Staropolska Restaurant and Deli

I quite enjoyed a lunch at the Milwaukee Ave. location of this well established and seemingly poplular Polish restaurant. Although my mother was born in Warsaw, I have very limited familiarity with this cuisine, but the food was tastier than I expected.

The atmosphere and decor are pure diner, except for the bar you pass by at the front. The service was friendly, if a bit slow, and a bit short on English.

To start, we both had beet soup (borsht, I assume), one with meat dumplings and one with mushroom dumplings. The broth was excellent, and the dumplings, partciularly the mushroom, were delicious. A very generous portion for $1.99 and $2.99 a bowl.

For main dishes, I had the pork cutlet (the kind with the eggy coating), and my wife the potatoe pancakes (three, each the size of her head). Both were hearty and good. What really caught my attention, however, was my side plate of four salads. These came from the deli (more about which in a moment) and all four were delicious. They served a shredded beet salad, a tangy cole slaw, a cucumber salad and a mild saurkraut type of thing. In restaurants of this caliber, the sides are frequently disappointing, but not here. The portions were, not surprisingly, huge, and we ate less than half. (No waste, as the remainder was but a small snack for my two teenagers.)

After lunch, we went to the attached deli, which had an inviting assortment of meats, salads and sweets. Everything was clearly prepared on the premises. Everything was also labeled in Polish, so communications were minimal. One highlight -- perhaps someone will supply the name -- and an eggroll shaped object, one stuffed with meat, the other with saurkraut. It was a rolled dough, with a bit of a sandy outer coating. It didn't last long at home.

I know places such as Red Apple (which I've never been to) seem to get all the press, but I think this is a worthy place to visit.

Jonah

Staropolska Restaurant
3028 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-342-0779

Jonah,

I've picked those rolls you've mentioned up before in quite a few deli's. Unfortunately I don't know the name for them in Polish. Most of the translations that I've seen on the signs in English will just say 'meat roll' or 'mushroom roll'.

I know I wrote about the rolls a long time ago (probably on Chowhound). They're called "paszteciki", and usually come in a meat and a meatless version. Traditionally eaten with red barszcz (borscht). Pasztet means pate--they're probably called that because the fillings are all finely minced. Many Polish delis have them--we buy them at Andy's in the 5400 block of N. Milwaukee. My kids love them. Now don't confuse them with "krokiety", which are filled blintzes (nalesniki), which are rolled in breadcrumbs and panfried. Those go well with barszcz as well. Smacznego! Anna

Is that Staropolska owned by the same people as the one at Belmont and Laramie?

Wanted to bump this very old thread to re-mention this Staropolska on Milwaukee south of Belmont (as opposed to the other Staropolska on Belmont, further west).

A few years back this working-man's Polish diner was tranformed into a Polish-Highlander mountain lodge fantasy that exists in a twighlight zone between old-school Middle Europe (evocative of Klas in a way), the modern gastro-pub, and a Lincoln Park sports bar or faux Irish pub (the latter owing mostly to the typical dark wood sign with gilt lettering). My guess is that this is partially the result of many skilled contractors from the old country with time on their hands courtesy of the recession and construction lull.

Anyway, I'd forgotten the place exists but was looking for some Polish options in the old neighborhood with Paul Zakopane recently shuttered. I ran across consistent and mostly well-informed raves on Yelp!, which I will now admit has its place due to the sheer ubiquity of its contributing readers. Since then, I've had a few meals at Staroploska and attended a function in the adjacent private salon -- its Swarovski chandeliers and flocked wallpaper providing a fun contrast to the dark, pelt and timber covered room next door. At that event, I tasted most of the menu.

But what of the food. To a dish, everything I tried was either good or great for what it was -- down the middle Polish classics. The kitchen has a particularly deft hand with the salads and kraut, and the potato pancakes are terrific, a dense, smooth butter-soaked version. Sausages were very good, and the Silesian dumplings, Kluski śląskie, I think, stood out for their lightness. I guess there's an old lady with a light touch back there. Steak tartar might be my favorite orthodox version right now. 3 cold Polish beers on tap, swell (though overextended) servers, and gruff old regulrs at the bar. I was happy to see all of this at a time when the old Polish and German places continue to stumble or perish.

I wouldn't declare Staropolska on Milwaukee the champ or clearly superior to Polish stalwarts such as Andrezj Grill in any particular category (though the icy tap beer and raw beef make a good case). But here we have, under our collective noses, an entirely pleasant and delicious Polish restaurant largely ignored by LTH.

One problem might be the web site, a malfunctioning waste of bandwidth that lacks a menu except for the catering bill, entirely in Polish.

Every time, and I mean every time my father comes to the city he wants to go to Staropolska for tatar. He loves it cause he likes to mix it up himself instead of getting it pre-mixed. Chopped pickles and onions come on the side to mix in as you please. Also has a nice big yolk on top. Their food is quite good and I've never had anything bad, but a couple times I think things were just ok. But I chalk that up to walking in right when they opened. Things took a bit longer. I agree the staff can sometimes be stretched thin. The zurek, white borscht, is really tasty but I prefer mine more on the sour side.

Recently my parents came down to the city again and of course my dad wanted tartar. I dragged him to Paramount Room instead. He wouldn't get the tartar cause it has dijon in it even the I told him it's one of the better versions. Oh well, can't teach an old dog new tricks. He did enjoy the rueben though.

....big tartar fan here, as is my own dad and, oddly enough, my 12 year old son. Laschett's hackepeter is nice too, and they serve it similarly (condiments on the side). I think this is de rigueur in old timey German and Polish spots. I have to say, I prefer Starapolska's because it seemed extremely freshly knife-chopped and looser, plus the egg yolk was pristine, very yellow and very fresh. Laschett's version is more composed (molded and already on bread, tapas-like when it arrives), likely ground (albeit by hand crank I would guess) and I think made ahead of time. But still really great too.

FYI, Staropolska is now delivering through Grub Hub, at least in my neighborhood. We ordered Friday night and were delighted with the results, which included a dozen free cheese pierogi (YMMV, as we had a pretty large order). The beef tartar is fantastic as delivered, and generous enough a portion for four people.

(NOTE: I wound up cooking half of the tartar into a rather amazing hamburger today, whereupon it became apparent to me that they seem to have put a metric boatload of red food coloring in there to make it look "just right," which became really apparent when I cooked the meat and the dye boiled out. However, by no means do I think they were trying to cover up anything with respect to the freshness or quality of the meat - this was 100% fresh, delicious chopped beef on Friday, and it was still so after a couple of days in the fridge. I note this because the unearthly red tint of the meat might raise some eyebrows.).

JILS,

I saw the recent addition of Staropolska to Grub Hub and am stoked. Can you speak to how well the food was packed? For things like tartar and plates of stuffed cabbage, I would be concerned that it might arrive in poor shape (e.g., tartar in the delivery car for an hour and stuffed cabbage all over the other stuff on the plate (which isn't necessarily a bad thing)), but from your post, it sounds like they're doing a nice job on the delivery packing. I guess my question is, based on your experience, are there any things you'd stay away from for delivery, simply because they're being delivered/held longer than at the restaurant? Thanks!

Adam

No worries on delivery logistics for my order described above. Everything was very carefully packed and delivered promptly and at the correct temperatures. They even took time to write "Free Enjoy" and a pair of smiley faces on the box of complementary pierogi. I can't see any reason for concern; the only menu category we didn't order was soup (which is inherently risky for anyone to transport), but I'd say you could order any Staropolska menu item for delivery with confidence that it will arrive in good shape.

Bumping this thread a bit because we went there with friends (including a Polish friend in from out of town, who has been in U.S. just a couple of years now--her presence was the reason we chose it) the other night.

My wife and I thought the mushroom soup was the best we've ever had. My scalloped pork tenderloin entree (in a cream sauce) was wonderful.

I can no longer remember what our Polish friend had, but she said it was excellent, so the place got an Official Seal of Approval.

In other news, I'm reminded of a thread Vital Information started many years ago, called The Czech Paradox--so called because despite Czech food being typically heavy, waitresses in Chicago's Czech restaurants tend to be sleek, slim and gorgeous, to paraphrase VI. In an analog of The Czech Paradox, our Polish waitress at Staropolska was supermodel-stunning. Are we still allowed to comment about such things? Just sayin'.

The restaurant was doing good business the night we were there. Place has a good vibe.