I set out about two weeks ago to explore Chicago’s Chinatown — just off the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop. I hoped to find tiny tea-houses tucked away off the main streets, tea importers, tea shops — I hoped to find a mecca of tea right in my own city. However, I found none of this. Not even an inkling of hope. I left completely and utterly disappointed.
I began walking around, first North on Wentworth to China Square on Archer, there were many shops, Americanized restaurants, Chinese Herbs, bookstores, and a few stores selling cheap souvenirs. The only store slightly of interest was the Chinese Cultural Bookstore [2145B S. China Place] which had a small selection of Yixing pots (all above $100USD) and an instructional video called “Learn China’s Art of Enjoying Tea With Me” which I purchased and have not yet watched.
I then walked down Wentworth into the heart of Chinatown, going down each side-street a block or two just hoping to uncover a gem of a shop. But there was nothing to be found. I stopped by the well known Ten Ren tea shop on Wentworth. It is a classic Chinese tea shop, the walls lined with shelves of large tea tins. I had to wonder how long the tea had been sitting in the tins. They had one pu-erh cake priced at $20.00USD, and many tea-wares — few items to be found under $50.00USD.
Surprisingly the most “authentic” Chinese teahouse I’ve found in the Chicagoland area is in Evanston. It is called Dream About Tea [http://www.dreamabouttea.com/] if you get up there, make sure you check it out. Lastly, if anyone knows of any tea spots in Chicago’s Chinatown (perhaps I missed a few streets? maybe an entire section of Chinatown?) please enlighten me!
Thanks for the heads up to the tea shop in Evanston, I have lived here for a while and had seen is a couple of times but never thought it looked to spectacular or anything. I am definitely going to check it out now.
Yeah its a great shop, very authentic. They have some aged pu-erh tea cakes in there too.. ask about them when you get in there!
My husband is from Chicago and we have tried looking for tea shops and they are few and far between. Chicago Chinatown is a big disappointment when it comes to tea considering the size of the city. The only place we even found was a Ten Ren and that wasn’t even that impressive.
Yeppers, Dream About Tea is a special place to be sure! I am in there often, and always come away smiling!