I recently visited Friendly Station State in Chicago and had a wonderful experience. This cozy small hotpot place offers a unique dining experience with all veggie items running on a conveyor belt, making it easy to grab the food you want. For meat eaters, there are three delicious options to choose from. It was a fun and interactive experience cooking with my family and enjoying the meal together. Don't miss out on trying the moochie - it's definitely a must-try dish! Overall, I highly recommend Friendly Station State for a memorable dining experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Hotpot
Sebastian R Gonzalez
Dirt cheap, must go, and staff is always
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hot Sake, Hotpot, Matcha Tiramisu, All You Can Eat Hot Pot Noodles, Garlic Fried Rice
Dino
Great food but place stinks of sewage!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mark Adams
This place is so much fun and so delicious. I’ve been here 3 separate times and every time everyone I’ve been with also had a really great time.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hotpot, Green Tea Ice Cream, All You Can Eat Hot Pot Noodles
AresE
Service is excellent. I have been to Shabu Shabu restaurants in the past. My wife and I enjoyed eating here with rotating food belt as a twist. We will definitely bring come back and bring friends!
JoB18
I've loved friends station in the past because it's a fun meal experience and tastes delicious. This time around I found the broths really under seasoned and the conveyor belt didn't have many of the menu items on it (specifically the appetizers and proteins). Waiters didn't come around often enough to place more protein orders either.
Tuscany O Rilley
Awesome space!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Garlic Fried Rice, Hotpot, Green Tea Ice Cream, All You Can Eat Hot Pot Noodles
Alex
Tasty. Boiling. Fun. Best and first hot spot experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Emilia L.
It's fun to eat here and price is fair. Wish there could be more options to choose from, including food on the menu, dipping sauce and soup base.
This is a great idea using rotary station for hot pot. We love it so much! Thank you so much!
Yunqi Wang
Rude restaurant, forced to include 18% tips into receipt. When bank statement comes out, other than the 18% tips, they even charge more( duplicate tip!). Never come here!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sun AR Park
I went there before they updated their menu on their website. According to the website, it was all you can eat which included seafood. As soon as the restaurant opened, our family walked in and tried order seafood. Then, the server said that they will charge $5 per plate for seafood because they changed their menu. They should let customers know about this fact before walking into the restaurant, especially if their old menu is still on their official site. So, we decided to not to eat and restaurant decided to still collect my cc and charge full price although none of my family ate the food. Horrible manager and servers. Only Unpleasant restaurant experience in Chicago.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Natalie S.
I am hotpot obsessed. I would go daily if given the option. So when I was downtown and walked by this place, I knew it would be love before I even went in. You grab a table and the rotary ingredients find you. There are three price points with extras like beef and dessert for the more expensive choices. I went basic because my favorite for hotpot is fish and that's on the basic price point. There are some things that they don't have here that they usually have at other hotpot places like woodear mushrooms and quail eggs. I missed those and would love them as additions to the rotary. Also, I'll be honest and say their three broth selections aren't my favorite. I have done the shoyu broth both times that I have been in and it's fine but not my favorite option. I tried the vegetable and Tom yum last time as samples and I'll stick to the shoyu. Also, the sauce bar is super basic with just like 8 options on there. Overall a great and fun experience! I would definitely do this one again!
KyoO
The service and the food were great and we loved the atmosphere, but we've had similar shabu shabu in other cities for half the price. It was a fun experience to have for a special occasion, but definitely not one we can afford to repeat on a regular basis. If you love shabu shabu or if you're looking for a fun and interesting dining experience, give it a shot, but be prepared to pay a premium for the full menu!
We love it here great service clean and so
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I recently visited Friendly Station State in Chicago and had a wonderful experience. This cozy small hotpot place offers a unique dining experience with all veggie items running on a conveyor belt, making it easy to grab the food you want. For meat eaters, there are three delicious options to choose from. It was a fun and interactive experience cooking with my family and enjoying the meal together. Don't miss out on trying the moochie - it's definitely a must-try dish! Overall, I highly recommend Friendly Station State for a memorable dining experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Hotpot
Dirt cheap, must go, and staff is always
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hot Sake, Hotpot, Matcha Tiramisu, All You Can Eat Hot Pot Noodles, Garlic Fried Rice
Great food but place stinks of sewage!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
This place is so much fun and so delicious. I’ve been here 3 separate times and every time everyone I’ve been with also had a really great time.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hotpot, Green Tea Ice Cream, All You Can Eat Hot Pot Noodles
Service is excellent. I have been to Shabu Shabu restaurants in the past. My wife and I enjoyed eating here with rotating food belt as a twist. We will definitely bring come back and bring friends!
I've loved friends station in the past because it's a fun meal experience and tastes delicious. This time around I found the broths really under seasoned and the conveyor belt didn't have many of the menu items on it (specifically the appetizers and proteins). Waiters didn't come around often enough to place more protein orders either.
Awesome space!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Garlic Fried Rice, Hotpot, Green Tea Ice Cream, All You Can Eat Hot Pot Noodles
Tasty. Boiling. Fun. Best and first hot spot experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It's fun to eat here and price is fair. Wish there could be more options to choose from, including food on the menu, dipping sauce and soup base.
Restaurantji Recommends
This is a great idea using rotary station for hot pot. We love it so much! Thank you so much!
Rude restaurant, forced to include 18% tips into receipt. When bank statement comes out, other than the 18% tips, they even charge more( duplicate tip!). Never come here!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I went there before they updated their menu on their website. According to the website, it was all you can eat which included seafood. As soon as the restaurant opened, our family walked in and tried order seafood. Then, the server said that they will charge $5 per plate for seafood because they changed their menu. They should let customers know about this fact before walking into the restaurant, especially if their old menu is still on their official site. So, we decided to not to eat and restaurant decided to still collect my cc and charge full price although none of my family ate the food. Horrible manager and servers. Only Unpleasant restaurant experience in Chicago.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I am hotpot obsessed. I would go daily if given the option. So when I was downtown and walked by this place, I knew it would be love before I even went in. You grab a table and the rotary ingredients find you. There are three price points with extras like beef and dessert for the more expensive choices. I went basic because my favorite for hotpot is fish and that's on the basic price point. There are some things that they don't have here that they usually have at other hotpot places like woodear mushrooms and quail eggs. I missed those and would love them as additions to the rotary. Also, I'll be honest and say their three broth selections aren't my favorite. I have done the shoyu broth both times that I have been in and it's fine but not my favorite option. I tried the vegetable and Tom yum last time as samples and I'll stick to the shoyu. Also, the sauce bar is super basic with just like 8 options on there. Overall a great and fun experience! I would definitely do this one again!
The service and the food were great and we loved the atmosphere, but we've had similar shabu shabu in other cities for half the price. It was a fun experience to have for a special occasion, but definitely not one we can afford to repeat on a regular basis. If you love shabu shabu or if you're looking for a fun and interesting dining experience, give it a shot, but be prepared to pay a premium for the full menu!