A couple of meals in Evanston

I will be in Evanston all day tomorrow and wanted to see what places are recommended. Primarily cheap eats, and I was debating between Hecky's, Merle's, and the Evanston Chicken shack.

Any suggestions?

Glenn

Having eaten the ribs at Hecky's my advice would be to stay away. The Chicken Shack is always good. Another good bet in Evanston is Crossrhodes on Chicago Av just north of Main St. Excellent burgers and Greek chicken.

John

I'd suggest Buffalo Joe's if you like chicken wings. Best in the area IMHO.

Buffalo Joe's
812 Clark St.
(847) 328-5525

Depending on your location, for cheap eats I'd go:

Jazmyn's
Jamaican place in the plaza at Dempster and Dodge. The jerk platters are enough for two.

Cozy Noodle
Thai joint in Downtown Evansotn on Davis, block and a half east of Ridge. I like their fried tofu, and their pad thai with fried tofu.

Gigio's Pizza
By the slice at lunchtime. Big and foldable. Half a block east of Cozy mentioned above.

Mustard's Last Stand
Hot dog joint next to Dyche Stadium. I like their cheese burgers.

Ditto on Cross Rhodes - very tasty. Get the Greek Fries and split 'em.

If you're in North Evanston, Prairie Joes's on Central, just west of Green Bay is my absolute favorite restaurant in town. Cheap, with a crazy menu. Mexican/Middle Eastern combo bomb. Mmmmm

Regards,

Alex

JSM wrote:Having eaten the ribs at Hecky's my advice would be to stay away. The Chicken Shack is always good. Another good bet in Evanston is Crossrhodes on Chicago Av just north of Main St. Excellent burgers and Greek chicken.

John

I agree about passing on the ribs at Hecky's, although their fried chicken is well worth the visit. It's always a tough call betewwn ECS and Hecky's for fried chicken. Hecky's is more expensive, but it has larger pieces of chicken, although there's certainly nothing wrong with ECS.

Lucky Platter is my favorite for cheap eats in Evanston. It's on Main St., just east of Chicago Ave. They have a little bit of everything on the menu and I've never had a bad meal in the 4-5 years I've been going there. It's a comfortable place with a funky interior. My favorites are meatloaf, french toast and the salads.

Crossrhodes is good cheap eats - go for the cheeseburger, gyro and the greek fries. The egg lemon soup is good, too.

If you are in the mood for pizza Gigio's is the place, on Davis just east of Ridge.

Prairie Joe's - just west on Green Bay on Central St. - has quite good "aging hippe food." Quite good vegetarian, but not only - and a very funky hangout.

The best vegetarian food around (perhaps in Chicago) is the Blind Faith Cafe on Dempster, just east of Chicago Avenue. Not cheap, but mid-range.

Right near campus (on Clark Street, near Sherman) is "J.K. Sweets," which is just a sandwich place, but which also serves quite creditable Korean food (perhaps not what you would want from a restaurant that specializes in Korean food), but a nice change of pace for lunch at about $5.00.

For breakfast sweets and lunch tarts and sandwiches, try Kim's Kitchen at 815 Noyes. And next door - a bit more substantial food can be found at Mandarin House (which is really more Korean than Mandadrin).

More cheap eats - Olive Mountain (middle eastern - Davis west of Chicago) usually exceeds my expectations, as does Lulu's (dim sum and then some) at Davis & Sherman. And a Northwestern student favorite for fill-your-gut-with-pasta-cheap food is Dave's Italian Kitchen, 1635 Chicago.

I like Thai Sookdee on Church. It's not on the level of Spoon/TAC/Sticky but it's very good for certain dishes. The "Special Hot" #1 and #2 Curry (Green and Red respectively) are both excellent. I like pork in my Green and Tofu in my Red. The tofu here is just like I like it, chewy-crisp outside with a spongy-sauce sopping middle. Their soups are good (their wonton soup broth is especially good -it has a lot of the toasted garlic), as are their appetizers. I love their "potstickers" which are made of chicken and spinach--shaped like 1 inch chubby discs.

I also like That Little Mexican Cafe (also on Church) for quality Mexican food. I believe the owners are from Oaxaca, Mexico--and the style of cooking reflects this. (Not a lot of cheese, gloppy refried beans, flour tortillas and sour cream--but rather crumbled queso fresco, silky pintos, fresh corn tortillas and crema). I love their tacos, but on occasion I will order the duck breast in mole negro and the scallop salad with papaya and queso fresco. (mmmm) Not exactly the cheapest of eats, but very reasonable for the quality.

Bagel Art (on Chicago Ave, just north of Dempster) for a decent, fresh bagel. I haven't been there for a while, but they used to make jalapeno cream cheese that was wicked spicy--but soo good. My boyfriend thought that it was just plain wrong to eat jalapeno cream cheese (kind of like eating a blueberry bagle), but I could tell that he secretly liked it when I gave him a bite! I think that they still turn into a pizza joint at night ( I have never tried their pizza). They also serve Intelligentsia coffee, play good music, and don't allow cell phones in their store. Speaking of coffee--Evanston is lucky to have a Peet's coffee and tea (on Chicago, just south of Church next to the Whole Foods). Such a heady cup.

Merle's on Benson for baby back ribs. Again, not the best to be had in the Chicago area--but, in my opinion a solid, smokey B. It can extinguish the fire of a BBQ craving, if you live in Evanston and don't feel like trekking down to the far South or West sides of the Chicago. Or firing up your smoker in the snow for that matter.

For Chinese I like Pine Yard (@ Davis and Maple). Their lunch special is a great deal. And Central Street Restaurant in North Evanston (Central St. just east of GreenBay Rd.) It's sort of a drab room, but the Chinese food is tasty, and inexpensive. It seems like the woks they use have sufficient heat underneath them, so that the food comes out with that almost smoky seared flavor that true stir fried foods should have. Dishes are hit or miss, but I like anything stir fried with their dried chilis.

A guilty pleasure of mine (and many of you might disagree) is eating the decadent Philly Cheesesteak from Philly's Best (800 block of Emerson, next to the White Hen Pantry). I find it to be discusting, yet I just love it. It is a sure fire hangover cure--but it will make you a different kind of sick for sure! Hey--maybe I will start a new thread about this exact thing.

I second/third the prior recommendations for bi bim bop at J.K. Sweets. If you ask they will give you cabbage kimchee and daikon pickles as long as there aren't too many people in the store (they think the smell offends people!?). I'd stay clear of most of the other items on the Korean menu, especially the curry chicken. (Imagine Campbell's doing a soup version and then putting it over rice).

And CrossRhodes, Lucky Platter (breakfast), Evanston Chicken Shack, and Buffalo Joes (wings and a Rolling Rock) are all good bets.

I also agree that Hecky's for just fine fried chicken (and atmosphere), not ribs is the call.