La Grange Lunches

My son, Max, and I meet up about once a week to eat out for lunch. He is in 6th grade in La Grange. His grade school allows him to leave school for lunch. His middle school will not.

Since this is the last year for us to meet up, we thought it would be fun eat lunch at all of the La Grange lunch spots. In doing so, we thought it would be fun to chronicle our experiences. We both do love this forum and thought it would be good to share our quick reviews.

Perhaps it would be better for a blog, but as long as the masters of the forum do not object, we will post the info here. I think it could turn out to be useful reference. Granted it won’t be newspaper worthy reviews, however our general impressions of the restaurants should be a baseline for others.

Please add your experience at these restaurants. Agree or disagree with our reviews, either way it is good to share.

1st Lunch, Week of August 30, 2010.
Knead Market Place
From its website it is self-described as:
“Deli - Bakery - Cafe
Knead Marketplace is a fresh concept from Chefs Christopher and Mary Spagnola.
A charming cafe, deli, and bakery set the stage for wonderful hand crafted creations from flaky pastry & artisan sandwiches to bistro style "cafe" dinners. Independently owned and operated in the bustling suburb of La Grange, Illinois, Knead has been providing services since December of 2007.”

It is small ten tables or so café. It is my understanding that they do bake their pastries onsite but not their bread.

Max had the hamburger and fries, bottle Stewarts orange soda and a chocolate cupcake.
The hamburger was off of the chalkboard menu. The hamburger was done medium and was flavorful, the fries were very good and the cupcake was alright to average. Max gives his lunch a 7 out 10.

I had the "Sylvia's Flip: breaded steak, tomato, red onion, mayo, on baguette”, a glass-bottle of Coke, and a Boston-cream cupcake.
After I order the steak, I noticed in the deli counter, that they had a number, pre-made, pre-cooked breaded steaks for takeout. It made me think, oh darn, I like freshly cooked meat best.
The combination on sandwich was good. The onion, tomato, and baguette were good, however the steak did taste pre-cooked. I did enjoy the cupcake. I too would give the overall lunch a 7 out of 10.

About $25 lunch for two, with tip. A little more than we would like to spend.

We both agree that we would go back to Knead. It is a quaint place. Info
http://www.kneadmarketplace.com/
Knead Marketplace
13 So. La Grange Road
La Grange, IL 60525
708-482-7909 / 708-482-7910
fax 708-482-7916

Hours Breakfast & Lunch:
Monday - Friday 8am-4pm
Saturday & Sunday 9am-3pm
Cafe Dinners:
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday 6pm - 10pm

Casa Margarita
Week of September 13, 2010
(by Max)
We looked at the buffet and it looked so atrocious that I decided to order off the menu, although my dad still did the buffet. I ordered 2 chicken tacos with a side of rice and beans. My taco was very bad with little taste and inedible tortillas, and the inside of the taco soaked through them. The rice and beans were okay (but its hard to screw those up). My dad said the buffet was horrible. It was barely warm, included old lettuce, and even the chicken soup was bad. It included chicken and steak fajitas, chorizo and potato, ground meat and beans, and chicken verde. I would give it 1.5 out of ten because of good and quick service. My dad gave it just 1 out of ten for the same reason. Other wise it would be 0 out of ten. The décor is fake tropical flowers and birds, very 1980 chain-type Mexican.
32 S La Grange Rd
La Grange, IL 60525
(708) 354-2272
be careful of the annoying loud music on its website:
http://www.casamargarita.com/
It is hard to believe there are two of these places, yikes!
About $25 for lunch buffet, taco meal, cokes and tips. Not worth it at all.

I dunno about culinary highlights in LaGrange,
but, I forsee Max's next writing assignment already taking form!

Right on MAX!
Hopefully , you'll grow up to be a "published" Foodie.

DeLuca’s Deli & Grill
Week Sept. 20, 2010

DeLucas’ just opened the week we ate there. It is a standard looking Italian deli.
From their website: “We are a family owned deli & grill in downtown La Grange that offers premium hot and cold deli sandwiches, side items, soups and salads for dine-in or carry out. Featuring daily homemade Italian specialties.”
It uses Boars Head deli meat and has fresh sausages in its display. It sells Turano bread, olive oil and other similar stuff.

Max had the polish sausage (plain) and French fries. I had the hot Italian sausage that comes with grilled onions and peppers. We split the fried cheese ravioli with red dipping sauce. The meal deals come with 1 liter soda.

Max enjoyed his grilled polish. It had good flavor and was tender. I had a bite and it was a good polish with a pronounced garlic flavor. The Italian was not really spicy hot. The grilled onions and peppers were good. It reminded me bit of the little sausage stands outside of Fenway park. (I loved getting one before a game.) The French fries were a little undercooked for my liking. The fried raviolis were interesting/ok.

Being it was the first week, details were being worked out. You order at the counter and your food is brought out to you. The server/cashier spilled Max’s sausage on the table. She said she would bring out a different one. It took about to 10 minutes to fire grill the sausages the first time, but only a couple minutes for the “replacement!” Things that make you go hmmm….. Well the tables were clean and similar things have happened at home but…anyway.

The meals cost us about $21 (there was no tip jar). Max gave his meal a 6 of 10. I think that is right for mine too. A few things need to be worked out there. We will eat there again. (But a better cheaper lunch can be had at Murphy’s Doghouse down the street, review pending.)

DeLuca’s Deli & Grill
26 S. LaGrange Road
La Grange 60525
708 482 0295

Their website lacks much content:
http://www.delucasdeliandgrill.com/home

(Thanks for the comment Hombre. Max wants to be a sports writer but foodie writer is good too! He is a better writer than me already! He has the next review.)

Week of October 4, 2010.
Di Nico’s Pizza and Gelato
42 S. La Grange Rd.
708.352.9800

Di Nico’s claims to have the “World’s Largest Slice”. Well see for yourself below. That is not two slices, it is one cut in two. One slice is about of ¼ of an extra large pizza (say 18-inch pizza). One slice could easily feed two people. Although very unsatisfactorily! It has a bready thick crust, which would be ok if it added anything other than filler. The cheese and sauce are bland. They offer Italian season, hot pepper, and parmesan shakes. I had to use a lot of just to have some taste. It was not only me, the suburban soccer mom, that got her slice after mine, went to shakers, and was shaking the seasoning like crazy too after a few bites of her slice. You get one slice and fountain drink for about $4.50. You can re-fill your pop from the fountain machine with house named flavors. The cola is fine but the diet cola was not to my liking. It is good deal price-wise but not so much taste-wise.
(Above by dad below by Max)

I had the Italian sausage, and I have 3 reasons for getting one AGAIN: 1. I truly like Italian sausages. 2. I had been there a few times prior and I had pizza, so I wanted to try something new. 3. I would also want to compare different Italian sausages to know which restaurant to go to for an Italian sausage if I was in the mood.
My sausage was not very good. It was obviously pre-cooked and like my dad’s pizza, had little flavor and lacked the taste I was looking for. It was slightly browned in a pan and then seemed boiled for final preparation. I did like the gelato.
The total meal cost about $15. By far the cheapest lunch we have had so far.
Overall a 4 out of 10. (the gelato brought up the mark and I guess price was low enough but....)

Edited to add photos, Thanks nsxtasy for the link in your below message. (It is like a time warp to edit your post after the fact!).

Di Nico's ONE slice cut in two with a couple bites out of it (yes I have a big mouth)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54810191@N04/5078065793/
Di Nico's Sausage


http://www.flickr.com/photos/54810191@N ... otostream/

I hope this worked!, Ok I failed several times to add photos but see the links .

lhbeetle wrote:Ok I dont know how to attach photos. I finally got a phone that takes picts but do not know how to add them

See this topic: more help with posting photos please

I am liking the reviews, but Max tell Dad to pipe down. I like your reviews better!

What great family time chronicled over these lunches. I look forward to more.