Chicago ex-pats with a layover at O'Hare-- lunch thoughts?

We learned a lot from this forum's GNR list, and love many of the selections. Layover on Wednesday afternoon for about 4.5 hours. First idea was a cab to Hot Dougs and back, but they're closed for the holiday week. Any other suggestions? Thinking about Kuma's, but I suspect the wait to sit might be too crazy? We arrive about 1PM, for what it's worth. Any thoughts welcome, thanks!

Where did you go when you asked for and received brunch recommendations? How was it?

How was the meal you had at Schwa after posting to ask for advice?

Knowing these answers might help people make better recommendations this time

lettezilla wrote:We learned a lot from this forum's GNR list, and love many of the selections. Layover on Wednesday afternoon for about 4.5 hours. First idea was a cab to Hot Dougs and back, but they're closed for the holiday week. Any other suggestions? Thinking about Kuma's, but I suspect the wait to sit might be too crazy? We arrive about 1PM, for what it's worth. Any thoughts welcome, thanks!

When I was at Kuma's last Wednesday, at about 1:30pm, there was at least one open 2-top available and two sets of two seats at the bar. By 2pm, though, there was a bit of a wait.

But still, I suspect the wait at Kuma's at 1pm on a Wednesday is shorter than the wait at Hot Doug's at 1pm on a Wednesday, amazingly enough.

On the hot dog/burger front, you'll be (relatively) close to both GNR Winner Gene & Judes and GNR Winner Paradise Pup. Either one of those places are worth the trip and close enough to O'Hare that you won't be pressed for time. For that matter, you're withing striking distance of GNR Winner Johnnie's Beef also.

Have yourself a little tour if you can find a cab driver who would be on board. Call the places first, and then have your stuff ready to rock when you get there. You could easily do Las Asadas on Lee St in Des Plaines if you were planning on Paradise Pup (Lee street is right along side river road.) Gene & Judes would be ten minutes S right on river rd as well.

Burger at PP, Tacos at Las Asadas, and Chicago dog at GJ (Although, I'd do a combo at Johnnies instead of the dog, but that's me, and it's a little bit further.) Have some fun with it if you think that would be fun, I guess. The taxi situation would be a possible issue. Taxis would be tough to come by at all places, but you could definitely call for one. I might get stuff to go and make johnnies the last stop, and have a grand meal outside there. Then call for a taxi to take you back to the airport for a nap until your flight. - P.s. my favorite sub sammich around is at a place called "Alpine Food Shop" 7538 W. North Avenue. which is just W of Johnnies. IF you could pull this off, and it sounds fun, my hat's definitely off to you. Sounds like fun to me. If I could swing it, I'd offer to drive, but I'm outta town.

Sabatino's, just off the expressway at Irving Park.

http://www.sabatinoschicago.com/

We lived not far from there, and the ride to and from O'Hare during non-peak times was always harmless.

Flamingo's for creative seafood-focused Mexican, 10-15 minutes from the airport by cab.

Where did you go when you asked for and received brunch recommendations? How was it?

How was the meal you had at Schwa after posting to ask for advice?

Yes, 2. My first thought is that you should post a follow-up about your epic trip to Chicago last month. My next thought is that you should read the very lengthy threads about Burt's and Great Lake and decide for yourself, given all of that information, which sounds most appealing.

I'm glad I got over my initial distaste for your series of posts which seemed to have little purpose besides plugging your blog.

Kenny Z - ................take it easy. I'm thinking of retracting my birthday wishes.

Other than the fries at Gene n Judes, i don't see a reason to pass up Paradise Pup. (PP will chargrill dogs for you, which I love).

I'd recommend the following, as others have:

1) Cheddarburger and Polish sausage (charred, dragged thru garden) at Paradise Pup.

2) Head 5 minutes north from Paradise Pup to Las Asadas and get the steak tacos (incredbile in corn tortilla, but IMO much better in flour tortilla).

3) Very close to the airport on River Road (10 minutes from Paradise Pup) is Gibson's steakhouse. Go to the bar and get the amazingly flavorful ribeye steak sammich on ciabatta. It's the best steak sammy in the world and never been anything less than spectacular.

How about a little Korean soon dubu chijae at Chodang. Nice article written on Chodang last year by LTH contributor & James Beard Foundation nominee, Mike Sula. They have one of the best examples of this classic korean stew in the Chicago area.

Another thought is to head to the Mitsuwa market also in Arlington Heights for a stellar bowl of tonkotsu ramen at Santouka. You can mill around the wonderful market there and check out the great selection of Japanese products.

And if you're motivated, you can go another direction altogether and hit the Arlington Heights outlet of Johnnie's Beef right down the road (easy walk) afterwards.

Have fun.

Chodang Tofu Restaurant
1719 W Algonquin Rd
Mt Prospect, IL
(847) 956-8638

Mitsuwa Market (Santouka)
100 E Algonquin Rd
Arlington Hts, IL
(847) 956-6699

Johnnie's Beef
1935 S Arlington Heights Rd
Arlington Hts, IL
(847) 357-8100

PIGMON wrote:Another thought is to head to the Mitsuwa market also in Arlington Heights

If you like Greek food, Yanni's is in the outlot at Mitsuwa.

If you don't want to take a cab and you have the extra time, you can take public transportation to Flamingo's Seafood as well as Mitsuwa. Take the CTA Blue Line to the first stop (Rosemont station), and catch the Pace #606 bus which goes by both places. For bus schedules see the Pace website.

I have to second or third Johnnie's. If not Hot Dougs or Kumas, then an Italian Beef from Johnnies will net you good food + a good chicago experience. Arlington Heights works fine and is close to the airport. Gene and Judes is also another one I second.

Johnnie's Beef
1935 S Arlington Heights Rd
Arlington Hts, IL
(847) 357-8100

stevez wrote:On the hot dog/burger front, you'll be (relatively) close to both GNR Winner Gene & Judes and GNR Winner Paradise Pup. Either one of those places are worth the trip and close enough to O'Hare that you won't be pressed for time. For that matter, you're withing striking distance of GNR Winner Johnnie's Beef also.

This post pretty much echos my sentiments exactly.

Here's a question to help you decide: What do you miss most from your Chicago days? If it's hot dogs, go to a hot dog place. If it's pizza, go to a place for deep-dish. Etc.

A couple of months ago I was meeting an out-of-town visitor before they left from O'Hare, and I wanted to show them great deep-dish. (Heck, I love it too!) We went to the Lou Malnati's location in Elk Grove Village, about 10-12 minutes from the airport; I phoned ahead with our pizza order. The place was in the middle of nowhere, i.e. an industrial area. The pizza was superb, as good as any single-crust pizza I've ever had in Chicagoland, which is quite a compliment indeed. So I can vouch for that particular location.

wow, i clearly never explored the western burbs well enough! If we’re over for a longer trip at all, I really would love to try some of these places.

Seebee and ghazi, I love the idea of a food tour of those kinds of places, what a clever idea. I’m kind of thinking that tacos and burgers and hot dogs and fries plus a 9 hour flight might cause a visit from the pepto fairy, though, so I might have to pick one.

Chodang sounds interesting and really unique to me, plus relatively healthy food for sitting on a long flight. that might be a selling point if my husband hasn’t had too much tofu on his recent trip.

Nsxtasy, that is definitely a key question. While I feel guilty going back to the old favorites we found when we lived there, to some extent that list is already so long that we don’t need to add to it, plus those places are on that list for a reason, which may sway me to give Kuma’s a punt (and maybe just eat scooter’s custard if they’re too busy!)

Kennyz, you have a totally valid point, and to be honest made me feel pretty crappy and guilty about being someone that generally reads this forum rather than posts (which is probably exactly the result you were looking for). I can only give a couple of rationalizations—the simplest is that I only spend a few days in Chicago at a time at the minute, and when I leave, my mind goes back to Boston—posting a review gets pushed back on list of key things to do until I simply forget. So completely my fault, and I’m sorry if that pisses you off.

I didn’t post more about Schwa because I asked one question—is it open or closed—and a lot of people that are more knowledgeable than me replied very quickly saying “open.” Sure I could have posted a complete review of the meal, but there wasn’t much of a point in me answering my own question as everyone knew about the gas leak at that point. I don’t post reviews, especially of tasting menus, because I usually have forgotten the details of what I ate by the next morning (and if the wine was good, by the time I’m walking home)

I didn’t post about brunch because my mom pulled rank and picked some random place (Bistrot Zinc) that ended up being pretty crummy and hadn’t been suggested by anyone here, plus as above I was a bit lazy and forgetful.

In my experience online, forums like this have a pretty high reader/lurker to active poster ratio. I don’t consider myself to be a Chicago food expert, so leave it to people who have strong/expert opinions, and learn from them. I don’t post much but do tell places when I go there based on the GNR list that that’s how I found them, and recommend the forum to my friends who are visiting Chicago. I’m really glad that so many people on this particular thread have been so nice and helpful because to be honest, posts like yours are exactly what makes people stop visiting a forum—there’s nothing like being made feel guilty and unwelcome on the internet to keep one loyal!

Anyway, sorry for the novel people who are just trying to be helpful about food around O’Hare, like I said, I was feeling pretty upset by the jabs and wanted to take a minute to explain myself. Thanks for understanding…

Lettezilla, here's your chance to give back:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=25199

lettezilla wrote:I don’t consider myself to be a Chicago food expert, so leave it to people who have strong/expert opinions, and learn from them.

Sure, others may have strong opinions, more experience, and may disagree with you. That doesn't make your opinions and experiences any less valid.

Of course you're welcome to lurk, but you're even more welcome to join in the fray and tell us what you think.

lettezilla wrote:I didn’t post about brunch because my mom pulled rank and picked some random place (Bistrot Zinc) that ended up being pretty crummy and hadn’t been suggested by anyone here, plus as above I was a bit lazy and forgetful.

While I do find KennyZ's snarkiness (or is snarkiosity?) to be a little off-putting, you really should not sell the value of your opinions (good or bad) short. For instance, just a couple of lines about why you found Bistrot Zinc's brunch pretty crummy, would be very helpful information for those of us who are faced with making that choice someday. Say I get together with some friends for brunch next weekend and one of them suggests Bistrot Zinc, I would have some ammunition to shoot down the idea, and for that I would be eternally grapefruit.

edit: I guess I would second the suggestion of Paradise Pup, but be prepared for a line there too. Unfortunately, many of Chicago's "hidden gems" ain't so hidden any more. Still, it is worth the wait, and in many ways I prefer it to what kuma's offers (although they are completely different beasts). Only warning, they just have a counter inside, and when the place is crowded, it is impossible to eat there without slopping your cheese and chili fries on somebody. If the weather is nice, they have limited outdoor seating, but there are tons of cool Forest Preserves in the area along the river.

d4v3 wrote:...I do find KennyZ's snarkiness (or is snarkiosity?) to be a little off-putting,...

lettezilla wrote:Kennyz,...posts like yours are exactly what makes people stop visiting a forum—there’s nothing like being made feel guilty and unwelcome on the internet...

I Do It Daily wrote:Kenny Z - ................take it easy. I'm thinking of retracting my birthday wishes.

If you think I'm obnoxious on the internet, you should see what people have to deal with in real life.

Honestly, I have no intent to offput, guilt, or unwelcome anyone. I just think the forum works best when there is both give and take, and I express that opinion in my snarky but lovable nature. You should take my opinion with a huge grain of salt, as I take the opinion of people who think Kuma's corner is remotely worth the wait.

Smak Tak is a 15 minutes' drive from O'Hare.

well in the end, the shortest recommendation won out, so thanks to cilantro!

we took a cab to smak tak and really enjoyed it. tons of food, lots of flavors, very cozy in the rainy weather. reasonable prices as well. there were several other people there, which seems to be unusual according to the other thread. would totally go back, and would recommend to people living there.

wouldn't recommend our route back to the airport, though. glanced at google maps and found a station to walk to that was maybe .75 miles away. got there to discover it was a (useless) metra stop rather than the blue line, whoops, should have zoomed in more! walked up to harlem, so another 1.5 miles or so, mostly not raining. was very glad we had rolling backpacks as the sidewalk disappeared at several spots. managed to get there in one piece and the positive spin was that we'd been absolutely stuffed after pigging out at smak tak, and felt vaguely human again after that walk.

thanks again!