Ping Pong
Categories: Chinese, Asian Fusion [Edit]
Neighborhood: Lakeview3322 N Broadway St
(between Aldine Ave & Buckingham Pl)
Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 281-7576
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
78 reviews
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
"So damn good. The atmosphere here is great -- clean and modern, but not annoyingly so. I have no idea why something so simple impresses me…" read more »
131 Reviews for Ping Pong
Hands down the best pork fried rice I've had in the city outside of Chinatown. BYOB and there is a bar so plenty of options if you want to drink. The interior of the restaurant is small, but super trendy. Techno music, dim lighting and white everywhere. Don't go here if trannies freak you out because I've had one as my server every time I've been. Oh- and the chinatown eggrolls on the appetizer section of the menu sound weird because they have peanut butter in them, but they taste like regular egg rolls- really good ones. Get them!
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I avoided Ping Pong for-ev-er. Something about that all-white oh-so-mod decor and what-have-you. It just rubbed me the wrong way from the street-side.
But since finally venturing in -- since they'd taken over the old Mamacitas -- I must say the food was fantastic!
Chicken was incredibly tender. Service was prompt. And prices were good.
The only drawbacks are
1. The two seaters are uncomfortably close together -- but hey, if they're doing great business (they are) why not max out the seating potential?
2. The acoustics. Sweet Christmas -- sit indoors and try to have a conversation. It's terrible for conversations. I would never go here on a first date unless it was dead, which is probably a liklihood that will happen close to never.
But don't judge like I did! It was a comfortable atmosphere and the food was fantastic at a good price. Deffo recommend.
I've been here once on a date and it was alright. The food is quite good actually, its the atmosphere I can do without. The place does not look like an Asian restaurant at all. I felt like I was going to be meeting up with Carrie Bradshaw and the gang. I can't remember if our server ever said anything to us. It was like being handled by robots - trans-gendered asian robots haha. Oh well, I'd get the food again anyways. The orange chicken was pretty tasty.
I've only been there once for a date...
I stayed on the safe side with my order as I had Pad Thai and California rolls. It was really good!! My friend had some kinda chicken dish and she liked it a lot. Another thing I love about this place is BYOB!!
I did hear that it has a open bar before I went there. I was not impressed because it is right next to the entrance, when it gets crowded it literally blocks your way in and out.
I would like to back and try some more stuff though.
I prefer their take out over sitting down to eat, because the place is so cramped, but still delish! they aren't very close to any train, which is a bit of a trek, but it's worth it everytime i come.
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Another restaurant in my hood...well I have been to Ping Pong for many years and I used to love it ! That was when Ping Pong was a third of the actual size. Tiny and very cool. The food was always ok - long menu but always too salty - anyway that was a nice hangout, very cheap and fun.
I guess getting older I am not attracted to it anymore. the place is huge and when it's crowded it's crazy loud !!!
I still order for take out when I am really on the go but otherwise NO.
I think the food is flavorless and the restaurant has lost its special atmosphere.
The basics:
cleanliness = excellent
air = well vented
service = good
noise level = bad - very noisy
scene = mostly students - young people - gays
yum....understatement......yum yum. i am kind of a health conscious girl (when I am not eating pizza or chocolate) and this place has light options for the people who enjoy asian food but not the caloric side effects. I recommend the tofu harvest. healthy but tasty. and i cannot live without edamame in my life only wish they had larger portions of it with their serving size. suggestion...put one in my hood
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After living down the street from Ping Pong for the last year or so, I finally had the chance to eat here. Overall, it was a really great experience. The interior is very plain, just bare white walls. We wanted to sit outside, but the wait was 20 minutes, which was odd since there was at least 1 empty table. They waste a lot of precious outdoor seating. The tables are arranged in sets of 3, so 6 people could sit there, but they sit 2 people at 3 tables that are pushed together, totally doesn't make sense. Now that we've discussed seating let's move onto service...service was meh. Our waiter really couldn't care less. He took our order, but never stopped back to check on our food or drinks. I had to flag him down to get another glass of wine and I am a big wino, so don't mess with my wine. Our food was great. We split an order of potstickers which had the perfect dough to meat ratio. I had pad thai which was pretty solid and my friend had mandarin beef, which was amazingly delicious. The restaurant is a little loud, so if you're looking for a quiet romantic restaurant, this isn't the place, but it is the place for delicious cocktails and yummy asian food.
My husband and I have been coming here for years and we have tried over half the menu. The portion size is just right, and they have entrees that run from 8-15 dollars. I love the Kung Pao Beef while my husband loves the noodle dishes.
The bartender once sent over the tuna sashimi dip to thank us for our loyalty. If this ever happens to you, be warned not to accept unless you are prepared to be drawn back to the restaurant on at least a fortnightly basis to get your fix. It is awesome.
The staff might appear pretentious and uber-cool but they have been warm and helpful to us over the years.
It can get crowded on weekends so I suggest dining early on Fri-Sat nights. FYI: they have outdoor seating.
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Is this a screening party? And what film are we watching? Ping Pong is a pan-asian restaurant in the heart of boystown. The decor is minimal with white walls and big projection screens.
We (party of 8) waited and waited and waited. After 2 bottles of wine, we were ushered to the table. The host himself cuffed arms with me and pulled my chair out like a true gentleman. Now that's service! We started with crab rangoons and hot and sour soup. Delish. My sesame chicken was full of flavor and delectable as ever in it's bed of white rice. I snuck a bite of Ashley B's tofu sesame and was envious that I didn't order the same after basking in it's strong flavor and smooth texture.
We were bid goodbye with a happy ending of chocolate covered fortune cookies. Me likey.
Be warned, the music in the bathroom pumped through my ear canals reminding me of shopping at A&F back in the high school days.
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I enjoyed this place a lot. My friend suggested it after cruising Yelp looking for a new place for a weekend dinner. The wait was long but it was fun to crowd watch and it was nice that we could sip a martini while waiting. My friend and I both had the pear martini. It was not as smooth as I would have liked but it was good and priced just right.
We decided to splurge and get both the chicken lettuce wraps and wasabi fries for appetizers. We didn't expect the portions to be so large! Both were awesome, especially the wasabi fries. I seriously couldn't stop eating them. I want to bathe in the wasabi mayo!
I couldn't decide between a chicken or shrimp dish so I ordered the Singapore noodles which had both (had them leave out the pork). It was good. It had an unusual flavor but I enjoyed trying something different. My friend had the curry chicken which I would order next time.
I was hoping to try the great wall brick for dessert but we were way too full. Next time! I also just saw that they deliver which excites me immensely. Hmmm, maybe I really can bathe in the wasabi mayo!
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Don't love it. Don't hate it. My panang curry with beef was pretty tasty but my wife's General Tso's chicken was a bit tasteless and dry. The crowd is funky. The atmosphere is simple. The music is loud. This place is most fun when it is warm and the front windows open up to more seating on the street.
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After living here for 2 years and walking past the minimalistic Ping Pong, we finally went when family was in town. I never wanted to go in here because it seemed very pretencious. And in a way, maybe it was a bit, but it was a highly enjoyable experience. Hot towels at the beginning of dinner, a nice glass of wine and then Yum!! .99 Hot & Sour soup that was so much better than any I had before!! I had one of the vegetarian platters (eggplant, grilled tofu, etc) and wow so good! Nice to taste tofu with flavor again!! Someone else at the table had what I was going to order, orange chicken, and I'm glad I didn't. The sauce is reminiscent of the chocolate orange flavoring. ick!! Too much for me!!
Our waiter was so nice and plesant and answered all questions. Overall a very nice experience. And a bad thing for us. We discovered a new and afforable place to dine all the time. This is not good for my summer figure!!
I really want to like Ping Pong. We had these AMAZING peanut butter potstickers there about a year ago. They were a special that night, and I don't believe they've had them since.
The music is SO obnoxious. You'd think that considering 95% of the reviews mention the music being too loud, they'd turn it down a notch. I wasn't even dining there tonight and I had to repeat my name and number 3 times just to place an order for pickup. How can they even take orders correctly?
After the rave reviews of the sesame chicken, I was really looking forward to it. It was SO so so dry. The chicken rolls were greasier than ever. Eck.
I'll give them one more chance. Oh, how I wish those peanut butter potstickers would make a return...
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I was feeling quite a bit of trepidation while waiting for the rest of my table to arrive here for dinner last night. I arrived early b/c they don't take reservations, and spent about 10 minutes sitting around, waiting for my party and, well, taking in the scenery. Now, I'm from Chicago, but I've never seen a scene quite like this.
Loud techno music, a totally random crowd (including cross dressers in fabulous head-to-toe Louis Vuitton get-ups, an elderly couple dancing to the music, and, well, a yuppie couple in North Face with their newborn baby) and a menu that says something to the effect of, "We only want to serve those that are happy to be here". Huh? Hmmmm.....
But my concerns were quickly put to rest when my friend arrived and we started ordering food and drinking wine. The spicy tuna maki is amazingly delicious, as were our entrees- orange chicken and mango shrimp. The portions were large, the food was hot and arrived quickly, and our wine was yummy. After a few glasses each and all the food we ordered, and our bill was only about $50 when all was said and done.
When leaving, we noticed the throngs of people outside waiting to get in (at least 20 people) and realized that there was something to this place. I'm definitely going back to try some of their other dishes and, well, take in the scenery again.
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Simply put, Allie doesn't like Chinese food. I love Chinese food. See a quandry here?
Wonderfully, Allie loves Ping Pong. And so within the past six weeks, we've probably graced Ping Pong a half dozen times. It has become our sushi restaurant a la Carmela and Tony Soprano, except without the overt threats that the restaurant owner might be fitted with cement shoes if they mess our order up.
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Good date place.
Very veggie friendly.
Beautiful presentation, very solid pan-asian menu.
BYOB= I bring what I want to drink, and don't pay 50% markup. Plus, if I bring my own bottle I don't have to spend half an hour explaining to my date why you don't mix red wine with soy sauce. Please, people. Learn how to use your tongue. You can bend alot of rules about pairing food and wine, but seriously. Major nono. Every time I'm in there, I'm seated by a table full of obnoxious yuppies chugging Cabernet Sauv and acting fancy for it...
The food is excellent. The decor leaves alot to be desired, and the music is ALWAYS too loud.
I'll still go back very soon. With earplugs.
I am not surprised at the mixed reviews. I LOVE pingpong, but I can see how others may not.
What I love:
- eye candy everywhere. Cute, albeit gay, boys everywhere.
- food is pretty cheap, and pretty darn good. Not the best I've ever had, but definitely not the worst.
- Cheap wine that isn't bad. Try the Now and Zen.
- it's fun. It just is.
- the chocolate fortune cookies they bring at the end on a paddle
- the warm towels they bring at the beginning. Nice touch.
What I don't love:
- the servers are Bitches. Capital B. I get it, you are a crabby drag queen, but get over yourself. You aren't doing me any favors by serving me. If you don't want to be a server, don't be a server.
- the music is a bit loud
There still aren't any signs on the bathrooms, but they fixed the locks. I love pingpong. It has become a nice Sunday night tradition. Three stars only because I would love to give 3.5, but I've had better, so it's not quite four stars.
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Loved the crowd, the food, the people.
Two stars off for the loud techno (over dinner??) and the unmarked bathrooms with broken door locks. Seriously, two separate bathrooms with no signs to indicate that they are, in fact, bathrooms. Is it too "square" to put a sign on the door?
Someone unfortunately stumbled into my bathroom and my dining companion did the same thing to the unfortunate girl seated next to our table.
Ping Pong, I love the free fortune cookies served on a ping pong paddle, that's a nice touch.
I'd be a helluva lot nicer if you'd fix the locks on the bathroom doors.
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Ok, so I'm clearly way to un-vogue to dine in here, but my delivery and take-out experiences at Ping Pong (fun name!) have been great. To note, the space is designed in a very futuristic-mod-contemporary fashion and is totally high fashion. And, the place is always packed. Good sign, no?
As for the food, while it's not the best thai I've ever had, it's good. The 99 cent sweet and sour soup is a must. I would totally order it for full price. The entrees are large and traditional with contemporary twists. I like the vegetables, the curries, the rice....I forget exactly what but it was good.
I would recommend going here for a date or a night on the town. BYOB. Classic location in East Lakeview is really convenient as well.
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i have been LOVING asian food lately - and was super excited for this hip restaurant just around the corner from my apartment...
however when my bf and i went one thursday evening, we left feeling VERY disappointed.
the decor was cool - and it was FILLED with young fun people. quite a buzz! we ordered crab rangoon and orange chicken with brown rice.
the appetizer of cream cheese and crab goodness was EXCELLENT. and i really think thats the only thing that saved this meal from getting one measly star. the orange chicken was barely warm, very dry chicken, and had no flavor at all. in fact i dipped my chickens in the sweet and sour sauce we had from the rangoons! a little better - but come on.
after just one try - i really dont think ill ever be back. and usually im up for giving 'just ok' restaurants another shot.
not this one.
I've been going to Pingpong for a few years now. it has changed a lot. I think the food is good, but the portions have gotten smaller and prices have gone up. As this place became more trendy it lost its uniqueness. It used to be tiny and the service was orchestrated like a formal tea service. Now it is succumbing to the trendiness and the quality of service and food is slipping. I still go because they have great sesame tofu and the best crab rangoons ever. But... I miss the old pingpong.
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I'm usually very impressed with my food. The appetizers are all tasty. I can't complain about the prices except to say that they recently went up a little bit. It was a sad day for me, but I've managed to pony up the extra dollar and deal. I could be crazy but I think they increased some portion sizes... the fish tacos were pretty hefty last time I was there. They're really good. The chilled Tofu is also good (and interesting!). Way too much for 2 people but a good addition if you're getting a few starters to share between at least 4 people. Duck tacos are also one of my faves. The crab rangoon is about as good as crab rangoon gets. Yes, it's true.
Last visit I had sesame beef, extra crispy. It was GREAT! So good, in fact, that I ate it cold out of the fridge the next day. That's always a sign of good food.
Drinks prices are pretty average, the mixed drinks are quite good. They usually have some sort of special martini (usually sweet, but good) and it's always good to start with one. A few asian beers by the bottle (sometimes Heineken or Stella available) and some decent wines. If you like a higher-end bottle of wine, bring it and pay a $5 corkage fee.
The wait is usually long on busy nights and it can get a bit cramped standing by the bar while waiting to be seated. This isn't such an issue in the summer as the outdoor temps are more agreeable. Seating is available outside and makes for the best people watching in the City of Chicago. Period.
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LOVE this place!! Not only is it BYOB, but they still have a full bar on top of it. The atmosphere is young and hip with a pretty crowd. Hands down the best fried calamari I have ever had and the sashimi tuna dip is something I always end up craving as well. Delivery is good and you get a free appetizer when you place an order, but something was defeinitely missing when I ordered in- Perhaps it was the pulsing techno music and see and be seen crowd...
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Whenever I head out to Ping Pong with friends it seems we have a good time, and we always end up going back. If that isn't a vote of confidence for a restaurant, I don't know what is.
The food is an interesting (and tasty) presentation of American-style Thai and Chinese cooking. The General's Chicken, Orange Chicken, and Everything Fried Rice are my favorites.
They also have a good selection of drinks if you feel so inclined. Last summer I had some martini that came with a slice of watermelon skewered over the glass. Amazing.
I have only two complaints about Ping Pong. The music is always FAR too loud. It is a little obnoxious to have to yell over the music. This seems to be the general trend of any restaurant or bar in Lakeview. Also, sometime around the middle of last summer the portions seemed to shrink noticeably. Like, in half. I'm not saying that it was ever a good idea to eat the entire entree before but I would often split it and take the other half home and make a second meal out of it.
Oh, and one major plus for Ping Pong. A friend of mine had his birthday at Ping Pong last summer and the staff went all out to make sure that it was an incredible experience. They stored the many desserts we brought in their fridge while we ate, attended to our table of 8 guests very well, and when it was time to have the cake they even decorated it with their chocolate fortune cookies and candles and gave the guest of honor a free cocktail, t-shirt, and dessert from their own menu.
Added: I almost forgot to mention this. Eating outside at Ping Pong during the warmer months is one of my favorite things. It can add a considerable amount of time to your wait for getting a table but it is definitely worth it. Bring a bottle of wine to enjoy or hang out at their bar while you wait.
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While I do think my love for Ping Pong faded a bit after they expanded and started making it a total party up in der...I still have a moderate crush on Ping Pong.
I think Henry has fantastic taste, and the food, I do love. Even the Spam nigiri (though the size of it is a bit sick). I don't think you go for 'lovely service,' the servers can be bitches (sorry, bitches). But I so love them anyways. Something about the atmosphere and the boys batting their eyelashes at me makes my heart skip a beat. Been going there for eight years and still would if I still lived in Chicago. I break for the tuna dip, softshell crab, pad thai, oh, the spring rolls, and basil chicken as probably my all time favorite.
My affairs with Ping Pong has outlasted at least four long-term boyfriends and some meaningless ones in-between.
mmmmm, i love the ambiance at Ping Pong. It's hip, fun, great music and lots a pretty boys... :) I was very excited about the night, got my bottle of Veuve for the BYOB place that turned out to have delicious, naughty school girl martinis....
The lettuce cups were divine, followed by a warm bowl of hot and sour soup.... I wanted to go light, since we were planning to go out for the evening, so Kung pao eggplant and tofu was the perfect choice....
I love Ping Pong. I want to go to Ping Pong again and I want to order everything on the menu. I can't wait....
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Best parts about this restaurant = warm towelettes for your hands at the beginning of the meal and the chocolate covered fortune cookies at the end. The hot + sour soup is better than average and my tofu + broccoli dish was tasty. (Disclaimer: We waited almost an hour for a table and had 2 bottles of wine as a group, so anything would have been tasty by the time we received our food. It was our fault for the wait -- ate with a group of 8.)
The music, especially in the bathrooms, probably broke government standards for acceptable volume levels. That's my only qualm.
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Here we go, 100th review. I was trying to think of something really great for my 100th review and here are the reasons I picked Ping Pong:
Julia W.
She's a dear friend who got me yelping in the first place AND got me to Ping Pong for the first time so it will always hold a special place in my heart.
The Crab Rangoon
I'm just gonna say it. It's my fav rangoon of all time. I've decided. I feel as though I've been searching for it my whole life.
The Steamed Dumplings
Giant and perfect, I know they aren't hard to impress with but these go down in history as my favs.
The Sesame Chicken
Not breaded and gross just simply chicken in a light sauce with sesames poured over top. Simply yummy
Chocolate Fortune Cookies Drizzled with Chocolate
Need I say more?
Ambiance
So adorably hip and amusing. Loud music but eh oh well.
The Delivery Service
The delivery guy is SO nice and remembers to come around back to my hovel that faces the alleyway so I appreciate that.
Overall
Its maybe not the best restaurant I've ever been to but I've been searching for a standby quality place like this for a long time and I'm glad to have found it!
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Alarmingly average. It pains me to say this, because I was really looking forward to eating at Ping Pong, but our food was really all over the place. Combine this with too-cool-for-school service, whirring ceiling fans (why, for the love of god? It's Chicago. We can't even decide if spring has arrived yet!) and oddly loud music, and you have all the right elements to create two puzzled customers.
Let's start at the beginning. The restaurant is high on the eye candy, packed to the brim with beautiful boys, with the occasional girl thrown in for entertainment. Everyone seems super happy to be sipping cocktails and chowing down on reasonable Asian food. In fact, the drinks were the best part of the meal, especially the cucumber saketini, which tasted so purely of itself. The appetizers were hum-ho, the cantonese pan fried noodles were delicious, and the pad thai was just plain awful.
To add to the annoyance, our server said NOTHING about the plate of untouched pad thai, other than, "would you like a box for this?" When we declined, there was no further questioning, just a check that arrived super quick. Clearly these guys care more about billing you for food you don't eat than asking if there's anything they can do to improve your experience. Even the free chocolate fortune cookies (served on a ping pong paddle, no less) didn't brighten the outlook. Nope, this was not a happy evening.
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LOUD. I have eaten here once, when there was outside seating, and it was okay. I don't normally like Chinese food, but this is a low-on-grease restaurant. They have a few vegetarian dishes which are pretty descent-- nothing too special, and I only go there because I live across the street. I wouldn't go out of my way for this place. Even when I go to pick up my food, I have to shout my name and have them repeat the amount, it is seriously that loud in there. I'm under 30 too, so I don't know who they are catering to with this loud music. I think this is supposed to be an "atmosphere" place, but I can't imagine going there are shouting across the table. There's got to be better Asian restaurants around.
Ping Pong is one of the few restaurants in Lakeview worth the hour wait for a table. The atmosphere is modern, chic, and clean. The staff is very attentive and knowledgeable but not overly friendly. I find it obnoxious when the host/waiter/busboy feels the need to ask you 10 times if everything is ok. The staff at Ping Pong gets it! When the timing and quality of the food is great, there is no need for the staff to return to the table 10 times. Your neighborhood yuppies, trannys, gay boys/daddies, and the families, make for a unique mix of fellow patrons!
Consistency is key!
I've thoroughly enjoyed my meals and the people watching every time I've gone to Ping Pong. I found my "standard" dish there -- which is "everything but the sink" fried rice or "kitchen sink" fried rice. something to that effect. You get the idea. This is tasty and delicious, especially the corn, edamame, and pork. Yum.
The sushi rolls were merely okay. I wouldn't order them again. The portions tend to be a bit on the small side, which is somewhat refreshing, but those of us with, um, healthy appetites might want to keep this in mind. The fried rice is a generous portion, though. I'm usually the only person at my Ping Pong table who's not a member of the clean-plate club and I would take that fried rice intravenously if they would let me.
The drinks are great --- very strong and not ridiculously overpriced. Some of them even come with a flower. Lovely.
It can be noisy, but that's part of the fun. They changed up the decor from weird projected images on the walls to stuffed animal heads. I don't know if this is supposed to be wintery, but it's kind of creepy. I hope they go back to projected images.
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Despite it's ultra trendy nature, Ping Pong serves up some really nice Chinese food. The lettuce cups and the Ping Pong Roll are appetizers not to be missed. If you can get past the snooty wait staff, and the thumping techno, you are in for some really nice food at a reasonable price.
They are beginning to serve their own alcohol, so I don't know how much longer they will be a BYOB, but enjoy the cheap drinking while you can!
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YUM. One of good friends used to live in Boystown and we stopped in there about a year ago to eat. I don't remember all that we had, but I do remember our appetizer was raw tuna with pieces of cucumber. I am drooling just thinking about it. For the price you pay I think it was a great value. One thing I do remember was it wasn't incredibly expensive for the two of us to eat and have a few drinks.
The presentation on all the food was outstanding. I do remember that all the food was very fresh - from the veggies all the way to the fish. Check it out! You'll enjoy it.
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I just read a review about Ping Pong that said there were lots of pretty boys...and that's putting it mildly. I think they were serving everyone....at least us (or was it a woman?)
Anyway, the place is totally way too hip for my chinese tastes and the music was so loud I couldn't hear my date too well. :(
I ordered the spicy garlic chicken which was very spicy and delicious, but it was more like eating thai than chinese.
However, the meal concluded with chocolate fortune cookies with chocolate drizzled on top and they were delicious! I think next time I'll just order carry-out.
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A friend of mine took me here for my birthday, back in July, and I haven't been back since (NO reflection on the restaurant), so I'm acting off of admittedly fuzzy memory, but I know beyond a doubt that I really enjoyed it, so I feel compelled to say something.
I remember distinctly that our drinks came to us adorned with little edible flowers, which I got a kick out of, and that the look and atmosphere of the restaurant totally made me think of Sex and the City, so for any other girls out there obsessed with that show, this is a cool place to check out.
I know that whatever I ordered for dinner I thought was good, but it is definitely the restaurant's atmosphere that makes Ping Pong stick out in my mind. It was kind of quiet when we first got there, but it picked up A LOT through the course of our meal and there was a great energy among the staff and other guests. It was a good place to go to celebrate a birthday, which, looking at other people's reviews, seems to be a typical reason to go there.
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I had me some Ping Pong delivered for the first time in many moons last night and it reminded me why I love it. Any time I have guests in town I always take them to Ping Pong because people are always impressed and it requires no effort on my part. Everything from the location to the trendy atmosphere definitely makes it a place to see and be seen. Some of my local friends and I jokingly refer to it (as we do some other places in Boystown) as "S&P"... meaning it's a place to "stand and pose" or I guess in this case it would be "sit and pose". Everyone is always fashionable and dressed up in their favorite labels which gets old after while. But more importantly, what I love about the food is that everything is simple, refreshing, and delicious. For example, one of my favorites is the Sesame Chicken. It's just chicken and broccoli in a sweet brown sauce with sesame seeds. It's not too pretentious or overly seasoned with a ton of ingredients or spices. The sizzling rice soup is great and the lettuce cups are amazing. The only reason I'm not giving this place five stars is because of the music and servers. Neither are bad, they're just too much. The music is entirely too loud to make this a good date place but it's still fantastic with a group of friends. And while I've never had bad service I just think it's ok and the servers have a bit too much attitude. Then again, maybe that fits in perfectly with the rest of the decor. :)
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I live in the area and whenever I have walked by there has always been a HUGE wait for Pingpong, especially during the summer when you can dine al fresco. I had always been meaning to go, but had never made it. In any case, I finally went a few weeks back with my friend--and now model--Heather K.
The atmosphere is fun, sleek and modern, and the playlist is hilarious--everything from Fergie to Madonna to Sir Mix-a-lot. It might border on a little bit too loud, causing you to stare blank-faced at the waiters while they ask you questions. Example: the waiter asked to see our IDs before he uncorked our wine bottle and we both just smiled and said "yes." The food was quite tasty. The hot and sour soup is incredible delicious, and you can't find a better deal anywhere ($1!!!!) Now that I found out they do carry out, I can sense a dangerous habit is about to form....
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