110084 Wed Nov 21 09:58:14 -0800 2001 5 7 Chicago Area 0 593757 We ventured far south (13307 S. Olde Western Avenue in Blue Island) last night for some much longed-for cajun food. I returned to a place I hadn't visited in years. My memories of the restaurant include the wonderful barbecue shrimp which aren't really barbecued, but like Pascale Manele's in New Orleans are humongous beasts swimming in a hickory, peppery butter sauce. These babies are a hands-on experience and the sauce was so good you wouldn't want to wash your hands until the hickory aroma dissipated some days later. But I digress. And since I didn't order them last night, I should get on with this. The Maple Tree is half bar and half restaurant - about 15 tables or so. The beer menu is great with several of the Three Floyds microbrews offered amongst 20 other fine beers. I drank their pilsener and Paul had three different stouts. A mini-loaf of french bread comes with butter or a chive, cream cheese concoction which wasn't bad at all. I started with a half dozen baked oysters, with 3 different toppings. The bienville and the other diablo (I think) were great. They covered the final pair with some cheese topping, which I don't think is a good idea. My friend Paul had calamari, which unfortunately suffered the fate of the last pair of oysters - covered with a melted white mass of cheese. Is this a Wisconsin thing? Enough carping. The entrees were really good. Paul ordered a cajun seafood paella which had the usual suspects from the waters as well as a large chicken leg. The rice was onion laden and minus the usual saffron which is not a problem for Paul at all. He wolfed down every meat and seafood morsel and nearly finished off the rice. Very tasty, according to him, and very amply portioned. I couln't face a half pound of melted hickory butter sauce at 10 at night so I ordered the cajun shrimp jambalaya instead of the barbecued shrimp. No tomatoes are used in this preperation and they weren't missed. Lots of great plump shrimp - about 15 or so - in another ample serving of jambalaya rice. Not as much rice as the paella, but still a daunting task to finish. In all, a very satisfying meal. The Maple Tree is very comfortable. Food is good. Good beers. It's worth the outing. Wed Nov 21 09:58:14 -0800 2001 0 Joe 1 593758 Yes, it's very good there. Glad you posted it. If you're there early enough, there's a fabulous little Italian import store called Calabria on that same strip along Western Ave. All the usual suspects, good capicola, good sausage. Nothing remarkable, but it's pretty decent. We used to make an annual trip on Christmas Eve, and when I was little I would always marvel (in horror) at the Bakala. My father would always look nostalgic and say "we can't get Grandma to make that anymore..." I was glad for it then, but oh so sad now. Also further down Western Avenue is a pretty darn decent Mexican place called El Cortez. Wed Nov 21 10:08:11 -0800 2001 593757 0 Michael S. 1 593769 I believe in some symmetry between our dinner choices last night, but I have to ask more about Maple Tree. Having lived in New Orleans for 3 glorious chowing years, I am really, really snobby about Louisiana food outside of Louisiana. Blue Island is far, far away from Oak Park. Is it worth the venture. On the other hand, how far are you from MacArthurs? rg Wed Nov 21 11:52:46 -0800 2001 593757 0 Vital Information 2 593771 I live up near Evanston, so Blue Island is even farther for me. But I was at a basketball game on 107th last night, so ..... New Orleans is my favorite eating city so I appreciate your reverence for the food there. Maple Tree is a good chowhound place, IMHO. It's very good for what it is. If you're expecting Redfish Grill, Brigtsen's or Bayona, you won't find it here. But because it's funkier and more casual, I like it more than Heaven on Seven or Redfish, though there are some great dishes at those places. I like it way more than Crawdaddy Bayou in Wheeling, which seems more a cajun theme park than restaurant. So, is it worth a 25 mile jaunt? Maybe not, but if you're ever south, I think it's worth the side trip. And if you like the shrimp at Pascale Manele's, this is probably as close as you'll get north of Baton Rouge. Wed Nov 21 12:22:00 -0800 2001 593769 0 Joe Penkrot 1 596214 Before the Maple Tree moved down there from it's original location the Old Western Ave location was simply Lion's Head Ale House. When it came to the beer menu they were way ahead of their time. In the early 90s we would drive down there from the North Side just to sample some of the 12 micros they had on tap. There was nothing like that up North (maybe Quenchers). And it's a really nice bar! For food we didn't go to Maple Tree but instead to the Gulfport on 127th & Ashland. Now that was some of the finest Louisina food available in Chicago! Thu Jul 25 16:15:31 -0700 2002 593757 0 Rantoul Davis 1 596215 The barbecued shrimp at Maple Tree Inn is one of the best dishes I've had in a restaurant in Chicago. However, I keep my mouth shut about it. Once I went with a largish group and was raving about that dish all during the ride to the place. So of course all but one of my companions ordered the same dish! It didn't have the depth of flavor I'd previously experienced, which led me to think that the kitchen was stretched by having to make eight plates of it simultaneously. Wasn't much impressed with anything else we tried, I thought the salads, sides, etc. were not very well executed and frequently too sweet. But man those barbecued shrimp were great - such a depth of smokiness! Thu Jul 25 16:47:50 -0700 2002 593757 0 Harry V.