Chicago weekend report - Spanish, Mexican, Polish, Popcorn, and more

[AnneInMpls]

Mr. Tastebud and I were in Chicago for a few hours, from Friday evening to Sunday mid-day. Here's my report on our whirlwind eating experience. Thank, Chicago chowhounds, for posting so much info on your town's eating treasures. You're a great resource!

FRIDAY

Café Iberico for dinner - Surprisingly, there was no wait for a table at 6:45 on a rainy Friday night. (Note: When we arrived, a greeter suggested we try Pintxos upstairs; we declined.) We enjoyed our food very much - nothing was mind-blowing, but all was good. And the service was great! More details in the Cafe Iberico thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/619207

Bin 36 for dessert - A pricey but lovely treat. We sat at the cheese bar so we could see all the choices. I had Bayley Hazen blue cheese (a raw milk cheese from New York) with a glass of Campbell’s Muscat - what a lovely pairing! Mr. Tastebud had Manchego with a glass of Pedro Ximénez - an OK pairing. And we shared a slice of apricot "pate" and a tiny pot of truffle honey, which was fab with the Manchego.

SATURDAY

Wow Bao (State & Lake) for "brunch" - OK, so it's fast food, but it's pretty good when you've skipped breakfast to see the Saturday bridge lifts from the Chicago River Bridge Museum. (Fun fun fun!) I had a Thai curry bun and a coconut custard bun - liked 'em both. Mr. Tastebud had pork & cabbage potstickers (very tasty - I loved my sample) and a BBQ pork bun (he said it had too much five-spice powder or something).

Sam's Wines (South Loop) - Stopped in to shop and made time for a snack at the wine bar. We had a cheese and charcuterie plate with a glass of rose (Figueirasse Gris de Gris). Lovely stuff. I just wish I could remember the cheese that I liked so much...

Istria Cafe - We had some gelato to fortify ourselves for bookstore shopping on 57th Ave. Cute place, nice gelato. Bet it's mobbed on hot afternoons.

Mixteco Grill for dinner - After at 20-minute wait (at 9pm!), we were seated in the first room. Jam-packed and noisy, but in a cheery way (except for the shrieking drunks at the table next to us - much nicer after they finally left). I had night's special: grilled scallops (two huge ones) in red mole with green rice. Mr. Tastebud had the Chuleta en Manchamanteles (a grilled pork chop in Oaxaca sweet-spicy mole with fried plantains, grilled pineapple bits and chorizo nuggets, and mashed sweet potatoes on the side. Both were amazingly delicious! We each loved our own dish the best, but traded lots of tastes. For dessert, we shared an order of crepes with cajeta & plantains - fabulous (and very, very sweet - I'm glad we shared). Thanks for everyone who recommended this place! I anguished for hours over which of the many great provincial Mexican restaurants to visit, but I'm glad we went with Mixteco - we loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.

SUNDAY

Podhalanka for brunch - What a great way to avoid the weekend brunch crowds! This place was mostly empty when we arrived at 10:30. We loved the potato pancakes and pierogies, especially the cabbage and mushroom ones. This place definitely lives up to its billing. And so cheap! Our very filling brunch was $12 for two.

Pastoral (in the Loop) - We picked up some provisions for the train: duck salami, cornichons, a baguette, and some sweets. Very nice - I adored the duck salami. We weren't wild about Sweet Margy's toffee (our local BT McElrath does a better version that's less sweet with darker chocolate). But the La Dee Dah caramel/nougat/chocolate swirls were delish. And I scored some June Taylor jam, hooray!

Garrett's popcorn - This was the main impetus for the trip. I'm not allowed to mail-order this stuff (I mean, have you SEEN the calorie count for the cheese corn?!?!?!), so I can only have it when I'm in Chicago. Ah, heaven. Though my cheese popcorn didn't travel well - it was kinda greasy by the time I got home. No problem - I love it anyway. Oddly enough, I'm beginning to see the unnatural attraction of mixed cheese and caramel corn - a few caramel nuggets snuck into my bag of cheese corn, and I kinda liked the combo! Who woulda thunk it? So I wish I'd bought a bigger bag of caramel popcorn.

But that's all we managed to squeeze in. We had hoped to eat so much more - I brought a long list of 13 restaurant possibilities and 5 bakeries in our planned path. Unfortunately, however, the great weather - and lack of tummy capacity - caused us to skip several longed-for places, including lunch at a Turkish restaurant (per my post here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/613867 ). Waaa! We'll just have to come back soon.

Anne

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Cafe Iberico
737 N Lasalle Drive, Chicago, IL 60654

Podhalanka
1549 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60642

Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine
53 E. Lake St., Chicago, IL 60601

Bin 36
339 N. Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60610

Wow Bao Restaurant
1 W Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601

Sam's Wine & Spirits
50 E Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL

Istria Cafe
1520 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637

Mixteco Grill
1601 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL 60613

Garrett Popcorn Shops
2 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL

[lbs]

Thanks for such a thoughtful response back! You did good on your eating travels. Mixteco Grill is on my top 5 places that I've been too.

[lilaki]

hi anne,

thanks for your detailed report ... i'll be in chicago for a few days in july and i'm taking your list with me!