Spoon Thai, Hot Doug's, Zocalo, and other specific questions
We'll be in Chicago next week for a conference, staying at the Hyatt on E. Wacker. Breakfast and lunch will at the conference, except for Friday. We have reservations for Publican on Monday night.
Tuesday we plan to go to Zocalo; do we need reservations? I saw an Open Table link on their website, but if we don't really need reservations, we'd prefer to just walk in at a time convenient for us (not sure how long the conference and after-conference stuff will take). We've been to both Topo and Frontera on previous visits and loved them both, but are not into the crowd thing.
Weds we plan to go to Spoon Thai on N. Western (that is the correct place, right? I know there are places with similar names, but I was unable to find a website for the restaurant). We intend to BYOB and although we'll have a car, we can either take the El or a cab, depending upon what's easier. Is there parking near the restaurant? There will probably be 3 of us going. I looked it up on HopStop and it appears the Brown Line is a fairly easy commute, although it's estimated at 38 minutes. Would it be reasonable to try to make it to Hot Chocolate after Spoon Thai? Recommendations?
Thursday night is open, but hubby and I would like a splurge dinner. We adored Cafe Spiaggia for lunch last year (best Italian we'd had since Italy). I've read some mixed reviews on Spiaggia itself, although I thought the space looked beautiful when we were at the Cafe last year. Is Cafe des Architects a good alternative? I know it's cheaper....how's the wine list? I know it's French food, but is it the same level of deliciousness as Cafe Spiaggia?
Friday we head home.....thinking about trying to go to Hot Doug's as we head back to Ohio. How's the parking near-by? Is there some other wonderful place we should go for breakfast/brunch instead? We'll want to be on the road by noon or so (and yes, we'd plan to get there by 10:30 if we go).
As you can probably tell by the choices above, we love all kinds of food, although things like the Bongo Room don't really appeal (love sweets, but not so much for breakfast). Thanks, Chicago hounds, we really appreciate your advice!
Cheers,
Niki
Niki in Dayton
Aug 27, 2009 06:44AM
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I can tackle the Spoon Thai question. It is on N. Western. Very easy commute from downtown on the Brown line. The Brown line is nice for tourists too as it is all above ground and you get pretty views of the city. 38 minutes is good estimate but it could be shorter. Taking a cab would probably run the same amount of time and be 5x expensive. Take the El. There is a little liquor store on Eastwood and Western that sells wine, not the best but the not the worst. Spoon Thai is half a block away from Eastwood next to a car shop.
Going to Hot Chocolate afterwards is feasible by either grabbing a cab from Spoon Thai (about $15-20 for the trip - just took one from my apt to Bucktown last weekend). Or taking the Damen Bus if you are feeling adventourous.
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I'll tackle the rest.
On a Tuesday night, you won't need to book Zocalo. Thankfully it is not crazy like Frontera. Although, with Opentable, you do get those points. Might be good to make a reservation, then if you have to change it, just call them. Try the tacos de casuela. 3 different meats in a big platter, fix ins, and blue corn tortilla. Get the margarita too if you drink.
Spiaggia is great if that is the kind of splurge you are looking for. The room is a tad 80s hotel dining room for my taste, but request one of the window tables and you have the most excellent view of Oak St beach. Afterall, spiaggia means beach. Cafe des Architectes is a great modern creative French place. Definitely a date place. For 'am i in Italy' experiences, try Anteprima or Riccardo Trattoria.
I know lots of folks here like sweet breakfast/brunch dishes. But that is definitely not what Chicago's top brunch spots solely offer. My favorite dish at Bongo is the Breakfast Burrito. 2nd are the Benedicts.
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We've now decided to go to the Apollo Theater on Thursday night to see Million Dollar Quartet. So I made reservations for 5:00 pm at Riccardo Trattoria (since it appears it's only about a mile away). I'm thinking we should be able to eat a good meal, and stroll to the theater, and get there by 7:00. Any flaws in my thinking ;-) ?
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I've never been to Riccardo that early. The place is small, but at that hour the pace is probably ok. It could get frantic at prime time. Might be good to mention to them that you are going to the theater, so they are aware to need to get you out the door by a certain time. Enjoy.
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And finally, Hot Doug's is not too far from the Kennedy (90/94) and at 10:30 there should be parking nearby. Note, tho, to go back to OH you'll have to get back on the Kennedy and go back south through the center-city exchanges which, at noon, will probably be slow-going for awhile.
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Good advice about taking the Brown Line to Spoon Thai (and yes, it's the right one). It would also be easy by car and I've never had a problem parking in that area. A cab would be unnecessarily expensive.
If you take the el there, you can also easily take the same Brown Line back from Spoon Thai to Hot Chocolate.. Get off at Damen and walk a couple blocks north on Damen to Hot Chocolate.
Enjoy.
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The Brown line Damen stop (about 4800 north and Damen) is by Spoon. It's over 30 blocks away from the Blue line Damen stop (about 1600 and Damen) which is by Hot Chocolate.
It's not walkable: http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/...
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You are correct of course. I don't know why I was thinking it was the Blue Line that went to Spoon. Mea Culpa.
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No problem!
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Thanks, folks, appreciate all the tips. We'll probably take the Brown line to Spoon Thai and just carry a small cooler (with Singha beer and maybe some Prosecco) with us. We also may do the Bongo Room for brunch on Friday before leaving...I'm a sucker for a good Benedict! I'll report back, regardless.
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Let me start with Spiaggia - I'm not sure that there are a lot of "mixed" reviews. The overwhelming majority of posts are extremely positive and I think it's a great restaurant. But it is very pricey. With respect to Cafe Spiaggia, I like it but much prefer the authentic Bolognese cuisine of the nearby Merlo on Maple. But if you're willing to (and want to) splurge, I think Spiaggia is a great idea. One concern: Chef Mantuano is apparently serving wine bar-type food at the U.S. Open in New York, and I'm not sure if he will personally be in NY or whether he will be sending others. But there are always other outstanding options such as L.20, Avenues and Tru - I might even recommend the latter three over Spiaggia.
As for Hot Doug's, go and go early and you won't wait much at all. It's worth it and there's plenty of parking nearby. If you get there early, you'll eat quickly and you'll easily be out of there by noon. And it's less than a five minute drive from the highway.
As for Zocalo, I haven't been so I cannot comment. But if it's great Mexican food you seek, I would recommend Sol de Mexico (a bit of a drive though), Mixteco Grill, Salpicon (close to downtown) and Fonda del Mar - all offer outstanding, authentic Mexican. Sol de Mexico offers amazing moles.
Spoon Thai - one of my few favorite restaurants in the city and I live just a couple blocks away. I thought they had a website, but it really didn't offer any information of value as I recall (but I cannot find it now). Street parking is easy, and getting there by L is easy too (it's right across the street from the Western Ave. Brown Line station). And even if you can't get parking right on Western (but you should have no problem on a weeknight), there's plenty of street parking on neighboring streets and I'm pretty sure the parking permit restrictions only apply from 9-11 am (that's how it is on my street). And as noted, there are two liquor stores on the same side of Western Ave. as the restaurant, so beer and wine will be accessible.
When you go to Spoon, do yourself a favor and avoid the Ameri-Thai favorites (pad thai, similar noodle dishes - i.e., things you'd see at every neighborhood Thai restaurant). Instead, order some of the specialties on their translated Thai language menu, Chicago Tribune specials menu, and daily white board specials (usually only a few). If you order the Ameri-Thai dishes, you'll come away baffled why people love this place.
Some of my favorites at Spoon include the one bite salad; catfish curry custard; crispy pork with Chinese broccoli; shrimp paste fried rice w/ apples, sliced omelet and pork; banana blossom salad; fried chicken w/ tamarind dipping sauce; curries; Isaan-style sausage (with fresh ginger and peanuts); beef jerky and mango w/ sticky rice. Spoon is inexpensive but quaint, friendly and in my opinion, one of the most hidden gems in Chicago. Check out these links which include pictures of some of the food at Spoon Thai: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9606 and http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic....
As for Hot Chocolate, it would be easiest to get there by car (should take you about 10 minutes), but you can also take the Western Ave. bus south and walk about 10 minutes). Hot Chocolate is generally on the way back to your hotel, only very slightly out of your way but in the right general direction. And Hot Chocolate is amazing. I can't think of a better one-two dinner-dessert combination in Chicago.
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Great - thanks so much for the specific recommendations. Although Sol de Mexico's moles sound wonderful, my DH is a tequila aficiando, and the list at Zocalo caught his interest. It's also walking distance from our hotel, which is a plus (we like to walk).
We're leaning toward taking the Brown line to Spoon, then maybe a cab to Hot Chocolate, then figure out on HopStop how to get back to the hotel on the El from there. I had no plans to order Ameri-Thai; I'm not a Pad Thai kinda gal. I loved the Issan style sausage at Lotus of Siam in Vegas and was excited to read about Spoon's translated menu items. I've read your other reccos for Spoon and appreciate the specifics.
I'll report back when we return!
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Your DH is definitely going to enjoy Zocalo.
From Hot Chocolate, the Blue line is your only El option. You can take it down to Chicago Ave, then transfer to the 66 bus back to Streeterville.
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You might have to call a cab from Spoon . . . not a lot of cabs in that area unfortunately, as I have found out too many times. They'll come, you just might have to stand around for a while. Your best bet might to be to walk to Lawrence and Western (1/4 mile north, passing the train station) where you might have a slightly better chance.
You might also want to check out the tequila list at Salpicon (salpicon.com) and the food is great. But don't take that as a criticism of Zocalo as I have not even dined there. Although I must admit that Salpicon would be a longer walk, it could easily be done and Old Town is a fun neighborhood to check out.
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