Farewell Tour

If you were leaving town after forty-plus years, where would you eat before you go?

Lured by opportunities in musical theatre, I’m moving to New York (Brooklyn, actually) sometime in June. We found a great house just steps from the Q line, one stop away from DiFara Pizza!
We’ll be keeping our apartment here a while longer, but at this point I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to get back to Chicago. So, I’ve decided to use this next month to revisit some of my old favorite haunts as well as a few spots I’ve recently come to know. New York has great steaks, fine dining, diners, bagels, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Middle-Eastern and Japanese food in abundance, so I’ve limited this very personal and arbitrary list to the places and dishes I think I’ll miss most when I’m there:

Kow Kow. Egg rolls, of course
Frontera Grill. Topolo margarita, sopes and the cazuela of the month
Spoon Thai. Almost anything
Sticky Rice. Ditto, plus the Northern Thai sausage
Honey One. Tips and links
Manny’s. Short ribs, chicken pot pie
Coal Fire. Veggie calzone
D’Amatos Bakery. Pizza bread
Wiener And Still Champion. Dipping Dog and oh, those fries!
La Pasadita. Carne asada tacos
Amigo Chino. Tacos al Pastor
Hema’s Kitchen. Vindaloo, chana masala
Lao Sze Chuan. Tony’s chicken, mayonnaise shrimp
Khan BBQ. Chicken bhoti, frontier chicken
Fontana. Cevapcici
San Soo Gab San. Gal Bi, Bul Gogi, a respirator

And of course, I’ll miss hanging out with the Evanston lunch group and all the other wonderful LTH'ers!

Edited for misspelling. Sorry, Gus!

I'd add three stops to your itinerary:

1. Maxwell Street
2. Maxwell Street
3. Maxwell Street

Hard to find something like that in NY.

Congrats on your move, Paul. I hope to see you before you leave.

Best,
Michael

In my experience there, Burgers really suck in New York. Thus, I would do:

1. Kuma's
2. Paradise Pup

eatchicago wrote:I'd add three stops to your itinerary:

1. Maxwell Street
2. Maxwell Street
3. Maxwell Street

Hard to find something like that in NY.

Right you are, Michael. Added.

What, no Italian beef?

YourPalWill wrote:In my experience there, Burgers really suck in New York.

I thought so, too, until I found this place.

Maybe it's just bias for me. But I would HAVE to have fried chicken (Harold's on 53rd) and/or some amazing wings before leaving.

Also any Chicago Pizza (like it or not) for the sake of it being Chicago pizza and not NY pizza before going to NY.

Dmnkly wrote:What, no Italian beef?

D'oh! Gotta add that for sure.

h37s3m wrote:...I would HAVE to have fried chicken...

Jeez, you're right. I better get started!

great post.

I wuld hit in no particular order:

-Sun Wah BBQ - cant get those chinese bbq meats out of my head
-San Soo Gap San - I am addicted to Korean BBQ
-Honey 1 - Ribs, tips, and hot links
-Coal Fire - great pizza, even nicer owners
-Joes Seafood, Prime Steaks, and Stone Crab - I would need a great steak, and some claws
-Morrie Omally's - Id need a couple of char dogs, and a White Sox game before leaving town
-Cajun Connection - Gumbo, Etouffe, and alligator
-Fabulous Noodles - egg rolls, Yu Noodles
-Mannys Deli - A rueben
-Greektown - the 24 hour gyros place @ Adams & Halsted
-Flossmoor Station - for some cold beer, and a growler to go
-Amanacer Taptio - for some great mexican food
-Johnnies - Italian Beef, and a combo with hot peppers
-Cherry Supper Club - Fried chicken, pork tenderloin

jimswside wrote:Greektown - the 24 hour gyros place @ Adams & Halsted

Is that Mr. Greeks? That place is truly amazing. I always get their ribs or their Philly Cheesesteak and a chicken taco.

h37s3m wrote:

jimswside wrote:Greektown - the 24 hour gyros place @ Adams & Halsted

Is that Mr. Greeks? That place is truly amazing. I always get their ribs or their Philly Cheesesteak and a chicken taco.

Its on the northeast corner of the intersection. I cant think of the name of the place sorry.

I love their gyros and eggs.

h37s3m wrote:

jimswside wrote:Greektown - the 24 hour gyros place @ Adams & Halsted

Is that Mr. Greeks? That place is truly amazing. I always get their ribs or their Philly Cheesesteak and a chicken taco.

out of the 3 gyro places there, Greektown Gyro, Mr. Greek and Zeus, I prefer Zeus

But the quality of the gyros have dropped over the years

jimswside wrote:

h37s3m wrote:

jimswside wrote:Greektown - the 24 hour gyros place @ Adams & Halsted

Is that Mr. Greeks? That place is truly amazing. I always get their ribs or their Philly Cheesesteak and a chicken taco.

Its on the northeast corner of the intersection. I cant think of the name of the place sorry.

I love their gyros and eggs.

The northeast corner of Adams and Halsted is a parking lot. Are you thinking of Greektown Gyros on the NE corner of Jackson and Halsted just a block south of Adams? Red and white awnings? Always open?

Greektown Gyros
239 S Halsted St
Chicago, IL
(312) 236-9310‎

Paul - feel free to post an event (eg "The Tour of Paul"), and we'll get your back!

YourPalWill wrote:In my experience there, Burgers really suck in New York.

Not at Dumont Burger.

imsscott wrote:

jimswside wrote:

h37s3m wrote:

jimswside wrote:Greektown - the 24 hour gyros place @ Adams & Halsted

Is that Mr. Greeks? That place is truly amazing. I always get their ribs or their Philly Cheesesteak and a chicken taco.

Its on the northeast corner of the intersection. I cant think of the name of the place sorry.

I love their gyros and eggs.

The northeast corner of Adams and Halsted is a parking lot. Are you thinking of Greektown Gyros on the NE corner of Jackson and Halsted just a block south of Adams? Red and white awnings? Always open?

Greektown Gyros
239 S Halsted St
Chicago, IL
(312) 236-9310‎

thats the one, thanks.

h37s3m wrote:Maybe it's just bias for me. But I would HAVE to have fried chicken.

Brooklyn's not doing too bad in this department either.

I guess after two New York leaning posts, I should chime in that my NY friends were visiting over the weekend and agreed that New York has no good Mexican food (duh), Thai food that can't compete with the likes of Sticky Rice and TAC, or cheap gourmet Americana like The Depot and Hot Doug's.

Harold's, Al's, Chickies, Pequod's, Pat's, My Pie, a gyro from Parthenon... that'd be my starting point.

New York, of course, has good food. They have good versions of everything mentioned here. So, if it were me that was leaving Chicago for NYC - not that I would EVER do that - I'd think about those eating experiences that are drenched in Chicago. The food, itself, is almost irrelevant.

A hot dog in the bleachers at Wrigley Field
A burger at Billy Goat Tavern
Pork chop sandwich at Jim's
Gene & Georgetti's'
A pie from Uno

A brief list, but you get the idea, eh?

More importantly, where is the LTH going-away lunch / dinner, Paul?

ChgoMike wrote:More importantly, where is the LTH going-away lunch / dinner, Paul?

I'm working on it...

Paul-

Hot Doug's? I just went today for the Smoked Portuguese Linguica with Smoked Paprika Mustard and Goat Cheese. Reminded me why I love the place. That's an outstanding list, though.

Love,
John

I guess after two New York leaning posts, I should chime in that my NY friends were visiting over the weekend and agreed that New York has no good Mexican food (duh), Thai food that can't compete with the likes of Sticky Rice and TAC, or cheap gourmet Americana like The Depot and Hot Dougs.

I would agree with nearly all of those statements. Chicago is a special place for both Mexican and Thai. I would give my left arm to have a Papaya King with its crispy, snappy dogs here in the City of Broad Shoulders.

I will add my personal favorite, the Shogun Special at Ron of Japan (Northbrook location only). The lobster tail with the orange goop will be my death row last meal request.

Joy Yee's in China Town Mango Tapioca Bubble Tea

I would add some of the high-end restaurants (choose your favorites) because the ones in New York cost three times as much.

My personal list would focus on Chicago-centric spots like Edwardo's, Superdawg, Al's (and Mario's across the street).

eatchicago wrote:
1. Maxwell Street
2. Maxwell Street
3. Maxwell Street

Hard to find something like that in NY.

May be different flavors to be found, but The Red Hook Ball Fields offer a similar vibe to Maxwell Street.

Also--and this should go on the Beyond Chicagoland board--you'll be near some outstanding Turkish places, my favorite of which is Taci's Beyti. (NY Times registration may be required for both links.)