Red Apple - Polish Buffet [Pictures]

LTH,

A nice Sunday lunch seemed the perfect way to brighten the cold rainy weather so the bride and I cranked up the Rambler and headed to Flamingo's for ceviche, fish tacos and a bit of Mexican sunshine. Funny thing is as soon as we hit the intersection of Milwaukee/Devon we both said how about Red Apple for Polish comfort food.

Red Apple was rocking, three generational party complete with presents and balloons in the rear party room, bar and restaurant area full, but still quite manageable. Waitress brings water and pleasantly inquires chicken noodle or mushroom, which she brings along with our coffee. Long simmered chicken flavor with a nice compliment of thin noodles, not a hint of soup stock base or artificial flavoring.

Then on to the buffet


Turnover is brisk and there's a generous selection of meats, salads and starches, I'm guessing most everything is made in-house.



In particular I like the salads, three types of beets, couple of red cabbage and cream, vinegar and fresh cucumber. My bride's favorite is Red Apple's headcheese with a dash of vinegar, a taste memory from her childhood.

Headcheese


Rotating cast of pierogi, dough having just the slightest chew, rolled cheese blintz and terrific potato pancakes. I was hoping for bread dumplings, but rice with a rich mushroom gravy made for a fine substitute. Self carve Fred Flintstone size roast beasts, yesterday beef and ham, baked, fried and stewed chicken, fish, schnitzel, sausage and a quite good roast loin of pork stuffed with plum. I was hoping for turkey, but tender roast duck made a tasty substitute.



There's a selection of cake, pudding, jello and fresh fruit for dessert. I found watermelon the perfect end cap to our meal.



For less than the price of an appetizer at many a Chicagoland restaurant one can enjoy a fresh hearty full flavored meal.

Enjoy,
Gary

Red Apple
6474 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60631
773-763-3407

Red Apple
3121 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL
773-588-5781

Which location is pictured?

SCUBAchef wrote:Which location is pictured?

Devon/Milwaukee

Red Apple
6474 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60631
773-763-3407

Nice post and pictures! Any chance you've been to Old Warsaw's buffet around Lawrence and Harlem? I was there once and liked quite a bit, but I have not yet been to Red Apple. If you've been to both, I'd be curious to hear your comparison of the two.

I too was there yesterday afternoon with my wife. Everything was mmm, mmm good. The stuffed cabbage, the schnitzle, the pork cutlets, the beet salad, the mushroom soup, the potato pancakes, the perogis, the beef stroganoff, the saur kraut and sausage, the pea salad, and that veal stew! - sorry rust rambling. Best deal for home cooked comfort in the city.

BR wrote:Nice post and pictures! Any chance you've been to Old Warsaw's buffet around Lawrence and Harlem?

BR,

I've been to Old Warsaw, but not for years, way too long to make any kind of comparison.

For our couple of times a year venture for Polish Buffet Red Apple satisfies. Though I very well may try Old Warsaw next time out.

Enjoy,
Gary

Are you sure that's headcheese? It looks to me (from that angle) like galareta, which is aspic. I got a whole loaf pan of the stuff in my fridge from mother.

In comparing Red apple and Old Warsaw, I would say that the food at Red Apple seems to be a bit fresher and replenished with greater regularity.

Unlike Old Warsaw, Red Apple does not have a carving station. The pierogi at Red Apple are far superior to those at Old Warsaw.

Both are decent polish places. If I have to make a choice, I say damn the buffet and choose Smak Tak.

I was talking with one of Capriole's goat maidens last night; she's from Poland, and she's working for Judy Schad in Indiana, but when they come to Chicago for Green City Market, she tries to stop at Red Apple for a taste of home. That's some kind of confirmation of authenticity.

YourPalWill wrote:Unlike Old Warsaw, Red Apple does not have a carving station.

As noted by Gary, it does.

When I was a concierge in a downtown hotel a couple of years ago, The Red Apple is where I would send my most likeable foodie customers. Especially, the kind that wanted something uniquely "Chicago". Everyone loved it, and I scored a number of great tips. (probably from the money they saved eating there) I love taking friends and family from out of town there, too. One of my all-time favorites.

BR wrote:Nice post and pictures! Any chance you've been to Old Warsaw's buffet around Lawrence and Harlem? I was there once and liked quite a bit, but I have not yet been to Red Apple. If you've been to both, I'd be curious to hear your comparison of the two.

To some extent it's hard to do apples to apples comparisons (hahahahaha )

Up until recently, I would have found neither place especially good on the scale. On the other hand, not that long ago, on a Sunday, we met my parents at the Harlem Old Warsaw and it was really good (for what it was), with lots of fish options as well as the carving station. An enoyable experience.

So, to me, it's like you have to compare Sunday's to Sunday's, lunches to lunches, etc.

Also, if you're questioning my buffet ability, just remember this is one kid who just ate 4 buffets in 4 days in Las Vegas (which may or may not be worth a post )

David Hammond wrote:I was talking with one of Capriole's goat maidens last night; she's from Poland, and she's working for Judy Schad in Indiana, but when they come to Chicago for Green City Market, she tries to stop at Red Apple for a taste of home. That's some kind of confirmation of authenticity.

True, but I've never seen an "inauthentic" Polish restaurant in Chicago. I'm not even sure how one would go about trying to bastardize Polish cuisine. (Although Mrs. T's pierogis may be a case in point). The Red Apple is a perfectly fine place but, honestly, between that, Old Warsaw, and Bobak's, they're all pretty much the same to me: Good, honest Polish food served buffet style at low prices. I personally like The Red Apple best because of its landmark status (in my mind, anyway). You can't talk Polish food and Chicago and not mention Czerwone Jabluszko somewhere in there.

(My favorite Polish place, in terms of atmosphere, food, and history, would be Sophie's Busy Bee which, alas, is long gone. It's a piece of Chicago I will always miss. )

YourPalWill wrote:

Unlike Old Warsaw, Red Apple does not have a carving station.

JeffB wrote:

As noted by Gary, it does.

Offhand, I think the Avondale one doesn't, but the Forest Glen one does. Been a while so I can't swear to it though.

Obviously, Jeff is right. The apple does indeed have an unmanned carving station while Old Warsaw has a manned station. I guess my memory of the place wasn't so good.

The buffets have their place, for sure, and Red Apple is the obvious choice for many who are new to Polish. It was a staple when I was in school, and my then-student friends visiting Chicago absolutely couldn't get enough. One guy would load up on a meat and pierogi lunch such that he would not have to eat later that day or well into the next. A great way to stretch 5 or 6 bucks when the bleak prospect of university meal plan food loomed on the calendar. The buffets also mitigate the intimidation factor of Polish/E. European restaurants. Face it: there is some getting over a smoky joint full of big construction workers and "Prague Paradox" servers with limited English and a service outlook that was molded behind the iron curtain and is informed by miniscule tips in Polonia USA. Add in the sometimes inscrutable menus, and it becomes easy for a gringo to get scared off.

For some reason I haven't been to the Red Apple in a couple of years but as always happens to me, after perusing here, am now chomping at the bit to get back. My kids loved this place, so for those with them keep it in mind. My only complaint is that in their pierogi rotation they rarely had kraut and way too many of the meat filled ones.

Thanks for posting your experience and pics of Red Apple! Does anyone know if there are any polish grocery and/or retail stores within the vicinity of the restaurant? If so, could you please list?

TIA

You can't go wrong visiting Andy's Deli, on Milwaukee between Central and Austin, after visiting the Forest Glen Czerwone Jabluszko.

Homemade sausage & deli, full hot buffet of "to go" items, bakery, grocery, frozen & dairy selection, including at least a dozen types of butter imported from Poland.

Andy's Deli
5438 N. Milwaukee
Chicago IL
773-631-7304

It's our "go to" place when my kids crave bigos (hunter's stew), kabanosy (thin, dried sausages you snack on out of hand) and other goodies. If the Hevelius Kaper beer is in stock, I pick up a 4 pint pack for myself and the husband.

Smacznego! Anna

foodie1 wrote:Thanks for posting your experience and pics of Red Apple! Does anyone know if there are any polish grocery and/or retail stores within the vicinity of the restaurant? If so, could you please list?

TIA

You also have Gene's Sausage Shop &Deli on Belmont between Lockwood and Long which is also down the street from Stropolska

I consider myself a relative novice to Polish food. Sure I've had Polish standby's like pierogi, kielbasa, and potato pancakes, but I rarely eat them and have never had much of an urge to eat Polish food. With that in mind, for some reason I got the Polish-itch this week, and had planned to visit Red Apple over the weekend to sample some Polish eats.

Waking up this morning I had a serious hankering for a cheeseburger, but I stubbornly went ahead with the plan and went to Red Apple for lunch. Started off with white borscht, which I later learned is an Easter specialty.



I found the soup which contained bits of kielbasa and a hard boiled egg to be too salty and quickly made my way over to the buffet. In the several rounds to the buffet, I sampled both potato and meat pierogies, potato pancakes, hunter's stew, kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, cold crab salad, meatball in dil sauce, carved ham, cheese blintz, apple pancake, chicken kiev, pork skewers, "bbq" ribs, sauerkraut, and pickled red beets.





Yes, I sampled and ate a lot, and there was also a ton of other things that stomach capacity didn't allow me to try. Unfortunately though, I found most of the food to be mediocre, and my general apathy to Polish cuisine unaffected. The ham was too salty (even for ham), potato pancakes were soggy, and the shredded beef in the meat pierogies extremely dry and flavorless. A good amount of this can probably be attributed to it being a buffet where things don't stay crisp long, and with such a wide variety of offerings most things aren't going to be standout renditions, but I just found everything to be pretty bland or one note. Of the few things I actually did like were the hunter's stew, the potato pierogies, and the cheese blintz. I ended the meal by trying a couple things from the uninspiring dessert section, and ended up forcing down a couple bites of desert-dry cake.



By the end of it all, I was stuffed (I passed on the buffet-included offer of ice-cream and I'm an ice-cream fiend) and resigned to the fact that maybe Polish food and I just aren't meant to be. Sure it was a buffet, but there also wasn't much I ate that I thought wow I'd probably really like to try that from a traditional Polish non-buffet restaurant.

I'm regretting not following my gut and making my inaugural visit to Edzo's.

Pigout, I have to agree with you, Red Apple is not one of the better ones IMO. We much prefer the Jolly Inn on Irving Park Rd.

pigOut said: "The ham was too salty (even for ham)".

Really? That is one of the tastiest hams (city type) that I've tried in quite a while. But I happen to love salty foods, even though I pretty much try to avoid it on a daily basis. I'm betting that they source it from Andy's or a similar local (Polish) producer.

I heard that Jewel Osco has some very nice low sodium Hillshire Farms "ham product" in their deli department.

Red Apple on Milwaukee ave. I used to go their years ago and they were great. Went back Recently and for an all you can eat Buffet It is still awsome. I really don't normallly like buffets becuse the quailty of food that kind of sits around isn't usually very good but The Perogies are sooo good there. The Big Roast Beef that you can slice off your self and tasty polish beer served by fresh off the boat waitress in umm err well I guess traditonal skimpy outfits.

G Wiv wrote:For less than the price of an appetizer at many a Chicagoland restaurant one can enjoy a fresh hearty full flavored meal.

Red Apple, 6474 N Milwaukee Ave


Ex Chicago family members in town from sweltery Phoenix, Red Apple 5pm is the pick for multi-generational get together, almost demured, been 4 years, why not make it 6, glad I didn't. White borsch to start, two visits to the salad bar, love the shredded beets, cold beet borsch, head cheese and piles of radish. Light on the starch, lighter on the meats, another peck at the salad bar, skip the plentiful desserts and carving station, though I was the only one, waitress served swirl ice cream and coffee to finish.

Red Apple, 6474 N Milwaukee Ave


Everything fresh, numerous buffet refills, friendly service and hard to beat the price, especially since we were treated. Red Apple is a quick Peterson/Caldwell/Devon swing from our house, never going to be a weekly Rainbow Thai obsession, but won't be 4 years until the next visit.

Red Apple
6474 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60631
773-763-3407

Never been to Red Apple, alas, but seems like an excellent place to bring a group as it's inconceivable that there wouldn't be a few things everyone would like. Even for a Man of Meat, fully understand avoidance of carving station: those things never look that good to me, anywhere.

David Hammond wrote:Never been to Red Apple, alas, but seems like an excellent place to bring a group as it's inconceivable that there wouldn't be a few things everyone would like. Even for a Man of Meat, fully understand avoidance of carving station: those things never look that good to me, anywhere.

Juicy self-carve meats looked good, not brisket off a smoker or 2-inch bone-in rib-eye good, but damn good for a moderately priced buffet. I was simply in a veg mood, a state in which I find myself more and more often these days. If you want to go sometime, I'd be pleased to accompany you.

I remember going to buffet restaurants as a kid and getting yelled at by my mom because I would get a 'brown plate', meaning everything on the plate was fried, braised, or gravy-covered with no vegetables in sight. Well she would have hated Red Apple for the same reason that I love it; every plate is a brown plate here. The Red Apple in Avondale is probably responsible for my 10 pounds of weight gain this winter because it's the perfect cold weather survival food.

Most everything is tasty but I think the mushroom gravy, sauerkraut soup, meatballs in dill sauce, mushroom pierogy and potato pancake (only when it's fresh) are especially good.

A piece of classic Chicago is no more, as Red Apple Buffet is closed after 30 years in Logan Square.

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/7/15/206 ... gan-square

Ah, heck, this is one place I always wanted to go to but timing never seemed right. Was it the best Polish buffet in Chicagoland? I've been to Jolly Inn once or twice recently, that was always pretty good imo, good selection, hand carved beef roast, buffet items decently fresh...