The dining experience at Qiao Lin for hotpot enthusiasts is truly exceptional. One aspect that stands out is the remarkable depth of flavor found in their chicken broth. Its beautiful yellow hue and the distinct umami notes derived from using fresh chicken create an excellent base to dip the meat and seafood into. Moreover, the quality of ingredients shines throughout the meal. Every dish we tried boasted freshness and excellence. The fish fillet and sliced Wagyu beef were our favorites. The fish fillet was delicate and tender, while the Wagyu beef was rich and melt-in-your-mouth. Qiao Lin's commitment to quality ingredients truly elevated the dining experience. The entire staff was friendly, attentive, and helpful throughout our dining experience. From the moment we were seated, they took care of every detail, including storing our belongings in the convenient storage box. Their impeccable service continued until we left the restaurant, ensuring that we were well taken care of and satisfied. The attentive and courteous staff added an extra touch of excellence to our overall dining experience at Qiao Lin. However, it's important to note that the only downside we encountered was the lengthy wait time. If you decide to join the waitlist, expecting your table to be ready at the suggested time, you might be in for a surprise. To ensure a great dining experience, making a reservation ahead of time is an absolute must at this popular establishment. Must try: One meter beef, pork meat balls, shrimp paste, black fish fillet, frog legs, and the golden chicken broth. Updated: In our last visit, I also loved the spicy garlic pig ear and the Mengo Lassi at the sauce bar. Can avoid: fresh cut beef and beef meatball
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
One Meter Sliced Beef

Beautiful ambience with delectable food. I was determined to eat here despite the two hour line. If you can, get on the wait list an hour or two before you plan on going. I highly recommend the Chongqing Crispy Pork Sticks to start with. We ordered a half and half hot pot with herb chicken and Chongqing spicy broth. You can choose the spiciness of the second and we chose the first level - it was plenty. And we like spicy. Make sure to order a variety of ingredients. We chose noodles, pork dumplings, a METER of beef (comes as rolls you cook in the hot pot), mushroom assortment, and cabbage. We weren’t sure how much to order but the waiters are more than happy to help you figure out what you might have too much or too little of. The sauce bar can get crowded so when it’s your turn, make at least two sauces and grab some of those shrimp puffs I never know the correct name for. When you need to use the restroom, just head outside the restaurant into the mall and it’s right across from the door. Also, I recommend shamelessly wearing an apron if offered. You will stain your clothes unless you eat like a bird. Overall, wonderful food and atmosphere, just have to be assertive to get a waiter’s attention.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Recommended dishes
Sauce

I was late to my first hot pot experience, my companions had already ordered and I just joined in. Months later when I ordered myself, the waitress returned concerned and encouraged us to adjust our order, so we did. Well let’s just say we did not adjust enough and boy oh boy, what a couple of glutton lookin buffoons. During the entirety of this meal, our booth was next to a very large window, in front of the restaurant, which almost made it feel like we were a sideshow display. We had no idea what we were doing, especially with the chili, we love chili, lots of it, but not this time, this time was wild, almost an achievement of sorts making me literally question my existence and place here on Earth. All joking aside, and despite my hot pot ignorance, this was an amazing meal consisting of quality ingredients and very good service. I shall return, after watching a YouTube tutorial on how to hot pot bahaha. Stay irie:)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

It’s inside a new mall in Chinatown w free parking across the street. The quality of the meat is good here including the silken tofu or mushrooms for those who are vegetarian. There are hot pot tables with 3 sections for big parties so you can have various broths. The self serve condiments section also has fruit, home made shrimp chips, and edamame among other items. But it is small so there ends up being a line. Overall a great fun place to share food while it’s cooked in front of you. It’s clean and modern.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot, Free street parking
Parking
It’s a big parking lot right across the street from the hotpot place

Well executed Chinese hotpot restaurant. Choose up to 3 different broths per pot. We chose the chicken herbal broth, the collagen rich with chicken, pork, fish and pumpkin broth and a spicy mala broth. All three broths had a distinct rich flavor. They are the perfect compliment to the vast choices of meats, vegetables, dumplings and noodles to choose from. For the more adventurous, there are gizzards, pig and goose intestines and fish stomach delicacies. Engaging presentations. All the dishes were reasonable priced. Good portions. Several unique smoothies and tea beverages. Many alcoholic options as well. Attentive service. Quaint, comfortable seating.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Parking
Parking lot parking.

My lucky day to visit in 2023, the manager and lady hostess were so kind. They gave us a table so quickly, and we could enjoy a wonderful dinner with my granddaughter who visited Chicago. The server was very helpful for ordering and efficient. My #1 favorite is the fish slices. It was extremely fresh and crispy, and nowhere can compete with Qiao Lin. Beef balls are freshly made by the restaurant, they are excellent. You van chose soup base in 3 options and all the same price. Self-serve sauce bar is full of choice, I love it. However, I am kind of disappointed with the shrimp paste, which is not much shrimp taste, and not much texture. The amount of an order of lettuce is small. I am happy with this visit and look forward to coming back
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

The food was fresh & delicious. The staff were very knowledgeable about the food choices, made very good suggestions, & answered any questions I had. They were very attentive. There was a good selection of food as well as having a yummy sauce/dipping station that had a very big selection of ingredients to chose from. This was my first time at a hotpot, & it was very user friendly. The atmosphere was very friendly & I will definitely be coming back! (The mushroom broth is delicious!)
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Mushroom Broth, One Meter Sliced Beef

Yeah. More hot pot. Got there early so no wait. Server attentive. Fast service. The herb chicken broth and the spicy were delicious. Mind you, has medium, too hot, will go for mild next time. Great beef tallow flavor. Meats were good, the garlic chicken was best. The skewers were eh, more spice, the beef slices of course, vg. The marinated beef was ok. The lotus root was very fresh, very starchy. The fresh noodles needed to a bit of time to absorb flavor. Overall, good service, good food, good flavors.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Recommended dishes
Hot Pot Bowl, Fresh Cut, Half and Half, One Meter Sliced Beef

Not a bad place to eat at, the food is relatively fresh and the server was nice. The only complaints I had were that the chicken looked off (watery and a bit different in color), and while I ordered a pot of two different broths they both began to leak into each other fairly quickly. This made one that would normally be a mild chicken flavor super spicy, ruining it for both me and my group. I would recommend this place but it is definitely not my go-to when it comes to hot pot.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Tenden Marinated Beef, Seafood

Four stars because of wine glass is filthy and still give them to us. We end up cleaning it. Amazing meats quality for such a cheap price. Quality sauce station is you can mix your own. They have already changed per head. BD person, get free one plate of thin slices American wagyu. Fast and intuitive services. Large parties more than 6 guests can not enjoy the food for more than 2 hours even you ordered a lots of food and still eating. Overall, it was a great experience for cheap prices.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Sauce

I took off one star because the wait time can get ridiculous. However, you can’t really see how long the wait is since it depends on how much other people eat. Otherwise, the food is pretty good. I always do one mild and one spicy broth. For people unfamiliar to this, just order the popular items. Yes you will have to cook it yourself. For the price and what you get, the quality is exceptional. Free parking. It’s not in Chinatown but a short drive or Uber ride.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

This is the absolute best hotpot restaurant!! Authentic flavors, tons of options. Wait time is always long but this restaurant is totally worth the wait! Random note: Your clothes will smell of delicious oil for hours after you step out of the restaurant, so keep that in mind if you have other things planned after. Must try! Would give it 7 stars if I could!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Great food/menu. Awesome server Metan was attentive without being overbearing. Made sure our needs were met without seeming omnipresent & gracefully solved a small issue that arose. Made for a lovely dining experience, recommend if you’re in the area.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Hot Pot Bowl
Dietary restrictions
Tons of options for celiac/gluten free.

This is now my favorite hotpot place in chicago! •The staff are friendly and attentive! •The broths are rich in flavor. There are many options, and you're able to choose up to three. •They serve quality delicious meat • Fresh vegetables Would definitely reccomended this restaurant to people wanting to try hot pot for their first time.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Amazing food. First time trying this place. Service was great and servers were nice and helpful. Truly authentic Chongqing hotpot. There’s also a counter where you make your own condiments. Free parking in the lot. Wait time can be long or very long during weekends and holidays so plan ahead. Overall very good. We will be back.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–50

Arguably the best Sichuan hotpot in Chicago. Waiting time usually super long. Food presentation are great. Nice and clean interior and good vibe. They also have good self service sauce bar with some fruit and side dishes. Also snacks for waiting. The only compliant I have is that all the marinated spicy meat also the meatballs has this brackish taste, maybe because of tag soda for soften the meat.

This has to be the best hotpot in the States. So glad we discovered this spot, the selection and quality of the items is amazing. Excellent and attentive service along with fantastic food, Ivy was our server and really made us feel welcome and thoroughly attended to. Can’t wait to come back, after this food coma wears off. More

Very expansive item, they charge $4 to use sauce bar at a hotpot restaurant, kind of ridiculous. Food wasn’t exceptionally good, but to be full, you can expect to spent at least $40 a person. We ordered too much and ended paying $100 a person. Would not visit again.
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 3

As a person who is originally from Chengdu, I would highly recommend this hot pot restaurant. The taste is authentic, and the service is flawless. I traveled alone to Chicago from Minneapolis for vacation and had two meals there. They treated me well and never discriminated against me as a single person dining in.

Visit 3-4 times, recommend reserving using Yelp during peak times. Price is the most reasonable among other hot pots (I’ve tried 3-4) and convenient to do some groceries at 88 marketplace after eating. However last time I visited, ordered level 1 spicy and definitely felt like at least level 2. More

This was my first time trying hot pot (in June 2021)! I fell in love. It is hard to make a last minute reservation for a medium size group so I recommend adding yourself to the waitlist 1-2hrs before you plan on going in. My group was lucky

It was a delightful meal, but being here for the first time and not having had the Chinese Hot Pot experience on my own before, it was a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, I'm not shy to ask around, and the servers were very kind and explained

This spot is always busy for a reason! The food is top notch. You customize everything you want to come in your hot pot. Tried the mushroom and chicken broth. I liked the chicken one more. The fried tofu was such a good add on. The beef

Came here a few days ago for my friend's birthday. We waited 1.5 hours for a table (which isn't that bad for Qiao Lin on a Friday) and got sat. The three of us ordered half level 1 spicy and half of the normal chicken broth I believe.

We were told for 45 minutes wait but we got in less than 25 minutes. I like the spicy broth and the fresh cut of brisket, pork belly were delicious! This place is my favorite place for hot pot restaurant. More

Their golden chicken soup base was super hearty and filling! Only minor inconvenience was that there was only one sauce bar, but besides that the food, ambience, and everything else was great!

Usually hot pots have two flavors but this place had a triple flavor pot. We chose spicy, chicken and mushroom based broth which really brought out flavors on vegetables.

Look at the photo. Look at all the fat you are consuming. Food was so expensive. Not sure why this place was so busy. I would go back to my happy lamb place. More

I'm addicted to hotpot! I’m vegetarian so the only option for me was mushroom broth. I have been to this

Great service and friendly staff! Not much to say other than a filling and amazing dinner.