European-ish 16th/Harlem

Looking for European (Polish, German etc), near Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park, this Sunday---late lunch/early dinner time. So--16th/Harlem or so... will be getting back on the Eisenhower to go west back towards Elgin area after, so don't want to go much farther south or east if possible. Thanks!

How about Czech Plaza just east of Harlem on 22nd street?

Czech Plaza Restaurant
7016 Cermak Rd
Berwyn
(708) 795-6555

Or Sawa's Old Warsaw farther west on 22nd (cermak) in Broadview.

Sawa's Old Warsaw Restaurant
9200 W Cermak Rd,
Broadview, IL 60155
(708) 343-9040 Website

Thanks== anyone been to either of these two (or others nearby) lately for an opinion???

Had lunch at Czech Plaza about a month ago. Very nice liver dumpling soup and homemade rye bread. Pretty standard menu. I had good stuffed cabbage, while my three tablemates had one or another of the various schnitzels offered. They all enjoyed their meals. Hope this helps.

Thanks, it sounds good.

aviva5675 wrote:Thanks== anyone been to either of these two (or others nearby) lately for an opinion???

Yup! Still pretty good.

Sawa's is a Polish buffet type restaurant. The decor is a step up from Czech Plaza's, and it attracts many families. Czech Plaza is a very bright and tidy (if slightly spartan) storefront restaurant with excellent Bohemian food (think roast meat and dumplings). It is one of the few remaining Czech (actually Slovakian) restaurants in Berwyn, and is frequented by an older, first generation immigrant crowd. It is very pleasant and sedate with friendly homespun service. The reasonably priced meals are all inclusive from the (aforementioned) tasty liver dumpling soup to coffee and pastries for desert. Most meals come with dumplings and sweet and sour cabbage. It has been quite a while since I have eaten there, but I can't imagine it has changed much. I have especially enjoyed the roast duck. Here is a link to their menu. They sometimes have specials not listed on the menu.

http://czechplaza.com/czechplazamenu.html

Czech Plaza sounds good. Im taking my 83 year old aunt to the cemetery and she (and vaguely me) remembers going to somewhere like this a long time ago a few times. Could very well been to C.P. We'll give it a try.

I'm a fan of the Riverside Restaurant at Harlem and 34th. You can get the senior's portion of roast duck w/ choice of sides, soup, coffee and dessert for something ridiculous like $6, full portion maybe $9. Large tasty portions, pleasant folks, and a pretty geriatric crowd. The food is Bohemian, the staff is Bohemian, the decor is 1978 Bohemian, and they don't take any plastic. Coming from the cemetary, the trip would entail passing the malls and crossing both train tracks on Harlem, but it's worth it for the extra 10 minutes it will take. Your 83 yo aunt will feel right at home, you'll both be happily stuffed, and your wallet will hardly notice the difference.

no website, but their yelp reviews mirror my experiences
http://www.yelp.com/biz/riverside-famil ... -riverside

I second the Riverside. Not as charming as Klas, or even Czech Plaza, but better food at better prices, imho.

First, thanks to all the posters in this thread, as I found myself needing a good spot relatively close to Oak Park, and the info here was most useful.

Three of us took the mother-in-law to Czech Plaza for her birthday, and we thought we'd been taken back in time at least three decades. We found pricing for a full dinner (soup, main course, vegetable, and dessert) that we haven't seen in years!!

Imagine, if you will, a cup of liver dumpling soup, a half of a roasted ducking (not overdone, and nicely sized!), with dumplings, beets, and a really nice apricot turnover, for the grand price of $13.75! Or for the more adventurous, a plate of braised veal heart in brown gravy, for under $11.00, with all the sides!

Is the food gourmet quality? Well, no. The green beans were a color that I last saw from canned beans in the sixties, and several items were overly salted. But the duck was properly done, moist, and tasty, with roasted caraway seeds giving fragrance to the skin. The pastries for dessert were plenty good, and we all argued over whether we thought the bread dumplings were better than the potato dumplings. And we had enough in leftovers to feed ourselves a second dinner! We felt we received a real value.

The service was very, very good; friendly, and sensitive to our relative lack of experience with authentic Czech food. Lots of families were dining, and the room, although a bit tired, was cozy, warm, and inviting.

So if you find yourself south of the Eisenhower, very hungry, with only a few dollars in the wallet, this is your place.

And let's face it, Pilsner Urquell on tap always makes for a better meal! We'll be back!

I'm dying over here. Riverside restaurant has always been a great spot. While in college, I lived across the street and survived on fantastic soups and melt in your mouth fresh rye bread. Same owner and staff today from way back when. The duck is outstanding.
Czech Plaza restaurant, a few blocks off of Harlem on Cermak is another good spot. Actually, I don't really think you can go wrong with any of the places mentioned. It's just plain good eating. I have a friend who has a Mexican restaurant that is not going to survive, although the location and parking is good. Too many taco places around. I suggested he get some Bohemian cooks and make it a Bohemian restaurant. He didn't know what that was. Boy, done right, he'd have a line out the door.
Who could not love a dumpling?

Maybe Bohemian Tacos? Now that would be something to see. We have Korean Tacos now so why not bohemian. The only thing is at the Riverside Restaurant the sauerkraut is terrible like soup. I wish they would make better sauerkraut there as it really adds to the meal.

toria wrote:Maybe Bohemian Tacos? Now that would be something to see.

Or, in the other direction, dumplings al pastor?

toria wrote:Maybe Bohemian Tacos? Now that would be something to see. We have Korean Tacos now so why not bohemian. The only thing is at the Riverside Restaurant the sauerkraut is terrible like soup. I wish they would make better sauerkraut there as it really adds to the meal.

I might have mentioned this on the board before, but I was once invited over for dinner to Antonio (of Xni-Pec)'s place for a late night snack. As I stepped into the kitchen, I was hit by a familiar smell of my childhood: smoked sausage and frying onions. I can't remember whether there were potato chunks involved, too, or not, but in addition to the normal Polish ingredients, there was also some canned chipotles en adobo, and perhaps a bit of Mexican oregano. Served on a flour tortilla (Antonio insists flour is the correct choice for this application), they made for fantastic tacos, a blend of Polish- and Mexican-American traditions. There's little that doesn't taste great when nestled in a flour or corn tortilla.

Duck tacos are pretty tasty.

TooHot wrote:I have a friend who has a Mexican restaurant that is not going to survive, although the location and parking is good. Too many taco places around.

Strongly disagree. Location and parking have nothing to do with food being great. There are a ton of taco places around, and most of them are horrendous. Make a great taco, and chances are you'll be flooded with business. Put a decent steak on a fire, they will come. Too many think that chopping up the cheapest steak available, and piling it on a flat griddle is good eats.

Not in Chicago it ain't.

Great meat, open fire, great salsa. So simple, yet profound. Barbacoa, pastor, suadero, carnitas - it's all good, but a good steak taco carries the most weight in my book. Chicken is a close second.

If your friend has a joint in the west suburban area, pm me the name. I'll go. Happy to try it out.

Location and parking have nothing to do with good food. Location and parking have to do with paying the bills. I counted 15 mex restaurants in the immediate area. That has an impact on paying the bills as well, no matter how good the food.

I get what you're saying, but in that neck of the woods, for example, Zacatacos is always doing good business everytime I go.
Their "parking lot" is a horror for the 8 cars that can fit. The food is decent, but the steak and salsa is generally fantastic. Is your friend's place in the area around Riverside Restaurant? I live right there, and we are always looking for good Mexican food. The area is littered with bad Mexican places. I'd be MORE than happy to try the joint out, and eat whatever they recommend as their best items. What do they do that makes it stand above the others? If the friend's place is there, I'll go with a quickness, seriously, just let me know.

As an on topic post to the thread, I had one of the best pieces of fish I've had in a long time at Riverside Restaurant. It was cooked to perfection. I asked the owner on my way out if all of the fish had ground carroway to feel them out a little. I LOVED the fish, but I am not a huge fan of carroway at all. The fish was cooked so well, that I didn't mind it at all. I ate every last bit. It was definitely fresh, and whoever cooked it knew what the heck they were doing with fish. So, the owner (wife) said that the husband is in charge of the fish, and he is very peticular about all of the fish that gets sold there. When I go back, I will be getting a fish entree - no doubt about it. It surprised the HECK out of me to say the least. The menu seems like a meat and potato and kraut bohemian joint, but the fish I had was superb, and it seems as though they are really into making fish right there. I was expecting a "Greek diner" frozen / broiled fillet. Not in the LEAST. It was superb.

My friends restaurant is in Glen Ellyn, on Roosevelt. There are so many Tex-Mex places along that stretch it's silly. We tried Fonda Isabel with Groupon coupon. The place was empty on both visits and that scares me. We ended up drinking our coupon with an app.
The people that have Riverside restaurant really care about their business. Good to know a fish option is a good choice. Is McCook restaurant still around? The owner of that place is a hard worker as well and the food is good. At least it was, it's been awhile.