Newish Loop Lunch Option - cheap & good

I've been meaning to post this for a while, & my apologies for the delay.

The Civic Opera Building (20 N Wacker) has a newish (I think it opended last year) 3rd floor self-serve cafe which is a nice, not too crowded option in this area.

There are the usual sandwiches etc, but the attraction for me is the hot bars (I get tired of sandwiches in this cold weather). Apparently a couple of the cooks are chinese, so there is always a nicely stocked array of these dishes. Today, my $5 lunch included a large piece of excellent steamed sole (wtih ginger, cilantro & spring onions), chinese brocoli in soy & garlic, a skewer of grilled chicken in a teriaki-ish marinade, fresh pineapple & grapes & a huge crab rangoon for good measure, plus a soda.

There were lots of other options including kung pao tofu, orange chicken, rice etc. Also they always have a whole fresh roasted turkey you can carve yourself, plus various sides. I've also seen leg of lamb there occaisonally. Add to this a huge salad bar with excellent cut fresh fruit and a quiet atmosphere. There's a small amount of seating, but it looks like most folks were taking food back to their offices & there always seems to be rapid turnover of the various dishes.

Its a nice inexpensive addition for the area with some nice healthy options to choose from rather than the usual salads or burgers or when you crave some chinese without the time to trek to Chinatown.

20 N Wacker
3rd floor cafe
Open til 3 pm every weekday.

Co-workers & I order from them frequently. They make good deli sandwiches. Their turkey even looks & tastes like-well, turkey.

Market Creations
20 N Wacker Dr Flr 3
chicago 60606 312 629 4920

I've also dined at Market Creations and agree that the food is above average for a salad-bar type place. However, you are charged by the weight of the portion you take -- and it can get rather pricey, depending upon what you choose. I really loaded my plate the first time I went and was surprised at how much I ended up paying.

Suzy

Last time I was working downtown (about 3 years ago) we used to visit this restaurant about once or twice a month.

They had some great sandwiches and a nice pasta bar (amongst other things).

I remember that they would have a sign up but never served their supposed famous 'duck sandwich'. We kept asking and they never had.

Have new owners taken it over? Has it changed?

It was a little pricey but the food was generally very good. And the atmosphere was very nice! Almost like a train diner.

The restaurant and setup are completely new. You are thinking of the Stage Door Deli (or Stage Coach? I never could get it straight) that previously was in the same space on the 3rd floor at 20 N. Wacker.

The buffet has a wide selection but, in my opinion, is good but not great. I work in the Civic Opera Building and get lunch from there almost every day. The food is pretty good, but I go there mainly because of the convenience factor. The quality varies from day to day, and it also can get very expensive (as it's by the pound).

Thanks!

(... and I never did get to try the duck sandwich )

the duck sandwich was wunnerful!

Thanks to all for the recommendation. Being stuck in the same building for nine years, you get tired of eating the same things every day for lunch.

I went to Market Creations for lunch today based on this thread and was very pleased. I've had carved turkey at a number of places in the Loop (most of which are defunct now) and believe this was some of the best I've had. Am going to sample some of the Chinese offerings they have next week - fried rice, brocolli & chicken, etc - along with some of their sandwich offerings.

Relative to Mac Kelly's, which I believe is the closest "comp" to Market Creations, there really isn't any contest. Market Creations is very neat, organized and seems to be run very efficiently, whereas I cannot say the same for Mac Kelly's.

Good stuff overall. Cost is in-line with what I'd expect. Thanks for the rec!

Count me as another believer. I just finished my Market Creations lunch. I admired the fresh and varied offerings at the salad bar, but went straight for the Chinese food. I was very impressed. I tried the orange beef, the steamed sole and the potstickers. All were delicious. The orange beef was sweet and spicy, complete with dried chilis and orange peel. The breading was pretty heavy, but I kind of like it that way. (Yes, I know it's like eating fried dough smothered in orange sauce. Yum!) The potstickers suffered the most by being in a steam table, but even so, they were not bad. Way better than the ones at 65. The sole was a little dry, but had a nice gingery, scalliony flavor. I only spent $8 and had plenty of food. I'll be back, probably on Monday!

Looking for someplace "different" and close to where I work to have lunch today I searched forum archives and saw mention of Market Creations in the Civic Opera House Building. Associates of mine at work have eaten/ordered here, but somehow I've overlooked it.

I chose the hot dishes over the cold salads on the buffet: some chicken lomein, Hunan beef, a crab Rangoon and a spoonful of green beans. Though I saw no whole turkey for people to carve themselves, there was a pre-sliced (thickly) turkey breast on a platter - for the taking. The lomein was good, but the beef used for the Hunan was of questionable quality; I didn't like it. The Crab Rangoon was a nice addition. With a medium Diet Pepsi tossed-in for good measure, the cost came to just over $8.00. There is no seating in the large, narrow room - but there are about 20 "two top" tables lining the wall in the hallway, outside the room on the 3rd floor (where I sat myself down).

I took a look at the sandwich menu and noted that most were priced at $4.25, with deluxe sandwiches going mostly for $4.95 (some for $5.25).

Market Creations was okay for lunch, but not a place I'll strongly recommend to others nor a place I think I'll return to anytime soon. For me, the sandwich menu might be what I should concentrate on, however. The Chicago-style hot dog and fries I had at Fast Track on Lake St. yesterday was a better meal, at about 1/2 the cost.

Lunch today was "different" though, and that's what I said I wanted – so thanks for mentioning the place.

I'm not sure how I missed this thread the first time, as until this past Friday, our offices were on the 14th floor of the Opera Building.

Market Creations is not bad, but the food really gets tiring after a while. I'd usually do it once a week on a day when I had a lot of conference calls. And it is on the expensive side for quick service; my trick after one $9 lunch was to never take anything other than the small side dish container - if I'm eating more than that for lunch, it's probably too much anyway.

Their pseudo-chinese chicken dishes are the best, but I'm pretty sure that it's all commissary reheating, as there was never ANY variance of specific dishes came out.

I'd be careful with the carved meats: my gut feeling was that when the weather is good, they didn't turn over very quickly.

In the summertime, one option for seating is to head across the river to 2 N. Riverside, where there is a pleasant place to sit and eat picnic-style.

I just stopped by his place and got a small box of food - cost about 5 bucks. The sole is definitely tasty and the other stuff looks good to but it all seemed a little old. I guess I should go there later in the day next time to get some fresher stuff. The buffalo wings are good also.

Nice post, will check it out next week... Work in the area, is there a comprehensive head of all self serve salad bars in the loop? That would be nice... some are a bit hidden!

Hi,

I just heard a reporter from the Blago trial complimenting the food service offered at the Dirksen Courthouse. From looking at the lunch menu, there is plenty to choose from.

If you eat after 2 pm, they discount your entree. Understandable since they close at 3 pm.

Regards,

worth noting that Market Creations has 3 or 4 locations aside of those mentioned

i go to the one in Prudential Plaza once in awhile. It used to be a Delmonico Buffet and then converted, yet the food was nearly identical in every way before and after, though the grill options expanded. So I'm not sure if they're in any way related or not...

it's rather inconsistent ... quality can vary a lot day to day depending on the time you go. they also change their ingredients a lot (which if I had to guess were supplied by someone like Sysco, which seems odd that they'd have to change so often...). one day they may have fantastic crispy fries, the next day a completely soggy crinkle fry. their burgers aren't anything special as far as ingredients go, but they're decent fast foodish burgers ($5.95, 6.95 w/ fries). their buffet seems to be mostly asian or american food and lacks some of the interesting stuff the other locations have spoken of

I work across the street from the Prudential Plaza Market Creations and have been going there for the past 3 years about once a week when I forget or am too lazy to pack a lunch. I mostly hit the salad bar (in a feeble attempt to be healthy) but here are a few of my observations:

I believe the manager who oversees the staff and the cold and hot stations is Chinese-American and he is always asking how I am finding everything. I have never, ever come across things on either the hot or cold stations that looked "old" or "tired."

I think they are actually having a tiny bit of fun with the Chinese dishes -- they seem to balance between old standbys (orange chicken, beef and broccoli etc) with more interesting options like Ginger Sole and Salt & Pepper Shrimp. One day one of the "chefs" from the kitchen, an older Chinese guy was at the station offering up free spring onion dumplings. They always offer 3-4 veggie options and do their own takes on things like mentioned above "Market Wings."

The other side of the hot table is for the comfort food folks . . . usually roast turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese, but even over there they have good options like grilled salmon and Jamaican Jerk Chicken, steamed veggies. They also do a really rocking, non-greasy pan-fried calamari . . .

I am super grateful this place is across from where I work. I don't ever order from the grill so can't comment on the fries but I think they do a really nice job at a fair price point.

bjt

The menus for the Market Creations restaurants are all on-line, which means I can check whether the salt and pepper smelt are on the menu at the Prudential Building location. When they are, which used to happen every Tuesday but is now usually only every other Tuesday, I'm there. I'm also a fan of their steamed fish, especially when it's steamed with ginger and scallions. The Singapore noodles are also much superior to the ones I can get at 65 Chinese on Michigan Avenue.

As you may gather, I basically stick with the Asian side of the hot food buffet. I've never tried the grill, though one colleague insists the hamburgers are among the best in the neighborhood.