What to eat on jury duty in the Loop

The two weeks and a day I spent on jury duty at the Daley Center are the longest stretch I've done of daily work in the Loop since March First (or as they spelled it in those wacky dotcom days, marchFIRST-- or as we sometimes anagramatized it, crramhFIST) blew up in late 2000. One thing that quickly became apparent is, the Loop's choices are a LOT better than they were in my daily work day. I mean, even if you're stuck eating lame sandwiches, there's no way that Cosi isn't a big improvement on Wall Street Deli or Subway. And since I was trying to go vegetarian part of the time— figuring I'd end up grabbing fast food for the kids too often in the evening— I found the choices there surprisingly decent. So here are my notes on things I grabbed in my relatively few moments away from courtroom 2811, the Daley Center:

Cosi— I hit this three times the first week. After having their tomato-and-mozzarella sandwich on Monday,I was kind of craving it the next day, it's so simple and tasty despite the fact that the mozzarella is nothing special and fairly flavorless. The second time, though, I forced myself to try the pizza. It's simple, that's for sure, but somehow I wasn't that wild about its mere mix of crushed tomatoes and cheese on Cosi bread; it was fresh and basic without making the jump to interesting. I went back Thursday or Friday, I forget, and had the tomato-and-mozz sandwich again. That was a mistake, never eat the same thing twice in one week, that's just being boring. Anyway, Cosi isn't free of plasticness, to be sure, but it's pretty good and real for a sandwich chain.

Sopraffina— This was a real food alternative back in the day, and the grilled veggie sandwich was more imaginative and restauranty than Cosi's, but I don't know that I'd travel that far for it now, as I once did. Or maybe didn't, I think I mainly only ate there when it was straight downstairs at the Amoco/Aon building.

McDonald's— got dragged to the one in the Theater District one day. How can things not be fresh at lunchtime in the Loop? Yet a QP was dried out and lukewarm. Lame.

Lavazza— I got coffee a couple of days at this Italian coffee chain, but the one time I tried something for breakfast, a raisin roll kind of thing, it was way over the hill and dried out.

California Pizza Kitchen ASAP— their basic vegetarian pizza is really unimaginative, same things you'd find on a veggie pizza at Chuck E. Cheese— green pepper, black olive, onion, oh boy. I was splitting it with someone else or I would have tried to get something better.

Oasis— Did I dare go home again to the middle eastern restaurant I had eaten at at least weekly all through my Leo B. years (1991-5) and much of the rest of that decade? Knowing that it had just reopened in its old place, I had to, even as I suspected my tastebuds for middle eastern food had grown far more sophisticated in the interim. Well, they had, and I'm not going to claim Oasis is great ME food, but it's not bad, and for the Loop, it's a nice slice of ethnic realness that gets you away from the chains— just as it was in the 90s.

Caffe Baci— Grabbed coffee here a couple of times, too, and one time I had a pain aux chocolate that was first-rate, it really was. However, this place also has the concession for lunches brought in to people who can't go out (such as juries on deliberations), and the stuff that was made to the county's spec was (surprise) pretty lousy, and didn't make me want to check out lunch there on my own dime.

Indian Buffet— I can't remember if this place had an actual name; I think it's just an Indian buffet being offered by the 7-11 downstairs. Anyway, as noted in the thread, there's an assortment of entirely decent Indian food which you can get either by paying $10.99 to load up your plate, or $6.99 a pound. I went the former way because I couldn't decide if Indian food would tend to be heavier than average.

Hannah's Bretzels— I tried this well-liked upscale sandwich place once a year or so ago and wasn't that excited by what I had. This time, though, I ordered a Spanish ham and cheese sandwich— and it was terrific, honestly, good enough to be considered for my ten best list, what with the flavorful jamon serrano, a sweet-citrusy spread and thin slices of onion that tasted like they'd been soaked in something (red wine vinegar?) All in all, a remarkably good sandwich for lunchtime in the Loop.

I work in the loop and on the days I don't get around to packing a lunch Sopraffina and Hannah's Bretzels are nearly always my go-to places, with a sometimes stop at Cosi. Luckily for me all three are in my building (or in connected buildings), so even in winter I don't have to travel far (or outside) to get to them.

Ha, I was reading through that list and thinking, "Why not just go to Hannah's?"

By the way, it's always been sliced fennel on the serrano and manchego sandwich -- either they ran out or they changed it. For me, that's the go-to sandwich there (or else the Black Forest ham and gruyere, also quite tasty).

Yes, that's it. I thought it was shaved onion marinated for some kind of herbal-y flavor, but now that you say that, that's exactly what it is.

I promise I paid more attention to the evidence in the case than I did to the contents of this sandwich...

No Ruby of Siam?

A coworker off mine reported getting some off-menu Thai fried chicken there. When I tried though I just wound up with regular fried chicken wings. Everything else I've had there has been really good though. The lunch buffet is actually quite good (for a buffet).

In my experience trying cases the past 15 years at the Daley Center it has been common for judges to give the jury at least 1.5 hours and usually closer to 2 hours for lunch on days (most days) when witnesses schedules do not require a shorter hour long lunch. Judges have long lunches to permit the lawyers to conduct a lot of the more mundane tasks of the trial at a time when the jury isnt stuck in the jury room wondering why there is a holdup. These generous time windows would seem to allow for jury lunches beyond the immediate vicinity of the courthouse yet i am always amazed by the number of jury badged people i see going into the McDonalds directly across the street from the Daley Center. I guess people are intimidated by the loop if they dont regularly work downtown (i often hear this from my clients). I often cab it from my office at Washington & Dearborn to Chinatown, Randolph St., Division St, etc. I almost always can make it back to work within 1.5 hours with Chinatown being the wildcard as cabs are sometimes tough to find. Manny's is definitely doable in that time frame.

For whatever reason, a Cook County courtroom workday only realistically equates to 2 hours of testimony in the morning and two hours of testimony in the afternoon give or take a half hour on each end. For those people who have jury duty you can usually expect to be done no later then 4:30 or 5pm on a typical day. While I have picked and conducted countless jury trials I have never had the pleasure of sitting on one myself. While it is a terrible inconvenience to a regular persons life to have to put everything on hold for jury duty, the lawyers, litigants and judges really appreciate the sacrifice. I hope the reward was much greater then the paltry $17 per diem you receieved.

Well, in our case (possibly because we tended to start a little late?) we were more often given "an hour" which translated into 50 minutes in practical terms. So I didn't roam as far afield as I might have.

It was interesting, for sure. I'd just as soon not do it again for a decade, but I can't say I'm sorry I did it once, even for two weeks and change straight. One thing that helped, I think, was that because it was civil, they seemed to pick smart, verbal people from all walks of life for the jury. I have heard that criminal juries tend to reject the same sorts...

iblock9 wrote: I often cab it from my office at Washington & Dearborn to Chinatown, Randolph St., Division St, etc. I almost always can make it back to work within 1.5 hours with Chinatown being the wildcard as cabs are sometimes tough to find. Manny's is definitely doable in that time frame.

A lot of people are intimidated by the judge and the jury process. When I served jury duty in McHenry Co., I could have made it home and back but did not want to risk being late and being admonished by the judge. Also, for many people, taking a cab costs a lot of money and is not part of their everyday experience. Also, if you are working, a lot of employers do NOT pay jury duty so you are already taking a hit on your pay. Under those circumstances, I would be packing lunch.

iblock9 wrote:For whatever reason, a Cook County courtroom workday only realistically equates to 2 hours of testimony in the morning and two hours of testimony in the afternoon give or take a half hour on each end. For those people who have jury duty you can usually expect to be done no later then 4:30 or 5pm on a typical day. While I have picked and conducted countless jury trials I have never had the pleasure of sitting on one myself. While it is a terrible inconvenience to a regular persons life to have to put everything on hold for jury duty, the lawyers, litigants and judges really appreciate the sacrifice. I hope the reward was much greater then the paltry $17 per diem you receieved.

It COULD be a lot worse. In McHenry Co., you show up once and call in for the rest of the days. I served on one case that took less than two hours and about seven minutes to deliberate. In Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, you had to show up at 8 am everyday and stay until 5 pm Monday through Friday EVEN THOUGH there were no cases starting on Friday. It was a complete waste of time.

Mike G wrote:Caffe Baci— Grabbed coffee here a couple of times, too, and one time I had a pain aux chocolate that was first-rate, it really was. However, this place also has the concession for lunches brought in to people who can't go out (such as juries on deliberations), and the stuff that was made to the county's spec was (surprise) pretty lousy, and didn't make me want to check out lunch there on my own dime.

Baci has surprisingly good bread on their standard sandwiches--A nice crusty roll with good chew. They also carry a few tasty side salads, notably their "tuscany salad" which is a bean salad with olive oil.

I cannot abide by their entrees though. Simply awful.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:

Mike G wrote:Caffe Baci— Grabbed coffee here a couple of times, too, and one time I had a pain aux chocolate that was first-rate, it really was. However, this place also has the concession for lunches brought in to people who can't go out (such as juries on deliberations), and the stuff that was made to the county's spec was (surprise) pretty lousy, and didn't make me want to check out lunch there on my own dime.

Baci has surprisingly good bread on their standard sandwiches--A nice crusty roll with good chew. They also carry a few tasty side salads, notably their "tuscany salad" which is a bean salad with olive oil.

I cannot abide by their entrees though. Simply awful.

Best,
Michael

Totally agree, although sometimes the bread on the sandwiches gets a little gross from sitting in the cooler for long periods. Usually when I get a sandwich from Baci I'll make a minor change to what's on the sandwich, which apparently forces them to make an entirely new sandwich from scratch (which results in infinitely better bread).

jlawrence01 wrote:A lot of people are intimidated by the judge and the jury process. When I served jury duty in McHenry Co., I could have made it home and back but did not want to risk being late and being admonished by the judge. Also, for many people, taking a cab costs a lot of money and is not part of their everyday experience. Also, if you are working, a lot of employers do NOT pay jury duty so you are already taking a hit on your pay. Under those circumstances, I would be packing lunch.

In the mid-90s I tried a case in Joliet. During lunch one of the jurors went down to the riverboat to gamble. This was back in the day when they actually sailed and sure enough they took off with the juror on board. The juror didnt come back from lunch and the judge kicked him off the jury and entered a contempt order against the poor guy. The guy then showed up mid afternoon and the judge called a recess, held a hearing and fined the guy $500 and sent him down to lockup for the rest of the afternoon. The lesson to be learned is never piss off the guy in the black dress.

jesteinf wrote:Totally agree, although sometimes the bread on the sandwiches gets a little gross from sitting in the cooler for long periods.

I'm fortunate to have a very early schedule, which means I eat lunch around 11am. This works very well in the loop, ensuring that I never wait in line and always get freshly made food when I go out.

Best,
Michael

As someone who works right across the river from the Loop, I was interested in seeing Mike G's list. I normally brown bag it, so this list is useful for those days when I don't have leftovers and I don't have time to make a sandwich.

I appreciated what Mike G said about Cosi because I've always liked this chain.

Cosi isn't free of plasticness, to be sure, but it's pretty good and real for a sandwich chain.

The tandoori chicken sandwich, while phony compared to real Indian food, is a heck of a lot more interesting than most fast food.

A friend once offered me half of the Spanish ham and cheese sandwich from Hannah's Bretzel's described, and I would concur that it's quite good.

Another option if you can't be away from the Daley Center for too long is Wow Bao on State. No, it's not Chinese bao, but it's pretty tasty.

Several other suggestions for a quick and easy (non fast food) lunch near the Daley Center:

Rosebud To Go in 3 First National Plaza

Chase Bank Cafeteria--on the lover level of Chase Bank. Some decent options including a nice carving station and fairly reasonable prices.

Cardozo's Pub (Washington between Lasalle and Wells)--Subteranean restaurant that has a suprisingly decent French Dip sandwich

Petterino's- Sit at the bar and have a soup and salad or the very good Chicken Hash with Shired eggs. The rest of the menu is dreck.

Heaven on Seven- The days of the long wait are behind us, also there is always a place at the counter.

Don't forget about Pastoral's Loop location which is a very short walk from the Daley Center.

Yeah, it's also smart to figure on potentially losing 10 minutes waiting for security and an elevator, so 50=40 minutes. I stuck fairly close to, and nothing that would take terribly long (which I'd worry about places that had table service). Otherwise, you're looking at the hairy eyeball of the law, minimum.

One really nice thing though was that I was able to pick up a bunch of stuff at the farmers' market the first Thursday, and nobody batted an eye that I brought big bags of produce into the middle of a trial (nor did I have to put it through the metal detector). Unfortunately, by the second Thursday we were all deliberating, so no leaving the premises during the day.

I'd be pretty hard-pressed to recommend any Loop carry-outs; after 22 years working down here, I've seen a fair number of good places come and go (mostly go). Ninty-five percent of the time, I brown-bag it. Jaffa has two locations near Daley Center (in the State of Illinois bldg and in a cellar at Clark and Madison) that dish up a pretty good, decently priced roast turkey sandwich and some nice vegetarian alternatives. After that I'm pretty much stumped.

UPDATE 10:25 am: I forgot one other place, though kind of a walk from Daley Center -- Specialty's at Lake and N. Wacker. It's a west-coast bakery chain that turns out a good sandwich and fresh desserts.

Paul Mollica wrote:Jaffa has two locations near Daley Center (in the State of Illinois bldg and in a cellar at Clark and Madison) that dish up a pretty good, decently priced roast turkey sandwich and some nice vegetarian alternatives.

Actually, there is a Jaffa in the upstairs of the food court at Clark/Lake. There is also a McDonald's in that building, as well as Chen's Chinese, Popeye's, Subway, a generic Greek hot dog/Italian beef stand, Dunkin' Donuts and I forget what else. I don't particularly recommend any of these places, except Jaffa.

I would recommend, near the Daley Center, Tuscany Cafe. The food at least tastes like it might be prepared on site. The soups tend to be particularly good, or at least better than they need to be.

Tuscany Cafe
77 W. Wacker Drive
Chicago IL 60601

BR wrote:Don't forget about Pastoral's Loop location which is a very short walk from the Daley Center.

I love all of the sandwiches from Pastoral but be warned -- half the loop seems to love them, too. Unless you call ahead, the wait can eat up a good chunk of lunch break time.

My friends and I are big fans of Seven on Seven in Marshall Fields/Macy's. Fronterra Fresca's soups are outstanding, as are the tamales (I think the other items are over-priced). The new grill (from Marcus Samuelson) was good, too. Though I wasn't asked about done-ness on the burger (it came out squarely medium), it was still very good. The fries were excellent, if a little over-seasoned. One quibble -- you get a serving of slaw, but it amounts to, roughly, a tablespoon. I'm guessing it's meant as a burger topping. I should hope it's meant as a burger topping. We generally skip the other stations.

ETA: Speaking of Hannah's, too, their new club sandwich is amazing. Compeltely gratuitous with oven-crisped proscitto, turkey, avocado, etc., but really, really good. I'm not sure if it's at their Loop location (though I can't imagine why it wouldn't be), but it's certainly at the Illinois Building spot.

Bump.
Gotta go tomorrow. Trying to decide between Ruby Of Siam, Indian Buffet, Pastoral, or any new additions to this scene?
Also, where is this Indian buffet? (assuming it's still there - the one that is above a 7-11.)

seebee-

For my two days of jury duty this past summer, I enjoyed my one lunch out at Hannah's Bretzel. We had at least 90 minutes for lunch. My second day was spent in the jury room with terrible take-out from America's Dog.

-Mary

seebee wrote:Bump.
Gotta go tomorrow. Trying to decide between Ruby Of Siam, Indian Buffet, Pastoral, or any new additions to this scene?
Also, where is this Indian buffet? (assuming it's still there - the one that is above a 7-11.)

On jury duty a few weeks ago, I found that we were released for lunch at different times. If you can get to Xoco before 11:30AM, before the wave of lunchers rolls in, that'd be my rec.

seebee wrote:Bump.
Gotta go tomorrow. Trying to decide between Ruby Of Siam, Indian Buffet, Pastoral, or any new additions to this scene?
Also, where is this Indian buffet? (assuming it's still there - the one that is above a 7-11.)

I would definitely recommend doing a recon trip before counting on the 7-11 buffet...a few coworkers & I tried to go a few months ago, and were told that it was "closed for some time". My efforts to get a less vague time frame than "some time" proved fruitless, and we ended up a block up the street, eating bun at Billy Goat Tavern (they were called "cheezborger" on the menu, but neither "cheez" nor "borger" were easily spotted with the unaided eye).

The lines at Pastoral aren't nearly as bad now as they apparently were a year ago, or even a couple months ago when the weather was nicer...just last week I rolled into the Lake/Wabash location at 12:15 on a Tuesday, and was out the door with my sandwich 10 minutes later.

If you're a groupie, you could also follow Dan's recommendation from last year and head over to Seven on Seven in Macy's for some Frontera Express (or whatever the kids are calling it these days).

Lunch Rolls might be a bit of a stretch if you've got less than an hour, but otherwise it should be doable for you.

Edit: Forgot to add, the 7-11 is on the southwest corner of Washington & Wells.

There's a new Middle Eastern sort of place - kabobs, felafel, etc - on Wells just south of Madison on the east side of the street. It's not bad if you're in the mood. Longish lines. May be some difficulty finding a seat. Sorry I can't recall the name...

Benjyehuda at 212 W. Van Buren sounds somewhat interesting -- I've been planning to go but haven't made it there yet: http://www.benjyehuda.com/website/index.html#/news

Prices are low enough so you won't use your full day's jury duty pay on one meal.

Agreed, Benjyehuda sounds very interesting. It would be great to get some decent falafel and shawerma downtown.

seebee wrote:Bump.
Gotta go tomorrow. Trying to decide between Ruby Of Siam, Indian Buffet, Pastoral, or any new additions to this scene?

Some of the places I've liked:

+Perry's (Franklin betw. Randolph & Lake St.)
+Gold Coast Hot Dogs (Wabash Ave. betw. Randolph & Lake St.)
+Pastoral (Lake St. E. of Wabash Ave.)

And I've recently been tempted to give Elephant & Castle a try for a Brit Pub Grub lunch (Lake & Wabash). I'll probably soon give it a try.

teatpuller wrote:There's a new Middle Eastern sort of place - kabobs, felafel, etc - on Wells just south of Madison on the east side of the street. It's not bad if you're in the mood. Longish lines. May be some difficulty finding a seat. Sorry I can't recall the name...

That's Mezza. I've only been once...it was decent enough. Kinda a similar style, setup, & feel as Roti, but with more menu choices.

The 7-11 hasn't had Indian food in quite some time. I believe they now advertise pizza by the slice in their upstairs area...have not had any desire to investigate that further.

Serious question: what explains the wave of Israeli-style falafel fast food places in the Loop? A casual visitor to our fair city might notice the Jaffas, the Haiffas, the Mezzas, the Rotis, I Dream of Falafel, Benjyehuda, not to mention old standby Oasis and others, and think Chicago has a falafel joint on every corner (rather than a beef stand or taqueria). It's a strangely concentrated grouping of fast food that isn't otherwise all that common.

PS, ironic that Habibi is looking for good falafel and shwerma downtown, as all of the above offer both (though none are apparently good.)

JeffB wrote:Serious question: what explains the wave of Israeli-style falafel fast food places in the Loop? A casual visitor to our fair city might notice the Jaffas, the Haiffas, the Mezzas, I Dream of Falafel, Benjyehuda, not to mention old standby Oasis and others, and think Chicago has a falafel joint on every corner (rather than a beef stand or taqueria). It's a strangely concentrated grouping of fast food that isn't otherwise all that common.

PS, ironic that Habibi is looking for good falafel and shwerma downton, as all of the above offer both (though none are apparently good.)

I've noticed this for sure. Yet I have to walk about 6 blocks for a decent hot dog.