Evanston recommendation?

A close friend in Louisiana asked me to recommend a restaurant in Evanston, and I turn to the good people here for some assistance. I ran a couple of searches and did not find anything particularly helpful, perhaps due to poor searching on my part.

The recommendation is for a 17 year old freshman at Northwestern feeling a bit homesick for Louisiana. Is there nice restaurant in town to buy a gift certificate from, so that the folks back home can send this kid a special treat?

I was once an 18-year-old freshman in Evanston. Granted, I wasn't homesick for Louisiana, but I can still sympathize.

If I were your friends, I'd buy their child a gift certificate to Heaven on Seven, and make it large enough so that their child can treat a couple of his or her new friends. Evanston is a great town--and its culinary offerings have certainly expanded since I lived there--but if said student is to take full advantage of Northwestern, he or she should also get to know and explore Chicago, too. Heaven on Seven's Michigan Ave. location is easy to reach on public transportation from Evanston. Yeah, it may not be the best food in the city, but the atmosphere and location should appeal to a few college freshman trekking into the city for the day.

Dixie Kitchen, on Church Street, should satisfy the Louisiana craving. Also, just around the corner on Benson is Merle's, which isn't specifically Cajun, but definitely has a Southern feel to it.

Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop
825 Church St., Evanston
(847) 733-9030

Merle's Smokehouse
1727 Benson Ave., Evanston
(847) 475-7766

i'm not sure about a gift certificate from a restaurant, but you could take him to get some food from Evanston Chicken Shack and that will probably cheer him up:

http://www.evanstonchickenshack.com/

1925 Ridge Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 328-9360

its right by the campus

I'm no authority on New Orleans cooking, but I know Evanston. All of the suggestions below are within a few blocks of campus.

If travel to Heaven on Seven is not an option, Dixie Kitchen in Evanston offers some servicable Southern food with a few dishes the layman associates with New Orleans. It's not at the level of Feed or Wishbone, but it is within close walking distance of campus. Po' boys and the like. Fake Southern kitsch decor. The young person in question may already have discovered this option. It's OK, nothing great.

BBQ options are Hecky's and Merle's, though I am not sure if this will fill the bill. I'm not a fan of Merle's, though some may disagree, as it is always packed on weekends. It never made it to the second-visit stage with me, though I do remember a nice variety of sides.

Then again, Hecky's delivers, making for an exam-crunch treat. I like their sides well enough, especially the greens. I'm not as big of fan of their soft ribs, (being from the GWiv school of BBQ practice), but their smoked turkey legs with sauce on the side are very good. Their smoked duck rocks, but you have to order ahead.

The New Orleans BBQ shrimp at Davis Street Fishmarket used to be a favorite, but since they went upscale, the atmosphere is not as welcoming and the menu not as interesting as it used to be. Those BBQ shrimp were still on the menu when I last visited, and they used to do a decent blackened redfish from time to time. It's been turned into a "nice" restaurant --the sort of place where you take your boss or your grandmother.

Fried Chicken is always comforting and a treat. Evanston Chicken Shack for fried chicken and catfish is a board favorite. They have fried okra as well as red beans and rice, cole slaw and potato salad (I have not had any of the sides. Perhaps others can comment.)

Dixie Kitchen
25 Church St.
Evanston, IL 60201
847-733-9030

Hecky's BBQ
1902 Green Bay Rd.
847-492-1182

Davis Street Fishmarket
501 Davis
847-869-3474

Evanston Chicken Shack
1925 Ridge
Evanston
847-328-9360

nr706 wrote:Dixie Kitchen, on Church Street, should satisfy the Louisiana craving. Also, just around the corner on Benson is Merle's, which isn't specifically Cajun, but definitely has a Southern feel to it.

Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop
825 Church St., Evanston
(847) 733-9030

Merle's Smokehouse
1727 Benson Ave., Evanston
(847) 475-7766

I agree with both these recommendations.

Dixie Kitchen has pretty good Cajun food - even authentic starters/sides like fried green tomatos, johnnycakes, etc.

Merle's has good barbecue. There are two additional advantages of giving gift cards to Merle's. One is that Merle's is owned by the same folks as Pete Miller's (steakhouse) and Davis Street Fishmarket (seafood), all of which are good and have locations in downtown Evanston within walking distance of campus, and the gift cards are good at all three places, so he can choose any of the three for using them. The other is that, for every $100 in gift cards you buy Nov 2 - Dec 31, they give you a somewhat-restricted $25 bonus certificate. You can buy their gift cards here.

One other option I've used, which provides the maximum flexibility on where to eat, is getting a gift card through American Express. Those cards can be used at any restaurant that accepts their credit cards, which means almost any nicer restaurant. You can go to the American Express website and click on "gift cards" for more information.

Note that a couple of the other places mentioned above (Hecky's, Chicken Shack) are primarily carry-out places (and I'm not sure that either one offers gift cards), so if the intent is to give him a nice sit-down meal at a restaurant, ...