Where to go, Sunday, near Geneva IL?

So I'm taking the kids to that rare breeds thing at the Garfield Farm I posted about in Events, near Geneva (not Lake Geneva), or near St. Charles or Elburn, your pick. Where can I go for lunch or dinner after? I will probably be with folks who would find trekking to Amanecer Tapatio in Joliet excessive and not feel, as I do, that I'm practically there so I might as well drive the extra 40 miles to try it, long as I'm in the area.

If it were Saturday instead, this is interesting place to visit:

Ream's Elburn Market, Inc.
128 North Main Street
Elburn, IL
630/365-6461
Mon-Fri: 8 AM - 5:30 PM; Sat: 8 AM - 4 PM; Closed Sunday

West Chicago is not off the radar, you might want to try
ByBys or King James BBQ.

Aurora is home to Oberweis Dairy, maybe they have a flagship store.

Regards,

MikeG,

If your in the mood for Mexican I would recommend El Tesoro in West Chicago. TonyG speaks highly of this location, and I've never been disappointed by the Glendale Heights location.

They have terrific whole fish selections, and the specials have been quite nice on my visits.

El Tesoro
129 W. Roosevelt Rd.
West Chicago
630-293-0129

Flip

You might want to consider Bar-B-Que Shack in St. Charles. I think it's great (best sweet-potato fries I've ever had), and friends of mine who enter numerous BBQ competitions consider it the best BBQ place in the west suburbs. It's a block north of route 64 off route 31, on the left side of the street. Informal and great for kids...

Mark

how casual, how fancy? i always end up stopping at byby's (10 minutes east), which is very casual, very interesting selection & very cheap. on the fancy end, you have Isabella's which I have not tried but everyone I know and respect (including the elusive Tony G) speaks very highly of. You might want to give them a call and find out how kid friendly the place is. Tony also sent me a detailed far west report in an email recently. I will try to run it down and pass on any other suggestions.

it is actually a pretty fertile chow country you will be in, so be happy. if the fall back is ByBy's, you are golden. And I have been intending to try El Tesoro, based on glowing reports from Tony & Flip for some time, but never quite make it past ByBy's.

No need to make the trek to Amanacer, tho it is never a bad idea.

Isabella's Estiatorio
330 W. State St.
Geneva, IL 60134
630-845-8624

From Tony, hopefully with permission:

Made several trips last year to http://www.wurstkitchen.com/index.htm and was never disappointed in their sausages. They also have very nice westphalian ham, sort of a darker step cousin of proscuitto

Made a recent stop last weekend to check out this market in Dekalb called Inbodens http://www.usdaprimemeat.com/. Neat old school country meat market with nice selection of beef and pork. Lot's of frozen exotics as well and they have some good bulk package deals for pork and beef in the $140 to $200 range. Around the corner is a vegetarian friendly co-op grocery called Duck Soup, nice little store with decent selection of bulk grains and other thing one would expect to find in a hippie grocery store in a college town. I really like the Reed's apple pop they carry and got some nice costa rican coffee for 6.95/lb. they also have good looking amish frozen chickens(huge)

Saturday after breakfast at the Kountry Kettle in Elburn (they make the best hand formed breakfast sausage patty known to me, perfectly seasoned and juicy) my friend and I strolled down to the Elburn Market (aka Randy Reams Suasage shop) http://www.elburnmarket.com/. I'll spare the hyperbole but this place needs to be checked out if you are a self respecting carnivore. So many choices and few disappoint. Sausages galore, fresh and frozen. Nice selection of standard beef and pork cuts and tons of other house made meat items. This stop I got a nice 2.5 pound sirloin butt steak and 4 of his grand prize winning brats. Had a brat already and was impressed. Traditional fresh white veal (i assume) sausage that stays juicy and carmelizes nicely on a grill. Frozen case now includes dry aged NY strips at about $23/lb

Finally there is a fairly new Thai place in Batavia, Thai Village 4N Batavia Ave(Rt 31) that outshines all others in the St. Charles, Geneva vicinity. Not a tough task, but i really like this place. Quality ingredients, nice heat level and bright clean flavors.

From David - Have not been, but others have also praised most of these places to me, particularly the 2 stops in Elburn. You also have a very good bakery, Hahn's, in Geneva.

Mike, if you cannot find addresses for all these, PM me and I will run them down.

At last I can report on my trip and the suggestions above which I followed. After seeing the assorted goats, pigs, chickens, etc. at Garfield Farm, we headed for Byby's and ate goat. I thought Myles might feel bad about that but he just shrugged and dug right into my barbacoa:



Byby's was plenty good, but as we continued we saw so many Mexican restaurants in that corridor between St. Charles and Aurora that I suspect there are dozens of marvelous finds waiting for someone to explore and uncover them. Really, it seems as rich as Pilsen, there's just one Mexican restaurant after another for miles through that area, and all with Mexican signage, items like pozole and barbacoa that are plainly aimed at the native crowd and not gringos, etc.



Anyway, our next stop was the Wurst Kitchen (the other place was closed on Sunday). This had a real small town/rural feel, not least because of the sign on the back door advising hunters what to do if there's no one there when they drive up with something needing butchering. I got some brats and thuringer, and just grilled them tonight along with some Paulina dogs, as the control. Thuringer was a little fattier than Paulina's, but lots of good flavor, more than usually peppery. Brat was good too, and they had lots of other kinds of sausages, including both "hot brats" and "cherry bomb hot brats." It's an estimable place, well worth a visit.



Afterwards we drove to a zoo and park in Aurora, and the kids played for a while. I don't know if there are many South Americans among the strongly Latino population, but if there are, this artillery placement over the main boulevard probably reminds them of a little bit of home...

Isabellas is the best place to eat in Geneva hands down but can be pricey and not the type place i would be bringing little kids to

The Isabellas website:

http://isabellasgeneva.com

Christine

Mike G wrote:
I don't know if there are many South Americans among the strongly Latino population, but if there are, this artillery placement over the main boulevard probably reminds them of a little bit of home...

Mike, you seem to have South America on the brain these days!

I thought Myles might feel bad about that but he just shrugged and dug right into my barbacoa:

Was the barbacoa de chivo at Byby's not particularly picante, or is Myles a young chile-head?

The barbacoa by itself was not seasoned much, the salsa and pico de gallo or whatever were medium-hot, though. Myles does seem to be becoming a chili-head, to my surprise.

The photo doesn't do it much justice but I must say the view from up there over the boulevard is one that seems uncharacteristic for the U.S., much more Baron Haussmanesque....

Wow, this place was great! We went to Carmina's tonight and it was wonderful! Very authentic and a great value! 4 of us ate:

Chips & salsa - chips were very good. Corn variety, appeared to be fresh fried. Salsa was chunky, more like pico de gallo and was very spicy. As is typical in what I know of traditional Mexican places, when we asked for a mild salsa, we were served a basic warm sauce, which I think is generally ranchero sauce or enchilada sauce. While authentic, I do not like warm salsa.

I ordered a margarita which seemed ok, not great (certainly not strong!). SIL's hubby got a Dos Equis on tap, which was good. SIL got a Miller Lite on tap. Both got a refill by the end of the meal. (If you are adding up costs.)

Appetizer platter - very disappointing all in all. It listed taquitos, poppers, mozarella sticks, chicken tenders, mini tacos, and quesadillas. Standout was the quesadillas. We asked what cheese and it was 100% chihuahua. Excellent! The rest was typical bar fried fare. $8.99 and 4 were plenty satisfied.

DH got the steak & chicken combo fajitas. They came out semi sizzling but plenty hot and plenty flavorful, and cost $10.95 or $11.95, not sure. Amazing and a TON of food. This was not half steak and half chicken, it was a mega serving of each. With guac, sour cream, beans & rice and flour tortillas.

SIL & hubby got a steak burrito and a steak chimichanga (fried burrito). Came with sour cream, guac, rice & beans. About $7-9 each.

I got carne asada a la tampiquena. Very tasty. $10.95. The juice from the steak ran into the rice making it delectible. The beans had the same melty salty chihuahua cheese on them, yum! As did the cheese enchilada (hence the a la tampiquena)...so so yummy. The steak did not appear to be skirt steak, but perhaps a different cut. Regardless, it was thin, tender, sliced well, and was well seasoned. It was also an extremely generous portion. I did not eat any tortillas for fear that my appetite would be ruined.

The menu does appear to have many typical dishes you would find in the US and not many strays - not even chilaquiles, which is a favorite of mine. But what they do, they do amazingly well. I did not inquire about special requests as it was our first time there and we had guests with us.

We brought about half of this meal home and including drinks, I think I overheard DH say the bill was $67. For four! Delicious food, great leftovers, authentic cuisine and a good value. I am happy and have nothing else to say.

The website seems outdated and appears to have even more 'gringo style' fare on the menu than we saw tonight, but I will post it regardless:

http://www.carminasrestaurant.com/index.html

Carmina's Mexican Restaurant
Address: 1055 N Randall Road, Elgin, IL 60123
Phone: (847) 760-6000
Fax: (847) 760-6085
Email: Kelnmig1@aol.com

Christine

More on Mex in Elgin here.

Cathy2 wrote:If it were Saturday instead, this is interesting place to visit:

Ream's Elburn Market, Inc.
128 North Main Street
Elburn, IL
630/365-6461
Mon-Fri: 8 AM - 5:30 PM; Sat: 8 AM - 4 PM; Closed Sunday

West Chicago is not off the radar, you might want to try
ByBys or King James BBQ.

Aurora is home to Oberweis Dairy, maybe they have a flagship store.

Regards,

A big thanks Cathy2 for reminding me of Ream's!!! My Dad used to bring home their unreal Ham Salad all the time when we lived out there. I just called and a nice lady told me they still make it fresh everyday! Best ever! Time for a roadtrip!

Hi,

My Mom waxes poetic about ham salad eaten during her youth in th 1950's. A few years ago, she learned her favored ham salad was minced bologna, mayo and pickle relish. If this is indeed true, then it's the alchemy of this combination which works.

I hope you enjoy your ham salad after all these years.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

My Mom waxes poetic about ham salad eaten during her youth in th 1950's. A few years ago, she learned her favored ham salad was minced bologna, mayo and pickle relish.

In the "old days", a lot of groceries should gring up their "butt ends" and make a sandwich spread that was generally available for somewhere south of $2/lb. And MOST places had NO problems calling it ham salad even though it was anything but straight ham.

Fortunately, he have more "honesty in labeling."

I never realized that someone could make a "salad" out of balogna ... until I met my MIL.

I was told Ream's ham salad was made with hot dogs and smoked ham. Very solid unlike that wet grocery store stuff.I've not had a good ham salad sandwich since Ream's!

Thanks for the rec on Ream's (Elburn market) as we took a trip to DeKalb on Friday.

We stopped by and chose a fine selection of sausages from the highly decorated cured-meat-hall-of-fame smokemaster!
(We didn't get to see the smokehouse this trip, but we did get a complimentary bier stick each as new visitors to the store.)

So far we have tried both the award winning smoked sausage and maple smokies. Both excellent, nice smoke flavor and spicing, not overwhelming, very high quality meat/execution. The maple smokies were a great twist for breakfast, sweet and smokey.

We'll let you all know how the remainder of the selection turns out including jalopenie weenies, hawaiian (pineapple and teriyaki), Boer (cider vinegar and worcestershire) (I always have to channel bugs bunny to spell that), smoked thuringers, smoked cheddar brats and apple-chive sausages.

We also got braunschweiger (which I noticed rum and vanilla among the ingredients) and a coarser chop liver and onion (Gotshofleberpaste) and two kinds of hickory smoked cheese (sharp cheddar and hot pepper).

Our other destination for this trip was Walter Payton's Roundhouse and America's Brewpub in Aurora.

The food was a step above standard brewpub offerings. The highlight for me was the "spiced onion & ale soup with swiss & mozzarella" So sounds like french onion soup, right?

Turns out "spices" means mustard seeds and applewood smoked bacon, which makes this akin to a reuben in a bowl. Perfect for a snowy day. Delicious. Sorry for those vegheads out there, but I am in favor of bacon being considered a "spice".

We also got their prime rib sandwich, and the rib appetizer (6 ribs and 5 jumbo beer battered onion rings). The ribs were fine. Not falling off the bone, not very smoky, not bad. The onion rings nicely done (esp good with jalepeno ketchup). I thought the prime rib sandwich (shaved prime rib with coleslaw & swiss cheese, caramelized red onion & horseradish beer mustard) was good but greasy. The steak fries were ok -- (we noticed some one else get frites, missed that option -- they looked very nice and crispy!) Griffin was more positive on the prime rib sandwich, maybe his half had all the cole slaw and mustard. I was expecting medium rare prime rib, while what we got look like your basic roast beef.
Fine, just not exceptional.

The special beers on tap were Oompa Loompa Chocolate beer, a light colored beer made with Godiva chocolote which was quite nice (5.2%). A Schwartz which had a little of the buttery quality of Sprecher but was nice hop/malt balance (5.3%), an imperial stout (7.2%, similar to Victory Storm king, with a strong roastiness, and the real winner for me -- a SCOTCH ale, coming in at over 10%, with strong sweet alcohol flavor and vanilla overtones. Like JW Lees aged in Lagavulin/sherry casks (was supposed to have a peat-y smokiness but I couldn't really detect it). Delightful. Worth the trip in itself.

If you are in the area in the late summer, it looks like the stretch between Dekalb and Geneva has a number of berry farms and orchards and pumpkin patches. I'll be sure that my next trip to NIU is during the harvest season!

http://www.americasbrewpub.com/

http://www.elburnmarket.com/

We are currently about half way through our Elburn/Ream's sausage selection.

First off, everything has been excellent quality.

The jalopenie weenies had a real kick (a bit too much for me, griffin liked em fine) and were great with some cheddar.

The hawaiian were a little dissappointing given our expectations. The pineapple and teriyaki were overtones more than flavors. Not sure I could have detected anything other than a pleasing sweetness if I hadn't known what they were supposed to be.

This is all part of a phenomena is called "verbal overshadowing" and is one of the dangers of describing food (and beers and wines) in words. They were very good sausages. And I might even get them again, and just try to not expect any assertive teriyaki-ness. hmmm or could add teriyaki for grilling...

The braunschweiger is a fine wurst. Unforunately, we realized afterwards that we didn't see smoked liverwurst for sale, which is a shame, because our exposure to smoked liverwurst at Andy's (now Endy's on Milwaukee just south of Belmont) makes unsmoked seem a little boring.
(Andy/Endy's seems to have stronger smoked flavor than the smoked liver sausage we have gotten from Kurowskis or Meyers**)

We'll be trying the liver and onions version next, which might be a bit more assertive Maybe griffin just needs to learn how to smoke liverwurst.

The smoked cheeses were gone within 24 hours of purchase. Both (smoked hot pepper and smoked sharp cheddar) had sharp, sweet and smoked flavors that worked well together and were quickly consumed by friends during basketball.

So far, we haven't found a "destination sausage", but that doesn't diminsh the experience of the visit to Ream's. Elburn Market is a fine place to stop. Its enjoyable just to see that many sausage and smoked meat options and comparable to our joy of entering Kurowski's and Joe the Sausage King here in Logan and Lincoln Squares.

If the recent spring weather is making you think of dusting off your grill, these are worthy destinations. (Plus buying at Joe's really makes you feel like you are supporting a noble and worth Mom and Pop cause, and an added bonus is Cheese stands alone right across the street)*

* I have no corporate interest in these establishments. Only corporal.
**(we are anti-meyers since the change in ownership and the new owner refused to honor a gift-certificate from the previous owners -- given to us as a wedding present) Bleah. Also see above reason for shopping at nearby Joe's.

Kurowski's Sausage Shop
2976 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60618

Joe The Sausage King (Joe's Market)
4452 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

we are almost through our supply of sausage from Ream's.
The winner in my opinion was the Boerweors sausage (from the freezer case).

Nice firm sausage, but not too tightly packed, good texture, very juicy -- probably a pork base although could be a mix of pork and beef.

The highlight was the seasoning. We knew there would be a hint of vinegar (in this case cider vinegar and worcestershire) from the butcher and packaging. The spice profile was unexpected. I got allspice and cloves, maybe nutmeg. Griffin got a five-spice asian taste from it. Very nice.

I live in Batavia... I think that El Taco Grande in Batavia is hands down the best mexican restaurant around... haven't been to some of the ones mentioned above. Same owners have Don Manuel off Randall Road in Batavia, this is a higher end restaurant, but not by much. The menu @ El Taco Grande is extensive and very good... Since you mentioned Geneva/St. Charles these two seem closer than Aurora and Elgin.

I'm not a fan of the BarBQ Shack in St. Charles... the sweet potato fries are good but the meat is awful. Big Texas in Lombard is my favorite for that.

Fancy Schamcy? Harvest @ Pheasant Run was pretty good, and they're on Open Table. The smoked gouda on the onion soup was brilliant.

Isabella's was mentioned and that is good of course.

Also in Batavia is Tribella's, an Italian Steakhouse. I wonder how FoxFire in Geneva on Rt 38 is...

We have lots of good restaurants in the Fox Valley.... my favorite is probably El Taco Grande.

Even though they are run by the same family, Taco Grande is far better than Don Manuel because they offer a wide selection of more authentic Mexican plus they make an A+ salsa, fresh hand made. Don Manuel tried to go "upsacle" but and is pretty expensive with a real limited menu. Last visit I tried their taco plate and got a pile of yellow cheese and lettuce for ten bucks or such, pretty gringoized and crummy, I'll stick to TG.

As far as the BBQ Shack, if you look back, there are previous postings on it as well as one a few weeks ago that I posted on Thomas' BBQ on Montgomery Road in Aurora. Thomas' is a family run place with their own farm where they raise and butcher their own hogs. I thought the pulled pork was outstanding and generous.

Some more or less random thoughts on this set of posts:
1.) Oberwseis' flagship store complete with window into the dairy and lab is on Randall Road in North Aurora.
2.) Ream's sausage rates with any encased meat in Chicagoland. I don't think anyone smokes meat as well as Ream's. The andouille alone is worth a trip.
3.) That said, I think the Wurst Kitchen is the best, next to Ream's.
4.) One should always mention that you can get huitlacoche (sp?), albeit canned, at Byby's.
5.) There is a La Quebrada on Rt 25 just south of Aurora.
6.) A "White Fence Farm" type experience was missed by not going to the Fisherman Inn on Rt 47 south of Elburn. Substitute trout for chicken, make it a bit fancier-it would have been a perfect pairing if they still let you catch the trout that you were going to eat.
7.) While I like Uncle Bub's better, Thomas' BBQ is pretty dang good.
7.) Had I only one recommendation to make it would have been the very kid friendly Payton's in Aurora-good food, better beer and ale, neat little museum to Sweetness (and Matt Suhey), terrific building.

Thanks MLS! Haven't been in a year but Fisherman's Inn is a great place for a special dinner, follow it up with a walk in their gardens and around the trout ponds. Last visit we were treated to hummingbirds coming to the feeders right by where we were seated. Though trout is their big thing, I had some wonderful, juicy pork chops there last visit.

Walter Payton's Roundhouse is also a stellar place. Very cool location in the restored Burlington Northern railyard. There are great displays on the building's restoration and the very interesting and whimsical Walter Payton Museum. The restaurant itself has a very large, open, multi level dining room and there is patio dining around a huge fireplace when the weather is good. My favorite here is the pulled pork sandwich but they have a diverse menu that even satisfied a very strict vegitarian friend.

Wurst Kitchen now has a second location in the Sandwich/Plano area, they have a cafe too but I haven't had a chance to stop in. They closed their Michael D's cookie shop in downtown Aurora and now sell those cookies in their new place.

Fisherman Inn on Rt 47 south of Elburn. Substitute trout for chicken, make it a bit fancier-it would have been a perfect pairing if they still let you catch the trout that you were going to eat.

IF you are not inclined to fish for your dinner and order from the menu, then is the fish still harvested just for your dinner? In another lifetime, my family and I went to a trout farm outside of Zagreb, Yugoslavia. After placing your order, they caught the fish needed for your group. It was one of two the freshest fish experiences I ever had. The other was buying live carp in Moscow and killing them before cooking.

Waiting on the details!

Regards,

Although I have not gone in a year, I have been going to the Fisherman's Inn since before their 1985 fire, I don't ever remember an option to catch your own fish. The attached web link states that the trout are netted daily which I am sure they mean by staff. The grounds are very pretty, it is still a rural setting and worth a drive to enjoy some open space and good food.

http://www.fishermens-inn.com/

Had a chance to eat at The Fisherman's Inn in Elburn this past Sunday and can report that everything is still very good. Two at my table had the trout, one had butt steak and I had the smoked pork chops again, everything was very good and served nicely. They open at 3 on Sundays, we went at 4 and the dining room was full as well as a reception going on in the lower level, quantity does not give up on quality.

LikestoEatout wrote:Although I have not gone in a year, I have been going to the Fisherman's Inn since before their 1985 fire, I don't ever remember an option to catch your own fish. The attached web link states that the trout are netted daily which I am sure they mean by staff. The grounds are very pretty, it is still a rural setting and worth a drive to enjoy some open space and good food.

http://www.fishermens-inn.com/

I remember going their in the early 80s. If you made a reservation they had engraved match books with your name on it. That is probably the last time I was there. I don't remember if you could catch your own fish but I loved the trout almondine and they had decent pecan pie.

Thai Village has moved to a new, larger location in downtown St. Charles and is now called Thai Country. We are heading there tonight! Here is a news article with more details:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/entertainment/2_5_AU31_REVIEW_S10831.htm

Has anyone been to the Blackberry Inn just across from the Fisherman's Inn? They have a sign bosting, "Home of the Belly Buster." It seems potentially a biker-friendly place from the few times I have passed it. I would love to hear more about it if anyone knows!

Also - I'm curious about Country House at Kirk & Fabyan - apparently one year in the last few they won best burgers in Chicago. Can anyone attest to their quality?

I'll post about Thai Country later.

The Country House in Geneva is a few notches below the quality of the Lisle and Clarendon Hills locations. The folks in Lisle told me that the Geneva location was built and run by a different family member than the other two locations...perhaps that is the difference.