Pursuit wrote:Can't imagine Heinen's has anything to worry about. Based the couple of Mariano's I've been in, I wpould never purchase any meat or fish from them. Old, tired looking Product across the board. If that's what they're using for the prepared food, I'd walk away. Heinen's is more expensive, yes, but much higher quality.

I agree, 100 percent. Heinen's is our go-to supermarket, even though the nearest one (in Glenview) is seven miles away and there are plenty of supermarkets within two miles of home. There are so many things we love there. We never would have believed that the fresh fish department of a supermarket could be better than any local specialty fish market, till Heinen's. The meats are absolutely top notch. So are the prepared foods. They also have the usual wide variety of packaged products, some under their house brand, and others which go on sale. There are plenty of bargains along with the consistently high quality. By comparison, Mariano's has... well, your wording, "Old, tired looking Product across the board", hits the nail on the head.

Which one will win out in the marketplace (no pun intended)? There's no point arguing over that, since only time will tell. But Chicago is a big enough city to support multiple chains, and I don't see either going away any time soon. Furthermore, given the steadily increasing business I've observed at Heinen's, "Reports of its death are greatly exaggerated", to paraphrase the quote apocryphally attributed to Mark Twain.

Mariano's was bought by Kroger from Roundy's. Expect some changes.

Ram4 wrote:Mariano's was bought by Kroger from Roundy's.

Not exactly. Mariano's is one of the brand names of Roundy's. In December 2015, Kroger acquired Roundy's (although as is commonplace in such things, they sometimes refer to it as a merger rather than an acquisition). Ref. Last July, Bob Mariano, the CEO of Roundy's who launched his namesake brand name, announced his retirement.

Thanks nxstasy, that's what I meant to say.

Another Bannockburn lunch option - Jersey Mike's Subs located next to Sportclips in Bannockburn Green. There's also a Rosati's Pizza Pub in that center, and I have to admit, the thin sausage pizza I had was pretty good. But their version of deep dish was a joke. My friend who made me go with him the first time (I had Rosati's years ago - I never liked it), took pizza to go another time and said it was terrible. Eat at your own risk, but if you want a place to sit and watch an afternoon Cubs game or just have another option it's there.

If anyone's up this way, we've been getting spoiled for lunch by:
Pho House
1183 S Milwaukee
Libertyville
http://www.phohousemenu.com/index.html

It's not the greatest Pho, but certainly not the worst. I'd avoid the meatballs, but everything else has been REALLY good for their pho offerings. Beef broth is damn fine, and a coworker is really into their spicy lemongrass / shrimp paste broth. After three or four tries over the past few months, the officemates and I have decided that out of what we've tried in the recent past, this place's pho is our best lunch option.
Yu's noodle soups are second, and Yen Yen's chow fun is third.

China Kitchen has kind of fallen out of grace - new mgt.

Yu's Mandarin (Vernon Hills)
http://www.yusrestaurant.com/

Yen Yen Buffalo Grove (Go here for Chow Fun done right)
http://www.yenyenbuffalogrove.com/default.aspx

So, as we eagerly await the new incarnation of China Kitchen in Highwood...

We were jonesing for Chinese food on a Monday.
One office mate suggested Mee Jun as totally serviceable. We went for it, aaaand, it was really not that bad at all. Bordered on good, and for the area, pretty darn good. I got the Szechwan chicky lunch special, and it was an old school Chinese Lunch Special huge portions - dark brown fried rice with soy, green onion, sprouts, and chicken. Actually, now that I think about it - that was some really good fried rice.
The Szechwan chicken had some interesting veggies in it, brown sauce was not packet gravy with extra cornstarch, it was real deal oyster sauce based, and not just sludge. Abundant chicken, that was actually velveted! I also ordered postickers - overdoughy by FAR, but not shabby on flavor for the filling. Doubt I'd get them again though. The egg rolls had fake, red/pink shrimp, but hang on...they were actually quite tasty. And yes, I plucked the fake shrimpies out.
I do recall someone mentioning to not expect too much from Mee Jun, but were were all very pleasantly surprised. This was not bad stuff at all. Maybe a change of cooks happened?

We made it a point to drive by China Kitchen, and there is a real deal sign on the front now:
"Pho Nam Bec"

Windows are still papered over, but the sign is a bright, custom one, it's not just written in paper or anything like that. Vietnamese is comin to Highwood, Y'all!!!

We also spied a "Coming Soon: Plancha Loca" new Mexican food - by the name, maybe a char grilled taco place? One can only hope!

Still haven't tried Curry Hut. A few of the folks I go to 7 Spices / Rivaj with, told me Curry Hut was watered down beyond belief. I'm actually doing Indian for lunch today, might bring myself to try it, but 7Spices and Rivaj are so damn good. Hate to risk it.

seebee wrote:We also spied a "Coming Soon: Plancha Loca" new Mexican food - by the name, maybe a char grilled taco place? One can only hope!

La Plancha Loca
548 Sheridan Rd.
Highwood, IL 60040
(847) 748-8028
https://www.facebook.com/TaquizasLaPlanchaLoca/

seebee wrote:We made it a point to drive by China Kitchen, and there is a real deal sign on the front now:
"Pho Nam Bec"

Windows are still papered over, but the sign is a bright, custom one, it's not just written in paper or anything like that. Vietnamese is comin to Highwood, Y'all!!!

I drove by this evening. The brown paper is down, the front area is clean and a sign advising 'opening soon' is up. I will keep an eye out, because they seem to be on the cusp of opening.

Regards,
Cathy2