which suburb has the best food?

My husband and I currently live in Chicago (East Village). We are thinking about moving out to the suburbs, and one of my concerns is that we'd be stuck with Olive Garden and TGI Friday's for food. I have a feeling that our choice of suburbs will be based in large part on what food is available.

I have seen the "Suburbs are not a culinary wasteland" thread on the Eating Out forum, but would love to hear your thoughts: which suburb do you think has the best food? I am leaning towards Westmont/Downer's Grove b/c of Katy's Dumplings and LSC. But what about Indian? Vietnamese (I would wither away without the occasional banh mi)? Korean?

If I were only considering food (not job location, proximity to family, cost of living, etc.), I'd go with Evanston. It has some decent restaurants in its own right and borders the northern edge of Chicago. No lack of good eats of nearly every sort within a 10-15 minute drive.

Ronna

Most of the suburbs are wonderful, and the opportunities to dine are almost limitless. Highland Park/Hhighwood is close to unparalleled for dining opportunities, especially high end places. Niles is the epi-center of ethnic dining and grocery shopping. That said, most of the north and northwest suburbs are within an easy drive of great places. I'm in Arlington Heights near the border with Buffalo Grove, and I'm only a few blocks from a decent Vietnamese place, a great Uzbeki place (a GNR winner), a good Thai place, a great Indian place, and dozens of taquerias, plus I'm a short drive from any number of good French restaurants (Le Titi de Paris is within 5 minutes, Restaurant Michael is only about 30 minutes).

We also have amazing grocery stores -- my brother, who lives in the city, is wildly jealous of the fact that within a short distance of my home I have several multi-ethnic super stores, a massive Carniceria Jimenez, a couple of great Chinese grocery stores, a good Filipino grocery store, and an excellent Russian grocery store. And at the other end of Arlington Heights, there's Mitsuwa, a Japanese grocery store so complete that, when I went to Japan last year, I had trouble finding any food items to bring home that I couldn't just get at Mitsuwa.

So you don't need to worry about the suburbs. (In fact, there is a long thread and massive listing on this site of the myriad dining opportunities out this way: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20346&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=suburbs ) You only need to really be concerned about having a high concentration in one suburb if you don't have a car. In that case, Highland Park/Highwood is probably the densest concentration of restaurants.

I think the Arlington Heights area is hard to beat for a combination of shopping, affordable eating out, and good Metra service. Evanston and Skokie are tempting too, depending on your budget, commuting patterns etc.

I confess I enjoyed living on the North Shore within walking distance to the lake and the Metra station, but unless you are in Highland Park or Highwood, the food situation is a little bleak IMO.

I'm a homey, admittedly, but I'll have to cast my vote for Evanston. I believe we have the largest number of restaurants of any suburb (125+ although they're not in as concentrated an area as Highwood). Add to that the proximity of the Clark Street strip in Rogers Park (or Rodgers Park, as they spell it at Hop Haus), and Skokie's diverse offerings, and you have a vast number choices, all very close. As testament to that, consider that the Evanston Lunch Group™ has been meeting once virtually every month since it started in 2004, and we've only repeated a restaurant once (Deta's), with never a Chili's or TGIF, ever (perish the thought). And, obviously, that excludes dinner-only places, too.

As far as shopping goes, you've got the basics within the Evanston city limits, but until the Evanston Pride market opens on Asbury, no especially interesting options (unless you consider Foodstuffs, which is more a prepared food joint). But within a short drive, you've got the Rogers Park Fruit Market (much more than fruit), the soon-to-open Supermercado Morelia (I'm told, within two weeks), Marketplace on Oakton, Richwell Market, and even H-Mart isn't too far. And the Evanston Farmer's Market is among the larger ones in the area.

Combine that with Metra Service and the CTA's Purple line, offering easy access to the city, and I can't imagine any other suburb with better food-related options (note that's a parity claim, not a superiority claim).

Whatever you do, don't move to Oak Park (or surrounding environs).

I live in Glencoe (NOT a place to move for the food), so I do not know the western or southern suburbs. For the Northern suburbs, I concur that Evanston is the standout, both for what it has within it's confines, and for what is close by.

I'd say that, if you like Evanston's restaurants best, just try to live near Evanston -- unless you've got plenty of money. It's an expensive place to live. Plus, if you own a home, there is a hefty "departure tax" if you try to move away from Evanston. If you want to be close to Evanston restaurants, live in Rogers Park.

I'd say that, unless you're relying entirely on the train, just pick a suburb where you like everything else, and then just drive to restaurants. The suburbs have free parking, so driving to a restaurant is not as big a deal as it is in the city. And as you'll have seen from the impressive index created by LAZ (linked to above), there are lots of great places to eat.

teatpuller wrote:Whatever you do, don't move to Oak Park (or surrounding environs).

I'm thinking Niles is a pretty good location.

Cynthia wrote:I'd say that, if you like Evanston's restaurants best, just try to live near Evanston -- unless you've got plenty of money. It's an expensive place to live. Plus, if you own a home, there is a hefty "departure tax" if you try to move away from Evanston. If you want to be close to Evanston restaurants, live in Rogers Park.

Renting is pretty affordable. I rent here and I can walk to WASC

Cynthia wrote:I'd say that, if you like Evanston's restaurants best, just try to live near Evanston -- unless you've got plenty of money. It's an expensive place to live.

That's true, what with all the property off the tax rolls, thanks to many churches and Northwestern University (although Northwestern contributes greatly to the city's cultural offerings).

Cynthia wrote:The suburbs have free parking

In that respect, Evanston is more like Chicago - don't count on free parking. On the other hand, if you're anywhere near downtown Evanston, you can walk to many restaurants - you don't have to drive everywhere, as is true with many other suburbs.

(This was especially helpful to me on New Years Eve, when, after a night of open bar at Bill's Blues, I had only three blocks to stumble on foot to get home.)

Foodwise, I'd recommend Evanston or Niles because of what they offer and their proximity to other food opportunities.

=R=

nr706 wrote:

Cynthia wrote:The suburbs have free parking

In that respect, Evanston is more like Chicago - don't count on free parking. On the other hand, if you're anywhere near downtown Evanston, you can walk to many restaurants - you don't have to drive everywhere, as is true with many other suburbs.

Well, technically, Evanston -- aka The City of Evanston -- isn't a suburb, it's another city that just happens to be really close to Chicago. The suburbs are all "Villages" -- Village of Wilmette, Village of Arlington Heights, etc. So that's probably why Evanston fails to fit into the usual suburban profile in many respects. That can be good or bad, depending on what matters to you.

Hi,

Highland Park is a city. For a brief while, there was a Metra train engine named, "Village of Highland Park." Since then, "Village of" has been erased, though you can still see the shadow.

Regards,

Cynthia wrote:aka The City of Evanston

We like to refer it as "The Peoples' Republic of Evanston."

Cynthia wrote:

nr706 wrote:

Cynthia wrote:The suburbs have free parking

In that respect, Evanston is more like Chicago - don't count on free parking. On the other hand, if you're anywhere near downtown Evanston, you can walk to many restaurants - you don't have to drive everywhere, as is true with many other suburbs.

Well, technically, Evanston -- aka The City of Evanston -- isn't a suburb, it's another city that just happens to be really close to Chicago. The suburbs are all "Villages" -- Village of Wilmette, Village of Arlington Heights, etc. So that's probably why Evanston fails to fit into the usual suburban profile in many respects. That can be good or bad, depending on what matters to you.

Oh come on. There's no reason that Evanston is a city and Wilmette is a village. If Wilmette wanted to call itself a city, it could rename itself and give its village president and trustees fancy new titles, but it'd still be a suburb just like Evanston.

gleam wrote:If Wilmette wanted to call itself a city, it could rename itself and give its village president and trustees fancy new titles, but it'd still be a suburb just like Evanston.

There's no way Wilmette will ever be a suburb "just like Evanston."

There's no way Wilmette will ever be a suburb "just like Evanston."

I have no idea at what you are driving. Please clarify.

sundevilpeg wrote:

There's no way Wilmette will ever be a suburb "just like Evanston."

I have no idea at what you are driving. Please clarify.

My point is, in part, I'm not driving. I can walk to a vast array of restaurants - far more than Wilmette has to offer. And I think living in Wilmette predisposes one to drive anywhere they need to go - not so with downtown Evanston.

I wish Kenilworth would declare itself a Grand Duchy.

I think Niles probably has the widest variety of authentic places, if you feel like Polish for lunch and Korean for dinner, with a late night falafel snack.

Cynthia wrote:Well, technically, Evanston -- aka The City of Evanston -- isn't a suburb, it's another city that just happens to be really close to Chicago. The suburbs are all "Villages" -- Village of Wilmette, Village of Arlington Heights, etc.

Uh, hmm, like Cathy2 said ... no.

Evanston, Highland Park, Highwood, Lombard, Wheaton, St. Charles, Rolling Meadows, Naperville, Oakbrook Terrace, and others, these cities are suburbs of Chicago. In Illinois at least, there is neither a population criterion nor a distance-from-downtown Chicago criterion that defines what is a village and what is a city. If the major "urb" of the area is Chicago, than all of the communities around Chicago that are outside its limits are its suburbs.

Katie wrote:If the major "urb" of the area is Chicago, than all of the communities around Chicago that are outside its limits are its suburbs.

Yes. Technicalities aside, I believe it was pretty clear from the original post that this is precisely what was meant.

Folks, let's please try to keep the discussion focused on the OP's request, which seeks recommendations for prospective locations outside of the city proper, that might offer good enough food options to be considered as a reasonable place to move.

Thanks,

=R=
for the moderators

"Best" suburb is really dependent on more than food, even if food is your primary goal. Getting to the food is also a key element. If you need to be able to walk to the food or take the train, that elicits an entirely different response than "which suburb offers the most food options." Niles, as many of us have noted, is the epi-center of ethnic eating, but it's not a good option if you want places you can walk to. But if you have a car, almost anywhere in the northwest suburbs is going to not only offer a fairly wide range of options, but also will be close to other suburbs with even more options.

s4shon wrote:My husband and I currently live in Chicago (East Village). We are thinking about moving out to the suburbs, and one of my concerns is that we'd be stuck with Olive Garden and TGI Friday's for food. I have a feeling that our choice of suburbs will be based in large part on what food is available.

I have seen the "Suburbs are not a culinary wasteland" thread on the Eating Out forum, but would love to hear your thoughts: which suburb do you think has the best food? I am leaning towards Westmont/Downer's Grove b/c of Katy's Dumplings and LSC. But what about Indian? Vietnamese (I would wither away without the occasional banh mi)? Korean?

Interesting that the debate on suburbs has been focused on north and northwest, and the discussion has not really focused on food. I like the western suburbs because they remind me of the old south side - Bridgeport becomes Downers Grove, if you will, while Andersonville becomes Des Plaines. Of course, where you choose to live is based on many considerations, but I will (mostly) follow your lead and (mostly) keep my discussion to food.

First keep in mind that the size of the area where you eat will, unless you choose to live without a car, change greatly. To go 10 miles in the city takes 30 minutes, more or less; unless you are traveling at the peak of rush hour, you can go 20 miles in the same time in the suburbs. So, to enjoy Westmont (or Niles) you do not have to live in Westmont. And, if you live in Westmont, you are not really limited to Westmont for food.

As to your specific questions:

There are lots of quite acceptable Indian options in and around Westmont. That will not be a problem.

For good Vietnamese food, you will need to drive a bit. Glendale Heights, Wheaton and Naperville all have a few places to choose from, with Tay Do in Glendale Heights the best. Good Banh Mi.

There are gaps, surely. No really good Korean, though there is a place in downtown Westmont. No really good Thai - there are many places, and quality has been slowly increasing, but they are all fairly Americanized.

On the other hand, there are some very good Mexican and Japanese options (though the Northwest suburbs do much better for Japanese because of the business community around O'Hare), and I am pretty sure the west suburbs do better for Mittel European fare (German and Czech, primarily).

If your eyes focus back on the city, as I am sure they will, you need to think about whether access to the north side is more important and interesting than access to the south and west sides. In Westmont, it will be easier by far to dine at Uncle John's BBQ, than Smoque; easier to attend US Cellular than Wrigley Field, and easier to go to the Indiana Dunes than Zion.

Hope that helps.