Thursday, February 1, 2018

Won Kow - Chicago, IL

CLOSED February 1, 2018 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/02/06/won-kow-chinatowns-oldest-restaurant-closes-its-time-for-me-to-take-it-easy-for-a-while/ 

2237 S Wentworth Ave

Established 1927 or 1928

Visited September 28, 2013

Chinatown restaurants come and go but I remember Won Kow being around since I was young. My parents would make trips every so often to Chinatown but we never did stop in at Won Kow. Going through the doors and walking up a long flight of steps takes me back in time to the 70’s, maybe even earlier.


A local suggested we stop in for dim sum. That suggestion was doubted when we eyed nothing but gwai lo and a steady stream of nothing but.


Dim sum comes not in lady powered push carts but by checking offerings listed on a checklist and turning it in. Items arrived either singular or in small batches.

Maybe it was an off day or a different indifferent chef but all the dim sum were bland. It lacked zing and mouth appeal. It lacked presentation. It was a phoned in performance. Perfunctory. It was below par and expectation for a Chicago Chinatown restaurant but the service was better than typical for a Chinese restaurant.  Good food bad service. Bad food good service.  Can't we get both goods at a Chinese restaurant?

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