Hyde Park Radius?

Hi Everyone,

I'm a grad student at the U of C who has lived in Hyde Park for just past three years, and have predictably exhausted the already meager offerings of my sleepy neighborhood. While I have standbys, and even, in the case of Cafe Corea, some real gems, I've grown interested in expanding past the well defined borders of Hyde Park and investigating restaurants in the south side environs. Now, I have a car, and I don't mean to imply that I've never been further than 47th street -- it's just that I'm looking for restaurants close to home, for those nights that I don't feel like moving much. Does anyone have any good recommendations for nearby and unexplored restaurants? Another question, possibly directed at those familiar with Hyde Park living: do you know any restaurants whose delivery radius extends to Hyde Park proper? I have this sneaking suspicion there is some greasy spoon that would love to deliver food my way.

best,

-Jonathan

Try GrubHub:

http://www.grubhub.com/chicago/?gclid=C ... 5wodajsOPQ

I'm sure you know about Chinatown (which is really not very far from HP by car), so let's take a look at one other simple trek:

Veer over to 47th (the Dan Ryan has an exit there), and go west to Halsted. Right at 46th, you'll find Amelia's. Continuing up Halsted into Bridgeport you'll run into Nana's, Ed's Potsticker, and on 31st Han 202. Further up Halsted, you'll run into the Skylark (at Cermak--better bar food than you'll find in HP), Nightwood (pricey but worth it for special occasions) and at 18th Kristoffer's Cafe (closes in late afternoon but worth a special trip for its tres leches cake). If you turn west on 18th you'll soon run into Honkey Tonk for BBQ (at Racine) and then a multitude of Mexican possibilities (Nuevo Leon, Mundial Cocina Mestiza, etc., etc.)

Most of the above have their own threads here, with much commentary scattered about. Anyway, I've made Halsted one of my major HP exit routes going north, and new possibilities seem to be popping up every time I take it.

And to make sure it's not forgotten Uncle John's BBQ is right on the other side of the skyway at Calumet and 69th.

eat24hours.com for all your delivery needs

Oh yes, the U of C student's call for better restaurant options in Hyde Park- if I had a nickel for every time...I'm at the U of C as well, and here's my recommendation.

Can't really speak to the delivery part of your question- I'm really only familiar with Hyde Park proper as far as that is concerned, and I'm afraid there really isn't much the neighborhood has to offer beyond decent (aside from Z and H). But I would definitely recommend checking out (and calling to see if they deliver, if you have your heart set on it) some places in Greater Grand Crossing especially on 75th St. Army and Lou's is a great Chicago institution for soul food. A block down is Soul Vegetarian East, which gets very high marks as far as vegetarian/vegan places are concerned. In fact, there are quite a few places in this vein in the neighborhood, including Yah's, another vegan soul food restaurant that did pretty good renditions of imitations like mac and cheese and bbq nuggets with a very fun and helpful staff, and a vegan taco place that I'm still trying to find that was recommended to me by someone at Yah's. Still yet on 75th is Wings around the World, which is a very fine takeout only establishment with a great selection of wing flavors with a flavor profile and crisp easily a league above Buffalo Wild Wings. And Lem's, yet another place on 75th, is supposed to do pretty good bbq, although it probably gets too often overlooked for the outstanding Barbara Ann's, which sadly is on Cottage Grove and 76th St. Yassa's does very good African on 79th, and while I've never been, Izola's is just a couple blocks down and is another soul food institution. And I'd be remiss not to mention Dat Donuts, who, on a particularly auspicious culinary day, piped out hot fresh Dat Donuts the size of a tire rim just as we got there. If you can time up your trip right or call them to make sure they'll have a batch fresh when you get there, you will be rewarded with a donut that is simply lighter than air- hot, pillowy, and delicious. If donuts are your thing, a little walk from Hyde Park on 47th is Abundance Bakery, which does a mean, mean apple fritter.

I'm gonna guess that most of these places don't deliver. But they're certainly worth going out of your way for. Greater Grand Crossing has quite the culinary treasures, with any one of these places exceeding any place in Hyde Park. But you got to work for your culinary adventures from Hyde Park. A drive down 47th can take you to goat heaven or hearty one dish taverns (Birrieria Zaragoza, Stanley's Tavern), down 55th to a wonderful greasy spoon breakfast near Midway (Sammy's Kitchen) or down 63rd to an innovative culinary school restaurant (Sikia). All of these places, I may add, have some of the nicest people that will take care of you like family.

Unfortunately, Bronzeville, Woodlawn, and Englewood don't have a tremendous amount to offer, so you need to open your scope beyond these neighborhoods. Greater Grand Crossing is a good start, and jbw has the right idea with Bridgeport, Chinatown, and Pilsen recs, although I would certainly begin to explore Little Village if I had a car. Hope this is helpful- you have to have a certain amount of daring, creativity, and adventurousness to find and get to some of the places, but no one said the U of C was going to be easy, right? Guess it goes for seeking out culinary gems, too?

-T Kent