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Categories: Chinese, Sushi Bars, Japanese [Edit]
Neighborhood: Lincoln ParkFullerton (Purple Express, Brown, Red)
Mon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 3:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
"You know what the worst part about moving is? giving up your chinese place. or finding a new one. i found shine late in the game. I've…" read more »
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Everything I've ever gotten from Nan's has been disappointing. Not all of it was bad, really. It's just that I've never gotten anything good from Nan's either. I think Brandon H. is right, everything does taste pretty much the same, no matter what you order. And considering their outrageous delivery price ($6.00 in a city that generally ranges from free or $3.00), I can't justify eating mediocre food.
This place was only worthwhile on those rare occasions that one of us wanted Chinese and the other wanted sushi. There are better options for both in Chicago, so really, just pay the extra delivery fees to order from two different places. It'll probably cost you the same, and you'll end up happier in the end.
Well.. Let's start with the good.
Online ordering via GrubHub. Delivery was fast. Egg rolls were deep-fried and hard, pot stickers had a good flavor.
Now the bad.
Regardless of what I put in my mouth, it all had the same flavor. I'm not sure if this is because they cooked everything in the same oil or what, it was just strange. The flavor wasn't *bad*, but its omnipresence was a bit annoying.
After placing a $40+ order, we received no white rice. Go figure.
The pot stickers were almost deep fried. I liked them, but I've eaten at a lot of Chinese places and I've never seen that before. The wife did not like it at all.
The beef chow fun was about 85% noodles, and 15% beef. Disappointing. The container it was served it was the old tin-foil-leftovers type, and spilled just about everywhere.
The chicken fried rice was OK at best.
I was wondering why I didn't have a review for this place already, and now I'm pretty sure I know why.
Absolutely disgusting! I just threw out most of my delivery order from Nan's because it was horrible. I ordered a combo appetizer that had fried won ton, shrip, egg roll and ribs. The egg rolls and won ton tasted like they'd gone through the fryer a few times. The shrimp were so over-battered, I couldn't taste the actual shrimp. For my main course, I ordered sesame shrimp. Unfortunately, they had the same kind of over-battered shrimp as the appetizer.
The only part of my meal I was able to consume were the sodas and water. No more Nan's for me!
My first and second time eat at Nan's was just okay, nothing really impressed me. Last night was was my third time went there with friends. We ordered couple of sushi Rolls and we asked the Chefs to make Special rolls that are not in the list.
I have to admit that the Chef's really did a great job for the Special roll, it was finally surprises us. Plus..he gave us an extra side of sashimi to try, and we love it, fresh!!
I kinda like the dinning atmosphere too...
Next time I'll come back I am going to order Chef's special again.
Very disappointing. The mealy vegetables and sopped breading I received with my Kung Pao Chicken were totally devoid of any actual chicken. It was as if they existed solely as a vehicle for the syrupy sauce. The pot stickers were no better: they were greasy and deep-fried. Normally I don't review after only one meal but the fundamentals were so bad I don't think I'll be back.
Why is this place double listed? There is already a listing for it with the same address.
I just finished eating Nan's takeout. I have eaten in the restaurant several times and it was never remarkable but was always decent. Not this time. Bleh. Not good. The sushi was standard but nothing special, the Lo Main tasted like a dirty wok full of grease and a burnt flavor, I could barely eat it. The potstickers were mushy, not hot, and the dipping sauce tasted like acid or vinegar. They did not include napkins or forks. I wish they would have given regular sweet/sour sauce. It was a really disappointing dinner.
I just finished eating Nan's takeout. I have eaten in the restaurant several times and it was never… Read more »
In need of Chinese Food Carry-out?! Order Nan's online today! 10% your first online order... which basically negates the delivery charge. I can't speak for the entire menu, but the Chinese food I've gotten from here has been delicious. AND they are super speedy! Food arrives stat. Great place to order from when you do not want to leave and are hungry now... will be my go to Sunday hungover food.
Ewwww! Ewwww! Ewwww!
I picked up dinner from here last night after a long run and I could not have been more disappointed. They even forgot to put wasabi in with my sushi so I had no option to mask the funk sushi they serve here.
I ordered some sashimi/nigiri pieces-- toro, maguro and tako. They were each SO chewy that I only took a taste of each before spitting it out. Hacking up nigiri is never a fun time.
I also ordered the Tequila maki-- which was maybe 2 stars because the jalapeno and cilantro masked the rest.
Overall, this is a cheap sushi option, if you like fish that has the texture of chewing gum. Only good part was that I ordered through http://foodler.com so I was able to use a 25% off coupon.
I used to be a regular customer here because of http://restaurant.com, but it's been a couple of years. This place is still on http://restaurant.com, but with a higher minimum purchase amount ($25 off of a purchase of $50+).
I've never tried the Chinese food here.... and reading these reviews on here.... I don't think I ever will.
I used to enjoy the food here greatly, but I have become a pickier eater recently. I was scared - Would Nan's stand up to the expectations?!?
Crabby Dragon roll (soft shell crab) --- tasty
Some other roll w/ white tuna that was a special for the night --- I hate cream cheese in my rolls. I hate it when I order without actually reading the menu carefully.
Toro (fatty tuna) sushi --- this was the 3rd time I've ever order this. The first 2 times were not great. I keep wanting to like it though because it's supposed to be awesome (and c'mon it's the most expensive piece of sushi.) This time, the toro was at least in the "good" category. Not awesome.
Super white tuna --- Good.
Ikura (salmon egg) --- Ditto.
Salmon sushi --- just OK. Not quite at its freshest. Damnit, I saved this as my last piece because it's usually my favorite. This was just sad.
That last FAIL of the night was redeemed when the chefs gave us a (surprise!) free off-the-menu roll. It tasted better than any of the food that we actually ordered. It was a roll with shrimp inside, lightly seared tuna on the top, spicy mayo, and a sprinkling of scallions on top.
Ack! I wish I could give Nan's an extra half of a star, just for old times sake. But it might be time to move on... :(
I'm kind of at a loss as to how to review this one...
My recently-sushi-obsessed friend and I have been trying out different sushi places around the north side, and she was adamant about dining at Nan's. The online reviews made me reluctant to potentially waste my time and money there, but in the end my friend won the battle of the sushi, and we went.
I was pleasantly surprised at first... it was BYOB with no corkage fee, and it's a cute little place with cheerful servers and staff, so there's a star. I had the White Dragon maki, and it was DELICIOUS and really beautiful, and my friend had the House Crunch, which she claims is her favorite maki in the city, so there's a star. The food was surprisingly inexpensive, so there's a star. Last but not least, the chef sent us a complimentary orange dessert, so THERE'S a star.
So why, when it seems I should have given a 4 star review, have I only given 2, you ask? Ok, I'll tell you...
As my friend and I were cheerfully exiting Nan's for a night on the town, the host dramatically chased us out the door, making a scene in front of a few groups of customers and/or pedestrians standing outside the restaurant. He said "Excuse me!" so naturally my friend and I turned around, and to our surprise (and embarrassment) the host said (loudly) "You did not leave a tip!" (We did leave a tip.) Now the groups of people gathered outside are looking at us like we're deadbeats, and the host is standing at the door awaiting our next move.
**Note from the author- I consider myself a good tipper- dependent upon the quality of service, but never under 20%. I would never even CONSIDER stiffing a server on a tip, unless (s)he purposely spit in my food, gave me the finger, or slapped me across the face. So now you know. **
My friend and I looked at the people TSK TSK-ing us on the street, and infuriated I said (loudly) "Of course we tipped! You can't be serious!" The host shook his head and held out our bill, off of which the (generous) tip had mysteriously vanished. I said, "Our server was great, so we left him a very nice tip- will you please go check again where it could have gone?", and after rolling his eyes, he turned around, noticed that his manager was holding our tip, quickly apologized to us and ran back inside.
Okay, WHAT THE HELL NAN'S?! Who are you hiring? Not only was it completely inappropriate for your host to chase us outside and publicly embarrass us without reason, but here's another head's up for you: IT IS NOT MANDATORY TO TIP! Yes, I agree that no one SHOULD leave a restaurant without tipping, but in no way, shape, or form does your host have any business chasing those outside who choose not to.
So, that is my reasoning for eliminating two otherwise well-deserved stars. Say goodbye to that host, Nan's, and perhaps I will return someday.
I got the mongolian beef and miso soup.
It was alright nothing too spectacular.
For some reason, my co-workers love ordering from this place. I refuse to eat food from here nowadays after giving it several tries.
The chinese food is mediocre at best, at worst it is just plain gross.
The sushi contains low to medium quality fish. More than 75% of the time, the fishy is pretty fishy...the mark of low quality sushi.
I ordered take-out from Nan's one time and it was only OK. On the other hand, when I dined in on a separate occasion it was really nice. These pictures don't do it justice - I love the décor. Pleasant lighting, beautiful reds, and wood accents gave it a fantastic atmosphere. We sat at the bar, and the chef was really nice. Finally, when we went they had a "SUPER SPICY VOLCANO ROLL" special that made my head explode. Not because it was too spicy, but because it was too awesome.
I have ordered from Nan's many times and I continue to do so because it is very tasty overall but there are always slight issues with my order.
We use foodler (http://www.foodler.com) so I will give them credit that these issues might not exist had we dined at their location.
I love love LOVE the wonton noodle soup - always spectacular. Their orange chicken is also good and very spicy but their cashew chicken always lacks a key ingredient - cashews! We ordered last night and if there were 3 cashews in the entire thing that's giving them some credit; not the first time this has happened either. Their appetizers like crab rangoon are also quite tasty, as is some of their sushi, but some noodle dishes are overly sauced... but still tasty.
The mishaps usually come in that smaller items usually get left out (e.g. ordered 2 cans of soda one night, never received them). I have found, however, that if you leave special instructions when ordering, this helps to eliminate the problem. you just have to remember to remind them not to forget things you feel are important, I guess.
Normally when we order, it takes about an hour for delivery. My advice is just to be prepared to wait and if you are starving, try ordering somewhere else. Last night our order took nearly an hour and 45 minutes (which was 45 minutes after the time they had said our order would arrive). I'm not a big complainer but I actually called Nan's to see where our food was and the guy who answered gave me a long speech about how the delivery guy had a bunch of smaller orders in my neck of the woods and was probably delivering those first. He then proceeded to list at least 5 different addresses which was weird because I just wanted to make sure my food was on the way to MY house.
I took off a star because of our experience last night but I will honestly say that we will probably order from Nan's again, just to give them one last chance. Despite the constant mishaps, they have good food at a decent price.
I rarely ignore bad Yelp reviews, but a friend highly recommended Nan's, so I checked it out despite the rough comments.
Glad I did! I didn't think it was bad at all! First of all, the Chinese food is almost embarrassingly cheap and plentiful. Everything comes in a small and a large size, and the small sizes are like $4-5. So me and my dining pals opted for two different small dishes each. Holy cow. Leftover city. I had the chicken fried rice and the shrimp egg foo young. Both weren't the best versions of the dishes I'd ever had, but I still enjoyed them thoroughly, the meat was good quality, and the leftovers heated up well.
And with the BYOB feature, my total tab for a group of 6 was $62 + tip! Really, can you beat that!?
Let me just start by saying that I was in a hotel, and this was one of the menus offered (another was Bacino's, but that's another story). Plus, I wanted noodles. :\
I'll begin the ordeal by the simple issue of simply calling to order. It took me three tries to get to someone, with weirdly professional-sounding hold messages and disconnects in between. Taking time to order was not an issue, though the person on the other end of the line had a lot of trouble with my phone number. The order came early, surprisingly.
But that's when things began to go wrong. The order came with NO UTENSILS! No forks, no knives, not even chopsticks. Felt humiliated mcguyvering chopsticks out of two pens. Considering it was delivery to a hotel, they should have expect that. WTF?
The food itself was...meh. It was neither the chicken nor the lo mein noodles that concerned me, it was the vegetables. Usually, those things don't bother you, but this case they did. The peas were literally spotty, the corn was suspect, and the onions were disgusting. The noodles were actually kind of good, rather doughy and not too greasy. Chicken was as expected.
Needless to say, now going to order there again.
There are very few good things about Nans. But it gets an extra star for being cheap and for being open late (you can order on Grubhub post-10pm close).
They have the weirdest potstickers ever. They're not dumpling-like at all, they are pried like wontons in a deepfryer. Really bad. And so is their sauce.
Crab rangoon. I don't think it's real crab and the cream cheese is bad tasting.
Sesame chicken. So unflavorful. It's literally like pieces of fried, unseasoned chicken thrown into a goopy sauce.
Orange beef. To quote Yelp "meh. I've experienced better."
I've never gone there for sushi so maybe what the stars are about, but cannot recommend the Chinese delivery at all. Hoepfully now that I have reviewed it I can remember this myself.
Nan's is convenient, affordable, BYOB... So when did they start charging $3 to open bottles? Perhaps I should have gone with sushi instead, but the Chinese I ordered was not so hot. I ordered Vegetarian Schezwan Broccoli and my dinner came without broccoli. Needless to say, there was decent flavor and a generous amount of deep fried tofu. Service was ok, nothing special and brown rice was not on the menu. If I get food from Nan's again, it will be takeout with my wine at home!
So first, they screwed up our order, leaving a few items off (but still charging us,) and getting other items wrong. When I called and asked them to refund my credit card for the items they left off, the manager asked if they could just give us a credit on our next order. After tasting the food, I had to call him back and tell him that I really just wanted the refund. We're never ordering from this place again. If we can make it through to morning without throwing it up, it will be a personal victory. I'm not optimistic.
Totally ordered the beef and broccoli with FLY special. NEVER AGAIN WILL I EVER EAT FROM THIS PLACE! The Meat Looked disgusting and the broccoli tasted like fish... These people have ruined that dish for me FOREVER!... Thanks Nan's! Here's to another unsatisfied customer! I know where to send my enemies.
I guess I won't be ordering delivery any time soon! The delivery horror stories have even got me feeling sicky in the tummy.
Anyway, went here awhile back & was really impressed. We went late & were the only one's there, but they were very accommodating & nice. We ordered sushi & it was quite tasty. Nothing new, nothing exciting but damn good. It was BYOB too & no corkage fee, so can't really go wrong there.
I would say dine-in at this cute little modern restaurant, but never get delivery or take out based on previous reviews.
Oh Yelp. I should have listened to you before going here. I was stupid. I'll never make that mistake again. I promise.
Regardless of the 2.5 star average, I decided to go here for lunch anyway. Poor, poor choice.
I got the Orange Chicken lunch special, egg roll appetizer. Egg roll wasn't bad, greasy, as egg rolls come. Sweet and sour sauce strangely reminded me of Wendy's....
Rice was dry and hard. Not fun to eat as rice usually use. Orange chicken...not very orangey...not very flavorful in general. Chicken was dry and overcooked, and the breading wasn't really appetizing.
Oh Yelp, I'll always heed your warnings from now on.
My Review | (Edit)
OK food. Ordered a large hot & sour ($5.25) which was only about 2/3 full. The hunan chicken was satisfactory, plenty of chicken and good quantatity and variety of vegetables. The veg. eggrolls were good as well. I think all in all, this place has a decent menu, the portions are pretty good, the quality I would say is satisfactory, that's it. But certainly not terrible.
Okay, well I am definitely a fan now. I returned about two weeks ago with a different crew. A different sushi partner always spices things up, since you can just used to ordering the same old rolls.
Ocean drive is still a fav, and the volcano or dynamite one was great. I think we may have ordered two. We just kep ordering food and no one was unpleased....until dessert. Not sure what the ice cream balls, or what have you are, but they were not that good. Some friends liked the chocolate one....but I would rather just fill up on sushi.
For a BYOB place...it's a little pricey. The portions are big though and the fish seems pretty fresh.
I didn't want to say A-ok, but Yay, I'm a fan is giving this place a little too much credit. I… Read more »
Despite the bad reviews, I had a good time. I just stopped in because I wanted to drink the giant beer I'd just bought a few blocks away, and I was looking for a BYOB place to have a light meal, too. Went in and sat at the bar and had a spicy scallop hand roll. It was pretty delicious. My boyfriend had the spicy tuna hand roll and he enjoyed it. We split an alaska roll. The king crab in the roll was kind of bland but otherwise it was fine. We then got 4 pieces of free spicy salmon gunkan maki, and those were really good. We talked with the chef while he was preparing the food, since the place was empty. He was really nice, and we joked back and forth and had a good time. Will be returning since my boyfriend works in the area.
eh, not great not absolutely terrible. The main reason for my visit was the http://restaurant.com coupon, and if it wasn't for that i would not dine here. The fish texture was lacking and some rolls were just bland. There were a couple of rolls that i did enjoy, but i can't remember what they were exactly. Overall, you can probably skip this place, although it is relatively cheap.
By far, the grossest Chinese delivery I've ever had.
Slow, cold and inedible. Both times. Yes, I gave them a second chance after the first debacle.
Crab rangoon, tasteless. Mongolian beef, slimy. Sesame chicken, funky and inedible. Not sure if it was even chicken.
NEVER again.
I tried this place for the first time today and had a great experience. My group of 3 ordered several sushi rolls, including the spicy crunchy tuna, Alaskan, and the tequila roll. My favorite was the tequila roll, which included cilantro and was flavored with some lime juice; it was unexpected in a sushi roll but it worked really well!
After sushi, we ordered dessert: chocolate ice cream, green tea ice cream, and chocolate mousse cake. All were delicious (we shared everything). The ice cream was presented in an interesting and beautiful way; 4 wedges of ice cream were served on a plate with a cherry and leaf (mint?). The chocolate cake was a three layer cake of goodness.
We went for a late lunch and had the place to ourselves. Our waitress was attentive and helpful, and the building had a nice balance of elegance and family-friendly decor - pretty screens balanced the brushed chrome (and easy to clean) tables.
No review needed...Straight up Garbage!!!
Couldnt even finish my meal
dont trust anyone that actually likes this place...they cant be right in the head
I think the problem with Nan's is the consistency of the food. I've been here about 4 times, and ave probably had 2 very good meals and 2 very bad meals. The hot and sour soup (when on) is delicious. We also agreed the pot stickers here are quite tasty. We typically get the mongolian beef and a lo mein. The food tastes good, but you can kind of tell it's low quality. I also really like the volcano roll. The spicy flakes are delicious- I don't even eat the fish! The bottom line is the food tastes ok and you get a great value for your money. As long as you are ok with food poisoning 15% of the time it's a spot to go to.
4 stars just for how nice everyone at this restaurant. I feel like everyone who works in Nans really cares how the restaurant does - they aren't there just to go to work! I really appreciated their genuine hospitality.
It's a mix of Chinese and Japanese food including sushi... we only tried the Japanese food & sushi and nothing from the other side of the menu. Decently average. My favorite was the small house salad...it had slices of apples, mangoes, and oranges mixed in - that was all a pleasant surprise :) Plus...BYOB! Nice! I'm rooting for them to do well. :)
Not worth it.
Nan's was the only place delivering Chinese after 11pm, we knew the reviews on Yelp weren't so hot, but we were desperate.
We ordered the orange chicken, chicken fried rice, and mongolian beef. The orange chicken was white meat, but mostly breading (I hate heavily breaded meat in Chinese food) and was not spicy at all, just syrupy and mostly flavorless. The mongolian beef was just beef with onions (again, not spicy, lacking flavor). The fried rice wasn't bad, but it's sort of hard to really screw up fried rice. We got free egg rolls with it that were absolutely disgusting. They tasted flour-y, which is weird, and had a strong cinnamon smell, but again, lacked flavor.
The food arrived hot, and quickly, but it was simply greasy and flavorless. I wouldn't order again.
I just got delivery from here. beware. it is disgusting.
not only was it 40 minutes late but the crab rangoon tastes like nothing. the general tso's is an abomination. the chicken is soggy and the sauce is terrible.
never order from here. totally not worth the money.
all you get is a big batch of frownies :(
WORST PLACE TO GET CHINESE FOOD DELIVERED FROM
It is not even worth the 1 star I gave it. My food was cold and felt so sick afterawrds. They didn't even give me sauce for my dumpling :(
I've done Nan's take out and delivery over a dozen times for various in-service presentations t/o the City. Overall i'd say it's pretty good and the food is always a hit.
The packaging does leave a bit to be desired, though, and on more than one occasion, sauce from some of the aluminum trays which the food is in, has spilled and made a complete mess. I have talked to the owner and he has taken measures to address this.
He always throws in extras, which i love. Extra Egg rolls, Wontons or Pot stickers and the "party tray" portions are always very generous. I usually go w. a Sweet & Sour, a Kung Pao and a Veggie lo mein, to insure everyone's dietary restrictions are covered. Like I said, the attendees have all raved about how good it is, so it's been well received by many people over....plus I usually get to snack on some things here and there and happen to agree.
This is only w re: to the Chinese food, I cannot comment on the Sushi.
Delicious Sushi. Terrible English. Ordering and communicating with the staff is an event in and of itself.
I have been there twice, once on a date which went great. The other time with 5 other people. Ordering with a group was the biggest fiasco. The waiter did not grasp the concept of splitting the check, half of the table got their food 15 minutes before the other half, and my friend and I got two rolls of sushi that we didn't order. They compensated by giving us a free Dragon Roll, which was very nice, it was just very, very confusing because the customer and the waiter could not understand one another.
Over all, great food, but the service was not so hot, we had to get our own silverware and ask to get more water....so that was lame.
I have to give 3 stars because of the date night which went great, whereas the group night was terrible.
it is BYOB, but there is a $3 corkage fee now.
also, go to their website and print off the coupon that gives you a free california roll if you order more than $25.
I went here after seeing a show at the Greenhouse.
I thought the food and the service were excellent. I had sushi, my friends had Japanese. They were open late (after 10pm) and let us stay even as they were closing up.
The only negative was that the waitress hovered a bit; not a big deal, but just noting.
My delivery of orange chicken had a small cluster of staples (like the kind you use to refill the stapler) in it.... enough said.
I will never order/eat here again. Go down Fullerton (at Clark) to House of Hunan, they have never tried to serve me office supplies in my food there.
I would go back for the sushi not the chinese food. I wasn't a big fan of their fried rice (I'm pretty particular) and it seemed rather bland even when I tried to drench it a little with soy sauce which probably made it worse. However because I was satisfied with the sushi maki's I ordered I will probably go back for that.
Nan's delivers just about everywhere in Chicago. They've spread themselves too thin. It's impossible to get a delivery with less than an hour and a half delivery estimate... Even then, it usually comes half an hour late.
Do NOT order both sushi and hot food in the same order. Your sushi will be fishy and warm, or your hot food will be cold... Or worse: both.
They double-charged me for their already-overpriced delivery on more than one occasion. $12 to deliver $20 worth of warm, terrible sushi after I've been waiting for 2 hours is not my idea of value. Even if this place is the last place that's open, go to bed hungry. It's that bad.
Don't get me wrong, I've ordered there a few times and had okay food, but it's really disappointing when I order a $40 sushi platter and it all arrives soggy, warm, and reeking of dead fish. The good experiences are far-outweighed by the bad ones and the management isn't even worth dealing with.
Best Uni of Chicago
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
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Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Sushi Bars
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Category: Nightlife
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