Annual Black Friday Food Crawl - 2015 Edition

With the boyo home from college -- -- we once again loaded ourselves into the family truckster, cranked up the holiday tunes and headed out in search of post-Thanksgiving comestibles. Due to a duo of doddering dowagers, we had a limited amount of time and because of some other scheduling issues (upcoming 1st semester finals), we moved it back to Friday this year, calling each prospective stop in advance to make sure they were open. We managed to hit 4 places, each one entirely new to us and also places that we'd driven past dozens of times (and heard/read plenty about) . . .

Stop 1

Sunset Pho Caffe - 5726 N Western Ave, Chicago
In addition to driving by this place many times, I'd been intrigued ever since I read Sula's piece about it back in August of 2015. There's also a thread about it here at LTH. We enjoyed it, especially the cross-cultural, Croatian-Vietnamese elements, which worked well together . . .



Cevapcici Spring Rolls



Vietnamese Mini Pancakes w/Shrimp
I wish we'd tried more of the items from the Appetizers section of the menu because our favorite items were from this section.



Sunset Beef Salad | Onion, carrot, herb, beef
I thought the tender, marinated beef was great but overall, I was not a huge fan of this salad, which was predominantly onion . . . way too much raw onion for me.



Lemongrass Pork Banh Mi
Very respectable sandwich. With cevapcici in 2 of the other dishes we ordered, we decided to try a sandwich with a different theme. The bread was certainly crispy but a bit dense compared to Nhu Lan, which is my personal favorite.



Lemongrass Pork Banh Mi
A closer look.



Grilled Cevapcici and Egg Roll Noodle | steamed rice noodle, shredded lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, basil, cucumber, pickled carrot, radish, ginger, crushed peanut, HM sauce.
A very nice, wysiwyg dish. Again, I'd love to go back soon with a larger group, on a day when multiple lunches aren't planned, and explore the menu more thoroughly.


Stop 2

Shawarma Inn - 5523 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
It was kuhdo who first brought this place to my attention in this thread back in 2012. I must have driven by it 200 times since then and I'm glad I finally stopped in. Very nice stuff . . .



Shawarma Inn - 5523 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
In the gloaming



Fixins' / Salad
Salads come with entrees at Shawarma Inn.



Hummus
A very tasty, respectable version.



Pita
More than a generous supply.



Lentil Soup
Soups also come with entrees. This lentil soup was herbaceous and excellent.



White Bean Soup
This one was a bit too sweet for us.



Beef Shawarma
Great stuff. The spit looked very promising but I think this was re-heated on the griddle before it was served to us, so a tad on the dry side.



Chicken Shawarma
One of the best versions I can ever remember having. The chicken was really flavorful, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Again, the spit looked great. After seeing it, there was no way we weren't going to order this. Can't wait to head back and grab a lunch here sometime very soon.


Stop 3

Taqueria El Asadero - 2213 W Montrose Ave, Chicago
My friend stevez's recent mention of this place here reminded me that it had been on my list for quite some time. I used to hang out at The Fountainhead quite a bit (just a few blocks away) and drove past this place a lot. In a word, respectable.



Chips
We thought these freshly-fried chips were great.



Lengua
Probably my favorite of the 3 types of tacos we tried.



Carne Asada
Decent grilled flavor but a bit on the chewy side. Still, a very good rendition that surpasses many places about which a lot of people rave.



Al Pastor
I never saw a trompo and I couldn't detect any pineapple but I thought this was pretty tasty, even though I don't think it was an exemplary rendition. I'm glad I finally tried this place out. I can't say I'd go out of my way for it but if I were in the area and wanted tacos, I'd happily eat these.


Stop 4

Gino's North - 1111 W Granville Ave, Chicago
First brought to my attention about 3 years ago in this thread by rubbbqco, this place had been on my radar for quite some time. I have a friend who lives nearby so I've driven past several times but never set foot in the place until last Friday.



Sausage Pizza, 16"
Very lovely in just about every way. Great sausage and some wonderfully crispy thin crust. I think we all felt that the sauce was a tad too sweet but honestly, it didn't matter a whole lot. For me, it was love at first sight. What an exceptional spot. Gino's North is far more than the sum of it parts and it's just oozing with charm. I really look forward to heading back there, bending an elbow and sharing a pizza with a friend or two. I don't think there's a more perfect place in town for doing so.

So, another year in the books. I cannot believe that this silly thing we once did on a whim a few years ago has endured as an annual tradition. With the boy off at college this year, I was prepared for him to come home with a million other things he'd rather spend his break doing. "I mean, driving around with mom and dad on another looney run?! Puh-leeze."

Instead, he was asking about it from almost the very moment he got off the bus. I was expecting some knee-jerk young-adult cynicism but what I got was so far from that. Turns out, he's all about tradition. And I think that's why as much as I've loved doing this every year, the 2015 edition was my favorite yet. I really had no idea if it would even happen but it did happen -- and in a way that made it clear that he wasn't just doing it for us.

When we started doing this, our son was just a little boy. Now, 8 years in, he's a young man, with a big heart and a great head on his shoulders but our silly tradition endures. Words cannot fully express how special sharing this day with him was for us proud parents.

=R=

Sunset Pho Caffe
5726 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 275-2327

Shawarma Inn
5523 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 271-7777

Taqueria El Asadero
2213 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 583-5563

Gino's North
1111 W Granville Ave
Chicago, IL 60660
(773) 465-1616

A lovely post, Ron. It is a wonderful thing when your kids grow up to be people you enjoy spending time with--and who even like to spend time with their aged parents!

And speaking of kids spending time with parents, our son accompanied Cabbagehead and me to Sunset Pho a few weeks ago, and we all agreed that the best dish we had was the Vietnamese mini pancakes with shrimp so beautifully photographed above. Other items were decent, but the mini pancakes (really more like omelettes) were fantastic. The cevapcici spring rolls didn't do it for us.

Thanks for sharing your food crawl.

Excellent run down, I live not too far and will keep these in mind as a result of your post

ronnie_suburban wrote:


Stop 4

Gino's North - 1111 W Granville Ave, Chicago
First brought to my attention about 3 years ago in this thread by rubbbqco, this place had been on my radar for quite some time. I have a friend who lives nearby so I've driven past several times but never set foot in the place until last Friday.



Sausage Pizza, 16"
Very lovely in just about every way. Great sausage and some wonderfully crispy thin crust. I think we all felt that the sauce was a tad too sweet but honestly, it didn't matter a whole lot. For me, it was love at first sight. What an exceptional spot. Gino's North is far more than the sum of it parts and it's just oozing with charm. I really look forward to heading back there, bending an elbow and sharing a pizza with a friend or two. I don't think there's a more perfect place in town for doing so.
=R=

Gino's North
1111 W Granville Ave
Chicago, IL 60660
(773) 465-1616

Cool story here:

http://www.chicago.eater.com/2014/3/18/ ... n-33-years

Gino's North is also on my list.

But I have no sense how large the place is. Ronnie, how many folks can be accommodated there comfortably in a party?

Thanks for the update Ronnie. I look forward to this post annually.

I echo your thoughts on El Asadero. Also that pizza looks damn tasty.

If I ever have kids I think we will have to entrench a lot of eating traditions like this.

pairs4life wrote:Gino's North is also on my list.

But I have no sense how large the place is. Ronnie, how many folks can be accommodated there comfortably in a party?

Thanks for the update Ronnie. I look forward to this post annually.

pairs-

It is not very big. There are a few booths along the west wall that can hold maybe 5 people each. The bar takes up the other side. Maybe another 30?

The GP wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Gino's North is also on my list.

But I have no sense how large the place is. Ronnie, how many folks can be accommodated there comfortably in a party?

Thanks for the update Ronnie. I look forward to this post annually.

pairs-

It is not very big. There are a few booths along the west wall that can hold maybe 5 people each. The bar takes up the other side. Maybe another 30?

Thanks Mary.

Ronnie,

Thanks for excellent report. Really nice to hear that your son was looking forward to it and enjoyed it. We have similar experiences with our daughters and great to see your children value the importance of good food and the sharing of it with family and friends. The sustenance is more than just for our stomachs…