Bangers & Lace (Evanston) - Many Beers, Great Food Too

I was surprised to find that there wasn't a topic here yet about Bangers & Lace, since the original location has been in Wicker Park for over five years. Last night we went to the new, second location in Evanston, and were quite impressed. Sorry, no photos.

Bangers & Lace is known as more of a drinking establishment than a restaurant, but it's worthy on both counts. The room is set up with a large bar along one side, tables along another side, and near the front, sofas and coffee tables (like Found). The recorded music was fairly loud but not problematic. It was not that busy on this weekday evening, with maybe a quarter of the tables occupied. The Evanston location accepts reservations, including on Opentable.com ; the Wicker Park one does not.

They have 32 different beers on draft. Good place for beer! The dinner menu was more varied that I was expecting; they have a lot more than just sausages (bangers). We started with a crab cake, which was very good, and accompanied by a very good slice of fried green tomato. ($13, not on their website menu) We then had a bibb salad, which was also very good, with hemp seeds and puffed grains adding a nice crunch. ($13) They have some main courses in addition to the sausages, but we went with the house sampler, in which you can choose any three of the six sausages on the menu ($27). We chose the chicken poblano cheddarwurst, the lamb merguez, and the duck. All three were cut into chunks, and accompanied by sauces and other small items that added flavor and texture. All had quite a bit of spice to them (strong flavors) which were balanced by small amounts of sweet items (grilled pineapple chunks for the cheddarwurst, jam for the lamb, etc). They were all very good and very interesting; the chicken was a bit moister while the other two were drier with more of a slight smoky flavor (all of which was intentional, per our server). For dessert, we had one of the best peach cobblers you'll find anywhere ($12), with cooked peaches topped by a lump of short biscuit and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, all in a hot crock.

We really enjoyed our dinner; everything we had was enjoyable. This is a worthy addition to the Evanston dining scene, and we look forward to returning!

Bangers & Lace
810 Grove Street
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 905-0854
1670 W. Division
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 252-6499
bangersandlacebar.com