Dong-Ah Food

I love this place. I always get the korean chicken wings. That’s pretty much all I go there for, but it’s always consistently delicious.

I’ve known about Dong-​ah for over a decade now and their famous Korean honey chicken wings are on my top 3 favorite wings of all time located within the Chicagoland area. Dong-​ah is a small mom and pop Korean grocery store offering catering to go. I can’t vouch for the other things they offer such as their, groceries, noodle dishes or veggie omelettes but I can say that their chicken wings are delicious. In fact, It’s what this place is best known for! This store could probably stay a float selling their wings without having the storefront and grocery.
How are the wings you ask? I’d describe them as plump, meaty, juicy wings; deep fried to have a crunchy outer skin only to be drenched in a sweet hot pepper flake honey glaze. Is your mouth watering yet? Cause mine sure is!!! The wings are sold in several party trays; the small rounds selling for about $ 8.00 all the way up to big party trays selling well over $ 50.00+. And when they do fill your tray, they make sure you get your money’s worth. Last I ordered wings from them, the wings were a heaping mass that were piled well over the edges of their foil trays. Noice. Brought them to a party and they were gone in under a half hour.
The old Korean gentleman behind the counter is super sweet and kind. Be patient with him (his English is limited but he can understand basic conversation) and just ask for the wings. He’ll then ask you «what size?» Just specify or ask which size tray of wings you’d like. There’s a selection of tin foil tray sizes so choose the one that best fits your hangry/​party needs. It’s best to call in or order in ahead of time (few days beforehand) so you don’t have a long wait time. They’re located in Lincolnwood, IL in an ethnic strip mall along Touhy avenue past the intersections of Touhy and Crawford. They have a parking lot but the spaces are tight and close together. Park off to the side for (wider) parking spaces.

I’ve only really gotten the chicken here — for the past 20+ years and it’s delicious! Really really good and the price is fair or I would even say less expensive than many others out there.
This place does function as a grocery store and a food catering service, so it’s low key — you order your food and you pick it up.
The only thing is that there is a bit of a language barrier with the cashier and who ever answers the phone and sometimes I’m not quite sure about their pricing, but the people here are very nice and somehow there’s never been a mistake made with our orders so they must be doing something right!

Best wings ever! I order them on a regular basis for family parties and they’re always the first ones gone. I had my first fix a few years back when a friend brought them to a Christmas Party and I’ve been addicted ever since. The wings are underrated and I’m surprised it hasn’t been on a TV show like Diners, Drive ins and Dives.

THE BEST KOREAN SPICY HONEY WINGS EVER! They’re delicious, crispy, hot, fresh, and oh so yummy sticky good!!!
Seriously, for all the people whining about service — get over it! It’s not like you’re eating there! They’ve never screwed up my order and it’s always been prepared quickly. The older guy and the older women aren’t social people, but whatever. I just want wings and wings is what I get from here.
I’ve even just showed up at 5:15, ask for $ 20 worth of wings and within minutes Javier from the back kitchen shows up with my glorious sticky wings. Didn’t even preorder.
Weekends & holidays — better get there early before 4 or 5. They do have a life too!

Dong-​Ah really is the epitome of «Mom and Pop» place. The kind old gentleman is still working behind the counter and is still one of the friendliest store clerks I come into contact with. Over the years he has incorporated a little Tagalog when he speaks to his Filipino customers and I really love him for that. This store and strip mall have seen better days, it’s kind of run down, it’s dingy, but their food never disappoints.
The main reason we stop here is for the Korean Chicken Wings. They are sticky and sweet, crunchy and meaty, definitely delicious. Don’t be sad if you arrive and you don’t see any ready at the counter, they cook these up all day long. Just let the the clerk know you’d like an order and he will call back to the kitchen and your order will be ready in a short time.
We also like their chap chae (glass noodles with veggies) and their kimbap (like a Korean california roll). You can pre-​order large orders for catering and each time we’ve done that, the food is fresh and prepared well.
Their grocery area stocks some basic Korean cooking staples and kimchi. I’ve recently come to like Korean soda and they have a small selection in their cooler – the grape is my favorite.
Great, now I’m craving Korean chicken wings… yum.

By far the best korean fried chicken wings anywhere ! However I will add do not ever expect to get your order if it a holiday or even if you placed your order 4 days ahead of the holiday –if they tell you 3 pm be their by 1 to insure you get your order because they are extremely. The wings are top notch and something that keeps this grocery store in my heart as a go to chicken wing place $ 8.00 for a small container but we’ll worth it.

One word AMAZING! I’m a frequent customer in Dong Ah. I’m always ordering in bulk for the holidays. I don’t make it a habit of ordering at last minute but in those few times I have they are always willing to accommodate my request. In addition, their food is off the chart especially their honey glazed chicken. The lady owner is so friendly and always welcomes me with a great big hug. They have me as their customer for life. Thank you!

I work in healthcare and of course I’ve had the delicious sticky chicken at many pot-​lucks. I love Asian food so much that it was only fitting that I marry this cute Filipino girl ;-) she tells me that the parents of a good friend from high school own the place… so as I write this I’m trying not to be biased, but to be fair, I had the sticky chicken before I knew of the family who owns the place. Fast forward a few years later and me and my Filipino cutie are holding hands walkin’ into Dong-​Ah around once a month. We mainly stick to the bulgogi, sticky chicken (duh), and chap chae. I’ve never had bad food from here, and it’s worth the extra trip to the ATM for some cash. I’ve brought it to my parents before, and it was all gone before I knew it… everything there is a crowd pleaser. My in-​laws have been going there for years and have tried a lot of different bulgogi in the area and swear Dong-​Ah is the best around. The store front isn’t much to look at like others have mentioned, but I’m not going there for what it looks like… I’m going there for what counts… the food that makes my taste buds sing!

My best friend used to always have these wings at her family parties. I loved them so much, I decided I wanted to get a tray for my party yesterday. I put the order in about 2 weeks ago, then called again and confirmed on Friday that the order was for Saturday pickup. My brother in law went yesterday to pick them up at 6:30 pm, calls me and tells me he’s sitting in front of the store and they are closed!!! The store hours says they’re open til 8. Why the hell would you close early??? I never even got a phone call from them! What kind of business does that? I had a party of over 30 people and guess what? NO WINGS!!! It was supposed to be one of my highlight dishes and I was looking forward to them since I haven’t had these wings in YEARS!!! I was SO pissed and disappointed… I mean REALLY??! GTFOH. BTW, they only accept CASH!!!
*edit
I called about a week after the incident and the store owner tells me he closed early because of a wedding. Um, hello? You know about weddings you attend at least a MONTH in advanced. You couldn’t tell me the day I placed the order that you would be closing early? Or how about the day I called again to confirm my order? You couldn’t tell me then either? Or the day of or the night before… you couldn’t CALL me and tell me hey come get your damn chicken wings early b/​c I’m closing early for a wedding… COMMUNICATION goes a LONG way as a business owner!!!

This is a take out restaurant poorly disguised as a grocery store. They have the saddest shelves I’ve seen a place that isn’t going out of business. They have maybe ~15 pantry staples and that’s it (e.g. gochujang, gochugaru, cabbage and radish kimchi, soybean paste, seaweed, dried mushrooms, sesame oil, pancake mix, hot drink mixed). But no one cares because people only come for the ready made foods anyway.
The wings were great — $ 7 for 12 of the meatiest drumsticks I’ve ever had from a restaurant. They are very generous. The tofu ban chan was spot on. I also bought the beansprout soup which I’m saving for later — I’ll let you know how it is.
Other ready made stuff they sell include: radish +beef soup, the fixins for you to make your own bibimbap, yukaejang, chap Chae, fried fish, various vegetable ban chan, Korean pancakes. The menu changes daily!
Cons: cash only, too far from my home on the south side. The only gochugaru is produced in China.

I had a chance to try the Korean fried chicken wings today and they were so good! I can’t elaborate on the service or wait because it was take out and someone else had picked it up. The taste of the wings were enough, though, to get me back here soon.

i just wish these delicious goodies were closer to me. Essentially what you have before you is a no none-​sense, strip mall grocery store offering some of the best Korean honey wings available in the Chicagoland area. The only draw back is they only accept cash.

tried it twice. both times ive tried the honey chicken wings. first time trying it was from a party and someone brought it over. thought it was pretty good and was curious on how it would of taste with it was freshly made. so i decided to make a trip here again with some friends to try it. their service wasnt that great but it was expected from a korean place. but the wings was delicious. its sweet with a little kick to it. i would of gave it a 4 star but the service only allowed me to give it 3 stars.

Dong-​Ah! THE place to go for honey chicken wings. I’m not even Korean and I just love their food. It’s just absolutely amazing. The place is so ridiculously run down, but don’t let it deter you from the yumminess of the food you are about to eat! :)

Probably the best wings I’ve ever had. Around $ 6 get you like 20 – 25 wings and their absolutely amazing.

Chicken wings are great. Just unfortunate that you have to be Korean or police officer to get prime service no matter how busy it is. It happened to me and about 10 other people waiting in line for chicken on superbowl Sunday.
Oh well. The chicken is the best I’ve ever had!

Cam Sam né Da — thank you in Korean. That’s what I always say when I pick up my candied Chicken wings. The mando (potstickers) are good too but are meatless. The chap chae (stir fried vermicelli noodles with veggies) is tasty but could use some bits of bulgogi (sautéed beef). I’ve been coming here since 1998 and they are consistent with their food.

Hands down the best honey chicken ever. Ever!
I used to frequent this place when i was younger and before Hmart and Assi took over the asian food mart business. I went back recently to find it ridiculously run-​down and gross looking. I was a little sad to see it this way and frankly, puzzled at how they stay in business. I only went for one reason anyway, their chicken honey wings (cue angelic music). I haven’t had the honey wings in years and for some reason craved the nostalgia so decided to make a trip out there
It was as amazing as I remembered it. and even more. I haven’t been to another korean mart where they serve chicken wings as delicious as they do. I see why they are still in business and I hope they stay forever. FOREVER! They are incredibly generous with the quantity as well. The wait is a little long (not too long though) bc they were preparing it at that moment but the wait is so worth it.
I highly recommend this place for their chicken wings!

I’ve been going here for years and it’s been getting progressively worse but I’ve been giving it the benefit of the doubt because the location is convenient for Korean food (closer than H-​Mart).
Well, tonight was the final straw. I purchased the pre-​made ingredients for bi-​bim bop. I got home, opened it up, and it reeked. I’m not sure how old it was but it smelled like it was a week old. I promptly drove all the way to Skokie from Evanston because I was incensed. I nicely told the old man at the cash register that it smelled. He apologized. He told me that they were probably all old and that I should get the smaller containers. I put them at the counter and he told me he was going to charge me $ 2.50 more. I was like, «are you kidding me??» You sold me old food and now you’re going to charge me extra for a replacement? He returned my money and then said the smaller ones were $ 2.50 each. I told him to forget it.
Not only does this place sell old food needing to be inspected by the health department, it has completely lousy customer service. I’m never going back to this place again no matter how good the wings are. I’ll drive the extra 4 miles to H-​Mart, thank you very much!