Joy's Noodles & Rice

Joy's Noodles & Rice was such a blast, but wow, I was stunned by how nice the interior was! Unfortunately, the photos I took don’t capture that. The interior is masterfully designed and so spacious. Their coconut chicken curry and green curry were both amazing! Not all places do this, but Joy's Noodles did, and I’m so glad—they offer a combo appetizer option, so we were able to get wontons, crab rangoon, and tofu all together in a big batch.

Joys has been a favorite for over 25 years. Was visiting Chicago after moving to Columbus over 10 years ago. Food is amazing and service top notch! I cannot say enough about this place!

Absolutely delicious, authentic Thai food with good vegetarian options. The food was all fresh, hot, and scrumptious. Get something with fresh basil! Their basil is fresh and elevates the dish. The Thai spring rolls were amazing as were the drunken noodles. Very good for takeout as well.

Joy's isn't what I remember it to be, or maybe the issue is that it hasn't changed in all these years. The food is just alright and prices okay for what you get but with so many other options in the area, that's just not enough anymore. Also, the service could have been better. The staff forgot to give us plates and utensils, which happens, but getting their attention was very difficult and the restaurant wasn't even that crowded when we were there. I think this is one of those places where if you've been going for years and live in the area you go just because of the nostalgia but for someone like myself that hasn't been back in probably a decade it just doesn't hold up.

Decent place. You’re gonna get a good amount for a good price but that’s it. They supposedly sell Asian food but clearly have no idea how to make it. Just take a look at their pad Thai served with a lemon instead of a lime. I’m not sure if they don’t know they’re meant to use a lime or they think we’re so stupid we won’t even notice. The staff was nice.

Loved it! Food is great portion for the price, and the people in there are super friendly!

Solid place for a quick meal. Food is tasty, well prepared and you can taste fresh ingredients. Probably not the spot for special occasions but for a casual dinner with friends it’s a solid spot.

The Panang curry with crunchy noodles was AMAZING! The curry was thick and creamy and it had great flavor. The mandalay noodles were also delicious. For apps we got the tom kha soup which tasted super authentic and flavorful, definitely recommend getting it with shrimp. The khanom jeeb we’re a tasty starter as well. The place was BYOB and had indoor and outdoor options with a back patio as well as front tables! ( no cork fee) Our server was such a kind sweetheart and staff was so friendly! We can’t wait to come back 😊

We stopped in and had a decent time. The crab rangoons were a delicious starter. I was in the mood for curry, they don't have many options so I went with the green curry. It was ok, nothing spectacular, but I finished it all! The drunken noodles had great flavor, just wish they were spicier! Overall the experience was pretty decent, the service is great and the food comes out quick!

Unfortunately, this restaurant suffers from what a lot of them do - trying to be too many things, and all of those being done to mediocrity. If you're a Chinese restaurant, great. Do that well. If you're a Vietnamese restaurant, do it well. This place severely lacked flavor and nothing tasted anything like the culture that created it. The meal was just a bummer.

Thai milk tea is very sweet and tasty, if you get it with no ice, I would recommend diluting it milk. The boba is horrible, do not get. Tastes like it's been sitting out for hours. Service seems rather disorganized, but the employees are nice. Surprisingly roomy inside, although most people seem to prefer sitting outside. Honestly would be 2 stars since the boba was so bad (thai milk tea itself is fine though, it's premixed I think), but other people's food looked really good and the portion sizes looked big, so bumped up to 3 stars.

I came here for dinner with a girl friend! We were seated and served quickly! I thought the pad see ew was alright, nothing too unique or memorable. The restaurant is huge though with lots of seating.

Super great and authentic Thai food. Place was close to empty on a Saturday at 7:30pm. Food came out super quick and super hot. All dishes are reasonably priced and delicious. Highly recommend this place!

Good Thai. Decent baby enrolls and fantastic iced coffee for dessert. Service was better from the male servers, which seems to be the pattern lately, since I've started emulating the TikTok Bold Glamour filter, haha.

My husband and I have lived in the area for 33 years, and we have been going to Joy's since they opened. It has always been a great place for fast, inexpensive, and tasty Asian food. And it's in Boy's Town, so it's a fun place to be on a warm summer night. The past few years, the food has seemingly dropped in quality, but we just brushed it off as off nights for the restaurant. Tonight, while running some errands, we placed a phone order for chicken pad Thai and a spring roll...basic stuff. Within minutes we arrived at the restaurant and the order was ready. I know they are quick to make items, but they seemed to be ready too quickly. We had the food home in minutes...so it had not been sitting around. Everything was awful. The pad Thai noodles were dry and almost flavorless. Other than a few pieces of grizzly chicken (I had to spit one piece out of my mouth), there were no scrambled egg bits, scallions or anything else you'd expect to find in a decent pad Thai. The spring roll was dry, too. The wrapper was leathery and hard; the filling was dry. Honestly, these are two easy to make items...staples of any Asian restaurant. And with the price charged there should be no cutting back on the ingredients. These items were so dry, and ready so quickly, we guessed that they were premade, not made fresh to order. You lost me tonight, Joy's. There are just too many other places to get a decent, quick Asian meal, to put up with mediocre, almost inedible food.

Enjoyed the outdoor atmosphere, the patio in the back. Please water your flowers :0 Food was good, service was great. Love having you in our neighborhood!

Stopped in for an early dinner on pride parade weekend. The menu was easy to get through and had lots of favorites to choose from. I selected the chicken coconut curry, which was delicious and the perfect level of spice. Service was attentive without being disruptive. We will stop again next time we visit town!

Got takeout & it was so tasty. I got the Phuket noodles with chicken--highly recommend! The portion is pretty big so you have enough for two meals too (at least I did).

Used to love this place-- went during the week, restaurant and bathroom weren't that clean, service was sad and food was okay... not sure what happened but won't revisit anytime soon. I think they can do better

Very good. Ordered for take out. The chicken satay appetizer and the coconut curry were delicious

WoW! I was craving Thai Food and ordered randomly through Seamless Delivery a week ago! Amazing presentation of the food-HOWEVER; it was the QUALITY and PORTION SIZES of the food that were OUTSTANDING. I ordered: Crab Rangoons Baby Egg Rolls Chicken Pad Thai The Crab Rangoons were the BEST that I HAVE HAD since moving to Chicago! The oil that they were fried in was fresh as it was light and did not weigh down the filling. The same for the Baby Egg Rolls. Furthermore, the dipping sauce was PERFECTLY ON-POINT! The Chicken Pad Thai was also a HUGE portion and had a substantial amount of quality chicken mixed in with the noodles and bean sprouts with a side of lemon. I would definitely order again in a heartbeat! PS. Sorry I ate the Pad Thai and therefore no pictures-sooooo good! Also my video of the Baby Egg Rolls would NOT UPLOAD. Sorry!

One thing about Joy's Noodles is that it's consistent! Whether I'm dining in or grabbing some take-out, I can always count on the flavors and the portion size to be just what I need. This is my go-to spot for Thai food in Lakeview - It's also really nice to sit outside in the summer and people watch on Broadway. The staff are friendly and efficient. They get your order fired right away, constantly refill your water, and don't try to pressure you to get more food or dessert. We love the Pad Thai which could probably feed 2-3 people but who wants to share?! For appetizers get the cucumber salad or the veggie rolls!

Been ordering from Joy's since the 90's - tonight is the last time. It's changed and I don't know what happened. New owner? New cooks? I have no idea. Tonight's order, as well as our last order, was bland. Pad See Eiw Beef ($18) and Pad Thai - the most straight forward dishes had only a hint of flavor AND the meats were tough. I thought maybe I am sick, but my husband verified "something's off." Disappointing. Bye Joy's!

Great food and service eat in and take out! We've lived in the neighborhood for 4 years and just found it last summer. The best!

Ordered GrubHub pickup from here. Was so excited to try because I walk by this restaurant every day. When I walked in one of the employees saw me right away and came over to help me. He was really nice and quick. The green curry chicken was great. That's always my favorite Thai dish. The white rice was steamed perfectly. Then for fun we got the veggie stir fry. I was so excited they had baby corn. Those are always so fun!

Love this place. It was my go to Thai place when I lived in Lakeview. It was close enough to pick up when nice outside, and the delivery fee wasn't too high for when I ordered. I've had the pad Thai, pad woon sen, drunken noodles, lard na, and Pad Prik Noodles and enjoyed them all. I've also had the pot stickers, which were tasty, and the crab rangoons, which were pretty good. I do wish they had more filling. I dined in person once over the summer in the back patio, and service was great, and the restaurant was clean. The patio was cozy and pretty quiet, considering the restaurant right on Broadway. It should be noted that it is BYOB.

Such a disappointment. I know this is kind of an institution and many people rave about it. However, my experience was far less than stellar. Been a long time since I started this review so I'm struggling to recollect all the issues, but, I seem to recall communication issues (language barriers) with the staff. I don't care so much about that, I love living in a multicultural society. However, I don't have to struggle too hard to recall that I'm certain that the food tasted REALLY off, almost as if they'd just had the exterminators in and the chemicals seeped into the food... not that I know what rat poison actually tastes like.

Ordered in food for delivery. Pad Woon Sen with Tofu was good and more flavorful than others I've had elsewhere. Pad Thai was good and generous with bbq pork tips. The Noodles Soup Special was light but bland. Plenty of typical Thai dishes to choose from.

Heard good things about this place. Pad Thai was decent. Nothing to write home about. The potstickers were really not great. May have to go back for a different noodle dish, but for now the rating says at 3 stars.

Overall, the place was decent but not great. We got two appetizers - Tom yum soup and spring rolls. The soup was good but the rolls weren't good at all. I had a crispy Pad Thai with shrimp which in my opinion was the best I have had so far! But my bf was disappointed with the Beef and broccoli entree

Great takeout every time I've ordered (mostly the Pad See Ew). Reliably good Thai food!

Best general tso's chicken, Rice, its amazing! Great place, Great enviroment. if youre in the area STOP IN. thank me later

Food is very good. It's expensive tho. I Would recommend the basil chicken entree and spring rolls for appetizer.

"wAaH yUH NeEEd" first off must I say I have been an advocate for this restaurant for years! And have been coming here since I was 13 years young for my birthday. I decide to stop in with my fiancé and it's surprisingly dead. Now first I noticed, the only server I happened to see was sitting all the way into the back booth with his back turned towards the door so we had to wait for a good amount of minutes before getting sat. Then we finally get sat and our waitress takes our order all in one. Food comes out, everything is okay, but I must say the customer service with the servers is absolute saddening. No check up after the food was brought then the one time I asked for something, our server didn't even come to the table, she screamed the the restaurant window across the sidewalk, " what you neeed?!". I'm heart broken because I have never receive such horrendous service and I've worked as a server/ bartender for 10+ years! Clean up the act, joys employees!

The food was better and the waitress was nicer the second time at the restaurant. They also did individual checks for 6 of us BUT BEWARE they ADD THEIR TIP!!!! I don't love when restaurants do that but it is what it is. My cashew chicken was much smaller and not quite as good as other restaurants where I have had it. I guess I'm getting a little sick of higher prices and smaller portions.

The Penang curry was really great. It was made with fried noodles which was an interesting touch that tasted incredible. Note I was also starving upon eating.

Just took out from Joy's for dinner last night, we live around the corner from here, and it's hard to resist the aromas daily, and this would be our 100+ dinner there. The Pad Thai, Pad Kee Mao (flat, broad rice noodles with vegetables and choice of protein, mild to medium heat) and NP Pad Thai (glass noodles version of Pad Thai) and the Rama Special (steamed broccoli and chicken with a creamy coconut-peanut sauce, mild) are the usuals that we get here, it's very authentic and best of all, the staff are very welcoming and hyper efficient. The back garden dining is a treat on a nice summer or shoulder season evening.

The food is delicious. Fair pricing. Your order comes out quick so this is good when your hungry.. Good ambiance, the staff is just a bit cold. But otherwise it was a good experience.

The food is amazing, I got takeout and the service was excellent as well. Everything came hot and they included a cute bundle of cutlery. Would order here again the pad thai and rice bowl are great and the vegetable rolls are top notch.

I got the coconut chicken curry here and it was fantastic. Nice and creamy with a nice amount of spice. The cucumber side salad was pretty refreshing too as I went on a very hot day. The ambiance was very relaxing and open-air as you can walk between the restaurant and outside pretty easily. A great neighborhood spot in East Lakeview

Great place for decent food that is very reasonable. Service is always good and they have a pretty extensive menu. One of my favorite places in the area for soup. Also their crispy noodle dishes are delicious!

Joy's Noodles & Rice was a delicious surprise. I came across Joy's Noodles & Rice on Grub Hub while randomly searching for a Thai restaurant. I had never heard of the restaurant but it had fairly good reviews so my husband and I decided to try it out. Joy's Noodles & Rice menu is what you would typically find at many Thai restaurants. I am a creature of habit so I opted for the Pad See Ew and a pot sticker starter. The ordering experience was pretty smooth and the food as delivered in a timely fashion. The Pad See Ew was consistent to other Thai places so I was happy about that and the portion sizes are decent. The potstickers were okay nothing that I would highly recommend. I easily got two meals out of my order which is always a plus. I would definitely visit Joy's Noodles post-COVID to enjoy the BYOB portion of the restaurant.

Phenomenal food, the service was great and fast. I had the chicken coconut curry, the pad Thai noodles with shrimp, and the sampler as an appetizer. The portions were great, can be shared between two people. All items were amazing and full of flavor! Definitely recommend the Thai iced tea, perfectly sweet. Can't wait to come back.

I ordered for delivery and my food arrived quicker than anticipated. We had beef pad see ew and chicken panang curry. Both were excellent! The pad see ew sauce was perfectly flavored and the noodles were soft and well cooked. The panang curry was next level. The flavor was spot on and it was served with fried wide rice noodles on the side instead of rice. I cut up the pieces of noodle to place in the bottom of my bowl and poured the curry on top. The noodles added such a nice chewy with slightly crisp texture. Very unique and I'm bummed I didn't know about this dish sooner!!

Looked really inviting from the outside especially with the open air seating - however just DON'T is my suggestion Yelpers!! Consider this a PSA. I was with friends at the Lakeview Arts Festival this weekend and decided to walk in to preview the menu which looked like a nice menu of noodles and rice dishes and very reasonably priced but in the restaurant's defense, it was just after 1:30pm on a Sunday during a street festival so it was probably just after the lunch rush and about half the tables were still not bussed from those who dined-in... but that's not nearly the disturbing part!! I wanted to wash my hands before sitting down so I went to the ladies room and eeekkkk!!! I spotted several Cockroaches (or maybe they're large Beetles IDK - see pictures) around the sink area and floor. If that's not gross enough, just to the other side of the restrooms is the Kitchen!!! Pretty sure my facial expression said it all and immediately I had zero appetite for this place. See I have this theory: how a restaurant keeps their restrooms is very likely how they keep their kitchen too so no thanks bugs on a plate just isn't for me. We ended up walking a little bit further down Broadway St. and found a neat little spot that was showcasing the football games across the TVs.

Love Joy's (and Noodles in the Pot), always have, probably always will. Just a heads up that the two noodle dishes that advertise "spinach noodles" have recently (?) changed. Used to be round/thin wheat noodles and now they're more like what you'd think of with spinach fettuccine. Dishes taste fine (Baitong and Phuket noodles were always my favorites here), but the texture of the old noodles is what made these dishes great IMO. The new substituted noodles really change it for the worse. The texture is just kinda gross to me. Just disappointed, I only ordered these bc of how they used to be. I hope this is just a temporary thing while the world deals with supply chain issues etc. No knock on Joy's if these noodles don't change though. Still go.

My daughter and I LOVE Joy's noodles. Any time she comes to work with me, is a tradition for us to cruise around lakeshore drive and get Joy's for Lunch/Dinner!! While waiting for the food, we visit the book store next door!!

Consistency, value, incredible apps! Penang w/crispy noodles. Wow!!! Been going here for over 25 years

BYOB... a bonus when you're 22 and broke... and still, when you're 36 trying not to be broke! I saw a picture of the coconut curry with shrimp ($12, but $15 with shrimp upcharge) on Yelp... it was so good!! Very filling, I might pop, but I couldn't stop! Comes with a cucumber salad which is nice. Large restaurant, practically empty 5-6:30 on a Monday... but I guess that early bird time :-)

Decent at best. Crab Rangoon was delicious, but chicken satay appetizer was not good at all and the peanut sauce was chunky and cold. For main meal: Vegetable Pad Thai: 60% veggies and 40% noodles. Way too many vegetables and not enough noodles. Also mostly broccoli. Chicken Fried Rice: Lacked any kind of flavor. Not great at all and wouldn't return for it. Overall, a decently priced meal but wasn't great at all. Wouldn't go visit again probably.

Great meal with friends! This is a great place to catch up with friends, eat good food, and BYOB with no corkage fee! Came on a Friday night with a group of 4 and were seated right away. We started with apps: fried tofu, potstickers, and Thai rolls. The fried tofu was so simple but so good! Nice and crunchy and came out piping hot. The sweet and sour peanut dipping sauce was drinkable, it was so flavorful! The Thai rolls were a great size and were light and refreshing. I'm not a huge potsticker fan in general but those at my table loved them. We split the cashew chicken, panang curry tofu, and pad see eiw with chicken. Everything came out hot and the portions were great- perfect for 4 to split. The chicken in the two dishes wears very tender and the tofu panang had such flavor! Service was great and bill was cheap for the amount and quality of food. Will be back!

If you live in Lakeview it's highly likely that you're already familiar with Joy's. If you're not familiar, you need to be... Super solid Thai restaurant for carry out, delivery or dining in. If you do dine in, they have a cute patio in the back and sidewalk seating in the warmer months, and all year round they are BYOB. Food service is always super quick here, almost to the point you feel rushed. That can be viewed as a positive or a negative depending on your dining style. The food itself, however, is always a positive in my book. Both super tasty and decent portions.

A quirky thing about Chicago is the plethora of BYOB establishments. Joy's Noodles & Cafe was a great Sunday afternoon stop for my boyfriend & I before we went to a Cubs game. Mimosa ingredients in hand, the friendly staff welcomed us inside and immediately provided us with glasses & bottle openers. BYOB is the way to be, Chi-town! We ordered the Rama Chicken & Garlic Chicken dishes. They were pretty good! The service was decent & timely, and I enjoyed the ambiance. It was a beautiful, sunny day so the big front windows were open, letting the sunshine & breeze in. Bringing our own mimosas & filling up with Thai food before a day in the Wrigley bleachers saved us from mostly filling up with expensive stadium food. I would come here again.

I would normally give this place a 5/5, but they changed their hours and did not update it anywhere other than their restaurant window. I was hoping to catch the lunch special today and when I got there I learned it was not open. They don't open until 4 pm on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Here are the new hours.

Wonderful Thai food! My kiddo especially loves the pad thai, I am currently partial to the chicken coconut curry though I have in the past also loved shrimp fried rice and butter noodles. The crab rangoon is hands-down the best crab rangoon I've ever had anywhere. It has a nice delicate crisp that is unique in comparison to the thicker crunch you get more places. The staff is all great. The one time we met Joy, she was hospitable and lovely. Joy's Noodles and Rice is a treasure of Lakeview.

Best crab Rangoon! Crispy and small, they're the perfect bite. We usually get curry and fried rice and pad see ew.

The service and food was ok. It's very mediocre for a local place to eat. Nothing fancy or anything just ok and mediocre. The spring rolls were good. Worth a try.