Ryne D.
Yelp
We don't make it out to the south burbs very often, but when we do we know it's a great chance to try some places out that are out of reach (the pains of not owning a car). While scoping out Yelp, my eyes were drawn to a China buffet nearby, a guilty pleasure of mine - until I noticed I already reviewed it eight years ago. Can't waste this car rental on a repeat, even if I completely forgot about it!
Through Eater and some twelve year old Yelp review from friends, we ended up at Katy's. It was a super rainy Sunday night, but it was still decently busy inside. They don't have high chairs so we just brought in our son in his car seat. The staff was extremely nice, and were excited to have a baby in the house. Even the manager's mother came by and chatted with us about her own kids and raising them.
The food is definitely worthy of its accolades. We got the triple delight dumplings, dan dan noodle soup, and mala dry pot. Obviously they're know for the dumplings (which my baby enjoyed as well as us), but those other two dishes have me wanting to call up Enterprise for another car rental. Both had that tongue numbing spice you want. The soup was rich with a healthy amount of noods with a nice chew to them. We got lamb for our dry pot, which also had a bunch of veggies and shrimp and mushrooms and peanuts...yeah, it was loaded.
We're not quite ready to move to the burbs, but places like Katy's sure make it enticing. Definitely a must visit if you're around town!