Eastern European food

Any good Eastern European like Hungarian restaurant around town? when it gets cold outside, i crave those meaty, saucey, heavy dishes

any suggestions?

Agnes

The only Hungarian restaurant I know of is Paprikash.

Paprikash Restaurant
5210 W. Diversey Ave
773.736.4949

The number of places around town for Eastern European food is large; a more specific request would be helpful, perhaps with regard to part(s) of the city where you'd prefer being, or else by more specific qualifiaction of cuisine.

A couple of places (you should search on the names for further write-ups and check out the very recent "Polska Delicacies" thread):

Russian Tea-Time (by the Art Insitute)

Zascianek Restaurant -- Polish, very good, way out on Belmont, see:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=26942#26942

Klas
Bobak's
Andrej Grill
Mitch and Janine's
... .... ... ... ... Now that I think about it more, a narrower request is definitely needed... There's an awful lot out there.

Antonius

thanks for the suggestion; i guess i am willing to drive within city limits to the restaurant. Aside from that, really not many stipulations at all. Has anybody been to Euro cafe or operetta? that's 2 restaurants i found on metromix.

agnesfong wrote:thanks for the suggestion; i guess i am willing to drive within city limits to the restaurant. Aside from that, really not many stipulations at all. Has anybody been to Euro cafe or operetta? that's 2 restaurants i found on metromix.

agnesfong:

Vital Information has written about Operetta here on more than one occasion, I'm sure, and he thinks well of it. I myself haven't been there but do a search and it should turn up. here's one of VI's posts on that place:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=27993#27993

Depending on how far east the eastern theme has to go, there are also some good German places in and around Chicago, two of them quite near to one another, namely Laschet's and Resi's, on Irving Park just west of Damen.
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2798

Antonius

Have you considered Lutnia?

Fujisan wrote:The only Hungarian restaurant I know of is Paprikash.

Paprikash Restaurant
5210 W. Diversey Ave
773.736.4949

It's the only one I know of as well. However, it does a fine job and the food is absolutely authentic, very much like (heck, often better than) what you'd get at a decent restaurant in Budapest.

For whatever reason, Chicago's never had much of a cohesive Hungarian community. There's patches of them here and there, but most of the immigrants went to cities like Cleveland, Toronto, and New York City.

That's too bad, because I love Hungarian food. Luckily, I'll be there next week.

Otherwise, Polish, Russian, Czech, and Slovak food are pretty well-represented in Chicago. I know I've mentioned it in several other threads, but my go-to place for stick-to-the-ribs Slavic cuisine is Bobak's.

Binko wrote:

Fujisan wrote:The only Hungarian restaurant I know of is Paprikash.

Paprikash Restaurant
5210 W. Diversey Ave
773.736.4949

However, it does a fine job and the food is absolutely authentic, very much like (heck, often better than) what you'd get at a decent restaurant in Budapest.

Binko, have you been to Paprikash since the new ownership took over? I used to love this place, but haven't been back since it changed hands. I have been wondering about it lately and craving that delicious langos.

kl5 wrote:

Binko wrote:

Fujisan wrote:The only Hungarian restaurant I know of is Paprikash.

Paprikash Restaurant
5210 W. Diversey Ave
773.736.4949

However, it does a fine job and the food is absolutely authentic, very much like (heck, often better than) what you'd get at a decent restaurant in Budapest.

Binko, have you been to Paprikash since the new ownership took over? I used to love this place, but haven't been back since it changed hands. I have been wondering about it lately and craving that delicious langos.

I was there for the first time sometime this year--perhaps around March. Is this before or after the new ownership? Because when I had it then, it was great, and I haven't noticed any change in the food since.

The ownership changed in late 2004, and someone reported a very bad experience in December. I haven't been back since before the change, either.

I've been to Paprikash once since the ownership change. I was a huge fan of the previous regime, but had heard the downhill reports. Thankfully, my better half and I gave it a try. We both found the food to be quite as it was before - just wonderful. The only changes we noted (other than the expanded seating area) was that the overall warmth of the old place was not there, and that the prices had increased. The service was still decent (I imagine it could be stellar sans a small language barrier), but we didn't feel the same 'welcome to my home' greeting to which we had become accustomed. It wasn't a cold reception - just different than before. As for the prices, they are still quite reasonable.

The ownership has changed but Bela Olah is still the chef.

The GF and I went to Andrej Grill for lunch today - awesome Ukrainian comfort food on a snowy day!

We had the Stuffed Cabbage dinner plate, with a side of potato pancakes, as well as the Polish Sausage lunch plate. The sausage was grilled perfectly, and the pancakes were thin, crisp and super delicious. We also had soup (for $1 more) - the borscht was superb.





All this for about $16 plus tip...very nice!

Andrezj Grill is Polish, I believe. Great place.

Andrzej Grill
1022 N. Western Ave
Chicago, IL
773-489-3566

Hillside? Very very good renditions of Hungarian classics and wonderful owner. The luncheon buffet is superb.

The Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant
4431 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Hillside Il, 60162

Phone: 708-449-1000


http://www.thehungarianrestaurant.com/

HI,

The owner of Hungarian Epicurean was the original owner of Paprikash.

Regards,

There are a number of Polish and Slovenian restaurants on the southwestside also.My wife and I just ate at Moldau in Brookfield this evening and the special was Chicken Paprika for I beleive $8.95.
There's also the The Euopa in Brookfield and my favorite is Bohemian Crystal in Downers Grove at Ogden and Blackhawk.(1/2 block south of Ogden just east of Cass ave.

Epicurean Hungarian: Yes, and they do a great job. Like Paprikash (and I haven't been there since they've moved), absolutely authentic Hungarian cuisine.

Jerryg - Do you mean Slovakian cuisine? I've never noticed much Slovenian around here.

I'm in my 60's and when I was growing up the countries in that area were considered Slovenian .That would include Hungary,Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia and I believe there was a country or province inthat area that was known as Slovenia

jerryg wrote:I'm in my 60's and when I was growing up the countries in that area were considered Slovenian .That would include Hungary,Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia and I believe there was a country or province inthat area that was known as Slovenia

Yes, Slovenia used to part of what was Yugoslavia back then. I've never heard "Slovenian" used to refer to the region encompassing the countries you've listed as a whole (Slavic or Slavonic are terms I've heard, although those would not include Hungary), but who knows.