Edison Park or Park Ridge restaurants

I am supposed to meet a friend in the Park Ridge area this weekend and I am not very familiar with the area. I really have no idea where to start. Are there any suggestions for a place that is moderately priced and maybe even BYOB for a nice Saturday night dinner with friends?

I have not been to the Park Ridge location, but was a regular at the Arlington Heights outpost of La Tasca and tapas is a fun dinner out with friends. They do a respectable tapas. The Grilled Octopus, is simple, lemony goodness, The Pincho de solomillo feature the best housemade shoestring potatoes I have ever had. Usual favorites like the queso de cabra are great here. Skip the Tortilla Espana. I cannot speak for the paella, we always just did tapas and sangria. (lots of fruit, a nice blend)

You can cross the parking lot to Oberweis for a great dessert.

I would have recommended Basta Pasta, back in the day, but a recent visit to the hood showed paper covered windows, so that ship has sailed.

I am not a fan of Nonno Pino's, it's very loud and the food is just ok. (Not well seasoned and not inspired)

In my opinion, Zia's is probably the best quality restaurant in Edison Park/Park Ridge. I've also heard good things about the sushi place there, Maki Sushi, and the tapas place, La Tasca, but I haven't tried those yet.

Zia's Trattoria
6699 N. Northwest Hwy
Chicago
773-775-0808
http://www.ziaschicago.com/

Maki Sushi
12 S. Northwest Hwy
Park Ridge
847-318-1920

La Tasca Tapas
27 S. Northwest Hwy
Park Ridge
847-698-4500

Moretti's is great if you can sit outside and want to eat standard bar/Italian menu items (e.g. chicken or eggplant parmesan).

Moretti's
6727 N. Olmsted Ave
Chicago
773-631-1223
http://s126613707.onlinehome.us/morettis/ep/index.php

Have also tried Don Juan's and Elliott's, which are each ok but not great.

LTE wrote:In my opinion, Zia's is probably the best quality restaurant in Edison Park/Park Ridge.

I'll second that notion. I've been very happy with Zia's over the years, more so than any other restaurant in the area. Everything I've eaten there is fresh and flavorful, especially their delicous, slightly spicy dish of mussels marinara. I consider Zia's to be reasonably priced, but they do serve their own liquor.

A dinner at Zia's improves even more after a martini or two at their lively bar.

Best,
Michael

You should totally try Nonna Silvias Pizza, which is on the corner of Canfield and Talcott.

It's really more of a full-on italian place, not just pizza (although their pizza is good). I used to work near by and would go for lunch all the time. Been a few times for dinner too, and it's great.

Nonna Silvias Pizzeria
(847) 292-9970
1408 Canfield Rd
Park Ridge, IL 60068

Note that they recently moved about two doors north of their original location. I'm not sure if this address is the new or old place. However it is on the south/west corner of Canfield and Talcott.

Cameron.

I'll echo the recommendations for Zia's for Italian, but also include a recommendation for Elliott's if you are looking for something more along the lines of a steak & seafood restaurant. I'm particularly fond of the bone in ribeye. Also, Don Juan's has its fans on this site, although I am not among them.

Elliott's Seafood Grille & Chophouse
6690 N. Northwest Highway
Chicago, IL
773-775-5277

Don Juan's Restaurante
6730 N. Northwest Hwy
Chicago, IL
773-775-6438

my wife and i are regulars at maki sushi. the sushi is great, especially the various maki rolls.

not byo, however, and, like most sushi, not moderately priced. we find it difficult to get out for less than $100 for the two of us.

but highly recommeded.


we also very much like don juan's, so i'd second that recommendation.

there's also a little vietnamese place on nw hwy right near don juan's that we've been meaning to try. i forget the name.

I've been to Elliott's, which was okay the first time we were there, and exceptionally better the second time (about two weeks ago on a Friday). We all ordered steaks. I ordered a petite filet mignon. Not the best EVER, but decent. Their prices aren't outrageous (I think the steak was $24), but everything is a'la carte, with the exception of a side salad, which is included with the entree. (Salad was okay, nothing to talk about.) I ordered their cheese potatoes as my side, which were good. The wine list there doesn't offer anything exceptional or unusual, but it's also very reasonable.

We also recently went to Nonno Pino's, which I notice no one mentioned. Again, this is not world-class Italian, but everything on the menu looked good, and everything we had was pretty good. We had an appetizer the waitress recommended that were these fried bits stuffed with cheese and artichokes -- amazingly GOOD. I will say that I ordered a veal-stuffed tortellini, and the sauce was a bit rich for my taste. However, there were about five other entrees I would have tried and would go back to try. The interior of the place unfortunately looks a bit like a chain restaurant trying to look like a unique neighborhood place (ironic, no?) and our server was a little flaky, but for the prices, I was not disappointed at all with this place. They also have a large selection of wines by the glass.

That all being said, after reading every one else's recs, I definitely want to go try Zia's now.

My wife is from Park Ridge, so everytime we dine out with the in-laws we go to Don Juan's. Very consistent, solid mexican food - with more then your basic tacos and burritos offerings. Good margaritas too. We've been to Zia's a couple other times as well - which I found to be just okay. I've had much better Italian.

there's also a little vietnamese place on nw hwy right near don juan's that we've been meaning to try. i forget the name.

Unless they've changed the name, it's actually called Nam Viet It's been years since I ate there, but I remember it being reasonably good.

Another option, if you're a fan of what people have referred to here as "Schaumburg Chinese" is Venus on Touhy.

On the other hand, avoid the thai place in the Summit Mall like the plague, the food is mediocre to below average, and the service is really not very good, either.

Venus Szechuan Mandarin Cuisine
18 S Northwest Hwy

I visited Nam Viet a couple of years ago, hoping in advance that the Edison Park area would be able to support authentic Vietnamese cuisine.

Well...I imagine Nam Viet does pretty good business, and the decor is fine, even upscale, but the food is no more Vietnamese than Chun King brand is to Three Happiness in Chinatown.

Fair to middling 'Oriental' food, a weird melange of Cantonese-Thai-faux Vietnamese. Lots of basil, curry powder, coconut milk and chile peppers. I had a taste for killer lemon grass chicken, a Vietnamese mainstay that I've craved ever since the closing of Mekong on Broadway in the city--none was to be found on the menu. I think they did have the piece de resisitance, Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk, but it was done without a metal filter, and was not memorable.