Gilbert’s Kitchen

It was sold. :(New owners charge more for less.

It’s not the same anymore. The Sweet and Sour Chicken I had was so bready and had barely any chicken inside, the chicken itself was rubbery and tasteless. Sesame chicken was also tough. Portions were huge as usual but who cares when the food is terrible? I’m disappointed as this place used to be fantastic!

I got the teriyaki chicken lunch special and it was not so great… The chicken was really dry and there was so much sauce it was like teriyaki chicken soup.

The original owners SOLD it. :’(It is no where near as good anymore. (Sigh) Now I have to find a new Chinese Food place — great.

Simply put the worst Chinese food I have ever had and overpriced. Incredibly salty and greasy. No leftovers here as it all went in the trash. We took a chance on this place, but learned our lesson. We will be going back to China Garden. This place is awful, stay far away.

Best authentic Chinese food in the area. Amazing egg rolls! Consistently delicious and orders are prepared quickly. Never disappoints. I’ve been a loyal customer for 4 years and counting.

Best egg rolls I’ve ever had. Any time i visit a friend in elgin, we order them. They’re amazing. And the sweet and sour chicken. I’m sure everything is really good, but I always get those two things and I love them every time

Greats all around Chinese foods and friendly services!!!

Gilberts Kitchen has been a beloved tradition to many families in the area for decades. I, myself, have been getting Gilberts take out for over 20 years. When I moved away, it was the first thing I asked to eat for dinner when I visited home. Currently, I live several miles away from West Dundee and every time we drive to pick up our food from Gilberts Kitchen, we pass several ‘average’ Chinese food restaurants on our way, knowing that the few extra miles are well worth the above average quality Chinese food. Even when the owners would close shop for a few weeks and raise prices upon their return every year, we would continue to order from Gilberts because knew that the food was worth the extra money. With that said, I was very saddened to hear that the management had changed (?) and I was in denial when I read the recent Unilocal reviews claiming that Gilberts had taken a turn for the worst. Although I was leery, I still placed a large order with a wide variety of food to accommodate 9 family members (my uncle was visiting from California and had specifically requested Gilberts). It is my great displeasure to announce that the other Unilocal reviews with poor ratings are indeed correct. Gone are the days of quality ingredients. Fresh arrays of vegetables and different kinds of mushrooms are now lacking from their dishes, replaced with typical cheap vegetables. Their fantastic giant shrimp and pork egg rolls are smaller and are now filled with only shredded cabbage as far as I could see. Their jumbo chicken nuggets are more like chicken tenders from Chilis. Instead of being the Gilberts Kitchen with exceptional quality that brought people from near and far, new management has dumbed it down to ‘just another Chinese take out place’. It is officially the end of an era and this makes me very sad. From now on, I will save the gas money and time and get my Chinese take out from somewhere closer to home.

I am not sure what these other reviewers are talking about. I have been a loyal customer of Gilbert’s since 2003. Their food is (and was) the best in the area.
I get food from here on a weekly basis for myself and my my coworkers and we have yet to be disappointed.
Food here is delicious! My favorites are the Orange Chicken and Mongolian Beef.
They have added Thai food (haven’t tried those yet) but the best part is that they now do DELIVERY! :) That is wonderful, especially for work lunches.

I’m saddened to say Gilbert’s is not the same. Like so many others my family has been going here for the last 35+ years. Sadly they have new owners and have changed things. I made a point to call and let them know (kindly) what I thought. They said they still had the recipes so lets hope they go back. I would encourage others to reach out to them and let them know the new way is not necessarily better.

Got a flyer in the mail today at home, never heard of Gilbert’s before but decided to try it out. The sweet and sour sauce is amazing! The sweet and sour chicken is tastey and the egg rolls are huge!
My new favorite restaurant now

Very sad to say that the food has now gone down hill. I’m assuming new owners or management. I grew up eating here and would go way out of my way to pick it up. I have eaten here most of my a life (at least 25 years) and I am sad to report that that have changed all the foods that we usually order and have replaced things with lower quality ingredients.

I have been going to Gilbert’s for a long time now. Over the years, I have seen their overall quality go down a bit. Their prices have risen, they charge you for extra condiments, and there is more filler in mixed dishes. My beef and broccoli has become 30% onions. They really aren’t bad and I have to agree the eggrolls are the best (probably worst for you), but they are definitely becoming more average. They used to be my go-​to must-​have Chinese take out. I’ve found better places over in Elgin.

I have been a loyal customer of Gilbert’s Kitchen since the early 80’s. Their food in terms of quality and portions were legendary. It was a grand experience to have their food especially when entertaining people from out of town who were endowed with some of the best Chinese food they’ve ever tasted. Upon introducing it to friends, they would travel as far as Chicago to partake in their cuisine. But as of November 2014 this all has turned upside down. The food portions shrunk, the quality fell off, and the taste of their food which we adored all changed.
It’s a genuine travesty to share this information to you as it appears to be as a direct result of new management having taken over this once distinguished establishment. This new management has created a genuine kitchen nightmare and unless they go back to what works, I will not be returning there ever again nor will anyone who has the same expectations of both quantity and quality of the past.

We have been going to Gilbert’s Kitchen for over 15 years because they HAD! the best Chinese food around. The portions were ridiculously huge and the Mongolian Chicken was to die for. They used really good chicken and big pieces of green onions in it and their fried rice was excellent too. It had been a while since we had been to Gilbert’s kitchen and we got some take out tonight and it was the worse Chinese food I ever had. The chicken was cheap and rubbery and the flavor was horrible tasting. It was almost like they took a bunch of leftover chicken and vegetables from other pots and added some Mongolian sauce on top and gave it to us. Also the receipt I got has Ou’s Pro-​Wok on it even though the sign over the door says Gilbert’s Kitchen.

I have been going to Gilberts since the 80s and have always loved it, but this its seems has faded into nostalgia. The huge eggrolls that made this place famous are gone. They are now ¹⁄₃ the size that they used to be. Where they used to be full of pork and shrimp there was only cabbage. I loved this place and it saddens me what it has become. Goodbye Gilberts you will be sorely missed.

I have been getting Chinese food from Gilberts since the very early 80’s and even since I moved away, whenever I am in the area I grab some Gilberts and I have never been disappointed until today 11÷13÷14. So sad, I think they must have changed owners or something, NOTHING was remotely the same. The egg rolls were half the size, the food all lacked flavor, to be honest it tasted like they bought off the Chinese menu from Sysco.

This place used to be the best Chinese food in the area but has really deteriorated over the past few years now they have these football sized egg rolls that taste horrible! All oil and cabbage. If you stick with the rice dishes U will be ok but it’s way over priced.

I started going to this place when I was a child and it started my love affair with Chinese food. Now that I have moved away I make a point to come here whenever I’m in town.
Their egg rolls and fried wontons are wonderful, I’ve searched high and low to find ones that compare but my search has been fruitless so far. My other loves are the pork fried rice and the egg food young. If you get the chance to try this place do yourself a favor and please do so!