Great Sea Restaurant — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

Update: 8/2022. This restaurant changed management a few years ago. They've also moved to a different location across the street from the original location. My review below was for the old restaurant, old management. The new restaurant isn't what it once was. The chicken wings are still top draw. They get 3 stars for that. But the other fare has suffered immensely. The black bean noodles (Three Seas Seafood jajjang myeon) is awful now. It went from the best jajjang myeon in Chicago to one of the worst. I just had this last week, and I couldn't believe it. The sauce used to be chock full of pork, plump shrimp, and sea cucumber. Now, the sauce is rather bland, with 3 baby shrimp, and 2 slivers of sea cucumber. I found a single tiny chunk of pork. One piece. And the Mongolian beef was completely unrecognizable from the original iteration. This was also one of the worst versions in the city. The $5 lunch special at some generic Chinese joint has better Mongolian beef. It used to be a little crispy, slightly sweet, and super tender. No longer. The meat is bland and rubbery. I didn't try any of my usual go-to dishes, but I will likely pass on those and just get the wings, which were like the original. Granted the serving size has reduced and the prices are now over twenty bucks. But if I'm jonesing for some kanpungi korean wings, this is still one of the best.

Original review of the old ownership: The interior hasn't changed probably since it opened 30+ years ago, but the draw is the food. And I've been coming here since the opening back in the 80s. Shandong cuisine at it's best - delicious spicy chicken wings (kampongi), seafood black noodles (sam sun gun chajiangmyun), spicy seafood noodle soup, (sam sun cchamppong), spicy tofu, and Mongolian beef are the stand outs. It's a neck-and-neck race between this place's cuisine compared to Peking Mandarin just up the street. I think the noodles/soups and Mongolian beef are better at Peking Mandarin. Great Sea has the edge on the wings. Honestly, you cannot go wrong at either place. My only complaint is that the black noodles used to have a ton of different seafood items that I still cannot identify or name. But they were delicious. Unfortunately, these seafood creatures are no longer present in the black noodles, which is a shame. I feel like the food was changed for non-Easterners' tastes. Still, this is one of the best places for this type of cuisine, arguably in...

My family has been coming here before I was even born fast forward 30 years later and I was still going their on a regular basis. I live an hour and 40 minutes away and would travel here for special occasions. I had read about the new changes and new owners but I didn’t mind and still gave it a shot. Unfortunately it was such a disappointment. I miss the old place terribly. My favorite 3 items that I always got were the wings which are still the same but the egg rolls and the shrimp with vegetables have changed. The egg rolls are a complete different recipe and not good at all. I’ve gotten these since I was a kid and unfortunately their no where near tasting the same as the originals. The shrimp with vegetables are smaller in portion size yet still the same price and they put an immense amount of mushrooms in it versus an even portion of all veggies. The place looks sad now and cheap now. The old place used to have old paintings and it looked warm and homie so to speak but now your greeted with bare white walls white plastic fans. The old place had nice plating that consisted of blue and white designs that made it its own unique charm but now it’s just cheap plain white dinnerware. I hope they make some changes cause unfortunately it’s a big disappointment at this point in time. They should at least keep the original recipes of all the food not...

Upon landing in the Windy City, my taste buds set sail for the North Side's Great Sea Restaurant, where the lollipop chicken wings aren't just food, they're a rite of passage! 🚢 Two orders in, and you could say we winged our way to poultry nirvana. My wife, now a wing convert, can attest to the divine crispiness of these celestial sticks of joy.

The combination fried rice was a mosaic of flavors, each grain a carrier of the Great Sea's secrets. 🍚✨ And let's not overlook the Mongolian beef - tender strips of bovine bliss galloping through a spicy, savory sauce that had us all fighting with our chopsticks for the last bite.

Now, for the service - it was like a relay race of impeccable manners and swift movements. From the trio of kind ladies who welcomed us, to the seat at our table that was readied quicker than you could say "lollipop," we were treated like royalty. 👑

Dining family-style, we shared our feast amongst seven. The bonds of kinship strengthened with each shared dish, a testament to Great Sea's ability to bring people together over great food. No wing left behind, even if I didn't take a pack to go this time.

From the first greeting to the last morsel, Great Sea never fails to make my Chicago homecoming complete. It's not just a meal; it's a family tradition in the...