Sit Down Cafe & Sushi Bar (in Hyde Park?!?!?!)

As a long-time Hyde Parker/South Sider, it's hard not to fall into the dominant "woe is us" mentality about life in HP, most common among transplants to the U of C who would really like to live in Lincoln Park except for the cost of living and congestion, and who may have a very limited experience of typical Chicago neighborhoods (which often have MUCH less going for them than Hyde Park does). But the unavoidable fact is that Hyde Park has some great new food options (Z&H, TI, new HP Produce, Park52), and Sit Down Cafe & Sushi Bar is one of them.

Sit Down occupies the 53rd Street spot recently vacated by the Hyde Park Produce stand, which has moved into gorgeously renovated new digs down the street. That's no accident, since Sit Down's proprietor is part of the HP Produce family, and he makes good use of his family ties to access great fresh produce every morning for the restaurant. The menu may seem strange to some -- a mix of sushi bar offerings and Italian-influenced appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, bruschettas, even pizza. The way to think of it (I think) is that it's a "small plate" place where you can nosh on sushi and western/Mediterranean little dishes. Today for a light, late lunch while the Bears were losing to one of the worst teams in the NFL.

Miso soup and edamame were exemplary, perfect preparations of these Japanese staples. Pasta fajole soup was a hearty, beany and spicy warm-up, with a navy bean soup-like thickness and an unexpected but pleasant zing. An appetizer named only "shrimp and rice" was a set of medium-sized, perfectly cooked shrimp on a bed of basmati rice cooked with arugula -- the rice had a subtle savory taste that made it more substantial than you would expect. A caprese salad was also very fresh, with nice mesclun greens in addition to the tomatoes and mozzarella. For sushi, we sampled ikura (salmon roe), negi hama maki (yellow tail and green onion) and a "Chicago Fire" maki, with tuna, white tuna, salmon, avocado, spiced with a cilantro/jalopeno spicy oil mixture. The last roll was the size of a futomaki and the spice was a nice change of pace from the now-familiar "spicy tuna" approach. I can't stress enough how fresh and tasty the fish was. The ikura (my 6-year old's favorite) was perfect--moist, plump, not too salty, a generous serving to boot. The sushi were assembled perfectly and served promptly, the nori was still dry and crisp. Even on a Sunday, when I usually fear for the freshness of sashimi-grade fish, I had NO complaints at all.

The decor is exactly what one hope for in a contemporary Chicago neighborhood place (outside of Hyde Park). An exposed brick wall, helpfully sealed to warm the place up and avoid catastrophic snag-related wardrobe malfunctions. About 12 tables, lounge seats in the front window, a surprisingly large L-shaped sushi bar. Service was quiet, efficient and attentive, with none of the random explosions of drama and/or incompetence one sees at some HP joints. No obvious sign of liquor (I wasn't really looking), but BYOB may be an option. Stop at Binny's or Kimbark Liquors on the way.

I know from reading this sight for a while that many participants have occasion to visit Hyde Park throughout the year. Sit Down Cafe & Sushi Bar is a great new option for a light meal before or after a museum visit or a play or concert at the U of C. The food is great and fresh and the staff and atmosphere seem conducive to both a quick bite or a leisurely nosh. And I hope HPers will turn out to support this great new neighborhood place.

The Sit Down Cafe & Sushi Bar
1312 E. 53rd Street - At S Kimbark
Chicago, IL 60615

773 324-3700

Hours
Sun-Thu: 11am-9:30pm
Fri-Sat: 11am-10:30pm

I agree with rdb's thread title - I'm not sure who might have conceived this place for Hyde Park, but somehow, it works, as a weird collision of The Brown Sack and Bob San. Our lunch last week featured maki, pizza, and a vegetable panino with homemade veggie chips. Forgive the phone pics:







The roll (their "spicy" maki) was tasty, but the pieces were far too large to eat modestly in one or two bites, and the three kinds of fish overwhelmed the mild fresh jalapeno slivers and cilantro. The good quality ingredients will bring me back for nigiri.

The pizza ($7, and a nice size) first struck me as tomato sauce and cheese simply spread on a tortilla or wrap shell, since it was that thin and limp. However, the sauce was spicy and assertive, the cheese sharp, and the crust seemed fresh and chewy (in a good way) towards the center, so they may be making their own dough and just not getting it hot enough to bubble or char the way it could. So expect ultra-thin, but not Neapolitan.

The sandwich and house-made chips were excellent. Crusty sourdough pressed with real butter, filled with a caponata and micro greens, tasting very homemade.

The space is bright and appealing, from the sushi bar to the bathrooms, and it's hard to picture the erstwhile produce mart in this space. Serving plates and bowls are fun, and staff was quite friendly. I hear they may not be BYOB for long. Sit Down is most welcome on 53rd, and I look forward to repeat visits.

I took my kids there last night (on Santander's recommendation!) after our outing at the HP exhibit at the museum. Found a parking spot right in front! We had prosciutto with melon, perfectly ripe and sweet cantaloupe, it was great! My son had pizza and we all tried, it was very tasty, nice crispy thin crust, good flavor sauce and cheese. My son also wanted plain white rice, bowl came out with sesame seeds which was a problem but they replaced it graciously. Unfortunately it was a little too vinegary for him, but we brought it home for dad.

My daughter wanted the salad with the blue cheese, walnuts, cranberries & apples, but didn't think she'd like arugula. The waitress very kindly brought out a small bowl with a few leaves of arugula so she could taste it! Went with the mixed greens, but I was impressed by her willingness to try (not usually an adventurous kid). I had a maki combination plate, nothing fancy but very very good. Paid extra to have real crab which made it kind of pricey but I knew what I was getting into. Never got my miso soup, but things happen.

Not sure we'd make a special trip back from the north shore, but it was very enjoyable for our evening and I appreciated the rec and now the chance to comment.

On the way home, we stopped at Mario's on Taylor AND NYBagels/Bialys on Touhy! What a great food night!

I'm so glad that some of you have tried the Sit Down! We had a nice dinner at Sit Down a week ago. It was nice even though it was with the father-in-law. A few things of note:

1) We thought the pizza was fantastic! Such a nice thin crust. I guess it could have been a little browner, as Santander said, but I thought it was great. The sauce and cheese were definitely a cut above the average Chicagao pizza place.

2) We had a few salads, the blue apple and the tofu salad. Both were great. We were particularly impressed with the quality and quantity of the greens. The greens went beyond the typical grocery store mesclun (which itself is quite an improvement over earlier generations). These greens were fresh, diverse and incredibly flavorful.

3) The sushi continued to be incredibly fresh and generous in its serving. I had the chirashi, which at first looked like a small serving, but they packed a lot of sashimi onto that little bowl.

4) It seems like a small thing, but this place really knows how to prepare Edamame. Neither over-cooked nor under-cooked. Perflectly salted. It's amazing how many places, even expensive ones, get edamame wrong.

The Sit Down continues to impress me. It definitely sets a higher bar for neighborhood restaurant in Hyde Park. I hope it generates some competition.

Stopped at Sit Down for dinner with some friends last Thursday. We all left fairly impressed. By Hyde Park standards, this place is golden. Well within a student's budget, pretty tasty, if not earth-shattering, and an interesting menu.

I had the regular bruschetta as an appetizer; it was perfectly good, though not stellar. For an entree, I had a pizza with prosciutto, goat cheese, and basil. Given that the pizza starts at 7 dollars, plus 1 for each topping, I was quite happy with the result. It's too thin to really hold up to toppings--a knife and fork is definitely required for the inner reaches of this 'za. That's totally forgivable, though, in light of how tasty it was. My friend's pepperoni was superior to the prosciutto, however--large, 2 inch-diameter slices of a not-too-spicy but palate-pleasant style.

The chicken club received thumbs-up from another friend. The remaining two had sushi rolls of some sort or other. Their opinions (and one of them is something of a sushi fanatic) were entirely positive. Again, the quantity and quality for the price was unbeatable.

We did have to wait a bit for a table, which on a Thursday night in HP is a bit odd, but then again, students are just returning and parents abound. Regardless, I was glad to see this place thriving, and hope some more LTHers give it some love.

I have to confess to several sins regarding both HP in general and this place which I now regret and hope to atone for with a visit and some cash.
First, I do have a sort of "woe-is-us" attitude since moving down from Lincoln Sq. And my attitude has failed to catch up with the reality of how much I like much of Medici's bread, HP Produce (including the nun and her baked goods), the Korean place, Bonjour Bakery, Valois, Rajun Cajun, Istria. Not to mention the fact that I haven't even tried Cedars, Solonika, Folie, Park 52 and some others.
Then, when they were building out the space for Sit Down Cafe, I looked at the somewhat generic contemp. design, and the menu on the window, and simply wrote it off as one of those all-things-to-all-people attempts that just couldn't work.
This was pure unthinking prejudice which I intend to make up for as soon as is practicable.

Thanks for the impetus.

A return trip to Sit Down Cafe--dinner after class with a friend. Please excuse the mediocre cellphone shots--this is my first attempt at both food photography and posting pics here at LTH.

First up: Pepper/Cheese Bruschetta



This was pretty tasty. The cheese-red pepper ratio was skewed towards cheese, and needed more basil. That said, the ingredients themselves were perfectly fresh. The bread was toasted and brushed with a bit of olive oil, and really delightful. Given that this place is affiliated with both a bakery and a produce store, the high freshness factor is unsurprising. At 4.50, I thought this wasn't a bad value, given the amount of real mozzarella.

Next: Pizza with Pepperoni and Basil



I really enjoy this pizza. It's different on a lot of levels. The sauce is pretty light, with just enough acidity to let you know it's a) present and b) actually tomato. I don't know how they get the dough so paper-thin, but it makes for a nice crusty edge. Sadly it means the middle of the pizza is a bit soggy, but this time around, it held up rather better than my previous experience. The large rounds of pepperoni are really nice--I wish all pepperoni was like this. The basil, again, was fresh but not quite as voluminous as I'd like. At seven bucks, plus a dollar for each topping, this pizza really hits the light-but-tasty spot in my stomach and the totally-worth-it spot in my head.

Next: Caprese Sandwich



The friend was in the mood for something light as well, and this sandwich certainly provided that. It was more or less a sandwich version of the bruschetta and the pizza; but with solid bread, good cheese, (but weak-looking tomatoes--I didn't have a bite, though), it left him satisfied. The side of berries, which I did partake of, was a nice, sweet counterpoint to the other, overtly Italian flavors.

We also got a dish of green tea ice cream, which was a decent value. Two scoops of reasonably-tea-tasting ice cream for a couple bucks wasn't bad at all.

Also, I haven't had the veggie chips, so I'm wondering: are they fried? I didn't see anything else fried on the menu, so I'm lead to believe they don't even have a deep-fryer in the restaurant. I neglected to look in the open kitchen to find out. Anyhow, I find this reassuring. A relatively healthy, inexpensive restaurant with real, fresh ingredients: I'll be back, and probably pretty soon, too.