Polish in the Burbs

Staying in Rosemont and a customer requested we go out for Polish Food tonight.. They have been to the buffet and were looking for something with a little more care and intimacy..

Does anyone have a really good Polish restaurant that is not too far away from where we are..

We do have cars..

Thanks in advance.

That's largely uncharted territory... but it wouldn't take you long to pop into the northwest end of the city to eat at Smak-Tak or Hortex.

or Lutnia - a little more upscale.

There are quite a few good Polish restaurants on the northwest side that have a primarily Polish-Polish clientele but that have very little coverage on LTH or CH and no coverage in Metromix. The buffets are Polish-American and unknown in Poland. Red Apple seems like the Polish Maggiano's Little Italy (quantity over quality) but with only two locations.

A sample that are relatively easy drives from Rosemont: Smak Tak, Hortex and Smakosz. I have been impressed with the food at Smakosz but haven't had enough to feel comfortable starting a thread on it.

Belmont Central has a bunch of food businesses but is more of a drive from Rosemont. Lutnia is more upscale Polish, which tends toward continental, and is a class by itself. If you go to Lutnia, there is a free multilevel parking garage on Central a half block south of Belmont. More Polish restaurants in the Belmont-Central area include Barbakan and Retro Cafe aka Retro Bar and Grill. There may be a language problem at the latter unless somebody in your party knows the Polish names for foods. I have not been there recently, but the menu had almost no English translations or descriptions when I was.

Smakosz
5619 W. Lawrence Ave. (4800 north just west of Central)
Chicago IL 60630
(773) 205-1771

Retro Cafe
3246 N Central Ave
Chicago IL 60634
(773) 777-7715

Barbakan
3145 N Central Ave
Chicago IL 60634
(773) 202-8181

ekreider wrote:There are quite a few good Polish restaurants on the northwest side that have a primarily Polish-Polish clientele but that have very little coverage on LTH or CH and no coverage in Metromix.

Another is this one.

I considered mentioning Ferajna but also thought it was a little awkward to get to from Rosemont. This is another restaurant that should have more attention here.

This is another restaurant that should have more attention here.

Well...

so...

ekreider wrote:I considered mentioning Ferajna but also thought it was a little awkward to get to from Rosemont. This is another restaurant that should have more attention here.

I agree. Imagine my chagrin when the thread I created for Ferajna ended up with a grand total of one post--mine!

Remember, there is no recommendation so obscure that someone may not act on it... eventually.

Why has the Bohemian Crystal in Westmont been ignored>The may be Slovenian but many of the foods are similar to Polish Cooking.They are located justNorth of Ogden on Blackhawk.Blackhawk is just east of Midwest(Cass) Rd.
Great food, poor mans prices, as evidenced by the number of "Q" tips who frequent them.

This place is good.. It is in Harwood Heights and its focus is on northern polish cuisine. Interestingly enough their most popular item is the kebabs.

small place.. always crowded.. seems to be a polish hangout. Had the polish platter.. it was quite good.. but hear the kebabs are the thing to have here.

Baltic Good Polish Food
7352 W Lawrence Ave
Harwood Heights, Illinois
(708) 867-8865
9:00am - 9:00pm.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baltic-G ... 5606269185

Also excellent is U Gazdy in Wood Dale. I ate their with a fairly large crowd, so we could order and sample a lot of items, and everything was astonishingly good -- soups, salads, mains. Captain's Cutlet was especially memorable -- but there was nothing that wasn't excellent.

U Gazdy Polish Cuisine
270 W Irving Park Rd
Wood Dale, IL 60191

http://u-gazdy.com/