Wu's House Evergreen Park — Restaurant in Worth Township

To sum up my review in one word, "Peke," or is that two words? It means, "no good." I give it two stars for the ambiance, not for the food or service. The place is gorgeous! Some of the pictures prove that. I wanted to check this place out. It was a Wednesday at noon. The place had about five tables with people at them. I walked around to look at the different rooms they had. They look very good.

My server arrived, Mr. Vincent. He asked what I would like to drink? I asked him what kind of tea he had? He said: green. He bought it back in a translucent teapot and a matching tea cup. Pretty cool I thought. The dishes were all plastic. I thought it would have "china" but it was plastic. Chinese chop sticks, a metal fork and paper napkin.

The menu was extensive: Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Hibachi. I wanted to try out their Hibachi steak and Calamari. I was trying the lunch special, so I thought it was nice to be served at the table and not to go to where the Hibachi tables were. Had I, I would have been alone as no one was in that area, including wait staff. The side dishes of clear soup, tasted a little like a chicken broth with a slice of a mushroom. There was also a small four inch bowl of vegetable fried rice.

Vincent bought the dish, a rather large dish, about fourteen inches. It made the serving look small, but then the serving was small. The steak and calamari were warm, but not hot. (Didn't have to wait to pop something into my mouth.) The fried rice was very hot, like the food should have been.

I thought what was kind of interesting was the plate was large, but Vincent didn't remove the eight inch appetizer dish before he set down the big plate. When he left, he didn't take any of the dishes, including the soup bowl when he left. Thought I'd mention that he never asked me if I wanted to order any appetizers before ordered my main food. Maybe he thought I didn't have much time. Then he left.

So in short, the Hibachi steak and the calamari was somewhat tough , enough that I thought each mouthful would take a few more chews than I thought it should. What was surprising to me, was even though the steak was in a juice on the dish, it wasn't very flavorful. When I've had Hibachi in the neighborhood at an other restaurant (Chi Tung) the food had a lot of Hibachi flavor. The fried rice I've had before, had a garlic flavored butter taste, bit I thought my dishes were rather bland. The vegetables were a little too cooked, except for the zucchini, which with the skin on, made it a little more crunchy than the broccoli.

After Vincent served me my food, I didn't see him at my table again, until I was sitting there for about fifthteen minutes after I was finished. He never came back to ask me if my food was okay. He never came back to see if I needed more tea. Nada. Zip.

So, when he did show up, he asked how is everything? I told him he was late in asking. I asked him for my check. They add a 18% gratuity. That's okay at some places, it wasn't very appropriate for my server.

I ate all of the steak and calamari, because for $26, I wasn't going to leave hungry. I actually might have left a little hungry, but I filled up on the green tea. I didn't eat all of the fried rice. That they were generous. In comparison with Chi Tung Hibachi, I had some small leftovers.

Since I saw advertisements for the WOOW Sushi restaurants on the chopstick wrappers, I assume they own those too. The Sushi restaurants were good, so if I came back, it would be to try out their Chinese dishes.

Although my server was unprofessional, I saw some the the female servers were talking and smiling to their customers, mine was not a friendly person at all.

So my star rating, like I said was for the ambiance, not the food and service. Maybe it's just a slow day on...

So this was my first time ordering from this place. I'd often see the beautifully attractive facade and only hoped for an opportunity to enjoy the experience within. My sister and niece apparently frequent Wu's Hibachi, most often enjoying items from their Hibachi menu, and extended an invitation to join them this time. I was leaning towards Thai, as I had not had it in quite a while, but considering the special occasion for which this round of orders originated, I figured why not do as they.

I ordered the Salmon Hibachi Traditional Dinner. It came with 2 pcs shrimp, soup, salad, and chicken fried rice. With the iceberg salad was what I would call a 'house' dressing. It was kind of like a Thousand Island dressing, but with a Japanese/ Asian flavor (for lack of a better way to describe it😊). The dinner also came with a small container each of soy sauce, ginger sauce, and yum yum (yep, that's the name😁) sauce.

I'll start my review of the food by saying I thought the salmon (though overcooked in some parts, other parts delectable) was okay alone, but a little soy sauce or ginger sauce made for good eats. 😉 I love the texture of noodles & these did not disappoint; except for an oily,fishy sauce that seemed to be generously drizzled over it and the entire entree (salmon, noodles, shrimp, veggies).😖 The fishiness, especially picked up by the veggies, were only saved again by the soy sauce or ginger sauce....

The soup was..um... not good at all to me. I almost want to describe it as having an artificial, plasticky, old sock, fish oil taste. (Sorry, Wu😓) It was probably what they drizzled over the entree. I so wanted to like it (being the Foodie that I am😉), but I just couldn't. Down the drain it went along with what I could pour off of the entree. I'm glad the fried rice was in a different container all together! It was not as expected, almost having a sweet taste, but I'm sure any desire to emulate the fried rice taste of neighborhood Chinese restaurants would have been rectified with a few sprinkles of the soy sauce. So, the fried rice was fine.

Noticed I didn't say anything about the yum yum sauce. It was underwhelming and overly sweet. I just put it aside. (It'll likely be placed in the G file.) Yet, another item I really wanted to like... for the name alone.🤗 I think they call it yum yum because a lot of people like sweet flavors/ foods. Idk.

Overall, at almost 30 bucks, I'd say it was a pretty good spread and enough for 2 to 3 sittings. Because of the menu variety, I would order from them, again (probably from the Thai menu... they had me at lemongrass 😋). I "may" even order the Hibachi dinner again, just being sure to ask them to hold the soup and the 'soupy' sauce drizzle. 😅

Maybe I'll be able to add a review of the Thai or other...

Flew in from Houston and hosted a 16th birthday hibachi dinner. First time here for half of us as it was recommended by family members. I made the reservation 2 weeks prior and Daniel was expecting us as we arrived. Daniel managed front of house very well. FYI, it did take several attempts to call and make the reservation. I expected this after reading the reviews. Per staff, it's best to call after 9pm to rsvp for large groups. We weren't seated until ALL 16 guests arrived. No problem, our party guests ordered drinks at the bar and chatted until the 2 latecomers arrived. They will do a head count and sit other guests at your table to fill remaining open seats.

RICKY, my man! Very entertaining!! Worked well with the group. Our waitress was also friendly. The food was PLENTY and delicious. All the protein and vegetables looked fresh. Half of us were full just from watching Ricky cook lol. They gave consideration to those with shellfish and egg allergies by making their meals separate in the back.

Take heed though, flavor enhancements (MSG, butter, etc) are heavily used in the hibachi and the flavor is very "rich". So if your digestive system is delicate or you normally maintain a healthy/natural/organic diet then the hibachi may give you an upset stomach afterwards. With that said, I had the runs for about 2 days afterwards, LOL. I checked in with other attendees and majority (mostly teenagers and young adults) had no issues after the meal. Other mature adults with dietary restrictions had ordered healthier options from the menu and experienced no upsets afterwards.

Ricky was tipped a good $75 cash at the end of his performance. The gratuity (included in bill) for the waitress was about $120 and she asked for extra. Huh? She explained the chefs are salaried and high paid so they dont have to rely on tips like the wait staff. She also has to share tips with back of house. I understand, yes, it was this way when I was a part-time waitress over 25 years ago. The amount shared with back of house is less than 15%. When the gratuity is over $100 I do not believe it is courteous for the waitress to request more from customers. I empathize, but restaurant pay is an issue to be resolved with politicians and employers not the customer.

Overall, great experience. Everyone enjoyed the celebration dinner. There was plenty leftovers for everyone to take home and I would personally return the next time I'm in Chicago. Now I know how to order my...