Andie's, Pleasant Lunch

LTH,

Had a very pleasant lunch yesterday at Andie's on Clark St. Nothing startling about the food, fine pretty much sums it up, but the room is pleasant, service quite good, symphonic background music, as opposed to pulsing techno, reasonable prices and a nice Clark Street view, from the front window. Truthfully, Andie's would not be my first, or even fourth, choice in the general area, but I was meeting my wife for lunch and she was in an ambiance mood yesterday.

Lunch starts with a basket of warm pita, quite good, but plain pita with no dip or olive oil to enhance gets uninteresting quickly. We opted for the Lunch for Two which includes hummus, soup and (two of each) skewers of steak, chicken and then a choice of beef or chicken kefta kabob, plus two falafel.

Hummus was served with a couple of olives, strips of cucumber and a slice of Chicago tomato, it was ok, but had a slightly odd tangy flavor, almost like fresh grated horseradish had been added. I asked, all the while knowing the answer would be no, if there was horseradish in the hummus, of course not, but I just can't figure out that flavor. Maybe sumac or, possibly, grated onion.

Soup choices were lentil or chicken lemon rice, Avgolemono by any other name, which was, you guessed it, just fine. Steak kabob was pretty good, med-rare, slightly chewy, good flavor, chicken kabob was fine, boneless white meat, somewhat bland, but not overcooked. chicken kefta kabob was immensely ordinary, and the falafel was dense, slightly greasy and, quite obviously, reheated. A large plate of just fine dill rice accompanied.

Full lunch menu ranging from Char-Grilled Herbed Calamari Salad to Pumpkin Ravioli/Asparagus with a number of wraps and sandwiches. Our $16.95 Lunch for Two was filling enough that dinner was a bowl of home made, from mushrooms we grew (post forthcoming), beef mushroom barley soup w/Baltic bakery wheatberry bread.

Enjoy,
Gary

Andies
5253 N Clark
1467 W Montrose
http://andiesres.com/

Gary,

You were very patient and thoughtful, considering that your wife was surrounded by ambiance just a couple of days ago:



Seriously, I agree with your assessment of Andie's -- I go back far enough to remember when it was more of a cab driver joint, mostly counter with a few tables on the side, but I think the food's as it was back then; my preference is the potato kibbeh -- between the pita, the mounds of rice, and the mashed potato, it's a starchy dream come true.

What are your neighborhood preferences? Recently I've been to Col-Ubas, on pdaane's recent Thirsty Third Thursday, and Arkadash; the former wasn't that interesting (but I'd consider a return trip to see if they did better when they step away from serving family style) and the latter was bizarre; I'd eagerly head back to Andie's before trying either again, though.

Bob S. wrote:What are your neighborhood preferences? Recently I've been to Col-Ubas, on pdaane's recent Thirsty Third Thursday, and Arkadash; the former wasn't that interesting (but I'd consider a return trip to see if they did better when they step away from serving family style) and the latter was bizarre; I'd eagerly head back to Andie's before trying either again, though.

Bob,

I went to Col Ubas last year and thought it was somewhat mediocre. Not terrible, just middling, and I was not eating family style. From the Columbian side of the restaurant, the flat and rib-eye steaks had a way high gristle-to-meat ratio, though the Cuban items (ropa veija and lecon asada) seemed significantly better, perhaps due to the moist cooking.

I enjoyed that pic of MsWiv -- I imagine GWiv has been the recipient of that silent glare on many occasions.

Though to be fair, that was the the instant she became aware that someone was snapping a picture from what any woman would consider an unflattering angle. It wasn't meant to be The Glare.

Indeed, no agenda with my repost of the photo, beyond pointing out that when you're surrounded by 50 neon pinatas, "ambiance" is what you make of it.

Bob S. wrote:What are your neighborhood preferences?

Bob,

In the immediate area for ambiance similar to Andie's my pick would be the newly remodeled Calo. Frankly, I feel about the same way toward Calo as I do Andie's, pleasant, with reliable, though nothing startling, food.

Expanding a bit, I very much enjoy Sunshine Cafe, Turkish Bakery has it's moments and T's makes a good burger. I've found Tokyo Marina hit and miss, haven't been to La Donna in a while and, every once in a while, like to risk breaking the tiny little chairs at Seva.

Hop Leaf is an obvious choice and Kopi makes a nice cup of coffee. I haven't been to Rioja, not wild about Jin Ju and am less than enamored with the hot dog stand just West of Clark on Berwyn, or is it Farragut (just west of Alamo Shoes) and less than enamored doesn't really cover it for Ann Sather. Haven't been to any of the new 'Sushi Mike' type joints in the area.

I know I'm forgetting something obvious, when I remember I'll add to the thread.

Enjoy,
Gary

I'm going to second Calo. It's reliable - for what it is. I tend to stick mostly to the pizza or pasta dishes though. The one time I ordered veal saltimboca I got something smothered w/ cheese and sundried tomatoes - nary a pinch of sage even briefly visited the plate - terrible. And then there was the veal marsala swimming in green peppers. So skip the veal. And on the same note, skip the steak. But the grilled shrimp entree is pretty good and so is the grilled chicken. As a regular I often order broiled chicken (not on the menu) and it's good. The specials seem to tax the talents of the cooks - so keep it simple and you're golden.

For middle eastern I really like Taste Of Lebanon on Foster right around the corner. No booze, but cheap and tasty and their tabouli is great. As is the falafel. But stop him from pouring the below standard olive oil on the hummous. Yuck.

Can't quite fathom how Ann Sathers has managed to stay around as long as it has. But there's no accounting for taste - or willingness to put up w/ some really bad service.

I like Svea for breakfast and the little coffee shop almost right next door to Calo, but the name escapes me. Good club sandwiches w/ real turkey, not the pressed crap. And they make a decent omelette and their melts are good too.

Tomboy still has it's moments but I've never been fond of sitting so close to strangers I can smell their shampoo. So if we go, we go when it's not crowded. Weekends are out.

Just a quick note on the names of places that were slipping minds:

Gary - I think the hot dog place you are thinking of is Huey's - on Balmoral just west of Clark

Bryan - the coffee shop next door to Calo is Augie's.

When I first moved to Andersonville 16 years ago, the restaurants were basically Andie's (in a storefront version), Augie's, Reza's, Angel's, Ann Sather, a Baskin Robbins, and one or two more I am probably missing. Now there are four sushi places within five blocks of Clark Street - along with Thai, tapas, Korean, pub, French, etc.

I am feeling nostalgic for my neighborhood eateries as I am moving soon, but everyone's comments above really do summarize what it's all about. With a few exceptions, it's a varied collection of generally nice, overall fine, rarely offensive, rarely outstanding places. Not too much to go out of your way for, but nice to have close by.

Although, I've made many a nice weekend evening out of dinner at Andie's, a stroll and people watching down the main strip with a Petersen's ice cream cone from Taste of Heaven, a beer at Hopleaf, and a late night Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at the Neo-Futurists.