Dragon Lady Lounge

The place is great. Lady herself is very sweet and food tastes homey. Great dumplings!!!

As someone who loves Korean food and is vegetarian, I’ve been dying to try this place.
But trying to eat here is like chasing an illusion. The first 2 times I assumed that the hours meant when it was serving food. Walked in at 10:00 to a loud nightclub, and OK, my fault for assuming ‘open’ meant the kitchen is open.
Two or three more times I tried and it was closed with no information on the front door, and the phone number disconnected.
Tried one more time, checking FB to make sure they were open.
Arrived early at 8:30, was told «kitchen closed, no food» with an attitude as if we were imposing and coming in at the last moment.
I give up. Not trying any more, it’s just not worth it.

It was my first time trying Dragon Lady last night with my non-​vegan friend and HOLY YES! I was a bit put off when we walked in and there was only one woman behind the bar and a young gentleman sitting there. It was dimly lit and very quiet, but we decided to try it anyways.
We started with the vegan dumplings. My first ever, and they were DELICIOUS! Even my meat-​eating friend loved them. He ordered the noodle dish for an entrée and I went with the vegan burger, still weary but I went for it. EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING! The woman who greeted us, served us, AND cooked our food (the owner I’m assuming) told us that she grew most of the veggies up on her roof, and was very proud of her lettuce. I thought it was just the most adorable and heart warming thing!
Did I mention the prices are extremely reasonable as well? The Korean dinners come with the plate and 4 – 5 sides for only $ 7.99! I will be back regularly, and I live across the city!

This place is back and open so come on in for some really good food. You get a lot of delicious, healthy food for a really affordable price and you never leave hungry. Love eating here because it accommodates vegans and meat eaters alike.
I did have one seriously disappointing experience though: the buffet. I’d heard so much about it and the owner reminded us to come (I think it’s every first Saturday evening of the month). We got there early and nonetheless this place was packed to the brim. I’m talking like 80 people when on a normal night we’d be the only two or so people there.
Magically we got a table and I think it was $ 15 but we waited an hour for the food to come out, which was a huge disappointment. There were only a couple people helping the owner both in the kitchen and the bar and it was just a hectic mess with the tons of people, noise, and lack of sufficient seating and tables that forced people who were left standing to be awkwardly sardined next to you.
Some people decided to leave while more yet kept shoving their way in the already narrow joint.
We, too, were getting restless and super hungry at this point. Finally, the food came out.
Insanely, however, a mess of a line formed and due to the location of the table, we were at the tail end. Only one of us could leave so the other could hold our spot at the table but it was still a failure as after 20 minutes of waiting in line, it barely moved.
So we called it quits. My logic was by the time he gets up there for food, easily in another 30 – 60 minutes, I would have to get in and wait even more just for my first plate — at the risk of hardly getting anything given the insane amount of people.
I’m not sure if this is the normal crowd at the buffets and if they were prepared for it in terms of sufficient food, but the logistics were a mess.
Annoyed by the near two hours of waiting with our stomachs growling, we decided it made NO sense to wait this long and maybe just get one plate worth of food for more money than we would spend on a normal night here without all the trouble.
So if you go, don’t go hungry I guess and be prepared to overspend when going on a regular night is the real steal, in my opinion.
Finally, I hope they are able to hire more help and figure logistics our better so that it’s less of a mosh pit with people shoving their way to the long-​awaited food.
Won’t be back for the buffet any time soon unless I hear these things have been addressed, but I wish them luck. It doesn’t seem like an easy task!

I don’t think you can possibly find cheaper vegan food. The value is AMAZING. Under $ 10 for a giant tray with kimchi, rice, an entrée, and two veggie sides? Crazy! Sure, it’s a dive, and it can be slow, but it all adds to the experience. I’ve started taking all of my friends here. I LOVE the buffets on the second Saturdays of the month, too. I could easily eat here 3 times a week. Go, go, go!

Excellent, fresh, friendly, authentic! A must-​eat if you’re into Korean food!
I was under the impression they had closed, but was thankfully very wrong!

Sue The Dragon Lady is the bomb! The food was super awesome and she even brought us soup (fo free) and more rice and kimchi. This is the Korean grandma that we never had!

First of all, it is actually open! And Dragon lady lounge is the best! The owner is so sweet and the homemade vegan hot dogs are delicious. You’ll be in good hands here. Cheap delicious food!

I am not vegetarian but the buffet here was awesome. Highly recommended. From what I hear every other Saturday the will be having the buffet dinner.

Yes, DL is back… the décor around the bar has been pared back, but the place is clean and full of great veggie food — love the steamed dumplings. It’s like having mom make them for you (assuming she was a cook)…Don’t know why no one can update the Unilocal review. But it’s open every day but Monday now… They now have new sampler platters which are good, and served on crazy metal trays, plus all the old standards. Limited beer and wine, and cash only, but was great to see them back and open. Now if only Unilocal would get with it.

The Dragon Lady Lounge is actually not closed, it’s open! (It’s listed closed from a former employee)
I went in yesterday with a few friends, and wow, was the food good. Sue, the owner and now sole chef, made us some traditional, but vegan, dishes that were very fresh and tasty. She was so nice to be around; Sue is changing the menu, so told us the offerings and made recommendations. She makes the kim chi herself to ensure it’s vegan, and she brought us soup because it was cold outside. She even refilled my plate because I couldn’t stop eating the marinated cucumbers!
And how much was it for a 5 dish Korean meal? $ 9. She let us know about vegan buffet night every second Saturday of the month.
It’s cash only for now, so make sure to bring some.

Great Vegan Bi Bim Bap, Unbearable Music, Confusing Decór…
We were visiting Chicago and staying down the street, and this was the only walking-​distance vegan-​friendly restaurant according to Unilocal.The layout is half-​restaurant, half-​bar, with a big dance floor in the back. The décor looked as though it was decorated for a high-​school prom — lots of glowing lights and streamers. Underneath our table, a fog-​machine kept puffing out smoke… Very odd.
I very much enjoyed the food and the fact that their kitchen stays open late, I got the sautéed green bean appetizer and the vegan Bi Bim Bap which was fantastic, my boyfriend who is a meat-​eater got a burger and fries (he hated the burger and loved the fries). However, they were bumping the most horrible Top 40 dance-​jams even though the place was completely deserted. The waiter sat at the bar watching shows on his iPad the entire time and was mostly inattentive.
I fell in love with the food, but got it to-​go for my second trip back since I couldn’t stand the environment. This place has good food and could be really cool if it underwent a good facelift. It’s trying to be too many things in one spot (restaurant, bar, dance club, karaōke bar, etc.) I think that they need to specialize in one thing and focus on doing that one thing well, rather than trying to unsuccessfully smash different things together. I KNOW that diners don’t want to listen to thumping dance music while they eat, and I don’t think people who come to dance (if that ever happens) want to be bumping into tables full of diners.
My recommendation would be to convert this place into a full-​fledged Korean restaurant serving vegans and omnivores alike, and at 10pm shut down the kitchen, clear away the tables, and dim the lights to make it into a bar/​dance club.

Awesum experience… Great for vegans
Burger and hot dogs — Phenomenal!
Great service, Great food!
Anything with vegan chorizo is great!
Ask for sprouts salad specially included in vegan taco dinner.

I realized when we first drove past the Dragon Lady Lounge that we had passed by this place a hundred times. After we were served I realized how much we have missed out on by passing by and not stopping into this wonderful establishment.
Now, by no means am I a Vegetarian or a Vegan (I love my meat) but I have wanted for a long time to taste what a few of my friends were raving about as far as Vegan cuisine.
I love everything tacos and when I saw the Dragon Lady was having $ 1 tacos I thought why not… it’s away to try something new and if I don’t like it well I haven’t broken the piggy bank.
The tacos are normally $ 3 dollars and I would pay that in a heartbeat so if you missed the $ 1 tacos don’t let that stop you from trying them out.
I do believe I saw a menu for non-​vegan/​vegetarian options but don’t quote me.
I went in with an open mind and I’m so glad I did because I loved every bite of my vegan tacos… Now, I wish I could remember the names of all of them… but I only remember the Fried Tofu Taco which is the only one I wasn’t to fawn of but my girl loved it!
The tacos were fresh and flavorful I didn’t even miss the cheese or sour cream until I realized there wasn’t any cheese or sour cream.
We also ordered some fries and they were so good they had a lime, salt, pepper type of mixture that we are still trying to figure out but at the end of the day they were just tasty.
The place was small and intimate they had some great art on the wall and some kind of fabric draping from the ceiling but it all just worked. Our waiter/​bartender was nice and when we asked him about ten times what did he call the tacos he didn’t seem irritated even if he was… because I may have and what is crazy I still don’t know the names.
I copied these names from the Unilocal Event page so I hope this is what we ate… lmao because I’m not sure but here you go (tofu taco, chorizo and beans taco or papas bravas taco)
My girl had to work so we didn’t get any drinks but we will be back for sure… I loved the place but I’m not giving up my meat but I will add to my options.
If you get a chance check them out!!!
Enjoy!

I consider Dragon Lady a hidden neighborhood gem! I visited this restaraunt on Sunday afternoon around 5pm. It was not overly busy and my party was seated immediately. Our waiter was very attentive and initially recommended the customer favorites. I ordered the Deluxe Kim Chi Cheeseburger and the spicy Dragon Wings (which was a good serving size). The food was above average and a celebration of flavor! Even the Dragon Slaw that accompanied the burger was amazing!
This place was beautifully decorated and had relaxing ambiance, great customer service, and satisfying food. I would certainly recommend the Dragon Lady Lounge. This was my first time dining there and I will definitely be back. On another note, if you are a Vegan, this restaurant offers a wide variety of Latin /​Korean vegan dishes!

I dont even know where to begin!
we walked in around 6 or 7 pm the other night. empty!
its was freezing in there, I kept my coat on the whole time! if you read through the Unilocal reviews, other people have been cold too!
the place looks awful. it looks like the inside of a vampires coffin! theres velvet and curtains everywhere! why?
theres velvet everywhere and wheres there not, theres red. RED! RED! RED! it came across as too literal to the lounges name. its also extremely dark. and theres tacky disco balls and christmas lights everywhere.
like other Unilocalers, it did occur to me that they have a bit more space than they have furniture for. so wow, low investment for this space.
I also felt that the waiter was very grabby with the menu, which once again validates itself on here, seeing as that was their only pair of menu’s and he was trying to grab it incase more people come in.
the menu is very cheap. my drink was mixed with the same can of pineapple juice you find at the dollar store. my rice tasted like the same rice you buy in a box.
they were also playing the worlds most boring grandmother-​movie on the hallmark channel. not what I would expect in whats supposed to be a trendy gay bar.
it was just all wrong, I told my roommate «I could easily imagine this place on a reality show where they do a make-​over!»
my eyes are still burning from the unsightliness of red paint and black velvet everywhere!

Dragon Lady Lounge certifiably ec·lec·tic with a mixture of Korean Latin infused vegan dishes. Just ask yourself if there was a place that had fresh veggies, Kim Chi Vegan burgers, spicy vegan chorizo taco’s and Korean dishes like the Bi Bim Bop and home made dumplings, wouldn’t that be the place to go? It’s a home run! The mere fact that almost everything on the menu is vegetarian/​vegan makes me love eating there. Outstanding!

I was invited to come here with a group of friends last weekend and my first reaction was «dragon who?» Now I know all about DLL.
For a Saturday night at 8pm, we were the only people here. It felt a little cold and weird. When I first walked in, I was confused whether this was a lounge (as the name indicates) or a restaurant. There’s a velvet-​covered sofa, high tops and a back room and it is really dimly lit. There’s about 4 flat screen TVs that were playing Reservoir Dogs and Eat, Pray, Love. Very weird combination of movies, I know. I think the staff was playing an early 90s Pandora station. I felt like I was flying back in time to my elementary and middle school days, which made for cheesy/​cute dinner convo.
I had a good time in terms of the food, but the décor was just horrible. The space itself is pretty long and has a lot of room for potential. It looks like the owner just went crazy with red. There’s red tables, red chairs, red signs (that look hand written), red frames of red dragons, and red ribbon they probably got at Party City and hung it up wherever they could. The menus look like they’re printed from home and there was only one set. When another group came in, we had to give our menus (we were going to keep ordering) back to the waiter to give to them. Also, I could barely read the menu items as the paper was really faded and the alignment of the words were too left, cutting off the first word of every item. We were literally guessing what the items could have been («do you think it’s mean green beans? or lean green beans?»).
My bf and I ordered a sangria and a margarita and they were both pretty bad. The price was $ 7 each, which is a deal for river north or the loop, but average for this area. The drinks tasted like it was purely syrup or synthetic liquids rather than an actual mixture of ingredients. The fruit in my sangria was old too. My friend ordered the tea with tequila and she said she liked it as it warmed her up nicely.
My friends and I shared a bunch of food items: vegan steamed dumplings (excellent), kimchi pancake (also great), bi bim bop (just ok but i’m not a big fan of it anywhere), mozzarella sticks that came with fries (how can you mess that up?) and I ordered the vegan chorizo taco (misleading as it is more of a tostada than a taco and still not that great) and my bf ordered the hot dog special of a veggie dog with fries for $ 5 (just o. k). There’s no doubt that the food prices at this place are ridiculously cheap for a lot of food. We all definitely over-​ate and we really satisfied with the portions for the price of the food.
Because we were a bigger group, they did forget one person’s drink order and it took them a while to realize (after being reminded) and bring it out. We hung out there for a couple of hours between the drinking and eating and were treated to veggie soups and 2 (watered-​down) shots each. This definitely made up for the really terrible decorations but I just couldn’t get over how weird this place felt. Maybe I have to try this place on their popular buffet nights and I won’t care about atmosphere or ambiance or drinks when I’m stuffing my face endlessly, but I just felt kinda creeping hanging out here.

I’ve known a few Dragon Ladies in my time. Luckily, maybe they eschew this spot in favor of meeting with their coven or off being Cryptkeeper’s play cousin. Unfortunately, it’s seems many others do as well. We strolled in after a delightful meal to check it out on a Saturday night and it was a bit dead.
The atmosphere was strange. And not in a quaint way. Odd décor. Lots of red accents, candles, velvet draped couches. A bunch of Dragon signs on the walls which my partner felt reminded him of the Karate Kid logos; but I thought resembled logos from Double Dragon. It’s weird the restaurant aspect is emphasized so much, when there’s only hightops, a bar, and couple of couches, and it’s all dark.
The music was also eccentric. They played old school hip hop, 80’s metal, hits from 90’s Now That’s Music compilations. Tag Team, Mötley Crüe, Toni Tone Tony, Kid Rock, Montel Jordan… uh ok? Someone set the iPod list on shuffle.
It was very cold. Even the bartender’s (who was very nice) pals/​co workers (?) were wearing parkas and wool hats. We only stayed for 1 round of beer due to this and the fact it was Snoresville.
They seem to be mostly known for the Thursday 7pm $ 7.50 Vegan Korean buffet with a bunch of options including their kimchi which is supposed to be rad. My partner said he actually likes Korean food and Kimchi (learn something new everyday). So I’m giving it an «A-​OK» since I’d likely return to try the famous buffet.

I have never been to the Dragon Lade Lounge before yesterday, but from the previous reviews, this place was once a «dive bar.» The new manager Robert, a warm and friendly guy, told my husband and me about his efforts to transform the place. We were in a bit of a hurry to get to a concert, so he recommended the vegan hot dogs and hamburgers. The hot dogs ($ 5.25 for two with fries) were dense and flavorful with a kick, almost like a spicy sausage. The vegan Dragon burger ($ 8) was also flavorful and served on a wonderful pretzel roll.
Unfortunately, I also had a disappointing $ 6 homemade «sangria» — red wine served over ice with green grapes and maraschino cherries. I’ve been to Spain. I have had numorous amazing homemade sangrias across the country. What I had was an insult to the word sangria.
So I have always wanted to try the VEGAN BUFFET but geography is keeping me from going. As of this review, the plan is to have the vegan buffet every month on the 3^rd. If there is enough demand, they may increase it to twice monthly. Tell your friends and use social media so that they have the demand they need to keep the buffet going!