Take out lunch places - Foster+Ravenswood

I just started a new job at Foster and Ravenswood and am looking for some good places to get lunch to take back to the office. Any suggestions? I haven't spent a lot of time in Andersonville, and other than Taste of Lebanon I don't know of other take out places.

Yes Thai - corner of Foster/Damen. They have some decent take out
5211 N. Damen Ave.
773-878-3487

Per their website, Spacca Napoli is open for lunch Wednesday - Saturday. It's a bit of a hike from Foster, but First Slice Cafe has good sandwiches and is open for lunch.

Spacca Napoli
www.spaccanapolipizzeria.com
1769 W Sunnyside (@ Ravenswood)

First Slice
www.firstslice.org
Ravenswood @ Montrose

In addition to Taste of Lebanon, First Slice, and Spacca Napoli, there's also Over Easy Cafe & Ventrella's on the 4900 block of N. Damen. Closer to the the Damen brown line stop is Sweet Occassions, a few other Thai restaurants, Quizno's, and A Perfect Cup. Further north into Andersonville you can find Kopi's, Einstein Bagels, the new crepe cafe at Foster & Clark, and a Jimmy John's down toward Winnemac on Clark.

I've always liked their dogs and it's just down the road from you - west of Ashland on Lawrence.

Byron's Hot Dogs
1701 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 271-0900

have you tried the Middle Eastern Bakery across the street from Taste of Lebanon? They have veggie and meat pies, falafel and other items to take out.

On Clark Street, just north of Foster Wikstrom's should be re-opening their deli any um, month now. If it's like the old shop, it will have a very good cold meatloaf sandwich and lovely chicken salad and let's pray they bring back the "fish fry" (of sorts, the fish and shrimp are pre-cooked) on Fridays. They also have a darn good swedish meatball plate with mashed potatoes.
Keep an eye out . . .

bjt

Daisy11 wrote:Per their website, Spacca Napoli is open for lunch Wednesday - Saturday. It's a bit of a hike from Foster, but First Slice Cafe has good sandwiches and is open for lunch.

Glen's Diner is right in that area as well.

Glenn's Diner
1820 W. Montrose Ave.
Chicago
773-506-1720

bjt wrote:have you tried the Middle Eastern Bakery across the street from Taste of Lebanon? They have veggie and meat pies, falafel and other items to take out.
bjt

I also really enjoy the cabbage dolma they sometimes have.

you're also really not that far from argyle there, you can always run over and grab a vietnamese sandwich

I was going to say.... the folks suggesting traveling from Foster down to Montrose on lunch break are probably assuming a vehicle. I think you may actually be closer to Argyle.


Andersonville:

The Middle Eastern Bakery will also make falafel sandwiches for you.

You could do a lot worse for lunch than carnitas from the deli case at Edgewater produce.

The convenience-veggie stand-liquor store at Clark and Argyle will also make sandwiches for you.

I also live a mere block or so away from your new employer and I would have to heartily second many of the recommendations made so far. I especially love the paninis and gelato at Ventrella's on Damen and the simple and cheap wraps at Taste of Lebanon. And if Wikstrom's ever opens again, it has been one of my favorite places to grab a cheap sandwich. (On a side note, if the person who ran Erickson's had some gumption, they would buy some mustard and a loaf of bread and give the people of Andersonville what they really want--a good sandwich at lunchtime!)

But tonight I visited the Fajita Grill at Foster and Paulina with some friends and I would have to recommend it as well. From the looks of it, they have a pretty decent lunch menu complete with chilaquiles and some items off their dinner menu. Tonight I had the combination plate which included an enchilada in salsa verde, a taco, and a flauta. The dishes were prepared simply and well, but the flauta was my least favorite thing, because it was overfried and the steak was downright crispy. But I would have to say that my favorite part of the dining experience was the salsa woman who wheeled a cart to our table and asked us if we wanted red or green salsa, and medium or hot. She then proceeded to mix the ingredients before our eyes with a mortar and pestle and voila, instant salsa!
The ingredients were fresh, my friends seemed to enjoy their namesake specialty, and the service was warm and friendly. I have to say that I will be back, seeing that it is down the street from my apartment. They are BYOB, and I've heard that you can bring your own tequila and they'll mix it into their margaritas. Or should we we call them BYOT? Whatever it is, I say muy bueno!
I found a menu online at the Chicago Reader:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/cgi-bin/rrr/restaurant-menus.cgi?/advertisers//3608.html

Fajita Grill
1708 W Foster Ave
(773) 784-7455

Good friends of ours have become regulars at Fajita Grill and invited us to join them there for dinner last night. Out of the dismal weather, we were greeted warmly upon arrival. Disclaimer: Our friends admitted to eating here about once or twice a week for the past couple of months, so our table was given some extra attention , but it seemed to me everyone in the room was taken care of well. The woman who comes to the table first offering on-the-spot-made salsas and guacamole was very accomodating to special requests - extra cilantro, extra spicy, mild, etc.... we found the green salsa and the guacamole w/ extra cilantro quite tasty. The two appetizers we had - grilled calamari and tortilla soup were excellent in both presentation and taste (wish I'd had my camera - doh!) Two of us had the enchiladas (one green w/ steak, and one red w/ chicken,) one had a lamb mole special, and I had a salad w/ tomatoes, romaine, oranges,& fried cheese & 2 vegetarian tamales. I ordered wrong. The tamales were OK, the salad was pretty good (especially the cheese!,) but other things around me looked better. Next time I think I'll try the calamari and pulpo fajitas. Service was so warm and friendly, it's what will bring us back (along with that guacamole w/ extra cilantro.) They were also very BYO friendly - nice buckets w/ ice, glassware, etc.... Overall, we thought we got a lot of bang for our $ here.

It's a little farther north, but I love Turkish Cuisine on Clark in Andersonville.
5605 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60660
773-878-8930

Also there's a Costello's on Lincoln not far that definitely delivers during the day.

Nobody has mentioned Pauline's diner yet---what more can you want for a takeout lunch? It is maybe 3 blocks north of Foster on Ravenswood.

Pauline's
1754 W Balmoral Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
773-561-8573

G Wiv wrote:

Daisy11 wrote:Per their website, Spacca Napoli is open for lunch Wednesday - Saturday. It's a bit of a hike from Foster, but First Slice Cafe has good sandwiches and is open for lunch.

Glen's Diner is right in that area as well.

Glenn's Diner
1820 W. Montrose Ave.
Chicago
773-506-1720

In this area as well:
If you like juicy char grilled skirt steak tacos and burritos as opposed to the gristly, griddle fried, garbage steak that most of the taquerias in this city slop out, then be prepared to be a regular at this place:

Taqueria el Asadero
2213 W. Montrose Ave.
Chicago

If you're in the mood for a dawg, Budacki's is not far away at Damen and Lawrence. Good bang for your buck and really good hot dogs. They have a parking lot too!

Also near there is a new sushi place, located in the former Kafe Marrakesh space. I don't remember what it's called, nor have I been - they just opened a week ago. But it might be worth checking out.

Budacki's Drive In
4739 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60625