The daughter was in town, the GNR renewal in tow, so we chose to hit Chuck's on Friday. Not a lot new to add to this discussion, but I do have a little info.

Friday around 7p, and the place was about 3/4 full, so we got a table immediately. I was a little surprised.

Nachos do not do much for me, but the Bride and daughter seemed delighted. You may discount that since the Bride also specifically went back this time to get the pulled pork, as she remembered it very fondly from the Christmas party. Since I neither like Chuck's BBQ, or most pulled pork, I do not get that.

Poblano cream with shrimp was a little bland and gummy this time.

But these, Chicken Quesadillas with Mole Amarillo, were just fabulous. Kick-ass, wonderful, perfect balance of heat, and rich, herbal (including a strong whiff of hoja santa) mole. Lick-the-plate delicious. Rice and salad were very good, as well. If I have three more dishes this year that are as good as this, it will be a great year.

Chuck has a whole lot of great specials in the next few weeks, running up until May 5. We were there last wednesday and had a nearly perfect meal - sopa de ajo, enchiladas de chilorio, cochinita pibil. Do try to make it there some time this month.

We plan to be there on the 29th for the fish tacos -- had them during Lent and wished I'd ordered a second batch, they were that good. The husband and I split them and split another entree, but the fish tacos were stellar and we fought over the last one.

Suzy

To bump this with a little more background for newbies: Every year Chuck's in Burbank, the Bayless-protege comfort food joint par excellence in a suburb you barely knew existed, does a multiweek blowout for Cinco de Mayo which is about the best bang for sophisticated food buck of the whole Chicago scene. (Past threads here and here, among others.) Chuck imports and even grows his own herbs and peppers you don't normally see, makes sausages, whips up tamales you never imagined possible... it's a great event and everything is painfully reasonably priced, you can eat an amazing Mexican feast for what you'll pay to valet park at hoitier downtown joints.

You can see this year's menu plans here. We went tonight and had all of these off the appetizer menu:

**Tamale Sampler

a very special smoked chile only grown in Oaxaca Mexico, we stuff it with a special pork filling , topped with black bean sauce and fresh pico de gallo. I am counting on my importer for this one!. . . $6.25— a fresh corn tamales with poblano cream sauce(uchepos gratinados), a Oaxacan banana leaf wrapped pork tamal with mole, and my favorite, a fresh herb tamal (hoja santa) cooked like polenta and topped with an Ancho-Portabella Mushroom and duck Sauce. A tamal Lovers Dream. . . . .$8.50

**Molotes de Pato— Fried masa turnovers filled with a shredded smoked duck picadillo, served with a tangy avocado-tomatillo sauce.. . . .$6.95

**Chorizo Surtidas – a sampler of three homemade sausages, Chorizo, flavored with ancho and pasilla chiles, Chorizo Verde, a garlicky sausage with jalapeno, parsley and cilantro, and Longaniza, a Yucatecan style smoked sausage flavored with achiote and sweet spices. . . . .$7.95

The molotes were very good, I really liked the Longaniza with its pungent salsa, and Chuck's tamales are always the most multi-leveled flavorful of comfort foods.

There's just a week or so left. Don't be a chump. Go.

What Mike said, especially about the duck turnovers and not being a chump.

FYI to all:

Chuck's is moving to a new (bigger) location within the next few weeks. They're currently aiming for September 1, but it's not nailed down. The current location will be closed for a few days before the new one opens, so call first if you go near the end of the month.

The new address:

6501 W 79th St
Burbank, IL 60459

Same url and phone number.

Chuck's is now open at their new location:

6501 W 79th St
Burbank, IL 60459
(708) 229-8700
http://www.chuckscafe.com

Just got back - the kitchen was getting hammered but all in all, they were doing a good job coping with it all seeing that this was the first real night that Chuck's was advertised as open and dealing with the "Check Please Marathon" airing.

The "Chuck's Special" brisket sandwich was damn good.

gleam wrote:Chuck's is now open at their new location:

6501 W 79th St
Burbank, IL 60459
(708) 229-8700
http://www.chuckscafe.com

gleam wrote:Chuck's is now open at their new location:

6501 W 79th St
Burbank, IL 60459
(708) 229-8700
http://www.chuckscafe.com

I drove by the new location a week or so ago and saw some guy's moving stuff in. Pretty big place! ... and fancy too.

I am sure there will be a few adjustments to be made.

gleam wrote:Chuck's is now open at their new location:

6501 W 79th St
Burbank, IL 60459
(708) 229-8700
http://www.chuckscafe.com

Strangely enough, Check Please showed a rerun of the Chuck's episode this afternoon. Anyone who saw it and heads to Chuck's will be going to the wrong place.

Would it be appropriate to have a small party for about 20 people here? Are they now serving liquor?

kafein wrote:Would it be appropriate to have a small party for about 20 people here? Are they now serving liquor?

I would say 'definitely so' on the party. And the attached bar -- Voodoo Lounge, where full bar service is offered -- is, I think, bigger than Chuck's entire former space. This new space is large.

=R=

kafein wrote:Would it be appropriate to have a small party for about 20 people here? Are they now serving liquor?

Let's go!

Oh ... you meant a party without us ...

it is a great place . and it is in my backyard

ronnie_suburban wrote:

kafein wrote:Would it be appropriate to have a small party for about 20 people here? Are they now serving liquor?

I would say 'definitely so' on the party. And the attached bar -- Voodoo Lounge, where full bar service is offered -- is, I think, bigger than Chuck's entire former space. This new space is large.

=R=

After driving by the new location a while ago it is in a space that appeared to be a standalone restaurant. No more storefronts for Chuck.

I wouldn't be surprised if it had a separate meeting/banquet room.

Before Chuck's moved in it was Champ's Rock Room where local metal bands would play. Prior to that I think it was a restaurant or banquet hall.

metro man wrote: . . . or banquet hall.

It definitely has this sort of look to it.

=R=

there is a small party room of to the side ofbar

I have to say that I was not blown away by the food during our most recent visit.

The (fried) taquitos were very good and the chicken fried chicken was good (didn't care for the seemingly canned green beans that accompanied it). The pulled pork was somewhat lifeless -- dry and without any discernable smoke. The carne asada was cooked perfectly but it was somewhat tough and buried in a pool of mole-like salsa (and black beans?) that completely obscured it. A side order of hotlinks was just ok. They were overcooked, dense and without any juiciness. I ordered the Super Caesar Salad with grilled chicken (yes, I know ) and it was possibly the best thing I tasted that night. The dressing, with jalapeno, was tasty and the chicken was moist and nicely grilled. A couple of appetizers were mixed. Tamale Casserole (a special), which was comprised of tamales covered in a mole-like salsa and black bean, was tasty but the Jerk-style hotwings were perfunctory. There was good heat but their was no crispiness or flavor that resonated beyond the sauce.

Probably just some temporary growing pains.

=R=

Katie wrote:

kafein wrote:Would it be appropriate to have a small party for about 20 people here? Are they now serving liquor?

Let's go!

Oh ... you meant a party without us ...

You are more than welcome, if you attended Hope Lutheran School in the 80's.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

ronnie_suburban wrote:I have to say that I was not blown away by the food during our most recent visit.

The (fried) taquitos were very good and the chicken fried chicken was good (didn't care for the seemingly canned green beans that accompanied it). The pulled pork was somewhat lifeless -- dry and without any discernable smoke. The carne asada was cooked perfectly but it was somewhat tough and buried in a pool of mole-like salsa (and black beans?) that completely obscured it. A side order of hotlinks was just ok. They were overcooked, dense and without any juiciness. I ordered the Super Caesar Salad with grilled chicken (yes, I know ) and it was possibly the best thing I tasted that night. The dressing, with jalapeno, was tasty and the chicken was moist and nicely grilled. A couple of appetizers were mixed. Tamale Casserole (a special), which was comprised of tamales covered in a mole-like salsa and black bean, was tasty but the Jerk-style hotwings were perfunctory. There was good heat but their was no crispiness or flavor that resonated beyond the sauce.

Probably just some temporary growing pains.

=R=

Concur exactly with Ronnie on this, though I'd say the pulled pork was fully lifeless (and out for braaaaaaiiinnnnnnsssss...) Tamale casserole and taquitos were the highlights - I'll heed the warning to go with the Mexican specialties next time. At least the Brunswick stew had the smoke flavor the pork was missing.

We usually make it to Chuck's every month or so. After the move we held off until a week ago to give them some time. I guess that we should have waited longer. Arrived at 6:30, got seated at 7:00 pm. They were already out of the special soup I ordered. Both of us then ordered gumbo and it came out cold (not even warm) and had to be sent back. Had a shrimp po-boy and crawfish po-boy and the crawfish were really over-cooked and dried out. I should have known better that to order crawfish this much out of season I guess although that really has no impact on cooking. Had the special bourbon pecan pie, waited for it for ever and was really disappointed and would not order it again. All in all they seem to be really having trouble dealing with the larger restaurant. Not entirely unexpected but I had hoped for the kinks to be more worked out after more than a month. We will probably wait another 2 or 3 months before we give it another try. It really is a shame since in my opinion, he has the best gumbo in Chicago and it gives us a cajun style fix while if others in the party are in the mood for mexican or barbecue, you had several options.

stopped at chuck's last night had the fish tacos crispy fried grouper . they where great

philw wrote:stopped at chuck's last night had the fish tacos crispy fried grouper . they where great

had breakfast at chuck's today B &G is not bad