Good lunch near UIC?

Hello all, I've been a long time lurker, but I've ended my silence to ask a little question. I'm a student at UIC, (harrison and halsted) and have lived near Carm's and Fontanos, right off of Taylor. I've exhausted all the restaurants around UIC, and this coming month, I'll have some free time for exploration during the afternoons. What are some must try places for a good lunch within a 30 min of my area? (no car, public transport or walking)

Thanks!

Oh, yeah, keep in mind I'm a student-- can't afford $30 meals just yet.

A great place to start is a search limited to Eating Out in Chicagoland like...

Taylor Street
UIC

Welcome to posting on LTH!

Have you ever been to Manny's?

twixordeath wrote:What are some must try places for a good lunch within a 30 min of my area? (no car, public transport or walking)

Here are a few places you can get to with a single bus ride. All are pretty cheap—generally under $10 for a hearty lunch.

Straight down Halsted on the #8 bus is Healthy Food (3236 S Halsted), a nice old Lithuanian spot. I'm fond of their breakfasts but you can get a good stick-to-your-ribs lunch too. A little farther south is Ramova Grill (3510 S Halsted) for 1920s-style chili and simple but well prepared diner food. Ed's Potsticker House is also on Halsted (3139) but I'm not as big a fan as many here and I don't think the menu is ideal for a solo lunch (or do they have lunch specials?).

You could also hop on the #18 bus (or Pink Line) and visit Pilsen. If I had to choose a single place it would be Carnitas Uruapan (1725 W 18th) but the earlier you can get there the fresher the carnitas plus you have a shot at getting some cactus salad.

Another option would be the #7 bus on Harrison to Doggy's S S Soul Eatery (2815 W Harrison), for some of Chicago's best soul food. Thursdays in winter they serve smothered rabbit, a great plate of food. The neighborhood may be a little bleak but inside it's cozy and friendly.

If you have a little more time you could take the #60 bus to La Villita/26th Street. Lots of restaurants to choose from but Birrieria La Barca (4304 W 26th) is a current favorite of mine.

You should be able to find more information on these places by searching this board. I don't believe Doggy's has been mentioned here, an unfortunate oversight that I ought to remedy soon. Meanwhile, here's a nice report from Mike Sula.

Hmmm... I used to go there and had the same issue too. I could only eat so much from Thai Bowl & Pompei.

Try:

-Nuevo Leon on 18th st. (Great chilaquiles for only 3.50)
-Manny's Deli was a good rec.
-Meli Cafe in Greektown
-Lou Mitchell's on Jackson (get their 2 eggs scrambled, with bacon & toast - will fill you up for the whole day - and only $6)
- Artopolis on Halsted is a great cafe.

Let me toss Palace Grill into the mix.

Palace Grill
1408 W Madison St
Chicago, IL 60607
312-226-9529

Just a few blocks north of UIC on Morgan and Washington is Wishbone. You can get a really solid lunch there for $10 or less.

1001 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 850-2663

If you're around the neighborhood on Sundays, don't forget GNR winner Maxwell Street Market.

Not to mention there are other GNRs close by in the area: Al's, Mario's, White Palace Grilland the aforementioned Manny's. The GNR map is one good way to find good food that's most easily accessible to you.

Chinatown is easily within 30 minutes of UIC by public transpo - lots of good options down there, though it's a lot more fun sharing with others vs. solo dining (can order/sample more dishes). Of course you can always post to the events section to see if some people might want to hook up for a lunch.

Kman wrote:Of course you can always post to the events section to see if some people might want to hook up for a lunch.

You mean like this?

stevez wrote:

Kman wrote:Of course you can always post to the events section to see if some people might want to hook up for a lunch.

You mean like this?

The eternal dilemma - which comes first, reading (and posting to) the Eating Out or the Events section?

I used to eat lunch at Tufano's on Fridays (that was the day I had a 90 minute break between classes right around lunch time). It's right on Vernon Park Place, across from the BSB. The food is fair to good depending on what you order (like the eggplant parm), but the best deal is the inexpensive pasta on the chalk board ($5.00 for pasta, bread and a drink). I can't vouch for the quality now as it's been at least 5 years since I've eaten there, but it was better than some of the other stuff on campus and you can't beat the location if you don't want to stray all the way down to the strip on Taylor Street.

Tufano's
1073 W. Vernon Park Pl.
Chicago, IL 60607

Don't forget Ferrara Original Bakery at the "other" end of Taylor Street. The UIC bus or #38 iirc will get you there quickly.

http://www.ferrarabakery.com
2210 W Taylor St
Chicago, IL 60612

Good homemade soups & lovely pignolati.

Nearby are a number of other casual lunch spots that serve the Tech Park & IMD such as Granddaddy's (subs), Lulu's Hotdog's, Papi's (Mexican, our office likes their tortas), & a couple of pizza places.

ETA - Tufano's is as great as ever, I was there last month for lunch. The only reason why we don't go more often s we end up spending two hours gorging on the lemon chicken & fried calamari.

Busy Burger on Taylor Street.

Rene G wrote:Ed's Potsticker House is also on Halsted (3139) but I'm not as big a fan as many here and I don't think the menu is ideal for a solo lunch (or do they have lunch specials?)

Ed's does offer lunch specials. Most dishes are between five and six dollars. Here are the details:
11 am - 3 pm, Monday - Friday.
All specials include 1 egg roll or 2 crabmeat rangoon; steamed rice; cookie; and choice of a soft drink or soup of the day (5 items total).
The English-language lunch specials include many American Chinese classics.
The Chinese-language lunch specials (which aren't translated on the menu) include:

24. savory thin potato strips with fresh chili *
25. chinese bok choy with shitake mushroom
26. stir-fried celery & lily flower
27. stir-fried eggplant Beijing style *
28. sauteed string beans with garlic
29. mapo tofu *
30. stir-fried chicken with bean paste
31. kung pao chicken *
32. chicken with hot peppers & bamboo shoots *
33. stir-fried tofu with shrimp
34. twice cooked pork *
35. shredded pork with garlic sauce *
36. shredded pork with onion & soybean paste
37. shredded pork with fresh chili *
38. stewed pork belly with seaweed *
39. stewed pork belly with cellophane bean noodles
40. shredded pork with pickled cabbage & peas
41. shredded pork with pickled radish
42. stewed pork belly with mushrooms & preserved tofu
43. sauteed beef & bitter melon
44. mongolian beef
45. mushu pork Beijing style (no pancakes)
46. stir-fried preserved pork &
47. chinese sausage Hunan style *
48. stir-fried pork stomach & liver with garlic
49. shredded pork with bamboo
50. stir-fried pork intestines with garlic
51. stewed beef with potato
52. stir-fried beef stomach with cilantro
53 (54?). sauteed pork stomach with fresh chili *
54. manchurian sourkraut with bean noodle
55. stir-fried pork kidney *
56. sole fish fillet with pickled caggage
57. Szechwan shrimp (with shell)
58. shrimp (with shell) in tomato sauce

Items 46/47 appear to be one dish, and there is one missing because the numbers don't quite sync up with the menu. Ran was so kind to translate this for LTH, and I'm transcribing it from handwritten notes. So, it could be my error. I wanted to correct it, but I've been too busy. I thought I would post it as-is, just to let people know what's available. I'll cross-post in the proper Ed's thread.

I lived on Laflin near Taylor for 6 years in my twenties. Our go to place was the Illinois Bar on Taylor, could not beat that deal- Huge burgers and buckets of beer real cheap. I miss those days.

Any updates to this? I will be banished to UIC land, shuttling between Damen and Halsted, for a couple of weeks. Would love recs for breakfast, lunch and dinner, within walking distance.

Lunch is very serviceable and affordable at Acropolis on Halsted, just a quick 5 min walk from campus (combos of spanikopita or other greek pies with avgolemono or greek salad for instance). Meli has decent brunchy type food for breakfast / lunch. If you're in to the kitsch, Greek Islands does what they do well for lunch and dinner. La Sardine is a very good classic bistro place with prix fixe specials, but once you're headed that way you could get to Randolph and all that jazz. The big news on campus is the new Au Bon Pain in the BSB building, which is a huge improvement in campus dining.

There are tons of restaurants around there, in just about every direction. If you are going to be closer to Damen and like Korean, I like Dosirak, 1514 W Taylor. For dinner around there, check out Davanti Enoteca, 1359 W Taylor St. More generally, Taylor street is full of restaurants. If you search the forum for restaurants on Taylor, you'll get a lot of other bits of info. For breakfast, people recommend Stax, 1401 W Taylor St. I haven't been there.

On Halsted, I'm a big fan of Artopolis, 306 S Halsted St, and Nine Muses, 315 S Halsted St. I also like the larger, older Greek Places. If you like gyros, Parthenon does an especially good job (314 S Halsted St). Athena (212 South Halsted) has a really nice, large outdoor seating area. You feel like you are eating at a resort.

Ghareeb Nawaz's UIC outpost is at 807 Roosevelt (at Halsted, basically inside Powell's books).

If you are willing to walk a little bit further, I love Bombacignos, an Italian deli/sandwich shop at 558 W Van Buren St.

You are also a short cab ride from Nightwood, The Publican, Publican Quality Meats, etc.

Darren72 wrote:You are also a short cab ride from Nightwood, The Publican, Publican Quality Meats, etc.

In case the OP is only interested in lunch, please note that Nightwood and The Publican are not open for lunch. Publican serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, and opens at 3:30 on weekdays. Nightwood serves brunch on Sundays.

=R=

If you are at Damen probably the Tri-Taylor spots are a little closer for you than the ones just east of Ashland. In Tri-Taylor there is Ferrara's (mentioned above), Takoz (very good small taqueria), and the west branch of Conte di Savoia, with excellent Italian sandwiches. These would all be lunch-only options.

East of Ashland on Taylor and not yet mentioned, there is the main branch of Conte di Savoia, also with great sandwiches. Patio for Italian beef (I prefer it to Al's, in fact). Couscous for Arab/North African (not great but the only Arab option). A branch of Lito's empanadas. The just-opened County barbeque (mentioned by Hammond in a recent post). Scafuri's bakery has re-opened and is serving sandwiches along with selling bread and pastries. They open at 6 am so that would be a light breakfast option (except on Monday when they are closed). Sweet Maple Cafe is another breakfast/lunch place. Three Aces has been praised for their burger (I haven't been).

Sabor Express on Taylor a short block west of Racine USED to be entirely Brazilian and we liked it quite a bit. It recently changed to Mexican and Brazilian (hmm...) We haven't been in since the change: hopefully the Brazilian items are still good but I don't know if the same people are still running it, or what.

mellonhead wrote:I used to eat lunch at Tufano's on Fridays (that was the day I had a 90 minute break between classes right around lunch time). It's right on Vernon Park Place, across from the BSB. The food is fair to good depending on what you order (like the eggplant parm), but the best deal is the inexpensive pasta on the chalk board ($5.00 for pasta, bread and a drink). I can't vouch for the quality now as it's been at least 5 years since I've eaten there, but it was better than some of the other stuff on campus and you can't beat the location if you don't want to stray all the way down to the strip on Taylor Street.

Tufano's
1073 W. Vernon Park Pl.
Chicago, IL 60607

I eat at Tufano's on a regular basis, their eggplant parm is one of the best in the city IMO. Stay away from the "light" entrees here as Tufano's does not execute "light" well, but for "heavy" items such as red sauce or vesuvio etc, Tufano's is well worth a look into. Bacalhau is always served on Fridays.