Good place to eat in Schaumburg area????

I have to have dinner with my boyfriend's parents who are litterally affraid of coming into the city.

We figured we'd compromise and meet them 1/2 way which is around the Schaumberg area (1/2 way is actually O'Hare, but that's just obnxious...) Any suggestions for something casually upscale? I would prefer it NOT be a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant (long story - I'm sure you don't want to hear it).

btw - I realize that there are probably at least one or two other posts on this subject but when I searched I kept coming up with the same 237 results and they only mentioned "Schaumberg" in passing.

I might get lynched for suggesting this, but it seems fitting.

Bahama Breeze
406 E. GOLF ROAD
SCHAUMBURG IL
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/

The Edison Park/Northwest Highway restaurant area is close to O'Hare [very convenient to the Harlem or Canfield exits of the Kennedy Expy.] and doesn't have chain food [which is fairly prevalent in FoamTown]. Tell the 'rents that it borders Park Ridge; that'll make them feel better. I'll leave the searching up to you. Zia's and Don Juan are faves of mine.

Giovanna

Agree with Edison Park recommendation and I would add Nam Viet and Nono Pino with your excellent suggestions.

The ONLY problem in Edison Park is the parking can be pretty difficult on a weekend evening.

I would suggest biteing the bullet and going to Schaumburg and trying one of two of the better asian resturants in the NW suburbs. YU's on Gulf Rd. if you are a noodle fan is the best noodle shop in Illinois. If you like the traditional viet/chinese Hunan Bejing also on Gulf has fantastic food with a twist. My favorite dish is their version of Gov. Chicken which is unlike any Chinese you have had before. I lived Schaumburg for two years and during that time (pergatory) I probably put the owners of Hunan Bejing's children through college with my take out orders.

jlawrence01 wrote:The ONLY problem in Edison Park is the parking can be pretty difficult on a weekend evening.

JLawrence,

Street parking can be difficult, but there's a city lot directly North of Nam Viet, catty-corner from Don Juan. Also it's been my experience most, Don Juan and Zia's for certain, offer free valet parking, though you still need to tip the valet.

Enjoy,
Gary

yourbar wrote:I might get lynched for suggesting this, but it seems fitting.

Bahama Breeze
406 E. GOLF ROAD
SCHAUMBURG IL
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/

Bahama Breeze is awful. Terrible service, overcooked food. I'd go to PF Chang's before I'd go there. If that area is a must, Yanni's is a decent Greek restaurant on Arlington Heights and Algonquin, and you can get in some shopping at Mitsuwa. Asian in that area is also a good suggestion. I'm also fond of the Shaw's at Woodfield, admittedly a Lettuce restaurant.

For authentic Cantonese fare: Jockey Wok & Roll (despite the horrible name) which also has great rolling-cart dimsum. They also run the dim-sum stand in Mitsuwa. The Mitsuwa foodcourt offers more traditional Japanese fare as well as a Chinese & Korean stand (although this might be better suited to a luncheon meal, we've eaten dinner there too). If you like Seafood you could try Pappadeux's (local chain from TX); Serves Cajun Seafood. Their crab cake is notable (at least in TX) for large lump chunks of crabmeat w/ a crispy shell. They have a fun greek salad made at tableside as well.

There are a couple places to consider. I agree with the ealier post about Yu's.

There used to be a great cuban fusion place called Sabor, but it was probably a bit too unique for its' location.

For reasonable family eating at a reasonable price I like Pilot Petes. It is not really high end or fancy, but for a crowd that is intimidated by the city it may be their speed. It has the type of environment that any parrot head would love.

I am also a big fan of Todai which has some fans here. It is a Japanese buffet with all you can eat sushi, sobo, various chinese/japanese dishes, etc and a very good dessert selection. The downside is that you have to go to the mall, but with the holidays being over it shouldn't be too bad.

If you have some big meat eaters I really, really like Sal and Carvao which is a Brazillian steak house which is also all you can eat from bacon wrapped fillet and chicken to lamb chops. This is complemented by the best salad bar in the area with such fine offerings as fresh mozzarella, heats of palm, etc. Obviously this comes at a price (about $40 for dinner I think). They also do not have free refills on fountain drinks and did not even have ice tea. I bring this up because there is a good amount of salt used in their cooking and it can bring on a powerful thurst. Dinner is also served with fried bananas, mashed potatoes, and fantastic rolls with cheese baked in.

burritolord wrote:There used to be a great cuban fusion place called Sabor, but it was probably a bit too unique for its' location.

bummer, that was a good place!

Jockey as mentioned above would be a good suggestioin.

Skip Nam Viet in Edison Park, Zia's is good.

Edison Park is a neighborhood within the city of Chicago and would be just as scary to suburbanites afraid of the city as any other Chicago neighborhood. It is also about 17 miles from Schaumburg.

While there is very good ethnic food, particularly Asian and Indian, in the northwest suburbs, somehow I imagine that will not do in this instance. (If I'm wrong, foodgirl, please let us know, and I'll post some other suggestions.)

Fitting the "casually elegant" requirement: Pappadeux is big and often noisy, but if you order simple dishes, the seafood can be quite good. (Alas, they no longer offer all-you-can-eat lobster -- there's some other lobster deal now.) I haven't been there in some years, but Dover Straits used to be very good for seafood as well.

Weber Grill has a Schaumburg location, with good steaks, grilled over charcoal, as well as other char-grilled options (avoid the fall-off-the-bone ribs). Morton's is more upscale with prime steaks at a higher price point. Magnum's is another good steakhouse.

There's also a Cheesecake Factory in Schaumburg.

I concur with Yanni's as a Greek destination, if that's not too exotic.

Some other northwest suburban threads:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4471

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=24848

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5646

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4945

If you want to reconsider the O'Hare area, search on "Rosemont." But you're right, it's mostly obnoxious.


Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen
847/228-9551
www.pappadeaux.com
798 W. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights

Dover Straits
847/884-3900
www.doverstraits.com
1149 W. Golf Road, Hoffman Estates

Weber Grill Restaurant
847/413-0800
www.webergrillrestaurant.com
1010 N. Meacham Road, Schaumburg

Morton's of Chicago
847/413-8771
www.mortons.com
1470 McConnor Parkway, Schaumburg

Magnum's Prime Steakhouse
847/952-8555
www.magnumsprimesteakhouse.com
1701 W. Golf Road, Rolling Meadows

Cheesecake Factory
847/619-1090
www.cheesecakefactory.com
Woodfield Mall, 53 Woodfield Road, Schaumburg

Yanni's Greek Restaurant
847/952-1111
www.yannis-restaurant.com
10 E. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights

burritolord wrote:There are a couple places to consider. I agree with the ealier post about Yu's.

Put me down for a big ~shrug~ for Yu's, not bad, but based on my recent lunch with Steve Z, I would drive the couple of extra miles to Katy's or Chinese Kitchen.

Steve and I started with Hot Oil Dumplings, steamed dumpling topped with hot salty oil. The dumplings were doughy, served at just over room temp and the sauce was very salty, a miscue on Yu's part, though they came with a flavorful chili oil and black vinegar. Egg rolls were smallish, dense, though a crisp flaky shell and spot of chili oil moved then up to not-bad.

Noodle Platter (Hot), made with house made noodles, would have been fine if not boiled to near death, when served it must be Wednesday as this is Prince spaghetti* popped into my head. Nondescript seafood/pork topping was basically flavorless. Once again Chili oil to the rescue. Salt and Pepper Shrimp were the winner of the day, crisp, flavorful, though still second tier in the pantheon of Chicago S and P shrimp.

Dining room is visually attractive, with a room length glass wall into the active kitchen, service friendly and attentive and pretty much everyone seemed to be enjoying their well priced lunch specials. I would not protest a return visit, but Yu's would not be of my choosing.

Yu's Mandarin
200 E Gold Rd.
Schaumburg, IL 60173
847-882-5340
www.yusrestaurant.com

Katy's Dumpling House
665 N. Cass Ave.
Westmont, IL 60559
(630) 323-9393

Chinese Kitchen
6551 S. Cass Ave
Westmont, IL
630-968-3876

* Old TV commercial

My favorite chinese by far in this area can be found at Hong Kong cafe, 1608 Algonquin Rd. Palatine. This is as close to Chinatown as this part of the NW burbs gets.

As for Yu's, I like the Korean-chinese dishes which are a specialty. The black noodles can be very good.

kuhdo wrote:My favorite chinese by far in this area can be found at Hong Kong cafe, 1608 Algonquin Rd. Palatine. This is as close to Chinatown as this part of the NW burbs gets.

As for Yu's, I like the Korean-chinese dishes which are a specialty. The black noodles can be very good.

Jockey Wok & Roll would be a bettter choice for Cantonese dishes than HK Cafe IMO.

Nghe wrote:

kuhdo wrote:My favorite chinese by far in this area can be found at Hong Kong cafe, 1608 Algonquin Rd. Palatine. This is as close to Chinatown as this part of the NW burbs gets.

As for Yu's, I like the Korean-chinese dishes which are a specialty. The black noodles can be very good.

Jockey Wok & Roll would be a bettter choice for Cantonese dishes than HK Cafe IMO.

I really do like HK cafe so I'm intrigued by this....
I don't know Jockey W&R but would like to try it. Any specific rec's?

kuhdo wrote:I don't know Jockey W&R but would like to try it. Any specific rec's?

I can't comment on what's good, but I'll warn you away from their dim sum.

kuhdo wrote:I don't know Jockey W&R but would like to try it. Any specific rec's?

stevez wrote:I can't comment on what's good, but I'll warn you away from their dim sum.

Steve,

In fairness to Jockey Wok and Roll we were there lunch on a Wednesday, though that's no excuse for the dissolute, bland pap we were served as dim sum.

Enjoy,
Gary

Jockey Wok and Roll
1017 N. Roselle Rd.
Hoffman Estates, IL 60195
847-885-0888

FYI: Jockey's does not serve full dim sum menu on weekdays.

kuhdo wrote:I don't know Jockey W&R but would like to try it. Any specific rec's?

Try the dinner-for-X specials! I usually got these dishes:
- baby clams in black bean sauce
- salt & pepper shrimp with heads on
- lobster or Dungeness crab with ginger and scallions
- steamed fish
- pan fried chow mein or chow fun (I prefer the brown gravy rather than the white, bland seafood gravy)
- Peking Supreme pork chops
- salt & pepper squid

http://www.jockey2go.com/

Thanks all for the input. I'm going to try to stop by sometime this week. This is very close to my office and it would be great to have good chinese close by.

Hi,

The Edens Expressway has forced me to look west or north or at least onto Lake-Cook Road and 53 to explore. If I leave early in the day on weekends, the Edens is a decent ride to Chicago. I am always punished by mind numbingly slow traffic going home.

This Sunday we ended up at Jockey Wok and Roll for dim sum. We arrived at 10:30 AM to find they open at 11 AM. Their door was open, so we sat politely waiting for 11 AM. A few others walked in early, too. They abandoned the idea of coming back later, because they noted, "This place fills very quickly." We were seated just before 11 AM at a table near the kitchen door. I was about to fuss until I realized we had the Queen Bee location: we would have first choice of the dim sum carts. At the stroke of 11 AM, a very steady stream of people arrived of predominately Asian clientelle. Before 11:30 AM, there were people waiting for seating.

Arriving early, we had an opportunity to watch them insert various heaters into their carts. One cart was a rolling griddle with food parked at the edges staying warm, then brought to a hot spot to crisp to order. From this cart we received turnip cakes and fun noodles with peanut sauce, though they also had pot stickers. Another cart was devoted to congee. Another cart was loaded with wood and metal steaming trays of dumplings from shark fin, shrimp and shui mei. Same cart also had the pork ribs with black bean sauce, an especially good version of chicken feet and other foods. The fried foods like taro root cakes didn't come in heated carts, though they were fresh from the kitchen. We also had some roast pork with crispy skin, which was refrigerator cold and could have benefitted from some heating.

In addition to the carts, they had additional staff circling the room to collect used dishes, take drink or other menu item orders. I saw roasted duck being delivered by hand to the table behind me long before I saw it on the cart. I learned you could simply get a waiter to find your favored food instead of waiting for the cart. If they didn't whisk it over, they at least made sure the cart came to you shortly.

On the tables are hoisin and soy sauces. I wanted the vinegar-soy sauce (sometimes with garlic) for dipping my dumplings. I got a lot of confused looks from the staff, when I asked for the vinegar-soy sauce. A lightbulb went off in someone's mind who advised they call this sauce, "Pot sticker sauce." Note this because it will save you some time and explanation.

We were favorably impressed enough to know this was a decent alternative to going to Chicago. We also want to try someday soon the other Jockey near Westmont. Again, we were there at the very moment they opened. How the food carts may be once the rush is over, I don't know. Our experience arriving early was very favorable. You are going to a suburban L-shaped stripmall, which has very ample parking. They are located adjacent to another larger L-shaped strip mall, thus it is not easily seen from Roselle Road.

Regards,

For those looking for it, here's the exact name and address:

Jockey Wok 'n' Rolls Restaurant
Hoffman Plaza
1017 N. Roselle Rd., Hoffman Estates
(847) 885-0888 www.jockey2go.com

G Wiv wrote:Put me down for a big ~shrug~ for Yu's, not bad, but based on my recent lunch with Steve Z, I would drive the couple of extra miles to Katy's or Chinese Kitchen.

I think (from the menu choices mentioned) that you were there on a Saturday. I'm fond of their lunch specials. Though that's largely on a value basis. Katy's is superior but more than a couple of miles away. I think Yu's has a more interesting dinner menu. At least I hope that's the reason that the parking lot is packed on weekend evenings. It's been a while since I've eaten dinner there but I believe there's a separate chinese language menu.

LAZ wrote:For those looking for it, here's the exact name and address:

Jockey Wok 'n' Rolls is behind the Burger King near the corner of Roselle and Higgins. It's hard to see from street. The least likely to miss thing is to enter the Jewel strip mall entrance on Roselle (between Golf and Higgins) and follow the strip mall around to Higgins.

My friend and I tried Jockey Wok 'n' Rolls for dinner last night, and we experienced something of a comedy of errors.
They close at 9 Mon-Thur., and we arrived at 8. Just as we were placing our order, the entire cooking crew came out and had their dinner in the main dining room. Fifteen minutes later they returned to the kitchen to start working on our order. At about this time, our waiter dropped off a check for someone else's table. We quickly relocated it to its proper home.

Of the five items on the appetizer platter, only the fried shrimp was decent. The meat in the bbq rib tasted several days old, the beef teriyaki and fried wonton were left in the fryer too long, and the egg roll was similar to the very worst kind that one would find in a supermarket freezer case.
The entrees were a little better. The Mongolian beef had good ingredients, but the beef was terribly oversalted. My pea pod tips were a bit more mature than the best, but because they were fresh, they weren't bad at all. The dried scallop sauce that accompanied them made for another salty dish, but that's the nature of dried scallops.
People seem to prefer this place for weekend dim sum, and now I can see why.
As we were leaving at 9:10, ten employees were piling into a van for their trip home. I guess that's why they eat at 8 p.m.

The night ended well when the drive home down Golf Road gave us the perfect view of last night's spectacular lightning display.

Bump. Need a Schaumburg eat at say.. 11pm, on a freakin' Wednesday. And no, I'm not going to Gino's East.

TIA.

TonyC wrote:Bump. Need a Schaumburg eat at say.. 11pm, on a freakin' Wednesday. And no, I'm not going to Gino's East.

TIA.

Give Chef Ping's a try.

Chef Ping
1755 Algonquin Rd.
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
847-981-8888

Chef Ping will be closed. Tony, a guy looking for a good 11pm weekday meal in Schaumburg is like a woman trying to find sex on Halsted and Roscoe at 2am Saturday night.

TonyC wrote:Bump. Need a Schaumburg eat at say.. 11pm, on a freakin' Wednesday. And no, I'm not going to Gino's East.

TIA.

11 pm, Wednesday, Schaumburg
Your choices - Ram, John Barleycorn or Denny's.

Tons of South Asian places out that way, including a few hole in the wall Pakistani places that are similar to what you might find in the city, for example, Salt & Pepper and BBQ Tonight. Anyone with more experience care to chime in?