Lisa Pace

Such a beautiful space! As I scan the room I notice lovers old and young with wide eyes, smiling in between bites. The presentation of the dishes is truly breathtaking. Phone eats first. Waited a long time for this reservation, giving me plenty of time to scan the menu over and over again. So much so that I knew exactly what to order. My drink of choice was the salted mango limeade, add tequila and it's a perfect cocktail. Sugarcane beef, shrimp fried rice, baby broccoli, grilled roti, dry aged ribeye and for dessert, the viral crying tiger. Wah, my server was amazing. She was surprised that I had a list and was ready. She explained some of the dishes and their spice level as well as shared her favorites. She was genuinely kind and took great care in making sure I was happy. Halfway through my first drink I got up to introduce myself to the chef. Love that he was 'hands-on' working the line along with his employees. Such a good spirit, easy to see how his energy flows through everyone else. Flawless. He shared his favorites. He gifted me with an order of the prawn toast. A mild flavor of shrimp with a light crunch from the toast. Once you dip it in the sauce, it wakes up everything you thought was dead. Together, the flavors balance each other out. Time for drink number two. Chef Thai Dang comes to my table to check on me. Talk about feeling special. Although, my belly is quite full, dessert was a must. It was so good I wanted to eat all of it. Green, sparkly, hollow dark chocolate tiger head hiding Thai banana mouse and a light banana cake. Once you drag it through the banana foster caramel sauce your life changes. Before leaving, the hostess came to check on me. Dining out should be an experience and I can happily say that Crying Tiger delivered.

+9

Rifah Odeh

Stopped in after work to snag some bar seats. There were three of us and we got two seats immediately and after about 30 minutes we were able to get the third. We were still able to order and share dessert while we waited for that third chair so that was nice. We worked backward by starting with the famous crying tiger dessert. Definitely a must try. We weren't even sure we were going to order dinner but based on how everything smelled, and because we weren't sure when we would be back, we did. The dishes are big and meant for sharing. The crispy rice basic chicken was flavorful but extremely spicy. The spice level was a bit much for me. I highly recommend the Wagyu short rib curry with crispy noodles. It had a small kick but was very flavorful and the creaminess along with the mixture of textures made the dish extremely comforting on a cold Chicago evening. A friend asked if it was worth the hype and I responded yes and no. While, it's a solid spot, I really don't think it's worth going nuts trying to make a reservation for it. Try walking in and sitting at the bar at a less busy time or wait for some of the hype to die down before you try to go.

+5

Issabelle F.

Simply put: this place is fantastic. From the decor, to the food, to the service, to the cocktails - I loved my entire experience. We ordered a little bit of everything, but my fave dishes were the prawn toast, HK fried rice, duck penang curry, and the crying tiger dessert. The thai iced tea milk punch was stellar as well. I will be talking about this meal and restaurant for a long time!!

+5

Alexis Banez

Went for a girls date with some coworkers and loved every thing we ordered. My personal favorite was probs the barbecue chicken and wagyu beef nam tok. Our server was so nice and funny and excitingly took our photos at the table. Definitely would come back again. The atmosphere was so beautiful and we spent so long in the bathroom taking pics.

+4

Kai L

Crying Tiger by Lettuce Entertain You is a total standout. The atmosphere and décor are stunning—modern, high-end, and effortlessly chic—yet still warm and inviting. The food is just as impressive: bold, creative, and deeply rooted in authentic Asian flavors. It’s rare to find an Asian restaurant that nails both cutting-edge design and truly top-notch cuisine, we’re happy to find this place. Stylish, delicious, and memorable—absolutely love it.

Dilip Sapra

One of the best Asian food I have ever had. Very flavourful. Worth the hype

+1

Mia Phenom

I can’t wait to visit Chicago again and come back here. The atmosphere was everything. The decor was so beautiful and maximalist. Great design. The food was so good and the service was amazing. The young lady was so helpful with the menu. I really appreciate her effort. Thank you again.

+1

WL Wang

Newly opened and a must try in Chicago. Gorgeous interior (make sure to check out the bathroom), unique interpretation of a variety of southeast Asia food, each dishes beautifully presented and full of flavors. We enjoyed everything we ordered, especially the crispy prawn toast, rolled rice noodles, BBQ chicken, green papaya salad, and our side order of Eggplant. Highly recommend and will definitely come back when we visit Chicago.

+6

Chiburbanfoodie

What a meal! This was easily a top 5 meal of the year. Literally everything was excellent! For the table, we shared the prawn toast app. This had a perfect crunch and heat level from the sauce. The wagyu short rib curry, lobster pad Thai, and chili crisp chicken were all incredible! Don’t sleep on this place!

+1

Ishrat

You know how some restaurants are so beautiful you just know the food is going to be shit? Crying Tiger is the exception. Paralleled equally in taste and atmosphere, Crying Tiger has ruined every other South East Asian restaurant for me forever, because it’s truly that good. Visiting from NYC, I managed to cop a 8:15 reservation for the same night our flight landed. I couldn’t believe my luck because reservations were all booked for the duration of our stay, so I recommend checking same day to snag any cancellations. My one reservation—the pork belly, the sole reason my partner and I booked the reservation, was sold out only 4 hours into the night. That’s okay because somehow there are no bad items on the menu. Roti, chicken satay, etc. I’m serious. My partner and I were in shock at how every bite was just as good as the last. The absolute highlight is their dessert menu. Do yourself a favor and leave some room for the Toasted Coconut Sundae. I’m actually seething in jealousy at the fact this is not a plane ride away for some people. Try it. I promise you will not regret it. (Note: I was convinced I ruined our trip by booking such a delicious restaurant our first night, but this city truly has the most amazing restaurants.)

Arundhati Shelat

The food and drinks are so so good! I highly recommend the lobster Pad Thai and trying as many cocktails as you can! Definitely has become one of my top Chicago restaurants

Jay Fal

Amazing experience at Crying Tiger 😍🔥 I ordered the clay pot lobster pad thai and it was incredible, rich flavor and perfectly cooked 🍜🦞 Special shoutout to Didi she’s amazing and made my visit even better with her kindness and great service 💖🙌 Highly recommend this place if you’re in the area 📍✨

+6

Y. P.

We visited Crying Tiger yesterday and had such a great experience! I’m vegetarian and loved that they had a lot of tasty vegetarian options — everything was fresh and full of flavor. The friends I went with eat fish and meat, and they were just as impressed with their dishes. Highly recommend checking it out!

Christina Price

We got a seat at the bar since we didn’t have a reservation. I loved the decor and atmosphere. We tried something from every section and it was all delicious! The most unexpected dish was the shrimp toast. I thought it would be on top of little slices of bread but instead a filling in a Chinese donut, it was really good. My favorite dish was the crying tiger desert.. perfect way to end the meal!

+7

Nancy McGourty

Everything from the cocktails, appetizers, mains, and dessert was beyond delicious! The design is stunning, staff friendly and knowledgeable. Cool and cozy vibe. Can’t wait to go back.

Food is too rich and not in a good way, you can’t get more that one thing at the time because the strong flavors won’t let you taste anything else nor finish your dish. The drinks are way too sweet and they taste artificial. The only thing that was good and tasty was the “Crying tiger” dessert (you have to be a sweet tooth), it looks and taste great. Service is fast, everyone is kind and the place is beautiful.

This place is so hot right now and unbelievably difficult to get a reservation but we got lucky! The interior is vibrant, oasis-like, definitely a fun place and showy! I need to go back and try more of the food to accurately assess but I got the papaya salad and it was fresh, well balanced between the fish sauce + spice, and I really did love it. My friends got the garlic chive glass noodles and they thought it was just okay. The cocktails though were strong and tasty! Not sure if it’s 100% hype-worthy yet but the next time I go back I really want to try the lobster pad thai.

Nancy S

Food and cocktails were excellent. They were busy and has a long line waiting. Service was ok. We really liked the duck panang curry, and wagyu salad and the crying Tiger banana foster desserts. Even the eggplant bhan xeo was delicious and unique

+15

Anica F

Highly recommend reservations. I couldn't find a reservation for weeks out and lucked up on a late Sun reservation. I just adore the decor of the place. It makes you feel you are in a tropical environment. The music was great. They played a lot of old school hip hop and r&b. Niya was our waitress and she made great recommendations and very knowledgeable in regards to the menu. We ordered the prawn toast and veggie spring rolls. Honestly, we could've just had that because they both taste great. I was not a fan of the sauce that came with the prawn toast. The prawn toast was oh so delicious. We ordered the crab fried rice, rice noodles, and crab friend rice. The rolled rice noodles actually were good. Didn't know what to expect but the flavor was good. My friend asked for the fried rice to be spicy and it wasn't They threw a few chilis in it but it did nothing. I appreciated them using real crab but they need to work on the seasoning of the rice. It was a bit bland. The curry it's self was exquisite but the short rib was bland. It was tender but they were counting on the curry to flavor the meat and if u eat the meat without the curry it was bland. There was too many crispy noodles for me but I just took them out. So they ran out of their famous banana Foster cake but to our surprise the toasted coconut sundae was a great surprise!

+8

Crying Tiger is undeniably cute. The ambiance is fun, photogenic, and clearly designed with social media in mind. I will admit I had my doubts before going because the restaurant is heavily marketed across every platform. When a place has that much hype, I always feel a little apprehensive. Still, I wanted to try it for myself. The food was okay overall. I ordered the Wagyu noodles, which unfortunately were extremely salty. It honestly felt like I needed a bowl of rice on top of the noodles just to balance the flavor. The tuna tartare was solid and probably one of the stronger dishes of the night. I also enjoyed the BBQ chicken. That said, it is fried chicken so it is hard to completely mess that up. The tiger banana dessert was good, although VERY sweet. If you have a sweet tooth you will probably enjoy it, but it definitely leans toward the sugary side. Overall it is a fun place to grab a drink and catch up with a friend on a random weekday. Sitting at the bar and chatting with Ian made the experience more enjoyable. That said, I would not stress about trying to get a table immediately or work too hard to secure a reservation. If the dishes were a bit more balanced and the flavors cleaner, I think the meal would have been much more enjoyable. Right now the vibe and atmosphere carry a lot of the experience.

Jay T

Service was great and the atmosphere was nice, but the table was too small and felt tight, which was uncomfortable. Food was disappointing. It looked good, but the flavors were not what they should be. Pad Thai didn’t even taste like Pad Thai, it was extremely salty and soggy. I could only eat two bites. The fish dish also didn’t taste fresh, and I ended up with diarrhea that night

+3

Beatrice Moreno

My husband and I visited Crying Tiger on December 20th after finally securing a reservation at this highly sought-after restaurant. We had seen many TikToks highlighting the cuisine, desserts, ambiance, and overall experience, so our expectations were high. Upon arrival, the establishment was absolutely beautiful with great vibes and music. Our server was attentive, friendly, and welcoming, which immediately set a positive tone. We started with the beef wagyu appetizer, which had a very powerful flavor but was still enjoyable. For our main courses, we ordered the chili crisp barbecue chicken and the Burmese dried chili and cumin lamb. The chicken was okay, though I wished it had more flavor. The lamb was slightly salty, but pairing it with the rice helped balance it out. Unfortunately, the experience took a serious turn while I was eating the lamb. As I scooped a bite of meat and rice and put it in my mouth, I felt something heavy. I immediately spit it out, and a large metal bolt dropped onto my plate—it had been stir-fried into my meal. I was shocked and extremely concerned. I immediately alerted our waiter, who involved the manager right away. Both were kind, apologetic, and tried to rectify the situation promptly. They offered to remake the dish, but at that point I wanted nothing further to do with it while still processing what had happened. They graciously comped our entire meal and brought us dessert, which I appreciated. The manager also explained how the bolt may have ended up in the food and provided a business card for further questions or escalation. That said, I could not shake the seriousness of having metal in my food—and in my mouth. This was a major safety violation that could have resulted in serious injury had I bitten down on it. I followed up by emailing the manager twice to ask what steps were being taken to ensure this would never happen again. To date, I have not received any response, which is disappointing and concerning. Health and safety should always be a top priority, especially at a restaurant of this caliber. While the ambiance, service, and initial experience were strong, the lack of follow-up regarding such a serious issue leaves me conflicted. I truly hope Crying Tiger takes this incident seriously and implements measures to prevent anything like this from happening in the future.