Cao's Hot Pot

James Wang 3 months ago

Really good all you can eat authentic Chinese Hot Pot. The owners are really kind and accommodating. If you've never had Hot pot before, it can be a bit intimidating. But this is the place to go for a great hot pot experience!

P (K) 6 months ago

An okay hotpot place. They have a nice selection of food you can order here. I really liked that you can have 4 options for soups. That's interesting. The quality of food is just okay though. The atmosphere is okay. The service is very good.

Emily Gulliford 7 months ago

My favorite hot pot place in campus!! The service is amazing and the quality of the hotpot is quite great! The workers are very friendly and accommodating 😆❤️

Fine China 2 years ago

Food is fresh, soup bases are super flavorful. They have a wide variety of vegetables, meat and noodles. The owners are so sweet and very accommodating & attentive!! They have a nice little selection of fresh fruit and desserts.

Sharrif Bobbitt 2 years ago

Excellent food in a friendly, family-like atmosphere!! The food was fresh and served with care. The broths were delicious! Awesome flavors! You can tell they take pride in their business! One of the best hot pot restaurants I’ve been to in Central Illinois!

Simon Yu 3 years ago

Tl;dr: Cao's Hotpot is arguably the most authentic hotpot joint across the continental United States. If you want to have THE hotpot experience, this is the place, period. An authentic spicy hotpot base should consist of the proper amount of chilly red peppers, base liquid, and, most importantly, beef tallow. During our first and only visit, the hotpot base served had just the right amount of peppers that made the dish not spicy enough initially but also not too spicy as the dish gets boiled over time. Many hotpot joints simply use water as the liquid for the base. An authentic hotpot dish, however, employs more sophisticated liquid such as chicken soup, which I believe is what Cao's uses for their bases. Last but not least, beef tallow. Many don't understand why beef tallow is one of the most crucial components of an authentic hotpot base, but it simply is. The reason is that the beef tallow not only significantly increases the richness in flavors of the base; the beef tallow also traps the flavors disseminated from other components in the base and retains them not only in the pot but also in your mouth. I was born a Chongqingese; however, I've lived in the United States for the

Roooger Weng 3 years ago

The hotpot here is actually pretty decent, I forgot to take picture before we eat, but here is their soup base and fruit. The quality of their ingredient is phenomenal, fresh and delicious. Definitely a good hotpot place to go to on campus. It is a little pricey, but worth the bucks for the quality of food.

Hawk Zhang 3 years ago

It seems to be a new hot pot restaurant in Champaign. I tried it today because my friend who was visiting UIUC wanted to have some Chinese food. The dining experience was perfect, both in terms of service and food. As soon as we went into the restaurant, a waiter greeted us warmly. I was also amazed by how clean, bright its dining area, and its restroom were. We got a Chicken soup+Pork bone soup base. Both soup bases were delicious. For meat, we got shrimp pasta, petite tender, clam, lamb shoulder and beef tongue. My friend enjoyed the beef tongue most, saying it was super tender, while my favorite food was shrimp pasta, which was fresh and savory. For veggie, we tried the combo plate and tribute. The combo plate had a generous serving size so I suggest you order only this one for veggie unless you really like vegetables. We also had some rice cake and fresh noodles. The rice cakes were among the best I had in US. Throughtout the meal, the stuff asked about our experience and explained how different dishes were prepared. Another important thing is that almost none of the dishes were greasy/oily. Plus, the flavor comes mainly from the ingredients, instead of tons of condiments. Th