Polska delacacies

In these times of disconnection and personal confusion, returning to your roots can be a very heartwarming experience. What could be more natural than spending some quality time enjoying unique foods that are indigenious to your ethnicity? As my login suggests I am originally from Buffalo, New York (and about to return I may add) where there is a strong Polish lresence in the Lower East Side. As my username may not suggest I am 100% Polish...and proud...

There once was a very unique Polish Cafe/Restaurant, (in Buffalo) the owner's name was Heddy, she cooked the most natural, delicate polish food you could imagine, wonderful soups, crepes filled with pate, prune perogis, ,,anyone who longed for great food would make their way to Heddy's. The walls of her Inn- like restaruant were covered with Polish folk art...She was right across the street from another Buffalo Institution: The Broadway MArket, where one can purchase a live chicken, homemade sponge candy, sit down for a bowl of cabbage soup, or watch sausage being made...lets get back to my query...

Polish food in chicago..Yes I know Milwaukee Avenue, The Peirogi Inn is Good, anyone have any tidbits to share? Dubier Ponuie...excuse the spelling...

OK I have a great place for you! I am a polski from the NW side of Chicago!

Have you been to the Jolly Inn? I feel it is the best bang for your buck. They have attatched banquets hall and I had my wedding reception there!!

It is around 8$ for a buffet. You should try it. It is on Irving Park Road about 2 blocks West of Narraganset.

Also a good place is Staropolska. Very similar to Jolly Inn. That place is located on Belmont Ave just west of Laramie..

Let me know if you try them!

buffalo gal wrote:In these times of disconnection and personal confusion, returning to your roots can be a very heartwarming experience. What could be more natural than spending some quality time enjoying unique foods that are indigenious to your ethnicity? As my login suggests I am originally from Buffalo, New York (and about to return I may add) where there is a strong Polish lresence in the Lower East Side. As my username may not suggest I am 100% Polish...and proud...

There once was a very unique Polish Cafe/Restaurant, (in Buffalo) the owner's name was Heddy, she cooked the most natural, delicate polish food you could imagine, wonderful soups, crepes filled with pate, prune perogis, ,,anyone who longed for great food would make their way to Heddy's. The walls of her Inn- like restaruant were covered with Polish folk art...She was right across the street from another Buffalo Institution: The Broadway MArket, where one can purchase a live chicken, homemade sponge candy, sit down for a bowl of cabbage soup, or watch sausage being made...lets get back to my query...

Polish food in chicago..Yes I know Milwaukee Avenue, The Peirogi Inn is Good, anyone have any tidbits to share? Dubier Ponuie...excuse the spelling...

Being Polish, I get my fill of Polish food from my mom. However, in a pinch, I've always been partial to Bobak's on 5275 S. Archer. There are also locations in Burr Ridge and Naperville, I believe, however the Archer one is the only one I've ever visted. It's buffet-style Polish food and I can certainly vouch for its authenticity.

If you are looking for the best Polish food in Chicago, try Andrzej Grill on Western Ave. It is super-cheap and totally delicious. Everything from the pierogi's to the bean soup to the cheese filled crepes is mindblowing. Check out the review I did on them in the archives of The Raving Dish on centerstage.net.
You will not regret going to this place. They close at 8 pm, though, so be sure to get there early.

i second the motion for bobaks market, the prices are great and so is the food.. we have a young chef author in this town by the name of mike baruch who wrote a cookbook called the new polish cuisine you should check out for great recipes!!

My bro just moved to Naperville and said that Bobaks is very good...good enough to rival Jolly Inn. He said the main diff is that Bobaks cost more and had more American food.

JeanneBean wrote:Also a good place is Staropolska. Very similar to Jolly Inn.

It’s not too surprising they’re similar since they have the same owners.

Actually, they don't anymore, but up until a few years ago they did indeed.
I think Jolly Inn has pulled ahead in quality. But Polska is down the block from my parents house so we still go there also.

JeanneBean wrote:My bro just moved to Naperville and said that Bobaks is very good...good enough to rival Jolly Inn. He said the main diff is that Bobaks cost more and had more American food.

That's true. Bobaks tends to have stuff like mostaccioli (which has really been a staple of Chicago Polish food catering for quite some...at least I grew up with parties full of white polish sausages, sauerkraut, and overcooked pasta), as well as prime rib & shrimp on Sundays. (True to Eastern European cooking styles, the prime rib is served pretty much well done.)

But don't let that sway you. The buffet usually features (from what I can remember, and it does change):

Kotlety (Breaded Pork Chops)
Kiszka (Blood Sausage)
Kopytka (Polish potato dumplings a la gnocchi)
Gołąbki (Stuffed cabbage rolls)
Biała Kiełbasa (White sausage)
Pierogi of all sorts
Roast Beef
Mashed Potatoes
Pork Loin in Mushroom Sauce
Roast Ham
Veal Meatballs

and so on... Soup choices often include barszcz (clear beet soup), flaki (tripe soup) or, my favorite, żurek (a Polish soup with a lactic sourness made by leaving rye flour in a jar to ferment/pickle and then usually blended with broth, herbs, spices, potatoes, and white sausage or ham.)

Plentiful, authentic and cheap

Hi,

FYI

My Mom has been convalescing recently which has allowed her to watch plenty of Food TV and provide me updates. She was watching a program where they were talking about the sales of frozen dumplings. 'They' commented while many Asian dumplings sales are on the up take, the pierogi is stagnant or declining sales.

I guess living in Chicago with my best friends growing up being Polish; I never felt this. If anything I feel more a Polish presence today, food wise and culturally, than I did when I was growing up.

Regards,

An aside: The last time I was at Costco, I saw a number of Polish speaking couples with cartloads (I am only mildly exaggerating) of whatever brand of frozen Pierogies Costo carries. I was amused and surprised, especially considering the number of fantastic locally made pierogi options. I guess they must be pretty good. (Or just the right combination of good enough and cheap enough.)

I grew up around Belmont and Central and it is still "little Warsaw" as us "American Polskis" called it. I currently live in Niles and I feel very happy here because it is VERY Polish here as well.

A great place to buy pierogis is The Pierogi Factory on Central between Addison and Belmont. Next to where the old Ace Hardware was. They are fresh and the more you buy the less they cost.

My mom gets them for Christmas Eve. Beware the lines are out the door around Christmas.

JeanneBean wrote:I grew up around Belmont and Central and it is still "little Warsaw" as us "American Polskis" called it. I currently live in Niles and I feel very happy here because it is VERY Polish here as well.

A great place to buy pierogis is The Pierogi Factory on Central between Addison and Belmont. Next to where the old Ace Hardware was. They are fresh and the more you buy the less they cost.

My mom gets them for Christmas Eve. Beware the lines are out the door around Christmas.

Yes! I was racking my brain today trying to remember the name of this place. This is where my family goes for all their pierogi needs--we buy in bulk and store in the freezer. They also have very good kopytka (the Polish gnocchi-type dumplings I mentioned before).

That said, most of the frozen pierogi sold in the Chicago area are pretty good. In fact, I can't think of a single bad brand. Kasia's is good. Bobak's is good. The Pierogi Factory is good. They're all good, but I like the Pierogi Factory the best. Their pierogi are slightly smaller and thinner than what you normally find at the supermarket.

Binko wrote:Bobaks tends to have stuff like mostaccioli (which has really been a staple of Chicago Polish food catering for quite some...at least I grew up with parties full of white polish sausages, sauerkraut, and overcooked pasta), as well as prime rib & shrimp on Sundays.

Very interesting. Mostaccioli was always a holiday staple at the table of my Eastern European family, set out alongside E.E. culinary faves like pierogi. My whole life I thought that the inclusion of an "off-culture" dish like mostaccioli was merely an attempt by my family to "Americanize" for the younger generation but, apparently, this is quite common.

Bobak's is quite good, and, in fact, closer to the University of Chicago than the North Side. Indeed, more U of C students should go there. We usually buy the Kasia's frozen pierogi (I've never tried the Bobak's) and I've been pretty impressed. Northern New Jersey, which has a sizeable (although nowhere near the size of Chicago) Polish population, is a poor market for frozen pierogi. Most people settle for the national brand, Mrs. T's.

And a (probably obvious) question for Antonius or Amata (or other linguists that may populate this board): is the Polish pierogi etymologically related to the Albanian byrek, German bierock, and Serbian burek? The difference seems to be in the voicing, but is that consistent with other cross-linguistic examples in these languages?

buffalo gal wrote:Polish food in chicago..Yes I know Milwaukee Avenue, The Peirogi Inn is Good, anyone have any tidbits to share?

Unfortunately Pierogi Inn (5318 W Lawrence) closed several years ago following the death of its owner. Those may have been the best pierogi I’ve had (especially the mushroom-cabbage).

JeanneBean wrote:A great place to buy pierogis is The Pierogi Factory on Central between Addison and Belmont.

Is the Pierogi Factory the same as Alexandra Foods or is there another pierogi maker on that stretch of Central? Alexandra has pretty good pierogi for $2.50 a dozen ($2 if you buy 10 or more). You can also find their pierogi at some markets such as A&G at 5630 W Belmont (used to be just south of Alexandra).

Alexandra Foods
3304 N Central Av
Chicago
773-283-5440

Yes the Pierogi Factory is the same as Alexandria foods.

Evan B. Druce wrote:And a (probably obvious) question for Antonius or Amata (or other linguists that may populate this board): is the Polish pierogi etymologically related to the Albanian byrek, German bierock, and Serbian burek? The difference seems to be in the voicing, but is that consistent with other cross-linguistic examples in these languages?

I don't know, but it'll actually help your supposition when I tell you the Polish singular of pierogi is pierog from the Russian, Pirog, which ultimately comes from the Old Church Slavonic pir, meaning "feast."

Now, I can't trace pirog > pierog > bierock > boerek > burek > byrek, but I would bet money that you're correct in sussing out the relationship between this words. After all "p" and "b" are the same sound, one voiced the other not. Same with "g" and "k."

Those pierogi at Costco are Kasia's, from the Chicago Polish deli. For commercial pierogi, Kasia's are great. Far better than Ms. T.

Costco does a decent job of stocking local items from producers large enough to meet demand, such as Vienna Beef, Rosen, Goose Island, etc. The Damen store used to have Lezza spumoni, ice, nougat, etc., but alas, no more.

JeffB wrote:Those pierogi at Costco are Kasia's

That's interesting. I assumed they were some national brand, as they were in boxes rather than plastic trays with plastic film over the top, like they sell them at Kasia's on Chicago. Good to know, thanks.

JeffB wrote:Those pierogi at Costco are Kasia's, from the Chicago Polish deli. For commercial pierogi, Kasia's are great. Far better than Ms. T.

I really like Kasia's, not only because it's a good product but also because of their "small deli makes it big" story. I like that a woman can open a deli in Chicago in the 80s and have her product on the shelves at Jewel in a few years.

I also really like the frozen pierogi at Bobak's and at pretty much every other Polish deli I've been to in town. I really don't think I've ever met a pierogi I didn't like. Every freezer in every home in this city should have a bag, especially during the winter.

Best,
Michael

I agree! Now the question is how do you eat them? Personally I like to fry them in butter till they're a little crispy. YUM!

When I was a teen I used to work at Link's Deli and they used to fry them in bacon drippings and then sprinkle bacon on top. Oh my!

JeanneBean wrote:I agree! Now the question is how do you eat them? Personally I like to fry them in butter till they're a little crispy. YUM!!

I usually buy potato, meat, or mushroom filled pierogi. My default prep is to par boil, lighly brown in butter and olive oil and serve with some carmelized onions and greek yogurt. Nothing beats a plate of that on a cold winter night.

Best,
Michael

My favorite are the ruskie pierogi (literally, "Russian pierogi." EDIT: Strike that. It's "Ruthenian," not "Russian.") They are stuffed with potatoes and biały ser ("white cheese," a curd-type cheese similar to ricotta or cottage.)

As for how to serve? I normally boil them and pour some melted butter, sour cream, or finely minced bacon and its rendered fat over them. Sometimes, I will boil and fry, but usually I just boil.

For fruit pierogi, I serve them with sour cream beaten with sugar.

My mother, who is Mexican, and still makes my favorite tacos and tamales of all time, learned how to cook Polish when she married my father who as the youngest of his siblings was the only one not born in Poland. I grew up in a four-flat (ironically in the room that my dad was born in) and while we lived in the first floor front apartment, my dad's mother, who spoke no English, lived in the first floor rear.

I look forward to Thanksgiving because in addition to all the usual things, my mom will make pierogi's. She still has the coffee cup my grandmother used to cut out the shape. She only makes potato and cabbage. No cheese or fruit.

I'll end up with a couple of dozen of each to take home. I usually fry them up in butter, but these days, I usually have duck fat and/or chicken fat in the fridge, so I'll fry them up in the fat as well.

Plus, if I sweet talk my mom, okay even if I don't, she'll make me turkey tacos with homemade tortillas and her smoky salsa!

Dear Delk<

Could you please let me have your mom's recipe? I have one but the dough is so hard to work wih...

Buffalo Gal...
I'll ask her next week at Thanksgiving. It may fall under the category of a "pinch" of this and a "handful" of that--she has been making them for 50 plus years--but I'll see what I can get for you!

Anyone know of any late night or 24-hour diners that serve Polish food, specifically pierogis?? One thing I really like about New York is that they have Veselka, a 24-hour Ukranian diner that serves great pierogis. I wish I could find a place like that in Chicago.

There is one bar with a kitchen that I know of, Cafe Lura on Milwaukee near Belmont, which has great pierogis and has typical bar hours, but I'd like to find some place more like a restaurant to go to after my friends and I have been drinking elsewhere. Other bar with kitchen recommendations would be welcom too, just to try someplace different.

Ditto on Andrzej Grill at 1022 N. Western, great place!

Thanks in advance!

I saw this last night:



A Polish friend who lives nearby indicated they are quite good. I haven't tried them yet. They open at 10 AM and close at 7 PM, but check hours before you go.

Polish Pierogi Inc
48 West Dundee Road
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-279-3886