Bistro Zinc

Last night I ate with the soon to be Mrs. jpschust at Bistrot Zinc. We found this place a few weeks ago when we were waiting for some friends to come out and we wanted to drink some bordeaux while we waited. We had crawled up to the bar and over an hour or so we drank a bottle. Nicely priced wine list and all, we decided to go back for food, so last night we followed up and went back.

Again we sat at the bar. What can I say, we're bar people. We like sitting at bars.

To start she ordered the Salade Anchoie- a very simple anchovy salad with whole anchovies over fresh romaine, with some shaved Parmesan, anchovy vinagrette and Parmesan crutons. I got a quick taste and it was very good. It's not often I say this, but it was a perfectly composed salad. Composing a salad to look nice isn't the easiest thing in the world- it takes a good eye. They do a nice job.

She then had a spinach and brie crepe. What a wonderful crepe and so much brie in it it was insane. I actually wish I ordered this.

To drink she had a couple of glasses of beaujolais. A word of note- their wines by the glass range in about the 10 dollar mark and aren't anything to write home about, but that said they are much better 10 dollar glasses of wine than you are going to find just about at any other restaurant. To drink I had a glass of beaujolais and a glass of bordeaux. Again, nothing to write home about, but solid drinks.

I was in a simple mood so I just had steak frites. Not the best steak frites I've ever had in my life- could have used a slightly better cut of meat and the fries could have been a touch more well done, but for the price ($18 ) I thought it was solid. It reminded me of every steak frites I've ever had in europe. It wasn't unenjoyable, but after tasting her crepe I wish I had ordered that.

For dessert we split a chocolate crepe. This is a chocolate lovers dream. Wonderfully light with semi-sweet chocolate sauce on top and dusted with powdered sugar a nice end to the meal.

All said and done, tab was about $100 for the two of us (including tip), not bad for 4 glasses of wine, a salad, a crepe, a main and a dessert. I'll certainly return when I have to be down in that culinary hell hole known as rush street. (OK to be fair, Gibson's is pretty good minus the scene as is Tavern on Rush, minus the scene, but Zinc has little to no scene).

Bistrot Zinc
http://www.bistrotzinc.com
1131 N. State St.
Chicago, IL
312.337.1131

Sigh. I miss the original Bistro Zinc on Southport.

Glad you liked it, I always consider it a little known gem in that area. It's a great place for a glass of white wine and a salad for lunch when shopping. Also a good place to meet people becasue there isn't the crushing of bodies like everyother place around there. I get $25 off cards every now and then in the mail from them.

I'll certainly return when I have to be down in that culinary hell hole known as rush street.

This is my take on Bistro Zinc, too, one of my choices for relative value and non-scenery when I'm in the area. (Le Colonial is another).

That being said, I don't think I'd rate Bistro Zinc in my personal top five French bistros in the city.

jbw wrote:

I'll certainly return when I have to be down in that culinary hell hole known as rush street.

This is my take on Bistro Zinc, too, one of my choices for relative value and non-scenery when I'm in the area. (Le Colonial is another).

That being said, I don't think I'd rate Bistro Zinc in my personal top five French bistros in the city.

Agreed. It's good but not great. I'd go to that chain of Mon Ami Gabi before I'd go to Zinc.

I like Bistro Zinc. The space is calm, and even when it's full, it's never especially loud. The frites are probably the worst in Chicago (chronically underdone), but the calf's liver (looks like it's no longer on the menu ), a glass of wine and a seat by the open windows used to be one of my special treats.

jpschust wrote:To start she ordered the Salade Anchoie- a very simple anchovy salad with whole anchovies over fresh romaine, with some shaved Parmesan, anchovy vinagrette and Parmesan crutons. I got a quick taste and it was very good. It's not often I say this, but it was a perfectly composed salad. Composing a salad to look nice isn't the easiest thing in the world- it takes a good eye. They do a nice job.

I completely agree. The anchovy salad is a very pleasant dish.

happy_stomach wrote:I like Bistro Zinc. The space is calm, and even when it's full, it's never especially loud. The frites are probably the worst in Chicago (chronically underdone), but the calf's liver (looks like it's no longer on the menu ), a glass of wine and a seat by the open windows used to be one of my special treats.

jpschust wrote:To start she ordered the Salade Anchoie- a very simple anchovy salad with whole anchovies over fresh romaine, with some shaved Parmesan, anchovy vinagrette and Parmesan crutons. I got a quick taste and it was very good. It's not often I say this, but it was a perfectly composed salad. Composing a salad to look nice isn't the easiest thing in the world- it takes a good eye. They do a nice job.

I completely agree. The anchovy salad is a very pleasant dish.

The calf's liver was on the menu last night.

jbw - I'm curious, what are your top 5 french bistros?

rmtraut wrote:jbw - I'm curious, what are your top 5 french bistros?

My top two would be La Sardine and Le Bouchon, both under the same ownership, so I guess you can see where I'm coming from.

These would be followed by Kiki's and Brasserie Jo, neither of which I've visited in the past year or two.

After that, I would prefer a first-time visit to Cote du Rhone or Bistro Campagne rather than a return to Bistro Zinc. I'd also like to give Cyrano's another try, to see if they could make up for one mediocre bar experience I had some time ago.

In any case, there are lots of choices for French bistro fans, particularly if you extend your search into the suburbs. I haven't been to any extant others (alas, L'Escargot is long since gone), but IMO it's a strong and often overlooked sector of our dining environment.

Longtime French favorite Bistrot Zinc served its last customers on Sunday, August 26.

https://chicago.eater.com/2018/1/2/1684 ... sures-2018