Restaurant suggestions in Chicago

You forgot Bob Chinn's Crab house in Wheeling, IL. THE BEST!!!! (Go for lunch, you won't be able to eat all of your dinner!

On Wed, 12 Aug 1998 06:13:49 -0500, Leah Zeldes Smith
Someone wrote:

>Shawn B. wrote:
>>
>> I will be in Chicago at the end of September for a
>> week  What are the best places to eat in the city (top
>> five list)?  Is Michael Jordan's Restaurant any good?
>
>Michael Jordan's is a typical celebrity-restaurant
>tourist trap -- the food is secondary.  However Jordan
>is a silent partner in One Sixtyblue, 160 N. Loomis,
>where the New American cuisine is excellent.
>
>Chicago has so many excellent restaurants that you can't
>narrow the best just to five.  But here are some by
>catagory.
>
>
>Top five if expense is no object:
>
>Charlie Trotter's
>The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton
>Everest
>Le Francais, Wheeling
>Seasons in the Four Seasons Hotel
>
>
>Top ethnic:
>
>Arun's (Thai) (expensive)
>Emilio's (Spanish)
>Mantuano Mediterranean Table
>Pasteur (Vietnamese)
>Topolobampo (Mexican) (expensive)
>
>
>Top Italian:
>
>Coco Pazzo Cafe (not to be confused with the stuffier
>Coco Pazzo)
>Spiaggia  (expensive)
>Vivere  (expensive)
>Vinci
>Va Pensiero, Evanston
>
>
>Top steakhouses (expensive):
>
>Eli's -- The Place for Steak (most Chicagoan)
>Gene & Georgetti's (another classic)
>Gibson's
>Millenium
>Morton's
>
>
>New hot spots:
>
>56West
>Aubriot
>Blackbird (good food, but noisy and packed)
>The Pump Room (Chicago landmark recently reopened with
>new mgt.)
>Rhapsody
>
>
>Classics:
>
>Ann Sather
>The Berghoff
>Gordon
>R.J. Grunts
>Schulien's
>
>
>Top tastes of Chicago (inexpensive):
>
>Edwardo's Natural Pizza
>Johnnie's Beef, Elmwood Park
>Gold Coast Dogs
>Superdawg Drive-In
>Cafe al Gelato, Elmwood Park
>Also, before mid-September:
>    Mario's Italian Lemonade, 1068 W. Taylor Street
>
>
>Leah Zeldes

Mrs. M
To reply via e-mail, remove "nospam" from the address.

Leah makes some good points, I wouldn't disagree much, just a few quibbles:

Leah S. wrote in message ...

>Top five if expense is no object:
>
>Charlie Trotter's
>The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton
>Everest
>Le Francais, Wheeling
>Seasons in the Four Seasons Hotel

No arguments here, but Ambria is darned fine, too.  My two faves would probably be Charlie Trotter's and Le Francais.
>
>Top ethnic:
>
>Arun's (Thai) (expensive)
>Emilio's (Spanish)
>Mantuano Mediterranean Table
>Pasteur (Vietnamese)
>Topolobampo (Mexican) (expensive)

Topo kicks butt; while it is definitely Mexican it is NOT what most people think of when they think Mexican.  Really a unique restaurant.
>
>Top Italian:
>
>Coco Pazzo Cafe (not to be confused with the stuffier
>Coco Pazzo)
>Spiaggia  (expensive)
>Vivere  (expensive)
>Vinci
>Va Pensiero, Evanston

Vivere is top notch (and so is Spiaggia).  I'd have to throw in Trattoria No. 10 on Dearborn as another good Italian restaurant.  Personal neighborhood fave Italian is the Red Tomato on Southport, underneath the Southport "L" stop on the Ravenswood.
>
>Top steakhouses (expensive):
>
>Eli's -- The Place for Steak (most Chicagoan)
>Gene & Georgetti's (another classic)
>Gibson's
>Millenium
>Morton's

Gene & Georgetti's is one of those love it or hate it places; I don't love it - nuff said.  Chicago Chop House serves up amazing portions of great quality meat; Magnum's is also extremely popular for great beef (and lobster, etc.).
>
>New hot spots:
>
>56West
>Aubriot
>Blackbird (good food, but noisy and packed)
>The Pump Room (Chicago landmark recently reopened with
>new mgt.)
>Rhapsody
>
>
>Classics:
>
>Ann Sather
>The Berghoff
>Gordon
>R.J. Grunts
>Schulien's

For folks wanting to experience some classic Chicago and not dent their wallets, the Berghoff is great.  Even cheaper (and real fun) is the Berghoff standup bar.  There's a great line of sandwiches (give me the halibut) and a beautiful, long, wooden bar.  You can check out liquor license number 1, issued to the Berghoff because that's where the mayor drank during prohibition so when it was repealed the Berghoff got the first license (it's framed and hanging on the wall).  N.B. - there is only a men's room in the standup bar; females have to walk thru to the restaurant for facilities. The wife of a friend of mine used to go to the standup before it officially was multi-gender; while they would (reluctantly) serve her they would always insist on referring to her as "Sir".  Times have changed - they now have a regular _female_ bartender.
>
>Top tastes of Chicago (inexpensive):
>
>Edwardo's Natural Pizza
>Johnnie's Beef, Elmwood Park
>Gold Coast Dogs
>Superdawg Drive-In
>Cafe al Gelato, Elmwood Park
>Also, before mid-September:
>    Mario's Italian Lemonade, 1068 W. Taylor Street

Gold Coast was by far the best hot dog place in Chi - until Barry sold the line off.  I'd have to go with Byron's now, simply because GC is so darned inconsistent.  Best Italian Beef is J & C Bombagciano's Inn on Quincy catty-corner behind Union Station.  Only open for lunch, only M-F, but the best beef I've ever had; spoiled me from buying it anywhere else.
>
>Leah Zeldes

Mrs. M. wrote:
>
> You forgot Bob Chinn's Crab house in Wheeling, IL. THE BEST!!!! (Go
> for lunch, you won't be able to eat all of your dinner!

Go for dinner only if you're willing to wait in line -- they don't take reservations.  Though it's not so bad if you go early (4:30 or 5 p.m.) or late (10 p.m.) on a weekday.  Forget weekends.

I was disappointed on my last couple of visits to
Chinn's.  The prices are higher and the food less good than before.  And the atmosphere (or rather, lack thereof), noise and herd-'em-in-herd-'em-out service get old at those prices.

They do still offer some of the freshest fish in town and perhaps the greatest variety. They also do the area's greatest volume in mai tais. (That's what people do while waiting in line.)

Best bets: gumbo, plainly grilled or blackened fish (esp. black grouper, if they have it).  Avoid anything "Bob's version."

I didn't suggest any seafood places in my previous post, because the original poster appeared to be from Tampa. I doubt anyone from Florida would come to Chicago to eat fish.  We do have some excellent seafood restaurants (Shaw's, Blue Point Oyster Bar, Nick's, amd Oceanique in Evanston, to name a few) but since virtually everything has to be flown in, seafood commands very high prices here.

Leah Zeldes

Karl H. wrote:

> Leah makes some good points, I wouldn't disagree much, just a few quibbles:
>
> Leah S. wrote in message ...
>
> >Top five if expense is no object:
> >
> >Charlie Trotter's
> >The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton
> >Everest
> >Le Francais, Wheeling
> >Seasons in the Four Seasons Hotel
>
> No arguments here, but Ambria is darned fine, too.  My two faves would
> probably be Charlie Trotter's and Le Francais.

Well, I was trying to limit it to five.  Ambria is excellent.  Also, Les Nomades (same ownership as Le Francais), Bistro 110, Trio in Evanston and Le Titi de Paris in Arlington Heights.

And I'm not even go to try to tackle French bistros....

> >
> >Top ethnic:
> >
> >Arun's (Thai) (expensive)
> >Emilio's (Spanish)
> >Mantuano Mediterranean Table
> >Pasteur (Vietnamese)
> >Topolobampo (Mexican) (expensive)
>
> Topo kicks butt; while it is definitely Mexican it is NOT what most people
> think of when they think Mexican.  Really a unique restaurant.

Yes.  Some other choices, a little less rarified, but equally unique: Salpicon, Frida's, Don Juan's (really two restaurants in one -- a fairly standard, but good Mexican place, and a Mexican-influenced fusion restaurant.  They're now calling the latter Partricio's, for Chef Patrick Concannon, but it's the same dining room).

Dudley Nieto from the late, lamented Chapulin is now cooking at Hacienda Teclitlan, but I haven't been able to get over there to see what he's doing.  I imagine it would have to be more ordinary than at Chapulin, where he specialized in pre-Columbian and Mexican regional fare.  By all accounts it's a beautiful room, however.

> >
> >Top Italian:
> >
> >Coco Pazzo Cafe (not to be confused with the stuffier
> >Coco Pazzo)
> >Spiaggia  (expensive)
> >Vivere  (expensive)
> >Vinci
> >Va Pensiero, Evanston
>
> Vivere is top notch (and so is Spiaggia).  I'd have to throw in Trattoria
> No. 10 on Dearborn as another good Italian restaurant.  Personal
> neighborhood fave Italian is the Red Tomato on Southport, underneath the
> Southport "L" stop on the Ravenswood.

Trattoria No. 10 would have been sixth.  Chicago has a huge number of good Italian restaurants!  On a less luxe level, I'm also fond of Pane Caldo, La Borsa (though I haven't been there since their chef changed), Nonna Carmela on the Northwest Side, La Bocca della Verita, Scoozi! and  Carlucci in Rosemont.  I'm going to miss Avanzare, which I always thought underrated (Lettuce Entertain You just closed it and will open a "fine-dining" restaurant with Brasserie T's Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto in the space next year).

> >Top steakhouses (expensive):
> >
> >Eli's -- The Place for Steak (most Chicagoan)
> >Gene & Georgetti's (another classic)
> >Gibson's
> >Millenium
> >Morton's
>
> Gene & Georgetti's is one of those love it or hate it places; I don't love
> it - nuff said.  Chicago Chop House serves up amazing portions of great
> quality meat; Magnum's is also extremely popular for great beef (and
> lobster, etc.).

I have to admit I haven't actually been inside Gene & Georgetti's for years.  Steakhouses are another thing of which Chicago has an abundance.  I didn't even mention the transplants like The Palm, Capital Grille, Ruth's Chris and Smith & Wollensky.

Millenium is my current favorite.  Wonderful, wonderful dry-aged prime beef.  They do a smoked prime rib that is awesome.  Also one of the best hamburgers I've ever eaten, made from the same prime beef (available only at lunch on Fridays, unfortunately).

> >Top tastes of Chicago (inexpensive):
> >
> >Edwardo's Natural Pizza
> >Johnnie's Beef, Elmwood Park
> >Gold Coast Dogs
> >Superdawg Drive-In
> >Cafe al Gelato, Elmwood Park
> >Also, before mid-September:
> >    Mario's Italian Lemonade, 1068 W. Taylor Street
>
> Gold Coast was by far the best hot dog place in Chi - until Barry sold the
> line off.  I'd have to go with Byron's now, simply because GC is so darned
> inconsistent.  Best Italian Beef is J & C Bombagciano's Inn on Quincy
> catty-corner behind Union Station.  Only open for lunch, only M-F, but the
> best beef I've ever had; spoiled me from buying it anywhere else.

That's too bad about Gold Coast.  I haven't been there in a while.

Do you mean J & C Inn at 558 W. Van Buren St?  A
yp.ameritech.com search for Bombagciano turned up
nothing.  Where do they get their beef?

Johnnie's makes their own from scratch instead of buying it from Scala's like everybody else.  (My husband used to work near Mr. Beef on Orleans, across from Scala's plant.  He says Mr. Scala used to come into Mr. Beef every day for lunch and tell them how they were making it wrong.)  They also have house-made Italian lemonade, not as good as Mario's, but quite tasty.

Leah Zeldes

Leah S. wrote in message ...

Yes, that is "J & C's"; the sign outside identifies it as "Bombagciano's J & C Inn"  (J = Joe and C = Claude, the husband and wife owners).  They make their own beef; I've been in there when they were roasting up the rounds in the overn- the aroma is killer.  Their beef is extremely lean and never has any gristle or other undesired beef stuff - just tender, flavorful, only-get-it-in-Chicago Italian Beef.  The combo is great, too, with a flame-grilled Italian sausage.  If you _aren't_ wearing a white shirt the Italian Beef pizzialo (sp?) is something - beef sandwich with provolone cheese and homemade tomato sauce on top.  Darn, now I want one at it's Saturday and they don't open until Monday.

>Do you mean J & C Inn at 558 W. Van Buren St?  A
>yp.ameritech.com search for Bombagciano turned up
>nothing.  Where do they get their beef?
>
>Johnnie's makes their own from scratch instead of buying
>it from Scala's like everybody else.  (My husband used
>to work near Mr. Beef on Orleans, across from Scala's
>plant.  He says Mr. Scala used to come into Mr. Beef
>every day for lunch and tell them how they were making
>it wrong.)  They also have house-made Italian lemonade,
>not as good as Mario's, but quite tasty.
>
>Leah Zeldes

Frontera is cool, but Topolobampo is way cooler if you really want authentic Mexican dining at its best. It costs more, but is definitely worth it - and the dining atmosphere is much friendlier to conversation than the much noiser Frontera.

Someone wrote:
...
>a visit to chef rick bayless' frontera grill is a must if you want to
>experience authentic mexican cuisine in a very cool atmosphere...tell him
that
>chef carlo demarco sent you

a visit to chef rick bayless' frontera grill is a must if you want to experience authentic mexican cuisine in a very cool atmosphere...tell him that chef carlo demarco sent you