Joy Yee — Restaurant in Naperville

Haven’t had Asian type foods (aside from vegetable maki rolls) in a long time. So naturally my mind isn’t intuitive with every ingredient that will be in the dishes. Also I’d like to note that I had my 21mon old with us (it’s about time for us to be eating dinner 530-6pm) we also had our very... talkative 8yro with us. So I order the “orange chicken” and the “mango chicken fried rice w/o chicken add vegetables.” COMPLETELY FORGETTING THAT THEY ALSO PUT EGG IN FRIED RICE! I get it my bad, I’m trying to keep my almost 2yro seated, bc she is insisting she must stand in her high chair, while my son is demanding a “jackfruit smoothie with strawberry popping boba” and “orange chicken with the white rice MOM!!”

So finally I get our order made (forgetting that egg comes in fried rice 🤦🏻‍♀️) our meals come to the table, I quickly realize there is egg scattered throughout this bland; depressing oblong shaped bowl of rice, staring at me. I promptly; politely; get the ladies attention. Notifying her that I’m so sorry and I made a huge mistake (I’m allergic to egg, for real. not a made up oh s$it I ordered the wrong thing, so I’m gonna make up an allergy.) also I’d like to state there is nothing on the menu that states there is egg in the dish or any of the ingredients for that matter 🤷🏻‍♀️

The lady proceeds to treat me like a complete assh@le and scold me at the table about my incorrect order, I apologize and say it was an oversight and I am truly sorry. (Again my kids were being just wonderful at the time of order placement, so I spaced; my bad.) she then rolls her eyes and takes the plate away to have it remade. Phew (please don’t spit in my food is all I can pray while I wait)

I get my plate of “mango chicken fried rice w/o chicken add extra veggies” I’m left staring at WHITE STEAMED RICE, 3 PIECES OF BROCCOLI, 2 SHARDS OF CARROTS, 5 BABY CORNS AND 3 SLICES OF THICK CUT MUSHROOM AND SOME DICED ONIONS. NO PEA PODS; NO BELL PEPPERS; NO WATER CHESTNUTS. Nothing that would consist of someone that had asked for added vegetables to their dish.

Point being the ladys attitude was trash, the food was garbage and lacking many NORMAL ingredients. Save your meal time for another place. The smoothies...

For the duration of years that I have visited Joy Yee Noodle in Naperville, the vibe, attitude, and overall experience has declined. First and foremost, on this visit, we ordered the lemon grass shrimp and the salt and pepper shrimp with no shell.

The lemon grass shrimp is an above average dish that I rate 8 out of 10. The lemon grass presence was very faint at best and could be increased to take this dish another notch above. The spice/red pepper heat index was very good and a great contribution to this dish.

The salt and pepper shrimp, I believe, definitely was better a couple years ago and is still above average but I just give it a 7.5 out of 10. The accompanying chopped up bell pepper and onions with this dish is always a delight.

Why the three stars? Time and time again when you go into the restaurant, including my last visit. Ir is inhospitable and unacceptable to be having the person upfront who should be a welcoming first responder and working the register to not have their back to you while eating their dinner.

Maybe this is a management issue and the person at the front might not have even been given a break but it communicates disdain for individuals coming in to the restaurant, and especially those there for takeout only.

After I paid for my takeout the person just hurriedly handed my bag off to the side of the Covid protection glass without any warm and friendly thank you and hospitable goodbye, and then quickly turned back around into his seat and started chowing away on food.

Additionally, The atmosphere at Joy Yee was completely lackluster and gray and has lost its vibrance and decorative color and other elements that used to make it more exciting to be there.

Though not perfect, Mapo restaurant just a few blocks away is very clean and definitely overall more friendly and professional. Mapo treats you with respect when you enter their establishment.

Joy Yee gives you the immediate impression that you’re just another inconvenience for them to make money off of and aren’t treated with dignity and respect to the level that valued customers should be. Actions speak louder than words.

I don’t believe I’ll be back there unless...

If I could, I would rate this no stars. My husband and I have came to this restaurant many times previously before this incident happened. Today, we went in for lunch to get our usual favorites because they make excellent vegan options. We order a fried rice without egg and while we were eating, I noticed a short string/thread/hair piece in my food. I asked for our waiter to look at it for me and I specifically said, "I don't know what IT is, what do you think?" He said, kindly, that he will make us a NEW order of rice. BEFORE we could say anything, another man from the front comes running over, loudly announcing it to other customers, "THAT'S NOT A HAIR!" Making a big scene and scolding us that it's not a hair and that it was MINE. I told him, it's a short piece of something and my hair is long. #1 He had NO idea what our conversation was even about. #2 Very rude and embarrassing for his fellow coworker and #3 How VERY RUDE scolding ME for anything. He put his finger in my food and stated, again that it was not a hair, trying to talk down to me for being a WOMAN. I told him, how very RUDE he was about not even knowing what the situation was and asked for an apology. He took our food and said, he'll order us another rice. I asked for it to go. He came back after taking the plate back, starts laughing and glaring at us like my husband and I are criminals in front of CUSTOMERS. Before bringing our new rice to us, he comes over and tries to explain that "it's a piece of a vegetable string". I told him, "I don't need an explanation, the other GENTLEMAN was excellent. How dare you ANNOUNCE a private issue in front of everyone and try to ACCUSE us of theft when we have paid full price for every order! And are you not EVEN going to apologize?!" He just said, "I know, I know." Not even ONCE did he apologize and STILL CHARGED US FULL PRICE and expected a tip. If you ever want to get insulted, possibly food contamination and still get expected to pay full price, come see this place and this...