JJ Thai Street Food

I think they have the best papaya salad in the states.
Their ginger rice with steamed chicken + sauce is delicious but sauce is needed, otherwise it doesn’t taste like anything.
I have also tried the rice noodles in soup with stewed pork and it was fresh but I am personally not crazy about cinnamony taste in soups.
My hubby had the basil chicken rice dish. I think Opart Thai makes it better.

It’s a bit hit or miss. I’ve been here three times. I always get the same basil tofu dish because I’m a vegetarian and their menu is a bit limited in that way, but my friends will try different things and we always leave with mixed reviews. I think rice dishes are their strongest dishes.
Tom Yum soup was super watered down and barely contained any actual food. But the Tom Yum Noodle Soup came with a ton of food, so if you’re craving Tom Yum flavor get the noodle soup.
Grilled Squid was bland and chewy. The only flavor was the dipping sauce, which was a generic sweet and spicy tasting sauce. Pass.
Basil Tofu is solid and super tasty. I just wish it came with some vegetables or something else for a bit more variety in flavor verses eating heaps of tofu and rice.
And according to my friends, things like Fried Chicken Ginger Rice, Basil Chicken with Rice, etc are always good.
The desserts are small and underwhelming. I think their Thai iced tea makes a better dessert than anything on their menu.

I loved the refreshingly unique offering of traditional Thai food (as opposed to Americanized versions such as pad thai and pad see ew).
Nam Tok Neua Yang (beef salad): order this with sticky rice, as they recommend– the sticky rice soaks up the cool yet spicy lime based dressing tastes and complements the sliced beef beautifully. My one (very slight) complaint would be that some of the beef pieces were chewy and tough.
Guay Tiew Moo Thoon (braised pork noodle): delicious, hearty broth with tender pork and meatballs. I also loved the generous portion of bean sprouts.
Definitely will be back again to try the rest of the menu.

A refreshing spin on Thai food! If you’re looking for your traditional pad thai/​green curry/​pad see ew, I wouldn’t come here. But if you’re open to an adventure (particularly if you’re open to spicy food), this is your place!
It’s pretty small so you may have a bit of a wait, but it’s well worth it! Or you can call ahead to make reservations. I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy so I got the N4 (Egg Noodle with BBQ Pork), which was perfect. It had the perfect amount of spice and thin egg noodles. My boyfriend ordered the tiger cry which came with great spicy sauce and a lot of meat. For appetizers, we split a Gai Satay (Chicken satay) and Gyo Tod (fried chicken wontons), which were both delicious. The Satay came with this delicious peanut butter sauce with the kick that we couldn’t get enough of.
Great for someone looking for unique Thai food in Chicago!

JJ Thai Street Food was unlike anything I’ve had. If you’re looking for Pad Thai, you won’t find it on the menu here. Instead, I had the ground chicken with basil. Such a simple dish, but when executed perfectly, it will leave quite an impression on you. The meat was perfectly cooked, and the basil was a beautiful counterpart. I ordered carryout, and my order was ready promptly. Everyone working there was so friendly and welcoming! I highly recommend!

I’ve ordered delivery 3 times. The first time I ordered the Tom Yum soup but I didn’t like it… was too fishy for me. I also ordered fried chicken over ginger rice. The flavor was amazing but the chicken was a little dry. My 2^nd order was the gyo tod and those were amazing. I also ordered the basic chicken extra spicy… SO good! I just placed my 3^rd order and did a repeat of the 2^nd — looking forward to it! The girl that answers is so nice and pleasant and my order has been here in under an hour. I’m a fan and look forward to going in some day!

This place is great! I chose it for my birthday dinner because I’d been fantasizing about their fried chicken for far too long now.
Fried chicken fantasies. Yep. Not even kidding.
We were warmly greeted and started perusing the menu. We weren’t sure which amazing chicken we had gotten last time so started asking some general questions about the chicken and menu.
The owner? She REMEMBERED US: and not as in, «Oh, hey, you look familiar.» She recalled where we SAT and what we ATE. from ONE visit 6 months ago! Amazing! (I hope we were memorable in a GOOD way :)
We ordered:
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A2: Chicken Wings
Get them! They’re large, juicy, crispy, and just delicious! I like the sauce they come with, but it’s honestly not necessary: they’re great on their own!
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A4: Pork Meatball
Definitely a favorite! I’m not a huge pork eater, but these were delicious! I couldn’t get enough! They’ve got that snappy skin and are meaty, toasty warm goodness on the inside. They’re garnished with ginger slices, chilies, and toasted peanuts.
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A5: Chicken Meatball
Good, but probably my least favorite, though my guy was a fan. They come on skewers with a delicious sweet/​sour sauce.
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N1: Curry Noodle with Beef
Great depth of curry flavor with slight heat. It has great texture with the noodles, sprouts, and beef. I really enjoyed this one!
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R3: Fried Chicken over Ginger Rice
AMAZINGLY crispy, flavorful, steamy chicken. The rice is spot-​on with a great ginger flavor. The sweet/​sour sauce that comes with it is so good. This was both of our favorite dish!
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All of the dishes had fresh flavors and were plated so nicely: casual to go with the «street fare» theme, but with forethought. Service was great and the owner and staff are so friendly.
I’m already craving the food and I had the leftover chicken/​rice for lunch! Needless to say, I will NOT let another 6 months lapse until we make a return trip!

Pork salad extra spicy, order for like the 3^rd time. I would take a life to consume you every day for the rest of my life.
Also, just tried the wontons for the first time. Perfect crispy, light wrapper. Switched sauces with my lady who had the spicy sauce that comes wth the squid app. So damn good.
Please be successful until the day I die. So that I may order you upon my deathbed and leave this world with my belly full of glory and my mouth on fire.

Food here is delicious, but super spicy. I would ask the waitress to tone it down– the Tiger Cry wasn’t that spicy but the beef salad while delicious, made me gulp down my water afterwards– very similar to the food in Thailand, so I guess that speaks to the the authenticity of the food here. I’ve always been a wuss when it comes to spicy food though.
I love that they have sticky rice instead of jasmine rice. Papaya salad here is solid. Overall good food.

I would go back here :). the menu is more unique than the usual Thai joints. reservations are highly recommended as the place is small and it’s BYOB!
most of the dishes seem to be easily sharable by 3 people. Our group of 5 ordered the:
–Larb Gai (ground chicken salad) — usually a favorite to order and their’s was not a let down
–The beef salad — another great salad
–The chicken meatball — it was good… but I could pass on this next time
–the grilled squid appetizer — it was charred just right. careful the sauce is rather spicy
–The braised pork and noodle — this slightly similar to phở in terms of lighter broth based dish. all the fixins were all pretty great.
–pork stew (item #R5) — this was probably the lowest on the list of what we liked… but it is by no means bad. it’s just the favor is mild… it is not spicy or tangy like the other dishes.
This could be my new favorite thai place after sticky rice.

My boyfriend and I did our pre-Valentine’s Valentine’s date here since we’re both in love with Thai food. I distinctly remember the moment when we were buckling our seatbelts and I said «oh, by the way, this is like real Thai food… aka they don’t have pad thai.» I’m sure his heart practically dropped, and I even think he suggested that we go to Anong instead (his favorite pad thai joint). However, we made it to JJ that night, and I ended up really liking it. Him, not so much.
LARB! They have larb! Larb Gai is one of my favorite Thai dishes, and I was so excited that it was their special that night. I immediately ordered it and devoured it. It’s a «salad» of minced chicken, mint, rice powder, lime juice, and onion. It’s pretty much like the chicken version of the Grilled Beef Salad (E1). I’m a huge fan of it as the lime juice is definitely prevalent, and it was better here than at most other places that I’ve had it. However, I think it’s a bit too sour for my boyfriend’s palate. It’s also a pretty large dish, which is why I now understand why our server looked confused when we were ordering it as an appetizer.
We also ordered a real appetizer — the Grilled Squid (A1). Both of us were pretty unimpressed. We both came to the realization that night that neither of us really like squid since it is rubbery and tasteless, and this squid was pretty much the same. Other than the dipping sauce, the squid didn’t really have any flavor itself. I wouldn’t recommend ordering it as I think you can find more flavorful and tasty things on the menu.
For our main dishes, we shared the Tiger Cry (E4) and the Braised Pork Over Rice (R5). The Tiger Cry was amazing! I was definitely order this again in a heartbeat. The whole experience of eating it (dipping the sticky rice into the sauce and eating a piece of the beef) and the sauce and beef itself were delicious. By the time we got the Braised Pork we were quite full. However, I had a few bites, so I can say that it’s a pretty heavy dish and I don’t think I’m a huge fan. It was good, but after trying the Tiger Cry, it just didn’t compare.
The place itself is cute and cozy, but we had kind of a mixed experience. I would definitely come back again, but not if I was in the mood for pad thai…

This place is soo good! I discovered it through über eats and finally dragged a group of people down there recently. There were five of us so we got to try a lot of different stuff
Squid appetizer
Tiger cry… Amazing! Could eat this all day everyday
Papaya salad. Pretty authentic and spicy
Fried chicken with ginger rice. Loved the ginger rice
Slow cooked pork with tea egg. My grandma used to make this and brought back so many memories
Basil Thai chicken with fried egg… Soo good best interpretation of this dish I’ve had
I’m Burmese so might be biased but this is the most authentic Thai place I’ve been to in Chicago. It’s all the dishes I grew up eating. None of that pad Thai Americanized stuff… Don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of Americanized Thai food too but this is just different and better. I can’t wait to eat here again, I need to investigate if they deliver to my neighborhood

This is a 4.2 stars for me.
When we walked in, I think there was only one waitress for the entire restaurant that was pretty full so we had to wait a few before anyone approached us. Understandable since there was only one girl working the floor.
What we ordered:
Papaya salad: Highly recommended by the waitress. We watched them make it fresh with the mortar and pestle!!! It was sweet and spicy. I would like it slightly less sweet, but that’s just personal taste. Still is a must try. Loved the little pieces of dried shrimp in there.
Khao Mun Gai Tod (Fried chicken over ginger rice): Really good. Fried chicken had great flavor without being dry. Skin was nice and crispy. The rice is amazing. Had awesome chewy texture and ginger aroma. Came with a side of sweet dipping sauce.
Guay Tiew Moo Thoon (braised pork noodles): My fav of the night! So complex and good portion. Came with probably 5 homemade pork meatballs and many chunks of delicious braised pork. Soup broth was sweet and savory. I added the vinegars they provided and a few splashes of fish sauce. Took it to another level. I love my food piping hot and all of the dishes came out piping hot and fresh. Noodle texture was on point.
Thai Iced Tea: Bomb. Loved it. Legit.
Overall, the service was great. Smiling waitress that was willing to give recommendations. My favorite thing about JJ is that it doesn’t offer Pad Thai and crab rangoon. Loved the atmosphere, too. The cups and dinnerware are street food kinda style.
Can not wait to come back and try the other dishes!

This place is overall very cute. Came here on a cold January Saturday afternoon with two girlfriends. One of my friends is a vegan, another is a huge foodie who enjoys making food with meat ingredients. All three of us walked out happy.
Their ice teas are so amazing, when I was done, I wanted more! They are darker than most so it’s not overly sweet and diluted with milk. Plus the fact that it came in a mug!
My order of noodle with bbq pork came with a broth on the side. Lord that broth was good! You are supposed to pour the broth into the noodle but i couldnt resist and went ahead and drank it.
The noodle was pretty nice, but I am
Not a huge meat eater so after a while, I got tired of my generous portion of bbq pork.
Didn’t have to wait for a seat when we thought seating may be an issue. Lots of foodie and people who knew what they were ordering at this restaurant so you know you’re getting the real deal. Service was spectacular, for asian restaurants standards, seriously! Very knowledgeable, kind, gracious and prompt. Presentation was great. Only thing is the price is not street food price so that goes against the experience.

Went here for lunch with a friend.
Super cute inside.
Definitely chillax atmosphere.
Service is very basic… what you would expect from a place like this.
Food was good, not the best I’ve ever had.
Overall, the food is a bit spicy… not for me but my friend cannot handle spice… it was too much for her.
Chicken sausage ball skewers… yum!
Papaya salad-​good but slightly dry
Beef dish was excellent and sticky rice!
Tom yum was pretty standard
Chicken wings were just ok

We are from Milwaukee and we got there too early. So, we called them and asked if we could get in early.
This place sells real Thai that you can get real taste. Everything that we ordered was good so far. We got Chicken meatball and Tiger cry for appetizers. Our main dishes were Hoi Tod (mussel pancake), Kao-​ka-​moo (pork leg with rice), and Bah-​mee with BBQ pork (egg noodle). Delicious!!! Five stars for everything. I asked the staff for a special dish, she offered me Hoi-​tod which was not on the menu, and it was so AMAZING. We ordered Taro in coconut milk and Kanom-​tuay (something coconut on top of thai style jello) for desserts.
The staffs were so kind. Totally, feel like home. The cooker said she has gained her energy when customers give her compliments.
This is my Thai restaurant in Chicago for sure.

We decided to stop in here last minute during the first snowfall in Chicago and were pleasantly surprised.
We ducked in from the cold and were immediately de-​iced by the warm and friendly smiles that greeted us.
We ordered the Gyo Tod — fried wontons stuffed with chicken and ate them instantaneously. I dunked every bite in the sweet chili sauce that came with it. At one point, I was not sure if we even ordered these wontons or not? They were gone really quick. I mean, who doesn’t love fried things. *wink* Stop judging me.
So, back to it. The menu is extensive and I opted for the Khao Lard Kra Praw — stir fried ground chicken with basil and thai chili served over rice. I was not disappointed by any means. It was a large portion and I anticipated getting a to-​go box however, I could not stop myself from eating it all. The snow falling outside made me do it.
This dish had the perfect amount of flavor and spice and was not greasy. You could also get it with a sunny side egg however, I politely declined since I am an egg whites kind of girl. Still, don’t think it could have been any better.
My boyfriend ordered a broth filled with wonders. He devoured it. There is evidence of the deliciousness in my photo.
A huge bonus is that this place is BYOB and is great for date night or even a casual night out with friends. Definitely give it a try if you love Thai food, want to start loving Thai food and if you just want to be around good, happy people.
A little gem as they say.

The food is good. Above average Thai food and pretty authentic.
We’d recommend grilled chicken and larb. Also because it’s hard to find good grilled chicken here in Chicago.
The service on the other hand is quite slow but it’s understandable since they just opened a few weeks ago. Hence –1 star. But they also give us some snacks so at least they tried.

I just finished eating here. And I am so happy and full. This place is not your typical Thai restaurant. It’s way more awesome.
The food tastes so light and fresh. #8 sliced beef tastes like it was marinated in happiness and was cooked perfectly. I also had fun eating lots of E-​Saan rice, which is just stick rice for your hands. The Miang Kham was really nice starter. The Tom Yum soup is packed with lemongrass and ginger. My main course was the Lard Gai chicken, which I asked them to make spicy. They knew just the type of ballsy spice I wanted while still being conscientious of my whiteness so it was just on the delicious threshold of my spice limit. So tasty, all of it.
On top of that the service is fantastic and the place is really clean and gets a lot of light. There’s a bunch of folks from Thailand working here and they’re all super smily and nice. The waitress and cooking staff were friendly and attentive but not overbearing. I’m so happy this place exists now.

I went there during their soft opening. It was pretty good. I am excited to go back when they are offering their full menu. As of 10/​15/​2015, they are only offering 2 entrees and some apps.
We had #23, Rice noodle with stewed pork soup and meat ball and #18, Chicken over ginger garlic rice. I liked the pork soup better than the chicken rice. HOWEVER, I will have to state that we did order this to go and when we got home were kind of confused on how to put together our foods. I think we messed up but hey.
We also had the fried rangoons which were really great. WE also had the chicken wings which were ok. We really want to get back but are kind of disappointed that they are not offering pad thai,
Is that insulting to think that all Thai food should include pad thai?