Dee's Mandarin Restaurant   

In the last decade, the stretch of Armitage Avenue west of Halsted Street (once occupied by The Old Town School of Folk Music, a hardware store and well, that's about it) has experienced a bit of a renaissance. But while you can now buy $150 designer jeans instead of power tools along the strip, one establishment has luckily remained the same. For more than 20 years, Dee Kang has consistently provided Lincoln Park residents with some of the best Mandarin and Szechwan cuisine this side of Chinatown at her eponymous restaurant. Step into the intimate, dark atmosphere (or the pretty back porch in the warm weather), and have your pick of a huge variety of heartily portioned dishes (the chicken with shiitake mushrooms, peapods and water chestnuts or the shrimp with black bean sauce is a favorite). Dee's has recently added a very nice sushi bar, but Chinese cuisine is still its forte. The one thing Dee's has in common with its cheaper, inferior competitors? The place delivers -- and compared to the dive-y egg foo young you're used to for takeout, it's worth every single extra penny.