Food-loving friends in from Cleveland - here's what we ate

I'm less than 24 hours into a food marathon with friends who are visiting from Cleveland and I'm already hurting, big-time (but in a good way). I promised these guys I'd hook them up while they are here since they did the same for me back in July, while I was visiting them. So far, here's what we've managed to bite off . . .

Wednesday Night - dinner - 7:30 pm:
Vie Restaurant
4471 Lawn Ave
Western Springs, IL 60558
(708) 246-2082

Each of us ordered 3 courses, plus dessert. Some mutual friends sent us a bottle of Champagne. House provided both savory and dessert amuses. Meal was absolutely fantastic.
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Thursday - Stop #1 - 11:00 am:
Al's Italian Beef
1079 W Taylor St
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 226-4017

Each couple split a "big" combo (dipped, sweet/hot) and fries. Washed it down with some diet cokes. Was sorry that Mario's was closed for the season.
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Thursday - Stop #2 - 11:30 am:
Jim's Original Polish Sausage
1250 S. Union Street
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 733-7820

Each couple split a polish and fries. The four of us also split a pork chop sandwich. Didn't finish any of the items but it was close.
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Thursday - Stop #3 - 11:50 am:
Chiu Quon Bakery
2242 S Wentworth Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-6608

The four of us split a pork bun and a sausage bun in the car on the way to Stop #4.
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Thursday - Stop #4 - 12:00 pm:
Lao Sze Chuan
2172 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 326-5040

The four of us split one orders of String Beans in Spicy Black Bean Sauce, Chef's Special Dry Chili Chicken and Chili Potato. Also had tea, soft drinks and rice. Ran into nsxtasy here if anyone would like verification.
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Thursday - Stop #5 - 1:04 pm:
Carnitas Don Pedro
1113 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 829-4757

Purchased 1 pound of carnitas (plus extra skin) and had a few nibbles, dipped in salsa, as we stood by the car. Stored leftovers in our cooler.
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Thursday - Stop #6 - 1:45 pm:
Smoque BBQ
3800 N Pulaski Rd
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 545-7427

The four of us pigged out (pun fully intended) on pulled pork 2 ways, St. Louis Ribs, brisket 2 ways, Brunswick Stew (special of the day) and a bevy of sides. Stored leftovers in our cooler and sent them back to the hotel with our friends.
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Thursday - Stop #7 - 3:16 pm:
Superdawg
6363 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60646
(773) 763-0660

Each couple split a Superdawg/fries and a large diet coke.
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Thursday - Stop #8 - 4:00 pm:
Khan BBQ
2401 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 338-2800

Ordered full chicken boti, full broast chicken, daal palak, aloo gobi, 2 paratha and drinks. Obviously, we had quite a bit of food leftover at this point and we were really full. Stored leftovers in our cooler.
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This insanity will continue through Sunday. For Friday, it looks like Frontera Grill for lunch, Lou Malnati's for mid-day meal and Flamingo's Seafood for dinner.

Updates, as I am capable . . .

=R=

Hard.

Core.

....I'm in awe.

At least you drank a diet Coke at Superdawg.

WOW! better stock up on toilet paper

ronnie_suburban wrote:This insanity will continue through Sunday.

You are my hero!

Ironman!!!

Wow, that is a food marathon!
I can't decide whether I should be envious or feel sorry for you.

Enjoy.

Jyoti

Still here . . . now able to walk again and actually feeling a bit hungry

Some highlights from today . . .


Big combo from Al's



Polish sausage and fries from Jim's Original



Special dry chili chicken from Lao Sze Chuan



Carnitas from Don Pedro



St. Louis ribs from Smoque

=R=

chefmcone76 wrote:WOW! better stock up on toilet paper

Not to mention a plunger... yea I said it!

oh..oh..oh..oh..oh...oh...ohhh...ohhhhhhhh.

(quoting Horshack on "Kotter")

Geo
Edited once to change "Vinnie" to "Horshack"

That ball sounds deliscious, but painful.

That ball sounds deliscious

That's how I talk when I have a Jim's Original and an Al's Beef in my mouth at the same time, too.

Great pictures from today, ronnie. Too bad Mike's done the calendar already. Maybe they qualify for next year, though. We missed you at Patty's but you are forgiven. Rabelaisian excess is always an acceptable alibi.

Well, Friday was a slightly less taxing day but even still, we all had to rely on our 'training' to get us through. Luckily, we're a resilient bunch and we had a great time again in spite of our unprecedented fullness and new centers of gravity . . .

Friday - Lunch #1 - 11:30 am:
Frontera Grill
445 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 661-1434

The margaritas were flowing and the appetites were back in full force. The four of us split 3 appetizers and each had an entree -- a great and tasty way to start the day.


Tacos al pastor at Frontera Grill



Pork Tamale (special) at Frontera Grill
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Friday - Lunch #2 - 1:30 pm:
Lou Malnati's
6649 N Lincoln Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(847) 673-0800

We offered them Spacca Napoli, we offered them Coalfire but our friends wanted true, Chicago deep-dish pizza, so we took them to Lou Malnati's in Lincolnwood. The pie was delicious and truly representative of what Malnati's is known for. That said, I think our friends were underwhelmed.


Deep dish sausage and easy-onion, half pepperoni from Lou's



A slice from the pepperoni side
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Friday - Dinner - 6:00 pm:
Flamingo's Seafood
1590 S Busse Rd
Mt Prospect, IL 60056
(847) 364-9988

For dinner, we went back to Mexican. Our friends had a "do" at their hotel at 9 pm and Flamingo's is fairly near where they are staying, so we headed over for an early, 6pm dinner. Aside from the delicious food, one thing I really love about Flamingo's is the excellent guitarist who strolls from table to table, strumming and singing. Tonight, we even got to hear a great rendition of Volver y volver . . .


The swinging Guitarrista at Flamingo's



Whole-fried red snapper with mojo de ajo at Flamingo's



Sea bass special at Flamingo's Seafood
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It looks like we'll do brunch in the late morning on Saturday and then sample some Chicago-style dogs after that. My wife and I have other plans tomorrow night but we've hooked our guests up at Alinea, where they'll be having dinner. It should be another great day of eating and we'll have another couple of meals with them on Sunday, too.

From the land of excess,

=R=

JLenart wrote:That ball sounds deliscious, but painful.

oops typo.

ronnie_suburban wrote:
Sea bass special at Flamingo's Seafood

This dish was incredibly delicious. The size isn't readily apparent from the photo, but the piece of fish was quite large - perhaps an inch and a half thick, and about as large around as a baseball. It was perfectly cooked and perfectly moist. The sauce, with which it was topped while cooking as well as surrounded on the plate, was a guava habañero sauce. The guava added a wonderful, subtle fruity touch to the fish, and there must have been only the tiniest bit of habañero, as it was not particularly spicy (habañero is the strongest pepper in terms of spiciness, and even a small amount can overpower). I don't remember what kind of nut was sprinkled on top.

nsxtasy wrote:I don't remember what kind of nut was sprinkled on top.

Almost certain they were toasted pumpkin seeds.

=R=

Forging ahead, we managed to stack a couple of meals on top of each other today. Actually, we took a leisurely pace and left ourselves with what should be a nice, long gap between our second lunch and tonight's dinner.

Saturday - Stop #1 - 11:45 am
Prairie Grass Cafe
601 Skokie Blvd
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 205-4433

We opted for a fairly traditional brunch this morning and took our friends to one of our favorite spots. Chef Stegner's hollandaise and its variations are sublime and the egg dishes at PGC are wonderful. I also have to praise the house-made Ancho chile sausage, which is always delicious . . .


Traditional eggs benedict from Prairie Grass Cafe



PGC's smoked salmon benedict



Crispy potato skins with eggs and Nueske bacon
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Saturday - Stop #2 - 1:15 pm
fRedhots & Fries
1707 Chestnut Ave
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 657-9200

Even though we'd already sampled the fare at Jim's Original and Superdawg, our friends wanted a genuine Chicago hotdog experience, so we took them to fRedhots for a GNR-certified taste of the good life. Our friends were again underwhelmed. One of them criticized just about every aspect of the dog, saying it didn't have a enough snap, wasn't juicy enough and wasn't spicy enough. The dogs were prepared extremely well, so my guess is that his comments reflected a style preference more than anything else.


fRedhots & Fries' cozy home



fRedhots' recently awarded GNR Certificate; prominently displayed



Classic . . . Vienna Beef, natural-casing dog with everything and fries from fRedhots
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As I posted above, our friends are going to Alinea tonight and we're going to a dinner party. We'll meet up with them again tomorrow, probably for tastes of Thai and Greek. Details to follow . . .

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:our friends are going to Alinea tonight and we're going to a dinner party. We'll meet up with them again tomorrow, probably for tastes of Thai and Greek. Details to follow . . .
=R=

Thank god you guys are taking a break from all the eating!

I am truly impressed, you are either freakishly strong or have the stomach and arteries of an 18 year old! Im Jealous.

Just wow. WOW.
What a vicarious adventure.
Great pictures.

You need to package this "tour",
or at least get some kind of
consulting fee from all those
who are going to take your
great ideas and run with them
(myself included).

Well, I may have to sleep upright for the next several days, but I seem to have survived the 'amazing edible weekend.' I was grateful to jump off the train, if only for a moment, to have dinner at a friend's house last night. We were treated to a gourmet meal (I'd call it restaurant-quality but it was better than so many restaurants could ever hope to do) in our friends' beautiful home with a group of great people.

A break in the action - Special Occasion - Saturday Dinner Party - 6:30 pm


Salad Lyonnaise



Japanese Squash soup with Alder-Smoked Scallop gets drizzled, a la minut, with Brown Butter



Yes! We're having braised shortribs!



My plate (minus the delicious, roasted root veggies I served myself a few moments later)



Witches' Hats



Pumpkin and Apple Pies with vanilla ice cream



Neutron!

Meanwhile, our visiting friends went to Alinea and reported to us that they had a fantastic time. I was interested to see they were served an almost entirely new menu (since my last visit), which included foie gras, beef heart and sweetbreads. They also reported that Alinea is no longer offering 'short pours' or shared wine pairings but I'm not sure of the details on that.
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Sunday - Stop #1 - 12 noon
TAC Quick
3930 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 327-5253

My friends said they have good Thai food in Cleveland. I have no reason to doubt them -- and I did have a delicious Cambodian meal there back in July. Still, I was compelled to bring them to TAC, because when you love a place as much as I love TAC, you just feel like sharing it. I'm not going to go into any long descriptions here about the food (though I may eventually do that on one of TAC's dedicated threads) but needless to say, our meal was amazing. I was so glad our friends got to experience it and I'm pretty sure they were happy about it, too Here's a look at what we ate -- and for the record, there were 6 of us at this meal . . .


In my mind, TAC stands for Totally Awesome Cuisine or Trumpcard of All Chicago restaurants



Thai iced tea



Tom Kha (large bowl)



Shrimp Dumplings (2 orders)



Issan Sausage



Papaya Salad



Fried Chicken (2 orders)



Thai Beef Jerky



Moo Ping (2 orders)



Crispy Onchoy



Spicy Basil Chicken with Preserved Eggs



Boat Noodles with Beef



Roasted Duck Curry



Omelet stuffed with Glass Noodles and Shrimp (aka Pad Thai Omelet)



Omelet



Custard



Banana-Grape Dessert (iirc)
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Sunday - Stop #2 - 7:00 pm
Paprikash
602 W Northwest Hwy
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
(847) 253-3544

We changed up the plan a bit since the thought of enduring construction on the Edens again was just too much to bear. We gave up on Greek Islands and opted instead for the 'new' Paprikash, in Arlington Heights. I'd only ever been to the old one, in the city, which I'd always enjoyed. Dinner was a mixed bag. There were some tasty items but in hindsight, I wish we'd stuck to the original plan and gone to Greek Islands. I say this because even though the service was very friendly, it was also pretty slow and the overall experience -- without traffic -- probably took as long as Greek Islands would have, even with traffic. In any case, the culinary highlight at Paprikash was the Wienerschnitzel but the best part of the evening was the musicians, who were just excellent . . .


Wienerschnitzel from Paprikash



Alex Udvary plays the Cimbalom with his accompaniest
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The entire weekend was a great experience and one I'd definitely like to try again, in some form or another. There aren't too many people who would sign up for something like this, so I have to tip my cap to my friends, who focused almost their entire vacation on eating and put themselves entirely in our hands. I was glad that so many of the places we went pleased them so much. And so much of what I shared this weekend, was first shared with me right here in these forums, so thanks to LTH!

It was great seeing our town from the perspective of visitors and I loved being able to help further form their opinion of Chicago. In the end, what really amazes me isn't how many places we ate; it's how many fantastic places we didn't get to. We who live here are so lucky to enjoy -- each and every day -- the culinary treasures Chicagoland has to offer. My experience this weekend made me appreciate that fact even more than I normally do and being a part of this particular community, it's something I think about with great frequency, to begin with.

=R=

Even though I couldn't join my friends today, there weren't leaving town until late morning. I gave them directions to 2 places: The Depot American Diner and Top Notch. No word yet on whether they managed to stop at either of them . . .

=R=

Ronnie, this is an incredible thread.
I recently pointed some students to some places for their brief and first Chicago foray. They only made it to a few places (Old Fash. Donuts, LouMalnatis, SigRoom (for the view), spent longer than planned at the Art museum and had to cut their trip short. But they had enough of a good time to know they will be back soon.
In planning their trip I got the links to many threads - many/most from the GNR list. This thread, however, is awesome as it is essentially an index with your wonderful pictures to boot! An instant bookmark - and a thread the Chicago office of tourism should link to.
Thank you!

sazerac wrote:They only made it to a few places (Old Fash. Donuts, LouMalnatis, SigRoom (for the view), spent longer than planned at the Art museum and had to cut their trip short.

Das,

Spent too long in the Art Museum? What the heck are you teaching your students? ~sigh~, youth today.

Enjoy,
Gary

Well you know, Gary, the eats in the Art Museum caff aren't so bad... and the view's pretty good too!

Das, where are you--Pitt or CMU??

Geo

G Wiv wrote:Spent too long in the Art Museum? What the heck are you teaching your students? ~sigh~, youth today.

Technically, they aren't exactly my students; I'm still working on attracting some to my group at CMU
As far as the OFD's apple fritter goes, I liked the report (I was a touch afraid I may have overhyped what my last breakfast in Chicago was, but I shouldn't have been):

I do have to say that the apple fritter was...I really do not even know how to finish that sentence. Just amazing. Amazing. I am sorry to say this but I tried to swing by and pick up apple fritters to take back here to Pittsburgh for you but the place closes on Sunday.

~sigh~

In the interest of adding to Ronnie's swell thread that is already an index for Chicago visitors
Gary, I do try to steer them right - I planned their drive to spend the evening with their friends at Schaumburg. That afternoon, now forever lost in the Art museum, was supposed to be:

La Banh Mi Hung Phat for some Banh Mi (translations here) Zim style - ask for fresh jalepenos.

Tank Noodle for a bowl of Pho

A brief stop at La Unica for pan con lechon

A pick up of lamb biriyani at Ghareeb Nawaz and then lunch at Khan BBQ, especially the chicken boti
can the Khan BBQ address be edited into the GNR listing – it is currently missing there

You have no idea how hard it is to talk about these places and dishes to someone. I kept swallowing every three seconds to avoid being a dribbling fool…



La Banh Mi Hung Phat
4940 North Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-8688

Tank Noodle
4953 N. Broadway St., Chicago
(773) 878-2253

La Unica
1515 W. Devon Ave., Chicago
(773) 274-7788.
Ghareeb Nawaz
2032 W. Devon Avenue,
Chicago, IL
773-761-5300

Ghareeb Nawaz
2032 W. Devon Avenue,
Chicago, IL
773-761-5300

Khan B.B.Q
2401 W Devon (New Post Fire Address)
Chicago, IL 60645
773-338-2800
773-247-8600

Thanks, sazerac, and everyone else, for the kind comments. It was a fun weekend -- especially our 8-stop Thursday tour. There are many parts of our city that are so densely packed with great food, the hard part isn't figuring out where to go, it's figuring out what to eliminate. For example, it felt a bit strange bypassing Manny's when we were so near it. But our visitors are originally from NY, so we opted to skip the deli food. In that sense, I tried to customize our tour specifically for them. When my in-laws visit from Denver, Manny's is near the top of the list.

I've got a relatively big group of culinary determinists (from all over the country) coming into Chicago summer-2008, so I used this weekend as a something of training exercise for myself. I'll be responsible for planning most of a Thursday-Sunday eating schedule for this group, who are coming in primarily for the food. I wanted to get a sense of how many stops could really be made in a day. Of course, with 20 or more folks in tow, it'll be a whole different endeavor. Still, if we all travel together in one large vehicle, I'm optimistic that we can hit at least 8-10 places in a single day -- as long as we start early enough and keep rolling through the evening.

The bottom line is that this was an extremely fun time and I look forward to doing it again . . . but not this coming weekend!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:culinary determinists

I like that term.