Evanston Lunch Group: Myron and Phil's Wed. Feb. 13, 12:30

For our February gathering, we are planning to trek to Myron and Phil's for lunch (it is in Lincolnwood, not Chicago). However, if there is not sufficient interest, we could change course. But we are currently planning for Wednesday February 13th at 12:30. This is an opportunity for those of you working in NW Chicago to get a taste of the Evanston Lunch group.

Myron and Phil's
3900 West Devon
Lincolnwood
847-677-6663

The NW Chicago people are going to taste us??? Well, I'll be there anyway.

nr706 wrote:The NW Chicago people are going to taste us???

No worries, I've been told many times that I'm completely tasteless.

See you there and thanks for puttng this together.

=R=

In!

Sorry, can't join you. My dad's a big fan of their lake perch; wonder if they serve it at lunch...

I'll be there!

-ramon

Paul SL wrote:My dad's a big fan of their lake perch; wonder if they serve it at lunch...

It's shown on the lunch menu on their website.

I plan to join you....

With a week to go before lunch at Myron & Phil's (Wednesday February 13, 12:30), the current group (tasteless or not) is:

GAF
nr706
ronnie_suburban
Mhays
ramon
tarte tatin
Vital Information
George R
Cathy2
Helen

Myron & Phil's
3900 West Devon
Lincolnwood

Please add me.

Please add me, too. Thanks.

Sorry can't make it doing Valentines day lunch with the wife at Francesco's

HI,

Helen and I plan to attend.

Regards,

I'm now a maybe. Tomorrow I have to wait for a service call (fix garage door) "between 9 and noon." Depends on when he arrives and how long it takes.

put me down as a maybe

I regret that due to car troubles that I blame on potholes and a number of friends needing assistance with their own various problems, I will not be able to attend. Though I will probably at one point drive by and raise my fist defiantly out the window in support.

-ramon

Hi,

I am sorry neither Helen and I can make it. We have Ohare airport delivery and pick-up duties earlier than had been expected. Rather than eat and run, we will just go directly to the airport.

My regrets.

Regards,

Hooray! I will be able to attend. I'm leaving right now.

Thank you all for attending. Another memorable LTH event. The nicest thing about Myron & Phil's is the intersection between the food and the setting. All of the dishes were well-prepared and it was very nice meeting Mark Freedman (I don't recall if he was Myron's pr Phil's son), and the atmosphere takes one back to the time that a restaurant would be a community gathering point. Ronnie's pictures soon to appear.

Thanks, Gary, for organizing this. It was a great time. As I had speculated, Myron & Phil's reminded me a little of the 1950's feel of Charcoal Oven, but on a grander scale. I especially enjoyed both the skirt and butt steaks, and the chopped liver was a real treat. And it was fun to see all the plates plopped down in front of Ronnie, but the check presented to Gary.

Quick note - next Evanston Lunch Group™ will be at Tickie's Belizean Cuisine (Paulina 1/2 block north of Howard) 3/18, 12:30 - but I'll make the official post in a week or two.

Thanks again, GAF - and lovely to see everyone, as usual. A truly staggering amount of food - though Ronnie took the leftovers this time . I especially enjoyed the skirt steak and the burnt onions on the burnt onion burger; will be going back to see if I can get burnt onions on the steak next time (the burger was good, huge, just not quite my style) See you next month!

Old skool

They just don't make restaurants like this anymore

Throwback

I had a most enjoyable lunch today at Myron & Phil's with the ELG. Thanks to Gary for organizing and to everyone else for making it such a fun experience.

Myron & Phil's is a place that's been a part of my life since my family first took me there to celebrate my 8th-grade graduation, some 30 years ago. It was the first "nice" restaurant I ever set foot in and in many ways, it formed a certain set of expectations for me about what a restaurant should be.

Even though I've become a fan of so many other styles of cuisine and dining, the genre that Myron & Phil's exemplifies -- the Jewish steakhouse genre -- will always be an important one to me, mainly because it carries such emotional value. It represents an era gone by -- I associate it with the late 1970's and early 1980's because that is the era in which I was first introduced to it. But it does so without melancholy or any apologies. Myron and Phil's is neither dingy nor worn. It does not require that you 'harken back' in order to appreciate it. Ingredients are high in quality. Service is outstanding and friendly. Enjoying it today was as easy as ever. It has remained relevant -- especially in contrast to the plethora of lousy, mid-level chain steakhouses that have popped up all over the place. This is a family business in a neighborhood, the same location for over 3 decades. This is not a corporate unit in a strip mall managed by people who will be 'opening another store' in another city 3 months from now. This is a Chicago joint. Period.

Here are a few images from today's lunch . . .


Dill pickles . . . exemplary sour dill pickles. These were intense in flavor and really crunchy, too.



Assortment of breadstuffs . . . these rolls, bialys and crackers -- and the pickles -- are delivered to the table with the menus.



Chopped liver . . . do not adjust your sets. This chopped liver was very light in color but delicious. It tasted quite 'schmaltzy,' which may account for the intense flavor which was, initially, belied by its appearance.



Pickled red peppers . . . tangy and sweet, with a nice bite.



Soup of the day, Navy Bean . . . a great rendition.



"Garbage" salad . . . a generous and fresh salad with a super-intense anchovy-packed dressing.



Skirt steak . . . I got a small bite of this steak and it was fantastic.



Butt steak . . . I wish I'd gotten a pic of the inside of this steak, which was just beautiful. There was a time in my life when this was my favorite cut. This steak reminded me why.



Burnt onion burger . . . tasty burger covered in the signature burnt onions.



Reuben sandwich . . . did I mention the skirt steak?



Burger . . . tasty, 9 oz. burger. If you like this style of burger, which I do, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one. This burger was a perfect medium rare. The burnt onion version pictured above was a bit past that point, more like medium. We probably could have sent it back but we ate the entire thing instead.



Fried salami, eggs and matzoh . . . pretty straightforward rendition but I appreciated that it was on the menu at all and the homey-ness of the dish.



Ronnie's potatoes . . . manager/owner Mark Freedman sent this side order out for the table. I was glad he did because they weren't offered on the lunch menu and they were really good.



Fried perch . . . tasty, very crispy. I'm not a big perch guy, so I don't really have good basis of comparison but this was certainly enjoyable and I really liked the mashed potatoes.



Chocolate banana cake . . . this is another one that Mr. Freedman sent out for us. Again, I was glad he did. I thought it was really delicious and just look at it . . . seeing all those banana seeds in there, I had a feeling it was going to be good even before I tasted it. It was moist, nicely-dense and had an intense banana aroma.



Carrot cake . . . tasty, good-quality cream cheese frosting.

I just want to thank Gary again for setting this up. The Evanston Lunch Group is always a blast but this installment, between the excellent company, the restaurant itself and the great food, was particularly enjoyable.

=R=

Unlike Ronnie's 30-year history, I was a first-timer at Myron & Phil's today, and the food, the company, and the restaurant itself (including the staff) all combined to make it a great experience!

The chopped liver was an excellent starter, and we had so much food, I don't know where to begin to pick my favorites.... I guess the butt steak wins out, but the burnt onions and the perch are right in there. I was so full after all of that, I was ready to take a pass on dessert, but once they brought out the carrot and chocolate banana cakes, I'm glad I didn't! Yum! I sincerely didn't think I could eat again today, but after looking at Ronnie's photos tonight.... well, maybe I should have arm-wrestled him for that leftover salad....

Thanks, Gary, for organizing!

Thanks Gary for organizing and Ronnie for the excellent pics. Despite having lived in the Chicago area most of my life I was, like Tarte Tatin, a Myron & Phil's virgin, so I appreciated the opportunity to enjoy it.

I liked everything I ate, but my absolute favorite was the dill pickles! Ronnie's description was spot on - crunchy, intense sour flavor. They were as good as any I've ever had.

That looks like a great lunch, but it looks like no one asked for the secret auxiliary relish tray that contains olives, radishes, carrots, celery and other crispy veggies. For some reason they only bring this out upon request.

stevez wrote:That looks like a great lunch, but it looks like no one asked for the secret auxiliary relish tray that contains olives, radishes, carrots, celery and other crispy veggies. For some reason they only bring this out upon request.

I got the feeling that it was a dinner-only item, which is why I didn't think to ask about it. The pickled peppers, which I remembered as being part of that tray, were offered separately on the lunch menu.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

stevez wrote:That looks like a great lunch, but it looks like no one asked for the secret auxiliary relish tray that contains olives, radishes, carrots, celery and other crispy veggies. For some reason they only bring this out upon request.

I got the feeling that it was a dinner-only item, which is why I didn't think to ask about it. The pickled peppers, which I remembered as being part of that tray, were offered separately on the lunch menu.

=R=

In all my years of going there (which is a lot of years), the aux relish tray, as well as diced onions for the chopped liver, have always been available for the asking. Of course, that could have just been an accommodation. Fred from Check Please may not be the only person with a bit of clout at M&P.

stevez wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

stevez wrote:That looks like a great lunch, but it looks like no one asked for the secret auxiliary relish tray that contains olives, radishes, carrots, celery and other crispy veggies. For some reason they only bring this out upon request.

I got the feeling that it was a dinner-only item, which is why I didn't think to ask about it. The pickled peppers, which I remembered as being part of that tray, were offered separately on the lunch menu.

=R=

In all my years of going there (which is a lot of years), the aux relish tray, as well as chopped onions for the chopped liver, have always been available for the asking.

Excellent. Next time I'll know.

=R=

I had a nice lunch at Myron & Phil's today. I met my Dad and one of my brothers for an olde tyme lunch*. My Mrs. Freeman's burger with burnt onions and swiss was perfectly cooked to med. rare and the thin fries were nice and crisp. The burger included a tossed salad with their house "Green Goddess" dressing. It was a nice lunch that brought back lot's of memories, though the menu and the clientèle certainly has changed over the years.

* For a time, I shared office space with my father in Skokie and we probably ate at Myron & Phil's on average of 2 days/week, with the other 3 finding us at Barnum & Bagel.