Izola's Family Dining

Last Sunday, Ronnie Suburban, GWiv and I made a trip to Izola's Restaurant for some good times and down home cooking. Izola's is an institution on the South Side, which only recently came to my attention thanks to the Sauveur issue on Chicago. As soon as we entered the bustling restaurant, we were made to feel welcome, as long time regulars table hopped and shared friendly conversation. Izola's had the feel of a community touch stone, with the charming Izola White presiding like a queen over her namesake restaurant. She is justifiably proud of the recent press her restaurant is getting, beaming as she brought a reprint of a recent Tribune article to our table for us to see.

Izola's Restaurant


As soon as we sat down, someone at the next table told us that the wait for food to be delivered to the table was extremely long today, but worth it. I couldn't agree more. The food was very good!

We started out with an "appetizer" order of salmon patties, hot links and eggs for the table. I'm a sucker for a good salmon patty, being one of the few things that my Maternal Grandmother cooked that I actually liked. These were good enough to rival Granny's. The hot links were standard issue split and grilled and I didn't try the eggs, but the salmon patties alone were worth the trip to 79th street.

Izola's Salmon Patties


Next up were beef short ribs covered in a thick gravy. These were good, but fell prey to being a bit on the bland side compared to the short ribs that I prepare myself, so I may not have enjoyed them as much as my table mates.

Izola's Short Ribs


The real star of the show for me was the fried chicken. This chicken had a well seasoned breading, slightly on the salty side, that I really enjoyed. It differed from the typical south side fried chicken in that the breading was actually fairly thick compared to the normal thin dip in flour style that many places served. This was some beautiful chicken!

Izola's Fried Chicken


Izola's is a long way from my home on the Northwest side, but that won't stop me from making additional visits. Izola's has the right combo of atmosphere and outstanding food. The only thing to remember is that there is a minimum charge of $2.18/person



Izola's Restaurant
522 E. 79th St.
Chicago, IL 60619
773-846-1484

stevez wrote:Izola's is a long way from my home on the Northwest side, but that won't stop me from making additional visits. Izola's has the right combo of atmosphere and outstanding food.

Steve,

Frankly it's a toss-up which will draw me back sooner, the utter charm of Izola White or the crisp juicy fried chicken. I know Ronnie_S's answer.

Ronnie_Suburban, Izola White


In addition to the dishes Steve mentions I particularly enjoyed the Stewed Chicken, loved the house made noodles, which also made an appearance in the rich chicken soup.

Stewed Chicken





If driving to Izola's from the highway you will pass Captain's Hard Time Dining, which also offers Southern style soul food, my strong suggestion is is to continue one block East to Izola's. Captain's has ok food, though not in the league of Izola's and is the antithesis of the friendly charm of Izola's with slightly higher prices to boot.

Enjoy,
Gary

Izola's
522 E 79th Street
Chicago, IL 60619
773-846-1484
24/6, closed Wednesday

Captain's Hard Time Dining
436 E. 79th St
Chicago, IL
773-487-2900

There's not much to add but I really want to reconfirm that Izola's was a great stop and that the food was excellent. I was surprised how friendly everyone was to us, because it was clearly our first time there. Some places just don't treat obvious first-timers like that. Our unfamiliarity with Izola's didn't seem to matter to anyone in the dining room. In fact, the general sentiment seemed to be that anyone who'd come in here to eat Izola's food must have at least a few redeeming qualities

Food-wise, the first and main thing that struck me was just how home-made everything tasted, especially the soup, which was rich, aromatic and not salty at all. The noodles in the soup were excellent and portended the fantastic order of chicken and dumplings about which Gary posted above. I'll also disagree slightly with Steve and say that I really liked Izola's short ribs. I've had his short ribs too, and they are excellent so, I'll just say that both preparations are great in their own way.

Here are a couple more images from our lunch . . .


Chicken soup



Variety of side dishes . . . slaw, spaghetti, greens and sweet potatoes. Each entree came with choice of 2 sides.



One more look at Izola's fantastic fried chicken, although I'd take another hug from Izola over that chicken any day of the week!

=R=

Someone brought a pan of Izola's fried chicken one year to "Blues 'n Ribs" at the University of Chicago - this was back when it was not attended by 1300 starving students with lines around the block, and you could still have ad hoc picnic tastings of various South Side menu items - and I remember it being very good. Saveur singled out the greens:

http://www.saveur.com/food/classic-reci ... 54040.html

How were they? Could you taste any coffee (which the mag claims is a regular ingredient in the greens)?

stevez wrote:

I need to know when chitterlings are in season. Anyone?

Josephine wrote:

stevez wrote:

I need to know when chitterlings are in season. Anyone?

Historically, in the south, prior to the advent of modern refrigeration, hogs were butchered in the late fall and early winter as the weather began to change to become cooler. Thus, the period between October 1 and New Years Day became Chitlin season. While priome hog paparts were either eaten fresh or cured for the family household, the Chitlins were an unwanted by product of the slaughter often given to slaves to eat prior to their emancipation.

The best known celebration of the Chitlin is the annual Chitlin Strut held each fall in rural Salley, SC, which sits in the central SC triangle between Columbia, SC, Orangeburg, SC, and Augusta, GA. The annual strut and country music festival, which has been ongoing since the late 60s, serves about 10,000 pounds of Chitlins to a crowd of up to 25,000 people every October. There's also plenty of barbeque for folks like me who can't get past the smell of the boiling organs.

Though chitlins are available year round now, many African American families hold true to the fall and winter season as "Chitlin season". They are often prepared and served at Christmas and New Years celebrations of African American families, along with greens and black eyed peas.

I saw two interesting items in the pictures.

First, the spaghetti sauce mixed in the spaghetti. Personally, I had never seen that in the parts of the South that I lived in but ALL my cooks in Detroit (mostly from Alabama and Mississippi) insisted that we mix the sauce into the spaghetti and it was a hot seller every time.

Second, was the chicken served on top of the bread? What is the purpose - to soak up the excess grease?

You guys kill me. I never have time to get to these places and they all look SO good. Love to drool over the pictures!

Jean

Santander wrote:How were they? Could you taste any coffee (which the mag claims is a regular ingredient in the greens)?

There was an "almost smokey" note to the greens, which definitely could have been imparted by coffee. They sure were distinctive tasting but at the time, I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was that made them so. Next time, I'll pay more attention.

=R=

jlawrence01 wrote:I saw two interesting items in the pictures.

First, the spaghetti sauce mixed in the spaghetti. Personally, I had never seen that in the parts of the South that I lived in but ALL my cooks in Detroit (mostly from Alabama and Mississippi) insisted that we mix the sauce into the spaghetti and it was a hot seller every time.

Second, was the chicken served on top of the bread? What is the purpose - to soak up the excess grease?

I don't know the origin of the white bread or why it is specifically included but I've seen it at other places before -- some BBQ joints and some fried chicken restaurants, too. Evanston Chicken Shack and Honey 1 are 2 places which immediately come to mind, where white bread is served, along with the main item, in this manner. But I've seen it at quite a few places. In fact, I can recall times even buying a roasted chicken leg quarter from a 'roach coach' and having it accompanied by the plain white bread.

As for the spaghetti, when I used to work on the south side, many years ago, this style was very popular with the guys I worked with, many of whom were African-American. During that time, I learned to appreciate and enjoy it quite a bit. I noticed recently that it's served the same way at Manny's, where my son really got into it. His comment was that the spaghetti was great, "the noodles are so soft."

=R=