Oh, Oh, I got one. Actually two.
I'll do a bash 'n praise, cuz I really like this place (for the things it does well) BUT:
I work in Northbrook, and head to this "Market Square" diner joint every few weeks for some good old fashioned diner comfort food. If you are a fan of split pea soup, and patty melts, or burgers in general, or a turkey rueben, and you are near this place on a Tuesday(split pea day,) your dollar per deliciousness spidey senses should be at full tingle. So anyway, once in a while, I'll go here and try something I oughtn't just on a whim, just to try something new. You know - kinda like when you're in a GREEK diner, and the special is baked mostoccioli, and even though you know you're gonna get well overcooked pasta in red sauce with huge chunks of overcooked green pepper, and maybe even carrots in it, with funky meatballs, but since it comes with a salad, garlic bread, wine, dessert for 4.95, you get it anyway? Well, sometimes, I just order things like that to say I've done it, and to teach myself the lesson of "stick with what the Greek diners do well." Anyway, I've tried two things here which I wouldn't wish on my worstest enemy. Before you read this list, please refer to what i've written earlier in that, this place can rock a patty melt, a burger, a turkey rueben ( in house real roasted) and some split pea soup pretty damn well, and for the price, I'd say it's a fantastic bargain. the half lb burgers are hand formed, and they know what med rare is all about, so, don't write them off after reading this.

1. Beef Stroganoff:
Ok, so one day I went, this was on the specials list. I ordered a patty melt. None of the daily soups on offer did anything for me at all, so I asked the server if, instead of a cup of soup, I could just get a ladling of the stroganoff in a soup cup to try it. I was in a "you just never know" kind of mood. Well, I learned. Hoo boy did I learn. So, when the table got our soup orders, we all erupted in laughter.

Um, it was pink.

It was, from what I could tell, cream of mushroom soup, fortified with ketchup, and chunks of stew meat. Oh, and the color? Pink. Like vomitous pink. The taste? Food service cream of mushroom soup, with ketchup. Enough to TASTE the ketchup i.e. corn syrup. It was sweet. SUGARY sweet. This took wrong to a whole new level.

2. Mostoccioli with sausage special. Yup, mushy noodles, bad sauce (with green pepper) and the worst sausage I have ever had. I actually think it was Bobak's bratwurst. No joke.

Market Square Restaurant (seriously - good burgers, and plit pea soup on tue)
600 W Dundee Rd
Wheeling, IL 60090
(847) 459-0601

seebee wrote:Well, sometimes, I just order things like that to say I've done it,

SeeBee,

This is the exact reason I will, someday, order the spaghetti bollones [sic] at GNR winner La Casa De Samuel. While it's true LCDS does a number of outside the box things well, cecina de venado, smelt, in addition to making their own tortillas and incredible arbol and pasilla salsa, I'm guessing bollones [sic] is not their strong suite.

La Casa de Samuel menu



Enjoy,
Gary

La Casa de Samuel
2834 West Cermak
Chicago, IL 60623
773-376-7474

G Wiv wrote:This is the exact reason I will, someday, order the spaghetti bollones [sic] at GNR winner La Casa De Samuel

.

G Wiv,

Maybe it's just me, but a bastardized version of the word "bolognese" was not what immediately sprang to mind. You said La Casa de Samuel -- I saw "bollones [sic]" -- and what sprang to mind was a word that was a combo of bull + cojones = bollones. That's what I thought was in that pasta dish.

Lunch with my co workers at TGI Fridays on Erie last week. I didn't pick the place, and the 'Southwest' Mac N Cheese was awful. Processed cheese and topped with enough panko bread crumbs to choke a horse.

I was going to waste an entire post warning the good folk of LTH forum about my recent meal at Pita Grill on N. Sheriden road, but I felt I would become sick having to remember the meal in its entirety.

I should have known something was wrong when the first menu I saw advertised burgers and other grilled staples. I ordered a falafel and hummus plate. The falafel was taken from a tray of about 30 premade balls and then promptly microwaved for freshness. The hummus was likely mass produced stuff not even deserving of Costco. And the "fresh cut fries" advertised on the front door came straight from a bag out of the freezer next to the fryer. They didn't even salt the fries. Out of same said freezer came a pita, barely warmed on the griddle.

The only saving grace: the fountain coke, which helped me choked down the atrocious meal. With so many great falafels in this city, don't waste your time or gastric real estate on this one.

Pita Grill
6604 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago IL 60626

veeral wrote:I was going to waste an entire post warning the good folk of LTH forum about my recent meal at Pita Grill on N. Sheriden road, but I felt I would become sick having to remember the meal in its entirety.

I should have known something was wrong when the first menu I saw advertised burgers and other grilled staples. I ordered a falafel and hummus plate. The falafel was taken from a tray of about 30 premade balls and then promptly microwaved for freshness. The hummus was likely mass produced stuff not even deserving of Costco. And the "fresh cut fries" advertised on the front door came straight from a bag out of the freezer next to the fryer. They didn't even salt the fries. Out of same said freezer came a pita, barely warmed on the griddle.

The only saving grace: the fountain coke, which helped me choked down the atrocious meal. With so many great falafels in this city, don't waste your time or gastric real estate on this one.

Pita Grill
6604 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago IL 60626

Next time, take yourself just about a mile west to Sahara Kabob, 6649 N. Clark St., 773-262-2000, for a meal worth the gastric real estate!

Tonight, hungry after walking for several hours in the cold, we ate at Aroma Pizzeria. Why? Why? We were not at all far from my preferred destination, Sun Wah, and all of my hints, subtle pokings, and outright demands were overruled in favor of what was the most boring pasta and chicken sandwich I have ever had the misfortune of consuming. To quote Bill Bryson, "Never have I felt so much that I was engaging in a simple refueling exercise."

aschie30 wrote:

G Wiv wrote:This is the exact reason I will, someday, order the spaghetti bollones [sic] at GNR winner La Casa De Samuel

.

G Wiv,

Maybe it's just me, but a bastardized version of the word "bolognese" was not what immediately sprang to mind. You said La Casa de Samuel -- I saw "bollones [sic]" -- and what sprang to mind was a word that was a combo of bull + cojones = bollones. That's what I thought was in that pasta dish.

This is especially disturbing if the menu's English translation is accurate: "chopped beef"

I'm caught by the Alfredo - Spaghetti with Sour Cream and Parmesan, gross.

It's been a few years since we attended a banquet at Monastero's on Devon and Crawford, and I always leave rolling my eyes at how absolutely awful banquet food can be and yet the place stays in business year after year. This was a wedding with the usual passed rice balls, bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms in the foyer, followed by the sit down piece d'resistance of their famous tasteless minestrone soup, garden-variety garden salad, chicken coated in a mystery breading with overcooked rice and veggies on the side, mushy dinner rolls, and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream served with a slice of the wedding cake. All we can figure out is that their prices are exceptionally reasonable for open bar service, although the chardonnay and merlot served were nothing to rave about and I can't vouch for the mixed drinks. Has anyone ever had a decent off-the-menu meal at this place?
>>Brent

Slice of veggie pizza from Amira Mediterranean Grill in the NBC Tower. Thick crust that would have needed a full 5 minutes more in the oven to approach being edible, and gobs of cheese making the slice weigh about 3 pounds. Seriously, the crust had the texture of chewing gum. One bite and I thought I was going to be sick.

If anyone thinks that show Kitchen Nightmares must be staged because restaurants can't really be that bad, check this place out sometime. The food is truly awful, they're usually out of half the menu items, the doors are often locked even though the posted hours say they should be open, and the owner could not appear to care less.

Talented bellydancer on Friday evenings though.

Amira
455 N Cityfront Plaza Dr
(312) 923-9311

Shame on me. My usual go-to for fast food cone gyros is Greektown Gyros. I know that I'm going to get a decent if not above average gyros and fries with chemical glop cheese that the gf loves and I find a guilty pleasure.

Sunday morning I woke up with a bit of a hangover and a hankering for some greek meat. I had woken up a bit late and didn't feel like putting on jeans and joining the rest of civilization and probably didn't have time before the Bears. Since I would be donning pajama pants and a hooded sweatshirt, ordering take out from a sit down place was not going to happen which in hindsight was really a shame. As I got ready to depart for Greektown, my sensor started going off that maybe Downtown Gyros would be better. The fact that it's always empty, I reasoned, would assure that the meat was very crispy from overwork on the spit.

I arrived and the place was empty as planned. The only remnants of other dining were the breakfast remains of another patron yet to be hauled away. I ordered for me and the lady and sat back and waited. I tried not to pay attention to the Bears because I was DVR'ing the game at home but it was hard to miss the pack carving brisket sized chunks out of their defense. I then noticed a brown mess of old fries in the bin. As I was the only patron in the place it would have been easy enough to request a fresh batch but I wanted to give them the chance to do the right thing on their own. They piled the old spuds into the bag and I was on my way.

My overthinking paid off with a nice crisp batch of gyros meat and the pita was griddled nicely. However, it could not make up for the inedible fries that accompanied. When looking at them in the bin, my guess was that they had been sitting there for the better part of a half hour. When I got them home however, I would guess they were made sometime overnight. Perhaps they were left over from the 4am crowd. The fries were somehow soggy on the outside and crumbly, dry in the middle at the same time. I thought to myself what a shame. Fifty cents worth of fries changed what could have been an entirely decent meal into a disaster.

I live pretty close but I will never return to Downtown Gyros again. In hindsight, I should have thrown on some trousers and a sweater, taken a ride to Parthenon or Greek Islands, enjoyed a fantastic meal and avoided 2 utter debacles(the fries and The Bears).

Downtown Gyros
800 W. Randolph
Chicago, IL 60607

The "Black and Blue Burger" from Brick House Tavern and Tap in DG. Apparently a new concept from the Joe's Crab Shack folks.

The burger was a thin, oblong patty, served on what appeared to be a subway roll, in terms of quality and shape. Bland, no char, with shredded iceberg and watery tomatoes. The sandwich just had no reason to exist. It should have never been made. It wasn't offensively bad, it was just... nothing.

The waitresses and hostesses were very pretty, though. I think that they're putting a lot more thought into hiring than into the menus.

From their website, since I doubt anyone else has ever bothered to photograph this particular piece of food:

Wow. Looking through that website, I can't help but notice that:

1. The concept seems to be to aggressively court the sophisticated twentysomething man-about-town who's concerned that a visit to Hooters would not quite be enough to dispel any speculation about his orientation;

2. They don't even try to make the food look appetizing. But that's not the point, is it?

With regard to La Casa de Samuel, not to beat a dead horse, but I was curious as to what the actual Spanish term might be for Bolognese. It appears that the menu spelling is correct, save for the addition of an extra l. http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/bolognese . I still think I might prefer something a bit less bolones from their menu.

gleam wrote:The "Black and Blue Burger" from Brick House Tavern and Tap in DG. Apparently a new concept from the Joe's Crab Shack folks.

The burger was a thin, oblong patty, served on what appeared to be a subway roll, in terms of quality and shape. Bland, no char, with shredded iceberg and watery tomatoes. The sandwich just had no reason to exist. It should have never been made. It wasn't offensively bad, it was just... nothing.

The waitresses and hostesses were very pretty, though. I think that they're putting a lot more thought into hiring than into the menus.

From their website, since I doubt anyone else has ever bothered to photograph this particular piece of food:

what the hell...This whole place looks like the product of way too many marketing studies.

I find it out that their "Premium Domestic Cans" are PBR and Schlitz but they strangely offer Two Brothers The Bitter End on a hand pull. They don't actually serve 169oz mini kegs in their establishment do they? Is that even legal?

KSeecs wrote:what the hell...This whole place looks like the product of way too many marketing studies.

I find it out that their "Premium Domestic Cans" are PBR and Schlitz but they strangely offer Two Brothers The Bitter End on a hand pull. They don't actually serve 169oz mini kegs in their establishment do they? Is that even legal?

I wonder if in order to add to the "hip" factor do they serve their "40s" in a brown paper bag?

Giordano's thin crust pizza. I tried 3 different preparations of this travesty at my BIL's house over the weekend. The crust was too thick and bready by half and tasted of recycled cardboard, the sauce was highly acidic and tasted of tin can. Toppings were overly abundant and the cheese tasted fake. This is just the kind of thing that gives Chicago thin crust a bad name. They should be ashamed of themselves for serving a product like this outside of rural Idaho.

stevez wrote:Giordano's thin crust pizza. I tried 3 different preparations of this travesty at my BIL's house over the weekend. The crust was too thick and bready by half and tasted of recycled cardboard, the sauce was highly acidic and tasted of tin can. Toppings were overly abundant and the cheese tasted fake. This is just the kind of thing that gives Chicago thin crust a bad name. They should be ashamed of themselves for serving a product like this outside of rural Idaho.

Hilarious, and my feelings exactly. We get stuck with this stuff in meetings at work sometimes. And to make matters even worse, they schedule the pizza to arrive at 11am (since that's when our meeting starts) but we don't get to eat until noon. At that point you could use both the crust and cheese to do drywall repair.

I'm not going to say it's the worst thing, but to that point, I had pan and thin from my favorite deep dish place, Art of Pizza (someone else ordered), and both were deeply ordinary. I'm a little surprised since I would have said that the fresh tomato sauce and spices were among AoP's strengths and should have transcended the style of pizza, but in both cases they were smothered by too much cheese and bread relative to their flavor-producing power. Just not the same.

Chicken wings from Pizza Hut. Yes, I got exactly what I deserved - I don't know how they do that to give them that unearthly texture, but it must be proprietary, because I've never encountered it before and hope never to again. It was like dining on latex prosthetic wings - I swear, the skin dissolved into foam in my mouth. Unspeakable.

Why, you ask, would someone with the taste buds and brain cells that one would assume Mhays has, eat wings at Pizza Hut? Because Sparky gets a free single-topping pizza every time he reads so many books (about once a month) and the store is walking distance from my house. Stupidly, I made the choice to just "pick up something cheap" while I was there, instead of cooking a meal for one (or opening a tin of sardines or something - I had so many other choices.) Stupidly, stupidly, stupidly.

Mhays wrote:Why, you ask, would someone with the taste buds and brain cells that one would assume Mhays has, eat wings at Pizza Hut? Because Sparky gets a free single-topping pizza every time he reads so many books (about once a month) and the store is walking distance from my house.

A "reward" like that would be enough to put me off reading for good!

I'm not saying it's The Worst Thing I've Had Lately, but to follow up MikeG's AoP dissappointment, we ordered AoP for thin crust the other night and while it wasn't a terrible pizza, it was probably much better when it came out of the oven 40 minutes previous. They're usually very good about keeping their product fresh and hot during delivery, but this time it was barely tepid. Disappointing as well.

Good friend had a LEYE for $50. Not wanting to trek downtown and wanting to max out our ordering to expense ratio we chose R.J. Grunts. I had never been and it seems like a Chicago institution- and that said it had a very convivial vibe, nice staff, and a cozy, dark and worn-in patina not unlike old haunts of my father's like pre-expansion Redamak's in New Buffalo. Glanced the salad bar- old school indeed- all I saw was iceberg, green peas, and cheddar shreds...and decided to take a pass. Burgers- sounded too big at 1/2 lb. and there is nothing more disappointing than a bad burger. I went with a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich- reminded me of the homogenous chicken patty sandwiches that I used to choke down at the high school cafeteria. Okay, maybe the chicken here had obvious full muscle grain, unlike the mechanically separated forcemeat of my youth. But food service sesame bun, wilted lettuce shreds a la BK, and a patty dipped in hot orange salad dressing held long enough to disintegrate the breading to a wet cardboard-like consistency. Blech.

It was cold, I'd been walking by the sign advertising their corned beef hash forever, they're in my building, so I ordered the corned beef hash from Old Timers Restaurant the other day.

Appeared to be straight from the can, and served with a side of hash browns straight from the freezer bag. Oh, and white toast straight from a 50's sitcom. Truly unfortunate.

Tofutti Cuties.

No, the suckage of these is not just that they're a "healthy" soy-substitute pseudo-ice cream, although I usually am against that, but I actually think they're pretty good and believable as those things go. The trouble was, they'd been lost in the downstairs freezer for, well, many months. And it turns out they absorb refrigerator flavors really, really well. And it turns out I've apparently been storing a used ashtray from my grandparents' house in 1967 in my freezer.

Had the snow day/cold weather day off Friday so my wife and I decided to stop for a bite to eat. I should have known better but I saw "Cheeseburger in Paradise" on Butterfield and Finley in Lombard and decided to see what the early hype was about. As you can probably deduct, its supposed to give you the feeling of the tropics but it reminded me more of eating in someone's decorated basement. Our waiter introduced himself and "welcomed us to Paradise." It was so canned that it had to come out of some planning session at corporate. He them proceeded to visit us a total of four times including the time when he asked me "How is everything" when I actually had just taken my first bite of food. I'm sure that they are programmed to do that but what a pain in the ass it was.

The two cheeseburgers were ok but mine (a medium rare by the way) was charred on one side so much that I had the lovely taste of charcoal on my tastebuds. The two cheeseburgers w/fries and an ice tea each set us back 24 dollars and change and I'm kicking myself now considering that I could have stopped off at Katy's or Taco Grill had had a more reasonable and much tastier lunch.

Ann Fisher wrote:It was cold, I'd been walking by the sign advertising their corned beef hash forever, they're in my building, so I ordered the corned beef hash from Old Timers Restaurant the other day.

Appeared to be straight from the can, and served with a side of hash browns straight from the freezer bag. Oh, and white toast straight from a 50's sitcom. Truly unfortunate.

I walk by there on my way to work everyday, but I've only eaten there once -- a dry, chewy French Dip sandwich with fries that were probably from the same freezer bag as your hash browns. Old Timers strikes me as a great place for a blue-collar drink after work, but not much else. A shame, since good diner food is sorely lacking in the loop.

Lykorian wrote:. Old Timers strikes me as a great place for a blue-collar drink after work, but not much else. A shame, since good diner food is sorely lacking in the loop.

It's not quite that bad. Decent soups (especially bean and split pea), decent burgers and patty melts (which they're happy to cook to order), okay eggs and omelets. Oh, and a very fine grilled cheese. But certainly not a destination.

Good to hear. I'll keep it on the list for when I need a good grilled cheese-and-soup fix.