the vinegar smell in the dish. The snap peas were super fresh and crunchy. The circle-cut orange slices might look boring but added a firm sweetness to the dish. It was served with plenty of white rice. The chicken was breaded and deep-fried so it added a nice crunch to the dish. There seemed to be plenty of chicken, too. Yay! The Thai Dynamite (Steak) was a favorite of the employee taking our order. I thought it was okay - I would try another dish next time. The steak was lightly breaded and deep fried and there was a small amount of thick sauce. The beef pieces were crunchy and settled atop a bed of sliced green onions and red peppers. The dish seemed to have a lot of salty seasoning and the green onion and red pepper didn't suffice to minimize the saltiness. The brown rice I ordered with the dish, however, helped balance out the saltiness but it was a bit dry. Luckily, I had a fountain drink. The fountain drink served to quench my thirst. One of the machines was almost completely out of order. Perhaps only 2-3 soda brands were available. The working machine, located closer to the kitchen and on the left side of the back counter, gave the drink a weird, almost algae-like taste to the drinks. I tried different drinks (orange coke, sprite, ginger ale, sprite with peach) and they all had this weird taste to it. I wonder if it was the pipe on the machine that had algae on it or the water pipe servicing the machine that had algae in it or the water source servicing the machine that had algae in it. I'm not sure what it was but the soda tasted off. The service here is excellent. The team members seem to get along well with each other and the server who brought food to our table told us what the dishes were as they brought them out to us. Service was quick and the employee who took our order asked us if we had any questions when we were ordering, which was nice of her. The ambiance is very nice. The lighting is great as it's very well-lit and bright. The dark tables go well with the brick walls and the restrooms are quite clean. I'd like to come back again to try out their other dishes such as the Pad Thai next time. I'll give the fountain drinks another try, too. Maybe I'll try the smaller-sized dishes (4oz vs 8oz of meat) since 8oz is a bit too much for me.
(3)Vanessa R.
Can't decide what eat for lunch today: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese? Don't worry, you can now get it all under one roof at Pei Wei. This is a great addition to the Streeterville area and offers a nice lunch option in an area overcome with sandwich and burger places. Tons of seating options to seat your lonesome self or a large group if dining in and fast service if you are taking your meal to go. I opted for some basic chicken fried rice and it was very good - not super salty like some rice dishes can be and a good amount of lean chicken. Oh, and they have fortune cookies for free! (I love me some fortune cookies). You can order a small or large portion which is great, especially since I almost always tend to have food leftover and then it goes to waste. Lots of options from noodles, rice dishes, signature dishes and even some salads. Several gluten-free options available too. Also, their website has very comprehensive nutrition information so you can make an informed choice before placing your food order. Overall, fast service and plenty of menu choices. Great addition to the area!
(3)Andrew B.
The food is good but they could do a lot more to keep the line moving during the lunch rush. The slow guy on the register just can't keep up.
(3)Eric W.
Ordered mongolian beef and fried rice. got brown rice and some sort of strange beef jerky stips (see pic). I've compared it to the other times i've gotten mongolian beef as well as pei wei's own pictures and I can say with 100% certainty what I got was not mongolian beef. Vegetables had no flavor tasted just as bad as the beef jerky. couldn't bring myself to eat more than two bites of the meal. worst meal I've eaten in the past 2 years by far.
(1)Cary W.
A nice place for a quick bite in Chicago. Love Pei Wei! the service is friendly and fast!
(5)Crystal C.
I want so badly to like you Pei Wei! You are located right around the corner. The restaurant is very clean and open. You are right next to an Epic Burger so that I can head that way and then feel guilty about my calorie intake and choose you instead. But there is an issue that we can never get past, which is your ridiculously SMALL portion sizes! I assumed that restaurants did research on these kinds of things so that they would know customer expectations, but obviously they saved some money by skipping that step. Unfortunate, those savings are not passed on to me since Pei Wei is super expensive once you take into account the portions - like $$ instead of just $ expensive. We are talking almost $14 for a meal that I will eat every bite of in one sitting, which is pretty crazy to me. This place is most often compared to Panda Express (which is a fair comparison) but they have much better quality and each item is prepared to order. While I'm on that subject, you can pretty easily add and remove ingredients from dishes, but when I tried to have the beef in one is my dishes prepared well done they had no idea what I was talking about! I mean, really? They had to go get the chef from the back and I had to tell him what I wanted. When you try to order online there was no way to write specific notes about preparing the meal, you only check off what you wanted and didn't want. Who designs a website like that? There isn't even a way to say, "extra napkins please." I was so excited when Pei Wei came here and now I just sad...cause the food is delicious! Mongolia Beef - I will miss you. Maybe can still see each other on my birthday and when someone else is treating?
(2)Christina A.
I giving this place 2/5 because the Thai salad was awesome and only cost about $2. The lettuce rolls were also great. They tasted exactly like the dish they serve at PF Changs. I also ordered a spicy chicken dish (I believe it was one of their featured dishes). The chicken was deep fried and it was not advertised as fried. In addition. It was covered in a sweet (not spicy as advertised) sauce. I wouldn't go back. The Thai salad and lettuce wraps were great, but the entree was worse than the Chinese food you get at any mall food court. I love PF changs. Their lamb dishes and PF changs signature soup are always great. I hoped for more.
(2)Jonathan L.
Really happy that I found a Pei Wei in Chicago. It's obviously not authentic Chinese, but it's tasty. I usually order one of the Pei Wei classics, like Kung Pao, Pei Wei Spicy, or Japanese Teriyaki. They have two sizes: market and large. The market is plenty. I think the prices are reasonable, but others might think it's expensive. They do give free fortune cookies though.
(4)Vanessa L.
I was really excited to hear about this opening by my job as i have eaten at the Elston location. I was really bummed to find out that this location is a market location therefore it doesn't have all the foods that a regular Pei Wei has. I ended up having a shrimp and rice meal. The shrimp was battered and fried and tasted gross. It had a slimy consistency and the rice was really dry and bland. I did love the coke machine but the meal just turned me off completely.
(2)Sarah S.
Awesome food. Good atmosphere. Amazing soda machine!!
(4)Robert W.
I used to come here quite a bit, but looks like things have gone downhill. Mongolian beef was very salty and the pop machines were both broken. I asked for a water instead and never received it. Not coming back.
(2)Judson J.
Sushi was great got the kung pao sushi and California roll. Pad Thai wasn't that great but the staff was very friendly. Tips of my rangoons were burnt but filling was full of crab and the sauce accompanying was amazing.
(4)Angela R.
I went here for the take out, found that the food didn't travel as well as I hoped. Just wishing now that I had stopped next door at Potbellies or Epic Burger. Would have then at least been full after eating junk food.
(2)Matt m.
While the lettuce wraps with traditional chicken are tasty, keep in mind they can be quite messy. (Better eaten while alone)
(3)Hillary M.
I'll be honest - I feel like I have gone through a love-hate relationship with Pei Wei. When the place opened about a year ago near my place, I was SUPER excited to have a nearby cheaper quick Chinese option, because I love me some Chinese food. But...the first couple times I tried it, the food was just not enjoyable. It wasn't the normal Chinese flavors you expect, the brown rice accompaniment was dry and awful and it was never satisfying. But I must be crazy because I tried it again to try and convince myself that it was good, and one day it all changed - IT WAS GOOD! They changed their recipes or something and it became addicting and delicious. Our regular dishes are the Caramel chicken with extra sauce, add spinach. And the Mongolian steak. I'm also a sucker for the Thai wonton soup, it's not the best soup ever but it's just something I like with my PeiWei.
(4)Chris A.
Meat tasted like it was cooked in last weeks oil, vegetables were soggy and rice was over cooked. For the price, go to the PF Changs down the street
(1)Scott G.
Got pad Thai veggie and tofu. Too much sauce which had an overly acidic taste. Tried the different meals my coworkers got and each different sauce had that same taste. The vegetables seemed frozen and thawed. Tofu was limp and unappealing when it could've been crisped up in the wok.
(1)marc c.
Very disappointed - food had a funny old oil taste. There must be a reason at noon the place is empty. Only good part of the meal was the brown rice. Usually love PF changs but this is nothing like their food.
(1)Matthew V.
Long wait times, missing online orders, and frequently incorrect orders - suggest you skip this Pei Wei!
(1)Jessica W.
For $6.99 at Pei Wei I get a huge portion size of their thai lime & chile chicken salad that I find absolutely delicious. Sometimes I substitute shrimp for the chicken and if I ask for the meat steamed, rather than friend, or without sauce, they are extremely accommodating. I love being able to have delicious, healthy options at an asian diner. Also, they offer discounts if you have a Northwestern Wildcard!
(4)Nelson M.
Restaurant update I visited again with a recent BOGO offer from Pei Wei website and decided to try the market size portion of seared crispy shrimp which was 6.95. The food once again was fresh, but the size of the dish was ridiculously small. Even my wife who is never a big eater was staring at me and said "why is there only 6 shrimps in my meal". This is overpriced and I think I will go to Panda Express instead next time.
(2)Mansi K.
Good place to grab a quick bite if you are mood for something asian. Food quality is amazing.. Portion size great, ambience is very standard but I would expect it to be any different for this price point. I would go there again!!
(4)Jen K.
I've gone to a Pei Wei before and needed a quick, healthy bite. There was a long line during lunch. It went by quickly and I ordered a bowl and edamame. It was pretty healthy and under $10 so I was happy with my choice. It took a very long time to get the food out and some of the edamame was brown when I opened up the box. Don't know if I'll go back, not really worth it to me, when there are so many other options around.
(3)J B.
I had the Mongolian Beef with fried rice. The food was pretty good and the service was okay, but the pricing is a bit high. Add that with a drink and I walked out spending over $20. For that price, I will clearly go to Chinatown and get some food that is much better. I am not sating I would never eat here again, but I won't miss it if I don't.
(3)Kristen P.
This place teeters between 2 and 3 stars. I live around the corner, so this is a convenient option for me. Most of the food doesn't have much flavor (even the spicy stuff), and some it (ahem, sushi rolls) is clearly made well in advance and left to try out in the fridge. The staff here is horrible. Of all the times I've been here, I think one person has greeted me with a smile and an authentic energetic hello. Everyone else's behavior ranges from completely apathetic to downright rude. They often mess up carry out orders (like today, no lettuce with my chicken lettuce wraps?!) - so check the contents before walking out the door. It could be better, both the food and service, and I am hoping it will improve...
(2)Joanne S.
If there were a 1/2 star I would give that. Sushi, made hours ago... stale. I won't ever go back
(1)Erica P.
Always short staffed with less than enthusiastic employees. They always take way too long and the food comes up short, either too dry or too greasy. The place needs a good cleaning and tables are left with trash on them for way too long before they are cleared and crumbs are scooped from the floor. No ambiance whatsoever. Given them more than one chance, they always disappoint. It's so obvi this place is a franchise, skip out and try a local Chinese place instead, I'm sure the attention to detail and customer service will surpass this place that looks like it's hanging by a thread.
(1)Rick T.
Slapdash Asian. In the same way that Chipotle is slapdash Mexican. Except the Chipotle people don't get all ghetto when they's cleaning up the tables, yo.
(3)DJ F.
I actually like Pei Wei for a quick meal, but this location is consistently bad. The food is bland, literally no flavor whatsoever. A simple veggie and brown rice meal came out swimming in Spicy Pei Wei sauce. A soggy, flavorless, over-priced mess. And the spinach I paid an extra buck for? 3 wilted leaves! The location in Logan Square is good, I've stopped in there on occasion while shopping. But I've given this location several tries and, despite being literally next door to my office, I will not be coming back.
(1)Nancy H.
Pei Wei has the best lettuce wraps! The ginger dish is fabulous. I have never been disappointed. Their food is always fresh and it's cooked to order. Please come back to the Inland Empire!
(5)Greg G.
I came here for the first time last week and I was pretty excited to eat here and check it out. The restaurant has a nice set up, it's clean, lots of tables, big open kitchen so you can see them cooking your food. They have not one, but TWO Coke Freestyle soda machines (the machines with like 100 different flavors) so that's cool. Okay let's get to the food part.. I ordered the Pei Wei Spicy with steak. I like my food to have a little bit of kick. This had ZERO kick, it was not spicy at all! The steak pieces were also awkwardly big. They were too big for bite size, so I had to cut everything, but it was really difficult trying to cut through this awful meat. I almost broke a plastic knife cutting this steak, it was awful. The whole dish was kind of bland.. It seemed like it was frozen steak bits from Dominiks covered in glaze that was not spicy at all then piled onto rice and mixed in with a few vegies, it wasn't good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I'll have to try one of their stirfry dishes IF I go back.. Also it was expensive.. I think I paid like $11 for my meal and drink. No thanks.
(2)Karen C.
I am SO happy to have another new lunch option around my office that isn't a sandwich, a sandwich or a sandwich. Like everyone else said, this is a spinoff of P.F. Chang's... it's a small "market" location so they don't have a full Pei Wei menu, but that's just fine with me. I've been going with the teriyaki chicken & a side of edamame... plus they have that awesome coke machine where you pick your own flavors. The entree dishes come in 2 sizes, and for the price, you can't beat it. $8 for a fresh-cooked and delicious lunch beats a $5 Subway footlong in my book any day. Outdoor seating in the summer, plenty of indoor seating, and a help-yourself fortune cookie basket. I love this place.
(4)Kat T.
This location had a taste testing event last Friday, prior to their official opening date. I tried the Mango Salad, which was really good. Today I tried their Chicken Lettuce Wraps, also very good. For those concerned about sodium intake, the food here might have a very high content of it. It's a busy location during lunch and the kitchen staff are in a frenzy preparing dishes cutting down the wait time significantly. The prices are reasonable and the selection diverse. Seating area can be quite limited during the lunch rush hour. They have two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and also serve mango iced tea. Overall, the food is very flavorful and pricing reflective of the area.
(4)Vina O.
Very clean and spacious. The food isn't bad at all for Americanized Chinese food. Even though everything is under $10, portions are pretty small, even the "large" size. Their crab wontons are pretty amazing! Definitely a good place to bring small kids or babies as well. :)
(3)Fabiola I.
Food is pretty bland, we got three different dishes and it all tasted the same. Portions are tiny! We ordered large and it looked like a small. Not worth the trip back.
(2)A H.
Pei Wei is a run-off-the-mill diner serving their watered-down version of Asian food. I won't say it's bad, but it's not tasty. Fast service though. Great for take outs. Their "fusion" of Asian cuisines is a bit odd. We got spicy stir fried Chinese noodle that, literally, tasted like bits and pieces of different parts of Asia. But we were hungry!
(3)Cindy F.
I honestly wanted to like this place but it was not very good. One star for the service, they are friendly. The first time I came here I ordered the Dan Dan noodles. It was basically spaghetti noodles with chicken. The flavor was very mediocre but essentially they just dump the sauce on top (pre-made) and you have to mix it up in the small container that your noodles are in. I decided to give them one more try so I ordered the pad thai with tofu and vegetables spicy (5 on a scale of 1-5 in spiciness). 1) There were no vegetables. 2) The tofu was sliced so thin that it disintegrated into tiny pieces in the pad thai 3) They just dumped a whole load of sriracha sauce which didn't make the pad thai extra spicy, just extra sriracha-ey. It had more of a vinegar like taste to it. 4) Pad thai shouldn't have a gravy texture to it, which it did, and the noodles they used were really stringy and rubbery. I personally would not recommend this place.
(1)Ken L.
I didn't know Lean Cuisine opened a restaurant. I LOVE it! I usually eat Lean Cuisine in the winter. So now, when I am out and about in the summer, I can just drop in this place, spend like 3x what I spent for those frozen isle containers, to get a freshly made unfrozen isle container! The dinning in experience is really the best, cause the food really look like a damn Lean Cuisine. Same sized plastic container, portion is about the same as well, if not smaller. Comes with all the plastic utensils, plastic trays, and plastic cups you need. Don't ever go to Panda Express ever again. Cause they would really fill you up. As everybody knows... "wow, that Lean Cuisine really filled me up," said no one, ever. I need to put in a note in the suggestion box and tell them to install a TV. Cause I usually enjoy my Lean Cuisine while watching TV at home.
(1)Melli Y.
Yuck. Panda express is better than these wannabes. Overpriced, bland, and small. Also got the order wrong and brought out the wrong meal. While i was eating my plate almost finished my dad was waiting for so long! Plus I'm a super slow eater. It wasn't even the long wait for his plate. Wouldn't go back.
(1)Barbara B.
This place hits all of the wrong notes. It's trying to be upscale, but then serves everything in plastic containers reminiscent of tv dinner trays. The prices are about the same price as some of the local thai places that include sit down service and real plates. Food: I tried the chicken lettuce wraps once as a main course. VERY filling, and actually pretty tasty but covered in oil. I also tried the Chicken Lo Mein a different time for lunch which was very disappointing. It was basically a tray full of noodles with barely any chicken or vegetables in it. The sauce was also greasy and too sweet. Their menu also doesn't explain which dishes have deep fried meat and which are not. I would honestly be happier at a Panda Express.
(1)Samantha E.
I didn't know there could be such variety in a chain restaurant. All the other Pei Weis I have ever visited had the whole selection of oil, vinegar, chile paste, and mustard to make my own PF Changs sauce mix. All they had here was Sriracha and soy sauce. The portions were small and even though we ate in restaurant, we were still given to go containers. The food was all the same and still delicious but I am used to getting big portions.
(3)Deirdre L.
Meh is right. Can't substitute meats in the salads. Its chicken or nothing - not even tofu. Spring roll is like 1 mini egg roll with sweet and sour sauce for 5 people. Pei Wei Spicy thing with tofu is just ok . Quick and clean but probably won't be back.
(2)Jamie B.
It's great to have a good Chinese restaurant in a neighborhood that's lacking in the Chinese food arena. Cheap, quick, serves beer and wine if you're in the mood, and food is pretty tasty-- this is a spinoff of PF Chang's,
(3)John G.
Tried take out on two occasions....veggie spring rolls were very well done and a solid choice. The wonton soup was acceptable/average. The spicy chicken salad was tasty, and packaged properly for take out (hot fried chicken in on carton, salad in its own larger container, and the dressing in a third container). The noodles were poor.....over cooked and more like spaghetti than lo mein.
(3)Brittany S.
My mom and I are the biggest Pei Wei fans ever, we used to have these in Northern California but they have since then all closed. My mom and I went here for dinner around 7pm on a friday night. There was a very short line to wait through and we only waited about 5 minutes for our food. I had my favorite, mongolian steak, soooooo good! I love the sauce, they give you lots of it so it's great for spreading on your rice as well. There were lots of empty places to sit, the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly. We had a great experience, I wish we had Pei Wei out here!
(4)Mike X.
Portions are way to small. You will leave this place hungry. Food was just ok.
(2)Aaron P.
We went here with a BOGO coupon and had a pleasant dinner. It was basically empty on a Monday evening around 5:30 PM, with just a slow stream of people coming in one by one for takeout. The food was hot and flavorful. I had the new Black Pepper entree, which was good, but I will get something else next time. My wife had the Caramel entree, which seemed to lack any refined flavor. This location does not have all of the menu offerings of a traditional Pei Wei, but is a great place to pop into for a quick dinner or lunch. The staff was pleasant and the restaurant was reasonably clean. For beverage drinkers, they have two of those mix-your-own flavor Coke machines.
(4)Odranre B.
today, i had to give it another chance and the result was still the same - low to mediocre food, panda express taste better. the inside decor was nice and clean though. but the food was not good. i went there on a friday at 12noon and there were less than 10 people eating.
(1)Gia S.
Went for lunch yesterday as I had heard good things. On the online menu nutrition, it said there are 2 ways to cook (one with lower calories). When I got there, the option was not on the menu and the staff was unsure of it. I got the Pei Wei Shrimp, very good with brown rice. My friend got egg rolls that literally needed to be blotted with around 4 napkins. We held upright and grease just dripped out in a steady stream. TERRIBLE! Cute place though and awesome soda machines.
(3)Sally L.
Expensive for what you get. Not very good taste. There is never enough sauce on your meal and the chicken was undercooked. Wont be dining here again.
(1)Lauren B.
The food is fine... but the girl (Brittany) that lets you know that your food is ready is one of the rudest people. Be ready to be spoken to like you are an idiot and beneath her.
(2)Jai R.
Serving Asian food, this tastes like Panda Express, but they have their own gimmicks. Outside of the food orders, this place is essentially a self serve. The East Ontario location is clean which is a plus. Servings are rather small which is a minus. On the balance, it's an okay place for fast food.
(3)Kristi M.
Was thrilled to have an Asian restaurant so close to work, but am sorry to report that I was disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Mango salad and it was not worth the money. There were 3 small pieces of chicken and the breading on them was heavy and hard. The worst part was there was very little salad in the container (less than half-filled)!!!! For over $6.00, I would at least expect there to be an adequate amount of lettuce in the container. Probably my fault for going to an Asian restaurant and ordering a salad, so I definitely won't do that again. I have had a noodle dish from their Elston location and it was definitely much better. I'm willing to give this place another try, but will order something with noodles or rice so that I'm still not hungry after spending $6.00.
(3)Minu L.
Hmm. We were excited to hear about a new Asian fast food place opening so close to work. I would say its average. I tried the mangolian chicken - it was OK. The chicken was little too sweet for my taste, and the scallions could have tasted better if they were fresh. It has white mushrooms on it and I like mushrooms. Their dishes come in two sizes- a market (small) size and a large size. Large size just has extra meat on it. The small portion was decent priced and good enough for lunch. It wasn't bad, but that's it. Wasn't great either. They also have fancy coke machine, something I haven't seen elsewhere yet. The store was super clean, servers and host were friendly and very nice. I liked the ambiance too. It was very nice given that its a fast food Asian place. Now they can really really improve on their taste and quality. I would have preferred to have fried rice with my meal, but they just offer white and brown rice. Rice was fresh. Given that its a new place with nice decor and decent priced menu, what lacks is taste. The food tastes just like any other Asian / Chinese fast food place. I have had better.
(2)Michael S.
Ordered the market size Hong Kong BBQ w/steak and was impressed w/the portion size. The sauce was good and my veggies were crisp and still had their own flavor, not drowned out by the sauce. The GF and I also had the pork egg rolls, which were awesome, the crab wontons, which were good, and the chicken lettuce wraps, also good. I'm not sure what the name of the sauce was w/the chicken wraps, but it was outstanding w/the pork egg rolls. We will be going back.
(4)Lisa N.
Love the portion sizes and reasonable prices, but HELLO sodium! The 2 dishes I tried (lemongrass noodle salad and lettuce wraps) were so salty I could almost feel the fluid moving out of my cells. Even the cucumber-basil salad had an overly salty flavor to it. When I looked up the nutritional data, the lemongrass salad had 1400 mg of sodium! Too much for this gal...
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