LITTLE ITALY — A longtime Chinatown restaurateur has opened a Cantonese restaurant in a storefront that for decades housed Italian restaurants in Little Italy .
Eddie Cheung, former partner in well-known Phoenix Restaurant in Chinatown, opened Jade Court, a Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant at 626 S. Racine Ave. Thursday in the former Salatino's and Rico's restaurant space.
Cheung, who opened Phoenix Restaurant 20 years ago and managed it with his daughter Carol Cheung, sold the business with his partners in July 2015. He has also owned Chinese restaurants in Toronto, where he lived before moving to Chicago.
The new sit-down restaurant serves traditional Cantonese offerings and late-night Chinese take-out and fruit smoothies from a connected storefront that used to house Dough Boys pizza. The Cheungs originally planned to offer dim sum service but those plans are on hold for now, Carol Cheung said, as staff navigates the new kitchen.
Jade Court also offers delivery and a $7.95 daily lunch special that includes an entree, fried rice, egg roll and drink. A full menu is below.
Szechuan string beans and stir-fried shrimp with chives at Jade Court. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
Like they did over decades at Phoenix Restaurant, at 2131 S. Archer Ave., the Cheungs aim to cultivate a strong clientele of regulars so Jade Court can "feel like home."
"One thing we really enjoyed [at Phoenix] is getting to really know people over the years," said Carol, who lives on the Near West Side. "We were so familiar with their likes and dislikes, most of our customers didn't need menus."
The new Racine Avenue restaurant is named after the first restaurant Eddie Cheung opened in Toronto.
Inside the dining room at Jade Court in Little Italy. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
The 16,000-square-foot storefront had housed Rico's restaurant for decades before it closed and made way for two other eateries, which also later closed. The most recent restaurant, Salatino's, run by restaurateur Scott Harris, included a storefront that used to house Dough Boys. But it closed in summer 2012 and has remained empty since.
In November 2014, a group of former UIC basketball players aimed to open a restaurant and bar with live music in the vacant Racine storefront, but plans never panned out.
Jade Court is open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m. for dine in customers and until Midnight for carry out customers.
Jade Court, a new Cantonese restaurant, is now open at 626 S. Racine Ave. in Little Italy. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
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