Christopher Gordon wrote:Just got back from the 'burbs visiting friends who took us to Fresh Farms.

Do you mean this store?

Fresh Farms
291 East Dundee Road, Wheeling, IL 60090
(847) 215-2663

Or is there one in Mundelein?

eh...I've lost the address. Those 'burbs all blend into one for me

Maybe it's a small chain? If they have a large selection of Russian goods then we're talking the same.

HI,

THis place is just past IL-83 and approximately where IL-60 turns 45 degrees north. While I cannot remember the name, it is next door to Alef; which was refered to early on in this thread.

ALEF Sausage & Deli
354 Townline Road
Mundelein, IL 60060
847-566-0008

The store next to Alef is Garden Fresh. I shop there regularly. You need to be selective with the produce, but VERY inexpensive. Like most of these Euro-fruit markets, produce freshness is sometimes an issue. They have a good selection and are very consistant. You can count on them to always have the same items. Unfortunately, sometimes you see things in other produce markets that they never have (a recent example is blood oranges).

While they have some representation of 'grocery' products of most ethnic groups, these sections could be expanded.

There are four locations. I also occasionally shop at the Northbrook store and it is very similar to the Mundelein location.

Best,
Al

Garden Fresh Market
340 Townline Road (Rt. 60)
Mundelein, Illinois 60060
847.949.1197

or

275 Skokie Blvd
Northbrook, Illinois 60062
847.272.0300

www.gardenfreshmarket.com

HI,

Garden Fresh has a lot of Israeli products and has a large kosher selection at least in their Northbrook store.

Regards,

Mike G's recent link to this thread caught my attention. So did this:

This pizza, unknown and unheralded in Mundelein, was worthy of the same devotion given to any cracker-crust thin pizza to be had in Chicago--

How you can drive through a town for, it seems, the first time ever, stop to eat at a place for the first time ever, and know that it's unknown and unheralded by the locals, I still don't get. But I can assure you, as one of those locals, Bill's Pub is not unknown, unheralded, or unappreciated. Someone's been keeping it in business for more than 50 years!

I think I posted somewhere recently about the family connections (and resultant similarity of pizza recipes and broasted chicken menu items) among Bill's, Emil's, Jake Moran's (all on Route 45 in Mundelein), and the Tavern in nearby Ivanhoe. (Bill's and Emil's, overlap on the pizza; Emil's and Jake's, overlap on the broasted chicken; Tavern? must do more research) But I've forgotten the details, so I'll have to go back to Jake's and ask for the story again.

Meanwhile, on a weeknight visit to Emil's for pizza, stepping out to the outdoor patio about 10 pm to get some cool air and watch the last of a Cub game, I noticed a LARGE smoker (the food-smoking kind, not the Marlboro-smoking kind) being stoked with wood in the back parking lot. Briskets and other things were being smoked for menu specials the next day. I wanted to get a picture of the smoker to post but it was too dark for my little phone camera, so another time.

How you can drive through a town for, it seems, the first time ever, stop to eat at a place for the first time ever, and know that it's unknown and unheralded by the locals, I still don't get. But I can assure you, as one of those locals, Bill's Pub is not unknown, unheralded, or unappreciated. Someone's been keeping it in business for more than 50 years!

Not that I entirely know what myself of 5 years ago was thinking, but I think this meant unknown and unheralded by Chicago (which is true to this day), and in Mundelein-- not unknown to Mundelein.

Bill's is (and has been since I was a kid) one of my favorite thin-crust pizzas around. The double-decker sucks. skip it, and skip everything else they sell, and just focus on the pizza, which is great.

I did a blog post about it a while back. I suppose that me blogging about it doesn't qualify to remove it's "unheralded in Chicago" status, but I do what I can.

http://cookingandeatinginchicago.blogspot.com/2009/03/chicago-tavern-style-pizza-at-bills-pub.html

elakin wrote:Bill's is (and has been since I was a kid) one of my favorite thin-crust pizzas around. The double-decker sucks. skip it, and skip everything else they sell, and just focus on the pizza, which is great.

I did a blog post about it a while back. I suppose that me blogging about it doesn't qualify to remove it's "unheralded in Chicago" status, but I do what I can.

http://cookingandeatinginchicago.blogspot.com/2009/03/chicago-tavern-style-pizza-at-bills-pub.html

Amazingly, this place (the obscure pizza of Mundelein!!) has a half-price Groupon today!
http://www.groupon.com/r/uu8217324

And, given the raves on this thread (Ed's fave pizza..On a par with V&N's!), Iam actually gonna get one... Iam not particularly close to Mundelein, but I suppose I'll be in the area sometime within a year for sure

c8w

The LTH North Lunch Group paid Bill's a visit today. Five of the six of us went through a large Bill's Special and a large Meat Lover's pizza. We all agreed that it was quite good.

One member of our group decided to deviate and order a Beef & Sausage Combo sandwich. He pronounced the beef to be a little dry. I believe he also mooched some pizza from us too.

Weekday lunch is a good time to visit. The place wasn't crowded. Freakingly friendly service. We'll be back.

To set the record straight, I ordered a beef sandwich, but was given a combo. This was a good thing because the grease from the sausage (seemed more like a brat than italian sausage) helped moisten the dry beef......I only ate the pizza (which was great) so that the server would not need to bring a to go container!

Also, dont try to bring in fake groupons, because even though they honored it, it caused quite a stir.

-Will

WillG wrote:
Also, dont try to bring in fake groupons, because even though they honored it, it caused quite a stir.

-Will

What is a "fake groupon"?

Ask Eddie......

Basically a groupon glitch. You had to be there.

-Will

Also, don't try to walk right to the edge of Diamond Lake behind the restaurant. I nearly fell in. Luckily, a policeman was on hand.

Oh, and don't try to order the caprese salad, because they don't have that on the menu, no matter what Groupon says. I hope that was made sufficiently clear.

I usually order their pizza. I like Bills. Their thin crust as noted in the other posts is very good. It’s my go to pizza place in the area.

However today I was looking for something else. I ordered the wings. They were very well done and served with the sauce on the side. The sauce was a nice buffalo style with a little heat. It did not improve the wings. They were awful.

I should stick to the pizza.

D.

I like Bill's a lot and nearly always have a Groupon for them in my wallet. Sure, there may be better pizza 40 miles away, but that is not what appreciating what's in your own backyard is about.

I live not much farther than walking distance from Bill's and often think a dip in Diamond Lake followed by pizza at Bill's is a great summer day. When I was a little kid in Buffalo Grove in the '60s, my parents brought us to Diamond Lake to swim. My earliest memories of swimming are of paddling out to, climbing up on, and jumping off of the raft on Diamond Lake. My dad used to sing to me, "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"

There's a famous chef from Diamond Lake, btw, let me see [off to Google] ... ah, yes: Norm van Aken.

I get the pizza; never tried the hot dogs. Double-decker pizza is apparently a bit of a thing in this part of Lake County, stretching up Route 45, and I've shared it with a neighbor once in a while for fun.

My dad loved the north woods lodge atmosphere of Bill's; my sister who lives nearby is a little freaked out by the taxidermy. I don't know anyone I go with who doesn't enjoy a beer and a basket of peanuts and dropping the shells on the floor, even if you are going to have pizza later in the game.

Another think I like about Bill's is that the staff readily accomodate requests to change the bar TV channel to a particular sporting event -- moreso than any other place around here I can think of. A few years ago, my brother's team, the NIU Huskies, were doing really well in their tournament playoffs and championships, and we could always count on Bill's being happy to put the NIU game on for us.