Milestone birthday - Dinner destination near Carol Stream

Mom [Camille, daugher of the real Giovanna] is turning 70 Wednesday, and holding up very well, thanks for asking. Want to take her out for a nice dinner, of course. She's been wanting for a while to go to Paprikash, but the recent talk about the new ownership has me wondering if this a very good idea at all.

When I asked her what else she'd like, her response was that she always likes Chinese and Mexican.

So here's the list of restauarnt qualifications that I have in mind:

*She lives in Carol Stream, and would probably prefer to go somewhere close to home.

*She knows good food with quality ingredients when she eats it, but doesn't have a chowist-high level of adventuresomeness, and doesn't like very many Scoville units in her dinner. Oh, and she's doing low-fat [with great sucess], and will bend her rules some, but wouldn't a thoughtful daughter take her somewhere with lots of low fat/low cholesterol choices?

*Store-front/shopping mall restaurants are fine with her, but it being a milestone birthday I'd like to take her someplace more upscale than that this time.

Paprikash would have fit the bill nicely, but as I say I have my qualms. I thought about Amanacer Tapatio until Mapquest informed me that that was a terrible idea [well, I'm really more of a city kid, and don't intuitively appreciate just where they're keeping any given suburb these days]. I'm thinking that there might be something to fit the bill in Oakbrook? West Chicago? Aside from good storefront ethnic places, I don't know any place that fits the bill. And so, my friends, I turn to your collective wisdom.

With thanks,

the faux Giovanna

Giovana,

Like you, I'm not completely sure of Suburban geography, but I know there is a Lao Schuan somewhere out there as well as the surviving location of Hong Min. Both would be good destinations and I know they are in the Western suburbs. I'm just not sure how close either one of them is to Carol Stream (as I have no idea where Carol Stream is).

The Westmont Lao Sze Chuan would be an excellent choice. Good earlier report here

Other possibilities in this post

I also don't know where Carol Stream is, but would Little Village, on the city's west side, be a doable destination? If so, I'd recommend Mi Tierra on S. Kedzie, where I just took my brother for a 50th birthday celebration. It's a large and festively decorated restaurant, and on Sundays they have a big mariachi band, with multiple singers. It's a tremendously festive place, always filled with big family groups celebrating special occasions. If you're celebrating a birthday or anniversary they will recognize your table and you'll be urged to get up and join the dance that snakes through the restaurant. I should note that all the narration is in Spanish, so unless you're fluent you won't know just what is being said, but one gets the generally happy drift. The show lasts about 30 minutes, and the music is quite loud, so that might be an issue, but we always ask for a table close to the band nonetheless (in one part of the restaurant you actually can't see the band very well.) The food is fine, not great Mexican by Chicago standards, but the tabletop grill they do there is very popular and fun. If your grandma likes good music and you'd like to be around other families having a great time, this would be a good choice.

Carol Stream lies mostly north of North Avenue, west of I-355 and east of St. Charles. It is directly north of Wheaton and Winfield and so also north of Naperville. Most of the suburbs nearby to the north and east have limited good food destinations. St. Charles, Geneva, Lisle and the Butterfield Road corridor between the Yorktown and Oakbrook shopping centers are relatively close. I don't have any experience with Chinese or Mexican in these areas but do recall that there have been a fair number of posts here and on CH is the last 6 months or so. Costa's and Greek Islands have a fair number of items that are relatively low in saturated fat and cholesterol but not so low in olive oil.

Giovanna,

You mentioned Mexican in your posts. You might want to search some earlier posts about El Tesoro. I used to work in the Carol Stream area and they recently opened a location on Bloomingdale Road a few blocks south of North Avenue. El Tesoro is a storefront place, but has a nice sit down area. There specials have always been a winner for me, but I here there specialty is there whole fish preparations. Since this place is in Carol Stream it might make the logistics easier for you.

Posts on the CH board would be about there other location in West Chicago. The two locations are owned and operated by the same family and from what has been discussed the quality is the same.

Flip

For good Mexican, I have two recommendations. Nicer sit down, try La Estancia. Located west of Glen Ellyn Road on Lake Street, La Estancia has a nice diverse selection of dishes, chicken, beef and seafood. Food is consistently above average. My new preferred place for Mexican is La Quebrada in Glen Ellyn, located in the shopping center with Trader Joe's and Binny's in the northeast corner of Roosevelt Road and Park Blvd. Taking my que from Vital Information (Rob), I dine there frequently, as often as three times per week. All their sauces are made from scratch. Watched Juana make mole last night and got to taste it fresh....yum!!! Again, a nice range of dishes, with the focus being on Acapulco region. Never had a bad meal and the prices are very reasonable.

As an alternative, I've heard that Siboney in Bartlett (a Cuban-American cafe) is pretty good. It's located downtown Bartlett right near the train station. I've not been there so I can't report, but the interior looks very nice and "white linen" like. Friends have been there and enjoy the food.

What about Sabor in Schaumburg at Roselle and Schaumburg Rd? Cuban, very nice decor, more upscale than I expected from the location, not too far away.

We were just at Lao Szechuan House in Westmont for lunch on Tuesday and I have to agree with the other poster that this would be a great place to go. I have to thank all here for the great info about this place. The mangolian beef and Yu Shiang Chicken were truly wonderful and even the rice was outstanding. We are looking forward to going back one evening and trying many more dishes. I think you would really enjoy it.

Thanks for all y'all's input. Alas, we did not go to the Westmont Lao Sze Chuan last week. My brother decided that we should go to Venus in Park Ridge instead. Family politics is such at the moment that big sister pushing the point wasn't such a good idea. However, MY birthday is coming up in March and I think I know where we're going to go.

By the way [1]: Venus wasn't bad, but no rave from me either. Food was fresh and competently done. If you're going to the Pickwick for a movie and want Chinese food before or afterwards, you have my blessing. However, Don Juan [Mexican] and Zia's [Italian] are less than a mile SE & you'll have better meals there.

By the way [2]: Thanks for the reminder that there's a LaQuebrada over in Glen Elyn. Mom might enjoy some goat....

Giovanna