Dongpo Impression

Such a hidden gem! Went there with my friends on the night of Chinese new year, and they were busy but not that crazy. You know they made it fresh. Cuz it took a while for the dishes to be served lol. Understand, cuz it’s the new year night. But the service was so nice and the waiter kept acknowledging we’ve been waiting and checking in with the kitchen. It was totally worth the wait! Two of us order three entrees which was a lot more than what you need… my favorite is the eggplant with spicy sauce. Also got the spicy fish, very generous portion. The spicy pork with carrots and zucchini was amazing! I told our server I really enjoyed the eggplant dish and then he started teaching us how to make it lol. Will totally come back to support their business! They do validate parking as well at the large lot.

This place offers some of the best food in all of Chinatown in my opinion. Every dish we tried was thoughtfully prepared, full of flavor, and presented with care. You can tell that the chefs take great pride in what they create because each plate felt like a true delicacy rather than something rushed or thrown together. The ingredients tasted fresh, the seasoning was perfectly balanced, and the portions were generous without compromising quality. I enjoyed the experience so much that I am planning to bring my entire family here in the near future. It is the kind of restaurant that makes you want to share the experience with others. The atmosphere is simple and humble, but that does not matter to me at all because the real star here is the food. When a restaurant delivers this level of taste and consistency, the décor becomes secondary. I sincerely hope they maintain this high standard over time because places like this are rare. When you find a spot that delivers exceptional dishes with such authenticity, you want to keep coming back again and again. I look forward to returning soon and enjoying more of the wonderful food they have to offer.

Yesterday, for our anniversary, we went to Dongpo Impression. We eat some pretty spicy stuff at home but the Three Treasure seagood soup at Dongpo was amazingly numbing filled with green Sichuan peppercorns and jalapenos. Unfortunately, the salt level was also very high which made it disappointing for us. The dumplings, green beans and Meizhou pork ribs were good -- still salty but edible. Fun to try new things and we will try to recreate a bit of this with salt levels more to our liking. I think this is more our personal tastes rather than a criticism of the chef. The restaurant is simple and lovely inside. The bathroom was a nice surprise, beautiful and very clean. Our server was attentive and answered our questions to the best of his ability.

Super tasty Sichuan food in the heart of Chinatown! We ordered the string beans, twice cooked pork, and cumin lamb - all of which were quite delicious! I feel like the twice cooked pork was absolutely packed with flavor and the pork was delightfully tender. Cumin lamb also hit all the right notes - spicy, savory, with amazing meat. Would highly, highly recommend for a Sichuan spot in the city!

The food has a very authentic Sichuan flavor, with a wide variety of dishes to choose from. The Squirrel Fish is made with flounder fillets and costs only $20. It’s completely boneless, so you can enjoy it without worry. The Dongpo Pork is also excellent—well-seasoned, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth. It pairs perfectly with the lotus leaf buns and is very satisfying with rice. The Maoxuewang is truly authentic, with a bold and well-balanced numbing spiciness. It includes kelp strips, bean sprouts, sausage, pork intestines, duck blood, and tripe—very generous and flavorful.

The service and the food were lovely. They still found a spot to seat us despite being swamped and made sure we were comfortable too. The food was delicious we ordered starters and main dishes and they all came fast. They then packed up our leftovers for us aswell and were overall very nice.

Each dish was delicious! Our food arrived quickly and the vibes of the restaurant were great. We were afraid we weren't going to be able to finish everything but nothing was leftover. I'd recommend the kung pao chicken!

Great food and great service. We ordered 8-9 items and everything was great. We ordered pick up on Christmas Day via a delivery service. Although that service was incorrect on pick up time, the restaurant made sure to expedite our order and got us out the door quickly with hot food. We’ll definitely go back.

This restaurant was conveniently located on the main road. We did a quick look on here and the reviews checked out. It was clean. All of the food was flavorful. We ordered two spicy dishes and crab ragoons which were delicious. The spicy cucumber dish was refreshing and had just the right amount of heat. It had me wanting more which is always a good sign. It tasted super fresh. The spicy noodles served cold were full of heat as advertised It was delightful. The portion sizes were great for the price. The service was friendly and efficient. I would highly recommend this place.

We had gone to Dongpo Impression for lunch. It is located on the main road and was pretty easy to spot. We ordered their pork wontons with chilli oil, shiitake mushroom and bokchoy stir fried and mapo tofu. The bokchoy and mapo tofu came with a portion of rice. Portion size was huge. The food was delicious, and the heat from the Sichuan peppers blew our mind (quite literally)! Some of the best wontons we have had. Service was quick. Overall it was a very good experience.

food: good portions for cheap, might be perfect takeout chinese in chinatown, there are some other dishes i want to try service: waiter was nice and on top of service, we went when inside was empty though ambiance: pretty nice and clean for a bit more of a whole in the wall

Came here after the Chinatown parade! I thought it was pretty decent and we ordered the classic geeen beans, walnut shrimp, mapo tofu, some chili chicken, and idk the rest. I really liked the tang yuan and the sesame balls at the end!

We got takeout, but the food still retained that amazing Chinese wok hey (aroma from food hitting a super hot pan). We ordered at the store and waited less than 10 minutes for our food. Bravo to quick service! The store has classic Chinese decor with smaller and larger tables. We had the mapo tofu, and the dish really grows on you! Everyone in Chinatown raves about how amazing bros dish is. It's definitely way more tofu, with a tiny bit of beef. Mixing the rice with the slightly mala sauce made the rice actually so addicting, and I found myself wanting to drink the sauce loll We also tried the dongpo rou, which I was really intrigued about because so many people made it on Culinary Class Wars. This was so delish, but a hit or miss. Some parts were incredibly tender, while others were much harder. Also had lots of dried cube tofu. The bok choy with shiitake mushroom was mostly bok choy, but it had that classic Chinese garlic infused flavor. Yum!!

We came on Saturday around 2 pm ish and were sat right away. Theres alot of seating for groups of 4-6 which is nice. Ambiance (3/5): well decorated, spacious dining area, but there was no music so it was eerily quiet lol. Service (5/5): our server made sure we always got what we needed. He was quick, filled our waters up, and even packed up all our food for us. Food: Xiao Long Bao (2/5): I was SO disappointed in these. The skin was a bit too thick but the meat was juicy. The broth was sickly sweet which kind of ruined the experience. Maybe it was a one off but I wouldn't recommend it. Spicy Wontons (4.5/5): these were stuffed and the skin was perfectly thick. The chili oil was not too spicy and slightly numbing. Would recommend this as an app for sure. Dry chili chicken (5/5): star of the show for sure! Chicken was juicy and crispy - the dry chili added a slight spice but the whole dish was perfectly savory. Great to pair with rice. Beef Noodle Soup (4/5): personal preference I wish the noodles were thinner but the broth was beefy, big portion, and noodles were well cooked Salt and Pepper Pork Ribs (4.5/5): I love salt and pepper things and this hit the spot. There were more bones than I expected so bite carefully. Otherwise, pork was juicy and nailed the salt & pepper seasoning. I'd take my family here for sure haha

This place has - hands down - the best mapo tofu around. You're in for a treat if you also love mala (numbing spice) food. I'm genuinely surprised I've never noticed this place! It's been around for so long. It's pretty easy to miss but it's near the fire department in Chinatown. You must try if you like sze chuan food. We came with a large group of 13 and we did family style. Everything was done right and so delicious. Service was also extremely fast.

I tried all new dishes and was still impressed by the quality of food here. Squirrel fish - they gave us 2 pieces of fish and it was crispy on the outside with a nice coating of sauce. The inside was very tender and tasted good. Cumin pork - the small pieces of pork were not overcooked and well seasoned with cumin. Double fried pork belly - intestines here taste really good. It can be a bit oily but I liked the Smokey flavor and crispy texture. Dandan noodles - great cold noodles with good sauce. No issues with atmosphere or service. The servers are very nice here.

Everything we ordered was delicious and came out extremely fast. It was off the main strip and I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a great bag for their buck with delicious affordable food. Our waiter was great and suggested some of the dishes we chose and they did not disappoint. The place was quiet when we got there which was an early time to dine but it was so nice to have nearly the whole place to ourselves.

My friends and I came here while visiting China town and it was seriously some of the best food we ate the entire weekend. The staff was so friendly and the food came out quickly! I also felt like it was reasonably priced as well! Would highly recommend coming here for the wontons and dandan noodles!

I loved their Ma Po Tofu (no meat), Yushiang Eggplant, Mala Fish Fillet, Zigong Eggplant, and Fish Fillet in Bean Sauce.

This is a hidden gem tucked in china town right by the red line station. We walked in here on a random weekday afternoon as it was suggested by some people on reddit. To our surprise, this place has some of the best Sichuan food we have ever had. We ordered the dan dan noodles and sichuan dumplings and they tasted heavenly. The ambience was like any other asian restaurant & thankfully the restaurant was not too crowded when we went, so we were served our order very promptly. I am definitely going to come here regularly for my Sichuan food fix.

Everything was sooooo good! I would love to visit Chicago again just for this place! The service was fast & food was fresh. It's looks like your regular drop in restaurants but it's definitely a hidden gem amongst the other places.

This restaurant is one of my friends' favorites and it did not disappoint! PLEASE get the sichuan cold noodle, I am still dreaming about that!! And the lamb cumin beef was so flavorful and perfectly spicy and pig ear and other cold apps were refreshing. The inside of the restaurant is nicely decorated, it's usually not too crowded so you're very likely to be seated and served quickly! A quieter restaurant for sure which is nice compared to some others nearby where you can barely hear what the person next to you is saying

Delicious food ! We had cucumbers to start off. Service was friendly and kind . Suggested different items and very fast . Clean inside dining area and no wait to sit down. Quiet and enjoyable lunch .

Their food is decent but they don't have the correct hours on their doordash / online ordering. I was able to place an order and it said they were still open, but then the dasher went to pick it up and the restaurant was closed

Ordered some DoorDash from here. Egg Drop Soup - tennis ball yellow. Was just ok for me - could have used a bit more flavor. Regular Pig Ears - Did not love - heavy use of young peppercorn that gives you the crazy numbing effect. If you love that feeling and flavor - you'd love that dish. Dongpo Pork with tofu - this dish was standout amazing. Delicate flavorful pork belly and tofu that soaked up the sauce. Two thumbs up. Beef Noodle Soup - Good but not amazing. Did love that they gave a pretty hefty portion of bok choy. Might need to go in and eat in person to see how if the experience is better.

Please try the fried eggplant... it is amazing!!! It seemed to be only one person serving on the front that day, quite busy.

The food here is spicy, and by spicy, I mean the numbing kind--in a good way. We ended up getting the boiled beef with soft tofu, spicy ears, and spicy wontons. All three dishes had different types of spice. The inside is super casual, so don't expect much in terms of ambiance. The staff were also nice in making recommendations. I'd recommend coming here for their spicy food because that's what they're known for.

Late lunch so very quiet and calm atmosphere. Waiter was very polite and explained couple of dishes. Our group ordered combo fried rice - which had a generous pieces of shrimp and beef strips. Wolf teeth is like a seasoned French fries which had a kick of peppercorns. Just crispy enough. Kung pao shrimp was a delight with both spice and sweetness. Shrimp was ample and savory. Boiled fish had huge pieces of fish... since I'm not a fan of peppercorns I let others finish this dish. Overall a great meal with a great price relative to other similar restaurants.

Food was so good. They started you out with fermented cabbage and water. They had a physical menu with a huge load of options. They also had a QR menu with pictures for every meal which helped a lot. We ordered the mapo tofu(came with white rice tasted good and savory; tofu was smooth to chew), general tso's chicken(also came with white rice), crab rangoons(very good) and salt and pepper squid(not pictured but very good for picky eaters like myself ah). All entrees were very good and will for sure be coming back again. Experience was very pleasant we got seated right away and were given plenty of time to order. They had seatings for big parties or small like us (2 people). They boxed up our food in to go boxes for us which was very appreciated as well!

This is one of our favorite restaurants in Chicago! Authentic Sichuan food with different spicy levels (you could always tell them to make it a non- spicy version and they are very accommodating). Favorite dishes: - Xiao long bao (pork buns, home made by the restaurant, not the frozen ones from Asian market, and it tasted much better!) - spicy beef noodles (the chili oil was really spicy and delicious) - cumin lamb (yummy!) - taro chicken (braised chicken, flavorful) This place is also a BYOD! Service was above and beyond too. Thank you!

A trusted friend described this to me as his "newest szechuan crush" and he is right, which is why I trust him. They have strong dumplings and dan dan noodles; they have yummy dry fried eggplant; they have great cumin lamb; and they also have surprisingly good renditions of some of the Americanized chinese food dishes of my youth, like kung pao chicken and general tso's chicken. I know that general tso's chicken is sweet and gloppy and I am not supposed to like it any more now that I am a serious person. But this one is somehow not as sweet and gloppy as the ones I grew up on, and yet just enough to still be terribly compelling in a kind of guilty way. I will go here any time.

My friends invited me to try out Dongpo Impressions and I have to say I was highly impressed. The overall feel of the restaurant seemed to have generic feel to it. I did like that the interior was clean and very relaxed as not many customers were in at the time we went. The service was very good initially. As we got our order the wait staff seemed to be less attentive which was kind of sad. The food, of the food! I did like every dish. They were seasoned to perfection. If I could have the food we ordered again I Would for sure. Overall, I would recommend Dongpo Impression to anyone who wants quality Chinese food! You won't be disappointed.

Great food and friendly staff. Our group had hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, cashew chicken, and mapo tofu. All good. The cashew chicken included lots of nice vegetables. The steamed rice was perfectly cooked. The mapo tofu was excellent. Try this place; you won't be sorry!

YUM! Everything thing about this space screams family-style. The seating, the dish portions, the prices. We ordered the Kung Pao and the Seasme Chicken dishes and we're thrilled to see their portion sizes. Large plates, easily will feed 3-4 people. The Kung Pao has a kick and Seasme was sweeter. Out of the 2 dishes, definitely would recommend the Kung Pao though both were good. Oh yeah and the service was quick, attentive and they serve looseleaf tea instead of water.

Dongpo Impression is one of the best Sichuan restaurants in the city with a no-frills family-style vibe and very friendly service. Among the dishes we tried, the Sichuan wonton, Dry Chili Chicken, and Sichuan string beans were our standout favorites. The smoked tea duck was also very fragrant though with a slightly lighter flavor profile. It was a satisfying meal overall, and the flavors of the dishes were spicy yet well-balanced.

Amazing food!! We had the Sichuan Numbing Wontons for an appetizer and split the Meizhou Dry Chicken Chili and Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup. So Good!!

One of the best places in Chinatown. The food, the service, the affordability, and atmosphere were great. I definitely recommend! Will return here again!

My rating is more like a 3.5 star however that egg roll motivates the five stars. For it to be be a fairly simple vegetarian egg roll that little sucker was tasty. The rest of the food was ok, nothing was bad nor was anything life altering. The plain rice white rice could've used some butter & seasoning salt but I guess that's the American/western way. I'm not versed in Szechuan food but the spice definitely elevated the chicken dish. My 2nd best tasting dish was the scallion pancake. Twas a nice deterrent from your typical Asian dishes. I'd eat here again but wouldn't break my neck to do so. Was also a bit pricey. Damn near paid $50 for two appetizers, an entree & a side.

Outstanding authentic sichuan cuisine, everything we ordered was delicious and packed with flavor. Our meal included the numbing wontons, eggplant crushed chilies, cumin lamb and the boiled fish fillet. Highly recommended!!!

Love a good Szechuan place and this one is definitely a stand out. I've had plenty of boiled fish (水煮鱼）from Chinese restaurants and this one is definitely my favorite! The chili flavor is so fragrant and special idk what they added to make level it up but it's delicious. And they don't skimp on the fish! The dry chili chicken I don't think is particularly special, lots of Szechuan places make a really good dry chili chicken and this one doesn't stand out above the rest. Not sure what the service/ambience is like inside since I always get takeout from here and can't speak on that.

A nice place in Chinatown that didn't give us a wrong impression. Dongpo Impression has a funny name but the cuisine is seriously good and has lots of authentic spice. It operates mostly as takeout. Even the American style isn't bad. The portions are pretty big and you get lots in return. Came here recently one evening to get something as carryout. It currently has the dining room closed. There's not that long of a wait. Like many Chinese restaurants it only takes a few minutes. The American menu is full of familiar sounding items, but these still taste much more authentic than at most other Chinese restaurants. It actually has flavor. There's lots of Sichuan heat in the sauce coating the proteins and vegetables. I got us the Home Style Bean Curd. It's about $13 for a pretty large portion. This is even better when it's ordered spicier. Lots of vegetables mixed in with the bean curd. This was enough for both for us. Good thing I only got one because it was ass big. It's a money saver getting these large meals. These can last a few days after ordering.

Got delivery and everything looked exactly like in the pictures. Food tasted authentic to us. We ordered Meizhou Style Frog, Meizhou Dry Chili Chicken, Szechuan Cold Rice Pudding and Garlic Shoots Stir Fry and enjoyed all of them. The Meizhou Style Frog and Meizhou Dry Chili Chicken were very tasty to eat with rice but were also absolutely spicy - if you are not so tolerant to spiciness you should let the restaurant know or avoid the two dishes haha. The Cold Rice Pudding was such a perfect cold dessert that was not too sweet to enjoy after the spicy and heavy dinner.

Today I ordered their most popular Pork Preserved Veggie and the famous Dongpo Braised Pork. It was delicious! I will definitely come back!

I had always ordered delivery from here and loved their beef noodle soup, but I'm so glad I visited in person! When I visited, only one Chinese lady was running the restaurant since there weren't that many people dining in. She was incredibly sweet and attentive and offered us many free sides as we waited for our food, including some szechuan wontons. We got the green peppercorn fish and pork intestines, and they were both great portion sizes. My boyfriend and I love trying Szechuan restaurants and this one is definitely one we will continue ordering delivery from and dining at.

The food was amazing, one of the few restaurants when you ask for spicy, it is actually spicy! Loved it. Such great service and, the staff was so kind and even gave us a sample. A hidden gem in Chinatown for sure. Would recommend the chicken and eggplant cannot go wrong with them

Can't believe I waited this long to try Dongpo Impression. As my friend recommended, Meizhou Chili Chicken and Stir Fried Pork Kidney are so delicious. Chili Chicken is very common in Chinese restaurants, but Dongpo Impression really did an awesome job. Boneless chicken (a must for my husband) is cut in big chunks, so you don't have to dig the chicken in the pile of peppers. The flavor is similar to dishes from other places as they are all spicy, but also different as there is a hint of sourness to it. Anyways, the flavors hug your taste buds in the right way. Pork Kidney might be exotic to many people, but it's not a very simple dish to make. I'm glad to receive a dish that is tasty with perfect texture in such a big portion. Sichuan Wonton might not be as good compared to the above two in our takeout order. The wonton skin is soggy but it's probably largely due to the takeout box. The flavor is good, so I bet it will taste better if we dine in. We will for sure try other dishes soon.

The food here is next level. I had the beef noodle soup and enjoyed every bite of the generous portion I was served. The waitress was knowledgeable and patient with questions. They were even able to accommodate my egg allergy. Thank you for the delicious lunch!

Dongpo Impression always has such great deals when you order online! This time there was 15% off, $1 Scrambled Egg Tomato, $1 Sichuan Diced Chicken, and 1 free small item (either Spicy Sichuan Pickle or red bean soup). We also ordered Sichuan Bean Jelly, Famous Dongpo Pork, Pork Rib Mashed Rice, and Stewed Pork Balls. Everything was less $60 including tax and tip which is such a good deal! It'll definitely last our family a few meals. Everything was so tasty! The Famous Dongpo Pork is fatty meat but the fat absolutely melts in your mouth and the fried tofu pairs well with it. The Pork Rib Mashed Rice was super flavorful and my parents said it reminded them of when they used to eat it back home in China. This is quickly becoming one of our go-tos for takeout in Chinatown! I'd definitely recommend stopping by or ordering online!

Ordered 毛血旺（Chongqing style beef maw and pork blood cakes) last night. It was so gross and smelly - do not order from this place. They put pork intestines in and it ruined the whole soup as if they did not wash it at all. I have had this dish elsewhere and it does not taste like that. Asked for a refund just for this dish, and they refused saying it's supposed to taste like shit I want to see the owners eat the whole thing in front me and I'll gladly pay him. It's a good price to see a shitshow

The restaurant was previously called Yan Bang and recently changed their name. We ordered spicy boiled fish, deep fried eggplants and a cold kidney appetizer - they were all really spicy and tasty although too salty and oily for my taste. The owner saw me crying due to the spice so she gave us a complimentary cold dessert to cool me off. The meal also came with complimentary peanuts and pickled turnips. Their other specialty were spicy skewers. If you order dishes, there is no minimum requirement for number of skewers you have to order. Their price was also more reasonable than many Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Will definitely return to try more dishes.

Got Dongpo delivered last night. It's 1.6 miles from where we were at and it took an hour to get here, long time but that's fine. I'd rather them take a long time and make delicious food than get bad food quickly. However the food was not good. The egg drop soup looked great but was tasteless. The chili chicken was dry and tasted old, the only flavor was spicy and was otherwise very plain. The mapu tofu was way too acidic and the flavor was incredibly unbalanced. Mapu tofu is my favorite dish and I order it everywhere I go, this was the first time I could barely eat it. The one dish that saved our dinner was the boiled fish, that was a 10/10 and next time I would just get that. The food might be better when dining in, but the food delivered left lots to be desired.

Round two! I asked (begged) them to make my food spicy this time. They used a lot of chilis, but the chilis themselves aren't spicy. A person who can't eat spicy food would be proud of themselves for eating this. Side note* This place is so slow!! Early 2000s Home of the Hoagy slow. I ordered my food at 5:28p, it wasn't ready until 6:50pm!!!!

Simply the best. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. So kind and welcoming. We loved every second of our meal and cannot wait to go back. A gem of a restaurant. Nice to have a new favorite Chinatown spot. Support this restaurant!! It's so tasty!

Ordered delivery and their cabbage is full of black spots. Other dishes are actually pretty good not sure why they use bad cabbages.

First time dining in at Dongpo Impression and it was an excellent impression. Although the restaurant is under renovations, the service and food were impeccable. The shrimp fried rice was cooked to perfection and flavorful! The sichuan wonton were fresh, hot and the perfect spicy as seen in the picture. I didn't get a picture of the mixed vegetable soup because it was to good not to indulge in it. The vegetables were fresh and the broth was clear and tasty. My favorite dish for sure was the delicious mixed vegetable soup especially on a cold rainy day.

Below par hygiene and services with average food. We will probably never come back again.

I'm adding this restaurant to my regular rotation for Chinese takeout/delivery! I ordered three of their popular dishes (sliced pork and pepper stir fry, baby bok choi and mushroom, and Sichuan sliced beef in chili sauce) for delivery and the food was excellent. It was still hot even though I didn't get around to eating it for a while. They threw in two complimentary small items (a sweet congee and a pickled veggie dish) to my order. I'll be trying their other stir fries in the future!