Sheeple's Choice Awards

Some time ago, someone on Chowhound coined the term “sheeple”, which quickly became part of my and my husband’s vernacular. I have come to use it to describe a restaurant that hordes of people seem to love for no discernible reason. Gwiv and I were talking and I thought it might be interesting to find out which places people of the LTH community think fall into this category – just think of it as the anti-GNR. It could be the place where people wait on line to get in or it could be a critic’s darling – one at which you spend a ton of money and walk out feeling perplexed or even worse.

My first nominee would be Piazza Bella in Roscoe Village. Given the fact that I live within walking distance, I made every effort to like this place. We went once and had a mediocre meal, we went again and we could have bounced the halibut off the plate and onto the table four away from us. We tried again and the ubiquitous red sauce, which is more like sunset orange, became oppressive given that each of our party had ordered a different menu item, yet they all came with the same sauce. Now personally, I can’t imagine how a place like this in a city that has good Italian only blocks away, could survive. Yet, it’s always crowded! Not just crowded, but people wait inordinate amounts of time for a table. I’ve even had people tell me that it’s their favorite restaurant in the City. And I just shake my head and think “baaa.”

Any additional nominees?

Given their penchant for editing and increasingly unreliable insight into dining, I'd hate for Chowhound to get credit for coining a term as great as "sheeple".

It dates back to at least 1984 when the Wall Street Journal used it in an article.

McDonald's

Flip

In Glenview, there is a place called Trattoria Gianatto that I completely don't get. The food is mediocre. The fettuccine Alfredo was so dry that my dining companion had to ask for tomato sauce to get it down. Things are either overcooked or underseasoned. And yet the place is usually packed and I know people who rave about it. Some of these folks were so enthusiastic that I thought I must have been there on an off night, so I went back, and it was still dreadful. They keep telling me it must be good because the owner is from Rome. I point out that he might have been an auto mechanic in Rome.

(I will say that I also know other people who dislike this place as much as I do. One woman told her husband she felt she could trust my restaurant recommendations simply because, as she said to him, "She hates all the same places we do.")

I guess that's why the saying "there is no accounting for taste" has stayed in use for so long.

Chili's in Evanston is always full and and on weekend nights there are lines.
The Wolfgang Puck's is also full, but it is located at the bottom of the movie theater escalator. The convenience factor may account for the popularity of both these places, but I wouldn't eat at either of these unless under duress.

A recent visit to my hometown of Berkeley, CA revealed that Giovanni's is still in business. Now, Berkeley is full of wonderful restaurants, densely packed - it's the birthplace of California cuisine, for crying out loud - and yet, this dreadful "Italian" restaurant survives and thrives. Mushy pasta, canned sauces, calzones made with Bisquick. It boggles the mind.

On the other hand, I never had good Italian until I tried it outside of California, so maybe no one has noticed how bad it is?

As for Chicago, I found the love for the Candlelite's pizzas mystifying. The ones we ordered were that rare beast: the inedible pizza. Thumbs up for the burgers and garlic fries, though.

Suzy,

What was the timeframe of your visit to Candlelite? There has been a change in the recipe in the last six months.

Regards,

Hm, not sure. I think it may have been early last fall. It was after I'd seen the pizza recommended here, and possibly elsewhere, so I felt confident in suggesting to my husband that we order that instead of our beloved burger and garlic fries. But alas, it all tasted like salt dough with salty cheese and salt sauce. At least we got in our recommended daily allowance of water after eating it.

Although I think it's mandatory for every Chicagoan worth his/her chowish salt to experience the glory of an Uno/Due/Gino/Malnatti deep-dish pizza in his/her eating career, I'm not a great fan of the genre. Gino's, IMO, is a particular offender in the "too-much" category: too much dough, too much fat in the dough, too much sauce, too much cheese.

So, recognizing the potential minefield I've just stepped into and re-emphasizing my own subjectivity, let me say that I do not intend this post to be a knock against deep-dish pizza in general or Gino's in particular, but waiting in line outside on Superior (particularly on a cold winter day) for a table at Gino's East seems to me to be an eminently sheepleish thing to do.

jbw wrote:So, recognizing the potential minefield I've just stepped into and re-emphasizing my own subjectivity, let me say that I do not intend this post to be a knock against deep-dish pizza in general or Gino's in particular, but waiting in line outside on Superior (particularly on a cold winter day) for a table at Gino's East seems to me to be an eminently sheepleish thing to do.

I would bet that most, if not all, of those people are tourists. If you only have a weekend in Chicago and want to experience a deep dish pizza, you go where your guidebook tells you to go.

I would bet that most, if not all, of those people are tourists. If you only have a weekend in Chicago and want to experience a deep dish pizza, you go where your guidebook tells you to go.

Agreed, altho that last statement sounds like a characteristic of "sheeple" behavior to me.

jbw wrote:

I would bet that most, if not all, of those people are tourists. If you only have a weekend in Chicago and want to experience a deep dish pizza, you go where your guidebook tells you to go.

Agreed, altho that last statement sounds like a characteristic of "sheeple" behavior to me.

But, if you are on your first visit somewhere and want to experience a local dish there is nothing wrong with that. It does give you a base to compare with. Its the second and third trips without experimenting that one becomes a "sheeple".

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:As for Chicago, I found the love for the Candlelite's pizzas mystifying. The ones we ordered were that rare beast: the inedible pizza. Thumbs up for the burgers and garlic fries, though.

I'll agree with everything you just said.

For me, some sheeples are:

Grand Lux Cafe

La Scarola

Flo, Bongo Room, Toast or any other brunch spot that commands hour-long waits for overly sweet, tough pancakes and dry, inedible eggs

Hell, any brunch spot that commands hour-long waits even for top quality, perfectly rendered breakfast. Standing in line for an hour for any breakfast is foolish.

Now a venison dog, that's another matter...

1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Grand Lux
3. Sushi Samba rio
4. Devon
5. NoMI

Just curious-as far as Devon's-is anyone even showing up at that place anymore?

Not so much a dining thing, but drinking: standing outside for more than a minute waiting to pay someone for the opportunity to get into a bar/club/"place to be" where you then pay inordinate amounts of money to be seen drinking overpriced, watered down booze.

I understand the idea of conspicuous consumption, but good lord.

Back on topic:

Ann Sather's.
Garrett's Popcorn.
Billy Goat Tavern.

Dee's
Bob San
Kamehachi
Adobe Grill - love their guac though... (but anyone can make it at home...)

whiskeybent wrote:Billy Goat Tavern.

If you qualify that with "any location but the original", I would have to agree. The original Goat is so steeped in Chicago history and tradition, it is easy to understand why people go there. Nobody ever went to the Billy Goat for the food. The burgers were just something to soak up the Schlitz Dark, while the customers soaked up the atmosphere. The success of the other locations totally mystifies me.

d4v3 wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:Billy Goat Tavern.

If you qualify that with "any location but the original"

Definitely agree.

My pick: Joy Yee

If you qualify that with "any location but the original", I would have to agree.

To an extent. Even the original (or mostly original) Billy Goat, to me, is more of a place that rides on Royko columns and old SNL skits. I understand why people go once, and as an afficionado of journalistic days gone by, I can almost understand why I stumble in twice a year or so.

All the same, maybe I'm missing the heart of this argument.

Another candidate (and this may be another complete miss):

Carson's.

2 places I think are beloved for nostalgic reasons:

Buffalo Joe's & Pita Inn

I find them quite average

Although I'll admit that there was a time when I was enamored with the original Lincoln Avenue Potbelly's location, I never could comprehend why anyone would stand in the long lines at Loop locations. Even more remarkable is the fact that the Chipotle on Franklin has horrendous lines, with mobs of people pouring into the street, every lunchtime.

aschie30 wrote:
Flo, Bongo Room, Toast or any other brunch spot that commands hour-long waits for overly sweet, tough pancakes and dry, inedible eggs

Go to Toast (on Damen) before 9 am, no waiting.

leek wrote:

aschie30 wrote:
Flo, Bongo Room, Toast or any other brunch spot that commands hour-long waits for overly sweet, tough pancakes and dry, inedible eggs

Go to Toast (on Damen) before 9 am, no waiting.

When going to Toast or the Bongo Room on a weekday morning, I've never had to wait.

Jamie

leek wrote:

aschie30 wrote:
Flo, Bongo Room, Toast or any other brunch spot that commands hour-long waits for overly sweet, tough pancakes and dry, inedible eggs

Go to Toast (on Damen) before 9 am, no waiting.

If both you guys are right, then:

Bad News: Overly sweet, tough pancakes and dry, indedible eggs, but ...

Good News: No waiting!

(Reminds me of Pall Mall cigarettes and their slogan; they may taste like crap, but they do "Last Longer!")

Alfies in Glen Ellyn. Locals flock here and I've tried, really tried, to find something edible but failed miserably.

Frankly, all those breakfast places can be gotten into in their first hour of opening and/or the 8 to 9 hour. The hordes of hungover slackers don't start to assemble until at least 9.

So inedible eggs for everybody!

By the way, I was shocked at the mention of Bob San until I remembered that 75%+ of their clientele doesn't eat there the way I eat there*, but is simply ordering California rolls and expensive green apple sakitins. Sit at the sushi bar and talk up the chefs rather than your waitress, and Bob San is a first-rank sushi place, even if what pays the rent is lots of rolls.

* Which, of course, I learned from others here.

d4v3 wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:Billy Goat Tavern.

If you qualify that with "any location but the original", I would have to agree. The original Goat is so steeped in Chicago history and tradition, it is easy to understand why people go there. Nobody ever went to the Billy Goat for the food. The burgers were just something to soak up the Schlitz Dark, while the customers soaked up the atmosphere. The success of the other locations totally mystifies me.

I can't speak about the other locations but I've never seen anyone at the one by the United Center besides high school students and construction workers. I think it's less destination dining than a Taco Bell competitor

Southport Grocery - food is good, but not worth cramming into their little doorway to wait for an hour!