Chengdu Impression Wicker Park 成都印象 — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Outstanding Sichuan Without the Chinatown Trip Chengdu Impression in Wicker Park has become our go-to spot for authentic Sichuan cuisine when we don't want to make the trek to Chinatown. The menu is extensive, the quality is consistently on point, and everything always tastes fresh.

Here are some of our favorite dishes that keep us coming back:

The Mouthwatering Chicken lives up to its name - incredibly tender and bursting with that signature Sichuan numbing heat.

The Bean Curd with Peanut is a wonderfully overlooked dish that perfectly embodies the balanced interplay of flavor and heat that makes Sichuan cuisine so unique.

They serve excellent Xiao Long Bao - finally, great soup dumplings without going to Chinatown! Their Beef Noodle Soup features tender beef shank and house-made noodles that create pure comfort in a bowl.

The Chengdu Style Dry Chili Chicken is fantastic, but the real standout has to be their Boiled Fish Sichuan Style - a personal favorite that I believe is one of the best versions in the city, if not THE best! The Cumin Lamb is superb, and their Twice-Cooked Pork is absolutely stellar.

Beyond the main dishes, they offer full dim sum options that are best enjoyed when dining in. The menu is incredibly extensive - there's always something new to discover, which is exactly why we keep coming back.

Can't recommend Chengdu Impression highly enough for anyone craving authentic Sichuan flavors with the convenience of a Wicker...

I was happy to see a new Chinese restaurant open recently here, and I put in the back of my mind to visit it in the future to see how their food was. The future came a few days later when I was walking down Milwaukee Avenue, I was passing by it and I thought what the heck let's give it a try.

The service was a bit chaotic, and there was a lot of staff, being just open think I arrived during the acclimatization period, as they scurried around doing various tasks. It did take a while for them to understand that I was walkin wanting to order food to go. Thought it was kind of odd, though they are new to Milwaukee Ave scene, with the amount people walking on Milwaukee they are bound to get quite a few of those. I am sure the service will improve once they become used to the area.

I found it interesting that they have 3 different frog dishes, though I doubt I would ever be adventurous enough to try them. I decided on "Mongolian Lamb", and two of my favorite American additions to Chinese American fusion, an order of Egg Rolls and Crab Rangoon.

The lamb was quite tasty, it paired well with the egg rolls and crab rangoon. As for the egg rolls they were also quite good though I do tend to like combination egg rolls myself. And the crab rangoon, was pretty darn good, little fried puffs of pure cream cheese and crab joy, mmmm.

I do plan on making another trip or two here, though fair warning I will be a...

Delicious, authentic Chinese cuisine and you can bet if it says spicy, it is SPICY. In addition to the excellent decor, food, and location, the people are what make me wish I could give more than 5 stars.

My very first visit I went and ordered Mapo Tofu with Beef 麻婆碎牛肉豆腐 and some hot and sour soup. I knew they would be spicy, but I was quite unprepared. The hot and sour had a nice zing and my water glass was in my hand more often than not. Luckily, they give you quite a large glass. By the time they got my main course out, I needed a refill and hadn't even finished the soup. Needless to say, since I was start to break a sweat over the hot and sour soup, the main course was easily 3x as spicy. Over the next 20 minutes, I'd hardly made a dent in the soup, but ate most of the rice and went through another glass of water. I believed I could finish it and water it down a bit at home, so I asked for a to-go box. They took my plates back and the server came back with a scoop of match mochi drizzled with some chocolate syrup. I hadn't ordered it, but he could really tell I struggled with trying to eat that. I must have looked quite pitiful haha. That was quite sweet of them and they didn't charge me for it. The second time I came back, I ordered the BEST Sichuan String Beans 干煸四季豆 and YuShiang Chicken 鱼香鸡.

Amazing food, atmosphere, and people!...