Help with Broadway

Mr. Pie and I will be in the Broadway/Lawrence area and we could use some ideas. I see a lot of pizza, Asian, and Ethiopian places near here and I have some ideas in regard to those, but I could use some other options. Any suggestions?

We are
cheapskates (≤$16 per entrée preferred)
driving, so a place either in this area or en route from Niles is fine
not trendy.

Thanks in advance!

At Broadway and Lawrence you are less than a block away from the Uptown location of Lao Sze Chaun. A few blocks north is Sun Wah and around the corner on Argyle and east a block or two is Nha Hang. These are wonderful options if you are interested in Chinese or Vietnamese and there is lots and lots of information on the board regarding them. You may already be aware of these options, but they are so good I wanted to make sure they weren't overlooked.

Pie Lady wrote:Mr. Pie and I will be in the Broadway/Lawrence area and we could use some ideas. I see a lot of pizza, Asian, and Ethiopian places near here and I have some ideas in regard to those, but I could use some other options. Any suggestions?

We are
cheapskates (≤$16 per entrée preferred)
driving, so a place either in this area or en route from Niles is fine
not trendy.

Yes, those are the main inexpensive options in the immediate vicinity.

Magnolia Cafe is also an option, serving contemporary American cuisine a couple blocks from there. Their prices are a bit more than your $16 target, with most entrees in the low twenties, but if you reserve through savored.com, you'll get 30 percent off, enabling you to hit your target.

As another option, I'd consider Anteprima, in Andersonville. It's only a mile from Broadway/Lawrence and on your way from Niles. They specialize in terrific Italian cuisine. And Sundays through Thursdays, they have a $29 prix fixe special, any three courses (either appetizer-entree-dessert or appetizer-half pasta-entree). Great food, great bargain. Which is why it's a GNR winner!

GNR winner Big Jones not far (fitting your criteria of being on the way from Niles to Lawrence/Broadway). They have a variety of sandwiches that are in the $10-$15 range. Some of the main dishes fit into your price range too. The chicken and dumplings is amazing and is $12. The shrimp and grits are $17. They also have a lot of starters, snack, vegetable dishes, charcuterie, and sides that are under $10. My wife and I frequently make a meal out of mixture of these, rather than larger entrees, and you can easily make yourself a good meal for around $16/pp.

Any other particular cuisines that interest you?

nsxtasy wrote:As another option, I'd consider Anteprima, in Andersonville. It's only a mile from Broadway/Lawrence and on your way from Niles. They specialize in terrific Italian cuisine. And Sundays through Thursdays, they have a $29 prix fixe special, any three courses (either appetizer-entree-dessert or appetizer-half pasta-entree). Great food, great bargain. Which is why it's a GNR winner!

I was thinking about Italian. That prix fixe menu sounds nice, but do you think it's still in effect tomorrow, being V-Day? I don't see it mentioned online.

On your way south on Broadway, you'll pass Moody's for old school divey pub fare (very dark, grill-aromatic), and Pasteur, with pricepoints on either side of your range (http://pasteurrestaurantchicago.com/menu.html).

Pie Lady wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:As another option, I'd consider Anteprima, in Andersonville. It's only a mile from Broadway/Lawrence and on your way from Niles. They specialize in terrific Italian cuisine. And Sundays through Thursdays, they have a $29 prix fixe special, any three courses (either appetizer-entree-dessert or appetizer-half pasta-entree). Great food, great bargain. Which is why it's a GNR winner!

I was thinking about Italian. That prix fixe menu sounds nice, but do you think it's still in effect tomorrow, being V-Day? I don't see it mentioned online.

This is the kind of information that, if it is very important to you, it is best to call the restaurant to ascertain. In any case, if you look at their menu, you'll see that many dishes are well within your price range. You might also look at the menu (and LTH thread) for Bar Ombra, if you are interested in Italian.

You didn't say that you were going tomorrow. Big Jones is doing a Valentine's menu tomorrow and they are booked.

Anteprima has reservations on OpenTable tomorrow at 5:30. Calo is another Italian option on Clark in Andersonville. Was just on Check Please! this past Friday and they've got a lot of old timers that go there daily so Valentine's Day might be busy. And I usually just get their pizza.

Sunshine Cafe is on Clark in A'ville as well if you want Japanese. But Nha Hang, Sun Wah and Lao Sze Chuan are all closer to that exact intersection.

Pie Lady wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:As another option, I'd consider Anteprima, in Andersonville. It's only a mile from Broadway/Lawrence and on your way from Niles. They specialize in terrific Italian cuisine. And Sundays through Thursdays, they have a $29 prix fixe special, any three courses (either appetizer-entree-dessert or appetizer-half pasta-entree). Great food, great bargain. Which is why it's a GNR winner!

I was thinking about Italian. That prix fixe menu sounds nice, but do you think it's still in effect tomorrow, being V-Day? I don't see it mentioned online.

This special has been in effect for several years. It's mentioned on their Opentable page, but not on their own website. This was mentioned in another topic here on LTH a few days ago, and a member of the restaurant's team (owner?) commented that he'd look into that.

However, tomorrow being Valentine's Day, you would need to check with the restaurant to verify, as Darren already suggested. Many places don't offer their normal specials on Valentine's Day; some places even limit selections to a "special" menu with higher than normal prices. I'm surprised you didn't mention that you were looking for a place for Valentine's Day, because that really skews prices AND availability. Quite aside from the prix fixe question, Opentable shows openings for 2 at Anteprima at 5:30 and 8:30 but not in between. I can't even get a response from the Savored website about tomorrow.

You sure you just don't want to pick up a couple of nice steaks or lobsters and cook? Valentine's Day can be a beast. Plus $25 goes a long way at home. You get exactly the kind of service you want & generally there's enough remaining for another meal or snack. Additionally, it's difficult for you to find an awesome dessert out because you are so skilled in that area.

Hamburger Mary is also at Clark & Balmoral. I used to love the sausage pizza at Calo.

There's also a thread on Icosium Kafe, a crepe place around Foster & Clark that probably hits your requirements as well. Link to the menu http://www.icosiumkafechicago.com/meniu1.pdf

I'll add - http://jibekjolu.us/ - to the list. You can stuff yourselves silly within your budget. Easy street parking

I probably should have kept mum on the V-Day aspect, so it wouldn't alter your suggestions. Pretend I didn't say that.

Pie Lady wrote:I probably should have kept mum on the V-Day aspect, so it wouldn't alter your suggestions. Pretend I didn't say that.

Unless you aren't going to eat out on Valentine's Day it's relevant. Just like eating out on Christmas or Thanksgiving, things aren't necessarily normal at venues on Valentine's Day. Many restaurants are booked that would normally be wide-open.

Keep in mind that Sun Wah is closed on Thursdays. Caravan is right there if you crave Middle Eastern. (I've not been so can't attest.) Decent bar food can be had at Fat Cat. (I really like their tuna melt.) I'll second the idea of Nha Hang Vietnam Restaurant. Excellent food and it hits your budget. Ceres' Table is over on Clark just north of Lawrence and has generated some chatter. You could also give Johnny Brown Bag a shot -- small place, BYO and no reservations. I only have one meal data point and it was okay, but definitely affordable.

Caravan
4810 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 271-6022
http://caravanrestaurantchicago.com/

Fat Cat
4840 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 506-3100
http://www.fatcatbar.com/

Nha Hang Viet Nam
1032 W Argyle St
Chicago, IL 60640
LTH thread

ceres’ TABLE
4882 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60660
773-878-4882
http://www.cerestable.com
LTH thread

Johnny Brown Bag
5406 N. Clark
Chicago, Illinois 60640
(773) 270-2522
http://www.johnnybrownbag.com/

Jibek Jolu looks intriguing...we have a winner. Thanks!

Pie Lady wrote:Jibek Jolu looks intriguing...we have a winner. Thanks!

You're welcome. Restaurant.com usually has gift certificates for them.

More on Jibek Jolu here (main thread).

=R=

There's a really fine south american option on Broadway near Berwyn called La Fonda.

5350 N Broadway St, Chicago 60640
(Btwn W Balmoral & W Berwyn Ave)

Subway Directions
Phone: (773) 271-3935

Very affordable (definitely in your price range) and quite tasty and delicious. I would absolutely recommend it and I also suggest calling ahead on V Day but normally they are wide open.

That's [Jibek Jolu, near Foster and west of Western on Lincoln] a few neighborhoods away from the OP's stated intersection. I like Jibek fine, but there are lots of nice options closer to Broadway/Lawrence. Demera is a very pleasant place, and you can walk across the street to the Green Mill after dinner. Heck, even Spacca Napoli and Fountainhead are nearer.

JeffB wrote:That's [Jibek Jolu, near Foster and west of Western on Lincoln] a few neighborhoods away from the OP's stated intersection. I like Jibek fine, but there are lots of nice options closer to Broadway/Lawrence. Demera is a very pleasant place, and you can walk across the street to the Green Mill after dinner. Heck, even Spacca Napoli and Fountainhead are nearer.

True, but the OP gave a pretty broad range: near the Lawrence/Broadway intersection or anyway on the way from Niles.

There are lots of great places on the way from Niles to Uptown, especially when you consider the various possible routes between the two. For example, Libertad, Yolo, and Kabul House, all in downtown Skokie, are along the way, and all fit the stated price target. Downtown Evanston is only slightly out of the way, and has numerous good choices as well; for example, we ate an outstanding VD dinner at Found tonight, and they were serving from their regular menu, thankfully no "special" prices for VD.

The GP wrote:

JeffB wrote:That's [Jibek Jolu, near Foster and west of Western on Lincoln] a few neighborhoods away from the OP's stated intersection. I like Jibek fine, but there are lots of nice options closer to Broadway/Lawrence. Demera is a very pleasant place, and you can walk across the street to the Green Mill after dinner. Heck, even Spacca Napoli and Fountainhead are nearer.

True, but the OP gave a pretty broad range: near the Lawrence/Broadway intersection or anyway on the way from Niles.

Also, I love Demera (I think it's my favorite Ethiopian place) but we ate there last time we were in the area. Delish as always.

For future reference, The Cousins is a few blocks from Broadway and Lawrence, they have delicious Italian food, the entree prices range from $9 - $17, and they are byo.

The Cousins
1463 W. Leland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60640
773.334.9800
www.thecousinsrest.com