Manny's Deli is great for what it is, (a representation of a quality nyc style deli) and I love the HUGE portion of pastrami or corned beef you get, but I remember the first time I got the sandwich, it was bread, and meat... Obviously the meat quality is supreme and there's enough for 3 sandwiches so the price is justified but I appreciate a bit more finesse for a sandwich. I'd take a zingermans reuben or pastrami over Manny's anytime but sadly here in Chicago there aren't any Deli's I've encountered that can match Manny's, or even be in the same universe as Zingermans.

I'm gonna get smacked around for this one, but I've always enjoyed Manny's over Katz's in NYC. I prefer the thinner slice on Manny's pastrami, and find the meat more flavorful. Decent to great potato pancakes and matzoh ball soup doesn't hurt either, but admittedly, I've never had those at Katz's (do they serve them?).

I don't love Lao Sze Chuan. Everything tastes the same - spicy and oily. Ma po tofu is pretty good though. I'll pass on chicken "crack" any day though.

Semiramis - blech. Is that even Arabic food?

Paradise Pup: frozen(?) beef patty? if it isn't frozen, they brutalize it somehow.

I can't pass up a thread that allows me to reiterate just how much Bari sucks.

OK, I thought of one nobody has mentioned. Yak-zie's chicken wings. Maybe I've just had bad luck, but I've had the wings at both locations a couple of times each, and they've been anemic little things, not really all that crispy and, in my opinion, overpriced. Wish they also had a proper spicy/suicide option, but the medium sauce was reasonable, flavorwise. Last time I went (Friday--although it was the Wrigleyville location that time), I had to stop by Toons afterwards to get my wing fix on, because I was just so disappointed by the Yak-Zies wings.

Kennyz wrote:I can't pass up a thread that allows me to reiterate just how much Bari sucks.

Really? In what way?

Darren72 wrote: But there is a lot of cheap, bad food out there and so places that seem to do good versions tend to stand out.

The problem is that mediocrity has become the norm, and today's "good-but not exceptional-versions" are elevated ( and hyped ) to a level that makes me scratch my head. Maybe it is because I'm old ( or jaded, or both ) but I have adopted the philosophy that " Nothing lives up to the hype." I will not stand in line for an hour to buy a hot dog, nor will I decide hours in advance what I would like on my pizza.

Dmnkly wrote: I love that we're halfway through the day and we have a nice list of thoughtful, dissenting opinion without the thread devolving into the kind of mudslinging that those who believe LTH is a den of lockstep groupthink expect It's nice to see the notion that this community exists only as a monolithic entity organically refuted

My thanks to you and the other Mods for allowing this thread to exist. In my humble opinion, I am surprised that it has been allowed to do so. Many sacred cows have been "slaughtered" and it is quite refreshing.

FoodSnob77 wrote:I'd take a zingermans reuben or pastrami over Manny's anytime but sadly here in Chicago there aren't any Deli's I've encountered that can match Manny's, or even be in the same universe as Zingermans.

While a good sandwich, Zingerman's is rather small and very pricey compared to Manny's (which can be too big).


Niman Ranch pastrami Reuben sandwiches


Manny's reuben (I acknowledge the oversizedness) - Image by Rene G.

Regards,

This thread is over-rated.

I think I can honestly say that I haven't had a bad meal at any GNR that I've dined at. Of course, I have devised a plan of attack for when I'm in Chicago.

1. Find restaurant on that interests me.
2. See which dishes 2 or more people think are top notch,
3. Order said dish(es)

Which has resulted in overwhelmingly good experience since I came across this site( although you guys have COMPLETELY ruined Thai food for me in Michigan )

cito wrote:My thanks to you and the other Mods for allowing this thread to exist. In my humble opinion, I am surprised that it has been allowed to do so. Many sacred cows have been "slaughtered" and it is quite refreshing.

I'm a little flabbergasted that the notion we'd kill a thread like this would even cross anybody's mind! Even setting aside that you're not going to find a single LTHer who thinks every Great Neighborhood Restaurant is great, the whole point is for people to discuss this stuff. There are places I'll defend to the death, but that doesn't mean I don't welcome the argument. Sometimes I think people assume that a passionate defense is the same as intolerance for dissent. Speaking for myself, that couldn't be further from the truth. But if I think you're wrong, you better believe I'm going to tell you I do think it was kind of a fun idea to have a thread that's an unchallenged vent, though. I realize Festivus is still a couple of weeks away, but we're close enough that an Airing of Grievances seems appropriate.

For my part, I'm actually with Kennyz on Bari. Not to the same degree, I think it's a good sandwich, but I never understood what the fuss was about.

Also Tampopo. I only went once, but cute as the place was, what I had was pretty mediocre (especially when contrasted with Sunshine Cafe).

And thank god the decline of Sweets and Savories has since been well-documented, because I went right before all of the negative reports started, and I thought you all were straight-up nuts

Dmnkly wrote: I'm a little flabbergasted that the notion we'd kill a thread like this would even cross anybody's mind!

IMO, in the past, threads have been locked ( or pulled ) prematurely when posters have brought up salient points ( not necessarily food related ) about a given restaurant. To me, the "circuses" are just as important as the "bread"---however, bringing this up in a thread often led to "scorn and derision" and subsequently a lock.

This is why I am thrilled that this thread exists-- Are we ushering in a kinder and gentler LTH Forum?

Cito... don't want to get too far off-topic here, but there are reasons things sometimes get locked and pulled, and I think they're pretty clearly laid out in the posting guidelines (though grey area always exists, of course). Sometimes they're for legal reasons, sometimes they're in the interest of keeping things kind and civil. But disagreement over whether a place is any good certainly shouldn't be among them, I hope it never has been, and I have no interest in creating an atmosphere where it will be.

Please, let the slaughtering of the sacred cows continue

Las Asadas' (Western Ave) carne asada tacos. Cooked meat dumped out of a bucket to warm up on the grill - although they just fired up a fresh batch when we were leaving. But I have never had to salt a taco to get any flavor out of either the meat or the salsa verde.

moose734 wrote:I think I can honestly say that I haven't had a bad meal at any GNR that I've dined at. Of course, I have devised a plan of attack for when I'm in Chicago.

I have never had a bad meal at any GNR, but I've had some where I thought, "For this I drove 35 miles?" There are some places that are absolutely fabulous if you're in the neighborhood but not necessarily different enough from a dozen other places to qualify as destination restaurants.

I can't believe ronnie's photography hasn't been mentioned yet!

Seriously though, I had the porchetta at Mado multiple times and really just didn't get why so many people gushed about it. There were great dishes there, but not that one IMO.

sandman wrote:

Kennyz wrote:I can't pass up a thread that allows me to reiterate just how much Bari sucks.

Really? In what way?

I'll quote myself from this thread:

Subject: Bari [Italian Deli-Subs!]

Kennyz wrote:

G Wiv wrote:Simply walking into Bari makes me smile, ...

I go to Bari occasionally because they carry a fantastic aged balsamic vinegar that I can't find anywhere else, but I have the exact opposite reaction to Gary's upon walking in. I dread it, it pisses me off, and I want to shake some sense into the staff rather than hug them. My vinegar is kept right next to one of the saddest produce counters in the universe, and hard as I try to avert my eyes, I simply can't do it. Fresh produce is vital in Italian cooking, and I just can't understand how a place that is supposed to be of Italian mind can have no shame in carrying the crap that Bari carries. Add the fact that the "fresh" mozzarella they carry makes a mockery of the term, the shelves are littered with stale, old trash, and the staff have very little knowledge about Italian cookery, and you end up with a place I'd be embarrassed to call one of Chicago's best. They put processed meat onto store-bought bread, and that's special enough to compensate for disasters within the rest of the establishment? I sure hope not.

ld111134 wrote:Moon's Diner. I don't know how this place differs from the kind of "greasy spoon" found in any depressed mill town (including my own in Upstate New York). The so-called omelet appears to be cooked on a flat top rather than in a pan and is thus glorified scrambled eggs.

I'm in Uppstate NY sometimes. Love to know where I can get good grits covered with very good corned beef and gravy, in a scene from Barbershop. Thx.

cito wrote:

Dmnkly wrote: I'm a little flabbergasted that the notion we'd kill a thread like this would even cross anybody's mind!

IMO, in the past, threads have been locked ( or pulled ) prematurely when posters have brought up salient points ( not necessarily food related ) about a given restaurant. To me, the "circuses" are just as important as the "bread"---however, bringing this up in a thread often led to "scorn and derision" and subsequently a lock.

This is why I am thrilled that this thread exists-- Are we ushering in a kinder and gentler LTH Forum?

Maybe nobody wants to say it, but I will--the current regime is setting a tone that tolerates more diversity of opinion, and fosters a greater civility, than the previous one did. IMHO.

I have tried to love Elephant Thai, but to me it is a pretty ordinary Thai restaurant, nowhere close to the other Thai GNRs. (Which of these restaurants doesn't belong).

The other restaurant that I just can't understand is Sunshine Cafe, the Japanese comfort food restaurant in Andersonville. Neither the food nor the decor made the restaurant special. I know it has its fans, but on my one dinner, I couldn't see the enthusiasm.

I guess that these two restaurants have in common that they are homey versions of cuisines that are done with more panache elsewhere.

Kuma's: the restaurant that launched a thousand burger places--so we don't have to eat there ever again.

Looking over the list of GNR's (click here)...

Some of them are places where it's just a difference in preference for styles. For example, I prefer barbecue with a fair amount of sauce used during the cooking, so the "dry rub smoked meat" style at Smoque isn't my thing - but I can appreciate that it does that style well. At others, there are some things that are terrific, but others aren't, such as at Delightful Pastries, where I love the rainbow cookies, but much of the other stuff is just sort of okay. So I don't think places like that are necessarily overrated.

What IS overrated, IMHO? Honey 1, whose ribs I find very fatty. Hot Doug's, none of whose dogs impress me, and where the duck fat fries are a big fat nothing. Avec, where the food is just so-so, the seats horribly uncomfortable, the room incredibly loud, the communal seating a major turn-off, and the lack of reservations and long waits to be seated one more nail in the coffin. Sol de Mexico, where the menu sounds great but the actual taste of the food disappoints. Burt's Place, whose pizza can't hold a candle to Malnati's or Giordano's (and then there are all the hoops you have to go through). Spoon Thai, Sticky Rice, and TAC Quick, none of whom can do a really great tom kha gai. And, to mention a couple of non-GNR's, Longman & Eagle, where I had the absolute worst meal I've eaten in the past few years, with most of the items ridiculously oversalted and/or overseasoned; and Ria, where the food was a mixed bag and the service was amateurish.

There are so very many great places in Chicago, that it's a shame when you go to a place that you've heard great things about, only to find disappointment. But that's just the way it goes. You can't taste the photos and descriptions on LTH; you have to go there and try a place yourself. If it turns out you love it, great; if not, at least you know what it's like and what they have to offer, and don't have to sit around wondering. You're probably not going to love every single place you go, but if you love some of them, you're doing just fine.

Cynthia wrote:I have never had a bad meal at any GNR, but I've had some where I thought, "For this I drove 35 miles?" There are some places that are absolutely fabulous if you're in the neighborhood but not necessarily different enough from a dozen other places to qualify as destination restaurants.

That's a good way of putting it. There's a difference between great meals, and pretty good meals, and meals that are just okay, and bad meals. It's pretty rare for me to have a bad meal, one where I actually don't like the food at all, or the service is dreadful; it happens maybe once a year. But quite a few meals are just okay, where nothing really "wows" and the overall result is disappointment, especially when a place is lauded enough to build up expectations. All of the places I list above have disappointed me, but the only places I had a truly bad meal were Longman & Eagle and Ria, neither of which is a GNR so I'm not sure they even qualify as "LTH favorites".

Smoque was very disappointing. The vibe/atmosphere/attitude and decor were all offputting. We felt like we were not welcomed in their "neighborhood".

Since there is no easy access to GNR's, I don't know if Mercat de Planxa is fair game. Nevertheless, my wife and three friends ran from the restaurant after being greeted by a leering group of inebriated men. Yes, they entered the bar room on Michigan Ave.

Tim wrote:Since there is no easy access to GNR's,

I'm not sure what you mean by that. If you mean access to the list of GNR's, there's a link in the first line of my post above yours, and it's also easy to find the list by going to the GNR discussion forum on the LTH site. If you mean something else, I'm not sure what.

Kennyz wrote:...I go to Bari occasionally because they carry a fantastic aged balsamic vinegar that I can't find anywhere else...

Which balsamic do you like?

The primarily "overrated" item to me isn't a restaurant, but a dish that has been discussed above. I love Lao Sze Chuan as a whole, but I just find the three chili chicken off-putting. It is too sweet and tastes like fried batter with little taste of chicken. I find it cloyingly sweet with just a taste of batter-crunch. Otherwise, I think the restaurant is fantastic.

All that said, I find the LTH favorites to usually be spot on, and I've really broadened my list of restaurants because of LTH favorites--places I wouldn't have otherwise found.

JeffB wrote:

ld111134 wrote:Moon's Diner. I don't know how this place differs from the kind of "greasy spoon" found in any depressed mill town (including my own in Upstate New York). The so-called omelet appears to be cooked on a flat top rather than in a pan and is thus glorified scrambled eggs.

I'm in Uppstate NY sometimes. Love to know where I can get good grits covered with very good corned beef and gravy, in a scene from Barbershop. Thx.

You can get good grits any place in Arbor Hill in Albany. I didn't find Moon's corned beef to be anything special (I don't think that they make it themselves or doctor-up corned beef supplied by a purveyor).

Longman & Eagle. Went their for our anniversary and everything was over-buttered & over-salted (and I have a huge off the charts salt tolerance). We both drove home feeling rather urpy from the too-much-ness of it. Besides our heads were ringing from the noise level. I did laugh and say to my husband as we drove north, "Well, it's official that we're old farts, because that food was too rich and the joint was too loud."

bjt

Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook. A whole lot of meh. My feelings were shared by others here.

Alinea has about 4 Michelin starts too many