Great Sea Restaurant
Chinese restaurant · Albany Park
3253 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
Highlights
Lollipop chicken wings in sweet, spicy sauce; Korean-Chinese faves
Lollipop chicken wings in sweet, spicy sauce; Korean-Chinese faves
"An Albany Park institution credited as one of the originators of the unique lollipop chicken wing with a sticky and spicy sauce; recognized for Korean-Chinese cooking and for helping popularize a now-iconic wing style in the city." - Ashok Selvam
"While seemingly everyone is going crazy for Southeast Asian-style wings, Great Sea has been serving tangy and sweet drumettes for decades; the lollipop-style wing was created in Chicago, and Great Sea popularized them. Despite the restaurant’s sale, new ownership has carried over the deliciousness and copied the techniques of Great Sea’s founders. Grabbing a bottle of sauce for the road is popular here." - Ashok Selvam
"This Albany Park Chinese restaurant has an extensive food menu, but they’re best known for their lollipop wings. And for good reason—they’re incredible, and what you should be getting every time you come here. Based on your heat preference, you can choose regular, extra, or no heat. But there are no wrong choices—whatever spice level you choose, you can count on flavor that will explode in your mouth." - adrian kane, phaithe norman, john ringor
"Great Sea is another decades-old casual spot in Albany Park with tasty Korean-Chinese food. But while we like their bowls of jjajangmyeon or jampong, their incredible lollipop wings (also on our best wings guide) are why we’re OK dealing with all of the potholes on Lawrence. At one point, Great Sea even had an “eat as many wings as you can” challenge with a wall of fame featuring pictures of top-performing poultry-obsessives. Each plate comes with around 12-15 pieces of chicken that stay crispy regardless of how long they hang out in the sweet and spicy sauce. Chances are, every table will have at least one order." - john ringor, adrian kane
"“I grew up eating Great Sea. Their lollipop chicken wings are amazing, but I also want to highlight their other food. They have some of the best shrimp fried rice I’ve ever had, and they also have an amazing Chinese-Korean fusion black bean noodle dish. I don’t live too far from here, so it’s always a nice treat. I usually order takeout and bring it back home to eat with my family because they also love it so much.”" - adrian kane
