Pot Pan Thai
1362 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL, 60622
Pot Pan Thai Menu
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Address :
1362 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL, 60622 - Phone (773) 862-6990
- Website https://www.potpanthai.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 10
- Mon : 11:00 am - 10
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : Yes
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Quiet
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
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Ariel L.
The table covering was filthy. There was old food all over the mat. And when i pointed it out to the waiter, he didn't seem to care. Blech!!! Makes me wonder what the kitchen looks like. Food was really average. Its cheap, but that isn't enough reason to go back. With all the good options in the neighborhood, this place won't get a repeat visit from me.
(1)Katie W.
Pad Thai was too spicy (I ordered Medium). I'm not one to steer away from spice, but I don't like when food is so spicy I can't taste anything else. Delivery took about an hour... Which is pretty normal for a Friday night. My friend found a hair in her food. Enough said. Overall a disappointment so I won't be ordering again.
(2)Shane G.
Don't order the fried rice. It's vile.
(1)Gina S.
Woof. Worst curry I ever had. Soupy-thin and molasses-sweet. Just no.
(1)Jeff P.
This place has gone downhill big time. Hadn't eaten here in years and ordered some delivery. My soup AND noodle dish both had a hair in it, and the size was ridiculous. Crab rangoon was OK but it's hard to fuck up crab rangoon. Plenty of better places to order from. BUTTERFLY. THAI LAGOON.
(1)Jonathan C.
I have lived in Wicker Park for about 8 years now and have tried nearly every Thai place within walking distance. There are some pretty OK places but none as good as my old favorite Thai Classic in Lakeview. I do not consider myself a creature of habit but I found myself heading over to Lakeview when I needed a Thai fix...well, I think Pot Pan fits the Thai delivery and dine in role nicely. I have ordered delivery here a half a dozen times and each time the food has been 1. Hot 2. Consistently well prepared 3. Totally priced right. I took my family for dinner in here recently and you can tell there is a great deal of pride in this place. It is clean and the service was very pleasant. Take a bottle of wine and or some brews and you are set. The green curry with the brown rice is fantastic. The rice is the nuttiest brown rice I have ever had. The Pad Thai is excellent and the Thai spring rolls are tasty too. They are not innovative here but they do the basics very well and there is allot to be said for consistency. Check it out when you the taste for Thai overcomes you.
(4)Amy S.
This place is a mediocre thai restaurant. I ordered the pad khee mao and egg rolls. Egg rolls were not fresh at all and tasted old. The pad khee mao was good, but the chicken tasted sort of funky. All in all, I would not order from here again. Also - when I got delivery the guy called me and asked me to come down because he didn't want to park his car. What??? I paid extra for delivery because i was in PJs and didn't want to go out side in the rain. I mean cmon now!
(1)Melanie V.
I absolutely LOVE the decor in Pot Pan. And, the plates were totally plates that I wanted to buy for myself! I see this being a great place to have a first date. The crab rangoon + basil fried rice were great! I'd definitely come back here again! Sidenote: There's a tv in the restaurant...and...my friends and I became engrossed with the end of Wheel of Fortune. As did the staff. We were all intently staring at the screen, attempting to guess the phrase. Ha, good times. ;)
(4)beth w.
This place is down the street for me, so it has become a staple. I have tried a lot of their different meals, and they are all pretty good. I always get the tom khar soup. Their curries, pad thai, and other noodle dishes are nice. I have picked up from there and they are always on time with friendly service.
(4)Matt L.
This is one of my favorite Thai restaurants. You never have to wait for a table, the food is reasonably priced and it's BYOB!! Some of the best pad thai and panang curry around. Definitely worth your time.
(5)Meagan L.
I love this place. It's close, cheap and delicious. Food is not too greasy yet still full of flavor. I've had their pad thai, pad see ew and the pad woonsen. I highly recommend all of them. The boyfriend has tried the panaag curry which is also super yum. Their appetizers are great as well. Egg rolls and grab rangoon that aren't loaded in grease and pot stickers that are steamed to perfection. Super plus for being BYOB too. The decor is also pretty classy for the food prices. Makes for a great cheap date spot.
(5)Andrew W.
The best part about Pot Pan is their location: close enough to the heart of Wicker Park, and like a five minute walk from my apartment. The decor of their apartment comes in second, but it was empty when I walked in so I decided to order my food to go. Their food, though, is pretty average. I ordered a basil fried rice with beef and shrimp dumplings. The shrimp dumplings were TINY (about the size of a quarter), but the basil fried rice was definitely interesting, but not as much as I had expected. It's like one of those things you order at a restaurant and think, "Wow, this is a great idea! But I can make it better at home." And I can. Seriously. Come over. Bring alcohol. I'm so lonely.
(3)Adrian D.
Food was great! Wait staff equally amazing. I will be back for more awesome good and cozy meals with company or alone. Yay!
(4)Tracy O.
Bleh.
(2)Mat B.
Decent.
(3)A H.
If you're looking for good Thai food, don't come here. First off, the service is very poor and will keep you waiting at every point in your meal. Very slow to order (about 10 minutes before someone came over to our table), forgot our drinks, and had to flag down for boxes and the check. The food doesn't make up for the service. Everything is much too sweet, from the spring rolls to the curry. The sweetness of all three of our dishes overpowered all other flavors. As for spice and heat, neither of our dishes had any "kick" to them and lacked any depth in flavor. What a disappointing meal!
(2)Lupe G.
I USED TO LOVE THIS PLACE WHEN I WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT! These days, it's still pretty good though I think portions have gotten much smaller. I hate to say that I've had better pad thai elsewhere but their peanut sauce is still the best! Nice little family-owned restaurant
(3)Dhara S.
I absolutely love Pot Pan. The food is amazing and it is BYOB. Went there for dinner with 2 gf's - We were there for over 3 hours. Their panang curry is awesome, and so is the Chicken Satay.
(5)Bridget M.
I debated on this rating - weaving in and out of that 3 to 4 star dilemma. The ambiance is welcoming, but a little on the quiet side. The staff was very accommodating and allowed for our party to expand as needed. The tv above the door is a little awkward, but they were playing Law and Order: SVU (one of my faves) so it was actually a perk. The presentation of each dish - entree or appetizer alike - was very pleasing and helped to set higher expectations. I wouldn't rave about the food, but I enjoyed my meal. I ordered the Panang Curry which has become a trend with me and Thai. It was spicy and flavorful with a good ratio of sauce and meaty goodness. Definitely had the impression that our dishes were fresh and not sitting in the back waiting to find a home. The service, the accessibility, and the BYOB qualities put this place over that edge into 4 star land. I'd go back.
(4)frank p.
Ive been going here since they were on North ave. Tom Kai soup...nuff said.
(4)Ica F.
Definitely a solid Thai place. A little off the beaten path on Milwaukee tucked in between old school furnitute shops and shoe stores. The decor is nice and welcoming and so is the staff. The pad see ew is delicious with big noodles and plenty of brocolli. My husband had the Bamee Deluxe which had a tangy tomato-ey sauce. It was supposed to be spicy but it's not really. Still yummy with plenty of vegetables. It's moderately priced. We usually get an appetizer, two entrees and a thai iced tea or two and pay about $20-$25. A good neighborhood place.
(4)Liz J.
Pot Pan used to be my go-to Thai delivery when I lived in Ukrainian Village. I moved out of their delivery area sometime around the time that they moved to their new location on Milwaukee. When we found ourselves in Wicker Park wanting Thai, I suggested stopping in. The place was bustling but not packed on a Saturday night. We asked if we could sit at a booth but were told no, they were reserved; I looked and they did indeed have little "reserved" signs on them. At least one stayed empty the entire time we were there, though, and the other two went to parties who arrived without reservations (we wound up seated right by the door, so I could hear what people said when they came in). This irked me just a little. I ordered pad thai, which was always my Pot Pan standby. It tasted nothing like I remembered it. presentation was classy, but the whole ish tasted kind of ketchupy. I doused it in chili sauce and it was palatable. My companion said her tom yum soup was good and her curry dish was alright. The tempura appetizer we had was also pretty good. I don't plan on going back, though.
(2)Sarah W.
Cute place and a place I'll be back to I'm sure for its convenience to where I'll be living in a month! I'm always down for cheap and quick, yet homemade and fresh good eats, and this appears to be a place that can satisfy those needs. Lots of vegetarian options, and I had the vegetarian soup, which hit the spot. Ordered an eggroll and it came out with two split in half arranged nicely on sweet and sour sauce. Can't go wrong with eggrolls, and they were delicious. A note to those low on $$ but wanting to find a cute place to treat their special lady or gentleman: atmosphere was date-worthy, and you won't be droppin a hundo. Full length windows open on nice days add an extra nice touch. And there's an Oberweiss ice cream place across the street for dessert, to top off your night.. :-)
(4)Justin V.
"Hello. Welcome to Pot Pan. You are very attractive." "Thank you. I enjoy the way you look as well." "Would you like to touch me under my apron?" "I would indeed, but I have to confess I'm famished. Would it be possible to get an amazingly well-prepared and delicious meal for under ten dollars before I blow your totally Asian mind?" "That depends. Do you enjoy perfect portions and sauces of an almost exquisite consistency?" "I will admit, I do enjoy finishing my meal without feeling overstuffed and I've always been a fan of proper sauce consistency. Kiss me again before answering." "Oh, you lovely man. You taste like ginger and bourbon. I am becoming warm under my clothes. We have many fine dishes that fit your description, made with fresh ingredients and served with a fine eye toward presentation." "Then bring me one, darling. Any one will do. After I'm done you can bring me your little fortune cookie and we'll see about rocking that world of yours." "You are so funny all the times! Hurry up with eating so I may have you inside me." Admittedly, this is a stylized interaction with the waitress. A proper retelling of how I fought off six highly trained assassins while she did an intricate fan dance would not only take too long, I feel quite a bit of the complex action and sexual tension would get lost in text. Still, I think the general concept is conveyed well enough. Pot Pan is delicious. Like the Pot Pan waitress. Hands off, she's mine.
(4)Marla H.
Two words: CRAB RANGOON!! You have to order the crab rangoon appetizer. Its the best crab rangoon I've EVER had, and I'm kind of an expert, haha. Dip it in the sweet & sour. The pad thai w/ shrimp was excellent too! And such a large portion. (The "with shrimp" is not on the menu, but if you ask for it with shrimp, they'll do it, no problem) Plus, its BYOB! They seem to do this everywhere in Chicago. A great place for alcoholics in the making ;-)
(5)Kelly U.
I went to Pot Pan after trying to find a good Thai place near my apartment. It turned out to be a good decision. I've never had a bad meal in the times I've been there. The portions are perfect. The veggie wontons are my favorite! It's great that it's BYOB, too. The prices are very reasonable. I couldn't give Pot Pan five stars for a couple reasons. I'm never wowed by the service. I can't figure out the parsley garnish (parsley? really?). The spicy could definitely be spicier. But I'm the kind of person for whom few things are too spicy.
(4)Carri A.
I read some good reviews on here so my visiting Texan friend and I came here a couple days ago looking to tear into some Asian food. And did! We both really liked our food. She ordered the vegetable soup (had really nice large chunks of veggies, great color to it) and the tofu salad, which had nice presentation. I ordered the pad see eiw with tofu and was very happy with the portion, flavor and texture of the noodles. The tofu was delicious and the total bill was under $20 - score!
(4)kevin b.
been here a bunch of times and have eaten a bunch of things and have no complaints! crab rangoons are also some of the best i've had in the city! cheap, awesome food, byob, friendly service, nice place, trippy new world chillout music. what more could you ask for? also - stopped by today and they will soon be having outdoor seating for summer :D
(5)Brooke T.
If Panang would deliver to my house, I wouldn't even need to be writing this review! I've had Pot Pan multiple times while living in this neighborhood - because it's the least restrictive means of getting my Thai food fix. But if I had better options - I don't know that I'd eat here again. I'll do a rundown by dish I've sampled: Pad Thai: it's *alright* if I'm ravenous. It mostly tastes...too sweet, almost ketchup-y. I do love the addition of the red cabbage, but since it's all covered in the ketchup-y sauce...eck! Panang Curry: my favorite Thai dish, period. Pot Pan's is very tasty, and spicier than others I've had (which I like). I can actually find the hot peppers in the sauce, and I appreciate that. The takeout/delivery portion always seems a little small (especially in comparison to the large takeout portions of other dishes, like the Pad Thai)...but that's probably for the best. Curry Fried Rice: it's really tasty (though not so great the next day), and I like the vegetables throughout (tomatoes in fried rice!? alright!). Unfortunately every time I eat it, I seem to get an upset stomach the next day. Not like sick, just uncomfortable. I have no idea if it's the curry or what, but I'm sure it's this dish. I'll have to leave myself a little post-it about not ordering it anymore unless I want to feel surly all the next day. Thai tea: passable - but I've had far better. The service is really friendly - and the delivery is like, lightning fast. The prices are also pretty reasonable comparatively. I just don't think the food is so amazing that it could stand out if there were better options in the neighborhood. Lucky for Pot Pan, they've sorta cornered the market. For now.
(2)Shana M.
With the glut of Thai in this city, it's hard to know which to choose. Pot Pan is definitely the most Bang for your taste buds and the least amount of bucks. The portions are perfect, just enough to fill you up without making you want to die or confess your sins. The prices are right on, an appetizer, tea for two and two entrees will cost you $21. The veggies are full on, no skimping here. The tofu is just right, not mushy and not dry or tough. Yum Yum Yum. I ordered the green curry because it's my favorite and was totally delighted. In fact, I'm calling my friend right now and suggesting it for dinner tonight. We'll make a stop at Vas Foremost, get some nice white wine or an IPA and treat ourselves right for a couple hours.
(4)Joshua M.
The food here has been consistently good. I've only been there a couple times, but somehow I managed to stumble in the day they had just re-opened. The Thai woman behind the counter almost jumped on me and hugged me, claiming she "hadn't seen me in such a long time." I tried to explain that I had never even heard of Pot Pan until I was walking by on my lunch break that particular day and saw the sign. She argued with me. "No, I see you in other restaurant before we close." The second time, she wasn't there. I went with a friend. It was still decent, and my friend stole some chopsticks because they were cool-looking (also because he's a kleptomaniac). Overall, it's good, cheap thai food without having to go too close to North Ave. It's good for 3 stars. EDIT: I've been back a few times since then, and their egg rolls have convinced me they're good for 4.
(4)Ajanta C.
super fast delivery! Food is a little bland for my taste but my husband loves it. crab rangoons are pretty good as well as bamee deluxe and green curry
(4)Eric V.
While there are definitely better Thai restaurants in the city, Pot Pan is still pretty decent. Dinner started with the Crab Rangoons which were light and crisp, albeit a little light on the filling. For entrees I had the Bamee Wonton Soup (I added BBQ Pork) and my fiancee had the Pad See Eiw. While neither were spectacular, they both were nicely presented and had just enough flavor to make for a pleasant meal. Aside from the food, the service was friendly, pricing is decent at $7-8 for an entree, and BYOB (wine or hard liquor) is a huge plus. Street parking wasn't terribly difficult either as the restaurant is located a bit further down from the madness of the Milwaukee-Damen-North Ave intersection. If you're really craving Thai food in Wicker Park then this might be worth a stop.
(3)Joan B.
Mmm, as comforting as food can get, in my book. I've only ever gotten take out (and they have always been kind to my usually un-showered countenance on such nights). But everything I've ordered has been great! I'd like to think I've tried thai from a lot of different places in the city, and I will now forever be loyal to Pot Pan's green curry. Much creamier in its coconut-milk base than places like Penny's, you'll find treasures of veggies in there, not excluding eggplant ( oh what a delight to find one). If you're a wuss like me, beg them to make it as least-spicy as possible (it'll still have some bite, in a good way). Then take it home, pour it over their steamed rice, and life will suddenly, and undoubtedly, be better.
(5)Brian K.
I have been to this restaurant at least 50 times and ordered takeout 20 more then that. I take everyone there when I have out of town guests. the food is awesome and the staff is very helpful and quick. I am a big fan of their panang curry with chicken and extra veggies which is only about 10 bucks but have tried almost everything on the menu and haven't disliked anything. The BYOB option makes it even better.
(5)Christina M.
Cute place and convenient location but average Thai food. I felt my mussaman curry was so-so. (This place is vegan friendly by the way)
(3)Paul d.
If there's any cuisine that I would absolutely die without, it'd be Thai food. We went here with a party of about 20 on a Saturday night. Parking was actually not too bad for a Saturday night in Wicker Park. Damn you Laz again for 25 cents for 15 mins! Note: Do not park in the back of the restaurant - one of our friends were towed. Decor was modern Asian chic - neutral stone tiles lined the walls and the upholstered tufted booth seats had a tufted Moroccan feel. Oh and what is up with the music? I felt like either stripping or doing the robot. Being the Thai Connoisseur that I pretend to be, I'm always more critical when I try out a new Thai reastaurant. My signature dish: Basil Chicken. I must say when it arrived, it looked really enticing. If there's one thing this place does well, it's presentation. From the deep red plates they serve your food on to the slight touches of garnish on each plate, it makes the cuisine look like something out of Top Chef. Beware beware, whenever you make something look that good, expectations always spike (see my review on Friendship Chinese Restaurant in Logan Square). Sadly, this was the case. Basil chicken is somewhat tricky - it's literally a sweet and salty dish. Here it was way too sweet. Also, the ratio between meat and vegetables were definitely leaning towards the latter end. 3 stars. I did have a sip (or three) of my friends Thai Iced Tea. It was pretty awesome and they give you a good amount. 5 stars. Value was very good. It is BYOB and with about as many bottles of wine as we had people, the staff was very accommodating even when we got louder towards the end of the night. Total bill with 20 people? $203.15. That is a very good deal for modern clean decor, no corkage fees and decent food.
(3)Brad L.
Crab Rangoon and the best Pad Thai! There is a reason I keep going back! Also note... dining in is completely different then carry out! They put out some pretty good plate presentation in the restaurant! It really makes you feel classy for the low price you're paying!
(5)Elaine V.
Great service, VERY fast food, (I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and the appetizer came out, then my husband went to the bathroom to wash his hands and the ENTREEs came out). Nothing bad about the place, besides the fact that the vents on the ceiling really needed a dusting. That's gross. I don't want to eat below that.
(4)Kristi O.
The food is amazing, and inexpensive Great service! very fast. Beautiful atmosphere! Best Thai in Wicker Park.
(5)Christy F.
yum..yum...yum! We get delivery from here. We are egg roll snobs & really really love their egg rolls & veggie rolls. Everything is so fresh and seems so much lighter than other Thai restaurants in the area. I LOVE their pad see eiw..so light and delicious! Their pad thai is good as well. I love the touch of cabbage to crisp it up. My husband goes for the fried rice basil with beef & loves the freshness. Delivery = super super quick & hot on arrival!
(4)John L.
This place gets a bad rap from a lot of people based on their experience with certain specific dishes. I agree with the reviews regarding the gummy pad thai, and the khee mao tends to be this way also. That said, this place makes some amazing egg rolls and spring rolls, that even when delivered are crisp, hot, and have an excellent light sweet and sour sauce to go with them. What I thoroughly enjoyed about Pot Pan though, are their curries, especially the panang. The coconut milk base is rich, never watered down, with liberal amounts of basil and red pepper spice. Very authentic in terms of flavor. Go to Pot Pan for these items, and you'll find them to be of a quality consistent with the very best Thai restaurants in Chicago...just don't go outside this relatively small comfort zone.
(4)Meghan B.
Pot Pan is my go-to place for Thai food in Wicker Park due to the close proximity to my house, the great carry-out and delivery service, and the consistently good food. Look, it's not the kind of Thai place that's going to change your life or anything, but when it's 4 degrees out, you don't want to leave your house and you're craving green curry with tofu, this place will save your life. I've had both the Panang and Green curries with tofu many times and both dishes have always been tasty and perfectly spicy with large portions, even for takeout. I ordered an egg noodle dish with shrimp last time (can't remember the name) that was also excellent. My only disappointment was the cashew chicken (well, I ordered it with tofu...so maybe that was the problem). Just kind of blah. The egg rolls are also fantastic and I find myself ordering them every single time. I'm very grateful that Pot Pan is so close to my house and will deliver curry to me whenever I'm too lazy to go get it myself.
(4)Nancy H.
Pretty typical Thai food and prices, and it's BYOB. Really enjoyed the Khee Mao (wide flat noodles with stir fry veggies and basil leaves - supposed to be spicy but wasn't at all) and Penang Curry (coconut curry with veggies). Your choice of chicken, beef, or pork with each entree. I think shrimp and BBQ pork is extra. It's very clean and relaxed in here, almost zen-like decor. Came in on a Saturday night and grabbed a table immediately. Shared two dishes with a friend, and we each paid $10/ea after tip.
(3)Kerri C.
Fast delivery, food was pretty standard. I ordered the spicy noodles- khee mao with tofu, their famous egg roll, and Thai iced tea. I didn't like that online ordering forced a meat protein ( although you can clarify that you would like vegetarian in the notes). There was a little too much tofu and not enough noodles and medium spicy felt like no spice at all. I'll order another dish in the future because it has potential.
(2)Blake B.
Quick and inexpensive Thai food. This place is almost my kitchen as I dine here multiple times a week...very conveniently located. Tom Yum noodles is great and so are the curries. The best Thai food in the neighborhood is Thai Lagoon, but the wait can be prohibitive.
(3)Nona Gayle D.
Asian chic with techno music.... equals a good time! The decor was well done, red walls and asian influenced paintings, pleasing to the eye The temperature.... was it just me or was in Steaming in there!!! They wanted you to take off your coat, your sweater, your shirt, it was hot in there! The service was meh, on the slow side, but once the food was ordered it came quick and it was delicious. The food was tasty and well priced, I only sampled some appetizers because I was still a bit stuffed from a meal I had earlier but I had the pot stickers and chicken satay. The pot stickers were accompanied with a dark sauce that I initially thought was soy, but to my surprise it was a sweet and spicy sauce and it was delicious! The chicken satay was juicy NOT DRY!!! and the peanut sauce that came with it was not overbearing. Another plus of the place was that parking was readily available and it was BYOB!!! Many of my friends who came for dinner enjoyed this! All in all I like the place, I would go back =)
(3)Valerie S.
I've eaten in several times at Pot Pan. The price is right. The interior is clean. The decor is obvs well-meaning but confused, particularly near the holidays -- any holiday. The service is quick but unremarkable. The pad thai is truly weird, but I think rather tasty (altho I should say I'm a bland-food enthusiast), and the accompanying chicken is VERY good. Howevs, the tea is crap, the music is laugh-out-loud bad, and my dining-in experiences have been uncomfortable at best. I'm sure I'll go back, and I'm sure I'll leave shaking my head and wondering why..
(2)Stephanie D.
I have never had a bad experience here! The staff is always friendly, the place is beautifully decorated, and you get a lot of bang for your $! My review may be slightly bias since I have eaten here about 50 times and have consistency ordered the Green Curry Chicken. I can't seem to get over it... it's so effen good! So, really, I give Pot Pan's Green Curry Chicken 5 stars. Yum!
(5)Nicole I.
This review is for the Milwaukee Ave Bucktown locale: I do like this place and have been there more than once. The food is good and consistent. The restaurant is BYOB which is a plus. The decor is really nice and warm. I have never had a rude waitress at the restaurant. I have always enjoyed my dishes and have never been charged a corking fee. I'm not a Thai expert, but for the price this place seems like a good choice and the food is very tasty.
(4)Amy S.
The curry is really delicious! I made the mistake of ordering something else and my boyfriend got the green curry. I pretty much ate all of his meal. Get the curry.
(4)Katerina D.
I live in the neighborhood over 90 minutes for delivery, unacceptable. I will stick to pennys delivers in 30 minutes. Boo.
(1)John-Ryan G.
This place is great! This classy little joint is perfect for a quick lunch, or a BYOB with your lady friend. I have never ordered anything I didn't like, and the decor is pretty nice for a Thai place. My favorites are the crab rangoonies and the spring rolls. Check it out!
(5)tatyana o.
4 stars? Really?... Your general cheap run of the mill American adapted Asian. My Miso broth with Udon was lacking everything but water and noodles. It was also lack the fish cake that the menu promised with it. Mom's Pad Thai was just weird. Very dark sauce without much tang or sweetness, just kinda burnt flavored and blah. They were generous on roughly chopped red cabbage that took most of the Pad Thai's plate. Cabbage is cheap... Oh, the Gyoza was not pan but DEEP fried. Not abysmally bad but not recommended.
(2)Kenneth C.
I have enjoyed the food on many occasions. It's decent at best. Last night I ordered on Grubhub. When the food was delivered I missed the delivery. Never received a knock on the door or had my bell rung. When I called today to resolve the issue the gentlemen was less than helpful in resolving my issue. Told me to contact grub hub and he couldn't do anything for me. I am appalled at the lack of customer service and the attitude of the management. It was down right rude and uncalled for. They said they called. Why didn't the knock or ring the bell? Why didn't they resolve my issue directly rather than send me to Grubhub? It's not important but it shows me how they really feel about their customers and confirms why that was the last time they will receive my money. I respect those who respect the golden rule and they treated me in a way they wouldn't like to be treated.
(1)Carly S.
Although I've never dined in-house, their delivery service and overall food is top quality. I've ordered their Crab Ragoon and Panang Curry Chicken about a dozen times now without any issues - concise delivery times, 100% order accuracy, and always hot with extra dining utensils!
(5)Yahaira L.
Awesome food and service. Tom Yum soup is delicious and an abundant amount of bean sprouts in the Wonton. Pad Thai was great however smaller chopped green onions and more ground peanuts wouldve made it ideal. Pad See Eiw was bomb! Food really hit the spot!
(5)Stephanie S.
Sunday night we ordered on Zuppler, which is off the Pot Pan website (actually a great website) for delivery. I placed my order at 6:40 and it said delivery at 7:25. Cool. You can actually check the progress on the site. At 7:40, nothing had arrived. Being worried maybe my order had gotten lost since I did it online I called. Oh yes, the driver has left, but he has a lot of orders so no idea when he will be there (I live .5 miles from Pot Pan...lazy lesson to myself, go and get it myself) Anyway, 8pm rolls around...nothing. I call back and he puts me on hold for 6 minutes while he tries to call the driver (which he tells me he can't get a hold of him because he is in the restaurant (??). He says 10 minutes at most. 8:10, I call back, a woman answers this time and tells me. Oh the driver JUST left, okay BS lady, you are either lying to me now or the last guy was. Can you wait 5 more minutes? (Because I told her to cancel) No, I cannot, cancel the food. I have now been waiting an hour and a half, almost an hour after you said it would be delivered! Oh please wait, will give you half off..half off?! NO, cancel it. She begged me like 8 times on the phone. I am like lady, I am about to pass out from hunger no, cancel. Somehow miraculously they were able to get a hold of the delivery driver after that because he never showed at our house. SO UNPROFESSIONAL. Lies about times? There is no way you are so busy it takes 1.5 hours to deliver a pad thai down the street. No thanks Pot Pan. See ya never.
(1)Jerome M.
This place is great. I've been hitting them up for the past 6 years and every time I feel like I'm in there with the whole Pot Pan family. I order out as much as I dine in, and it is what it is.. pretty decent food at a pretty decent price, at a pretty decent speed. As stated, dine-in atmosphere is a bit weird sometimes, but whatever. Pretty solid place overall, especially if you're looking for a quick cheap meal that's tasty.
(4)rebecca c.
I must say I thought everything about this place was great. Price was very reasonable and the food quality was good. We went for lunch and it was 5.95 for a small portion of your choice of dish and soup was included. We started off with the veggie egg rolls which were cooked to perfection. The Tom Kha soup was absolutely amazing and my entree was very good as well... I ended up getting Chicken and Mixed veggies.I am a very critical eater, and I thought this place passed my high standards
(4)Kathleen C.
Pot Pan never disappoints. This spot is consistently delicious. I changed things up and ordered my pad thai spicy - perfect! It's perfectly priced, delicious, BYO and friendly! LOVE IT!
(5)Jenny T.
Pot Pan is my favorite Thai restaurant in this area. Much better than Zin, just down the street on Milwaukee avenue. I love thier Panang Curry so much--it's very peanuty and thick. Totally different from Duck Walk (Lincoln Park on Fullerton), which has a more liquidy version (which is still good, just different). Warning: if you ask for spicy, they will give you SPICY. And it will be delicious, but you might regret it later. Bonus: you can order takeout/delivery directly from their website. If you eat there, they give you a little pretty flower-shaped carrot garnish and you get to sit in their cute dining area. Great place for a low-key date.
(5)Anton F.
Fuck all haters, especially Matt S and "Matt C" (not his real name). This place is hands down, the best Thai food in the city, and I've tried just about all of them. There might be some hole in the wall in Hyde Park that I haven't come across yet, so I suppose I shouldn't make such brash claims, but this is the internet, I don't have to back shit up anyways. They recently moved from their North Avenue location, and I was really really put out for the several months that they were closed. As has been stated, they were "opening in two weeks" for about 4 months. It really sucked. The day they were actually open (much to my surprise), I ordered Pad Woonsen with tofu, and it was probably one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. You can never go wrong with the Pad Woonsen and the Veggie Wonton soup. Add Jasimine tea and an order of Tofu Satay is pretty much the perfect meal. All for a reasonable price. On top of that, the ambiance is great. The couple who own the place are adorable, and one of the only things that I feel was better at the old location was that they let their daughter put up paintings and drawings. She even had her own clubhouse room right off of the kitchen with "no boys allowed!" emblazoned across it in magic marker. Even if the food sucked, I'd still support this place for being so cool about letting their daughter scribble all over the place. But it doesn't. This is my go to. Other great dishes are: Pad Khee Mao (sp? related to Chairman Mao?) served crispy, Panang Curry, and Basil Fried Rice.
(5)Thomas B.
Food was fantastic (love their crab rangoon - not too much filling and great flavor), service was friendly and FAST!!! They were able to deliver my order in about 20 short minutes even though I was quoted for about an hour. Will absolutely order there again - pad thai is delicious, pad see eu was tasty and portions are generous.
(5)Michael B.
Yep, another Thai review. Went here with a friend who was visiting from the wonderful city of Cleveland and wanted to introduce her to thai cuisine. Unfortunately, she was staying with a friend of hers in Wicker Park, an area to which I am unfamiliar. We chose pot pan because of its close proximity to where she was staying. In short, the food was average. The Tom Kha was orange colored and oily, due to the copious amount of bell peppers in the soup. I wasn't particularly a fan of the sweetness provided by the peppers, or the color. There were no pieces of galangal or lemongrass in the soup itself, I assume they removed them prior to service, which I didn't mind. The Pad Thai was extremely wet, something I didn't enjoy at all. There was an odd, musky scent (that really turned my friend off....) and the sauce was very sweet. It was served with a lemon wedge and a few crushed peanuts. Like I said, it was average, there isn't much else to say. Service was unattentive, not rude, but not friendly by any means. The decor is what took the two star food to a three star yelp rating. They had great music playing and a very simple and comfortable atmosphere. Otherwise, I probably won't return.
(3)Tiffany L.
Had a nice little lunch at Pot Pan today! Not the best Thai spot in the city, but my husband who is on the fence about Thai food enjoyed his red curry and my spicy noodles (drunken noodles) were pretty good. I love Thai food and if my husband is willing to go out for Thai because he enjoyed this place then I'll happily come back just to get my Thai fix! For ordering in I'll stick to my Joy's... Service was nice, food came out quickly and piping hot. Cute on the inside...booths are a bit strange, the tables are low and the benches are high. Weird.
(3)Jane L.
A friendly family-run restaurant with great tom yum soup, plus crab rangoons that are cheaper and bigger than other places. It's usually pretty empty on weekdays and the service is quick. Fairly big portions on the pad thai and basil fried rice. Comfortable booth or table seating. Definitely my favorite Thai restaurant in Wicker Park!
(4)Lisal F.
While visiting friends in Chicago we walked over to Pot Pan Thai for dinner and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. I've eaten quite a bit of Thai food in my days, and this experience was definitely in my top 3. The veggie wontons were perfect, as were the dipping sauces. I had the Panaag curry which made me the happiest girl in the world for approximately 20 minutes until I had devoured it and quite nearly licked out the bowl. As an added bonus, the rice is served in the shape of a heart.
(5)Danielle S.
We came here late one night (long after the dinner rush) and ordered a little of everything! We ordered a spring roll, soup, Pad Thai, Penang Curry, and Fried Rice. Everything was very good! Everything had just the right amount of spice, was served quickly, and the portions were huge! We had way more than enough food for the three of us. Their portions are definitely large enough to share! It is a smaller place, so I can see where it could get very crowded at dinner time. There aren't many seats, so either come early or late! The food definitely doesn't disappoint! It is very clean, has very nice bathrooms (I was surprised at how nice they were), and the service was fast and friendly. I would definitely come back!
(5)Paul S.
Ah, finally, a mid-level Asian restaurant that I truly enjoy. What is it with Wicker park not having many solid options for Asian food? Pull it together Asia. Maybe I just haven't found them yet. I enjoyed everything about Pot Pan. Nice decor, really friendly folks, decent variety on the menu and a solid delivery on the food. I had the Pad See Ew (fat rice noodles with vegetables in a brown sauce). One of my favorite dishes. They did an excellent job, and I'll be looking forward to more visits.
(4)Dounia L.
I absolutely loved this place! I was looking for a BYOB thai place and this was perfect. No fee for corkage, and we were able to have some wine and beer throughout our lunch. The pad thai was delicious and so were the appetizers (shrimp dumplings and fried tofu) and the dessert (green tea mochi ice cream.) Our lunch ended up being very reasonably priced and the waiter was really great! I definitely recommend this place.
(5)Danny W.
It was good. It was inexpensive. It was BYO. That's three points in their favor.
(3)Rebecca R.
Well, it wasn't a bad option on a night that we wanted to walk somewhere and not wait for a table. We had a party of six on a week night around seven. The place was pretty empty and were able to get a table right away. Water was poured and menus were passed within seconds of sitting. We picked out our meals and a few apps pretty quickly. The server was efficient and worked as a one man show. It created a little problem for him later when he had to bring out all our plates, take the other tables orders, and help the people picking up takeout. Overall everyone enjoyed their meals and had the same consensus. If we came back here again, we would ask for it to be a little spicier. Mine was full of veggies, just like it promised, but was lacking on the heat the red pepper symbol indicated. There are so many great Thai places in the city, that I am not sure I will run back here. If I am looking for a BYOB place in the neighborhood, I could be convinced to try it again and ask for a little heat.
(3)Fygar F.
Great Thai for the neighborhood, especially when you consider it's BYOB. Bring a bottle of wine, have a nice dinner here, then head next door to Emporium for some arcade fun. That's a good date! :) If you live in the area and want delivery, I prefer Tiparos in Old Town. They still delivery to Wicker Park and have superior food. But if you're going to eat-in, definitely give it a try - you'll be happy. If you need a bottle of wine, the Walgreens a few doors down sells wine as does 7-Eleven.
(4)Meredith K.
This review is for delivery. I was hankering for some thai noodles so we decided to give this place a go. The 2 reviews on Seamless weren't really about the food so why not? We ordered 3 items, crab rangoons, tofu pad thai, and garlic chicken. The food arrived after about 70 mins. Fine. The rangoons are fried wontons. There's maybe a whisper of cheese but no hint whatsoever of crab. My tofu pad thai was sour and tasted like they maybe added tomato to the sauce. It needed something. I added soy sauce which I know is weird but I wanted more than just salt. Maybe if I had some peanuts on hand? The noodles were fine. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good. My boyfriend's garlic chicken wasn't garlicky enough (good for me!) and the chicken had no flavor. I could see him adding chili flakes and whatnot to season it as well. So we tried and we probably will try another place for thai.
(2)Rebecca B.
I've been to Pot Pan several times, having eaten in, gotten carry out, and occasionally gotten delivery. In the long run, Pot Pan is just okay. It certainly isn't bad (a few of their menu items have been pretty good), but I've had better. All of my meals here have been...well, they've been pretty average. Nothing has really stood out. The pad see ewe is just okay, with plenty of chicken and broccoli, but it is always a little on the greasy side and a bit bland. My recent order of pot stickers was the smallest order of pot stickers I've ever seen, but that was okay because they had a very strong and unpleasant onion flavor that I wasn't expecting and didn't much care for. I do, however, like their egg rolls, which are always good and crispy (very good sweet and sour sauce, too) and the tom kha soup is pretty tasty. Service is always friendly, but I've found it to be incredibly slow, especially when getting delivery or carry out.
(3)Karl S.
Really good Thai for under $8.50 an entree. BYOB is a huge bonus. Not many places you can take a date and get appetizer and two entrees for under $30. Very large portions too, you will not leave hungry.
(4)Krystle S.
The boyfriend and I ordered from this place via grubhub. Just some standard Thai food. Pad Thai, Thai style BBQ pork rice, some spring rolls and crab Rangoon. It was awful and we ended up throwing it away after giving it the old college try.. It was just bad and lukewarm. I get that everyone has off nights but this was so bad we won't be giving it a second try.
(2)Katherine C.
We got very good service and the appetizer we ordered (fried shrimp wontons) came out very quickly and were delicious. The food came out soon after. My noodle dish (Pad See Eiw) had very good flavor and the noodle were cooked perfectly, but the chicken in my dish was pretty poor quality. The prices were very reasonable, even with the addition of an appetizer!
(3)Andrea L.
The food was fine - nothing to write home about, but this is just to indicate to others that the delivery service was the worst I've experienced. Waited over an hour and a half for food, during which multiple calls to Pot Pan yielded several unanswered rings and a message that indicated that the line was out of service. Neither the restaurant nor the online ordering service (Beyond Menu) contacted us to confirm receipt of the order, or that there were any delays with the food. With no way to reach the restaurant, we assumed that pad thai was a lost cause for the night, and I'd already gone and bought a second dinner. I was surprised and pretty pissed that Pot Pan called almost two hours later to tell me food was at the door. Leftovers for the next day, then.
(2)Dominique M.
Just ordered delivery for four people. Overall, okay, not great. DO NOT order golden shrimp appetizer! It is just chow mein noodles wrapped around a piece of shrimp. There doesn't appear to be any spices as it states in the description. Weirdest and worst appetizer I think I have ever gotten. I felt completely ripped off after eating it. Pot Pan just take this appetizer off your menu. It is horrible!!! Other dishes were pad thai and panang curry. The pad thai was so-so according to the others, while the panang was pretty good but was lacking in vegetables. Mainly just pieces of tofu. Not really sure if i'll order from here again...
(3)Halley W.
let's talk, pot pan. i used to love you. you were my favorite thai place in the entire city. everyone (except basically one person) in my office has hated you for the past three years ... and i've stood up for you the whole time. through thick and thin. but things have changed. my major complaint, you ask? our food is spilled all over the bag EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. we order delivery. WHAT? HOW? WHY? i don't understand. until you get yourself in check, we shall be departing ways. good luck!
(2)Josh V.
This is my local Thai restaurant of choice now. I have never eaten in there, I've always had delivery or carryout. The delivery is usually very fast. Once it was under 15 minutes! I have tried a number of dishes there. I've had a few that were on the bland side that I didn't really care for, but the majority were quite good, and nothing has been bad. There are a few chicken dishes I really like. The prices are reasonable. When I order from here I usually get two entrees and have one as leftovers for another meal (the rice dishes make better leftovers than the noodle dishes). I was torn between 3 and 4 stars, but in the end I went with 3 because some of the entrees are bland, so you kind of need to know what's good there ahead of time, or experiment like I did.
(3)Seth M.
1) BYOB 2) Great Food 3) Good for large groups Those are the 3 big wins for this place. I had the Spicy Basil Fried Rice and thought it was really good. Thats my simple review and everything you need to know if your looking for a group dinner in Wicker Park
(4)Maureen m.
Went here on Friday for a girls night dinner and we had horrible service. I felt like the servers were intentionally ignoring us. They were not attentive at all. The food was okay for the price, but our experience could have been so much better if we got better customer service. I don't think I'll go back. There are better BYOB thai places in the city.
(2)Sunshine B.
Gross food, crap service. Blah.
(1)Megan S.
It's a good place depending on what you get. Great spring rolls, for example, but all the soups I've had from them have tasted sugared; not satisfying if you're really hungry and want something salty. But I guess Thai tends to be sweeter.
(3)Leang E.
This is the best Thai restaurant in Wicker Park that I've been to so far. I stopped in and sat at the bar for a few minutes while I ordered my take out. It's a relatively spacious restaurant, with lots of Southeast Asian Thai decor. They got my order pretty quickly, and I was happy with my Vietnamese Spring Rolls and the Chicken Pad Thai. I usually get this when trying out Thai restaurants because it's become a known staple at all Thai restaurants and the easiest way to make a comparison. There are quite a few Southeast Asian cuisines that don't make it on to a menu or some make as specials so that's going to be unique to the place. I thought it was pretty good, and was quite impressed with the portions of food that they give. I'm glad I'm not getting ripped off as I was able to have this as leftovers for lunch the next day. I will have to sit in the next time and take advantage of the Thai iced tea. I'm always kind of disappointed when I don't see Papaya salad on the menu. I may have to program there phone number to my cell phone to pick up food here in the future.
(4)George A.
Great food (especially the panang and green curry), and they have the BEST brown rice that I have ever had. I am happy that they dont use MSG. This is a great option for vegans. I go there for lunch and dinner. The atmosphere is wicker park contemporary and they play ambient/chillout music- you can even bring a date there for dinner. Service is good. I would recommend this place to anyone definitely!!!!!!
(5)Audrey O.
I love pot pan. I have only actually ate at the resturaunt once, but i order out from there all the time. Everything I've ever ordered from there has been yummy. There pad thai is the best i've had in chicago. I hate when pad thai noodles are all clumpy and dry, but there's is always perfect. There tofu is always cooked perfect too. It's not all burned and crunchy like at some other thai places. I'll never order from another thai place again!!!
(4)Melanie M.
Pot Pan is one of my favorite Thai restaurants in the city. Prices are extremely affordable, the food has always been good and feels a little more unique than the standard fare, and it's BYOB with no corkage fee. The inside of the restaurant is cute and cozy, and it's in a convenient location. I believe they deliver and they definitely do carry out. If you're in the area and craving Thai, I would highly recommend this restaurant.
(4)Adam K.
good, cheap and fast, what more do you want? maybe some sushi rolls so it could be like the wicker park version of butterfly. plus they're open til 10
(4)Oscar the Death Cat B.
Pretty good as Thai food goes, and their dining area is pleasant & tidy & almost never crowded. It's far enough removed from the obnoxious heart of the North/Damen/Milwaukee Hipster Central district to be a nice choice for a reasonable, low-key meal.
(4)Molly W.
Extremely good food! Service was great! Employee took pictures of our party and emailed them to me the next day! Delicious, clean, charming...highly recommended!
(5)Emily O.
This is a quiet restaurant and simple dishes. However, its good food and cheap! Great place for BYOB dinner with friends.
(4)Doug p.
Typical Thai place, not much that distinguishes it from the rest, but who doesnt like quality thai food
(3)Andrew P.
I've been going here for years. I've tried other Thai restaurants on the NW side, but this one always beats them clean. I'm not sure what the new space looks like, but the old space was nice and brightly lit, with the tables spaced well enough so you could have a good conversation. Their panang curry dishes are excellent. The owners and service are stellar as well. Plus, they used to always post their daughter's art work. Added plus BYOB.
(5)Luther Z.
Whoa... some rude motherfuckers here. I went in a few days ago on a Saturday afternoon to wash my hands. I went in to an empty restaurant, politely asked the person if I could use the washroom and was met with a firm and disrespectful "no, bathroom for customer only." I'm like, seriously? I'm not a customer at this second, but you certainly lost any future chance of me ever setting foot in this place for anything, let alone giving them my money. Just as a joke, my friend went in shortly after I, and apparently the guy physically blocked him from proceeding toward the bathroom. Look, if you're say, Charlie Trotter's or Everest, I can understand taking a more militant stance against the casually dressed interloper who just wants to wash their hands - but in reality, restaurants like Pot Pan are a dime a dozen in this city, and you'd think since places like this have mediocre food and inconsistent quality issues, they'd want to set themselves apart by treating customers and potential customers with a bit of respect.
(1)Jen W.
If you want a nice, chill restaurant to go to with a bunch of friends that's cute and has pretty good food, I would definitely recommend Pot Pan. The food wasn't the best Thai foodI've had, but it was good. The red curry was very tasty, but the best part was I went with 8 people on a Friday night and it was not jam-packed like all the surrounding Wicker Park restaurants. And...it's BYOB! And the staff let us chill in a window seat for 2 hours, taking our time. Pretty sweet. Oh, and it's very affordable to boot.
(4)Rebekah K.
Ok, I admit it, it is friday night and I am home eating take-out pot pan! Give me a break, I am tired. Ok, I am kind of surprised this has favorable reviews, and is specifically compared positively to Penny's. This food is HORRIBLY overcooked and greasy. The noodles are a mushy mess (so much so, I did not recognize them as noodles in my dish) and thought I was ASSURED the lad nar is vegetarian if ordered with veggies I very distinctly taste oysters. Tempura is inherently greasy, but this is some of the greasiest tempura I have ever tasted! If this is quality thai food, thai food is a mushy terrible, greasy, over sweetened but otherwise flavorless mess. Even my side of plain steamed noodles is a mess! They also smell and taste strongly of chlorine. I am very big on clean flavors, and strong flavors, as well as texture, and this really has NONE of the above. After a few bites I am entirely DONE with this meal, and it was more than twice the cost of Penny's. I am not a huge fan of Penny's but when I am starving I even their worst dish I had was palatable.
(1)Christine F.
So, I was going to meet my friend for dinner last night and we decided on Pot Pan. I love thai (love may be an understatement), so I was excited. Cute interior, attentive service. I ordered a cucumber salad and tofu panang curry, and my friend ordered sweet and sour chicken. Cucumber salad was very meh. It was a few cucumbers/carrots literally swimming in sweet dressing. Luckily the dressing wasn't too syrupy so it was still edible, but that was kind of a downer for me. No one likes their cucumber salad submerged in dressing. Anyway, the panang curry was very good. It was spicy, thick, peanutty, had plenty of tofu and vegetables and the portions were huge. In fact, the rest of it is my lunch today. I would go back for the panang curry, for sure. My friend wasn't as lucky. His sweet and sour "chicken" had one piece of chicken. It was a little sad. Though, he liked the flavors of his dish. I would go back to try the crab rangoon, since I hear it's amazing (and crab rangoon is the perfect food). Though Pot Pan had a few missteps it's still a solid place and I would go back.
(3)Jacob W.
Chicago is riddled with subpar Thai food and this place is no exception. Don't let the trendy decor fool you -- the food straight up sucks. The Pad Thai was worse than what you get at the grocery store, pour the sauce in a packet over the noodles and heat in the microwave. It was dry, sugary, bland, no veggies, no freshness or brightness. My lady got some other classic Thai dish that also sucked. Would never come back here again.
(1)Steve H.
Great neighborhood place. Very reasonably priced and the food has been great so far. The portions are perfect and we enjoy trying different things on the menu each time. We're new to the neighborhood, but we will continue to come back to this consistent favorite. P.S. Thai iced tea......yum!
(5)Ruth M.
Truly a great find! We had them deliver last night (Friday 8:20pm). They said 45 minutes. They were here in 25. The food was ridiculously hot - we actually had to let the egg rolls cool down... With appetizers and entrees (chix panang and green curry), delivery charge ($3), tax, tip, it was about $30. We dined in about a month ago. They gave us a reservation for our group of 12 - on either a Friday or Saturday (I forget). For a fairly small restaurant, that's awesome. It's BYOB and worked out to be $15 each. I had the 'bamee deluxe' - the noodles were the 10 cent variety, the only disappointment to date, but not enough to dent the five star rating.
(5)Elisabeth C.
Easily the best Thai food in Wicker Park. You've no idea how happy I am now that it's reopened. I always order the tofu pad thai (with no egg) and veggie wontons. Those veggie wontons (filled with tofu and spices) are to die for. I could eat like, a hundred of those things. The sauce which accompanies the appetizers is delicious, too. I've also had the pad khee mau, too. Also delicious and perfectly spicy. The atmosphere is pleasant and the staff are nice, delivery is quick and courteous. One of my favorite Thai places in the city.
(5)Dana A.
Absolutely amazing! great healthy flavorful soup, pot stickers and crab rangoon. Their entrees are so yummy. Plus the atmosphere is cozy and screams date night. Plus it's insanely affordable.
(4)Emily P.
BEWARE: if you bring a bottle of wine and not everyone orders an entree, they will try and charge EACH person (even if you did order an entree) $2. we were not informed of this 'policy' -- which is not posted anywhere, at least that we could see-- until we had already opened our wine and had been waiting a good 15-20 minutes for the not so nice waiter to come and take our order. we asked to speak w the owner when she would not budge on this policy. we understand the reasoning of the policy (i would be pissed if a group of 10 came to drink wine in my establishment and only half ordered substantial meals) but it did not seem so reasonable to make both patrons pay extra. he finally yielded, realizing the server had not notified us of the policy when she handed us the wine key, and made only my friend, who ordered just the crab rangoon, pay the BYOB 'fee.' that said, and besides the less than amicable service (which was obviously not priding itself on being attentive) this establishment has a great, intimate atmosphere that does not try to be more than it is. BOTTOM LINE: i ordered the pad thai-- w tofu, spicy please--and it was the BEST i have had in the city. no joke. so, though unimpressed with the service i will come back here. and force everyone to order an entree.
(3)Jasmin M.
I first discovered Pot Pan when it was right next to Tatu Tattoo. I instantly fell in LOVE with this place. The owner was so sweet and friendly, and always made us feel welcome to come back again. And we did! Again and again! I have tried other Thai restaurants closer to my area, but all left much to be desired as far as the food was concerned. This was the second Thai restaurant I had ever tried, and still today it's my favorite. I especially love their Veggie Wontons!
(5)Daniel L.
Absolutely! Like Kate Z, I'd have to say this place satisfies the desire for something cheap (very!), quick, more or less tasty and filling (that isn't a hot dog) in the Bucktown area, especially when I find myself doing heavy laundry nearby, and six twixes from the vending machine just won't cut the mustard. Better than average Thai food. Service could be friendlier.
(4)Ab A.
Pass Pass Pass Had delivery from here yesterday. Took over an hour to get to us, arrived cold, pad tai had 3...count em...3 shrimp in the entire dish and had zero flavor. Never again.
(1)jen b.
Great atmosphere and food presentation- food served quickly, but that's about it. Service is okay...there were only 2-3 other couples there. We had to flag waitress down to take order and i watched someone else walk to to ask for check and take home bag. Food is good, but not great. We were there for lunch and ordered the garlic chicken and cashew chicken with brown rice. Cost = $22. Apparently brown rice is an extra $2 per person. Serving size is small. About a fistful of rice and not much chicken in the dish. I don't plan on returning.
(2)Sara R.
my second favorite thai jam in chicago. i haven't been to the new location but when i walked up and down north ave. in realization that the old one was no more, i sat on the curb and cried a little. panang curry b/w fried vegetarian wontons...i could eat you every day. pad bamee and pad kee mao are my reserves. never crowded, prices are pretty standard.
(4)Liliana S.
I prefer Pot Pan to Penny's any day. They have more of an authentic flavor. I love their noodles and thai iced coffee!
(4)Jacob F.
I thought I would give this place a try as they deliver and the pricing was reasonable. My girlfriend and I ordered Pad Thai, Pad Bamee and Crab Rangoon. Her Pad Thai was very bland, my Pad Bamee was acceptable but uninspired, the Crab Rangoon was decent. The food wasn't that bad but it wasn't that good either and there are better options in close proximity.
(2)Jake T.
This place is a neighborhood standby with good Thai food and a BYOB policy. It's not the best I've ever had, but it's tasty and they deliver.
(4)Douglas B.
Wifey and I were heading to an art show nearby and wanted to get a bite before the event. Pot Pan Thai, yes, you are getting 5 stars, easily. And here is why... We conveniently found parking in front of the restaurant and decided to go in, we were seated by a very friendly waitress. The place was quiet, wasn't full. There were lots of tables available. We were given water, a menu and time to look through it. Our waitress came back, we ordered our food. She brought our appetizers, we ate some... a little after, she brought our entrees. She checked back made sure everything was good. We ate were satisfied. We were asked if we wanted desert, we kindly declined, we paid and went to our show! If that is not how a perfect meal should go, I don't know what is. The place is quaint, the decor is simple, the table was clean, the menu was simple to read. They had just the right amount of items to choose from. I typically start off with crispy tofu, there is only one place I like crispy tofu from and Pot Pan Thai knocked them down to 2nd place. yes, I know its just fried tofu, but the batter was light, the sauce was very tasty. I enjoyed it very much. Wifey got the crab rangoon, which i had to help her finish. They are nice and big, a bit too much dough, but they were good none the less, nice filling. For entrees, i went with the pad see ew beef and spicy. It had just the right amount of spice. It was very flavorful, the broccoli was crunchy and cooked just right. Beef tender and juicy. It was one of the best pad see ew I've had. Wife went with the pad thai with chix. i had to have a bite, this pad thai tasted very nice. The noodles were not dry, the dish had a lot of nice flavor, we asked for a little hot sauce and it was spot on. The meal was just great. I say do it! It has been some of the best thai I've had in a while. I don't understand the griping reviews, they are all over take out... go to the place, sit and eat away from the TV... If i wrote a bad review over every bad take out experience, I think i could write a book twice.
(5)Joann B.
I was craving pot stickers really bad when I was walking down Milwaukee Ave and stumbled upon this cute, little place. The name sounded promising so I stepped inside and decided I wanted to eat here. We were told that the restaurant is BYOB so we walked a half block down to the Walgreens, which was very convenient, for some drinks. They were very accommodating. It was towards the end of the night but the service was excellent. Of course I had the pot stickers and they were not dissapointing in the least bit! You can tell their food is homemade because they use unique spices in their recipes and the soy sauce was pleasantly sweet. I also had the sweet and sour chicken plate which was delicious, although my boyfriend wishes the plate was a little bigger, it was the perfect amount for me. We just found ourselves a new Thai spot!
(5)John L.
Simply delicious food in a casual environment. Byob really makes it a neighborhood gem. Get the panang curry and the pot stickers, you won't be disappointed!
(5)D C.
HORRIBLE customer service. The "waitress" was extremely impatient and appeared as though she was in a hurry even though my friend and I were the only two people in there. The service here, or lack there of, is the reason this place received such a low rating. They will not be receiving our business again.
(1)Sara V.
This might have been a three star experience were it not for the green curry. For those of you who don't know, I am a green curry FANATIC. If I go to a restaurant that serves it, you better believe that's what I'm getting. It's not that I'm not an adventurous eater, or that I dislike leaving my comfort zone. It is simply that I love green curry to the point of wishing I could publicly declare my undying devotion to it, before promising it a lifetime of care and commitment. Oh wait. I just did. Mooooving on. The Pot Pan is beautifully appointed, with (what I assume to be) an authentic Thai (or tourist-Thai) atmosphere. We came for a birthday dinner and the food was indeed celebration-worthy (or at least mine was). The service, however, was a little spotty, considering we were the only large party of maybe three other tables. I won't go into detail, as it truly didn't detract from the fun of the evening, but I would recommend a little more attention to detail from staff. But once again, not a big deal on this occasion. The food, including it's presentation, was delicious. I can't speak to the taste of everyone else's dishes, but my green curry was JUST the right kind of spicy. It can sometimes be very difficult to impress upon a restaurant that I do, indeed, want it as spicy as humanly possible. Often I end up disappointed. Not so at Pot Pan. Perfectly spicy, perfectly mouth watering and perfectly unfunky tasting chicken (which is harder to find than you would think). I would go back. Good green curry is hard to find.
(4)Chan K.
I haven't been here since they moved to their new location on Milwaukee Ave, but the interior does look nice (at least from the sidewalk). The menu isn't large, and standard Thai dishes but nothing overly exotic is offered. My favorite is the eggplant with basil and shrimp. I ordered mine spicy, but it didn't seem to have enough kick for my spice-hardened taste buds. Still it was an enjoyable meal I'd return for.
(4)Matt M.
A totally average Thai place. Nothing memorable good or bad.
(3)Kristin R.
Update! So in my last review, I make mention of the fact that I can't comment on service or ambiance because I have only ordered out. Well, came here the other evening and absolutely adored it. The inside is very clean and appropriately decorated to make you feel as if you're in a Thai abode. The restrooms were also very tidy and super clean. Always a plus in my book. The service was a bit slow, but I didn't mind it. It's nice not to be in a rush and to just enjoy dinner once and a while!
(5)Ben A.
I ordered the pad woonsen with chicken. The dish comes with thin noodles, variety of crunchy veggies in a flavorful sauce. It was pretty good, nothing spectacular. Good service and affordable. Small space with booths lining the walls and a few tables and chairs to fill in. Pretty casual and laid-back.
(4)Daniel N.
I love Panang curry so I was excited to try this place after seeing all the great panang highlights. We were already in the area for a show at the Den Theatre. The first warning should have been that there were no other patrons on a Sat night. The panang was good, nothing spectacular, but the pad thai and thai custard were just ok. The service was interesting and the atmosphere could really use some work.
(3)Brent W.
Being a person of habit has its upsides and downsides, and missing out on the dining enjoyment that is Pot Pan definitely falls into the latter category. For the past several years, we've found Penny's, Papajin, Tiparos, Bob San and Bistro Pac to be the five goto (take-out/delivery) Asian spots almost exclusively . By this, we've unfortunately dodged one of the better Thai places Chicago has to offer...this based on our one-time experience and from the looks of other yelp reviews. *All* was not well w our experience, but the good so far outweighed the (one) bad, that i'm willing to give them a four spot anyway....I get the feeling this place is now gonna be amongst those five other places mentioned above and become a regular. Price: Basically Unbeatable, EVERYthing on the menu is under $7.25 and all starters/apps are under $5 ! Quality: Excellent. The chicken for my Cashew Chicken and her Pad Thai was very high quality. My dish reminded me a lot of Bamee Noodle's version which I rate as "best ever". Pot Pan's had a little sweeter sauce and it also offered up a few more veggies so PP's might just trump Bamee....and speaking of veggies, they were incredibly fresh and tasty. Apps: We went with the Baby Egg Rolls and Pot Stickers. Baby Egg Rolls were fantastic, (and another reminder here) reminded me of Joy's up in E Lakeview/Boystown, 5/5. The Pot Stickers lacked a bit and were just deep fried as opposed to "seared/pan fried on one side and steamed on the other", which would be the proper, healthy, and tastiest way to prepare them. Still good at a 3/5. Entree: I covered mine above and now for the Chicken Pad Thai ...save for the chicken, which was very good, the rest of this dish completely missed the mark. It was way overly sweet and tangy and had zero spice. Frankly, it would get a 2/5 at best, tbh. All said, even with the (one) bad Pad Thai rating, Pot Pan still rates a 4 star and i'll be sure to re-review after we try other dishes.
(4)Bob L.
Boring, not good food. Below average service.and we found a hair in mocci
(2)kevin M.
LOVE this place. I used to order from here in the past and stopped for a while, almost 2 years. Not sure why we stopped but I'm glad we tried it again. Probably the horrible experience from Thalia, triggered the return. Love the Pad Bamee and the Panang Curry! My kids will usually eat the satay, white rice and crab rangoons. Everything was so good we ordered twice in one week. The Tempura delivers pretty well too.
(4)Jenna S.
This place is open on Christmas, which gives it an extra star in my book. No one needs to be open on Christmas, Christian or not, but they were the only open restaurant in a sea of closures on Milwaukee, so they were our beacon of hope on a holiday. The food here is pretty good. Big menu, classic dishes, good tastes, nice spices... definitely a Thai place a cut above the rest. Definitely not mediocre delivery food. We were all happy with our entrees. Service on Christmas Day was a bit slow, but there were only cooks and one server, so that explains the delay. Plenty of room to sit and I could see this place getting a bit loud if every table were full, but that'd still not be that bad. Service was friendly, parking was ample outside, and we enjoyed our food choices. Prices seem standard for Thai food and the inside of the restaurant was comfortable enough. They deliver, have carry-out, and tables for dine-in.
(4)Susannah S.
Reporting back on a disappointing first experience here. I recently ordered some late-evening veggie pad Thai for pick-up, having been dreaming of it all day long. It only took 15 minutes from phone call to pick-up, but the meal I received was mediocre even by takeout standards. For one thing, the tofu was missing (I'm a vegetarian! I need my protein!)--but there were also some unwelcome additions. There were vegetables in here that I have never before seen in pad Thai: mushrooms, baby corn, peppers, and even--blech!--cooked tomato. For reference, these do not combine well with the more traditional ingredients. All served with a sad little desiccated lime slice on the side. I won't lie, I ate the whole thing, but I did not enjoy it. I'd like to chalk the quality up to the late hour (45 minutes before closing) and try Pot Pan Thai again, but I can still taste the soggy tomato in my mouth...
(2)Kenya R.
First time here, Im in love! Pot stickers & Vietnamese spring rolls very good. My date ordered the tempura shrimp it came with vegetables which were delicious. We were also able to share a main dish before doing whiskey shots next door. It was very quiet& laid back despite the fact that they were featuring a few bands next door. Our waiter was very attentive & very sweet. Overall I enjoyed my experience.
(4)anna k.
First visit was delivery. Green curry chicken and oyster chicken and tofu. mild. Very good.Super fast delivery. Gonna try medium next time... really like this place! This will be on my speed dial.
(3)Brittany C.
We have been looking for a relaxed and enjoyable BYOB since they closed our favorite last year. And NOW we have found a great replacement. The food is good and cheap, especially with the BYOB non-corkage fee. The best thing, however, is that they wait staff lets you relax and enjoy your food and wine without pestering you to get up and go. We finished our meal and languidly polished off the rest of the wine before we even received the bill. The restaurant was quiet and comfortable. It looked super clean and had a very spa-like bathroom...all-in-all, a good time! It is also not far away for the other Milwaukee bars so its nice to stroll down for another drink after dinner.
(5)Ryan M.
Upscale decor gives this spot a nice feel. We sat at the window table So we had a nice spring breeze blowing in. Prices are very reasonable. 7.50ish for an entree. Tom yum soup had the right amount of kick. Panang curry was really good but the pad thai disappointed. Ordered the pad thai medium but it was real sweet tasting. My girlfriend thought both dishes were too sweet.
(3)Mari K.
It's a Lincoln Wicker.. looks like a cute LP restaurant, but located in the edgier WP.. making parking nice and easy. Everything is trendy and tasteful... from the gorgeous potted orchids that welcomed my entrance, to the presentation of our dishes. I felt like it was upscale dining, but was relieved when I saw that entrees were under $10. Hey, they even made my friend's green curry dish look beautiful... that's a hard one to pull off. Dishes are tasty and portions are perfect. If you're looking to fill your stomach senseless... you're better off trying somewhere else. Try it!
(4)Sasha H.
This place is consistently delicious, well prepared (not too adventurous) Thai cuisine. I love it. This place is great for a mixed group of vegetarian and non because everyone has a lot of options. It is also a perfect "where should we go?" place because it is on the Milwaukee strip but not too close to the 5 corners so it's not too packed. Also it is nice but not high-end so it can work for a lot of different occasions. The service is not great--but I have had much worse...it is a good idea to ask for the check because they will just let you sit there which I find SUPER annoying. I just got take out from there and ordered 2 apps, they were yummy and filling. The noodle dishes are totally big enough to share unless you have a huge appetite.
(4)Matt B.
This is it folks, finally I"ve found the Thai destination of the Wicker Park/Bucktown area. I've tried Lagoon, I've tried Thai Eatery, and all I've found is disappointment. I was beginning to think great Thai didn't exist in this part of town - and one so cheap and (a requirement) BYOB! Food is delicious and of large if not unbelievably large, portions. I absolutely loved the red curry as well as the samples I had of various other noodle dishes. Parking was surprisingly easy (right in front, both times I've driven). Prices are outstanding ($7-8) and no corkage fee. Staff was friendly, and the atmosphere is delightful. I think I might become a regular.
(4)Amy R.
Consistently good and in a great location. The food is always served shortly after ordering and the menu has a good selection. I am happy that Pot Pan opened in this Wicker Park location.
(3)Julia H.
Am I head over heals in love with this place? Probably not. Is it a passable place to get some good food? Most definitely. I've been to the restaurant once and just had delivery and I've liked nearly everything that I've had in the past. But it just lacks a certain crave-able aspect that just doesn't make me want them all the time. Good Thai food, though, does make me want it for the next bazillion days. So, I will continue searching for that places that makes me crave, but for now, Pot/Pan you'll be good enough.
(3)Natalie P.
Great vegetarian spot. Nice service.
(4)jamie k.
Whoa! So, this place moved from North to Milwaukee... I was kind of hesitant, as I don't remember it being that great on North Ave..totally average, the food, the service the inside.. Then...my husband convinced me to try it the other night. Awesome!!! Lately all the thai places in the are are so mediocre, don't even try, you might as well go to Penny's. But this place was seriously...great. I have been to Thailand before, and know that real thai food has a lot more veggies, and fresh ones at that in the food... The Panang curry was thick and loaded with all kinds of great vegetables, it wasn't so spicy that you couldn't taste all the subtle flavors and the rice -- perfectly sticky! We also ordered the Pad Si Ew (sp!?) which was also awesome. The salad we ordered was delicious, light and fresh. Also...2 en trees and a salad for under $20! Crazy! It's byob, if you forget the 7-11 is right down the street. Give this place a chance, or a second chance if you had a bad experience in it's previous place. Maybe it changed owners or something. OH - also, it's Adorable inside!
(5)T V.
I was introduced to Pot Pan at a business lunch meeting. We headed there around 12:30pm on a Friday. As we walked into the restaurant, I was surprised to see that there were no customers dining. The dining area is small. The Asian decor gave a good Thai feel. The menu had a lot of options on it. I opted to try one of their lunch specials. I ordered the spicy basil leaves with chicken extra spicy. I have never seen such item at a Thai restaurant before. It was absolutely delicious. The dish consists of bamboo shoots, veggies and basil leaves. The other two people in my group also enjoyed their food very much. Since that lunch meeting, I have been going back several times to order carry out. Each time, the food is still as delicious as the first time!
(4)steve h.
Pot Pan has been a good neighborhood standby. Reasonably priced, good portions, nice atmosphere and decent food.
(3)Varvar Y.
I was quite disappointed with this place after trying it for the first time last night. I ordered the lad nar and my bf ordered the spicy noodle. We also ordered the Viet spring rolls for apps. Everything sucked. The spring rolls were bland and dry. Our noodle dishes were so sweet it was almost gross. I mean I know thai food is supposed to be sweet(er), but no amount of soy sauce could have made our dishes better. Maybe I need to try their curry dishes? I really don't think I'll be going back though. They get 2 stars for being quick and spelling my name correctly!
(2)Matt F.
Soooo good. I wish I was eating their Tom Yum soup right now.
(4)Ann M.
Reasonably priced and BYOB. Decent preparation of Thai classics and always reliable.
(3)Dee T.
So the boy and I were feeling super lazy today and decided to order in. We were debating between Silver Spoon and Pot Pan and decided to try Pot Pan instead. Not the best decision we made! We went on the recommendations of other Yelpers, but seriously the pad see euw was overfried noodles, the panang curry was spicy but not that flavorful otherwise. We were so disappointed! The beef noodle soup was the redeeming factor of this lunch, though - the broth was flavorful and the noodles were perfect. But they were kinda weird - they gave us a tiny container of soup in our delivery, which is baffling because the soup is usually the best part and noodle soups require a lot of it! So 2 stars for the noodle soup and very prompt delivery, but I think we're sticking with Silver Spoon from now on.
(2)Rebekka T.
I would go to Kin a few blocks south for Thai, fresher ingredients and lighter dishes.
(2)Lorraine L.
Pot Pan how I love thee! I worked and lived in the WP and this was(is) my favorite Thai restaurant in the area. If it's so great Lorraine, then why is it always empty?? I don't know, but don't let that scare you away. My guess is that they do a lot of delivery and carry-out business. I am infatuated with their green curry. The tender pieces of chicken, the chunks of eggplant, yum! They also don't joke around about their spicy dishes. I have to be honest, I rarely strayed away from their curry dishes I loved them so much, but I've also sampled some of their noodle dishes as well. Reliably & consistently good, prompt service, and it's BYOB, what more could you want?
(5)Laura S.
I've been to a few Thai (and some "Thai") places in the city and this is definitely my favorite right now. Get the egg rolls! Delicious! I'm very picky about egg rolls and whenever I order them I always wish I ordered two servings so I don't have to...boo...SHARE! Great pad see ew, great pad thai. I don't really have much of an eye for decor, but I really like how everything is set up at Pot Pan. Good ambiance, good color scheme. Service is excellent...very attentive, friendly, and my water cup is never empty! One star off because when we ordered carry out it just wasn't as good, unfortunately. I ordered the exact same things I loved and enjoyed while dining in, but something was off. It just seemed schlepped into the carton...chicken wasn't as good...noodles were soggy...even my beloved egg rolls were pretty lackluster. But then when we went back and dined in, delicious! If you can get out to Pot Pan, do it!
(4)Nana H.
The decorations here far outweigh the food. The service is great, and the prices are fine too, its just that the food itself could be better prepared. We order a pad see ew (6.75) and it had a measly three brocilis in the whole dish, our bambe so ba noodles were alittle undercooked, our potstickers (3.75) were just deep fried dumplings, and the spring roll (3.50) seemed like it was just a bunch of bean sprouts. I was really upset with the potstickers being deep fried. Potstickers are suppose to be steamed and then pan fried! which makes them stick to the pan, hence the name. Not just dumped into the deep fryer. Other wise this place is okay, the decor and service sorta make up for the mediocre food.
(3)Max M.
I enjoyed Pot Pan. Its not anything special but its good solid Thai food. I had also recently gone to Thai village and I would definitely reccomend Pot Pan. Our server was very nice. Attentive, but not annoying. It's BYOB which is always nice and keeps the price low. For an appetizer the lady and I had eggrolls. Cut in to four pieces and place din a pool of duck sauce. They were tasty. Well cooked, not soggy, and filled with meat, cabbage and vermicelli noodles. Amanda (my lady friend) had the Bamee Wonton noodle soup. It was all right. The noodles and ingredients were a nice combination but the broth lacked flavor. It was very bland. Adding some of the red sauce from the table helped but you don't want to count on that. I wouldn't reccomend ordering it. I had Tom Yum Noodle. It was very good. Had a nice spice to it. The noodles had good flavor. The shrimp it it was fine. I don't like fish cake so its unfair for me to comment on the quality of the fish cake in the dish but i can tell you I left them in the bowl. The portions on both the app and the main dish were morew than enough. You definitely won't leave dissatissfied due to portion size. The atmosphere is ok. There has been an attempt to make it feel very modern. With the artwork etc. But the music, house/dance, makes it feel a little cheesey. But as long as you don't mind its not annoying. This is a solid place. Good traditional Thai dishes. Decent atmosphere and BYOB. I wouldn't run out to eat here but if you're in the neighborhood and hungry for Thai its worth a visit.
(3)Heather W.
Ordered through GrubHub. Fast Delivery. Packaged well. Friendly Delivery. Vietnamese Spring Rolls exceptional!
(4)Maegan M.
BORING. Pad Thai - flavorless. Chicken - grey. The Crab Rangoon were good.
(2)Robert S.
I was really impressed with Pot Pan. It's directly across from my office, and around some really dingy places, so I didn't expect much. However, when I walked in, the place was beautifully designed and really cool. I ordered rangoons, which were excellent, and Beef in Oyster sauce, which was also very tasty. The Tom Kha soup was slightly above average. The value was great- all that for under $20! Oh, and the service was fast and friendly. I have been to Pot Pan many times since, the Pad Thai is the BEST that I have had in the city (better than Opart, TAC Quick, Thai Pastry.) The satay are also very tasty and come with a nice cucumber salad.
(5)Elizabeth P.
It's like one of my fave places in Chicago. I really love this thai food. If you are looking for a cozy restaurant for a night out with your hubby, boyfriend, or even girlfriends this is the place to go. Panang curry, awesome! Give it a try!
(5)katie b.
My husband and I have been trying to find a good Thai place close to our home, and we were very happy with this one! We went on the night before Thanksgiving and it was pretty dead. I'd imagine on a regular night it would be pretty crowded though. The place is decorated nicely and the food was awesome! I ordered the Chicken Pad See Euw and it was one of the best I've ever had. Plenty of food and it had lots of chicken and broccoli. This place is BYOB - $2 corkage fee per person and you have to open your own wine. Totally worth it!! The entrees are not very expensive (I think mine was $7.95). Definitely will go back here again.
(4)Matt L.
Can't wait to go back there for the tofu salad! It's been closed so long I almost forgot about it. We kept calling their number only to hear a gentleman who sounded like he was at home answer and tell me "just a couple more weeks." Definitely better than Zen imo. If you do go to Zen though, never get the crispy noodles. Always get the soft ones. Edit (18 hours later): Went to the new location. Awesome. Get the tofu salad (steamed not fried) and panang chicken. Best $11 meal around. If you can, eat there. It's a lot better for some reason and the presentation is nice. Edit Again (12/5/07): Went again last night. The restaurant was relatively empty. The owner (I think) came out and asked if we liked hockey. He then gave us his Blackhawks game tix for tonight. Great seats. I imagine he could have gotten something for them on craigslist, but for whatever reason he gave them to us. We'd never met him. We asked if he wanted any cash and he said no, he just wanted us to come back. If that's not a good dining experience, I don't know what is.
(5)Kat H.
Excellent price point for Thai food in Chicago; free egg roll with purchase of an entree during lunch hours! My Pad Thai came out piping hot, leaving lots of leftovers!
(3)Donna K.
I've eaten here twice, once at the restaurant and the other delivery. Eating at Pot Pan is great b/c it's BYOB with no corkage fee. I went with a group of six and we all ordered different dishes. We were all satisfied with our meal. We had couple of appetizers and 6 entrees and our total came out to be about $66! It was lovely. The service was prompt and friendly, food was surprisingly good for its price, and the decor is lovely. This is a great place for a date or a girls night out. On having the food delivered: The food was delivered pretty fast, under 20 minutes. They made my pad thai with chicken instead of beef but it wasn't a biggie. Their pad thai is pretty good, best pad thai I've had so far. The basil fried rice isn't as spectacular as everyone says, though. A lot of people had recommended it so I ordered it but honestly, there really wasn't anything special about it. I loved their shrimp rolls (appetizer) though! Definitely get that.
(4)Brian J.
This was really good Thai. I didn't think the prices were too high and the delivery was quite quick. The pork satay was delicious! So was the Pad See Ew. The shrimp tom yum lacked.... shrimp (I think there were two in there?) but it was very flavorful. Spicy Basil Leaves with chicken was tasty. I'll be back, for sure.
(4)Ingrid G.
Note that Pot Pan has moved from its original location on North to this one on Milwaukee. Because it is a bit farther down on Milwaukee we were able to find meter spots on the street. Davenport's Piano bar is right across the way, so Pot Pan would clearly be a great before show dinner choice if you are in to that sort of thing. Certainly not the best Thai food I've ever had, but definitely does the trick. For this area the prices are very reasonable. By 8:00 the place was full, so it doesn't hurt to make a reservation. Seems to accommodate large groups pretty well. Service was on the spot! The room has a nice ambiance, great lighting.
(3)Kay D.
First off, the ambiance is lovely and the service is very friendly. I wish I liked the food more. I ordered wonton soup, which was really bland from the dishwater broth to the unidentifiable lump at the center of the dumpling. I also ordered the beef salad, which was really just a pile of beef on one lettuce leaf with two small piles of cabbage on the side. The dressing was good, but I really didn't taste it till I'd worked my way through most of the beef. My husband ordered the beef laard na, which he said was pretty watery. Also, there was one awkward thing about the service: I ordered soup and salad, which were both brought as starters. So I sat there with my whole meal while my husband waited till "entree" time for his. It wasn't horrible, just odd. I'll try it again, ordering different things. I really want it to be good!
(2)Christine P.
Great food at a great price. My husband and I have been here many times for romantic "date night" dinners and dinner with friends. Everything I've tried has been very tasty. My favorite appetizer is the Vietnamese spring roll - they are so fresh, mouthwateringly good and the presentation is 5 star restaurant quality. One of the best parts about Pot Pan is that it is BYOB. Plus the staff is really nice and very attentive. I'll be back soon!
(5)Jenn C.
I have Pot Pan's number saved in my cell phone and I use it pretty often. On most occasions their Pad Thai is the best I've had in the city and they typically deliver very quickly. The Tom Kha soup is also very tasty. Sometimes you can tell when there's a substitute chef, though, and the food quality suffers. Overall, good food for the price.
(4)Jillian S.
We did a return visit here after not coming back for about a year. Immediately I was turned off by the $2.00 corkage fee for each person, listed as a sticky not on each menu. They were prompt to bring us a bottle opener, but it took about 15 minutes for them to take our order. All of this would be fine, if I felt like the food was stand out, and it just isn't. The best thing I had was the vegetarian wonton soup, but everything else I feel like you can find just as good or better at another Asian place in the neighborhood, that won't charge you a corkage fee (think Zen Noodle on North Avenue). Don't get me wrong, it's not that the food is bad, it's perfectly fine. But for perfectly fine, you can go somewhere cheaper. Trust me.
(2)Brenna M.
So, not that this place needs another review (I'm # 91!) but I really enjoyed our BYOB girls' night last night and wanted to give Pot Pan the appropriate accolades! We started with the pot stickers which were flaky and served with an amazing soy based sauce. I had the Bamee Deluxe which was delicious and spicy, moreso once I requested the chilli sauce, oops! My friends enjoyed their pad thai and panang curry. Place was empty at 8 on a Tuesday, not sure why...because it's Tuesday? but it's BYOB, cheap, very fast, delicious, and the windows open to the outside which was a perfect way to enjoy the last vestiges of beautiful summer weather!
(4)Denis F.
Pot Pan has recently reopened, and the menu hasn't changed. Personally, I love quite a few dishes. The Tom Kha with tofu is an excellent pre-meal soup, if you're a fan of coconut milk. As a fan of sour tastes, this one hits my tongue just right, and the mushrooms, tofu, and peppers add that extra piquancy. The Panang and Red Curries are also both quite tasty. I thoroughly enjoy, for pure aestheticism, the large silver-colored serving dish in which the rice arrives. For $1 one can have a very light, refreshing cucumber salad. When not getting the Tom Kha, I often either take this as my appetizer, or, if I'm particularly ravenous, also get the Tofu salad. All of the entrees I've had were fully customizable (I'm somewhat picky about which vegetables I have in what dishes) and have yet to have a complaint. Some dishes stand out above others (I thoroughly enjoy their Pad See Eiw). For something with a little extra kick I would definitely recommend the Basil Fried Rice or Spicy Grilled Eggplant (along with the curries, I normally finish quite a few glasses of water with these dishes). As to the new decor, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. The music doesn't really strike me as fitting in with the entire restaurant. However, they have utilized the smaller space well. The tables, chairs, and general color pattern are much more warm and cozy (as opposed to claustrophobic). The location on Milwaukee also now offers excellent people watching. I do, however, miss the Thai art that was much more prevalent in the last location.
(5)Brenna O.
Walking around Milwaukee today, we needed a place to stop for lunch. Pot Pan looked nice, so we went in to check out what they had to offer. We got some chicken satays, spicy noodles, and red curry. Everything was delicious! Excellent spices. I was a little disappointed that they didn't offer a version of Massaman curry because I always like to order that as a baseline comparison to all the Thai places I go to. There was plenty for both of us to try everything, and it definitely warmed us up on this cold winter Saturday. The only thing was that the service was a little slow and there was only one other table in there at that time. Otherwise I give Pot Pan a big thumbs up!
(4)Amy J.
Celebrated a friends birthday here on Saturday night... Good stuff! They took our reservations for 16 which was nice. We had a long table right near the windows. The environment is cozy and the decor is modern... And of course, BYOB is always a good thing, I got the spicy noodles with chicken - very good. I tried a friends Chicken Curry dish, also very good. The best part - the price. We got our bill and for that many people (some of whom ordered appetizrs) It was $135.00. Seriously? Including tip. Insane. We all chipped in 15 dollars and paid for the birthday girl, and we were actually OVER. Nice! It's never easy to split the bill. I'll definitely be back and next time try a bunch of the appetizers and other things. I wish I had done that this time, but I just wasn't hungry enough. The waitstaff is very accommodating and friendly, and it was a very nice, casual experience.
(4)Annie T.
I'd give their crab rangoon 4 stars but the chicken pad thai was as bit lacking. It was your average bowl o noodle but I must admit the extra tofu ingredient did impress me a teeny tiny bit. The pad thai needs extra flavor to make it a little less bland. The service is fast but not particularly friendly. Our table of 6 left with happy bellies. Cheap, tasty Thai-- I'd probably order in next time.
(3)Andrew M.
This place is dreadful. Seriously. I just ordered it for the first time and it was the blandest, worst-tasting Thai food I've ever had. I haven't even written a review on here in like 5 years. But seriously, I could not have been any more dissapointed with my dinner tonight. I ordered the Bammee BBQ Pork and the Spicy Noodes because someone on here said those were good. I can't decide which one sucked more. Just terrible. Go to Penny's instead.
(1)Andy D.
I had the Red Curry made spicy (4 out of 6 spicyness rating) with Beef and it was the best red curry I've had in a long while. Also, the cucumber salad was fresh and had a delicious sweet sauce over it. I find myself craving this place and can't wait to go back.
(5)Kristina O.
this is the place i go to when i want thai delivered. i've tried a few places around the area and this one is defintely the best. good food, decent price, quick delivery, and always really friendly when i dine in the restaurant. i really hope they reopen soon!
(4)Eric S.
I've been trying to find a Thai restaurant in the Chicago area that is worth a damn in particular a restaurant who makes a good curry, knows hot from mild, and can make decent Pad Thai. In the case of Pot Pan, like most Thai in Chicago, it is not worth its weight in fish sauce. I ordered delivery, so I will forgo commenting on service or atmosphere and go straight on to the meat and veg of the subject. I ordered a slew of appetizers and a hot spiced chicken/tofu combo Pad Thai. The appetizers were merely palatable, not near good, but palatable. Fried Tofu was alright, a bit rubbery, but not bad. The sweet and sour sauce with the tofu looked like it might have been made in house but tasted bland and suspiciously similar to something found in the Asian section of Jewel. The Spring rolls were poorly constructed and flavorless. The "fresh" veg in the rolls were dry and clearly cut before they were received in the kitchen. The Crab Rangoon, well, it was the exact same Crap Rangoon you find all over this city, but one can't really complain about fried fish flavored cream cheese fritters. The Pad Thai was lack luster, although better than most in Chicago. Although I ordered hot spice, this Thai could hardly break a ten on the scovel scale. The dish was seasoned far below par, tasting more of wok oil than anything else. One of the marks of good Pad Thai is the delightful variance in texture between the tofu, meat, noodles, and veg and albeit possible that time in a styrofoam box could have had a negative effect, there was a uniform rubbery texture throughout this travesty. Was the food awful? No. Although I can not say it was worth the money or time I spent chewing. There are worse though, so I give two stars for effort.
(2)Roman M.
I just moved here from SF so I'm guessing my scale for Thai food is a bit skewed, but still...there are some things they really need to work on. First, the chicken on the Satay was not cooked very well and was quite mushy. We didn't realize it was BYOB so we were only drinking water, which the waitress rarely came bye to fill up. In general the wait staff was hard to reach and never really came to check on our food, so that is a general issue they need to work on. I had the Spicy Basil Leaves with Chicken as my main, and although it was ok it was nothing special. I'm not sure I'll be coming back here, cause there are so many other places to try. If anyone knows of a better Thai place in Wicker Park please let me know!
(2)Teresa C.
I was really crazing some Thai curry, and this appears to be the only one that's close to where I live. I asked for recommendations and had their pangnan curry. It was too sweet than what I'm used to. I guess I will have to continue my search for a good Thai restaurant near Wicker Park.
(2)Cassandre P.
WTF?!? I'm pretty certain that ketchup is not an ingredient widely used in Thai cuisine so then why did my Pad Thai taste like a batch of McDonald's french fries with Heinz poured all over it?
(1)Bella V.
This place has okay food. Nothing to write home about. The waitress was okay, but one of the employess kid was running all over the restaurant, and it made me a little uncomfortable. The Lard Nar isjust so so. I know a lot of places that have better. The vegetable soup is just veggies in a bowl and then they pour boiling hot water over them to cook them and... TaDa!!! There's your completely flavorless soup! The eggrolls were the saving grace of this place. I don't think I would go back.
(3)David B.
Very good, quick, and inexpensive. I got my food delivered. Food was fresh, tasty and just the right balance of season and spice. I will have to go to the restaurant and sit down and eat which is why i'm giving it four stars for the moment.
(4)Beth O.
POT PAN LIVES! It reopened on 10/25/07 on Milwaukee Avenue just southeast of Wood! Since it closed to move, I had been wondering if it really was superior to all the other Thai places in the neighborhood, and as a result I had been eating Thai all around the neighborhood. Having just gone back to Pot Pan the answer is that my hype and mourning during the closure were justified: This is the best Thai ever! Pot Pan is delicious Thai that has been in the Bucktown-Wicker Park neighborhood for years, without the declining quality of Penny's or the ever-changing bland Pan-Asian place next to Quimby's. I attribute its consistent goodness to the fact that it is a family-owned and managed business, and that is endorsed by the Thai ministry that endorses exceptional expat Thai restaurants for honoring the homeland's palate. Check out the Thai decor, and look out for any remaining art created by the owners' daughter when she was younger... Pot Pan used to be her "gallery". Now reopened on Milwaukee Avenue I go back for/ take out/ carry out the extra crispy noodles Pad See Ew with extra broccoli, tofu and egg, the basil chicken with rice, Vietnamese spring rolls, chicken peanut sauce satay and Thai iced tea.
(5)Tim Y.
Really tasty. I've always had carryout from here, and it's tasty as hell. I'm glad they listen when I ask for extra spicy...I don't mean extra American spicy, I mean "make me regret it the next day" spicy. And do they ever deliver.
(4)Mork M.
Hello pot pan OPEN TWO MORE WEEKS. TWO MORE WEEKS. Listen man, if it were possible to create a temporal wormhole in which you kept teleporting the world at random to sate your weird ass obsession with teasing me about finally opening for delivery, I would not mind the fact that it took this long to reopen. I would say "Hey, cool, you're a mad scientist who can whip up some tasty pad kee mao!" The truth is you're a lying bastard who happens to whip up some tasty pad kee mao. Great service and staff other than master of illusions over there.
(3)Theresa C.
Pot pan is a really nice place to have a quiet meal with someone. It's an intimate setting and I've never been there when it's particularly busy, but the seating would probably be a little too close if every table were full. During nice weather they open the front windows, it's really pleasant. The service is always really fast and friendly. The food is amazing. I like the Thai Basil best, but I've tried almost all of the appetizers and would recommend any of them. The prices are great and so is the food!
(4)Adam R.
I had the Pad Thai with chicken for carry out. The order was ready when I got there. The staff was SUPER friendly. I cannot wait to go back. The noodles were tasty, the chicken was moist.
(4)Mandy P.
I love this place. I have been going here for years and I have always been surprised by how few people go there. Part of me is glad about this since I don't have to wait for a table when I do go there, but part of me is very bummed because I like the family that owns it and I worry that some day they won't be there any more (and neither will their yummy food). As with all things, I will begin with the caveat that I am a vegetarian, so there are a lot of things that I won't be able to use for comparisons, but I think that their green curry (with tofu) is the best in the business. It really has good flavor (spicy, even) and it is consistent -- I don't have to worry about getting green curry that is heavy on the coconut milk and light on taste. Their red curry is good as well. I also really enjoy the fact that they have lots of vegetarian appetizer options -- their veggie egg rolls are great. Overall, I think this place is excellent and so have the people that I've taken with me to eat there, so I'm not sure what these other reviewer people are having that is so disappointing. All I can say is: check out some other things on the menu before you give up on them!!
(5)Camden D.
I am absolutely addicted to the Panang Curry here!!! It is FANTASTIC! Its by far the best Thai place in the city, BYOB, and decent service!
(5)Iguehi J.
I've eaten here a couple times and the food has been EXCELLENT each time!! Cute atmosphere (Thai decor) Intimate setting (cute red candles on each table and dimmed lighting) Flavorful food (umm ummm good) I'm sure you can't go wrong on anything that you oder from their menu!
(5)Lezah G.
It's a pretty restaurant and the staff are very friendly and helpful. The food is beautifully presented but as far as taste goes, what we had was just o.k. I don't live in Wicker Park but had some business down the street so we went to this restaurant. If I lived in the area I'd go back but it certainly go back but the Thai restaurants in my area serve tastier food. We ordered a noodle dish and stir fried chicken and shrimp with grilled eggplant. There were only 3 baby shrimps in that entree but they are not particulalry expensive. We ordered tempura as an appetizer which I have never seen served in a Thai restaurant. That was excellent. It was perfectly prepared. Besides the usual green peppers, onions, and sweet potatos, they also had brocolli and cauliflower which I had never seen served that way.
(3)Stefan H.
Very good value on decent Thai food in a city that (surprisingly) doesn't seem to have many good Thai restaurants. The delivery has been lightning fast in my experience as well. The restaurant itself is comfortable and the service good...and impossible to argue with the price! I will be back often.
(4)Elizabeth B.
For a tasty inexpensive Thai place with some ambiance, this place can't be beat. Definitely not the best I've ever had, but for the prices and quantity of food I was very satisfied. They get an extra star for BYOB with no corkage fee. Great place for a cheap date!
(4)Jeff S.
One of my favorite things about moving to Chicago this past summer is that I can get just about anything delivered. That doesn't mean I order out every night, quite the contrary, but it means that on those nights when I just don't want to cook or go out I have more options than pizza and chinese. I really like Pot Pan. The number one reason is that when I order they always tell me 45 minutes and it shows up in 10-15. One of the perks of living nearby I guess. Seriously though the food is pretty good. My tendency is usually toward the Pad See Yew with chicken and I like that it is flavorful, and spicy without wiping out the flavor with just being HOT. I love hot, but not at the expense of taste. I've eaten at the restaurant a couple times as well. The interior is very pleasant yet quite minimalist. There never seems to be too many people there which is nice. The service is good, the people are friendly, and the prices are pretty decent.
(3)Stephen W.
I've only used them for delivery but they are always quick, so the food is still hot in the winter. Has to be the best in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. Read the other reviews because I will just repeat what others said!
(5)A E.
Excellent food, BYOB, never a bad experience. I have gotten take-out, had dinner in the restaurant with a small group, and gone with a larger group (10 or so), and I've always gotten great food. They even let me bring in cupcakes for dessert for my group of 10 once! Panang curry is the best dish IMHO!
(5)marc f.
maybe the kitchen just had an off night. or maybe the food here is just awful. either way, there's no reason to investigate further.
(1)T. T.
Good, flavorful food. The only issue I have with this place is that it always appears to be under-staffed. At its OLD location (on North Ave.), I would have given Pot Pan a 4.5/5 stars just based on the quality and taste of the food. Now that it has moved to its NEW location, the quality, portion, and especially the taste of the food have gone down.
(3)Mandy K.
We have been looking for a good pad sew wee in Wicker Park for a while now and finally found it here. We also ordered the shrimp and veggie tempura app and that was good as well. Our order was ready within in 10 mins, definitely will be going back.
(4)Rick J.
A nice, consistent thai place that has never wowed me, but hasn't let me down either. Their spring rolls leave something to be desired, but otherwise you can't really go wrong here.
(3)Anjee J.
In short: quick service, comfortable atmosphere, cheap prices and above-average food. I love this place! Their Spicy Basil Leaves & Panang Curry dishes are outstanding. Everything is well-seasoned and fresh. Definitely one of my favorite Thai places in the city, especially for dining in. It can be chilly sitting close to the door, but with winter coming up I'm sure you'll find that problem at many places.
(5)Jonathan C.
What a nice little Thai place. Clean modern interior with decent service (although waitress had problems answering with some relatively simple questions). I found the dishes to be quite tasty, but the portions quite smallish, prices are ok though. Menu is a bit standard, I didn't run across anything really original or special. This is also a BYOB suprisingly. Street parking is not so bad on this part of Milwaukee ave, surpisingly. A nice place to eat out for maybe a date, it offers very nice presentation. I'd give it a three and a half, but I'm going to have reserve more stars until I get more food or try something that really blows me away. It is nice to have a thai place to replace asiana cafe in this part of the nieghborhood but that place had some crazy awesome dishes, like the spicy beef. I hope that my future visits to Pot Pan reveal more underneath the pretty surface.
(3)Lauren C.
I'm in love with the green curry chicken. I get it mild. It's my go-to Thai place and I crave this dish all the time. This is a great, cheap BYO. I do wish they had regular brown rice. Their brown rice is really white rice with black bean or something... weird.
(4)Derek S.
this place is my go to place for thai; delivery, pick up, or dine in. i boils down to the ingredients, and they are SO fresh here. delivery takes like five seconds. i've ordered food from pretty much every thai place in this neighborhood, and this is the only one i'd drive from another area of the city to eat at.
(4)julie ann p.
I considered giving this place one star but I decided to give it two stars. The place itself is nicely decorated and byob is always great. The service was friendly though fairly inattentive and they screwed up the order. We went in on a Saturday night for a quick bite before a play. The place was probably one third full. We asked to sit at a booth but the manager said they were reserved for larger parties. Problem is that every booth when we got there and every booth when we left had only two people in it. So really the manager should have just let us sit in a booth since that is what we asked for. I ordered tom yum tofu. It came as tom yum shrimp. I must say that the broth was delicious but it was full of bell peppers which is not what I want to eat in my tom yum soup. And then there were the shrimp that I don't eat. I ordered pad thai tofu since I like to try this dish at Thai places that are new to me. I guess I am kind of a Thai food snob since I lived in Thailand for 3 months but a solid tom yum and pad thai or pad siew is always a good indicator of the food at a Thai restaurant. I think this is the worst pad thai that I've ever had. Seriously. It was drowning in some ridiculously sweet sauce. Like a sweet and sour sauce right out of a bottle. There was also no egg in the dish. No egg in pad thai?? That is one of the best parts. I added lime to cut the sweetness and hot pepper sauce to make it edible. I barely ate half of it and I forced that half down. I can guarantee that I won't be back again since there are many other Asian spots around that are much better.
(2)Marty G.
Penang Spicy noodle Tom yum good, good, and good $2 up charge for brown rice is worth it - fancy rice
(4)Lexie V.
I have been coming here for years. A lot of my friends hate it here and I never understood why. The food isn't the best, but its not bad. This is my official apology, Pot Pan. I'm sorry I tried giving you my business and my money. It will never happen again. With regret, Lexie (and co.) We came in at 10:15 on a Saturday. My friend and I walked in and asked for a table for 3. The waitress was visibly pissed at us and said "you better order now. We close at 11. You can eat if you order right now". She didn't even give us a menu and wouldnt take us to a table until we agreed to order right away. In hindsight I have no idea why I didn't just leave. I ordered pad Thai because I couldn't think of anything else on the spot, though it really wasn't what I wanted. I was so caught off guard by how blatantly rude she was. There were plenty of other tables with people, it wasn't like she was going to be leaving early anyway. When my boyfriend showed up at about 10:30 we just ordered a Tom kha soup for him, assuming that wouldn't be too difficult to put together so we wouldn't inconvenience them any more. You would have thought I just punched her in the boob based on her expression after I asked for a cup of soup. She didn't even say anything, she just walked away and then silently shoved the cup of soup on our table and stormed off. We had a bottle of wine we brought because it is byob. They not only didn't offer to open the bottle, but they never came back to our table so we could ask. My friend and I have worked in the food and service industries before so we get why she wanted to get out of there early, however she was so inexcusably rude. For the first time in a long time we tipped under 20% and vowed to never go back. The food is mediocre anyway. Moral of the story: go to Thai Village on Division, or anywhere else really.
(2)Katie S.
Food was meh. I got the panang curry with chicken and got very little chicken or other veggies. It was mostly just curry. The service was poor even though the restaurant was empty. It took awhile to place our orders. We received each dish one at a time so some dishes were getting cold. Not terrible but I won't be back.
(2)xena o.
I will never order from here again. I've ordered at Pot Pan for over 5 years. Last order they replaced every day pea pods with snow peas - which I just hate fat snow peas, I order for the skinny pea pods. (In this case, they are not the same.) No advance warning - just delivered a $55 order and said they replaced an item. Tonight was the worst. Usually delivery is $2.50 as per website and $2 more for shrimp. They charged $4 for delivery and 50 cents more for shrimp. Not a grave amount but: add in a $4 tip and my single order for 1 dish was $21.00. Worse, I called and the woman who answered the phone yelled at me and hung up. I called back and she hung up on me again. I tried again and they never answered. What if I was calling to check on my order, say my order was wrong, or I was charged wrong and needed credit? I called the driver who told me they charged me more for delivery because I was "out of the way" - well, somebody should have told me. Never again.
(1)Michael B.
The food is fine - Nothing special,but decent Thai food. The service on the other hand is enough to keep me from coming back. We stopped in on a Friday evening with a large group. The place was empty - completely empty when we arrived. I almost turned around, but we were meeting friends and figured it was too late to make a change given the time and day. We were seated by the window and soon realized it was freezing inside. We all kept our coats on for the entire meal! Everyone (about 10 of us in total) brought wine to share. We sat for 30 minutes and the waiter literally didn't make eye contact the entire time. He was somewhat busy taking phone orders and sanding at the bar. We had to go ask for wine glasses and helped carry them over for him. Another 20 minutes came and went and and still no better. We eventually managed to waive him down to take our order. After we placed our order he began to come by every 5 minutes or so. I do have to give some credit as he was able to split the bill relatively easily, but with that said I won't be going back.
(2)Steve M.
Not mindblowing thai food, but Pot Pan definitely gets the job done. Easy for takeout if you live close by. The person who answers the phone is friendly, and the waitress I passed by a couple times on my way in and out was genuinely smiley and friendly. I ordered the Golden Shrimp appetizer. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Imagine really SMALL shrimp breaded and fried, then wrapped in those crispy noodles that you sometimes get in packets w/ Chinese restaurant soups. (See my photo) It was way too breaded, and crunchy, and left a lot of shrimp flavor to be desired. My entree was the Spicy Basil with Chicken. This was really good! The sauteed onions and peppers really added to the basil and (small) bits of chicken in there. The gravy was yummy, but could've been a bit spicier in my opinion. Not to sound snotty, but Thai food is supposed to be SPICY! C'mon guys! Also, the portion was small-ish for a dinner sized entree. Despite the criticisms here, I still think Pot Pan is a winner. It's close to me, reasonably priced and fast. I'll just try ordering something different next time.
(3)Jeff R.
Erica and I are still looking for a go to Thai place in the hood. There are many options, or at least more than we have had time to try. We will all know when Wicker Park becomes the next Lakeview when there is a sushi/thai/noodle/byo on every corner. Thai Village wasn't our favorite so we picked up from Pot Pan the other night on a recommendation (and it's just down the street). It was our standard and simple order - chicken satay with peanut sauce, pad thai for the pad thai queen and my pad see eew. I said we are still looking for a go to Thai place because Pot Pan was good but still missing that extra umpf (or MSG or something) than makes you want to go back and stuff more tofu in your face. The peanut sauce for the satay was great but the two noodles dishes were just so so. Erica's pad thai was much worse than my pad see but both dishes needed that extra flavor punch. I like my noodles and vegetables - both well cooked and with great texture. But my favorite part of a good thai noodle dish is the sauce, and neither had very much. The pad thai was seriously bland. We'll continue our journey for our favorite local noodle place and maybe give Pan another look. It's close, cheap and the food's decent but not awesome.
(3)Katrina M.
I have had a lot of Tom Yum and frankly I keep coming back to Pot Pan for their tom yum- even though I tend to be very adamant about trying new restaurants. You live once right? But I keep coming back to Pot Pan, I think it has one of the best Tom Yum soups in the area; and on a cold winter day, it's one of my favorite things. The rice soup is pretty solid too, my boyfriend often orders that, but it doesn't pack the punch that Tom Yum does. The appetizers are okay, nothing special. The entrees are reasonably priced and solid in my book, although I was not a fan of the pad thai - it seemed a bit dry. I really liked their curries though, it was the right amount of spicy. Anyways, the delivery service was pretty quick and the food was delivered hot - the service at the restaurant was alright. The waiter was nice enough, but not overly attentive. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for its laid back atmosphere and price, it's a place I would catch up and have a quick solid meal with friends and family.
(4)Melinda V.
Just got our take out order home. Not only did they screw up our order, but it is so gross we are taking it back. Completely unacceptable.
(1)Jennifer T.
I've only been here once and it was late at night... around 10pm. There wasn't many places that were still open. And of course, I had to have a taste for Thai food and so I was super happy to see that this place opens late. The portion are just right not too large (maybe get an appetizer!) and it had a decent price for being in Wicker Park. The Pad See Eww was not too shabby and I give an A for food presentation. Would try again if I'm back in the area.
(4)Michael S.
I don't think I judge Thai restaurants too critically, but I was seriously disappointed in this place given the location and decor. We ordered the pad woon sen and pad see ewe in addition to spring rolls as appetizers. None were good at all even after we tried to doctor the food with chili and fish sauce... speaking of which, they did not have fish sauce out. Soy sauce is not a Thai staple like fish sauce. We had to actually ask for the fish sauce with peppers (nam pla prik.) Nam pla = fish sauce... prik = pepper. At least the waitress did get that for us. Service was okay, but the lady seemed a bit rude. Anyways, back to the food... Both noodle dishes were waaay too sweet. Even the thai coffee was the same way. The spring rolls had old tofu in it and lots of sauce on top which I assume was to try and cover the shoddy ingredients. Shame on you Pot Pan... I went home not eating too much. I also had a bad tummy ache after as well. Not even sure what to do with the leftovers that I took. 2 stars because I liked the decor and service was ok. Otherwise, I'd give a 1. Btw... just because you're in a nicer area and have a nice looking restaurant doesn't mean you can get away with bad food... unless that's what the hipsters in the area like... In which case, please carry on. I'll go where they actually serve good Thai food.
(2)Keith A.
Its been too long since I've satisfied my thai craving, so I met a friend here for lunch. Its rare that I'm at a place to take advantage of a lunch special, so I had to take care of that as well. Being very hungry and waiting for a friend, I ordered up some shrimp dumplings. These were the best part of the meal and I even ordered up a second round when my friend arrived. For the main course, I got some panang chicken along with an eggroll as well. Both the eggroll and and panang chicken were pretty good, but nothing too memorable. Overall pot pan was pretty solid. The waitress was nice and let us dine at our own pace. Granted, we were the only ones in there, but still. It was pretty enjoyable, but nothing to go out of the way for
(3)Jane E.
This is a very nice Thai spot at the heart of Wicker park - close enough. It has a good selection of dishes which turn out to be tasty. However, for being a Thai restaurant, they go out of their way to not set themselves apart from any other places. I go here time to time because, well, it's so close to where all the action is. Good good, great neighborhood; makes the food taste a bit better, too. Cheers!
(3)Meaghan T.
Uninspiring. I had the vegetable soup which didn't have much taste to it other than overcooked vegetables and it smelled like seaweed for some reason. I couldn't taste any garlic in it either. I also ordered the spicy noodles, which were not spicy at all. I doused it when I got home, but it doesn't taste as good when someone cooks it with spice in mind. Not enough basil either. It tasted like a lot of oil was used and although it was a fine enough noodle and veg dish, I was annoyed to have wasted calories on it. It could have done with more vegetables. I was looking forward to spicy noodles while staying in and watching a movie. Now I'm just laying on my couch feeling like I should have spent the calories on some Piece pizza instead of oily and soggy noodles. Disappointed. I picked up the food from the restaurant and it was cozy. The women at the desk were kind and made sure to tell me there was no animal products in the veg dish I ordered. I appreciated that. But I won't be back. There's so many other great Thai places around.
(2)Kammie G.
Went here for lunch today and the place was empty which allowed my friend and I to just sit wherever and talk about whatever. The food was good and I liked that you get a free appetizer or soup with lunch entree purchase. The spring rolls were yummy. Also the pad woonsen with tofu was delicious. The entrees were also nicely put together and looked just as good as they tasted. The service wasn't the best, I don't rememebr our waitress saying anything to us besides "what would you like".
(3)K M.
I actually really have not found a lot of Thai in Chicago that I find great. Pot Pan was what I think was the best Thai experience so far. Gotta love the BYOB, because at the end of my birthday dinner, with about 14 people, our total bill was $160! (and we were all hammered and stuffed) The food was really good, and the restaurant itself was really cute. Something in the atmosphere was a little bit off - the decor said "fairly trendy" with low lighting and darker paint colors, while the overall vibe was a little quiet. Maybe it picks up more later in the evening? Either way, it didn't bug me to the point where I wouldn't come back, its just something that struck me as odd. The portions were big but not overwhelming. I'd have to come back to try other dishes (I had cashew chicken) , but I'd imagine this is all typical Thai - not in a bad way at all though! It definitely beats out the few other places I've tried (Singha and Star of Siam being the two big ones) If I lived in this area, it would definitely be a regular spot for me, and even not living in the neighborhood, I can definitely see coming back- great value for a nice dinner out! best part of all was being able to make a reservation for that many people on relatively short notice (Coast basically laughed at us!)
(4)Alayna H.
My friend and I were headed over to an event at the Silver Room and happened upon this place while searching out a spot for a quick dinner. The place was fairly empty while we were there but I liked the decor, the service was very good and the food was so-so. I got something with the glass noodles, I have come to realize I'm not a fan of glass noodles, so I can't really blame that on the establishment. My friend did really enjoy his food though so I think I'll have to go back and try something else so I can give them an honest review.
(3)Donna C.
Decent and inexpensive, though I prefer the Pad Thai at Zen Noodles. Didn't they move to another location? I live near there and walked by, and they're gone.
(3)Nico M.
Awesome place, and open pretty late. My friend and I went here the other night before one of my friends shows at The Silver Room. I actually forgot that it wazs on my list of places to try. I honestly dont remember what she had but the decor and the music was perfect. Especially if you were on an intimate date type of whatever which, my friend and I, weren't on. lol. but we needed food quick. We had the vegetable tempura as an appetizer and it waz great. I had the ginger vegetables with rice. Oh My Goodness this sauce was amazing, so sweet, so spicy so perfect. Very filling with house music quietly playing in the background as we ate. A very chill spot for a 9:30 on a friday night. I recommend!
(5)Shawn H.
The decor in Pot Pan was great. It was a very nice environment for a meal. There were multiple vegetarian options and the food was tasty. My only knock is no hot sauce for the food. I really enjoy Thai hot sauce. If you're in the neighborhood, you won't be disappointed.
(4)Laila C.
Nice clean decor but in a city with a bajillion Thai restaurants, there's really no reason to come here unless you live really close. Food was mediocre, they charge you a corkage fee and all the food is too sweet. On the plus side, the bathroom is really nice! They've got incense and potpourri.
(2)Alfred C.
Great thing about this place is that they open late! I believe they close at midnight on the weekends which is very refreshing to see since most Asian places closes around 9 daily. We came here after a friend's birthday party and order Lad Nar and Yum Tom Soup with noodles. I'm not an expert on YTS but I was with one. She said the soup was good, sour and hot just the way she likes it. I had the Lad Nar and it was is quite savory. The veggies were fresh and the beef was tender, probably the best I'd ever had. The decor was inviting and nice. The service was quick and attentive. I drink a lot of water and they must have refilled my glass at least 5 times. Prices aren't that different from any other places, $20 (tips included) for 2 dishes. On another note, this place is BYOB. I'm not a big drinker but that's definitely a plus.
(4)Keith S.
This place really sucks. I ordered take out. Order was placed at 8pm. Delivery was promised at 8:40pm. Actual delivery time... Who knows. It is 9:40 and I have nothing yet. Never again.
(1)Anna P.
I love pot pan. Every dish I've ever ordered was always very delicious. It is also owned by this sweet family so I love supporting it. They also have very fast delivery too.
(5)Marian C.
This place is delicious and BYOB. The crab rangoon is delicious. The take out is not as good as it is when dining in, but still is so good. What can you expect? The price is very reasonable as well. The curries and noodle dishes are all very tasty and they will make anything as spicy as you'd like it. If you try this place, I recommend dining in.
(4)Seth F.
I feel like Jewish Santa giving this place a 2. Let's be honest: the Asian restaurant space is a bit overcrowded, the quality of the participants can be a bit homogeneous. So, if you operate an establishment that has the chutzpah (Jewish Santa's words, not mine) to charge a higher than average price for your fare, the quality of your food dern well better justify the extra money. Pot Pan's food does not, it's overly fried, there isn't anything interesting or new on the menu and nothing I've ever ordered there has been particularly good. It avoided 1 star only because it's edible and I reserve the single star Scarlet Letter for the lowest circle of Yelp Hell.
(2)Nisa D.
Great spot for thai food, i order the crab raggoon and pot stickers and those were really good and the sauce too. I order noodles as well they were ok im used to having them with wide noddle not thin crystal clear noodle. But overall we will be back :)
(4)Yaniv K.
The first time I came here I was delighted with the pad thai. But after coming back last weekend, I was profoundly disappointed. I ordered the thai fried BBQ and it paled in comparison. No flavor, no texture, nothing to look forward to. Meh, I doubt I'm coming back to Pot Pan again.
(3)Candice H.
This was definitely a lucky spot to stop in while on my way to the arcade and the Wicker Park fest yesterday. Positives first: Their Moji ice cream is delicious. At least the vanilla flavor was. They also offered green tea, chocolate, and one other flavor I cannot remember. Perhaps lychee? Also, a single serving with whip cream is only 2.00. So if its something new you have never tried, it's totally worth it. The steamed pot stickers are also very yummy. You only get 4, and they are not very big, but they taste great for an appetizer. The prices are totally reasonable. We ordered 1 pop, 1 chai tea (which was one of the best I ever had), 1 (large) portion of pad thai, 1 shrimp dumpling order, 1 steam pot sticker order, and 1 moji ice cream for 23$. Not bad for a pit stop of 3 people in Wicker Park. Not bad at all. The restaurant itself was clean, fast paced, and of what waitresses can be found in the place, they are very compliant and sweet...or at least understandable. The negatives: Their pad thai, which seems to be everyones favorite since nobody knows or wants to try anything new with a different name at a thai/chinese restuarant, is very bland. The serving was large and proportionate, and the tofu soaked up all of the flavor , but there was no kick to it. No spice what so ever. And that's always disappointing when ordering good pad thai. The tables are super uncomfortable. Definitely made for people shorter than 5ft 6, which I nor either of my 2 guests were.
(4)Sophie A.
Disappointing -- mostly because of the rude service. We just sat down and realized that a big group of people came in, so to be nice, we proactively moved to the end table so the staff could push the tables we were sitting at together for the group. Unfortunately, our neighborly behavior wasn't reciprocated when the waitress got angry with and raised her voice at me because I asked to have my dinner without rice and carrots. Just no rice...and no carrots. Anyway, I chalked it up to the restaurant being understaffed while managing large groups of walk-ins, but still...
(2)Kedar D.
I was surprised by the food here. I expected generic, watered-down Thai stir-frys but instead got a respectably spicy and substantial dish ("spicy basil leaves with tofu", $8.25). The dish was colorful, nicely presented, and the portion size was just right (though not enough for leftovers). I specified no fish sauce and the waitress seemed aware of what veganism and vegetarianism represent. That said, it would be nice if they labeled all the dishes that can be made vegan. I'd also love to see them offer mock duck or some other mockmeat options, in addition to tofu. Amazingly though, Pot Pan offers brown rice! Not only that, the brown rice is extremely high quality (possibly from the Isaan province in Thailand). It cost an extra $2 or so, but it was nice to have that option, especially for such a high quality and rare product. I don't think I've ever been to a Thai restaurant, in this price range, that offers brown rice. The atmosphere here is upscale and romantic though the prices are more akin to a Chinese take-out joint. Pot Pan is definitely a good value. If you're vegan and happen to be in the area I would recommend Pot Pan. Some other great Thai options in Chicago include Dharma Garden and Pho's Thai Cuisine.
(3)Kel W.
I am still in search of a great Thai place in the city. Okay, okay...I have to head north. Opart Thai is the best I've experienced so far in the city limits, and I do want to expand . However, is it wrong to think that there should be ONE Thai place in the Logan Square/Wicker/Bucktown area that serves up amazing Thai food? It's like everyone is just hitting sub-par. Pot Pan is completely included in this group. I ordered take out yesterday and paid $9.75 for a small portion of Pad See Ew that was completely and totally bland. No sauce taste at all. I had to take the sweet soy sauce that I requested for my veggie egg rolls and pour that on the noodles. Not to mention that the meal was pretty much all noodle. What a disappointment. The thai iced coffee was decent. The veggie egg rolls just tasted like grease. I'll be taking my business elsewhere next time. Will someone please blast past this race towards mediocrity? Next....
(2)Brian G.
Overall its just average thai food. I had the spicy noodles. It was a big portion but it was just ok.. The waiter was really nice though. Their thai iced coffee is a dream though. About 13 bucks. Might or might not come back, maybe if I'm in the area. The decoration was nice but it was a bit empty
(3)Erika K.
I ordered online and it was ready promptly, so that was a plus. However, my experience began to suck once I actually started eating my food. My boyfriend got Pad Thai with Chicken and I got the Tom Yum Noodle Soup. It was basically a sugar bath. The Pad thai was super sticky and it kind of tasted like refrigerator. The sauce was terrible: pure sugar and hardly any flavor. I'd rather by an instant pad thai box from the store. My soup was a little better, but still far too sugary especially for a soup. The chicken was so bland and tough, I could hardly recognize it as chicken. We both have aching tummies. I won't return to Pot Pan, even though it's difficult to find decent Thai in Wicker Park.
(2)Christina F.
Now that I have been more than once, the initial love has worn off. Don't get me wrong, I could never separate from my Panang Curry. Its just all the other stuff is horrible. The Crab Rangoon tastes like pure MSG (or what I believe MSG tastes like), the Wonton Soup had me gagging in the middle of the restaurant, and the Chicken Satay has too much cumin flavor in it. The seats are tiny and the staff is slow. My friends also got the Thai iced tea which tasted like one of the waitresses vomited it into the cup. Sorry for the visuals but if you tasted it, you would know. Overall I will only go back when I get my Panang Curry craving once every few months.
(3)Phil T.
Hoping to find a solid thai joint in the area! Well Honestly i's hard to mess up pad see eiw, but at the sametime it's hard to find a really good one! This was just mediocre at best. Luckily the food did come out in 5 mins for take out, not kidding. If it wasn't for that then def rating would be lower. The portion size was smaller n was lacking the typical Thai two portion meal. :( I did ask for it to be spicy and they made it with a perfect kick. Overall flavor wasn't that impressive. Besides that when ordering take out, you have to order at the back of the store. You will notice that literally it seems like a mini hoarder lives back there. Definitely a surprise bc the ambience is rather nice but kids toys of the owner, stacks of older magazines, just mounds of paper work. It's clutter that you can see or even sit next to when waiting for food. It's completely sloppy and shouldnt be visible. If the owners are sloppy wouldn't want to see the kitchen! No way Jose....this is an one-n-done! ;-)
(2)Lori Taylor R.
Not impressed ... We entered and the owner was sitting at a large table alone, eating. The entire restaurant was empty. He did not get up, but pointed over to the left for us to take a seat. Many of the reviews talk about the decor - But what about the mess!?! The walls were filthy, the floor dirty and heavily scratched and the window in the lobby area I don't think has ever been cleaned. Maybe I wouldn't have noticed all of this if our service was a little more attentive. We couldn't understand it - we were the ONLY people in the entire restaurant. Why couldn't we get better service? The food was alright, but both of us ordered spicy entrees and neither of us tasted any spice at all. It took forever for the waitress to bring our check over. As we were leaving the man that had been eating at the large table in the center of the restaurant had now moved over to a small two top table on the right-hand side of the restaurant for his afternoon nap. Seriously? Wake up and pay more attention to your customers - just a thought.
(2)Chris M.
Meh is exactly how I would describe this place. I was in the mood for thai food and I was new to the area and this place seemed worth a shot. It wasn't. I wouldn't say it was bad but it definitely wasn't anything special. For the record I did do take out, but just not that great.
(2)Jasmine P.
I tried Pot Pan when I saw them on GrubHub. (Thanks, Pot Pan, for delivering to me!) I really was craving Thai food and Pot Pan did not disappoint. I ordered my usual (Pad See Eiw) with spring rolls and crab rangoon. Everything came properly packaged and delivered with care. Nothing was spilled helter skelter and delivery was very timely. I hope to experience Pot Pan's restaurant, but for now will be ordering for delivery from them. Keep up the great service and yummy food!
(4)Rick M.
POT PAN is one of my favorite Thai restaurants. They used to be located on North ave but then closed for about year. Then I was surprised to see them again on Milwaukee. The owners are very friendly and you'll even be greeted by her 8 year old son who manages to sneak in showing you his toys. If you are real nice, sometimes he'll even give you a piece of candy. The ambiance is pleasant with candles decking the tables, an Asian-esque feel to it. The owner shared too how she remodeled the new location by herself. Oh and to the food. Great Thai cuisine, reasonably priced. Ask for the Lad Nar but have them make the noodles crispy. OMG.
(4)Marisa P.
Ordered online on a Wednesday night and the food took almost two hours for delivery. When I called to check where our dinner was, she put me on hold for about 5 minutes and then when she came back I was disconnected. When I kept trying to call back the number wasn't working. My food was very oily and didn't have my flavor. My husband had one of the curry dishes and that was pretty good. I just can't give a place in Chicago more than 2 stars when there are so many other places that have better delivery.
(2)Monica W.
I'm not a connoisseur but I am a healthy eater so I eat Thai alot. I found their green curry to be hot just to the limit of what I could eat comfortably and I have never tasted more tender or juicier chicken satay. Great place to eat!
(5)Angela Z.
Definitely an improvement from my last time ordering. Everything was delivery timely and was tasty. I ordered Pad See Eiw Beef- I think it could have used a bit more sauce. Crab Rangoon was tasty Shrimp roll was really good. You can not really go wrong with fried items. I will be ordering from here again in the future. I am glad they made a turn around from my last order.
(4)Erin J.
I got their chicken lad nar, the Vietnamese spring rolls and crab rangoon last night and I was thoroughly unimpressed. The noodles in the lad nar were all congealed at the bottom of the dish into one big uni-noodle. The gravy was scant and the chicken tasted boiled. The broccoli was greyish. I tossed it about two minutes after I opened up the container. $8 down the drain right off the bat. The spring rolls tasted good; my only complaint is likely a matter of taste...but who wraps up all the ingredients into a thick, watery leaf of iceberg lettuce and then wraps it up into rice paper? I HATE iceberg lettuce and it was wholly unnecessary for this dish. I really liked the spicy peanut oil they served with it, however. The crab rangoon was 4 little twisted over-fried pouches of goo. I've gotten a lot better - and more - for less elsewhere. Also, I ordered an iced tea, and for $1.50 I honestly expected more than a 12-oz cup filled with ice. That makes me sound cheap, but there it is. I won't go here to eat and I won't order delivery from them again.
(2)Emily R.
I feel horrible having to write a poor review, but I gave Pot Pan several chances and was more disappointed each time. I got pad thai last weekend and it was AWFUL. It didn't taste like pad thai at all and the noodles were not fully cooked. I ordered take-out; otherwise, I would not have paid for this item. I've ordered their egg rolls on a few occasions and being an egg roll connoisseur, I say they're Ok. They are a lot of options out there for asian food - I'd go elsewhere.
(2)Gigi R.
The food was horrible, I threw out more than half of it. The golden shrimp was not even shrimp, some un-identifiable meat (if I can even call it that). The Pad See Eiw was watered down and flavorless and the fried rice came as a complete wrong order. I ordered the rice with bbq pork (paid extra for it) and it came with chicken and no pork, the description said it had green onions, not regular onions, so I asked for it without green onions since I am allergic to all onions and it came loaded with onions and could not even eat a bite of it. The only thing that was ok was the custard, but the serving size was so small I felt cheated. All in all, the delivery was wrong, was charged extra, and was not happy with the quality of food. Gross. I will not be ordering from them again.
(1)Katie A.
Used to go here pretty regularly when I lived in the neighborhood, but one time I went with a friend and saw the owner (?) cutting her daughter's hair in the *kitchen*. Yeah, that's what I said. Cutting hair in the kitchen. Next to the food. Never again.
(1)Nicole M.
Delicious for takeout. For dining in, it's fine, but very quiet. Good service.
(4)Nicolas H.
Weird service aside, this place serves up some pretty decent thai food. I assume our waitress was the owner's daughter, as I don't know what other kind of establishment (besides Hooters/Coyote Ugly) would allow a server to wear a playboy bunny t-shirt and short shorts. She also seemed to have an issue with us, or just a stink eye problem, but no matter, i wasn't there for the service. The vietnamese spring rolls were pretty good, even though they were a little lacking in the bbq pork department. The cucumber salad was fine, but literally just cucumbers in a sweet sauce with one piece of green pepper. The Pad Thai was good, nothing out of this world, but definitely tasty and what you would expect. They definitely do a lot of take out, which maybe I would do next time instead...
(3)Paul S.
Panang!!! One of my favorite places to eat Thai. I always get the panang curry with tofu* (rarely stray from that). I've been going here for 10 years. Love the delivery service-just got some last night! Guy is quick and remembers me from waay back!! Never fails. *It is spicy and WILL clear you out in the morning.
(5)Carlos T.
Okay, I don't like writing negative reviews, but this time I had to. Things we ordered: - 2 tum yum soups - 1 crab rangoon - 1 chicken satay - spring rools and here it goes... When we open the bag, there were the two tum yum soups, each in it's cup and each cup wrapped in a plastic bag. What happened? well, the 2 plastic lids were totally destroyed, which means that at least half the soup (in each cup) was all over the plastic bag, which I wasn't going to eat, due to the unknown origin of the plastic bags and the hygiene issues. I ended up having the soup that was left, though. In the ingredients of the soup it reads "mushrooms" but what did I get? ONE mushroom in each soup... really? Alright... enough with the soup. Crab rangoon: most of it was crust. Just a little cream cheese and the sauce for it wasn't enough. Chicken satay: the chicken tasted like anything but satay. Funny flavor also. Spring rolls: is it really that hard to go wrong with spring rolls? Well, it seems that it's possible! We were not even able to eat them with our bare hands! They were not sticky as spring rolls should be, so they kept on falling apart, plus they were not tight. Seem that there wasn't enough filling. oh, on top of all these, the delivery dude was rude. Didn't even say "hello", he just handed me the bag. basically... on my *beep* list.
(1)Tram L.
My fav place ever since I first moved to wicker park this year. A perfect place for brunch on the weekend or a cozy dinner, either outside (summer only of course :D) or inside. Love the Tom yum. Decent price too.
(5)Matthew M.
Not my fav Thai place in town, but if you are in Wicker Park it is worth your time. The service was good and it seemed to be a family operation, which I like. They made a special dish not on the menu for my girlfriend who was craving a specific yellow curry. They made my dish very hot, how I like it. It is hard to find places that will actually make a dish a 9 when you ask for it. Giving it 3 stars because there are at least three other Thia places that I prefer. This one happens to be near my place, so I will go there again.
(3)Mike A.
Green curry was excellent!! Get it spicy.
(5)Nicole N.
The Green chicken curry dish I had was delicious. It had a hint of coconut flavor which I love. I also tried the Pad Thai, which was also really good with their hot sauce.
(4)Dani S.
I am a huge fan of Thai food in general and there are a few tasty places to choose from in the Wicker neighborhood and each with certain dishes better than others, but in my opinion, Pot Pan has the best Pad Thai I think I've ever had-- the best egg rolls too. These weren't the super deep-fried atrocities filled with questionable meat and veggies, they were very fresh and lightly fried with shrimp and chicken and crunchy cabbage. The Pad Thai also came with a spicy red paste on the side which was great because I prefer spice to offset the sweet peanut taste of the dish. Oh, and I ordered through Grub Hub and from the moment I hit 'order' I don't think it took more than 15 minutes before they were on my doorstep. Great experience overall.
(4)Nathan C.
Not quite as much spice as I had anticipated for a four star order, but pretty tasty. The restaurant itself was a bit warm, not really necessary when the food is already going to heat you up. Quick service, but I was one of two people inside.
(4)Brendan B.
This is hands down my favorite BYOB Thai place in city. The food is great, the waitstaff is extremely friendly and they're always willing to make adjustments to the dishes to suit your taste (ie could tone the spice down from lava hot to just pretty spicey).
(5)Paulius N.
Pretty solid Thai. I'd go back, not expensive. Fresh, well presented. Carry on.
(3)Shakira E.
My Husband had the Garlic Chicken and it was awesome, but the Pad Thai was too sweet for me. I liked the vibe of the place and would come back.
(3)Nick S.
It's around the corner from me but more importantly the food is great, and it is not expensive. The ambiance and location makes it a good place for a date (you can take him/her across the street to Davenports right after!). It is also great for take out and it's BYOB, so if you're feeling lazy be sure to stop at the nearby 7-11 and get some crappy wine to compliment your tasty meal. Just don't eat anything that is spicy (Khee Mao, Bamee Deluxe) for leftovers at 3am when having that extra couple-ten drinks before bedtime. The paint in your restroom walls will thank you for it.
(4)Matt C.
This place is really, really good. It's never crowded (a shame,) easy to get to, and the food is always fresh and delicious. The staff is very friendly, also. I've tried at least five items on the menu, and none have disappointed. Go in here, close your eyes, point at the menu, and try not to frighten your waitress by your strange ordering technique.
(4)leila r.
ok. so i can't say that I've had the food, but I'm a stickler for service. if you treat me right and the food is good, i'm a customer for life. i tried placing an order for delivery and the fools wanted to charge extra because i wanted rice noodles instead of rice. they said i had to pay for the side order even if i didn't want the rice in my meal. wtf?! is it really that big of a deal? cancelled my order, called someone else who was happy to oblige.
(1)Sean S.
Yeah, this was a good choice for a place close to where we were when we decided we were honngrry! The off-duty waitstaff was hanging out being delightful and secretly watching youtube videos of tina turner. They used vegetable broth for a pretty-delicious tom yum soup at my request, and the tofu fried wontons were fun to eat. Fond.
(4)Casey S.
My girlfriend and I both got awful food poisoning right after eating here. I have only been so sick one other time in my life, and that was when I was hospitalized. I've had OK experiences at Pot Pan before, but it's safe to say I will NEVER go back there now.
(1)Kim J.
I do not understand why the Thai food in Wicker Park is all just so-so. Having been recently wronged by Thai Lagoon (our standby), we decided to try delivery from Pot Pan. Our order? Potstickers, pad see ew with tofu (for me), and green curry (for the boyfriend). The potstickers were ok. My pad see ew was quite good. But the green curry? Awful, watery, wtih a strange flavor. You could hold a gun to my head and I wouldn't eat that stuff. Delivery was quick enough, driver was friendly enough. I'd give this place another shot, but I'd steer clear of the green curry.
(3)Melissa H.
I thought I had written a review already......oops. Originally I would have rated Pot Pan 3 maybe 4 stars. It was always consistent takeout that we could rely on, but we recently stopped in for lunch during the day and the food was not the same. I ordered the Pad Thai and I had to send it back because the noodles were wet. I prefer my Pad Thai dry, and it also lacked flavor. I ordered the shrimp fried rice instead and the shrimp looked like they were not cooked long enough! Yuck! Needless to say I only ate the rice. I don't know if I will be back. Wicker Park lacks in restaurants as it is, and now this is one less restaurant available to me.
(2)Emily S.
Went here with a group of friends. Wait service was good. Food was great. Price was right and it's BYOB!
(4)Richard S.
I've been here twice. Both times have been good. I love cashew chicken and theres was above average. The presentation of the dishes is done well and the proportions are nice. You won't fill overstuffed. They have a nice selection of appetizers. I really enjoy there crab rangoon. The springrolls were pretty tasty. I tried the cucumber salad the last time I was there and it was really fresh. Besides it was only $1! It's BYOB for now but I live pretty close so I stopped by the 711 grabbed some wine and headed down the street. I was also pretty dehydrated the second time I went there and my water glass was constantly refilled! Good food. Great prices.
(4)Kelly R.
I think Pot Pan is my new favorite Thai place. The food is fantastic and just as cheap as all the other Thai places.... entrees are all around $6, apps around $3-4. And they have mochi - YUM! But what makes this place stand out is the ambiance at their new location. As we all know, Thai restaurants just aren't known for being chic and trendy, but this one is by far the nicest Thai restaurant I have ever been in. The new decor is really nice and it's still byob... makes for a cheap and wonderful dinner!
(5)Alisha J.
Pros: close to my apartment Cons: The food is soso (besides the bits of black..matter in my rice. seriously, what was that?) and the staff is consistently rude. Spend your money elsewhere
(1)Denisse M.
I wish i could have given this place no stars. The only good thing about this place was the service and the iced thai tea. WARNING NEVER ORDER THE BBQ FRIED RICE, It was disgusting no flavor it had a like a funky smell. I have peanut allergies and we asked the waiter if any of the food we order had peanuts and he said NO, well 10 minutes into our meal i started to get a rash, my breathing was getting heavier. yep something in our food had peanuts. I had to run to the bathroom to apply my medicine. THIS PLACE IS THE WORSE.
(1)Marissa P.
Love their Bamee BBQ Pork dry noodles. Fast service for deliveries, nice wait staff and fabulous decor in the actual restaurant. This is a definite staple for everytime i'm visiting my Gram who lives in the neighborhood.
(5)Catherine D.
BEST PANANG CURRY EVER. Get it with the brown rice, which is basically black and super delicious. Seriously. This place looks kinda meh/ hokey from the outside but they are serious about their curries. And it's really fast. And they deliver. And you can always get a table.
(5)Bobby K.
This was my go-to Thai take-out place for my first year in the city. Everything on the menu is really cheap, and while I can only speak for the noodle and rice dishes, they're all more than qualified to be your local take out staple. But they also have a cute and clean interior that's perfect for a BYOB night out. The price and the dine-in atmosphere are what elevate this place above average.
(4)Don B.
I was kinda disappointed, mediocre kinda on all items I tried. It was lunch and take out so maybe that was it, but I will search for another Thai take out before I try this one again
(2)emily b.
really tasty, and FAST delivery. ended up ordering from here when i realized penny's is closed on mondays. 4 stars instead of 5 because the peanut sauce was only so-so.... but most other elements of the meal were good. i'll definitely be ordering from here again!
(4)Becca F.
Update - I miss Joy's! Pot Pan has become very inconsistent. My fav dish tastes different everytime I get it. Tonight my meal was terrible. They either burned it or emptied the ash tray into the pan. Ordering in thai is a Sunday night routine for us...and I'm afraid I"m going to have to find a new option. :(
(2)Maura S.
We went to Pot Pan on a Saturday night and our group was easily accommodated. Prices were very reasonable and everyone in the group agreed that their food was good. Pot Pan is a BYOB but we were charged a $2 corking fee per person.
(3)Binni S.
The red curry and Tum yum soup was very good! I do not recommend the spring rolls. The plum sauce tasted a little bitter with a funny after taste. Atmosphere is wonderful and the service is great!
(3)Jamie O.
Surprisingly delicious. I clearly have been frequenting too many average Thai spots in Chicago. They only use vegetable oil for cooking and no MSG. I had the spicy noodle (Khee Mao). The vegetables were crispy and flavorful and the noodles tasted fresh. Great find in my book!
(3)Gretchen O.
I went here with two pre-teens the other week. At 11:00am on a Saturday, it was empty, unlike most other restaurants in the area, so I'm keeping it in mind for brunch someday. The waitress was great - she even offered to cook American-style Chinese food for the kids, because they'd never tried Thai before. We're cooler than that, but it was a very nice thing to offer. The kids thought the food was wonderful, and so did I. The chicken satay was delicious, the pad thai was pretty good, and the vegetable/meat dishes the kids ordered were excellent.
(4)Leah V.
great food, love the crab rangoon and pot stickers. terrible TERRIBLE terrible service. every time. it's just bad. stick to take out.
(3)Kate Z.
This is my go-to place for a good, filling, cheap meal in Wicker Park. Perfectly large portions. Fast services. Good price. Haven't had anything I didn't like yet. Place is clean and BYOB to boot!
(4)Bianca J.
Meh. I remember this place being better when it was on North Avenue. The atmosphere is pleasant, the service is good but the food is kinda so-so. That said, they did deliver to us following a tornado scare, so they get kudos for that.
(3)Jen P.
Pot Pan is a neighborhood gem! The noodles, entrees, and appetizers are so good. Every dish I've had from here has been fresh and tasty. I'm kind of picky when it comes to the vegetables that are included in dishes such as the pad thai, egg rolls, etc. And all the vegetables from here have tasted super fresh. The prices are cheap and the restaurant is a nice, cute spot. I order delivery here more than I eat at the restauant, and the delivery is really quick. I usually get my food within 20 minutes of ordering. The serving sizes are a good portion, and I usually have enough to save half for lunch the next day. I'm a fan!
(4)John C.
A friend of mine invited us here for dinner (thanks Deeps!), but I had not been since the restaurant had moved from North Ave. to this new stylish Milwaukee Ave location. Clean, casual but classy! Crab Rangoons and curries were excellent, service was very sweet and timely. This is BYOB Thai at its finest!
(5)Nicole G.
Based on the other reviews, I was hoping this place was going to be a lot better, but it's just average. The prices are great, and who can beat BYOB. The cold apps we kinda bland and the tofu was way over cooked in the spring rolls. I had the Pad Thai, it was okay. My husband had the curry and loved it. So I guess the food items are hit or miss. I might come here again for some basic rice and veggies.
(3)Alex R.
Pot pan is where you go when you want a quick, cheap, quality meal after you get off work. It's going to blow you out of the water, but it definitely walks the fine line between convenience and quality. The red and green curry are both solid every time, but the noodles can be hit or miss.
(3)Leo L.
This is the best thai I've tasted in the city so far. The panang curry and spicy basil dishes are succulent. The pad thai is too sweet and could use some peanut sauce, however. The decor inside is pretty cool, they always give us an ice bucket for the wine we bring and they are so inexpensive ($7 a dish) that I wonder how they can stay in business. I'm now addicted to Pot Pan!
(5)Lindsay M.
Pot Pan is my new fav local Thai restaurant! I went here with a group of friends this past Saturday night for a late dinner and given that I live in the neighborhood, I wish I had discovered this place much sooner! The Panang Curry was excellent and they served just the right portion for a very reasonable price... $7.95, if I remember correctly. The Crab Rangoon was delicious... you could actually see bits of real (cooked) crab in it! The interiors of the place were tasteful and updated and my friends and I could have a conversation, no problem! I also like that it's BYOB. I'll definitely be going back!
(4)Corey S.
For consistently flavorful Thai food, it is a can't miss. There is no corkage fee and it is much quieter and less hurried than Penny's. It is a local place with a good following. Penny's aside, I have seen some other Thai joints that make this place look like Mr. Clean had just dined. All in all, good bet and bang for the buck.
(4)Peggy K.
I wanted to give Pot Pan 4 star rate because of their friendly atmosphere, cut and clean...very cozy indeed. Its a nice place to hang out and bring your own babe. The food tastes however just mediocre.... allbeit, the presentation shows their hard work.
(3)Douchee D.
Horrifyingly bad. What in the heck happened to this place? I remember when they were on North Ave their food was alright. I had takeout last night and almost barfed. There is so much thai food in the neighborhood (that delivers), I'll never go back. What a complete disappointment for what should have been a wonderful Sunday night meal. I almost jumped in my car to go and get my money back.
(1)Paul L.
Wonderful wonderful Thai food. Decent pricing and very tasty. They spice things up by putting some TLC into their presentation of decor and food. Not to mention the spice they put in my pad thai was a water-sipper. Try the Vietnamese Spring Roll to start, the portion is larger than you think and it packs lots of flavor. Nice job Pot Pan
(4)Samuel A.
I got delivery from them last night. The ordering process was fairly painless, and they delivered in a speedy fashion. We were quoted 45 minutes and the food was there in 30 minutes. They were friendly too. There is not much to write about the food. The green curry was very spicy and tasted too much of black licorice. The Pad Thai had no soy beans but cabbage (never saw that before) and the taste was overall pretty bland. Shrimp dumplings were nothing to talk about. It all kind of felt like I was eating frozen Thai dishes from the local grocery store. Not bad, but not good either. It wasn't too expensive but in that price range, I can think of more interesting places to eat from.
(3)steve k.
It was Pot Pan or Harold's Chicken shack across the street. I didn't feel like getting my grease on with a bum leg so I opted for Thai. Pot Pan was a cute, well decorated restaurant in my opinion. A lot of small details over the windows, plants, wide screen TVs up high and deep house music playing over the speakers. The food was not bad (I highly recommend the shrimp wonton soup), came out pretty quickly and was tasty. My only complaint is the amount of sugar the seemed to use in my friend's dish. Other than that, it was pretty standard. The waitress was very attentive with the water, but was not overbearing. Good times all around.
(3)Donisha L.
The best Thai place I've been to in a while. I've been deperately searching for a place in the city, close to home, that would know how to prepare my spicy basil leave chicken with intensity. Far from the other bland, meatless entrees I've had in the past, Pot Pan did NOT disappoint. If you choose to dine in, they also offer a very cute and quaint ambiance to add to the deliciousness. Officially placing their number on my speed dial. Definitely my new found Wicker Park fav!
(4)Michelle F.
I ordered from Pot Pan one evening when I was at the end of fighting a massive hangover. I ordered the Pad See Ew with chicken and Vietnamese spring rolls. They arrived quickly and were nice and warm when i busted it open, but i gotta say....not my favorite place. The Pad See Ew was decent, but the noodles were broken up very small and there were like, 5 pieces of chicken. The rolls were ok. I would eat here again if I really have a craving and don't want to drive up to my fave spot in Lincoln Square, but I probably wouldn't actively seek it out.
(3)Marlene D.
Yum. Pot Pan is great and cheap. Don't get the pad thai though. (I moved to Chicago a year ago and really have yet to have a really great pad thai in the city. Mama Thai in Oak Park is the best I've had yet). Panang Curry with tofu is my favorite right now. The service isn't the greatest but I can overlook that. I went tonight and it took way too long to get our check and a few weeks ago my sister and I went with her 1 1/2 year old at 5pm and the waitress was clearly not excited to have a baby in the restaurant. It's okay to not be thrilled about babies/kids but try and hide your distain a little.
(4)Jeff W.
This is the best Thai take-out I've had in Chicago. The panang curry was delicious, and the staff was super nice. I'll be back.
(5)Melissa B.
Pretty decent thai delivery. I think this is our new go to for thai food. I had the spicy basil leaves with beef and the bf had the pad se eiw with chicken. Both were excellent, not greasy. We also had the crab rangoon, which were ok, nothing special and the fried wontons, which were also just ok. The delivery was very fast and the person taking orders was very pleasant. All very important for the place I choose as my go to for thai delivery.
(4)Caroline T.
Went here with a few friends, in search of a great BYOB in Wicker. According to a yelp review it was the best thai byob in the city. I beg to differ. Although the price was right. I really was not a fan of the abiance. Very lighted, too lighted, and too quiet. It was a saturday night and their were time where my friends and i had to whisper because no one else was talking, tragic. We had two bottles of wine and had to finish quickly because they were closing at 11. The crab ragoons were good, the pad thai not so much. Two choices of desert, both not very good. The place was fine but I will probably not go again.
(3)Susie C.
The setting is really nice--dimly lighted and most of the customers are in their 20s-30s. It is a pretty hip place. The food is pretty good. It isn't hard to find parking which is a plus.
(4)Wendy L.
I love this place. Best spicy noodles in town. They could put a little more chicken in (which is why they don't get 5 stars) and the portions are a little small (still plenty of food though). They're quick for carryout too, even if you just walk in. Love this place, love it, love it.
(4)Lauren M.
Definitely solid Thai food. Fast and cheap too. Tom yum soup (not too spicy which I liked), crab rangoon, and pad se ew were all delicious. I'd pass on the pad bamee next time. We ordered take out and picked it up in 15 min. Overall I was very pleased. I'll be back!
(4)M S.
I've basically been under a rock for the past 25 days, eating frozen meals and studying for a board exam. But today, I decided to live it up and get take-out from this place. It was totally worth it! I got the spicy eggplant with tofu (under 10 minutes), and it was an excellent balance of vegetables and tofu. I'm so happy to have eaten a real meal, this review is probably a little skewed. Nevertheless, I intend to go back soon, and actually have the meal in-house. It's got a nice low-lit modern decor, and isn't bustling. They deliver for $2 and have a $10 minimum for orders. Check it out!
(4)maeve P.
Decent, nothing amazing. Better than some places though. Their Thai Iced Tea was way too sweet. They are open pretty late too.
(3)m c.
good, solid food. their pad khee mow was disappointing, but their curries are good as is the fried rice. good satays, and reliable pad thai. restaurant is new and nice, not grungy as some of the others, and service is prompt (they deliver too). in wicker park, light years ahead of places like zen, pennys (the most godawful place ever), and thai village. still searching for the perfect pad khee mow however...
(4)Ana M.
We came in on a Sunday it was empty. My husband and I were the only people there, there was a weird smell it wasn't too strong so we decided to stay and order food since they have the best Rama broccoli I have ever had. The food was good, I remember it tasting a lot better though, service was also good. I don't think I'll ever go back, there are other thai restaurants I like better.
(3)T. M.
My boyfriend and I ordered potpan because it's usually a good vegetarian place in wicker. When we received our pad see ew it was covered in jalapeños and crushed red pepper. It was completely disgusting. When we called back to complain the guy on the phone argued with us about the food always looking like that. We had previously ordered from here a few times a month and it was never like this. It looked almost like it was a joke. The time we visited before this, we tried to use a coupon on our jewel receipt and the owner came out to tell us that they were incorrectly printed on receipts and didn't actually work. This place is a joke. Terrible customer service. Inconsistent food and rude staff.
(1)Keely B.
I really wish I could give half stars, because the perfect rating for this place is a 3.5. It's cute and cozy, modern. The food was better than average (though no one will ever compare to Ben's, as far as I'm concerned). The service was slow and...unpleasant is too harsh a word. Civil, I guess is the word I was looking for. Polite, but not friendly. The Tom Kha was a little on the sour side and lacked the spice I had hoped for, and the Pad Sie Eiw was a bit dry, but I am told that the vegetarian egg rolls were fantastic.
(4)Food T.
I absolutely love this place. I've been to several thai places around chicago and so far this is definitely at the top of my list. To be a little more specific, I usually go for the Panang Curry, which is pretty awesome. Food is probably around four stars but the price makes it really tough to beat.
(5)Jelena Z.
You should go. It's cheap and the food is quite good. I sampled a few nibbles of their pork fried rice, a crab rangoon and a spring roll, and I was pleased. BYO with no corkage fees. Warm ambiance and attentive service. We had reservations for a group of 15 on a Sat. evening. Considering that one of my male friends made the reservation, I'm reasonably sure that he didn't give the staff at Pot Pan all that much notice. So very accommodating of them. Oh, and the staff didn't blink an eye as some of us (not me) drank their vodka straight from the bottle. What a bunch of ruffians.
(4)Kelsey K.
We've gotten take out from here a few times and it's purdy darn good. I wouldn't say that it's be best bang for your buck when it comes to Thai food in the city but it definitely cures the Thai cravings that you get deep down in your soul sometimes. I recommend the pad thai, crab rangoon and the panang... but then again, that's always what I recomend.
(4)Sara W.
here was delicious thai food that was reasonably priced. I had a big plate of cashew chicken, delicious chicken with cashews and veggies and rice and all. it was delicious! i loved it! i went there with a couple of friends and it was a very funny time. we bought rum and coke and pleasure at being alive. i feel bad because my friend spilled water on their floor, and because it happened while we were already paying and heading out, i didn't mention to them that there was a little puddle of spilled water. i hope they didn't mind too much. they were nice waiters, not too chatty, but attentive. it was a nice little time!
(4)Not J B.
Upscale atmosphere but very reasonably priced typical Thai which went down easy but wasn't something I felt couldn't be replicated at another restaurant. Also, I had to flag down a kitchen worker on his way to the bathroom to get the rest of my food to go so y'know, there's that too. It's worth noting that the kitchen entrance pathway is right between the entrance of both bathrooms. I wouldn't go here when it's crowded if you're thinking about it.
(2)Curly O.
New to Chicago, I was recommended here by a friend. I was really happy with the food. The location was clean and the mood was perfect for a quiet evening dinner. The staff was also very helpful and friendly.. I had the Curry Chicken - No left overs. It was that delicious. Next time I visit... I'm definitely coming here again.
(4)Sarah S.
Went here since I was heading to see a play and it was close.. just a shot in the dark Tom Yum soup was good Egg rolls were great Pad thai was good, but nothing special Cashew Chicken was good, but needed a little spice which they gave and I added I would stop by if in the area again, but not sure I would make a special trip. Good service Good decor Clean restrooms
(3)Jinna H.
IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT- no, it really was -WHEN I went to pick up my carryout order from Pot Pan. Wasn't sure what to expect. $11.88 and I was out the door with my food. Finally getting it back to my digs in Humboldt Park, I basically had the best Thai I have ever had. Egg rolls were crisp and flavorful. Not to mention ACTUALLY EGG ROLL SIZED, instead of those tiny ones most Thai places give you. And the pad sie ew with tofu...guh. Largest serving of the stuff I've ever had. Sauce is thick, and all of it on the noodles. Very flavorful and filling. Being a tasty food addict, I will definitely come back here again.
(5)Lau S.
Ordered lunch delivery, since I had a foot injury and the place is a few blocks from my work. An hour later, I call to ask about the status of my food. The person on the phone assures me the driver is on his way and it'll be there in 10 minutes. Half an hour after that, I call back and get the exact same response. I said I wanted to cancel the order and be refunded. Guy says he'll have the driver call me and hangs up while I'm still talking. Food arrives, lukewarm, a while later. The green curry didn't even have coconut milk in it. Stab.
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