Spring World Restaurant

***This is review is purely for the restaurant prior to it joining Tony Hu’s empire.***
I have to say Spring World was a staple and constant as I grew up in Chicago. My mom actually new the owners, a lovely couple from Yunan with an adorable daughter. They eventually ended up opening another restaurant close by (
). The wife was also an amazing chef and her Yunan spicy fish was one of the things I looked forward to the most.
However, I recently heard from my mom that the wife recently passed away after being diagnosed with cancer so the husband resorted to selling this restaurant. It seriously broke my heart when I thought of how kind they’d been to use over the years and our frequent and regular trips there over the past 8 or so years. Even when I had come back to Chicago during college breaks, they would always remember and ask how everything was going. Due to these many reasons and the delicious food, this restaurant will forever hold a special place in my memories.
Notable dishes that stand out in my memory are the Famous Yunnan Cross-​Bridge Rice Noodle, Pan Fried Pork Buns, Twice Cooked Pork, and of course the specialty Yunan Spicy Fish.

The name was changed to Lao Yunnan. I was told the ownership was switched a month ago. The chef is still the same which is great. At least my mushroom dish tasted the same.
My son’s scallion pancakes were fried perfectly. My spicy rice noodle soup was huge, red, and delicious. The portion was a bit overwhelming for me. Saved some for dinner.
The service was definitely better this time. I was welcome by a waitress when I walked in. The dishes showed up very quickly. And the tea pot and ice water glasses were filled up frequently.
I have zero resistance towards mushrooms and noodle soup. I will come back for more.

Gotta downgrade you, sadly.
Thursday’s meal consisted of the spicy pigs’ feet, green beans, beef with mushrooms, house scallops and the pick 3 appetizer.
Green beans and beef dishes were tasty, consistent with the other times we were here. This time the spicy tripe wasn’t as good compared to the multitude of fimes I’ve had it before. Cucumbers weren’t marinated long enough and the spicy pigs’ intestines were neither spicy nor tasty.
Pigs’ feet were like a completely different dish from last time. They were sticky. They literally stuck to my teeth with every bite i took. House scallops looked nothing like the picture, which showed stir fried scallops in a black bean sauce. We got scallops with pea pods swimming in a white sauce. There was a lot of sauce.
Waitress seemed real impatient with us. She sure spent a lot of time with the table next to us. Maybe because they spoke Mandarin. Not cool.

Spring World is one of my go-​to places in Chinatown. I want to say it has the best Niu Rou Mian (Spicy Beef Noodle Soup) in Chicago that I’ve tried. For around $ 7 you get a huge bowl of noodles in blood red spicy broth, with tender chunks of beef and pieces of spinach. I probably come here at least twice a month, there really is no competition. Appetizer bar is a great value for $ 5, always very authentic offerings.
The restaurant also has a lot of other choices, they are known for their mushroom dishes that are supposed to have health benefits. Thus, all the stir-​fried mushroom dishes and the mushroom hotpots, etc.

I have been going to this place for a while now, and I didn’t know it had a Unilocal page because I always knew it by it’s Chinese name, «Hong Tashan»
Some people on here complain about the service. I half agree, but the ladies who work here are super nice even though they don’t speak English very well. If you need something, I don’t think it’s rude to look over at them and politely shout «excuse me» or «fu wu yuan!»
My other complaint might be that it is a little too salty and oily. But I often tell the waitress «easy on the salt and oil» and the food is fine that way.
Over all, this is one of my favourite Chinese restaurants in Chicago. Order the spicy boiled fish, ma po tofu, dry fried chicken with chili, over the bridge noodles, and be sure to get the cold appetizer. It is 4.99, and you can select three items from the buffet. Just tell the waitress you want the cold snacks, and follow her up to the counter.
Also, this place is BYOB. I asked the waitress if they had beer, and she just told me to go next door to the liquor store where they sell six packs of Asian beers from China, Japan and Taiwan.
Overall, I am extremely impressed by this place! And I do think the people who run the place are good people!

We had a brunch here and tried quite a few of their Yunnan Province spicier offerings. All of the dishes were well prepared, tasty, and a bit on the spicy side with lots of use of chili peppers, but none were overly spicy. Not having knowingly tried Yunnan cooking in particular in the past, it seemed very similar to Northern Szechwan preparation. Amongst the servings:
spicy dumplings
chive dumplings
onion pancakes
spicy chicken with ginger
spicy chicken with rice cake
lamb with ginger (tasted like beef with a hint of lamb)
beef noodle soup (spiciest dish)
beef tendon
mixed mushrooms
peapod leaves
I enjoyed all the dishes except maybe the chicken with rice cake, as there were only small pieces of chicken, and the little rice cakes were like chewy cubes of dough. This place is easy to overlook as one walks by their unassuming exterior façade, but they do have high quality offerings. Water service was a bit lacking though as there was just the owner lady and a couple of other young servers, and the place was packed when we left.

For ages on end, my friend introduced me to this place because of the broth and fresh noodles they make. Sure enough, she came in with me (along with two other friends). It was a semi busy dinner hour. One big table was occupied, along with three of those couplet tables.
For a good laugh, we get SOAPY tasting plastic glasses of water. Since were were given tea first. If you’re Chinese, you’ll get tea (love the stereotypes here… sure enough we were all Chinese/​Asian looking). They just lashed at us with their Mandarin. My friend did all the ordering while we amused ourselves with the menu full of error (Vogetable, ever tried any anyone? Do I see a hand? Oh no, it’s not vegetable… it’s VOGETABLE. Might be something genetically altered from vegetables! And you won’t be getting chicken. they make sure of that. It’s COCK SOUP. Hmmm… I wonder if it’s another word for rooster or the phallus? AKA penis? Rooster penis? Cow penis? Deer penis? Horse penis? Hmmmm)
By this time, two fruit flies decided to take a bath in my cup of tea. And the «dinner soup» came. It was given a special and unasked protein boost of another five fruit flies.
Food arrived soon after we «cleared the soup.» Since we ordered the raw meats (fish, shrimp, and chicken) with «mi xian» (noodles made from rice with a silky texture). We were enjoying this while one of my friend was late.
He arrived around the time when we were already eating (this would be a good 20 minutes at this point). He ordered his food and at this point, Harry Potter and his accomplices put a spell at the place! The place was magically packed. All tables were filled. The waitress came by once to check on us. No water was filled even though it needed filling.
Then a group of Chinese people (heavy accented from the southern province, maybe even some relatives of the boss?) sat down on the left of our table (close to the counters/​cashier)… stared at us (boy, I loved the attention!) And talked to the boss or something because they made a reservation and they didn’t get their table. The boss came over to us because the new customers were situated close enough to «take over» our quads of tables.
We told him we were still waiting for food and he seemed unconvinced so what he did was started taking the utensils, dishes, and bowls from our tables, dragged one of the tables over to the group of people who made a reservation but didn’t get a table. They were about a party of 7 too! And the round table in the restaurant were there even longer than us (who were White/​Italian/​Irish/​etc etc).
My friend who arrived late, ended up having to pack his noodles to go UNTOUCHED. But got a chance to enjoy the technical atmosphere of hostility with a personal touch from the BOSS.
The waitress came over to give our «leftovers» and silently apologized to us saying how the boss was in a bad mood. For not being able to kick us out early enough? On time? Because you didn’t reserve the table because you miscalculated I was slow at eating?
I vowed to never go back. And for the word, I really wish all the non-​Chinese speaking folks to know, it’s such a hostile experience I’ve ever experienced in my life. And I’m a quiet Chinese by the way: D

The food here is really good. The service, eh, not so much. But hey, as long as either one is met, then I’m a fan.
The spicy stew fish filet is so good. It runs at around $ 15, much more expensive than Lao Sze Chuan, but oh so much better! The fish filets are huge and the stew its in is very good. We had left overs, and I can’t wait to just use the left over stew and dress it over hot white rice, yum!
The cold appetizers are awesome. You choose 3 different kinds for $ 4.99. You have to go to the front and pick them there. Some of the things in the menu aren’t all available, so that was a bummer. But you must try the beef slices and intestines. So unusually delicious. It goes well with the kelp side dish too.
The only flaw about spring world is their service. My cup of water tasted like dish soap and the waitress only came a few times around. They are not very attentive to costumers and won’t come around refilling water. I also notice that there were a lot of fruit flies around our table, maybe from the plants? I don’t know but it was annoying having to shoo them away constantly. Other than that, food is fantastic and they really know their spices. Will def come back to try others, but the fish filet is a standard for me and they hit the spot! :D

This is my favorite restaurant in Chinatown, and my favorite Chinese restaurant in Chicago.
Spring World specializes in food from Yunnan Province, but I’ve enjoyed every dish I’ve tried on their menu.
A few of my favorites include: spicy cold noodles (mala liang mian), mapo tofu, lamb with cumin, shredded potatoes, and the greens in garlic sauce (either kong xin cai or Chinese broccoli).
The dishes range from spicy to savory to mild — basically, this restaurant has something for everyone. It’s also in a prime location in the New Chinatown plaza, so you can go shopping at the little trinket shops or get a fruit smoothie after dinner.

There’s painful-​going-​in-​AND-​out spicy, and then there’s fragrant delicious drink-​the-​hot-​sauce spicy.
This place is the latter – really good hunan region chinese food with their fragrant chilis. You walk into the place and the smell is just wonderful.
Be sure to try their cold appetizers, and the dumplings in their hot oil. If you don’t like spicy… well, there’s a few non-​spicy dishes too, but not that many, but they’re also good. 4 of us ate here for $ 8 after tax and tip. Awesome! I’ll be back.

Want authentic chinese food? look no further. I can’t believe I have walked past this place so many times and have never tried it until now. The menu is extensive could be somewhat overwhelming.
The dishes served range anything from the traditional americanized to authentic chinese. If you feel adventurous, try some of the uncommonly found dishes such as the pig ears, kidneys, etc. etc.
— Kidneys in garlic sauce: wonderful, very tender and spiced just right.
— The pick 3 appetizers deal: you walk right up to the front counter and there’s a display of the daily selection. According to the waitress the choices change daily so go look for yourself. The choices range from bamboo shoots to spicy seaweed to pig ears and intestines. You get quite abit of food for the $ 5 pricetag, well worth it.
— The noodles: all of them look great. Tried the traditional yunnan dish (don’t remember the english name but something loosely translated as crossing bridge rice noodles). It came in a variety of pieces including broth, noodles, and condiments which the waitress mixed all together tableside for us.
Overall this place deserves alot of praise for the quality of food but sadly they no longer have the stinky tofu. Apparently the smell of it scared away customers, go figure.

Nothing is better than good Chinese. In a sea of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, how does one choose? I was drawn in by the bright, beautiful décor.
We ordered hot and sour soup, spicy pork dumplings, and sesame chicken. We made sure to steer clear of the frog and pig intestine dishes, I’m not very adventurous.
The hot and sour had a nice balance of hot pepper zip and sour zing of black vinegar. The texture was a little bit thicker than broth and was a nice blend of tofu and other vegetables… not over done. It warmed up my taste buds. The pork dumplings were good, but swimming in a pool of hot chili and oil. Spicy enough to make my nose sweat. I love, LOVED the sesame chicken. The outside was very crispy and crunchy while the inside was so tender. That sesame sauce was rockin’.
Only downer was my stomach was doing summersaults for hours after. Too much oil.

Delish.
Pan fried tofu comes with a ton of spinach. Veggie fried rice is more than plenty on a plate. Egg rolls are also tasty, and good for veggies since they have no meat. The servers aren’t the most attentive, I’ll agree. If you’re a sweet, fruity tea fan like myself, don’t drink what they put on the table (but it’s typical Chinese place).

Real nice Clark.
I think they specialize in Yunnan cuisine, which I have only tried once before, in Shanghai. I liked it there, and I like it here. I have ordered the Yunnan style fish, the Ziran Yangrou, and the mushroom+beef (104?). Everything has been really good, and similar to what i had in Beijing and Shanghai. Maybe if you went to Kunming or Chengdu it might not be the same as what you’re getting here, however.
Service is good whether you are Yazhou de or Laowai de. I speak Chinese but I havent’ had to use it except once to ask for some huajiao to give to my dining companion. That stuff is weird.

One dish that I really really loved here was a stir fried pork/​bean curd/​mushroom/​leek dish. I have no idea what it is called, but there is a picture in the menu, and when I saw it I thought «my mom used to cook this and I love it!» so I had to order it. It was delicious and I would definitely come back just to order that dish.
Other things we got were all right: the salt pepper seafood was standard, and the noodles were oddly bitter, as if the black beans were overcooked and burnt. My friend said the last time she came and got them, it was much better.
Anyway it’s a clean place, and the bathroom cracks me up, because it’s un-​matchy fancy, just how a typical Chinese person would decorate. You’ll see. And get that pork dish.

Growing up in the Chicago area in the 1980s, I was always under the impression the Chinatown was the capital of gloppy Amero-​Cantonese food and C– dim sum. Developing a taste for regional Chinese food after several years on the West Coast, I was worried to return to Chicago, the retrograde land of chop suey. Luckily, the scene is looking up in Chicago and Spring World is leading the way in terms of deftly-​prepared authentic dishes suited to those whose tastes have progressed beyond egg rolls and General Tso’s chicken.
Far inland from imperial Beijing, sophisticated Shanghai, and busting Guangzhou, Yunnan is one of China’s least developed and most ethnically diverse regions, and its cuisine is a distant cousin to the more refined traditions of the south and east. However, peasant foods are usually pretty delicious, and the cuisine’s meat-​flecked, vegetable-​laden, greasy stir fries and other dishes do not disappoint. A few selections from neighboring provinces in western China, like Sichuan preparations and cumin-​scented lamb from Xinjiang, round out the menu.
Spring World’s menu is brimming with photos, so ordering is not generally a problem, even for the uninitiated. Although some reviewers have complained about the service and of potential racial bias, this Jewish-​American has visited frequetly and received nothing other than perfunctory Chinese restaurant service, if not slightly better than average to boot. But then again, chances are I’m not ordering the moo shoo pork or the sesame chicken. Other diners would be wise to do the same.

I didn’t really appreciate Spring World until I started wandering to other Sichuan places. A Chinese friend of mine brought me here in 2008 and told me it’s his favorite place to eat in Chicago. He told me that the food here was very similar to what he ate at home.
The moment I tasted their Mapo Tofu I was hooked. It was the first time I had tried something with mala (I think that’s what it’s called) which is a very unique kind of spiciness that’s signature for Sichuan cuisine. It’s not just spicy in the sense of red chili spicy (though there’s certainly some of that) — there’s a certain sort of dry numbing action which takes place on your tongue, topped by a layer of soft oil. It’s complex and unique and amazing. I had their fried fish and scallion cakes too, which were good, but it’s really the Mapo Tofu that impressed me. They also make it vegetarian.
From then on, I ordered Mapo Tofu whenever I saw it on the menu anywhere else. And guess what? It’s not the same anywhere else. That complex numbing spiciness I described? They don’t have it in most places. I’ve been spoiled by having the best the very first time.
So I came back, and still order from them often.
Minus a star for
1. Only being friendly when I’m with my Chinese friends
2. After two years of having me as a regular and faithful customer with an almost identical order each time, having absolutely zero recognition of me. I mean zero. Each time I go in it’s the same staff and they look at me like it’s the first time they’ve met me. They ask me what I want and they ask for my name and then they ask me to spell my name. Not even a spark of familiarity. I can’t explain it.
Still highly recommended.

My friend went to dinner here for a work event and liked it so much that he told his girlfriend that he wanted his birthday dinner there… even though his birthday was 6 months away! Fast forward all those months and we all trekked down to Chinatown to celebrate his birthday. Spring World is BYO and there’s a liquor store right next door. We ordered a TON of food and then shared it on the lazy susan at the table. Very tasty. Probably the best I’ve had in Chinatown, but I haven’t been to Chinatown a ton.

I actually like this place more than Lao Sze Chuan, ever since that place became super popular.
Start with the appetizer platter, you can go up to the counter and pick 3 or 4 different apps for like $ 5. I love the pig’s ear and the tofu skin
They also give you a seaweed salad as soon as you sit down that’s super addictive! Sour and a little bit spicy!
Come here over Lao Sze Chuan if you want a less crowded, slightly cheaper and super authentic meal!
Also I think they validate parking

Even if you are stone cold broke, you deserve a treat every now and then. Spring World’s overly generous $ 4.00 lunch is just the thing for the under-​employed set.
Here is what $ 4.00 gets you: a bowl of soup (their choice, if you are lucky it is the amazing hot and sour), a choice from menu A and a choice from menu B, rice and tea. Yes, TWO entrees, meaning you can actually get 2 or 3 meals out of this tasty splurge.
Even the Americanized Chinese is pretty decent here, but I’d suggest sticking with more authentic offerings such as the ethereal Szechuan Tofu (although I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for their Kung Pao chicken and the husbands eternal General Tsao’s chicken is not as odious here as at other places).
I have no idea how they stay in business with this lunch special, but I’m not going to look a gift-​horse in the mouth, heck no! Keep in mind, you may have to ask for the lunch menu as they do not automatically give it to you, perhaps for the aforementioned reason.
Hands down, the best lunch special in Chicago.