Lotus Cafe & Banh Mi Sandwiches

We stumbled upon this place while near UIC and were pleased with the find. Parking is pretty open. This is a small place suitable for a quick meal.
All dishes were fresh and made fast. The staff was friendly and helpful. We will be back the chicken curry bowl and banh mi are recommended.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Belly Classic Banh MI, Curry Chicken Rice Bowl

Love the Belly Classic Banh MI. Will back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Tables were sticky. The soup was well salted, but quite flavorless and got greasy towards the end. It looks like the beef was fried beforehand and added on top, and honestly it was pretty dry. There were very little toppings too. There were barely any onions or scallions, an okay amount of cilantro (since I don’t like cilantro), and an okay portion of meat. The rolls were okay, but they had pickled radish inside and I don’t know how authentic that is. It also was one spring rolls cut in half. Peanut sauce was good. It was $24 USD for this, $17 for the beef pho and $6-7 for the spring rolls. Overall, I think the spot would only be good if you’re really hungry. If you’ve tasted other pho places before you’ll know it’s not good.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 3

Small little pho restaurant in the UIC area and it's one of the best Pho I've had in the Chicago area. Broth was Flavorful and Savory, the wings were also good. Wished they had more condiments. And the restaurant was mainly self serve.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Seared Beef Pho

Delicious!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This is my favorite place for Pho and Wings! Everything I’ve ever had here was fresh and delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Seared Beef Pho, Honey Grilled Pork, Ginger Chicken, Soy Glazed Wings 6pcs

We made a large group order for a work meeting. The food was delivered as scheduled, packed super well, and they were even so kind as to label everything with our names (provided to them in the order) so we could easily distribute meals. On top of that, the food was delicious! Thanks, Lotus!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Veggiecado Banh MI

Great sandwiches always take one home when we go to the loop

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Went here because of the reviews.
It was good. Pho broth is great.
We ordered pho, chicken curry, eggrolls, spring rolls, chicken wings.
Fast service
Good quality

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Have been coming here for years. Great food and staff

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This was my first time having Bahn Mi and im in love. Classic Belly is 10/10, friendly staff, very clean.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Belly Classic Banh MI

I really like this place so it’s unfortunate that I had such a bad experience with my meal last night.
I ordered several of my favorites:
- Shrimp Spring Rolls
- Pork Egg Rolls
- Chicken wings
The first bite I took of the port egg rolls tasted funny and was very chewy to the point I spit it out and found a rubber band in the bite. See photo.
Hoping I could salvage a bit of the meal I tried the shrimp spring rolls. Much of the rice sheet that it was wrapped in was too hard and dry to eat.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

Love the sandwiches! The veggie acids is my favorite.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Belly Classic Banh MI, Shrimp Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Some of the best pho broth I’ve had in Chicago!!! Try the beef pho you won’t be disappointed!! I never finish a bowl of pho but with this pho I couldn’t leave a single sip behind!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Chill spot to grab reliable Vietnamese food!! We have tried many locations in different places, but this is a tried and true location. This is our Go To - the BahnMi, Pho, rice bowls, spring rolls - all great options. It's the chicken wings I could literally live off of. Great flavor, always served HOT (temperature), and fresh.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Belly Classic Banh MI, Shrimp Spring Rolls 4 pcs, Ginger Chicken, Shrimp Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce, Soy Glazed Wings 6pcs, Curry Chicken Rice Bowl, Pickled Daikon, Cucumber