toria wrote:I also had no luck at Schmalz Deli...went on St. Patricks day and there were over fifty people in line...they must be selling something good.

They aren't. There's just nothing comparable in the area.

toria wrote:Gnarly knots now has bacon mac and cheese stuffed pretzels on Fridays among other offerings on other days of the week. Oh yummy.

Yeah, fun spot. Walkable for us. Wife loves all things dough-y. I tried a beef- and-cheddar stuffed and found it to be a gut bomb, though pleasurably so. Curious about the Italian beef pretzel. Our regular order is the parmesan. Fun to have on hand for a late night snack when entertaining. Glad to have this little artisanal boutique nearby.

toria wrote:My go to Indian is Indian Palace in the strip mall anchored by Jewel on Geneva Road. I order Masala dosa, samosa, and other dishes from there. I also sometimes go to Masala.

Jefe from upthread wrote:Had a serviceable if not forgettable meal at Indian Palace in Wheaton.

Maybe I'll give them a second shot.

toria wrote:Good sandwiches and soups at Ginorio's deli in Winfield. Sandwiches on specials include Caprese, and muffalatta as well as others.

Looking for a sensible lunch one day, I ordered a turkey sandwich on whole grain. Watery, mechanically separated poultry-paste sheets, if not the lowest grade, then close, on cloying HFCS-laden bread. I should give their Italian deli-leaning sandwiches a shot. My wife likes the cheese-bomb pizza from their shop on Geneva Rd.

toria wrote:I have not been able to get into Ming Hin...way too crowded when I went. Must try again.

Minghin might just be a game changer for us. We did dim sum this weekend. And yes, it was busy, but worth the 10 minute wait and once seated, the place was bustling, but designed to not feel crowded. The palatial space is really something, a transporting experience, suburb transcending. Like its Chinatown brethren (and I'd guess Michigan Ave, where I've never been) the place is all polished stone and hardwood, borderline over-the-top kitsch, but in a futuro-Sino, Capitalistic international cool. I even liked the art. I felt like a VIP diplomat or something– flown into town, escorted to the most elegant, exclusive spas, protected from the grey, plebeian sprawl surrounding me. We were seated at a cushy, private booth bathed in natural light. Perfectly brewed, premium jasmine tea, rounds of cheap Tsing tao. Naperville, where?

I'm not a dim sum expert, though I know a good dumpling. The food was good, some bites very good, others meh. From best to worst:



Shrimp dumpling with pea tip. Excellent– delicate wrappers encasing plump, sweet juicy whole prawns, light on the vegetation, but a nice hint of garlic.



Pan fried pot sticker. Thin, tensile skins, perfectly browned. Loosely packed, aromatic filling, very nice.



Pan fried turnip cake. I know this is a staple dim sum menu item, but I've maybe only had this once before. Awesome wok hay. Custard-y on the inside with a slightly coarse texture.



We had to convince our server that we indeed wanted fried sticky rice and not regular fried rice, but she seemed excited how much we enjoyed this. More pronounced smokiness with little umami bits that I believe may have been dried shrimp. Their blond fried rices also looked awesome.



Char siu was fine, nice to punctuate our carb-focused lunch with pure meaty bites. It wasn't dry or chewy, but the juices were not flowing as they would be from a more recently fired piece of meat.



Siu mai was the only dud. I could tell from the faded coloration of the tobiko that these had spent some time in the freezer (I know a lot of dumplings do, but the last time I had these was the immaculate version at Fat Rice). I've never met a dumpling that I didn't immediately shove in my pie hole, but these were on the rubbery side.

A very relaxing brunch on a WTF-blustery-crummy spring morning. Like I said, transportive. I can't wait to eat other types of meals here. I know from Chinatown that they have a way with whole fish and the seafood menu has many of my favorite Cantonese preps. The duck I spied on other tables looked pretty, pretty good as well. Katy's will always be queen, but I think our cavernous suburban-Chinese throwback spot might have gotten booted out of regular rotation for this opulent newcomer.

Italian Beef's / Combo's out in the Naperville area - a pretty sorry state of affairs in my experience- McPortillo's might be the tallest whatever(personally I cant stand their commissary produced, leeched plastic tasting beef) - with so few boots on the streets reporting in - I had to turn to frickin' Yelp to tip me off to a beef spot that opened back in the late fall - -

Franco's - This place used to be a butcher shop / corner market I would go to 35+ years ago for gum, candy and snacks when at the park across the street - bike riding distance from my childhood home -



saw some photo's of their beefs and was intrigued and by chance hungry - Tip of the hat to them for answering a facebook message regarding their beef and meatballs and the possibility of combining them to make a sandwich - This 1st visit I didnt stray & went with a top notch Beef and Sausage combo with hot peppers - for under 8 bones.



Substantial size, flavorfull slices of tender beef, and the sausage was good as well. Reminded me of the combos at Orig. Mr. Beef in Homer Glen, - good company to be compared to - Cool folks running Franco's - & not that crowded at around 1:30 for a quick visit - - Ill definitely be back - Chicken parm , Dogs, meatballs, etc. - yep.

Franco's
821 E. Chicago Ave.
Naperville, IL.

https://www.facebook.com/Francos-1494010004260423/

jimswside wrote:Substantial size, flavorfull slices of tender beef, and the sausage was good as well. Reminded me of the combos at Orig. Mr. Beef in Homer Glen, - good company to be compared to - Cool folks running Franco's - & not that crowded at around 1:30 for a quick visit - - Ill definitely be back - Chicken parm , Dogs, meatballs, etc. - yep.

Franco's
821 E. Chicago Ave.
Naperville, IL.

https://www.facebook.com/Francos-1494010004260423/

Holy crap, that actually looks edible. Before I moved out here I was 5 minutes away from Bobo's and about 10 minutes away from Johnnie's. After being here for 2 years you can imagine my jonesing for a decent IB. It's about a 25 minute drive, but I know where I'm going for lunch tomorrow.

jimswside wrote:Franco's
821 E. Chicago Ave.
Naperville, IL.

Thanks for posting about Franco's Jim. I had been meaning to try it and stop procrastinating like I did when it was Chef's Corner and I certainly regretted that.

viewtopic.php?p=148956

I did make it Franco's yesterday. Combo, hot peppers, fries and tax was $10.07. Fries were typical Sysco thin fries. Would have been much better if they were cooked a little more. But I assume nobody is going there for the fries.

So on to the combo. First thing, it's a huge sandwich. But the beef itself is not overly packed in like you'd find at Jay's. It's also not an afterthought like at Johnnie's. I thought it was a very good balance. Good quality beef, not tough, not over cooked and not fatty. Hard for me to quantify the flavor since the hot peppers really overpowered any subtilty that might be there. But I really liked the beef itself.

The sausage was OK. For me, it could have used a little more smoke and a little more spice. But it added nice heft to the sandwich.

My biggest complaint was the bread. I feel bad about saying that because it's actually a really nice quality. But it's just not the right bread for an IB sandwich. I asked for it dipped and they seemed to have forgotten. And maybe if they had it would have been a little better. But for me, the bread just wasn't right.

All in all though, I really liked it. As Jim alluded to, it's truly the tallest midget in the area.

glad you made it in - I was in yesterday myself - went chicken parm sandwich - large housebreaded cutlet - ample sauce, and plenty of cheese - Topped with their hot giard. it was a filling sandwich - about $7 -

I actually like their bread - to me its similar to the bread at Pops and the closed Turks in Orland or at least how I remember them.

Their sausage is their own recipe - they have it made for them - Next up for me on their menu is a BAM - beef and meatballs - prolly not today, but soon. Im rooting for these folks - plus I cant go on alternating between Nickys and Augostinos every other day.

Willkat - thanks for the link to the old thread about previous tenant(s)

jimswside wrote:I actually like their bread - to me its similar to the bread at Pops and the closed Turks in Orland or at least how I remember them.

Yea, I hated to complain about the bread. It's really good bread and probably works great for their other sandwiches. But it just wasn't what I like for an IB. Maybe it's a north side south side difference. But to me IB means Gonnella.

Their sausage is their own recipe - they have it made for them

Again, not a bad sausage at all. I'm just a huge fan of the sausage at Johnnie's so I always compare to them. I'll definitely be back.

Made a 2nd trip to Franco's today. Instead of the combo I just got the plain beef. And instead of asking for it dipped I asked for it wet. Made a huge difference. I'm now a fan.

Interested in checking Franco's out. Has anyone tried the Meatball sandwich yet?

HonestMan wrote:Interested in checking Franco's out. Has anyone tried the Meatball sandwich yet?

I have not - but they look good - I was told they will do a "BAM" - beef and meatball combo. Very tempting.

midas wrote:Made a 2nd trip to Franco's today. Instead of the combo I just got the plain beef. And instead of asking for it dipped I asked for it wet. Made a huge difference. I'm now a fan.

sweet -

I ate at Francos 3 times last week - rolled in Friday around the dinner hour after a couple beers in Naperville - Combo, dipped, hot - disappeared quickly. I hope to squeeze in a visit this week yet.

I go to Nicky's in Naperville for lunch at least once a week - I like their hotdogs - 2 fer $5 and change.



Gyros are pretty solid here as well.

Nickys
335 E. Ogden Ave.
Naperville, IL.

http://nickysredhots.net/

Lateley I have been craving dogs and beefs or combo's - Searched around and saw Original Nana's in Streamwood - the write up & a text confirmation from the cat behind "Whats your Beef" convinced me to ride 17 miles north for lunch the other day - Also saw a few mentions on LTH after the fact.

heres the write up from Whats your Beef:
http://beefwithhot.blogspot.com/2012/01 ... nanas.html

Mini Beef and a dog lunch combo - GTF outta here - Dog - everything + peppers and a pickle - Mini Beef, dipped, hot... Fries arn't my thing - their filler - but these were pretty good.



That dog was one of the better ones I have had - nice snap, etc. Simple and great. Beef did not dissapoint either. Tip of the hat to whoever came up with this combo - great for folks like me that want both tastes, but dont want a huge IB sand. -Tempted to go get this killer combo for lunch today.

Their address, though its been posted elsewhere -

Original Nana's
1102 Irving Park Road
Streamwood, IL.

http://www.theoriginalnanashotdogs.com/

Been a fan of the shellfish in a bag places for a few years now - sought them out on vacations - glad they have been popping up in Chicagoland recently - Ive done Broiler and Angry Crab -closer to or in the city, so I was glad to see one of these places opening in Woodridge about a year ago .

Crab & Spice in Woodridge on Route 53, I think its in the same building the original Clara's was located. Cool, modern open space, sinks in the dining area. Went with some lobster bisque - decent, as well as some cajun chicken wings(a really top notch wing) as well as a some of their snow crabs in their ultimate sauce mild - cant really go wrong with some legs and ton of buttery sauce.

Crab & Spice
6740 Il Route 50
Woodridge, Il.

http://www.crabandspice.com/

midas wrote:I did make it Franco's yesterday. Combo, hot peppers, fries and tax was $10.07. Fries were typical Sysco thin fries. Would have been much better if they were cooked a little more. But I assume nobody is going there for the fries.

All in all though, I really liked it. As Jim alluded to, it's truly the tallest midget in the area.

I have to agree on the fries, in some way they detract from the excellent product they're offering. Last week I stopped in twice. Had the chicken parma sandwich on the first visit with the wife (she had the beef/sausage combo and loved it). Yesterday I stopped in a beef dipped going solo. In retrospect should have topped it with their home Giardiniera.

Talking with the owners, their cousins to the folks who own Gene and Jude's. (a nice hand cut fry would complement the offerings)

I'll be stopping in tomorrow to try the meatball sandwich on my way home from work.

jimswside wrote:Mini Beef and a dog lunch combo - GTF outta here

I wish more places offered Minibeefs.

BrendanR wrote:

jimswside wrote:Mini Beef and a dog lunch combo - GTF outta here

I wish more places offered Minibeefs.

Been to Al's recently? Their regular beef is now mini-beef sized, in my book. Still delicious, though.

Been to Al's recently? Their regular beef is now mini-beef sized, in my book. Still delicious, though.

Was there yesterday for Mario's opening. Even I was shocked @ a combo and fries coming in @ $14. Thankfully still tastes the same, although smaller than when I started going and it was 65 cents.

1) Digging that folks are hitting Franco's, seems like some good people running it, plus the food is good and hard to find in the area so I'm rooting for them.

2)I went to Crab & Spice again on Sat. - me and the kid like crabs, and grandma had the tab for lunch so it was an easy lunch choice, did a couple #'s of snow crab, and a combo of head on shrimp, snow crabs, and mussles - ultimate sauce, mild - cant really screw up the shellfish in a bag thing - so no surprises the crabs and other items were tasty and messy- once again glad to have a sink in the dining room. - Chicken wings - cajun style were solid again -

3) Since we were in the area we decided to try out a Filipino market over in Bolingbrook(53 and Boughton - actually right around the corner from a Portillos for interested fans... - )

I had been following them on FB. - Jofen Oriental Store - Not sure when these cats opened but its a pretty impressive place.

Active steam table in back serving up lumpia, pancet, and about 10 other dishes, plus crispy lechon kawali, filipino sweets and desserts, as well as a pork belly laden butcher counter.

Plentiful dry goods and sauce selection, many different brands of pork rinds, and cracklins, as well as shrimp crackers, and other munchies.

Vangie and shay gave a thumbs up to the carryout - crispy lechon & lumpia. - Really cool spot.

Jofen Oriental Store
457 N. Bolingbrook Ave.
Bolingbrook, IL.

https://www.facebook.com/Jofen-Oriental ... 892381768/

Hi Jim, Thanks for the info on Jofen. Not really in my area, but we head out that way on occasion. Did you notice if they sell chicken chicharron by chance? My wife is Filipina and absolutely loves that stuff. Thanks again!

randy77 wrote:Hi Jim, Thanks for the info on Jofen. Not really in my area, but we head out that way on occasion. Did you notice if they sell chicken chicharron by chance? My wife is Filipina and absolutely loves that stuff. Thanks again!

All good, hope you can make it over there. I am not sure about chicken chicharones, their variety of pork was kind of overwhelming. My wife from manilla loved their lechon.

edit

i did get back to Franco's today - had one of the better combos Ive had anywhere -

jimswside wrote:i did get back to Franco's today - had one of the better combos Ive had anywhere -

So Jim, do you know of any places close or on the trip west that have fresh cut fries? I wouldn't mind making a second stop on the way back home. But I haven't found any in the area so far.

stevez wrote:Been to Al's recently? Their regular beef is now mini-beef sized, in my book. Still delicious, though.

Credit where credit is due, though, they are at least still charging the full-size price.

midas wrote:

jimswside wrote:i did get back to Franco's today - had one of the better combos Ive had anywhere -

So Jim, do you know of any places close or on the trip west that have fresh cut fries? I wouldn't mind making a second stop on the way back home. But I haven't found any in the area so far.

tough one, I'm not the biggest fry guy, but the best I have had in the area is further east down Chicago /maple ave. at 355. Mojo's - the cheese steak place.

jimswside wrote:tough one, I'm not the biggest fry guy, but the best I have had in the area is further east down Chicago /maple ave. at 355. Mojo's - the cheese steak place.

That's too bad. Unfortunately that's the opposite direction from where I need to go.

BrendanR wrote:I wish more places offered Minibeefs.

Self-quoting..I know, I know.

I overheard a couple coworkers debating their lunch plans yesterday and beef came up. I mentioned that I was just reading about a place that offered minibeefs and one guy said, "Oh, I know a place that has those. It's called Nana's..."

Originally tipped off by Nick Kindelsperger's increasingly vital coverage of "cheap eats" for the Trib and then reminded by the Korean food mafia on Instagram, I reluctantly passed my usual exit of Midwest Road to cheat on Katy and eat another's noodles in Westmont.

Has anyone around here been to the food court at the International Plaza? Its about as deserted-feeling as the Richland Center in Chinatown, though at least with a beam or two of natural light. There are maybe four stalls total, some requisite pan-Asian slop but also a seemingly Taiwanese vendor hawking stinky tofu, niu rou mian, and crullers and soy milk. Next time.

I was here for elevated Korean by an Alinea vet. In this one visit, I was not disappointed at all. The menu is fairly entry-level Korean: bibimbap, kalbi, ddukbokki. From what I sampled, I have a hunch that each of these dishes is tweaked and improved on.



Who doesn't like a trendy pork belly bun a-la Momofuku? It was every bit as good as the version I've had at the aforementioned hype machine. All the pickle-y, kimchi-y stuff blurred together a bit (you can see the colorful variety in the shot) but played its acidic role in cutting the luscious, charred pork belly and pillowy bun. And was that a sprig of mint in there adding a Vietnamese note?



Jjajjangmyun took this relatively modest dish to all sorts of new heights. Built on sturdy, chewy hand made noodles, swimming in a velvet-y black bean gravy studded with chunks of pork belly and soft starchy cubes, that I believe might have been potato. And topped with nuoc cham cucumbers to freshen it up.

We've all known that Westmont, IL is the mecca of noodles in our fair land and now there's another breed enriching this fabled realm.

I heartily look forward to a return visit to work my way through their menu.

hanbun
665 Pasquinelli Dr #108, Westmont, IL 60559
(630) 948-3383

I am helping my mother scout a location for her 80th (!) birthday celebration. She seems to be targeting smaller, BYO places in or near Naperville. That's how I found myself at Tusk Thai in Batavia for lunch on Tuesday. I didn't find any other mentions of it and this thread seems like a logical place.

Tusk is a small, family-owned restaurant on a side street near Route 25. Pretty standard menu and it seems they would amp up the heat if you wanted. Our table of four had pad thai, panang curry with beef, ginger chicken and basil shrimp. Everything was freshly made and tasty. Nothing we had was terribly spicy as my almost 80-year-old mother is spice averse. It was an enjoyable lunch and might be a worthwhile stop if you're in the area. Note that the lunch menu is more limited than the dinner menu.

As an aside, Tusk is not able to accommodate my mom's party so the search continues. I'd take any suggestions for a late afternoon (3-6 PM) party for 28 people.

Tusk Thai
102 N River St
Batavia, IL 60510
(630) 406-6995
http://www.tuskthaicuisine.com/

Hi,

Long ago in another galaxy, there was once a Chowhound gathering at International Mall. A number of us showed up, ordered a variety of food to sampled. Weekends are more lively there than weekdays, when some stalls don't bother to open. We were there at high tide, when it was a relatively lively atmosphere. Yes, otherwise it feels like you walked in to a dead zone.

I will go to International Mall every once in a while, though the siren call of Katy's nearby is difficult to tune out.

A friend used to work for a firm residing at the mall. She pointed out the restrooms on the second floor have less traffic and in better condition than those near the food court.

Nick's efforts are very much like Monica Eng's Cheap Eats and Dumpling Zone, which many people read long before anyone knew each other via Chowhound or LTHforum. I remember clipping those columns faithfully as my short term bucket list of things to try.

What works well for the Tribune can work well here: another mass gathering at International Mall to fess out their food.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:What works well for the Tribune can work well here: another mass gathering at International Mall to fess out their food.

Is that supposed to be a subtle hint??

Eating quite a bit of this lately, the masala dosa from Chutney's in Brookdale. It's a pretty unassuming tiffin house connected to a smallish Indian grocery store. This is a very nice lunch.



I've also had a surprisingly good pizza at the new place next door to Chutney's, Nature's Best Cafe.