88 Marketplace — Attraction in West Chicago Township

BUSY ON WEEKENDS!!!! Went on a Saturday around noon and it was extremely packed, no parking spots available and inside was crowded.

The mall is enormous and well organized. They have a huge selection of Asian produce vegetables teas etc. And their seafood and meat section is very clean doesn't smell like a seafood market.

They have 5 stands in the food court section. The first is where they sell different types of corn dogs. The second is a bakery pastry shop (pricey). The third is a sushi bar. The fourth is a dumpling/congee stand. They make the dumplings handmade right there on the spot and you can watch them. The fifth spot is dim sum.

I ordered from the dumplings shop. I ordered the three varieties which consist of pork shrimp and chive. They were good but all the flavor came from the oil chili that they placed on top of the dumplings. The actual pork and shrimp itself wasn't really flavored. Came out to $14 bucks for 12 dumplings in a box. You order on a touch screen device so you have the option of giving tip or not.

Although the dumplings were good I would not order them again, my bf and I had a very nasty acidic burp after eating these, we were burping all day. The dumplings were very oily.

He also ordered dim sum. It's pretty expensive about $5-8 for each little dish. We ordered the orange chicken feet in black bean sauce which was super delicious highly recommend!!! 🧡 We also ordered the curry cuttlefish, very good would recommend! We also ordered the barbecue pork rice crepe which was just okay but I would not get it again.

After dining it's nice to just go through the market and look around and shop. However the lines are extremely long probably due to it being on a weekend. I wish they had some self checkout lanes but they don't.

Overall it's very nice and it's one of the largest Asian markets that I've seen and been too, I don't think Chinatown town has anything as big as this one, plus all their produce, veggies, meat and poultry look very fresh.

I gave it four stars because I didn't like the long lines. It was a very long wait to check out. But I will definitely be coming back just probably not...

I’m here to manifest something but first let me tell you a bit about this place. True the location looks an feels sketchy but nothing to be afraid of. A lot of parking available ( free ) they also have a gravel parking in case you come with a van or rv. As soon as you go in you got a restaurant, a cute cotton candy vending machine, a boba place and some clothing stores. Upstairs there’s the marketplace and the food court ( you gotta stop by the food court! Is a must!!! Trust me on this! There’s also a bakery ( grab that savory loaf ). The marketplace is huge. Since is a Chinese one the predominant products are Chinese of course, and quite a lot of Japanese ( sweets ) as well. The variety is huge, the have everything and the meat & fish departments are out of this world. Now the price point of view I’m delighted. H-Mart is crazy expensive 👀 comparing but also H-Mart has more Korean products rather than Chinese so is nice to experiment both. I spend quite a lot at 88 Marketplace and I was so surprised to see they have the Chinese Oreos here. The one parts that needs to be taking care of are the fruits and veggies. There’s not a big variety they have ( like other Asian markets ) but otherwise I found so many products I was desperate to find. They also have the Taro Binggrae Ice Cream ( I was looking for it for 2 years ) and they also have the dough for egg tarts. They also have a huge selection of drinks which made me really happy. I absolutely love this place and as for me manifesting something, I hope to see you guys bring the brand Do King ( tapioca pearls in cans ). I’m obsessed with them! I do recommend you to visit this place cuz is...

I came on a Saturday morning (10am) and sole purpose was to get a split hotpot pot, nothing more. The paved parking lot was full, but managed to find a stop.

The layout of the building - simple - first floor is food retailers, second floor is the grocery store with restaurants in their "food court" I walked around and explored and found what I needed. I explored more and decided to come back on Sunday before heading back home to pick up some hotpot meats.

Sunday around 11am - yeah, wasn't a wise decision. Paved parking lot full, people parking anywhere and everywhere they can, and the dirt parking lot was getting full as well. The place was jammed packed!!! No shopping carts, people lined up by the customer service area, blocking off the traffic. Do Asians have gene that tells them do stand in the middle of the aisle and block everyone? I just don't get this. Shopping carts all over the place, but no humans near by.

I got the meats that I wanted, and then had to wait about 25 minutes to check out. When I left, they had dragon dance show in front of the entrance and yeah, that created huge bottle neck of human traffic!

Moral of the story - don't come on a Sunday... maybe even on Saturday... if at all possible, visit during the weekdays. The exterior and surrounding area are still under construction, so it got some ways to go. Didn't interact with staff members other than cashiers - and if you are Asian, they will assume you speak Chinese :)

Some of the items priced here were cheaper than say Hmart, but others were not. If you like the craziness and human traffic jam, come on a Sunday, otherwise yeah, avoid the weekend...