Octarine wrote:While the above post lists a lot of restaurants and I have tried them all, I will insert the caeveat that a few of them I only go to if there is NO time for me to go elsewhere. Hecky's in particular, I'll go without BBQ first. The owner of Mt. Everest is a friend of mine but pretty much the only time I go is for lunch buffet when I am completely out of time. it's good but Devon is so close, cheaper, and better.
.

And I'll offer disagreement with both of the above

For BBQ - I love BBQ, and have had it all over the city. Sure, IMHO the
Evanston Hecky's doesnt rank right up there with the very best - Uncle
John's is the best, Barbara Ann's is wonderful. But Hecky's is more than
servicable BBQ in my opinion. Ive had their 6-buck (used to be 5-buck,
now 5.50 IIRC - 6 with tax) "Mutt Special" is an excellent value, and more
than decent BBQ IMHO. It is, of course, variable as any BBQ is (Ive had
a couple of awful meals at Lem's on 75th - maybe thats why Ive always
been more of a Barbara Ann's groupie than Lem's On occasion the
Hecky's Mutt has just been ok, but on a few other occasions (maybe
when Hecky himself was present), it was actually pretty good. There is
certainly much worse BBQ found elsewhere in Chicago IMHO. And
Hecky's Fried Chicken is excellent - Iam a Evanston Chicken Shack
regular (which has received much LTH-love), and while Hecky's
Fried Chicken is a different style, when "on" it is at least as good IMHO.

As for Mount Everest... I have an Indian friend, who lived on Talman Avenue
in Chicago, a little less than 1 full block South of Devon. (Thus, basically
on Devon itself - every time I wen tto Devon, I parked at his place, since
parking is a true pain on Devon He ate at Devon all the time, obviously,
it was literally a 30-second walk away. But, whenever he wanted to do
"semi-upscale" Indian - as in, not just a hole-in-the-wall JK Kabab House
type pace (which was every 3/4 weeks) - we'd meet for dinner at
Mount Everest in Evanston. In his opinion (tho this was about 2 years
ago), it was the best Indian option of its kind anywhere. Of course, it
wouldnt be compared to a place like Khan's or JK - thats not its
competition. Its competition is Gandhi, Tiffin, India House etc. And, in
his opinion, it was better than *all* of them. To each their own, as
they say.

(Again, this was 2 years ago - he has moved since. Also, his wife was
Jain - ie ultra-vegetarian. Thus, a place like Khan's, Sabri Nehari etc, all
of those places would basically offer her nothing worth eating. She was
very happy at Mount Everest. I was too - Id get em to make things extra
spicy, and it would be good. And they had a couple of Nepali dishes
I enjoyed, and couldnt get elsewhere).

c8w

Nonetheless, we don’t eat out in Evanston very often because 1) the food is not great at any of these restaurants. It is serviceable at many, and very good at a few. Were we limited to these restaurants for our dining options, we’d probably find them more than adequate. Fortunately, since we live so close to Chicago, we’re not (and by going into the city, we can almost always save lots of dough.) Though the food is okay at The Little Mexican Café, for instance, I can’t bring myself to pay $11.95 for a so-so plate of enchiladas when, for $10 and a 10-minute drive down Clark Street, I can pick up a dozen sublime tamales at Tamales de Guerrero (I think it’s called.) Or, for a few dollars more, get a variety of dishes, far superior to Evanston’s Mexican offerings, for the whole family at Taquieria El Milagro in Pilsen, and in the meantime, take in one of Chicago’s great neighborhoods. Yes, that involves a bit of a drive. But that brings me to point

Id like to agree with the above completely. I dont think there's a terrific Mexican
option in Evanston - but anyway, Iam not sure thats a huge loss when there is
such range of cheap and good Mexican literally 5 minutes to the south of
the Evanston border. If one lives in or near Evanston, one *is* in a wonderfully
convenient location for very good Mexican food IMHO (far more so than
many other parts of the city of Chicago, even).

2) the atmosphere at most Evanston restaurants is, I find, stultifyingly dull. This is a self-criticism of course, for I mean that everybody in Evanston’s restaurants pretty much looks like we do – pleasant middle-aged white suburbanites (with or without kids, and mixed in, at some spots, with NU students.) Though sometimes eating out is dictated by convenience, when I have any sort of choice I prefer (and prefer for my kids) restaurants that are more stimulating to all the senses, including the sense of curiosity, than what we’re able to take in here. Last night, after a short drive to Devon and Western, we had a truly spectacular meal at Khan’s BBQ (first time – thanks, LTH.) The food was really exciting, far better, much more special, much more uniquely spiced, than that offered by the perfectly-fine Mt. Everest here in Evanston. But just as important to our enjoyment of the evening were the friendly conversations we had with the fellows behind the counter and the interesting discussion we got into with our kids about Islam, prompted by the large picture of pilgrims at Mecca adorning one of the walls. That simply wouldn’t happen spontaneously at any Evanston restaurant, and that’s why, when we want an all-around great meal, we go into Chicago or eat at home.

Hmm. This part I'll disagree with Or maybe it just depends on the person,
I suppose. I happen to be neither middle-aged, nor white... maybe thats why
I find no great stimulation of the senses by what the other patrons at a
restaurant look like (whether they look like me, or not As I pointed out
earlier, a couple of years ago an Indian friend I know who basically lived
on Devon *far* preferred to eat at Mount Everest than at any other comparable
place on Devon (and again, thats a "comparable" restaurant - Khan's is
not, IMHO, just because its a very different menu; and Khan's isnt Indian
anyway, its Pakistani).

As for the interesting and no doubt educational discussion that emanated from
the picture of the Mecca on the wall... Iam sure that particular discussion
couldnt possibly happen from any restaurant in Evanston, its true, but maybe
thats probably because there isnt a Muslim-restaurant per se (or Pakistani
restaurant) in Evanston? But it wouldnt happen on most of Devon either -
there are probably only a couple of restaurants on Devon whose clientele
is so predominantly Pakistani that they have religious decorations on the
wall, after all. OTOH, many suburban Indian restaurants have at least
as interesting an ethnic decor as any on Devon IMHO - and those could
just as easily lead to just as educational a discussion about India (or
certain parts of India) surely? I havent been to Addis Ababa - but its likely
that the decor (presumably) could lead to an interesting discussion of
Africa, maybe?

All Iam trying to say is - if the food is authentic (and good).. then that is
really quite a lot, no? Mount Everest in Evanston (or Himalaya in Niles),
they should IMHO be compared to places like India House, like Tiffin,
like Gandhi. And if they can do what those places do, and do it just
as well and just as interestingly, they are really fulfilling their role
quite excellently IMHO (the decor at Tiffin, the last I remember, was
quite horrendous - what an Indian friend amusingly and sarcastically
described as "Punjabi baroque" Fluttering birds on a blue-backed
ceiling... hard to get any interesting discussion out of *that*, really
A place like Khan's.. I love it myself, but I can only go there with
some friends, not others (there is basically almost no choice for
vegetarians - I have been with Indian vegetarians once in the past couple
of months , and they didnt care for the place at all, they have *much*
preferred Mount Everest in the past. Again, to each their own).

That said, I do have some favorite Evanston restaurants: Prairie Joes, because it is a real neighborhood place, where the owners know most customers by name (yes, they’re mostly middle-aged white folks! -- though landscapers and cops eat at the counter), with a quirky menu and great milk-shakes. The newly opened Addis Ababa offers Ethiopian food that is as good as the places we’ve tried in Chicago (of course, it used to be in Chicago) and surprisingly may be more reasonably priced. I do think Joy Yee’s can be quite good. I’ve only eaten once at Trattoria D.O.C. but thought (gasp!) that the pizza there was as good as the much-touted Spacca Napoli. And of course there's Hecky's fried chicken. Sadly, my kids like Noodles and Company, but that's an option we resort to only when Dad is out of town.

Edited to fix location of Kahn's!

Evanston and its environs do have some damned good options, IMHO. Evanston
itself has more than a few options (like a couple of others, I too like Dave's
plenty, for what it is, for eg). Skokie is 5 minutes away, which adds a few
excellent Middle-Eastern and hot-dog options (with Weiner and Still
Champion, Poochie's, Herm's, Hot Dog Island all within 5 minutes is there
a better "hot dog stand" stretch anywhere in Chicagoland, for example?)
Rogers Park is 5 minutes away, which adds some of the best Mexican in the
city. WIth Malnati's and Giordano's, you have quite excellent deep-dish
pizza (how important is all this? I have friends who have moved to San
Francisco - on their return to Chicago, they had two meals in three days
at Giordano's, thats how much they missed deep-dish pizza! A friend who
has moved away, the last time he visited, he took 2 things back with him -
half-baked deep-dish pizza from Giordano's, and a couple of quarts of
hot sauce from Pita Inn )

Iam not sure there are *that* many parts of the city that can boast of that many
very good options within about 5 minutes travel in each direction. But, of
course, everyone has their own opinions (I have a friend who lives
near the IIT campus, basically 3300 South State, and he thinks he lives
in a vast culinary wasteland with no decent food within miles! Me, I can
only think of a much-closer UJ's, much closer to great Jerk Chicken, a
couple of minutes to Chinatown...)


c8w

I was going to kind of let this thread fade away, but since that's showing no signs of happening...

I would like to suggest that there are more useful things for us to do than namecheck every restaurant in Evanston that didn't make nxstasy's list!

Seriously, though, are people really recommending Phoenix Inn or Sushi Arigato? I guess I've only been to Arigato once, and it was 95 degrees and they have no A/C... but I've eaten at Phoenix Inn a few times, and it's really not remarkable for anything at all, as best I can tell. (I'd be happy to be taught otherwise, but...)

Now, Mandarin House is almost similarly unremarkable, but I do recall liking their korean chicken wings many months back, and there is something about its' funky vibe behind a tudor facade (if I recall correctly) that I found kind of charming. Still no place I'd go if it weren't the nearest chinese place to my office (which it was for about six years) but still novel.

Actually, the other reason I was going to post on this thread was to suggest that it's time for us all to "hug it out" and have an LTH event at one of these places instead of just mouthing about them. I was thinking either Lulu's next Monday or Tuesday so that we can capitalize on the taste-everything offering, or Lupita's, since I really was impressed by my one visit and have been thinking about trying to get back there or maybe Trattoria DOC because I haven't been yet, and while i doubt its the best italian "anywhere," I'm still curious.

I know, LTH events happen when people actually post them on the events board, but here's a "pre-announcement" -- something next Monday or Tuesday in Evanston. I'll figure out my schedule and make it official soon unless someone else wants to take charge.

germuska wrote:I would like to suggest that there are more useful things for us to do than namecheck every restaurant in Evanston that didn't make nxstasy's list!

Good point. I plead guilty. (Actually, I was kind of hoping someone would start a single thread listing every restaurant in the city of Chicago. )

germuska wrote:I've eaten at Phoenix Inn a few times, and it's really not remarkable for anything at all, as best I can tell.

Remarkable only for its longevity.

germuska wrote:Actually, the other reason I was going to post on this thread was to suggest that it's time for us all to "hug it out" and have an LTH event at one of these places instead of just mouthing about them. I was thinking either Lulu's next Monday or Tuesday so that we can capitalize on the taste-everything offering, or Lupita's, since I really was impressed by my one visit and have been thinking about trying to get back there or maybe Trattoria DOC because I haven't been yet, and while i doubt its the best italian "anywhere," I'm still curious.

I know, LTH events happen when people actually post them on the events board, but here's a "pre-announcement" -- something next Monday or Tuesday in Evanston. I'll figure out my schedule and make it official soon unless someone else wants to take charge.

A varying number of us have been "hugging it out" for an occasional mid-week lunch for a couple of years now. Trattoria D.O.C. has been on the informal "pending" list since it opened, and I've been meaning to try it. If you're up to setting up an evening event there (I'm assuming the lunch events don't fit your schedule), I'll join in Mon or Tue.

c8w said:

I havent been to Addis Ababa - but its likely
that the decor (presumably) could lead to an interesting discussion of
Africa, maybe?

I'm not sure how much we disagree and at any rate concur that perhaps it's time to let this one go -- but just thought I'd add a point of information about Addis Ababa: while the food is gr....[let's avoid great....how about graciously presented and thoroughly enjoyable] they lack the low-slung communal tables present as an option at Ras Dashen, for instance. It's a minor shortcoming but I do like those tables, as it adds to the experience.

ToniG wrote:I think there may be a new restaurant opening up in the Cajun Charlie's (Fanny's) space. I believe I read that somewhere and passed by there recently and it looked that way, but I could be remembering wrong.

I did inquire about the spot and was told it was taken. Young couple opening up a cafe type of place. Surprised it isn't open yet.

cilantro wrote:The Noodles Panang at Cozy Noodles are certainly a bastardization, but that is one delicious bastard. A very good, cheap lunch.

For me, Cozy is pretty much a one-dish place, but I've often wondered if they could be induced to cook up a respectable version of boat noodles, for example. The staff sure seems to eat some nice stuff.

I've enjoyed some pretty good meals for the money at Cozy's with consistent and kind service. One of my friends knows the owners personally from being a long-term regular customer. They have prepared at least one more-authentic Thai meal for my friend and his family, with some advance notice, I think. I'd definitely inquire there if there is something particular that you'd like to have.

zim wrote:I'd agree with the above on Bennison's (Actually their paczki were very good this year), olive mountain, piron. Most of the others, well I'm not so fond of

In evanston I am partial to evanston chicken shack (chicken obviously), au rendez vous (haitian).

there's quite a bit of information on skokie the neighborng suburb to the west (pita inn, herm's, poochie's, larsa, kaufmann's, ny bagel and bialy, chaim's)

there's also a ton of info on Rogers park, the neighborhood in chicago just to the south

these two areas have far better eating choices (IMO) than evanston

I know bad form quoting myself (do I get some sort of Mike G award for that), anyway since that was almost a year ago and I don't know how far backs folks will scroll in this thread thought I'd save myself some typing and quote it, as this thread has had a fair amount of activity recently. I still hold those opinions, I live in evanston and for the most part don't eat here (except for chicken shack, at which I'm a regular). I'd also like to get au rendez vous back into play (anyone else get stuff from there?)

a little more specificity on stuff mentioned before

olive mountain, which i do like quite a bit, also something i've mentioned before but it's been a while, but there kulaj dessert is one of the best I've had in the city.

Al's Deli makes the best sugar cookie (a number of varities) i've had in chicago, no exceptions, soups are good, sandwiches I don't think are that incredible.

as far as updated information - the jamaican takeout place on the corner of Dodge and Emerson (Klaire's Korner) makes a very servicable oxtail dinner

Phoenix which has been widely (and fairly justifiably) dissed in this thread) has a chinese menu, with items like congee and such on it, however when i've tried to order from it, they have not been available, i don't know if they would be to a native mandarin or cantonese speaker

my experiences at Mt. everest have never been up to to that of c8w's and devon is so near that I don't really ever go back to update the opinion

Let's not go around and around on this again in a way that doesn't add anything in the way of specifics. You REALLY like dining in Evanston, other folks find it inadequate to their tastes. Got that, all around.

I think it's obvious even from this short note that Zim is not looking for a replacement for Trio on North Clark street. For what he likes, there's simply no competition between Rogers Park and Evanston in bulk, even if this or that restaurant is excellent.

And as far as being open to suggestions, half of this board is about Thai food, anyone with a single Thai favorite would be richly rewarded reading around here and trying some of the remarkable things that have been talked about at others.

Let's keep this thread moving, or let it stand as is, but let's not keep fighting to the exact same stalemate.

Man, I want to look away, I just can't.

Best cereal-based Evanston restaurant: Cereality

No other place even comes close. What do people in other places do for cereal? Maybe these guys deliver???

cilantro wrote:Best cereal-based Evanston restaurant: Cereality

No other place even comes close. What do people in other places do for cereal? Maybe these guys deliver???

I disagree completely. I had an excellent bowl of Sugar Frosted Corn Flakes at IHOP on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. I don't know how they do it, but nothing in Evanston can even come close.

stevez wrote:I disagree completely. I had an excellent bowl of Sugar Frosted Corn Flakes at IHOP on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. I don't know how they do it, but nothing in Evanston can even come close.

Not even the IHOP at Asbury and Howard?

OOOOg

nr706 wrote:

stevez wrote:I disagree completely. I had an excellent bowl of Sugar Frosted Corn Flakes at IHOP on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. I don't know how they do it, but nothing in Evanston can even come close.

Not even the IHOP at Asbury and Howard?

There's just something special about the milk...and the silverware was very clean. Plus, Chicago has many more IHOPs than Evanston could ever dream of.

stevez wrote:There's just something special about the milk...

It's probably the Bovine Growth Hormones

Hasn't the Chicago City Council banned those yet?

Phoenix which has been widely (and fairly justifiably) dissed in this thread) has a chinese menu, with items like congee and such on it, however when i've tried to order from it, they have not been available, i don't know if they would be to a native mandarin or cantonese speaker

We like the salt and pepper shrimp at Phoenix, but it took special effort over the past years to convince them that we really do like them with the heads and shells on and to make them properly spicy. Although they know my face when I come in to order, I still have to justify my preferences/remind them I'm a regular when I place phone orders. I think they're capable of decent take-out if you press them (although I do prefer to pick up food on Argyle on my way home from downtown.)
>>Brent

gp60004 wrote:

ToniG wrote:I think there may be a new restaurant opening up in the Cajun Charlie's (Fanny's) space. I believe I read that somewhere and passed by there recently and it looked that way, but I could be remembering wrong.

I did inquire about the spot and was told it was taken. Young couple opening up a cafe type of place. Surprised it isn't open yet.

Drove by today. It's open - New Soul Cafe. A BLD place, menu reasonably priced (most dinner entrees under $10), but not very adventurous.

New Soul Cafe
1601 Simpson
Evanston IL
847-492-0735

"BLD?"

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Does New Soul Cafe refer to "new age" cuisine or "soulfood" cuisine, or both, or neither?

Soulfood. Most expensive item on the menu is the Friday special of chitterlings @ $12.95

nr706 wrote:Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Darn. I was thinking "Bacon Lettuce and Drawn Butter"

In the interest of empiricism, I took the opportunity to steer a dinner out to an Evanston spot: we had dinner tonight at Thai Sookdee in Evanston.

I hadn't been since they relocated from the original location further east on Church Street. Inside it looks much the same, but bigger. Almost disorientingly long and a little cavernous!

Based on some comments on the board, we ordered the pot stickers, Original Hot #1 with Tofu, and Shrimp Lard Nar.

In general, I'd say the food was solidly good, although JT was not as enthusiastic. The pot stickers are an unusual style, disc shaped and encased in something more like batter than a wonton wrapper. They were fried perfectly, but the filling was not extremely flavorful. JT objected to their deviance from traditional pot sticker construction.

Original Hot #1 is a green curry dish, although served considerably more dry than most green currys. It was hot, although I didn't really think it was two-peppers hot (their hottest menu indicator) but spice-averse folks should never trust my judgment on these things as I'm calibrated pretty high. I thought it had nice seasonings, but JT found it so salty that she couldn't enjoy it, and green curry is her benchmark thai dish.

The Lard Nar was pretty good. I liked the fact that the noodles maintained some good crispy pan-fried edges (key to my enjoyment of wide flat noodles) even in a substantial pool of gravy.

In conclusion, I thought Thai Sookdee comported itself well, but JT said she it wouldn't displace Cozy as her primary choice for Thai in Evanston. We had our first stop at Elephant Thai right after Christmas and I think I'd be more inclined to head out to Edgebrook to dig deeper into their menu than go to TS even though TS is much closer. (A bit late for a full report from that meal, but we had a very nice fried tilapia dish among other good things.)

Are there any other must-order dishes at TS that I should consider going back to try? (I'll have to find someone else to go with me!)

(I'll have to find someone else to go with me!)

A solid reason why people announce dinners on the Events board. Not only does it provide company it simply allows you to order more from the menu. (I know you know, though sometimes a gentle reminder doesn't hurt.)

Regards,

I've only been to Ruby of Siam for lunch (which is fine) so I can't say how its dinner is - a family friend says it is her favorite Thai in the suburban area (Evanston/Skokie/Morton Grove/Wilmette)

We never found Thai Sookdee all that great, a lot of the dishes are over-salted for our tastes and when I asked for Papaya salad they laughed at me and said that no one would order it. We much preferred the Thai place that became Farang Meet Thai (was it Blue Sapphire?). But when they changed to Farang, the menu changed a lot and we didn't like it as much (I guess a Thai place named Farang...)

I'm not a huge Lulu's fan, though the owners are quite nice. But there are some things I do like there very much - the Pad Thai and Bi Bim Bop are tasty and their soup - hot, cabbagey, sweet, lime-sour - is really yummy especially when you have a cold. But Dan's not trying to recreate authentic cuisine, either. He tries to recreate what his mom made at home when he was growing up. Whatever they are doing, it's successful, so more power to them!

globetrotter wrote:

I would say that tratoria DOC on main is the best italian place I know in america - at least the most consistantly authentic italian food I have had

I make no claims on the the question of authenticity, but prefer Trullo mentioned by nr706 above. (Trullo's owner is from Bari in Italy's Puglia region.) Both places have menus with the usual Italian divisions of primi and secondi. Price ranges are similar for entrees.

I recently ate at Trattoria DOC and thought it was a good meal. Decided that for a first visit I'd have a salad and good old sausage and mushroom (Porcini e Salsiccia) pizza. Both were enjoyable and I would return, but would go to Trullo first.

One big difference is that Trattoria DOC emphazises pizza, while Trullo doesn't offer it, but has a wider selection of pasta and meat entrees. The choice may be a question of what your taste buds are craving.

What makes me happy is that Evanston has both of these restaurants.

zim wrote:I'd also like to get au rendez vous back into play (anyone else get stuff from there?)

It would appear that Au Rendezvous is out of business. I saw a for rent sign on the window this evening.