Mapo Restaurant

(See 8 page 2024 menu) Cost is easily over $20 per person minimum as menu shows most entrees are close to $20 alone.

We ate in before the dinner rush. Atmosphere is very nice as were the traditional chop sticks. Western cutlery (knife was mandatory for G Tao’s dish) were all embarrassingly inferior and awkward to use.

Beverages came in bottles with a glass of ice which is far superior to fountain offerings.
Egg rolls were your regular/traditional variety but out shined others because of their crispness.

Would I visit again? No, for the reasons below.

I’m experienced with many years of working in different styles of restaurants, with menu planning, prep & making. While I’m sure there are very good dishes at Mapo, unfortunately the menu is far to broad to offer fresh excellent offerings on every item with almost 200 main dishes/Entrees alone. There is prep time, sauces, inventory and ingredient turnover to consider. Yes, Chinese restaurants offer many dishes but with a menu so vast there has to be shortcomings and shortcuts.

We experienced the problem as we received our General Tao’s chicken that had been deep fried multiple times. Breading was hardened by the multiple cookings & amount used. Chicken was a quarter with the 3/4 breading. General Tao’s sauce was applied at the end of the preparation sparingly. Many nuggets didn’t get sauced and without it, the nuggets tasted awful as all the seasoning is in the sauce itself. All nuggets were so hard they needed a knife.

After experiencing many different Chinese restaurants, I see every chef generally treats the same dishes with their own style/flavor of cooking. Unfortunately Mapo offers no list of what is included with each dish. Management needs to take that responsibility as I can’t ask the waiter/waitress what’s included on dish after dish after dish. I love many different Chinese dishes but chefs vary on what they include in a dish and some included items are solidly dealbreakers like canned vegetables.

Do they include canned ingredients? Yes. We only ordered a couple different dishes for the two of us so I’ve no idea how many canned items they use. I will say I did get Baby Corn On The Cob in my General Tao’s. For me, it’s an insult to your guests and culture, especially on a $17 dish.

I really was hoping Mapo was what it was represented to be…The best Chinese in the suburbs. While it’s not horrible, I’ll have to continue my search.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Egg Rolls

We usually do carry out, but there is nowhere in Naperville that has better food than Mapo!
So fresh , packed with care
The best ingredients, and the ONLY
Place we will order ! Five stars ⭐️ crab Rangoon the best! Egg rolls amazing
Beef LoMain was great and the fried rice
Delicious!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Best Chinese food in the area. Great choices of spicy and non-spicy dishes. Can't go wrong with anything. It gets pretty busy, but takeout orders are still quick

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Boiled Fish Fillet in Sichuan Sauce 水煮鱼片

The experience was relatively poor, and the two dishes I ordered were terrible. Although I feel that this is not the true level of this store, I still evaluate it honestly. Hot fresh squid: It is said to be fresh squid, but it tastes like it has just been thawed. It is very fishy. You can see from the picture that it is watery and has no steam. Green peppercorn kidney: This is a soup dish, it’s two yuan more expensive than the popular kidney, and it doesn’t feel as popular. I hope to order the better dishes from the two restaurants next time.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Ordered takeout chow fun. It was ok kind of bland but will definitely try more

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Looks like a new menu maybe in the last year and renovated inside. Both are welcome upgrades! Our favorite Chinese restaurant in the suburbs, best in Naperville easily.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We ordered sesame chicken and general tso's chicken, hot tea, and sweet and sour soup. The chicken was perfectly fried - the crunch was PERFECT. Sauces here are on point. The duck sauce had a sweet orange flavor, and the tea had a slight herbal flavor. The kimchi was delicious! Slightly spicy with a hint of sweet, and a great crunch. We will definitely be back!

Pictured is the spring roll, kimchi, and general tso's chicken.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Always great food at Mapo.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Loved this place. So friendly to my family and my elderly dad! Great food too!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Ok restaurant for Chinese.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

Food is authentic and good. We ordered the seafood combination and fish filet with bitter melon dishes. We were disappointed with the fish dish. There is very little fish and mostly bitter melon. Typically, they come with a good amount of large chunk of fish.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

The food was great and staff was friendly. Thank you for your delicious food and welcoming staff.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Mala Fish Fillet, Egg Rolls

Initially I was not interested in eating Chinese that day. After reading the reviews though I changed my mind. Definitely order the Ma Po Tofu with fish. That mala tingle was welcome and the heat was just enough to enjoy the dish with hot rice. The green beans with garlic were smokey due to wok hei. The soup dumplings could be better and they needed ginger slivers in their black vinegar.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Tons of menu choices!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Online order 6 16 2024, all food ordered look and taste the same hunan beef, pepper steak mongolian chicken, really disappointed. Chilickiken is soggy not crunchi spicy at all. Fathers day was ruined. Not even one star deserved
The different meat should be cut differently. Soggy, no normal spicy or tasty sauce ???

Food: 1