Lai Lai Korean Oriental Express

It’s okay. The Korean express side is good. But, the staff in the lai lai side is rude, and the wait times can be long. The food in the warning pans on the service line for either side isn’t always up to temperature, sometimes things aren’t hot.

Omgs! This is truly a case of me letting the Unilocal reviews prevent me from checking out a fabulous hidden gem!
First off, this review is for the Chinese Food side, and not the Korean, I didn’t even realize they had chinese food in here, and my boss referred to it as «cat food» so I assumed it was a dump… so wrong! I wish I had found this place sooner!
Seriously, hands down some of the best Chinese food I’ve had here in Chicago, it’s flavorful and has just the right blend of meat to veg ratio — not bogged down with endless strips of onion like so many other places (who puts onion in chicken and broccoli anyway??)
First try, Chicken and Broccoli, while my boss had the Sesame Chicken which is more like General Tso’s with some sesame seeds thrown on, so the next time I chose that — expressly happy with my meal. I will admit I had to wait while they came out with some fresh — 5 minutes at most? And so nice to have food that hasn’t been sitting under warmers all day.
The lunch special gets you a drink and crab rangoon thrown in — with actual crab in it, not just a blob of cream cheese! The girl behind the counter is super nice and friendly.
I won’t go so far as to say this is as good as it gets, but for Chinese food in the loop?
YAY I’m a fan!

I go there from time to time to grab food for my husband who says the food is ok. My issue is with the older lady that seems to run the place. She is a complete B$%^&. She says no to everything even if you want to pay. I asked for some cucumber that they typically put on top of a soup on the side because my husband would be reheating it later in the day and wanted the veggies to stay crunchy and add after warming, she said no… On top or you don’t get it. I was working with 2 younger people who were very nice and understood what I was asking and not asking for anything for free. She kept saying no. I asked for a side of Kimchi she said no it doesn’t come with soup. I said your sign right there says Kimchi is 1.50. I asked for a side of vegetables and she said no. She told me I ask for too much. Well if i ask for to many things so my husband can eat his food with a nice consistency to it after reheating it, I won’t go back. She is completely ignorant!!!

Waited 20 minutes for a wonton soup to go, while the rest of the order sat on the counter. Nothing creative to add, just bad process and service. Lots of other choices nearby.

I would give it Zero stars if I could.
I ordered a simple beef fried rice. 20 minutes later I still did not have any food. I asked where it might be and was told that a lot of orders came in before mine. Then I asked how long does it or will it take? Again, I was told that a lot of orders came in before me. I said, ok, but everyone that came in after me already has their food. How long will it be? They could not give me a straight answer so I waited 5 more minutes then asked for my money back. They couldn’t even do that without running back to the kitchen twice to check on some one else’s food. As a final insult, the clerk tried saying that she told me it would be a long wait, which she clearly did not, because where does it EVER take 30 minutes for a simple order of fried rice?
I won’t go back here again.

Ate here for the first and VERY LAST time today! It was close to closing time and the 2 employees on duty were far more interested in cleaning up than in interacting with a payng customer. The service was indifferent and even colder than the food — which they had to warm up in the micorwave for me,
However, the worst experience by far was the food. Flavorless, insipid, ultra salty. exceedingly spicy. In other words, inedible! I ate the rice but could not handle more than a few pieces of the pork. I complained but they really had no time for me. Didn’t ask if I wanted to try something else. The lady behind the counter just suggested that I add the couple of packets of sweet and sour sauce she threw at me.
Stay the hell away from this place. I didn’t like anything about it. Surprised they can pass the city hygiene inspections.

Pretty sure the place is half Korean (on the left), half Chinese (on the right). The prices are very hard to beat here, especially for the amount of food they serve.
Korean — Chicken or Pork Bulgoki… FIIIIIIIIIIIRE. Dakkochi is great, also.
Chinese — Spicy Chicken. It will remind you of how Panda Express cooks their Orange Chicken. This dish blows Panda out of the water.

The Korean express has the best lunch deals, food is amazing and it’s SO CHEAP. I was craving korean one day, asked around for a food truck and my entire office was shocked that I didn’t know this gem of a store front existed.
It looks like a hole in the wall but the food is so legit. Don’t let the burger joint next door pull you away, get the brown rice alternative, enjoy fresh veggies and spicy pepper paste.
Also the kimchi soup is just like mom makes. KamSa HamNi-​da Korean Express. You’re doing it right!

Never had Korean food but I decided I’ll give it a try and I went vegetarian. I got the bibimbhab which was mixed vegetables (cucumbers, slivered carrots, bean sprouts, lettuce, cabbage maybe bok choy, slivered zucchini and mushrooms) served over your choice of rice (brown rice $ 1 extra) and topped with noodles (I’m guessing rice noodles) drizzled with sesame oil. You can get hot sauce (it’s spicy) on the side. Huge serving if you eat it here. Not sure of to go serving. It cost me $ 8.03 with tax.

Lai Lai is a great little place that you may just miss — but you better not! There are two sides, a place to get noodles and a place to get other dishes. I go for the noodle side because they have vegetarian options which can be vegan.
My coworkers introduced me to Lai Lai and now we go at least twice a week. It’s a short walk from our office so it makes it very convenient to get away. The service is fast and friendly and the price point is pretty excellent.
My two favorites are the #1 Bibimbahb (extra huge portion) and the #8 Jabche (perfect portion size). Both have veggies and your choice of brown or white rice and you can have them throw on some sweet potato noodles which are delish! The Bibimbahb is enough to have two meals (for me) and what I love the most is if you choose to make it spicy they will really lay on the Sriracha.
I definitely recommend Lai Lai and obviously we will be back, with some new recruits for sure.

You know, this place deserves 3 stars in Korea, but it’s a solid 4 star for a fast food place in the Loop.
You want bibimbap? They have it. Spicy tofu soup? Yup. Galbi? Bulgolgi? Ramen? Not the best in the world, but they have it. Personally, my favorite dishes are the spicy tofu soup and the noodle soup (not sure if this is either Korean or Chinese… betting neither, but more Chinese than Korean).
The spicy tofu soup is spicy. Like, the kind that will leave your nose running, but it won’t wreck your work day. They also give you a nice size bowl of rice, so it makes a good lunch for a reasonable price. As for the noodle soup, I swear that they make their own noodles. Or, they have them premade and boil them up. Still, that’s a far cry from some instant noodles.
Other dishes… the bibimbap is enormous. The kimbap is good enough (pain in the ass to make).
Seriously, walk in with «quick lunch» expectations and you’ll walk out with above average satisfaction.

I think I won’t be going to Lai Lai anymore.
This past Friday: my friend ordered his usual order of spicy beef with won ton soup. This time he placed the order via phone. From what he told me he repeated the order more than once that he wanted spicy beef with won ton soup.
About 15 minutes later we are at Lai Lai and we were surprised that his order was incorrect, no spicy beef. So once again we had to wait several minutes for them to correct the order.
Also while at Lai Lai I placed my usual order of a small size spicy sesame chicken. What amazed me was the server claimed oh, this is just regular sesame chicken. However when I got back to the office and tried it, it was spicy sesame chicken as I wanted.
The food is good, it’s just that the customer service is still bad.

Always have a good lunch when I eat here. Try the chicken bulgoki, it’s spicy and delicious. The price is very reasonable and the portions are generous.

whoa do they have spicy chicken! My eyes were watering with the first bite and as someone who is typically let down when restaurants list food as spicy and then it’s not this was a fantastic surprise. I got the lunch special which included the chicken, rice, spring roll, and pop for like $ 7.
While the people behind the counter weren’t outgoingly friendly they weren’t rude and they just served you the food like any other place would.
I paid with cash but there is a $ 5 minimum if you are paying with credit card. eat there or take out, it’s good, fast, and cheap.
Big fan. I’ll definitely be back

When I am craving Korean food, I always come to Lai Lai and order the bibimbap. I found the food to be authentic in flavor. The bibimbap comes with a lot of variety of vegetables such as leafy greens, zucchini, cucumber, carrots, bean sprouts, and mushrooms. You can choose any meat with your dish. I always go with the pork. You can also pick the sauce you want. I always go with sesame oil and their spicy sauce. That sauce is spicy but so good! The place loses a star because their employees are inconsistent in the amount of food they give you. Some give me more, some give me less. The cost is $ 6.95 but ends up almost a dollar more at $ 7.70 after tax. The place accepts credit cards so thats a definite plus. There is some seating in this place if you want to dine in.
I always bring the food back to work with me to eat and all my co-​workers that stop by my office have said how good my bibimbap smells. I could eat here everyday if I could!

Food was edible; but what really made the experience terrible was the soda from the soda fountain. This ‘complimentary’ drink (we had 3 different sodas) all tasted horribly. Clean the lines! We pointed this out and they said we could ‘upgrade’ to soda cans for an extra 50 cents.
Thanks but no thanks, We will be avoiding this place in the future.

So I usually reserve my patented wordy Unilocal reviews for the higher end spots, but hell — coworkers and I have to eat. That said, the two times I’ve come here for work lunch have been so mediocre that there won’t be a third.
First time I tried the Korean side and got the «bibimbap.» Like a few other reviewers I was surprised to discover that what I was served was not even close to real bibimbap. Now places are free to riff on dishes and frankly can do whatever the hell they want, but then you indicate that as such on the menu. Especially if your sign advertising the bibimbap is right by your eggs (precooked, really?), the lynchpin of the traditional dish’s components AND THEN YOU DON’T SERVE IT WITH THE EGG. Strike One.
Alright fine, so they are serving Somethingelsebimbap. It’s not good. First off, the veggies are all a weird mix and simply don’t make for anything enjoyable. Second, they serve it with some pork instead of beef and the pork is stringy and pretty tasteless. Absent any of the flavor you usually get from the protein, the egg, or even the dolsot crispy rice, they put on a gochujang based sauce… which would be fine, except somehow even that’s just meh at this place. It baffles me even recalling it how it was so mediocre. Strike Two.
So clearly I did not enjoy the korean experience, but there’s still the «oriental chinese» side, right? I guess… expect tasteless renditions of beef broccoli, sweet and sour blah, your whole Americanized rundown. This would be fine, and this place might even squeak by with a completely undeserved three stars. Except then I get harassed when paying for not knowing what their difference between a combo, a special, and the daily special is. F**k me, right? Undeterred, the work folks and I sit down with our «special» fountain drinks and notice this completely off taste in all of our drinks (different fountains, so it’s clearly the machine)
I’m unshocked at this point, but my coworker very pleasantly goes up to report and please ask if we might be able to get cans for this time only due to the problem. Nope, no dice, she’s also rudely informed that that’d be $.50 more: cue menu special rudeness from earlier: despite their clearly dirty/​disgusting soda machine. Strike Three.
It all really comes down to them being so cheap at every turn that they make weird changes to food and sacrifice quality. A few misguided reviews on here claim that this makes them authentic or is excused by the fact it’s cheap/​a lot of food. It’s not, and it doesn’t matter — three strikes and you’re out Lai Lai.

Wait, so the location at this exact spot for «Korean Express» is now listed as closed, but this one’s open? Uh, ok. I guess it kind of makes sense since this is really a dual Chinese/​Korean place and not just Korean.
Usually I come for the faux bibimbap, which is served in an aluminum bowl rather than one made of hot stone. You miss out on the burned rice, but at least you can feel a little healthy loading up on veggies. You do have to pay extra if you want an egg on top or brown rice instead of white.
The Chinese food is your typical greasy Americanized comfort food. It’s cheaper than the Panda Express up the street, but about on par taste wise. It’s not healthy, but sometimes you just want some sauced up chicken and rice.
You won’t find much else for Korean in this corner of the Loop, and it’s an acceptable choice if you’re craving it or a decent serving of vegetables.

Huge portions on the bibimbap and it’s passable for lunch, but it’s nowhere near the actual thing that’s served in a hot stone bowl. The kimchi was good as was the beef on the bibimbap, but altogether, the dish was too soupy to be bibimbap. I’d go back for a quick lunch next time the urge for Korean strikes.

I came here when other places are too crowded. They do have enough seating area.
Tried the Korea part dew times. Ordered different kinda of noodles. Very average food. Price is reasonable. I will try the Chinese food next time.