When I'm in that area during morning-lunch hours, I usually make may way over to Christopher's on York Rd. for one of their feta cheese omelets.

691 N York St, Elmhurst, IL 60126
(630) 530-1890

Kid Charlemagne wrote:I've created a Google Map of most of these locations and added a link to it in the first post! I included some of the more far reaching ones, even if they are not ones I may get to often. If I develop more ambition, I might add layers to help people narrow down the map to areas they are interested in (Near West for things like Boston Fishmarket & Gene & Jude's, Near West for the places near berwyn and south, etc).

Nice map, though I have to note you incorrectly placed the dot for Q BBQ in La Grange on this map. It isn't out in the western edge of Aurora.

Vie, in Western Springs, has contemporary American food from Paul Virant, and may be the very best restaurant in that area. It's also a GNR.

Parker's in Downers Grove, has the best seafood in the western suburbs and lots of other great food, including authentic Neapolitan pizza. I love that place, and I keep going back there, again and again.

Also excellent and worth a try:

Waterleaf for contemporary American on the College of DuPage campus in Glen Ellyn
Barbakoa for contemporary Mexican in Downers Grove
Glen Prairie for contemporary American in Glen Ellyn
Tuscany for Italian in Oak Brook
Reel Club for seafood in Oak Brook
Mon Ami Gabi, the French bistro in Oak Brook
Seasons 52, for healthy American in Oak Brook
Bella Bacino's for Italian in LaGrange
DMK Burger Bar for you-know-what in Lombard

dumpstermcnuggets wrote:

Kid Charlemagne wrote:I've created a Google Map of most of these locations and added a link to it in the first post! I included some of the more far reaching ones, even if they are not ones I may get to often. If I develop more ambition, I might add layers to help people narrow down the map to areas they are interested in (Near West for things like Boston Fishmarket & Gene & Jude's, Near West for the places near berwyn and south, etc).

Nice map, though I have to note you incorrectly placed the dot for Q BBQ in La Grange on this map. It isn't out in the western edge of Aurora.

Fixed that, and adding the places nsxtasy linked!

jimswside wrote:a couple new ones to me listed above. appreciated.

I eat lunch up in that area a few times a week, and 9 times out of 10 hit Johnson's Door County - probably better all around than Troha's...... wednesday is shrimp plate or shrimp dinner on special, other days the lightly breaded shrimp or the lake perch are favorites.

Gonna check out that U Gazdy.

A spot Im curious about is Mr. Halal Broaster, just down the street from Johnsons and Desi Grill. Halal broaster chix, piri piri wings, etc.

Mr. Halal Broaster
833 E. Roosevelt
Lombards, IL.

http://www.mrbroast.com/

just havent made it in yet.

They have a location in Aurora:

2202 Ogden Ave, Aurora, IL 60504
Phone:(630) 229-0429

From what I can tell, it looks like it opened fairly recently. I tried it today for the first time. Being a sucker for Broasted chicken, that's what we went with. We ordered the 8 piece family dinner. It came with a large side, we got fries, and 4 biscuits. Seemed a little on the expensive side at $18.99. The 8 pieces without the side and biscuit is $13.99.

We had been out shopping and got it to go. The wait was a little longer than I would expect. We were quoted 20 minutes. I don't know if it was more or less than 20, but it was close. But I heard the owner talking with one of the other people waiting for food. It sounded like the wait was for the biscuits. He said the chicken takes about 11 minutes to cook. I didn't hear the rest of the conversation.

Anyway, got the food in the car and I was starved so I gave the command to my wife to 'FRY ME!'. That was the first surprise. There was no mention on the menu board, it just said fries. But these were seasoned fries. And different than most seasoned fries I've had. They were actually spicy. And they were awesome. Between us, we probably ate about half of the large order before we made it home.

Second surprise was the biscuits. They looked similar to Popeye's biscuits, which I'm not a fan of. But they tasted nothing like them. They had a sweetness to them that reminded me of sweat corn bread. They were excellent.

Finally the chicken. Big pieces. Cooked perfectly. But the taste was different than what I expected. For me, most broasted chicken is salty. This wasn't. It was actually spicy. Good spicy. Not hot wing spicy, but spicy. My wife tends to not like spicy things, but she loved the chicken too.

Obviously I can't speak about the Lombard location, but this place was very clean. The manager was very friendly. They have a lot of other things on the menu including peri peri chicken. Needless to say, I'll be a returning customer.

Midas,

This place took over a Moroccan (Taste of Morocco) restaurant that never made it.

I've been here a couple of times already. The first time they were installing the cooler for soda and icecream and the manger couldn't have been more apologetic.

The zinger burger and chicken philly sandwich are good. Wait times do seem to run on the longer side, but for me it's a fair trade off.

Like you, I'll be returning.

plark wrote:
The zinger burger and chicken philly sandwich are good.

The online menu is about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine. What is a zinger burger?

Mikelipino wrote: <snip>

And just outside your boundary:

Q BBQ - La Grange - Burnt ends!
Hot Dog Company - La Grange - Craggy corn dogs akin to Cozy Dog, perfect with the mustard sauce "borrowed" from Q BBQ
Back Alley Burger - La Grange - Creative burgers, fresh cut fries, and shakes. There's a location in Villa Park, but I haven't been there.

Many of these places have been sprinkled throughout LTH threads, but some are new. I'm sure there are more, and I'll add as I think of them.

Welcome back!
mike

Actually that Back Alley Burger is in Elmhurst at the Corner of Route 83 and St. Charles, not Villa Park.

Another local favorite is Montecasino Cafe Grill, 401 N. Ardmore in Villa Park next to the train station. Mexican food. tiny family run place.

As I might have mentioned earlier, Mr Halal Broast is a Indian/Pakistani fried-chicken place - and is *very* popular in the community, draws some very good reviews (note, the "halal" aspect of it is very important - a lot of Pakistanis dont consume KFC/Popeyes etc because it isnt halal. Except for 1 Browns Chicken and 1 KFC location IIRC - Browns on Devon, KFC on Western and Pratt, which are both "halal" outposts. But even so...I know people who make the trek from Skokie and Evanston to Lombard on a regular - almost weekly - basis to eat at Mr Halal Broast...)

The spicy chicken and spicy fries thus should not come as a surprise - it is catering to subcontinental tastes in their taste/heat level. (Peri peri isnt Indian/Pakistani, but is very popular in that part of the world - Nando's is a very popular South African chain, exists in Australia too, with famous peri-peri chicken..)

Anyway. A "zinger burger" is a fried-chicken sandwich - spicy, with coleslaw, and with a savory/spicy sauce (that makes it different from most other "generic" fried-chicken sandwiches). KFC introduced a "zinger" spicy-chicken sandwich is India/Pakistan and parts of the Middle-East, and it was a bit of a rage, hugely popular (and also halal in those parts of the world, of course). The "zinger burger" at Mr Halal Broast is based on that sandwich...

c8w

Great map! But just to point out, BTW...while Katys Dumplings in Westmont is the Original, and IMHO the Best - there is also a Katys in Naperville (and its a much larger sit-down place, with very good food...and they offer a couple of dishes that are excellent and only available at that location - the "spicy ribs" IIRC is one such..)

Oh, and surely there cant legally be a map of food-spots that includes Naperville...which doesnt have Naf-Naf on it?

c8w

Is the Mr. Halal Broast chicken similar to the broast chicken served at Khan BBQ?