112365 Tue Mar 11 18:45:20 -0800 2003 17 7 Chicago Area 0 610175 Just a few notes, on mostly familiar places, to add to the pot. The Berghoff (17 W. Adams St., 312-427-3170) I tried this place for the first time last month, and was surprised by how good the wienerschnitzel is, thin and crisp; we also liked the pan-browned spaetzle. Most of the other food was subpar, especially the flavorless sausages. Bill’s Drive-In (120 Asbury Ave., Evanston, 847-491-9844) Although the beef patties are formed in advance, the main excellence of the burgers here is that they’re cooked when ordered - the fresh preparation gives them an appeal they might not otherwise have (the quality of ingredients is not many notches higher than at McDonald’s). It’s refreshing to be able to get a thin hamburger made when you order it. Another nice touch is that the hamburgers are seasoned - salt is explicitly listed among the standard toppings for their burgers. Budacki’s Drive In (4739 N. Damen Ave., 773-561-1322) Had a made-when-ordered cheeseburger there, a great place if you like your burgers tasting of lighter fluid and burned to a crisp. Charlie’s Ale House (5308 N. Clark St., 773-751-0140) Predictably terrible, but so close to home we had to give it a shot. Mac and cheese was pasty and grainy with flour, and cold in the middle - they can’t even reheat food successfully. Shepherd’s pie was a soupy, flavorless beef stew, served in a crock with a dried layer of reconstituted mashed potatoes on top - a travesty. Our pints (Fuller’s ESB) were served flat. Chicago Philly Steak (5638 N. Broadway Ave., 773-271-5444) The guy puts green peppers into his cheesesteaks as standard practice and without special notice, so he probably has never been to south Philadelphia. But I thought his very, very greasy, but also quite strongly beef-flavored cheesesteak tasted somewhat better than the rendition offered by Philly’s Best (less like a White Castle cheeseburger, in other words), and a lot better than the flavorless cheesesteak I had at Eastern Style Pizza on Touhy. The owner is quite a character, ready to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge and all the cars on it. Damenzo’s (2324 W. Taylor St., 312-421-1142) Ordered a slice of sausage pizza here late one night and received an enormous, thick, cheesy slab - more melted mozzarella than I’ve seen in one place in a long time, as much cheese as on a typical slice of stuffed pizza. Sweetish, tasty sausage, and a greater amount of tomato sauce than usual, which was also somewhat sweet as well as very garlicky. Best part was the crust, crisp on the very bottom, with a moist, doughy layer above. Toppings were blanketed underneath the cheese in typical Chicago fashion. Very bare-bones ambience. Dat Donut (north) (1100 W. Thorndale Ave., 773-878-2026) Still not making doughnuts on site, and with no timetable for starting up baking operations at the north side location. The staff has been uncommunicative and surly on both of our visits. The doughy, substantial doughnuts (much unlike the wispy, slimy nothingness of a Krispy Kreme) show promise, but cannot be enjoyed when they’re stale, and served with disdain. Still haven’t tried the original south side location. Don Juan on Halsted (1729 N. Halsted St., 312-981-4000) The original Don Juan is one of our favorites, and we’ve had fine meals at this Halsted location several times in the past; but a visit on the Monday before Christmas was disastrous. Every dish was ineptly prepared, and the young woman who attended our table had little acquaintance with our civilization’s accepted standards of table service. Even though we’ve liked it in the past, this one experience was so dismaying that I doubt we’ll ever return to this location. Eastern Style Pizza (2911 W. Touhy Ave., 773-761-4070; 761-4033) The cheesesteak was cooked from scratch when I ordered it, but the resulting sandwich tasted like nothing so much as the griddle on which the meat and onions were cooked. One of the least robust flavor-to-fat ratios of any food in my recollection. Eclectic (117 North Ave., Barrington, 847-277-7300) A fairly ambitious new restaurant, "American contemporary" with lots of outré twists (hence the name), the kind of ambition I ordinarily fear in a restaurant, but we had a terrific meal there last month. The excellent, varied degustation was offered with the option of a wine flight that featured some first-class wines (not always the case even at reputable establishments). Our young waiter was a tiny bit full of himself, but not without charm nonetheless (so said the ladies in our party). The space, a former private residence, consists of several very small, cozy dining rooms. Very charming, a good bet for an upscale dinner in the northwest suburbs. Express Cafe (5973 N. Clark St., 773-334-4308) Really enjoyed the steak sandwich I had here a while back, very flavorful. Cuban sandwich was so-so. Goose Island Shrimp House (1011 W. Division St., 312-642-3640) Top-notch fried shrimp, formidably breaded, the jumbos as big as chicken legs. Similar in style and quality to the shrimp at Frank’s Chicago Shrimp House, which has several locations (including the southwest Loop, sharing space with Burrito Buggy On Van Buren), but rarely gets mentioned on this board. Herm’s Palace (3406 Dempster St., Skokie, 847-673-9757) Enjoyed a first class hot dog here, and, to my great satisfaction, wonderful shoestring-thin, crackle-crisp french fries. Unfortunately, the fries did have a slight savor of over-the-hill cooking oil, which I hope was an anomaly. Unassuming but very friendly service. Jin Ju (5203 N. Clark St., 773-334-6377) Sorry, Check, Please, this place was lousy. We are not mavens of Korean food; but simply as food, this was oily and drab. Nor was the "hip" black-on-black atmosphere much to our taste. Johnnie’s Beef (7500 W. North Ave., Elmwood Park, 708-452-6000) A very pleasant surprise. I finally tried one of their Italian beef sandwiches (wet, hot oil only) and it was really terrific, the first Italian beef sandwich that has given me outright pleasure over the course of 24 years of living in the Chicago area. The beef was tender and luscious, with a deep beefiness that was not heavy or coarse in the least. The gardiniera oil was a perfect complement, spicy but not monotonously hot. I’m glad I got the oil only, as the gardiniera itself might have detracted texturally from the thin, delicate, intricately layered beef. I certainly did not experience any of the antagonistic service for which this place seems to be infamous; despite my not-especially-direct manner of ordering, they simply told me the price, took my money, gave me my change and gave me my food briskly but courteously. La Donna (5146 N. Clark St., 773-561-9400) I’ve praised this place once or twice on this board, but over the past few months they have renovated their space and their approach. Formerly purveyors of Italian-style Italian, featuring lightly sauced al dente pastas, they are now drenching soggy pastas with boatloads of thick, pasty sauces. They’ve also changed their entire floor staff - for the worse, I’m afraid. La Donna used to be the best kind of laid-back, pleasant, charming neighborhood spot; now they’ve renovated/expanded and are playing to the masses. Too bad. Merlo (2638 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-529-0747) Maybe it’s authentic, but I thought the ragu bolognese tasted like beef stroganoff sans the sour cream. I had some sort of savory tart to begin with, which still had the chill of the refrigerator. That would not be so notable if the owner, who seated us, hadn’t made such a big deal by announcing grandly that every dish served in the restaurant was made from scratch beginning from the moment the order was placed. Overall I thought the ambience was stilted, self-consciously "chic" in an unappealing way; the service was disorganized and poorly drilled; and the food, though not without its pleasures, quite a bit overpriced. In theory I would be willing to go back to try the celebrated rabbit ragu; but in all likelihood, we won’t bother. Original Kababish of London (2437 W. Devon Ave., 773-973-0225) Ordered a doner kebap a la Jeff B, and enjoyed it every bit as much as he did. Service was undemonstrative but quite gentlemanly. This is not fast food, so phone your order ahead. Svea (5236 N. Clark St., 773-275-7738) Although some people like this Swedish-style cafe and it’s always packed on weekend mornings, we dislike this place a lot. The breakfasts are very greasy, and cost quite a bit more than they should. It’s a down-home kind of place with pleasant service, but that’s about all I can say for it. Tre Kronor does this kind of thing so much better. Taqueria el Pueblo (2212 W. Devon Ave., 773-973-1300) The window advertises handmade tortillas, but the tortillas on the two tacos I ordered were store-bought. Both the carne asada and pork al pastor meats were chopped so finely as to be pebbly, almost like sand in texture. I didn’t like anything about the place. Taqueria la Oaxaquena (3382 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-545-8585) We enjoyed our dinner here (which thankfully occurred before the Tribune review was published), but not with unalloyed pleasure. The Torta Oaxaquena generously featured two large slices of skirt steak, one of which was delicious, but the other was so tough I couldn’t chew it. I also could not taste the other ingredients beyond the steak, melted cheese and bread. This is not a big problem, I guess, as meat, cheese and bread can form a fine sandwich; but on this occasion the design of the sandwich did not seem particularly inspired - the other ingredients were lost in the melted cheese. Also, we didn’t think the salsas were anything special. On the other hand, we were quite impressed with TLO’s handling of seafood, especially shrimp and octopus. Both of those fishes are almost always left in the sauté pan too long, yet at TLO there were beautifully cooked as well as delicious, in several guises. Tufano’s (1073 W. Vernon Park Pl., 312-733-3393) We liked it quite a bit and will go back. Of note: excellent, tender calamari, a hair underseasoned; good-tasting lemon chicken, garlicky and herbaceous (but some pieces were overcooked and dry); very poor marinara sauce, tasting strongly of canned tomato paste; short, simple, but adequate wine selection, modestly priced; assured and efficient service. Tue Mar 11 18:45:20 -0800 2003 0 Harry V. 1 610176 Quite the roundup Harry! Although you have yet to opine on Nueva Leon (VI=not so impressed) Can I ask others who reply to this thread to put the name of the place they are responding to in the subject line, thus it will be easy to organize the resultant threads. Lots of good stuff here, but it could easily be lost over time because no one's going to go looking for a place called "Roundup" (although there is a Roundup Illinois somewhere at the end of the Milwaukee Road line) I will respond to one of the places just to show what I mean. Da Mare Tue Mar 11 19:41:30 -0800 2003 610175 0 Vital Information 1 610178 It appears more people are noticing these wierd under-reported phenononom that is Philly cheese steaks in Chicago. Every time I get my hopes up, generally, by these kind of places, I am dashed by horrible, spongy rolls. Not only are these a travesty of what you get in Philly, they are a travesity, for some reason, of what you can even get in Chicago. I did, however, find a pretty good Philly cheesesteak at a place called Fat Doug's, on North Ave at around Laramie. It was a real shock in changing expectations, when I entered this rather urban locale, I found the counter and grill being run by apparantly genuine S. Philly transplants. Watching them fry fresh cut potatos really changed my expectations as my sandwich got made. Also with the green pepper, but a fresh version which went well with the gray meat and half-melted cheese. I will surely return. Rob Tue Mar 11 19:48:38 -0800 2003 610175 0 Vital Information 2 610180 Despite the name, Chicago Philly Steak doesn't really play up the Philadelphia angle very much. He sells breaded and fried fish, shrimp and chicken (frozen, I don't doubt), sub sandwiches, burgers, gyros, polish etc. In other words, your basic Chicago hot dog stand, except that he sells cheesesteaks instead of hot dogs. The bread he uses has a little chew to it, but is probably still soft enough to qualify as "spongy." Not worth going out of your way to try, but if you are interested in cheesesteaks, Chicago style, and are in the neighborhood, give it a shot. If you get the same counterman that I did, you'll at least be entertained. Tue Mar 11 20:05:11 -0800 2003 610178 0 Harry V. 2 610290 I was very pleasantly surprised by the cheesesteaks at Philly's Best (http://www.phillysbest.com/). It's run by actual Philadelphians, and they make a big deal about importing the meat. After I had their steak, I had that same leaden feeling in my stomach that I got from Pat's in South Philly. I've only been to the Evanston location, but they're also in the city on Belmont at Clark. Fri Mar 14 12:49:04 -0800 2003 610178 0 Lee K 1 610191 Are the doner kebabs at Kababish of London similar to or the equivalent of the ones served in England? An English friend is always telling me about finishing a night of boozing with a large doner, topped with some blazing hot sauce. If these are similar he would be thrilled. Thanks for any info, Jeremy Wed Mar 12 10:42:04 -0800 2003 610175 0 Jeremy 2 610200 Because Kababish is a chain from London, I would assume that indeed, the doner is similar if not the same as is served there. I have not had doner in London myself, but I have had it in Germany several times. The Kababish version was about the same. Note-like Harry said, an order takes time, not least of all because the bread is made to order (at dinner at least; there is a lunch buffet that I have not tried)-- now that's a fresh sandwich. Wed Mar 12 11:58:47 -0800 2003 610191 0 JeffB 3 610205 I experienced the same long wait at lunch time. Wed Mar 12 12:28:13 -0800 2003 610200 0 Harry V. 4 610211 The wait sounds worth it, but how long exactly are we talking about? Wed Mar 12 13:45:24 -0800 2003 610205 0 Jeremy 5 610212 The doner kebap took about half an hour in all. They do have other items that I would guess don't take nearly so long. Wed Mar 12 14:11:39 -0800 2003 610211 0 Harry V. 2 610204 As Jeff said, we can certainly assume that Kababish of London aspires to serve sandwiches in the London style. But I cannot vouch for their success in that regard, as I have never had them over in merrie olde. I wouldn't call the chutney/hot sauce "blazing," but I thought it had a decent kick to it. And unfortunately, I don't know how late the place is open - their menu is rather scant of information. Wed Mar 12 12:26:38 -0800 2003 610191 0 Harry V. 2 610215 Hi, how are doner kebabs different from souvlaki or gyros as we have experienced them at your typical Chicago place? I've seen signs for doner kebab all over Europe and the restaurants seem to look the same as typical places in the US do... thanks, Wed Mar 12 14:39:07 -0800 2003 610191 0 leek 1 610198 Harry, thanks for trying out and weighing in on these places. I've only had cheesesteaks at the Eastern Style on Dempster in Skokie, but that was pretty good, and better than what your experience on touhy seems to have been (and much better than hoagie hut or philly's best)though not even close to an average joint in philly (bread quality being a big factor, but also meat quality). Their Hoagies are quite good though when this subject was brought up before I agreed with what seems to be your take, when you want a beef sandwich go to Johnnie's, though I have not tried Chicago Philly Steak or Fat Doug's Eastern Style Pizza 3560 Dempster Skokie (847) 679-6455 Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/111388#602914 Wed Mar 12 11:55:23 -0800 2003 610175 0 zim 2 610210 My choice for best sandwich in Chicago featuring beef would be Johnnie's; but I wouldn't tell someone who wanted a cheesesteak to go there (meager though Chicago's cheesesteak options may be). I don't know why the Touhy location of ESP didn't taste good. The fellow cooked the steak and the onions to order, cooked them attentively, seasoned them carefully, and the bread used was nice and dense. But it just didn't taste like much of anything. Wed Mar 12 13:11:27 -0800 2003 610198 0 Harry V. 1 610199 I also enjoy the steak sandwiches at Express(I don't have an opinion on the cubans) and think the thing that really stands out is the thinner crunchier garlicky bread they use. Wed Mar 12 11:56:59 -0800 2003 610175 0 zim 2 610209 Yes, I tried Express Cafe after you posted about it. Thanks for the tip! Agree about the bread. In general, their care in seasoning/flavoring all the elements of the sandwich stood out (their kitchen is in open view). Even though they seasoned the steak, before grilling, only by shaking an undisguised plastic jar of Goya seasoning mix over it - still, that's more attention than some places give. And though I wasn't thrilled to see that plastic jar, all the same I've got to admit that I enjoyed the results. Wed Mar 12 13:00:25 -0800 2003 610199 0 Harry V. 1 610408 Big thumbs up for Bill’s in Evanston, my largest project is near Bill’s. I go once a week. I still prefer Philly’s Best for Chicago area cheesesteaks, just the meat, cheese, onions and some mushrooms for me. I love garlic, but the Garlic bread option is toooooo greasy even for me. Goose Island, YES! There is a location in Rockford, IL run by the son. Original Kababish of London – tried the chicken and beef kababs, decent but way too much bread. I don’t believe they make the naan there. Still wanting to try Taqueria la Oaxaquena, one of these days. Tue Mar 18 23:08:31 -0800 2003 610175 0 Sweet Willie 2 610494 Re Kababish, on my visits I observed the guy slapping raw dough onto the inside surface of the tandoor. Maybe they had a stockpile of naan when you were there. Or maybe they are cutting corners already (hope not). Anyway, the bread was the best part. Thu Mar 20 14:08:20 -0800 2003 610408 0 JeffB