Message from Papajin
All too often, there's no correlation between how it looks and how it cooks. Papajin, a stylish Chinese and Sushi place right in the heart of downtown Bucktown and Wicker Park offers elegance in both departments. We only use the freshest ingredients, all fish is delivered daily from the best fishermen in Eastern Canada and the Northern Pacific. All of our food is prepared with vegetable oil and MSG is never used. Dying for sushi but your date wants Chinese? Check out our stylish Wicker Park spot.
Editorial by Citysearch
In ShortPapajin's energetic feel fits right into the neighborhood, with clean, elegant decor lit by funky white hanging lamps. The expansive menu offers both Japanese and Chinese favorites. Sure bets on the Chinese side include lemon chicken, mu-shu wraps, twice-cooked crispy duck and fried kung bo fish. On the Japanese end, there's teriyaki, tempura and an array of sushi rolls and pieces delivered fresh daily from eastern Canada and the northern Pacific.
Key Points
- Chinese Cuisine
- Sushi
- Hip Decor
The Inside Scoop
- Save Money - Ask to get a free egg roll or a free California maki roll with your takeout or delivery order.
Insider Pages Reviews for Papajin
This restaurant has amazing sushi and other cuisine. They deliver which is amazing as well. Sushi is excellent. Staff and service is great too! I highly recommend it!
Posted 03/25/08 | Report Abuse
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I gave them a satisfactory for their customer service. The setting is nice and the waiter was friendly. I wanted to do some sake bombs with a few co-workers which we started out our night with.
The waiter kept coming to our table and I told him I would flag him down when we were ready to eat and order just because we wanted to relax and enjoy our stay in another state complimentaries of our job place.
Finally we were ready to order, and the sushi, just tasted bad. All 5 of our orders. We respectfully left right after we got the food, no one ate, we just drank.
Posted 03/14/08 | Report Abuse
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Latest reviews from Citysearch.
Delivery Disaster
by SophiaLee1970
Good Food, terrible service- ordered delivery said 45-1 hour... took 2.5 hours and I had to call to be told this. Also, order was wrong and they wouldn't credit my credit card-Very disappointing.
Pros: Freshness
Cons: service
Posted 08/07/08
Great Sushi
by Jaimerslynn
I was not impressed when I first walked in. Does not look like the pictures I saw online. The entry way was narrow with dusty shelves and the bathroom was kinda dumpy. The dinning area was cleaner ? Don?t go to this place if you?re going for the ambiance that?s for sure!!! However I went for Sushi and it?s some of the best I?ve eaten! It was SO GOOD! If you can look past the bad paint, dusty shelves and avoid the washroom you?ll love it!
Posted 07/31/08
new to the area?!
by dawnjay
to the writer of the description of this restaurant....1) it's not new, papajin has been there for at least ten years maybe longer. 2) it is in no way shape or form in bucktown. the location is in the heart of wicker park. 3) there is no such thing as "downtown bucktown" or "downtown wicker park" . there is just bucktown or wicker park with north av being the dividing line. the yuppies are always trying to claim wicker park as bucktown.
4) papajin is a great restaurant, been going there for years. great food, great service.
Posted 06/23/08
Just Not Worth It
by starlight79
you know, the food here is really not that bad. they have lots of options, and say they don't use MSG. i usually order for delivery, and every single time i ask if they can remove a simple ingredient, they say, "we're really busy here tonight." tonight when i ordered, i got, "we're really busy here tonight, and (the cooks) will probably make a mistake anyway." the man who took my order tonight was the same man who's been taking my order for years, so clearly not some random kid who doesn't care about customer service. in this day and age when people have so many food allergies, that careless attitude is not what you want to hear... especially when you're shelling out about $10/dish for standard chinese food that you could get at any chinese restaurant. i'd rather go someplace that is willing to accomodate its customers (the people who keep them in business), and isn't going to set me up for disappointment by telling me they will most likely make a mistake anyway.
Cons: Absolutely horrible service
Posted 04/01/08
Great Sushi Place in Chicago
by chopenticity
this place is goooooood. I would recomend it to anyone that liikes sushi. The prices are reasonable and the servers were very friendly and polite. The prices were pretty much the same as any other sushi resturant in chicago. thumbs up!
Pros: great menu, lots to choose from
Posted 02/19/08
Great recommendation
by chitowngrl
My friend had raved about Papajin a couple weeks ago so I finally got my hubby to take me there. I, personally, was very impressed. I had the garlic crispy chicken dish - or something like that. I thought it was really tasty. The hubs had a spicy chicken plate. I was completely impressed with the food and the selection of food. My only complaint was that the service was a bit slow and they weren't very quick on filling up the water glasses - chinese makes me sooooooooooooo thirsty. But other then that, the atmosphere and food was good and so was the company =) I would suggest trying this place as a great and cheaper alternative to PF Changs
Pros: tasty food for the price
Cons: slow service
Posted 09/17/07
Great Local Chinese Favorite!!
by melissamotino
Great Service & Prices... Huge Portions!
Yummy Lemon Chicken, Kung Pao, Moo Shu, Maki and Potstickers!!
We will def. be back for more, take out too!!!
Pros: Service, Value, Portion Size
Cons: None
Posted 06/17/06
Better than Chinatown
by kapalina
We used to go to Chinatown to celebrate "girls' night out", but after Papajin opened up in the neighborhood there was no reason to head south. We recommend the "Garlic Eggplant", oriental (Mini) eggplants in a delicious soy/garlic sauce. Family bean curd is a great tofu favorite of my daughter, I love the Orange Chicken for all the bright green broccoli that comes with it. Great potstickers and crab rangoons. Sushi is good, nothing over the top, but fresh and tasty. It never seems to be overly busy in the dining room when we are there; we order delivery a lot, too.
Pros: great food, great ambience, delivery
Posted 01/27/06
A great experience
by krysto
We enjoyed everything about this restaurant - the sushi was delicious, the chinese dishes had very flavorful and subtle sauces.
Posted 12/30/05
Great Chinese Fare
by al_capone
I cannot comment on the Sushi at Papajin, but the Chinese food is great. This place is definetely my favorite Chinese food now. The food was tasty with very sizable portions.
The Orange Peel Beef was very good and the Cashew Chicken was excellent.
Service was decent and friendly. Overall, I would highly recommend the restaurant to anyone.
Posted 03/05/05
Good Food Okay Service
by pixy_stix
The food at Papjin's is pretty average. We carried out - went in and ordered and waited. The staff there didn't even offer us a glass of water - we had to ask for one. The food we ordered came quickly and was pretty much what we expected. Nothing too special, but very reliable service and average Chinese food.
Pros: Parking Easy to Find, Close to the El, Get What You Expect
Posted 06/05/04