Visiting Old Friends - Gene & Judes & Honey 1

Over the past couple of days, I've taken the time to visit some old favorite GNR winners that I hadn't been to in a while. Yesterday for lunch I took a drive out to Gene & Judes. While I'm firmly in the "I heart Jimmy's" camp when it comes to Chicago dogs, I wouldn't throw Gene & Jude's out of bed for eating pretzels, either. Yesterday, they were a well oiled machine cranking out dogs and fries as quick as humanly possible to the folks standing in the line that held steady at a point well past the 2nd entrance door. The dogs were as good ever, but the real news is that they have completely repaved the parking lot. What was once a half old blacktop/half gravel affair is now rich new blacktop with actual parking spaces clearly marked out in bright yellow paint. It was a great visit to an old friend. If you haven't been in a while, you owe it to yourself to take a trip for a taste of a great non-tourist dog.

Tonight, I got a last minute craving for some tips, so I headed to Honey 1, another GNR Winner I hadn't been to in a while. I had completely forgotten that Honey 1 was named the best BBQ restaurant in the city by The Reader today (so named by our own GWiv), so when I got there besides running into Giovanna, who was also waiting for some tips and links, there were more than the usual number of people waiting for take out orders and the dining room had 4 - 5 tables occupied. It was good to see, and my food was on the money, too.

I guess the point of this post is just to remind everyone that in the rush to get to the next new flavor of the week, we shouldn't forget the places that have proven over time that they at the top of their game.

Gene and Judes
2720 River Road
River Grove, IL 60171-1325
708-452-7634

Honey 1 BBQ
2241 N Western
Chicago, IL
773-227-5130

G&J's is on my flight path home from the northwest suburbs, and if it's late in the afternoon but too early for dinner, I frequently pull in for snack. Even when the line isn't past the second door, the dogs are always fresh and full of snap, and the fries...well, I try to leave one or two uneaten in the bag just to prove to myself that I have some will-power.

Glad to hear the lot has been fixed; there was one particularly treacherous faux-driveway that included an underside-scraping drop-off that I sincerely hope has been repaired.

Driving to Honey1 is such a pain for me. Probably a good thing because I'd be there every day.

I guess I'm the opposite. I seldom venture outside to new places unless the impulse is overwhelming. I'm too broke/cheap to take a lot of chances with new places unless I hear really good things about them.