![]() And it’s more touristy in the sense that the people who go into new Chinatown to walk around and spend their day there, they might not necessarily live there. You’ll see a younger demographic in new Chinatown, trendy places like Bonchon and Mango Mango-that's more of the vibe. “As I got older, we started going to new Chinatown more. “Growing up, we spent a lot of time at old Chinatown, mostly because there are a bunch of bakeries there and we would bring home pastries to eat for weeks and weeks,” she says. Everything south of Archer is more old Chinatown and everything north of Archer is more new Chinatown.” If you look at a map, there's a little triangle where Archer, Clark, and Cermak meet. And then old Chinatown is down Wentworth Avenue, south of Cermak. “The big plaza with all the Zodiac animals next to it-that's considered, at least to my parents, new Chinatown. “So, there's new Chinatown and there's old Chinatown,” Wong explains. It might look like one cohesive cityscape at first glance, but according to Wong, Chicago’s Chinatown is actually composed of two distinct, nuanced districts. And I might as well go to Park To Shop because I'm out of like, I don't know, oyster sauce or whatever.’ It always ends up being an extended time.” “And then once I get down there I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I need barbecue pork from BBQ King House. “I haven’t gone much since the virus hit but I have made the trip a few times, mostly when I'm just like, ‘I need my Boba fix!’” she says with a laugh. Wong now lives on the North Side and although both the pandemic and her recent departure from the Tribune and their centrally located office has made travelling down to Chinatown a bit less convenient, she still manages to pay her favorite establishments a visit every now and then. I remember being a kid and carrying giant plastic buckets around because we would pick up live crabs and live fish, stuff like that.” “We would go for dim sum in the morning and then the entire afternoon we’d be following my mom around to all these different specialty grocery stores so she could get the ingredients she needed to make dishes from her homeland. “It was always just a huge deal, piling into the van,” she continues. There were maybe two small Asian grocery stores at the time when we got an H Mart, it was literally the biggest news of my life. ![]() “When I was growing up, we’d make this semi-monthly pilgrimage into Chicago, especially Chinatown and the Argyle area, to get supplies because there was no real Asian population where we lived. “Both my parents are from Shanghai and they immigrated to Naperville, which is about 40 minutes outside of the city,” says the esteemed former dining reporter, recalling her suburban upbringing. Left this place thinking this is CHINATOWN? Sad, so very sad.Chicago’s Chinatown, a triangular slice of the Near South Side loosely bordered by Cermak Road, Wentworth Avenue, and a northbound-snaking branch of the Chicago river, has been fueling Grace Wong’s culinary cravings long before she cut her teeth dishing on the city’s vibrant restaurant scene for the Chicago Tribune. Even tho it looked unkempt from the outside we thought the upstairs dining area would be different but it wasn't. YUK! We picked this place because of Yelp reviews. Food was good but couldn't stop thinking whether kitchen area passed health inspection. If you're a germaphobic.do not come here. The women's restroom had two stalls (one was disgusting). The windows looked like they've NEVER been cleaned. The venue is so very dirty outside as it is inside. We were probably there for 1 1/2 hrs and not once did the server come over to see if we needed anything. Not a hello, how are you, nothing welcoming!!! As a matter of fact, we couldn't get one employee to smile. We were sitted within 5 minutes but waited 20 minutes before a server. ![]() It was our first time as we are from Texas. One part of the restaurant was semi-full. We were a party of 5 for lunch on a Wednesday afternoon. ![]()
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