Get there Before 7 and Order the Burger. A Must Your First Time
Mott St is a Michelin Bib Gourmand pan-Asian restaurant on Ashland that somehow makes a menu this wide feel creative rather than compromise
Pan-Asian menus worry me. The range usually signals a kitchen trying to please everyone, which is how you end up pleasing no one. Mott St is the exception. Named after Mott Street in New York City's Chinatown, it frames itself around the intersection of immigrant culinary traditions and high-energy urban dining, and the menu backs that framing up. The range here signals creativity, not placating. There is a difference and you taste it.
The room is always packed, communal tables, high energy, decorations that are literally the dry pantry items stacked on shelves — spicy sauces, fish sauce, the working ingredients of the kitchen on display. It shouldn't feel designed and it doesn't need to. In the summer the large outdoor section is worth claiming early.
Everyone talks about the burger first and they are right to. Two patties, shoestring sweet potatoes, pickled jalapeños, dill pickles, butter onions, American cheese. It is tall and messy and somehow completely coherent. You have to order it before 7pm. They cut it off to protect grill space for the rest of the menu and that is a reasonable decision you should plan around. It is shareable, which is good, because there is too much else worth ordering to give the burger the whole table. The short rib, the smoked gai lan, and the kalbi all stand out. The papaya salad is fine. The Thai half of me wanted more authenticity out of it. That is my one note.
Where Mott St really lands, though, is brunch. It is one of my favorite brunches in Chicago. The congee reminds me of the congee my mother used to make when I was sick, which is the highest possible compliment I can give a congee. The condiments served alongside it are distinctly Southeast Asian and make the whole bowl feel personal. Even the straightforward breakfast with eggs and longanisa sausage is done well and genuinely enjoyable. The kitchen is also thoughtful about dietary restrictions and handles them without making the menu feel smaller for it.
We have come back several times. We will keep coming back. For more than just the burger.
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