Stopped at 11 City today for lunch.

Both the chicken soup and matzoh ball recipe have been changed and the results are much improved.

The soup is no longer thin and tastelss...kneydl are no longer dry boulders. this fix corrects a glaring hole in the repetoire at 11 City.

One other thing ECD has in common with NYC delis (at least the more renowned ones). They now impose a "sharing" fee of $3.

I had lunch at 11 City this afternoon. Brad sent over some chopped liver. My favorite chopped liver in the world is from the Romanian on Clark & Touhy. The chopped liver at 11 City compared very favorablly to the Romanian with a slightly sweet taste that I really enjoy. If you love chopped liver and haven't tried the chopped liver at 11 City then i recommend a visit.

Also, Brad mentioned they will be featured on Check Please this Friday.

dear iblock9, thank you for noticing that we changed our soup and Matzo Balls.
We all worked hard at it. Again, thanks for noticing Sincerely, Brad @ 11 city diner

Dear jbw.....if i am hearing you, I agree with you that a $3 share charge does not sit well here in chicago. I DOnot like it myself. Especialy at Diners ! Unfortunaley, given the economy and the nature of diners (our price point and margin of profit being so so low) we need to cover oursleves to pay rent let alone ensure our servers are able to support their families. It has just become the nature of this business. I can not say that I am thrilled that I have to enforce this, but to stay alive and continue to better ensure and look out for the well being of the staff that relies soley on tips (based off of check totals) I have made the difficult decision to enforce this rule when the restaurant is hopping - during peak hours. I wish the economy and the cost of this neighborhood were much , much different. Please accept my appoligies. Thank you for the feedback

I tried the chopped liver when 11 City opened, and it was pretty bad. Good deli doesn't necessarily equal good chopped liver, so no big deal (e.g., Langer's in LA has awful chopped liver, and Manny's is mediocre; yet I love both places). My standards are Barney Greengrass in NY and Myron & Phil's and Gibson's (!) here. This update might get me back to 11 City. Thanks.

In my first experience, I had the luxury of going with someone who knew the Manager and we were treated with such generousity. He insisted on a root beer tasting, recommended some great sandwiches, and had a dessert sampling.

I had returned a few other times and the food, usually pastrami and corned beef sandwiches w/ liver are always a stomach pleaser.

Overall, my experiences have been great. What I tend not to do is to compare my dining experience at one place to another. Whether that's type of restaurant and comparing city's.

Does anyone else dislike the "Oh, I have had better (pick food) in (pick city)"

That may be true. But does that matter?

Sorry I wasn't clear. My point really was only that the CL was bad, and to give others an idea of CL that I think tastes good. I agree, 11 City should not really be compared to the other delis I mentioned.

JeffB wrote: My standards are Barney Greengrass in NY and Myron & Phil's and Gibson's (!) here. This update might get me back to 11 City. Thanks.

My favorite CL is the beef liver at the Romanian which is sweet (my guess is sour salt is the culprit). I also like the CL at Myron & Phil's, Gibson's and Barney Greengrass (although I will admit then when I have been to Barney Greengrass I have been in full on fish mode and the liver has been an afterthought) I have also learned that I prefer beef liver to chicken and I cannot remember for sure but I think that 11 City may serve chopped beef liver ala The Romanian as opposed to the chicken liver served at those other fine places mentioned. In any event it is definitely sweet which is not how I would describe your "standards." I would suggest another try. BTW if you are a CL lover you must hit the Romanian, it is the greatest.

Thanks. I love Romanian, but never tried the CL. Chopped Liver, liverwurst/pate, etc. tend to be really great when they come from good butchers. The pates at Paulina Market and Drier's in MI, for example. I'm visiting family in FL soon, and I always try to make it to Paulina, Riviera, Romanian, or some other unique Chicago sausage emporium for a care package -- because almost no one is making anything close to what we can get around here with ease. Especially not in Florida.

Our CL here at Eleven City Diner is in fact BEEF...not chicken. and I do agree with you that the Romanian does make incredible CL !! Brad

I had been turned off of Eleven City for a long time, since near their opening, due to so-so food and uncomfortable service (this includes shoddy waitresses and waiters, and an owner with an obvious/scary temper). But not only have I gone back to Eleven City, a random selection on St. Patty's day this year, but I have returned again and again.
My main concern in coming back was in owner Brad Rubin's behavior and the demeanor of the place. I was so pleased to be served by delightful staff and to have thoroughly enjoyable chats with the uber-personable Brad. Sitting at the bar, Brad was inquiring about my friend and I, what our tastes were, where we originally were from, etc. He raved about the purple hazes for a sweet drink, and boy was he right. As we slurped out purple floats down, Brad continued to refill out glasses with yummy soda. His friendly banter carried over throughout the meal, as did the chit chat with our waitress.
On a more recent visit, I went with a large group and we lingered with a staggering amount of food. I enjoyed the friendly and cute conversations that Brad was having with the family and young children seated next to us. He continued to check up on us as well and make sure we were enjoying our food. When my friend and I reminded him that he talked us into the purple hazes the last time, and that this time we were venturing out into new recommendations, he beamed and got excited that he remembered us.
The food has its hits and misses, but mostly hits.
Misses- Veggie cobb salad in no way related to a meaty cobb salad and was far too boring and dry (a la Jewel clamshell). The chicken salad sandwich was a disappointment for my friend as well, saying it was dry and bland.
Hits- My hand-crafted, creamy patty of a veggie burger, topped with avocado slices. The spinach artichoke dip, served bubbling in a gratin with bagel chips for dipping. The moist and THICK red velvet cake. and of course the fountain drinks: vanilla pepsi, new york egg cream, purple haze, green river float.
Oh and by the way, I have come to the conclusion that Brad is officially my new "Restaurant crush." He's got style and a smile that makes one weak in the knees...

-M@

My first visit to Eleven City diner yesterday. Good. Bad. Weird.

1. The good: The matzoh ball soup was excellent. There's no other word. Perhaps the best I've had in Chicago and I would go back to Eleven City for this alone. Really good. Really really good. Did I mention how good it was? The broth was excellent with little bits of celery in it. The matzoh ball was light and tasty. and flecked with fresh parsley. It was salted enough (unlike the cabbage soup one of our vegetarians had). It was a generous serving even in the "soup and half a sandwich" combo. It was great.

2. The bad: The noise! We were seated uncomfortably in that odd area between the kitchen and the main room and could hardly hear ourselves, let alone the waitress. The architect with us noticed that every single surface was reflective, so it wasn't surprising how loud it was. He also said that yes, some restaurants liked a "bright" sound. The noise may also account for the fact that I asked for my sandwich on marble rye and got it on rye.

3. The weird: So first we asked the waitress about the noise level and how long we'd have to wait to get a table in the larger room. She said she had no idea but the noise was the same there. So we asked to speak to the manager (it's a Jewish deli--the customers are supposed to complain!) and Brad came over. He asked what the problem was. We told him. He said he was sorry. He said he'd stand right there until we were served to make sure the orders were right. That seemed a little freaky. We asked if he could turn the music lower. No. Sorry he couldn't do that. Also seemed a little odd. We asked if there was a table somewhere quieter. Oh, sure, of course, no problem, right away. He sent us upstairs where there were plenty of empty tables and put us at a bigger table with more comfortable seats and, heavens be praised, carpeting on the floor. It didn't make the place quiet, by any means, but at least we could carry on a conversation! So why, I ask, were we smushed in a little corner by the kitchen when there was plenty of seating upstairs and why oh why didn't our waitress mention that when we complained about the noise and why did Brad think the solution to our noise complaint would be for him to hover over our table? Strange.

But the soup was excellent.

So I picked up a friend from CA this morning at her hotel up in Streeterville, we wanted to have an easy breakfast and get her to O'Hare by noon. Decided against Grand Luxe Cafe for the chain factor, and as we headed out, thought it would be fun to try Reza's Sunday brunch buffet. My friend poked her head into the front door to see if they were open (10:30 a.m.) and they said, sure, come on in! So I paid my $4 to park on the street and we walked in, only to be informed they weren't open yet but they could make something in the kitchen. We decided to find a breakfast place instead, and thought we'd try Bongo Room since I've never been. Hour wait and we ended up at Eleven City Diner.

I had no preconceived ideas about the place, knew I'd heard of it but no recall of either positive or negative. We mentioned that we needed to get to the airport and they offered the bar, didn't bother me at all and we grabbed em. Wish I could've had one of their Bloody Mary's, man they looked great. The mimosa's looked good too.

Just had breakfast, nothing fancy, but we enjoyed what we had and the portions were generous. Really liked the atmosphere and would like to try other stuff there as well. What struck me, especially reading the beginning of this thread, was how incredibly friendly the owner was to us. We chatted, he introduced his dad and then his mom, and I honestly thought his interactions with us really "made" the experience for us. I'd go back any time.

Finally got here for lunch one day last week. We really really liked it! Since it was my first visit, I had to go with the classics: a matzoh ball soup and a pastrami on rye. The broth of the soup tasted like it had actually had a chicken boiling in it once--go figure. The pastrami was pert near perfection, just fatty enough, full of flavor. We shared a slice of Junior's cheesecake for dessert, which was like the Platonic ideal of cheesecake.

Liked the vibe of the place and the diverse clientele. Appreciated that they obviously spent a fair chunk of change decorating the place, fully and successfully achieving the effect they were going for. A guy who seemed like the owner was there greeting, seating and schmoozing, and he projected a very happy vibe--no yelling! We'll definitely keep this place in our rotation.

Yesterday I stopped in on my way to a chocolate class at Canady and had the #24 - corned beef, pastrami, chopped liver and Swiss. It was delicious, and I took the rest home for lunch today.