Help me love Chicago and its food

Hey everyone. My husband took a job in Chicago 5 months ago. He lives in Mount Prospect and works in Schaumburg. I visit him during my breaks from school and will be there for my Spring Break the first of March. I will be moving there this summer but am looking for some great places to eat. So far I have had Lou Malnatti's, Geno's East, The Egg Factory, MoJo's, Bahama Breeze, Infields (Marshall Fields),

However I am wanting to find some of the stuff I get here in the Kansas City area. Dh says BBQ sauce is out ragiously priced and we eventually will move his large smoker there so BBQ I don't need...however I love Chineese and Great Hamburgers...Dh says we will go to Chinatown but I would like to find some places nearby for a quick fix. He lives in a area that has a Mexican Grocery store and is wonderful to shop at and we have eaten at the little taco place...however I want really good Mexican that has big plates of food...Please help...I want to love Chicago as much as I do here near Kansas City and am afraid I will miss the food way to much. Please try to stick with things close by however I would like a few suggestions for when shopping on Michigan Ave or near UIC when I am at school and need a quick bite to eat. Thanks
V

Fortunately, it appears you've missed all of Chicago's great food. In your situation I'd begin by skimming around this forum. FYI: Chicago's culinary zeitgeist is in it's predominantly "city-proper" neighborhoods...not along Boule Mich or immediately by UIC. IMO: outside of Chinatown you're gonna be hardpressed to find great Chinese. Good Luck.

You have a lot of reading to do

I should add, however, that this site has plenty of well-documented west-suburban (south of where you will be, but relatively close) Chinese options. With some notable Northside exceptions, the "other" neighborhood with good Chinese in Chicago is Westmont/Lisle/etc.

Hey now, there's decent stuff by UIC for lunch and whatnot! The original Al's, for example, is a GNR recipient.

Will you be on the Medical campus or East campus (non-medical stuff) ?

Christopher Gordon wrote:Fortunately, it appears you've missed all of Chicago's great food. In your situation I'd begin by skimming around this forum. FYI: Chicago's culinary zeitgeist is in it's predominantly "city-proper" neighborhoods...not along Boule Mich or immediately by UIC. IMO: outside of Chinatown you're gonna be hardpressed to find great Chinese. Good Luck.

Agree with this.

Read all of the GNR Nomination threads, and the threads they point to.

And any post that has an "a-thon" connected to it.

I got a few years of catching up to do on restaurants from these reviews (next up is an "Al Pastor-a-thon" in my old neighborhood around Midway)

leek wrote:Hey now, there's decent stuff by UIC for lunch and whatnot! The original Al's, for example, is a GNR recipient.

Will you be on the Medical campus or East campus (non-medical stuff) ?

I guess I will be on East...I will be going to the Jane Adams College of Social Work...if that helps at all. I have been told it is right outside greektown although I am not to sure about greekfood.

V

I have a friend from St. Louis who swears by KC BBQ and he loves Ribs and Bibs in Hyde Park. I couldn't say if it is KC style BBQ or not, and personally I wouldn't say it is really worth a trip all the way to Hyde Park, but if you're going to the Museum of S&I or just want a taste of home while you sit on Promontory Point and enjoy the view, you might want to give it a shot.

As for the areas close by school, I think you'll have a number of opportunities. Just this weekend I got to enjoy a pretty tasty, greasy, gigantic and pretty darn cheap burger at the Illinois Bar & Grill, and though it was my first venture to the Taylor Street area, I'll be excited to head back in that direction once the weather is more condusive to wandering up and down the block.

The school's also not too far from Randolph which has a bunch of fun spots to eat, the only one I've personally visited has been the Chicago Chocolate Cafe, which was a nice place for a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee and a whole mess of temptation.

There are actually a few decent choices within walking distance of the eastern end of UIC.

The Illinois does do a decent burger and has an OK sports bar vibe. It's not a great burger, but it's your best choice in the area.

Conte di Savoia makes sandwiches that aren't quite as good as Bari, but are very good nonetheless.

There's the Al's-Mario's combo in summer for Italian Beef and Lemonade, which I suppose should be tried at least once.

A few blocks further is Manny's, GNR winner. Jim's and Express Grill have their polish sausage stands a couple blocks away, too.

The recently opened Kohan is getting good reviews for the chef's sushi specials, which sound a lot more interesting than the rest of the menu.

There's a UIC Express bus that will take you straight to Pilsen for some good variety of Mexican food. The 54th/cermak branch of the blue line will get you there until the bleeping CTA changes it to the bleeping silver line for 6 months this summer. Bleepity bleep bleep.

I've heard good things about Couscous on Taylor. Or at least that it doesn't suck, which is fairly important.

I'm only covering places within easy walking distance of the eastern end of UIC. To really get the true Chicago experience you'll want to hit Chinatown, Greektown, Argyle, Albany Park, Lincoln Square, Archer Heights, Brigeport, Little Village, yadda, yadda, yadda. Chicago's strength really is in its neighborhoods, as others have said.

Thanks for the referall. I can not wait to try the Chocolate Cafe...I love coffee...here we have a lot of Starbucks and I enjoy a big Coffe or Chai Tea at least 2 to 3 times a week. Many would say I am addicted. Plus I love Cafe's to study in.

My husband has been to the Museum of S&I. He said it was really cool so I want to check it out now so we might see if that is true. I have not heard of Promontory Point...but if it is a great view of the lake that might be nice.

I am excited to see what Chicago has to offer in the Spring and am even going to try and be fully moved before the Taste of Chicago.
V

reciprocity wrote:I have a friend from St. Louis who swears by KC BBQ and he loves Ribs and Bibs in Hyde Park. I couldn't say if it is KC style BBQ or not, and personally I wouldn't say it is really worth a trip all the way to Hyde Park, but if you're going to the Museum of S&I or just want a taste of home while you sit on Promontory Point and enjoy the view, you might want to give it a shot.

As for the areas close by school, I think you'll have a number of opportunities. Just this weekend I got to enjoy a pretty tasty, greasy, gigantic and pretty darn cheap burger at the Illinois Bar & Grill, and though it was my first venture to the Taylor Street area, I'll be excited to head back in that direction once the weather is more condusive to wandering up and down the block.

The school's also not too far from Randolph which has a bunch of fun spots to eat, the only one I've personally visited has been the Chicago Chocolate Cafe, which was a nice place for a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee and a whole mess of temptation.

My husband has been to the Museum of S&I. He said it was really cool so I want to check it out now so we might see if that is true.

Are you from Kansas City, Missouri, the Show Me state?

I look forward to your reports as your apprehensions about Chicago peel away. We have terrific food and not so shabby BBQ if you carefully read the posts here. Lots to see and do. You may even miss Chicago when you move on to your next location.

Enjoy the adventure!

Regards,

Sunset74 wrote:Hey everyone. My husband took a job in Chicago 5 months ago. He lives in Mount Prospect and works in Schaumburg. I visit him during my breaks from school and will be there for my Spring Break the first of March. I will be moving there this summer but am looking for some great places to eat. So far I have had Lou Malnatti's, Geno's East, The Egg Factory, MoJo's, Bahama Breeze, Infields (Marshall Fields),

However I am wanting to find some of the stuff I get here in the Kansas City area. Dh says BBQ sauce is out ragiously priced and we eventually will move his large smoker there so BBQ I don't need...however I love Chineese and Great Hamburgers...Dh says we will go to Chinatown but I would like to find some places nearby for a quick fix. He lives in a area that has a Mexican Grocery store and is wonderful to shop at and we have eaten at the little taco place...however I want really good Mexican that has big plates of food...Please help...I want to love Chicago as much as I do here near Kansas City and am afraid I will miss the food way to much. Please try to stick with things close by however I would like a few suggestions for when shopping on Michigan Ave or near UIC when I am at school and need a quick bite to eat. Thanks
V

dont even think of trying to find a bbq place in Chicago comparable to Kansas City.. All you will find in the burbs is chain stuff like famouse Daves , Smokey Bones, etc...Its all pretty mediocre Q.
Instead go for the stuff thats great in Chicago..Pizza, Greektown ..although I would stay away from the Greek restaurants in Schaumburg. take a trip a little south to Lombard and go to Greek Islands
.The best Mexican I have had lately in the burbs is a little place in a strip mall in Wheeling called Monicas.

deke rivers wrote:dont even think of trying to find a bbq place in Chicago comparable to Kansas City..
<snip>
The best Mexican I have had lately in the burbs is a little place in a strip mall in Wheeling called Monicas.

Deke,

I'd agree with a couple of notable exceptions. Honey 1 BBQ for smoked over a live wood fire tips, links and spare ribs, Lem's for spare ribs and Barbara Ann's for links.

Monica's sounds like a winner, have an address?

Enjoy,
Gary

I have a friend from St. Louis who swears by KC BBQ and he loves Ribs and Bibs in Hyde Park.

Maybe on a very, very, very good day, but the only thing that I have found R&B has in common with a typical KC BBHQ shack is that it catches fire a lot.

As above, Honey 1, Lem's, and Barbara Ann's seem to comprise the LTH favorites, but if you want to experience what has traditionally been the Chicago version of ribs, go to Carson's or Gale Street Inn (4914 N. Milwaukee Ave.). This is not meant to be a comparison with good KC BBQ (Carson's is to Arthur Bryant as, say, Edwardo's pizza is to, say, Di Matteo's (in Naples); i.e., a totally different hombre). But it will give you a chance to expand your horizons and understand a little bit more about the nature of that beast known as Chicago cuisine.

Barbecue is likely to leave you disappointed, first because everyone likes the barbecue from where they come from, second because Kansas City's main barbecue meat is beef brisket, which isn't done fantastically well here anywhere that I've ever heard of. Pork ribs and rib tips are done well a few places, done in a style that you probably won't like (if you're used to true barbecue) at many other places, but still, barbecue's just not the center of attention that it is in KC.

jbw wrote:

I have a friend from St. Louis who swears by KC BBQ and he loves Ribs and Bibs in Hyde Park.

Maybe on a very, very, very good day, but the only thing that I have found R&B has in common with a typical KC BBHQ shack is that it catches fire a lot.

Heh, fair enough. I couldn't say myself (well, I can attest to the fires, having lived at 51st and Dorchester for a spell.)

Be sure to search the archives for Argyle which is a center for good, authentic Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

The Thai recommendations you will find herein are excellent and cover the gamut from, Ameri-Thai to truly authentic dishes from that cuisine. Chicago has great Pho and Banh Mi options in the Argyle area.

Your KC Barbeque will be hard to replicate here. But, I'm sure you'll eventually love the great quality pork ribs and tips that many places referenced herein carry.

Chicago is a wonderful town for Mexican food. From creative and swank like Frontera and Topolobompo to simple and delicious like Taqueria Oaxequena or Taqueria Puebla and the Pozolerias in the Fullerton-Pulaski area. There's both greta mexican food and culture to be found in Pilsen.

G Wiv wrote:

deke rivers wrote:dont even think of trying to find a bbq place in Chicago comparable to Kansas City..
<snip>
The best Mexican I have had lately in the burbs is a little place in a strip mall in Wheeling called Monicas.

Deke,

I'd agree with a couple of notable exceptions. Honey 1 BBQ for smoked over a live wood fire tips, links and spare ribs, Lem's for spare ribs and Barbara Ann's for links.

Monica's sounds like a winner, have an address?

Enjoy,
Gary

hey Gary - I was talking the burbs ..actually I misread her post..I thought t she was looking in the schaumburg area since thats where they moved near? now im reading she is looking around UIC..
nothing in the burbs for bbq at all....

anyway Monica's is at 636 n. Milwaukeee in Palwaukee Plaza
its actually Prospect Hts..not Wheeling..I work In Northbrook so all thsoe burbs blend together to me
not a fancy place but great authentic mexican food IMO and cheap..there is a nice mexican bakery right across from it in the same strip mall that you can hit for dessert afterwards..they sell squares of Tres Leches cake for $1.50 a throw

Cathy2 wrote:

My husband has been to the Museum of S&I. He said it was really cool so I want to check it out now so we might see if that is true.

Are you from Kansas City, Missouri, the Show Me state?

I look forward to your reports as your apprehensions about Chicago peel away. We have terrific food and not so shabby BBQ if you carefully read the posts here. Lots to see and do. You may even miss Chicago when you move on to your next location.

Enjoy the adventure!

Regards,

Yes...I am from the Kansas City area...Well I moved here about 7 years ago before meeting my husband. I will try and keep posted how my move goes. It is going to be an adventure.
V

deke rivers wrote:

G Wiv wrote:

deke rivers wrote:dont even think of trying to find a bbq place in Chicago comparable to Kansas City..
<snip>
The best Mexican I have had lately in the burbs is a little place in a strip mall in Wheeling called Monicas.

Deke,

I'd agree with a couple of notable exceptions. Honey 1 BBQ for smoked over a live wood fire tips, links and spare ribs, Lem's for spare ribs and Barbara Ann's for links.

Monica's sounds like a winner, have an address?

Enjoy,
Gary

hey Gary - I was talking the burbs ..actually I misread her post..I thought t she was looking in the schaumburg area since thats where they moved near? now im reading she is looking around UIC..
nothing in the burbs for bbq at all....

anyway Monica's is at 636 n. Milwaukeee in Palwaukee Plaza
its actually Prospect Hts..not Wheeling..I work In Northbrook so all thsoe burbs blend together to me
not a fancy place but great authentic mexican food IMO and cheap..there is a nice mexican bakery right across from it in the same strip mall that you can hit for dessert afterwards..they sell squares of Tres Leches cake for $1.50 a throw

Actually I am looking for Both...UIC during the week days at school...and Schaumburg/Mt. Prospect at night and weekends with hubby.

LIke I said though...once my husbands big smoker is moved from our home in KC to our apartment/townhouse what ever we end up in later on...I will not eat BBQ in Chicago...My husband does a mean brisket/Pulled Pork and Ribs....And as for Bryants BBQ here in KC...it is the best and I will be bringing BBQ sacuse back to Chicago everytime I come to KC. It is my favorite.

a few of us cook authentic BBQ on here..my self I compete on the KCBS BQ circuit..
in fact ther will be a small rib/cookoff this weekend in DesPlaines (real close to where you live) if you want to stop by and chat with some other Q fanatics from the Chicago area (have to be to have a competition in middle of winter)..most are KCBS competetitors as well..
and I agree on Bryants..
what type smoker does your husband cook with?

Welcome, Sunset74.

Here are some links to posts about places in the Mount Prospect area. Also search here on Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Des Plaines and Palatine.

Bistro: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=49852#49852

Breakfast: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=7070

Indian: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=43485

Japanese: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=46299#46299

Korean: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=61923#61923

Mexican: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=30448#30448

Paczki: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=64698

Thai: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=50673
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=27880

Tiki bar: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=61857#61857

Turkish groceries: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=50672

deke rivers wrote:a few of us cook authentic BBQ on here..my self I compete on the KCBS BQ circuit..
in fact ther will be a small rib/cookoff this weekend in DesPlaines (real close to where you live) if you want to stop by and chat with some other Q fanatics from the Chicago area (have to be to have a competition in middle of winter)..most are KCBS competetitors as well..
and I agree on Bryants..
what type smoker does your husband cook with?

I won't be there this weekend...but if you ever do it again in the area we wll try to go once I am living there.

As for his smoker...a couple years ago for Christmas I got him a GoodOne...I am prettysure that is the name of it. He loves it...however it is here in our home and he is up there.
V

Thanks for the links. Actually the Thai place you refer to is right outside my husbands apartment complex. We walked over one day when I was there during Thanksgiving but it was on a night they were closed. I was very disappointed and so instead because we had walked we went across the street to Browns...

I will use the links alot and am sending them to my husband. Thanks again.
V

Sunset74 wrote:

deke rivers wrote:a few of us cook authentic BBQ on here..my self I compete on the KCBS BQ circuit..
in fact ther will be a small rib/cookoff this weekend in DesPlaines (real close to where you live) if you want to stop by and chat with some other Q fanatics from the Chicago area (have to be to have a competition in middle of winter)..most are KCBS competetitors as well..
and I agree on Bryants..
what type smoker does your husband cook with?

I won't be there this weekend...but if you ever do it again in the area we wll try to go once I am living there.

As for his smoker...a couple years ago for Christmas I got him a GoodOne...I am prettysure that is the name of it. He loves it...however it is here in our home and he is up there.
V

yep..thats a good one..no pun intended

thye do have a rib cookoff in the city in summer ..not sure if its happening again this year or not
some other bbq comps in illinois coming up..within 2hrs drive..i cna et you know the dates if you are interested..people form all over th ecountry show up..plenty form kanasa city area..thats for sure

yep..thats a good one..no pun intended

thye do have a rib cookoff in the city in summer ..not sure if its happening again this year or not
some other bbq comps in illinois coming up..within 2hrs drive..i cna et you know the dates if you are interested..people form all over th ecountry show up..plenty form kanasa city area..thats for sure[/quote]

Yeah...he actually took some classes...one came with his smoker when we bought it and then he won another from a chef here that is the head chef of several restaurants here and has a team that competes at a ton of those. He enjoys it a lot.

He goes to the Lenexa BBQ battle usually...however we never made it to the Royal...

well now that he is transplanted to the chicago area..there are two comps coming up within a couple hrs of chicago..one in Shannon IL and the other is the Zoo B Que in Racine Wi..if he wants info i can provide..both are in July
take care

deke rivers wrote:well now that he is transplanted to the chicago area..there are two comps coming up within a couple hrs of chicago..one in Shannon IL and the other is the Zoo B Que in Racine Wi..if he wants info i can provide..both are in July
take care

I am sure he would love information. We could go or something for a weekend out of town. I don't know what there is to do in either of those towns for me but I sure could just relax. Thanks.
V

Sunset74 wrote:

deke rivers wrote:well now that he is transplanted to the chicago area..there are two comps coming up within a couple hrs of chicago..one in Shannon IL and the other is the Zoo B Que in Racine Wi..if he wants info i can provide..both are in July
take care

I am sure he would love information. We could go or something for a weekend out of town. I don't know what there is to do in either of those towns for me but I sure could just relax. Thanks.
V

well there is next to nothing in shannon but the racine comp will be at the Zoo .They plan having some big name entertainment too.

Deke,

I hope you will be posting these BBQ competitions on the Events board. I hope to attend one this year for the experience.

Regards

deke rivers wrote:well there is next to nothing in shannon

Deke,

Corn, lots of corn, high as an elephant's eye and as far as one can see.

I was at Shannon a couple of years ago, the contest is set in a corn field.

Enjoy,
Gary