A whirlwind week of dining

By way of introduction from a longtime lurker: I am a neighbor of LSC, and have gotten takeout from there since several incarnations ago in its history. Remarkably, I have never eaten at LTH.

I want to thank this board ("give a big shout-out") for introducing me to Southside Shrimp House, Pollo Campero, Kuma's Corner, Hot Doug's, and Sweets & Savories among other gems. I think I speak for many newcomers to the Chicago dining scene (whether due to youth/inexperience or having just come to Chicago) when I say that the collective dining expertise of this board has been invaluable in separating the wheat from the chaff. A place like this trumps the undifferentiated uninformed mass (or possibly spam/shill) opinions seen on M****mix.

This past week has been a whirlwind of dining for me (I don't dine out often). Here's some quick takes:

Sunday: Comela (sp?) taqueria #2, just up the street and across from Nuevo Leon in Pilsen. Solid tacos; ask for the crunchy tripitas.

Monday: Celtic Crown, 4301 N Western Ave. $1 burgers, cheap domestics on tap. Considering the price, I was mucho impresionado with the burger: big, juicy, made to order. Beats the burger from Snuggery @ Union Station, not quite the Garbage Burger at the Medici in Hyde Park (this latter is a contentious claim, I know). $2 for cheeseburgers, incl. a side. Place is a good-vibes Irish-themed bar.

Tuesday: Sunshine Cafe. Much praise has been given this place already on this board. My take is that both the mackerel and the service (I was late in meeting friends there and we wound up staying a long long time ... and they most graciously put up with us) were perfect.

Wednesday: Smith & Wollensky. I am a steak neophyte (see choice of steakhouse for expense-account dinner) but I thoroughly enjoyed my medium rare (leaning on the rare side) filet mignon, as did my friend his tuna. Fried zucchini side for two was surprisingly memorable.

Thursday: Kuma's Corner. Their Iron Maiden was the best burger I've ever had. There's like half an avocado sliding out of it. BBQ pork fries = heart attack on a plate, should be an entree for its size. Paired with a Racer 5 IPA ... heaven. Also loved the music, the atmosphere, the tattoes our server had.

Friday: Le Colonial. Low point of dining week. Looked rather fashionable, what with the two blondes at the bar fending off guy after feckless guy. Candlelit = too dark to read the menus without a cell phone as flashlight. However: Pho lacking in flavor, chicken too bland, ribs merely okay, martini nothing special but expensive. Oh, and a drunk friend may have lost a wallet there -- staff were kind enough to help him search, but I'm more remembering the karmic curse. Not going back. Should have listened to LTH collective dismissal of the place and insisted on Japonais, VTK, or Le Lan instead -- would have had better time and food for the money.

Saturday: Just went to Double Li/Chongqing Lou. Will do a separate review in dedicated thread. Overall, thumbs up.

Anybody have an idea where I should go Sunday? Is the Sicilian bakery in Andersonville open?

Anybody have an idea where I should go Sunday? Is the Sicilian bakery in Andersonville open?

Nope. They're out of the country for a wedding from yesterday through the 14th, i think.

You'll have to look elsewhere for exquisite pastries!

Thanks for the nice reporting!

The Great Danton wrote:Anybody have an idea where I should go Sunday?

Maxwell Street Market.