Fairly nice, mainstream-ish spot in or near Hyde Park?

I have a restaurant quandary I hope you all can help me with, though perhaps my problem has no solution.

Elsewhere I mentioned that I’m trying to think of a place to take my Administrative Professional out to lunch. I can’t do it tomorrow (the official day) so we’re going to go out on Thursday. We’re in Hyde Park; I have a car. Ideally I’d like to think of two or three possibilities and let her choose where we go.

Last year we went to Dixie Kitchen, which was okay. She doesn’t like spicy food, and when she and her husband go out they choose steak-and-potato kind of places, I believe.

I’d like to take her to a fairly nice spot (in other words, more than just a little café with sandwiches). There’s La Petite Folie, of course, but the lunch menu (link) seems to have only 5 items on it, what if they all seem too outlandish?

The Parrot Cage sounds like it could be great for this occasion – but it’s not open for lunch.

Piccolo Mondo? <sigh> I haven’t eaten there since I started keeping company with Iron Chef Italian, but I suppose it’s a possibility, if an unexciting one.

Some of the interesting ethnic spots within striking distance are probably too weird for my guest (e.g. Yassa, Café Trinidad). But maybe I could throw one of the Hyde Park Thai spots into the list of choices.

Wow, the restaurant choices down there are grim. But is there anything else in or close by Hyde Park that I’m forgetting?

thanks,
Amata

I hate to say it, but Piccolo Mondo IS your perfect choice. Grownup, old-school classy atmosphere that tells your assistant s/he is valued, perfectly decent American Italian (not Italian-American, but not precisely Italian either, I'm sure) food. You'll just have to lie about it when you get home....

Leaving Hyde Park, I've never tried this or know anyone who has, but there's that Polo Cafe in Bridgeport (not to be confused with either the Ralph Lauren Polo, or the closed Polo's on 18th) that sounds like where people in that area go for a manly steak-oriented business lunch. A little further and there's May Street Cafe, reviewed if not raved about here a couple of times.

Alas, the truly mysterious Eugene's Brasserie seems to be no more....

Piccolo Mondo
1642 E. 56th St.
773-643-1106

Polo Cafe & Catering Bridgeport U.S.A
3322 S. Morgan St.
773-927-7656

May St. Cafe
1146 W. Cermak St.
312-421-4442

Amata wrote:Piccolo Mondo? <sigh> I haven’t eaten there since I started keeping company with Iron Chef Italian, but I suppose it’s a possibility, if an unexciting one.

Not if you want to continue to keep company with me. We Italians are proud of the reputation of our cuisine.



A

Give La Petite Folie as an option, maybe with the disclaimer that the lunch menu is small. It's the go-to spot for almost all business lunches in HP that anyone in my family is planning. Otherwise, I'm generally not a fan of Piccolo Mondo. In fact, I'd take Pizza Capri over it any day.

Flowers

Calypso Cafe has a sunny atmosphere and while it's a little exotic, it has plenty of safe options on the menu. (I confess I have never ordered those items.)

Here's a menu link.

Have you given a thought to Healthy Food? As long as the Sox aren't in town and you're not to far from LSD (avoiding the Dan Ryan at all costs), it's an easy drive and, usually, park.

Thanks to all for their suggestions (yes, especially you, sazerac! )

Earlier today I emailed a list of three possibilities with menu links to my assistant -- her choice was Pearl's Place, a spot that had slipped my mind when I was posting yesterday. I was recently at Pearl's Place with LTHer edeben and her husband, and I'm delighted to have a chance to go back.

Also delighted to get out of Hyde Park!

I'll post about our lunch later this week.

thanks again,
Amata

Amata wrote:Earlier today I emailed a list of three possibilities with menu links to my assistant -- her choice was Pearl's Place, a spot that had slipped my mind when I was posting yesterday. I was recently at Pearl's Place with LTHer edeben and her husband, and I'm delighted to have a chance to go back.

Amata,

Great choice! I was there a couple of months ago, had a very nice lunch with a small group of LTHers, then Pigmon and I went to Al's Red Hots

I meant to do a separate post for Pearl's, but seem to have forgot. Here's a link to pictures I took, your assistant may wish to take a peek just to get in the mood for fried chicken, salmon patties or catfish. Of course, don't forget Pearl's Peach Cobbler, which Ann Fisher says is Chicago's finest.

Pearl's Peach Cobbler


Pearl's Fried Chicken


Enjoy,
Gary

Pearl's Place
3901 South Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60653

G Wiv wrote:Of course, don't forget Pearl's Peach Cobbler, which Ann Fisher says is Chicago's finest.

Without even mentioning it, you reminded me of Pearl's excellent sweet potato pie. Easily the highlight of my lunch there. The cobbler and pie are a formidable one-two punch.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:The cobbler and pie are a formidable one-two punch.

Knockout?

Pearl's Place Sweet Potato Pie (L) Peach Cobbler (R)

I made my second visit to Pearl’s Place yesterday, taking my secretary out to lunch for Administrative Professionals’ Day.

On my first visit, a few weeks ago, I accompanied edeben and her husband, who were having a late lunch there. I had already had lunch, but remembering how Ann Fisher had raved about the peach cobbler, I eagerly went along to have dessert with them. On that occasion I got to taste a number of items my friends had ordered: edeben had a cup of gumbo plus the “vegetable plate”, which is any three sides. She chose blackeyed peas, macaroni and cheese, and candied sweet potatoes. I really liked the gumbo, and the blackeyed peas were fantastic. I also tasted edeben’s husband’s collard greens, which were very good as well, and took note of the huge pile of fried chicken that arrived with his order. And, not surprisingly, I was very happy with my peach cobbler. The iced tea was also remarkably good (only slightly sweet, and lightly flavored with raspberry).

So, for yesterday’s lunch, the main principle guiding my ordering was to leave room for dessert. If the gumbo had been available I would have just had a bowl of that, but instead the soup of the day was split pea. I’m sure that would have been good, too, but I decided to go with Pearl’s fried chicken instead. I knew the regular order of half a chicken was more than I wanted to eat, so I chose the fried chicken wings instead. Only 4 wings, but big ones, perfectly breaded and fried. (Don’t order the fried chicken at Pearl’s if you are in a hurry, because each plate is fried to order.) For my two sides I chose cole slaw and pinto beans (yesterday’s vegetable of the day, replacing the blackeyed peas on the earlier visit). They were both adequate but didn’t tempt me to finish off either helping.

My companion had smothered pork chops, which she pronounced excellent, with collard greens and rice. We were both astonished at the size of the serving: two huge pork chops amply covered with a rich gravy. One chop was certainly (more than) enough for lunch, and she took the rest home for later.

When it was time to order dessert, I faced the familiar chow-y dilemna: enjoy again something you know is great, or explore more of the menu? I knew that eatchicago thought Pearl’s sweet potato pie was the equal or better of the cobbler (see above). And then there’s also the intriguingly named “Sock it to me cake”. But in the end neither of us could pass up the cobbler. It came quite hot, just out of the oven, and lived up to expectations. I don’t think I can improve upon Ann’s original description:

Wow! What a cobbler! Obviously at this time of year the peaches surely were frozen, but they were mighty tasty peaches nonetheless. There was lots of light syrup (this is definitely a cobbler you eat in a bowl with a spoon), not too sweet, wafting nutmeg and cinnamon into the room. The crust was even better. Flakey, golden, just the right thickness. Cobbler nirvana.

Pearl’s is a great option to have in that part of the South Side. Keep it in mind if you have time for a leisurely lunch, or are in the mood for cobbler.

Pearl's Place
3901 S. Michigan
773-285-1700
(entrance on Pershing; free parking in lot across the street)

Mon-Thu: 8am-8pm
Fri-Sat: 8am-9pm
Sun: 8am-7pm