Laojiumen Hotpot Chicago老九门火锅-Hotpot 9

With the price you pay at $26.88 per person including soup base, we thought it was a really good deal given the quality of food. Sure, there are not like 100 things you can order but they have what we wanted. The sauce station is actually better than that of Happy Lamb, so is the flavoring of the food and soup base. We'll def come back.

Not busy at all for a Sunday night around 6pm. Made reservations just in case. The Spicy Broth is definitely Hot/Spicy and a bit tangy. The Nourishing Chicken Broth was delicious but I think I can do without having the chicken bone sitting in it. You can choose the level of spiciness for your broths and I think we chose the middle-level. We opted for All You Can Eat with option to order other items, such as Egg Fried Rice which was really nothing special, at an extra cost. Meats were excellent quality. Really enjoyed the sauce/condiment bar as there were many options. Tried the curd options for the first time and would not mind trying again. We did not make it for dessert, unfortunately, since the amount of food was generous. In my opinion, this restaurant is more expensive than other Hot Pot restaurants in the Chinatown/Chicagoland area. Worth it because it is different from most.

This place was awesome. Had never been to a Hotpot place before. The owner's boyfriend came by and helped us select. He also made a great recommendations in terms of dipping sauces. The place was very clean, the 1/2 & 1/2 broth was delicious, and it was fun dipping all your food. The only reason I wouldn't give it 5 stars was the service. We never got the pumpkin and some other items had to be substituted. Some of our original menu items were never brought and it was tough to get water.

Loved this place! My friends and I came here this past weekend for Lunar New Year. There were plenty of tables and the service was great. The staff was super quick and attentive. The hot pot itself was also so flavorful and delicious. THE DIPPING SAUCE STATION IS AMAZING. So much variety!

This place needs to be shut down. I’m already betting they won’t be open for another year. I got all you can eat hot pot with my family, it was $29.88 per person. THAT IS NOT ALL. You have to pay extra to build your own sauce + soup base, so it’s $29.88 + hidden fees. It feels deceiving since the extra fees were written so small on the menu. My family of 5 and I went during what one would assume to be peak dinner hours. 7pm-8pm we were there and only 3 tables were occupied. I was wondering why there was no one here since the interior of this restaurant looked nice. I found out why later. The food, let’s talk about the food. Every meat item we ordered was so tough and chewy compared to other AYCE hotpot places in Chinatown. Their competitors all have tender and high quality cuts of meat while theirs tasted like the budget version of that. It’s cheaper to eat AYCE elsewhere too, because you don’t have to pay extra hidden fees on top of their advertised $28.99. When I was done eating, both my dad and I got food poisoning. Our stomach hurt for a full day and it was not a good experience. Thankfully the rest of my family was okay though. Also, the service was good, the servers were excellent, but they should go find somewhere else to work because the bad food gives them a bad reputation.

HOTPOT LOVERS!!! Make your way here ASAP for an authentic, delicious hot pot experience. This ALL YOU CAN EAT hotpot restaurant in the Chinatown area will have you leaving full and happy! Choose from a wide variety of broths, heat levels, meats, appetizers, veggies, and fresh juices, while creating your own dipping sauces and guess for how much? About $30 a person! That’s it!!! The decor actually was shipped in from China to add to your authentic experience. There’s also vegan and vegetarian options available, so there’s something for everyone. Head out to to indulge your tastebuds and tell ‘em that Planes and Plates sent you! Enjoy!!!

My go-to hotpot place! I personally do not get the all-you-can-eat as I find that I can be easily filled by ordering a la carte and it always comes out to a cheaper price. The sauce bar is an extra cost but I think it is necessary for the style of meats we like to order. The portions here per order of meat are pretty large if you're ordering for 2 people so I never feel like we spend a huge amount of money here compared to other hotpot places. I do wish they had more marinated meats but also understand how it can be a little unnecessary as the marinade would get boiled in the soup either way. Overall a great hotpot place!

I LOVE HOT POT and this place did not disappoint. The service was great especially Ruan! We of course opted for all you can eat and did two broths. One was traditional Szechuan broth (mild spicy) was still spicy for my husband who eats and loves spicy foods. I had mushroom broth as I’m vegetarian. My only con was that I requested them to add Szechuan pepper and chili so mine can be spicy but they couldn’t do it! Our favorites and must try item was: fried bread sticks aka youtiao and watermelon juice His favorite - ljm tender beef and spicy marinated beef and rice cakes My favorites - bean curd roll, tofu puffs and sweet potatoes Do not recommend- firm tofu or gluten puffs There are a lot of discussions on prices here so I wanted to add details of our meal. Adult all you can eat was $53.76 for both of us, two broth was 13.88, the watermelon juice was $9.88 so with tax it was $85.47 + tip.