Bloomingdale & Army Trail (Glendale Heights)

Was driving about last week, and spied this mall on the southwestern corner of Bloomingdale & Army Trail with an Indian sweets and vegetarian fast food shop called Shayona (part of a chain I think), and a place called Caribbean Barbecue.

Shayona was open, so I tried some curry and candy - a nice addition for such food if you are not near Devon, so that pleased me.

Caribbean BBQ was closed. The Mullet says it may be a mini-chain with other outposts around, but my quick google was not successful.

Heading south down Bloomingdale revealed Pho Saigon, another Indian place that I think is called Mugdal Palace, but I cannot find it either, a local donut shop, John's which is such a rare thing in the suburbs that it should be treasured (new campaign - Stamp out Dunkin Donuts to preserve America's Doughnut culture!!), and a combination Mercado/Taqueria, maybe Arroya?

I can only report on the one place, Shayona, which is worthy of a visit. But the whole stretch of a mile or so seems packed with interesting possibilities. Anyone know any of these places, or other worthy places on Bloomingdale Road around Army Trail?

BAPS Shayona Inc
185 East Army Trail Road, Glendale Heights, IL 60139

IMO, the area around where you are describing is primarily a haven for chain type restaurants.

Cruise on down Bloomingdale Road to Lake St and visit Roosters. Not fancy or expensive, but just plain good food. The fried chicken is excellent and so is the jerk chicken. On weekends they supposedly have a really good breakfast, although I have yet to make it there for that.

http://roostersbarnandgrill.com/index.html

Eric wrote:IMO, the area around where you are describing is primarily a haven for chain type restaurants.

Not sure how you can say that since what I noticed was that none of these places are chains - unless one counts Shayona and Caribbean BBQ, neither of which are chains I have heard of - which begs the question, when is a chain not a chain?

Thanks for the tip on Roosters.

Lake Street, for those not aware of the area, is a couple of miles north and requires that one pass through the gravitational pull of Stratford Square mall to get there - an area that is all chains for sure. The surprise is that once one crosses to the south side of Army Trail, which is still pretty close to Stratford but clearly on the wrong side of the tracks for chain real estate folks, you pretty much leave that world entirely. Rents and real estate prices must drop considerably.

dicksond wrote:Lake Street, for those not aware of the area, is a couple of miles north and requires that one pass through the gravitational pull of Stratford Square mall to get there - an area that is all chains for sure.

My bad. That is where I thought you were talking about. Sorry for the confusion.

While there are plenty of chains in the general area, quite a few interesting non-chain ethnic choices are available. You just have to poke around in the various strip malls. More to come as time permits....

Pho Ha

1971 Bloomingdale Rd
Glendale Heights, IL, 60139-2171
(630) 894-4000

Small place - Pho noodle soup and other Vietnamese dishes

dicksond wrote:Anyone know any of these places, or other worthy places on Bloomingdale Road around Army Trail?

Will you settle for a place on Army Trail Road around Bloomingdale? Finally! A question about the suburbs I’m able to answer.

I’ve only been once but would highly recommend Village Hut, the Gujarati place where we had the Jain dinner. If that dinner was any indication, this is a truly excellent restaurant. It wasn’t simply the best vegetarian meal I’ve had in ages, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. The creativity and quality of the dishes was amazing. I don’t know what their everyday offerings are but I feel reasonably confident in saying this place is an essential stop. I was so impressed I tried unsuccessfully to revisit the following week. That was the day instead of Gujarati vegetarian food that Pigmon, G Wiv and I ended up eating hunks of meat off the hood of a Mercury Marauder. Village Hut is not far from Minos Imports, a great Greek market, clearly also worth a visit.

Some day there will be a post on the Jain dinner but it will be a collaborative effort (and a difficult undertaking). Even if the text never gets written, I promise some day to post pictures of the 15 or so courses.

Village Hut
130 E Army Trail Rd
Glendale Heights IL
630-893-5800

Minos Imports
648 W Lake St
Addison IL
630-543-0337

I would add that the folks who own Minos Imports are also part-owners of two grocery stores on Cass Avenue. Brookhaven Marketplace (at Plainfield Rd. in Darien) has more of an Eastern European focus, and Westbrook Market (at 63rd St. in Westmont) has more of an Asian and Hispanic focus.

Both are outstanding grocery stores, and I'm really surprised I don't see them mentioned more often...

Mark

A little further west on Army Trail is Ambica Foods, a nice Indian grocery with a huge selction of fresh made snacks. Sorry can't recall the names of the things I've tried as I usually just go there for cheap and decent pitas. Even further west at the intersection of Army Trail and County Farm is a strip mall with quite a few interesting choices. First on the corner is Rocco Vino which servers up some decent gelato. Don't think it's made in house but good nonetheless. Further on in the same strip mall is Swagat Chat House, another Indian grocery, video store and snack shop. Good samosas, little chick pea pancackes and other things I do not know the name of again. In the same mall tucked in the corner is Cuisine De Manila. I have not tried, but just one of the several Philippino restaurants in the general vicinty.

Going back to Bloomingdale Rd there is a second outpost of El Tesoro. I've not tried this one but Flip advises it's good and several family members enjoy as well. The one in West Chicago has a nice hand with light and freshly patted masa in the sopes and huaraches and they also serve a mean bowl of pozole. Further up at this intersection on opposite corners is Ashoka, an Indian restaurant. Decent but have not been in a few years and then on the other side of Bloomgidale Rd in the plaza with Jewel is Hong Ning serving both Philippino and Chinese food. I've been and it's decent. Good bbq pork buns if I remember correctly.
Further south on Bloomingdale is a strange place I noticed when buying some auto parts a few months ago, Italian Express. I did a quick drive by and the window had a sign for biryani of all things. didn't have a chance to go in but will report back as I'm in the area quite often.

Finally it's not on Bloomingdale or Army Trail, but west of Bloomingdale on Lake street. I have to mention Elena Catering whenver I have the chance. Seriously the best foccacia I've tried. Elena is a family member of the Joseph's clan from the store on Irving Park east of Cumberland. Link to old post.

Ambica Foods
366 W Army Trail Rd, Bloomingdale, IL
(630) 529-2222

Swagat Chat House
958 W Army Trail Rd, Carol Stream, IL 60188
(630) 483-2428

Cuisine De Manila
976 W Army Trail Rd, Carol Stream, IL 60188
(630) 289-6942

Ashoka Restaurant
252 E Army Trail Rd, Glendale Heights, IL 60139
(630) 529-5560

Hong Ning
2204 Bloomingdale Rd, Glendale Heights, IL 60139
(630) 539-0240

Italian Express
2041 Bloomingdale Rd, Glendale Heights, IL 60139
(630) 539-7600


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It IS mostly chains around there but
Amatos on Bloomingdale just south of Army Trail has great pizza
I second Roosters for the food only..great all you can eat fish fry on friday and great fried chicken too but they are not quick to replenish your plate and speed of service in that place consistently sucks..breakfats is your typical run of the mill egg dishes whcih you can do better at any greek style diner/restaurant
Minos is not in that area by the way..its on Lake but miles east of Bloomingdale road
Tongs Tiki Hut used to be in that area as well on Army trail just west of Bloomingdale but they closed down a few years ago...they had some fo the best chinese/polynesian dishes in the area

It IS mostly chains around there

I have to respectfully disagree. For every Thank God It's Chili's Outback, there are at least 2 independent restaurants. Really. Most people notice the chains because of the signage, standalone garish buildings and prominent locations. The vast majority of commercial buildings are older established strip malls set back a bit from the road. Drive around and look and also check the Yellow Pages. You'd be surprised. It ain't the city, but it's diverse. The area has a large Indian, Pakistani, and Philippino population.

I dont have to drive around as I live right behind the the aforementioned strip malls..in fact behind the strip mall that houses the MCdonalds on Army Traill and Bloomingdale. So we have McDonalds..and across from there a Buona Beef, Starbucks, Steak and Shake right next to the Home Depot..and in the same area we Carraibean BBQ which IS a chain ..Shooters Buffet ..then just down Army Trail we have Fridays along with other chains that dont need to mentioning..so i guess we will have to agree to disagree..
there are some little independent placess but they are outnumbered by chains so I stand by my opinion

deke rivers wrote:Tongs Tiki Hut used to be in that area as well on Army trail just west of Bloomingdale but they closed down a few years ago...they had some fo the best chinese/polynesian dishes in the area

Deke,

Isn't that the location which is now Village Hut where the Jain dinner was held?

Flip

Unfortunately Pho Saigon looks like it is no longer open. Too bad, Spartan deco, but good pho.

Flip wrote:Isn't that the location which is now Village Hut where the Jain dinner was held?

Village Hut is definitely in the old Tong’s Tiki Hut location. I never went to Tong’s but the interior looks pretty well preserved. The owner told us about looking for a location for his restaurant. He wasn’t considering Glendale Heights but a friend convinced him to take a look at the old Tiki Hut. As soon as he saw it he realized it was the place for him.

Rene G wrote:

Flip wrote:Isn't that the location which is now Village Hut where the Jain dinner was held?

Village Hut is definitely in the old Tong’s Tiki Hut location. I never went to Tong’s but the interior looks pretty well preserved. The owner told us about looking for a location for his restaurant. He wasn’t considering Glendale Heights but a friend convinced him to take a look at the old Tiki Hut. As soon as he saw it he realized it was the place for him.

thats th eone...havent been in there since but i really miss Tongs..not sure what the Jain dinner is that you mentioned though..
i will say its not the most easily accessible location either

dicksond wrote:Was driving about last week, and spied this mall on the southwestern corner of Bloomingdale & Army Trail with an Indian sweets and vegetarian fast food shop called Shayona (part of a chain I think), and a place called Caribbean Barbecue.

Shayona was open, so I tried some curry and candy - a nice addition for such food if you are not near Devon, so that pleased me.
....
Heading south down Bloomingdale revealed Pho Saigon, another Indian place that I think is called Mugdal Palace, but I cannot find it either, a local donut shop, John's which is

The Indian place is, I believe, called Mughal (maybe Mughal Palace, cant quite
recall). It is under newish management I think - they didnt have to-go
menus yet.

Was in the area last weekend, and grabbed a to-go bahn-mi from Thay Do
(recd elsewhere on this forum). They didnt have a lemongrass sausage
bahnmi on the menu (the one I usually prefer from Ba Le on Argyle Street)..
but the roast meat sandwich was very good, actually, with good quality
crunchy veggies in it etc (the veggies in the bahn mi were actually better
than on Argyle IMHO, but the bread was probably not quite as good as
the bakery Ba Le - though I did take it to go which makes it an unfair
comparison). The menu looked interesting too.

Mughal, the Indian restaurant, was rec'd to me as a place that is now
very good for Hyderabadi food. This doesnt surprise me, because there
is a *huge* and rapidly growing Hyderabadi population in Glendale
Heights, more so than in any other burb of Chicago. I stopped by and
picked up a biryani to go, which was.. decent. However, the menu
looked very good indeed, with a lot of Hyderabadi dishes that Id like
to try if I was in the area more often - they had bagarey baingan (eggplant),
Chicken 65 etc. The mirchi-ka-salan that came with the biryani was
*very* good. Just from that taste (and from talking to a couple of Hyderabadis
from the area over the weekend), Id say Mughal offers up a pretty good
version of Hyderabadi-Muslim food, probably on par with any Hyderabadi
food found on Devon Avenue. The ambience is similar too, if a little
more Hyderabadi-family (rather than Hyderabadi-cabbie) oriented - they
had the daily menu scrawled on a chalkboard, and I saw at least two
face-covered, head-to-toe-black-clad female patrons in the dining room
Even though this place is next to a liquor store, Id bet they are a restaurant
that would refuse to allow BYOB (just like Hyderabad House, Usmaniya,
Chopal etc on Devon).

This may be an area with a lot of chain restaurants, but it really has a
*lot* of ethnic options. Just from driving down a couple of miles (which
is basically no driving at all, for a burb), I saw 2 or 3 Vietnamese spots,
and 3 or 4 Indian places and a Caribbean place (in addition to the usual
Mexican spots etc). And the way to really tell the area is very ethnic -
the "Indian" spots are not just generic Indian restaurants, but at least
2 are very regional-Indian (Mughal above is Hyderabadi, and Village Hut
may be the best Gujarati place anywhere... they are both "Indian restaurants",
but they probably have zero overlap in their customer base

c8w

from dickson's orginal post

a local donut shop, John's which is such a rare thing in the suburbs that it should be treasured

We tried this last week and it was not so good. Had an apple fritter, chocolate donut and chocolate munchkins. The fritter was grease laden and not pleasant. Both chocolate offerings were chocolate only in appearance. I tried a test of closing my eyes and eating a bite of the chocolate donut and then a bite of the plain donut. No diff. Ehh.

But....

Country Donuts on Roselle Rd makes a nice product for a local donut shop. They have one other outlet in Crystal Lake I believe. Their apple fritter is done in a different sytle in which the apple filling is a huge glob in the center, like a jelly filled donut, and not built into the batter as John's does. It's a massive beast and lasts me a few days. My test of a decent donut shop is- does the interior of my mouth feel as it's coated in old frier grease after eating the product and do I still taste the donut with subsequent belches. If the answer is no, then I'm in business.

Country Donuts
1218 S Roselle Rd, Schaumburg, IL
847-895-0200

I have to say that some of the WORST donuts that I have ever had come from the Country Donuts in Crystal Lake. In fact, we can buy a dozen, stick tehm in the cafeteria and even the guys in the plant will generally not touch them.

There is one positive though - there is no temptation to stop there.

I can't say anything recent about Country Donuts (and it is not really in Glendale Heights or even very nearby), but I did live down the street from Country Donuts in Schaumburg when they first opened (1982 is sticking in my mind) and I really liked the place.

But since I have not been there since the 80's, this is not worth much. Just made me happy to think of it again.

On the other hand, I believe this thread is proof that this area of GH does have a pretty good concentration of interesting places. Seems to me that te chains run along Army Trail and to the north, and once you head south on Bloomingdale, the independents clearly outnumber the chains.

Hardly worth arguing tho. If in the area, you can find good food around Bloomingdale and Army Trail, this I know. And Glendale Heights seems to be right up there with Westmont as a culinary destination, which I mean as high praise.

Need to get to Village Hut.

Eric wrote:

Cruise on down Bloomingdale Road to Lake St and visit Roosters. Not fancy or expensive, but just plain good food. The fried chicken is excellent and so is the jerk chicken. On weekends they supposedly have a really good breakfast, although I have yet to make it there for that.

http://roostersbarnandgrill.com/index.html

Had kind of forgotten about Roosters until I made it in a couple Fridays ago(hadnt been in a few years) - rolled in for their crab leg special (Thursday, Friday and Sat nights - 1# for $13, 2# for like $25). The Friday i rolled in I had the 1# - served with 2 sides - got 4 -5 nice clusters of meaty snow crab - stuck in my mind -

typically always craving crabs, I rolled back in on xmas eve day for lunch with the family - me and Shay split the 2#'s - as good as the last time.

Roosters has moved to near the top of my rotation out west for cracking some affordable crabs.

Roosters
122 West Lake St
Bloomingdale, IL.

Missed this thread originally, but I have to chime in on the donuts. The place is called County Donuts, not Country. Never been to the one in Crystal Lake, but I really like the Schaumburg location. Best cinnamon donuts I've ever had. Also love the Boston Cream.

I know everyone has different tastes. But we should at least have the right name when discussing it.
http://www.countydonuts.com/