Uncovering the little-known Polish bar scene. Zapiekanka!

One day I began wondering where the younger new generation of Polish immigrants in Chicago go for entertainment. I know they exist: I run into them here or there, at Polish delis and so on. A quick online search revealed dozens of Polish bars ranging from super-dive to homey-rustic to club-scene to hip-modern-european. And, as typically occurs in bar cultures, the cuisine in Polish bars is not strictly the standard Polish fare. Though a lot of familiar dishes appear on their menus, during our exploration we came across some really intriguing stuff: a Polish night club with sushi (and pierogi, but not pierogi sushi, unfortunately); pizzas topped with tuna, olives, pickles and onion; and one mainstay at Polish bars - and a riddle wrapped in an enigma in itself - the Zapiekanka.

In case you aren’t familiar, a Zapiekanka is an open faced french bread pizza, most commonly with garlic butter, mozzarella, mushrooms and green onion. Sounds great, right? Oh yeah… it’s topped with ketchup. Some variations also include veggies, ham or other meats. To some this may sound like more of a novelty than a delicacy, especially with the ketchup, but I’ll add that as with most iconic dishes there is usually a standout worth seeking, and in this regard the Zapiekanka is no exception. In the end I found a couple of Zapiekankas which I would actually go out of my way to eat more than once. There are probably dozens of places throughout Chicago that serve them, yet there is very little info online, and only a couple mentions in passing here on LTH, so I figured it was worth a little bit of exploration on the subject.

The purpose of the exploration was as much cultural as it was culinary, so we added a couple bonus stops, one which was a Polish punk/metal bar without food, and another a street food style snack shop.

We separated our tour into 3 days, and hit 3 places per day for a total of 9 bars. The places we explored were:

Day 1: Retro Cafe, Tasty Polish Food, New waves
Day 2: Milano’s, Bristol,Cafe Prague
Day 3: Krokodile, Cafe Europa, Bim Bom

Instead of posting them all at once, for fear that I may never complete my post, I've separated the posts into each individual day, and I will post as I complete each. This is just the start of exploring the numerous Polish bars throughout Chicago, and I hope to add more to the list, and also hope to explore the menus of my favorites more, as well as opinions and data points from other lthers.


It may be drinking food, but kids love Zapiekanka too!

Day 1: Retro Cafe, Tasty Polish Food, New Waves.

For this leg of the trip, I was joined by Teresa, fropones, and boudreaulicious, thanks for joining, and chime in with your opinions!

Retro Cafe:
When we walked into Retro Cafe, I got the feeling that perhaps the polish bars are going to be really quaint and homey, similar to those restaurants I’m so familiar with, lots of wood paneling, dim lighting, warm colors. Food-wise, we this whole project started off with quite a bang, the pierogi literally came from next door at Alexandra’s Pierogi, which happened to be the favorite of the trip. The skin was thin, and the fillings fresh and flavorful. We ordered the mushroom and sauerkraut, which quickly became my pierogi of choice. Also with the Zapiekanka we were treated to one of the best, setting a high bar for those that were to follow. The bread was super fresh, crispy crust and warm squishy crumb. I immediately thought of the bread from Nhu Lan bakery. The cheese was hot and gooey, and the mushrooms were not the button mushrooms which I expected, these were textural and rich in flavor. Surprisingly the ketchup was possibly homemade, or some kind of mix of ketchup and hot sauce. It was spicy and vinegar forward.

Lastly we ordered a Country Lovers Pizza, polish sausage, [canadian] bacon, boiled egg and pickle. This was a really fun pizza, the zing of the pickles played nicely with the fatty richness of the meats. The dough was the soft tavern style, and we could probably do better a next time if we order it cooked well done, but I honestly wouldn’t complain. I loved all 3 things we ordered at this bar, next time I’ll be sure to try the pizza with tuna, pickles, and olives.

There were a number of beers on tap, and after a few I quickly realized that polish beers on draft are far superior to their canned counterparts. My favorite was the Zywiec, which I would describe as very much like a pilsner, and I might add that I would prefer this over many true pilsners that I’ve had.


Zapiekanka and Pierogi


Pierogi, up close


Country Lover's Pizza


Country Lover's Pizza, up close.


fropones and Teresa enjoying the atmosphere


Exterior

Tasty Polish Food:
Next stop was Tasty Polish Food, a Polish street food snack shop just off Belmont on Central. They serve a number of unique (to me) things, but of course we started with a Zapiekanka. They served two types, the classic, and a vegetarian. Both looked good, but naturally we went with the classic. It was a solid middle of the road Zapiekanka, but with Retro Cafe just a short walk away, with late night hours, and serving beer, I can’t see myself returning for the Zapiekanka.

We also ordered the two items on the menu that looked the most unique, the Knysza, a “pocket bread stuffed with hamburger or chicken/turkey and homemade sauce” If you compare the picture with what we actually received, you’d notice that there must be five times the “sauce”, which was mostly mayonnaise. Then we cracked into the “mushroom hot dog”, another stuffed bread item. It was again filled with sauce, this time ketchup. Perhaps if this was not our second stop and I was more hungry, I could have handled these a bit better, but the overwhelming sauce made them both hard to stomach. Lastly, we tried the curry kebab sandwich, which was probably the favorite, a curried chicken sandwich which contained some veggies and corn. It was something I'd be interested in trying again, but I'm not sure that it was the Kebab I expected. Perhaps there was a communication error on this order.

It's worth noting that the bread on everything we ordered here was very good and fresh. I wonder where it comes from or if they actually make it in house. I'd like to come back and try a few more things.




Zapiekanka


Knysza


the part of the Knysza you didn't want to see, what's inside


Mushroom hot dog


Kebab Sandwich (curry chicken)







New Waves:
New Waves is a bar which is attached to a laundromat. Surprisingly, for a laundromat/bar combo, it was quite swanky. The only tap at the bar was out of commission, so sadly we were reduced to drinking bottles which tasted pretty old. One interesting thing, this bar was first of 3 times I noticed that they offered raspberry syrup to add to your beers. On to the food, we ordered some homemade dumplings, mushroom and sauerkraut. They were very good, freshly made with fresh interior ingredients. They had a thicker skin than the ones from Alexandra’s at Retro. I find that I favor the thinner skin, which puts Alexandra’s at the top of my list. The Zapiekanka was above average, ketchup served on the side, which was common at about half the places we visited, which I guess makes it less bad… Though for the sake of research we went ahead with the application of the ketchup. The food was average or better than, but the lack of beer on tap will probably keep me away. I’m sure it would be a blast to come on a busier weekend and hang out with the locals in between moving the whites from washer to dryer.


Zapiekanka, self serve ketchup.. Maybe I shouldn't have.


Homemade Pierogi


Raspberry syrup next to the beer tap.







Stay tuned for the days 2 and 3, which should be posted very soon!

Retro Cafe & Restaurant
3246 N Central Ave
Chicago, IL 60634

Tasty Polish Food
3104 N Central Ave
Chicago, IL 60634

New Waves Cafe & Deli
6043 W Addison St
Chicago, IL 60634

Though I've been to the standard and well known Polish restaurants around town many times down through the years, the dishes you are describing here completely new to me. Thanks for the great post. Look forward to the rest.

laikom wrote:Zapiekanka, self serve ketchup.. Maybe I shouldn't have

I did & know I shouldn't have.

thanks for posting.

I really enjoyed Retro Cafe and definitely plan to return. I agree with laikom that everything we had there was delicious. The zapakienka and pierogi were my favorite of both days I joined. In addition the uniquely topped pizza was surprisingly delicious and satisfying.

I will say that I also thoroughly enjoyed the knysza from Tasty Polish Food. I sort of thought of it like the Polish Jim Shoe. Definitely not something you can eat every night (unless you get weekly angioplasty) but a solid once in a while snack.

Hi,

When Soviet Union began to loosen its grip and crossing the country less restrictive. My Dad began driving from Moscow into Poland, then further west and south ending up in Italy. I went a few times on this journey, which he did without maps.

He regularly stopped at a Pizza Hut in Warsaw for pizza. Most of the pizza selections were recognizable to his experiences here and some were to local tastes. One pizza topping surprised him was corn on a pizza. When he got home, he raved about it so much I made pizza with corn in addition to other stuff.

I'll make sure he sees this thread.

Regards,

Great topic and pictures! Long ago I used to visit Polish night clubs off and on with some regularity: a newly-single close friend from Florida was fascinated by these over-the-top decorated bars with thumping beats, good, weird, and budget scratch food, crisp cheap beer, and - the only really relevant part for my pal then - beautiful female bartenders, servers and staff, never mind the table of surly Adidas track suit dudes smoking in the corner keeping watch. For a time, the F1 racing-themed bar Player's Club was an especially excellent example, plopped onto Ashland near Fullerton. The overlap between skilled construction trade labor and Polish bar ownership leads to some serious lily-gilding at these places.

I truly enjoy the not-quite-right awkward otherness that is so typically Eastern/Central European. Nothing like sitting at a mahogany bar with a neon-lighted waterfall behind it, eating steak tartar and pizza with corn and hardboiled eggs while Eurotrash house thumps endlessly, sipping an icy Zywiec and talking to Paulina serving drinks while working on her chemistry PhD.

JeffB wrote:. . . beautiful female bartenders, servers and staff, never mind the table of surly Adidas track suit dudes smoking in the corner keeping watch.

JeffB wrote:Nothing like sitting at a mahogany bar with a neon-lighted waterfall behind it, eating steak tartar and pizza with corn and hardboiled eggs while Eurotrash house thumps endlessly, sipping an icy Zywiec and talking to Paulina serving drinks while working on her chemistry PhD.

You nailed it, Jeff! Unbeknownst to you, this is a remarkably accurate preview of some of the other stops on our tour.

JeffB wrote:I truly enjoy the not-quite-right awkward otherness that is so typically Eastern/Central European. Nothing like sitting at a mahogany bar with a neon-lighted waterfall behind it, eating steak tartar and pizza with corn and hardboiled eggs while Eurotrash house thumps endlessly, sipping an icy Zywiec and talking to Paulina serving drinks while working on her chemistry PhD.

Nutshell. Jeff wasn't even with us and described the experience better than I ever could.

This was completely out of realm for me, my only Polish dining experiences being a couple of trips to Smak Tak, from which I came away less than enthralled. But the combination of elements that JeffB articulated above was delicious fun and I do hope to return to a couple of the spots. I only made it to the first 5--all of day one and 2/3 of day 2--and of those, the first stop of the first day was my favorite. I am sorry I didn't make it to the rest though because I clearly missed some gems. I don't have much to add to the story of day one--only that I agree with Fropones about the similarities of the Knysza to a Jim Shoe but disagree that I'd ever want to choke down another one. Ever

I do look forward to further study of Retro's Zapiekanka--particularly their ketchup which was weirdly delicious. And I definitely want the tuna and pickle pizza since pickles on pizza is my new craving. And I never got to try any steak tartare and am sure there are some pretty righteous versions at some of these spots so that is on the list as well.

Thanks to Matt for the planning and inspiration! Stay tuned for days two and three!!

In particular, I can't wait to hear Matt's description of our "friend" from day two, bar two. For those of you who met Indian Pete at last fall's picnic, we have a new contender for "laikom's most interesting fan"!!!

Sweet Willie wrote:

laikom wrote:Zapiekanka, self serve ketchup.. Maybe I shouldn't have

I did & know I shouldn't have.

thanks for posting.

You're okay. Zapiekanka is one of my favorite Polish street foods (and there was also a similar bar food called melegszendvics in Hungary I was addicted to), and one of the things I looked most forward to when visiting my extended family in Poland as a child. I'm not a big fan of ketchup in general, but, to me, a zapiekanka doesn't seem quite complete without a wavy drizzle across the top.

Thanks for the posting this, laikom! I've only had them once or twice here in Chicago, and they never tasted quite right. I almost never go to Polish restaurants (since I get my fill of Polish food at my parents' house or at home--though I suppose zapiekanka isn't quite "restaurant food," anyway), so I've never had a chance to research the zapiekanka scene. I've never even heard of any of those places. But the pictures look awesome, and I'm dying to check those places out when I'm up north.

Cathy2 wrote:Pizza Hut in Warsaw for pizza. Most of the pizza selections were recognizable to his experiences here and some were to local tastes. One pizza topping surprised him was corn on a pizza. When he got home, he raved about it so much I made pizza with corn in addition to other stuff.

Huh! Places where people put corn on top of pizza:

1) Japan
2) Poland

Is there a connection? If so, what is it?

The Brits love weird sh*t on their "pizzas" as well including the venerated tuna/sweet corn.

I think the Brits like to put sweet corn on/in lots of stuff. My sister discovered that they put it in the tuna salad as well, and now makes her tuna salad at home with sweet corn.

Roger Ramjet wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Pizza Hut in Warsaw for pizza. Most of the pizza selections were recognizable to his experiences here and some were to local tastes. One pizza topping surprised him was corn on a pizza. When he got home, he raved about it so much I made pizza with corn in addition to other stuff.

Huh! Places where people put corn on top of pizza:

1) Japan
2) Poland

Is there a connection? If so, what is it?

It's not unusual to find it throughout Central Europe. Often, the pizza that involves corn somehow incorporates "American" or something American-related into its name. Note, for example, Dr. Oetker's Big Americans Supreme Pizza. Or this one is interesting, a pizza joint in Eger, Hungary, the "Alabama" and "Yankee" pizzas both incorporating corn under the "American Style Deep Dish Pizza" category. The vegetarian "Chicago-style" pizzas in this Prague eatery, and so on and so forth.

That said, it seems to be slowly shifting, with corn now being more associated with Mexico in naming than America.

Binko wrote:Or this one is interesting, a pizza joint in Eger, Hungary, the "Alabama" and "Yankee" pizzas both incorporating corn under the "American Style Deep Dish Pizza" category.

In case anyone is interested:

Kansas: cheese, cheddar cheese, spiced tomato sauce, parmesan cheese
Arizona: cheese, spiced tomato sauce, salami, parmesan cheese
Detroit: cheese, pork meat sauce, hot green peppers, parmesan cheese
Tennessee: cheese, salami, mild peperoncini, sour cream, parmesan cheese
Colorado: cheese, sour cream sauce, black olives, bell peppers, mushrooms, parmesan cheese
Alabama: cheese, spiced tomato sauce, bacon, corn, parmesan cheese
Hotrod: cheese, barbecue sauce, grilled pork, spicy peperoncini, parmesan cheese
Yankee: cheese, "Yankee" spicy sauce, hot dogs, corn, parmesan cheese
Little Rock: cheese, sour cream sauce, grilled chicken, red onion, "yankee sauce," parmesan cheese
American dream: cheese, pork meat sauce, grilled chicken, grilled pork, sour cream, parmesan cheese

What those ingredients have to do with those names is anyone's guess.

I'm sure the good people of Little Rock might really object to having anything with "Yankee sauce" on it named after them or their fair state.

stevez wrote:I'm sure the good people of Little Rock might really object to having anything with "Yankee sauce" on it named after them or their fair state.

Huh? Who cares what the people of the state of Little Rock think. Yankee sauce all over the south. Go Hungary!

oh man, that pool room at new waves

looking forward to the next parts

laikom wrote:
New Waves:
New Waves is a bar which is attached to a laundromat.






New Waves Cafe & Deli
6043 W Addison St
Chicago, IL 60634

Yes.

I made the creative decision to not put a lot of flourish into the post and let the pictures and your imaginations speak for themselves, but after JeffB wrote such a colorful description that perfectly illustrates what we experienced, I was pretty sure I undersold it. I'm glad to see that for the most part we have all, as a group, captured the essence of the first leg of our voyage. I have drafted the 2nd and 3rd days, and hope to get another post up sooner rather than later. I'm so happy that my post has sparked a good discussion!

Killing it brother. Can hardly wait.

I heard a preview of this post from Laikom last week and I was eagerly awaiting the pics and write-up. Really as great as I was expecting. Pretty fascinating stuff that I really never knew existed.

When he told me about the Zapiekanka, I almost immediately texted a Polish friend of mine to see if she was familiar with it. She wasn't. But as I look at the pictures of the bar, I'm now realizing these bars are probably just not her kind of place. But I know she's headed back to Poland in a couple of months and I've told her to be on the lookout for the Zapiekanka in particular. Thanks Laikom for the great report!

BR wrote:When he told me about the Zapiekanka, I almost immediately texted a Polish friend of mine to see if she was familiar with it. She wasn't.

I find that surprising, and I wonder if it's a regional thing. In Krakow, I remember it as being pretty much the ubiquitous/stereotypical street food. It's not just a bar thing, at all. (Although these days it may be being replaced by more modern treats like doners or something.) Like the way you think of currywurst in Berlin, or, hell, a hot dog in Chicago I think of zapiekanka in Poland. That said, it's been about 10 years since I've been to Poland. But in the 80s and early 90s, zapiekanki were found everywhere we visited: city squares, bus stations, train stations, street carts, etc. Mushroom and cheese were the ones I was addicted to.

BR wrote:I heard a preview of this post from Laikom last week and I was eagerly awaiting the pics and write-up. Really as great as I was expecting. Pretty fascinating stuff that I really never knew existed.

When he told me about the Zapiekanka, I almost immediately texted a Polish friend of mine to see if she was familiar with it. She wasn't. But as I look at the pictures of the bar, I'm now realizing these bars are probably just not her kind of place. But I know she's headed back to Poland in a couple of months and I've told her to be on the lookout for the Zapiekanka in particular. Thanks Laikom for the great report!

FWIW, when I mentioned the thread idea to my wife a few weeks back, Zapiekanka was the first thing she mentioned and she left Poland when she was 7, so I think it's pretty ubiquitous street food in Poland.

A pal of mine recently returned from Poland and mentioned that zaps were still the ubiquitous street food (along with doner), at least in both Warsaw & Krakow.

It probably should be just a bar thing. A short-lived zap shop out here in Boston in a dense student neighborhood barely lasted a year.

Odd indeed, and I intend to investigate further, particularly because I know she's otherwise familiar with a lot of Polish food items and is always kind enough to bring me fantastic, homemade pierogis every Christmas. Not sure if this is somehow something she misses by just spending time with family when she goes back to Poland . . . lots of questions to ask. In any event, something I'd very much like to try.

Maybe it's your pronunciation

boudreaulicious wrote:Maybe it's your pronunciation

Nope, it was a text.

I only say that because I still can't pronounce it properly LOL!