Black Friday Food Crawl (3rd annual)

The mission:
Eradicate -- via intensive culinary assault -- the after-effects of Thanksgiving

The history:
3rd consecutive year
Objective has been attained on both previous occasions

The Parameters:
Only visit places that at least one of (the 3 of) us hasn't ever been before
Do not duplicate categories
Do not pre-determine destinations
Do our best to not order no more than 2 items at any venue
Share everything

The Route . . .

Stop # 1 - Uncle Mike's Place - 11:32 am

1700 W Grand Ave, Chicago



Filipino Breakfast with Longanisa
A great (big) plate with perfectly cooked eggs



Filipino Breakfast with Tocino
The (vinegar-pickled) tomato and onion salad was great on its own and an excellent foil for the other, rich items on the plate.

Additional Notes:
Delicious food; generous portions
Meats are tender and sweet
Supremely friendly and helpful service
Additional food that we didn't order -- adobo chicken wings, chocolate rice -- was also brought out for us
Watch out for all the rice, especially if you're on a food crawl!
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Stop #2 - Moon's Sandwich Shop - 12:37 pm

16 S Western Ave, Chicago



Corned Beef on Rye
Warm, tender, delicious and not overly salty. A very respectable sandwich. The pickles were excellent.



Jumpball
A decadant scramble of Italian sausage, 3 eggs, cheese, onions and potatoes

Additional Notes:
Great place to get your grub on
Extremely friendly and distinctive service
'Old Skool' in the extreme
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Italian Superior Bakery (closed)
933 S Western Ave, Chicago

Additional Notes: Too bad. I really wanted to try this place.
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Stop #3 - Tao Ran Ju - 1:50 pm

2002 S Wentworth Ave, Chicago



Garlic Rainbow
Pork Belly wrapped around crunchy cucumber and topped with flavorful chile oil. Delightfully fiery with a perfect chew.



Xiao Long Bao aka Soup Dumplings
Best ones I've had in Chicago

Additional Notes:
Friendly service
Really low prices
Pressured us mildly to order an additional dish -- beef noodle soup -- which we didn't really want but it was good (we tasted it and brought it home).
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Stop #4 - La Casa de Samuel - 2:49 pm

2834 W Cermak Rd, Chicago



Tortilla Soup
Hearty, with cheese and perfectly ripe chunks of avocado



Guilota Estilo Guerrero aka Grilled Quail
Delicious, phenomenally complex and spicy sauce but chewy, overcooked quail.

Additional Notes:
'Casual' service
Handmade flour tortillas were served warm at the table
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Chickie's (closed)
2839 S Pulaski Rd, Chicago

Additional Notes:
Too bad. I really wanted to try this place.
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Stop #5 - Honky Tonk BBQ - 4:11 pm

1213 W 18th St, Chicago



Sampler Platter
Includes ribs, hot link, chicken, mini sandwiches of brisket and pulled pork, slaw, beans and corn bread



Mac & Cheese
Had to try this too, right?

Additional Notes:
Really respectable and tasty bbq
Meats were not overcooked, overrubbed, oversalted or overwrought in any way
Restrained but extremely flavorful
Mac & Cheese was a bit salty
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Stop #6 - Franks N Dawgs - 5:37 pm

1863 N Clybourn Ave, Chicago (photograph of sign from previous visit)



Double Ducker
Duck sausage, duck confit, shaved foie gras torchon -- this really should be called the Triple Ducker



Cheesehead
Brat, caramelized onions, portabella and smoked gouda



Triple Truffle Fries
Just about impossible to resist and fried about as perfectly as could be. Oh-so-light and very truffley, too.

Additional Notes:
Thoughtful, inventive combinations continue to evolve
Sausages and accoutrements were all flavorful
Buns are stellar and arguably the best served in the city
Loved talking to owner Alexander Brunacci's mom, who was visiting from Australia for the holidays and cheerily bussing tables
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All in all, it was a really nice day of being together, seeing the city and trying some new (to at least one of us) places...while blasting Thanksgiving firmly into the rear-view mirror. Scarily, we had at least 20 other potential destinations on our list. Even though we spent the better part of 8 hours sampling, we felt like we barely scratched the surface. Oh well, there's always next year.

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Uncle Mike's Place
1700 W Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 226-5318

Moon's Sandwich Shop
16 South Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60612
(312) 226-5094

Tao Ran Ju
2002 South Wentworth Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 808-1111

La Casa de Samuel
2834 West Cermak Road
Chicago, IL 60623
(773) 776-1637

Honky Tonk BBQ
1213 West 18th Street
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 226-7427

Franks 'N' Dawgs
1863 North Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614-4901
(312) 281-5187

Ronnie that is an awesome display of crawling on any day of the year. But the day AFTER Thanksgiving! Wow, I was hoping not to have to eat again that day. As always, great photo's and interesting tips on some places on my radar! Cheers!

Ronnie_S -
You've gotta be tired of me saying it by now, but yet again, those photos are just SICK good!

Definitely an impressive day. We must have missed you by mere minutes, as we had a late lunch at La Casa de Samuel that day too. We left just as the guy in your picture was setting up to fix those lighted signs on the window.

Post coming soon in the main thread.

Wonderful account - this is turning into a regular Bloomsday. We lost another great Ron S. today, but this lifted my spirits.

I ate again at Tao Ran Ju last Wednesday, and - shock - the soup dumplings were full of delicious soup. We had the pork variety, along with dry pot lamb (which is not dry) and duck and pork casserole (which is not a casserole), and all was tasty and warming. They are justly proud of a few signature items that they try to introduce to walk-ins, and they get props from me that they aren't the gringified ones.