Pierogi Factory Restaurant

Was driving down Belmont today in Lakeview and noticed a new storefront called Pierogi Factory a few blocks west of Sheffield Ave on the north side of the street. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it a retail store? Restaurant? Combo?

greygardens wrote:Was driving down Belmont today in Lakeview and noticed a new storefront called Pierogi Factory a few blocks west of Sheffield Ave on the north side of the street. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it a retail store? Restaurant? Combo?

It is discussed in several posts in this thread:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=51600#51600

Antonius

Looked at the thread Antonius refererenced, but it talks about Alexandria Pierogi on Central Ave. at School, not about a place nearer Belmont & Sheffield. Will check it out next time I go east. Anna

Please report if you do!

Not to be a know-it-all ,but I live in the neighborhood and this place is definitely brand spanking new. I'm a bit lazy and hate driving and would love it if I could get decent pierogi nearby to take home to my parents in pierogi-barren Indiana.

Anna Z. Sobor wrote:Looked at the thread Antonius refererenced, but it talks about Alexandria Pierogi on Central Ave. at School, not about a place nearer Belmont & Sheffield. Will check it out next time I go east. Anna

My husband just went to Jerry's Fruit Market in Niles and they now sell Pierogi Factory Pierogis (Alexandria Foods) They were 2.59 a dozen and quite tasty!

I walked by the new Pierogi Factory yesterday morning, on the NW corner of Kenmore and Belmont. It was not yet open (they open at noon on Sundays), but I looked in the windows. No retail pierogi (freezer) in evidence, just counter with lighted menu boards, like any fast food place. It was hard to read from where I was standing, but I saw borscht and potato pancakes on the menu.

I'm wondering how this place will do--fast pierogi is an unproven concept (at least in this neck of the woods)--but I'm definitely going to give it a shot, as my kids like pierogi and I'm happy to find something fast for them that isn't "fast food".

I ate lunch here today. I had a 6 pc order of potato & cheese pierogis. I opted to have them fried & garnished with fried onions & bacon, with a side of sour cream. I also ordered potato pancakes (3) as well.

I'm no pierogi expert, but these were pretty tasty. They were also a bit rich with the garnish and with my choice of having them fried. I also sampled a meat pierogi, which I think I'll order next time.

The potato pancakes were ok. They were not seasoned well enough for my liking. They were served with a side of applesauce & sour cream.

There were also many other items on the menu as well: blintzes, borscht, soup - as well as others that I can't recall at the moment.

I'll definitely be back. It's a great addition to the area for a lunch option.

Goody! I'm going to definitely check it out.

ViaChgo, did you happen to notice whether they had carry out pierogis - i.e. stuff you would heat up and cook yourself at home? And did you notice where they got their piergois from? Made there or some other source?

I want to take some home to my folks in the very pierogi-free Indianapolis.

greygardens wrote:Goody! I'm going to definitely check it out.

ViaChgo, did you happen to notice whether they had carry out pierogis - i.e. stuff you would heat up and cook yourself at home? And did you notice where they got their piergois from? Made there or some other source?

I want to take some home to my folks in the very pierogi-free Indianapolis.

I believe they did have packaged pierogis available. I didn't really look closely to see where they were from though.

btw, should this thread be moved to Eating Out in Chicagoland, since this place is a restaurant?

Done (with help from Cathy2...thanks ). Thanks for the report and hope to make it there myself. Who knows...maybe I WILL surprise the folks with some pierogi!

greygardens wrote:pierogi-free Indianapolis.

One close approximation in Indy
is the Russia House restaurant,
that serves very tasty dumplings
(vareniki and pelmeni) - the
potato-onion vareniki being
particular stand-outs.

I've also been pretty impressed
with the pierogi (potato-cheese)
available from Trader Joes.

Very good takeout dinner from the pierogi factory tonight. The family shared orders of three different kinds of pierogi...meat (a combination of beef and pork as it turns out), potato/ cheese and mushroom. All fried and topped with grilled onions and bacon, with sour cream on the side. All were quite good, with the meat being my favorite. These were deep fried, and not pan fried as I had expected, which resulted in a fairly uniform overall lightly blistered and crispy surface,without the variation between nicely browned spots and softer areas that pan cooking yields (and which I prefer). Topping was really good, nearly up to the level of Healthy Food Lithuianian which is my standard for this type of thing.

Although the pierogi were good , the pyzy were outstanding. These are boiled dumplings filled with either meat or cheese which are wrapped in an unusual dough made from potato flour which manages to be light and tender and toothsome/pleasantly chewey all at once. I never tried these before and thought they were terrific.

Polish sausage was also of unusually high quality. The owner tells me he has these made for him at a "polish butcher" and it seems an excellent sausage indeed. The flavor reminds me of the Slotkowski sausage that used to be served at the original Jim's on Maxwell St. before it became a Vienna stand several years ago (and in the process also became almost indistinguishable from it's neighbor Maxwell Express, which always served Vienna products) though the grind seems a bit finer. Unfortunately,this was also deep fried and not grilled as the menu promised. Still outstanding though.

Finally, the sauerkraut. This is made in house and was also a high point. I love good kraut and was very happy with this version. Nicely flecked with caraway, not too astringent and served warm, this was a great foil to the rest of the meal.

This is a serious place. The owner is obviously taking a good deal of care with his food and it shows. He evidently makes all the doughs and fillings in house and the final product has a nice home-made character as a result. I just hope he can get the kitchen to stop deep frying everything.

The menu lists numerous other types of pierogi including sweet cheese,plum,cherry,sweet cabbage and sauerkraut/mushroom ,Borscht, blintzes, potato pancakes and "Silesian dumplings" all of which seem worth trying.As the now governor of California once said...I'll be back.

Pierogi Factory
1034 W. Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL
773-325-1015

Just found out they have a website complete with funny sound effects and animated steam coming off of the pierogi picture on the upper left hand corner. But more helpful is the menu with prices!

http://www.pierogifactory.com

Sharona

kuhdo wrote:Polish sausage was also of unusually high quality. The owner tells me he has these made for him at a "polish butcher" and it seems an excellent sausage indeed. The flavor reminds me of the Slotkowski sausage that used to be served at the original Jim's on Maxwell St. before it became a Vienna stand several years ago (and in the process also became almost indistinguishable from it's neighbor Maxwell Express, which always served Vienna products) though the grind seems a bit finer. Unfortunately,this was also deep fried and not grilled as the menu promised. Still outstanding though.

What was included with the Polish?

The polish came with grilled onions as well as ketchup and mustard on the side.

The polish came with grilled onions as well as ketchup and mustard on the side.

Sharona:
Nice website.It seems they guarantee "100% of satisfaction, freshness and tradition" with their pierogi. Can't beat that.

Stopped by today to pick up some appetizers for our second t-day dinner.

I was leery at first, prices, neighborhood but was put at ease by the staff. ... and the samples on the counter.

Picked up a half dozen of the mushroom, potato and meat pierogis as well as an order of pyzy.

I do not know how they were as I was busy as a bee at dinner and only had 2 servings of Green Bean Casserole (first time this season).

Lindy is heading down now to reheat some for me.... Stay tuned...

While I am waiting, we made the Green Bean Casserole with canned french cut green beans tonight and in my opinion it was better than using frozen. The beans accepted the mushroom soup flavor better and the texture was more pleasing. Softer.

...

Mmmm. Lindy came up with a plate of assorted Pierogis. A couple of mushroom and a few meat. Even though we ordered them fried with onion and bacon after reheating the texture was soft almost if boiled.

The meat had a good flavor, not spicy at all, a fine grind and a thin shell. The mushroom thick with a mild white mushroom flavor. Nice and thick with a lot of mushroom.

Lindy failed to bring up any pyzy and on the next TV break she will heat up some. Stay tuned...

The girl manning the counter was of European descent judging by her looks and accent. We noticed the refrigerated/freezer case behind the counter filled with their products noticing the Silesian Dumplings. Thinking Sicilian but knowing better we asked about the name. She replied that they are made in the manner of southern Poland using different techniques and spices.

We also asked about the sign proclaiming the upcoming opening of the Bucktown location and she replied it would open sometime in January.

When commenting about the way the Pyzy looked, drawing a comparison with the Swedish Kroppkakor and a Lithuanian zeppelin I had out at Smilga in Darien she replied that they were going to add a Lithuanian potato dumpling to their menu shortly. When asked why a Lithuanian dish with the preponderance of Polish items she replied "They like them.

...

Awesome! Not as gelatinous, more of a potato texture, than for the formentioned items. A little bit of butter to pat in with some bacon...

Heavenly.

Everything was well prepared with quality ingredients. The whole family was pleased.

I will return.

Panther:

Glad you liked it too! I agree with your concern about the neighborhood....I'm always a little suspect of ethnic restaurants opening up in non-ethnic areas, but this place seems to overcome that concern. When I was there I noticed quite a few eastern european tradsemen enjoying a plate of dumplings, shoulder to shoulder with local punkers and yuppies...so I assume they must be doing an honest job with the cuisine. I get the feeling that Tom Stec,the owner, is a Pole who is quite proud of his country's food and who may have figured out a good way to market that culinary tradition to a wider audience (without compromising quality or authenticity). I wish him luc.k

Menu for your pre-dining pleasure.

When I visited the staff mentioned that they were going to add a Lithuanian dumpling to the menu called Kartacz (pronounced cartach) soon (see note she jotted on the menu).

Yikes. Unless those sausages, golumpki and pierogi taste twice as good as Andy's, Andrezj, et al. (or taste the same but are twice as big), I'll pass.

I thought Pierogi Factory was good, but there are other places I like much more.

One of my favorites and a new find for me is Smak-Tak! at 5961 North Elston Avenue...

http://www.smaktak.com/

Their pierogies are very flavorful and excellent, especially the potato and kraut; $6.99 for a huge plate of 12 or so. The last time I went I started off my meal with a big bowl of chicken noodle soup ($2.99), Polish-style with lots of noodles, parsley and carrots, and ended up taking half of my pierogies to-go. Also excellent was their Hungarian style pancake that's folded over in half and stuffed with gulasz, better than that of sadly gone Northpoint Cafe. I'm usually going for the pierogies but I'm going to try their chicken cutlet next time. I think anybody that goes there would be very impressed with the food as well as the effort the owner put into decorating, very charming, the web site photos don't do the place justice.

Another pierogi favorite is Cafe Lura on Milwaukee just south of Belmont. Unfortunately the kitchen is only open on the weekends, its mostly a Polish bar. Again, big plate of great pierogies for only $5.

Today was the day I was going to try Pierogi Factory. No such luck as it appears from the sign on the door that they have been evicted.

BR wrote:Today was the day I was going to try Pierogi Factory. No such luck as it appears from the sign on the door that they have been evicted.

Interesting. I noticed as I passed by last night that they were closed, and thought that was odd for a Friday night. I'm disappointed, since I never got a chance to try them. Was there anything about whether they might relocate?

GardenofEatin wrote:Was there anything about whether they might relocate?

Not a word