Take Me Out - Pilsen, Great Sea Wings

LTH,

Great news, according to Mike Nagrant (MJN) at Hungry Mag.com the daughter of the owners of Great Sea, of crisp plump sweet hot chicken drumette fame, is opening a Pilsen branch. Good news all around as Great Sea Korean style drumettes are one of the best bites in Chicago.

Great Sea Chicken Wings



Enjoy,
Gary

Take Me Out
1502 W 18th St.
Chicago, IL
312-929-2509

Great Sea
3254 W. Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
773-478-9129

Thanks, Gary! I can see my weekly weaving through 18th street to pick up Honky Tonk or birria now including a second stop for spicy chicken wings.

Seriously, 18th street is becoming a food mecca, what with Don Pedro Carnitos, Mundial Kitchen, Take Me Out, Nuevo Leon etc...etc...I'm psyched because it'll save me a ton of driving for chicken wings.

I wonder if they are open yet?

Mmmm...

I live in the neighborhood and have been keeping tabs.
There's a sign on the door now, and it says they open on March 18th. I'm really excited to try it!

Thanks for the info. I live north, but this sounds GOOD!

Stopped in to get some chicken wings tonight. It looked like they were doing a good amount of take out orders and even a large group of teenagers/college students from the neighborhood eating in at about 5ish.


It seems as though there is a small menu right now. The wings are called"Little Hotties" I ordered the family serving for 10.99 for me and my better half. This also comes with a large serving of rice. ( 12-15+ pieces, I 'm not sure. I didn't count) You could also get a single 5.99 or party for 18.99.
I tried to order spicy chicken soup, but they said they didn't have it yet. The menu was small with regular Chinese appetizer orders and also beef and shrimp bowls.

I have to say I was disappointed that the wings didn't look exactly like Great Sea wings ( chicken lollipops) or least like the pictures (which looked and sounded amazing.) Take me out's were simply wings and drummettes in a tasty sweet and hot sauce. The spicy was pretty hot which was nice. I thought they had nice crispiness and the sauce was spicy and addicting. I'm sure I'll be back to try it again soon.
Today was their first day, so I'm sure they are still figuring out what works best, but I am already hungry for more and thinking of taking a trip up to Lawrence Ave to get a taste of the original!

Well...

Since I had not tried the Chicken Lollipops at Great Seas and their sister (daughter?) take-out location had just opened on the southside I figured we were ripe for a wing comparison.

Right after work I picked up My Bride and we made our way north to Great Seas.

Our mission was simple and included 2 stops so we just ordered some egg rolls and the wings.



Great Seas Chicken Wing Lollipops

Great as expected! They were fried so the skin had a wonderful crunchy bite and the sauce was nicely sweet with a light heat that built up slightly. Also the sauce had caramelized on the wings making them nice and sticky.

Ate about half the order and pushed on. The restaurant was almost full as we left about 7:30.

After a longish drive (also got in the middle of a car chase between a small white car and several police cars on the Kennedy!) and before too long we were looking for parking on 18th. A short walk and we were there.



Take Me Out Menu

We ordered the same (price about the same) and sat and relaxed while waiting for our order. The decor is nice with a modern flair. A few congrats on the grand opening plants arranged here and there.

It didn't take long and our food was ready. I knew that they didn't serve the wings lollipop style like the mother store but as long as the had the same crispy skin and sauce I was going to be happy.



Take Me Out Little Hotties (wings)

Yup! Very similar. I have never minded the othe parts of the wings and the lollipop presentation is mostly for looks although it does serve to bunch the skin into a nice little crackle crunch.

The serving of rice was about 4 times the size at Take Me Out and with a little of the wing sauce and a dash of soy... Mmmm.

The nice plates, tea and carmelized sauce at great Seas does give it an edge but the wings were great at both locations.



Another nice 18th St addition!

Panther in the Den wrote:Yup! Very similar.

Good news indeed, thanks for doing the leg, or in this case wing, work.

After talking with my bride she mentioned that the wings at Great Seas was juicier due to the larger pieces.

LTH,

Getting past the slight embarrassment of ordering a family pack of Little Hotties from the attractive young woman at Take Me Out's counter, I thought they compared favoribly with the original Great Sea version, in other words, damn tasty.

Little Hotties


Spicy Noodle soup had noticeable heat, and was evocative of a Korean style fish soup. Egg Rolls and Crab Rangoon were well fried and tasty examples of the breed.

Egg roll, Crab Rangoon


Karen, owner of Take Me Out and daughter of owner of Great Sea, said she makes everything in-house, including a flavorful hot sauce for dipping.

House-made Hot Sauce


Karen, owner Take Me Out


Menu, Take Me Out


Friendly staff, quick service, reasonable prices, good food and a well lit comfortable, if somewhat minimalist, dining area.

Bonus points for being steps from BomBon Bakery

Enjoy,
Gary

Take Me Out
1502 W 18th St.
Chicago, IL
312-929-2509

BomBon Bakery
1508 W. 18th st.
Chicago IL 60608
312-733-7788

Great Sea
3254 W. Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
773-478-9129

Chicago Tribune mentioned in today's At Play section

Loved the Little Hotties, rice, house-made hot sauce, and crisp, stubby egg rolls. I think I might pick up some of the larger orders as appetizers for parties from time to time.

Also excellent: bubble drinks. They've added mango to the lychee and avocado depicted on the menu behind Karen on the sign above. A mix of fresh fruit and powdered base and good chewy jelly bites makes for a refreshing counterpoint to the spicy food. An 'orange chicken' special seems geared to attract the airport-Chinese-seeking crowd, which they probably need to keep things moving.

I was there at 7:30-ish tonight, and two folks in the BomBon family were chowing down on wings! They finished and left before I did, and when I walked past the bakery on my way to the car, they waved from inside as they were closing up shop.

I thought you guys would want to know, Take Me Out's kitchen was partially gutted by the 18th Street fire that destroyed BomBon bakery the morning of Monday, August 11th. I interviewed Karen Lim for Drive-Thru over at Gapers Block and she told me she intends to reopen in two or three months' time. The interview is here

http://gapersblock.com/drivethru/2008/08/15/pilsens_take_me_out_taken_out/

and I posted photos of the damage on my flickr here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicagocarless/sets/72157606750815603/.

I hate to be the bearer of (hopefully) temporarily bad news. I'm totally addicted to the lollipop wings, and I miss them already!

Welcome to LTHForum, Mike! Congratulations on the new gigs at Gapers' Block and the Chicago Huffington Report.

Thanks, Ann!

Ann Fisher wrote:Welcome to LTHForum, Mike! Congratulations on the new gigs at Gapers' Block and the Chicago Huffington Report.

Yes, welcome and congrats. Sorry to hear the bad news has extended to Take Me Out, the couple of times I've talked to Karen I quite liked both her and her wings. I hope they bounce back.

Enjoy,
Gary

Given that GWiv informs us (on the CND thread) that he might nominate Great Sea for their Hot and Spicy Fried Wings next year, and given the new LTH regime that says that once a restaurant is nominated for a GNR, we can no longer visit (Just Kidding!), I decided to get some of those lollipop-style wings now, so I can speak my piece.

They are superb: just endorphin spicy without losing the taste of the chicken. An inspired mix of the hot and the sweet and the flavorful and the fatty. The best chicken wings I can recall in quite a while. I don't know if Great Sea is a Great Neighborhood Restaurant, but these are Terrific Neighborhood Wings.

She's coming back! Karen Lim told me yesterday Take Me Out is reopening in Pilsen on Saturday, October 18th--with free hot wings, too! I scribed about it on Gapers Block here: http://gapersblock.com/drivethru/2008/10/11/drivethru_exclusive_take_me_ou/index.php

GAF wrote:They are superb: just endorphin spicy without losing the taste of the chicken. An inspired mix of the hot and the sweet and the flavorful and the fatty. The best chicken wings I can recall in quite a while. I don't know if Great Sea is a Great Neighborhood Restaurant, but these are Terrific Neighborhood Wings.

Gary,

I should point out you posted in the Take Me Out thread, which is run by the daughter of the owner of Great Sea, very similar wings, but Take Me Out is on 18th St in Pilsen.

Speaking of Take Me Out, thanks for the heads up Mike Doyle, that is good news indeed. In other Take Me Out news, Julia Thiel reports in the Reader Take Me Out is offering free samples on 10.18.08* to celebrate reopening after the fire.

Enjoy,
Gary

Edit to reflect correct free wing date, thanks Mike Doyle

Take Me Out
1502 W 18th St.
Chicago, IL
312-929-2509

Great Sea
3254 W. Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
773-478-9129

Gary, I believe the Reader was just reporting on what I reported in Drive-Thru. The free samples are Saturday 10/18, not today. Or I'd be there already!

Mike Doyle wrote:Gary, I believe the Reader was just reporting on what I reported in Drive-Thru. The free samples are Saturday 10/18, not today. Or I'd be there already!

Mike,

Thanks,

I edited my post above. The Reader did not have a date listed and I assumed, incorrectly, they meant today.

Enjoy,
Gary

I am at the grand reopening now. Nothing has changed. I am thrilled to report the Little Hotties are still FABULOUS!!!

Mike Doyle wrote:I am at the grand reopening now. Nothing has changed. I am thrilled to report the Little Hotties are still FABULOUS!!!

This is great news. I wasn't able to go today, but I will definitely make the short jaunt from my place of employ in the very near future.

I ordered some little hotties for take-out on Sunday. Just as Hungrymag.com reported, they are now serving lollipop style ala the original Great Sea Wings. The taste was great, of course. We also ordered mix of all of the appetizers. I really liked the shrimp and veggie rolls. I'm glad they made such a speedy recovery.

blueorigami wrote:I ordered some little hotties for take-out on Sunday. Just as Drive-Thru reported, they are now serving lollipop style ala the original Great Sea Wings. The taste was great, of course. We also ordered mix of all of the appetizers. I really liked the shrimp and veggie rolls. I'm glad they made such a speedy recovery.

Actually, from the start Karen was serving lollipop-style wings. What has changed with the reopening is she's decided to dump the Buffalo-style wings in favor of only serving lollipop wings.

The only thing I wouldn't order is the boneless little hotties. It's not the same part of the chicken or the same preparation and just isn't as good. A friend ordered them once and I felt like telling him, "If you're afraid to eat a bone-in chicken, don't hang with a foodie."

Boneless chicken

Mike Doyle wrote:Actually, from the start Karen was serving lollipop-style wings. What has changed with the reopening is she's decided to dump the Buffalo-style wings in favor of only serving lollipop wings.

I'm thrilled if she's doing the little cut-and-roll like at Great Sea, which I think makes for a crispier exterior and moister interior. However, what I observed on a handful of visits prior to the fire was that she had unprocessed drumettes (the little chicken-leg-like segment of the wing), not the actual lollipops like at her folks'. Can you confirm that she's actually processing them now so that they look like this:



(photo G Wiv from upthread)

I thought I'd posted already, but yes, Take Me Out serves the Great Seas style wings. Before the fire, they served them on request and it was a $1 upcharge if you were getting the family size ($12 instead of $11). I haven't been since they reopened, so I don't know if the prices have changed or anything.

From Hungrymag.com

Owner Karen Lim also says that she’s decided to go away from the Buffalo wing style in favor of the Great Seas Chinese restaurant (owned by her folks) “lollipop” style from here on out. She says, “I hate to admit it…but parents are always right!”

They indeed look, and I presume taste similar to the original Great Sea Wings. I don't think the price has changed, but I'm not sure. I never knew lollipop style was available before the fire. I never saw it advertised, but I suppose you had to ask (?)