Happy Lamb Hot Pot

Very good. Had a wonderful time at this hot pot. Staff brings out meat, which you drop into your boiling broth. Eat and repeat. It’s brilliant. We went at 5pm on a Tuesday and it wasn’t busy at all. Excellent new experience. There’s a tiny learning curve but easy once you got it. Well go back again.

This is a great spot for hot pot. You are seated at a table where you order your meat and drinks, you are then able to go pick out your veggies, starches, and desserts. It is buffet style and you bring it back to your table and cook it on a pot. Great fall/winter spot. The dining room is generally full during cold seasons on nights and weekends. If there is a wait you can put in your number and go and shopping in the area - when your table is ready you get a text and a 10-15 minute grace period to get to the restaurant.

I had an amazing experience at Happy Lamb! My group of four had a reservation around 2 on a Monday but it wasn't super busy at that time. The food was delicious, we tried all of the meat options from the classic set and the spicy broth and golden cabbage broth. The had a great selection of vegetables and sea food as well. Staff was attentive and the restraunt was pristine! Between the four of us we all paid a little over 30 dollars and left with a food coma.

always reliable and always a great time! for AYCE hot pot, Happy Lamb is the way to go. their sauce bar is great for making the perfect dipping sauce, and all their veggies, fish balls, tofu, prepared foods, etc are all self serve as well, so you can just get exactly what you want, which is SUPER convenient. special shout out to the workers who are always super helpful, nice, and accommodating!

First time coming here on Friday April 4th on a Friday. It was busy but the wait was just 30min. Food was great but we did not get tongs for our food and when they dropped off the meats the server slammed them on the table as first timers this was off putting. Atmosphere was great.

Second time to dine at Happy Lamb Hot Pot, Clark St. location and it was absolutely fantastic! The ingredients were incredibly fresh, from the crisp vegetables to the tender meats and seafood. The broth options were flavorful, with just the right balance of spice. The sauce bar was well-stocked with a variety of choices, allowing everyone to create their perfect dipping sauce. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, perfect for enjoying a meal with family and friends. The staff was attentive and friendly, regularly checking to make sure everything was perfect and refilling our broths when needed. Long overdue shout out to our sever last Aug 30, Pepsi and Jai. Last night, had Xuan as our sever, she was excellent! I’ll definitely be back soon! Great food and excellent service. Btw, they offer special rates for seniors too.

Good hot pot place. It’s a little different from hot pot set ups I’m used to, Hot pot doesn’t seem to be as big in Chicago. Typically each person gets their own soup but this one was communal so you basically have to agree with each other what goes in. And the personal bowls are very small. But other than that the food and buffet set up is good, kept clean, organized, and stocked. The staff are very friendly, always checking up on us and refilling drinks and meat. The atmosphere is nice too, chill and pleasant. Would recommend.

This place is pretty clean compared to the most famous hotpot in China town. Food quality is okay, but it is definitely not better than cooked at home. Most products are frozen. Broth is pretty good, but I'm not sure how much MSG has been added. It's just an average hotpot in the city.

The food and value are excellent. However, I do get a little concerned with cross contamination when it comes to their buffet style serving. I also waited 3 hours to be seated tonight despite joining the wait list while I commuted to the restaurant. There is simply no excuse for this wait time.

We come to this location whenever we want hot pot because it's so much closer than Chinatown! Join the Yelp waitlist ahead of time for a shorter in-person wait or you can make a reservation for 5+ people ahead of time through the app. This location has better service versus the Chinatown location. Also they now have everything non-meat related as self-serve, which is really convenient and cuts down on wait time for the broth and meat. Our friends always just go with the lower tier All You Can Eat option as it still includes a good variety of meats. Don't forget, come on your birthday and your meal is free! Overall we were thrilled when this location opened and are here often. Highly recommend checking out Happy Lamb LP if you haven't already!

Points for considering it a more "novel" experience ...but wouldn't be my first (or second, or third choice...) to eat. The process was confusing...but my friend and I were able to figure it out. You may choose two different broths which is convenient if some people in your group prefer a mild broth and others spicy. The scents seeped into my clothing and coat which I did not find appealing.

First time here and wasn't sure how to go about ordering. The person who came to our table wasn't very helpful in explaining how to order. So another worker walked by and we asked him how to order, and he was very helpful. Although the first impression was not good, the following worker and the food made up for it. We did the half and half broth. The original and Spicy, we choose the Premium option to get a nice variety of choices. We tried the natural spring lamb, wagyu beef, Ribeye, prawns, beef short plate, And the special scallops. Everything was amazing. The scallops were small but were good. A large variety of vegetables, to choose from. There is no limit. There is rice, noodles, tofu, kimchi, a large selection of sides. It's like a buffet of sides. Everything was fresh, and tasty once you cook it in the broths. The broths were full of flavor! Highly recommend this place.

One of the best hot pots in the city. All you can eat for as low as $30 per person with a great selection of meats, vegetables, seafood, and even pre-meal snacks. The place is clean and staff is constantly moving through the tables to take dishes or bring out your 2nd/3rd/4th round of meat. I recommend choosing the half & half broth.

Great quality at a reasonable price. The basic AYCE starts at 29.99, plus tax and tip. I've been a huge fan of happy lamb for years, and it's great to have a location further north! Although it's sad they've trimmed some of my favorite options in lieu of the food station, the change allows for much quicker service and convenience. I do wish they'll someday bring back the lamb dumplings though 10/10 recommendation from me. Music is fun, tables are large and accommodating, service is quick.

Karyn had a little lamb...actually, that's not true. Karyn had a lot of beef, pork, veggies and more at Happy Lamb Hot Pot in Lincoln Park. We had a reservation at noon and this area is of course hard to find parking. Quite a lot of tables were already filled. I was disappointed that our table only had one hot area for our party of five (one of us was a vegetarian so we had a split broth pot). I was impressed with the refrigerated area which had the veggies, noodles, seafood (lots of options) -- it looked like a grocery store -- and the hot buffet had very appealing options -- our group loved the noodles and I enjoyed the sesame balls. We ordered pork belly, ribeye and beef. The meat was a nice portion and came out right away. We had the mushroom broth and original marrow broth, both of which were not that strong. Our friend did mix up some amazing sauces with soy, sesame, chili oil and green onions. Overall, we were happy lambs with our meal. The meat seemed plentiful, there were lots of choices to add in. A few things that kept us from being the happiest of lambs: the service was ok, but once we had placed our original meat order, they didn't really come back or check if we needed additional meat (although we didn't) and no additional broth was added when the liquid got low; you get a free hot pot on your birthday but it has to be The Day Of (no grace period of a day or two); and we had a pretty tasty soup that was left in the hot pot but they don't let you take it home (I have been to places where they let you). Minor stuff, though. We had an enjoyable time, our friends had a fun experience for their first hot pot experience, and we would be happy lambs to return again.

I really love the all you can eat options here! While the broths are a little less flavorful than other hot pot I've had, the all you can eat options make up for it! The meat portions are huge so come hungry if you plan to try a few! The veg is great and noodles options and even have warm appetizers! Service was quick and efficient and the ambiance was nice and bustling in a way that you know when you go with you're friends you're in for a fun time!

Thank You to the Happy Lamb team for being so flexible with my group on our recent visit. Originally, I had made a reservation for 12 people, which day of, became 14. We were setup in a private room which was really special and even had a TV we could control. With 3 burners and pots amongst the 14 of us, the room never once felt too congested or busy. Staff were so quick with bringing in all of the different meats we ordered at the beginning of our time there, and there were A LOT. They were also cool with us hanging out for a bit to wrap up conversations after much of the party had left. Just a really great experience. Happy Lamb is pretty much the only hotpot place I ever go to and I always leave feeling happy and warm. It's just so good and comforting. Full sauce/veggie/dessert bar which is just another layer to this insane deal ($29 for AYCE)

I still consider myself a novice when it comes to hotpot as this has been my third hotpot ever, but let me just say that this has been the best experience so far. Happy lamb is first off all you can eat (AYCE) which we weren't sure how this was going to work for hotpot but I'll explain down below. We came in for lunch and were seated at a table that could easily fit six people. We ordered the half and half broth--1 was a spicy cabbage ginger and 2 was the bone broth. Both were tasty but honestly the bone broth stole the show and we will be doing an entire pot of this next time. Next up you order your meats either from the classic or premium section. We ordered four meats from the classic and I would recommend sticking to here as it's good quality and well priced. Afterwards you go to the back where you can make yourself a dipping sauce and pick up all the veggies, noodles (definitely get the udon noodles), fish, shrimp, shrimp paste, and anything else you would like to put into your hotpot. They even have a pretty solid selection of cold veggies such as cucumber salad, seaweed salad, and then already cooked rice, noodles, dumplings, and desserts. Just don't carb load on dumplings when you're there, enjoy the hotpot. Bring everything back to the table and enjoy cooking! What's super nice about this place is that they keep the place pretty cool so you won't get overheated from the hotpot. Ambiance is clean and modern and we had very quick service. Afterwards we collectively decided that this will be the place we go to for AYCE hotpot moving forward.

The food was excellent great price the service was amazing. The place is beautiful inside and the buffet adds to the beauty of the restaurant. Can't forget the ice cream.

Been to this location multiple times, and it is always consistently great. It's a nice addition to the Lincoln Park area when you are craving hot pot and not wanting to go all the way to Chinatown. The service here has been exceptional each visit. Food has always been great. Recently, vegetables, noodles,.and certain meats are self serve, which is a great way not to waste any food. You can still order the AYCE meats through your server. The lunch special is a great deal during the middle of the week! This location has always been clean and well maintained. Definitely a great Happy Lamb location!

Usually, I go to the Happy Lamb in Chinatown but this location was more convenient for my group. I appreciate that this location takes reservations, which made the whole experience less stressful for everyone compared to the Chinatown location where you have to put yourself on a wait list. What's not to love about AYCE? My friends and I had an amazing time! The quality of the meats was fresh and quickly delivered to my table. I liked how this location was set up with people ordering their meats from a menu and selecting what veggies and noodles they wanted from the back. Totally worth the price!

$29 for all you can eat hot pot. Is it worth it? Absolutely! This is quality comfort food. How can I say that? Well everything is fresh. As in raw - you have to cook it. It's comfort food cause it's in a soup base which by the way get the bone marrow. The mushroom broth was tasteless. There is one caveat, you smell like the place when you're done. I Really like the variety of options. The leafy greens, mushrooms, chicken, sausage, Shrimp,fish balls etc is self serve. The shrimp paste , fish cakes and balls were very tasty. Meat cuts need to be ordered. They also have appetizers and dessert. There's usually a wait for dinner. That either a good or a bad sign. It take that as good.

This was my first ever hot pot experience and it was excellent!! So much freedom and power in cooking your own food. Between the two of us we selected 4 of the meats to try and each got a bunch of noodles and veggies from the buffet to cook too. The concept is so fun and very affordable for all you can eat! I enjoyed making my own sauces too. The chocolate mousse cake was also really good. Can't wait to come back!

This was quite a fun experience. You cook your own food at the table. Everyting was really fresh and clean. large parties are fun. Service was great.

Love this location and love the lunch specials! Can't say enough good things about happy lamb ! It is my favorite birthday meal !

Good food but one star docked for service.. I made the mistake of ordering a la carte. Since we tend to order a TON for hot pot, it would have made much more sense to have done the all you can eat. And as this was our first visit, we were never made aware of where the sauce and fruit station was. It was not only until the end of our meal when I was getting the check that our kids noticed other children eating fruit and little snacks. I found the sauce station which was tucked away in the back and got some fruit for my kiddo. A server immediately approached me, informing me that I could not take any of that food to go. As this was dessert for the kiddo, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Still, this is a good option for hot pot without having to travel to Chinatown. Now knowing what I do, I expect the next experience to be much better!

Came in on a Sunday and it wasn't too busy. I've been to the Chinatown located. I was happy they have one a little closer so I don't have to go all the way to Chinatown. Service was pretty good. We were seated right away with a party of 3. I really like that they have the veggies and some meats in the back to choose from vs ordering each time. Not sure if they lowered the price but ayce was $28.99 for the classic hot pot. Ended up ordering one of each meat. I felt like they gave us more than they should so we had a little let over since we were so full. Will have to come back

Amazing service and food! Good selection of food choices. Great value for the $$! Highlyy recommend.

A fun experience! I would highly recommend going here but definitely add your name through the Yelp reservation platform otherwise you might be waiting for a long time. Didn't end up getting the all you can eat deal because the portions are so big that it wasn't necessary so be careful when ordering. Love the free items like dessert at the end!

We absolutely LOVE Happy Lamb. We've been to multiple locations many times. I'd give the food 5 stars and will definitely be back. But today, I leave this place with four stars because we felt a little deceived, (however possibly not with any ill intention) so just wanted to give a tip to make sure others don't fall into the same situation as us. For all you can eat, you are given a paper menu. We simply checked off what we wanted to order and submitted it back to the waiter. We kept doing this until the end. Note: the sheet is double-sided, but we didn't think anything of this. At the end when our bill came, we were a little confused. We knew ahead of time that we were paying about $28.95/adult. The bill came to a lot higher than he had originally calculated. After we asked, they showed us the two sides of the menu. One side costs $28.95 and one side costs $34.95. We apparently had ordered from the more expensive side that gave a few more options. First, they didn't tell us anything about the two options when we arrived, only asked if we were eating all you can eat. Luckily we looked at the list and we hadn't actually ordered any items that were extra (and not listed on the back/cheaper side). We showed this to them and they immediately went back to change the price back to $28.95/adult. Without noticing this or bringing it up to them, we would have all been charged that extra amount without eating anything that needs to be charged extra. With all that said, after we reconciled the price, we were relieved and were fully satisfied with our meal. Note: if it's the day of your birthday, bring your ID for a free meal! (But you must have someone paying with you at your table). On top of all the items on the all you can eat menu, they also have peanuts, egg rolls, sesame balls (sooo good when they come out hot), and ice cream by the counter next to the sauces. So don't forget to get those if you haven't already filled up on your hot pot.

Best hot pot ever. Amazing meat, excellent non rushed service, and a fantastic ambiance. There is a vegetable buffet tray section in the back. I love this location more than the one in Chinatown where I first had Happy Lamb. Bigger tables and better service...cant complain. DMy order this time around was spicy hot pot only and a butt load of Fatty English Lamb. For me the lamb wontons are heaven which are the Chefs Special. My only complaint - the Tiger "Jumbo" Prawns were the same size as the normal head on shrimp in the buffet tray area. Also I had to deshell them myself and I noticed some of the prawn poop sack was not cleaned properly. Despite this, it wasn't bad after I had to manually clean them. This is the only thing that prevented the extra star.

Overall, everything was FANTASTIC! They don't accept reservations (tried calling a bunch of times with no answer) so it's first come first serve. We arrived on a Saturday early afternoon with a 35 min wait. We got sat within the hour and service was very prompt and swift! You have options of AYCE (per person) for under 40.00 or so. PRO TIP: show them your ID on your birthday and you get a free meal! Everything was phenomenal. The flavors on 10 and a unique experience. You get up to THREE rounds and you're on an hour and a half time limit (there is absolutely no reason to stay beyond 2 hours.) Strongly recommend "the best of both worlds" (que HM) one side sour the other side spicy. Blending all your goodies (can't go wrong with ANY choices of meat, fish and/or veggies) in both broths along with some rice to soak everything up is truly otherworldly!

This place was great and then they moved to the buffet style. There are two major issues here: 1. You have people getting up constantly and servers running boiling broths around the restaurant - someone is going to get hurt. 2. Cross contamination. I went here last night for dinner and they had raw chicken and beef on the buffet. The handle of the beef tongs fell in the chicken so I asked for new ones and the lady just put them back. I said no the handle is covered in raw chicken we need a new one. She took a dirty rag out of her pocket and half assed wiping them off so everyone who used those was spreading raw chicken on everything else. I later saw her using likely the same dirty rag to clean other things on the buffet.

This was my 1st hot pot experience and it didn't disappoint. Came here on a Sunday at noon (BTW Parking meters are free Sundays), not too crowded and great variety of everything. Staff was so welcoming and so friendly. We never ran out of broth, the staff would refill w/o being called on Everything was fresh can't wait to come back

Excellent food and even better service now that they have certain items as self service.

So reasonably priced for what you get. I am literally thinking about going tomorrow again. The lamb is sooo good and the spicy broth is my favorite. I wish they had the strawberry cake I had once all the time. Somehow to tables feel very cozy and I feel so happy every time I come here.

Meat was good but the broth is only ok. Why is it different from Chinatown? The signature umami is only 50% Also, Happy Lamb needs a better condiment area. It's too small like 4x3ft (people are all over) and not a lot of sauce choices as Mrs Gu's. Missing peanut sauce, shrimp paste, mushroom sauce. Plus side, they have cooked noods, dumplings, fried rice and salad in case your child doesn't want boiling pot.

Love this location. Great service, minimal, to no wait when compared to Wentworth/Chinatown location. Soup base is bland when compared to most any other true Chinese Hot Pot place, but the good quality meats and vegetables easily makes up for that. I have been here twice and was seated right away both times. I suspect as people come to know of this spot there will be waits. My go to is the Lamb/Ribeye meat combo. I always order a la carte and with this combo and some accompanying vegetables I am always set!

Always go here with an empty belly! When I leave man am I full!!!! The food is delicious.

Came in at 330 on a Thursday and got seated right away. I'm no hot pot connoisseur, but I went with a friend who is. If you come before 4, you can get an AYCE lunch special for 20% off the normal dinner price, which was dope! We got the half n half broth, they were both delicious. All the meat and fish cakes and tofu we ordered were also very tasty. Beware that your clothes and hair will smell like food after eating here, but that's pretty normal for hot pot, I believe. The food was great, esp for the price we paid. Service was also awesome, they were very attentive. I'll def return for more hot pot! Parking can be difficult on Clark depending on the time of day.

5 stars for "you definitely should go", its fun and good food. But I'll say, walking in there to do this whole hot-pot thing - I had a lot of questions.. And leaving there full and satisfied, I still have a lot of questions.. Though in general, you want a reliable and clean place for this type of food, and it checked those boxes very well. We did the all-you-can eat for $29. It includes a million options, both awesome and overwhelming. Service is a mixed bag. They are attentive and nice, and food is brought out quickly. However, once they ask if you've done it before, they give you some high level instructions and then leave you to it. I tried asking a lot but wasn't getting the answers clearly. -Do we eat the noodles in the broth, with the meat? with the sauce we made? -Cook all the meat at once? some at a time? How do you fish it out at the bottom? -Should we sauce the meat or eat in the broth? -Should we de-shell this shrimp or do it after cooking? ...you get it. I'm a noob but needed these clarifications. Since we ordered lots of food, I'll try my best to highlight it: 0. The sauce buffet is amazing. It has eggrolls, fries, ice cream, fruit, and a few other dumpling things 1. All the fish was too "fishy". The shrimp and Octopus are things I love elsewhere, but something here wasn't good. I'd do no-fish next time. 2. Angus was my fav beef, but all beef were really good. 3. Noodles were great. Udon and glass were my favorite 4. These donut hole things (listed with the noodles) are awesome, called some type of bun. 5. The tomato broth was the best. The others are fine, but the tomato stood out. I was critical on a few areas, but overall it was a super fun time, and all tasted great. We were stuffed.

I LOVE THIS PLACE. Can't get enough of the bone marrow broth or the spicy soup! (I'm so glad this place opened up in Lakeview bc their Chinatown location is a little far.) It's an AYCE so don't expect high quality cuts of meat. Having said that, we had some pretty decent quality lamb and beef; the pork was a little too fatty even for me (and I never complain about fatty meat.) It's definitely no worse than any other AYCE in the city. I definitely like Happy Lamb's spicy soup better than the spicy soup at Qiao Lin Hot Pot. Also, the service here was friendly and fast. We came here at 6:15pm on a Saturday evening and were seated immediately. Glad we came early bc this place filled up super quickly! Our server was really on top of his game too. We had everything we ordered within minutes of ordering. We'll DEFINITELY be back soon!!

This was an awesome spot! I'd never been to a hot pot restaurant before and it was a cool experience. I would definitely say to underestimate what you order at first since you check off a bunch of things you want and cook them yourself-- we had so much food! It was all delicious, but I do think I prefer to stick to chefs cooking my meat for me. Overall this was a great place and a fun dinner for a birthday!

My wife, two teenage sons, and I enjoyed a late lunch feast (2pm) in early July 2023 at this clean and spacious restaurant in Lincoln Park. The AYCE option has a 20% discount for weekday (M-F) lunch. Service was outstanding and highly attentive but the restaurant was not too busy at 2pm. Be sure to get the "half-n-half" combination pot with Szechuan peppercorns on one side and regular broth on the other. Ordering the premium beef and lamb was delicious. Although there was more fat than anticipated, it made for a rich broth. We loved the mushrooms and Shanghai greens. The condiments bar provided fresh green onions and cilantro (which I added to my beef and lamb). You can also pickup additional spices if you like and desserts at the condiments bar. Be sure to save room for an orange slice to cleanse your palette at the end of the meal! Overall, it was a most satisfying lunch. Yes, it's a bit pricey - but I would recommend the AYCE basic option at lunch so that you can try a wide variety of meats, the oyster mushrooms, and vegetables!

A fun place to try! Lots of decent options. Included desserts and fried foods as well.

Food here is 10/10 !! This is one of my favorite hot pot places I've ever been too. Service is also amazing. Highly recommend joining their waitlist on yelp!

Really impressed by the freshness of the meat, vegetables and seafood selections they offer as part of their AYCE hot pot menu. From the ambience, the service, to the taste and the quality of the food were all on point and it was well worth the price in my opinion. The Lincoln park location was easy to get to with lots of street parking and it was very spacious and clean. You can get up to three rounds (we barely made it through second round) and there are plenty of options to choose from for all levels of food comfort and taste. I look forward to partaking in this hands on dining experience again soon.

Hot pot is one of my favorite meals to eat out and this place definitely hit the spot. There were so many options of meat and the sauce bar was good. There were only 2 of us eating so we couldn't order as much and try different things, but everything we had was great. The service great as well. The waitstaff were so friendly and the food was brought out quickly. I would definitely come back!

This location is so much better than the one in Chinatown. Veggies/noodles are at a station where you can help yourself. I feel like this cuts down on waste as you can see exactly what you are getting.

Yummy hot pot with many meat and vegetable choices. Self serve for the veggies, rice, desserts. Ok service, nice atmosphere. Recommend.

Absolutely delicious. Happy Lamb has many different meat and veggie options, and their spicy broth option is wonderful. I went with a couple of hot pot aficionados who knew their stuff but had I gone by myself; I still would have had a wonderful time. The key that unlocked everything for me was learning how to make a sauce to dip your meat. There's a little sauce bar with different soy, chili oils, sesame, garlic, etc., that you can use to craft the ideal meat dipping sauce. There are also noodles and rice that you should definitely try. Please take my advice and get the spicy broth. It's so flavorful and genuinely not spicy. The service was okay, which is usually a good indicator of good cuisine, so that adds up. Go during lunchtime for the all-you-can-eat special; it's under $25 per person. 4/5

Had a great experience here on Thanksgiving which also happened to be my birthday. Happy Lamb is still honoring their free birthday meals (just make sure to have your valid ID). I believe it was $33.99 per person for the AYCE option, which has certainly gone up since the last time I had Happy Lamb, but everything has gone up in price everywhere, so it makes sense. Food was excellent, service was great, and with the birthday discount, the meal was cheap for the both of us to split. For the price point, you can't beat this place in the city. It's always packed for a reason, and I'm happy to see they're also putting another location in Bridgeport. Would love to see one in the Uptown area someday.

There were plenty of food to choose from. The servers are attentive but still gave us privacy and never interrupted. I'd give their service A+. The ambiance was great but not recommended for romantic dinner as it gets loud. Highly recommended for family and friends gathering!

Cannot say enough about how happy I feel every time I get to eat at happy lamb. For one, this is the perfect food to have with the start of the fall/winter season in Chicago. This was my first time at this location and it may have just been the time we went (afternoon on Monday), but so much less crowded and more bright and open than the Chinatown location! I feel like the portions were also more reasonable so you were able to order more variety. Great quality and fresh ingredients. Huge plus is it's free on the day of your birthday with an ID!! The only thing we noticed this time was the spicy soup base wasn't as spicy as the one we were used to in Chinatown, but not sure if that was just a one time thing or location specific. Great place, all you can eat is very reasonable for the amount/variety you get and they have lunch deals (I think !

this was a good meal - for both my stomach and my eyes highly recommend if u want to c attractive servers and eat plates of meat the check-in promo for a free drink was great too bc then we got to c all the servers up close (the manager )

Hot pot enthusiast here. I have to say 4.5 star is NOT an accurate rating for this place. The most I can give this location is 3.5 star rating. While their price for AYCE is fair, their food and service needs improvement to be 4.5. They were not attentive to our table and our needs such as napkins or more water. They have a variety of meat and seafood options but nothing fancy, like wagyu meat, crabs or lobsters. Their broths are salty. Hence, you will need to drink more than eat.

Important: the sesame balls and other fried food items are cooked in the same place as their peanuts. They are NOT safe for those with peanut allergies! Thankfully, the waiter doubled-checked for us. We had a really great Monday night AYCE at Happy Lamb. I had heard about it a few times and intended to visit the Chinatown location one day, but I didn't realize there was one in Lincoln Park as well! The tables were clean and I found the setup of the restaurant nice and spacious. If you're just looking to try a casual hot pot night with friends, I definitely recommend this place! If you are a hot pot veteran, note that this place compares to Qiao Lin nicely. The major differences for me was the AYCE option, focus on multiple lamb styles, and the type of sides (including ice cream) that are included in that package. They're not groundbreaking sides, but I appreciate the many options. Taste-wise, I'd consider Qiao Lin only slightly better. Delicious either way! - AT