mike b.

I do not understand the recent poor reviews on friendship. We've been going to this place for years. Yes, prices and corkage fee have gone up and portions down a bit, but the quality control and food are exellent. Crab rangoon and mongolian steak are still about the best in the city. You think this is pricey, try the Penninsula. Meat and poultry quality is excellent which you don't see too often at this price point.

Morris F.

PLEASE NOTE, THIS REVIEW RELATES TO FRIENDSHIP'S LOCATION ON THE LAKEFRONT TRAIL, SOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER. We visited this spot on Saturday night when it was offered as a Groupon Now. Unfortunately the Groupon listed the address wrong, the restaurant's website has an address that doesn't exist on any map, and its workers had difficulty coherently explaining where they were. We were traveling by taxi, which is a good thing, as I have no idea where you could park a car other than at Navy Pier or in the lot on Illinois approaching the pier, which is are least a 15 minute walk away Thus we arrived almost an hour later than planned, and the temperature had dropped 15 degrees in the interim. Oops, outdoor dining is the only option. This location is essentially a takeout/delivery spot for those lucky enough to have a yacht moored nearby. The food is good. Walnut shrimp was not as cloyingly sweet as served elsewhere, the shrimp were both plump and tasty. The dish is served with cold but blanched broccoli and has little pieces of apple on top as a decoration. It's as good to eat as it is attractive to look at, but they do need to cut back on the mayonnaise that is the main ingredient in the sauce. My partner had peanut garlic chicken, which he declared tasty but did not look as elegant as the shrimp dish. Wonton soup with a mushroom broth was delicious. This meal with a Sapporo each was $55 before the Groupon was applied and without the tip; and it seemed high for a meal that we had to shiver through. The Groupon was quickly refunded after I complained to them about the address fiasco and the lack of notice that the location had no indoor dining. We won't go back to this location, but we'll definitely try the Milwaukee Avenue spot one day soon.

Sondra O.

I would certainly NOT recommend this place to anyone. My boyfriend and I did not have reservations and only waited about 10 minutes to be seated. That was where the pleasure of this evening ended. We sat at the table for about another 10 minutes before being greeted by our waiter to asked us if we decided on what to order. (I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he wasn't asking us to place our dinner order without even taking our drink order). We ordered two beers and one maki roll to start. Our beers came within 5 minutes - acceptable. But then we realized, while we were on the last sips of our beers, that we had waited almost another 20 minutes and the one sushi roll we ordered as an appetizer never came out. Our waiter never came back over to tell us what the holdup was. It wasn't until he brought the table to the left of us their entrees and he realized I was staring him down that he said our roll would be right out. Another 10 minutes passed - nothing. No appetizer - no waiter - no nothing. (Did I mention that in this 30 minutes, he didn't even stop by to take our dinner order) Needless to say - we walked out. I'm not even sure he realized we were gone. There was no one even at the host-stand to complain to. I was just DONE. Nice place to go if you want to have a beer and be ignored, but if you actually plan to have a little dinner at dinner.....go somewhere else.

Leanne M.

this place is a little gem in an unexpected location. easily the best Chinese restaurant in Chicago (btw- my mom is from Taiwan and she loves it here!)... the owner studied art in college and IT SHOWS! gorgeous interior- modern asian- with a bit of romance and gorgeous food- a Parisian appearance and great options for vegans and vegetarians! their tofu is fantastic. try the lemon champagne dish (I get it with tofu)! YUM! Go here before they jack up the prices because everyone else has found it too! Did you hear me? I said RUN!

Rick F.

Bathrooms: Clean Atmosphere: Fantastic Urban Hip Service: Poor Food: Hit or Miss, Below Average Price: $33 per person I really wanted to love this place, but I ended up just slightly liking it! Appetizer Combo for two was excellent and a great start to our meal! Won Ton and Hot and Sour Soup was cold and tasteless. Chicken Fried Rice was not so good! Scallops, Peanut Chicken and Salt/Pepper Beef were good! Pass on the Grilled Sake Chicken was terrible. Service started out good, ended up very bad.

Paul B.

We were out on July 4 looking for dinner and used the Yelp ap on the droid to find an open restaurant. (Wow does that sound like a commercial!). We found Friendship Chinese and the girl on the phone was so pleasant we went right there. (When we got there we learned that she was very pleasant which is why we decided to stay. We were in work clothes and the place was kind of fancy.) The apps (on the plate - not the phone) were good. They were bourbon baby back rib tips. (The menu left the "tip" part out, but I ain't mad at 'em.) Mine were cool in the middle- but other than that - they were quite good. We split the Grilled Sake Chicken and the Spicy Peanut Garlic Chicken and we pleasantly surprised at how delicious everything was. The flavors were bold and nuanced - but not overpowering. The temperature was perfect. Everything was as it should be on those cool square plates. The service is very good - a little impersonal - but very much on top of things at all time. They were really very attentive and there were only two of them and the place was filling up as we were wrapping up. The only thing keeping me from being a regular is that it is a bit expensive. If you want to impress your date - bring her/him there. It was really a nice way to celebrate our country's Independence.

Clif P.

I was pleasantly surprised with Friendship restaurant. Before I came, I was expecting a typical Chinese restaurant (sub-par ingredients, deep fried, bad sushi, etc.) HOWEVER, Friendship far exceeded my expectations. The Sushi was GREAT. They have very unique rolls. The Shrimp dish I had was also very tasty. The peppers and sauce in the dish out-shined the shrimp itself. I was planning on using my Groupon, however, Tuesday night is a special where everything is only $9. I liked Friendship so much that I paid cash and kept my Groupon for next time.

Lee C.

VERY hit-or-miss. I have eaten here three times, and the first two were great. Well, not great, but at least very good. Ginger beef was delicious! Tonight I ordered the Spicy Garlic Tofu/Eggplant. First of all, it's not spicy at all, and in fact is overwhelmingly sweet. Second, the tofu. Big problem. Giant chunks of puffy, deep fried tofu that are completely bland. Third, it's extremely oily. Fourth, far too expensive for what it is! $12.00 is too much, but when you figure in the tax and $3.00 delivery fee and whatever you choose to give the driver, you've spent almost twenty bucks on some rather average (or, in tonights case, just plain bad) Chinese food. "Cautious" is the right word!

Todd K.

This restaurant has the best food!! The flavor is fabulous!! I highly recommend for any evening out!!!

Sam R.

1) as everyone else said, Crab Rangoon is awesome, nice and creamy. 2) everything else was mediocre or terrible 3) overpriced 4) weird chocolate fortune cookies Ordered dinner for the family tonight: Crab Rangoon, edamame, shrimp fried rice, shrimp in walnut sauce, moo goo gai pan chicken. The entire bill was $55, which, fine IF the food is good. Unfortunately that was not the case here. The shrimp in walnut sauce was alright, nothing to rave about especially for $15. The moo goo was just that, goo. That was disgusting, I actually just threw it directly in the garbage. The fried rice was mediocre, nothing to rave about at all. Same with the egg rolls. To;dr order the crab rangoon and shrimp in walnut sauce, better yet, don't order at all.

Lala S.

Let's just put it this way...I'm glad I had a groupon. They have a modern Chinese menu, that in theory sounds really good, but the execution is "meh." Pros: -Fast delivery -Chocolate fortune cookies Cons: -Rice is really hard and dry but I think this is typical for many Chinese places. -Portions are smaller than the average Chinese place and the prices are a tad bit higher. -seems that everything comes on a bed of steamed veggies but the veggies are bland. At least, it's healthy I suppose. If you are looking for more modern twist on Americanized - Chinese, I recommend Papajin.

Jen O.

I went here on a Groupon with a friend and I will be going back for sure. The place was clean and very nicely decorated. Our waiter was very friendly and when my friend requested her rolls without sesame seeds (she's allergic) and they came out with the seeds, he gave her fresh rolls at no charge and left the ones for me to eat or take home. Highly recommend.

Sara F.

Had the service been better, this place would have got 5 stars. My husband and I could not stop talking about how good the food was. While a little more expensive than typical Chinese food, the taste and presentation was great. The environment is 15 feet from the harbor and very relaxing. On the bad note, service was slow. It took awhile to gather our drink order and we sat for 20mins with empty plates when we were done. I, again, recommend this place highly if you don't require constant service.

Johanna B.

I used to really like this restaurant. Their walnut shrimp dish was killer! But no longer so. Last time there was a huge hair in my food and the staff did nothing about it. They left the dish on the table, didn't apologize, and apparently put in my order again at the end of the line without informing me. My dinner partner was long finished eating when my clean dish finally arrived and my contaminated dish was removed from our table. I was charged the full meal price and no apology was ever extended to me. There is no manager at this restaurant. Although the receptionist asked for my telephone number and assured me a manager would call me, nobody ever did. A shame, because I used to like this place.

Eliza M.

It pains me to write this, as I have been a big fan of this place for years, but after my last experience, I'm not going back. File under: cautionary tale about Groupons... I would like to own up to the part I played in this debacle: I showed up on a Friday night at 8:15 on the last day before a Groupon expired without a reservation. (Side note: I'm pretty sure taking reservations for small parties is new, and I'm pretty sure some website I looked at recently said "no reservations.") My bad, I know - but I was prepared to wait. I was not prepared for (nor am I every okay with when I'm out to dinner) total chaos, which is what they were experiencing. Anyway, the hostess told us there were two tables ahead of us, and she estimated a 30 minute wait. Not bad, really. She also advised us against going around the corner to have a beer while we wait, because though she'd ordinarily take our number and call us, they're too busy tonight, and if we're not there, we'll miss our table. Fair enough. What she should have said was: "Our restaurant is booked nearly to capacity with reservations, so though there are only two walk-ins ahead of you, there will be virtually no table availability for the rest of the evening. Also, we're running a bit behind in the dining room, so I'm actually seating all of the reservations 10-20 minutes late. I promise you can eat here before the restaurant closes tonight, but I have no idea when that will happen. We're extending the availability of the Groupon for a week if you'd like to give this another try later." All of these statements are things that turned out to be true but weren't explained from the get-go. (Another side note: that girl was clearly working very hard and trying her best. There just wasn't any saving the situation.) We ended up waiting for over an hour, which honestly, given my poor planning, I would have totally forgiven had I then sat down to a nice meal with some decent service. Instead, it turned out the dining room was even more chaos than the waiting room. It was clear they do not have the staff capacity to handle a full dining room, let alone a full dining room that turns over once. Tables that had already been seated when I arrived at the restaurant were just getting their meals, there was lots of loud noise and commotion coming out of the kitchen, and all of the waitstaff were running around, sweating profusely, looking as though they were working in and ER just trying to hold things together. No one came to our table, gave us wine glasses, or opened our wine for the first 20 minutes or so that we sat there. When a waiter came over, stood between our table and another recently seated table, and asked us all generally what we wanted to order (with our unopened wine sitting on the table without any glasses to drink it out of) I got up and left. All together, it took a little under two hours for me to not eat at Friendship. I ate the $20 I spent on the groupon and went around the corner for an EXCELLENT Cuban sandwich. I am 100% comfortable with my decisions, especially since, given the chaos that was happening in that dining room, there's no way they're putting out food as good as I've been used to from that place. (And the tone of a lot of recent yelp reviews gives me the impression that's probably the case.) A lesson to all restaurants out there: if you can't handle a full dining room and give people a quality experience and a quality product, do not participate in Groupon. You may have my $20, but it's the last of my (formerly faithful) money you're getting.

Ellen M.

I thought I loved Chinese food. Now when people ask if I want Chinese delivered, I ask "Friendship Chinese, or some other place?" Nothing comes close to the raised bar that is Friendship. It began with the Yelp event at Friendship Chinese where everything was fantastic. For delivery, I've also had the sake grilled chicken, the honey walnut shrimp and the crab rangoon. Wow! I was prepared for the amazing crab rangoon - it was like dessert. But I implore everyone to try the honey walnut shrimp - it's very surprising. The sake chicken was a bit more of the standard, but again, terrific. My husband is not a Chinese fan, yet he's intrigued. I hope to treat him soon.

Becky W.

Yeah this place is ok. I went in with high hopes, but wasn't that impressed. I had the veggie spring rolls and fried calamari for an appetizer. The spring rolls were amazing, and the calamari was pretty good too. I really like the sweet chili sauce they were served with. For my entree I decided on the spicy garlic shrimp, over the sweet chili shrimp. I think I should have gone with the latter. The black bean sauce was too thick and goopy on the shrimp. It was great over rice, but just on the shrimp it was too much. My friend had the shanghai noodles, and i think sans-chicken, i would have preferred that dish over both. Maybe next time... The service was pretty wretched. Slower than molasses! I might order take out shanghai noodles, but I'd probably venture elsewhere for chinese. Plus, no vegetarian soups! bah!

Theresa C.

I came here for the first time two weeks ago with a Groupon for the Chilean Seabass 5-course meal. Unfortunately, I wasn't really very impressed and I would have been significantly more harsh if I were paying full price. My general impression: the place looks nice, feels comfortable, the tables are a bit close together, the bathroom was clean, make a reservation if you don't want to wait forever. The food: stand outs were the lobster bisque- silky, light with a rich flavor, one of my favorite parts of the meal; the second course was some kind of breaded something that was awesome and a yummy salad; the desserts were amazing, I had the pear tart-oh my god amazing. I was actually really disappointed in the Seabass, it's really not as good as people make it out to be. It was okay, but not something I would go out of my way to have again, especially at full price. Wrap-up: It's a nice place, but nothing stand out and kind of expensive.

Kyle H.

I can't believe this place is near Logan Square! The Square is rising! Never a bad experience here, the service is impressive and the atmosphere unique- elegant yet comfortable. I love the Champagne Orange Chicken and crab rangoon is light and tasty! Love it!

Linna C.

I'm a BELIEVER! Classy Chinese Food DOES EXIST IN CHICAGO! This restaurant is located right off of the blue line near logan square, its surrounded by a mixture of commercial buildings, business and retailers, but stuffed amongst it is this beautiful little boutique one of a kind chinese restaurant. The interior of the restaurant is dimly lit, with modern decor and endless array of intricate details ranging from the lighting, to the celing cell, to the tin walls and even art pieces... every direction you look is bundle of suprises. The menu is simply done, not like the typical chinese restaurant menu where your eyes wander into endless directions. We ordered one dish from each food group: - Appetizer: Crab Ragoon - Seafood: Scallop and Shrimp w/Dried Chili - Meat: Grilled Hong Kong Steak - Vegetable: Garlic Spinach - Noodles: Lo Mein w/Chicken Every dish was well flavored with unique spices along with inpeccable presentation... When I talk about details I mean straight down to the drinks, like orange cream soda and ice tea, which was wonderful!!

Patrick D.

A cautious fan. The food was great but when taking out the kids who wouldn't know the difference between pot stickers and McD's Chicken McNuggets I cringed when I saw the bill. Ouch. I have to whine about the 12 ounce bottle of Coke for $3. Please, I can get a case from Costco for $7. The food was unique and I now know what good Chinese can taste like. In the economy we're all facing time to lower the prices.

Colleen C.

I was in a "Find a Chinese restaurant" dilemma...my little brother and his girlfriend were in town and wanted Chinese. I eat (relatively) healthy, and didn't want an MSG fest of fried Chinese buffet items. We wanted something a bit more upscale, get a little dressed up, yet not break the bank... So of course, I turn to Yelp...my trusted guide. And Yelp gives me Friendship Chinese. It is in Avondale, a bit off the beaten path...but for me, that just makes it even better. We grabbed a bottle of wine on the way over, found a metered spot...and then were set to go. Wait was about 20 minutes, but well worth it. They get quite busy on the weekends...and were not taking anymore reservations when I called around 4pm that day, understandable. Food was SUPERB. We had sesame chicken, shrimp lomein and beef/asparagus...asbsolutely stellar. Our Crab Rangoon appetizers were declared "best ever" and the veggie spring rolls were scrumdiddlyumptious. However, I had no idea it was intended to be "family style" so I will know better next time :) That would make more sense...to share everything, etc. The private back room looks lovely for an intimate private party.... I only docked a single star because our service was slower than slow. I know they were busy, but it was sloooooooooooooooow. However, friendly. But still. All for about $20some a person, a great Chinese place for a date or night out...will def be back.

Tab S.

This place is fabulous and well worth the commute if you're not living in the neighborhood. Our server was helpful and the food was excellent. The only thing that keeps them from getting 5 stars is the slow service...not sure what's going on there - it wasn't busy when we were there....

Fred G.

When I first moved to the area I visited Friendship Chinese and thought it was a fantastic place. Their food is always outstanding and it usually comes out very fast. Now that I've gone to Friendship Chinese a few times I've learned that they either keep a VERY short staff or their employees simply sit in the back and don't do any work. Every time I walk in, there is nobody attending the door and I end up waiting ~10 minutes just to be seated by somebody. Their waiting staff seems very inexperienced while they fumble with dishes and nearly spill your meal onto the floor. The reason that I will never go to Friendship Chinese again is because of their ownership/management. I had purchased $200 in Groupons for a large group of friends I was taking out one night and they refused to accept the Groupons based on bogus rules that they were making up on-the-spot and weren't printed on the Groupon or on Groupon's website. In the end I wasted $200 and had to pay for my group of friends in cash that night, all because the greedy owners/managers weren't serious about honoring their Groupon deals. For first-timers, I recommend this place and you will probably love it. However, I wouldn't go again unless you really want to put up with terrible service in order to enjoy a little asian cuisine.

Claire F.

I am changing my review on this place after coming several times for dinner! I have decided that what you order here really changes your mind! If you want some amazingly delicious food try: Honey Walnut Shrimp! Spicy Crunchy California Roll! Red Dragon Makhi!! Ti something roll ' the chef's personal roll' CRAB RAGOON!! The ribs on the appetizer were also good. I do have to say that the other 3 entrees that our table got were not very good, but these t were amazing!

Eric M.

The shrimp was fresh, the staff was friendly and the decor was date perfect but for the price it could use some sort of originality. You can get the same flavour at any other pick up Chinese place.

Brian P.

Friendship Chinese Restaurant is my favorite Chinese restaurant. Period. Appetizers I've really enjoyed: calamari, crab rangoon, vegetable spring rolls. Entrees I've really enjoyed: Champagne Lemon Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Merlot Beef (which is no longer on the menu for some crazy reason!), Ginger Beef, Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice. One great thing is that they keep offering Groupon deals, so while I'm happy to pay full price, they keep letting me pay half!

Faye B.

Came here with a Groupon on a Friday when I was on the hunt for seafood. Ryan and I went to the Logan Square location and I have to say we both enjoyed it. We started of with crab rangoon. Nothing earth shattering about this starter, but these were fashioned in a style so that they were little satchels of crab/cream cheese heaven. What can I say, I'm a sucker for fried cream cheese goodness. I was eager to try the sushi and the special maki all sounded so fun. Ryan doesn't eat sushi so he went with the honey walnut shrimp. It was definitely a healthier spin on it. Gone was the usual deep fried breading and instead of the usual walnuts and broccoli there was almost like a fresh mix of veggies. It was a nice change of pace and it was tasty. My fave out of the two makis I ordered was the Cubs maki. The yellow tail and tuna combo were so delicious and the blue crunch addition to the tuna making this a true Cubs maki. I can't wait to try a different roll.

Adam R.

I've been coming here on and off on groupons for a while now. I really enjoy the atmosphere and the service has always been friendly, but I think it's a bit pricey for the quality of food presented. On my most recent trip, a friend and I each had a soup. Both tasted good, but both were missing something. I decided my vegetable soup needed chicken or shrimp. We split the appetizer platter: the duck rolls were wonderful, but the rest of the items were just average. Everything fried came out super greasy, the crab rangoon was more cream cheese than crab, and the ribs were way too sugary. For our meal, we ended up splitting a dish after having a large appetizer course. We had the spicy garlic shrimp and were both impressed. My friend thought it could be a little less sweet but we both really enjoyed the flavor and would order it again. In the end, our meal before tip was $50. We both really enjoy Chinese food, but agreed that without the groupon, I wouldn't have paid $50 for that meal. Regardless, Friendship is still a solid food choice and as long as the groupons keep popping up, we'll keep going back.

Ted W.

Bought a groupon based on the positive yelp reviews but was very disappointed. Maybe the Chinese food is better than the sushi, but I would definitley not recomend the sushi. It was expensive (but about what you would expect for high-end sushi) but definitley not high-end. It did not taste very fresh and smelled very fishy. One plus was the decor inside was veyr nice.

Jennifer R.

I recently had lunch with a friend at Friendship and was so disappointed that they have discontinued their fantastic sushi lunch special. Bring it back and I promise to come there for lunch every week!

Helena B.

The exterior of Friendship Chinese looks like something you'd find in Chinatown, but somehow, we walked right past it. Inside is far fancier than I'd expected. Sleek black walls, golden Buddha heads, white tablecloths - yet, I felt completely comfortable in my jeans and "date shirt" (yes, dear Yelpers, I'm a serial first-dater). To start, we split the pot stickers. We got the pork variety, but next time I'd go with the veggie version as I preferred the "out-ards" of these pot stickers to the "innards". I should interject here that part of the fun of eating here was definitely attributable to the chopsticks. Unlike the pencil-thick, wooden ones you get elsewhere, these were thin and metal, so the balance and grip were off. Why not just use a fork, you ask? That's cheating. Besides, I was on a date trying to look all suave and cultured. For our main courses, I went with the Coconut Wasabi Chicken and Date-Boy had the General Tao Shrimp. When they were first placed in front of us, I thought that Date-Boy had won the entree game as his was far more visually appealing. However, my coconut wasabi sauce was a perfect topper for the rice. In the end, both were tasty (and more than enough to share with extra left to pack up and take home). One last note: This place used to be BYOB and is now *technically* BYO-wine. They have a beer menu, so they'd prefer you order from it rather than bringing your own brews. Whoops... we already had a 4-pak of Duvels. Our server was so gracious in letting us drink our verboten beers, that I will be sure to order from their beer list next time.

Luke S.

Wowie!!! I forgot how amazing this place is! I went back here with my family for the first time in months and this is without a doubt the best flavored Chinese food that I have ever had. The preparation is beautiful as is the decor of the restaurant. As lame as it sounds I even really liked the bathroom. This place is such a gem!

Ram J.

Get ready for a complete paradox unlike anything you've heard before. A CSI-like team would be required to sort out the pages of this coincidental cluster fuck. I go to "Friendship's" website and order myself a meal and appetizer. Somehow after delivery fees this comes out to be around $25. Eh. This better be some high class Chinese food because it is going above and beyond what a good dine-in meal + glass of wine would cost. About an hour later an old Asian man comes to my door and hands me a bag and credit card receipt slip to sign. I tip him well and send him on his way. As I sit down for a long awaited dinner, I realize that he has delivered another customer's order. Ugh. Of course, I can't win! Whatever...common mistake. Not such a big deal to have the delivery driver pace back around the block and give me my meal, but, unfortunately Friendship hasn't trained their employees to recognize the ringing sound coming out of those weird plastic things you hold up to your head and speak with. So 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and hour goes by with my intermittent calling and this place still refuses to answer their phone (yes, it was the correct nombre!). I sit and stare at the meal in front of me and wonder if I should just stop being a pussy and eat it, when I realize that it is nothing a Chinese place would have...the meals were very very unique to Thai food. I check out the number on the receipt, and to my surprise, this isn't even from Friendship! It is from some Thai restaurant a few miles away. WTF? After phoning the Thai place and sitting on hold for 15 minutes to speak with the Engrish speaking manager, I realize this food is for my upstairs neighbors, and the delivery driver apparently had trouble reading names and numbers. Well, you don't even have to read names and numbers, just compare the symbol from the receipt to the symbols on the door, right? So I deliver the grossly cold weird Thai dishes upstairs to my emaciated neighbors, almost relieved. But wait, where the fuck is my dinner? I try calling Friendship another 5 times unsuccessfully and figure the order didn't go through and ate something else an hour and a half late. While eating some mac n' cheese I check on my debit card history and guess what, Friendship (or whoever maintains their website) did indeed charge my card for the never delivered purchase, and they still haven't answered their phones. Is it worth $25 to drive up there and try and explain what the hell is going on? No. Probably not. I'll complain here instead like a repressed pussy.

Ariel W.

At 3pm, I placed an order for pickup for 5:30pm. When I arrived (on time), the food wasn't ready and had to wait an additional 20 minutes before it was. The communication from the hostess was completely obsolete and I had to ask on several occasions when the food would actually be ready. I expect that when an order is placed well in advance that it actually be ready when I arrive. We barely got an apology for the inconvenience. The food was good but the service was seriously lacking. Definitely will not return.

Bill M.

What the heck is this glossy Chinese restaurant doing in Logan Square (next to a mattress shop)? Thanks to a Groupon offer, our group of four was lured to try out the food. The interior lobby greets you with a wall of shiny and serene Buddha heads, and the dining hall is comfortably chic as it does not fall into the clichés of dragons and red gateways run amok. We had a relatively early dinner reservation, and even though we came a bit late it was not a problem to be seated. The place is BYOB, but their short beer list is not bad (we all went for the Kirin). The Groupon offer was for a 5-course meal featuring Chilean sea bass. I was the lone dissenter of our group and ordered a la carte to avoid the seafood special. The special meal featured crispy unagi with salad (was that eel?), lobster and corn bisque, peppercorn beef tenderloin, sea bass over a bed of noodles, and dessert. I ordered pork pot stickers, which were delicious and quite sizeable. My entrée was champagne lemon chicken with broccoli, which was good though I liked the beef better (yeah we all shared). The feature dessert was chocolate volcano cake, but we were allowed to pick three different desserts (glazed sorbet ball, mousse cube, volcano cake), and these are rather rich for a Chinese restaurant. I liked the little flourishes here, such as the bowls of rice delicately striped with soy sauce so they look like scoops of ice cream, and the food was all well-presented. It seemed all of the food was very good...except for the sea bass! All three of my dining mates were not thrilled by the fish, which is odd since that was the item that lured the crowd here. There were some minor service issues too (two servings of sea bass instead of three on the family plate, and Groupon cost added to total bill even though the Groupon is a prepaid item). Still, the Groupon discount was incredible ($13 instead of $50 "rack rate" for the 5-course meal) in comparison to the a la carte pricing. Overall we did enjoy the "fabuloso" dining experience at Friendship.

Kyle P.

great delivery chinese..probably a 3.5 but i give it to them for the sweet cake box it is delivered in......I like the mongolian chicken and fried rice and ribs...

Kit S.

My friends suggested that I should go to Logan Square and try this unique Chinese restaurant. It is the best Chinese restaurant in Chicago including restaurants found in Chinatown. The wok tossed calamari was awesome. The best tender calamari I ever had. The Mongolian beef was also great. It has a nice smoky favor like grilled steak. The most surprising was the dessert menu. When was the last time you ever seen a dessert menu in a Chinese restaurant that offers great desserts? The chocolate cup and crème brulee were some of the best desserts. My wife and I had a wonderful dinner and would definitely come back and try other dishes.

Giselle S.

Eating at this restaurant I always am greeted by the Buddha statuettes that line the walls in the front room. I get this feeling that I have stepped into the Buddha Oscars, and will be accepting my award with a plate of the Wok tossed Hong Kong Steak ($21.95). Every Tuesday the entrees are $8.95. The place is BYOB ($3) corkage fee. Outstanding food is met with beautiful presentation and set in an artistic dining room. The service is very good and friendly. What else should I add to this review that every other reviewer has already said? I have tried many of the entrees considering I have been a frequent flyer to this establishment every Tuesday in the last month. All the dishes are fresh, innovative, and never disappointing. Enjoy! Went on a Tuesday with some gal pals and since we were soooo stuffed we still wanted dessert. No dessert served. Kind of surprised, but we still enjoyed the Chocolate Fortune Cookies, and still grabbed one on the way out.

Trixie D.

This is a great place for Chinese, but is somewhat pricey. I usually order it delivery, but went in on a Tuesday for their entree special with friends. What a great deal! Everything I've tried from here is delicious from the crab rangoons to the sushi. Don't forget to stop at a liquor store since it's byob wine. If you have to wait, grab a beer at Crown Liquors Tap Room.

Lisica B.

Not worth going back. Food mediocre, service slow and poor.

larry s.

a great place to eat mongolian beef fantastic hong steak and the peppered beef are also fabulous. along with the tuesday night specials and the lunch menu just a great all around place to eat a greatv step above many in the area as i am close in area a great place to eat

Steve M.

Although the pricing was a little high I found the Chinese food to be above average. I thought the crab Rangoon was very good compared to what I was used to. Definitely a big fan of online ordering and the delivery box is a cool idea.

L J.

Yum! Went here last night (Tuesday) for the first time. The inside really is nice, and the Tuesday dine-in special is $8.95 for any entree. We ordered Crab Rangoon (excellent sauce), Sake Chicken (again, excellent sauce), Salt and Pepper Crispy Chicken (crunchy and still light!). We loved everything we ordered and also had the luxury of sitting next to a lovely couple that shared bites of their meals too! We tried their calamari (light, not greasy), Beef Tenderloin (very tender), and Duck (my favorite!). Clean, friendly staff, it is expensive but the Tuesday night deal is great! We will definitely be back.

Melissa Q.

$13 dollars for a 5 course Sea Bass meal, of course I'm buying the Groupon! My boyfriend and I came here about two weeks ago on a Friday night. It was awesome knowing that our meal was already paid for, and we had two bottles of wine to get through. The service was pretty good. Our first course came out within a couple minutes of us being there. As others have mentioned, the Sea Bass was not the best, but I still found it enjoyable. While we had a good time, we cannot get over the location. It was slighly inconvenient to get to and the area was definitely sketchy. Since there are so many other places in the city to check out, we probably won't be back. Now, if this place was closer to us, we would most likely be regulars.

KELLIE K.

Friendship, I don't think we can be friends. If I learned one thing on my visit, it was that you can't assume anything about a dish by the name. Yeah, I get the minimalist approach. However a menu without any kind of description simply gives way to arbitrary guessing. Sometimes you guess right, and other times, well, not so much. First up, guessing game round 1: the appetizers. We had Crab Rangoon and Wok Tossed Calamari. The Crab Rangoon, self-explanatory guess, was good, but not the best I've ever had. The calamari dish was a different take on traditional calamari. By the name, I (incorrectly) guessed it to be more like grilled calamari, except done wok-style. Wrong. It was more like tempura French fried calamari. The sauce was good, with a nearly-balanced blend of sweet and spicy. Next up, guessing game round 2: the mains. In this round, Coconut Wasabi Chicken and Szechwan Long Beans made the cut, and both mostly won the guessing game. The chicken had a slightly above subtle wasabi taste, with just enough heat. Other than that, the flavor was "eh". I don't like to use that as a description, but I can't think of any better way to describe it. The pickled ginger added to the dish was a nice touch. The beans were, as promised, a bit spicy. The dish seemed a bit greasier than I would've expected. When I've previously had a similar dish at other places, it's typically been a lot lighter. Not so with this on. The onion nest on top was aesthetically interesting, but it didn't do the dish any favors. In the area of service, my +1 and I were seated quickly and treated well at first, with plenty of water refills. Our BYOB wine was even opened right away. When our server took some time to take our order, I started worrying that things would go downhill. My fears we realized when we were abandoned. Even if we had wanted additional dishes or dessert, our server deserted us. The water guy bailed, too. We were left with an empty bottle of wine, empty water glasses and no check. We sat so long with no one coming by at all that we actually debated just leaving some money on the table and going. After some time, I finally flagged down our server, who was quick to bring a check, but didn't appear interested in adding anything else to our bill. Once we got the check, I was afraid of sitting for another 1/2 hour, so I took it to the front myself. One good thing from my visit is that it's pretty inside and I like the Buddha heads. If you go, get used to staring at them a lot because you'll probably be sitting and waiting a long time for your server to surface. What a disappointment! Thanks to a great Groupon deal, I gave Friendship a shot. Unfortunately, even after many Yelp raves, I'm not going back anytime soon. The whole experience wasn't a good way to impress a date, or even just me.

David M.

I'd been here before a few times in the last 12-18 months and found the food to be very good, the presentation/plating creative and the service attentive but not overbearing. I was quite disappointed in the food this time. The four of us ordered one appetizer (pot stickers), one salad (apple peanut noodle salad) and three entrees (spicy honey glazed orange chicken, honey walnut shrimp, and sesame beef). The pot stickers were very good--plump, fresh tasting and tasty. The server told us they were out of apple, so the apple peanut noodle salad was garnished with pickled ginger instead. While that struck me as an odd substitution, the noodles and thinly sliced cucumbers were flavorful, and we just ushered the ginger to the side. The entrees were average at best. Quite honestly, it wasn't any better than the average strip-shopping-center-Chinese-carryout variety. The honey glazed orange chicken was anything but spicy. It was actually quite bland and the chicken was tough. The walnut shrimp and the beef dishes were good, and the broccoli was good, but it's wasn't good enough to bring me back. The atmosphere is the best thing going for Friendship Chinese. The wall of Buddha heads at the entrance is very cool as is the hammered copper wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. The men's bathroom has a high end feel. That said, I can't base my friendship with Friendship on swank decor. Kick up the spice and adjust the preparation or I might as well order from an overworked wok at most any corner shopping center.

CJ B.

Went in here with the Groupon that was $20 for $40 worth of SUSHI and Chinese Food. Well if you have that Groupon and wanted sushi and Chinese food, it's not gonna happen. Apparently they no longer have a sushi chef so you can only get Chinese food. This place is way over priced for the quality and the quantity. We ordered the crab rangoons, sesame chicken, and walnut shrimp. The only decent part was the starter, but they were like cream cheese balls with mango salsa..... The walnut shrimp, we couldn't figure out what it was suppose to taste like, but it was really sweet. If you're expecting anything traditional, this is not the place to go. The sesame chicken was over cooked, slightly burnt and really dry and didn't taste anything like the sesame chickens we've had before. Service here is less than mediocre, you'll see most of the people sitting around. If you're like me and you like to check out menus online before you try some place new, what you see online is not what you will see in the restaurant. There's maybe 15 items total on their menu! Seriously go anywhere else but this place. Don't waste your time or money!

Amy Y.

best chinese takeout ever.

Jen H.

This is a great date place! You bring your own wine and just pay a cork fee which makes it a great place to drink cheaply! Definitely try the crab rangoon and all of the chicken dishes are amazing. This isn't the typical greasy chinese food joint- everything is fresh and they put a little spin on the dishes. Be sure to ask them which dishes are spicy because the sweet and sour chicken was HOT! It was delicious though, I just normally wouldn't consider sweet and sour to have pepper in it. I would consider this my favorite chinese food in the city so far.

Phillip K.

My fiance and I ventured on over to Friendship when we were in the mood for non "standard takeout" chinese and saw groupon now for the restaurant. We were definitely impressed. First off, this restaurant should change its name. "Friendship Chinese" makes it sound like your everyday plane jane chinese takeout joint. This restaurant is much more in line with the likes of Chen/Koi or Dee's, or other more upscale Chinese restaurants. The decor and ambience inside is excellent. My fiance and I talked about how we wish we could have our rehearsal dinner here, if it's location were convenient. The food. We started with the Blue Man Group roll, which was AMAZING. Simply amazing. BIG pieces of fresh delicious fish, crisp jalepeno, and a nice sauce. And it was big(10 huge pieces). I then ordered the crispy salt/pepper beef, which was excellent. A very different take on traditional Chinese, but very tasty. She got Kung Pao eggplant, which, admittedly, wasn't the best. Eggplant is so hit/miss though, and this definitely isn't their specialty. The place is BYOB, but it should be noted that doesn't apply to beer(only wine). Take a look over at this spot that you'd probably drive by 100 times without every paying attention to it.

Michael R.

Last night 5 of us visited Friendship. We have dined several times at this restaurant in the past. It was incredibly good. The menu choices, the food quality and presentations were out of this world. We all commented on the outstanding new menu, which now includes the most delicious desserts. I can't even say what items were our favorites, since each dish was so unique. Our hats off to the management to create an even more upscale quality Asian fare restaurant. They have hit a totally new level of excellence.

Judy M.

The crab rangoon was the best I have ever had. Ever. Seriously. I have been tempted to go there just for that on numerous occasions. I also really love the decor, tres chic. But the rest of the food, well it just didn't meet the expectations set by the crab rangoon and yelp reviews. So over all it was ok, not amazing not terrible, just ok.

H G.

This time I was on my own with a $40-valued Groupon, so I ordered a lot. The ambiance and the service were good. The waiter helped me understand the menu with no problem, fixed a slight problem with the table, helped me find my gloves, and etc. I was a bit of a mess that day, since it took a long time to get to the restaurant. Then again, for most of the midweek lunch, I was the only party there. They were kind to turn on some nice music (at a reasonable volume) during the meal. Unfortunately, I didn't find most of the food as enjoyable: WOK-TOSSED FIVE-SPICE CALAMARI ($8.95) - It actually was lukewarm when it came out. While the spices/oils, pineapple, and peppers were delicious, the actual calamari (with breading and mostly sliced in sticks) tasted like it was cooked from frozen. So, rubbery was in effect. I love fried calamari, so this was a disappointment and not the way I wanted to start the meal. HONEY-WALNUT SHRIMP ($13.95) - Friends have been raving about this dish like nobody's business. I thought I'd take the opportunity to try it here. I was pleased that there were numerous jumbo shrimp. I did like the honey-glazed walnuts. I'm never that keen on creamy/glutinous sauces in chinese food, but I think the overall flavor didn't do it for me. It seemed like a pretty bland dish. I do agree with other reviewers that the honey-walnut shrimp wasn't overly sweet, for which I was thankful. PINEAPPLE SHRIMP FRIED RICE ($11.95) - Now, this was the surprise. Again, the dish came with plenty of jumbo shrimp. I enjoyed this dish the best because it seemed delicately-flavored, yet tasted good. It was a bit oily, but many times fried rice is overpowered with a lot of seasoning. JASMINE TEA ($2-3) - Came in a lovely square teapot and it was an ample amount. The meal was too pricey based on the execution though. The only real redeeming factor was the use of many jumbo and well-cooked shrimp.

Kristen H.

Went here last night with my roommate. Had a reservation so we got seated right away. To a pleasant surprise they now serve beer, as far as BYOB, you can still only bring in wine, but they are getting a wine selection soon. The won ton soup was not quite as hot as I would've hoped. The beer was not as cold as I'd hope. The crab rangoon was delicious!! For entree we ordered the peppercorn steak - which was tastey but extremely pepper spicey and also got the honey glazed spicey orange chicken which was delightful. Overall the experience was pleasant.

Elizabeth A.

The food here is PHENOMENAL! I still stick to my original post on the Chilean Sea Bass (that sucked!) but my boyfriend and I went here a couple of days ago and I swear I had mini-orgasms at every bite. :) The Shrimp Tao and Honey Shrimp are seriously the best flavors of food I've ever had at a Chinese place. The prices are a little steep but that's only if you compare them to the disgusting take-out that'll leave you sick for days. I'd seriously recommend this place to anyone looking for good chinese food and a nice atmosphere.

Nancy H.

I'm usually apprehensive to try Chinese food outside of Chinatown unless Chinese people recommend an "authentic" restaurant in the 'burbs (i.e., Yu's Mandarin in Schaumburg or Chinatown Restaurant in Morton Grove). I came here on a Tuesday night (they currently offer an $8.95 special for ALL dinner entrees on Tuesdays) and was fairly impressed with the taste and presentation of the food. My favorite dish was the spicy chicken in peanut sauce, but the best deal is the Hong Kong steak which is about 8 pieces of 3-4 oz. steak marinated in Asian sauces (normally $19.95). Our hostess, waitress, and the owner were all very friendly and attentive. Great service! Also, it is currently BYOB (with a $2/pp corkage fee)! The decor is pleasing to the eye. It is both Asian imperialist (silk textured seat covers, a large Ming dynasty-looking vase in the middle of the restaurant, copper/mauve pearlescent back wall) and contemporary (cone suspended lights). I probably won't come back here again unless it's a Tuesday night for the special since their prices are a little steep (comparable to P.F. Chang's) than I'm used to for Chinese.

Aliya J.

The Chinese food here is really very very good. They offer different stuff on their menu than most other "cookie-cutter" Chinese places. Their Champagne Lemon Chicken and Spicy Honey Orange Chicken are really fantastic. They use really good quality food, not that rubbery, chewy mystery meat that so many take-out places are known for. If I were still in Chicago, this would be my delivery staple. I miss it.

Chan K.

Overpriced nonauthentic Chinese food geared to the western palate. I went here with my date and must say that the decor and service were good for the occasion. The food, however, is another story. The crispy unagi chip with avocado mousse was surprisingly tasty, although the appetizer seemed nothing like Chinese food. The same can be said for the paltry lobster cream of corn soup, which was decent but seemed like just another corn soup (I could not taste the lobster). The tofu and beef peppercorn dishes were far too sweet for my palate.

Missy L.

Can not believe I have not written a review about this place. Friendship is a great and unexpected surprise. Outside does not reflect the dining area at all. Came here for a family members birthday party. I would say the Chinese food is more then just typical Chinese food. Appetizers: crab rangoon and pot stickers both my favs :-) Dinner: Hong Kong Steak-very tasty but I like my steak well done. The steak came out medium but I still ate it and was not disappointed. Desserts: we ordered about 3 different ones and shared and they were all delicious!!! We took our chocolate-flavored fortune cookies to go. Went back a week later with a friend and he LOVED it just as much as I did.

Tony G.

Walnut prawns are a must!

Martha C.

So disappointed! I've been here on a couple occasions and it has always been decent but today it was horrible. My husband and I were in the mood for sushi so we got a groupon for Friendship since its right around the corner from our house. We looked at the menu online before we went and their sushi menu looked good. When we got there we were seated immediately and ordered drinks. We then ordered appetizers and put in our orders for sushi rolls. That's when we were informed that they no longer have sushi (even though its half their menu.) So we picked out the Jalapeno Hamachi appetizer because it resembled sushi, they didn't have that either. So we got crab rangoon, veggie springrolls, calamari, and the spicy bird's nest. The rangoon, springrolls, and calamari all had the same chili sauce and the rangoon and springrolls had salsa on them. Why is there salsa on my chinese food? It was really disgusting. The calamari was ok and the spicy bird's nest, which had lots of seafood and veggies, was decent. The quality of food overall was definitely lacking and a lot of things seemed like they had been frozen. So different from the last couple times we'd been. Also, $3 for 8 oz of diet coke with no refills is highway robbery. I will NEVER be back to Friendship Chinese.

P S.

*drumroll please* ddrdrdrdrdrdrdrrddrdddddddd *chshhh!* Review number 200, ladies and gentleman! *confetti cannons* Woooo! ..... silence..... I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent getting to this point..,,,,,,. *crickets, silent head nods* But hey! Review 200 was sponsored by our very own bitter bunny, David R. *confetti cannons* Woooo! Thanks, buddy! Tuesday night in Logan Square. The usual hubbub of activity and decent parking. Enter: Friendship Chinese. They're on a 30 minute wait, so once we realized it was BYO we took a stroll down to my old corner store and picked up a sixer of Anchor Steam. A few minutes after returning to FC, we were seated along with two glasses and a bottle opener for our beer. Major points scored. The insides are lovely. Nicely spaced tables and very comfortable seating. Our server arrived with menus and gave us ample time to make some decisions. First, the delicious calamari. I don't know how they make it so that it doesn't curl up when fried, but either way, keep on doing what you do, Friendship. Some of the best calamari I've ever had. Top three, easily. As we were about halfway through, she brought a noodle/cucumber appetizer and then asked if we'd like our mains which I thought was very considerate. We requested she hang onto them a little longer to give us a bit more time, which she did. I ordered the garlic peanut chicken, which after a brief discussion about level of heat I opted for medium and after about five minutes of eating realized I should have just kept my gringo mouth shut as I could have handled more. It did creep up after some time though and I was ultimately satisfied after a questionable start. No chance to talk dessert as the bill was set down without asking. Ahh well. I was nonetheless quite impressed with Friendship. The pace of the meal, the quality of service, the decor... just about everything. As I mentioned to David I need to return before doling out that fifth star since there are several things on the menu I want to try first, but I absolutely will return for them! PS: They included a whole thingy of rice with my leftovers without asking them to. Much love.

S M.

After ordering take-out from here a few times, I finally dined in for my birthday with my family in late December. The take-out has consistently been good and a nice take on "upscale Chinese," so I expected the dine-in experience to be pretty much the same. The restaurant was loud and packed -- perhaps it was this Groupon deal that others have yelped about -- so it took a little longer than what I consider usual for our orders to be taken and was a bit harder to talk and be heard. The food was great -- I don't think anyone had anything bad to say about their dishes, which included Steamed Mussels with Garlic Sauce, Mongolian Beef, Mongolian Chicken, Spicy Garlic Peanut Chicken, Spicy Garlic Tofu with Eggplant, Seafood Combo in Bird's Nest, and some shrimp dish that I can't recall. So we are all enjoying the food.....BUT THEN....my fiance pulled out a sliced bell pepper that still had a portion of the produce sticker on it! Immediately I wondered, 'Did they wash their vegetables?' After this came to the attention of the rest of our table, my brother found a bell pepper in his dish that also had a part of the produce sticker stuck to it. When the waitress came around to check on things, I told her how a few of our vegetables had stickers on them. The disappointing thing was the waitress' response. She asked us if we wanted a new dish, which seemed silly to ask for since we were nearly done eating by the time we discovered the stickers. We obviously said no. I would have expected them to at least comp a part of the meal, but she made no offer. So not only did I find their response a bit inadequate, but my confidence was a bit shaken about their food prep. I really hope they wash their veggies and if any of the management is reading this review, please make sure that stickers are removed from the vegetables!

Ariel B.

Friendship Chinese is good in so many ways. Their food is fantastic. The presentation of the food is always a pleasure. Their service is great. The ambiance is awesome. I love their hot and sour seafood soup. Sooo good and so wonderfu. Spicy and tasty, my favorite! This time we also tried their Duck with Grand Marnier and Shrimp and Scallops. Go, go to Friendship and order the same. Yummy yummy. During our meal half of the restaurant was also being used as a wedding reception. We were lucky enough to be sitting in the same area as the reception, but not at all intrusive. Not only did we get a great meal, but also entertainment. Congratulations to the Happy Couple! Friendship Chinese is BYOB and there is a liquor store nearby.

Paul E.

This restaurant is in an odd spot. Outside it's surrounded by run down looking outlet stores, but inside it's as if you stepped into another world. The decor and lighting help bring out the casual sophisticated atmosphere it is trying to go for. The servers were polite and were knowledgeable of the limited menu. I personally thought the crab rangoons and beef chow-funn were top notch, but my girlfriend thought the food was just average. Regardless, the place is worth a try, and is definitely a place you can take a date to.

Katie C.

My roommate and I ventured out to Friendship the night last week that it happened to pour rain randomly. Parking was pretty easy along Milwaukee, as we got there a little before 8pm (but check the meters--I ended up with a $50 ticket because you've gotta pay 'til 9pm. Seemed a little anal to me for such a remote neighborhood). Anyhoo, Friendship is awesome. You walk in, and the space is somewhat cellar-like, but they make up for it by being nicely lit and shiny. The dinner menu is a little pricier than your usual chinese food, but boy, is it yummy. My roomie and I shared veggie spring rolls for starters, and then she ordered shrimp fried rice, and I ordered the hawaiian chicken. The veggie rolls were fresh and crispy, her shrimp were delicious, and my entree was amazing. The pineapple in my hawaiian chicken was a nice touch to the freshly cooked veggies--yum yum yum. I suppose the only reason I'm hesitant to give Friendship a full 5 stars because it was a tad on the expensive side for a college student budget (but they do have an affordable lunch menu, which I fully intend on sampling if I can get to the area around noon sometime), and I almost want to believe that there might be some better chinese food out there--this is not to say that my experience there wasn't awesome, I'm just hoping for a more casual, cheaper atmosphere that produces the same fresh, tasty cuisine. It's possible I'm holding out for a hero--I'm optimistic, what can I say?

Kelly G.

I WANTED to like Friendship Chinese. I really did. While I love authentic non-Americanized food, I also have a place in my heart for good ol' Americanized Chinese Take Out. Friendship Chinese neither wins for authenticity or delivering on old favorites. You can get an idea for the horror of our delivery process from KK. I tried to call to place the order, as instructed by my Groupon, but couldn't get through to place the order. So I ordered online and used the special instructions box to mention the Groupon. My order was confirmed by phone a few minutes later and I was promised food in 45 mins to an hour. An hour and twenty minutes later, after a call to figure out WTF was going on, I got my order. Seafood Tempura Rolls- Ew. Fishy glop rolled up, covered in breadcrumbs and fried. I took one bite and regretted it. Crab Rangoon - I have to say, I have had better. I've never cared for the coin purse fold (bunched at the top) and the flavor just wasn't that awesome. But they were okay. Lemon Chicken with Champagne Reduction - Now, usually, my standard is Mongolian Beef. But when I saw this I thought it sounded pretty tasty, even though I never order Lemon Chicken. And unfortunately I regretted my choice. The chicken was dry and fried in unseasoned bread crumbs. The sauce was good, but not good enough to save the dish. Plus...why the pile of unseasoned steamed broccoli instead of rice? Bleh. See KK's review for her Sweet and Sour chicken - which is cooked like Lemon Chicken is served at most places, not like what you would expect. And no chocolate fortune cookies. OR soy sauce. OR any sauce packets for that matter. OR the soda I ordered - which though confirmed with me was not present on the ticket. Really this is my most disappointing Groupon yet. I will not be going back.

Laurel H.

If you've never tried this place before, pick up a bottle of wine and head here on Tuesday (a.k.a. cheap day). Get the Hong Kong Steak for $8.95. EIGHT NINETY FIVE. You cannot go wrong. Note: All main dishes are $8.95 on Tuesdays. The food is delicious and not drowned in sauce and the portions are decent which makes $8.95 almost ridiculous. It's like when McDonald's announces $.39 cheeseburger day, but waaay less suspicious.

Edmund W.

I had Friendship Chinese for the first time tonight and got it delivery. It took a little longer than they said but it came hot. Also, I ordered online through the form on their website which was really easy and convenient. I got the soup buddha which was ok; the veggies were great but the broth was not very flavorful. I also had the beef chow fun which was very tasty. The noodles were pan fried and the perfect texture: not too crispy and not too noodly. The beef was also very tender and perfectly cooked. I look forward to trying more dishes there. Next time I'll order a veggie dish with the noodles because there were really any in the chow fun. Seems like a classy place and I'd like to see the interior next time as well.

emily b.

mixed feelings here. ordered delivery on friday via their website, (love how easy that is!)... they hadn't called to confirm my order after 15 minutes of placing it, so i called and confirmed. they said they had received it. fine - they estimated an hour to an hour & a half for delivery. yikes. i had ordered pot stickers, beef fried rice, and their orange chicken. delivery got there around an hour later (thank goodness they were on the early side!). they hadn't processed my credit card i put on the website, so that was a bit annoying. the food presentation was ADORABLE. i am such a sucker for attention to deal here. it was all packed in a bakery-like cake box. it was piping hot and generously portioned. the actual food - eh. the pot stickers were super doughy, the chicken wasn't crisp, and the fried rice lacked flavor. bummer. i'm hopeful eating at the restaurant may change my mind about this spot as they seemed to have gotten so many things so right.

Sarah N.

Friendship is pretty good. I have to agree with some of the other reviews that it is overpriced. Two entrees delivered with delivery charge, tax and tip was nearly $40. I need to go on Tuesday nights for the $8.95 special. I LOVE the Crispy Beef and the Szchewan Spicy Long Bean with Tofu Cake. Garlic Tofu with Eggplant was also pretty good. I did not care for the Coconut Wasabi Chicken. I know other people really like it but to me it seemed lacking. Couldn't put my finger on it but seemed to be one flavor away from being satisfying.

Lakshmi R.

Fusion Asian can be hit or miss and in this case, I am sad to say it leans towards the latter. Our appetizers were decent and hence the 2 star! We ordered the Red China, Grilled Sake Chicken and some chopsuey. My verdict: meh! The food wasn't spicy enough as the menu suggested it would be- I could have fed it to my 3 year old nephew and he wouldn't have found it hot!! Given that this is supposed to be a gourmet restaurant, the prices were pretty decent - but what's the point, if the food makes no impression whatsoever. *sigh*

Tammy Q.

I absolutely LOVED this place. My friends took me here for my birthday and we were lucky enough to sit in the "private" room. I had some low expectations because of the location. However, when I came there -- I was definitely pleasantly surprised at the decor, friendliness of the staff and great food. This place was BYOB -- and we totally took advantage of that. We probably ordered everything off the menu so everyone could try bits and pieces of everything -- the sesame chicken is to DIE for. The wasabi chicken was definitely different but worth a try. They have specials on Tuesdays which I am looking forward to coming back for some.

Elizabeth K.

Thanks again Yelpers! I was having a hankering for Chinese food, but most of my Chinese food experiences in Chicago have been less than stellar. So i turned to yelp and decided that we'd try Friendship. We visited on a Sunday afternoon, right after they opened -- apparently they don't open til 3 Sunday. I'd wanted to go for lunch, but we had to wait. Minus a 1/2 star for the weird Sunday hours. We walked in and asked the two manning the front if they were open yet. They said yes, and then just sort of stared at us. And then asked for our name or if we had a reservation. Or if we were getting take-out. And then just stared at us again. Finally we established that we were indeed eating in and they showed us to a table. The ambience was weird ... from the wall of buddha heads in the entry way, to the very quiet, empty dining room. Minus a half star for general creepy vibes. A front for the Chinese Mafia perhaps? No matter .... The food. Good stuff! And very attentive service. Neither my ladyfriend nor I eats meat. The selection on the vegetarian menu is rather small -- especially compared to the rest of the menu. My ladyfriend asked for one of the meat dishes to be modified to eliminate the meat, and the server didn't even bat an eye, just said "Sure, no problem." I had the Kung Pao eggplant and mushrooms. Very yummy, very spicy. The ladyfriend had the singapore noodles with tofu and veggies instead of pork and shrimp. It was pretty good as well, but not as tasty as my dish. Overall, tasty food, and a fairly good deal for the quality and quantity and level of service. I think though, that the creepiness of the place will mean that we might opt for delivery or carryout rather than eating in,

Pamela C.

Yummy! This place is a diamond in the rough. I just recently moved to the city and went online looking for a good Chinese restaurant. I read the reviews for Friendship and had to check it out. I was not disappointed. I was a little skeptical after checking out the location. I love the decor inside. Very stylish. And the food is....DELICIOUS. Make sure you order crab rangoon. The best I've ever had. And that says a lot as I've had many many many others. I told the waitress how much I loved it and that I would write a good review and she brought us a free dessert! I brought my family here and they raved about it all weekend. Even the fortune cookies are delicious. This was more than I usually like to spend but it is worth every penny.

Laura H.

ummm ummm good. This BYOB chinese restaurant is by far the best chinese food ive had in chicago! Huge menu. Tons of options... and all good!

Ralph L.

After all the reviews I've read bout this place, I decided to check it out. What a surprise, for the most part, a gem of a restaurant. All of my fave dishes were excellent. Even the Mongolian beef was tasty. Although, I still think that Mongolian House ranks the best. Even Bill Murray eats here.

Amy H.

If Friendship Chinese were a man, I'd have sex with him. The crab rangoon is the best that I've found in Chicago. I have renamed them the crack rangoons. It took every ounce of willpower to not order another plate of them. The restaurant is intimate and nicely decorated. The staff was really nice. The price can't be beat!

steve c.

OOO Baby this place was good! I don't remember leaving a place feeling so full but wanting more. We went for the $8.95 dinner on Tuesday and was floored how great this place was. You enter to see a bunch of golden Buddhas staring at you but also can't help to notice the box of chocolate fortune cookies by the door which makes you start your plan on how to grab a handful of them. You are seated in a beautifully decorated main room, where the waiter pulled the chair out for us. Which ended up getting me points off for not ever doing that for my wife. Anyhow, he suggested picking up a bottle of wine across the street as they BYOB. We stuck with the lemon water (Points for having this and making sure my small glass was never empty with it) and crab rangoon. Man thees were tasty. Complete perfection in sweet and sour sauce. I ended up getting the Hong Kong steak and wife got duck. The steak was the best thing I have had in awhile. It was so tender and juicy and sauces and mushrooms and just oh so good. The duck was very well presented (see pic) but was OK compared to my steak. I wish the location was a bit better as the review of "Nested in between naked putrorican kids on tricycles" was dead on. I will be going back weekly to try the other dishes. I am hooked and will be going back weekly to try the other dishes and get more steak. The service was great (5/5), Atmosphere (5/5), Food (6/5), and location (2/5).

Erica K.

After reading all of the great reviews for this place on here, I ate dinner there last night, and was disappointed. Good: Friendly service; -very- nice decor, down to the bathrooms; quick food; presentation was all right; choc fortune cookies Bad: I didn't think the food was that great. I had the Temple Feast (basic veg mix), bf ordered the Spicy Honey orange chicken, but got the Sweet and Sour chicken. i thought my food was pretty bland, and besides not being what he ordered, I dont think he was wowed by the food either. For apps, we got the spring rolls (again, just okay), and the spinach salad. Overall, it wasnt terrible, but definitely did not live up to all of the other reviews, I feel. It's not worth the trek up here.

Alfonso M.

This place is GREAT!!! It's like stepping into another world, from the outside you'd never know it was so nice on the inside. Service is great and the food it very good. It can get pricey but that's why you take advantage of their Tuesday night $8.95 entree meal. I know they serve beer however I think it's still BYO for wine with a small corkage fee. I had the Crab Rangoon as an appetizer and it was great. Large appetizer portions. My entree was the Chicken 88 which seemed on the fusion side but in this case that was good. It's nice place for a date

David C.

The first time we went there we did not know what to expect. Gratefully we were pleasantly surprised. The food there is absolutely great! the service was very good and very attentive and the atmosphere of the place is the perfect for a good date night dinner. What is best is that it is walking distance from our house. So far we have been there four time since we discovered it and we have loved it every time. My favorite dish so far is the orange chicken. One last good thing is that although they sell some Beer it is still BYOB!

G R.

My first outing here was the informal Yelp get together. I like to go to a place a few times before I do a review. Well, so far very consistent. I haven't been disappointed with a meal yet. Attentive service, reasonable prices for the quality. This time my food was just a bit off, it arrived to the table lukewarm. The other thing is that each time here, you have to ask for soy sauce, they don't offer it to you. At least with me they haven't. Perhaps because it's the good stuff, Kikkoman. I love the BYOB, and the relaxed atmosphere. I wish they were open until 10:30 every night, we tend to get a late start, so the little extra would be nice. This is why I'm not a five star on this one. All the other comments, have been said so I won't blather on. Overall, I've been back and will keep coming back. Oh yes, the portions our a good size, the leftovers are beckoning me now.

Adam T.

I just recently got the Yelp newsletter, "Thankful Yelping," that advertised Friendship Chinese. And after reading several glowing reviews (really, the pictures did it for me though), I just had to try it for myself. I don't actually live in Chicago myself (western suburb), so let's just say I was expecting a different neighborhood for how the restaurant looked inside. Call me crazy, but I like to eat at a restaurant where I don't have to worry that my hubcaps are going to be gone when I get out. That being said, the food really was quite good. I asked the waiter which of the sesame chicken or spicy garlic peanut chicken to choose--and he oh-so-rightly recommended the latter. My sister tried the spicy honey orange chicken--which was ok, but I've had better at Stir Crazy (Oakbrook, Warrenville, Schaumburg). After reading so much about the tofu cheesecake, I had a hankering--but it seemed no dessert was to be had tonight and the bland chocolate fortune cookie just didn't quite do it for me. Overall, the service was fine and my food was good, but tasted just like the panang chicken curry I get at My Thai which is in a much safer neighborhood just around the corner from work--so I won't be back.

Kiarash Z.

Although service was a bit slow, everything tasted fresh and delicious. I love the garlic eggplant tofu and the Hong Kong beef. I'm not crazy about the curried tofu tofu. Spring rolls are delish. I didn't leave with the same heavy feeling I typically get after eating Chinese. The decor was lovely and stylish, and the seating was plentiful and clean.

ed s.

service was good but the food was mediocre at best. avoid the spicy tofu eggplant - its not spicy (very sweet), the tofu is flat and tough, the odd veggies are covered in a gelatinous material (like in Ghost Busters), and the rice was warm. For the price, I've had much much better. Makes me wonder if they are trying to compensate for Groupon purchases (we did use one)

Andrew P.

I don't give five-star reviews often, but I think this place warrants it. First of all the decor was nice and understated, with a nice buddha statuary montage in the entry way, and wood everywhere. Kinda reminded me more of a Japanese noodle house, not a Chinese place. The food: Had the crab rangoon, which was excellent, but not life-changing as everyone says. The curry tofu tofu, however, was excellent. It might be the best tofu I've ever had...they even put yuba in it! It was obvious that if they didn't make the tofu themselves, it was not the store bought stuff. The sauce was kind of a hot/sour curry sauce. My wife had the noodle salad with peanut dressing, which had perfectly cooked noodles, and great consistentcy. Plus the waitstaff was nice, and the owner checked in on us. Also: Free tea, and a nicely dressed plate of fortune cookies and a small brownie (also free). All this for under $25. If you live in Logan Sq/Avondale: You have no excuse not to patronize this place All other NW side: Make the drive Southside: Well, Chinatown might be better.

James G.

I have eatten there at least twice thanks to groupons. I like the atmosphere and the sevice was very good. The food was good but for the price, I would like something that would wow me. All in all it's a good restaurant and I would recommend it and would go back again without a groupon.

Grace L.

There are A LOT of Chinese places to get good Chinese food. This is, well, slightly more fusion-istic. The ambiance is a lot better than most Chinese digs, so that is a plus. Small enough to be comfy, but big enough to invite friends. Service was pleasant, helpful and very quick. (We were in and out in about 1-1.5 hours) We had the apple peanut noodle salad, peking duck, and honey walnut shrimp. First off, DO NOT GET THE APPLE PEANUT SALAD. Ours was soy flavored mushy noodle mixed in with apples that decided to also be mushy, and the peanut flavor ran away. The shrimp is no Yu's Mandarin, but it was good in it's own way, the pineapple added a nice tang to it. The peking duck was also better than most fusion places, the meat stayed tender and not tough. For people who like a little fusion in their Chinese food, it's one of the better ones.

Sarah-jayne M.

I like many other Yelpers bought the Groupon for Friendship Chinese and went there last night. I really really liked it! The Lobster Soup was amazing, so rich and tasty and a perfect size. The Unagi appetizer was also very flavorful, the avocado mousse was a perfect touch. The sea bass was very fresh and I especially liked the cilantro garnish. The beef entree was good with a delicious sauce and the dessert was very good! I'm not always a dessert person but this was rich and decadent. I really liked the three sauces, especially the pineapple! The resturant itself is very trendy with a great vibe! A hidden gem in Logan Square. The best thing was the $8 tab! The Groupon made this a very inexpensive meal. I will definately go back here!!!

Jesse W.

3.5/5 I'm Chinese, and it's really hard for me to take a non-Chinese person's recommendation on Chinese food. But I took a chance when I suggested my family and I try out the neighborhood Chinese place. Besides Lo's China Kitchen on California Ave., you'd rarely find our family eating a Chinese meal outside of our home or Chinatown. You really can't beat the Tuesday special, when ALL entrees on the menu are $8.95 (only dine-in). We proceeded with caution though, looking at the online menu before deciding to have a family dinner here. We reasoned it seemed pan-Asian, but why not give it a try? According to the neighborhood newspaper, the restaurant was remodeled about 3 years ago. It looks like a Chinatown Square implant in the middle of a predominantly Puerto Rican and Polish neighborhood. The inside decor is much better than most you'd find in Chinatown. And from the looks of all the wine bottles at everyone's tables, it's BYOB here. My mother commented "Only white people drink wine with Chinese food." The manager seemed to treat our table extra care, filling our teapot and giving an extra platter of rice without asking. We ordered 3 entrees: Mango Duck, Garlic Tofu with Eggplant (ordered mild instead of spicy), and Grilled Hong Kong Steak. All 3 entrees were brought out in decent time and nearly all together. They all appeared decently-sized too. The Mango Duck was awful. My family agreed it tasted like a bad version of Moo-Shu. It left nearly untouched. The Garlic Tofu with Eggplant had little garlic in it, and was actually quite sweet. In addition to the spicy bean sauce, it seemed to have been cooked with a sesame paste or peanut sauce. The sauce was a little too sweet and overpowering, but at least the eggplant and tofu softened the brunt of it. Overall, the dish was good though. The Grilled Hong Kong Steak is usually $19.95, and reasonably so. The dish was huge, and had several large beef tenderloin chunks. The beef was perfectly cooked medium, as requested. And the flavor put it far and above any other dish we ordered that night. I think I'd pay regular price for the steak. Although we had mixed experiences with the food, the service was decent (albeit understaffed and rushing like in Chinatown), restaurant clean, and prices on Tuesday were great. We, or at least I, will be back again. Recommended.

Jessica C.

Friendship Chinese is solid! So I realize that if you threw me in a desert with nothing to eat, I could probably survive for roughly 6-8 months on the stored "energy" in my left thigh alone, but I frankly could give a rat's ass becuase I will continue to chow/enjoy the crispy salt and pepper beef at friendship...no matter the caloric consequences. I've gone back twice since my first review and I am addicted!

Tara J.

I had delivery from Friendship last Friday night and was very impressed. We had the garlic tofu with eggplant and the wok tossed garlic spinach with shitake mushrooms. Both dishes were fresh and delicious. The sauce has more complex flavors that typical Chinese and the salt and grease factor were significantly less than what you would usually find in this cuisine. The tofu was cooked well with a crunchy coating on the outside. Be sure to request the chocolate fortune cookies....AMAZING! My fortune was pretty awesome too: "A rabbit's foot is no substitute for horse sense." HAHAHA!!!

Jenn K.

I've quickly gotten pretty bored with Chinese take-out. The places that deliver in Logan Square/Humboldt Park are little more than chop-suey joints with over-salty fried rice, gloopy garlic sauce, limp vegetables and grainy meats. Thank goodness there's Friendship Chinese, ready and waiting to drive to my house with a cakebox full of the soy-saucy goodness I crave (the cakebox cracks me up for some reason-- no plastic bag with a smiley face for these guys, you get your own box!). What I like about Friendship Chinese is that their menu isn't made up of the infinitely customizable standards-- there's no "Garlic Broccoli, pick your protein". The menu is streamlined and straightforward. There are the dishes you expect (spring rolls, *superb* crab rangoon, sesame beef), new twists on classic dishes (the sweet and sour chicken features a passion fruit and white wine reduction!) and some unique items with descriptions to make your mouth water: curried lime-crusted salmon with bok choy, coconut wasabi chicken with wok tossed with Asian vegetables in coconut wasabi and white wine sauce. Chinese take-out purists will get their panties in a bunch over this menu-- it borrows ingredients, flavors and recipes from all over Asia and the Pacific-- but they can have their Chicken Chow Mein and their Egg Foo Yong. I'm going to sit in front of my tv and enjoy some Champagne Lemon Chicken, brought to me promptly and efficiently in a pristine white cakebox.

MaryAnne M.

Really 4.5. Dave S was kind enough to organize an unofficial Yelp dinner and boy am I glad he did. First off, I got to share the bus with Jerry M. on the way there, yeah! Then we got there, what a beautiful room. I loved the decor and interior. Super fancy chopsticks. In my typical "eyes bigger than my stomach" fashion I ordered an appetizer, LOLLIPOP SHRIMP WITH COCONUT CRUST-coconut crusted shrimp with curried aioli sauce. So good. The entree: I ordered the SPICY PEPPERCORN BEEF-tossed in peppercorn sauce . Loved it and I managed to finish it. However, I was kicking myself all night because I should have ordered the GRILLED HONG KONG STEAK. Kiarash Z was kind enough to let me try his. Next time for sure. Service was maybe a bit off as some of us were nearly done before others got their entree. We were a large party, so I'll let that slide. Jerry M & I split a bottle of wine from Crown liquors. And we took the bus home. Will certainly be back for the Hong Kong Steak

Brad T.

Possibly the best Chinese around, unless your want fine dining. Although we most commonly get take-away, the restaurant itself is wonderfully done, nevermind the misleading exterior; the interior is fantastic in it's spare, clean and comforting mood. Sevice is excellent, and food arrives very quickly when ordering take-away. My favourite dish is the Peppered Beef, but there is alot of great stuff on the menu. It's BYOB, which is fantastic for someone who enjoys a lager or six while eating.

Crystal C.

I will never ever go here again! Went to check this out on a Friday night in Logan Square to finally use my groupon for $50 bucks. To start out with, the place is totally hard to find as you can't see it until you are right in front of it. Which is so shocking to me as the entrance is borderline gaudy. Also, there were two people and we had fifty bucks to spend at a Chinese place, I thought we were going to be in food heaven! NOT SO! It we had the two people appetizer to share and an entree each drinks and we went OVER! Uncool. Of the appetizer sampler nothing was really special except the ribs. My friend really like the shrimp lollipop. Above that everything was very common place or downright bland. There is no way this is the best crab rangoon ever. The menu us very limited and is missing some traditional things that should be on all Chinese menus but that is a minor concern. The worst thing was the food! Only one small plate of rice to share between two people! What if we had each wanted our own? Of course that costs extra. I had the garlic sake chicken and it did not taste like it had any garlic at all but had so much rice wine it made me gag. My friend had the salt and pepper beef which was so dry it was hard to look at and the sauce they gave with it tasted like liquid Tylenol. As a side note, the table was wobbly and I kept thinking the glass with my soda in it was going to tip over on to me or the floor. It distracted me the whole dinner. Speaking of the soda, WHAT THE HELL? I asked for a coke and the lady said okay but she did not tell me that if was off brand soda and not coke or Pepsi. I am guess it was RC but I could be wrong. This off brand soda cost $2 for a strange sized glass. I kept wondering why she would not give me a refill until I asked for one and as it turns out it is because there aren't even free refills of off brand, unnamed soda and they charged me ANOTHER $2. WTF???? All in all, a disappointing experience. And as we were leaving this place was packed! I just don't get it! What the hell is going on with Chicago Chinese food?

Chelsea C.

I also went here on July 4th and also thought the girl on the phone (and in person) was really nice, but I can't agree about the food. I thought it was just plain awful. We got the pot stickers which were okay, but you could hardly tell they were seafood and they only drizzled a little sauce over the top (I like to be able to dip...) We got the spicy honey glazed orange chicken which was not at all spicy and the chicken was so dry I swear I could hardly get it down. We also got the sald and pepper beef which had a little side of cold, sickly sweet sauce (which was better than nothing I guess.) The AC was really cranking in the place but both dishes were served cold - like not even a little hot. And $3 for a coke. What a joke. I'm thinking they had the B-team working because it was a holiday, but with all the great Chinese in this city, this was a complete disappointment and huge waste of money.

Jesse I.

Eaten Friendship three times. The first time was in the restaurant itself (which is lovely). The food was pretty darn good. The second time was delivery, and it tasted like Standard Chinese American Delivery Food, kinda disappointing. The third time, and last, was last night's delivery order. The pineapple fried rice with chicken and shrimp was not fried and had little to no detectable chicken. The panko-crusted tofu appetizer - which I'd had at the restaurant, and was delicious - was not panko-crusted, although it was pretty crusty. I had to spit it out in a napkin. The other dishes ranged similarly from uninspired to inedible, with minor exceptions: the sauces were all delicious, and the veggie spring rolls were fried to perfection, although somewhat bland.

Danielle B.

So....it is started off okay. the waitress did not actually greet us, just asked if we were ready to order. the apps were amazing and hot. we got our food and the cripsy beef was luke warm. once we flagged down the waitress, we told and she took it away. we though we are getting fresh & hot food, but instead nope they had been microwaved or baked which make them dry and chewy. the other dishes were good. the service was so bad though....when we needed anything from the waitress we had to flag her down (every single time)

Autumn M.

I used a Groupon for the restaurant on the Lake. Although it was decent, the chicken lo mein had very little flavor, and the maki rolls were wrapped so loosely that the insides fell out before I barely had it off the plate. I did love their crab rangoon, though. Overall for the price, I would probably not eat there again.

Jillian D.

i had the most embarrassing thing happen to me here last weekend. as many peeps have noted, the interior of the place belies the ghetto fabulous address. it's magical inside, truly. romantic, even. the presentation of dishes is equally lovely. a bento box full of fried goodness. round plates of meats, artfully encircled by bright steamed veggies and adorned with whimsical curls of radish and ginger. this is no fast food, mall food court chinese joint. oh no. then i bit into my entree. at first bite, it was bland and flavorless. then that tricky bastard tickled my nose with a ferocity that burned... and i sneezed... and rice came out... of my nose... oh yes. DO. NOT. ORDER. THE. COCONUT. WASABI. CHICKEN. and you'd think i'd learn after bite one. but no. i excused myself to the bathroom. cleaned up. returned to try again. to the same end. j.c. thank god i've been with my loving boyfriend for several years. i was still horrified. but he laughed it off. and graciously shared his duck with me. will i return, despite that mishap? oh yes. but i'll leave the offending dish to someone braver than i. a challenge, dear readers :)

Diana T.

I bought a groupon and came here for their 5-course chilean sea bass dinner. The restaurant was quite a surprise in this neighborhood with lots of taquerias. The decor of the restaurant was really nice and you can tell they spent a lot of time and effort on it. But still not too over the top. The five course consisted of the lobster bisque soup, unagi with avocado and greens, chilean sea bass with green onions, ginger, and a light soy sauce, pepper steak with rice, and your choice of a sweet ending. Everything was really delicious. I'm a huge Chinese food critic when it comes to venturing outside of Chinatown, so this place definitely hit the spot. In addition, the place was packed, so I'm sure a lot of people would agree. It's a must try, especially if you bought that fantastic groupon. 2 five course for only 10 dollars! Amazing.

Joel T.

While more expensive than the usual Chinese joint just around the corner (most any corner in a given city), Friendship offers more cuisine-oriented dishes that are also often healthier than what most of us are used to eating. Thanks to Groupon, we finally got to try some...fantastic.

Jim B.

I almost didn't bother to write this review: so many great things have been written about Friendship, why do I need to add anything more? Yeah right, like that's ever stopped me from opining. Seriously, this is the best Chinese food I've ever had--at least outside of Chinatown. The food is impeccable, the presentation elegant and the service was friendly and accomodating. The corn & lobster soup was amazing and certainly a nice departure from the standard issue egg drop/hot & sour soup selection. Although, now that I mention it the "seafood hot and sour soup" was damn tasty too. I have to stop writing or I'll get a serious craving...

E D.

We've been going here for about 8 years. Just fantastic food. We have been giving exquisite service when we've called to place an order for something that wasn't on the menu. The decor is lovely. The neighborhood/block is disgusting, but what are you going to do???

Matthew G.

Friendship Chinese is aptly named, but not in the way you'd expect. We all probably have a similar friend or two - you know the type: polished, worldly and hip on the outside, but once you scratch the attractive surface, you find that they're really (at least) somewhat of a mess. You can't really write them off because the combination of qualities makes for interesting anecdotes, if nothing else. Friendship Chinese is surprisingly similar. The space is very attractive. The small lobby features a wall of gilt Buddha heads. The dining room is also striking and elegant with clean lines and a hip, smooth aesthetic. The place settings add an air of minimalist Asian chic and include beautiful (though less than practical) thin, silver chopsticks. Likewise, the somewhat limited menu continues the cool vibe. You would assume that the limited number of choices indicates that they have focused on a few things that they prepare extremely well. Well, some things are excellent and others leave a lot to be desired. To begin, we had the Creamy Crab Rangoons and The Wok-Tossed Calamari with Pineapple and 5 Spices. The rangoons were marvelous - crispy, fried wontons with velvety filling that with the perfect amount of crab.....DELICIOUS! The calamari was less successful. To start, they cut in into strips, so it resembles french fries rather than the more familiar ring shapes. A different presentation can be a good thing, so the shape was not the problem. The calamari just didn't have much flavor. It was tossed with a mélange of pineapple, peppers and such (which was tasty on its own), but these ingredients didn't permeate the bland calamari. For entrees, we chose the Spicy Peppercorn Beef and the Red China. The beef dish was the more successful of the two. The flavors were nice although the beef was cut up into very small strips. I'd have preferred something a little less dainty, but the dish was well-prepared and satisfying nonetheless. The Red China was an utter failure. It is touted on the menu as containing three different peppers with a warning that the dish is "HOT!" If anything, the dish was sweet and totally lacking spicy hotness. It was accompanied by traditional Chinese vegetables which were quite fresh. The chicken was fresh and plentiful as well, but the dish was a dud overall. I must state that I LOVE spicy food - the spicier the better. Frequently, something labeled as HOT is not as spicy as I prefer, but I realize that people with a lower heat tolerance would think it was really spicy. Not the case with this dish - there was no heat to be found. While the food had its high and low points, the service was the biggest problem. Our server was not very attentive and seemed like she'd rather be anywhere but at work. She didn't check about our meals until we were almost finished eating them. The others servers seemed friendly and paid more attention to out table than our actual server did, so I guess it was just her. If I find myself hungry and near Friendship Chinese, I might give it a second try, but I'm not really in a hurry to do so. There are far better eateries that are closer to my house. With restaurants as with friends, a little dose of mess every now and then can be interesting if not amusing, but it's generally not worth a great deal of travel. 2.5 Stars

Benjamin B.

I like this place a lot. I'm not by any means going to say that it is the best Chinese food I have ever had, but it is quite good. There is a lot of experimentation going on with their cuisine, so if you are looking for a good traditional Chinese taste... then look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for a new twist on the traditional, then this place is for you. I have yet to have anything bad here, and the food has nearly always been top-notch. However, there is one thing that never seems to be all that good... it is such a basic thing it kind of gets under my skin... their simple white rice is just not all that good. Sometimes not steaming, sometimes a bit hard... sometimes a bit too mushy... never really just-right. There a lot of places out there that have no trouble always being perfect... but this place just cannot seem to get it down. Aside from that though, everything here is very very good. Unique in flavor and interesting to the folks who love Chinese food, but are looking for a new take on it. They don't serve bourbon, but I believe they allow you to bring some... at least they let me bring some... The decor is nice and the lighting is cozy... good all-round. The seating isn't the most comfortable, but not really the worst in that department either. I say go here. Check it out, if you dun like it... move on.

R P.

I love this place! They have thee best crab rangoon (huge, lots of crab and cream cheese) and potstickers (huge, perfectly steamed) - YUM! I've been here about 10 times and think it gets better and better. The walnut shrimp and mongolian beef are the best. Although, last time we were there, the mongolian beef didn't taste the same - I hope they didn't change the recipe! The BYOB (for wine) is great too! Overall, very very tasty food. This isn't your typical chinese place. More like gourmet chinese, but not super expensive.

Jasmine J.

I ordered some food from Friendship Chinese for delivery. The delivery was super quick. The driver was really pleasant and the food arrived in a cute little cake box. However, the Crab Rangoon was so salty that it was completely inedible. The Singapore Noodles were tasty (although a bit too salty, as well) and there was a good amount of shrimp, pork and fresh tasting veggies. I really wanted to like this place simply because they don't have 100 items on their menu. I think that's supposed to mean that rather than doing a ton of stuff poorly, they do a fair amount of things really well. I'll give it a second try.

erin k.

absolutely get the garlic eggplant and tofu. i don't care if you want something meaty - this is delicious, and it's good for you. scratch that, go on tuesday and pay $8.95 for a $20 tenderloin entree. and take me with you. i'll bring the wine. can we go at 6 please? (secret decoder ring says: all entrees are $8.95 on tuesday night, it's byob, and there's gonna be a wait)

Nicholas K.

It's quite possible the owner of friendship has put his child(ren) through Ivy League from the amount of times we've ordered out from Friendship. My fav is the honey orange chicken, my wife switches between the Mongolian beef and sesame chicken. Portions are huge, staff is friendly enough, bring your own wine I'd you're headed there.

Stephanie L.

Ehhhh! Man, I was excited to go here. I had heard some great things about this place and I love chinese. Well, I guess I dont love friendships chinese....boo. I just feel that they didnt have any dishes that had veggies and seafood or just straight up a lot of veggies....maybe I am looking in the wrong place. I had the eggplant and tofu...it was just ok. I really wish there was a little more than just eggplant and tofu. I know, I know, Iknow, thats what the menu said but I like lots of variety in my chinese dish and this place doesnt have it. I guess if I ate chicken it would be better but I dont so there seafood and veggie selection sucks. My bf loves this chicken dish that he got there....garlic chicken...it looked so good with veggies and chicken. We also got the calamari which was spicy so of course I loved it. Its BYOB but they have beer there. I think I just ordered a bad thing maybe.

Gigi L.

We've been going to this place for about 6 years now, and the food is quite good. I think the story is that the chef is the son of the folks who originally opened the restaurant. He went on a culinary journey around the world, and then came back and applied a lot of the techniques he picked up while travelling. The result is more of a unique, gourmand Chinese food experience than your typical city take-out joint. We enjoy the champagne lemon chicken, bbq bourbon pork appetizer and the spicy honey orange chicken. Yum. Delivery service is brisk, and the food comes in a big white bakery cake box. What fun! The chocolate fortune cookies taste like Cocoa Puffs. What's not to like?

Sarah M.

Went here with a coupon from Groupon, otherwise never would have ever gone to this place. Mixed feelings. The neighborhood is really sketchy....FYI. I had looked at the website and the pics make the place look much larger than it really is. Nice decor though. Food was mixed. Shrimp with Scallops was way too small and I would never order it again. Eggplant with mushrooms was good. I think I would write off all seafood dishes if the portions are like the one we got. It is expensive and I think the portions should be larger to justify that. Also I wish they had explained the dishes at least *somewhat* on the menu. It is impossible to tell what you are really ordering, if it comes with any veggies, etc. I think this place is trying to be a bit too trendy for its own good. Larger portions and a menu that explains the dishes would really help. Desserts looked great. if I go back, I will try one.

Justin W.

The best Chinese food I have had in Chicago. I cannot think of an area lacking, from the wonderful decor to the attentive staff and reasonable prices. These people really treated us well and the food was nothing short of exceptional. None of the mystery cuts of meat you have at so many Chinese places, all the ingredients and cuts were excellent. My Lemon Chicken was perfect and the Champagne infusion into the sauce really worked well with the classic lemon chicken taste. I guess my only problem was when a small elderly Chinese woman came into the mens bathroom by mistake while I was in there. It was an awkward situation, but it was cool we exchanged facebook pages and she sent me a BFF gift on my page so were cool. I would come back here anytime, it was a great experience.

Anthony Z.

I LOOOOOOOOVE good Chinese food, but most of what is served is either crap or overpriced, and often it is both. Chinatown is good, but honestly I don't know if it is worth the trip. Dim sum at Phoenix is the only thing I can think of that is worth the trouble, but the lines on the weekend..... Never had a complaint about Dee's, especially for delivery, but they stopped delivery to my area, I'm guessing because they were so popular. So I was on the lookout for an alternative. Thankfully, I discovered yelp. Yelp directed me to this place and I am so happy! Although Friendship is a little pricey, the quality of preparation, the pleasant ordering process, and the creative presentation make this place an obvious step above most places. I look forward to visiting in person at some point, but until then, they will getting consistent delivery business from me.

Justin G.

I guess my Lola's cooking spoiled Friendship for me, but I did not like it as much as everyone else seems to. To me, the food seemed watered down and bland, and not very Asian in taste. The price is too much for what it tastes like. Never been inside, so I can't really comment on atmosphere or personal accommodations. But the few times I did order from there, it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time (90min+ every time), despite being less than half a mile from me. Please don't think less of me.

Blah B.

Bella- I have to agree it isn't that great especially for the price. I am not a fan; I'm more of a "Eek! Methinks not." :)

Aileen C.

We were very excited to go to Friendship after reading all the reviews on yelp, but this was a complete disaster. When we were seated, the ambiance and decoration of the restaurant was very nice and modern - we were one of three tables at the restaurant (slow day perhaps). However, that's the only positive thing I can say about Friendship. We ordered our appetizers and it took about 30 minutes for two eggrolls to come out (keep in mind that there were only 2 other couples there). But that's fine, sometimes it takes a little bit to make the food... We sat there for another 45 minutes waiting for our entrees. While waiting, we ran out of water and no one came by to give us more water. We were finally able to wave a busboy down (because all the other waiters were in the back talking and laughing), and he said that he would bring some more water. But nothing came.... Our finally out entrees came and we asked the waitress for water. She said "fine," and proceeded to storm off. About 30 minutes later, we finally got water! YAY! The next problem? Cold food. The entrees were cold and extremely salty. At this point, any one in their right mind would have asked for the check....sadly we already ordered desert earlier on, so we had to wait another 30 minutes after eating our entrees for desert (the cheesecake). When it came out, the cheesecake looked really good (maybe something positive afterall), but then we tried to eat it. IT WAS ROCK SOLID! Frozen, actually. We were basically given a cheesecake popsicle. Our bill came out to be around $55. Overall, Friendship is an overpriced, horrible service panda express. We will never bring our business back to Friendship. Take your business elsewhere and save yourself over 2 hours of disappointment!

Bonnie B.

This place is very pretty-- an upscale Chinese restaurant. I had a Groupon, and am not sure I'd return without one. The food was good enough, but not something I would go out of my way for. With a little tweaking, I think it could be a four star place, but some of the dishes were just kind of bland-- like the Choy Sum Beef. The Ginger Beef, however, was delicious. I would recommend that if you come here. I like that it is byob, but it still seemed expensive-- and didn't really live up to the "180 degrees from ordinary Chinese" motto. This place has a lot of potential, but needs a bit of work with the flavors on the menu. I will probably give it another shot. The atmosphere is really nice and the service was good.

J M.

First off, , I was a huge huge fan of this place. Now however, I am compelled to post this review due to my recent not so hot experiences. Mind you, for years I have been raving about and recommending this restaurant. I even spent a birthday dinner dinning at this place. To be sure, they have some of the best Chinese Food I have ever tasted. The Mongolian beef is spectacular. However, the last 3 times I have been inside the restaurant the service was absolutely abysmal. For example, this past Tuesday, my date and I ordered an appetizer and our entrees at the same time. Our appetizer comes out and the waitress then immediately brings out only one of the entrees. Ok, this is a terrible practice, but fine, as long as the second entree comes out within the next minute, no big deal. Get this, the second entree did not come out of another 15 MINUTES. So while my food got cold, we waited and waited and waited. A few apologies and your food will be right out but ....15 minutes!? Then as the meal concluded, I gave the waitress my card for the bill. She returns the card and check but charged me someone Else's total. 15 dollars more than our check. Ok. No big deal, just void it and charge me the right amount. NO. On Wednesday I check to see that the first transaction had not been void and I was charged now over 75 dollars for two $8.95 entrees and a crab rangoon. Not wanting to deal with more incompetence, I disputed the charge with my bank and did get my money refunded. However, this was a horrific of a dinning experience as I have ever had in a reputable restaurant. To recap, bad service on refills, poor waitressing, entrees coming on top of appetizers, entrees not coming out together, and then getting double charged and not having them void the incorrect transaction. I love the food and for the most part the people are nice. However, this is the third time in a row I have had terrible service. The type of incompetence is inexcusable for what is considered a higher end place. I'm not completely abandoning this place because it is so good, but i write this review in hopes that management does something about the service.

Jason C.

Full thumbs-up on this place. I called in an order and picked it up 20 minutes later ... the meal was boxed with several fortune cookies, several pairs of chop-sticks, and a plentiful meal+steamed rice. As others have said, you'll pay a little more - mine was $12 out the door with tax... but there is enough for two people OR leftovers.

Jacqueline S.

Finally got ahold of the owner - call was lost - one of the other Friendship employees called me back to get my address for my refund gift certificate - I told him I would like a check instead and told him my address. Did not receive anything - called back weeks later and got to talk to the owner, he said he kept getting the check he sent me returned to him - apparently the Friendship employee had written down my address incorrectly - I even spelled out the street name over the phone and he wrote down a completely different street - not even just the wrong spelling. We straightened this out and I finally got my money back - the incident happened on July 24 and it is now Oct 20 and I just received my check in the mail today.

Taryn P.

Friendship is the bee's knees! Their Sesame Beef is tender, crispy, and the sauce isn't too goopy, the Green Beans with Tofu is nice and spicy, and pretty much everything else is worth ordering. This is a great rendition of "Americanized" Chinese - if you want super authentic, go to Lao Tse Schuan (sp?) in Chinatown, but when you want the standards, Friendship is where it's at. Fresh ingredients, high quality meat, and I can't stress enough that the sauces are more like sauce and not like gravy, which we've all experienced at most cheap Chinese spots. Ohmigosh, I almost forgot, the pork dumplings are amazing - they're homemade. Get them fried!

Beckee W.

I love this plae for takeout because I'm deathly afraid of the mysterious middle of most Chinese restaurant "chicken" chunks. This place is delish, kind of expensive, and takes forever but it's worth it not to have to just eat the breading off the meat. Plus, read the tiny menu they give you, oh Friendship, the poorly translated story is delightful and makes me giggle everytime!

John-Ryan G.

At last, a good Chinese delivery on the north side! I strongly recommend this joint to anyone... it's slightly more expensive than the others, but you're gonna get much better quality. Try the 88 Chicken and the crab rangoonies... a slightly different take on a classic.

Bridget K.

This place is my absolute favorite for dinner out. Tuesdays all entress are 8.95 but make sure you call a day or two before to get a reservation. Otherwise you will wait for a table. It is also BYOB but they charge $6 for corkage fee - probably why I am only giving them 4 starts. They charge for every bottle too. They are also on restaurant.com for a good gift certificate (cannot use them on Tuesdays). I love their crab rangoon and the spicy peanut chicken. The honey walnut shrimp is very good but very sweet. Something to share with a group since more than 2 shrimp is too much sweetness for one meal. The service used to be excellent but I would say the last two times I have been I would put the service down to very good. A little too long between water refills and waiting for the check at the end.

Paul d.

This restaurant does not belong in Logan Square! The restaurant is tucked into the plethora of Ma and Pa sell everything and anything shops and cheap discount furniture stores that line that strip of Milwaukee Ave. However, when you walk in, you're invited into a whole new world. A wall of about 50 golden Buddha heads shimmer to one side of reception desk. Once you walk into the main dining room, the décor is mix of Asian accents and modern touches. I wanted to shed a tear, as a loyal Logan Square resident, I was proud to have such an establishment in our neighborhood. We're movin' on up to the East Side! Since the décor was so inviting and dynamic, our expectations rose for the most important criteria to review: the food. For appetizers, we ordered the Appetizer Sampler which consisted of egg rolls (3 stars), cigar egg rolls (2 stars), pot stickers (3 stars), crab wonton (4 stars), lollipop shrimp (4 stars), BBQ ribs (4 stars). I'm not the biggest fan of Crab Rangoon, but I must agree with other reviewers that is the best I've tasted so far. The cream cheese and crab ratio was perfect. For the main course, we ordered the Spicy Honey Orange Chicken and Salt and Peppered Crispy Beef. This is where our elevated expectations took a dive. The Orange Chicken was good but not anything better that what you would order from something as unauthentic as Panda Express. The honey flavor was slight but did not add that much more to the taste. Unfortunately, the Salt and Peppered Crispy Beef suffered from the same fate. Good, but nothing to write home about. The Crispy Beef did come with a dipping sauce - maybe to compensate for the main dish being only average? I give both of those dishes 3 stars. I must say that this review is a little more critical because of how much everything was. Our bill came out to be around ~$55 w/ drinks (non-alcoholic) - which is generally more than what you spend at standard Chinese restaurant (for some really great Chinese food for a decent price, try Lao Shanghai in Chinatown Square). Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to its surroundings.

Shuinn C.

Went there tonight to use that Groupon from forever ago (the $13 sea bass dinner). We had pretty low expectations after all the recently negative reviews, but our meal was really quite enjoyable. Joyce gave a really detailed review already about what the Groupon deal was like, but as a Taiwanese person who has very Asian taste buds, I still really enjoyed their take on Chinese food. The Chilean Sea Bass wasn't amazing, but it was cooked and flavored nicely. Service was average but not bad. All in all, I would go there again if there was a Groupon deal or if I had a hankering for Chinese food and didn't want to cook myself.

Anthony G.

I Love this place!! So delicious. I found this place while playing a gig upstairs at the "elastic art" art gallery(which I also highly recommend!) Anyway, friendship has some of the best Chinese Ive ever ordered for delivery.(some times they are just ok at delivery... but everyone f's up now and then right? even restaurants) However, 90% of the time they rock!

Jessica C.

what can i say that christine f hasn't already? damp napkins, confused service, mediocre food. I WAS bummed that I missed the yelp event here--now I know better: Even though it acts like it, Friendship is not special. a few nice things: -decor is pleasant; clean, swanky bathroom -server brought me a different soup when he realized i had barely touched mine -enjoyed the shrimp lollipops and Hong Kong steak was not bad--assortment of mushrooms served w/steak was lovely the bad: -hot and sour soup was atrocious, consistency of the fake crab should have deemed it inappropriate for service; i've had better soup out of a packet -tablecloth in front of me (facing me, on edge of table) had (what looked like) a large, crusty brown stain on it -chocolate cake was a shame to the genre--costco would not carry such stock -why tell us the sauce was raspberry if even MY nose is screaming strawberry (but i'll add that my tastebuds were not, they were the blandest strawberries on earth)? I'll be honest. Look at me, I've been to A LOT of Chinese restaurants in my day. I'd say most family special occasions were celebrated at a Chinese restaurant, PROBABLY buffet--and you can imagine how wide the gamut of quality is there. My GD 8th birthday party with a clown and fancy mom-sewn dress was held at China Garden (RIP). My coworkers and I used to go to this shantytown shack by Whitney Young for superbrown fried rice and syrupy-sticky sweet-and-sour chicken that was out of this world. So yes, I do believe that middle-of-the-road Chinese food has its place. And it's not in a restaurant trying to be fancy and charge fancy prices. I would choose New China Buffet or Buffet Palace in a heartbeat over Friendship. At least I know I'm not gonna get ripped off, and that I will leave with a belly full of salty, oversauced, run-of-the-mill Chinese food. If "big portions" means "gourmet," then Friendship might qualify. But as far as I know, low-quality food doesn't become "gourmet" just because you put it on fancy (chipped) plates.

Gino T.

Check this place out! In the mist of all that is hood-like, this place is truly an oasis. The second you walk in you have a strange feeling like "why is this place so freakin cool." I went during lunch time, really decent prices, 22 bucks for two entrees and a appetizer. I ordered your standard appetizer crab ragoon, which is very well done, great texture and taste, best I've had. I had the spicy honey chicken, and my friend had the champagne lemon chicken. Both were awesome, but the champagne lemon chicken was really the shocker. Whenever I've ordered the lemon chicken you get a deep fried, heavy glazed piece of chicken, which doesn't look appetizing, not in this case. The lemon chicken is a must try. Overall though the food was a very high grade Chinese, but the fried rice was lacking. The atmosphere is very appealing, really a gem. Be warned not a typical fast food Chinese place.

Ann S.

Soooo very good. I'm lucky enough to live in delivery distance (delivery menu? best delivery menu I've ever seen, with the little Buddha saying on the inside). The delivery meals come in cute bakery boxes. I usually don't get orange chicken at Chinese restaurants, but the orange chicken here actually tastes like it was made with oranges, and not just high fructose corn syrup. I can't really say much that hasn't already been said. Just go! It's awesome! Trust us! It's my friends' new favorite place to go when they come over to my apartment.

Matt W.

It was a dark and stormy night in our Bucktown apartment. We were fiending something awful for Chinese food but have found ourselves sorely disappointed in the selection we've found recently. So we're on grubhub and scrolling from lifeless page to lifeless page, perusing menus and getting less and less motivated to do anything about dinner at all when suddenly I remember - hey, Dannyman just started at Yelp and that site is full of reviews! So *poof* we browse for Chinese near us and Friendship pops up. Man oh man, yum yum yum yum yum. I ordered the Hawaiian Chicken, she ordered the Champagne Lemon Chicken and we split some pot stickers. The appetizer wasn't too greasy like a lot of places can be and the entrees were totally delightful. My chicken was cooked perfectly, not dry at all. The pineapple was fresh and the macadamia nuts, while not plentiful, were really tasty too. Same goes for the champagne chicken, even though it could probably use a nice sauce aside from the champagne reduction. Oh and we ordered the food around 6:45 and before 7:15 it was at our door, piping hot. This place simply rocks. Perfect except for the lack of a lot of macadamia nuts and the slight undressiness of the champagne chicken. We're definitely ordering again!

Craig B.

Friendship proves that casual Chinese food doesn't have to be greasy, heavy, and bland. Their food is a few dollars more per dish than your average take out, but the flavors are always light, flavorful, and fresh. Their dining room also proves that "cheap" dining doesn't have to mean crappy ambiance-- they have a downright good-looking dining room that shows a real attention to detail-- a rariety for most establishments of this type. I fully and totally recommend! By the way, I'd still consider this to be a part of Logan Square... but if Avondale wants to share the credit, they can feel free.

Diana C.

Love, love LOVE it here. The food is delicious, the service is quick. One quirk: the decor is different everytime I go in there. EVERY TIME.

Jennifer C.

YUM-O Some of the best hot and sour soup I've ever had. Ever.

N. Mary I.

My bf and I went here tonight to enjoy the 5-course, sea bass dinner that we got from groupon. It was our first time and overall, a nice experience. First, we had a lovely lobster bisque soup that was creamy and smooth, almost like a chowder but the serving size was tiny, bordering 1/2 cup. They were good to accept reservations the same day but we're giving it only 3 stars for service and some bad dishes. The service was terrible, something similar to eating at New China Buffet. While our water glass was always full, it was hard to tell who was our real server. The water/plate man or serving blonde? No one introduced themselves and the basic communication was minimal. I had to ask both of them for the check. Was it because we had already prepaid for our meal? If we were to pay full price next time, we wouldn't come back because of the service. Here's what we loved about the meal: eel with guac and fresh salad, sea bass with fresh noodles and peppery beef. The passion sorbet was excellent. Here's what we didn't like: pear tartlet: bland, cold, limp. And the vanilla sorbet and chocolate ice cream in the Trio was a bad, bad mix.

Kristen S.

Friendship Chinese Restuarant is a true hidden gem in Chicago. The service and food here are both excellent. The cheesy Chinatown-esque appearance of the building is misleading! The interior of Friendship is modern Chinese with a French twist - a friendly, sleek restaurant with impeccable service. We were seated immediately, another server lit the candle, and green tea arrived promptly. We ordered the Szechuan String Beans, Vegetable Spring Rolls, and Sesame Chicken. All were divine. The Vegetable Spring Rolls were crispy and served with a small amount of spicy sweet and sour sauce with fresh greens. The Szechuan String Beans were excellent, spicy without being overly salty. The sesame chicken was light and flavored with pepper strips. Unusual, addicting flavors. The rice is served with additional herbs, giving the chinese cuisine a unique flavor. At the end of the meal, compliments of the chef, we received a cream puff dessert and fresh berries with chocolate sauce. We will be visiting this restaurant over and over again! Highly recommended.

Cesar R.

Just ordered from this restaurant and it was HORRIBLE. I ordered the General Tso'schicken which was cold and flavorless. The chicken was lightly coated in a sauce, just enough to cover the chicken. TASTELESS - i also ordered the Assorted Sashimi which was not FRESH at all and not worth the $21.95. I originally ordered the Flaming Szechwan Pork Tenderloin and the Pot Stickers and the receptionist informed me they were out of both items. The egg rolls were doughy and little filling. This meal was a WASTE of $45.00 - incredibly expense for small portions.

Pam N.

So fucking Delicious. Best Crab rangoon in the city! I wish they delivered to Lakeview... Update... So I went back there last week. Things are different. Crab rangoon is not the same. No longer the best! But good. And all of the other food was very delicious!

KM S.

Very good! Ordered delivery and had it within 40 mins. We had the Mongolian beef and spicy orange chicken. Beef was tender and fresh. Chicken was sweet with a lot of spice! Both were incredible. Our new fav Chinese!

Nana H.

If you live in the North West side of Chicago- There is no other chinese restaurant to eat at. Their menu boasts how the owner of frienship hates how buffets have ruined the good name of chinese cuisine and they make up for all the crappy chinese food you've had at buffets. Everything on the menu is GREAT. I've had almost every single dish there and not once have i been dissappointed. The best times to go are, during the lunch special- where for close to $7.00, you can have a healthy portion of the entree of your choice, and a soup of your choice. But if you cant make it for lunch- the day to go is Tuesday, the entire menu is $9.00 ( even their delicious, hong kong steak) It is BYOB all the time, making it perfect for friendly get togethers! They've recently re-decorated creating a cleaner, sleeker feel to the dinning room.

Olga Q.

I would like to preface this review by saying that ONE really bad experience can cause me to black list any business and that includes this restaurant! I've been to Friendship a few times, and for the most part had ok experiences. The food is ok; I've found it to be sort-of hit or miss. The fried rice is really the worst thing on their menu, but most of the chicken entres are pretty great. The other day I ordered for delivery, and considering I live about a mile away I anticipated smooth sailing. About an hour later I realized I had a missed call on my phone and immediatly ran to the window and saw the delivery car double parked and the man on my porch as he walked off the steps I called him back and ran outside. The man looked back at me as he answered and said " I called you no answer" I waived at him and told him to wait and I would meet him at the side walk. He rudely looked right at me and said no he had other deliveries he then got in his car drove off and told me it would be another half hour! I couldn't believe what had just happened. I called the restaurant back and explained the situation and the lady explained she would call me back; 15 min later still no call back. I then decided to call again this time I was even more angry obviously the food would be cold by the time he came back and seriously I can't believe that he would be such an ass! I canceled my whole order and told the lady that took my original order that something needs to be done about the delivery man who clearly can care less about his job or any tips. At this point it's needless to say that I would NEVER go back to this place with their horrible service and their lack luster dishes.

Tony G.

Friendship Restaurant is one of the best Chinese places that I've been to. It's BYOB, the service is very good, and the quality and freshness of the food is exceptional. The standard prices are a bit higher than most Chinese restaurants that I've been to, but the food isn't some mass-prepared slop that they just scoop onto your plate when you order it. Each appetizer and entree must be prepared to order because they come out cooked (not warmed or just hot). The sauces and marinates also add much of the flavor. They were quick to open our wine for us and also make sure we had enough glasses for everything. I do wish they'd offer brown rice(maybe they do, I didn't ask). Overall, I'd definitely go back and bring my friends.

erika s.

just wanted to add that i tried their sushi--pretty good stuff. i'd definitely have again. i'm not sure if that's a new thing or if i just missed previously, but i'm glad i gave it a shot. i really liked the friendship roll. the caterpillar roll was decent, but i'm not sure i'd get again. for the record you do not need more than one roll--they are pretty large so their price is totally justified.

Mike P.

Tonight's diner was take-out from Friendship Chinese, located in the South part of Avondale. It really is a diamond in the rough. The slogan is 180 degrees from ordinary Chinese. The food is more contemporary then typical take-out. I found the honey spicy orange chicken to be on point, and more than I could finish in one sitting. Sonia's order of shrimp egg foo young was absolutely huge, made with full-grown shrimp, not baby prongs, and was not drowning in gravy. The gravy, in fact was on the side. A touch pricey for take-out but while I was grabbing the grub I was definitely impressed with the restaurant's interior. I want to go back to dine in definitely. It's well-appointed and very contemporary looking. It would be a great spot to catch up with friends.

Jonathan V.

Very good vegetable dish - eggplant and mushroom. Fish dish was honestly a bit disgusting - tasted reheated and mealy. Mealy for fish - not good at all. The appetizers we got were better than most Chinese places. Would try again, but with definete reservations.

Not J B.

I had high hopes with all the great reviews here, the atmosphere of the restaurant and the note in the menu about how Chinese buffets are embarrassing to the owner because they're proud of their heritage. All of this talk must have been about the main courses though because the appetizers were a let down. Definitely a step above the mediocre Chinese places that litter the city but I've had similar items elsewhere in Chicago for much less money. The chocolate fortune cookies are noteworthy but really they're just fortune cookies.

Mitch C.

the food is consistently better than your average chinese restaurant and should be given the relatively higher prices. the one area that consistently disappoints is service. long waits for service and back-ups in the kitchen can leave you squirming in your seat.

Yo U.

Their salt and pepper crispy beef is delicious. And their wonton soup isn't bad, either. This place is kind of expensive for a Chinese restaurant. Good, but expensive.

Nate S.

I appreciate what they're trying to accomplish here, but the execution is mixed. Specifically, while the food is certainly creative, I'm not really sure that you can call it gourmet, and the main reason why is that the quality of the meat was just average. I did like both my hot-and-sour soup and the egg rolls ("cigar rolls"), but among our main courses, the Red China chicken was surprisingly bland, and the Honey Walnut Shrimp was tasty for the first couple of bites, but sort of sickly-sweet thereafter. I was going to give this place four stars regardless, but it failed the Leftover Test! Namely, I let the leftovers sit in my fridge (and there were a lot of them, because the portions are nice and large) and went out for lunch the next day. So while I will gladly give this place another try, my gut quite literally tells me that it's a three-star experience for now. One other quibble: we were given take-out menus with very limited descriptions of the dishes, even though we were eating in. I don't know whether this is standard operating procedure but if so it sort of takes away from the presentation, for which this place otherwise receives high marks.

John K.

This place is so good, I'd walk here from Wrigleyville. I cried they day they closed the Clark & Newport location. No, seriously! The food here has a lot of French-Vietnamese influence, and is not afraid to try an old dish in a new direction. I have never been disappointed.

sunny c.

If you are tired of the same old Chinese restaurants and want an enlightening new twist and spin than Friendship is the place for you! First off, the place is decorated and put together very nicely. Upon ordering this Friendship actually serves bread. I believe it was ginger/garlic baked. Man, this was some tasty bread! You could taste the hints of ginger in it. We also had the Naked Crab Ragoon & Calimari appetizers. I am not a person that typically eats either, but I gave this place a whirl based on appearance alone and I was amazed! The Calimari had an excellent sauce and assorted vegetables to go along with it. For entrees we ordered a lot of sushi but I also ordered the Mongolian Beef. I had a pregnant wife with me so she ordered the Garden Fresh and Avocado Rolls which she exclaimed were delicious. I had a Spicy Tuna roll which was also great. You could really tell the seafood was fresh; no fishy aftertaste. The Mongolian Beef was so flavorful that I opted not to dilute the taste by eating with any rice. Overall, our experience couldn't have been any better. Really a hidden gem here in Logan Square.

Anne L.

LOVE this place, found it thanks to YELpers. We actually have not eaten in but have gotten delivery 3 times in the last month. Among our favorites: the Orange Chicken, the Honey Walnut Shrimp and the Asparagus Beef. Also the potstickers are among the best I've ever had. The only thing I don't recommend is using their on-line ordering system. Somehow they never received the one we sent, which made for a very late dinner.

Katie T.

Welp... The crab rangoon and egg rolls were great. Seafood chow mein on the other hand was inedible, but I ate it. Huge mistake! The sauce was that cloudy white that's always creepy and the seafood was kinda cold... BARF

lori m.

3 1/2 really. I used to like the beef w/ baby bok choy and tofu, and they would make it for me even after they took it off the menu. That's about all I ordered because I didn't care for the menu offerings. Today we went there with a Groupon for $13.00 per person 5 course Sea Bass dinner. The restaurant has a nice, minimalist decor. We started with Lobster Bisque with creamed corn. It had a nice texture, but I could barley taste any lobster. My friend loved it. Next was avacado mouse with mango salsa on an asian chip. The flavors combined well, but again my friend enjoyed it more than I did. Next came sweet peppered beef, and that was my favorite. The sauce was very tasty and not overly sweet, the portion was fine. The Chilean sea bass was fresh tasting, in some sort of broth with alot of cilantro. Hate to say it but it was flavorless, and a sad waste of a nice piece of fish. I tried salt but it did not help. My friend agreed. The chocolate volcano cake was served warm with coconut ice cream and although not what I would think of as an Asian desert, it was very good, like a flourless chocolate cake. There were only 3 other tables at the time. Our water was refilled at least 10 times. The waiter told us Tuesday night all regular entrees were $8.95 and that they were full portions. Their entrees range from $10.95- $21.95 ( For steak) so that's a good deal. I recomend giving it a try. Personally I can take it or leave it, but just can't give it 3 stars for some reason.

Jay R.

I used to love this place but lately the food seems average at best. And with the prices as high as they are, I'd rather spend my money at Pei Wei. The crab rangoon was by far my favorite dish but the last few times I've ordered them, they were a disappointment.

L T.

We have only ordered take out from here and have not dined in... But the food is amazing! It is hard to come by really good Chinese food that will keep you coming back, but the food here really does it! 5 stars for the food!

Claire C.

I love that you can have a fine dining experience here without a huge price tag. A friend and I had dinner for around $20, although we didn't order drinks or dessert. There is a good selection of vegetarian food (an entire section on the menu!) although most of it is spicy. Our waiter offered to make a non-spicy version of the tofu eggplant for my scaredy-cat stomach, and even with the rather tough tofu it was delicious.

CSS C.

Had a Groupon dinner there last week. Service was good, food was great. We both ordered shrimp dishes. The shrimps were very fresh. Definitely worth the drive.

Jacq S.

I've been here twice (Groupon's deal), and I like it. I just don't like the location. The food is good but its pricey. I really like the egg rolls because their sauce is different from the others. The Chilean Sea Bass is the best.

Ingrid G.

The Emperor wears no clothes!! I started ordering from Friendship about 4 years ago, and at that time they offered a large and small dish at different price points. Now, I feel as though they are laughing all the way to the bank. Admittedly the food is different than what you'll get at the Eat First or Blue Willow. But $11.00 for an order of simple steamed spinach with a few mushrooms? Come on, $11.00? $11.00 for a basic chicken dish? I noticed that they offer an 8.95 menu on Tuesdays--dine-in only, which doesn't help his loyal and local delivery customers. Possibly a novelty for those who live outside of the neighborhood, but sadly I think I am going to have to throw in the Friendship towel and head back to Papajin.

ryan w.

The food is good and all but I really like this place because it looks like the kind of Chinese restaurant where a mobster gets machine gunned to death in the movies.

Sean K.

I got take out from Friendship awhile ago, and it was pretty damned awful. I ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken. What I got was a dry breaded chicken cutlet that came with a super sweet fruit sauce that tasted like a dessert topping. Also, the delivery was super slow, and the food was cold. Boo on you Friendship.

Jen H.

boo..not sure if the decline in the food is due to new management or financial changes. My usual go-to items..spring rolls, rice,mongolian beef were greasy and I hate to say it, not very fresh tasting. Sad that I must now find another place to get my sprimg roll fix!

Jenny R.

my crazy family of four ordered the following on a cold tuesday night: apps: two orders of crab rangoon, bbq ribs, cold peanut noodles, spring rolls entrees: grilled hong kong steak, orange chicken, spicy shrimp and scallops, honey walnut shrimp byob: bottle of cabernet and six-pack of fat tire total price = $70 no, we all do not weigh 300 lbs. we are actually a very fit, athletic family that likes to eat...a lot. everything was delicious. i didn't really care for the honey walnut shrimp, but i don't like walnuts. weird.

laura heather h.

Yummy I ate here the other day for the amazing special of every entree for $8.95 and it is sooooooooooo good. I had the salmon which consisted of 2 large hunks of slamon in a light limey honey sauce. mmm. I agree that sevice was not amazing, but for that price everything was a-ok. My friends that I went with also had great food including seafoon chowmein, spicy sea scallops, peking duck and curry shrimp and scallops. I would love to go here again with a cute boy and a few bottles of wine. YES.

Danielle F.

I wish there were two rating details ... 1 for service, 1 for food. If there was, this place would get a 5 for food, and a 2 for service. I have been here several times and the food has always blown my mind. The presentation of the food is beautiful and each dish has a distinct flavor. Take advantage of Tuesday nights ... all entrees are half off. On our last visit, I used my GROUPON. We waited outside the restaurant for about 10 minutes because the doors were locked. Finally, another group of people we were waiting with called the restaurant and asked them if they were open. On the door it stated they opened at 3, and it was well past 3. Someone came and reluctantly unlocked the door and let us in. We were seated and waited about another 15 minutes until a waitress approached us. The service was almost comical and we were having fun with the other table we entered with. We waited about 30 minutes for our spring rolls and another 30 minutes for our main dishes. The table next to us wanted sushi, but were told the sushi chef was not there yet. When they asked when he would be there, the waitress said she didn't know. He arrived as were were leaving, about an hour and a half after the place opened. So, amazing food, terrible service. If you can deal with the service, the food is worth it!

Jonathan A.

I was looking for a good Chinese restaurant close to me and looked this up on Yelp. My wife just picked up our order, but she said the place looked nice. We just ate. So now I will say what I think. Our food came back in a white cake box, no a white plastic bag, so I knew this would not be your standard Chinese take out. The food was good, tasty and well prepared and presented, even in the take out boxes. I got the Coconut Wasabi Chicken and she got the Sweet and Sour. We also got eggs rolls and Crab Rangoon. All told it was $36. I could probably order the same thing at the hole in the wall Chinese place and spend about $20-25. But the food was on average a little better than most, but not surprising. The Crab Rangoon was my favorite thing. As far as quality, quantity and cost, the closest I could compare it to would maybe be Papajin in Wicker Park. Will I get it again? Maybe. I'm rarely in the mood for Chinese. I prefer Thai. But when I am, I'll probably just get it from the hole in the wall place. Or if I'm downtown, I'll go Ben Pao, because their Old World Egg Rolls rock.

Carmine B.

Ambiance: Slick modern, but casual dress and feel. Food: Egg Rolls - Solid but nothing special; flavors overwhelmed by the deep fried crust Wonton Soup - Nicely salted, good light starter. Kung Pao Eggplant - Nice variation on Kung Pao chicken. Sauce slightly spicy and eggplant wasn't overcooked. Crispy Beef - Highlight of the meal. Very thin breading, perfectly deep fried, and acommpanied by great dipping sauce and fresh veggies. Overall a great experience, and still BYOB (despite recently adding beer to the menu.

Brian T.

I first went here several years ago when it opened. The food was excellent and prices very good. The last two times I have had my food delivered and ordered of their new menu. The honey walnut shrimp were excellent and shrimp fired rice was average. The shrimp is excellent but the rice was fair. The last time I ordered the szechwan beef and was extremely disappointed with how small the portion was and thought i would give the shrimp fried rice another chance. I was still hungry and and paid $28 for the beef and the fried rice. Their prices are 50% more on similar items versus old menu from a couple years ago. You can get average chinese food like this just about anywhere at half the cost. If you want exceptional chinese food at a reasonable price go to any of Tony Hu's restaurants in China Town.

Purnima M.

Deliciousness on a platter. Smiling, attentive service. All served in pleasing, soothing, almost sophisticated surroundings (except for the overhead light that was hanging a little too close to my husband's head!). This was a great dining experience. The crab rangoon was an outstanding mix of creamy and crispy. The szechuan long beans were addictively good, and the tofu curry was tasty, even I had issues with the alien texture of tofu skin. A little out of the way, and slightly out of place in its surroundings, but definitely worth the trip.

Krissy K.

I read mixed reviews, but took my Groupon and husband to lunch and hoped for the best. Great crab rangoon, cat-food tasting wonton soup, and overly sauced yet somehow still dry Orange Chicken. If I had paid full price for this I would have been really bummed out. Beautiful place, nice service, but it doesn't make up for the food. Maybe the chicken was leftover from the night before, and dinner is better? I'd rather not take the risk to find out.

cassie s.

So, we stumbled upon this place when moving to Logan Square and it is fantastic. It is not the greasy previously frozen ingredients that I have grown to know as Chinese food (and secretly sometimes crave). Friendship has fresh veggies and great food. Their prices are a little high, but so worth it.

Jack A.

Friendship was introduced to me by co-workers, and our relationship started off beautifully... In my opinion, they serve some of the best sesame chicken in the city. The chicken is moist but crispy, not soggy which I despise. The sauce is thick, bold, sticky, and they pile on the sesame seeds. And kudos to them for introducing me to the chocolate Fortune cookie. What an age we live in! For a couple months, they were consistently delivering quality product, but about 3 months ago, something must've happened with management or in the kitchen. We started received undercooked (and occasionally raw) meals, poorly seasoned, and overall just not up the standards we were accustom to. Their customer service has usually been decent, though many times they've been lost in translation so to speak-in other words, they weren't too keen on English yet. We were able to get a couple of complimentary meals out of them after receiving a couple of uncooked orders, but by this time we were no longer interested. I reordered from them a couple weeks ago, and though the quality had improved, they were not where they needed to be yet for me to continue to order from them on a regular basis like I once had. I do miss their sesame chicken...

David I.

American Chinese food and defnitely not authentic. Nothing to write home about.

Andy S.

I've seen the Check Please segment and have heard good things about this place, I'm happy to see that this place lives up to its expectations. A great BYOB, probably one of the fanciest I've ever been to. All of the food we ordered (group of 5) was great, especially the Crab Rangoon and the Sesame Chicken. The Coconut Wasabi Chicken was rather unusual but I was into it. The only reason why I'm not giving this place 5 stars is due to the acoustics. It's not the smallest place, but when you shift your chair or talk to your friends when it's rather empty it'll sure feel like it. I probably wouldn't say this if it was crowded (which it usually is from what I hear), but oh well.

r a.

i had better at this restaurant, they are tweaking the menu my sake chicken was disappointing,lots of little chile pepper pieces , all i tasted was pepper, we ordered at 600 pm on tue special, no crowd the kitchen was slow, new wait person still learning, ribs are still good i

Betsy C.

We actually ate at the restaurant and had a great meal there. I've heard from other friends that this happened to them as well. For some reason the delivery/take out is a mess but def. had a good meal when we ate in.

Hugh B.

Upscale decor; small but good menu; professional service; food good quality; BYOB. All in all, not bad at all... Went with a group of 10 and everyone had a nice time.

Mike W.

For the area, it may be one of the better options but that's not to say it's stellar by any means. Friendship Chinese certainly has some charms. Their food is simple yet refined, wonderful delivery and in house service, and BYOB. Getting the Wusabi shrimp and having it delivered is your best bet!

James C.

"Friendship! Friendship?" -mortal kombat That was the first thing I thought of when I heard of this restaurant. I don't know why people call this place an upscale Chinese restaurant. Just because the decor is modern and their menu is overpriced does not necessarily make this restaurant "upscale." If you do a side by side comparison with... oh i don't know... Seven Treasures in Chinatown, then yeah I would say it's a little upscale. But look at where this place is located. Not only is the location kinda ghetto but the food is a little inconsistent as well. Their portions are tiny, prices are high, and their service is whatever. To come to think of it, this place reminds me of a Chinese version of Butterfly (I did a review on them as well). The workers/owners seem to be not all that Americanized as they have heavy accents when they take your order... and sure it shows that this place is authentic and blah blah blah... but what's so authentic about honey walnut shrimp? I give it 3 stars because their food is actually pretty good... but other than that, I find that this place struggles to figure out what kind of restaurant they really are. Is it authentic or Americanized? If it's Americanized, why do people suck at speaking English and why does their service suck? If it's authentic, why am I paying 25 bucks for a beef dish? Friendship seems like a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that decided to clean up their act and serve to a wider audience. Nothing too spectacular here but If you live in the area wanting a nice dinner and have an appetite for Chinese, try checking this place out. They even have a modern looking clean bathroom... very PF Changy minus the fluent English speaking staff. I want to add an experience that proves my point that this place is still not upscale. I was there not too long ago for a birthday party and I had brought in a cake. They took it and put it in their freezer and once it was time to bring it out, they accidentally dropped it and completely messed up the cake. It was a $60 cake from cheesecake factory and they offered to buy a new one at the local jewel or dominick's. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but I've worked in very upscale restaurants and if something like this were to happen, you should comp something in their bill somehow or in some way to make you feel not so unhappy. The fact that they gave me two choices: either take a cake that they buy me from a grocery store or they can try to fix it shows just proves my point that this place still has a very junior like mentality when it comes to service. I just told them to clean it up as much as possible since I did not want to wait 20 minutes for them to send someone out to buy me a new cake and they didn't comp us anything on our bill. Very amateurish... hopefully they will improve with time. They were very fortunate that I am not that uptight about little things like this cause I can see someone going be bezerk if this were to happen to them. As for me, I probably won't back to this place on my own. It'll have to come up with the people I'm with or something.

Zu K.

Great food, awful service. Orange chicken and shrimp fried rice shouldn't take over 45 minutes during lunch on a Saturday. Won't be coming back.

mordion g.

the food is okay, but not as good as other restaurants in this price range.

Julia W.

Friendship Chinese and I are more than just friends. We're BFF. $8.95 for any entree on Tuesday? Easily the best deal in town. Scared that any $8.95 entree deal (for meals regularly priced up to $19.95) will be full of bottom-of-the-barrel scraps? Afraid of the all too common, run-of-the-mill Chinese food with suspicious cuts of meat, overbearing sauces and greasiness? Never fear--not at Friendship. THIS is incredibly good food made with fresh, quality ingredients. And even though Avondale is not even remotely close to where I live, I will--without question, again and again--return for the Tuesday night $8.95 deal. I think it's been well-documented that I am a crab rangoon fiend. Friendship turns out the best cooked rangoons I've ever had in this fair city with many worthy competitors. Smooth and creamy throughout, crispy crunchy wonton wrappers, a tasty accompanying sauce--I can't ask for much more in a rangoon (although I *still* favor the sauce at Ping Pong and the price at Duck Walk). The spicy honey orange chicken was very good and actually tasted like orange instead of whatever funky, chemically-tasting stuff they use at lots of other Chinese joints (and I have leftovers - hooray!); the champagne lemon chicken was a very generous, flavorful serving of succulent chicken breast; the Peking duck with Grand Marnier sauce was an enormous serving (for $8.95!! Amazing!) with delicious crispy skin and the Mongolian beef--well, I didn't even get to try any of that, but everyone else seemed to love it. The space itself is really lovely and totally surprising given it's surroundings--not to hate on Avondale, but seriously, this place seems pretty swank compared to its neighbors on Milwaukee. But you know what? That doesn't matter! Because even if the neighbors aren't swanky, they can still afford to eat at Friendship, especially on Tuesdays! Bring a tasty beverage or two to this BYOB spot ($3 corkage fee/bottle), grab a handful of fortune cookies from the bowl near the entrance and enjoy a really delicious meal for an incredible price. I can't wait for next Tuesday already.

christina w.

can you say the best crab rangoon ever? BYOB and on tuesdays all of the entrees are 8.95 SWEET. the best part is that my husband likes sushi, I don't. But I like chinese. THIS PLACE is perfect... just perfect!!

liz s.

i am a crab rangoon freak. if it were more socially acceptable i would get two orders to eat, and that's it... thank god it's not. and my god they're good here. the sweet and sour sauce has a punch too, which is just a great combination of sweet/hot flavor to complement the crispy outside and creamy inside of the rangoon. Anyhow... the only disappointing dish i've had here is the sweet and sour chicken, but the p.fried rice is amazing, and the seasame chicken is just better than your average takeout- I only wish they delivered faster, cause they are delicious and very well presented in those little cake boxes- if only i hadn't made so many healthy lifestyle new years resolutions.

Stella S.

Its hard to come up with with something new to say about this place that hasen't been said before, but this place is the absolute bees knees! And it's right in my 'hood. It really doesn't look like it belongs there, when you get inside it's so modern and pretty. I went with three of my girlfriends, and we had 2 appetizers and dinner on a tuesday night for under $60! Our server was super nice as well. I had the hong kong beef which was really good, and had enough to take home! They give super big portions! Although I probably would not want to bring my 3 year old into a place like that, there was families there with children present. I would definately go back, or even try their delivery for sure!

Jessica J.

Friendship is a Chinese delivery standby for me. I've actually never been in the place. The delivery service has always been reasonably fast and friendly. Their sweet & sour chicken is AMAZING. I could drink the sauce. I also really like the sesame chicken and pot stickers. The "tofu tofu" dish wasn't great. I'm also disappointed that they don't have the cigar egg rolls anymore...they were yummy. I'll be sure to try some of the other dishes recommended on here.

ros k.

Over-rated. I really wanted to like it and to find a great Chinese restaurant, even if the prices were high-ish. I left $70 later feeling like I've had better food at Panda Express. Can't agree with the raves about the crab rangoon. Something seemed to be missing -- oh, yeah, any actual crab or crab flavoring. The shrimp balls sounded intriguing but fell short. The best item was the spicy "long beans" although they were actually just regular green beans. I kind of liked the salt and pepper beef, but the sake chicken looked and tasted like something from Bennigans. Could this all be why there were no Chinese people eating there? The room is stylish, making it enjoyable to sit and have a nice glass of byob wine, but the food fell short.

Katie C.

This is by far the best Chinese place in the city. I've only ordered out but I always get the honey walnut shrimp. When I eat it I want to pump my fist in the air and yell, "whoo hooo yeah you go friendship honey walnut shrimp." The walnuts are candied and the shrimp is so fresh. There are also pieces of fresh pineapple and a delectable honey creamy goodness sauce. Don't pass this spot up. I have dreams about it almost nightly

J. C. G.

The only reason I went to Friendship was the overwhelmingly positive reviews here. I live a decent clip away from this place, and was not entirely psyched to park on Milwaukee near the restaurant on a Saturday evening (see Teddy's review...), but any reservations I had were quickly erased when I stepped in the door. I quickly realized (I think it took maybe 12 seconds) that this place is BYOB. Alan saw the distraught look on my face and directed me to Crown Liquors across the street where I purchased their finest swill; he had glasses waiting for us upon my return to the restaurant. This is the first of 3 interactions with Alan that led to the five star rating. We had the dumplings (fantastic, meaty, and fried perfectly), some shrimp spring rolls that had this tremendous mustard on them (I dipped the dumplings in this mustard for a sweet/sour mess that was extremely tasty), and a gratis little amuse bouche of crabmeat in pastry to start. At this point, both of us were beginning to regret ordering as much as we did, because the likelihood of us eating everything put in front of us was growing as time passed. Our entrees included a wok fried filet mignon (the Hong Kong Steak), the spicy honey crispy orange chicken (those five words are in the name, not necessarily in that order), and the pork fried rice (no vegetarians here!). The fried rice was positively the best I've ever had in the US (and I'm half asian; my mother will kill me if she (1) ever figures out how to use the internet, (2) finds yelp, (3) searches for Chinese restaurants 1200 miles from her home, and (4) lands on this one and reads my review). The chicken must have been some sort of strange amalgamation of mashed potatoes, Breyer's vanilla ice cream, and Gam's pitzelles, because it was so good that I just added it to my favorite foods list. The piece de resistance was the filet, which was tender, perfectly cooked, and seasoned in such a manner that Emeril himself would have been speechless. During our meal, Alan came over to see if everything was ok, but in a way that made me feel as if I were a guest at his home, and not somewhere off the highway way up north, separated from gang activity by the hostess and a bowl of fortune cookies. This is the second of three interactions with Alan that led to the five star rating. As we were getting ready to leave, Alan clued us into the Tuesday night special, wherein every menu item is $8.95. He said that the place is packed with people who order multiple entrees, taking one home for lunch the next day. This is the third of the three interactions with Alan that led to the five star rating. He was so excited about it that I stopped short of giving him an economics primer right there. You see, if you have a good that provides people positive utility and demand for that good is high, you do NOT need to lower price to maximize revenue (I would have started drawing curves and whatnot, but I didn't have a pen). That being said, this little special does seem to engender some good will among patrons, even if it encourages stockpiling (akin to buying the 5 gallon tub of mayo from Costco); I will not pretend to understand the Chinese restaurant business, so I left Alan to his seemingly irrational ways. The only even remotely negative thing I have to say about Friendship is that their serving spoons could be bigger; scooping fried rice with a tablespoon is a messy proposition.

Linnea B.

The food is excellent, but the prices are a little high except on Tuesday nights. The decor is beautiful and the food presentation is artistic. Service has always been very good. For me this is a place for special occasions.

Jack C.

You know how restaurants and small businesses often leave "stuff" rubber banded to your door? It's that "stuff" that most people just throw away without looking because it's usually nothing of interest. A few years ago we had a Friendship menu put through our mail slot, and it caught my eye -- enough to actually read it. The owner described his life-long love of Chinese food, and how he opened this restaurant. We decided to give it a try. Three years later, Friendship has become a bi-weekly staple for us. We've never been to the restaurant (but plan to one day, we swear), but the delivery is just as quick as Miss Y says. They always tell you 50 minutes to an hour, but it's never been more than 30, and usually a lot faster than that. The food is exceptional - The Orange Beef is tender and sweet/hot, Sesame Chicken has a glaze that really accents the toasted sesame seeds, and you can actually taste champagne in their Champagne Lemon Chicken! Pot Stickers and Crab Rangoon are excellent as well, and the portions are generous. The restaurant itself will sometimes have sponsored events like Chinese music troupes, and usually they announce this in advance on their delivery boxes.

K M.

I could have sworn I reviewed this after my first visit, but it seems I did not. They would've gotten a better rating. I love the interior, it's clean and modern. I like the service, they are nice and attentive and were kind to my two little nieces. I like the food - in house. I like that they deliver using cake boxes. I like the cashew chicken, my husband likes the crab rangoon and duck. What I don't like is POOP FILLED VEINS IN MY SHRIMP. I can't get over this, it's happened twice and come on now, it's gross. Devein your damn shrimp.

Renny B.

Fail. Sorry that I have to say that really. The food, while clever in theory to some- was odd- albeit fresh. The twists available aren't favors typical, or pleasant in my opinion, with Chinese. The veggie Spring Rolls tasted of mustard. The Pineapple Fried Rice tasted more like sesame oil than pineapple. My main dish of Sweet and Sour Chicken had a nice flavor and was colorful, but the chicken cutlets had a texture of processed meat fillets which wasn't very pleasing; the pieces were cumbersome, and the apple accompaniment didn't add anything positive to the experience. My friend had a dish that was so salty, she sent it back, but instead they boxed it for her. Much quicker- I might add than the service before, which tipped us off that they hadn't replaced it. The Eastern European accented staff (??) had a hard time processing the patrons as well, but they were friendly. We were also seated very near the entrance, and an insistent telephone rang consistently unattended, while new patrons waited to be seated without attention. Sorry Friendship. You're no friend of mine.

Wesley T.

This is one of the few restaurants in my new neighborhood - I've been here a few times - it's good, but I don't think it's as good as all my friends (who all seem to love it). The last thing I had there (maybe two weeks ago) was orange chicken. the chicken was fine (I've never had bad orange chicken) but the rice was pretty terrible - it was hard and chunky I would definitely eat here again but probably more out of convenience than desire.

Jesse A.

Friendship was unexpectedly gorgeous inside - warm, pretty, with large tables that are far enough apart. Its interior looks more up-market than it actually is, which is a refreshing change, especially when you can BYO wine. (Incidentally there was a small corkage fee, but nothing ridiculous.) Entrees are about $11 to 14 and the serving sizes are not massive, but definitely quite filling. As for the food itself? There is room for improvement but we were still quite happy. Most of the dishes we had were yummy: the curry lime crusted salmon was crunchy yet tender inside, and the vegetarian temple's feast was full of surprises: lily flowerbuds, thin bits of tofu, woodear and glass vermicelli noodles. The wasabi coconut chicken was not up to standard though - too much wasabi, rather than just a hint of it, and combining cooked chicken with raw tomato slices is rather bizarre and unsatisfying to eat. We also had the calamari for an appetizer, which is fried, notwithstanding the menu calling it "wok tossed." Still - it was delicious, though they were a bit spare with the 5-spice sauce that was meant to go with it.

Katarina X.

Yum-Yummy. I am housesitting this weekend. For the record, housesitting rocks my world. I can't believe they pay me for this. I have two adorable puppies to sit, a jacuzzi tub, a huge flat-screen T.V. and delivery of superior Chinese food (Menu tacked to the fridge)! Wait, wait wait... the food is what is important here: I love the crab rangoon, the (still crispy!) egg rolls and Hong Kong beef. Kudos too to the delivery guy- speedy and sweet as sugar even when the nieghbors started following him up the porch whilst sniffing the takeout bag. And for the record, you can type out a review for yelp one handed, the other hand gorging yourself with chopsticks and using your toes to rewind to the funny parts of 'Tropic Thunder' I loooooove this gig. Love it.

Jenny z.

Oh, boo. Friendship, what happened to you? No more cigar egg rolls? The substitute you offered me, the vegetarian "cigar type" rolls, were woefully inadequate. The seemingly all cabbage filling was watery and bland and the skin was, literally, dripping grease. I miss their former porky glory. The spicy garlic peanut chicken - blah - was unforgivably cornstarchy, flavorless and looked as if it had been colored with Kitchen Bouquet. It was, without a doubt, the absolute worst rendition of this dish that I've ever had. I'm not even kidding. There wasn't even a hint of spice. I'm broke as all get out and I actually threw the dish away, it was that bad. Off night? I have no idea, but it was an embarrassment. The spicy scallop with shrimp was just dreadful. Exactly six shrimp and one scallop with tons of coarsely chopped peppers and onion in a decidedly un-spicy sauce. I quite honestly could have made this myself, but I would have had the decency to be ashamed of serving it to people. The beef with asparagus was muy bland, but the beef itself was cooked medium rare and was tasty. Not a single asparagus tip though, all stems. Speaking of vegetables, what happened to the pretty knife work you used to do, Friendship? I miss it, it really was a nice touch and I'm sad that it's gone. The lack of skill shows in every dish. Is Alan even in the kitchen anymore or has he permanently sent in the B team? The husband enjoyed his spicy honey orange chicken, but I found it to be overly sweet and cloying. He's kind of like Mikey - he'll eat anything. Finally, the portions have become utterly minuscule and the pricing has increased. I hate obesity inducing portions, but I'm bothered that I'm paying significantly more for far less, Friendship. 2 stars solely for sentimental reasons, but this is no longer on my recommended list, I'm tired of being disappointed. Makes me sad, this really used to be a favorite.

Steve H.

Decent food with prices a little higher than average. A friend turned me on to the a few months ago and I was impressed. Delivery took about 45 minutes and the food what steaming hot upon arrival. I had the spicy garlic shrimp while my girlfriend had the kung pao shrimp, both were super tasty and each had a large serving (including rice). The second time we ordered delivery it Took an hour and 10 minutes to arrive. The food was warm and my spicy shrimp was alright but not as good as the time before. My girlfriend had the honey walnut shrimp which I thought was disgusting. It tasted and looked like shrimp coated in mayonaise. I will give it another try since it was so good the first time.

Danielle W.

Fantastic & Fabulous GOURMET little hidden GEM on the outskirts of Chicago. I found it because the owner was featured on a local Chicago TV station. The interior was just as unique as the food. I miss living in Chicago and being around all these unbelievable establishments!!! If you want a special treat, check this place out for a very unusual, contemporary vibe!

Adam C.

What can I say, great food, great delivery range. Hannah took our order and was extremely polite and helpful, answered some questions about dishes, and made sure everything arrived correctly. Very refreshing to talk with someone nice on the phone who is taking the order. Will definitely be back, try the 5-spice calamari, it is great!!

Tiff H.

Sometimes, you just need those nights....all you want to do is just order tons of take out and just sit and eat it all while zoning out to The Office to get your mind off things. I was looking forward to doing this all day, so I started looking at Friendship's menu during my lunch break at work. I ordered about $44 worth of food...I think that included tip. The delivery was the standard hour, and since my entire alley was iced up, they were nice enough to come to my back gate and drop off my food. So what did I get for my $44? 1) Calamari: It was soggy by the time I got it, but I should have known better. It would have been great fresh though. I stuck it in the oven to crisp it up bit, and it was pretty decent. 2) Beef with Snow Peas: I was pleased. Wasn't like home...had a bit of a sweet flavor to it, but it was delicious over my rice. 3) The rice came in a microwave safe box. So cute. (Please, I come from a Chinese restaurant family...and I hadn't seen this before....we're a bit behind down South.) 4) Egg rolls: Some of the better egg rolls I've had in this city. I was pleased. I think when I want to splurge on higher end Chinese food, I'll order from here again. I'd love to try half price Tuesdays but, as of late, I really don't want to be caught in huge crowds. For now, I'll stick to delivery... And yes, after a few tears, stuffing my face with Chinese food and just zoning out to the Office definitely made me almost forget about what's her name a little bit. Plus, I had great leftovers. Plus, I had spinning the next day so I didn't feel as guilty eating so much.

Kelly C.

Very disappointing! Nice ambiance, and the chocolate fortune cookie was cool, but that's all the nice things I can say about this place. We went in as a party of 10, 6pm on Wednesday. The place was just starting to fill up, by 7:30 it was packed. Some of us have one of those groupon for the sea bass, so we decide to go and check it out. We ordered the appitizer, it was just average at best, just a bunch of fried stuff of $9/person, way too expensive. I ordered the peppercorn beef, it was nothing more than a beef broccoli with a cup of pepper, abosolutely YUCKY. A friend ordered Red China, it was supposed to be tossed with 3 different chilli, bland, bland and bland. Sea Bass itself was ok, not anymore special than what you can get in China town. Worst of all, all the food that came out of our table of lukewarm. now why did we not sending them back? Because they were busy! Average price of the entree are around $10-15, but it was such a subpar food. It's P.F. Change price but subpar in quality and taste. I'm not even Chinese but I bet I can make better food than these people. I truly feel bad for people who thinks this is good chinese food. You guys can't pay me to go back to this place, what a waste of time.

Katie H.

Tasty food, nice ambiance, decent service, and a great option for a cheap night out. Byo charge is $3 per bottle, but even still we had soup, appetizer, and a shared entree for 2 people for under $25. The crab rangoon are delicious, super creamy with decent-sized hunks of crab. The merlot beef was okay , though I didn't taste much of a merlot sauce. The champagne chicken that another person in our group had was awesome, I would definately get that next time! The salt and pepper beef was also excellent. At the end of our meal we had a bit of a mixup with the bill and the management was really great about fixing it up.

Kirsten I.

Yes, this will cost you more than your typical Chinese fare, but take 10 seconds and visualize the interior of your favorite local Chinese takeout place...probably not so appetizing. Part of what you are paying for at Friendship is a clean, comfortable atmosphere with nice ambiance. It's worth if if you're looking for a sit-down dinner and some good Chinese food. The portions here aren't huge as is typical of Chinese in Chicago. But I think that's where the "fusion" part comes into this restaurant...rather than being piled high and oozing with sweet and sour, the food here is presented attractively like it would be at any other slightly "upscale" restaurant in the city. Everything we have tried here is good: the crab rangoon (especially if you like it creamy), the egg rolls (served with a very interesting spicy sauce), the potstickers (you can order them steamed or pan-seared), and the Grand Marnier Duck Peking (exceptionally tender)--my husband's favorite dish. I'm pretty sure he dreams about it at night, and maybe during the day, too. Friendship has had some good deals through Groupon, and is listed in Restaurant.com , where you can buy discounted gift certificates. That's how we always do it, and we order a delicious multi-course Chinese Feast. Oh--they recently added a beer list. Plus!

Choco B.

As a person brought up in the hoods of Los Angeles, I am rarely offended by restaurants. I'm like the third grade teacher that handed you a "good job" sticker, just for being you. With that in mind, I refuse to give Friendship Chinese Restaurant a "good job" sticker. In fact, I probably endangered several friendships because of this restaurant. We ordered the lo mein with tofu, and some curry and something with scallops and nuts. All of it vaguely tasted the same. And all of it was doused in oil. Not even the good kind of greasy, just the "whoa I didn't know I could have two heart attacks within one dinner" sort of greasy. If it weren't like $13-15 per dish, it'd have a second star. On the bright side, everything in the restaurant is shinny AND our server was awesome.

Neha S.

Here are the great things about Friendship in alphabetical order: Appetizer Sampler Basil Curry Chicken (have to ask for it) etc. Honey Walnut Shrimp Lollipop Shrimp Soup Spicy Peanut Chicken Sweet and Sour Chicken There is a great 10 person gathering room and the prices are reasonable for the cuisine you are getting. Great place!

dan s.

The food was tasty, I'm not gonna argue that But $30 for two entrees that barely translated into leftovers??? I'm looking for a bit more longevity out of my chinese food, I thought that was the deal we had with chinese restaurants, we pay a little more and have tons of leftovers??? Well since my socks have yet to blown off by local chinese food I wouldn't be surprised to find myself break down and order from here again, maybe even soon...I told you, the food was tasty

Jason N.

Wow I see 356 reviews at the time of mine and an average 4 star rating all I can say is OVER-RATED! Grew up in Logan Square and moved away in my teens. Back then Friendship was the place to go for Chinese, when it was a dump across the street. Anyways, at the time my sister moved to North Center so we figure lets dust off an old chestnut and order some friendship. So one call and about $50 bucks later with a generous tip and the best word to describe our feelings was disappointment. The only decent entree was the Sweet and Sour Chicken, but its hard to mess up breaded chicken chunks in Sweet and Sour sauce. But for just under $10 bucks the portion was quite shady. The beef in the fried rice was slimy and the rice was dry and bland. The mongolian beef was awful and the crab rangoon was actually cream cheese rangoon. And the egg rolls, which were their crowning achievement back in the 80's and 90's have now been reduced to "Cigar" egg rolls with a funky flavor. Well that's enough this review is already too long I'll just say things have changed, and unfortunately not for the better! If you like overpriced yuppy chinese fare this may be for you. But I won't be ordering this place again. The new ownership of this place has left a skidmark on the original Friendship Chinese restaurant legacy. If I could give it a zero star rating I would.

Rita W.

We were a little wary about this place at first since when we first rolled up to the restaurant. Not only is in it a sketchy area, we saw an ambulance wheeling a customer out of this place and we were hoping it was not due to food poisoning! But since we did come all the way out here and my friend had bought two groupons for the five course meal we decided to brave it. Now onto the food! Technically this is really a four course meal..but they do give you five items so I guess five courses do sound better :) For our first course, we got little bowls of a lobster bisque. It was pretty tasty and had little bits of rice and lobster in it. I was pleasantly surprised that a chinese restaurant could pull this off :) For our second course, we got this little football of fried goodness (I think it was fried eel) that was topped with this avocado mango sauce that had this little kick to it. Although I didn't know what it was at the time, I ate every morsel of this second course. For our main course, we were served steamed chiclean sea bass with soy sauce and parsley over a bed of noodles. It was good, but not memorable. It's pretty hard to screw up chilean sea bass and the real test is to see who makes it a memorable dish. And unfortunately it wasn't that interesting here. We also had this beef broccoli dish, it was good, but again not memorable. I mean I am chinese so if you are going to attempt to impress me with good chinese food you better bring it. As for dessert I had the tiramisu - which was good but again not the best i have ever had. It was kind of hard. I did like the cute tiny scoop of ice cream that was on top of the tiramisu. My friend had the molten lava souffle which was better than my tiramisu. Friendship is good, but like my descriptions of our entrees, it's not great nor is it memorable. The atmosphere is nice there, but with so many options out there of restaurants, I don't think I would give much thought about coming back here.

J T.

Overall - Disappointed. After reading good reviews on yelp, my wife and I thought we'd give it a try. As many have said, the venue is surprisingly chic for Avondale. The hostess also graciously set up a place for our baby carrier so our son could snooze while we munched. **Don't get the tempura crab-shrimp rolls.** You would think that the monstrous amount of shellfish in there would make it yummy, but it just ended up being fishy and gross. For entrees, my asparagus beef had a good, gingery brown sauce, but I suppose at $14, I was expecting closer to 'wow.' The potato basket + seafood plate my wife had was interesting, and the fried basket itself was good. The seafood really was bland, nothing special. A restaurant.com GC made this place affordable, but I'd never return. What gives, yelpers? This place may be good for Logan Square, but it's below-average for Chicago food offerings.

Dina F.

I am never disappointed with anything I've eaten! This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the city. The sesame chicken is sweet and spicy heaven to the tongue. The decor is beautiful!

Natalie J.

i used to love this place. love. then we went for my friend's birthday and they up'd the corkage fee to....$6 a bottle. i wanted to walk. i was so mad about this that i hadn't been back for months. then i had a craving for chinese and there is literally no good chinese in my neighborhood, so i decided to place a carryout order. one order of orange chicken and one order of pork potstickers totaling $19 and some change. i got home and was fooling myself at first, telling myself that it couldn't be as bland as it tasted...but it was. it tasted like...almost nothing. chicken. it tasted like bland chicken. the quality has really gone down here. also the portions are smaller. and after my last two experiences, i won't be back. this used to be one of my favorite restaurants....it's too bad.

Kim V.

I was torn between a 3 and a 4 on this one. I love the look of the place - it's really a great atmosphere (I'd give that a 5) but our first experience was definitely closer to a 3. We showed up at ~9:30 on a sat. night and even though their sign on the front door clearly says they're open until 10:30 they told us the kitchen was closed. What?! Then they went and checked and no, it was still open so they seated us. Feeling a little bad, we were ready to order right away but one one would take our order. When they finally did - we ordered an appetizer and 2 entrees our waiter REPEATED them back to us and when our appetizer came out it was wrong. We were speechless! As my date and I were like "god, we really WANT to like this place but they're making it so difficult!" then they shut of the music halfway through our dinner and we weren't the last to leave. Seems rude. Overall the presentation is beautiful. The Mongolian beef was very tasty (the tofu tofu curry was blah). It's a great looking place with a nice shiny brass wall. It's BYOB - woo hoo!!

Anjee J.

I think they used to be better before all of the exposure AND they are ridiculously overpriced. I honestly don't think it's worth paying $5+ extra per plate for fairly standard Chinese fare. They had extremely mediocre curry, too -- it was supposed to be hot, yet tasted completely bland/mild... I guess that would make sense considering that it was made with 3 different kinds of BELL peppers! Um, what? I'm Polish and I've made waaaay more flavorful/properly spicy curry at home on many occasions. Besides that disaster, I must say that their food is tasty, but once again I stress that it is hardly better than the food you'd get at your local dive. I feel like you're paying extra for the ambiance, nothing more. I would definitely not reccomend this place for dining in, nor would I travel a great distance to come here, but my boyfriend lives in the neighborhood and the $8.95 price point for the lunch special is fair. Thus, lunch take-out for the locals is great; everything else is not.

Jessica L.

This is hands-down my favorite restaurant in Chicago. My husband and I always take our guests here and go there for date nights. It is reasonably priced, amazing quality of food and presented with culinary artistry. Our favorite dishes are the Honey Walnut Shrimp, Peking Beef, Crispy Pork, and Sesame chicken or beef. Also, they have the best crab ran goons in the world! This place never disappoints. A word to the wise: on Tuesdays, all entrees are only $8.99.

Melissa E.

1 star for great atmosphere. Very cool looking and comfortable. 1 star for handling kids well. Several families with kids of various ages, including my 1 year old. 1 star for fresh, tasty food. Minus 1 star for a waiter who was either overwhelmed or just didn't care, we barely saw him, the pricing is on the high end and well my fiance and I spent the better part of that night and next day in the bathroom. I guess this would be a plus is you needed a cheap alternative to a colonic but we didn't. We won't return, especially since we can get food just as tasty and fresh, delivered to our home, for almost 1/2 the price...less the bathroom drama from Yen's.

Andrea T.

It is so hard to find good Chinese in Chicago. This place is beautiful and so clean! The food was so delicious! I loved everything we ordered except the wine. I noticed that most people bring their own and the corkage fee is nominal. They have a great deal if you eat after 5pm. on Tuesday. Our bill was shockingly low for all of the food we ordered. My Father-In-Law ordered something they didn't have but they still made it for him. The food took it's time getting out to us but that's because it is super fresh! They have sushi too but I haven't tried it yet. I did try the shrimp with the sticky rice on the bottom and it was perfect. I want to eat here every week and have my birthday here too! I love Friendship and you will too!

Jenni Q.

We came here after buying a groupon for a 5 course chilean sea bass dinner and hearing really great reviews about it. 1st course: lobster bisque soup. mixed in tiny pieces of corn which made it so much more delicious! 2nd course: eel chips with avocado mousse salad. very original and so tasty! i usually dont finish my salads but with this dish i was licking the last of the avocado mousse off the plate! 3rd course: chilean sea bass. i was sooo looking forward to this dish because i LOVE chilean sea bass. turned out to be a huge disappointment - not sure if the waitress waited too long to bring it out but the fish was cold and slimy when we got it. 4th course: pepper steak with broccoli. this dish was good but nothing special. basically a fancier version of beef and broccoli. 5th course: we all shared a few of the desserts tiramisu, chocolate lava cake but the absolutely best one was the passionfruit/melon sorbet with a hard white chocolate shell! good ambiance, decent food and such a good deal at $13 per person but don't know if I wouldve paid regular price ($50) for the 5 course dinner. would definitely come back if there was another deal though :)

Jayson C.

We decided to dine here for our Groupon Chilean Sea Bass dinner. The ambience is sheik, service is satisfactory, and the food was great. I was very impressed the restaurant was crowded on a Wednesday early evening. The Chilean sea bass was cooked to perfection, although, the flavoring seemed a bit bland. But when you can cook fish to perfection, the natural taste alone on Chilean sea bass is great. Food presentation was very exceptional, as well. I gave this place 3 stars cause I found nothing wrong with this place. However, I don't think I'll be coming back unless I was around the neighborhood.

Danielle S.

Wonderful appetizers - we had crab rangoon and the veggie spring rolls. They were a hit. I had the General Tao Shrimp - which was good - a little too saucy, and I wish the tails were off the shrimps. My fiancée had Mongolian Beef, which was good but again too saucy (and he's a sauce guy). All and all very good - delivery was pretty quick and the commute did not hurt the taste and freshness of the food. =0)

Chris C.

In short: Their food is like how you think Chinese food is going to be in your head when you are hungry for it, but then you order it and it's not that good. This Chinese food IS that good. We had a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate to here, so we had to spend at least $50. We ended up spending exactly $50 after the gift certificate, which amounted to quite a pile of food. I absolutely loved all of it. The presentation was fantastic. Dishes were garnished with subtle well chosen flavors. I didn't see one dish that we either ordered or I saw strolling by that didn't look good to me.

Brett F.

Back to Friendship we go! With this weeks Yelp Eats promo it opened the doors for all of us to get back into our favorite Chinese spot or for a newbie to discover their new favorite stand-by. And what a gluttonous evening it was!! Some participating restaurants opted to skimp on their prix fixe offerings, not Friendship!! We were given course after course of tasty and tremendous portioned dishes for a mere $25.00. You've gotta love that. I'm never disappointed by what Friendship has to offer and this night made for no exception. Our apps of coconut-crusted seafood lollipops and pork pot stickers were ahh inspiring with amazing layers of sweet and spicy flavor. We got a little greedy and added an order of crab rangoon to our apps (again with a huge portion) but those pouches of creamy, crunchy love were really some of the best I've ever had! We had a soup course which meant Won Ton for all - they were out of the lobster and corn bisque but generously offered to allow us to pick from any of their soups on the menu. With Won Ton being my fav, I ordered it up but was a little disappointed by the element of oiliness in the broth. Again with the portions already, I literally had a trough of soup in front of me, despite the value factor it's a little unnecessary once you realize how much food you're wasting because you simply can't eat it all. Friendship should be highly recommended on the competitive eating circuit, this joint brings the quantity!! Our entrees proved no different; we all chose the Grilled Hong Kong Steak... I was surprised to see it as a course offering (it's the most expensive item on their menu) and we each had a family sized plate of it plunked down in front of us. It was savory, perfectly cooked and I was very happy to have so much leftover to bring home. It reheats well and made a great lunch that all my co-workers envied. Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake (they were sold out of the fruit thingy which I wouldn't have chosen anyway). I missed their tofu cheesecake which I adore, but the slice of rich cake with raspberry sauce was the perfect sweet ending to our great night out. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Friendship is truly my mecca for a nicer upscale Chinese option, they value the Yelp business they get and it shows.

Jill M.

This place is one of my favorite go to Chinese Restaurants. My bf and I live pretty close by and have been here many, many times over the past couple years. It definately is a bit pricier than other Chinese restaurants, but I feel you are paying for quality, not quantity. I think Friendship has some of the best crab ragoons around and is my go to appetizer. The calamari is also amazing, fresh, and crispy. I always order a different entree and have never been let down. Everything is very balanced and not over salted or super greasy like most Chinese restaurants. You also cannot beat their dine in special on Tuesdays where every entree is only $8.95.

K- K.

Went here with a friend's Groupon and LOVED IT! We had a hard time picking out what to enjoy, all the appetizers and entrees looked fantastic. I had spicy beef deliciousness (this was not the title in the menu) and couldn't get enough of it. Eventually, a large group sat at the table next to us and remarked "ooo what are you guys having?!" Once we swallowed, we replied "just get anything!!!"

Grace L.

Go on Tuesdays for the 8.95 entrees... yes that's right, 8.95 for ANY entree, served with short-grain white rice steamed to perfection, a hot pot of jasmine-oolong tea, and a chocolate fortune cookie. From the outside, this place reminds me of a miniaturized P.F. Chang's, with a modern, clean atmosphere and cohesive decor. The food was out in literally five minutes after we ordered, and I wondered with skepticism if the food would have a serious pre-made vibe to it. It was, however, very fresh and tasty. I had the Buddha's feast, basically a melange of Asian mushrooms with fried tofu and other veggies in a garlicky brown sauce. The tofu smelled lightly reminiscent of Taiwanese "stinky" tofu - if you know what I speak of and you happen to like that stuff, then this is probably about as close as you will get to it around here. It was subtle, though, so the aroma wasn't overpowering. The natural buttery-ness of the tofu skin was extremely impressive. My boyfriend had the General Tao Shrimp and was equally pleased with his order...and we will probably be back next Tuesday.

Michelle M.

I ordered delivery... the food wasn't spectacular, nor was the amount of food price proportional. Most chinese places you get enough for leftovers. Not this place. I paid over $30.00 for the general tao's shrimp meal and an order of pot stickers! With the delivery charge and my tip it was $35.60!!!! Thats insane! Especially because our food delivery was clocked at 1 hour and 20 minutes! w0w. Not worth it at all!! So disappointed. I was really hoping for a decent amount of food - portions were justs o small for the price. They called to see if the delivery guy got there - and I said the food was cold and I was hung-up on. Save your time, go somewhere else - seriously. Very disappointing.

Anne W.

I love the food at friendship, but I've been disappointed by the service. The last two times I've been here, in a group of 4, 2 entrees have arrived a full 7-10 minutes before the other two. This is awkward and annoying, and would keep me from coming back if it wasn't for the quality of the food. Spicy orange chicken and the duck are my faves. Also, love the BYOB.

Christine U.

As Flava Flav likes to say, "Don't believe the hype!" When Yelp had an Elite Event here a few months ago, I enjoyed the experience. Food was delicious, well prepared. I'd been wanting to go back since then. So, when I saw that they were participating in the Yelp Eats Week, I was more than happy to go, and made it a date with 3 other Yelpers. The verdict: Very disappointing. The first bad sign: our napkins were damp. What?? Second, they did not have 2 of the items on the Yelp Eats menu (a soup and a dessert). Third, service was extremely haphazard. When our server asked us if we were ready we told him we were not, could we please have a minute. But he just stood there and said he would just take our soup order at that time. I'm not sure which part about "Not ready" he didn't understand. But we obliged and made our selections...but after only taking 3 of our soup orders, he switched gears and asked us (but not really directly, it was weird) about appetizers. (I need to also mention that our order for entrees was taken after soups and salads were served/eaten.) The appetizers came first. While eating the appetizers, an empty round plate was put in front of each of us. Then the soups came, served in bowls on top of a large square plate. Instead of taking the empty round plates away, the servers just put the soups whereever they could find space on the table. We took it upon ourselves to stack the empty round plates to the side. At that point, they took them away. After soups were consumed and cleared from the table, they brought back another round of empty plates. Then they brought the entrees, which were already on plates. So the empty plates had to be stacked once again and taken away. I would've understood the empty plates if we were dining family style, but we were not, so it did not make sense. At all. Let me interrupt to say that I am quite used to haphazard service at Chinese restaurants. I've pretty much come to expect curt, abrupt, impersonal service at Chinese restaurants. No frills. That's fine. But at Friendship, they just seemed CONFUSED. And it's not because they were busy, there were maybe only 5 other tables of diners. Now about the food. Seafood Lollipops were probably the best thing about the whole dining experience. They were very tasty, crispy and not greasy at all. Hot and Sour Seafood Soup was neither hot nor sour, just kind of bland and generic...complete with...*gasp*...IMITATION CRAB MEAT. My school of thought is: don't even bother if you're not going to use the real deal. Entree of salmon was ok. Portion size was very nice, the curry sauce was good, and the sliced cukes were a nice accompaniment. But the salmon was a bit overcooked, dry, nothing special at all. I should've followed my general rule of not ordering salmon at restaurants. Dessert of flourless chocolate cake had potential but was unmemorable. When we asked what kind of fruit compote it was served with we were told raspberry, but upon tasting it, it was clearly strawberry. Very weird. Yes, the decor and ambiance is lovely, especially given the neighborhood. But I find it laughable that so many reviewers call this the best Chinese food in Chicago. Not even close. My guess is that these reviewers have never been and would never go to Chinatown, cuz that's where it's at. If you want the best Chinese food in Chicago, go to Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown.

Joann M.

I ordered the Kug Pao with mushroom and extra spice. It was OK. Not a lot of punch to it. My boyfriend ordered the Orange Chicken extra spicy and liked it. He said it wasn't really that spicy, but overall the taste was good. I'm not sure if I ordered the wrong thing or maybe their vegetarian dishes aren't as good. I've found that some places add vegetarian dishes after the fact and they kind of taste like an after thought. If you eat meat my boyfriend recommends it.

Robert S.

Friendship is one of the coolest Chinese restaurants in town- It's classy and decorated quite trendily. The service there is great and the people are friendly. Friendship is quite expensive for lunch, but is an awesome place for dinner. The food is ok, much better than average, yet not exceptional. Great overall!

Shannon M.

Tuesdays ROCK at Friendship Chinese Restaurant. We paid $8.95 per entree for Peking Duck, Hong Kong Steak, Orange Chicken and Lime Coconut Shrimp. Phenomenal, will return religiously each week for their delicious deals.

Katherine E.

The food exhibits many pitfalls of most Chinese-American food (the sauces are a bit too sticky and sweet for my taste), but it's the best Chinese food in the neighborhood. Service has improved in the last year or so, plus they have a great bargain set lunch M-Sat that I do enjoy.

Allison C.

Just went here a few weeks ago for the kickass lunch special ($6.75!). It is a little pricier than a lot of Chinese food round dinnertime, but the quality is higher than your standard, greasy fast food Chinese. The waitstaff were really nice and attentive as well, and I definitely was not expecting the somewhat swanky decor when I walked in. And so close to my apartment! I'll be going here a lot more often, I think.

Smart C.

I'm not quite sure what all the raves are about this place. Maybe I need to try it as a dine-in instead of takeout? I got some beef with noodles, asked for "light on the oil", but got it home and it was a greasy mess, not all that flavorful. I had tried this place years ago, and didn't think it was even "good" back then, and my recent experience just reinforces that it's mediocre. I've gotten tastier stuff down the block at the place on Kimball. meh is right.

Kate M.

We went to Friendship on a recommendation from a friend, despite the bad reviews I had read online. I was prepared for bad service but expected good food, and actually both service and food were enjoyable. The hostess was pleasant and sat us immediately, though she ignored a ringing phone to do so (I can see why there is such a problem with delivery service...). I am a big fan of the decor--it walks the line between kitchy and elegant, whether they intended that or not. The Buddha busts? Awesome. Copper wall with a banquet table in front of it? Awesome. Jack-o-lanterns hidden in the dimly lit alcoves at the edges of the copper wall? AWESOME. Agree with previous posters that the hanging lamps at each table are a bit too low and perhaps also need a shield of some sort because they are awfully bright. But it didn't wreck our experience. We ordered the mango shrimp, coconut wasabi chicken, kung pao eggplant and crab rangoon. Our server had a good knowledge of the composition of each dish, which I appreciate, but definitely didn't have the flavor knowledge down. She told me that the mango shrimp was "a little sweet" when in reality it was ragingly sweet. It was good but had some sort of strange aftertaste that I was not able to put my finger on...next time I'll try something else. The other three dishes I would gladly order again. The crab rangoon was tasty and the sweet and sour sauce had just the right proportion of flavors. The kung pao eggplant was delicious, not too spicy but really flavorful; definitely my favorite thing we ordered. The coconut wasabi chicken was unique and had the right amount of heat. I don't even eat chicken and I had several bites! Presentation was excellent and the service was good (I didn't have to ask to have my water glass refilled even once). I live nearby and will return...but after watching the hostess pointedly ignore a ringing phone, I will heed the warnings about delivery service!!

Jeannie H.

This is defenitely my favorite Chinese restaurant so far. I order delivery whenever I get a chance and I've also dined in. It's really pretty inside..albeit a little loud. But on a couple of occasions where I ordered delivery the food didn't taste the same. It's kind of a hit or miss. I'm not sure why. But defenitely for dining in very tastey love the crab rangoon.

Paul C.

I saw this place on Check Please! and decided I had to give it a try. I really love Chinese food, but Chicago doesn't do it particularly well--especially outside of Chinatown. This place is good, but not great. They definitely try to give you an upscale vibe with ambiance and food presentation, and the food is pretty good--I've just had better. The place is BYOB so that is a plus in my book. Overall, I'd go back here, but it's not worth making a special trip for.

Simone G.

Just writing to confirm exactly what everyone else has been saying. I love this place. Its beautiful, clean, the bathrooms are immaculate, they kept my water filled. I don't know if they did this for anyone else but they gave us a free dessert at the end of our meal... maybe because we spent so much. The service was great, maybe the menu was a bit to simplified, but my god do they take special requests... they even made my beef chow fun really spicey. A bit expensive, but not overly. I will be back here some time. Oh and they absolutely love the Yelpers.

Fred S.

We live near the zoo, so getting to Friendship is a major pain in the rear end. (My wife and I refuse to drive unless we absolutely have to, so we took the CTA to Friendship. Needless to say, that took just a bit of time...) But, after reading so many glowing reviews of the food, I thought that this would surely be worth the long trip and be the best Chinese food that I have had in a long, long while. Well, it not only wasn't the best that I have had in a while it wasn't even good. There were, however, some positives. First, we loved the atmosphere. We arrived at 9:15 on a Saturday night, so the restaurant was only a third full. This made for a quiet, relaxed dining experience. Next, the service was first rate. We didn't bring any wine, so we were drinking the water served by the restaurant. They refilled our glasses every three minutes, and my glass was never empty. Our server took our order promptly. She also brought the food out very quickly. We did have a small communication issue (more on that in a moment), but that worked out just fine. While the atmosphere and service were first rate, the food was anything but... We ordered old fashioned egg rolls, seafood hot and sour soup, beef asparagus, and wasabi coconut chicken. My wife asked our waitress if the chicken dish came with any vegetables. She smiled, shrugged, and said "tomatoes". My wife wanted some vegetables, so - on a whim - she ordered a third entree - spinach with garlic. The eggrolls were ok, but nothing special. They were a bit dry, and they had been fried to a crisp. The filling just wasn't that tasty. I did enjoy the sweet and sour sauce served around the elegantly sliced egg rolls. (I guess the presentation - the fancy diagonal slicing - justifies the price of $5 for two egg rolls.) The hot and sour soup was bland and rather tasteless, and my wife needed to add salt to it. (Surely a first for food at a Chinese restaurant.) In any event, the missing salt from the soup was soon located... it had been placed on my entree - the beef asparagus. This was the saltiest dish I have ever had at an Asian restaurant. The sauce wasn't particularly flavorful, just very, very salty. The vegetables in the dish had been cooked quite well, for they were still crunchy but not raw. The beef was tender, but not very tasty because of the salty mess that it was sitting in. As mediocre as my entree was, it was food nirvana compared to what they served my wife. The wasabi coconut chicken was absolutely awful. Now, to be fair, it turns out that the waitress had mistaken my wife's request for an additional entree (the spinach and garlic) to be a request for garlic in her wasabi chicken entree. Maybe the garlic ruined what would otherwise be a perfectly balanced sauce.... but I kinda doubt it. The wasabi coconut sauce was just unbelievably bad. What's worse, though, was that it looked disgusting. Unfortunately, it looked like, and had the consistency of... snot. Yes, snot. The sauce had a disgusting sickly green color, and it was the consistency of day old gravy. The final indignity was that they ruined one of my favorite parts about getting Chinese food... by serving chocolate fortune cookies! Please, please, please... can't I just get my plain old fortune cookie? I can't envision going back to Friendship. It isn't particularly expensive, but it certainly isn't cheap. Maybe it has something going for it that we didn't experience, for I rarely see so many Yelpers raving about something that I end up disliking so intensely. I guess you should go try it for yourself, but please don't order the wasabi coconut chicken.

Gfiddy F.

This place is cool, and also pretty tasty, spotty neighborhood.

Lauren J.

Okay, dude. Seriously. We ordered delivery tonight. Now, yes, I know that it's a Friday night, but an hour and 22 minutes for Chinese food delivery is ridiculous. We placed our order online, which was convenient, but according to the receipt, the order was received a full hour and 22 minutes before it arrived here......lukewarm. But that's not even the real reason for such a low rating.... I had the sweet and sour chicken (boring, I know), and it was less than spectacular. It was essentially a breaded chicken breast on top of a bed of green pepper. The sauce was about 8 parts sour, 1 part sweet, and not good at all. My boyfriend got Kung Pao Chicken, which was mild enough for me to eat it (and I'm the world's biggest spicy food wimp). At least it had some flavor. The crab rangoons would have been good if they were hot, or even warm. Chocolate fortune cookies get a thumbs-down, but that's just my preference. I wanted so much to like this place--partly to justify the $33 that it cost. (It's expensive.) Maybe we just had bad luck.

Beebe G.

i agree with many of the reviews the prices in friendship are overpriced for chinese food. however, if y'all go on tuesday, everything on the menu is $8.95 (except for the chilean sea bass). what a deal! we made a reservation for 7pm but we were not seated for another 15 minutes. i feel the hostess or manager do not know how to time manage their reservation book. i felt bad for those who walked in and were told they had an hour to wait which some did and some walked out. the foyer was a mob scene! since we came on discount tuesday our party of 5 ordered appetizers: vegetable spring rolls, a seafood tempura-type dish and 2 orders of pot stickers - all very yummy. our main orders were the hong kong steak (excellently prepared!), sesame beef, 2 shrimp and scallop dishes and a vegetarian dish. they were all very good and portions were just right since we didn't have much to take home - perhaps we were all famished! total of the bill was $76 w/out gratuity (no beverage order just drank water) - not bad! lastly, the wait staff were attentive and service was very good. i would come back but only on tuesdays. maybe also stop in for lunch - i hear that's a good deal too!

Jennifer G.

I wish I could have been much more impressed with this place. We make the trek out to the city about 3 times a month for dinner so we expect greatness. We split the eggrolls and crab rangoon which were fine. The disappointment came with the entrees. My husband got the red china, touted as being HOT!!! NOTTTT!!! It was mild and bland. I got the honey walnut shrimp. First off, they should tell you that the shells are still on shrimp since you cannot see the shrimp through the batter and sauce. So my first bite was one of crucnhy shrimp shell. After spending five minutes picking shell out of my mouth I was about done with dinner. The sauce tasted like honey mustard sauce. Why the hubbub about the chocolate fortune cookies? Hmmm....Also, no offering of desert. Just brought the check when we were noticed to have stopped eating. Do they not serve desert? P.S. Very pricey. $75.00 for 3 standard entrees, egg roll, crab rangoon and water.

Denny M.

We had the appetizer sampler ... good ... could do without the lollipop shrimp. I had Orange Chicken which was flavorful but a bit overcooked. My wife had Mongolian Beef and it was sensational! Very calming and sleek environment. We will be back ... !

Katherine R.

Sorry yelpers, don't see what the fuss is about! I bought a groupon after reading some Yelp reviews since everyone raved about it, eh not so much. I've been hunting, yes HUNTING, for a new Chinese place since my beloved closed. This place wasn't bad, it just wasn't all that great. Maybe my expectations were too high? I don't know. The crab rangoons were very good, but...they should be. They're a farily simple thing to whip out of the kitchen. My rating is 3.5 stars because it wasn't bad, but it was not all that and a bag of chips by any means. I ordered my Chinese food staple- shrimp with lobster sauce and it was alright. I didn't go raving to my parents about it who are part of the We love Shrimp N Lobster sauce team. I probably won't be back since it's a little out of the way, but I would recommend it to someone who was in the area.

Temi C.

I've been to Friendship for some bdays and was never really impressed. In fact, I vowed never to go there unless there happened to be a bday gathering. BUT...I've had a change of heart. Grouponers- you won't be disappointed with the 5-course meal! I was so skeptical about it having read some disappointing reviews. But we went last night for our weekly GNO and were quite impressed. Lobster bisque- mmmmm Unagi chips with avocado mousse-tasty Peppered beef- Not bad at all! You can tell the quality of meat is pretty good. Chilean Sea Bass- Ok, this was bland as stated in other reviews, but it was cooked perfectly. We just sprinkled some salt and pepper and it was fine. Volcano cake- They actually give you a list of different desserts to choose from. We had 4 different kinds and the tiramisu and yin/yang were the best. Not only was the food really good, the presentation was top notch! The bisque was served in these trendy black ceramic bowls with lids and the unagi dish looked like it was straight out of Iron Chef. I felt like I was re-living restaurant week, but even better bc the meal was only $13. They are still BYOB, but they charge $5 corkage which can add up if you like to drink as much as my friends and I do. The solution? We bought one of those jumbo bottles of vino at Jewel. It was obnoxiously big. I hate when cheap wine gives you headaches, but this one (I think Carlo Rossi's Rhine Wine) didn't.

Kristine M.

I've eaten here before and have been pleased, but I ordered take-out tonight and was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED. I called and ordered 3 simple things: edamame, miso soup, and sesame chicken. The girl taking the order had no idea what she was doing and asked me where to find items on the menu so she could locate them. Then, I got a call back from another woman after I ordered saying they didn't have my edamame, ok fine. I go and pick up my order and take it home, and I was charged for and received a large egg drop soup I did not even order. I called them back and the only way they'd void the order and take care of it is if I went back to the restaurant with the food. Not doing that! The chicken and rice were also practically cold, making me think it had been sitting out for a while. Pretty lousy meal, won't be going back to this place.

Janna J.

Visited Friendship because I had a Groupon that was about to expire. I met some friends for dinner on a Friday at 7. Place was pretty empty when we arrived, but by the time we left around 8:30 it was packed. Very good crab rangoon and potstickers. I got the salt and pepper crispy beef. It was very good. The twist on the lemon chicken was interesting and the peanut chicken was very peanut-y. It was tough to get our server's attention at times, but she was good other wise. I'll definitely be back again. EDIT 5/24/11: Returned with my mom as I had purchased a second groupon and the service was terrible, so I have to dock 2 stars. The place was busy, but probably mostly because the servers were slow. We were seated relatively quickly, but it took a while for our server to bring us water. He came and took our appetizer order quickly, but didn't take our entree order until WELL after we were done with our appetizers. Then it took a while to get him to take us boxes. I think we were there about an hour and a half. The food is good, but I don't think I'll ever dine in here again. And I'm within walking distance of two other Chinese restaurants that means I'll probably never patronize this restaurant again.

Rob R.

One man's palace is another man's dive. This is about as upscale as you get in Avondale, but that's not saying much. All the entrees are well into the teens in price... presumably this is to pay for regular shining of the kaleidoscope copper wall in the back or polishing the 32 (count them!) Buddha heads racked up on a shelf by the entrance. The lunch special is $7.95- just low enough to let my dialogue with Friendship begin- but though there's a wide range of options (about 20, including kung pao chicken and pepper beef pad thai), 8 bucks is still a buck or two more than I should ever need to pay for a decent lunch in my humble neighborhood. I ain't paying no extra buck to pay for no Buddha polish, when i never asked for a Buddha to begin with, let alone 32 of them. But... the Singapore noodles which I ordered- tasty fried noodles with pork and shrimp, served with a side of steamed rice, a bowl of wonton soup, and... a chocolate fortune cookie??!!- were wickedly tasty. And I mean "wicked" in the Massachusetts sense. I came in skeptical but now I can shut my whining mouth. They can polish the Buddha heads all they want. This was a meal to remember.

Timmy C.

Fresh and classy at a decent price. Let me start off with a negative, the service is not very good at this establishment. You can call in an order and still wait a good 10 minutes for anyone to come out to even greet you. Good, now with that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. I've eaten numerous dishes from this location and overall I have been very pleased. The parking outside is always available, and the place is usually not crowded. What is so refreshing about this Chinese food is that Friendship doesn't rely on heavy breading and sauce in some of their more common dished. The orange chicken for instance barely has breading, and is still quite delicious. The egg rolls were quite delicious and not greasy. I tried a walnut shrimp dish that was absolutely worth every penny. The setting is wonderful and I would highly recommend for a date. A very intimate setting with a dim lighting. Check it out for yourself.

Linds R.

Wow! I've really been away from yelp for a while - I can't believe I forgot to review this place until now! Obviously, this place has enough amazing reviews, you're probably like "okay, I GET IT, its good" but you are still reading so I will keep talking/typing. I went with three other people and happened to have a "group-on" which is this amazing little thingy that I highly suggest you google (after you finish reading this, though, right?) and it gave us 50 dollars worth of food for like 20 or something crazy like that. We got - crispy beef, orange chicken, lo mein and szechwuan beef. And, because we had to wait for a table (about 20 minutes) we got free crab rangoon!! It...was...SO...GOOD. Better than...you know...that place on Belmont that I said had the best crab rangoon in the city. Its better than that. The food is not china-buffet-style-Chinese. And if you're looking for Panda Express, this isn't it. Its real food. Highly recommend.

Sara F.

I honestly believe this is the BEST Chinese food I've ever had! The inside is very relaxing and upscale-feeling, with tiny, trendy blue lights over every table. We started off with the crab rangoon...it blew me away. The crab rangoon itself was topped with a little chutney made of peppers and fruit. The filling was creamy, rich, and you could actually taste the crab. The sauce had the perfect amount of kick to it, and they gave a generous amount. All in all, the plate was not just beautifully presented, but absolutely delicious. Next, we had the wonton soup. The dumplings were cooked to perfection, the mushroom broth was truly flavorful, and there were tons of mushrooms and scallions floating around. YUM. I ordered the peppercorn beef, which came with pineapple and fried potatoes. If you don't like pepper, you wouldn't like this dish...but if you do...GET IT. It was spicy, peppery, rich, and the pineapples offered a refreshing relief from the heat. My dish came with huge pieces of perfectly cooked broccoli surrounding it. My boyfriend had the spicy garlic peanut chicken. It was loaded with tons of veggies (baby corn, watercress, red peppers). The flavor was spot-on: peanut-y, spicy, amazing. To top off this great meal, they gave chocolate-flavored fortune cookies...which, surprisingly, weren't stale or gross like most fortune cookies. We'll definitely be back and will recommend it to all of our friends! Note: Although there is a $6 corkage fee, this place is BYOB. So bring a cheap bottle of wine and enjoy. :)

Dan D.

First, let me say that I have been coming to this restaurant for over 10 years and have always been happy...until now. I went there last Tuesday and noticed they have completely changed there menu, removing MANY dishes (not to mention raising prices). The good news- you can still order dishes that they have removed. The bad news- they changed their crab rangoon! They used to have the best crab rangoon in the city, hands down! Now, you receive 4 pieces in a crunchy ball, not in wonton wrappers like usual. All main courses are $8.95 on Tuesdays though, so that's good. Cut to this Tuesday. We had the same waitress and ordered crab rangoon. Today they served it with only 3 pieces and in a different serving tray. I jokingly said to the waitress that they changed the way they served the dish and she said "no, we have served it like this for a long time." I said that I was just there last week and you served 4 pieces and today it's only 3. She said "oh yeah, that." Nothing else was said. Mind you, years ago you used to get 5 pieces...now it's down to 3. $6.95 for 3 pieces of crab rangoon is a little pricey, I think. And now for the worst part of the meal! We get our bill and all main dishes are $9.95, not $8.95 like they have been for years...and were the week before. I can live with that, it's only $1.00 a dish more. BUT the bottom of the bill states, and I quote, "TUESDAY $8.95. EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT ALL DINING ENTREES ARE (ONLY) $8.95. So, I asked the waitress about it and she said the prices went up. I asked her about the part on the bottom and she just said it's a computer problem "what do you want me to do about it." I told her I wanted the price that was advertised and the price I paid last week. She said she couldn't do anything, so I asked to speak to the manager. Well, the manager comes out and argues with me for over 5 minutes about the $8.95 price (so much for the customer is always right). It also said it was just a computer glitch. I tell him that I have been going there for over 10 years and can't believe that he is arguing with a customer over $4.00 (we'd ordered 4 entrees). And he said that the waitress told us when we sat down that the prices were $9.95 (she didn't tell us that) and he said that he can't believe we are arguing with him over $4 and that we are still getting a great value. Well, I am not arguing with him over the $4, it's the principal of the matter: the receipt advertises $8.95 and they are charging $9.95!! And the manager wouldn't give us the advertised price! Keep in mind, this whole conversation is going on and we are seated in the middle of the restaurant, so I am sure most of the patrons heard the argument. HORRIBLE MANAGEMENT! Not only that, but he is one of the owners of the place! I am REALLY going to have to think twice before I go back, it doesn't matter how good the food is. Clearly, their long time customers do not mean a thing to them...just the almighty dollar. Well, I am afraid they lost more than the $4 they would have lost if they'd charged my party $8.95 instead of $9.95! Very disappointed in them!

Jaclyn D.

I had Friendship delivered to my house recently and was overall pretty impressed. The delivery was very fast. I know a lot of people can be picky about chinese because they have expectations about what Chinese food should be. People expect: authentic semi authentic semi greasy and americanized or greasy as all hell and unfit for all sober humans. I would say that Friendship is somewhere between semi authentic and semi greasy and americanized. It's something you could eat either while drunk or sober and still enjoy it in my opinion. good lo mein, good crab rangoon. The price was a little high for what it was, it is definitely only for splurges if you're a poor 20-something.

Amidoux B.

My buddy heard about this place from a friend of his, said buddy works in the food service industry and has very good taste in food so I always trust his judgement with restaurants. We hit this place on a random weekday and both of us are blown away with the quality of food. The owner/head chef came by our table to shoot the breeze with us and he was a really cool guy. Apparently he studied culinary arts in France for a while and uses a lot of the stuff he learned from french style cooking on his Chinese dishes which like i said were awesome. he also informed us about the special pricing on Tuesdays which is friggin awesome. $8.99 for anything on the menu!? Fuggettaboutit! This place would get 5 stars if their Tuesday pricing was everyday and they had beer or wine chosen by their chefs to compliment the menu. BYOB is cool but yeah, whatever. A hotel can't get a five star rating without having certain amenities and I feel the same way about restaurants. Not anything bad at Friendship, just a lack of icing on the cake that's all. Great eats. Great service! Try the Hong Kong Steak. Holy Snap!

Stephanie Y.

Mmm, I found Friendship Chinese to be quite tasty! My sister had a Groupon for this place, so we headed over here after getting our nails done at Juko. If you aren't really looking for the restaurant, you'll miss it - as I've done the many many times I've been down this stretch of Milwaukee Ave. My cousin & his significant other joined us as well, so we had twice as many options when playing "pass the plate" later. To begin, we had two appetizers: crab rangoons and egg rolls. The crab rangoons were tasty and creamy, and the egg rolls had a perfect mix and I usually hate egg rolls. The 4 entrees we had were the Champagne Lemon Chicken, Spicy Garlic Peanut Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken (because passionfruit and chicken just sounds wonderful), and Salt & Peppered Crispy Beef. All four of these entrees were quite tasty. Despite the fact that 3/4 of them were chicken, they each had distinct flavors. I don't remember the spicy garlic peanut chicken being too spicy, but I do remember it was tasy anyways. The crispy beef may have been the winner for the night, tho. Seasoned perfectly and delightfully crispy. Yum! We also shared two desserts, but I can't remember what they were. One of them, I believe, had a mango sorbet and the other had a mixture of dark and white chocolate. I know they were both delicious as well. A+! Yay for Friendship Chinese.

Kevin A.

NOT CHINESE MOM APPROVED Unlike Silver Seafood, Sun Wah, and Happy Chef, Friendship is not Chinese Mom approved. It's just too clean, sanitized, Westernized, and well...friendly. I need my Chinese restaurants dingy, with indifferent service, and on the verge of failing a health inspection. Those are the kinds of Chinese joints I love. That said, when entertaining people who want "ambiance" and consider plastic trash bags unacceptable as table cloths, Friendship isn't a bad choice. The interior is chic and modern (since when did Buddha heads become a design element? If we replaced those with Jesus heads...) and they serve up crowd-pleasing dishes like Mongolian Beef, Orange Peel Chicken, and all sorts of dishes people in China have never heard of. But hey, I judge Friendship for the kind of place it is, a PF Changy restaurant for the masses. And in that context, it's pretty good.

Haley S.

Oh Friendship, what should I say? You were a great restaurant ... two years ago. I thought the place had great food and was a strong BYOB where friends could sit around and chat. I don't know if owners changed or if they opened up the place in Lakeview and were just spread too thin, but something is amiss here. The quality of food has gone down, the price has gone up and the menu changed.... all big time boos! The 4 star rating is for the cleanliness, the crabrangoons and because its in Logan (most of Logan's Chinese = super sketchy). I hope the owners read reviews and take note that what they had to begin with was great and sometimes you don't need to tweak things.

Emily W.

Back in the day, I would have given Friendship a solid 4-4.5 stars. Having gone there about six times over the past two years, I can say that the restaurant has shifted direction rather sharply. As noted in other reviews, the menu is nowhere near as robust as it once was, the prices are higher, and the portions are smaller. It saddens me that many of my favorite dishes were cut, along with the size of the beer list. However, despite the limited selection, I would still recommend Friendship to anyone looking for healthy, modern takes on Asian recipes. The presentation is still quite elegant, and the dim lighting and unique décor make for a great date vibe. The sushi might be your best bet if you're looking to get the most bang for your buck (though call ahead because they don't serve it every night). The service is adequate, if a tad slow. I doubt I'll be stopping by here again, but I will miss those chocolate fortune cookies!

Meredith B.

I, like many yelpers, ended up here thanks to an amazing Groupon deal. My coworkers and I all took advantage of the 5 course meal for 13 bucks. Overall, the food was good (certainly worth 13 dollars!). The service was OK, nothing spectacular, but we were taken care of. The food was served hot, though the utensils they give you to serve the family style dishes didn't make our lives very easy. Culinary highlights of the night were the soup and the chocolate lava cake. The fish was cooked correctly, the beef was perfectly peppered. I'll happily return, even without the groupon deal.

Ben P.

I don't get what all the hype is about this place. It is incredibly average food and not worth the price. Went w/ a group so I got to try 6 different entrees and a few appetizers. Not a single thing on the table had me thinking it was really tasty. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Champagne Lemon Chicken the best but I thought it was just OK - the flavors weren't 'Chinese' to me. Practically everything in this place is fried, and not well. I definitely enjoy fried foods - but many of the dishes had way too much breading and you could barely taste the meat inside. Salt and Pepper Crispy Beef was a prime example, I may as well have been eating straight breading and seasoning. Rice: not impressed. We ordered 6 entrees among 7 people and got these two dinky things of white rice. AND they pre-sauce it with soy sauce and don't put any on the table. We didn't bother asking for a bottle as it wasn't a huge deal, but some people don't put soy on it so they're SOL. The amount of rice on the table ended up being fine since we had to much food anyway, so touche Friendship. But to me white rice is the type of thing that you want to see mounds of on your table and expect to have some left over at the end to take home. We didn't ask for more but if we had I pray that they don't charge extra for it. Prices - not worth it. Most entrees are about $14 and for the quality and quantity that you're getting it should be less. Just because it comes on a trendy square plate doesn't mean it should be $5 more than what it's worth. Staff - average. They were nice and everything, but very no-frills and to the point. Water was refilled often. Here's my issue though. When I'm at a Chinese restaurant, I like to see...well how can I put this, some CHINESE people. Even Korean or some other close neighboring nation. I believe the only asian person I saw was our waiter who appeared to be Filipino. Even the kitchen staff was mostly Hispanic women. Maybe it's just me but I like Asians to be running my Chinese restaurants. Now on to the good stuff. -BYOB is a plus and their policy is pretty lenient. -I had a $50 Groupon so that made the price a little easier to swallow. -Food was edible. Overall I would not recommend Friendship and would not go back. I'm not familiar with the neighborhood but there has to be better Chinese places. If you're willing to travel a bit further north I HIGHLY recommend going to Great Beijing in Lincolnwood. Best overall Chinese food in Chicagoland.

Dash N.

Two of us went there on Monday night. There was only one waitress for the whole restaurant. I understand that it was Monday , but the place still had people, not like it was empty. Thus the service was super super slow. The food was good, not the best overall, but pretty good. I would give more stars, if it was not for the slow service. Pricey too, and the menu is just one page. If they expanded their sushi menu, i might consider coming back. Otherwise, I will not be coming back

I H.

I'll be back here on a Tuesday for sure. All dinner entrees are half the price! I had the grilled Hong Kong tenderloin and it was so sumptious. I like the fact that it's BYOB too. The owner chatted with us a few times to see how we were doing.

Tyler A.

I feel sorry for Friendship. Sell a few thousand groupons and be prepared feel the wrath of 100s of people desperately trying to get in for the dinner before they expire on the 30th. Went tonight, and it wasn't pretty... crammed tiny waiting room. Understaffed. Sloppy food. Sloppy service. Angry, angry people - yelling, storming out. You'd think a place that's named Friendship would foster feelings of well, friendship. Fine. But the food wasn't great. Probably a decent deal at half off, but even then just barely. 5 courses: 1. Lobster soup/bisque - lukewarm, tiny half cup portion 2. Salad/crunchy unagi - the "salad" was mixed greens, along with a piece of fried eel that can be had at any sushi place 3 and 4. - Came together and were shared plates. The seabass was maybe a 5 oz portion plated on an unattractive mess of spaghetti noodles and sauce - Tasty, but very pathetic looking. There other dish was a beef and broccoli type dish (I'm not sure because no one told us) which was very take out-ish. 5. Choice of desert of which they "ran out" of 3 options at 7PM We were seated 1 hour after reservation. We were rushed. The hostess (who I'm sure will quit tommorow) was forced to bus tables and play customer service. They probably had a bad day I realize. But no one refilled my glass of water even once the 1.5 hrs we were there. I was really thirsty. Sorry Friendship.

Shane H.

I hate to do it. This place is losing a star because I have now ordered from the place the last two weekends and each time they have forgotten part of the order. The price of the food here and the cost of delivery is way too high to have this kind of service. Disappointing.

Joshua M.

Friendship has some pretty good American Chinese food. I was surprised to find a place that was decorated so well with such good food in this neighborhood. This is predominantly a neighborhood full of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Polish restaurants. I have to say, though... Friendship makes a good meal. While their food isn't cheap, I don't mind spending the little extra to get some chicken with my breading. It's a breath of fresh air in Logan Square.

A B.

I'm torn between four or five stars because there are many reasons it deserves five stars, it's beautiful inside, reasonably priced (not compared to most cheap Chinese restaurants but compared to the quality of food and the atmosphere, I think it's reasonably priced), it's byob and the food is delicious. My favorite dish is the lemon champagne chicken, but I go back and forth between that and the beef lo mein. Their crab rangoon is also delicous. And those tempura rolls they have are pretty tasty. And I'm getting super hungry while I'm writing this... oh plus byob, gotta love that.

Matina B.

Ok I finally found a Chinese restaurant that makes me want to eat Chinese every Friday night. This place is a bang for your buck! Not too expensive especially if you go on a weekday or find a Groupon online. My husband and I went along with our little one and we left satisfied. I'm looking forward to going back. I've tried those "hole in the wall" places and they just never hit the spot. The best Chinese restaurant in Logan Square hands down! We only spent $30 and we left stuffed.

Ella A.

Went there with a Groupon, kinda tucked in Logan Square, it's a weird location for a fancy facade of the restaurant. First time we went during lunch time on Sunday, realized it won't open till 3 PM on Sunday. So had to go back again, ordered shrimp with walnut & honey, + shrimp with scallop, + beef chow fun. All were great. Ingredients were fresh, shrimps are huge! Too bad it's not close by our house. But if we are in the area, will definitely go. The waiter was very friendly and told me about their Tuesday & online specials.

Megan G.

We love Friendship. Yes, the prices are a little high, but the food is consistently delicious. Some of the other Chinese restaurants in the area have been such horrible expereinces, that we don't mind the extra cost. There are several wonderful dishes, but our favs are the Sesame Chicken, Salt & Pepper Crispy Beef, and the pork fried rice. We get the Crab Rangoons quite often, and they are pretty good. Recently it seems there is a hint more crab in them, which makes the husband happy. Wish they offered some kind of desert besides the fortune cookies.

Katie F.

if you are lucky enough to live in friendship's delivery area, you must try this place. i've never had better chinese in chicago (via delivery). just do it...you'll be happy. eating in the dining room is another story. i've eaten in the dining rooom on several occasions and have never, ever had attentive service. i think that they are simply understaffed in the dining room. it's a shame too because the food is sooo great. also - i was informed last time that they are no longer byob. boo.

Dina D.

I don't like chinese food. I LOVE Friendship Chinese restaurant! Seriously, this is the best chinese food I've EVER had. I can usually only eat chinese once or twice a year...not anymore! You people weren't kidding! Every single thing we got was, um, really good. The mustard that came with the egg rolls was even exceptional...and I don't like mustard either! Great fried rice, sesame chicken, lo-mein...all of it! OH! And they use REAL meat, not "parts!" Classy decor and only $58 for 2 soups, an app, and 4 dinners! Thank you Friendship, for making this deigo love the foods of your country... Ps: I'm gonna have to borrow Teddy C's fat pants next time I go...

Victor M.

Love this place. Really cool location right on the harbor on Monroe. Orange chicken hits the spot every time! Love the egg rolls.

eve r.

I have been going here since 2001 and I will say that they interior has changed at least 5 times. I could care less about the interior and I do not know why they can't just let it be. And if you ask me it still has problems... those lightbulbs in the celing? ANYHOW, the food is inconsistant but I still love it. The shrip walnut is my absoulte fave but again, it has changed a number of times. I now order it w/ broccoli and no salad. At some point they began to put salad in it which I thik is the stupidest thing ever. They never charge me extra for this. the crab rangoon is awesome and I have tried many of their dishes and I'm always pleased. I do not live in the neighborhood anymore but I drive to pick it up since after my 1st delivery they said I was too far away:( OH and last order they forgot to give me crab rangood and I was compt a free entree. I thought that was a good deal.

Ngandu K.

While I love Chinese food, I find that most Chinese restaurants do just enough to make their food edible. That's why it's pretty rare that I'll order Chinese food. That all changed when I ordered from these guys. I've only ordered take-out, but I have yet to be disappointed. I recommend either the spicy garlic peanut chicken or the spicy honey glazed chicken. Oh, and be sure to order the crab rangoon.

Tiffany S.

Sorry, folks. Didn't live up to the hype for me. Like many of the other Asian folks who have reviewed this place, I say, "bleh." HONG KONG STEAK: good flavor, but was too lean and chewy. SPICY SHRIMP & SCALLOPS: just okay, flavor was "on" the food, not "in" the food. came on a bed of broccoli what was too raw for my taste. CRAB RANGOON: crab? did it say crab? cuz i didn't see any... basically, a fried wonton stuffed with whipped cream cheese GARLIC EGGPLANT TOFU: i was expecting this one to be like the thai-style dish with fresh tofu, but instead, it was the underripe kinda eggplant that wasn't soft/mushy enough and tossed with fried tofu all the dishes came out lukewarm. other than that, the service was friendly and efficient and the decor is quite nice. btw, i took the leftovers home, then sliced the steak and stir-fried it with the broccoli with more seasoning and then THAT was good. =)

jenise r.

Me and my best group of gal pals do a christmas grab bag each year. this year after reading many yelp reviews i suggested friendship. i made reservations about a week ago. i called earlier in the day to see if it was ok if i pushed up our reservations because i wasnt sure if everyone could make it on time due to the crazy weather we got last night. i made sure it wasnt a problem and they were ok with it and thanked me for calling. we got there on time either way and decided to order something from each category. oh but first when we sat down we got complimentary appetizers from the chef, maybe its a usual thing they do but i think its a great touch. they were egg rolls filled with crab rangoon type filling and a large shrimp. everyone seemed to like them. So...we ordered crab rangoon and pot stickers. i loved the filling of the crab rangoon but wish there was more of the filling then the wonton, and im a fan of wonton alone. but it still was really good. the potstickers were average but i loved the sauce they included it was a little spicy, and im FINALLY developing my spicy taste buds so i enjoyed it =) We had beef chow fun. we all agreed the quality off beef was really good. and i liked it because i could taste the ginger in it. some of my friends disliked it because of that though. The grilled sake garlic chicken was good, it had lots of fresh vegetables. the sauce was good as well, and the chicken was grilled but not dry. i really liked this dish and would get it again. it wasn't as garlicky as i would have liked but still good. we also got the honey walnut shrimp, i didn't eat this dish because i don't eat seafood, but all my friends seemed to really enjoy it so thats good =) The Chinese broccoli and ginger soy sauce was really good. they chopped it so it was easier to eat and grab. the spicy merlot beef wasnt so spicy and again the grade of beef they use is great compared to other chinese places. i had soup buddha which was just fresh vegetables in a broth, it was tasty and the veggies weren't overcooked and thats how i like it. 8 of us total a few bottles of wine. my friends had gotten some plum wine which was might tasty. the prices are GREAT! i cant wait to go back. oh and theres a $3 a bottle corkage fee (byob) oh i got great gifts too! ;)

Sam d.

I might have enjoyed the food more if I hadn't drunk too much too fast on too empty of a tummy while waiting an understandably long time for delivery on a rainy night. That aside, this might be a curse of mine but I usually enjoy food other people order more than my own but this case, I submit, might be an exception. She ordered the Beef Asparagus and I the Red China which were complemented nicely by the latest episode of Top Chef on Bravo. However, after a cursory, then more thorough CSI-type investigation i think I received the Coconut Wasabi Chicken based on lab results confirming the presence of Asian vegetables and coconut milk and the lacking the recovery of any chili casings, let alone three kinds. This despite documentation confirming an original order of Red China. No harm, no foul because the food was good and I was too drunk to care but I can't help but speculate whether, for once, I would have enjoyed my order better. I also have incomplete but fond memories of Potstickers and Crab Rangoon which apparently were ordered as well. More vivid memories of them that would have served well a proper review I fear are lost, probably at the bottom of my second double whiskey sour or wherever my Red China ended up. You'll probably find the fifth star there too.

Leelah P.

Online ordering? Plenty of vegetarian options? When I decided to stay in for a quiet Saturday night, I knew it was time to make the acquaintance of Friendship. I've only had three selections: the spinach salad, the Temple's Feast and the chocolate fortune cookies that showed up with my meal. The salad was perky and fresh... spinach, tomatoes, marinated tofu, cucumber, carrots, candied walnuts and honey wasabi dressing. The Temple's Feast was INSANE... in the best possible way. It's full of exotic mushrooms, tofu (oh, the sheets, the sheets!), pea pods... no bok choy filler here. The chocolate fortune cookies were damn tasty, too! Online ordering was convenient and fast for me. It's good to have Friendship...

Alison H.

Let's start with the most important thing (from my perspective): Jeff N. is right.....Friendship has the BEST CRAB RANGOON EVER. I love crab rangoon, so I order it whenever possible. Friendship wins the award, without question, for the best I've ever had. It's even shaped a little different than usual--more like a little drop. The filling is very creamy....I would go back just for the crab rangoon. Fortunately, there are other reasons to go back. First, the decor is very nice: much more up to date than your usual Chinese restaurant (and much nicer than it would appear from the outside. Second, presentation of dishes is very nice. Third, the food is very good, and a step above other Chinese food. I had the champagne lemon chicken, which was great. The sauce was delicate and flavorful. Friendship is BYOB, so that's good. Prices are good, too. My only complaint is that our service wasn't great: we waited too long for someone to take our order, and had to repeatedly ask for more tea. We also waited too long for our check. I'll be back!

Jeff N.

Quite a nice change from the usual Chinese. Good impression from the nicer-than-usual decor. 1/2 Price Tuesday (on entrees only) a nice gesture. Easy menu to get thru. BYOB makes this easy on the wallet. BEST CRAB RANGOON I HAVE EVER TASTED!! The lightly fried Calamari strips excellent. We shared the Coconut/Wasabi Chicken and the Seafood in a Potato Basket. All was great. We are going back on the 16th with our daughter. If it is a hit again I will upgrade to five stars.

Ang R.

Trendy, no? Very cute interior. A cut above most Chinese, that's for sure. But the food? I don't know, it was only so-so. I liked the sesame chicken the best; It might be the best sesame chicken I've had in the city. But the fried rice (an essential for me) was blah. Nothing like the deep tasting pork fried rice I've had at other places. And my beef and asparagus was good, but not great. Too many reedy, hard stringy pieces of asparagus, and too much dodgy chewy beef. Would I go back? You betcha. I'm guessing something else on the menu has to be as good as that sesame chicken, and considering I live with a sesame chicken lover, I'm thinking we've got to go so he can try it.

Maurice Y.

Executed Groupon here. Chilean sea bass 5 course meal. Skeptical at first about portion sIze and possible discrimination vs. Grouponites. It was excellent and exceeded my expectations. Legit Chinese restaurant. Probably the best chinese food i've had in Chicago. What is it doing in Logan square?! Will be back for sure but it will be pricey without another groupon but likely worth it. Plus, Byo-wine and only charged $2 corking fee. Friendship confirmed!!

Megan G.

After my constant complaints that I can't find a good Chinese place in Chicago, Teddy C promised that I would not be disappointed in Friendship. Yeah, I have heard it before. Tuesdays are their $8.95 specials so we went tonight. I thought it would be good but I wasn't expecting much. I planned on going to the gym when I got home, thinking I would eat lightly then get a workout in after. Guess what, I am on the couch yelping. Yeah, it was that good. The place is cute and intimate and perfect for small groups or couples. We ordered crab rangoon and some egg rolls and while we were waiting on those, the owner brought us some butternut squash soup compliments of the chef. It was so good I wanted more. The crab rangoon was creamy and delicious served with some of the best sweet and sour I have ever had. My Mongolian beef was tasty and I can't wait to go back and try something else! Needless to say, I didn't and won't make it to the gym tonight. Heck, I have leftovers and probably won't make it tomorrow either. Thanks Teddy C!

Robin H.

I cannot believe I have lived within walking distance of this restaurant for over 5 years, but had not tried it until this summer. What is wrong with me?? We actually dined in for dinner, and I was pleasantly surprised by the decor (including the bathrooms) - very clean with a great modern Asian vibe. Then, I was even more blown away by the food. First of all, if you order the mixed appetizer thingy, don't really plan on being hungry for dinner afterward. But, I have to say, that appetizer sampler rocks! All items were super yummy (but especially the cigar egg rolls and the crab rangoon...what can I say? I'm a sucker for the deep fried deliciousness.) And, for dinner, I highly recommend (I have yet to stray from this favorite of mine) the grilled sake garlic chicken...yummers. The service was also great - very attentive - I love it when my water glass is never empty. And, if you're looking to order take-out, their website has this cool tool so you can order on-line...how convenient. Thank you Friendship Chinese Restaurant, for being a friend of mine.

Art S.

The food was solid, but definitely overpriced for what it is. The portions aren't the largest, but they really do make a great lo mein. The food is a bit greasy, but other than that I have no major complaints. The staff was friendly enough

Sarah M.

Really, this place is very good. Lots of vegetarian options, too. Never been in the physical place, but we got takeout and it was delivered quickly. Honestly, everything we got was good. I recommend the tofu with eggplant. Amendment: the physical space is awesome, too. And it's BYOB with a liquor store across the street. :)

Teddy C.

It's a good thing I didn't throw my fat guy pants away!!! This place is Chicago's answer to good Chinese food in every other city I have lived in! I spent nearly two years combing the Windy City, in search of something that would fulfill my constant craving for a tasty Chinese treat that would tickle me as it clogs my arteries! After over 20 or so bad restaurants and one decent one...my new found faith in this little e-biosphere known as Yelp, fulfilled this hunger that had become merely a fantasy. Amy H. said that "if Friendship Chinese were a man, I'd have sex with him." After eating there, I might too, and I don't even swing that way. This little gem is hidden in the rougher looking part of Avondale (which until reading the info page, I thought was Logan Square...Silly Transplant!) and from the outside you notice it by its sleekly camouflaged Asian exterior... Once you step inside, you forget about everything you saw on your walk in from the car, and by everything I mean the homeless guy peeing on his own foot in a drunken stupor, and the little naked Puerto Rican toddler honking his mom's car horn with his bare bottom. It has a trendy, contemporary decor and is flooded with the heads of Buddha. The back wall of the restaurant of commands attention being covered in Copper reflecting light from flood lights that fill the room with a loungy ambiance. The side walls have a modern Asian feel with a dark stained wood and tables filling the room. We began our meal with the Crab Rangoon, which was some of the creamiest Rangoon I have ever tasted...however it could use a bit more crab! We definitely were in need of an extra side of Sweet and Sour Sauce however. I am a junkie for Sweet and Sour, I could put that stuff on my cereal in the morning! For dinner we shared the Sesame Chicken and the Spicy Honey Orange Chicken. The Sesame chicken was exactly what I needed and I definitely plan on returning for it. My partner in crime was not quite as excited about the Spicy Honey Chicken, however I wouldn't mind throwing it into the mix every now and again. The secret was that all of the Sauce was hidden in the bottom of the skillet and needed to be mixed up a bit. All of the above items over a bed of white sticky rice and I was fast on my way to a food coma that only 5 diet cokes and a Jaegerbomb could unlock... I was unaware of the BYOB nature of the establishment, which could become dangerous on my next outing!!! The little detail that made my evening however, was the fact that we had a selection of fortune cookies. They had regular AND chocolate!!! I h-e-a-r-t chocolate fortune cookies. I grabbed a handful and sprinted out the door like a mischievous trick-or-treater!!! I will definitely be returning to Friendship, as a regular customer. I may even invoice them for the lipo-suction that I will need after it's all said and done...or at least a personal trainer. I would just like to thank all of my friends at Yelp for contributing to my fatness, by rating this place so highly and appropriately! ***Edit*** On another note, after returning, on Tuesdays, all entrees are 8.95. They have this Grilled Hong Kong Steak entree, normally 19.95, and it's amazing! Tuesday nights are a great night to go, there is always a crowd, and a bunch of inebriated, married regulars who come in sans their significant others, to hit on other patrons and waitresses alike

Lauren H.

I want to give them 3.5 stars, but will give them the benefit of the doubt since I am not usually a chinese food fan. My spicy shrimp and scallops--no spice at all. In fact, not much flavor at all. Tasted like something out of a frozen food aisle. Szechuan Spicy Long Beans--very good. I tasted some veggies out of the seafood combo in a potato basket and they were good, but the cucumber out of Jimmy's beef dish was just a weird combination. Also, they served tomato slices with the wasabi chicken--I didnt taste it, but again, you don't see tomatoes in Chinese dishes usually, and it looked like something you would find at a deli. Crab Rangoon-5 stars. OMG so good, surrounded by yummy duck sauce. It is like crack--I could eat them again right now. The decor was nice and soothing, and though we had to wait quite a while before ordering (though, to be fair, we were a very large party), the food came pretty quickly. They had a special where entrees were around $9, so pricing was good too. I would go back.

Fred G.

It's a classy joint - go for the atmosphere...but the food isn't amazing. I like chinese food, but unfortunately I've been spoiled by typical chinese food prices...(a lot less than this place) When you go, (and I think that you should) get something that you've never tried before. They have a nice menu with a lot of flavors - each sauce is made specifically for the entree! and, bring a nice white wine with you!

Alex B.

You surely can't beat it with a stick. This place has a website that boasts "One of the best Chinese restaurants in Chicago!" I was skeptical, but have been convinced. Sure-fire winners? The calamari apetizer with onions and hot peppers and the duck. It's BYO and all entrees are 8.95 on Tuesdays. One of my recent favs.

Not Eileen R.

I have moved to Avondale and after a bad delivery experience with lee's I read reviews and thought yay friendship chinese sounds great. It came 25mins later - looked great, smelled good, and even tasted descent. It was almost simultaneous, I put down the fork and the vomiting started. Maybe it's better eating in versus delivery, but friendship chinese wasn't very friendly to my stomach.

Tiff B.

Best Chinese food I've had in the city outside of Chinatown. If not the best, it's a close second to Ho Toy on the southside. But Ho Toy doesn't deliver. Friendship delivers quickly and the packaging is perfect for keeping the food hot and in one piece. The prices are pretty reasonable for the large servings you receive. And most importantly, the food is just very good. You can't go wrong with this place.

Ling L.

NOTE: this is one of the few less-than-favorable reviews. After reading about the much-hyped restaurant, my husband and I foot the bill for a big table of 8 for a Christmas Eve dinner. OUCH! PLUS a $30 parking violation ticket outside. You suck, Office Love (no kidding, that's his last name) for the generous Christmas spirit. Here's a demographic of the diners at our table -- 2 Caucasians, 1 African-American, 5 Asians. Guess who didn't enjoy Friendship dishes? All the Chinese! We felt the flavors were either very sweet or very salty. The seafood hot and sour soup was brothy and peppery, and lacked the thickness. However, the seafood was plentiful and fresh. In my ongoing quest for beef chow fun, I had to order that. It was sorely disappointing. The noodles were doused in sweet black soy sauce and flavorless. The beef, though salty, was tender, a slight saving grace. The duck in Grand Marnier sauce would have been the best dish at our table if it weren't for the excessively sweet sauce. One big star for the service, however. The poor waitress had to pick sides over who to hand the check to, and she was gracious enough to substitute almonds for cashew for a particular dish. And they called me the day before to confirm my reservation, which I placed 2 weeks ago. While the decor is classy and warm, I agree with one reviewer who said she'd rather go for good food than good decor.

jeff m.

This is actually a very simple review: 1. Great food (between the four of us we sampled most varieties) 2. well executed interior, when the place looks nice you think the food tastes even better. 3. Service is lacking. We do like to take our time and eat, but we were there for nearly 3 hours. Most of which eating, but some time was spent waiting for our waitress.

T V.

Friendship is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the city. The inside of the restaurant is very modern and trendy. Most of our orders are to go. The sweet and sour chicken is a must have. Their version is a much tastier version. No other place can compare to Friendship's sweet and sour chicken!

Riley C.

I have not had a bad bite here. They are very willing to accommodate substitutions and have enough to make the vegetarians happy. The owner was very helpful after a misunderstanding about "lobster sauce" (note: it contains pork!), and the BYO is great. The standout is definitely the food though- I've not had better Chinese in Chicago.

James W.

I've been here twice and both times had great experiences. The decor is nice (not you typical chinese restaurant) but the people are not pretenious. The food is tasty. The fried egg rolls were crispy and served with a delicious spicy orange sauce. I also had a chicken in peanut sauce that had very good flavor. I plan to go back and highly recommend this restaurant.

Joyce P.

"As good as it gets" may seem a bit high but I can't think of anything bad about my experience. I purchased the Chilean Bass Groupon meal because I have heard so many people talk about how good this restaurant is and that is a rarity when it comes to Chinese food. Making the reservation was easy, we were seated quickly and the service was decent. The decor of the restaurant was nice and the presentation of the food was was really cool. We started with the lobster bisque with cream of corn which was excellent and came in the cutest covered bowls (which I want to own). Followed by the crispy unagi chip with avocado mousse and mango salsa which I could eat a platter full of, they were very tasty. Next was the Chilean sea bass with ginger, scallion, and sesame soy. It wasn't fishy tasting and it was very moist and light and was served with some delicious noodles. My favorite was the sweet peppercorn beef tenderloin with fried potato and pineapple. I'm usually not a huge fan of pineapple cooked with my meat but it worked really well. I'm not sure what the sauce was but it was awesome. For dessert they surprised us and let us choose our selection. My creme brulee with berries was outstanding. Those I dined with chose a tiramasu and a chocolate volcano cake. Both of them were really happy with their selections. Something to keep in mind: It is a $5 corkage fee for each bottle of wine.

Aesha W.

Somehow I found this place by using a search engine... I just wasn't sure I wanted to try it, though. I am so freaking glad I did. We started visiting this restaurant in late November or early December, and visit almost weekly. Tuesday is their $8.95 entree night - every entree on the menu. Their food is excellent, and we've not found a dish yet that we didn't like. Presentation is beautiful; you may find a orchid or twig of rosemary decorating your plate. A stand-out dish is one of the appetizers, the potstickers. I very rarely eat pork, but these potstickers are the best I have ever tasted. They are perfectly cooked so that they are golden brown and crunchy on the bottom, but the wonton shell remains soft on top. They're served with the perfect amount of sauce - you look at it and think it won't be enough, but it's just right. These are always on our menu. We usually get there between 5:30 - 6 on Tuesdays, and have never had to wait for a table. The dining room is small and intimate, and the restaurant is immaculately clean. Dishes are served with lightening speed - we have never been there for more than an hour, start to finish. Also, I have to mention the wait staff are just excellent; the guys who come around to refill water are there as soon as they see your glass 3/4 of the way full. I've never had their delivery service - living in West Ridge, I'm unfortunately out of their delivery area. I cannot say enough good things about this fantastic restaurant!

Pilsen C.

three stars for medicore food. -2 stars for the hype surrounding the place as a result of Check Please! and Yelp, which resulted in people catapaulting this place to a hype known never to any other Chinese restaurant....

Bella V.

Sooo... i'm bumpin it on up to 3 stars. I bought a $25 Groupon to here for $10 or so (I don't remember). Came in here Wednesday night with the hubby to use the Groupon before it expires, and I was somewhat pleasantly surprised. First let me start with the not so great: 1-The pricing is a little silly. I mean, it isn't some crazy contemporary chinese food. It's standard fare for $15-$20 per plate. 2- I HATE HATE HATE paper on top of the tables. I'm not a child, and I don't need a giant sheet of paper set on my table. I have no idea why this bothers my so much, but it does. Also, their large dining tables are just fold out plastic tables. I think they can do a little better. 3- The service was mediocre at best and VERY slow The good: The food was pretty good. The potstickers (6) were big, and filled with a pork mixture. They're the really thick doughy ones though, and I prefer the wrapper to be a little thinner. The hubby had the garlic peanut chicken. It was just okay. Not really anything special here. Chicken in a peanut butter sauce. He was planning to have a dish called "red special" chicken, or something of that nature, but found out from the waiter that it was the exact same dish I was ordering in the exact same sauce, so he didn't get that. I had the coconut lime curry shrimp (16). While I thought that the amount of shrimp that they gave was very generous, the sauce wasn't fantastic. It was WAY too bitter, but once you were used to the bite, it was very edible. Service was pretty decent until we were ready for our check at which point we sat at the table for another 20 minutes waiting for someone to take our card and bring it back. All in all, I'd go for the $8 entrees on Tuesday, but I wouldn't put this on my regular list of place I frequent.

Kara K.

My dude and I had a hankering for Chinese and an even stronger hankering for not leaving the warmth of my abode, so I went to Grubhub to see who was delivering in my area. Friendship Chinese seemed to be a popular choice on the site so I ordered the Creamy Crab Rangoon, General Tso's Chicken and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. For damn-near $50 (including tip) I should have been doing back flips of joy but I really wasn't all that impressed. It wasn't bad it just didn't rock my world. Maybe if we would have chosen one of their signature dishes like the Champagne Lemon Chicken or the Honey Walnut Shrimp, that could have been how Friendship distinguishes itself from other Chinese restaurants. I would have been happier ordering from my old standby-- China Fast Wok.

Jenay M.

Great food. A bit pricey but very nice menu. They use lemongrass, passion fruit and other flavors that you would not expect in a typical Chinese restaurant.

Rebekah K.

This place is good! They prepared my special order of Veggie chow fun, and it was delicious. The tea was also especially delicious. Huge portions! Good people watching, but the place is extremely loud! There is no real reason for it to be loud acoustically, so it is mostly the customers. Beautiful restaurant and ambiance though; looks really unexpected inside based on the outside. I was expecting something like "Eat First." I will certainly go back!

Isabella W.

A group of 4 of us came here on a Tues night for their special: all entrees for $8.95. Since it was the specials night, it was very crowded, and we had to wait about 15-20 mins after our reservation to get seated. However, once we got seated, we immediately agreed upon our order for the night. Capitalizing on the $8.95-any-entree deal, we ordered the normally-priced $21.95 Hong Kong steak, Spicy shrimp, lo mein and the Peking Duck L'Orange (spicy orange sauce). The best dish of the night was the Hong Kong steak, but it really wasn't "Chinese food". It was more American, but the meat was tasty. The Lo Mein was m second fav, and I didn't really care for the shrimp nor the duck, even though those are my preferred Chinese dishes normally. Everything tasted good/fine, just not outstanding. Our table next to us had some sort of tofu/saucy dish (might have been tofu curry), and it looked really good.. If I'm ever back, I'd order that. I'm not sure if they just don't offer dessert, but we weren't even asked/given a dessert menu, so I was a little disappointed after eating all the salty dishes. The plus side to this restaurant is that it's BYO (though there is a corkage fee of $3), they have chocolate fortune cookies (even though fortune cookies aren't "Chinese"), and the Tuesday night special, of course. Overall, I feel this place is a little overpriced and overrated for the quality of food... and it's not real Chinese food either, and it's out of the way for me to get here. I'll only go back if I happen to be in the area on a Tuesday (for the deal) -- YU's Mandarin in Schaumburg remains my fav.

Susan P.

Like another reviewer, we used to be frequent visitors to Friendship Chinese over the past 3 or 4 years. We hadn't been there since maybe September so went in tonight expecting the same good meal experience we'd come to love. But this time, it was horrible! Menu is not what is on the website and not what we have seen before. It's been extremely shortened and favorite dishes are gone but the prices are higher. The portions were absolutely minuscule and tasted average to awful at best. The only thing that came out right were the pot stickers - after a very long wait in a mostly-deserted room. That should have been the first alarm.... After another 25 minute wait, our 2 entrees arrived cold. We were starved, so we kept the least frigid (cod) to eat and sent the sorry-looking peppercorn beef back. It had almost no meat - 1 ounce, maybe, chopped up very small and almost no vegetables, also chopped so small you couldn't tell what they were. We should have just told them to keep it but let them take it back to prepare another. Well, they didn't. This sorry mess came back returned warm but with hard, little bits now - probably microwaved. The man at the front desk was nowhere to be found, our server unresponsive (BTW - they are all new), so we just paid and left, vowing to never return. This mess cost us $48.00+ a complete waste of money. Do not get the Groupon, either, folks - it's not worth even 1/2 off. So sorry about having to give a bad review - don't know what happened to this once wonderful place.

Amy S.

Good food and a good variety. Absolutely LOVE the Spicy Garlic Peanut Chicken. YUMMY. Delivery is also reliable. This is my main Chinese delivery place.

Kori M.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! So I used to feel like this was my secret place until I read all the reviews. lol I also learned that my boss likes this place. How do I know? Well let me tell you... So last week I decided to leave work a little early. I figured I'd go get some lunch and then hang out for the rest of the day. So as I'm walking in to the restaurant guess who was walking out? Yep! You guessed right. My boss. BUSTED! lol What are the odds??? Anyway, enough about that. (shaking head) So, as for the restaurant its a GEM. I love it. The champagne lemon chicken is my favorite as well as the sweet and sour chicken. The chicken is quality. No fatty or grainy pieces. Just pure white chicken breast. Yum. Also, make sure to get the egg rolls for an appetizer. Always perfection. I have never had to wait for a table which is amazing. This place is good. I don't know why they don't get more traffic but hey I'm not complaining! I love the chocolate fortune cookies (just thought I'd throw that in). The service is OK. Nothing to scream about. Mediocre at best but the food more than makes up for it. The dinner portion is great and you get enough for leftovers. The lunch portion is perfect. Definitely not too much which is good. You wouldn't want to fall asleep at your desk right? So run (don't walk) to this place right now. Just make sure you don't run into your boss :-)

Tom B.

Awesome food but a word of warning....if you are planning on eating here on Tuesdays call ahead because yelp is helping to pack people in for Tuesday's $8.99 dinner. We almost left but a few friendly strangers said "stay it is worth the wait". They were correct, very good food, good service for how busy they were, and $8.99 was a bonus (I didn't even realize we stopped by on Tuesday night). I still have to get used to BYOB at nice restaurants. This place is BYOB and it seemed everyone had a bottle with them. There is a liquor store on the corner but we decided not to bother because we did not want to loose our place in line. Highly recommended, and close to where I live! I will definitely eat there again and there normal prices are reasonable given the quality of the food.

Ross R.

They have (had?) a killer deal on Tuesday nights, where you get entrees for half price. So that is awesome. The biggest problem with this place is the food (go figure!). Everything I have had there is so cloyingly sweet that it is almost inedible. Needless to say, I ate it anyways but did so reluctantly. The decor is nice, and its BYOB, but there is better food to be had in Chinatown and Uptown for less than the half price deal so I would probably pass on future visits.

David C.

Crappy supermarket, very used clothing store,...Friendship Chinese. This place is a real gem. It's a cool space with a copper wall as a backdrop to your BYO chinese dining experience. It's freaking BYO and chinese. Never had that before. I brought beer and they gladly put it in the freezer for me and brought beers as me and a friend were ready for them. The food was really good overall. The seafood corn soup was a miss. And by miss, I mean it was like they dumped artificial crab in a can of cream corn. As in the opposite of a hit. The pork potstickers were really good, a little crisp on the outside, tender inside. The Hong Kong steak is the bee's knees for $8.95 on Tuesday.

Tish V.

this was my second time here and can't really complain. the service was a bit off this time as I don't think our waitress really understood English but the owner/manager came over to address the questions so we were all good. the food was consistently good as the last time I visited. I prefer Chinese food that is not buried in sauces so this place has that going for them. You can actually see & taste the meats & vegetables -- just like they were meant to be! :) Good quality of food and tasty recipes make it a good place to revisit. Was pleasantly surprised to see this place in this neighborhood - makes for easy parking too! BTW... definitely make reservations, this is not a walk-in place because the waiting area is small.

Kevin S.

Edit: This evening, we ordered delivery at 6:50 PM. The person on the phone said it would take around an hour and twenty minutes. At 8:45 PM we called to see where the food was. We were told that they don't deliver today. That would have been nice to know maybe two hours ago, when we placed the order (and were told it would be here). I asked to talk to a manager and was told that there was no manager there, and it is unknown when they will return. Yeah, right. On top of this, they double charged us a couple months back and they have been a pain in the ass to deal with. They don't want to credit the account, all they are offering is a free entree. The food here is good but the fucking idiots that handle the phone need to get a clue. It's a shame that they pissed me off so much just now because I doubt I will ever give them my business again.

Adam G.

Not your typical Chinese restaurant. The food is done very well and presented with flair. Very tasty and not that traditional. It is a BYOB and the portions are pretty decent in size.

Joe S.

I recently visited Friendship for the first time, and it definitely lives up to the positive Yelp reviews. It had some of the best Crab Rangoon I ever had. I ordered the General Tso's Shrimp and it was exceptional, the sauce was flavorful and everything was fresh. I couldn't believe the size of the shrimp. I definitely can't wait to come again and try something else. More Chinese restaurants in Chicago need to use this restaurant as their model.

Sarah F.

i'm so sad. it's valentine's day and i just got of a jet plane from seeing my beloved and now i'm home alone. so i order me up some friendship chinese food. i've had it once before it and it was great. so i'm looking forward to something amazing. so sad. the chicken tastes weird and dry and the chilled noodle salad, of which i've read such amazing reviews, is blah. the crab ragoon were delicious, so there is a little bit of light in the darkness. but the bottom line is that i'm left with mediocre leftovers and a honey in another state. boo. such a sad ending to my valentine's day....maybe next year. UPDATE: so i'm adding a star because the peanut noodles, a day later, were delicious. i'm still bummed about the chicken, but overall a good meal.

Yujin A.

This great Chinese restaurant is also appropriate for big groups. My first visit was with a group of over 10 people.We didn't have a reservation, and it was on a Saturday. Granted we didn't get there until after 8pm, we didn't have to wait for a table at all. They have spacious dining area and a private dining room. Especially my vegetarian friends LOVE this place. We still got excellent service, and servers were very helpful and well-spoken. (BTW, there's a liquor store with limited selections of wine across the street, so if you are picky on wine, go to Binny's or Sam's in advance)BYOB is also great- it didn't take them a minute to get us wine glasses and open the bottle for us. Thanks to the big group, I got to try a lot of different dishes. I ordered coconut curry shrimp, which turned out to be pretty spicy. I think the waiter thought I would like this just because I am Asian, but it was too spicy for my liking. Still good food. I also tried honey walnut shrimp. It was very good and also very sweet from real honey.My personal favorite was General Tao shrimp. Just like the chicken dish we are used to, but with lightly breaded shrimp- sweet,sour, slightly spicy with different kinds of veggies. Yum! I also have to make a remark on their fried rice and lo mein dishes. I don't even like chow mein or low mein, but this lo mein was excellent. The flavor is excellent unlike typical lo mein dishes of which oil overwhelms flavors of other ingredients. Soup Buddha was very zen-like. Very healthy and soothing. Appetizer sampler comes in a bento box- a good choice although mostly fried items. I am dying to try one of their duck dishes, seafood bird nest, and lemon champaign chicken. I will come back on a Tuesday and take advantage of their everything for 8.95 deal(Which makes a really good deal considering that some of their dishes run at 15 regularly.) It shouldn't be too hard to find meter parking on Milwaukee. I can comfortably recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes Chinese food.

Lala R.

okay first of all, all the people that are saying that this place is expensive are CHEAP! dont expect to get what u normally get at a place like Changs chinese restaurant (NEVER GO THERE BY THE WAY!) at a classy place like friendship.! the food is really good and they are always really nice and not rude. my fiance took me there for a date one night and it was so romantic :) it was decorated really nicely and the service was good. we have ordered take out twice from here before and are always satisfied with the amount of food we got. it might be pricier than other places but it is worth it!! dont listen to the reviews from CHEAP people on here :)

Erin R.

Yum is all I can say. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a gorgeous inside to this restaurant that looked like it'd end up being your run of the mill storefront. It was like a hidden treasure. I could sit in there and just eat appetizers and drink all day. I don't know what happened w/the other reviewers but me and my girlfriend really enjoyed our food. I'd give it 5 stars but the beef in my Peking Beef could've been cut a little thinner and it could've been crispier so when it hit the sauce it didn't get soggy. But it was still delicious. The crab rangoon was good as were the pot stickers. We also had the apple, peanut, noodle salad and enjoyed it very much. We had so much we had to take some home and later that nite it reheated very well. The prices were about $2 more than your ordinary Chinese place but this ain't Panda Express people!! We were pleasantly surprised to be handed chocolate fortune cookies w/our check. They were good so we paid and grabbed a few more as we left! Thanks Friendship...you did not disappoint.

Leigh K.

The spicy honey orange chicken ($10.95) is really great from here. I've only had delivery once, a couple weeks back. I would have ordered something else but Molly assured me that this was the thing to get and boy, was she right! My roommate Dan and I also ordered some chicken fried rice ($8.25). While our entrees were satisfying, I do think that the prices here are seem a wee bit steep when you think about comparable places. Maybe the dine in experience is a different matter, but for delivery, I won't pick this place every time I want Chinese. Next time I am going to try the champagne lemon chicken.

Lisa F.

I thought the food here was fantastic! Finding good Chinese food around tends to be a bit difficult and I definitely think this place scored big time! Aside from the wait that was over an hour, everything was great! Although it was a Friday night and we did not have a reservation (which I highly recommend), it was beyond unorganized there. Luckily, I didn't have any place to be and I wanted to try so we waited. Good thing there's a liquor store right across the street cuz I forgot it was BYOB - perfect location! We had the potstickers and crab ragoons, both very tasty. Then the mongolian beef and pork fried rice - large portions and really very delicious. It's in a pretty strange location, almost hard to find, but I would definitely go back!

Stacy M.

Oh, the singpore rice noodles. Oh, the cigar egg rolls. Oh, sweet mercy, the fabulous garlic tofu with eggplant. My absolute favorite chinese place! A little pricey, but totally worth it for the quality.

L V.

1. I go here only because it is down the street from where I work. 2. At first, you think...wow, this is great Chinese food (especially if you're introduced to the place during the lunch menu time). Then, you come back for dinner, and it's not so hot. 3. If you live or work by another Chinese place, please go there. 4. Better yet, go for Thai.

Christine C.

Decor, ambiance, and cleanliness = five stars. Food = three and one-half stars. Value proposition = one star. I think this place has become really popular after they were featured on Check Please. Bottom line, this is a little bit of a "rough" neighborhood, and yes, it is one of the nicest and cleanest in a one-mile radius. The food is very Americanized, but they do use good quality ingredients. Their shrimp are large, they use whole macadamia nuts in the Hawaiian chicken dish, etc. They were really busy when we went there at 5:45 pm on a Saturday -- probably because this place is BYOB, and bargain diners are looking for a good place in the area to eat and drink their own booze. (Almost every table had brought their own wine.) We ordered won ton soup, which was $4.95 per bowl (for one person), which was very good, but not worth it. There were 4 wontons in each bowl, but come on! You could get a bowl to feed four people for that price in Chinatown. We also had the Hawaiian chicken, the shrimp with lobster sauce, and the sauteed spinach. While it was all good, the prices were about 50% higher than what we pay for same or better quality food in Chinatown. So go here if you live in the area and want decent , but Americanized Chinese food in a contemporary and clean restaurant. If you're looking for authenticity and a better value, head to Chinatown. Don't bother making a special trip to dine here, it's not that good.

Katie S.

I randomly ordered from this place on Grubhub and now I'm hooked!! I've always had it delivered and I always get the crab wontons and sesame chicken. It always gets here when they say it will, sometimes sooner and it's always piping hot upon delivery. The entrees come with white rice and the portions are huge! I eat on my sesame chicken for three days...and it's even good cold. The crab wontoons come with this sweet sauce and are the best I have ever had. It's high quality stuff. After finding this place, I honestly don't think I'll ever order chinese from anywhere else.

molly c.

i got me some take out last night and it was TASTY. the rangoons were SUPER tasty. i got some wonton soup (very very good) and the spicy orange chicken. OH. MY. GOD. acutally SPICY! and plenty for leftovers!! yeah, it's a little pricey, but it's THAT good. if you live in the delivery area, give it a spin. yum yum yum.

Kara M.

totally being lazy and was in the mood for some good chinese, so i got on yelp and me and the roommie picked out friendship for delivery...i had the spicy orange chicken and she had the spicy peanut chicken..both entrees were really good and fresh and didn't give you that greasy chinese food feeling in your stomach. we split crab rangoon and they were the best i've had in chicago! the food was right on the spot and seriously they delivered right on time, down to the millisecond! overall, i will def reorder from here and since they have 8.95 night on Tuesdays i might have to make my way in!

Adam W.

Good food, atmosphere, and prices. Also very clean. I have found a lot of Chinese places uncleanly, but this one is the best I have been to.

roberta l.

pretty awesome Chinese food. This places offers fresh, non greasy and traditional, yet unique fusion-y items. The food was also delivered not in a brown paper bag, but in big white cake box and packed so neatly and carefully. I haven't eaten in the restaurant yet, but I'm going there next time and bringing the family.

Jo L.

The first time I went to Friendship 3 years ago, I was in love. I went with a large group, and I tried several different dishes, and they all tasted great. Unfortunately, the food and the service has significantly declined. A few months ago, I went to eat lunch there, and all of the silverware was dirty. It had crusted food on it, and when the waiter returned with a new set of silverware to our table, the forks still had food crusted on it. At this point, we decided to leave. My boyfriend and I decided to give this place another chance since we had a groupon. The Groupon specifically states that it cannot be used with the Tuesday special, so on a Tuesday night we called the restaurant, and asked if we could use our Groupon to order from the Regular menu, not the specials menu. The lady on the phone ensured us that we could use our groupon for the regular priced menu items. So, we went to Friendship on a Tuesday thinking that we could use our groupon with the regular priced menu items. The first problem of the evening began when I ordered the general Tso's shrimp, which is supposed to be spicy, but tasted like they threw orange sauce on it. The second problem of the evening was when they refused to accept our Groupon. When we spoke to the manager, he kept telling my boyfriend, that there was no way he could have called that afternoon, because he was the only one answering the phones. This was an obvious lie because we spoke to a woman in the early afternoon. After a short argument with the manager, we gave up, and paid the full bill without using the groupon. On our way out, my boyfriend recognized the voice of the hostess that he spoke to on the phone, and he asked her if she remembered speaking to him earlier that day. The hostess said that she did remember speaking to him. After speaking to the hostess, we called the manager over, and the hostess confirmed in front of the manager that she told us we could use the Groupon on Tuesday. At this point, the manager could have apologized or offered to take the Groupon, but he told us that he was busy, and didn't have time to deal with our situation. I will never eat there again, and I make sure that none of my friends go there again.

Ben E.

Decent "creative" Chinese food. The ingredients are fresh and I can't really complain...but it's nothing special either. I've never understood why getting good Chinese food in Chicago is so difficult, but it is...and the rave reviews this place gets is just more evidence of the lack of any real options.

James K.

Noon on a Saturday afternoon, and the place was completely empty - weird. But the food was very good. Not not not not greasy. All white-meat chicken in their sweet-and-sour chicken, but the sauce was unusual and not good. The sesame beef was great. They give a nice amount of rice, not just a tiny scoop. Lunch specials include a wonton soup option, which is awesome. They have high chairs for kids, but no changing table. Great place, worth coming back to.

Kevin D.

OK, let's just say that I am VERY picky when it comes to restaurants. Mainly because 80% disappoint in one way or another. NOT SO HERE!!! I have to say this is the best Chinese food I've ever eaten!! Yes, it's pricey. However, when you get a $50.00 gift certificate for $20.00 at groupon.com , you can't go wrong! 3 of us ate dinner there last night. After my $50.00 certificate, total bill was $13.00. 20 bucks to buy certificate, plus 13 bucks, plus 12.00 tip = $42.00 dinner for 3. Worth EVERY CENT!!!! Heck, it would have been worth it even at full price! Let's not even mention 1/2 price Tuesdays!!! I will be going back again, and again, and again. The appetizer platter for 2 was enough for all 3 of us, maybe 4 even. The Hawaiin chicken tasted awesome. We ordered 1 beef, 1 chicken, and 1 shrimp dish. All were superb! Freshest ingredients, tasty sauces, well cooked meat. Friendship gets my first 5 star rating! Congratulations, and thanks for my best restaurant meal in the last year!!!! P.S. Reserve a table for 10 for me next Tuesday!!!

Eddie U.

We wanted to check out a restaurant in Logan Square area for awhile and chose Friendship because of its good reviews from close friends. We visited this place on 3/12/2010 and it failed to meet our expectations: the food was bland and cold. I ordered LOBSTER&CRAB BISQUE HONEY WALNUT SHRIMP with Szechwan aioli and honey glazed walnuts and KUNG PAO EGGPLANT AND MUSHROOM stir fried with chili sauce and peanut. None of the dishes had any flavor and were served lukewarm. We don't understand how this happened, and we hate to be critical of a business based on one visit. However, we agreed that the costumer service was average, and the atmosphere appeared busy with happy costumers surrounded by a pretending to be chic environment. Most importantly -- Friendship left us feeling disappointed and upset that we threw a $50 bill for a meal less than friendly. We would not recommend this place to any one.

Blanket J.

Very good food. The portions are huge and it's BYOB. The service on my particular visit was damn-near impotent, but not bad enough to knock off more than one star. I'll definitely try again...

amy p.

Five stars for delivering piping hot food and chocolate fortune cookies in a cake box to the Portage Park area! The food is excellent, too. It's not your typical egg foo young joint; the cooking is reminiscent of modern Chinese cuisine that I've had in Hong Kong -- more sophisticated and creative. Even the presentation on their delivered food is thoughtful. For example, spicy peppercorn beef came as a mound of bite-sized beef slices flanked by steamed broccoli florets. A great place to get a Chinese food fix if you're looking for something different.

Cassie P.

Definitely tasty food. I've really liked everything I've tried here. Unlike other places the sauces don't seem really greasy. I don't think i'd want to eat every meal here, but for Chinese food this is very good.

Sam S.

it's good, but nothing special.... bad rice

Katie C.

I love going to this restaurant.. This is my go to special occassion restaurant and It has never let me down. The place is beautifully decorated with a large copper wall in the back and suprisingly more modern decor. It definatly doesnt look like your average Chinese food restaurant. The food is always beautifully presented. I have seen some pretty interesting looking food designs from them. They were a BYOB restaurant the last time I went but I have heard they now may be serving alcohol.

Diane S.

Best Chinese outside of China Town. Sadly, it is far from me and I am way overdue for a return trip. Makes a very nice date place, too.

Carey R.

I dont even know how to begin. Really flippin average food, outrageously pretentious, overpriced and dissapointing. I dont think ive been so embaressed in a restaurant before... and ive been to some pretty smutty restaurants. They gave me a scoop of rice on a silver raised platter and i wanted to slap it back at them. Why did my dumplings come with drizzles on the plate, and no sauce? Why did they cost over a dollar each? Why God, Why? Dont go here.

Rahsaan A.

This is probably my favorite place to get Chinese food at the moment. They serve really big portions and the quality of food is great. Their lemon champagne chicken and shrimp fried rice is amazing. Be prepared to spend some cash, but it is definitely worth it.

Dianne G.

So it's been awhile since I've been to this place - the details are a little fuzzy but I do remember the food was amazing. This is one of my top picks for BYOB places in Chicago. I loved the chicken lolli-pop appetizer (I think they had a different name than that - but either way they were great). We went there on a Tuesday night were half priced or discounted.

Kirk S.

I want to like this place, as they're on GrubHub and make my life a little bit easier. However, the food is simply not worth the convenience. It's not offensive, just bland.

amanda M.

i love the atmosphere, but if i want chinese food i'd rather go someplace else. the cocnut curry shrimp i had was really yummy, and so were the veggie potstickers. the calamari was too salty! and i was not impressed with the service, especially for those prices. i dont think i'd go out of my way to go back.

Made N.

nice swanky place. i like. a little loud/closely-seated tables, but that seems typical of chicago's fancier joints (why, though, continues to boggle my mind - i can retell you entire conversations that happened on either side of us and i'm sure they can do the same which is just obnoxious). i've been there twice, good food both times. last time we had a mango-mix sorbet inside a white chocolate shell for dessert. yummy! as a vegan, the veggie dishes are a little homogeneous, but good if you're sharing and can mix it up with some other dishes (which is sort of the point with Chinese food, i think, at least it was in china). nice Buddha heads :) i like, reminds me of temples with walls of 1,000 little gold serene heads looking out at you. excellent service too. just not the best chinese food i've ever had (i prefer HaiYen, on Argyle), but i'd definitely go back.

maeve P.

This place is so tasty. Only had delivery, never been to the restaurant. I had the cigar egg rolls - they were great. So was the crab rangoon. And all the sauces I got were really really good. And it was all delivered in a big cake box. Great place.

jason t.

the menu at friendship is unexpectedly creative. i wouldn't call it "authentic" chinese, but i wouldn't call it fusion, either...more like chinese with western gourmet touches. whatever you want to call it, it's real good. i had the peppercorn beef which was delicious, and the staff even took pity on my broken hand and gave me a free dessert. it is a little bit more expensive than an ordinary chinese place, but it's also byob. also, on tuesday nights all the entrees are only 8.95...

Robert G.

love it. go here.

john k.

What a contradiction. appetizers plentiful and very good. Crab Rangoon was excellent. I ordered the duck which was well prepared and tasty. One dinner ordered the seafood potato basket. It was served without the potato basket. The customer was not informed until the item was served, no option was provided, just sorry, here's your plate. The "crab" in the seafood basket was imitation crab....not acceptable! After our food was served, not one time did the staff inquire if anything else was need or if we were pleased with our items. My daughter has dinned there 4 times with 3 good and one terrible experience so we thought, what the heck, lets give it one more shot. I just can not recommend this restaurant.

Sarah D.

the WORST most RUDE most PRETENTIOUS staff/owner in the city. the food is great but i won't eat here on principle. that's how bad the service is.

Ann Y.

You know what I hate about Chinese food? I hate when I order sweet and sour chicken and I get greasy chicken nuggets. This was far from the case at Friendship Chinese. My husband and I had a wonderful restaraunt.com gift certificate for $25 off $35. We started with the BBQ ribs which had a wonderfully sweet sauce. The egg rolls were wonderful. I had the sweet and sour chicken which was chicken breast that was lightly breaded and appeared to be pan fried. It had really fresh red, yellow and green peepers, pineapple and a maraschino cherry to top it off. The sauce was light and unlike anything I had experienced. The decor is romantic and modern. My husband had the spicy honey orange chicken and he said it was some of the best orange chicken he has ever had. The service was wonderful and it is BYOB, so bring a great bottle of wine like we did and enjoy! For desert, chocolate fortune cookies. Really Amazing, oh and on Tuesday all entrees are $8.95.

heather d.

the first chinese food i have had in Chicago that has been good, in fact so good that i cannot stop dreaming about the honey walnut shrimp. we were there at 6pm on sat. night and the place was already busy ( a great sign!). the service was a little spotty but the food made up for it. My husband is thrilled that he now has a place to order edible wonton soup (unlike many of the other chinese restaurants in the city!)

Nels W.

Excellent. Inventive, yet still definitely Chinese. Split the spicy garlic shrimp with my wife and copped some spicy beef from the couple we went with. Both were awesome. We've have them for take-out before and it was equally good. This was the first time I'd been to the restaurant, though, and it was very nice. Service was good. The entrees are a little small (this is "gourmet" after all), but you can get extra rice to fill you up a bit.

anon y.

meh. my partner and i ordered two dishes and they were both really greasy. we're also vegetarians and felt that the dishes were pretty expensive for what they were. they do have friendly and attentive service, but i won't be back for the food.

Keith L.

pretty good chinese food presented in a new light with a more gourmet twist but sometimes not as good as the original but good overall. Nice place to go to eat too.

Eileen A.

We have been going to Friendship for a couple of years. I used to love this place. In the beginning the food and the service was fabulous. However of the past year the service has declined. Recently we had friends visiting and we decided to go there on a Tuesday night. We got to the restaurant about 7 pm and were put on a waiting list for a table of 4 and were told about 30 minutes. There were no groups of 4 before us. As we waited for our seats 3 additional groups of 4 came in after us and unbelievably they were seated before us! The first party complained that they made reservations over the weekend before and bullied the hostess because "he was a lawyer", so they were seated. The second party was told that there would be a 45 minute wait, and at 45 minutes they came back and demanded to be seated because they were told they had a 45 minute wait. They were seated next. When my husband went to the host (there was a host and hostess working that night) and questioned why they were seated, the host said that there was a table of 4 leaving and we would be seated, shortly We could see the table and the group leaving, life was good. Then out of the blue the host gave the table to another group who came in after us because of course, they complained about the wait. It is now after 8 pm and my husband went to discuss this with the host wondering when we could expect to be seated. He had the nerve to tell us it would be another hour! I could not believe this and had to complain. I said we patiently waited while they sat the other 2 groups because I could see that they were busy and didn't want to cause a scene. But for them to give the table away to yet a 3rd group who came in after us was insane. I asked if they only seat people who complain. He was totally clueless, offered no explanation or apology. No restaurant is worth a 2 hour wait and we left. I doubt that we will ever return.

Joshua L.

This restaurant has been way overrated. The interior of the restaurant was well decorated, but the food left plenty to be desired. Definitely not authentic Chinese cuisine and a minor detail but the chopsticks were annoying to use because they were so thin. We sent the honey orange chicken back to the kitchen because the meat was tough and dry, but they said that's how they make their chicken so we switched to a beef dish instead. Sadly we would have rather ate at Panda Express.

Tamara L.

Hands down the best Chinese food I've ever had. From the fabulous hand-made crab rangoons to the knock-your-socks-off green beans to the melt-in-your-mouth Mongolian beef, I would eat here every night if I could. The service is also terrific and the decor rivals many of the more upscale restaurants I've been to in the city. And it's B.Y.O.! It doesn't get any better than this!

alicia e.

My fiance and I were at a loss for Chinese delivery after the quality of our old standby started to waiver. After some research, I found Friendship. I'm always a little wary of nouveaux Asian since it tends to lean toward fusion. Fusion is rarely good, IMHO. However, Friendship did not disappoint. We ordered the Salt and Pepper Beef, the Spicy String Beans, the BBQ ribs and the pot stickers our first time. The food arrived hot, if not a little closer to the hour mark then one would prefer when starving. It was all delicious. Notably, the vegetables were cooked to crisp-tender perfection. The second time, we ordered Sake Chicken, Una Don and more pot stickers (we like pot stickers if you can't tell). Again, fantastic. The rice was soft and flavorful. The chicken was tender. The BBQ eel was delicate as well. If there is one thing that deserves critique it is that the chef likes his sweet and savory flavor combos. I like them too, but err more on the savory side whereas he's more on the sweet. As some Yelpers have pointed out, the portions are smaller. But really? Do you need to eat all the food most Chinese places give you? We never do. Friendship is our new Friday night standby even if it is a little more expensive. You get what you pay for after all.

Arlene M.

this place is great! awesome for take-out/ delivery. who doesn't love chocolate fortune cookies?? the food comes in plastic containers easy for the fridge!

sean j.

WOW! this was the first real "our place" me and my girlfriend found in our neighborhood when we lived in the square. place just kills it. i couldnt even count on 2 hands how many times we've eaten here. in fact when we did first go here., i remember we returned almost every night that week. good clean flavors., median price., great service and a sweet room. we would commonly be the only people in the joint early evening on weeknights., perfect first date place, romantic, quiet and quaint. beef low mein, spring, egg rolls and crab rangoon are a homerun. used to serve tea as standard, now i think u hav to order it, but do so, EXCELENT green tea. menu is filled w standard chinese fare but also explores some seafood originals that are great but a bit on the pricey side. if u havent been and u live in the area, u should, and i dont have to tell u to go back, cuz u will.

Yalcin A.

Chinese cuisine and not fast greasy bland food for your typical college student. I was pleasantly surprised. Upon a friend's recommendation, I will be returning to this fine dining white tablecloth byob. Older crowd. The drawback has nothing to do with the food but the louvre; there is only one mirror and sink. Metered street parking. There is a liquor store on the opposite corner. A good size selection of wine; too bad the white wine is not refrigerated. I was unable to find Asian beer. The female waitperson who brought our food needs to speak louder. The appetizers have too much cream cheese for my taste but it was not greasy.

Sara S.

You know that terrible feeling of guilt after overindulging in Chinese food, when the rice starts to push your tummy into your pants? Yeah, get comfortable with that feeling if you plan on going to Friendship because you won't be able to stop. Its too good. I must admit I haven't tried the heavy hitters like the champagne chicken, but the sweet and sour dish is completely void of that gummy consistency that demotes Chinese food to sub-par gourmet. I don't know what this chef does but he somehow cross-pollinates Chinese with French delicacy. Its incredible. Don't miss the egg rolls either. Its a BYO budget lover so you can indulge a bit without blowing your "Rockin Republic" savings. I don't have anything bad to say about it, other than its far away from where I live, tragically.

Miss Y.

This place has the fastest delivery service around. I swear they are ringing my buzzer before I'm even off the phone with the person taking my order. Food is good, delivery service is great. I was not impressed with service while eating in the restaurant itself - I think they have video games in the back that keep the wait staff tied up ;p

m c.

wow. this is not chinese. chinese food is usually made of medium to low quality meat, generously doused in some sauce that usually combines to make something tasty. here the main ingredients (filet, scallops) are of high restaurant quality; further, the sauces are a lot more delicate. for example, i had the spicy scallop/shrimp- nowhere near hot, but a hint of spice that accented the seafood and broccoli quite sublimely (again, high quality, crisp, not overcooked, veggies was the theme). onto the star- the hong kong steak. read all the reviews, it really is that good. again, a lot more subtle flavor than i expected, but the steak was nothing like i've ever had at a chinese restaurants. trust me, you will not regret it. lastly, we tried the spicy peanut chicken. my wife loved it, i thought it was ok- way too peanutty and thai-like for my taste. i am looking forward to what little leftovers we have and am planning my next trip back. service/decor was top shelf as well. only real detractor here was the location. thus far the best chinese i've had- period.

Sylvia P.

I usually don't give reviews (especially negative ones), but my experience with Friendship was so horrible that I had to write one. On Saturday night I had friends over, so before they arrived I ordered Friendship for all of us (four people). I used the online ordering system, which works for most restaurants most of the time. I placed my order at around 7:30. One hour later, I called the restaurant, to double-check that they'd received my order. They informed me that they had received my order, but that it would be about an hour and ten minutes from the time that I called before the food would be ready. That's right, I would have to wait a total of 2 hours and 10 minutes to get my food (even though I only live a few blocks away). Assuming that pick-up would be more efficient, I called back and told the person on the phone that I would rather do pick-up to save time. He told me that it would "only" take 30 more minutes if I did pick-up. That's still 1 hour and 40 minutes (at this point) for pick-up! Because I had used credit instead of cash, I reluctantly went over to pick up the food. When I got there, no one seemed to know what the heck was going on. Four different people asked me if I'd been helped, but after I explained my situation to them, they left as though they were going to get my food and never returned. I saw some of the same people cleaning and preparing tables, but I never heard a word about my food. After waiting for about 5 to 10 more minutes my friends and I flagged down the guy who was standing at the counter seemingly trying to figure out how to reload a stapler. We explained that we were waiting on our food, and apparently he was the one who I'd spoken to on the phone. Finally, we'd found someone who knew something. He left then came back to tell us that our food would still be a few more minutes, and about 5 minutes later brought us our food without any apology or explanation. This situation was extra frustrating for me because we saw at least two people come in and pick up food while we were there, and there was one box of food sitting in the front getting cold that someone clearly hadn't picked up yet. I could be wrong, but I doubt that those people had ordered before us (i.e., more than 2 hours ago). I'm not sure if Friendship is trying to adjust to having so many new customers, or what. But I will never order delivery from them again. It just isn't worth it. I'm giving 2-stars because the food was good as always, but--not worth it!

Jennifer G.

I am officially done with this restaurant. I have ordered take-out here several times, and the delivery service is just horrible. The first time I tried them, I used their online ordering. I received confirmation and after about an hour and a half, I called to see where my order was, and they had no idea that I had an order placed. They didn't apologize or offer a discount or anything, they just took my order and it was obviously not even rushed since it was delivered about an hour and a half later (totaling three hours)! The food was unique and decent (though spicy does not mean spicy at Friendship!!!), so I decided to keep ordering from them (over the phone). Well, that is what has pushed me over the edge. They always take your order in what sounds like the center of the restaurant. It is always loud and they can never hear you. You have to repeat your credit card number several times usually. Tonight, they called me back a half hour later to tell me they took down the wrong credit card number. So, I give it to them a couple times yet again. They actually had the nerve to call me back THREE MORE times to get the credit card number, never from a quiet room. I suggested we just wait and I'll give it to them when they got here, but they couldn't understand me (surprise!). It is just not acceptable to call me FOUR times. Then, it took one and a half hours for it to get here after I was told it would be an hour. That happens EVERY time. Why not just tell me it will be an hour and a half up front? Anyway, I'm over it. The food isn't THAT good. Plus, they only gave me one fortune cookie - leaving two of us having to split it. How tacky.

c f.

Mediocre food, lousy service. Went there on Saturday night for my husband's birthday. Was told there would be a 20 minute wait, but it ended up being 40 mins. We also seemed to be seated in some kind of arctic wind tunnel, and ended wearing our winter coats through half the meal. I asked the waitress to substitute tofu for chicken, which she happily agreed to. However, when we received the bill, they charged me $6 extra for the substitution (on a $12 entree!). After complaining they removed the charge, but I think that was the last time we go to Friendship. By the chaotic service and average age of the crowd, I'm guessing they were featured on a recent episode of Check, Please!

andy s.

waited for over an hour DESPITE having a reservation. felt rushed while we were eating. and there was one lady running back and forth to seat people AND clean up the tables. maybe they were just short staffed. the portions were meh, and the quality was equally meh. my water was never refilled the entire time. just not impressed at all, and will probably never go back.

Joe S.

Outstanding Chinese with a touch of French. Homemade sweet and sour sauce is actually a champagne reduction with real fruit, not a load of sugar jelly like most places. Terrific Seafood Rumaki, Crab Rangoon, Whiskey BBQ Shrimp, any of the specials. Meats are all high quality, even the rice is Basmati, wa better than most places. The owner, Alan, is a great guy. Friendly, attentive service, and BYOB. A hidden gem. Tell him Joe Stephen sent you. Nice looking dining room. Street parking plentiful, no valet.

Ed C.

I don't know if we just were there on a bad day or if everyone else just had really low standards. We got there around 5:00 in the afternoon for an early dinner. Being early, there were only 3 or 4 other groups in at the time. The host got us water and was very nice. Then our waitress came and took our order. Our appetizer came out a little bit later, but then everyone seemed to disappear. We ran out of water and no one came by for 10 minutes. We noticed that all the serving staff sat down at the opposite corner if the restaurant to eat dinner before the rush. Eventually another waiter saw us and came to refill our glasses and take the dirty plates. Our main course was still nowhere to be found. After a long wait, yet another server brought out our dinner. It seemed to have been sitting in the back for a while because it was just warm. Half way through dinner, we ran out of rice. We sat and waited for someone. Finally we were able to get the attention of a busboy who brought us more. After we finished, we ordered desert, cheesecake. When it came, it was frozen. The shrimp in the fried rice I ordered to go turned out to not have been de-veined and had that deliscous gritty texture. A nearby table had to send back their food due to a very long hair being in it. Not a good experience.

Mario B.

I recently dined at this restaurant per the recommendations on this website and they were true! I highly recommend the Hong Steak its a great deal. I have eaten this before at Red Light at 5x the price (this steak is the same). Some of drawbacks was the lack of service (but maybe b/c it was Tues. night and they had specials deal on entrees) and no brown rice. However, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Beth K.

This restaurant is amazing! I have searched all over for a good Chinese restaurant, and Friendship surpasses all the rest. The restaurant itself is gorgeous, very sleek, elegant and romantic. And the food is unbelievable. I was so impressed with every dish we ordered, and especially loved the calamari appetizer and the scallop dinner. Everything on the menu is fantastic. In fact, I adore this restaurant so much that my fiancee and I are having our rehearsal dinner there!

annie c.

Let me just start with I always thought of Chinese as take out or delivery. Tonight I ate in with a group of friends and I realize I've been missing out. The space is modern, yet, not stuffy. The staff is very relaxed and I felt welcomed. Bonus points for being BYOB! I don't eat shell fish but my pals couldn't get enough of the crab rangoon. They were served in little purse like pouches, not what you normally see with take out. The spring rolls were fried, not what I normally prefer, but tasted "clean". Then there was a sharing of Mangolian beef, a veggie dish of egg plant and mushrooms and champagne lemon chicken. I think the chicken dish was the biggest hit. We had wine, good food, good company AND the added excitement of being seated next to a table that was being filmed for the infamous Chicago Check Please! With that said, get there soon before the show airs and this place realizes the Check Please! effect. I really enjoyed the evening and am now wondering if I will be in the background of one of my favorite shows on the "great" WTTW. Go soon and bring a white and a red or several of each!!!

Christmas D.

My Chinese husband says this isn't really "authentic" Chinese food. Now, I've seen what's in his "authentic Chinese Grandma's" fridge so to that I say THANK GOD! I've only had their delivery so I can't speak to the venue or service, but at least 80% of what I've eaten from here has been exceptional. Since I'm a big fan of the little dishes, I really wish they had more/better in the way of appetizers, however. I'm sure I'll get guff from the husb. for saying this (he's partial to his Grandma's) but this place has the best fried rice I've ever had - tasty, hearty, meaty. Try their pork-fried rice topped by the General Tso chicken and you'll be spoiled for "authentic" Chinese forevermore.

Kristina A.

Hmmm. I really hate to rain on such a great Yelp parade, but I went here last night, and I have to say that I was totally unimpressed. After reading the reviews on Yelp, I was really excited to try out Friendship Chinese. When we entered the restaurant, I was pleased to see how cute and clean the interior looked--cute blue lights over every table, clean white dishes with black napkins. We were really excited. We ordered the crab rangoon, as it seemed to be a favorite of Yelpers. I was not a fan--tasted like sour cream fried in huge won ton wrappers. However, I did like the sweet and sour that came with it, and my s/o was happy to eat the remaining 3/4 of the appetiser that I would not. We ordered the Peking Duck and the pepper steak. I thought the pepper steak was okay, but the s/o thought it has WAY too much pepper. Neither one of us were huge fans of the duck. By the end of the meal, even the cute blue lights were really annoying as they hung at about eye level, obscuring the view of my dining partner. But maybe by that point, I was just being nitpicky. All in all, the meal was edible, but with so many superior Chinese restaurants, we couldn't see returning to this one. Sorry Yelpers.

Matt P.

I think this is one of the better high end Chinese restaurants I've been to. I had the passion fruit sweet and sour chicken, which was really good ... but what I didn't like was the bully-ness of the staff who kept on us about booze and appetizers. Yes, if we wanted them, we'd order them.

Nona Gayle D.

Sooooo last night I had a major craving for honey walnut shrimp, me and my friend had a study session in the area and were like... why not? we're both hungry let's eat! But we had a lot to do so we just ordered for take out instead. We ordered the food on the way to the place and when we arrived our shrimp and an order of crab rangoon was waiting for us all wrapped in a box nicely! The only thing I didn't like about the experience was that there was a bum outside that had NO SHAME! I mean living in Chicago I am usually used to people coming up to me and asking for money or something, but this lady straight out and angrily asked me to buy her food! I was like excuse me? And she said I don't want your money just buy me something for free? Being a broke graduate student I can spare a buck, but when you want me to buy you the whole meal? Sorry. And when my friend and I got into the restaurant and left she was still waiting for us! Beware that the bums there are fearless! Bu enough about that... the staff when we got into there was great, super friendly, even apologized for the bum, but it wasn't their fault. We took our food happily and went on our way. We finally got to my place and chowed down, and it was glorious! The crab rangoon was filled with cream cheese crab goodness! A lot of places have great crab rangoon but this place has the best crab rangoon I have tasted period. The wonton wrapper around the filling is thick and crispy and easily dippable. SO GOOD. The walnut shrimp, words cannot describe. The culmination of shrimp, walnuts, the creamy sauce, the brocolli, and the peppers and pineapples are satisfying. It's a go!

Chole L.

I came here with a groupon, and took me an HOUR to find this place. It took forever to get the food, the waiter seem VERY VERY LOST and confused. He never brought us drinks and dishes ...... people had to go get their OWN food, what the heck was that? Is that a fast food restaurant? There's no sign on the front door, how would people know this is called "FRIENDSHIP"?? The sushi was bad........i will not return back...no wonder why they are on groupon for a few times...........

Darlene L.

I am sorry to report that Friendship has seen its better days. Had dinner for four. To a person each of us reported that the food was awful. Service was also a little sluggish. Always loved their appetizers. This time both the pot stickers and the spring rolls were terrible. Pot sticker filling tasted stale and full of gristle, and spring rolls were greasy.Orange chicken tasted as if it had been fried and refried. Beef in the broccoli dish was tough and stringy.Sesame chicken was greasy and bland. Rarely left food in the past, but this time an entire entree was almost untouched, as one diner filled up on white rice. Also, what happened to the chocolate fortune cookies? In the past I have recommended Friendship to numerous friends citing it as the best Chinese cuisine this side of Chinatown. I no longer recommend it. By the way, it is also pricey.

Barbara R.

Love the food, the portions, the flavors. Service is a little slow, but once the food starts coming, I'm in heaven.

R D.

This review is for their downtown location. I've dined once at the Milwaukee location and would rate that five stars. Everything my friend and I ordered was so good we had to agree beforehand with who got to finish off which dish. I decided to use my Groupon for the downtown location because it was closer....wish I went back to the Milwaukee location. I ordered a Caterpillar roll ($13.95), Flaming Szechwan Pork Tenderloin (13.95) and Honey Walnut Shrimp (13.95). The famous sushi chef must be working at the other location because the roll was so loosely rolled that it couldn't be picked up. Every piece fell apart. The Pork dish had a nice sauce but the meat was so over cooked that it was very similar to chewing on leather. The shrimp dish was okay but had better. The size of the shrimp was nice and big but the honey walnut wasn't as candied as they're suppose to be. I did like that they didn't over sauce it like most places I've been to but I didn't appreciate the fruit pieces as much. The rice wasn't cooked with enough water because it was pretty hard, but at least it wasn't undercooked or it'd been crunchy (which would have been even more annoying). I may be a little more critical than most patrons because I'm Chinese and grew up with some of these dishes. I've also lived overseas for work and had some of these dishes at their best. It's really hard to get the shrimp dish right but Friendship comes the closest I've had in Chicago. Overall, I think the dishes were a little pricey for what was offered but due to the location and overhead they have to pay, I guess it's fair.

Laura K.

Friendship awesomeness: - BYO with a $3 corkage - Wonton soup has some substantial and delicious wontons - Chocolate fortune cookies - Clean, relaxing atmosphere and friendly service

Adam C.

Of all the Chinese food available in a city the size of Chicago, this is a true stand-out from the run-of-the-mill restaurant/delivery places that all seem to have identical menus and food quality. This restaurant takes traditional and expected Asian dishes and then throws convention out the window. Many of the sauces and seasonings are given creative thinking and unique twists that heighten the entire enjoyment of the meal. Highly recommended!

Mr V.

This place used to be great. When they actually had a Chinese cook. The new cook I believe is Polish(I'm not sure if they still have the same guy anymore). When I first started going here I used to love ordering the Walnut Chicken. I went back a couple years later and had it again, just to realize the dish wasn't the same. I told the waiter that the mayo taste overpowered the walnut and chicken flavor. He then tried to make it seem as if the dish was "intended" to taste that way. I told him that it wasn't good and I didn't like it. But the cook refused to remake the dish. I ate part of it and threw the rest away to prove my point to them. Most of their other dishes are decent, it depends on what you get I guess. You can eat inside or carryout, but keep in mind that there is only street parking available. To tell you the truth, it almost comes out about the same price whether you eat in or out. This place can get pricey for Chinese food. The environment inside is pretty relax, dark but not quiet if it gets full. You can also bring your own bottle of wine. Overall, this place used to be good. I have experienced better places for the same amount of money you will spend here.

Rhonda R.

I read so many reviews about this restaurant. I had a friend in from out of town and he wanted Chinese food. It was Tuesday and Friendship has a fantastic deal, all entrees are priced $8.95. The dining room is quite pleasant, the wait staff friendly. It is a BYOB. I am not a huge fan of the BYOB option. I like to have a drink made for me, created even. I enjoy thinking about my meal then ordering just the right bottle of wine or the appropriate cocktail. Do not wait to get to this neighborhood to visit a purveyor of libations. We made 3 stops hoping to find a Proseco, sparkling wine, sake, perhaps a suitable beer even. Every store was tended by uninterested old fellas who couldn't understand what we were looking for. Their stores equipped with Bud, Miller, and Heineken on the high end! I ended up having tea. That took me back to every Sunday as a child at the Canton Grill in Portland OR. My dinner mate was more open and purchased a 4 pack of Bud tainted with Clamato. I still have 2 in my fridge from his visit the 5th of May. They were never aware that our water glasses were empty. That is a problem with BYOB, I think it takes the beverage element off of the table, literally. We had the appetizer sampler. The presentation in a Bento Box was lovely. This was a deep fried fest and it was truly delicious. The sauces were inventive and tasty. We both agreed that if there would be a next time we would order just the appetizer assortment and move on. However, with out a cocktail, I can't see going for just appetizers. Perhaps take out, probably not. Our entrees were not memorable - at all. He had beef or chicken and I had a spicy shrimp. We did both eat our left overs but only because we didn't want to leave the house the next day. It was a great deal, our entire dinner including "drinks" was under $45. After we spent the late night at Cleo's, around the corner from my house, we both wished we had spent the whole evening there on their patio.

Alyssa V.

Looking at the other reviews here, I think that I ought to give Friendship another chance. But my one trip there was so disappointing, I don't know if I could be convinced to give another penny over to them. What was good: the service was very prompt (waiters are everywhere in this place), and the decor was nice (a little pompous and not too cozy, but I'll give that it was nice). What was not nice at all: I had 2 other friends with me. One of my friends and I both got the seafood chow mein, which was supposed to come with shrimp, calamari, crab, and some other fish. The calamari was missing, and the crab was that fake pink crab. Some people like fake crab, I happen to really not like it, but either way, the seafood chow mein costs 15 dollars and should not come with fake crab and missing calamari. Also, the other friend ordered lo mein, which had not one single vegetable and was just a pile of brown (what kind of expensive restaurant ever serves entrees of just one color? especially brown?) noodles. They were incredibly salty....but I preferred them to the dry, ramen like noodles of my seafood chow mein. Geez. Now that I think of this experience...I don't think I am going back.

Brett W.

Friendship made me feel like I was on the set of some Hong Kong action movie. The decor was great, there was Morricone on the PA, and only a few other patrons. Two of those patrons were "new addition to the family any day" flight attendants who were there to add to the absurdity of the scene and draw your eye from the two Chinese businessmen sitting quietly in the middle of the room talking in hushed voices. Yes, Chow Yun Fat will be here any moment, I can feel it. The host and the server were both exceedingly helpful and gracious, which scores you a lot of points in my book. The food could have been a little less expensive, but it's not like it will break your bank. The girl had a tofu dish that came with something like five different kinds of tofu piled into a fresh plate of noodles and veggies. It was, for this carnivore, an intimidating sight. I had the spicy orange chicken with some fried rice and it was excellent. The sauce was just spicy enough and the sweet of the orange was not overpowering. Both flavors were as subtle as they should be to create a winning dish. Of course, I found the exact same dish at Trader Joe's in the frozen meal section (minus the rice of course) for a lot cheaper, so I'm going to have to find something else to obsess about at Friendship. I hear tell that you Yelp folk are crazy for the crab rangoon, so order with confidence at Friendship, because it was very tasty.

Derya K.

We ordered for delivery last night. They said food would arrive within the hour and it came in about 40 minutes at a delivery charge of 2.75. Sesame chicken: sauce really delicious, but the chicken was super dry, almost hard. Sweet and sour chicken: I liked the all white meat patty. The chicken was cooked just right. The sauce was different. You could definitely taste the passion fruit. I liked it, but it is definitely not the traditional sweet and sour chicken. Crab rangoons: The rangoons were good. There was no sweet and sour sauce included, instead some hot sauce came in the box. The delivery did not include any soy sauce packets either. Overall it seemed the like the restaurant attempted gourmetize the traditional Chinese food selections. They charge too much at 10.95 per entree. But I wanted something better than the "take a chance at being poisoned" options that are near Logan Square. This was ok.

Heather L.

This may be my new favorite Chinese restaurant in Chicago. The name makes it sound like your standard take out joint but its really beautiful inside and the food is also beautiful. The Tuesday night special when all entrees are $8.95 is too good to pass up. I went with three other girl friends and we ordererd 6 entrees and shared. The honey walnut shrimp was especially yummy in a small sweet dose. We also enjoyed the Peking Duck and more. Definitely would go back again and again. And you can't beat the chocolate fortune cookies. This is BYOB but I believe there is a corkage fee.

Kyung P.

I heart Tuesdays. Friendship Chinese Restaurant makes me love Tuesdays...take that McDonald's and your free coffee Mondays! Tuesdays are so much better! Chocolate fortune cookies are yummy. Loved the orange chicken and peppered beef - scrumptious!. Liked the chow mein (a tad bland) and walnut honey shrimp (very creamy and heavy). The salmon, not so good. Make sure you look at the food descriptions online before you go, because the menus in the restaurant don't describe anything!

mildred v.

Gimme some honey walnut shrimp!!! This dish is awesome, I'm still finding a chinatown restaurant that has it at a cheaper (super duper cheap) price but until then i'm coming here!!! I've also had the crab rangoon (of course) and it's good as well. One time a few years back I went with a group of friends and the chef sent over a special appetizer, it was eggroll shaped with a shrimp sticking out and lo and behold - cream cheese!!! Sadly, I haven't been able to find the appetizer on the menu. The spicy merlot beef was also delissshhh! Do not try the coconut wasabi chicken - I'm pretty maverick about trying things and i was hoping that it would be 80% coconut 20% wasabi you know the kinda sweet and spicy dishes. Oh nooooooo, it was the other way around I think the sauce was even greeeeeen!!! Needless to say - we didn't finish the dish actually we barely touched it (not fond of having my sinuses cleared when they're not stuffy). The decor is pretty elegant and surprising considering it's exterior. It's family style so the prices accurately reflect the portion. It's also BYOB. One time I went, it was really busy and there was just too much chatter going on - it made my dining experience kinda stressful which rarely happens. But other than that occasion, it's been a good experience. Uh oh, now I'm craving some honey walnut shrimp!!! :)

Megan W.

Mehh. That describes friendship perfectly. the food is only ok and at a steep price for chinese. Only really good for delivery when your favorite place is closed. BAD eggrolls. Decent beef and veggies.

Al M.

Ugh! I just started a yelp account because I just had the worst experience here. I am so angry about it! I used to go to Friendship a lot around 2004-2010. It used to be awesome. So delicious, a hidden gem, would go with friends and family often and everyone enjoyed it. Especially when it was byob. Then things started changing, prices went up, quality went down and I quit going after an unsatisfactory dinner. Tonight we decided to go again, just to give it a try, since we were craving Chinese food. To my surprise, the menu is completely different and RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I sort of wanted to leave and wish I did. Our orders weren't even cooked right. The fish I got was tough and rubbery. The chicken was also quite lackluster. A far cry from what it used to be! And then the meal ended up costing $50!! Cannot believe it. I feel so ripped off and regret trying it again. It is wrong to serve badly cooked food for these prices.

Monica B.

The ambiance is very nice and unexpected on this stretch of Milwaukee Ave. The entrees are over-priced for what you get, but I was excited to try the new addition on the menu; sushi. Way too many big roll options and very limited selection of sashimi and maki rolls. Turned out to also be over-priced and the worst sushi I have ever had. The worst part of the evening was the service. The server delivered the sushi without soy sauce or a dipping bowl. We waited, waited and waited. Finally had to ask the busser, who apologized and set us up with dipping bowls. The server came by at the END of our meal to see how things were?? The experience wasn't even worth the Groupon, 50% discount.

Le T.

We ordered takeout from Friendship for the first time last night, which ending up being a baaaad idea since they had a Groupon Now deal going on. It took over 2.5 hours to get our food. While I understand they were slammed, I would be more sympathetic if they had communicated this instead of taking their phone off the hook. After an hour and a half of waiting, I called. No one picked up. I keep calling back for 10 minutes. No one picked up. Not knowing whether they actually received our food order since we placed it online, I called the other Friendship location. The person there took my information and promised to investigate and call me back. After another 15 minutes of nothing, I called the Friendship on Milwaukee again. Busy signal. I called 4 or 5 more times over the course of 15 minutes. Busy signal each time. Then I called the other Friendship. Apparently other people had also gotten the idea to call them to figure out what was going on because we were getting a busy signal each time we called. Finally, 2 hours after we placed our order, someone picked up the phone. Once the food arrived, it was just okay. It was slightly warmer than room temperature. We heated it up, which improved the taste a little. Based on the food alone, I would have given Friendship 3 stars, but their lack of communication and the way they handled the situation made the whole experience negative.

Leah J.

I've become part of the masses. Can't believe a decent restaurant was so close in my neighborhood. I've always thought it to be a fast food mecca, where Burger King and McDonald's reigned supreme. Much to my delight, Friendship was quite exquisite. The decor was unexpected. About 40 Buddha heads line the wall at the entrance. Love the mirrored wall in the seating area. For a tiny place, they make it look open and warm. If you're a peanut butter freak, you can't go wrong with the chilled peanut noodles. However, it's something I could easily create at home (I'm a master at making peanut sauce). The sesame chicken...another winner. For $11, I have about 4 dinners worth of the stuff (my beast of a boyfriend could down it in 2!) The beef asparagus tased like it came straight of the BBQ. In the cold month of January, it felt like June. Potstickers- ok, nothing I couldn't pick up at the frozen food section. We didn't get to experience dinning there, as we ordered for pick up. But the hostess was courteous and friendly, maybe that's why they donned it "Friendship" Chinese restaurant? FYI: Beware of parking officers. My boyfriend waited in the tow zone (engine running) a few minutes as I ran in to pick up our order. As I was running back to the car, the guy was pulling out his parking slips. Let's see, what's better....waiting a few minutes in a tow zone or someone driving around causing more traffic? Anything for a quota I guess.

Katie S.

I used a GrouponNOW to try this place out with two friends and I loved it! The service was good, the special maki was amazing and if you don't get the chocolate box for dessert you are definitely missing out. I will be dining here again very soon!

Jonathan C.

Best Chinese Food in Logan Square! Definitely the best sit-down chinese place, short of the more expensive downtown places like Opera. Some other places may be cheaper or have more of a standered take-out menu, but this place gives you the best "fine-dining" version of Chinese in the area. For fans of PF Chang's, etc. Edit evidently this is in Avondale, as if you are north of Diversey its technically avondale.

Vanessa P.

I've been here three different times. First time was for an Unofficial Yelp dinner. I had a better time with the company than with the food. The second time was for the Yelp event. Everything was good, especially the Coconut Salmon. Very tasty. And well, it was free, so that made it better. Third time: This time I went with some other friends again on a Tues for their $9 entree special. First, I still love the fact that it's BYOB. That's key, considering for the 6 of us ladies we had 3 bottles of wine and some beer. I had the Coconut Curry Lime Shrimp and wow, was that tasty. The service was very good, our waitress kept coming back to make sure we were doing ok. (This might have also been b/c they were starting to close too.) All in all, third time was the charm.

Julie H.

Friendship? How about Relationship, because thats how intimate I want to be with this holier-than-God Chinese restaurant. Everything about this place is fantastic. I love that its never really crowded, so you can 1) always get a table, 2) always have an audible conversation with the person you are dining with, and 3) always get great service. The food is outstanding, always. The quality is great, and everything tastes so fresh. I like to start my meal with the chilled peanut noodle salad or the spinach salad with honey-wasabi dressing. For entrees, the tofu with eggplant literally melts in your mouth. Its perfect. And the garlic-sake grilled chicken with veggies is neither garlic-y or sake-y, but it tastes like a little bit of heaven. And what better way to finish the meal than with a chocolate fortune cookie. Hell yes. Also worth mentioning that you get a lot of food for the money, so order wisely or plan on taking some grub home!

Brad F.

This place is excellent. I love coming here for Chinese food because it quite possibly might be the best in the city. They interior and decor are fantastic. I love the sesame chicken and the mongolian beef. The potstickers are fantastic too. They even have chocolate fortune cookies. SCORE!!!

Wayne M.

I really liked this place. The outside and the neighborhood are misleading. It is very nice inside and the food and service were well above average. We will return and I would not hesitate to recommend it to others,

Vanessa G.

We often order Chinese for lunch at work and usually pretty disappointed until we remember Friendship Chinese DELIVERS!!!! Great crab Rangoon, also ordered Sesame Beef and had 1/2 of someone else's egg roll. Although it is a bit pricey for lunch, this place is my favorite for Chinese

Susan L.

In concept, Friendship is Chinese food with a twist. They take your favorite Chinese food dishes and spice them up with fresh flavors. However in reality, Friendship is really hit or miss. I've been twice, and find the panko-crusted tofu appetizer an inedible rubbery mess. However, the coconut-wasabi chicken is a dish right out of my dreams. The sesame chicken is nothing to write home about. To me their menu a minefield of potentially hideous dishes. Ordering from Friendship stresses me out--which is NOT what friendship should be about.

Erika B.

I believe the true test of how good or bad Chinese food is lies in whether or not is tastes good the next day, cold, straight out of the to-go container. The Grilled Sake Garlic Chicken from Friendship certainly passed the test! The chicken was moist, flavorful and there was a lot of it. The sake garlic sauce was pungent, lively and had bite. The crab rangoons were huge, crispy and piping hot. My dining companion and I grabbed a bottle of wine from the liquor store across the street which really made the meal (obviously we dined there). Despite being a busy Saturday night, the dining room was quiet enough for conversation and our server was reasonably attentive. I'll gladly be back the next time I'm in Chicago!

Let's start with the most important thing (from my perspective): Friendship has the BEST CRAB RANGOON EVER. I love crab rangoon, so I order it whenever possible. Friendship wins the award, without question, for the best I've ever had. It's even shaped a little different than usual--more like a little drop. The filling is very creamy.I would go back just for the crab rangoon. Fortunately, there are other reasons to go back. First, the decor is very nice: much more up to date than your usual Chinese restaurant (and much nicer than it would appear from the outside. Second, presentation of dishes is very nice. Third, the food is very good, and a step above other Chinese food. I had the champagne lemon chicken, which was great. The sauce was delicate and flavorful. Friendship is BYOB, so that's good. Prices are good, too. My only complaint is that our service wasn't great: we waited too long for someone to take our order, and had to repeatedly ask for more tea. We also waited too long for our check. I'll be back!

Dee C.

I am not a huge fan of Chinese food, usually too gloopy. I got a groupon after seeing a rerun on Check Please.....so glad I did. Great food, I dont eat fish but tried Crab Rangoon and clamari, as part of the new me, new year! I actually enjoyed them. We ordered 6 different main dishes and swapped...The Mongolian chicken was by far the best but not a bad dish in sight. We had the blonde server and she was great (I believe she is Eastern European)

Edward H.

I came here on a Tuesday as part of Dave S' Yelp army... er dinner party. I did a bit of a double take as my date and I got out of our car and saw what looked like a pseudo trendy bar/club in the middle of a less than trendy area. To be honest, Friendship stuck out like a man in a caped chicken suit selling hot tamales in the middle of Daley Plaza. The pot stickers looked nice but didn't manage to blow me away. However, I was VERY happy with the Seafood Combo in Bird's Nest and Hong Kong Steak. The ingredients were fresh, the veggies crisp, and the steak (which seemed more like tenderloin) was fork tender. Thanks to my wonderful dinner company, I also got to mooch a bit of Champagyuh Lemon Chicken, Garlic Peanut Chicken, Coconut Wasabi Chicken, Mango Duck (I think?), Szechwan Long Beans, and Merlot Beef. Whew! That's a whole lotta moochin'! All in all, I was very impressed at how the staff was able to accommodate such a large group. The owner was very pleasant and even went a step further for us by adding an additional light fixture to make sure everyone was comfortable. Being BYOB was definitely a plus for the lushes in the group... sadly I couldn't partake in the drunken fun but will definitely do so on my next go 'round. $8.95 for any entree on Tuesdays and good food to boot! Bring some friends... not for the company but so you can mooch off their food and not stare longingly at the tables next to you. Friendship is a delicious burrito filled with good service, fresh grub, and plentiful lighting. And this concludes the crazy speak for the day.

Regine J.

My husband and I just had a gigglefest looking at the "confession" section of their website. There's all this "bitter weeping" and bowing at 62.3 degrees happening over food that is, truth be told, pretty mediocre. I'm sorry, Friendship Chinese. Though we will continue to order from you (we're in a Chinese Food Desert in LogSqua), there is nothing iconoclast about your orange chicken.

Bess R.

After reading about the Yelp event at Friendship, I knew I had to have my monthly dinner club there. Alan, the owner, was extremely helpful and even offered to make some special entrees for us that weren't on the regular menu. Everything was delicious, far and above what I and everyone else expected. I brought my parents back this past weekend, and they loved it too! Haven't tried delivery yet, that could be dangerous, but I'll definitely be back to the dining room asap for more. Thanks Alan!

Brian M.

Best Chinese we've found outside of Chinatown. Crab Ragoon, Mongolian Beef, Egg Rolls. Everything we've had has been great.

Naomi L.

This place is too overpriced for its location. I don't like to pay for decor and rehabs. Call me old school. Value for money should be in quality of food alone. They don't have the best Chinese food yet they are so overpriced.

Robyn T.

With 300+ other reviews of Friendship, I just wanted to throw in my two cents and say how much I love this place. You can do a little searching for street parking, the place is BYOB, atmosphere is chic and sophisticated, servers are friendly and of course the food is phenomenal. I love Chinese food. I visit Chinatown with some frequency, but Friendship offers a different take on the traditional favorites. Dishes are elegant with some fun twists. I love the shrimp lollipops which are huge masses of shrimp bits lightly fried and served on a stick atop a bed of sauce. A day later and I'm still dreaming about the entree selections - honey orange chicken (you can ask for it with no breading), szechwan green beans and my absolute favorite -- salt and pepper beef. Wow. Lightly fried salty bits of beef with a side of sweet dipping sauce. This stuff is highly addictive so beware! Friendship does accept reservations. Portions are generous. Prices are reasonable. I was lucky enough to snag one of the Groupons to the restaurant that was offered a few months ago -- great deal!

Kathleen I.

I loved Friendship Chinese so much the first time around that I jumped at the chance to purchase more Groupons when another special was offered in May. I used the final one last night. Thank God that's over. I'm not sure what happened between my first visit in April and my second visit in late October, but something has certainly changed at this place. When we went back the second time, we again ordered the Peppered Crispy Beef, along with the Spicy Garlic Peanut Chicken and the calamari appetizer. All the food was under-seasoned and greasy. The portion sizes had also shrunk, which did not please me as I feel the prices don't really justify such small servings. They were perfect before. We went back again last night to get rid of the last Groupon and decided to play it safe with an appetizer sampler and a couple beers. The sampler was a huge letdown. Half of the food was cold. The veggie spring rolls were bland, and the crab rangoon contained no visible crab. The eggrolls were greasy and the ribs chewy. The pot stickers were incredibly tough. Oddly, the clear standout was the shrimp lollipop, which was the item we disliked the most last time. It was hot, crisp and firm, but nothing exceptional unless compared with the rest of the sad offerings on the plate. I will not be returning to Friendship Chinese and, after my last two visits, would not recommend it to anyone. There are better options in Chicago.

Caitlin L.

Friendship obviously doesn't like it when you don't order directly from the lunch menu. Today for lunch I only wanted a small Wonton Soup and a side of rice. It was $6, while the special which are those 2 items along w/ an entree is $6.75. Over the phone they said the soup was $5, I figured it would be a larger portion, but instead got the side order of soup. I will admit that the food is better than most hole-in-the wall chinese places, but not worth the price. Apparently they don't believe in soy sauce either.

Gregg J.

I am a Friendship fan. In my constant quest to not stray too far out of my comfort zone when ordering off a menu, I was able to find the dish I like and am comfortable with, but that is a nice slight change from the normal Chinese Dish. Say hello to the Spicy Peppercorn Beef. Nice chunks of beef with big florets of broccoli and small bits of red pepper and onion. The topper is the amazing peppercorn sauce that does the job of literally spicing up the dish but never too much (as pepper often can do). The negative of this dish is that it is not actually on the menu anymore but I was able to order it anyway. Other than that, we had the Bourbon BBQ Ribs, Veggie Spring Rolls and Seafood Spring rolls - all crowd pleasers. The Veggie rolls were partiularly good compared with other Chinese restaurants. The other three at the table shared 3 different seafood dishes that all seemed to be cleared from plates, i.e. eaten in full. The dessert was probably the weak spot - not because it wasn't good, but because all the choices were pretty small (not great to share) and overpriced at $8 per dessert. I love the atmosphere and decor and it was a great place to go on a Saturday night that had a good crowd yet we could still sit at our table and talk for hours without being shooed out.

Andrew B.

I really really want to like Friendship but it always ends up disappointing me... On the positive side, the ingredients are fresh and high quality, the decor is cool and the BYOB policy is much appreciated. On the negative side, the dishes look great but taste pretty blah or are drenched in sweet sauces. They also are lacking many of my favorite Chinese mainstay dishes (hot and sour soup, chicken in garlic sauce, chicken and snow peas, etc.), which might be Americanized joke Chinese, but I always miss them here.

Samantha R.

The next installment on my quest for great Chinese food... Have I found it? I may need to investigate further. My husband's orange chicken was the best so far on our search (never orders anything but that or Gen. Tso) but I was not impressed with my seafood lo mein. The noodles came in a separate box and had been drenched in oil, but they still stuck together and were hard-- worst of all worlds as far as noodles go, really. Ingredients seemed fresh though and had great flavor. Kind of pricey and long delivery time, but large portions. Chocolate fortune cookies were a nice touch!

peter t.

I went to this place last night for my birthday (37 woo!) and after dining here I can see why the reviews were mixed. By the way, on Tuesdays everything on the menu is $8.95, so you can save some bucks. Ambiance- is quite nice, although a bit loud, candles, copper, buddahs, nice lighting, overall nice appearance, which is reflected in the relatively high prices (average entree is about $13 or so). Food - Our table had the Hong Kong steak, Peking duck and eggplant kung pao. The steak was decent although uninspiring, probably about a pound of tender beef fillets in a brown sauce on top of chinese mixed veggies. The steak was tender and the veggies fresh but the sauce was rather bland. If you love steak get it I guess but if you love steak why are you going here anyways? Not bad not great. The Peking duck, which I ordered was probably the worst of the three entrees. It was very mediocre not so much because the duck was cooked poorly but because there is an excessive amount of orange brown sauce that is drowning the duck. Plus the sauce overwhelms not just in amount but in taste. So all the subtle goodness that you would experience in the duck is covered up in goop. Not horrible but not so enjoyable either. The eggplant kung pao was the best of the three. The eggplant was cooked but still fresh and not very oily. The flavors of the other vegetable and sauce combined well too. Plus it wasn't swimming in sauce, always nice. I would have preferred the spicy factor kicked up a few notches though, I guess you could request that though. Service - attentive and friendly. Overall, I'd say that if I had paid "retail" our meal would have been about $60 and I would have been pretty pissed but since we went on Tuesday the total including tip was about $36. For that price I'd say it's fair. Although the Hong Kong steak and Peking duck are two of the more expensive items, which you can skip by. I probably won't be back though even though I live less than a mile away...maybe on a Tuesday.

Megan G.

I really like Friendship - this seems to be a rare example of an establishment actually living up to its own hype. I made reservations for four for a Friday at 7:30, we actually wound up being 5 that showed up at 7:50 (I had called to let them know we were running late) and the restaurant handled this with no problems. Even at prime dinner time, we found a meter spot on Milwaukee about a block away with no problems (well, we got lost and trapped in one way street hell first, but that's not Friendship's fault). If there is one thing I think Friendship does exceptionally well, it's sauces. The ingredients and components of each dish are pretty standard, but the sauces set Friendship apart from other Chinese restaurants. Our group started with the pot stickers and calamari. The calamari was amazing, mostly due to the sauce, and a really huge portion for $6.95 (though I will caution, it was HOT - they aren't kidding around with those chili spices). I thought the pot stickers were standard to slightly sub par, but everyone else seems to enjoy them. For my entree I had the garlic tofu with eggplant. This dish could have been a complete disaster, but it was fabulous. The eggplant wasn't runny at all and the tofu had a nice firm crust. And, again, the spicy bean sauce with which it was served, though not that spicy, was top notch. They're definitely a little pricier than a standard Chinese restaurant, but the quality of the food justifies the prices. Plus the BYOB option and availability of street parking helps defray costs significantly.

Tom A.

our biggest disappointment of the year. It's in our hood, and we were really excited (based on yelp, online menu) to have a 'classy' chinese place around. Inside is amusingly decorated, with a silly shinny wall, a wall of buddha heads, and lights which dangle right at my eye level and between me and my dining partner. In short-- overdesigned and silly looking to me. cheesy adult contemporary music. They give you metal (korean style?) chopsticks, which are very difficult to use for those used to wooden chopsticks. impossible, even. Ordered spring rolls, garlic spinach, and curry tofu. Not great veggie selections but some for sure. Like most chinese places, most of the menu is very illusive. i could use some descriptions. "triple happiness tofu" (i made that up) doesn't really tell me what's in it.. particularly when the food costs twice what chinese food costs, some explanation/server knowledge is critical. The water tasted bad, to start. my girl decided she wanted tea after taking a sip, but server didnt come back until bringing our spring rolls, 20 minutes later, by which time she lost interest. Spring rolls were ok. nothing special and overpriced for the quality. another 25 minutes on food. Space was 1/4 full at most... Garlic spinach was puny for the cost ($11), but tasty enough. not great, but tasty. and 2x overpriced. Curry tofu was pretty gross. girl literally ate 2 bites and had enough. i ate the tofu and some of the veggies, but left the copious amounts of baby corn and sauce. the sauce was strangely really gross. i wouldnt have eaten more than 2 bites myself but i was very hungry Nobody checked on us at any point during the meal. Others seem content, but it's gonna take us a long time to forget this experience..

Darlene V.

I bought a Groupon and took my Daughter there for her Birthday (20). I didn't know what to expect and was unexpectedly surprised. I walked in with my printed out menu, but that menu is not current any longer. The waitress gave me a one pager. We ordered the sampler, OMG that was amazing. All of the food in the sampler was great. We ordered Mongolian beef, hong kong fried rice and split it. We received so much food we have to take a doggy bag. At the end the server cleaned the table and set up two small plates, fork and spoon. We looked at each other and wondered if we ordered more food. The waitresses came out with 3 petit cheesecakes with candles and sang Happy Birthday to my Daughter. I can't say enough about the food (which was amazing), the watiresses were great, kept the table cleaned, water glass filled, Fast service, we were in and out in 1 hr 1/2. I highly recommend this place, you won't be sorry.

chris g.

My review is on the lakefront location. Yes they have a summer only spot right on the water. The setting is great & there is plenty of outdoor seating. However the food was nothing above average. We ordered about half sushi & half Chinese. Neither of which stood out as anything above average.

Andrew K.

After coming a couple more times I will say the initial euphoria of this restaurant has wore off. My first dish (duck) was delicious, but all others have leaned toward nothing special. I have tried the HK steak (good for price but nothing special in taste), the salt and pepper beef (good, but needed more veggies...read: something healthier on the plate), champaign chicken (pass), honey walnut shrimp, decent but too sweet, and some sort of garlic chicken, nothing special. So all in all, it is still a solid choice, esp with BYOB, but not a destination spot or somewhere I can recommend going not on Tues

Michelle P.

Restaurant stood out in the middle of block on Milwaukee with it's red pillars. Very Elegant feel to decor with Heads of Siddhartha that has taken over a whole wall and placed in places within the dining area. My friend took me to this place, as he loves it & his friends have eaten here almost everyday of the week. I was indifferent about the service. It was neither good nor bad. The price tags on the food were a little pricey on my end. A bowl of Wonton Soup was $4.95. Dont get me wrong it was delicious but not any different from a hole in the wall place in chinatown that charges less than that. The Crab Rangoons had a spicy touch & i wasn't really impressed. I like the concept of the "lollipop shrimp" it sure was different. The potsticks were really good.. i like the doughiness that comes with it. I ordered the Choy Sum Beef which is with Chinese Broccoli...it was sauteed with alot of oil..however the beef was very tender and full of flavor. I keep reading about Chocolate Fortune Cookies, we just got the regular kind..and the fortune inside wasn't even a fortune ;( One thing was missing from the menu: Beverage section. I knew they didn't serve alcohol but listing your soda products or tea would be helpful. Also to keep soysauce on the table would be nice as well. Overall, the food was good, prices are kinda steep for my liking, service is neutral, the ambience was probably the best thing i liked about the restaurant.

David H.

Never had a bad meal: I like any of the duck dishes, the BBQ Rip appetizer is awesome! Sweet sauce. The Salt and Pepper Chicken is deliciously crispy. My girlfriend likes the green beans.

Ray S.

I will begin with the positive side of my review. I loved the look, the overall restaurant looked clean, the staff was friendly and not overbearing, and most importantly, the food was very good. Things I didn't like. I don't like the seating. I felt people were seated too close to each other, almost as if the table next to you was part of your party. It was a tad on the pricey side fr the amount of food you got but to be fair, I went in expecting that because of its "yuppie" element, which I am not a big fan of. Although the decor was interesting, I felt it to be too yuppie, almost uncomfortable. I will be going back to try more items. I had a taste of the sesame beef, the garlic peanut chicken, egg rolls and some crab rangoon. Everything was delicious. I'd like to try some more items off the menu and see where it goes.

Shayna N.

Is it possible to find outstanding Asian food in Chicago? (or Mexican for that matter, but that's a whole'nother ball game) The interior of Friendship Chinese is sleek and classy and the food presentation is gorgeous, the ingredients are fresh I just wish the flavor was better. We shared the HongKong steak - (delish!) and the Lime Curry Shrimp (bleh) BUT $8.95 for all entrees on Tuesdays can't be beat! I'll certainly return since it seems to be the only chinese in the hood where you don't run the risk of chowing on roadkill.

Bex F.

All right, I'm getting concerned here. This is twice I've gone with Yelper picks on Chinese food and have been totally let down. We got Friendship delivery tonight with high hopes but alas, nuh-uh. Me, I went with the champagne lemon chicken; the hubs, he went for sesame chicken. Two dishes, $30. Yikes. Both chicken dishes were overcooked to nuggets of gravel. I think we're still trying to get it all out of our teeth. Yeah, I know, floss. The champagne lemon chicken had a horrible, sharp, almost chemical taste at first and there wasn't all that much chicken. And the sesame chicken, while there was a lot in the box, was pretty flavorless. I guess next time we get Chinese, we'll wing it. I will say, pretty clever to deliver the food in a cake box, hence the second star.

Abby T.

Don't say yes a few times then change your mind and say no, especially when it concerns 20+ people. It just AIN'T RIGHT.

Wayne C.

Everyone's like, "OMG, this place is not your typical Chinese restaurant." Yes it is. It's called Friendship. The food's okay. I got the sesame chicken and I'll admit it wasn't as greasy as most but it wasn't any kind of flavor explosion in my mouth. But I'm sure I'll call them again when I'm hungover out of my mind and can't even whip up some toast for myself. Jeez.

Andrew S.

Incredibly expensive for not that incredibly good "chinese". Portions (meek considering the median price of an entree) and pricing are askew, for sure. Their popularity rests upon an endorsement/feature on Check Please, a few years back.

Kathy S.

I went back this past Tuesday to try their peking duck entree and the eggplant with tofu dish. Although the eggplant dish was probably the best entree I've tried at Friendship, it still wasn't amazing. It kind of reminded me of P.F. Chang's ground chicken with eggplant dish (which is tastier) but a healthier version of it. Their duck was just okay but I've had much better at other restaurants. I was also disappointed with the potstickers as they tasted different from the first time I had it. Now that I've tried a good variety of their most popular dishes, I feel like I have a much better idea of their food and I don't think I'll be going back.

Juliet L.

This place is totally gross! I expected a lot based on reviews from my fellow yelpers, but after tasting their egg rolls and crab rangoon, I am convinced that these items came from a freezer section from a wholesaler like Sam's club. The fillings tasted stale and cold, the crab rangoon filling was like goop, and the skin tasted like deep fried cardboard dipped in MSG and salt. I have never been known to not finish an eggroll. But it definitely happened here. The duck was decent, but not $18 worth. This restaurant is pretty on the inside, but hugely disappointing in taste and flavor. Avoid.

Mary d.

I ate here awhile back and forgot to give it a great review (silly me!) The ambience is what hits you first...very chill and modern. As soon as you're seated, they open up your BYOB wine and get you started on ordering. I had the sesame beef, which was AWESOME! Hot and a generous portion. We also had dessert, which was a chocolate soufflet. While not your typical Asian dessert, it was a very nice way to finish off dinner and the wine. I highly recommend this place both for dates and a fun night out with friends. It'll be a hit!

Kirstie S.

This is fantastic gourmet Chinese food. I actually didn't think I even liked Chinese food until I came here...it is just so fantastic. I really liked the curry tofu tofu and best of all garlic eggplant tofu dish. Try the Buddhist's Feast for something that is really mild. All dishes I've had are very flavorful and though the food is a touch more expensive, it is prepared so well that it is worhwhile. The service is also fast esp. for this a restaurant with such gourmet food but it is not pushy. BYOB goes here but there is a liquor store only a couple of blocks away. Decor and eating environment is very warm and comfortable with interesting statues and flower sculptures and arrangements. My only complaint is that they play bad soft rock while you're eating, which again is a real downer whenever I am trying to eat something and all of a sudden I start hearing the strains of something at once too familiar and all too wretched. I really don't know why they don't play traditional music instead.

Anthony M.

Just came back from there and was blown away with the greatness of the food! We got the sampler, orange chicken, and mongolian beef. All of it was excellent, nothing I didn't like. The portions were huge too! Very nice! However, this did not get a 5 because the service was not too great.I think the main problem is they do not have a large enough staff to really turn over the tables and get quick or efficent service. Still, the place is beautiful, the food was fantastic, and the owner really cared about our needs even though the service was so so. It was also a bit pricey, but I had a Groupon which soften the blow and they have reduced prices on Tuesdays. I will go back again, but probably on a Tuesday or for a special occasion.

Dusty W.

Sweet God is it expensive, but the food is worth every single penny. I've had a massive amount of difficult finding decent Chinese food since arriving in Chicago, but Friendship has always gone above and beyond in tastiness. I've never eaten in, but their delivery is quick, warm, and dear god the food is effing delicious.

Ryan A.

Gorgeous building & space, great atmosphere, and pretty straight forward menu of traditional and more modern Chinese fare; excellent presentation, too. The service was a bit slow for 5p on a Friday. Took 10 or so minutes to for our server to take our orders, but after that was super attentive. The veggie menu choices are outstanding and seafood dishes fresh. Of all the Chinese/Cantonese restaurants in the Logan Square and Avondale neighborhoods, I really think Friendship Chinese is the best.

Kelly R.

Friendship is a great place for more upscale Chinese dining. I've been here a few times now, but keep forgetting to yelp it. The service is friendly and they're very accommodating. We made a last minute reservation on Saturday for 7:30 that evening for a group of 10 and they seated us promptly and even gave us the semi-private room off of the entrance which was really nice. The cigar egg rolls are incredible here. Possibly the best egg rolls I've ever had (except for my friend Josephine's homemade ones). And since there were 10 of us we tried a lot of different things, including the sake chicken (great!), the wasabi chicken, a shrimp curry dish among others and everything was fantastic. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is the sesame chicken. Too much breading, not enough chicken, and it's REALLY fried. Portions here are large, so if you're going somewhere afterwards and you don't want to lug doggy-bags around, I would suggest sharing. Prices are really reasonable, especially in comparison with other fine Chinese dining options like Opera and Red Light. Friendship kicks the pants off of those places. And it's byob - yay! There's a $3 corkage fee, but they only charged us for 2 bottles instead of the 7 or so that we went through.

Ryan P.

Yum. So cute inside, you wouldn't expect it by the neighborhood. My friend and I had a wonderful meal. We split the honey orange chicken and champagne lemon chicken, both were very tasty. I would note that it's BYOB (there is a corner liquor store across the street, don't expect anything fancy) and the waiters share all the tables (or so they did when we were there..) so it's not the most amazing service, but they are nice just the same. I'd return for sure.

Karissa R.

Amazing food. I can't believe how great the food was, especially considering how inexpensive the restaurant is. I don't live anywhere near this place, but I will definitely be coming back anyway! There is only one thing keeping this place from getting 5 stars. The service was a bit slow, but I think it was a reflection on the particular server our table was assigned to, because all the other tables seemed to be getting great attention.

Christopher G.

Update #2: I never did get the gift certificate. I will still eat here again, though. Update #1: After reading my review below, chef/owner Alan wrote personally to apologize, and offer a gift certificate to try Friendship again. While I don't actually care if I get a gift certificate (I'd already mentioned in my review that I'd be going back), this kind of personal touch from the owner is a promising sign that Friendship will continue to offer the reliable, excellent food they have in the past. Original Review: Friendship Chinese has been the go-to Chinese joint in Logan Square for years, thanks to their consistently high-quality food and innovative interpretations of classic Chinese fare. I have ordered delivery from them many times, and eaten in their dining room as well, and have always been completely, deeply satisfied. Normally, no other Chinese restaurant in Logan Square comes close, and I dare say Friendship can compete on a city-wide level. That's why it pains me to give this very poor, 2-star review. I ordered simply: egg rolls, creamy crab rangoon, and "combination" lo mein (which isn't on the menu, but they'll make it for you if you ask.) Both the egg rolls and creamy crab rangoon were fantastic as always: lightly crispy, hot, luscious, savory fillings. The sauce that accompanies these appetizers provides a lovely, sweet yet piquant foil for the richness of these classic appetizers. And a good egg roll is not easy to find--particularly for delivery. The lo mein, however, was...gosh, it's almost hard to say this because it sounds like hyperbole, but it was...inedible. I took a few bites, walked away, came back later, thinking maybe I just needed to cleanse my palate, tried again, then pitched it in the trash. Blech. Seriously. The noodles (which at least were the right kind--actual Chinese noodles instead of the usual spaghetti you get in most Logan Square Chinese restaurants) were limp, over-cooked, insipid. But the real deal-breaker was something in the mix that seemed to taste spoiled--a kind of rancid meat flavor. It truly was nauseating. I've had well over a dozen superlative experiences with Friendship Chinese, so I won't let one bad meal stop me from going back. But I'll think twice before ordering lo mein.

Jon B.

I've had Friendship Chinese twice and regret it. I really wanted to like this place because it's nearby and it boasts delicious, interesting dishes, but the descriptions of the meals are much, much better than the meals themselves; also they charge superb-Chinese-cuisine prices for barely palatable Chinese food. The first time was last year; my roommate and I ordered from here with high hopes. Then we lost all hope when my roommate bit into his rice and realized the rice was in fact a clever stash of a chunk of porcelain. My fried rice dish, however, was a stash of mediocrity and the vegetarian egg rolls we got were essentially canned vegetables inside of a fried oil blanket. I called the restaurant to let them know about the porcelain and got the response, "Oh... so.. what do you want us to do about it?" (Come on. Seriously.) The second time the food arrived late, which was upsetting but not the end of the world. What was remarkable, though, was that my friends' and my food tasted like it had been sitting all day under a heat lamp and reheated in a microwave when it arrived. Also, they gave us the cream-cheese-filled (light crab) rangoons instead of the chicken dish we were to get free. But they did make up for it all by adding an extra layer of oil to everything. Hallelujah! In summation, we spent a lot of money to feed the trash can. (I wouldn't compost this stuff for fear of what it might do to the earth.) Do yourself a favor and eat somewhere else. Or go here if you have money to burn and no taste buds. You'll love it.

Steve M.

I would have probably dropped my score to three stars if it wasn't for Tuesday's $8.95 ANYTHING on the menu deal. Presentation is everything at this modernized American Chinese eatery. I'm always impressed with the food layout on the plates, but not so much the taste. Pretty bland for the most part, but after grabbing a few chocolate fortune cookies on my way out I seem to return for a new dish a couple weeks later.

marianna c.

I have to say I'm disappointed. I used to love this place when it opened. Food was fresh, prices were fair and portions were decent. After a few years after opening it all went down hill. Food got less exiting, prices went up and portions got way smaller. Too bad. I really liked this place.

Jennifer B.

I was very excited to try after hearing such great reviews from friends. My fi and I started our meal with the appetizer sampler. Whoever was on the fryer that night gets an A+. Our food was fried and steamed to perfection, but thats where it ended. There was very little flavor and imagination to the dishes. Everyone raved so about the rangoon, I personally found it to be vapid. The filling was the finest Philadelphia could buy, but I am still waiting for the crab...The lollipop shrimp is more of a shrimp toast ball and just a pinch to much shrimp to really enjoy as an appetizer. For an entree I had the curry lime shrimp which was good, no real complaints but definitely nothing memorable. My fi had the peking duck which was cooked well and the sauce flavorful. We took a bottle of chilled rose, which complimented the dishes superbly. Not to heavy and fruity enough to calm the heat of the dishes. I will go back if I am in the neighborhood.

Rhonda F.

The area of Milwaukee Avenue is kinda drab and all of a suudden there's these red pillars calling our name. Apparantly the place just got a facelift. We walked inside and found it to be a mix of things. Wood, traditional Chinese statues, mid-century brick, textured copper - you name it. But for some reason, it works! The service couldn't have been better. They took such good care of us. They were helpful and pleasant and available without being intrusive. We ordered the appetizer sampler. The size huge,the presentation was fantastic & it was all very tasty. There were four of us, we all ordered different things and everyone was completely satisfied. I can't wait to go back and try other things I saw on the menu that I just couldn't get to. The salad selection was very interesting. I heard they have 1/2 PRICE THURSDAY!!! - on - EVERYTHING!!!!

Timothy W.

One of my co-workers suggested this place for lunch and, having never heard of it before, and being somewhat in the mood for Chinese, I jumped on the chance! First off, this place is the epitome of, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." From a rather nondescript exterior, with a sign on the door mentioning the business upstairs, I wasn't completely sure we were in the right place... But once you get inside, it's BEAUTIFUL! The seating was comfortable and the staff was unbelievably quick. I can be a rather picky eater... O.K... I'm a seriously picky eater. I've always referred to myself as a meatetarian and I always order Chinese food without vegetables. When our soup arrived, even though we ordered the same thing, mine had no vegetables! I was seriously impressed with this attention to detail. And the rest of the food? WOW... It was done to perfection, the portions were big but not overwhelming and I walked away feeling full, but not stuffed. And of course fact that lunch cost us each under $10, only makes it that much more impressive (If you go for dinner however, it will NOT cost you under $10.) The only complaints that I can even think of are that the music was loud. (I'm sure I could have asked them to turn it down, but it wasn't THAT bad.) And the chopsticks were stainless steel. Which, I've never seen before. I'm used to wood or bamboo... And these were rectangular, didn't grip the food well and sort of cut into my fingers with their edges. Regardless... I can't wait to go back!

Susana D.

Setting aside the odd "sort of..." BYO policy (bring wine, but not beer or sake), Friendship has a robust and inviting menu, cheerful, efficient service, and an interesting vibe, decor-wise. The garlic tofu and eggplant is exceptional. We were a party of 9, so we got to try a variety of dishes, including pineapple fried rice, champagne lemon chicken, Mongolian beef, the appetizer platter, and the apple-and-walnut salad, among others.

Misse D.

We are no longer friends, Friendship Chinese. After such great reviews from Julia W., you were my only choice for delivery. And then, I got sick from an order of shrimp fried rice. I'm not one to point a finger. However, seeing as the only other things that I ate that day were oatmeal and some fruit, it had to be you, my dear friend. That was three days of drinking pepto and eating saltines. Goodbye Friendship.

Rebecca C.

After hearing friends rave about this place for ages, last night I decided to give it a go. I've been craving some really good Chinese food as of late, but our neighborhood doesn't offer many authentic options. Alas there is Friendship Chinese - and even though this Avondale restaurant is a few miles from my place, they deliver -- and the delivery area is huge (stretching as far south as Ukrainian Village and as far east as Lincoln Park). $60 got us 2 apps, 2 entrees, 2 white rices & 1 fried rice --- plus the delivery & tip. The food was very fresh and lite, not what you typically think when you imagine Chinese (what I am saying in minus the heavy sodium & sauce!). We ordered the Crab Rangoon and Steamed Pot Stickers -- I recommend both. For entrees, the Sweet & Sour Chicken and the Lemon Chicken won us over. I highly recommend this establishment.... the much talked about place is worth talking about.

Brenna O.

I can't believe we waited so long to try Friendship! Being the conscious spender that I am, I really wanted to wait until it was a Tuesday to get their amazing deals, and it was well worth it. Inside was elegant and beautiful, and the waitstaff were all friendly and attentive the whole night. I liked the potstickers appetizer, and we had the salmon and the pepper beef - both really good. I would have liked to have had more sauce with everything, but I was definitely satisfied with the portions. The metal chopsticks were cool, but I couldn't pick anything up with them! Also it would have been nice to have a knife at the table because it was difficult chopping up some of the huge chunks of broccoli that came with the beef with just a fork. Overall it was a great dining experience and we're going to go back - on a Tuesday of course. ;)

Maggie S.

My friend recommended that place to me and I decided to give it a try even thought I live in Portage Park and feels like driving 4 miles to get Chinese food was not a good idea! The place was empty on Saturday lunch time, waiter was ok, nice and friendly, place looks nice, clean and little hip. We order food and presentation was very nice but it didn't taste too good and was cold!!! for three plates and one appetizer $61 its pricy for not the greatest food!!! never coming back!

Alexander D.

Just had dinner there. Very nice decor, clean comfortable and friendly service. Loved the food and the owner is a great guy. We came in late and he served us and made us feel very welcome. I particularly loved the duck. Will be coming back for sure.

B.T. M.

I just had Friendship cater my birthday party this past weekend & everything was perfect. The party was a get together of friends, about 30 people, and I wanted to make sure there would be food which would accommodate everyone's dietary preferences. I emailed back and forth with Alan for about a week letting him know the specifications of the occasion and he created a menu which would be appropriate for the event. I requested a few changes, as there would be many vegetarians & I wanted to make sure they would have enough options, and he was more than happy to alter the menu to meet my needs. When I went to pick up the food, they were just finishing up cooking so everything was super fresh! They included all the condiments, plates/utensils and serving ware that would be needed as well as yummy chocolate fortune cookies. Everything was packed very conveniently for transport & the staff was super friendly. ALL of the food was absolutely delicious & a huge hit with the party. There was way more than enough for all of the guests to have seconds and thirds and I still have a bunch of leftovers! Everyone was asking where the food came from & kept saying they were so happy to now know where they could get really fresh and flavorful Chinese food in the city! I would definitely recommend Friendship for anyone's catering needs, they totally nailed it! Also, if you just want to go in & dine, the Logan Square/Avondale location is a really beautiful restaurant with a lovely ambiance.

Tony N.

This would have been a five star review, but the drinks came out real slow. Took 15 minutes to get drinks to table. We didn't eat there but we ordered food to go. The place is really nice inside which was a pleasant surprise. We ordered the sesame chicken, salt and pepper beef. Both dishes were great, but the salt and pepper beef was awesome. While food is not entirely authentic, it did have great flavor and texture. I liked the fried rice as well, was not greasy at all which can be an issue at some places and will not settle in my stomach well. Back to the drinks, the Mai thai was very good, a little fruitier than I like. My wife got a cucumber type of drink and that drink was very good! I would definitely go again.

Jose C.

The first time I came to Friendship, I was blown away by how good it was. It was for lunch, and my meal was topnotch. It was so good, I returned for dinner with my wife that same day. We both thought it was awesome, and that we had just found our new place. We returned last night for dinner, and all that passion that we had for Friendship all of a sudden came to a screeching halt. Our crab Rangoon was warm, not hot, and the dipping sauce was nothing at all like the sauce we had the first time we were here. It was thinner, runny and clouded in appearance. The little corn salad they serve as a sot of garnish was inedible - the corn was straight-up reheated freezer-burnt corn. I had mealy corn in my teeth the whole night. Our entries were decent, but they continued with the whole canned and prepackaged theme. Orange crispy beef was served with canned mandarin oranges and drizzled with the juice that comes in the can. The flavor was quite homogeneous - no variation, just a straight-up sweet, canned mandarin orange flavor over crispy beef. I would expect this at a dingy little Chinese restaurant, NOT Friendship. Friendship is not cheap. For what we got we should have paid half of what we did. In the end, we have mixed feelings for Friendship, because our results have been inconsistent. I'd like to entertain the thought of returning again in the future, but with so much good Asian food in Chicago, time will tell.

David B.

We went to this place recommended by our friend. My experience is awesome!!! The foods are great and inside restaurant is so cozy but modernized. Definitely not typical Chinese food. Fancy and delicious. Me and my wife go here twice a week. I recommend who wants to try modernized fusion Chinese food.

Su N.

This is our first choice for Chinese in the area

Jerry M.

How the mighty have fallen. I guess if you're the best of Yelp in the 2007 heyday, you have nowhere else to go but down. But thankfully their food has ingredients in it. But what ingredients, who knows?! (Read below to find out what I mean). First off, we showed up at 12:30. It opens at noon on Mondays. The doors were locked with no sign of anyone inside. My friend and I started walking away, but gave them a quick call to see if they were open, and they were. Big mistake. We should have ran, and ran away far. Once we were seated, they proceeded to toy with the lighting - bright, dim, bright, not so dim, not so bright, really bright, dim - for about 10 minutes, pulling out multiple employees to determine what the proper level of light. At one point I shot them a dirty look, to which they just giggled - seriously, just set the lighting and leave it at that. And our waitress. OMFG. And not in a good way. Dumber than a box of rocks and that's an insult to the rocks. She handed us 2 menus and after we ordered off of one of them, it turns out that that menu was the obsolete one and was only given to us for the drinks. Who drinks at noon on Monday??? She seemed clueless about the menu once we finally looked at the right one. My friend asked her what was in the fried rice and she looked at us blankly and said "ingredients...??" OMG, I HOPE OUR FOOD HAS INGREDIENTS IN IT!!! BUT WHAT KIND OF INGREDIENTS?? I HOPE IT'S NOT SOYLENT GREEN!!!! We pressed her to exactly what ingredients, she gave us a blank look. I suggested that maybe she should go into the kitchen and find out, she gave me an even blanker look and then went to find out. She came back and said that "it has carrots and onions and peas." I asked, "nothing else, correct?" which she confirmed. However, once it was brought out, it had chunks of chicken in it. Well, in her favor, it is an ingredient. When I told her that I couldn't eat it because I don't eat much meat and to please bring me white rice instead, she gave me an exasperated look. The food was okay. But this was the weirdest crab rangoons I've ever seen in my life, and this tops the wasabi crab rangoons I had in San Diego - rather than a wonton wrapper holding the crab and cream cheese, it was deep fried balls. Friendship Chinese, we're no longer friends. You suck. I guess I should be thankful that my food had ingredients. And to add even more awkwardness, I was on the CTA Red Line the following week and the dumb waitress was sitting right across from me. Ugh.

Joanne N.

got the groupon- $16 for $40 of chinese food and thought why not?? well, this place definitely leaves something to be desired. A few things... 1. took about 6 or 7 tries to finally get someone to pick up the phone 2. ordered delivery and it took close to 2 hours to arrive 3. the food really wasn't great we had the crab rangoon and that was the best of all. sesame beef was wayyy too crispy i felt like there was barely any meat in some pieces! honey chicken was super orange flavored and not enough honey flavored. potstickers were as good as expected. honestly the food is okay but the high prices combined with the long delivery wait left us feeling like we won't be back. plenty of other better lower priced chinese restaurants out there. sorry friendship!

Claudia D.

The new menu is much smaller, but my husband was very happy to find that he still can get his duck fix on Tuesday night at the special price. I had the new version of the shrimp and scallop dish. It was good with a sweetness to the sauce. The shrimp had a peculiar aftertaste however. He had the Hawaiian pineapple coconut cake and liked it. I enjoyed the Chinese Opera cake with mandarins orange and fresh ginger and dark chocolate which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that I donated to the husband. I highly recommend Friendship Chinese on Milwaukee for their food, decor, and service. There is a very cold draft from somewhere so be sure to sit far from the front door and wear warm clothing.

Rachel M.

Wow! I am truly amazed by the presentation, the clean flavors, and French flair. Further appreciated -- the wine list. White: Coopers Creek Sauvignon Blanc. Red: Dry Creek Meritage. Wonderful friendly staff. Cozy ambiance. A hidden gem.

Sandy R.

Friendship Chinese has a new menu. This has never been your typical Chinese restaurant but I was happy to see the Eastern European servers gone. It just never seemed right. The food was delicious including the two apps and the four entrees we had. We took advantage of their 50% off to try their new menu and our dinner was dirt cheap but even at full price it would have been more than acceptable. Thank you Friendship. We will be back.

Jason M.

Stoped in for another amazing dinner! Everything was delicious. French Chinese fusion best in the city hands down.

Jamie S.

Such a disappointment. Friendship changed the menu (again). The new menu is much, much smaller. They got rid of the sushi section entirely, which was probably a good idea. Unfortunately they also eliminated some of their best dishes - champagne chicken and kung pao eggplant. I ordered the garlic tofu and eggplant hoping it would be a suitable replacement for my favorite dish, but I was really disappointed. It tasted like something from the mall food court, but at 3x the price. I used to love you Friendship Chinese, but I won't be back.

Jennifer B.

I have never had an experience like this with any business. I ordered delivery from Friendship that I was charged for and never received. I spoke with the manager, Alan, the following day, he assured me that the charge would not post to my card, if for some reason it did call him immediately. The charge did post to my card and I have left multiple phone messages for him and visited the store also to resolve this. I am always told he is not there. After 3 weeks, I give up. NEVER order from this restaraunt unless you want to risk paying for food that you will NEVER receive. Incredibly sad way to run a business.

thomas g.

The nicest people on the phone take your order. I live in the hood so it shows up in under 30 minutes. Prices are ehhh higher...but the quality of the food reflects the difference. Crab rangoons - super cheesy but satisfied the fat kid in me. sauce was great. Angry Edamame - nice twist on the usually pedestrian appetizer, id order these again for sure. Fried Rice (Garlic Shrimp) - super light and made me feel like i wasn't eating take out chinese. Barbarian Beef - super tender and crazy awesome. wish the portion was a little bigger for $16... Worth it if your splurging a little, definitely when they have the Groupon. Will order from them again. Super great people and quality food.

Shannyn A.

The staff here were great, nice setting and great chocolate fortune cookies but the dishes fall short. We ordered Crab Rangoon and their spicy sauce included bottled salsa that even I (not a snob) noticed immediately. The dishes were expensive and not anything to write home about. We weren't impressed and wish we would have been since it is lovely inside! Hopefully there will be more to love about this restaurant- better portion sizes or something that doesn't taste like it came from Costco.

DJ S.

We had delivery last night. So delicious. Took less than thirty Minutes. Great quality food. I won't go anywhere else.

Rachael T.

This place used to be so so so so good. After three times of mediocre/bad food I am sorry to report that I can no longer be a customer. My last order was of the Scallops and Shrimp, and the scallops where so itty bitty and tiny I honestly almost called them to let them know they had added a can of chickpeas and forgot the scallops. Then I realized they were scallops...took a bit, and was imminently hit with the flavor of freezer burn. The shrimp as well tasted of freezer burned food. Terrible. This place used to be great...not sure what happened, but they are seriously lacking in the freshness you would expect for $17.00 dishes. Also, the last time I dined in and asked if they used MSG in their cooking they said no. My friend who is allergic to MSG had a breakout, when confronted, they said "well, we don't use it but the sauces we buy may or may not have it" ummm you should know that, it is YOUR food we are eating and you are cooking it, right? Odd. Anyhow, good luck if you try it out, I hope they get it together, they had it right a few years back, not so much anymore.

Spencer H.

Came here for lunch with a colleague. We both loved the atmosphere and the food! It wasn't too busy being a weekday lunch but it was still a great find!

Marie H.

So incredibly disappointing. We popped in for lunch on a Monday and after waiting for more than 15 mins for Our order to be taken we were told half way thru that there was no sushi chef. Um. WTF? You are a sushi restaurant. There was only one guy there and considering how slow he was I am almost sure he was also cooking. The food that we got was ok, but he missed half of our order. It's beautiful inside but no amount of pretty will fill my tummy with sushi.

M L.

Went to Friendship this past weekend to try out an exciting new menu. All I can say is it is out-of-the-world! And I'll explain why...The dishes were all very well-executed and presentation was almost too pretty that I feel bad eating it. We started off with a traditional dish with a creative and contemporary twist called, " Naked Cream Cheese Wonton." The breading used was light and not overpowering, unlike the traditional CC wontons with a skin over filling ratio of 2:0.5! Perfect way to start off a night of unpredictably delicious dinner! Then, the next course was a dish with chicken wrapped in bacon, which I don't recall the name of. Anyway, the chicken was perfectly seasoned and the fact that the chicken was wrapped around with slightly-baked, with the sides slightly burned bacon, complete this delicious dish, and left me wanting more of it. And then came a the Mongolian Beef, a regular staple you might think. Not here though! The sauce that was lightly smothered in this dish was so divine, making it one of the best, if not the best, Mongolian beef dish, I've ever had. So just when I think I've had the best dish for the night, the Braised Cod loin dish came along. And you guessed it! The cod loin was so tender and fresh, and the taste of ginger and garlic were dancing in harmony in my mouth! This dish was again, D-I-V-I-N-E! On to the best part, I know I know, I said I've had the best dish for the night. But how can you end a perfect dinner without some of the finest European desserts?? The Ginger Russian cake (not the real name) is literally a slice of heaven. It was layer after layer of yumminess! This cake was topped with candied grated ginger and is a Must-have, otherwise I think you would regret walking out. The chocolate cup dessert (as shown in the picture) was also exquisite. When the wait staff brought this out, she had informed us that the "cup" was edible, and I was like " Whoa" now that's a way to end this dining experience" I secretly wanting to sneak this one in my bag and bring it home to enjoy it later, because through it all, I must say, I walked out the door feeling satiated, happy, and giddy. And that feeling lasted the whole night.

Odranre B.

Ok food, ok price...good luck finding a street parking...they have been around for ages, so they must be doing something right. everyone deserves chances so i will occasionally re-visit establishments that did not get favorable reviews from me in hope that they have addressed the issues and will revise my views accordingly

Stephanie G.

Went here for lunch today. The food was delicious! We had crab rangoon and calamari for apps. I had the grilled mongolian beef. It was very very good. The service was a bit on the slow side. We were on a work lunch and we were gone for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Yikes! But this restaurant was very cute and inviting. Will be back!

Jennifer T.

My friends and I used to head over here at least once a month for their Tuesday night special, any entree for $8.95 (I believe it went up to $9.95 since then...times are tough these days for small businesses!), and gorge ourselves on the deliciousness that is Friendship! We eat family style and get a chance to try everything. It really is the BEST way to go at a Chinese place. Now about the food: I can't say enough about their honey walnut shrimp...I don't know what they put in it...but whatever it is, it's the best I've ever had...and I've had a LOT of honey walnut shrimp. Thus far, Friendship has the best, hands down. Their Hong Kong steak is delicious...and at $8.95 you almost feel like you're stealing :-) Sometimes I feel bad because I know that they must be losing some money with that deal....but the guilt goes away quickly once I start eating it! Sorry, Friendship!! Their sesame beef is awesome, as is their salt and pepper beef. The curried-lime salmon is HUGE!! The first time we got it, we thought they had accidentally given us two orders of it...but no, that was just ONE order, which was awesome for us cuz it was YUMMY!!! I could go on and on about the food and I still wouldn't do it justice. You guys just have to try it yourselves. SO GOOD!! I really don't understand why they have gotten so many bad reviews. We've never had a bad experience there and don't expect to. They've never disappointed!!

Shawnc K.

This place was great. Lovely atmosphere, wonderful waiters, delicious food and not too expensive. Went back 2 times & each time the same great experience.

Eric H.

Arête is a Greek term that connotes an element or form of pure excellence. In the traditional sense of the ancient Greeks, the term was tied to the notion of being the highest end to a means or purpose. The fortune Cookies at this establishment are Arete in it's traditional sense. Unfortunately today, although four billion Chinese Fortune Cookies are made a year world wide, a good fortune cookie is difficult to come by and is it any wonder? Fortune Cookies are not a Chinese invention. They're a Japanese tradition (Fortune Crackers) dating back thousands of years and made by monks in one room bakeries in the back of Shinto Temples in the country side of Kyoto. They were imported to China during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and then from China to America/California during the 1920s. Instead of the cheap white flower, vanilla and butter( which makes the yellow color of the Chinese version) the Japanese crackers require Asian buckwheat brown rice flour ( which provides a rich brown color),miso and sesame.( Please see pictures) And instead of being cooked in an oven, they're made by tiny cast iron grills over flame with the fortunes placed in-between the folds instead of in them as the Chinese do. The food here is suitable for the average midwestern palate, but the Fortune Crackers are some of the best in the country and well worth the trip.

Autumn V.

We had a Groupon that was going to expire so we trekked out of the Loop to this abandoned (after 8pm) area. It was a dead weeknight so there weren't too many people around, but the place itself was very cozy, although a bit dim and we might have overlooked the place entirely had we not gone looking for it. It took a little while for the waiter to get us water and take our orders (there was only two other occupied tables there) but once that was in, the dishes didn't take too long to come out. We had the honey walnut shrimp, salt & pepper beef, blue man group speciality maki roll, and crab rangoons between the 2 of us (oink oink). The honey walnut shrimp and salt and pepper beef are pretty basic Chinese dishes that I always get! So I had high hopes and low expectations. The honey walnut shrimp wasn't exactly what I expected but it was still very good and close enough to the real thing. The only difference was there wasn't an abundance of the sauce they usually coat the shrimp in-- which I didn't mind because the larger than normal shrimp weren't heavily breaded either; this made me feel less guilty about eating most of the dish by myself. Haha. The salt & pepper beef was good as well. It was very lightly breaded so it didn't feel heavy at all, nor was it very oily/greasy! It could have used a little bit more pepper though, but I can't complain really as I loved it. My boyfriend enjoyed the Blue Man Group sushi! I had a few pieces as well, and it was fresh. The crab rangoons were soo heavenly! A bit on the sweet side, but great quality to the mixture of crab meat & cream cheese. We both devoured these. I want to say my reaction during most of dinner was surprise-- in a good way! I went in not expecting much, esp because of the prices (not expected from a Chinese restaurant with regular, staple Chinese dishes), but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality dishes of this 'upscale' Chinese place-- although the portions were a little less than I usually expect. Overall, a very pleasant experience. Although we noted they had $8.95 sushi specials on Tuesdays, so we'll try again when it's cheaper. We would go again but we'll head to the location in the loop instead as this trek was a bit scary (for me lol). Definitely give this place a chance! You'd be pleasantly surprised. :D

Maggie N.

If your idea of Chinese food is to gorge yourself at a $9.95 buffet, I would not recommend this restaurant. But if you are looking for a fine dining experience, attentive service in a relaxing atmosphere, this is the place is for you. I had the $26 fixed price three-course dinner which allows you to select from a variety of dishes. Starting with the house egg rolls, the tempura crust adds a crunchy twist to an old favorite. For my main course, I selected the orange chicken. The Cornish game hen with its baked crispy skin outside was moist and tender inside. The Grand Marnier sauce adds a flavorful twist to the dish. For dessert, the Hawaiian pineapple cake was a delicious way to end my meal. Even the Diet coke in it's sexy aluminum bottle added to the 'fine dining experience. Overall, I give Friendship restaurant 4-1/2 stars for its food, presentation and overall pleasant atmosphere.

Edward E.

Hands down the best Crab Rangoon this side of Taiwan!! Shrimp with walnuts was to die for. Sushi, Meh about sums it up. Was surprised as they boast about it. Cucumber water, different and I liked it! I cannot see why there are bad reviews, I am very picky, (check my other reviews) We used a Groupon and Friendship knocked it out of the park. "Put it on the Board!!"

Matthew D.

I know that this is going to sound odd and out of place - but DO THE CALAMARI! Ok. I know what you're thinking. "Calamari at a Chinese restaurant? This guy must be huffing some major model glue?" But it's true. Breaded with Panko (which makes just about everything good) and then served with peppers and pineapple mixed in - with a sweet and hot dipping sauce. It can't be beat especially if you're eating in... (still good for takeout, but not quite as crispy) Also you have to try the peppercorn beef. This isn't your greasy Chinese food beef my brother - oh no. This is a tenderloin that they actually ask you how you would like it cooked! Gotta try it. Enjoy, the place is crazy designed and fun for a group.

Jim B.

Hate to say negative things about a place that has been so good to me over the years. But we heard from the server that they're about to open another location, and it seems like their attention might be there instead of here. We're used to the menu changing regularly, but we were disappointed that sushi has been eliminated from the menu. Wouldn't be a problem, except we were given a menu that still had the sushi items on it - we made our choices, then were told we couldn't have that. Bad form. The food we did order was solid but unspectacular. The size of the beer list has been reduced dramatically as well. And the attention to detail isn't what it's been in the past: for example, there was rice on my chair from a previous diner. It's still the best Chinese restaurant in the Logan Square area, just not the juggernaut it used to be.

Nektaria R.

Pop my cork baby! The Chilean Sea Bass went very well with our bottle of Lynfred Octoberfest. Gosh, I wish I had the foresight to purchase a few additional bottles of this wonderful wine.... Oh, back to Friendship Chinese Restaurant. The service is wonderful, the staff is extremely friendly, helpful and nice. They are just as much pleasure as the food is delicious! We had the Chilean Sea Bass and peppered steak. Both extremely yummy. I'll be bringing my mom next month for her birthday for sure. She'll love the bass. The appetizers were the lobster bisque - very rich and yummy! Dessert was the ice cream trio (the coconut was the best!! The mango was sweet and refreshing for a beautiful finish to our wonderful dinner. Can't wait till we come back for more.

J E.

We just went to Friendship Chinese Restaurant for the first time after getting their Groupon as a gift. Great restaurant, great food, great decor, very classy. The owner, Alan, is very generous and definitely takes care of you. Probably the only restaurant we have discovered on a Groupon that we will return too. Thanks Alan. Best - Calamari, Shrimp and Scallops, Crab Rangoon, Any Sushi roll

Tom D.

Is it bad that I recognize the mango salsa from Whole Foods? Or the candied pecan? This is awesome, the ingredients are fresh and the presentation is stellar. If we didn't have a Groupon or go on a Tuesday night for their special, the pricing seems a bit expensive for the amount of food delivered to your table. But, apparently they have been doing Gorupon forever so overpriced dishes shouldn't be an issue for the savvy tech person. Best dish was by and far the desserts. Their cheesecake, tiramasu and chocolate sin plates are worth the trip.

Cat G.

Okay! So I have not eaten here regularly to know how great all of there food is. HOWEVER!!! Once a month the they do a special dinner tasting that is as great as you get in Restaurant week in my opinion if not better than at some of the best places! Its is 4 courses (Chefs Selection) for $10.00 (9.99) not including drinks, but what does that matter you save on the best deals, and it usually falls on a Sunday (great way to end the weekend). And if you are not a huge fan of Asian Cuisine you don't have to be as many of there dishes are unique and not necessarily what you would typically order, some are almost like being out in another type of restaurant. For this event you do have to be there by 6:00 as the first meal is out by 6:30 and it can take a time because they keep everyone in the restaurant on the same schedule of the tasting, so if you bring kids keep in mind you may not leave before 9:00/9:30 by the time you pay. They put together the food beautifully and come up with unique tastes that are amazing and I would never have thought. Based on that I can only imagine how good there food is when not on this special day. And I have to say I look forward to finding out. And certainly plan to be at there next months tasting and all the ones after that that my work schedule permits me to. Now if you are a drinker I do have to tell you there chocolate martini's are amazing, as is around the holidays there eggnog martini. They have a great selection of wine and depending on your meal they can make recommendations which I must say do bring out the flavors of some of the food.

K M.

Love, love, love this place! We went for the 3rd or 4th time last night. The shrimp dish is my fav!! Very lightly fried before stir fried with the veggies and roasted walnuts! Yum! I think it used to be cashews, so they might change the nut from time to time, it's always perfect! The Steak tenderloin dish came out closer to medium than medium rare, so maybe request a level lower if you are particular. We also got the seafood boat dish, a little spicy. Other than the sauce on the steak being a little heavy for my taste, everything is so good! It's like gourmet Chinese. Top notch! Service has always been good too, and chocolate fortune cookies gets extra plus too:)

Tamera B.

LOVED IT!!!! Hubby and I tried Friendship because I can get a little Groupon crazy at times, thus we had a Groupon for Friendship. We ended up being a little apprehensive after reading some of the reviews on Yelp, but we are both soooo happy we gave it a try!! Appetizers: Old Fashioned Egg Rolls & Won Ton Soup - Both of these were delicious. The won tons have shrimp in them.....Delish! Entrees: Shrimp Fried Rice and Orange Chicken - The shrimp fried rice was very good, the shrimp were huge and abundant! The orange chicken is the best orange chicken either of us have ever had before. The sauce was amazing with the PERFECT accent of orange....not too overbearing like we've had at other places. Friendship may have become our new favorite Chinese restaurant.

Jessica C.

So nice and warming! Delicious food!

Jocelyn P.

Three and a half years ago I tried ordering delivery from Friendship Chinese Restaurant only to be put-off, and subsequently write a devalued review. It's about time I express my true love of Friendship!! This is a fantastic restaurant. Very nice atmosphere inside, a little fancy in a good way though comfortable. You could come here with family, or friends, or both! :) Normally I will order delivery, which is generally prompt and accurate. I LOOOOVE their food. It's not greasy, it's creative, and it's so so tasty. They have awesome fish dishes, and their eggplant is sooooo melt in your mouth amazing. My favorite. Also, chocolate fortune cookies! Oh, and some of the best crab rangoons (packed with scallions, mmm). Can't go wrong!

Allison O.

One of my favorite places in the city. Great food, great people, and awesome prices for what you are getting. I crave the crab Rangoon everyday!

Manhoso C.

Great food, delivery was quick and food was warm. I dont get all the bad reviews, ive tried a few different dishes and they were on point The 88 chicken is pretty spicy, and is my go to dish here.

Sal O.

The dark lighting and modern fixtures give this place a very nice ambiance. We were seated promptly, and they accommodated our 1 year old with a high chair. The food was delicious, especially the Peking duck. Unfortunately, I think they are a tad pricey compared to other Chinese restaurants in the area that do just as well. Our waiter disappeared for long stretches without warning. My biggest complaint is that I loathe restaurants that do not offer fountain soda. It's my biggest pet peeve. I did like the Buddha heads.

Ada L.

Love this place!!! Went to it for the first time 15 years ago, traditional old fashion Chinese place, now it's a new hip upscale Chinese restaurant...it's sooooooo good.

Kevin T.

They've got an interesting western fusion element to their sushi. But the taste is not worth the price and their portions are TINY. This is average sushi at high prices. I get that they're trying to do the gourmet thing and the presentation is on the ball but let me elaborate: the sushi is well prepared but lacking and the chinese is a step above the mall food court. The best quality about this place is their sauces, I was surprised, bold and really unique. And they play a crucial role in alot of their dishes. I will give credit where its due. Only been here a couple times. Just a heads up, the water you get when you first sit down is cucumber infused city tap water. I could taste the chlorine in it. The same stuff greasy diners serve you. They might as well let you drink from their hose in the back alley.. You'll find better than this place, I'd suggest you go elsewhere if you want to pay that much.

Tiffany K.

ROACH ALERT. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. With over 500 reviews I realize that my rating will have little impact but I am writing it to hopefully save you from a trauma. i just finished putting a complaint in with the Health Department. Here is the gist of the report: I was there May 9, 2012 at about 7:30pm. My husband wanted to take us out to a nice restaurant because we both had stressful weeks. We ordered the miso soup and it was inedible. Tasted like it had been sitting in the pot for months. Just horrible. And what is sad is that my husband will eat about anything but after 5 mouthfuls for him and 1 for me we returned it. The waitress offered us vegetable soup so we agreed to try it. Meanwhile our pot stickers came out. They were very tasty although it now disgusts me to even think of them. Then our spicy California roll came out. The waitress began profusely apologizing. The rolls looked good, so I thought maybe she spilled water on my husband? So I'm trying to reassure her because shes really sorry. She kept saying "Oh my god! I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Oh my God!" So I scan the table to figure this women out and OMG there is a long, brown ROACH that is crawling around off our food!!!!!!!!! Needless to say I had a meltdown so I slide out of the booth and walk/ran out so fast that I forgot my purse and my husband had to go back in. They obviously didn't charge us for anything and apologized another million times. Upon leaving I began dry heaving and since then I cannot force myself to eat out at a restaurant unless I can see into the kitchen to inspect it myself. I feel so bad that I didn't make a scene. The place was packed with trendy ppl and if it had happened to any of them I would hope they would warn me so I didn't continue eating. I wish I had called 311 while I was there. I wish I had done more. But as mentioned I registered a complaint with the health department this week and I am confident they will find what I found. Where there is one roach there is one thousand of them. So here is your warning if you eat there it is your fault. You have been warned. And I am sure they will be shut down soon. If you don't believe me, check them out under Chicago health inspections. Gross!

Rosemary E.

Outstanding dinner~ fabulous Asian infusion, excellent service! Very knowledgable staff helped with appropriate wine pairings - lovely atmosphere.

Ana A.

The pros and cons of Friendship delivery: + My food came in 30 minutes, ten minutes faster than the estimated time. - The delivery guy couldn't find my house, so I had to go outside in my 'jammies to flag him down! ++ Best crab rangoon ever! Fresh, perfect amount of crispiness, and generously stuffed with creamy, crabby goodness. - I was hoping for better in my orange chicken, especially for the price. The sauce was good, but seemed to be missing something...? The chicken was a bit dry. ++ CHOCOLATE FORTUNE COOKIES!!

David G.

1st time customer at this Restaurant and loved the Flavors of each dish. Great Chef! Very nice look to the place. I would recommend that everyone should visit often and enjoy!!!

Emily H.

This is HIGH Quality food. Basically, this is THE place to order from for fast, hot, tasty delivery. They pack everything neatly in a cake box so you get no spills, tilts, breaks, or leaks. The food has been high quality every time we've ordered, with no weird chewy beef or gamey chicken. The flavors and sauces on the entrees are complex and inviting, very different from the usual Chinese food flavor set of salt and grease. The coinpouch crab rangoon are artfully stuffed and come with a sweet chili dipping sauce so good it should be illegal. The eggrolls are standard cabbage-pork fare, but the spring rolls are handmade and delicious. The restaurant itself is a beautiful classy place for a date. Service is laid back and the lights are dim, so it makes the perfect atmosphere for lounging and talking. Some people expect everything to be instantly teleported to their table when they order, because traditional Chinese joints can serve up food lightening fast. To me, the wait means they are actually making the food, not warming up pre-made stuff. Basically, I've never had bad food from Friendship Chinese, whether it be delivery or dining in. I've never struggled to get service or waited too long for delivery. I've tried every chicken dish and about half of the veggie and beef dishes, and not been disappointed.

Jarian S.

Friendship Chinese is a great dinner spot in Logan. Simply put, this is Chinese food with a little gourmet twist and I have never ever received bad service (some of the reviews I see on here speak to delivery/carryout, I can't confirm nor argue this since I have never ordered online). The decor is beautiful (they spent some money here) and the bathrooms are incredibly clean (which always makes me feel better about what the cleanliness of the kitchen might be like). I recommend the Tuesday night special, where all entrees on the menu are $8.95 (they typically run in the $12-$20 range). The food is brought out to the table buffet/tapas style, so you are encouraged to share and this is a great way to try a little bit of everything. For you fellow vegetarians out there, the Chinese Broccoli and Temple's Feast are both great dishes. Fridays and Saturdays tend to be busy of course, so I recommend making reservations so that you don't have to wait around. They now have a small wine list, but you can BYOB,. All in all, if you enjoy Asian cuisine, then you really need to stop by Friendship. There is also apparently a second location that opened up fairly recently downtown.

Michelle H.

Come for the food, stay for the bathroom. Not implying that there is anything wrong with the food; it is delicious! The crab Rangoon are unbelievably delectable, and even though they took my favorite of coconut wasabi chicken off the rotation of their ever changing (albeit small) menu, I found a spicy beef dish that was excellent! The women's restroom is by far my favorite. Dark, low lighting, black painted wooden doors, the smell of incense burning, lacquered black counter top, and a glass sink bowl. I have never been in, nor seen a more beautiful and well kept restroom in a public place.

Jessica V.

This restaurant does not seem to fit the neighborhood. To say the least , I still went in because I was daring. I have never been to a sit down Chinese restaurant but I would imagine it to be very zen like with lanterns, however what I got was a fireplace, wine glasses, and Usher's Nice and Slow. The place was immaculate clean .Food was nicely presented. We ordered champange chicken and sesame beef. The chicken was fried chicken in a water lemon sauce and the beef was in a molasas sauce... appetizing right? Yeah.. if you want bland or something that will put you in a diabetic coma. I had no idea what I was eating. I was so confused how I was in an Usher Slow grind song with a little Mary J. Blige spunk kind of music setting/ mixed with a fire place and eating Chinese food. I have never been to Sybaris but I imagined it to be something like Friendship Chinese. They should maybe invest in a sex swing or get a heated pool and retire from making Chinese food because that experience was .. awkward.

Rob B.

I live in an area where good Chinese is hundreds of miles away. So it's exciting to me to seek out decent Asian even when it's American style Chinese. I took the 53, got the Orange chicken, Mongolian peppered beef, Crab Rangoon and Egg rolls. Egg rolls A+ Rangoon A Beef A+ Chicken B+ As an aside the chocolate fortune cookies rock!

Rahshonda K.

Dear Friendship, I am breaking up with you! My love affair with you has ended. I tried several times to make this thing work and after three times of an unsuccessful dates I must say I am done. How dare you take the Chilean Sea Bass off the menu. Why would you do something so underhanded why not use farm raised Sea Bass? The food is always so very good and what happen Friendship? My food was cold and instead of you appeasing me by bringing me all new food you warmed it up in the microwave making my chicken hard and rubbery! Whats up with that? I guess you wowed me in the beginning and fell into the pattern of I will take anything...Uh that would be a No! Then who teases me with a dessert menu and then says we are closing in ten minutes so we do not have any dessert available. Then why give me a menu for dessert. Service is always good but tonight your service was way off! I definitely will not be coming back our friendship...Mr. Friendship is over! Sincerely A Disappointed Diva~

Elisabeth C.

My sister and I used to go to PF Changs every week back in Michigan. I would always order the same thing - the Szechwan Chicken Chow fun. It was delicious, just the right amount of spicy, and I loved it. Unfortunately they have since taken it off the menu. I've tried other Chow Fun dishes multiple places and FINALLY found one that I loved, here at Friendship Chinese. I order it probably once a month. Sometimes I pick up, sometimes I order delivery through grubhub. The dish is $12.95. I was sitting in line at the ATM on Saturday and with 5 cars ahead of me, I thought it was the perfect time to order, and I picked it up on my way home. First, I'd asked for the beef to be cut into smaller pieces (they typically come in 1-2" by 4-5" pieces). Somehow that turned into the noodles being cut very small. As I was finishing my first bowl, I noticed something funny looking in the bowl. It was crescent shaped and was the same color as beef, but the shape was a little too perfect for it to be beef. Ladies and gentleman, I am not sure what exactly it was, but it had an outer shell like a bug and it CERTAINLY wasn't any beef or vegetable that I have ever seen. And, it wasn't the only one in there. There were 3-4 more. Obviously I threw the rest out. I was queasy all weekend thinking that I had already one. :( I don't really want to think about what kind of bug it was, I just hope it was cooked thoroughly.

Amy M.

Delicious, classy, and full of flavor! We decided to try this place and ordered take out... We all agreed that it was Amazing! I guess I have to check out their specials!

Amy R.

You can get much better Chinese food elsewhere for much, much less money.

Natalie S.

So, we're late on the Friendship bandwagon. All my friends and family have been raving about this place for ages and I just never thought to check it out. They were on Groupon so we bought a couple. We realized that said Groupons were expiring soon and we needed to get our eat on. The mini-Dude was with his Grandma so my Dude and I made a reservation and went on in. The place was surprisingly empty for 7:30 on a Saturday night but by the time we left, it was jumping. I read a review on Yelp that said they no longer have a BYOB policy. That is in fact false. You are allowed to BYOB but only wine and they charge a $6 corking fee. No problem! Still a deal in my book. Our waitress was super nice and attentive. She came by to check on us probably 5 or 6 times during our meal. Our meal! I'm still dreaming about it. We started with the 5 spice calamari and it was nothing short of spectacular. It's similar to the traditional salt and pepper squid that we order up in Chinese restaurants but their rendition has pineapple and dried chili peppers. Yum. For our entrees we had the honey walnut shrimp and the crispy beef. Both were excellent! I was a little hesitant to try this place because they serve sushi. I have a big pet peeve about Chinese places that serve sushi but, what can you do. We didn't try that. We won't try it. It's called "Friendship Chinese Restaurant"... why would you order Japanese food there?! But the Chinese food was good enough to keep us coming back.

Luan N.

So I couldn't resist when there was a $13 5-course groupon. I bought a bunch and treated a whole family out for dinner. I guess they do a pretty good job of making Chinese-American food, but Friendship will not be in my repertoire of dining destinations. So sorry, I don't know about a friendship, how about an acquaintance? If any consolation, I like you better than P.F. Chang's.

Becky F.

All I can say is Yum! We shared Crab Rangoon, Pot Stickers, Black Spider Roll, Friendship Roll, and the Peking Duck. All were wonderful, but I must say the Crab Rangoon was outstanding! The waitress was incredibly nice too...very accommodating. I ordered a glass of wine, but she came back to inform me that they had run out and offered me one of two choices that were bottle only on the menu. The restaurant itself is very classy looking. I guess my only minor complaint is that it is a little pricy, but well worth it as his is not your standard Chinese restaurant.

Zoby S.

First, the restaurant - pretty decor. love the chocolate chip fortune cookies. I went for lunch and the food was good and reasonably priced. Dinner - wtf happened? the food was cold and bland & to make matters worse a small bug appeared across our table and our rushed waiter didnt even seem fazed and didnt even offer to move us or give some sort of discount. The service sucked. the food sucked. I will not be back, EVER! Same thing for take-out. Just Awful. Cold and mushy. Yuck!

Kelly C.

Over the years Friendship continues to have very good food and the restaurant's decor seems to improve each time I visit. The interior decoration is mostly blacks and wood colors accented with copper. A semi-private room is nice for larger groups while the tables along the booth seating are good for couples. The BBQ short ribs as a starter have a delicious sauce that has well-balanced flavors. The mongolian beef, honey walnut shrimp, and hong kong steak are some of our favorites. They don't serve dessert here (but then again dessert it's not much of a chinese thing), so enjoy the chocolate fortune cookies or plan to make another stop. On my most recent visit there were two changes: 1) A sushi bar: Since the menu was not yet finalized (or perhaps just to celebrate the opening of the sushi bar) we received a free sample. The complimentary spicy salmon roll was fresh and flavorful, with a nice panko crust on the outside to give it some crunch. 2) There is now a $6 corkage fee - for a restaurant with no other alcohol options, this seems a bit steep, but I assume there is enough demand and it's still cheaper than buying something in the restaurant.

Cymen V.

I've only had delivery. The shrimp fried rice is good but the meat dishes tend to be meat only with sauce and rice. It is over priced in my book.

Jesse F.

I love the inside of the place. It used to be a hidden gem when I first moved to the neighborhood, but the vibe has since changed.

Edward W.

Ordered take out for the first time. English speaking phone. Food on time. Loved the crab rangoon and the Shrimp in Lobster sauce. Kids loved the chocolate fortune cookies. When I picked up the order I got a quick peek inside. Looked nice. Very nice decor. Will be back to eat in.

Katie P.

No longer serving sushi? Oh man! So sad. Pretty pricey place and never really liked any of the food we got there except for the sushi and now they don't serve it anymore? super sad face.

Annie W.

I've always loved Friendship Village, but we returned on Sunday for a little dinner, and it really blew us away. There was a line to sit, which is something we hadn't encountered before, but I think there was a Groupon and it was the last day to redeem it. Either way, we waited...One of the things I like about Friendship Village is the ambience in the restaurant. It's SOOO dark and moody. Just makes you feel like you're in another world for the evening. When we finally sat down, ordered the calamari for a starter...holy smokes, I could have eatten two plates of that stuff. It's really fresh, crispy, and spiced perfectly. I've always been a fan of their crab rangoon, but now I've got my go-to appetizer! I ordered my standard Honey Walnut Shrimp for an entree, which was delicious, naturally. OMG, yummy. Can't wait to return.

Roseann M.

Thanks to the ubiquitous Groupon, we three ladies had dinner at Friendship Chinese last Wednesday. While the name of the restaurant was a perfect fit for the friendship of us ladies, I can only say that the cuisine was deeply okay. First, the physical plant - the exterior sure looks like a big nothing, and it is on a block where the exterior perfectly fits in. . . time-worn Chicago, without much gentrification. Then you enter and see the dining room . . . huge surprise! The dining room is absolutely gorgeous, Lincoln Park gorgeous. All three of us were suitably impressed. The restaurant offers non-alcholic beverages and beer. They will let you bring your own bottle of wine. I do not know if they would charge a corkage fee. We ordered vegetable pot stickers and calamari for appetizers. Not terribly authentic Chinese, but hey, we're middle-aged midwesterners, so what do we care? We liked the pot stickers just fine. My friends ate the calamari, not I. At the 2nd bite, one friend put down her fork and said, this calamari is not right. It's bad. Really? said the 2nd friend. I'm enjoying it. First friend tried again. They concluded that it was one bad piece. Nobody got sick in the ensuing days, so it was probably okay. We ordered shrimp with broccoli, sesame chicken, and vegetable fried rice. All were fair-sized portions, and everybody was happy with their meals. We each took something home. Was the food transcendant? Absolutely not. It was good. We all ate. I ate my leftovers the next day, and it was good. However, gentle reader, we raved much more about the decor of the dining room than the food. I wouldn't object to visiting Friendship Chinese again, but I would never make a special trip to go there. And that's what I call "deeply okay."

Lissa R.

Best crab rangoon I've ever had. Sushi was meh. Egg rolls were in between those two. Chocolate fortune cookies! I think I'm gonna get fried rice or something next time instead of the sushi, and I bet it'll be a home run.

Tiffany K.

This place is very solid. Looks very plain from the outside, but once you walk inside, you are greeted by awesome interior decor and a very cozy space. The bathrooms are clean (albeit a little dark to see) and everything is really neat and orderly. We got the lunch specials, which come with a wonton soup and fried or steamed rice all with an entree for $8.95. I ordered the champagne lemon chicken and my S.O. ordered the spicy orange chicken. The soup was fantastic, and the food itself was pretty delicious. My lemon chicken was breaded which was good, but the fruit and extra veggies on it were a bit too much. It was also too sweet for my taste, but the fried rice was good. The orange chicken was great, and everything we ordered tasted fresh, which was a plus. The lunch specials are Monday through Saturday from noon to 2:30pm. Not a bad deal at all, and there is a long list of items you can order. They even have Japanese food here if you want that (even though I am not a big fan of Asian restaurants that serve two different kinds of Asian cuisine...) Service was okay. Plates and other wares came chipped, but that wasn't too bothersome. Overall, it was a pretty good experience. I'd love to come back here and try something that's not on the lunch special. I feel like I need a second taste here.

Kymberly J.

If only the inside of the restaurant would match the neighborhood..... I am not afraid to order chicken or beef at this Chinese place because its not your typical Chinese place. Its elegant and they serve the food all pretty-like. As we walked in I was stunned by the wall of silver busts. We walked past the sheer curtain and into the softly lit main dining room and sat down amongst the noisy patrons. It's hard to have an intimate conversation with all the background noise and you dont want to shout because you're right on top of your neighbor. My friend repeated my comment about having nasty garlic breath and the people next to us heard him. How embarassing....for him. Speaking of garlic, our salt and pepper crispy beef was the most garlicky aromatic dish I have ever had the pleasure of eating. It doesnt look too appetizing but boy was it yummy! Its not a good dish if you're sodium sensitive though or have high blood pressure because of all the salt. We also had the champagne lemon chicken. Yummy but not as lemony as I'd like it. They cut the boneless chicken breat into a few larger peices and served it over colored raw peppers but they dont give knives out so we had to fork it and just gnaw at it. They dont give knives but they do give two forks, a spoon, and these very cool flat silver chopsticks. The service was fast and the food was served very artfully. It wasnt your typical Chinese cuisine or atmosphere. I would definitely go back! p.s. this place is BYOB (corkage fee $3.00). There is a liquor store right accross the street.

Heather H.

My $14 entree had 3 pieces of tiny tofu. Did I mention it was $14? I know everyone loves this place; I just don't happen to be one of those people. Our group of 4 arrived on a Wednesday at 7pm, and while it was a bit more than half full, it wasn't crazy busy slammed. We sat for 20 minutes with no water, no waiter, and our wine sitting sadly on the table, begging to be opened. When the waiter finally appeared, he whisked the bottle away for 10 minutes. Seriously, it was totally bizarre, and actually sucked considering I was thirsty! He finally came back with 4 glasses, and an opened bottle of wine (which we were charged $7 corkage for each wine bottle). We ordered the crab rangoon, edamame (horrible, no salt on them) and the seaweed salad (small for the price). The entrees were ok. Nothing great can be said, and I can really only speak for my own. I ordered the Temples Feast which was stir fried veggies, a tiny bit of tofu w/ some glass noodles thrown in. It was luke warm but flavorful, I ate some but didn't finish, but wouldn't order this again. That seemed to be the consensus of the table; none of us would be back. $120 was WAY TOO MUCH to spend on this meal, with lackluster service.

Kelli A.

We've eaten from here twice, once at the restaurant, once delivery. Both times we had solidly delicious meals and great experiences. The inside of the restaurant had a cozy modern/Asian feel. Delivery only took 40 minutes and arrived nice and hot. The crab rangoon appetizer was very flavorful. We tend to order crab rangoon at a lot of restaurants and the crab rangoon here is among our favorites. I've enjoyed both the sesame chicken and the champagne lemon chicken. The champagne lemon chicken exceeded my expectations. It was light with a nice citrus flavor. My husband has had both the salt & pepper crispy beef and the mongolian beef. He enjoyed both, but wished they had been spicier. This is one of our favorite upscale chinese restaurants and would highly recommend both dining in or delivery.

Luis M.

So I came with my gf because she had a Groupon from over a year ago. She was quite suprised as to how much the place has changed and how it has turned out to be aiming for a high scale dining experience. I found the place too look spectacular inside. Nice plate setting, interior well decorated. It was warm and inviting. We started with appetizers, pecking duck rolls. We received 3 rolls on a bed of what seemed to be like a spicy cucumber mango pepper salsa. Those were yummy. Thumbs up. Then for main course we had spicy shrimp and garlic rice with barbarian steak. The rice was noticeably different. Very light colored rice. Usually fried rice is darker. That's not to say that it wasn't good. A bit lacking on the shrimps however. But the barbarian steak was great!! Very succulent strips of steak perfectly flavored with a nice crisp to them on a bed of veggies. Broccoli, watercress etc. Somewhat pricey for some Chinese food but definitely worth it. I'll be coming back here.

Eunice O.

My boyfriend and I discovered this place a couple of months ago near our apartment. We were really excited, considering that all the other neighboring chinese take out restaurants are god awful. The inside of the restaurant is really nice. It has very nice furniture and the ambiance is very calming. Though the two times we have dined here, it has always been dead empty. And I guess the hostess is the server because there is literally no one else in the restaurant other than her. When we first went in, a girl was on her cell phone at the host stand. She was speaking loudly in Chinese, and held out her finger to tell us to hold on a minute. It would have been fine, until we figured she was on her cell phone for a personal matter because she was laughing so much. It only took a couple of minutes for her to seat us, but we thought it was unprofessional to be on her personal phone and to keep us waiting in the first place. So we sit and look over the menu, but every time my boyfriend had a question about an item, she basically read right off the menu. Okay, whatever. So we put in our first order, and she came back and told us there was no tofu. Alright, that's fine. So we ordered a pork chop dish. She comes back about fifteen minutes later to tell us they don't have the ingredients to make it either. .............. Why did it have to take fifteen minutes for you to tell us that? Already annoyed, the food took another forty five minutes for the hostess to finally bring it out. In all honesty, the food is pretty good. But we prioritize customer service and menu knowledge over food quality any day. If she were to apologize and try to make our dining experience better, then sure, we would come back and give them another try. But she didn't. And for that reason, we are never coming back. And onward we go on our search for a half decent chinese restaurant in this neighborhood.

Brian m.

I love this place....been here too many times over the years to count. Definitely the best Asian food in the northwest side of Chicago. I highly, highly recommend the Sesame Beef, Barbarian Steak, Hong Kong Steak, and any type of Lo Mein. My only complaint, is the music. The pace is decorated in a tasteful and modern way, but they have pop radio playing, which requires me to drop a star off what could be a 5 star rating rating. It is such a turn off form the overall ambiance If they would just play some Chinese music (or even some ambient dance music or something) just anything other than FM radio on the pop station.

Nizel A.

Ordered delivery over 2 hours ago and still no food. Tried calling 10 times and no answer then I tried my other phone and the guy picks up then promptly mumbles something before hanging up. Tried calling a couple more times before leaving a voicemail (it takes about 3 minutes before their voicemail kicks in) stating that I will be declining this charge unless someone gives me status on things. Still no response 30 minutes later so going to have to cancel the charge. Edit: Now 30 minutes after I post the review they call me and say if I want the order, it will be there in 45 minutes. An hour later the order comes. They offered no apologies, no comp, no discount for a 3+ hour late order. The food is AVERAGE and it cost $52 in total for barely any food. Literally at any other Chinese place what I ordered would've been a "Lunch or Dinner Special" for $5.95-$8.95 yet I paid $52 for this supposedly high-end garbage? No drinks thrown in, no specials, no coupons. For a Dragon Bao I expected a kick, but it was just a plain bao. Orange Chicken is sponge like and even though they threw oranges in the mix you don't taste them at all! 3 bite sized Egg rolls for $6.95? Ironically they threw in more dipping sauce than egg rolls and there's hardly any Peking duck in them? The teriyaki chicken fried rice was plain chicken fried rice. There was no hint of teriyaki in it at all. So they messed up my order as well. To top it all off my fortune cookie read "Good things come to those that wait." What kind of madness is this? This goes on my do not recommend list.

John H.

If you haven't been to Friendship in a while, go back. I have been a couple of times several years ago and took my girlfriend there for the first time tonight. We were both impressed. This place has seriously changed. The service staff was very pleasant and accommodating. We were seated within moments of entering, the waiter was helpful, and the food was prompt. I ordered the Temple Feast and the seasoning was balanced perfectly. My girlfriend ordered the Snapper and said it was very tasty. It was enough for her to have some left overs. The atmosphere was very relaxing and it would be a great place for a date. We walked there but there seemed to be plenty of street parking. I don't usually write Yelp reviews but after reading others and disagreeing I thought I'd make an exception. Happy Dining!

Jenny Y.

Friendship is the only Chinese restaurant that gives out chocolate fortune cookies! They are going for upscale, and the message comes across from the exterior, but I have yet to be convinced that kind of attention to detail is placed on the food. I ordered the teriyaki-miso salmon lunch special as take-out. The food was boxed and put in a shopping bag, which was fancy, but for what I had ordered, it was excessive. The proportion of the salmon was appropriate for one person and the teriyaki-midi glaze complemented it very well. Lunch specials come with egg drop soup and chicken fried rice - neither I cared for. The soup was super starchy and the chicken fried rice was moist/wasn't fried enough so it just tasted like chicken mixed in rice. Their prices are higher than what you'll expect to pay for Chinese food, but I think that there is promise - I would take advantage of their specials and give Friendship another shot on their other signature dishes.

Jill L.

I came here months & months ago and am finally writing a review! It was kind of a last minute decision to come here, so we just walked in not really knowing that they were closing soon. I think we got there somewhere between 30-45 minutes before 10pm. Once we realized, I felt bad but everyone in the restaurant was still so nice. Nobody seemed annoyed by us nor did they make us feel rushed. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside it is actually a very cute, cozy and well decorated place. It ended up being romantic which we liked. We didn't know how big their serving sizes were, so we both ordered orange chicken and chicken fried rice for ourselves. The server tried to encourage us to try something else. Had I known they were portions to share, we probably would've ordered something different to try. We also ordered crab Rangoon for an appetizer. The whole meal was great, but the crab Rangoon was my favorite part. They were very light and crispy! Not heavy or thickly fried like usual. They were also warm and fresh. The best I've had. Overall it was a very good experience. Food was pricier than we expected, it ended up being around $45 before tip for the 2 of us if I remember correctly, but I would definitely go back.

Michael X.

Food - Great, much better better than your average Chinese takeout Price - Expensive, even considering the good quality Service - Terrible when you get takeout. They seem very understaffed. When you call, if may take over a minute for anybody to answer. When you pick up your order there is usually nobody at the front to assist you. So the food is great, if you are willing to deal with some other issues!

Laura D.

I have attempted to place an online carry-out order from Friendship twice this summer. The first time was on Tuesday, June 9th through their website and when I arrived, there was a sign on the door saying the restaurant was closed. A frantic looking employee was talking on a cell phone behind the locked glass doors who completely ignored me. The second order was today through GrubHub, and this time the restaurant was dark inside with absolutely no one around. There's a FedEx slip on the door and a pile of mail lying inside the entryway. I'm going to assume that some kind of family or other emergency has occurred, since the reviews up until recently have been generally positive. I cannot review the food or the quality of the establishment, as I've not been able to sucessfully complete an order, but I want to post this to warn folks before attempting an online order at this time.

Roel A.

Very disappointed. I had ordered food for delivery from their website. I have a email confirmation and a credit card charge but no food. The food was never delivered!!! After calling 3 times and getting hung up on, yes they picked up just ended the call... Not even a hello. Now I have to call my credit card company to dispute the charge. Some of the worst service ever!!!

Christina F.

A month ago I placed a delivery order online. After an hour I called to check where my order was and they told me they didn't have a delivery driver that day, so I wouldn't be getting my food. I asked why they didn't call me and they said because there were so many people who ordered deliveries they couldn't call everyone. WOW! I was in shock. Hung up and I checked my account and I was charged for the food!!! I called back and they told me they couldn't give a refund I would need to call back tomorrow. I ended up disputing the charge with my credit card company. Today my parents were in town and wanted Chinese. I was reluctant to go here, but don't know of another Chinese place close and they were hungry. We tried to order mixed drinks, but we're told they don't have a bartender today so we couldn't get mixed drinks! I think the food here is ok, but they seriously have some problems running the place. I'm not surprised on a Saturday night at 7:30pm there were only 3 tables.

Tia B.

Once/month they feature a tasting menu and it's reservations only. For $10, it definitely gives you a chance to try out new items. Here's what was on the menu tonight (heavy on the seafood- if you are allergic or don't like seafood this may not be for you as one person in our party realized): 1. Chilled seafood salad and herbed goat cheese w rosemary dressing: meh. Very creamy and tasted like mayonnaise to me. I'm not a fan of mayo so I really didn't like this dish. The seafood was tiny scallops, shrimp and crab. The dressing really masked the flavor or the seafood. Didn't really agree with my stomach 2. Roasted sweet corn bisque w mini crab cake soufflé: my favorite dish of the evening. The corn bisque was delicious. Flavor in every bite. I practically licked the bowl. And the crab cake was cooked perfectly. I wanted to take a pot of this bisque home. 3. Almond crusted shrimp w gingered egg drop tomato dressing: ZERO flavor. The almond/shrimp flavor combo tasted awful. The shrimp seemed kind of fishy to me. Combine that with the almonds and zero spice....yuck. 4. Peppercorn beef tenderloin w wok tossed garlicky green bean rice and tempura confetti (yes you can make tempura confetti). This was tasty. The sauce was flavorful and the beef was tender. It was a little on the sweet side but I liked it. 5. Coconut pineapple ice cream w peanut butter chocolate torte: let me preface this with the fact that I don't like chocolate. So I just ate the ice cream. The ice cream was standard. How can you go wrong w coconut and pineapple? The other diners were split 50/50 on the chocolate torte. Some said it was too rich and heavy while others loved the chocolate peanut butter combo. Initial service starts slowly. The seating starts at 6:30pm but they don't serve food until 7. They spend a half hour trying to get you to buy their $40 bottles of wine. You won't leave before 10pm and the restaurant closes at 10. But when all is said and done $10 to have a 5 course meal is an awesome deal and it's not even restaurant week!

Joselyn E.

My boyfriend and I come here a couple times a month and we love it! The first time we came here we happened to be walking by and I'm glad we were! We usually get the bartender as our waitress and she's always really nice! The last time we were there our portions for the appetizers were smaller because they got new chefs and she gave us both a free drink! The food is amazing. The spring rolls are the best things I've even tasted! The orange chicken is to die for!!!

Andrew S.

I'd recommend getting take out, if possible... We had a large party (18) on a Friday night, but called ahead to make a reservation. The ambiance inside is great after you pass the very questionable stairs leading to nowhere. There were two to three other parties in the restaurant at any given time, but our service was still slower than molasses. Our server was also the bartender...oh and she had to bus tables too. It took 45 minutes until our order was even taken. I had to leave cash and leave before our check even came, two and a half hours later. Other than that, the food was good. We had the crab Rangoon (solid!), Peking duck, Sichuan vegetables and spicy scallops and shrimp...all of which were good. Too bad the management doesn't know how to run a restaurant.

Groomage B.

So we've been getting food here for years. 4 years ago this place was amazing, great portions, awesome service, great value. A year or so ago, we realized they had raised prices and changed portion sizes fairly significantly, but we liked it so we didn't care. Unfortunately the quality had dropped noticeably too. Every now an then we would order again, just thinking: "we'll give it one more try". Most recently we ordered on a Thursday night, spending $50 on a sesame beef, orange chicken and crab Rangoon. I was SO hoping it would be good for the price. When it arrived, the rice was cold and seemed like it had been microwaved, but poorly. The chicken was soggy and not hot. Crab Rangoon were smaller (again! - basically 6 quarter sized bites for $7) but still delicious. Because I was so bummed and this was basically the last chance we're going to give them after being disappointed so many times, I called Friendship. I just wanted to let them know. The employee was nice, said sorry. Said she couldn't do anything about portion sizes. Said she'd let the owner/manager know and they would hopefully get back to me. Haven't heard anything. Other upscale Asian joints are in the neighborhood now. I love what they do, just easy tasty Chinese food, but it got too expensive, too small, and too inconsistent for us to want to drop $50 and cross our fingers again. BUMMER, Friendship. R.I.P.

Rhoda G.

I usually order takeout from Friendship when I'm in the mood for Chinese. I saw a Groupon and thought it would great to eat inside the restaurant for a change. The restaurant was clean and had a nice ambiance to it. For a Saturday night, it wasn't too crowded at all. Service was a tad slow because a large party was at the restaurant, but we weren't in a rush or anything. For appetizers, we decided to get crab rangoon and egg rolls. Then for main courses, we got 3 dishes - Lo Mein, Honey Chicken, and Sesame Beef. Rice comes included also. I enjoyed everything we got and the presentation was surprisingly nice. Three dishes was a little too much for 2 people. I think two mains and two appetizers are plenty enough for the portion sizes they gave. I was so full and we had enough for another meal, so we took it home. Friendship Chinese is definitely my go to Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood. I would come back again.

Amanda G.

Where do I start? We ordered the crab rangoons (delicious in flavor), honey chicken (4/5, needed some spice or something. Overall a little bland), sesame chicken (I wasn't a fan. Bland again), and chicken fried rice (very good). So you could say overall the food was decent, although the side dishes were stronger than the entrees. Inside was super nice, our carry out was packaged nicely and ready really fast, and they were friendly and efficient on the phone when we ordered. The reason for the 3 star review though, is 2 entrees and 2 sides cost a whopping $53, for CARRYOUT. I could've had the same dishes done equally as good delivered for $35 from any of the other 10 Chinese restaurants in the area. I won't come back without some sort of coupon.

Julie Y.

Came here for a late dinner and ordered the crab ragoons, honey walnut shrimp and some sort of grilled chicken. The crab ragoons were good but super hot and would most likely burn anyone who actually bit into it. The server should have warned us it was burning hot in the inside. The honey walnut shrimp was amazing. Defiantly recommend it. The grilled chicken came with asparagus and was a little on the spicy side but not good.. Nothing special. The asparagus actually tasted a bit off. Would come here again for the shrimp. But just a heads up there really isn't a sign for this place so it's easy to drive by and completely miss it!

Vaidehi T.

2 and a half star at best. One star is for the ambiance, and the other one for the service. Otherwise, this place has nothing more to offer. The food is not good. We ordered the kung pao tofu and ginger lime curry tofu. Instead of the ginger-lime curry tofu, they sent sent us some other dish. Both the entrees were overwhelmingly sweet. That was the only flavor profile. No freshness or lightness in either of the items. This is not what Chinese food should be.

Shereene M.

Maybe we didn't order the right things but we didn't care for the food. The place is nice and the service is really good. We shared the oxtail soup and pork dish. Both were eh. Portions are pretty good so we could have just ordered one thing and shared. If I end up going there again (which I doubt) I will go with something safe.

Cara M.

Walked in, got sat.... waited about 10 minutes (in a NOT busy dining room) for our server to come by. I'm not one to judge seeing as though I work in the industry but that could have been better. Service was just OK, nothing special, but the food was really good! The only thing is that one entree didn't come up at the same time as everyone else's, but that's pretty much it. 4 stars are mainly for the food and atmosphere.

Jessica P.

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! AND LONG WAIT TIME! My friend and I arrived here for dinner without reservations on a Tuesday evening at around 7:00PM and yes there was a longer wait than anticipated upon arrival due to the Tuesday special...However, I was not impressed (very disappointing) with the customer service upon arrival...my friend and I had to wait because we didn't make reservations which I understand; however, 3 ppl came in after us, ppl that didn't make reservations either, and they were seated right away...seriously?....apparently they treat their customers differently...definitely don't think that is right...I also noticed how my friend and I were treated differently from other staff at the restaurant throughout the meal...kinda felt like we were looked down upon.... **BTW.. I was told that there was no sushi staff when I went..so we couldn't order anything from the sushi menu..hm..odd... Food: Hong Kong Beef (~$22): the food was good and the meat was cooked medium rare, just the way I like it...flavorful Pot Stickers: good presentation and tasted good Coffee Tower ($6.95): the comment on the menu says tirumisu upgrade..there's definitely an item similar to tirumisu on the menu.....the dessert was huge.. nice presentation and tasty...and great price for all that sugar... ***SPECIAL: most entrees are $9.95 on Tuesdays which is a great deal for entrees that are normally $15-$22+ ...ppl don't know about it until you get seated and your bill comes out... sometimes the waitress/waiter mentions it to you prior to ordering though...I think they also have a different menu for Tuesday nights...food options may be more limited.. Customer Service: I would say HORRIBLE because the lady that seated us was not nice and seated customers that came after us without reservations prior to seating us....and the manager or something of the restaurant kindly greeted the elderly customers that were seated next to us, but totally ignored us...AND WAIT TIME TO GET SEATED AND FOR FOOD TAKES FOREVER...I COULD HAVE PROBABLY ATE DINNER, GONE RUNNING OUTSIDE AND TOOK A SHOWER BY THE TIME THAT THE FOOD CAME OUT...I think the food for the elderly couple that was seated next to us (that came about 30-45 mins later than us).. came out at about the same time as ours... even tho we ordered right when we got seated.. ----However, I would have to say our waitress was extremely friendly and helpful....the only nice person at the restaurant... Atmosphere: a lot of families..older ppl... pretty much a diverse setting... liked the decor inside the restaurant.. Wait time: really really long!!!! not only to get seated, but also for the food......it think it took us like 2-3 hrs to eat here...and 1+ hrs consisted of waiting to get seated or waiting for the food... Parking: free street parking available...and meter parking as well.. I would NEVER come here to receive that kind of customer service again...seriously....the food was good.. but the customer service was horrible...I wouldn't recommend the restaurant to others unless you love to wait to get seated and to get your food....there's soo many other restaurants out there that is faster with quality food!..maybe a one time experience...but only if you have a lot of free time to spare...

Tricia S.

I had a great experience here tonight. I was dining alone, which usually seems to be confusing/shocking to everyone, but they were totally normal with my party of 1 and asked where I would like to sit. I ordered the crab rangoons and loved them! I ordered the spicy peanut chicken which did have a kick to it, but was delish. Great flavor. Quick, friendly, and attentive service. I will definitely return!

Rebeca R.

First this place WOWS you when you walk through the door. I wasn't expecting such an elegant restaurant. The service was great. The cocktails were beautiful and delish and to our suprise the were half off because it was Monday. The food was very good and high quality. I was impressed.

Colleen R.

Went for dinner last night. Very cool and inviting atmosphere. Shared the Birds Nest on Fire, the appetizer platter for 2, and the Hong Kong steak. Each was fantastic with nicely blended flavors and complementary texture. Service attentive but not overbearing. All around great experience. Can't believe I haven't been here before, but will definitely be back.

Andrea F.

Friendship USED to be one of our go-to Chinese restaurants. It was pricier than others- but the food was unique and tasted great. I recently saw a Groupon ($16 for $40) and quickly bought it and used it last weekend. We paid the extra $3 for delivery (and also tax on the pre-discount total- which wasn't disclosed in the fine print of our deal). We ordered the crab ragoon (pretty good), honey walnut shrimp (my favorite) and pork belly. BUT when my husband bit into one of the shrimp, he almost ate a long thin piece of metal in it. We immediately called Friendship Chinese and after a short delay, a manager called us back. He told us that the piece of metal was from a metal scouring pad used to clean the wok and they had recently had issues with it in other food as well. We threw out all of our food. The manager did offer us a free entree for our next visit- but that was a worse deal than the Groupon! He did refund us the extra cost for delivery and tax- we let the delivery driver keep his tip, since it wasn't his fault that the kitchen decided to serve metal pieces to us.

Jon O.

I've both ordered food from here for delivery and ate as a dine in customer. The take out food is your typical "chinese in a box" type food and probably as tasty as any take out chinese food I've had. The dine in experience was actually way more pleasant. The presentation of the food is plated up very nicely and overall it just makes the food more palatable. The inside of the restaurant is clean and decorated nicely and everything seems very much in order. The waitress was very friendly and helpful and even other servers, if they caught our glance, would stop and ask if we needed anything. It's always nice to have attentive service at a restaurant. I'd say this is probably the nicest Chinese restaurant in the area. If you are looking for a place to try out or order from this would be the spot to check out.

Marc R.

Got the spicy peanut chicken, some steamed edamame (not on the menu,) and brown rice. As advertised, the chicken dish was a much improved version of Kung Pao chicken. Spicy and rich but not obnoxious. My knocks on the place: no steamed edamame on the menu (though the wok-tossed sounded good, we are counting calories,) and brown rice doesn't come as a subsitute - must order completely additionally. KPC, brown rice and edamame delivered came out to $30. Kind of expensive, even including a delivery charge.

Lou D.

This is my very first Yelp review. Even though I signed up a few years ago to specifically make a scathing review of an establishment, in the end I did not have the heart to go through with it. A couple weeks went by and I figured "let bygones be bgones, right?" Everyone has a bad day. Fast forward to the present and yes, unfortunately, this is a scathing one. Groupon offered the deal and I jumped on it. I had heard great things from this spot. I knew they were slightly overpriced but the ambiance was the experience. I completely looked forward to it. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and noticed at the last minute I could use the Groupon for delivery. "Yes!" I thought. I could enjoy their food from the comfort of my place and was more than happy to pay the extra delivery charge. I went online and ordered from their delectable menu. Within the hour, the food was delivered in a very big, well-packaged box. Tipped the delivery guy extra - feeling guilty that I was able to use this Groupon for delivery. Then I dug in. I ordered their "Salt and Pepper Crispy Beef", "Bourbon BBQ Ribs", "Lobster Bisque" and "Friendship Eggrolls". The ribs were dry and not savory. Oh, I tasted the reminiscent taste of bourbon on dry ribs. The eggrolls, mediocre in taste, was actually the best tasting item. I couldn't finish the dry and hard "crispy" beef. I was crunching and over-chewing the dry beef. The watery lobster bisque tasted weird but I kept going, thinking I was missing something. There was no meat (as expected) but no creaminess either. I was very hungry and gave everything a try - more than halfway. By the time I was full I ended up throwing out the "Salt and Pepper Crispy Beef" and the "Lobster Bisque". This was on a Saturday afternoon. Even with the Groupon I still payed $33 out of my pocket total -- and definitely not worth it. Maybe the food is better if you get it served at their place (as opposed to delivery). I will never know. I tasted enough to know I won't be trying them again. I moved on. Now this is the reason why I'm actually finally writing a Yelp review. Sunday morning I woke up with the stomach flu and went through 58 straight hours of bed-ridden, cold-sweats, hot flashes, and immense amounts of water to maintain. Obviously, I have no technical proof that Friendship was responsible for this stomach flu. However, considering that's the "only" food I ate on Saturday and woke up sick on Sunday? Well, it's enough for me to avoid them like the plague (flu?) for the rest of my life. Hell, thanks to Friendship, avoiding Chinese food in general for 2014 might be the way to go.

Joshua R.

The food here is amazing. This is one of the few chinese restaurants the I have been to that has great quality chicken. The service was great and the environment was good. We went on a slow night and sat near the kitchen. I would recommend sitting closer to the front if it is slow and you have an option snce we could hear every noise from the kitchen and the call in

Ron M.

OMG....NEVER, I repeat NEVER order their catering service. I requested catering for 7 and confirmed date and time in an email, and the food was 1:15 late, after I called 6 times inquiring where it was, PLUS, all that was promised in the price, was not delivered. Alan, the chef, even stopped picking up the phone and let it go to voice mail. What a LOSER! DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use this restaurant! Their Customer Service is null and void.

Rick L.

This review is intended as a warning to others. We went for the once a month Sunday five course chefs selection. At $9.99 a person or something it seemed like a great deal. Being a Sunday we weren't up for a late night or many cocktails so we brought our two kids. FC even called to confirm the reservation. They reminded me that seating starts at 6pm and first course at 6:30pm. The first bad sign was the eastern European wait person didn't know what a Manhattan was, she even came back to ask up or on the rocks. 6:30 comes and goes. Kids are fidgety, everyone is hungry. 7:05 the first course arrives. The food was very good. By 7:15 our plates were cleared and they asked if we wanted more drinks. We ordered the $8 glass of wine. 7:30 the next course finally arrives and then every 30 minutes the next course would arrive. All of the food was well prepared and tasted very good. The service and environment were bordering on torture, that feeling when you are on a long plane flight and things aren't going your way. One of the wait staff covering our table seemed to have never worked in a restaurant before. We weren't sure of we should keep our silverware, they would take your plate along with the fork and knife and then 30 minutes later you'd have to ask for more utensils. By 9pm the whole family was eager to get out of there. $40 for the food and $45 for two cocktails, two glasses of wine, and two soft drinks was neither a great deal nor robbery. The SERVICE was maddeningly bad. On top of all this it was a cold night out (10 degrees) and for the entire 3 hours were were subject to a cold draft. All the tables around us were wearing their coats. We asked the one competent waiter if he could do something, he said yes and then nothing changed. Disappointing is an understatement. I used to go here when the current chef's father owned it. They had a traditional Chinese orchestra playing once a month. The food was sturdy above average Chinese American fare. It was cheap too and many of the customers were natives of China, Korea, and the rest of east Asia. When they redecorated and hired the eastern Europeans to work the front it went from a neighborhood treasure to an over priced chocolate mess of a restaurant.

Jay B.

Rude staff. Charged me a 20% service charge for bringing my children. Children did not eat anything, and there was 1 other table. Not worth it! Very disappointed with the way we were treated. They should be ashamed and parents should stand up by boycotting.

Deb H.

I didn't want to give any stars. I ordered food for delivery much earlier in the day and received an email confirmation for the order. The food was never delivered and no one answered the phone at the restaurant. I tried calling 5 times. I do not recommend this restaurant

Sarah T.

Fantastic. My husband and I have eaten here several times now and every single item we've tried has been spectacular. They just recently added new items to the menu and they are definitely worth checking out. Some of our favorite dishes include the pork belly fried rice, the calamari appetizer, and the snapper. Holy crap, the snapper is out of this world. It comes whole, on a big platter with lots of sauce and veggies and it really doesn't get much better than that. The other great thing about Friendship Chinese is that the service is always gracious. Sometimes they are slightly understaffed, but they will still do everything they can to make sure you have a great experience. Oh yeah, they also have a lot of delicious cocktails worth trying. Two thumbs way up for Friendship!

Patricia F.

Very nice inside and out. Food was presented beautifully and tasted even better. We had a groupon and went on Easter Sunday. We had orange chicken ,egg rolls, crab ragoon and barbarian steak. Costs a little more than most Chinese food take out places...but really worth it for a date night-or a girls night out. Most deff will go back.

Bradley B.

I see the judgement in your eyes, but the sesame chicken is excellent. I know. We're not at the mall.

Anna D.

Added comment on 4/21/15 Dropped one start because the quality had gone down a bit and their price has gone up. - First a couple of my favorite items on their Tuesday special have been removed - the red snapper and the duck. Full price now. Whomp whomp.... - Second, the garlic eggplant dish is just gone... - At my latest visit, I ordered the 5 spice soft shell crab. It was smallest crab I've ever seen! About 2.5x1.5 inches.. I wish i took a picture because it was unbelievable! $10 on Tuesday and normally a $16 dish. Biggest joke!.. On the customer. A rip off really! Review on 2/19/14 I've been here too many times that I've lost count. This is kind of my family's go-to place for Chinese food. Plus, it's probably the only time my 3 year old nephew will eat something- that is not dessert -without being told. His favorite is Sesame Beef and I agree, they are delicious! Although many of their food here is great, my favorites are: Sesame Beef Honey Walnut Shrimp (perfectly sweet! but if you don't like sweet, then your loss!) Crab Rangoon (although we rarely get apps) Duck The only thing negative that I have to say is that the menu prices are on the expensive side..that's why their $9.95 Tuesday deal is awesome and SO WORTH IT!

Adam E.

This is it...the place you've been looking for. Wow. Upscale Chinese food with conscious seasoning and modern presentation. The food is super tasty, vibrant, and full of flavors. The dipping sauces, choice of vegetables, and limitless options are what I'd expect from a culinary competitive neighborhood like Logan Square. It's really appreciated how much passion goes into each dish and it shows - based on the look (technique) and taste. Further, a to-go order is prepared in a way that makes you feel like you were dining in. The price is definitely higher than what you might be used to paying but you'll understand why after your first bite. Oh - and thank you for adding chopsticks. It's amazing how that is a rarity for Chinese food places. We'll be back. **Must have items on your first visit: egg rolls, crab rangoon, champaign lemon chicken. Yum!

Alec J.

Awesome decor, the food is just meh. I have ordered the spicy peanut chicken and was not impressed, and my friend ordered the eggplant and it had like no sauce in it. Also the service here was not that great, when I came in it took them a while to even seat us despite noticing us. Oh and my friend also noticed one more thing, there was not one Asian person eating inside this Chinese restaurant.. so more than likely that means you should probably go elsewhere if you are looking for good Chinese food.

jennifer b.

Well, I've eaten here for the last time. Went with 4 other friends, one of whom used a groupon (this should never be an issue, and it wasn't really). We ordered a bunch of sushi, which was quite good. The problem came when we got the bill. First, we were a table of 5. A 20% gratuity was included. Are you kidding me?? 15-18% is standard, yet you think somehow you should automatically get the full 20? FOR A TABLE OF 5??? Get the fuck out. Next... well, I've been going here almost since they opened, but hadn't been in a while because the last time we ordered delivery it was... mediocre, and that's being extremely kind. So I'd forgotten that they got a liquor license a couple of years ago. Now, I get corkage fees somewhat (hot tip: they're not legal in places that are BYOB/WITHOUT a liquor license), but $8/bottle is absolutely outrageous. In addition, our waiter should have informed us of this fee BEFORE opening our bottles - the itty bitty font is not seen or paid attention to by your average customer, besides, it's just the right thing to do! After complaining, he was only willing to remove ONE (we had 3 bottles). Now, remember that 20% gratuity I told you about? Well, it was based on our ENTIRE bill, INCLUDING the $16 in corkage fees! Lastly, they **double-billed my debit card**!! When I got home that night I saw TWO pending charges, differing by 5 cents. I called Chase a few days later, since the one charge is still pending, and their automated system said they are working to resolve it. We'll see how this shakes out. In short, Friendship can kiss my ass. Good luck with your business model of declining food quality and absurd fees and gratuities!

Kedar D.

Friendship Restaurant is an upscale-looking Chinese joint with a couple of vegan dishes. While its ambience and service are good, the food here is woefully mediocre. My friend and I shared a "Temple's Feast" ($11) and a Kung Pao Eggplant and Mushroom ($11) along with an order of veggie spring rolls ($6). The spring rolls were passable, being overly breaded and stuffed with mostly cabbage and cellophane noodles (boring!). The Temple's Feast and the Kung Pao dishes had indistinguishable sauces, neither of which rose above the level of gooey, corn starch-laden stripmall food. While both dishes were edible, they weren't worth $11, especially not at those small portion sizes. The service and atmosphere were great, though. This is one of few Chinese restaurants in the city that is both relatively vegan-friendly as well as upscale in terms of appearance. Our waiter was courteous, fast and efficient. If Friendship offered more unusual vegan dishes (perhaps something with mockmeat or seitan?), and a lighter, spicier touch to their sauce preparation, I might consider returning.

Winifred b.

I like the restaurant (Milwaukee location) my husband loves it... Ditto to the awesome crab rangoons..and rib appetizer together OMG!!! We initially went here b/c of a groupon...and have taken my husband bck here at least 3 additional times b/c he loves it..we like the intimate atmosphere, dark woods, white linen, pineapple fried rice, 151 beef dish(I think that's what it's called...with flames....) Only reason I gave 4 stars they are pricey with small portions..just enough for my husband and I..no left overs

Emily W.

Overpriced, overrated, the only good thing about this place was that the Chinese waiter kind of looked like Keanu Reeves. The complimentary water SUCKED. The first time it had lemons in it which I swear were rotten and the second time it had a cucumber in it. There was no ice either. Ugh. When a restaurant can't get water right, what good can you expect from the food? The sushi was flavorless, the sesame chicken tasted like it had the wrong sauce on it, and the fried rice with bacon & sausage had the smallest pieces of strange meat that sucked. I went there 3 times to cash in a groupon, and it wasn't until the 3rd time that it finally worked. The swinging blue lights above the table are cool. Of course you aren't supposed to swing them, but it was the only thing to do when the food sucks, the conversation gets awkward and you are fiddling your thumbs waiting for the bill to arrive and you know its going to be for way more than food of their quality is actually worth.......... Sorry for such a scathing review, but I feel like I need to warn people to save their money and go elsewhere.

Boon K.

My friend order delivery from and we love it, so we had to go and try it. The place was beautiful inside and not what you would expect from the outside. I like the mongolian beef, spicy garlic chicken, and the crab rangoon. Lots of favor and best of all it not greasy which is what you find in a lot of chinese places. I haven't tried the sushi yet.

Larry B.

Used group on it was really bad the sesame beef was spoiled I gaged on it I called at 7 pm to talk to manager was put on hold for 5 minutes then was told they could not find him they specialize In sushi but they no longer have it or any fresh fish I do not think anything is fresh

Marissa G.

Down to two stars. The manager, after calling back to say he was sorry about the mix-up on our order (a loss of nearly $10) and promising to send a gift certificate-- did not deliver. No gift certificate ever arrived. That's poor. Don't buy the Groupon.

Melanie S.

Friendship Chinese Restaurant reminds me of my first days on Yelp. It was one of the most bookmarked and reviewed places on here at that time. I think there was even an Elite event here back in the day. That seems like such a long time ago. I've eaten here at least 15 times. Always on a Tuesday night. It's been nearly six months since I've dined here and a friend wanted to go here for her birthday dinner. Among my friends, their wish is my command. I've sampled just about everything on the menu at least twice, so I've learned what's good and what's not so good. Their appetizers are pretty decent. Tonight we got crab rangoon and vegetable spring rolls. I'm fairly certain they changed their recipe because the crab rangoon looked different and tasted different. Still good though. The vegetable spring rolls were your basic, run of the mill upscale Chinese egg rolls. Crispy, not greasy, good ingredients. For our entrées, we both took advantage of ordering the most expensive entrée since it was only $8.95 (special Tuesday pricing). That entrée is the Hong Kong Beef Tenderloin, which is regularly priced at $21.95, so at $8.95, it's a steal of a deal. It's prepared to order, and served with pea pods, assorted mushrooms, carrots, and slivers of ginger. The garnish, which is new since I last ate here, was crispy potato chips. I love potatoes, but it was just an odd component. The rest of the dish was very good, but I'd never pay full price for it. The fail this evening was the service. For lack of a better word, it was just stupid. I am easygoing and don't need a lot of coddling; in fact, I hate it. I just don't want to be ignored. We were there a good ten minutes before we were approached by our server, who was a Nordic blonde (since when does Friendship hire Elin Nordegren lookalikes?) and was clearly overwhelmed. We placed our appetizer order and also ordered tea. Another 10 minutes go by and no tea. The hostess sees us looking around and asks if we need something. We politely tell her we were waiting on our tea. Two more minutes pass and Elin comes out and says they don't have any more teapots and could we wait just a few more minutes? Um, ok. A Chinese restaurant is out of teapots? Finally, they hijacked one from the table next to us and brought us our tea. It was lukewarm at best. Our meal concluded and we wait and wait for the check. The check comes and we ask for our leftovers to be wrapped. They take them away and bring them back. In one bag. With no way to distinguish which was mine and which was my friend's. Now, my friend and I did order the same thing and ate nearly the same amount, but what if my friend was sick? I don't want her leftovers, I want my own. We decided to just guess whose was whose, but it would have been nice to be sure I was getting the correct food. It was awkward. Friendship is ok, but it's not the little darling of Yelp anymore. It's fine on a Tuesday night when everything's discounted but not worth paying regular price for the experience of dining here.

Erik S.

I wrote a review last time I came here but never published it. I will say that I am just sorely disappointed. The food here is great and the first time I went we had a groupon and had a wonderful experience so much so that I was able to forgive some of the missteps. Tonight however we determined that we won't go back. We enjoyed both the Chinese food and sushi menu (also it seems they drastically reduced their sushi offerings). The service however is what is really troubling and has been consistently bad for the last 3 times we have gone. It always goes something like this. We get seated and then wait and wait and the someone comes over and takes our order then we wait some more. Half of our table did not have silverware and our water glasses were never refilled. On a light Monday night it took almost and hour to get our sushi rolls. I will say that when the food comes it is usually very good. Then Nobody checks to see if everything is ok and usually it's a pretty long wait to get the check (we were in no rush but they don't have desserts and they had cleared the plates over a half an hour previous). It really is too bad I because I really do like this place and had recommended it to numerous friends. We even had my girlfriends birthday party here but tonight we decided we won't come back.

Dawn H.

My roommie and I came here on a Saturday night and it was bustling! So glad we had a reservation. 1) Crab rangoon (4 stars) -- really creamy, really good....the accompanying sauce was a nice compliment...have to recommend this one 2) Chicken Cream of Corn (3 stars) -- tasted like egg-drop soup with extra added corn...good, but I wouldn't order it again 3) Lobster and Crab Bisque (5 stars) -- YUMMY! There were huge lumps of crab meat in the bisque....who would think a Chinese restaurant of all places would get this right?! I mean, it rivaled Joe's Stone Crab (GASP!) 4) Chicken Fried Rice (4 stars) -- really enjoyed the random seaweed admixed in this dish....a pleasant surprise 5) Spicy Honey Glazed Orange Chicken (1 star) -- very orangy and not spicy at all....biggest disappointment of the evening...BLAND BLAND BLAND 6) Sesame Chicken (3 stars) -- average at best, but no complaints here... I mean, anything is going to taste better after trying that orange chicken The chocolate fortune cookies were a nice touch, but I really don't see the hubbub. Service was decent -- my water glass was always full (one of my biggest gripes). So why only 3 stars? Well, of course, the orange chicken was extremely disappointing, and in my opinion, the prices were astronomical for the quality of food served (except for the bisque). Also, they charge you per refill on soda ($2.50 each time). For a "fine" restaurant, I find this to be a ghetto maneuver. Consider yourself warned.

Dan K.

I was lazy last night so I ordered from here. Presentation was nice. Prices were high, I got an app and an entree and all said and done it was almost $25. The rice was not that great, I like it kinda moist and steamy, it was almost dry and chalky(?). But, I will have to try out the Tuesday night special sometime.

Sarah S.

The place was VERY clean and nicely decorated, food was great! Waitress very quiet, but very very attentive.

Amelie and Dan B.

Well, we gave it one more shot! The sushi bar is complete! We went there on a Tuesday night (which is $8.95 for all dinner entrees) We ordered the spring rolls - very good. The won ton soup was just ok - it used to be really really good. I ordered shrimp fried rice which was good. My husband, who loves orange chicken, was so disappointed with this dish. It was just strips of fried chicken with ill tasting orange sauce poured on it. It didn't look very appetizing. It was horrible! About 3 years ago when we first started going to this restaurant, they used to make the best orange chicken! I don't know what they did, if they marinated the chicken in the orange sauce or what, but it was delicious. Or maybe they changed cooks? It was a good thing that we came back for the $8.95 special. I couldn't see us paying regular prices for these dishes. I don't think we will be back, maybe for the veggie rolls??? I know it's a small place, but it's so loud there. It seams everyone yells at each other.

Keely B.

I still really like this place. However, I have a few bones to pick after our visit last night. First, they appear to have majorly changed their menu. On one hand, I appreciate the changes because there seem to be significantly more choices. On the other hand, they did away with some of the things that I thought made them special. I would swear on a stack of Bibles (or Tipitakas) that they used to have house-made soda (I had a blood orange one on our first visit), but the server last night looked at me as though I was insane when I inquired about them. They have a very extensive beer menu, 3 or 4 sakes to purchase by the bottle, and canned sodas. That is now the extent of their beverages selection. It was the Super Bowl, so (of course) we were the only table. And I do mean the ONLY table. Which is why I don't understand why it took 15 minutes for our server to come by (after leaving us glasses of water) to take our order. One female employee wandered around the restaurant on her phone a few times, which was also annoying.

Jing F.

I came to this restaurant for my friend's birthday. The food was Very impressive and creative. Tried Crab rangoon very different from the crab Rangoon in other.Asian restaurants! Mongolian beef. Seafood havarti maki is my favourite. And the steamed shrimp with glass noodles is so so yummy! Elegant eating environment. Definitely will come back again

Candece S.

The sushi chef answered his cell phone. (he makes sushi in front of everyone) My boyfriend and I decided to buy the groupon and check this place out. This was a two hour ordeal from the time we sat down!

g b.

seriously the best chinese on the planet... thats right the PLANET (china included). the food is amazing. i'm a huge fan of the champagne chicken which is so fresh and light- you can't find this anywhere else. and the orange chicken, which has a nice thick, dark, tangy and a bit spicy sauce. i typically order out, but the inside is very cool and modern as well. a great date spot (BYOB). its a bit on the pricey side, but the entrees, are enough for 2 with some extra, so just imagine your buying lunch and dinner :) sooo goooodddd

Dave S.

I originally reviewed this establishment in 2007 when I first tried it out! I have been going here a few times a year since then because it has become a tried and true favorite for me. Although the place remains the same in appearance (and the crab rangoon are still the best) I have seen this restaurant go through some changes. The ownership likes to to change things up a bit. An orange chicken dish that you order today is not going to be the orange chicken dish you received five years ago. It may not even be the dish you ordered last visit! Although the dishes evolve over time you can count on that whatever little spin the put on a dish, it is going to be remarkable and delicious.

Kara B.

Take note: I called this evening to place a carry out order and was told they are no longer serving sushi. Not sure how they can pull that off since their website still advertises a new sushi chef (he's been there a while), and half their menu is sushi... but here we are. Allegedly, both locations (here and Lakefront) are taking this week "off" for sushi, but the Lakefront location will return to making it next week. Between dine in and delivery, we've eaten at Friendship no less than seven times (and we would have given it 4 or 5 stars), but now it looks like we're in the market for a new sushi restaurant.

Kelly C.

This review is purely for their carryout; I haven't been in the restaurant so I can't speak to the entire 'experience'. I can attest to their fine job of packaging the carryout, however-a cake box with everything neatly packed inside. In a world of terrible, leaky carryout packages, friendship chinese is pretty genius. On to the food...pretty standard chinese with some shallow touches. I was trying to decide between the wok-tossed shrimp and scallops, and the scallops and shrimp-obviously I was going to need some help deciding, but when I was ordering, the host maintained that there was no difference between the two. Huh? I went with the wok-tossed, and I was disappointed. The scallops and shrimp weren't bad, but the sauce was terribly bland. For the price (and hype) of friendship chinese, I was expecting something much better. My boyfriend got the sesame chicken, and his was much the same. The chicken itself wasn't bad, and tasted a little more like actual chicken than what is usually standard cheap chinese fare, but it was pretty standard sugary sweet and sour chicken. With sesame seeds on top to fancy it up. Not fooling me here. The saving grace was the crab rangoon. This guilty pleasure food was elevated to something beyond a chewy, greasy ball of cheap cream cheese to something that was actually delicious. To their immense credit, it actually arrived steaming hot. The chocolate fortune cookies were also a nice touch. However, I definitely did not think friendship chinese warrants the prices they charge, and is still pretty standard "ugh, I'm hungover and I just want to eat something bad for me and watch a movie" food.

Lina W.

I came here for the first time two weeks ago with a Groupon for the Chilean Seabass 5-course meal. Unfortunately, I wasn't really very impressed and my review would have been significantly more harsh if I were paying full price. My general impression: the place looks nice, feels comfortable, the tables are a bit close together, the bathroom was clean, make a reservation if you don't want to wait forever. The food: stand outs were the lobster bisque- silky, light with a rich flavor, one of my favorite parts of the meal; the second course was some kind of breaded something that was awesome and a yummy salad; the desserts were amazing, I had the pear tart - very nyam nyam nyam! I was actually really disappointed in the Seabass, it's really not as good as people make it out to be. It was okay, but not something I would go out of my way to have again, especially at full price. Wrap-up: It's a nice place, but nothing stand out and overpriced.