I know that I'm probably the last person to know this, but there is a Harold's Chicken Shack in Aurora. I found out about it last night and made the trek over there for lunch today. I thought the chicken was excellent. A little more expensive than I'd like, but that really has nothing to do with the food itself.

Everything else was pretty blah. Fries were boring and the bread was oddly hard, but I'm not sure I'd call it stale. And the one spoonful of coleslaw was a little too creamy for my taste. But I'll be back for the chicken.

3577 E New York St #103
Aurora, IL 60504
(630) 499-8393

The Harold's in Aurora is good. The chicken is great. And the people are so very nice. I highly recommend them.

I didn't realize there was a Harold's there until we'd been in Naperville for a little over a year.

Indian food. My wife and I have eaten at Masala twice now. Neither meal was bad, and both were better than any other Indian joint we'd tried out this way prior. Both had small problems though - things like my wife's dosa being served cold/room temp, when she would have preferred and is far more used to dosas being served warm. Quality meals overall though, and we'll likely be back.

That said, we found a new spot we both like more - Deccan Spice in Naperville. They're in the plaza at Washington and Gartner that includes Trader Joe's and Casey's. They've become a big favorite for us for delivery with a wide range of dishes coming at a consistently enjoyable level of heat, and a firm but not overly heavy hand on the spices. It's now our preferred Indian restaurant in the western burbs by a pretty good margin. We've tried half a dozen or so curries with no misses thus far, and have also been pleased with the biryani.

Deccan Spice
192 W Gartner Rd #124
Naperville, IL 60540
(331) 702-2788

tcdup wrote:The Harold's in Aurora is good. The chicken is great. And the people are so very nice. I highly recommend them.

It's funny. I almost didn't go because I looked on Yelp and there were numerous complaints about poor and rude service. But I found the people working there today very nice. I wonder what the deal is?

ucjames wrote:I didn't realize there was a Harold's there until we'd been in Naperville for a little over a year.

Indian food. My wife and I have eaten at Masala twice now. Neither meal was bad, and both were better than any other Indian joint we'd tried out this way prior. Both had small problems though - things like my wife's dosa being served cold/room temp, when she would have preferred and is far more used to dosas being served warm. Quality meals overall though, and we'll likely be back.

That said, we found a new spot we both like more - Deccan Spice in Naperville. They're in the plaza at Washington and Gartner that includes Trader Joe's and Casey's. They've become a big favorite for us for delivery with a wide range of dishes coming at a consistently enjoyable level of heat, and a firm but not overly heavy hand on the spices. It's now our preferred Indian restaurant in the western burbs by a pretty good margin. We've tried half a dozen or so curries with no misses thus far, and have also been pleased with the biryani.

Deccan Spice
192 W Gartner Rd #124
Naperville, IL 60540
(331) 702-2788

I hear you about Masala. We were there just this past weekend and the food was actually pretty much on point with previous visits. That Gongura "mutton" masala does not disappoint, one of my favorite lamb curries I've ever eaten. My wife was also smitten with the Murg malai kebab, which tasted very much like another favorite of hers, Khan BBQ's chicken boti, but made with white meat (albeit perfectly cooked– charred on the outside/ moist on the inside). I think your issues, though, might reflect some service problems we encountered on this last trip. They had a private party going on and we were ignored 15 + minutes at a time, more than once. At least the food was served all at once and piping hot. But water glasses were not refilled, my beer was served with a wet glass, and the table had not been properly cleaned.

Deccan Spice looks very promising from their website. They refer to themselves as Hyderbadi Cuisine and seem to have another outpost in Jersey City. They have an awesome looking array of biryani and a bunch of curries I've never heard of. They also have my favorite Gongura mutton. Its on my list, thanks for the recommendation.

Speaking of Western Suburban Desi, a few of us went on a rather unsuccessful crawl through Downer's Grove, Villa Park, and Lombard a few weeks ago. I've been collecting intel from various service industry folks I meet in the city that live in the Western burbs about their favorite spots. We headed out on a Monday, which proved to be part of the issue. The first stop, which had come highly recommended by a cook friend was Food Street, named after the general term for Pakistani streets that are lined with food service establishments. Not mentioned on their website, they are now closed for lunch on Monday. It remains on my list.

Another Pakistani place that kept coming up especially with Uber drivers was Mezban. Despite a measly 1.5 star rating on Yelp, we decided to check it out. We arrived at an entirely empty, though quite campily lavish and expansive dining room complete with chandeliers and a forest of fake tropical plants. Google Maps told us the place was called Flavors of India and indeed its run by new ownership. We were told the menu was the same as Mezban's, but without beef– the new owners are Hindu. And the fact that we were on the search for beef kebabs and nihari + the deserted ambiance led us to take a pass.

Desi Grill and Pizza was the next stop.



I loved the look of this place. The net experience of the food, however, was not great to pretty bad, ranging from a couple of okay things to downright inedible, pet food territory. It has its own dedicated thread and followers here, so someday soon, I'll elaborate on our experience.

Not satisfied, we continued up Roosevelt to Taste of Karachi, permanently closed. Hungry and needing to regroup we decided to try the cheerful looking coffee shop, Mumbai Cafe in the same strip mall. They have another location in Hoffman Estates. Its a counter service cafe with tea, juices, sweets, and a handful of mostly vegetarian snack foods. They also roll fresh paan, but were out of betel leaves that day. Their thick, creamy chai hit the spot. And the two snacks we tried were my favorite Desi bites of the day. I've always wanted to try Vada pav, a spiced potato (+ a few other veg) cutlet on a roll, slider style with a sweet-ish (tamarind?) sauce and a spicy green chile sauce. It was cheap and satisfying. The rolls, which seemed to be baked either in-house or at another company facility were fresh and had just the slightest chew. They sold the rolls packaged to go. Also satisfying and served with buns as its vehicle was Pav bhaji, kind of a vegetarian Indian sloppy joe served as a puddle of curry with the buns on the side. It was actually quite spicy and reminded me of my days eating potatoes and peas with jarred vindaloo sauce as an exchange student in the UK.

Stop 4 was the most comedic bust of all. Shahi Nihari gets some love upthread, but our experience was borderline scary. They're doing work on their entryway and in its place is an unlit corridor built of OSB that was a few paces into the complete darkness too many. We sat down in the middle of the restaurant yet were chilled to the bone by a mid-November draft. It was late in the buffet hour and everything looked spent and depressed. My dining companions also could not get over the breadth of the menu offerings such as Philly cheese steak and quesadillas. I guess that stuff might make sense at a fast food shack- like establishment like Desi Pizza & Grill. But the prices seemed to allude to a more upscale dining experience. $14 haleem in a freezing cold restaurant in Villa Park with a sad ass looking buffet. We cut our losses and head West to La Cocina de Maria.

I'm not done yet though. On my list: Deccan Spice, Food Street, Sara's in Naperville, and Mast Masala in Hanover Park.

Food Street
1734 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515
(630) 963-3301

Flavors of India
234 W Roosevelt Rd, Villa Park, IL 60181
(630) 833-2222

Desi Grill & Pizza
912 E Roosevelt Rd, Lombard, IL 60148
(630) 916-8608

Mumbai Cafe
34 W Roosevelt Rd, Lombard, IL 60169
(630) 656-1164

Shahi Nehari
541 West North Avenue, Villa Park, IL 60181
(630) 792-8839

What a bummer ^^^

Jefe,

Have you tried the Desi place in the same strip mall as Katy's in Westmont? The menu looks promising, but I've never been able to bring myself to pass on Katy's, so I haven't tried it yet.

stevez wrote:Jefe,

Have you tried the Desi place in the same strip mall as Katy's in Westmont? The menu looks promising, but I've never been able to bring myself to pass on Katy's, so I haven't tried it yet.

Shree, which I believe is Southern vegetarian. And gosh, I feel ya, the pull of noodles (see what I did there) and dumplings is irresistible. In fact, now that I live in striking distance, I'm in there on the weekly! I'll report back on Shree if I can tear myself away from Katy's.

I work in the Lombard area, and these are the three Indian restaurants I tend to go to most.

Shree has a really good South Indian lunch buffet. They tend to vary their offering quite a bit and bring around freshly fried poori to each table. It's definitely vegetarian, and I think they do it very well. I understand completely that it's tough to NOT go to Katy's when you're in the same parking lot, but the decision is made when I'm there without cash -- Shree takes credit, Katy's does not!

Flavors of India has a large space, and I think that it makes seem very unoccupied at lunch. They offer a lunch buffet with Indo-Pak dishes like frontier chicken. They also do veg and non-veg lunch thali for something ridiculous like $6. I've been really impressed by their tandoori chicken lately, as it is very gingery and not dry.

Further west on Roosevelt is Viceroy, which has been serving a North Indian lunch buffet for as long as I remember. They gravitate towards the regulars, butter chicken, biryani, etc., but it's also quite good.

Viceroy of India
233 E. Roosevelt Rd.
Lombard

Jefe wrote:

stevez wrote:Jefe,

Have you tried the Desi place in the same strip mall as Katy's in Westmont? The menu looks promising, but I've never been able to bring myself to pass on Katy's, so I haven't tried it yet.

Shree, which I believe is Southern vegetarian. And gosh, I feel ya, the pull of noodles (see what I did there) and dumplings is irresistible. In fact, now that I live in striking distance, I'm in there on the weekly! I'll report back on Shree if I can tear myself away from Katy's.

There is/was another place called Desi Spice or Desi Taste or something like that. Are they gone?

I'll chime in with a Vietnamese spot in North Aurora that I found by accident last night. I noticed Vietnam Gate as I exited 88 heading towards the Paramount Theatre to see A Christmas Story: The Musical.

We stopped there post-theatre. At first, we were the only ones in the spot at about 6pm. The owner was also our server. He informed us that this place has been open for about three months. It's a smallish spot - maybe ten tables.

My wife and I split an order of Goi Cuon Thit-Pork/Chicken Spring Rolls as an appetizer. They were very fresh and very tasty accompanied with a side of peanut sauce. I chose Bun Cha Gio Tom Xao-Egg Rolls & Stirred Marinated Shrimps with Vermicelli as my entree. A hefty sized bowl of goodness. My wife had Bun Thit Nuong-BBQ Pork with Vermicelli. She didn't offer to share it with me . Though she pronounced it quite good. The menu also had a page with several Chinese items.

The place started to fill up as we were leaving. I noticed folks doing BYOB. All in - a great option in the area. Makes it worthwhile to justify schlepping to the Paramount.

Vietnam Gate
321 South Lincolnway (Route 31)
North Aurora, IL 60542
630-299-3585
http://vietgatepho.com/

Jefe wrote:There's a (inappropriately funnily named) spot in a strip mall by me in Winfield called Chinese Ho Cuisine that I will likely check out one of these days.

Finally checked out Chinese Ho last night. They were slamming on a Saturday night. Got a baseline order of eggrolls– not great, but they always seem to suffer incredibly on the ride home; BBQ pork fried rice– fine, not really any breath of the wok, but fresh tasting with flavorful pork; and Mongolian beef–no gummy mystery meat effect, nice flavorful strips of beef in a not too gloppy sauce.

Nothing special, but dinner for 2 with leftovers for under $20! About half the price of our regular, Gen Hoe. Though no tiki drinks nor formal old Chinese guy servers and not quite the same nuance coming out of the kitchen.

Chinese Ho Cuisine
27 Geneva Rd, Winfield, IL 60190
(630) 653-1188

Jefe wrote:Had a slam dunk regional Mexican lunch at a new-to-me spot in West Chicago that I've driven by a million times.

La Cocina De Maria has very little action on the Yelps and just a little bit more on Facebook (that focuses largely on their catering business). Perhaps they are relatively new (like me) to the area. I haven't yet gotten their whole story. They're in downtown West Chicago on Washington just around the corner from the "action" on Main St. I drive by there all the time and its cute-as-a-button storefront earned them a spot on my to-try list, though a recent facelift with signs advertising regional dishes like cochinita pibil and pambazos added some urgency to my patronage.

La Cocina de Maria
142 W Washington St, West Chicago, IL 60185
(630) 520-2699

I have to concur, 3 of us hit this place about 6:30 last night not realizing it closes at 7pm and well worth the drive from Oswego.

I ordered a Chorizio Picaditas while the wife and sister in law both order, as it was expressed above as the Gut buster Pambazo.

My Picaditas was outstanding. Great texture to the tortilla, Chorizo had a nice heat to it and while I added some salsa on top. This was something I had never tried before and was nicely surprised.

Wife and SIL each was able to finish 1/2 of the sandwich and both expressed how good it was.

We were able to follow up with Chocolate and Napolitano Flan and a slice of cheesecake that are made in house. Each came with a handmade cookie and a thin slice of apple. While I'm not a dessert person by nature, each was very good.

We ended up leaving about 8:30, well after they closed and was able to talk with Tony the chef/owner, his wife and 3 younger daughters. As stated above, their primary business is catering and have no intentions of building out anything larger for the restaurant. However, he did mention they are going to open up a patio in the spring.

One question I forget to ask, is BYOB an option. A nice cold beer would just match up great with what I had last night.

We've already made plans to go back this week.

Since you guys seem to know more about this area than I do, I'm going to ask. I still haven't found a good fried shrimp place around Montgomery,Oswego, Aurora etc. I was in the city this weekend and was able to get to Hagen's and it really struck me how much I missed it. If there are any similar places out this way please let me know.

Jefe wrote:

Jefe wrote:There's a (inappropriately funnily named) spot in a strip mall by me in Winfield called Chinese Ho Cuisine that I will likely check out one of these days.

Chinese Ho Cuisine
27 Geneva Rd, Winfield, IL 60190
(630) 653-1188

I guess they gotta eat too, right?

(I need to watch Hollywood Shuffle again. Maybe one late night during the whole xmas season when I'm staying at the in-laws or something)

seebee wrote:I guess they gotta eat too, right?

(I need to watch Hollywood Shuffle again. Maybe one late night during the whole xmas season when I'm staying at the in-laws or something)

Haha . . . the same scene immediately came to my mind, too.

=R=

Jefe wrote:
Not satisfied, we continued up Roosevelt to Taste of Karachi, permanently closed. Hungry and needing to regroup we decided to try the cheerful looking coffee shop, Mumbai Cafe in the same strip mall. They have another location in Hoffman Estates. Its a counter service cafe with tea, juices, sweets, and a handful of mostly vegetarian snack foods. They also roll fresh paan, but were out of betel leaves that day. Their thick, creamy chai hit the spot. And the two snacks we tried were my favorite Desi bites of the day. I've always wanted to try Vada pav, a spiced potato (+ a few other veg) cutlet on a roll, slider style with a sweet-ish (tamarind?) sauce and a spicy green chile sauce. It was cheap and satisfying. The rolls, which seemed to be baked either in-house or at another company facility were fresh and had just the slightest chew. They sold the rolls packaged to go. Also satisfying and served with buns as its vehicle was Pav bhaji, kind of a vegetarian Indian sloppy joe served as a puddle of curry with the buns on the side. It was actually quite spicy and reminded me of my days eating potatoes and peas with jarred vindaloo sauce as an exchange student in the UK.

The first time I tried Mumbai Cafe, I really liked it. Long ago, I remember Zim telling me about how the pav in Mumbai were nothing like the hamburger buns used in the USA. The first time at Mumbai Cafe, I thought I found buns, in the pav bhaji closer to what he talked about, very satisfying. Overall, the whole spread was great and not too costly. Fast Forward several months. The second visit not so satisfying. I have a suspicion that management changed because there was now meat on the menu and some of the othe other stuff was not available that day. On the second visit, our dosai was re-heated and that aint good.

The Montgomery location of South Moon BBQ finally opened on Thursday. Stopped by there this afternoon. I'm kind of new to the area so I don't really know the history or significance of the Grays Mill building they are in. But it's a pretty cool setting. I won't really comment on the food yet since they've only been open a few days.

Pie Boss in Aurora has it's own thread but I think it eluded me for a little while as I assumed it was for a dessert type spot. When I stumbled upon the place a while back I became intrigued and was excited to learn it's actually a place to get South African style meat pies. This is the type of spot that would pretty much be unique anywhere in America so it's pretty interesting to find it in a strip mall on the outskirts of Aurora. I've become friendly with the owner, as I always stop by when near especially in colder months, and him and his wife run the place. They moved to the area from Durban to be closer to her family. The menu is basically savory Meat Pies, a few dessert options, and sausage rolls.


Menu Board

The pies are stuffed with common South African style fillings like chicken and mushroom, pepper steak, and one of my favorites, the cheeseburger made with a beef patty and lots of cheese in the middle. Add some HP sauce and that's a tasty snack. If you're lucky enough to stop in when the peri peri chicken pie is on special you should try it. I just take them to go and reheat it for dinner. The wife does all the baking and the result is thin layers of nicely browned crust with a letter indented on top to identify the filling. If this place was in the city I'm pretty sure it would be a big hit with the right location but they seem to have gained a loyal following which is great because they're friendly people with a chow worthy product.


Burger Pie

Pie Boss
1649 Montgomery Road
Aurora, IL 60504
(630) 898-3448

I drive by Pie Boss all the time. It never even crossed my mind that it was anything other than dessert pies. Thanks for the info. Do you have any pictures of the inside of that pie?

midas wrote:Since you guys seem to know more about this area than I do, I'm going to ask. I still haven't found a good fried shrimp place around Montgomery,Oswego, Aurora etc..

Driving around FV mall this last week, I noticed a new fried shrimp place had opened in the former LJ Silvers space and thought of this thread:

Shrimpy's
4416 E New York St
Aurora, IL 60504

I have yet to try it, but it sounds like from yelp it opened just about a week ago and might have a couple issues in price point/serving size to work out.

I meant to try it, but since you pull into the place in an odd way because of the off 59 or off New York entrance, I just cannot pass up stopping at Szechuan House since Katy's Naperville closed for my hot and spicy diced Chongqing chicken fix.

Szechuan House
4309 E New York St
Aurora, IL 60504
(630) 874-0653

Willkat98 wrote:Driving around FV mall this last week, I noticed a new fried shrimp place had opened in the former LJ Silvers space and thought of this thread:

Shrimpy's

I just saw that place yesterday while driving past it. I too checked Yelp and came away with the same impressions you did. 4 shrimp for $10, I think I'll pass.

jimswside wrote:
oh and I have been getting into Augustion's on occasion - the West Chicago location vs Carol Streams - mostly for an American Sub:



good sandwich at a fair price - not up to Italia or others meat wise - but good for about $5 and change - been going to Augs - the Carol Steam location for years - since back when I worked at the highway dept. - an American sub or an Italian sub was breaskfast

Augustinos
246 S. Schmale
Carol Stream

http://www.augustinos.com/

gotta say Ive been diggin' on these American subs the past month or so - to the rate of 2 or 2 a week -for $5 and change you cant beat it - -

I have gone back to bypassing the West Chicago Aug's in favor of the Carol Stream local - Why?? - at Carol Stream I can see the guys cutting the meat to order for my sandwich on the slicers(they seem to cut the meat thinner as well - West Chicago the kitchen is hidden.

Im happy with the sandwiches at Aug's - havent found a place with one close to being as good in the area, but I am curious if anyone else has found another legit deli/sandwich shop in this region West of the I355?

jimswside wrote:Im happy with the sandwiches at Aug's - havent found a place with one close to being as good in the area, but I am curious if anyone else has found another legit deli/sandwich shop in this region West of the I355?

West of 355, no, but there are a couple of places I like just east of 355 (like, about a couple of blocks east each) - Serino's Deli and Mario's Deli. I like Serino's a little better than Mario's - Serino's has a crunchier bread, whereas Marios uses a pretty soft roll.

Serino's Deli
1720 W. Army Trail
Addison, IL

Mario's on Lake
1700 W Lake St,
Addison, IL 60101

Kid Charlemagne wrote:

jimswside wrote:Im happy with the sandwiches at Aug's - havent found a place with one close to being as good in the area, but I am curious if anyone else has found another legit deli/sandwich shop in this region West of the I355?

West of 355, no, but there are a couple of places I like just east of 355 (like, about a couple of blocks east each) - Serino's Deli and Mario's Deli. I like Serino's a little better than Mario's - Serino's has a crunchier bread, whereas Marios uses a pretty soft roll.

Serino's Deli
1720 W. Army Trail
Addison, IL

Mario's on Lake
1700 W Lake St,
Addison, IL 60101

Ive had Serinos - when I used to work over on Capitol Drive in Addison - been a few years so my memory is foggy - , Ill have to roll back as I am up that way a bit -

Marios Ive never heard of - thanks for the heads up.

Fontano’s Subs has a number of locations. I've only been to the one on 95th St. in Naperville, but they also have one in Hinsdale and another little farther north in Naperville. Hard to really tell how connected the places are since there is a different website for the two in Naperville and no website for the one in Hinsdale. The one on Ogden appears to have a much more extensive menu.

1767 W Ogden Ave
Ste 131
Naperville, IL 60540 (www.fontanosnaperville.com)

2879 W 95th St
Ste 195
Naperville, IL 60564 (www.fontanossubsnaperville.com)

9 S Lincoln St
Hinsdale, IL 60521

midas wrote:Fontano’s Subs has a number of locations. I've only been to the one on 95th St. in Naperville, but they also have one in Hinsdale and another little farther north in Naperville. Hard to really tell how connected the places are since there is a different website for the two in Naperville and no website for the one in Hinsdale. The one on Ogden appears to have a much more extensive menu.

1767 W Ogden Ave
Ste 131
Naperville, IL 60540 (http://www.fontanosnaperville.com)

2879 W 95th St
Ste 195
Naperville, IL 60564 (http://www.fontanossubsnaperville.com)

9 S Lincoln St
Hinsdale, IL 60521

right on, always thought Fontano's had a decent sub, I used to go the the Hinsdale one on occasion before I found Italia, Peppo's and Frangella's a little south of there - might just have to roll over to a Naperville Fontano's.

jimswside wrote:

midas wrote:Fontano’s Subs has a number of locations. I've only been to the one on 95th St. in Naperville, but they also have one in Hinsdale and another little farther north in Naperville. Hard to really tell how connected the places are since there is a different website for the two in Naperville and no website for the one in Hinsdale. The one on Ogden appears to have a much more extensive menu.

1767 W Ogden Ave
Ste 131
Naperville, IL 60540 (http://www.fontanosnaperville.com)

2879 W 95th St
Ste 195
Naperville, IL 60564 (http://www.fontanossubsnaperville.com)

9 S Lincoln St
Hinsdale, IL 60521

right on, always thought Fontano's had a decent sub, I used to go the the Hinsdale one on occasion before I found Italia, Peppo's and Frangella's a little south of there - might just have to roll over to a Naperville Fontano's.

I've been to a couple of the Fontano's locations, the one on Ogden acutally has a restaurant with liquor and wait staff. I always get the Meatball Sub, with Provolone...one of the best around.

Is this the same as the Fontano's that is (or was) on Jackson in the Loop? If so, and only with respect to the Loop location, I used to enjoy some of their sandwiches, though I think they took a turn south at some point. The bread has always been somewhat of an issue too for me. That being said, always at least decent and always generous with meats and such.

BR wrote:Is this the same as the Fontano's that is (or was) on Jackson in the Loop? If so, and only with respect to the Loop location, I used to enjoy some of their sandwiches, though I think they took a turn south at some point. The bread has always been somewhat of an issue too for me. That being said, always at least decent and always generous with meats and such.

Fontano's is now on Michigan at Van Buren. I used to work in the building on Jackson where they were located. Probably one of my favorite Italian beef sandwiches in the city proper.

That said, they used to be an accounting client of a relative of mine and I think a family schism is what split all the locations out from under one umbrella.