Tufano's on Diners Drive Inns and Dives

Last night DDD did a segment on Tufano's Vernon Park Tap. I have waxed allegedly poetically about this place in the past. I think Guy F. got the essence of the joint. I will admit that the menu from top to bottem may not rank with the best Italian food in the city, but the overall experience puts it in a rarified class. From the enthusiastic greeting of the congenial host Joey, through the quick wave of recognition from one of the senior(at least 20 year) waitstaff, Judy, Bobbi or Tressa. The room is always bustling with energetic people. It could be a family celebrating a birthday; four guys prior to a Hawks game; alderman and bussiness leaders confabing about the Oympics or a celebrity from the sportsworld or the underworld.

I know the food is the most important thing, but navigated correctly (as most regulars I know do) you can have an outstanding meal. Start with a half order of fried squid, the appetizer of the 80's, hot and crispy with very little breading. I rarely order this anywhere else anymore, Capitol Grill excluded, but this is a fabulous traditional version. Next, Tufanos Special Salad, yes its overdressed but the combination of Italian American ingrediants, olives, cheese, salami, pepperocini, and roasted peppers makes for a great explosion of flavor. I would rather have arugula with blood orange, fennel, carrot and shallot, but I could not get that at my grandmothers either.

As for the entrees, three stand out. Pork chops with red peppers and potatoes. They come roasted with garlic, olive, oil salt and pepper. The chops are nicely charred but still juicy.
Chicken Piccante. Boneless breast of chicken breaded and shallow fried with butter, garlic and pine nuts. I normally dislike boneless chicken, but somehow they keep it really moist.
Lemon chicken. Charred chicken vesuvio on the bone with less garlic and lots of lemon. Those cottage fries swimming in the melange of chicken juice,olive oil and lemon. The Rao's cookbook has a recipe that mirrors the taste quite closely.

I do not order pasta very often here but if I am in the mood or want a side, I will get it with oil and garlic. You better be a garlic lover, it is almost hot, simple large chunks of caramelized garlic, oil and cheese. This garlic has not been slow roasted to a mellow finish, but retains its earthy nastyness. Shells and broccoli is another simple favorite. The best pasta dish is only available on Fridays and it is not really on the menu. Shells with the baccala gravy. Not really a fan of dried salt cod but the spicy marinara that they cook the fish in is wonderfull. Just ask for the gravy without the fish over whatever pasta you like. Trust me on this one.

For dessert, I would choose a punchino, coffee, annissete and brandy with a lemon twist served in the regular old coffee mug, not some giant snifter with sugar and spices around the rim. Not a bad touch, but not here and not at my grandmas.

That is the second reference to historical family dining. Gram has been gone a few years now but I can still smell the food and hear the laughter. That is the key to this place, it feels like home. Maybe a little tattered or outdated, but clean as a whistle. You never know who is going to come in the door to say hello. There will always be enough food. It does not matter if you are Italian, Jewish or Bohemian, the love, comfort and consistency can be felt by all.

They will make your order to go, give you half orders of almost anything, the price is fair.


For complete disclosure, Joey has become a friend of mine over the years, but I truly believe the comment would be the same. I used to take my Irish friends here in high school before Bulls games when Joey was still sweating in a crackerbox kitchen and his mom and aunt were sending food through the wall from their house. I loved it then knowing no one in the place , but I knew that I belonged.

Babaluch

Tufano's Vernon Park Tap
1073 W. Vernon Park Pl.
Chicago, IL
312-733-3393

Oh I wish I had been watching-
Tufanos has been a favorite of ours for years!
We're not in that neighborhood often, but when whenever we are,
it's our go to place...
For many of the reasons you mentioned...
I love an old-school Italian restaurant that knows how to do it right
without mucking it up.

Greatest. Eggplant. Parmesan. Ever.

Kind of surprised it wasn't featured more on the show. Love the lemon chicken and the pork chops, but the eggplant is the showstopper IMO. Also love the stuffed shells. However, it's kind of ironic that I really don't care for any of the traditional pastas.

I've been eating at the restaurant for probably 40-years. Clearly, and without a doubt - a Great Neighborhood Restaurant.

Bill wrote:I've been eating at the restaurant for probably 40-years. Clearly, and without a doubt - a Great Neighborhood Restaurant.

New GNR nominations happen in the fall. Don't forget this sentiment when nomination time rolls around.

Well it's an actual Restaurant in an actual Neighborhood, so it's already got a leg up on some of the other past GNR nominees.

Babbaluch-
I gotta say-
you nailed my Favorites here- to the "T".
The only addendum, I'd throw in-
is when I'm not all that hungry-
I'll order the House Salad to share-
and ask for a side of the Lemon Chicken Potatoes.

Divine!
And when I ask for the Shells and Broccoli- I'll ask for some extra garlic,
and then add in some of the crushed red peppers,
to taste, of course.

Joey's a wonderful "Front-Of-The-House" kinda guy- never forgets a face- always treats ya right!
Back in the day- Donny from Blackbird used to tend bar there, Tuesdays I belive.....
and it was always entertaining to watch him "work".

Truly a Chicago Classic!
Definite GNR nominee.
And - should be a "Wikepedia" entry for what-"Old School/Straight Ahead- Italian Cuisine" is.

Mea culpa, I forgot the eggplant. Absolutly my favorite rendition including my Barese grandmother. Ultra thin layers stacked high with no bitterness at all.

Babaluch

The last time I was here, you could access Vernon Pk from one of many streets, not just Racine. But then we used to get off the expressway on Morgan and go straight to Al's as well, without some pesky campus in the way. Technically, it was illegal to get off the Kennedy and merge onto the Eisenhower for the one exit to Morgan but that never stopped us, a point my mother never failed to mention. My father would laugh and that may have been the beginning of my criminal career. I was still in single digits. I was there frequently growing up and now nearly 25 yrs have passed and I can only say that I feel like it was yesterday. Same food, same decor, same everything. Nice. Wish Fanny's was still open. Or Febo's or Florence's. I wonder if the ancient red sauce Mecca of NY, Mama Leone's is still open? Doubt it.

Calamari, Lemon Chix and the Eggplant I used to love, all still as lovable. Ditto the waitress who gave us a dissertation on how she makes her giardinara. Learned a few tricks from her which I'll share. Vinegar poured over the cut peppers while being strained. The proper utensil (wooden spoon) to use and the amount of garlic (1-2 cloves in the bottom of the jar). The single leaf of "basilico covered in oil" on the top. And the mix of oil. Approx 75-25 veg to olive.

My father used to love the Spaghetti w/garlic (he'd add the dry chile peppers and cheese), which we managed not to order last nite, but I'd bet is as good as ever. It's nice to go back and have something as good as you remember. You can go home Toto.

In the summer, it was a given that we'd finish al trunko @ Mario's, back when he and my dad were still alive. I grew up eating this food both in restaurants and in my friends homes. It's as much my soul food as lox and bagels and I'll make it a point to add this back into my Chicago rotation. Now they call it "University Village". We just called it Taylor St.

Jazzfood wrote:Calamari, Lemon Chix and the Eggplant I used to love, all still as lovable.

And it was a pleasure to watch Jazzfood reacquaint with an old friend, in particular as Tufano's was dead on the mark. Genial host, lovable recipe sharing waitress, they had me at the crunchy crust Italian bread and table giardiniera, which I could easily make a meal of.

Crisp tender old school fried calamari, mussels, towering eggplant Parmesan each layer distinct, bit of bounce to the bite cavatelli, even meatballs in red sauce, which I had given up ordering at Tufano's, were best of show.

Tasty as the preceding may be it's simply a warm up for my one true Tufano's love, Lemon Chicken. Crisp bird, slightly charred, juicy, meaty, resting in a pool of lemon and garlic scented olive oil with crisp cottage fries drinking in rich goodness. Buzz the platter with mellow juice from bird broiled lemons and you have a serious contender for best bite in Chicago.

My brother who loves all things chicken favorite Chicago restaurant, next to 'Little ' Three Happiness of course, is Tufano's. When I described our recent lemon chicken outing, in mildly obscene terms, as brother's tend to do, he started planning his next visit to our fair city.

Enjoy,
Gary

So did it seem excessively busy thanks to TV, or is it the sort of place where you couldn't tell the difference between TV-fame busy and every Friday night for the last 40 years?

Mike G wrote:So did it seem excessively busy thanks to TV, or is it the sort of place where you couldn't tell the difference between TV-fame busy and every Friday night for the last 40 years?

Good question. I was worried about Tufano's being ridiculously busy, even more so than usual, so I called around 11am and asked. Person who I spoke to said there was no game that evening and the expected craziness from the very positive DDD was not expected until the weekend.

Thursday at 7pm Tufano's was busy but not crazy busy, no problem seating our party of 5. We had a comfortable table in the back room, no rush, terrific service and the party of 25 who was seated at the same time had zero impact on us.

Tufano's was in great form that evening.

Enjoy,
Gary

I've been going to Tufano's irregularly my entire life and I have never been a great fan. I appreciate the history, style, and owner. I'm sure if I lived in the area, I'd be by quite often.

They've always been in my "one hit wonder" book. The "one hit" in this case is the lemon chicken. A great many of their other dishes have disappointed me over the years, and I can't think of one single visit where I haven't felt completely rushed to eat and get out.

Despite my problems with the restaurant, I love the lemon chicken and I often get cravings for it. I watched Guy Fieri's show with great interest while they made this dish and I was surprised to learn how dead-simple this dish is. No special marinating, no special techniques, no special ingredients.

So, tonight was lemon chicken night. I followed the basic idea shown in the episode and violá, lemon chicken with fried potatoes:



It was pretty darn close. It's hard to see in the photo, but there's plenty of lemony pan juices underneath all that crisp, juicy stuff. This is now part of my regular rotation.

So, thanks for a great episode of DDD, Guy. Now I can satisfy my craving without having to head to Tufano's.

Best,
Michael

Michael,

That looks terrific! What was the basic procedure (especially the method of getting those nice crisp lemony potatoes)?

stevez wrote:Michael,

That looks terrific! What was the basic procedure (especially the method of getting those nice crisp lemony potatoes)?

The basic procedure is a cut-up chicken, seasoned and covered with garlic, olive oil and lemon juice and then broiled until done. The potatoes are cooked separately and added to a plate with the chicken and then the pan juices are poured over all of it.

I seasoned with salt, pepper, dried thyme and oregano.

Start-to-finish, the whole dish took me less than 30 minutes to make and that includes time for slicing potatoes and butchering the bird.

Best,
Michael

I almost always get the eggplant parmigiana when at Tufano's. Was there for lunch today and split a "side" of lasagna w/meat with client friend. Wow, so darn good. Sausage & Peppers were spot on as well.

I laughed today when I saw the Tufano's entry on the front page of the blog. Clicked on to it immediatly only to find that I had written the original entry. Additionally, I was set to go tonight before the Hawks game. Nothing really new to report (which is a good thing) except that they won a special James Beard award a few years ago and you may also order veal piccante. Same prep as the chicken with the obvious meat switch

Babaluch

Was fortunate enough to go for late lunch a couple Thursdays ago. Thursday is lasagna day, this version with meat. Terrific and I'm one to never order lasagna. Friend wanted to split an order.

"Side" of sausage & peppers were scarfed down, delicious.