Chicago Places

  Bensenten wrote:
> Rene:  I do occassionally visit Chicago and would love to know about unusual
> ethnic restaurants.  In other words, not thai, chinese, italian, etc but
> something we are likely not to have in St.Louis.  Also, good sea food
> restaurants or good neighborhood places that locals frequent.  If there is a
> restaurant that isn't in the above categories but you think is exceptional, I'd
> love to know about that as well.  Thanks

Okay, here's a list of some of my favorite Chicago places. It's clearly out of place in this newsgroup; hope nobody minds. Most of these spots have been discussed by me and many others in chi.eats. If you do a Deja search you should be able to find lots of additional information.

My list is biased toward the cheaper and "more interesting" places but a few of the standard tourist spots are also included. All have very good food or are notable in some way. First, some Chicago classics then some of the more interesting ethnic places.

Lou Mitchell's (565 W Jackson)
Old luncheonette serving the best breakfasts in Chicago.

Manny's (1141 S Jefferson)
Old Jewish style steam table cafeteria. Excellent corned beef sandwiches.

Berghoff (17 W Adams)
Classic downtown German restaurant. Food is okay but the standup bar is great. Have a stein of Berghoff dark or a shot of Berghoff 14 year old bourbon. Mixed drinks are frowned upon.

Parthenon (314 S Halsted)
Greek Islands (200 S Halsted)
Two old standbys on the Greektown Halsted strip. Noisy and fun, some dishes very good, others not. Nearby Santorini specializes in seafood. Lots of other Greek places nearby.

Pizzeria Uno (29 E Ohio; original one only, avoid the franchise locations!) Lou Malnatti's (439 N Wells) Pretty much the definitive deep dish Chicago style pies. Uno's can get ridiculously crowded.

Fluky's (6821 N Western)
Superdawg (6963 N Milwaukee)
Two of the better places for a Chicago style hot dog (with everything, of course). Don't embarrass yourself by asking for ketchup. SD is a drive-in with car service. For late night amusement, after the bars close, it's tough to beat the Wiener's Circle (2622 N Clark). Those dogs aren't bad either (char dogs too, even though it offends the purists).

Al's Beef (1079 W Taylor)
Johnnie's (7500 W North, Elmwood Park)
My favorites for Italian beef, Chicago's other sandwich. Get 'em hot and dipped. Al's has my favorite hot giardiniera of any beef stand. And Mario's Lemonade is right across the street.

Lem's (311 E 79th)
Probably the best of the old-time southside BBQ joints. The Lemons brothers have been at it since the early '50s. Ribs, tips, links, chicken, and that's about it. No seating.

Chuck's (5557 W 79th, Burbank)
The best of the sit-down BBQ places. Nothing fancy but excellent food and more variety than most Chicago BBQ places. Great sauces (Chuck used to work at Topolobampo and knows his chiles).

Noon O Kabab (4661 N Kedzie)
Crowded little neighborhood Persian place that does the best grilled kababs around. Interesting neighborhood (middle eastern/Korean/Mexican). Pick up dessert at nearby Salam Sweets (4638) or Jaafer (4825).

Lutz (2458 W Montrose)
Elaborate Austrian cakes and pastries. Very pleasant spot for coffee and pastry (nice garden in summer).

Tiffin (2536 W Devon)
Udupi Palace (2543 W Devon)
Dasaprakash (2511 W Devon)
Of the dozens of Indian places on this stretch of Devon, Tiffin is probably the best all around. Udupi and Dasaprakash are veg only. Very interesting neighborhood (Jewish/Russian/Indian). I would avoid the 5 or so Indian restaurants on the near north side. Overpriced and bland.

Georgian Bakery (2812 W Devon)
Nice chewy flat breads baked on the walls of an igloo like oven. Fun to watch them bake. Interesting neighborhood (Jewish/Russian/Indian).

New Maxwell Street Market (Canal St centered around Roosevelt; most of the food is around 14th St) Sunday morning open air flea market. Great selection of Mexican street food, some of which is outstanding. Last year, G Wiv did an excellent review in chi.eats (do Deja search).

Topolobampo/Frontera Grill (445 N Clark)
Ixcapuzalco (2919 N Milwaukee)
Upscale but authentic Mexican. Not your usual Mexican restaurants, some unusual dishes. Topolobampo, in particular, is pricey.

Tropic Island (1922 E 79th)
Basically a shack serving wonderful spicy, smoky jerk chicken. Get a side of steam cabbage. Take out only.

Bobak's (5275 S Archer)
Old Warsaw (4750 N Harlem)
Two of the better Polish smorgasbords. Eat til you burst for about ten bucks.

Nhu Hoa (1028 W Argyle)
One of the few Laotian menus (also Vietnamese). These few blocks of Argyle are crammed with Vietnamese restaurants and shops. Very interesting street. Try Pasteur (a few blocks north at 5525 Broadway) for upscale Vietnamese.

L'Olive (Halsted??)
Morroccan. Haven't been to the new location but I liked the atmosphere of the now closed original.

Garden Buffet (5347 N Lincoln)
Crash course in Korean food (all you can eat--$17). Cook your own bulgogi etc over coals brought to your table. Big selection but no labels and not much English spoken (you'll probably enjoy those intestines or that raw skate if you don't know what it is). Dozens of other Korean places in the 3000s on W Lawrence.

Addis Abeba (3521 N Clark)
The best of the 3 Ethiopian restaurants in the neighborhood. Good veggie choices.

Healthy Food (3236 S Halsted)
Not really healthy, just Lithuanian home cooking.

Tibet Cafe (3913 N Sheridan)
Some interesting flavors, kind of like a cross between Chinese and Indian. Vegetarian friendly.

Penang (2201 S Wentworth)
Chicago's only Malaysian restaurant. In the main Chinatown.

Iberico Cafe (737 N LaSalle)
The best of the tapas places. Some like Cafe Baba-Reeba or Emilio's.

Map Room (1949 N Hoyne)
A great beer bar with hundreds of selections including some Belgians on tap. Ask to see their vintage beer list. Overcrowded on weekends.

Sam's Liquor (1720 N Marcey)
Huge wine store with an amazing selection and pretty good prices. Vast selection of whiskeys and almost everything else.

Chicago is not really known for seafood restaurants. One reliable place is Shaw's Crab House (21 E Hubbard). Not cheap but very good quality. They serve a more limited menu in the lounge which is a bit less expensive. I've heard some good things about the new place, Atlantique (5101 N Clark), but still haven't been.