Eating out in Andersonville

I'm relatively new to the neighborhood and am looking for some valued opinions.

There seem to a plethora of options on Clark between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr, but I need your help in pointing me to the good stuff.

Any and all suggestions/opinions/experiences are welcome (aside from the obvious Hopleaf, of course)!

Thanks LTH!

My two most frequented on that strip.

Anteprima
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13337&hilit=anteprima&start=0

Sunshine Cafe
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5186&hilit=sunshine&start=0

Hi,

I hate replying like this, but really it is the most practical:

Use the search function for Andersonville, then limit your choices to topic titles only. This along brings up 21 threads on various places in your neighborhood.

If you search Argyle, as in Broadway & Argyle, either topic title or general, you will learn of the Chinese and Vietnamese options nearby.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I hate replying like this, but really it is the most practical:

Use the search function for Andersonville, then limit your choices to topic titles only. This along brings up 21 threads on various places in your neighborhood.

If you search Argyle, as in Broadway & Argyle, either topic title or general, you will learn of the Chinese and Vietnamese options nearby.

Regards,

No problem Cathy, however I do know how to use the search function.

It did return some good matches, but I feel like it's a big enough neighborhood with plenty of good dining options that it's deserving of it's own thread.

Why not consolidate all to one place? I like consolidation!

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I hate replying like this, but really it is the most practical:

Use the search function for Andersonville, then limit your choices to topic titles only. This along brings up 21 threads on various places in your neighborhood.

If you search Argyle, as in Broadway & Argyle, either topic title or general, you will learn of the Chinese and Vietnamese options nearby.

Regards,

Another strategy I like to use in situations like this is to get a list of restaurants in Andersonville from a site like Yelp or Metromix (or create my own list of interesting-looking places by walking around the neighborhood, as the OP has done), then type individual names of places into the LTHForum Search function to see what people here have had to say.

JmH wrote:I'm relatively new to the neighborhood and am looking for some valued opinions.

There seem to a plethora of options on Clark between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr, but I need your help in pointing me to the good stuff.

Any and all suggestions/opinions/experiences are welcome (aside from the obvious Hopleaf, of course)!

Thanks LTH!

I would also agree that Sunshine Cafe and Anteprima are good bets. I like the pizza at Mista. Only been there once but thought it was worth it to go back if you want a quick bite. Reasonable on the wallet too.

Hopleaf would be another place I would recommend but just on the weeknights. Weekends are too busy and crammed to really enjoy imo.

You can also pop your address into Google Maps. Use the "search nearby" function and enter "site:lthforum.com" into the search box. You'll get all of the places mentioned on LTH where people posted an address along with links to the relevant threads. A very useful approach that I use all the time.

BTW, I was just at Anteprema last week and had a great dinner. I would highly recommend it.

Anteprima is probably my most-frequented restaurant on the strip, followed by Hopleaf.

I've tried many of the places in Andersonville and if I had to pick one favorite it would be Taste of Lebanon, with Sunshine Cafe the runner-up. Taste of Lebanon has been unflinchingly consistent over the years. Their lentil soup is the best iteration I've ever tried, and the other menu items are fresh and flavorful. I usually order the Beef Chawarma wrap (I think that's the spelling they use there), taboulleh, or baba ganouj. Great value for lunch or dinner.

Taste of Lebanon
1509 W Foster
Chicago, IL 60640
773.334.1600

It won't get much "foodie" love being a fairly large (read not hole-in-the-wall and a bit generic) place and not trendy at all but Calo's is consistently solid fare (and good thin crust pizza) that's very reasonably priced. I LOVE Anteprima but my non-foodie SO likes a more casual, basic menu and environment and since I know others often are faced with trying to find a place that will satisfy a wide variety of tastes, a place like Calo is pretty valuable. Others may disagree, but I've never had a bad dish (love the Braid Salad and the grilled octopus) and the price is always right

JmH wrote:I'm relatively new to the neighborhood and am looking for some valued opinions.

There seem to a plethora of options on Clark between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr, but I need your help in pointing me to the good stuff.

Any and all suggestions/opinions/experiences are welcome (aside from the obvious Hopleaf, of course)!

Thanks LTH!

I like Big Jones, Anteprima and Great Lake, and think that In Fine Spirits is a more-than-solid liquor store (though their bar/food didn't blow me away). I've never been (so shoot me) but I know that Sunshine Cafe is very highly regarded around here, as well. If you use the search feature, you can easily find threads about all of these places. I'd also recommend Pasticerria Natalina but Natalie seems to be quite down on fatties and foodies as of late so if you're either, best to use caution.

=R=

Big Jones
5347 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 275-5725

Anteprima
5316 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640-2114
(773) 506-9990

Great Lake
1477 West Balmoral Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 334-9270

In Fine Spirits
5418 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640-1210
(773) 334-9463

Sunshine Cafe
5449 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640-1220
(773) 334-6214

Pasticceria Natalina
5406 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640-1210
(773) 989-0662

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'd also recommend Pasticerria Natalina but Natalie seems to be quite down on fatties and foodies as of late* so if you're either, best to use caution.

Wow, the verbal diarrhea she seems to be unleashing onto her Twitter account is pretty obnoxious. To borrow her own example, I would rather eat Hamburger Helper than patronize her business. At least that Helping Hand dude shuts the hell up & lets me eat my dreck in peace (and all that's expected from me is a pound of ground meat).

* Twitter link removed in a small attempt to avoid giving the shrill harpy any additional exposure

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'd also recommend Pasticerria Natalina but Natalie seems to be quite down on fatties and foodies as of late so if you're either, best to use caution.

I just went over to that twitter feed linked. Oh my goodness!

Regards,

I'll second the nods for Calo and Big Jones and add Hama Matsu. Good little neighborhood Japanese place, BYOB, very nice owners, too. Swedish Bakery is one of the cities' best, too.

Cathy2 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'd also recommend Pasticerria Natalina but Natalie seems to be quite down on fatties and foodies as of late so if you're either, best to use caution.

I just went over to that twitter feed linked. Oh my goodness!

Regards,

I wish I knew which article/blog/site led to this. My wife, parents, and I walked by a few weeks ago after hours. She happened to still be there and opened up for us. Even though we took a while to make decisions, she was incredibly gracious and friendly to us. I've loved every bite I've had of her food. Some of it is expensive and the rest of very expensive.

Advising against Mista for pizza. I went there a while back and it was extremely mediocre bordering on Totinos-style cardboard.

Pasticerria Natalina but Natalie seems to be quite down on fatties and foodies as of late so if you're either, best to use caution.

So much anger.

I'll agree with the Anteprima recommendations. I also like Ras Dashen - after a few sub-par experiences at other restaurants, it was here that I first really enjoyed Ethiopian food.

Ras Dashen
5844 North Broadway
Chicago, IL 60660-3518
(773) 506-9601

With all the Anteprema recommendations, I guess I'll have to go back and give that place another try. My one visit was very underwhelming and I've never gone back. Maybe it was an off night.

stevez wrote:With all the Anteprema recommendations, I guess I'll have to go back and give that place another try. My one visit was very underwhelming and I've never gone back. Maybe it was an off night.

It's the best Italian restaurant in Chicago.

Re: Natalie - I have been in to PN the 3 of last 4 Sundays and they are actually very nice in person. So is her husband. You may disagree with what she has written but I give her credit for saying what she feels.

All in all, you're really not going to go too wrong with any choice in Andersonville. I would suggest just wandering around the neighborhood and exploring yourself. These are the most memorable dining experiences for me:

Hopleaf for moules frites (expect a wait)

M. Henry for a great brunch (expect a wait)

Taste of Lebanon for falafel. The same family owns the Middle Eastern grocery store across the street. They have, hands down, the best falafel and the best hummus I've ever had. You can actually order falafel by the dozen at the grocery store. I make special trips from Logan Square to Andersonville just to go to this store.

redhanded wrote:The same family owns the Middle Eastern grocery store across the street.

Are you certain about this? I could've sworn their pita comes from Al Khayameih on Kedzie.

jesteinf wrote:You can also pop your address into Google Maps. Use the "search nearby" function and enter "site:lthforum.com" into the search box. You'll get all of the places mentioned on LTH where people posted an address along with links to the relevant threads. A very useful approach that I use all the time.

here you go

in addition to all these great suggestions:

it doesn't get much favor here but I would add Hamburger Mary's. sure, it's kind of tacky (though i think it's merely "kitschy") and we have a surfeit of "gourmet burger" places of late, I still think they serve darn good food.

The Middle Eastern Grocery on Foster makes good spinach cheese pies.

Taste of Heaven has pretty good baked goods.

I think Kopi Cafe is a nice place to relax with a book or laptop, very casual.

Edgewater Lounge is one of my favorite low-key bars in the area. Serviceable tavern food.

tapler wrote:

redhanded wrote:The same family owns the Middle Eastern grocery store across the street.

Are you certain about this? I could've sworn their pita comes from Al Khayameih on Kedzie.

Actually, I am not certain about this: I heard it 3rd hand. I'm pretty sure the falafel are supposed to be the same. It does not appear the Middle Eastern Grocery makes their own pita, so it's conceivable that both are true.

Thanks for the responses! I was a bit worried that we might take a turn for the counterproductive and end up with a, "use the search function, gnoob!" type of thread.

However, this yielded some solid results. Looking forward to checking out Sunshine Cafe and Anteprima.

Also, jesteinf, awesome google maps tip, I'd never think to do that.

JmH wrote:Thanks for the responses! I was a bit worried that we might take a turn for the counterproductive and end up with a, "use the search function, gnoob!" type of thread.

However, this yielded some solid results. Looking forward to checking out Sunshine Cafe and Anteprima.

Also, jesteinf, awesome google maps tip, I'd never think to do that.

I hope you'll let us know where you end up and how it was.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I hope you'll let us know where you end up and how it was.

=R=

I plan on it.

The Edgewater Lounge (Ashland & Bryn Mawr) for their Friday night fish fry is excellent.

For sushi, we were big fans of Sushi Luxe (Clark & Foster) and Tanoshii (Clark & Bryn Mawr).

For late late night dining or just a hidden spot for a drink, we would stop by the Fireside (Ravenswood & Rosehill)

I echo the rec for Taste of Lebanon. Another great spot for some Middle Eastern variety is Shan's Grocery (Sheridan & Winona). It's got an odd little restaurant in the back of the grocery. There were many snowy winter nights we hiked over there for a rich thick spicy dinner.

We liked to walk, so the hike to Moody's Pub (Broadway and Thorndale) for a burger wasn't a disincentive. They've got a great garden to eat in, but inside is pretty cozy in the wintertime.

If you've got a vegetarian in the group, I recommend Alice n Friends (Broadway & Ardmore).

Depending on your definition, of course, Shan's is not Middle Eastern. It's Indian or Indo-Pakistani food. It's also a GNR and you can find a dedicated thread here.

FWIW, I had great memories of Moody's but it's been forever since I was there, so I stopped in last weekend. I would call the burger I got--the basic Moody Burger (or whatever it's called)--definitively mediocre. Overcooked, despite the fact that they specifically ask, not juicy, and not particularly flavorful. The fries were pretty good, though. I'm not rushing back.

Also, as discussed elsewhere, Alice and Friends is now The Loving Hut. It used to be on our regular rotation and fell out for no good reason. We revisited recently with happy stomach and found the food as excellent as ever. Completely redone inside--old regulars won't recognize it--brightly painted, spotless, almost aggressively cheery. But all three of us really enjoyed the food.