Road Tips

Pennyville Station - Park Ridge, IL

I was staying out near O'Hare during a trip into Chicago and I wanted to find someplace to eat in nearby Park Ridge.  I was initially going to have dinner at Harp & Fiddle, an Irish restaurant that I had visited a handful of times before that specializes in comfort foods.  (Click here to see the entry on Harp & Fiddle).  However, after parking the car and walking toward the Irish pub, a place next to it caught my eye - an American-style, farm-to-fork restaurant by the name of Pennyville Station.  It piqued my interest enough that I decided to have dinner there that night.  

Tino Antonacci was a serial restaurateur and owned the popular Basta Pasta Italian restaurant with locations in Chicago's far northwest Edison Park neighborhood and out in west suburban Oakbrook Terrace.  Antonacci's son Tony was literally brought up in the restaurant business learning how to cook in the kitchen and eventually becoming the general manager of the Edison Park location in his early 20's.  One day, a young lady by the name of Samantha came in to apply for a job.  She was going to school at DePaul University and wanted to make some money as a waitress.  Samantha was hired and it wasn't long until she and Tony Antonacci became a couple.  The two eventually married and settled in Chicago.

About 8 years ago, Tino Antonacci retired and closed the Basta Pasta restaurants.  Wanting to get out of Chicago, Tony and Samantha Antonacci set their sights on Park Ridge as a place to raise their three young girls.  But Tony Antonnaci had been wanting to run his own restaurant for years and he saw a potential restaurant in the making when a spot opened up on Main Street.  With the help of his father, Tony Antonacci opened Pennyville Station in June of 2019.  The original name of Park Ridge was Pennyville and the restaurant was located across from the Metra train station in Park Ridge.  

Walking into Pennyville Station the bar area is immediately up front and to the right.  The striking and ornate backbar features a Pennyville Station sign that is made out from thousands of pennies that Tony Antonacci received from various Park Ridge residents.  The wooden shelves holding liquor were flanked by two flatscreen televisions and small model train cars were across the top of the structure.  

The kitchen was just past the bar and featured another small metal-topped bar area where people could sit and watch the chefs at work.  However, I didn't see anyone sit there while I was in the restaurant.  The open kitchen featured a large Kamado Joe ceramic grill - something you don't normally see in a kitchen.  

Pennyville Station is a long and narrow space that features banquette seating along the long wall with booths in the back.  Elegant chandeliers and ornate light fixtures hung from the ceiling giving the brick-walled dining space an old time, yet classy sort of feel.  Historical pictures of Pennyville hung from the brick wall above the padded banquette benches.

In the winter of 2022/23, Pennyville Station redid the space next door that was called The Bar Car.  It was originally designed to be a live music and events area with space for restaurant overflow.  But Antonacci renovated the spot with stylish chandeliers hanging above and incorporated it into the restaurant adding up to 80 more seats.  Just from the decor alone, I really liked what I saw at Pennyville Station and felt very comfortable in the place.

At first, a hostess tried to seat me at one of the tables with the banquette seating along the wall in the main dining room, but if you're a regular reader of Road Tips you know how much I detest banquette seating.  As I turned back toward the front bar, a couple was getting up from their seats to leave.  I asked her if I could take one of the seats at the bar.  "Sure," the young hostess said cheerfully.  I plopped down in the recently vacated bar stool and was handed a food menu.  

A young man by the name of Jacob was one of the bartenders that evening.  He greeted me and asked what I wanted to drink.  I didn't really know what they had and he said, "Oh, wait.  Let me get you a drink menu."  The drink menu featured wines, specialty cocktails and a small beer list in the bottom corner.  The beer list had a number of domestic beers, a few imported beers, and a handful of craft beers.  I saw that they had the Maplewood Brewery and Distillery Son of Juice hazy IPA and I ordered up one of those.  

The menu at Pennyville Station wasn't deep, but they had a number of interesting items to choose from.  The appetizers featured fried calamari with sliced cherry peppers, a spinach and artichoke dip with tortilla chips, and a lemon & basil hummus with pita bread that I knew my wife would have probably enjoyed if she were with me.  

Pennyville Station has a prime rib special Wednesday thru Sunday evenings.  But I was there on a Tuesday night and it wasn't available.  The linguine with shrimp entree sounded good, but I had pasta the previous evening.  The pan-seared scallops sounded delectable, as did the bone-in Duroc pork chop served with feta cheese mashed potatoes.  There was a lobster roll, a Wagyu burger with cheddar cheese, and a panko-crusted fried chicken breast sandwich on the menu. 

In the end - and because I was thinking of some comfort food before I walked into Pennyville Station - I ordered the stout-braised short rib entree.  It was served over a mixture of barley, carrots and celery and then topped with a stout and beef stock reduction.  

From the first bite, I knew I had made the right choice.  The beef short rib was tender and easy to cut.  The stout and beef stock gravy gave it a hearty flavor with each bite.  The barley, carrots and celery were a nice complement to the braised short rib.  This was an excellent meal.  

A guy had taken the seat next to me not long after I ordered my food.  When someone from the kitchen brought it out and set it down in front of me, I could tell the guy was eyeing what I got.  After a couple bites, I may have said, "Mmmmmm..." loud enough for him to hear me.

He asked, "What IS that?"  I told him it was the braised short rib and that it was outstanding.  He put down his menu and said, "You sold me."  And he ordered the same thing from Jacob.   

I enjoyed every aspect of my visit to Pennyville Station.  From the grand and exquisite - yet not pretentious - decor, to the great service I received from Jacob, to the exceptional meal that I had, everything about Pennyville Station was top-notch.  The stout-braised beef short rib was phenomenal and a complete spot-hitter for me.  Park Ridge has a lot of good restaurants to choose from, but I think that Pennyville Station may have moved to the top of my list.  

Beacon Tap - Des Plaines, IL

I've been staying in the Des Plaines area of the Chicago suburbs for a number of years and I've eaten at a bunch of area restaurants.  I'd been looking for a place to be able to hang out and watch sporting events on TV when I'm in the area and I was a little surprised that I had never had been to a place which is billed as the oldest bar in Des Plaines - the Beacon Tap.  I had a chance to go have lunch there on a recent visit to Chicago.  

Actually, the building that houses the Beacon Tap dates back over 100 years as it was originally built as a grocery store back in 1910.  During the height of prohibition, a number of "legitimate" businesses in the small towns near Chicago turned into speakeasy establishments allowing bootlegged alcohol and beer to be served.  In 1926, a man by the name of Joseph Scharringhausen bought the grocery store and turned it into a drinking establishment.  He named it the Beacon Tap Room and was able to stay in business due to friendly local law enforcement officials who turned the other cheek when it came to selling alcohol in the late 20's and up to the end of Prohibition in 1933.  

After Prohibition ended, the Beacon Tap Room was a popular destination for workers who worked at the nearby rail yards.  The original wooden bar was soon replaced by a marble topped bar, and the building was expanded to include a dining room.  After World War II ended, a man by the name of George Sontag bought the Beacon Tap Room and renamed it "Sontag's Beacon Tap".   Sontag expanded the food selection and made the place more accommodating for locals and tourists coming into Chicago to fly in and out of nearby O'Hare Airport.  

Sontag was also a big sports fan and he added televisions for sporting events that were shown on local and national broadcasts.  A big fan of boxing, Sontag was said to have a projection system brought in for big prize fights.  

Sontag sold the Beacon Tap in 1955 to a new owner.  That owner - and subsequent owners in the 60's into the 80's - did their own renovations and expansions to the original building.  A new kitchen and expanded dining room made the Beacon Tap more family friendly.  In 2014, the owner expanded the bar even more, added a large outdoor patio, and renovated the exterior of the building to give it more of a sleek, modern look while keeping the interior charm of the restaurant.  

But by early 2017, the owner ended up having problems paying for the renovations and much-needed electrical upgrades to the building.  The Beacon Tap closed its doors at the end of February and sat vacant for a number of months.  

In stepped local restaurateur Joe Calabrese into the picture.  Calabrese owned a handful of restaurants in the northwest suburb including the excellent Zia's Trattoria (now Zia's Social) and Cafe Touché in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood.  (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Zia's Trattoria from nearly 10 years ago.)  Calabrese liked to unwind at the Beacon Tap and thought it would be a nice investment for his Calabrese & Sons restaurant group portfolio.  

Before they could reopen the restaurant, the building underwent some much needed upgrades to the interior decor and ecosystem.  A new wood floor, barn-board walls, and exposed brick walls from the original building were part of the interior upgrades to the building.  New flat-panel televisions were hung in strategic places around the inside of the building, as well as outside in an expanded patio.  A new and updated menu was also put into place.  In the fall of 2017, the Beacon Tap reopened to a welcoming community who immediately noticed the changes and embraced the updated restaurant and its new ownership group.  

I had a Zoom meeting that lasted for a couple hours and decided to head out for lunch to the Beacon Tap before I went to see a couple accounts in the afternoon.  I had probably driven past the Beacon Tap on Lee Street numerous times before, but had never really paid attention to the place.  It was right at noon when I pulled into the spacious parking lot on the south side of the restaurant.  (see map)  

Going into Beacon Tap, I found a large dining area with exposed beams with white holiday lights hanging from the beams.  Large flat-screen televisions hung from the barn-board walls, and a number of hardwood-topped tables were placed around the room.  Music from country artists such as Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell, Lainey Wilson and Jordan Davis was playing in the background.  

The large oval bar hasn't been touched during all the renovations, save for the steel bed kick-panels on the bottom.   Eight large screen televisions hung over the center of the bar and block-glassed windows along the back wall allowed light from the outside to come in.  

Outside, there was a large patio with umbrella-covered tables.  It was an unseasonably warm day in Chicago (we had a late summer in the Midwest) and there were a few people who were seated outside.  It was a bit too windy for me, so I was going to eat inside.

The outdoor bar - the Tap Room - is used for special events or overflow on game days in which the inside space is filled up.  There was a large slab off the patio for people to congregate.  Flat-screen televisions hung from the walls and space heaters hung from the ceiling of the outside bar to keep people warm on those chilly fall days or evenings when they're watching football.   

There were a number of tables open, but there were only a couple people seated at the bar when I got in there, so I took a seat there.  The bartender/server that day was a spunky young lady by the name of Amber.  She handed me a menu and I asked what they had available for beers.  "Oh," she exclaimed.  "Let me find a beer list."  She turned back around and rummaged around on the bar's island and came up with a beer menu for me to look over.  After a quick glance, I ended up getting a pint can of the Maplewood Brewery Son of Juice hazy IPA.  

The menu at the Beacon Tap is what I would call upscale bar food.  And that's what Joe Calabrese was going for when he took over the restaurant seven years ago.  They had a number of salads to choose from - all of which could have protein items added.  Appetizers such as smoked wings, pulled pork quesadilla, chicken & waffle bites, and blackened shrimp were available.  Sandwiches, wraps, burgers and tacos were also available.  And - most importantly, to me - they had a Chicago tavern-style thin-crust pizza on the menu.  I wasn't going to get the pizza that day, but it was close enough to the hotel that I stay at where I could come back in the future to give it a try.  

Three or four things jumped off the menu at me including the smoked corned beef reuben sandwich; the Sicilian brisket sandwich - Beacon Tap's take on the Italian beef sandwich; and the Texas rodeo which consisted of smoked house brisket, pulled pork, andouille sausage, and spicy Southern-style cole slaw all served on Texas toast.  All of them sounded great and I immediately wanted to come back to try one (or all) of them at some point in the future.  

But in the end, I ended up getting the Beacon Burger - two-4 ounce patties flat-grilled and topped with Merkts cheddar cheese, a spicy and creamy garlic sauce (think Guy Fieri's Donkey Sauce), lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion and served on a garlic-buttered grilled brioche bun.  Sriracha onion strings also came on the burger, but I asked Amber to put them on the side so I could savor them without all that was going on with the burger.  A choice of a handful of sides came with burger and they had tots.  That was a no-brainer.  But even better, they had Cholula available to put on the tots!  

The burger had a lot going on.  The oozing Merkts cheddar cheese made it a multi-napkin burger, and the brioche bun - while it was soft and spongy - held together very well with all the messiness of the cheese, sauce and the veggie toppings.  The two patties were perfectly cooked, still juicy and tender - not overcooked in the least.  This was an outstanding burger.

I started to stay in the Des Plaines area over 15 years ago as it seemed to be centrally located to the accounts I had in the greater Chicagoland area and with easy access to the express ways/toll ways in the area.  I really thought I had found most of the good places to have food and hang out over that time, so I have to say that I'm kicking myself for not finding the Beacon Tap earlier than this.  With my current position, I don't get into Chicago as often as I used to, but the next time I am in there, I'm heading back to the Beacon Tap.  The place had a wonderful neighborhood-friendly vibe, the service was very good, they had a great selection of craft beers to choose from, and the burger was outstanding.  I definitely want to try their tavern-style pizza at some point, and some of their sandwiches sound delicious from the description on the menu.  I really wish I would have discovered the Beacon Tap sooner than this.   

 

Chicago Culinary Kitchen - Palatine, IL

On a recent trip into the Chicago area, I was out in Palatine seeing an old account I used to call on with my old company.  After the visit, I decided to drive over to a barbecue place not far from their store that they had talked up on a couple previous visits when I was there.  This was going to be my first visit to a barbecue joint with an unlikely name for a barbecue joint - Chicago Culinary Kitchen.  

Greg Gaardbo grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and joined the Marines after he graduated from high school in 1981.  After 9 years of duty in which he saw action overseas, Gaardbo came back to the Chicago suburbs and opened his own business, Shockwave Promotional Apparel in early 1991.  The company provided embroidery and screen-printing services for hats, shirts and jackets for corporations or small businesses.  

Gaardbo soon found a love barbecue and the rapidly growing craft beer scene.  But it wasn't until around 2009 when he finally found his muse to help him take his love for barbecue and beer to another level.  At his neighborhood gym, he met a spunky blonde by the name of Kristina who had grown up in Palatine, but had moved to Atlanta to become a veterinarian's technician.  While she enjoyed working with animals, she felt her calling would be more suited to helping humans.    

Kristina moved back to Chicago and entered the nursing program at Harper College, a vocational school in Palatine.  Kristina got her degree in nursing and immediately found herself working at an acute care facility in the area.  She really enjoyed working with her patients who were mainly in short term/concentrated rehabilitation programs.  But that fateful day at the gym when she met Greg Gaardbo eventually changed her course in life.  

Greg and Kristina found that they had a lot in common - they were in to tattoos, craft beers, heavy metal music, and, most importantly, food.  Kristina found Greg's business fascinating and ended up quitting her nursing job and went to work for Greg at his specialty apparel business.  In July of 2011, the couple married and Kristina became Greg's partner - not only in life, but in his business, too.  

Since the time they had met, Greg would host barbecue parties in his backyard.  He specialized in the Brazilian-style of barbecue - churrasco - with meat cooked on skewers.  Over time, the backyard celebrations grew in number and after Greg and Kristina were married, their friends convinced them to purchase a food truck to showcase Greg's expertise with barbecue.  In 2012, the couple started up Rockin' Rodizio and began a catering company out of their food truck.   

Pictured right - Greg and Kristina Gaardbo.  Photo courtesy Certified Angus Beef Cattle web site.

As business grew on the barbecue side of things, Greg and Kristina started to explore other types of food to offer.  To immerse themselves in different cuisines, they started to travel to places to learn how to properly make Texas barbecue, or to learn the delicacies of traditional Spanish fare, or trips to Mexico to learn from chefs and regular people the art of authentic Mexican food.  

By 2016, the Gaardbos felt they were ready to take the next step with a weekend-only barbecue joint in Palatine.  They found an open spot in a run-down strip mall along N. Quentin in Palatine and opened Chicago Culinary Kitchen focusing on Texas-style barbecue later that year.  Right from the start, the place was a hit.  They would open at 11 a.m. on Saturday and sometimes they would be out of meat by 2 p.m.  

In the meantime, Kristina enrolled at the Siebel Institute of Technology to learn more about the different styles of beers served around the world, and what kind of beers can be paired with what they were serving at their weekend restaurant.  She received her Cicerone certification from Siebel in 2019.  

When the pandemic hit in early 2020, Chicago Culinary Kitchen had to shut down for a while before reopening for take-out only.  Business really never suffered as their legions of fans kept coming back on the weekends to grab their delicious barbecue.  Realizing that they could really go places with their barbecue business (all the while still running their promotional apparel business), the Gaardbos started to look for a larger place where they could open more than just the weekends.  

They eventually found a space in another strip mall at the corner of N. Hicks Rd. and Lake Cook Rd.  (see map)  On July 3rd, 2021 - 10 years to the day the Gaardbos got married - they opened their present day location of Chicago Culinary Kitchen.  The business is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday thru Sunday.  And they still do some catering events from time to time such as the Lake Zurich, IL "Rock the Block" festival that was held this last September.  

It was around 1:30 p.m. when I pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall where Chicago Culinary Kitchen is located.  It's on the far north end of the strip mall and as I walked up to the building, I saw a prominent sign that said, "ATTENTION: If you're offended by the following: Meat, Beer, Tattoos, Skulls, and Rock & Roll, (and there is an endless list of other things), THIS IS NOT YOUR KINDA PLACE!"  And at the very bottom it said, "Have a nice day!"  I had a very good feeling about this place.  

The first impression I had of Chicago Culinary Kitchen was one of mild surprise and a bit of a shock.  Classic rock music was playing in the background - not blaring, but definitely pronounced.  The lighting was a mix of purple and red lighting, and a skeleton riding a motorcycle hung from the ceiling.  I immediately liked the place when I saw the Rush poster on the wall.  

The tables were community style with heavy metal chairs that are just too uncomfortable for me.  Texas barbecue signage was on a corrugated tin wall and guitars hung on the wall near the bar.  There was also a collection of lava lamps behind the bar.  The place really had the feel of a true "joint".  

The outdoor patio featured an open air concept with bar-style seats for eating along a counter.  More community tables were on the patio which looked like it could be closed up by plastic coverings over the open spaces in colder weather.   

There is a walk-up window for ordering, but I was told that I could sit at the bar and order directly from the bartender on duty.  The bartender that day was Jay, who also holds the title of operations manager for Chicago Culinary Kitchen.  I took a seat along the bar near the kitchen.  I could see into the kitchen and was able to catch glimpses of the tufted-haired Kristina and her equally inked-up husband Greg who looked like he was no one to reckon with if you crossed him wrong.  

Jay gave me a menu and asked what I wanted to drink.  I asked what he had for hazy IPA's and he suggested the Yesterday Tonight from the Solemn Oath Brewery in Chicago.  It featured Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado hops and had a very smooth taste.  It was going to be perfect to pair with barbecue.  

The barbecue offerings included sliced brisket, pulled pork, St. Louis-style ribs, Texas-style smoked sausage, and something they called sticky ribs that were topped with honey and Egyptian-style dukkah - a combination of nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.  Sandwiches included a Buffalo chicken breast sandwich, an Oklahoma-style smashed burger, and the "El Jefe" which had brisket, pulled pork and smoked sausage.  Appetizers included a sweet & sour pork belly, Buffalo-style shrimp, and Spanish-style potatoes Bravas.  

Jay was an easy-going guy and kept checking with me to see if I was ready to order any food.  I asked if they had a sampler plate and he said that the closest thing would be the "El Jefe" sandwich without the bun.  But they had 1/2 pound of pulled pork and 1/2 pound of sliced brisket on the menu, so I ordered one of each of those.  (I almost got the 1/2 pound of smoked pastrami they had that day, but went with the pulled pork instead.)  I had a choice of a side and they had a number of interesting things to choose from including Mexican street corn in which Hatch chiles and cotija cheese were mixed in with the corn; a barbecued bacon and ranch pasta salad; creamy red potato salad; and CCK's famous "F'n Mac & Cheese" that is topped with hot Cheetos and panko bread crumbs.  I almost went with the "old school" cole slaw, but instead opted for the 18-hour slow-baked pit beans with bacon.  

It wasn't more than 5 minutes after I ordered before Kristina Gaardbo brought out a small cookie sheet with the sliced brisket, pulled pork (topped with marinated red onions), and the pit beans on a piece of wax paper.  House-made dill pickle slices and a piece of white bread came on the side.  

True Texas barbecue doesn't need sauces, and while the brisket and the pulled pork were very tasty on their own, I'm a sauce guy.  They had four different types of sauces available - a chipotle apricot that was very good, a mustard sauce that I never tried (because I don't like mustard-based sauces for barbecue, a vinegar-based sauce that went well with the pulled pork, and a Legacy barbecue sauce that was a combination of sweet and a bit spicy that was excellent.  

The portions of meat were very generous and the brisket came with four slices.   It was easy to cut, it was juicy and flavorful, and had a bit of a spicy bark with a pronounced smoke ring around the top of the brisket.  The pulled pork was also very juicy and had a wonderful smokey flavor.  And the pit beans were thick and smoky, and even though they really didn't need it, I added some of the Legacy sauce in with them to give them more of a zippy taste.    

While I was eating, Kristina brought out something from the kitchen for Jay to try.  He had a few bites of what looked like a sausage link on the tray, and he turned back toward the kitchen and gave her a "thumbs-up".  He told me that they were always experimenting with different things back in the kitchen for specials from time to time.  I believe he said that was some andouille sausage they had smoked for a possible New Orleans-style dish they were going to make at some point.  

After I left Chicago Culinary Kitchen, I called up my former account and told them that I had a great lunch at the barbecue joint.  Everything was very good to excellent -  the brisket was tender, as was the pulled pork.  The beer selection was top-notch and the service from Jay was incomparable.  The funky atmosphere just added to the overall experience at Chicago Culinary Kitchen.  I don't get out to the Palatine area all that much any longer and that's a shame.  But the barbecue at Chicago Culinary Kitchen would be worth the drive just to go there again at some point.   

Soul & Smoke - Evanston, IL

I was in Evanston, IL checking in with an old account I had worked with a number of years ago and it was around 1:30 in the afternoon when I was finished up with my visit.  I was looking for a brewpub to have lunch at and I was heading toward Double Clutch Brewing Company north and west of downtown Evanston when I was at a stop sign.  Looking to my right, I saw a sign that said, "Soul & Smoke".  The semi-vine covered brick building looked like it was in a state of flux with a series of somewhat crudely drawn arrow signs showing the way to an entrance.  Somewhat intrigued, I turned the corner and followed the signs.  It turned out it was a barbecue joint!  Man - barbecue sounded good to me!  I took a right turn and parked on the street next to Soul & Smoke.  

D'Andre Carter's life while a young boy on the south side of Chicago seemed to evolve around cooking.  He could always remember his grandmother and mother cooking - his grandmother taught him how to make peach cobbler in her kitchen.  Cooking was a big deal in Carter's family, but it was a full-family celebration when they would get together to barbecue in his grandmother's back yard on Sunday.  Carter was the oldest grandchild and he was tasked with helping with the barbecue and in his grandmother's kitchen.  

Carter enjoyed helping in the kitchen so much while growing up, it was almost a given that he decided to go to culinary school.  After graduating from the (now-closed) Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in 2008, Carter entered the professional chef world as a cook for Blue Plate Catering, an events company in Chicago.  While at Blue Plate Catering, he got a job as an intern at Moto, an upscale restaurant in Chicago's Fulton Market District.  Moto was famous for their avant garde and scientific approach to food preparation where the chefs would use centrifuges, Class IV lasers, and liquid nitrogen for flash freezing some foods.  

After a short time at Moto, Carter was elevated to a sous chef and one of the chef's he worked with was Heather Bublick. The two hit it off and soon they were a couple.  Bublick left Moto in 2010 to become a sommelier at Tru, a French-style restaurant in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood run by Rich Melman's Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group.   

Pictured right - D'Andre Carter and Heather Bublick.  Photo courtesy Chicago Tribune.  

The two had many conversations about opening their own restaurant over a long period of time before they decided to jump ship from their respective restaurants in December of 2012 and do their own thing.  

The couple figured that at some point they'd own their own restaurant. But they really didn't know what kind of restaurant.  In the meantime, they began to cater small pop-up dinner parties at their home and at homes of people they knew around Chicago.  On the strength of these pop-up dinners, people began to ask Carter and Bublick to cater events.  In 2013, Carter and Bublick opened Feast & Imbibe, a catering company that focused on weddings, parties, corporate events and other gatherings.  To help the couple out, they hired friends and family members to give them a hand in the kitchen and serving the food.    

But Carter remembered how much of a celebration it was when his family would barbecue and he wanted to incorporate barbecue into the mix at Feast & Imbibe.  In 2015, the couple created Soul & Smoke as a more casual alternative to the mixed tasting plates they would do for Feast & Imbibe.  

Just as he did with the menu at Feast & Imbibe, Carter drilled down to the smallest detail in coming up with rubs, side dishes and cooking techniques - even trying a number of different types of smokers before he settled upon using a Cookshack smoker.  But Soul & Smoke took a backseat to Feast & Imbibe for five years before a couple big things happened in Carter and Bublick's life.

In February of 2020, the couple purchased an old bus depot in a small industrial area in Evanston.  The building was about 100 years old and needed some serious upgrading.  They had a room in the front of the building that they could use for an event space, but much of the building was without flooring, electrical or HVAC.  Then in March of 2020 - of course - the pandemic hit.  

And because they had so much food for upcoming catering events, they had to do something with it.  On March 17 of 2020, Feast & Imbibe offered 40 free meals from their carry-out window - no fee requested.  Then when a shelter-in-place order was given less than a week later, Carter and Bublick began to deliver meals to those in need.  Less than a month later, the couple was delivering up to 300 meals a day, mainly through a non-profit community emergency food-relief organization that was helping feed the homeless and unemployed during the pandemic.  

In the meantime, Soul & Smoke had opened a pick-up window at their building allowing people to get barbecue to go.  In the summer of 2020 when the pandemic was gradually lifting, Carter and Bublick bought a food truck and would take it to neighborhoods for pop-up events.  

Word of mouth on Carter's barbecue began to run rampant throughout the greater Chicagoland area.  In 2021, Carter and Bublick opened a ghost kitchen on Spaulding Ave. in Chicago for to-go orders only and using Uber Eats and DoorDash to reach more people that way.  In 2022, the couple opened their first sit-down restaurant in the Rockwell-on-the-River event center in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood partnering with (the now-closed) Metropolitan Brewing, Judson & Moore Distillery, and Metropolis Coffee Company.  A Soul & Smoke counter opened not long after that at Soldier Field, while a location in the Accenture Tower in Chicago's West Loop opened earlier this year.  

The Evanston location (see map) was "sort of" a sit down venue when I was there.  There were some picnic tables outside along the sidewalk and the street.  A pick-up box for free meals was located near the front door of the facility.  A colorful awning hung over the door on the side of the building with the slogan "Keep it Saucy & Soulful" on the bottom of the awning.  

Inside the building, there was a long, narrow dining area with picnic tables on artificial turf.  With racks and containers along one wall, it sort of looked like it was a storage area with some picnic tables - sort of something like what a break room would look like for a grocery store or a big box store.  But in the same vein, it was sort of homey and welcoming.  

It's counter service at Soul & Smoke and I was met by a guy by the name of Greg who asked if I had a to-go order.  I said, "Umm... No, I was driving by and wanted to stop in to get some lunch.  Can I eat here?"  

Greg said, "Oh, yes!  By all means!"  He handed me a menu to look through.  A couple other people were milling about behind the counter and I later realized that one of them was Heather Bublick.  

The smoked meat selections at Soul & Smoke was almost overwhelming.  They had prime brisket, pastrami, spare ribs, 'Nduja (andouille) sausage, pork rib tips, and smoked jalapeño/cheddar sausage links.  They also had down-home soul food including smoked chicken gumbo, grilled wings, Cajun shrimp and grits, and grilled jerk chicken.  Pulled pork and smoked brisket sandwiches were on the menu, and well as sides which included cornbread, sweet potatoes, grits, red beans and rice, apple slaw, and - for an upcharge - collard greens.  This turned out to be a promising experience!

While I was looking through the menu, a couple people came in to pick up to-go orders.  All the while I was there, there was a steady presence of people picking up to-go orders or waiting to get their orders they had placed earlier.  I was going to be the only one eating in at Soul & Smoke and I was fine with that.

Once I was able to get back to the counter to place an order, I ordered up the half-pound prime brisket.  For my side I ordered the dirty rice.  "Great choice," Greg said after I ordered the side dish.  They had a few craft beers available and I ordered up an Insufficient Clearance hazy IPA from the Sketchbook Brewing Company in Evanston.  

When I placed my order, Greg explained that they no longer take tips at Soul & Smoke, but they do add an 8% service charge for counter orders.  He said that instead of tips, they just redistribute the service fees to all the employees at the restaurant whether they work in catering or back in the smokers.  He said that he would waive the fee for first time customers, but I told him that wasn't necessary.   

After taking a seat at a picnic table, it was about 10 minutes when someone from the back brought out a small cooking sheet with wax paper with paper boats of the prime brisket and the dirty rice on it.  Greg wanted to know if I wanted fatty or lean brisket when I ordered and I asked him if I could get both.  "That's no problem," he said enthusiastically.  The brisket had a nice bark on the outside and a visible smoke ring around the edges.  

And the brisket was delicious.  It didn't take much to cut into it as it was very tender.  The smoky flavor wasn't overpowering and the spices used on the outside gave the bark a great taste.  The brisket was outstanding.  

The dirty rice was also very good.  It had chunks of meat - don't know if it was pork or brisket - mixed in with it.  I hadn't had dirty rice for quite some time and I'm glad I got the dirty rice from Soul & Smoke.  

For sauces, they had a wide variety of five different sauces.  The original sauce that D'Andre Carter came up with years ago is a medium-thick tomato-based sauce that had a complex flavor to it.  Carter uses 22 different types of artisanal ingredients in his original sauce that gives it a somewhat sweet and citrusy taste with a bit of a spicy back end.  I used that sauce mainly because I wasn't keen on some of the other sauces including a North Carolina vinegar-style sauce that would have been good on pulled pork.  Soul & Smoke had a bold mustard-based sauce made with pineapple juice and chopped jalapeños; a Jamaican jerk sauce made with citrus juice, soy sauce, chili peppers and spices that would have gone well with some of their smoked or grilled chicken offerings; an a spicy and tangy version of a Buffalo wing sauce.  

But, quite honestly, the brisket was great on its own.  I didn't use much barbecue sauce and I would have liked to have had some Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce to put on the dirty rice.  But that really wasn't needed, either.  

For stumbling on to Soul & Smoke, I'd have to say I was a pretty lucky guy.  While their temporary space inside their soon to be revamped building in Evanston was sort of strangely fun to eat in, I can't wait to see what they're going to have when they get up and going full bore with their barbecue restaurant.  The brisket I had was outstanding as was the dirty rice that I had as a side.  They have so many different types of barbecue on the menu, as well as a large number of sides to choose from, I can't wait to get back to sample some of their barbecue once they get their space revamped.  Then again, I like Soul & Smoke so much that I may have to get back there before their remodeling is finished!

Bub City - Rosemont, IL

I had driven into Chicago from Fort Wayne, Indiana and was a bit early for my first appointment.  I was sort of hungry for barbecue and I remembered a barbecue place in Rosemont that wasn't far from my hotel.  I got off the Tri-State Tollway at Balmoral Ave. and pulled into the Rosemont Entertainment District to have a late lunch/early dinner at Bub City.  

Bub City is the second location of a reincarnation of the original Bub City restaurant that was opened in 1989 in what was then an industrial area just south of North Ave and west of Halsted Street in the Clybourn Corridor neighborhood.  The 30,000 square foot restaurant/bar/entertainment facility was co-owned and managed by Rich Melman's Lettuce Entertain You empire of restaurants.  The original Bub City was designed to be a barbecue joint, country-western, shit-kicker-type bar with Melman wanting a restaurant/bar that would scare the yuppies away.  But because it was a Lettuce Entertain You establishment that served barbecue, yuppies still came there in droves to the restaurant.  And because of that, other restaurants and bars soon sprang up in the area.  Melman and his partners in Bub City decided to shut down the restaurant in the mid-90's.  

In 2012, Melman's sons RJ and Jerrod decided to reincarnate Bub City with a new location on Clark Street in Chicago's downtown River North area.  It was 1/6th the size of the original Bub City, but continued to focus on barbecue, country music and a beer-driven drink list.  It still featured live country music three times a week.  

The late country star Toby Keith established a chain of large honky-tonk restaurant/music venues across the U.S. called "Toby Keith's I Love This Bar."  Financial mismanagement in terms of unpaid rents and unpaid back taxes forced many of them to close in 2015 into 2016.  One of those locations was in the Rosemont Entertainment District.  With a big space to fill, the developers of the district reached out to the Melman's to see if they would be interested in taking over the space.  While the restaurant and bar area had a small stage, there was a larger venue next door that was part of the complex they weren't interested in.  However, they went to Ed Warm and Tom DiSanto who owned Joe's on Weed Street, a live music venue not far from where the original Bub City was located.  The Melman's and Warm and DiSanto partnered to open Bub City with Joe's Live next door in March of 2016.   

Parking is available in a ramp directly behind Bub City, but I was able to find parking on the one-way road that goes around the entertainment complex.  (see map)  In front of Bub City is the outdoor stage for periodic live events held during the warmer months.  In the winter months, the artificial grass on the Great Lawn is transformed into an NHL-sized skating rink with festive lighting strung above and around the rink area.  The live acts that play on Thursday nights during the summer months are mostly tribute bands playing the music of bands and artists such as The Who, Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd and Elton John.  Free zumba, yoga and Powerhouse Pilates classes are held at various times on the Great Lawn.  

Bub City is basically one large dining space with tables in the middle of a line of booths.  Colorful Christmas lights were strung across the ceiling going in various directions.  In the middle of the dining area up toward the front was a stage area where country artists will play music Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, usually starting at 9:30 to 10:00 p.m.

There are two bars at Bub City, one if more beer centric with some liquor options, while the other is more whiskey centric with a few beers to choose from.  They're on opposite walls in the main space at Bub City.  Music was piped in via the restaurant's sound system and while I was there I heard songs by the likes of country artists Brothers Osborne, Tyler Childers, and Rvshvd.

On the wall next to the stage were a number of pictures honoring Hall of Fame members of the Windy City Smokeout barbecue contest that has been held annually in Chicago since 2013.  (The 2024 edition of the Windy City Smokeout begins today near the United Center in Chicago.)  Members of the Hall of Fame pitmasters honored on the board included Myron Mixon, Carey Bringle from Peg Leg Porker in Nashville; Scott Roberts from Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX; and the late Mike Mills from 17th Street BBQ in Murphysboro, IL.  The Windy City Smokeout is one of the top barbecue contests in the U.S. and one of the five largest of its kind.  

I ended up seated at the bar.  The center piece of the bar was a large American flag that was made out of beer cans.  As soon as I sat down a bartender by the name of Mark came up and dropped off a food menu for me.  The beer menu was on a QR code on a drink coaster on the bar.  I perused the beer list for a moment and I ended up ordering a B.C. Haze, a hazy IPA made especially for Bub City by the Noon Whistle Brewing Company in nearby Lombard, IL.  Other beers which they had on tap were provided by local breweries such as Spiteful Brewing, Mikerphone Brewing, Maplewood Brewery, and Pilot Project Brewing, an incubator for fledgling brewers with locations in Chicago and Milwaukee.    

Figuring that this would probably be my only meal of the day, I decided to look more at the entrees.  They had baby back ribs in 1/2 racks or full racks, pulled pork shoulder and brisket on their menu.  They had a combo of all three for about $43 bucks, but I thought it would be too much food.  I really wanted to do a combination of pulled pork and brisket, but they didn't have that available.  They also had fried chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches, as well as burgers, and a pulled pork or brisket sandwich. Bub City also had mac & cheese available either plain, or with pork or brisket added in.  

Two things that they had on the menu that I really wanted to get were the burnt ends and the smoked prime pastrami sandwich.  However, the burnt ends were only available Friday through Sunday, and the prime pastrami sandwich was available only on Friday and Saturday and I was a day early.  Well, poop!  

Since they didn't have the combination plates I wanted, or the burnt ends, and the prime pastrami sandwich wasn't available, I went with the brisket dinner.  Mark asked me if I wanted fatty, lean or half-and-half.  I went with the half-and-half, but Bub City's idea of half-and-half was 3 pieces of lean brisket and one piece of the fatty brisket.  Pickled onions and jalapeños came on the side along with a half-slice of toasted Texas bread.  For my sides, I got the cole slaw and some of their spicy baked beans.  

The thing that sort of got me was that they had just one style of barbecue sauce and it was served in a small ceramic tub on the side.  I caught the attention of the guy who brought the food out to me and asked if I could get another tub of sauce.  The sauce was OK - it was rather neutral to me.  It wasn't overly sweet, nor was it all that spicy.  It had a tomato/vinegar base and - to me - was more like a barbecue ketchup rather than a sauce.  

The brisket was good.  The fatty slice was really flavorful and was very tender.  A fork easily cut through the piece of meat.  The lean brisket was also very good.  The bark on the outside had a distinctive flavor that was enhanced with I would dip a bite into the sauce.  

The sides went from "meh!" to very good.  Unfortunately, the spicy baked beans were the disappointment.  They were not all that spicy - even with sliced jalapeños on the top.  But the cole slaw was outstanding.  Sweet and creamy, I wish I would have had more of the cole slaw than of the baked beans.  

I know a lot of people like Bub City.  It's a popular spot in the city and now out in Rosemont.  But I thought it was a pretty middle-of-the-pack barbecue joint.  They didn't really have much to offer outside of ribs, brisket and pulled pork.  They had no selection of sauces.  The sides were pretty pedestrian - although I will admit that the cole slaw was pretty damned good.  And the service was fine.  As a big party destination - complete with live music in house, next door or outdoors - it's tough to beat.  But if you're just going there for the food, there's other options to try before you try Bub City. 

The Sandlot - Park Ridge, IL

For over 15 years, I've been driving along Touhy Ave. into downtown Park Ridge.  At the corner of Greenwood Ave. and Touhy is a little restaurant by the name of The Sandlot.  (see map)  It's a basic place, no frills, no liquor or beer service - just a little neighborhood burger joint.  My problem is that I kept passing the place and not giving it a try.  Earlier this year, I had an appointment in Morton Grove and I was heading from my hotel toward the appointment.  It was after 1:00 p.m. and I was a little hungry.  I had some time to get some lunch so this time I stopped in to The Sandlot.  

The Sandlot started in 2012 when Brandon Shapic - who ran a Checkers restaurant in the Detroit area for 10 years - moved to the Chicago area six months prior.  Shapic teamed with Tom Marabanian to open their little burger joint in what was originally a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.  After the KFC went out of business, the building housed a couple fast food-style restaurants, but nothing stuck.  The building sat empty for a few months before Shapic and Marabanian took it over and turned it into a small sports-themed fast-casual restaurant named after the movie with the same name.  In fact, Shapic and Marabanian had to get an agreement with Paramount Pictures to use The Sandlot as the name of their burger joint.  In addition to fresh (never frozen) ground beef burgers and hand-cut fries, The Sandlot also offers hand-breaded chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and they're also famous for their malts and milkshakes.   

There's not much to the inside of The Sandlot.  Just to the right of the order window is a poster of the movie.  But other than that the decor is pretty neutral in the little restaurant.  The place had a few tables and chairs along the side and probably sat around 24 people, tops.  

It was after 1:30 in the afternoon, but there was a pretty good flow of customers coming and going from the restaurant.  A number of people had called in orders in advance, but a few were waiting on orders that they'd placed at the window.  

The menu is pretty basic with burgers (single, double, triple and even a quadruple burger!), a chicken sandwich, a double bacon BLT, and a hot dog for main items.  Fries are the only side option, while they have pop, bottled water and milkshakes or malts available to drink.  From what I could gather from some of the people coming in, the milkshakes were a hot item.  

The Sandlot is the closest thing to an In-N-Out burger I've ran across in all my travels across the Midwest.  Their "Two-N-Two" is a credible knock off of In-N-Out's "Double-Double" - a flat-grilled burger smothered with American cheese and served on a bed of fresh lettuce and a tomato slice with a choice of grilled or raw onions (I went for the raw onions) and finished with a mayo-based concoction that they called "Sandlot Sauce".  The burger was served in a foil wrapper where melted cheese stuck to the inside of the wrapper.  

The burger was very good.  The bun I didn't care for all that much - it was a bit more hard than I prefer.  But it didn't detract from the taste of the burger and actually held together pretty well with all the cheese oozing off the burger patties.  

I got an order of fries just for the hell of it.  The fries were the thick cut variety and I could tell they used fresh cut potatoes at The Sandlot as the color of the fries was a dark golden hue.  The fries were pretty good, but there was a lot of them.  By the time I finished up the burger, I was pretty full and ended up eating just a few fries.  

I'm sort of kicking myself for not giving The Sandlot a try before this.  For as many times that I've passed the place in the past, it took me this long to finally stop in.  The burger was very good and very reminiscent of an In-N-Out burger found out west.  The fries were OK, but the burger was definitely worth the stop.  The Sandlot is a no-frills, window-service restaurant that has found quite the following in the near northwest suburbs. 

Tapas Barcelona - Evanston, IL

As my wife and I are wont to do around her birthday, we ended up in Chicago.  Last year, I took my wife to a casual French restaurant (which I never wrote up on Road Tips because it was sort of during my between-gig hiatus) and she was keen to go back again this year.  But I also remembered the tab for the dinner (upwards to 3 large bills) and sort of coughed a bit when she mentioned going back.  I thought it may be nice to try something completely different and out of our element when it came to her birthday dinner.  I looked for ideas on-line, especially in the northern lake shore suburbs of Chicago.  And one place sort of jumped out at me - Tapas Barcelona in Evanston.  We had never really been to a true tapas restaurant in our travels together (although my wife had been to a handful of tapas places when she was visiting her daughter in Spain a number of years ago).  

Actually, I had been to a tapas restaurant in Chicago a number of years ago.  A friend of mine took me to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba, a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant developed by Rich Melman.  It's said that Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba was the first tapas restaurant in Chicago when it opened in 1985.  

(A side note - after going to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba, I was telling my late father that I had gone to a tapas bar with a friend.  Knowing that my friend was a woman, he said, "Why in the hell would she take you to a topless bar?"  Dad, no - a TAPAS bar, not a topless bar...)  

Tapas bars caught on quickly in the greater Chicagoland area after the success of Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba and today there are over two dozen places that specialize in Mediterranean small plates in the region.  But Tapas Barcelona may be the most authentic.

Giovanni "Gio" Garelli grew up in his parent's tapas restaurant in Seville, Spain.  His parents were both of Italian ancestry, but moved to Spain and ran a tapas bar for nearly 50 years.  Garelli wanted to see the world, so he struck out to America and ended up in Chicago in the 1980's.  Garelli worked in some of the finest restaurants in Chicago in the 80's and 90's before becoming involved as the managing partner in Grappo, an upscale Italian restaurant, in the early 90's.  

At the same time he was working at Grappo, he came up with a concept for an authentic tapas bar of which small plate restaurants were still sort of a novelty in Chicago.   Using recipes from his family's tapas restaurant in Spain, all he needed was a spot in which to put his restaurant.  He found a space in downtown Evanston not far from Northwestern University that had seating for 100 inside, and seating for another 80 people on the wide sidewalk patio in front of the restaurant in warmer months, similar to many tapas restaurants found in Spain.  Garelli opened Tapas Barcelona in 1995.  

Garelli continues to travel to Spain two or three times a year to come up with more ideas and recipes for Tapas Barcelona.  But his staples on the menu haven't changed in years.  Garelli's goal is to transport his patrons back to Spain and to have a true tapas experience without leaving Evanston.    

We had reservations for 7:00 p.m. and we pulled up in front of Tapas Barcelona just before that.  (see map) We found some parking just down the street on Chicago Ave. and went inside.  

They had our table ready for us and the hostess put us next to one of the windows at the front of the restaurant and she dropped off a couple menus.  It was a pretty cold evening and the windows on the front side of Tapas Barcelona are designed to open in warmer weather.  And the metal panes weren't sealed all that well, especially at the bottom.  We ended up putting our coats on the ledge under the window to keep the cold air from seeping in.  But it was still chilly in there.  

The restaurant was quite cozy with the tables in close proximity.  Banquette seating with tables were along one wall.  The floor was a series of checkered tiles with a lot of wood accents for half-walls and trim around the room.  

The bar area faced the front as you walk into Tapas Barcelona.  We didn't notice a lot of people hanging at the bar while we were there.  But there was a steady crowd that was coming in and out of the restaurant.  We took that as a good sign considering it was a mid-week night when we went.     

Our waitress came over to greet us and to take our drink order.  She had a heavy accent and I thought that she said her name was Claudia, but when I got the bill later on that evening it said her name was Clara.  She rolled her "r" so effectively that I thought she said "Claudia".  She looked like a young Salma Hayek and she was definitely Spanish.  I got a glass of their house-made sangria while my wife ordered the "Trip to Spain" - vodka and Grand Marnier mixed with cranberry juice.  

There were so many interesting sounding items on the menu at Tapas Barcelona that I really didn't know which way to go.  We just decided to jump in and start ordering things until we got full.  After we finished our drinks, we ordered up a bottle of the Bodegas Faustino VII Tempranillo, a hearty red from the Rioja wine region in Spain.   

The first thing we got was the Hojaldre Catalan - a Catalonian puffed pastry with sautéed salmon, scallops and chopped tomatoes in a garlic butter sauce.  This was absolutely scrumptious.  The puffed pastry was light and a nice complement with the sautéed seafood with the chopped tomatoes garnishing the dish.  

The other item we ordered right off the bat was the Pulpito a la Plancha - grilled baby octopus with charred endive (escarole).  This wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but it was still very tasty.  The octopus had a forward charred taste to it and it cut apart very easily.  

Our 2nd round consisted of the Salpicon de Mariscos - basically a Spanish ceviche with chunks of lobster, shrimp, calamari and octopus marinated with lime and served with some olive oil and lemon wedges.  Chopped green, orange and red bell peppers came with the ceviche.  That, too, was excellent.  

My wife thought she needed some grilled vegetables, so we ordered up the Vegetables del Tiempo.  They consisted of sliced tomatoes, asparagus spears, zucchini and egg plant and were served with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil.   I let my wife concentrate on that plate as I was trying to eat most of the ceviche.  

We thought we'd better go with some meat items for our next round and I ordered up the Chuletitas de Cordero - baby lamb chops in a red wine sauce served with couscous on the side.  The lamb chops were tender and easy to cut.  They were cooked to a perfect medium and the sauce just enhanced the taste of the lamb.  My wife likes couscous and she concentrated more on that than the lamb - which left more for me!  

The other meat plate we ordered was the Pincho de Solomillo - grilled beef tenderloin skewers served caramelized onions.  A whipped horseradish sauce came on the side with the beef skewers.  The beef skewers were cooked to a medium rare temperature and very tender to the bite.  It was tough to say which I liked better between the baby lamb chops and the beef tenderloin skewers.  

There were a couple other things that we were thinking of getting - the Chipirones a la Plancha which were grilled squid with lemon, garlic and olive oil; the Albondigas con Tomate - beef meatballs with potatoes in a tomato sauce; and the Queso de Cabra Con Tomate - baked goat cheese in a tomato sauce.  My wife thought about the Pollo al Whisky - grilled chicken with roasted potatoes in a roasted garlic sauce.  But we decided that we'd had enough and wanted to get some dessert.

They had a vanilla flan with a light sugar syrup on the dessert menu that we selected.  A mint leaf came as a garnish on the flan.  Spongy, soft and creamy with a thin layer of caramelized caramel on the top, it was a great compliment to the meal. 

But they also had a Bizcocho Borracho in the menu - basically a tiramisu with a cream sauce.  Since we couldn't make up our mind which one to get, we got both.  I will say that the flan was much better than the tiramisu.  

Going to a tapas bar had been something my wife and I had wanted to do together for a long time.  And Tapas Barcelona turned out to be the perfect time for us to enjoy tapas together.  The food options were all interesting and what we had didn't disappoint us - maybe other than the Spanish tiramisu.  But the seafood selections, the lamb and beef dishes, even the grilled vegetable dish that my wife had was very good.  Clara was certainly patient with us as we navigated the menu trying to figure out what we wanted to get during our time there.  Tapas Barcelona was a great diversion from our usual restaurants and one that was a very good choice for a birthday dinner for my wife.  

Countryside Saloon - Des Plaines, IL

Sometime last year, I was stuck in traffic on Dempster Ave. in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines.  There was a wreck and traffic was backing up before the Tri-State Tollway.  I decided to take a bit of a cross-country trip through some back streets where I ended up on Ballard Road.  As I was driving along just before the Tri-State Tollway bridge on Ballard Road, I passed a roadhouse restaurant that I was unfamiliar with.  I was like, "Huh!  I've been coming here for years and never knew this place existed!"  When I got around the traffic jam and back to the hotel a little later on, I looked the place up on the internet.  Turns out the Countryside Saloon had been around since the days of Prohibition and they were a local favorite.  Well, I like finding places the locals like to go to during my travels and I put the Countryside Saloon on my places to visit.  On a recent visit back to Chicago I made it my goal to get back to the Countryside Saloon and check the place out.  

It's rather ironic that a drinking establishment is owned by a guy named Bar.  Cornell Bar had his own construction business in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and was helped in his business by his wife Janet.  His sister Weslie was married to Joe Bellini whose family ran an Italian restaurant/pizzeria on N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.  In the mid-1980's, an old tavern along Ballard Road came up for sale.  The place needed a lot of work, but with Cornell Bar's background in construction, they already had that taken care of.  The Bars and Bellinis took possession of the place in 1986 and set about to give it a needed update.  

The remodeling took some time as the group put in new floors, raised the ceiling inside the building, built an outdoor deck, removed paint that was on the original pine wood walls inside the tavern.  New gables over the entrances, a new paint job on the outside and vines were planted that - word has it - were plucked from the outfield walls at Wrigley Field finished the exterior work.  With Joe Bellini in charge of the kitchen, Countryside Saloon opened in 1987.  

It was just after 5 p.m. when I pulled into the parking lot at Countryside Saloon.  (see map)  Going into the bar I found an array of festive holiday lights strung around the bar.  I was hoping to belly up to the bar, but all the seats around the square bar were filled with the after work crowd.

The bar had a number of televisions hung around the area.  I figured this would have been a great place to watch sporting events given the number of large flatscreen televisions throughout the bar.  The only problem is that they were a proud and unabashed Wisconsin bar and would showcase University of Wisconsin sports when they were on TV.  For an Iowa Hawkeyes fan, that would have been a bit difficult to stomach.  

Off to the side of the bar area was one of the two dining rooms in Countryside Saloon.  This was a cozy little room with more flatscreens hung along the four walls offering diners a chance to watch a game from different angles. 

I ended up sitting in the great room off the other side of the bar.  This room looked like it had been added onto the original restaurant building with a nice patio area outside.  There was a smaller room in the back of the great room that they were setting up for a group that evening.  

I was handed a menu and started to look through it.  I figured that I was going to get a pizza, but I wanted to check out what else they had to offer.  Of course, they had a wide array of appetizers including wings, fried pickles and a house-made stuffed artichoke with garlic, cheese and breadcrumbs.  There was a Italian restaurant in suburban Kansas City that I used to go to years ago that had a great stuffed artichoke and it brought back some good memories.  

They also had salads, soups and wraps on the menu along with a number of sandwiches including a grilled tuna sandwich, a classic Italian beef sandwich, and a pulled pork sandwich.  They had a full selection of burgers including turkey burgers, veggie burgers and Impossible burgers.  Main entrees included baby back ribs, a fried chicken dinner, and a grilled tuna steak.  

As the waitstaff's flurried activity of getting the back room ready, it was fully evident that they had forgotten about me.  That's one of the bad things about dining alone - you can get looked over pretty easily if you're seated in a dining area.  Finally, I caught the attention of one of the managers - who had passed me a number of times - to let her know that I would like to order up something to drink.  She apologized profusely and directed a young lady to come over to take my order.  

That young lady - Alexa - came over with a menu and saw that I already had one.  She asked if I wanted something to drink and I ordered a Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA.  I also told her that I was ready to order something to eat - I figured it was best to get that out of the way sooner than later given how disjointed the staff was trying to get the room in the back set up.  She realized she didn't have her order pad with her.  She scooted away for a moment to grab something to write on.  

When she came back, well, of course, I ordered my usual sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza.  I got a small 10-inch size (they also have 12", 14", 16" and 18" pizzas) and all their pizzas are thin crust pizzas.  It was cut in the classic Chicago tavern-style way.  The pizza was burnt on the edges - a trademark the Bellini family has had for over 30 years. And they had the holy trinity of oregano flakes, red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese on the table to go along with the pizza.  

The pizza itself was just OK, however.  The sauce was pretty bland, the Italian sausage was bland, as well.  I got a bit of a fennel flavor from time to time, but it wasn't that robust Chicago-style fennel Italian sausage taste that I crave.  The oregano flakes and the red pepper flakes helped the overall flavor of the pizza, but I was pretty disappointed in both the sauce and the Italian sausage.  

I was a bit disappointed in Countryside Saloon.  I thought that it could be a new hangout for me when I'm in the Des Plaines area, but the service was choppy and the pizza wasn't one of the best I've had.  And, you know, it may be a good place to catch a game if I'm in the area as they did have a pretty good selection of craft beers to choose from.  It seemed to be a popular place and they seemed to be carrying out a lot of pizzas to other tables, so maybe I need to give their pizza another try at some point.  But I can think of three or four other Chicago tavern-style pizza places in the area that I would probably go to before I go back to Countryside Saloon.   

Crust Brewing - Rosemont, IL

I was in Chicago on a recent trip staying out in the Des Plaines/Rosemont area as I like to do when I go to Chicago for business.  One afternoon, I was looking for some place to get something to eat near the hotel and I found that there was a new brew pub that specialized in Neapolitan pizzas in a spot where the Hofbrauhaus used to be.  I decided to head over to Crust Brewing to check the place out.  

The father/son duo of Joe and Mike Matuschka were the ones behind the Hofbrauhaus, a franchise of the world famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany.  They opened their Hofbrauhaus in 2013 in Rosemont's entertainment district and followed it up with a St. Petersburg, FL location in 2015.  They ended up selling the St. Petersburg Hofbrauhaus in 2017 to focus solely on the Rosemont location. 

The Matuschka's were no strangers to the hospitality business in Chicago as they owned the famous Crobar dance club before closing it in 2010.  In 2011, Mike Matuschka opened Leader Bar, a popular eatery on W. Irving Park Road and soon opened a German tavern Uberstein in the Wrigleyville area.  They were also involved in the Max Bar, a dance club in the Lincoln Park neighborhood that opened in 2006.  While Mike Matuschka still owns Leader Bar, he closed Max Bar and Uberstein to focus on Hofbrauhaus soon after it opened in 2013.  

At 20,000 square feet, Hofbrauhaus was a giant beer hall with German music and large enough to handle the big crowds that would visit the restaurant during their annual Oktoberfest celebrations.  For six weeks in the fall, Hofbrauhaus was the place to be for all things German.  (Note - I visited Hofbrauhaus in 2015 to try their food and beers.  Click here to see Road Tips write up on the Hofbrauhaus.)   

But, like everything, things change.  The public trend of getting away from heavy German food was weighing heavily on the Hofbrauhaus.  And it became apparent that the beer hall couldn't sustain its overall business just on Oktoberfest revenues.  There were proposals put forth to cut down on the size of the Hofbrauhaus to possibly half the original size.  The pandemic was the death knell for Hofbrauhaus as the Matuschka's were forced to close the restaurant in February 2021.  

However, the Matuschka's still held the lease on the space and went to the city of Rosemont - who owns the property - with a proposal to change Hofbrauhaus into a brewery/pizza restaurant.  They still had the brewing facilities that they had purchased from Germany on site, and changing out the layout of the space to put in a new kitchen and a large bar in the center of the restaurant had to be approved by the Rosemont village government.  

After the approval was made, work started on the new venture in the spring of 2021 with hopes to be open in the summer of 2021.  However, like many construction projects started during the pandemic, it was plagued by delays due to supply chain issues.  The new Crust Brewery opened in February of 2022 in the south side of the building.  In the other half, Pete's Dueling Piano Bar - which originally had opened in the Rosemont entertainment district years ago before closing - took up about 5,000 square feet of the former Hofbrauhaus, while Pete's Tiki Tiki, a tiki bar, took the remaining 1,000 or so square feet of the building.  

I pulled up to Crust Brewing around 1:30 p.m. on a weekday.  (see map)  I was lucky to get a parking spot in front of the restaurant as there is a large (paid) parking garage that's a bit of a walk from Crust.   

The center piece of the restaurant was a large rectangular bar that featured a number of flat panel televisions on the sides.  I had my choice of sitting somewhere in the restaurant, but I decided to belly up to the bar. 

Directly behind the bar was part of the main room dining area. On the brick walls was the Crust logo with more flatscreen televisions.  Thick wooden-topped tables under direct LED lighting were waiting for customers to fill them up.  This was dubbed the cocktail bar area and could be cordoned off for private events.  

To the far right side was a modern and sleek open kitchen including a large pizza oven and a grill area.  Long tables for larger groups or communal dining were in front of the kitchen.  In all, Crust had a number different spots that could accommodate large and small groups.  

Opposite from the kitchen toward the front end of the restaurant, just over a half wall with glass partitions was another dining space that featured booths and tables.  Near the front door was a small bar area that could be used for private parties for drinks and hors d' oeuvres.  In all, the inside dining areas at Crust can seat 350 people with another 100 seats available on the patio during warmer months.  

In a room just steps from the bar were the large vats for brewing the beer on the premises.  Rob Hunter was the brewmaster during the Hofbrauhaus days and was sort of forced to follow the beer recipes handed down from the original Hofbrauhaus in Munich.  With the shackles off, Hunter has explored other style of beers including 8 regular varieties along with occasional seasonal beers. 

It wasn't all that busy that afternoon and the diverse music selections they had playing over the sound system from the likes of Loren Gray, Clayton Anderson, Mark Ronson, and the English rock band James were a nice background distraction from the sports and news talking heads shown on the televisions around the restaurant.  

Sitting at the bar, I was handed a food menu by one of the two bartenders working that day.  A young man and a young lady, the two tag-teamed on the service duties for me.   The young lady gave me a beer menu to look over and I immediately saw that they had a hazy IPA - the Hazed & Confused - on the beer list.  I ordered a pint of that beer to enjoy while I looked over the food menu.  

The first thing on the menu were the shareable appetizers that included a spinach dip with focaccia bread, spicy cheese curds, beer-steamed mussels, and crostini bread slices served with a creamy burrata cheese.  They also had a handful of salads on the menu in which protein items such as grilled shrimp, marinated skirt steak, and lemon garlic salmon could be added to the greens.  Crust also featured a few sandwiches and burgers on the menu with sides such as truffle fries, onion rings, and mac & cheese available.  

But their big pull are their wood-fired pizzas.  All the pizzas at Crust are 12" in size and cut into sixths.  And they feature a choice of either a red or white sauce on the pizza.  There were a dozen specialty pizzas on the menu with the red sauce and 10 different types of specialty pizzas with the white sauce.  Pizzas with individual choices of toppings were available as well.

I certainly didn't want a pizza for lunch - I was going out for dinner with a client later that evening.  But I felt that I needed something to tide me over for the meanwhile.  I ended up getting the basic cheeseburger with American cheese, grilled onions, and something called a "fat boy" sauce.  It was served on some wax paper on a small baking sheet.  For an extra $2 bucks I got a side of their parmesan truffle fries.  

The burger was good - the bun was a little stiff, but it didn't detract from the overall taste of the burger.  The burger was juicy and flavorful, cooked to a perfect medium with a hint of pink in the middle.  The cheese oozed off the sides of the burger patty and the onions didn't overpower the flavor.  The fries were fine - and there were plenty of them.  Overall, I'd call it above average all the way around.  

Possibly in the future I'll head back to Crust Brewery for a pizza at some point, but for now the burger I had for lunch gave me an introduction to the place.  Even though the place is big, I didn't feel like I was eating in a cavernous establishment.  The service I had from the two bartenders - especially from the very attentive female bartender - was superb.  I enjoyed the burger and the hazy IPA beer they had on tap was also very good.  I'm sure it can get pretty busy at times at Crust - the entertainment district can get sort of crowded, especially at night.  But for a leisurely lunch with a burger and a couple beers, I sort of liked going to Crust Brewery.  

Mel's Craft BBQ - Park Ridge, IL

This one really hurts. As you may (or may not know) I usually write up posts for Road Tips weeks in advance of publication. Sometimes it happens that a restaurant I was in just weeks before ends up closing after I wrote up the critique of the place.  And that's what happened with this particular place - a neighborhood rib joint that I was looking forward to going back to not long after I originally visited the place.  

In early December of 2023 the owner announced that he was closing for good.  But he was holding out hope that someone would sweep in and buy his lease, as well as all the smokers and furniture in the restaurant.  What really hurts - and this is the spoiler alert - it was excellent barbecue and would have been on my regular rotation of restaurants to go to when I stay in the O'Hare area near Rosemont and Des Planes.  This is the edited story of my one - and only - trip to Mel's Craft BBQ in Park Ridge, IL.  

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The "Mel" behind Mel's BBQ is Mel Thillens whose grandfather owned a check-cashing business, but was more famous for building Thillens Stadium, a combination baseball/softball field that held championship games for Little League baseball and was known as the premier venue for Chicago's famous 16" softball championships.  Thillens Field may have been the site where the first centerfield camera was used during telecasts of the citywide Little League tournament in the 1950's.

Mel Thillen's grandfather also started a lucrative armored car company in the 1950's and the family ran the stadium, the check cashing business, and the armored car company for a number of years.  When Mel Thillens, Sr. died in 1993, the family started a foundation that would oversee the stadium.  However, the foundation quickly ran out of money for the upkeep of the stadium and it closed in March of 2005.  The City of Chicago's Park District took over the stadium in 2006 and with financial help from the Chicago Cubs, Thillens Stadium reopened soon thereafter.  

Mel Thillens worked for the family's armored car business, but he was also a community leader in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge.  He served on a number of community boards and committees, and helped advance the Taste of Park Ridge celebration, an annual event that started in 2000.  Thillens also dabbled in politics running for the Illinois state senate in 2016 only to lose to the incumbent state senator.  

Pictured right - Mel Thillens.  Photo courtesy Patch.com  He sort of looks like a "Mel", doesn't he?

But Thillens passion was barbecue.  A number of years ago, Thillens was tasked with doing the food for a large family gathering.  He borrowed a friend's smoker and threw in a few pork butts and stayed up all night watching the fire.  Even though he admitted it wasn't the best pulled pork in the world, he was immediately hooked and continued to smoke meats for friends and family members, eventually branching out into a catering business for parties and events.  Like most people who get into a brick-and-mortar business for barbecue, Thillens was urged by friends, family and catering clients that he really needed to open his own barbecue joint.  

Thillens went on barbecue pilgrimages where he would go to some of the most well-known barbecue joints in Texas to learn how they prepared their smoked meats and learned smoking techniques.  Thillens was able to incorporate many of the techniques he learned from pit masters in Texas into what he was doing back home in Illinois.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Thillens - like many people - sat back and re-evaluated his life.  He realized that it was going to be now or never on opening his own barbecue place.  He set about looking for a place in or near Park Ridge to put his barbecue restaurant.  A former beauty salon had closed up on Main Street in Park Ridge just across from the Metra train tracks.  Thillens leased the building in late 2021 and turned it into an expansive restaurant space with a bar and full kitchen.  

He was able to procure a rotisserie smoker from the M&M BBQ Company, one of the best commercial smokers available.  Using post oak wood for the smoking process, Thillens found the smoker to evenly cook the pork butts, ribs and briskets he would place on the racks.  In May of 2022, Mel's Craft BBQ opened to the public. Initially, Mel's was open just five days a week, but he soon expanded to seven days a week opening at 11 a.m. daily.   

Almost immediately, barbecue aficionados flocked to Mel's Craft BBQ.  A couple three months after Mel's opened, the Chicago Tribune boldly stated that Mel's was the best barbecue in not only the Chicagoland area, but in the whole state of Illinois.  

I don't get to Chicago as often as I used to, so it was later in the 2023 when I finally made it to Mel's Craft BBQ.  The turn-off onto Main Street in downtown Park Ridge always throws me a bit as it's just before the underpass on Touhy Ave.  In fact, I missed it again on my way to Mel's and had to drive around downtown Park Ridge for a bit before I finally pulled up to the place.  (see map) 

Mel's Craft BBQ is located in a long narrow space with brick walls and a bar in the middle of the restaurant.  There were a number of flat screen televisions on the walls along with neon beer signs.  A woman was setting up for trivia the night I was there.  It looked like there were - maybe - 3 teams playing trivia when she finally started up.  

There is a back dining room at Mel's with the ordering counter.   It was a pretty dead night with just a few folks sitting up front and at the bar and no one in the back dining area.  But Mel's was doing a pretty brisk take-out business while I was there. 

The menu at Mel's wasn't all that extensive featuring USDA prime brisket, pulled pork, baby back ribs and smoked turkey. Each day of the week they had a special menu item - on Tuesdays they offer a Greek smoked turkey pita, on Fridays they had a smoked lamb gyro, and on Saturdays they have pastrami beef ribs.  (I made a note to myself to get to Mel's on a Saturday to try those.)  Also on Saturdays and on Sundays, Mel's offered a smoked Italian beef sandwich as their take on a Chicago classic sandwich.

The great thing about Mel's is that they offer 1, 2 or 3 meat platters.  I always like to try a couple things on my first visit to a barbecue joint and this allowed me to try a variety of items.  The only problem was that they were out of ribs by the time I got there that evening.  I wasn't really too fired up with smoked turkey, so I ended up getting the prime brisket and the pulled pork.  Pickles and pickled onions came on the side.  I also got my choice of sides and they had things like mustard slaw, waffle fries, corn bread, and macaroni and queso cheese.  I got the spicy pit beans and the sweet chipotle potato salad.  

They had a condiment station near the fountain pop stand and they had some barbecue sauces there.  They had a sweet molasses sauce and a Texas spicy sauce that had a vinegar base and a nice little peppery kick.  

The one thing I didn't like about Mel's Craft BBQ was that you have to order your food and any beer or alcoholic drink separately.  Well, that's what I thought, any how as I really didn't know the drill since it was my first visit.  I sat down at the bar with my tray of food and the bartender was taking food orders from 3 people seated down the other end of the bar from me.  

When she finally came over to take my drink order, I told her that I didn't know the procedures and I guess I could have ordered at the bar.  The bartender, Michelle, said that she was going to tell me when I walked in and went to the back that I could sit up front and she would take care of me, but she was busy waiting on someone at the bar.  "I'll remember that for the next time," I said to her.  They had a number of good craft beers on tap and I ended up getting the Insufficient Clearance hazy IPA from the Sketchbook Brewing Company out of nearby Evanston, IL.  

And the beer went superbly with the barbecue.  The brisket was off the chain with great flavor and was very tender.  It could easily be cut with a fork.  The bark on the brisket had a wonderful smoky flavor and there was a noticeable smoke ring around the edges.  The pulled pork was also tender and juicy and was just scrumptious.  The Texas spicy vinegar sauce went well with the pulled pork.  And the meat portions were what I would deem as generous.  

And the sides were outstanding, too.  The baked beans were billed as being spicy, but I didn't think they were all that strong, heat wise.  But they had big chunks of pork in them and they were thick and sweet.  The potato salad was also very good.  The chipotle seasoning gave them a bit of a smoky flavor, but the spiciness of the chipotle was off-set by the slight sweet taste mixed in.  I usually don't get potato salad, but the potato salad at Mel's was very good.  

(Note - I wrote this paragraph after I found out that Mel's Craft BBQ had closed last month.)   As you can tell, I'm pretty bummed to learn that Mel's Craft BBQ had closed less than two years after they had opened.  The barbecue was simply outstanding, the sides they offered at Mel's were very good, and they had a good craft beer selection.  Add to that, Michelle was a wonderful bartender and the ambiance of the place made it feel like a really barbecue joint.  If someone were to come in and take over the space for new barbecue place, I'm not certain that it will be as good as the barbecue Mel Thillens made at Mel's Craft BBQ.  

City Works - Schaumburg, IL

Earlier this summer, I was in the northwest Chicago suburb of Schaumburg for a trade show.  Attached to the hotel where the trade show was held was a restaurant where I decided to have lunch at one day.  I took a break and sauntered over to City Works located next to the Hyatt Regency hotel.  

As I'd never been to City Works before, I found out after the fact that it's part of a 9 location chain.  The City Works Eatery and Pour House restaurants are part of the Bottleneck Management Group which got its start in 2001 when college buddies Jason Akemann and Nate Hilding opened Trace, a two-story rock and roll-themed restaurant in Chicago's Wrigleyville neighborhood.  Akemann and Hilding ran the business for six years before they decided to expand their holdings with a new restaurant in the Wicker Park area.  In order to pull that off, they enlisted the help of another college friend, Chris Bisallion.  

Bisallion and Hilding grew up in a small town south of Chicago.  They both ended up at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL and that's where both met Akemann.  After college, Bisallion worked at an investment firm for a number of years working his way up to a regional vice-president.  With the company getting ready to expand, Bisallion joined Bottleneck Management in 2007 in charge of site acquisitions.  The group then opened the Boundary, a neighborhood sports bar that closed in 2019.

Pictured right - Chris Bisallion, Jason Akemann and Nate Hilding.  Photo courtesy Illinois Wesleyan University.  

From there Bottleworks Management opened Sweetwater Tavern + Grill along Michigan Ave. in Chicago in 2010.  (Many may remember the space as the old Bennigan's restaurant that had a high profile along one of the world's most famous streets.)  Other restaurants followed including the 2011 opening of South Branch in the Chicago Loop and Old Town Pour House in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood in 2013.  That same year, they opened a second Old Town Pour House location in Oak Brook.  Today, there are two other Old Town Pour House locations - one in far west suburban Naperville and another location in Gaithersburg, MD, the groups first foray outside of the state of Illinois.  

In 2016, Bottleworks Management opened the first City Works Eatery and Pour House in Minneapolis.  The City Works concept beyond what their Old Town Pour House restaurants offered.  It offered an upscale sports bar experience with 90 beers on tap - many that were from local breweries in the Twin Cities area.  A Philadelphia-area City Works came on line in 2016, while a third one opened near Pittsburgh in 2017.  Other City Works Eatery and Pour House locations opened in Doral, FL, Frisco, TX, and Fort Worth, TX.  City Works locations opened in Ohio, Florida, and Massachusetts after that.  

It wasn't until 2019 when Bottleneck Management brought the City Works concept to the Chicagoland area by opening the City Works in Schaumburg.  There are two other City Works Eatery and Pour House locations in the far northern suburbs of Vernon Hills and Wheeling.    

The dining area at City Works is a large open space with wooden beams across the ceiling.  A long bar with a number of flat-screen television hung on the wall behind the bar showing various sports, but primarily Chicago White Sox baseball that day.  A line of booths filled up about half the restaurant while tables and chairs were between the booths and the bar.  

They have outside dining at City Works, as well.   It looked like a nice area to dine or to hang out in the sun and I was sort of surprised that more people weren't taking advantage of the patio as it was nice weather that day.  I did notice that only a couple tables had umbrellas and they weren't open.  I would have thought more emphasis would have been placed on putting people on the patio.  

Since I was a single diner, I ended up sitting at the bar.  I parked myself in front of a large flat screen television with the baseball game on.  Three guys were working behind the long bar and it was a flurry of activity going on.  Finally, one of the bartenders with the name of Jason came over to greet me and to drop off a food menu.  He asked me what to drink and since they had 40 beers on tap, I had to take a minute to digest the beer menu.  

The beer list was on the wall on the far end of the restaurant area.  It featured a lit board with removable slats with the listed beers where they could easily change out for rotation purposes that was mounted to a decorative stone wall.   The majority of the taps are dedicated to local craft beers such as Metropolitan, Two Brothers and Short Fuse Brewing - all three that I have visited or have drank their beers before.  In the mood for a hazy IPA that day, I ordered up a Son of Juice hazy from the Maplewood Brewery and Distillery on N. Maplewood in Chicago.    

As I checked the menu, I immediately saw that they were in brunch.  Well, I didn't want brunch.  I wanted a burger or a sandwich or something completely different from the brunch offerings they had .  When Jason came over to take my food order, I told him that I wasn't in the mood for brunch and that I'd probably just finish up my beer and go grab lunch some other place.  "Wait a minute," he said as he pulled the brunch menu away from me.  "Let me see if I can get them to do something off the regular menu for you."  

He came back moments later out of the kitchen just off the bar and handed me a regular menu.  "Yeah, they said it would be no problem," he said.  I was more than impressed that he was able to accommodate me.  

And, man, did they have a lot of stuff on the menu to choose from.  They had a number of appetizers for single orders or to share with two or more people.  City Works also had a large variety of soups and salads for the offering, and they had a good number of burgers and chicken sandwiches to choose from.  They had pasta dishes and barbecued ribs on the menu, along with main entrées such as a bone-in center-cut pork chop, a peppercorn-crusted rare ahi tuna steak, and a grilled chicken breast served with a mix of white rice, andouille sausage and succotash with a creole butter/chile oil mixture.  They also had a few vegetarian options on the menu, something that I had suddenly been keen on seeing on menus because I work with a guy who is a vegetarian.  

The ahi tuna steak sounded really good, but then I saw the tacos section.  City Works had Chicken Tinga tacos, brisket tacos, barbecued pulled pork tacos, mahi mahi (albeit battered) tacos, and spicy shrimp tacos.  But the one that jumped out at me were the ahi tuna tacos.  I figured that these would tie me over until dinner that night where I was going to have a good ol' thin-crust REAL Chicago-style tavern pizza.  

The soft flour tacos were filled with poké-style ahi tuna and topped with an asian slaw mixture with pickled green chiles, chopped cilantro and served with a sesame ginger vinaigrette that had a cool, yet spicy bite to it.   The ahi tuna tacos were simply outstanding.  There were so many taste variations going on that I swear I must have said, "Mmmmm...." with nearly each bite I took of the tacos.  The homemade crispy tortilla chips on the side were more for decoration for me as I concentrated on the wonderful ahi tuna tacos.  

When Jason asked me how the tacos were, I had my mouth somewhat full and I gave him the thumbs up.  He was still in front of me when I swallowed my bite and before I took my next bite, I said, "These are a spot-hitter!"  

About the only sour aspect of my visit to City Works was this note at the bottom of my ticket: "Due to increased costs of operations, a 3% surcharge has been added to all checks.  This charge may be removed from dining room checks upon your request."  Look, I understand that profit margins in restaurants can be razor thin.  Alcohol is definitely a profit center for many of these restaurants while food costs continue to rise.  And I suppose that the 3% surcharge is cheaper than reprinting about 150 menus with higher food prices.  Still, I just see it as another sneaky fee - like credit card surcharges that are popping up all over the place - that restaurants are starting to implement.  I liken it to a baggage fee that airlines charge passengers.  

With all that said - I didn't ask for the charge to be removed.

Even knowing now that City Works is a small chain, I would have no problem heading back in for another meal if I were to find one in my travels.  The food selection was varied and interesting, the ahi tuna tacos that I had on this visit were outstanding, and the beer selection was top-notch.  And I have to give my bartender/server Jason a shout out for allowing me to order off the regular menu as they were in the midst of brunch and I didn't want brunch.  City Works was a pleasant find in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago. 

Toscana - Arlington Heights, IL

In the northwest suburbs of Chicago earlier this year, I took an account for dinner at an Italian restaurant that I thought I had been to before.  It was located in a strip mall in Arlington Heights, the food was good, and it was a nice place.  When I went back to check in on the blog post that I had the restaurant I thought was at, it turned out it was (the now-closed) Via Arenella that I had been to.  And then I found that they had closed in September of 2019.  So, now I was confused as to the restaurant I took my client to for dinner.  Back in the northwest Chicago suburbs this past summer for a trade show, I decided to go back to Toscana to give them another try.  

For over a dozen years, the Murati family has been dishing out Italian specialties at Toscana in Arlington Heights.  They opened a second restaurant - Toscani - in west suburban Wood Dale in 2015.  That restaurant closed in 2019 with the family focusing primarily on the Arlington Heights location.  

I worked for a guy years and years ago who was my mentor when it came to finer dining.  He was a large fan of Italian cooking and we dined many times in the some very good Italian restaurants when I worked for him.  One of his rules of thumb is that any Italian restaurant in a strip mall was bad.  I've since found that thought process to be bullshit as I've dined in a number of Italian restaurants located in strip malls over the years and the vast majority of them have been good to outstanding.  Toscana is located in a strip mall at the corner of W. Central Road and S. Old Wilke Ave. in Arlington Heights.  (see map)  Parking is more than plentiful in front of the restaurant.  

Inside Toscana you'll find a cozy place with murals on the walls of a Mediterranean village.  There is a bar area that is more of a place where they stack items from time to time with no seating available.  Tables and booths are interspersed around the dining area of the restaurant.

I was seated in a booth along the front window area and was given a menu to look over.  I had just been there about 3 months prior and was somewhat familiar with what Toscana had to offer.  

My server for the evening was a young lady by the name of Heidi.  She looked like Heidi  - cheery disposition, welcoming attitude, making a solo diner feel as comfortable as possible.  She asked me what I would like to drink and I ordered a Peroni to start out.  

The menu at Toscana is pretty extensive with Italian favorites.  They have a lot of pasta dishes with the pasta made in-house that feature red or white sauces.  There were a lot of seafood pasta options on the menu, as well as chicken, veal and seafood dishes.  A few things jumped out at me including the baked gnocchi bolognese made with meatballs and Italian sausage, the linguini broccoli and shrimp sounded good, as did the traditional chicken parmigiana.  

I made my choice for dinner and I had a choice of soup or salad.  I ordered the salad with the house Italian dressing.  The only problem is that Heidi brought out ranch dressing.  When I pointed out that I had ordered the Italian dressing, Heidi sort of jumped back and said, "Oh, my gosh!  I'm so sorry!  I'll get some for you right away."  She was back in a jiffy with the Italian dressing.  House-baked bread was accompanied by oil and vinegar.  The salad greens were fresh, the Italian dressing was flavorful and tangy, and the bread helped sop up some of the dressing at the bottom of the bowl.  

You've probably noticed that I tend to get ravioli or tortellini when I order at an Italian restaurant.   I love meat filled ravioli or tortellini.  But I don't make it at home because my wife doesn't care for meat or cheese filled pasta.  So that's why most of time I'll order the ravioli with a marinara sauce.  And this time was no exception.  The meat-filled ravioli was topped with a hearty marinara sauce, but a marsala sauce was available if I wanted it.  I got a glass of the Ruffino Chianti - a modest-priced meaty red Italian that is one of my wife's favorite wines - to go with the meal.  The pillowy ravioli were large and filled with tender short rib beef.  There were seven ravioli on the plate, but they were large and pretty filling.  It was a great Italian meal.  

While I was confused with which restaurant was which when it came to Italian restaurants in the area, on my two trips to Toscana they did very well and then some.  Both times the service was top-notch and I have to give Heidi a shout-out for taking care of me so well this particular evening.  I'm almost certain that as good as the beef short rib ravioli in the marinara sauce is at Toscana, most every other dish they have on the menu is equally as good.  It doesn't matter if an Italian restaurant is in a strip mall or not - if the food is good, it's good.  And Toscana is good Italian food.  

Brandt's of Palatine - Palatine, IL

In the northwest suburbs of Chicago this past summer for a trade show, I decided to get out for some lunch one day to take a break from talking with people.  I was looking for a basic burger/beer joint that wasn't far from the venue and I did a quick search on Google to see what may be in the area.  A quick review of this place said, "If you want a great burger and cold beer, this is the place."  I punched in the address for Brandt's of Palatine and set off to get a burger and a beer.  

Brandt's is located at the corner of Northwest Highway and N. Quentin Road in Palatine.  (see map)  I pulled into the parking lot and spied what appeared to be what was originally an old farmhouse.  It turns out that the building has a lot of history behind it - and some of it involves a somewhat shady past.  

The original building was built in the 1870's and it was originally on a farm in what would be modern day Inverness, IL known as the Wilson Farm.  It was at the start of Prohibition in the United States that a Chicago car salesman and part-time taxi driver by the name of Roger Touhy found that making illegal beer was more lucrative than selling cars.  He joined a local bootlegger by the name of Matt Kolb who Touhy had sold a car to.   After moving to the northwest suburbs in the 1920's, Touhy and Kolb had the water in the area tested by a chemist and it was found that it was much better than the water found in Chicago at that time and that was critical in making good beer.  Touhy found a water supply in a nearby stream from the Wilson Farm and turned one of the barns into a brewery.  

Kolb and Touhy's beer became famous amongst the gangsters in the Chicago area and it was said that Al Capone and other gang leaders at the time bought barrels of Touhy's beer to sell at speakeasy's in the greater Chicago area.  It was said that at its peak in the mid-20's, the brewery was capable of making 1,000 barrels (55 gallons each) of beer a week and they realized a profit of about $50 bucks each - about $850 dollars in today's money.  Touhy used much of the profits to pay off local authorities for protection and to look the other way.  

The brewery was discovered in 1928 by federal agents who raided the place.  It was said that $50,000 worth of brewing equipment was destroyed in the raid (that's about $850,000 in today's money), but there have been disputes that Touhy may have been able to pay off local authorities before the equipment was destroyed.  It was the largest illegal operation found in Cook County during Prohibition. 

In 1930, the Maple Grove Inn which stood at the present day site of Brandt's was destroyed by fire.  Touhy and Kolb bought the property and moved the farmhouse to the spot of the former Inn.  It served as a speakeasy up until the end of Prohibition in 1933 and as a casino after that.  Roger Touhy and Matt Kolb were a small-time gangsters compared to the operations Al Capone had in the city and suburbs.  The business relationship between the two had soured and Capone started to make a move on Touhy's small operation in the far northwest suburbs.  Kolb was eventually killed by Capone's henchmen in 1932 outside his club in Morton Grove, IL.  

Touhy was able to convince local authorities that he needed protection from Capone's gang and it was in their best interests to keep Capone out of the northwest suburbs.  Several attempts to take over Touhy's operation were made by Capone's squad, but they were repelled each time by off-duty police officers assigned to guard Touhy and his business.  

Pictured right - Roger Touhy in his mugshot from Stateville Prison

Capone was finally able to get the best of Touhy by framing him in a set-up kidnapping of Jake Factor whose brother - Max Factor - had become a multi-millionaire with his line of make-up and beauty products.  However, Jake was part of Capone's gang and they set-up the kidnapping to make it appear Touhy was the mastermind.  After the $50,000 "ransom" was paid by Jake Factor's wife, Capone was able to plant evidence from the kidnapping to make it appear that Touhy was behind the abduction.  Touhy was found guilty of kidnapping and was sent to prison in 1934.  Capone's gang was able to come in and take over Touhy's operation after Touhy was sentenced.  

(Touhy was eventually pardoned and was set free in 1959.  He was killed by what was described as remnants of Capone's old gang less than a month after he walked out of prison.)  

Federal pressure on gangs, Capone's own conviction on tax evasion and World War II brought much of the criminal enterprise in the Chicagoland area to an end.  After the war, Nick and Al's Friendly Inn occupied the building and later on it was known as the Pickwick House and later the Hob Nob Restaurant.  It was in 1969 when the Brandt family took over the restaurant.  

Joe and Romelda Brandt moved from Detroit to the northwest Chicago suburbs in 1946.  The Brandts opened their first restaurant The Highway Inn soon after they moved to the area.  The Highway Inn eventually became Brandt's Restaurant and Lounge with their daughter Patricia helping out in the business.  In 1964, the Brandts bought the Hob Nob Restaurant and turned it into Brandt's Little Cafe.  Patricia Brandt eventually married George Grisco and the couple took over ownership from Joe and Romelda Brandt in the 70's.  

Patricia Brandt Grisco passed away in 2001 and it became a struggle for George Grisco to keep up the restaurant.  Property taxes in Palatine - which annexed the area around Brandt's Little Cafe in 1987 - were skyrocketing with more people and businesses moving into the area.  In the early 90's, property taxes were about $1000 a month.  20 years later, they were nearly $5000 a month.  George Grisco got behind in his property taxes and Cook County foreclosed on the business in 2011.  It was set to go on the auction block in early 2013 when two Palatine residents stepped up to buy the place.  

Jimmy Iuorio and Walt Oswald grew up in Palatine and went to Brandt's with their families starting in the 70's.  Both had forged out lucrative careers - Iuorio was a futures trader and Oswald has a longtime executive at Motorola who had just recently opened his own information technology consulting firm.  The two paired up to pay the back taxes and other bills that Grisco no longer could take care of and bought the place in January of 2013.  

Pictured left - Walt Oswald and Jimmy Iuorio.  Photo courtesy Palatine Patch.   

Because of George Grisco's situation, the old building was in need of some serious repairs.  Oswald and Iuorio renovated and updated much of the restaurant over a 3 month period.  They hired back about 70 percent of the staff that George Grisco employed up to the end of 2012, and hired some former staff members who had been there previously.  In April of 2013, the rebranded Brandt's of Palatine reopened under the ownership of Oswald and Iuorio.  The pair continue to own the restaurant to this day.  

I pulled into the parking lot at Brandt's around 1:30 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  The outdoor patio next to the main entrance had a wooden roof with plastic roll-down coverings if it started to rain.  There was a patio with tables with umbrellas behind the building.  In the back of the covered patio was a 7-and-a-half-foot tall bottle cap folk art figure that was built by Walt Oswald's brother and given to him just before Oswald and Iuorio opened Brandt's of Palatine.  In the winter months, the large bottle cap figurine holds court in one of the inside dining areas.  

Just inside the front entrance is a small 3-sided bar with a small dining area off to the side.  The dining areas inside and out were packed as motorcyclists, bicyclists, and everyday people were at Brandt's enjoying lunch on a beautiful day.  There was room at the bar and that's where I parked.  

One of the bartenders that day was a lady by the name of Linda.  She worked part-time at Brandt's, usually on the weekends and at night to help out when they were short-staffed or going to be busy.  Linda plopped a menu down in front of me and asked me what I wanted to drink.  They had the Revolution Anti-Hero India pale ale on tap and I asked Linda for one of those.  

I was definitely in a mood for a burger, but I took a look over the menu to see what else they had to offer.  In addition to their burgers, Brandt's is known for their Chicago-style fall-off-the-bone ribs, as well as their chili which is served in the colder months.  Sandwiches included a corned beef sandwich and a reuben.  They had a handful of chicken wraps on the menu as well as grilled cod tacos.  If I wasn't so hellbent for getting a burger that day, I may have gone with the fish tacos.  Shareable appetizers such as cheese curds, potato skins, firecracker shrimp (served in a sweet and spicy boom-boom sauce), and bone-in and boneless chicken wings.  

The burgers at Brandt's consist of 1/2 pound fresh, never-frozen 75% ground chuck and 25% ground loin beef.  You have your choice of six different types of buns or breads to hold the burger, and a lettuce wrap burger is available for people who need a gluten-free option.  8 different types of cheese are available for burgers, as well.  Slider burgers are available, as well as a black & blue burger consisting of a blackened patty and blue cheese.  The Sunrise burger on the menu comes with a fried egg, bacon and cheddar cheese.  

I went with the basic burger with Swiss cheese on a butter bun.  I asked Linda to throw some sautéed mushrooms on the burger, but they didn't make it on the burger.  I reminded her after I had a couple bites and she offered to get me some from the kitchen.  I told her not to worry about it and to make sure I didn't get charged for them.  Lettuce, tomato and a choice of raw or grilled onions came with the burger.  I got a slice of raw onion with mine.  

The sides consisted of a choice of potato - fries, steak fries, sweet potato fries or house-made potato chips - and a choice of either cole slaw or baked beans.  Linda talked me into the baked beans and the steak fries.  

The burger was outstanding.  It had great beef flavor, it was juicy and delectable.  It was one of those burgers where I bit into it and went, "Mmmmm...."  The butter bun was light and fluffy, yet held together very well.  I saw that they had dark rye bread available for their burgers (as well as a pretzel bun or potato bun), but I was happy with getting the butter bun.  

I will say that I made a good choice in getting the baked beans.  They had a great sweet barbecue taste to them and were very good.  The steak fries were OK - not the best I've ever had, but they were fine.  But the star of the meal was the great burger.  

Brandt's of Palatine turned out to be a great find for me.  The Swiss cheese burger I had was outstanding and the sides were good.  They had a good selection of beers at Brandt's and the place had a homey and cozy feeling.   The people in and around Palatine have to thank Walt Oswald and Jimmy Iuorio for keeping Brandt's of Palatine going after all these years and for hopefully years to come.  I'm definitely going back at some point.  

 

Blackwood BBQ - Schaumburg, IL

I was in the western Chicago suburbs in the early summer for a trade show that was, well, quite frankly, a waste of time for me.  I mean, it was good to see people and to network.  But it was poorly attended by the people it was meant to attract.  I had finished up at the show one evening and was on the hunt for barbecue.  I did a quick search for barbecue in the Schaumburg and I found a place called Blackwood BBQ.  I put the address into the GPS and moments later I was sitting in the parking lot in front of Blackwood BBQ.  

Blackwood BBQ started as a venture between some like-minded friends a few years ago when the group started to smoke meats at a small store front in Chicago doing mostly catering jobs.  Within a couple years, they opened a sit-down fast-casual restaurant in the Chicago loop.  More downtown locations followed, but the original owners were growth-stymied by a lack of capital investment.

Enter David Sloan and Franklin Buchanan.  The half-brothers were executives with the Naf Naf Grill chain during the companies growth via franchising.  The Middle Eastern fast-casual restaurant started in Naperville in 2009 and expanded to 36 stores in 12 states.  When a private capital company bought Naf Naf Grill in 2016, Sloan and Buchanan stayed on for the transition period.  In 2018, they both left Naf Naf Grill and started their own private capital company - Venture Kitchens - and immediately invested in Blackwood BBQ.  Their investment allowed Blackwood BBQ to open their first location outside of the Chicago city limits in an out-lying building near the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg in 2019.  

Blackwood BBQ is located just off Golf Road at the West Drive entrance to Woodfield Mall in a small strip mall north and west of the mall proper.  (see map)  

The decor inside the Schaumburg Blackwood BBQ featured a sort of rustic look with a number of wood tables with a mist-mash of chairs and benches for people to sit on.  It was the kind of place where rolls of paper towels were on each table to use as napkins.  Strings of lights criss-crossed the area above the dining room.  There was a small bar with a couple flat screen televisions on the wall on the back bar.  Music was wafting through the sound system in the place with songs by diverse artists such as country music icon Buck Owens, 60's one-hit-wonders The Human Beinz, and blues/funk guitarist Black Joe Lewis.   

Being a fast-casual restaurant, the ordering is done at a counter.  The menu is on the wall just before a self-ordering screen.  Blackwood BBQ features beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken and Mikeska sausage. They even had a vegetarian option with a smoked jackfruit.  Sides included charred Brussels sprouts with a maple glaze, mac & cheese, and Mexican-style elotes.   A full bar was available with beers and mixed drinks.  

I was third in line behind two groups who were using the self-ordering screens when one of the guys behind the counter motioned me to come over to him.  He had a thick Eastern European accent - in fact most of the guys behind the counter had a thick accent that was tough to understand.  I placed my order with the guy and he rang me up at the register.  I had ordered a Revolution Brewing Anti-Hero IPA that one of the other guys poured for me over at the bar.  I was given a buzzer disc that went off when they had my order ready to pick up at the counter.

Like most times I go to a barbecue joint that I haven't been to before, I like to get the combo plate.  Blackwood BBQ only offered two choices for their combo and I wanted to get brisket and burnt ends.  "No burnt end," one of the guys behind the counter had said when the guy at the counter who took my order inquired if any were left.  I got the pulled pork instead.  For my sides, I got the cole slaw and the baked beans which had chunks of brisket and pulled pork with sautéed onions and peppers added.  A piece of grilled Texas toast and pickled onions and dill pickles also came with the meal. 

They had six different sauces available on the table to choose from.  The Chicago sauce was a sweet and spicy sauce that was simmered in Old Style beer.  (That was interesting because they didn't offer Old Style at Blackwood BBQ.)  That sauce was all right - I didn't think of it as very spicy, however.  

And of the sauces that I tried, the Chicago was the best.  The sweet and smoky Kansas City-style also had a bit of a spicy kick, but it wasn't all that good.  The sweet and thick Memphis-style sauce was pretty bland.  I tried a bit of the North Carolina vinegar sauce on the pulled pork and it was pretty bland, as well.  I didn't even bother trying the white Alabama-style sauce or the South Carolina mustard sauce.  I like sauce with my barbecue, but these all were pretty underwhelming to me.

The portions, I thought, were rather skimpy, portion-wise.  The brisket featured four small slabs that were thick cut and very moist, but the bark was somewhat sticky and very salty.  The pulled pork was fine, flavorful and juicy.  But there just wasn't enough of it for what I paid for the whole dinner.  I did like the beans and the Chicago-style sauce did help zip up the taste a bit.  The cole slaw was also fine.  I was just disappointed in the meat portions they served. 

I felt that Blackwood BBQ was good, but I also thought it was rather expensive for the meat portions served.  I'm not too keen on fast-casual restaurants that serve beer because it's sort of a pain if you want to get a second beer during the meal and you have to go through the line once again and place your order.  (Sometimes when I encounter fast-casual ordering in restaurants I usually just order two beers or drinks.)  I thought the brisket and the pulled pork at Blackwood BBQ was good.  But I felt there just wasn't enough for what I paid.  

Shakou - Park Ridge, IL

In the Chicago suburbs on a recent trip to the area, I decided that I really needed some sushi one evening.  I wanted to try some place new and a place in Park Ridge caught my eye as I was driving by it a few weeks before - Shakou.  I decided to give the place a try, and then when I got there and got settled in, I realized that I had already eaten at a Shakou location before this.   

I had eaten at the Shakou in St. Charles about about four years ago with a dealer of mine and his wife and I had thought it was very good.  (Click here to see that visit to the St. Charles Shakou.)  The first Shakou opened in far north suburban Libertyville in 2013 by a small group of people who lived there - Ed Hartigan, Aleks Dupor and his wife, Chrissy, and Adam Garvanian.   Aleks Dupor and Garvanian both had extensive histories in the restaurant business and had been friends for over 20 years before going in together - along with Dupor's wife, Chrissy - and coaxing their friend Hartigan out of the investment banking business to start the first Shakou in downtown Libertyville.  The second Shakou opened in St. Charles in April of 2015 and a third location in the far northwestern suburb of Barrington opened in October of that year.  The Park Ridge Shakou opened just over a year ago in late June of 2016.  

The decor is similar to the one out in St. Charles - a distinctive modern style with blue accent lights along the long wall and under that long bar that split from a regular bar to a sushi bar.  Unique lighting arrangements hung from the middle of the room with small Edison-style bulbs inside small glass lamps hanging above the bar.  Contemporary art work also was hung on the walls throughout the place.   

I took a seat at the sushi bar and asked my server for a bottle of Asahi.  They don't have Asahi at Shakou - something that I sort of remembered from my first visit to the St. Charles location.  I ended up getting a bottle of Sapporo instead.  

For starters, I went with a couple rolls each of spicy salmon and spicy tuna.  The rolls were somewhat large, but there were only five thin cut rolls with adequate amounts of ground salmon and tuna in each roll.  The spicy mixture was mixed in with the salmon and tuna rather than using a spicy sauce on top.  Both spicy rolls were very good, but I liked the taste and the consistency of the spicy tuna roll better.  

For sushi, well, I probably went overboard.  I ended up getting two pieces of Blue Fin tuna that they had that evening at a market price.  I also got two pieces each of sake (salmon) and hamachi (yellow tail), and four pieces of the smoked salmon.  Overboard, in that it was a lot of fish - the cuts were very large - and it was also expensive.  The Blue Fin tuna was outstanding with a fatty taste and chewy consistency.  The yellow tail was just all right as it was a bit fishy in taste, but the salmon - and especially the smoked salmon - was very good.  The smoked salmon had a great smoky taste and it was firm and full-bodied.  But I was completely stuffed by the end of the meal.  

Sometimes I forget the names of places I've eaten at in the past, but I wasn't disappointed in finding - and trying - the newest Shakou in Park Ridge.   Like the location I've eaten at in St. Charles, this Shakou had good spicy rolls and very good to outstanding sushi.  The contemporary decor was similar to the St. Charles location, and the service was impeccable.  My only caveat was that it was rather expensive for all that I got.  Other than that, I have no complaints for my visit to Shakou in Park Ridge.  

Preservation Bread & Wine - Geneva, IL

Last fall, I was required to shepherd one of our factory guys from the U.K. around the Midwest.  Thankfully, he was a good guy who I had known from working with a previous company so the nearly 1400 mile journey (then a flight for meetings in Phoenix at the end of the week) was pleasurable enough.  We met up in Chicago to go see dealers there and we ended up our first day seeing one of my accounts in the far western suburbs.  I suggested that my dealer and his wife go out to dinner for us and they suggested one of their favorite places - Preservation Bread & Wine - in Geneva, IL.  My dealer and his wife drove us from their shop over to Geneva to have dinner that evening.   

Lawrence Colburn is a Quad Cities native who grew up in Rock Island.  After high school, he went off to study art in Chicago, but became involved with restaurants working as a highly-trained sommelier in some of the more posh eateries in the city.  Colburn eventually graduated to managing some of the higher-end restaurants in Chicago.  Colburn's love for art, European wines and locally sourced, seasonal foods led to his wish to someday open a restaurant of his own.  

During his days off, he and his daughter, Ella, would ride the trains to some of Chicago's suburbs just to look around at possible sites for a restaurant.  The first time they visited Geneva, Colburn noticed the community had a distinct and welcoming vibe and subsequent weekend visits to the town pretty much reinforced his notion that this was the place to put a restaurant.  In fact, he loved Geneva so much that he moved his family to the area.  

Pictured right - Lawrence Colburn pours a glass of wine for patrons at Preservation Bread & Wine.  Photo courtesy Daily Herald

Colburn found a building not far from the train station in Geneva and renovated the space in late 2009/early 2010.  With everything ready to go, Preservation Bread & Wine opened in June of 2010.  

(In 2016, Colburn took a plunge into another restaurant venture - Atlas Chicken Shack - that is located next door to Preservation Bread & Wine.  It's carry-out only, but there are picnic tables in a small outside walkway between the two buildings.  Colburn sources his chickens from an Amish farmer in northwest Indiana who raises free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free chickens.)

We pulled into a parking lot just down the street from Preservation Bread & Wine which is located on S. 3rd St. in Geneva.  (see map)  Entering the restaurant, I found a small and narrow space with a few high-top tables and a small bar.  I thought, "Wow, this place is really small."  However, it was a beautiful evening and my dealer and his wife wanted to eat out back on the patio.

We went down a long hallway next to the wall and walked out into another four-season room that was a dining room.  And beyond that was a somewhat spacious, yet cozy, outdoor dining area.  Lights were strung above the tables and a small stage was over in the corner of courtyard out back.  They had an open mic night at Preservation Bread & Wine and a young man with an acoustic guitar got up and did a couple songs to start out.  Our hostess who showed us to our seats at a table on the patio went up on stage and did a couple songs with the guitarist later in the evening.  

In the back patio/courtyard area, they had a nice outdoor bar with a wooden arbor above the rectangular bar.  It was much larger than the inside bar.  And it appeared to be a pretty popular spot as it was pretty full most of the time we were there.

This is the small walkway between Preservation Bread and Atlas Chicken Shack.  It, too, was well-lit with hanging strings of lights illuminating the area between the buildings.  

Before she went up to sing a couple songs, our hostess took us to a table on the patio and dropped off menus - both a food menu and a wine menu - for us to look over.   The wine menu was pretty impressive as they had European wines primarily from Italy, France and Spain, but they also had wines from Germany, Croatia and Austria available.  I saw an Argentine malbec on the wine list, as well as a number of wines from the West Coast of the US.   Many of the wines were from smaller and more obscure wineries in California, Oregon and Washington.  I think I was only familiar with 1 or 2 of the wineries they had listed.  But that is one of the hallmarks of Lawrence Colburn's knowledge of wines from around the world.  This place was a wine connoisseur's paradise.  We got a bottle of the cabernet sauvignon from the Cultivar winery located in Napa Valley.  

While the menu features a few sandwiches such as a dill rye reuben, lamb sliders, and a baguette smoked pork loin/pork shoulder sandwich, our guests talked us into going the route they normally go - getting a number of shareable plates.  We took their lead and just started to order a little bit of everything until we got full.  

Our server during our visit to Preservation Bread & Wine was a young lady by the name of Iris.  We warned her in advance that we were probably going to be all over the place with our orders and she may be having to check back multiple times during the meal.  She cheerily said that would be no problem for her and she took our first order of the evening.

The first thing we got was the combination charcuterie board with an accompanying plate of sliced Spanish cheese.  The charcuterie board featured Italian speck - an uncooked, salted and aged pork meat that is similar to shaved ham, soppressata salami, and duck prosciutto.  The Spanish cheeses included a cow milk cheese, a goat milk cheese and a sheep milk cheese.  Slices of apples came with both the charcuterie and cheese boards.   

Next was something my account's wife came up with - the duck spinach salad.  It featured crispy chunks of duck mixed with fresh spinach and dried cherries, and served on a bed of wild rice.  It was big enough where we could all share it, but my dealer's wife was somewhat disappointed with it.  "It's been better on other visits we've had here," she said almost apologetically.  I don't know how it could get much better because I thought it was 

From there we went with the spicy falafel.  They were served on a bed of parsley along with a house-made tzatziki sauce and chopped walnut.  There were a lot of flavors going on with the falafel and there was something definitely spicy in the mix.  The cool tzatziki sauce did a good job of balancing out the spiciness of the falafel. 

One of the more interesting items was the short rib pie.  It was a baked pastry shell stuffed with beef short rib meat, onions and carrots in a gravy.  The short rib pie was delicious.  It had a wonderful savory flavor and the puffed pastry shell was light and fluffy.  

The food just kept coming as we ordered up the pulled pork sandwich.  It came deconstructed with a house-baked bread roll that you could cut and make a sandwich with the pork.  Or you could just pull the bread apart - like we did - and use it to sop up some of the sauce on the plate.  The pulled pork was very tender and had a nice sweet and smokey flavor.  But the bread - actually, all the bread we had that evening - was outstanding.  Colburn hires his in-house bakers only after they go through the 10 week bread-making course at the prestigious French Pastry School located in Chicago.  I could have just pigged out on the bread, but that wouldn't have been good for my diet.  Good bread - good wine, now I get why the place is named Preservation Bread & Wine.  

Finishing out the evening was a flat bread made with a house made fennel Italian sausage with fresh arugula and Cello parmesan cheese.  The flat bread was light and airy, the Italian sausage had that great fennel flavor with a hint of a spice.  It was a very good flat bread, but by this time of the evening - and a couple bottles of wine later - we had pretty much filled ourselves up.  

Two things that I like to do when going out to eat - finding a restaurant that A) has some pretty interesting wines that I'm not familiar with; and B) has a number of eclectic and intriguing food selections that are shareable; and C) is located in an interesting and fun setting.  Preservation Bread & Wine hit all three of those criteria for me.  The food was very interesting and everything we had was very good, the wine was obscure - at least for me - and it was very good.  And it was very tough to beat the nice little patio/courtyard in back of Preservation Bread.  Finally, I can't say enough about our server who we ran ragged with more orders of more food and more wine for the time we were there.  Even though we sprung for the meal, I couldn't help but thank my dealer for bringing us to Preservation Bread & Wine for dinner that evening.  

Frankie's Deli - Oakbrook Terrace, IL

Last year, my wife and I had to go into Chicago for a weekend wedding.  We decided to go in a day early and spend the night out in the Oak Brook area.  The next day, I had a conference call to participate in and then some work to finish up in the morning and she went to get a pedicure and manicure at a local spa.  She came back around 11:30 and announced that she was hungry.  It didn't surprise me.  She had a light breakfast and I knew that she would be ready for lunch sooner than later as she, as a creature of habit, has to have three meals a day.  Me - I'm still trying to do my OMAD (one meal a day) diet that has successfully helped keep my weight down after my significant weight loss I started over a year and a half ago.  She said she really didn't need anything more than a sandwich and I looked up delicatessens in the immediate area.  One place popped up that sort of intrigued me - an Italian market and cafe by the name of Frankie's Deli.  And it wasn't that far from the hotel.  After packing up our stuff and hauling it out to the car, I punched in Frankie's Deli's address on my GPS and headed in that direction.  

Frankie's Deli celebrated their 55th anniversary last year as Italian immigrant Frank Conforti, Sr. and his wife, Connie, opened their Italian market and deli in 1964 at the corner of Belmont and Central in Chicago.  The couple moved their market/deli to the Yorktown Shopping Center in 1976.  Their son, Frank, Jr. joined the couple in the business not long after that.  A couple years ago, the Conforti's were asked to move out of their spot at Yorktown and they thought they may have to close their place down.  But they were able to find a spot at the corner of Butterfield Road and Midwest Road in Oakbrook Village.  (see map)  After some remodeling and renovations, Frankie's Deli reopened at their new location in July of last year.  Both Frank Conforti, Sr. and Connie Conforti work part-time at the market/deli, but Frank Conforti, Jr. runs the day-to-day operations.  

We pulled into Frankie's during the height of the noon lunch hour rush.  The parking lot was packed, but we were able to find a spot that someone had just pulled out of in front of the building.  We went inside to get an idea of what we needed to do to get a sandwich for my wife.  

We immediately found aisles filled with all different types of canned vegetables, sauces, pastas, olive oil, balsamic vinegar - everything you'd need for an authentic Italian feast.  Glassed cases of freezers held pre-made Italian specialties including Frankie's Deli's lasagna that comes in containers to feed anywhere from a family of four to a gathering of 30.  I understand Frankie's is famous for their lasagna that is made from a recipe Connie Conforti got from her family as a little girl.  

The deli line was understandably long when we got to the deli counter.  The menu for sandwiches and paninis, as well as soups and salads were on the wall behind the meat case.  Deli meats and cheeses which included house-made Italian beef and Italian sausage were also available to order from the deli counter.  They had hot and cold sandwiches available, as well as a muffuletta-style panini with salami, ham and provolone cheese topped with an olive spread.  We placed our order, grabbed a couple waters and paid for it all at the end of the deli line.  

Even though it was a nice day outside, we decided to eat inside.  Frankie's Deli had a small dining area that featured vintage historical pictures of the city of Chicago on the walls.  We took a seat at one of the tables in the room and got settled in.   

My wife decided upon the Italian sub sandwich.  They make them assembly line-style during the noon rush because they're such a popular choice.  It consisted of salami, capicola, and mortadella topped with provolone cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and onions and finished with a drizzle of olive oil.  For a side, my wife chose the three-bean salad.  

My wife thought the sandwich was good, but she knew she couldn't eat the whole 8" hoagie.  She offered me half of the sandwich and I couldn't say no.  The hoagie bun was chewy, but had great flavor.  The combination of the Italian meats gave it a nice overall taste.  I may have three or four bites of the sandwich before I called it quits.  We were going out for pizza in downtown Chicago that evening and I didn't want to get filled up earlier in the day.  

We're always on the look-out for a good Italian market and having a deli/cafe attached to the place is a plus.  I'm sort of surprised that I never really knew about Frankie's Deli before this visit as my wife and I have been coming to the Yorktown/Oak Brook area for years before I started to come to Chicago on a regular basis for work.  While the food and cafe are nothing fancy, it was obvious from the crowd in there for the lunch time rush that Frankie's doesn't have to be upscale for it to be successful.  But the Italian products - including pre-made items that can be taken home - would cause me to come back and shop at some point in the future.  Frankie's Deli definitely has it all when it comes to Italian food products.   And they make pretty good sandwiches, too.  

The Onion Roll - Oak Park, IL

Earlier this year, the Chicago Tribune ran a story where they named the top corned beef sandwiches in the Chicagoland region.  Many of the places they listed I had been to, but there was one place that I had passed a few times in the past out in Oak Park that they had listed - The Onion Roll.  It turned out that not long after the article came out, I was in the Oak Park area and had a chance to stop in for a late lunch to The Onion Roll.  

The Onion Roll is a Jewish deli that has been around for nearly 60 years, but five years ago the original owners were looking to retire.  Two chiropractors whose original practice was just down the block from The Onion Roll - Dr. Igor Russo and Dr. Ryan Rosenthal - didn't want the place to close up.  They ended up buying the deli in 2014 and set about freshening up the restaurant.  

Like any place that is owned by someone for over 50 years - home, building, business - there's always some things that get worn or neglected as time goes on.  The two chiropractors renovated the deli and kitchen area, as well as the dining room, giving everything a fresh new look without making it look "too new".  They reopened the revamped deli about four months after they took over. 

The Onion Roll is located on North Ave. in Oak Park, just east of Harlem Ave.  (see map) I pulled up to the brick facade building with a green awning in front around 1:30 that day.  Going inside the deli, there is a long deli counter just as you walk in.  Different types of meats, cheeses, salads and sides were on display in the refrigerated glass counter.  Not knowing the drill, I asked one of the guys behind the counter if I ordered at the counter or sat down to order.  He asked if I was getting it to go - I wasn't.  "To go orders up here," he explained.  "If you're eating here, grab a seat and we'll get you taken care of."  

The main dining room was a long and narrow space with a counter that sat 7 or 8 patrons with a number of tables along the wall and up front.  I took a table next to the wall and picked up a menu that was on the table.  I was kind of surprised to see that they had a full breakfast menu available featuring omelets, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, and - of course - fresh smoked lox on a bagel.  The lunch portion of the menu featured a number of deli sandwiches, as well as burgers and a chicken sandwich.  Jewish specialties such as Nova Latkes, chopped liver and a smoked lox sandwich were also available.  The signature item on the menu appeared to be a variety of corned beef or pastrami sandwiches that are served on fresh onion rolls - naturally.  They came in two sizes - Earthling and Spaceman.  

I know they were cited for having one of the top corned beef sandwiches in the city, but I ended up getting The Onion Roll's hot pastrami with Swiss cheese on rye.  The pastrami was piled high with the Swiss cheese sort of balancing on top.  A large kosher dill pickle came on the side with a small tub of ground horseradish that I eagerly put on the sandwich along with some yellow mustard.  The waitress also brought out a small sample of their cole slaw for me to try after she tried to get me to order it as a side.  

The pastrami was cut thin and was very lean.  It had that wonderful pastrami taste and the horseradish gave it a zippy taste quality. The rye bread was dry, but still very edible.  This was a quality sandwich.

And I have to say that I messed up on not getting the cole slaw.  The sample that I tried had that wonderful sweet, sour and spicy taste sensation that I love in good cole slaw.  I was sorry when the couple three bites of the sample she brought out were gone.  But that was fine - the sandwich was more than enough for me for lunch that day.

I always love finding good little Jewish delicatessens and The Onion Roll more than lived up to my expectations once I read about the place in the Chicago Tribune.  The hot pastrami with Swiss on rye was a classic deli sandwich.  Having fresh horseradish to put on top of the pastrami helped give it a little zip in taste.  And the cole slaw sample I had made me wish I had ordered it in the first place.  Jewish delis are a dying breed, I'm sorry to say.  But with new owners, The Onion Roll will be serving up great sandwiches, breakfasts and Jewish specialties for years to come.  

Short Fuse Brewing Company - Schiller Park, IL

I was sort of in the mood for a brewpub one evening when I was in the near western suburbs of Chicago earlier this year and I did a quick search of ones that were in the area around O'Hare International Airport.  I found one that I wasn't familiar with that was down the road a bit from my hotel - Short Fuse Brewing Company.  I headed down the road to go try the place that night.

Nick Teague decided that he wanted to dip his toe into the already somewhat saturated brewpub scene in the greater Chicagoland area.  Along with his wife, Hillary, the two knew that they needed to do something that was a little different and be in an area where there wasn't another brewpub or nano-brewery around.  The two found a building that housed a former fork lift repair facility in Schiller Park, very near O'Hare International Airport.  The next thing was to find a brewmaster they could partner with to make their dream come true.  

The Teagues got in touch with Mark Duchow, an award winning brewmaster who had good runs at a number of places in the Midwest including The Grumpy Troll in Mt. Horeb, WI (click here to see the Road Tips entry on The Grumpy Troll), and at Sweet Mullets (now known as Brewfinity Brewing Company) in Oconomowoc, WI.  The Teagues made Duchow a partner in the venture and they immediately began to accumulate tanks and fermenters for the brewery.  Duchow knew someone in Wisconsin who was able to procure an old dairy tank for the brewery, and they also added a couple of foeders - giant oak vats that are usually used to age wine, but in this case they were going to be used for some wild berry and sour beers that Duchow was wanting to play around with.  With the buildout of the 20,000 square foot building - with a 7500 sq. ft. tap room - Short Fuse Brewing Company opened in June of 2017.  

Short Fuse Brewing Company is located on River Road in Schiller Park, just south of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and the row of large hotels and restaurants in Rosemont.  (see map)  It was a cool weeknight when I went there, but the parking lot was full of cars.  I was able to snag a spot on the south side of the building when someone was leaving and I headed inside to check the place out.  

The tap room at Short Fuse is long and somewhat narrow, but it's billed as the largest in the greater Chicago area.  Garage doors open to a patio next to a parking lot in warmer weather.  There was an area toward the back of tap room that was hosting a corporate party explaining the difficulty to find parking when I first got there.  

The bar went about 2/3rd's the length of the tap room.  Tall windows behind the bar allowed patrons to look into the brewery operations.  The tap room had a definite modern industrial look to the place.  

Up front toward the entrance is a lounge area that can be turned into a small stage area for live bands playing on the weekend.  The overstuffed couches and comfy chairs provided an alternative for those just wanting to unwind.  That evening, a young lady was setting up a P.A. system for trivia later that evening.  

I ended up seated at the bar and was met by Ryan who gave me a food menu along with a list of specials they had at the time.  The beer list was on a chalk board in front of me at one end of the bar.  They have 14 beers on tap year-round with a handful of seasonal beers at various times.  A couple of them caught my eye, but I was sort of intrigued with the Bear-ie White - a wheat pale ale that is made with gummy bears.  That's right - gummy bears.  I asked Ryan about the beer and he said it was had a very fruity taste to it.  I don't care for wheat beers and I don't like fruity beers.  I ended up ordering the Kolsch, but I was told they were out of that for the evening.  I ended up getting the IPA Bomb American-style Indian Pale Ale.  

The food menu featured a number of unique appetizers including ale-marinated chicken wings, Korean beer-bbq shrimp, and French fries topped with a beer cheese sauce, bacon bits, chives, sour cream and a house-made beer glaze.  They also had something called "Beerchos" which were blue corn tortilla chips topped with shredded cheddar, the beer cheese sauce, refried beans, chopped tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, sour cream and finished with fresh cilantro.  

Main entrees included Short Fuse's interpretation of chicken and waffles, a coffee-encrusted skirt steak, and a poutine mac & cheese that was a mix of crushed tater tots, pasta noodles, white cheddar cheese curds, a mini burger patty all topped with the beer cheese sauce, scallions, and a brown demi-glaze gravy.  My stomach was doing jumping jacks on that.  

Burgers and sandwiches were on the menu including a monster 1/2 pound burger topped with beer-braised pulled pork, cheddar cheese, smoked bacon and crispy pork rinds.  The BBBB and Some L&T was a classic BLT with copious amounts of applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, smoked gouda cheese and finished with a spicy mayo.  (I almost ordered that.)  They also featured wood-fired gourmet pizzas and a handful of salads on the menu.

A couple of the specials they had that evening sounded pretty interesting to me.  The Beef Wellington bites caught my eye - mini stuffed beef Wellington pillows with chopped vegetables and topped with a beer stout demi-glaze gravy.  The corned beef sandwich sounded interesting - the corned beef was cooked in a beer broth - but I'd had a corned beef sandwich a day or two before.  But in the end, I ordered something else off the specials menu that evening.

I got the poutine burger - an open faced burger patty topped with the brown demi-glaze placed on a bed of fries that was topped with their beer cheese sauce with some greens on the side.   The burger was a tad overcooked and, quite frankly, it was all sort of bland in taste.  The fries had that great crispy outer shell with a flaky inner core.  It wasn't that I didn't like what I got, it was just all right in my book.  But I was sort of disappointed I didn't go with something else.  

The bar was very busy that evening and there were only a couple guys behind the bar running up and down taking care of the patrons at the bar while pouring beers for waitresses who were coming up with their orders.  Ryan forgot about me a couple of times, but that was fine.  I wasn't in a big hurry and I gave him a mulligan as they were pretty busy.  

My first impression of Short Fuse Brewing Company was more favorable than not.  The American IPA was a good beer, the space was open and allowed people to spread out a bit - but it wasn't loud in there for as many people that were in there - but the food I had was average, at best.  The bartenders were busy and they forgot about me a couple of times, but that was fine.  Short Fuse is very near where I like to stay when I'm in Chicago and I'm sure that I'll venture back a time or two in the future to try something else from their beer and food menus.  

Little Angelo's Pizza - Rosemont, IL

When I stay at the Hilton Garden Inn near O'Hare Airport, I like to go down and have a beer or two at the bar served by Jim, the bartender extraordinaire at the hotel.  He's turned me on to a number of places to eat over the years and a couple years ago he was telling me about a place not far from the hotel that served great pizza. "The great thing about this place is that they'll deliver up to about 3 a.m.," Jim told me one time.  He said that he would sometime order a pizza for delivery just before his shift was over so he could take it home to eat.  He said so many good things about Little Angelo's Pizza in Rosemont that I had to go give it a try earlier this summer.  

Angelo Pegni was a franchisee of Rosati's Pizza, a chain of Chicago-style pizza places with over 200 locations across the nation.  I was told Pegni got into a tiff with the suburban-Chicago based chain and quit his franchise agreement.  He opened Little Angelo's Pizza in the same spot where he had the Rosati's a few years back.  

Little Angelo's is located in a strip mall at the corner of Touhy and Mannheim in Rosemont.  (see map)  There was a small patio out in front of the place and the dining area inside was nice, but very small.  I would say that it didn't sit much more than 26 to 30 people.  They had high-top and low-top wooden tables in the dining area. 60's-era rock music was playing in the background. 

It's counter service at Little Angelo's and Angelo Penni, himself, took my order at the counter.  A short man with sort of a gruff personality, Angelo asked if I wanted thin crust, double crust, Chicago pan-style, or stuffed pizza.  I got a thin crust pizza and a couple of domestic beers.  In addition to pizza at Little Angelo's, they also have pasta dishes such as spaghetti, mostaccioli, lasagna, and chicken parm and their menu that hangs on the wall behind the counter.

I got my standard sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza.  The toppings along with the mozzarella cheese and a sweet tomato sauce were thick across the top of the thin crust pizza.  The 12" pizza was expensive - over $20 bucks, but it would have easily fed two, and possibly, three people. The cheese was so thick on top of the pizza that on a couple of bites everything slid off the crust.  But it was good - very good.  There were large chunks of sausage, the mushrooms appeared to be fresh, and the pepperoni slices were thick, spicy and somewhat salty.  It was a very good pizza.  I like a pizza with a load of toppings and cheese on it.  The pizza at Little Angelo's did not disappoint.

I wasn't able to eat the whole thing, so I went to get a to-go box at the counter to take half of the pizza back to my room.  Angelo asked me, "So, what did you think?"

I told him it was a very good pizza.  And that was the same thing I said to Jim when I got back to the hotel.  "Didn't I tell you," he said to me.  "It's excellent pizza."  I had half of the pizza in the box and I got to thinking when would I have time to eat it.  I told Jim that I had half a sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza in the box and asked if he wanted the leftovers.  "Are you sure," he asked.  He took it from me and said he'd share with the staff.  

Little Angelo's was all that I was told it would be.  It was a very good thin-crust pizza that was loaded with mozzarella cheese and fresh toppings.  The dining room at Little Angelo's is small, but tidy, and there's only counter service and no wait staff at the small pizzeria.  About the only thing that gave me pause about the place was that the pizza was very expensive.  A small three-topping pizza with a couple of domestic beers came to over $30 bucks.  But, other than that I didn't have much of any other problems with my pizza at Little Angelo's.  

 

 

Via Arenella - Arlington Heights, IL

During the annual AXPONA show in the northwest Chicago suburb of Schaumburg this past spring, I was tasked with finding places to eat for our ever growing team that worked the show.  We had gone out for Indian food the night before - something that my boss doesn't care for, but tolerates.  For the next night, I asked him what he would like to have for dinner that evening.  "Italian doesn't sound bad," he said with a slight smile.  OK, now I had to find an Italian restaurant in Schaumburg, an area that I wasn't overly familiar with.  I went on line and looked on a couple of sites - Yelp and TripAdvisor - to see what was in the area.  I found a place in nearby Arlington Heights that seemed to have a consensus of good reviews - and not the kind that seemed to be canned or contrived.  I made reservations through Open Table for a party of 12 at Via Arenella.  

Mario and Rosa (Rose) Longobardi were longtime restaurateurs in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.  They opened Ristorante Arenella in Arlington Heights in 1989 and it quickly became a favorite among the locals for a number of years.  In 2009, the Longobardi's were forced to close their restaurant because the landlord wanted the space for another business.  Not long after that, the Longobardi's reopened at a new location with a new name - Mario Trattoria.  But by 2016, Mario and Rosa wanted to slow down a bit and they closed Mario Trattoria in the summer of that year.  

The Longobardi's three sons - Alfonso (a.k.a. "Fonzo"), Franco, and Mario, Jr. - all grew up in Ristorante Arenella working after school and on the weekends in the kitchen or in the dining room.  After their parents closed their restaurant, the three brothers got together and decided to open their own restaurant using many of the recipes their parents made at Ristorante Arenella.  

Pictured at right - the Longobardi family.  From left - Mario, Jr., Rose, Alfonso, Mario, Sr. and Franco.  Photo courtesy The Daily Herald.  

The brothers found a spot in a strip mall at the corner of S. Wilkie Road and W. Campbell Street for their new restaurant.  (see map)  With the blessing of their parents, the Longobardi brothers opened Via Arenella in early 2017.  From years of learning from his father, Fonzo Longobardi took over in the kitchen as the head chef, Mario, Jr. took over the pizza oven duties serving the family's famous thin-crust pizza, and Franco - who studied hospitality management at DePaul University - oversaw the front of the house.  Of course, Mario, Sr. and Rose couldn't stay away, so they help out on the weekends and some nights when the place got busy.  

And the night we were there was one of those busy nights.  But I had made the reservation on Open Table for 7:30 and we showed up promptly at that time.  We had a couple minute wait while they put two tables together for our large party and we were seated not long after.  It was an seasonably cold and blustery evening with wet snowflakes mixed in with the cold rain drops and Italian food was going to be a wonderful thing that evening.  I only hoped for the best when we were all seated.  

Via Arenello features a long and narrow dining area with a large bar area off to the side in the middle.  Opposite the bar are a number of tables with banquette seating along the wall.  

The long bar was accented with blue lights underneath and on the back bar area.  They had a good selection of craft beers, they featured a full bar with a number of mixed drinks, and they also had a good wine list.  

The menu at Via Arenella features a number of traditional Italian favorites including fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, and penne pasta in a classic bolognese sauce.  They also had a number of house pasta specialties including prosciutto-stuffed tortellini in a cream sauce, linguine with fresh mussels, and the Bolognese Bianco -  paccheri pasta topped with a Neapolitan white bolognese meat sauce along with with melted mozzarella cheese.  They also had a number of chicken entrees, and a number of veal entrees to choose from to.

Our server for the evening turned out to be Rose Longobardi who was pleasant, efficient, and very informative of the items on the menu.  For someone who wanted to slow down after owning a restaurant with her husband for a number of years, Rose certainly appeared to be in her element waiting on our table.  She was thoroughly impressed that many of the people in our party were French Canadians, but we also had guys in from Washington State, Oregon and, of course, Iowa.  When she asked me how I found the place, I told her that it was a stab in the dark via Yelp and Open Table.  "You made a good choice," she told me as she patted me on the shoulder.  "We'll take good care of you."  

It turned out that all three of her sons and her husband were on duty that evening - Franco was bartending, Fonzo and Mario, Sr. were cooking the food, while Mario, Jr. was making pizzas.  Rose did a good job of convincing me to try their pizza at some point, but I was in the mood for pasta that evening.  

After some great appetizers - grilled octopus and fried calamari - and a house salad consisting of fresh greens with chopped tomatoes, sliced red onions and cucumbers, and Kalamata olives topped with a balsamic vinaigrette, our main entrees made it to the table.  I have to admit I've been on a meat-filled ravioli kick as of late and that's what I got at Via Arenella that evening.  It came in a wonderful sweat and tangy marinara sauce and I asked Rose if I could get a couple meatballs to go with it.  Well, the meatballs were huge!  One of my colleagues said,  "Those aren't meat balls, they're bowling balls!"  The meat-filled pasta, I could tell, was recently made in house with a nice ground beef and veal mixture.  The meatballs were also a mix and they were some of the best meatballs I've ever had.  I was more than happy with what I ordered.  

My boss was gracious enough to ask my wife to join us for dinner that evening.   She had come in to stay with me and to go shopping while I was working the show.  She ordered the veal piccata with a side of fettuccine alfredo.  When Rose sat the veal dish down in front of her, my wife's eyes bugged out.  The veal was swimming in a wonderful cream lemon sauce with boatloads of sautéed mushrooms on top.  My wife has just recently gotten to the point where she can eat fresh sautéed mushrooms after a lifetime of hating mushrooms, but even this was a little too much for her.  I had a bite of her veal along with the mushrooms and it was sensational in flavor.  

A number of the people got the special that evening - a pasta entree that featured fresh lobster in a light lemon sauce topped with capers.  From the reviews from everyone who had it, it was out of this world in taste.  But it was so rich that not one person who ordered the entree could finish it.  Portions were definitely huge at Via Arenella. 

A couple of my colleagues went with the spaghetti pescatore - spaghetti pasta mixed with clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp in a crushed plum tomato sauce that was very chunky.  It, too, was a large portion and while they both did their best to finish up the delicious seafood pasta dish, there was a lot leftover when they finally threw in the towel.  

One of my colleagues at the other end of the table got the gnocchi in the creamy vodka tomato sauce.  He, too, thought it was just outstanding.  And one of my other colleagues seated near me got the chicken parmigiana with a side of the fettuccine alfredo.  He ate about half of the chicken parm and made a dent in the rich fettuccine.  By the looks of satiation on everyone's faces, I think I hit a home run in terms of picking out Via Arenella for our dinner spot that evening.  

(The next day, I told one of my dealers from St. Louis about Via Arenella and how good the food was.  That night, he and a couple of his co-workers went there for dinner and one of them had the lobster pasta special.   He had the same reaction as my colleagues had with their lobster pasta special the night before, "Oh my God!  It was so great, but, oh, so rich!"

My wife and a friend of hers went to Via Arenella when they were in Chicago for a long weekend not long ago and they happened to have the lobster pasta special that night.  My wife got it and she thought it was heavenly.  But there was no way that she could take the leftovers back to the hotel.  Even if she took it directly home and put it in the fridge, it wouldn't heat up properly to make it taste as good as it is served fresh at the restaurant.)  

As I said, Rose did a wonderful job in talking up her son's  pizza making prowess.  I had to come back at some point later on after my first visit to try one of their pizzas.  Seated at the bar this time, I ordered a small (10") thin-crust pizza.  (They also had New York-style with thick crust edges, a Chicago deep-dish pizza, and a stuffed pizza that is similar to a large calzone at Via Aranella.)  I got a Revolution Brewing Anti-Hero IPA to go along with my pizza.   It was cut in tavern-style squares and featured thick chunks of Italian sausage, slices of salty pepperoni, and sliced fresh mushrooms in a tangy pizza sauce topped with mozzarella cheese.  The crust was thin, but it was light and chewy.  Rose was certainly correct - this was an excellent pizza.  

Our initial visit to Via Arenella was outstanding.  The taste of the food, the size of the portions, the friendly and efficient service by Rose Longobardi left everyone in my party of 12 with a satisfied - and full - feeling as we were leaving.  My subsequent trip back to Via Arenella to try their pizza was equally as pleasurable.  Although it is run by the Longobardi's sons, there is still that "mom and pop" feeling to the place.  This was one of the more memorable places I've come across in my travels and I will definitely be back there for more of their great food at some point.  

(Update - Via Arenella closed their doors at the end of September of 2019.)

 

La Za' Za' Trattoria - St. Charles, IL

 I took one of my dealers from the far western suburbs out to dinner in St. Charles one evening not long ago.  St. Charles has a lot of good dining options and my dealer suggested we have dinner at a place that I have passed a number of times over the past few years, an Italian restaurant by the name of La Za' Za' Trattoria.  I was up for some good Italian that evening and we went there for an early dinner.  

Dino Sisto loved the food his mother prepared for their family since he was a little boy.  One of 10 siblings, Sisto's mother Dottie had a number of family recipes she had gotten from her mother who had grown up in Italy.   Dino loved his mother's cooking so much that he learned how to make many of the items she had learned from her mother.   Wanting to take many of those recipes and share them with the public led Dino Sisto to open La Za' Za' Trattoria - named after his grandfather - in 1995 in downtown St. Charles at the corner of W. Main and S. 1st Street next to the Fox River.  (see map)  

Sisto and his brother, Joe, partnered up to open other Za' Za' restaurants in the western suburbs of Chicago including the now-closed ZaZa's Italian Steakhouse in Addison that I used to frequent when I stayed in that far western Chicago suburb for a number of years when I first started to call on accounts in the area nearly 16 years ago.  (Click here if you want to read a very early entry from Road Tips - circa December 2006 - on ZaZa's Italian Steakhouse.)  Joe and Dino Sisto split their partnership a number of years ago and I believe that the only ZaZa restaurant that is still open is the La Za' Z' Trattoria in downtown St. Charles.

Pictured right - Dino Sisto.  Photo courtesy Kane County Chronicle.   

Urban renewal in downtown St. Charles threatened the La Za' Za' Trattoria location and Sisto thought he was going to have to move his restaurant.  However, he came up with a plan and the cash to buy the building and salvage it from the wrecking ball that took down many older buildings in downtown St. Charles.  

We were able to find parking in a city lot to the west of the restaurant at the corner of W. Main and S. 2nd St. and we walked over to the front door of La Za' Za' Trattoria that is located on the back of the building on S. 1st St.  

There's a front dining area and a back dining area where the bar is located.  We were seated in the back dining area near the window.  We were given menus - both food and wine - and we were greeted by our server for the evening, a nice lady by the name of Kathy.  We started off with a nice bottle of California cabernet from La Za' Za's short, but interesting, wine list.   

You'll find traditional Italian food on the menu at La Za' Za' including pasta dishes, chicken entrees, a veal dish, a filet mignon, and pork chops.  They have a couple of seafood items on the menu, as well.  Antipasti appetizers such as deep fried shrimp, stuffed artichokes, beef carpaccio with arugula, and mussels served in a spicy tomato sauce were available as well.  

We started off with one of the chef's antipasti specials that night - the burrata and tomato salad mixed with greens in an olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.  My guest wasn't certain what burrata was, but when I told him that it was basically a soft cream cheese encased in mozzarella he was sold.  And the salad was very good.  The tomatoes - for the time of year - were very ripe and fresh tasting.  The burrata was just wonderful - my guest was very impressed with the taste of it.  He said, "I can't believe I've never had this before."  I told him that if burrata is available on a salad, I usually always get it.  Along with the fresh greens mixed with the extra virgin olive oil and the aged balsamic, this was a very good salad.  

For dinner that evening, I wasn't overly certain what I wanted.  The pan-roasted veal medallions served with wild mushrooms with linguine sounded very good.  The sautéed Manilla clams and Prince Edward Island mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce with linguine also sounded very good.  But we were having a meaty red wine and I thought pasta with a red sauce would go well.  I ended up getting the chef's pasta special that evening - cavatelli pasta in a bolognese sauce.  I asked Kathy if they could put a couple meatballs on the plate, as well.  

My guest went with the lamb chops.  It came with roasted veggies and mashed potatoes in a lemon white wine sauce with fresh chopped oregano.  He told me that his wife doesn't like it when he orders lamb or veal when they're out, so the only time he orders something like that is when he isn't dining with her.  "I like lamb," he said as he cut into his first chop.  "But she frowns on that when I've ordered lamb in the past."  The lamb chops were big and meaty, and he said they were very good.

I was equally impressed with my cavatelli and bolognese sauce.  The meat sauce was thick and flavorful - the hearty red we were drinking that evening was a perfect compliment to the sauce.  The meatballs were some of the best I've had - they were tightly packed made with (I'm guessing) a mixture of ground pork, veal and beef.  They held together very well and weren't dry at all.  

We both thought our meal at La Za' Za' Trattoria was outstanding.  My guest was very happy with his grilled lamb chops and he thought the mixed vegetables were not overcooked or mushy.  I was more than happy with the chef's special cavatelli pasta in a bolognese sauce with meatballs.   And the chef's special antipasti that evening - the tomato and burrata salad - was top notch, as well.  The meal was matched by the exceptional service we received that evening.  If you're in the far western suburbs of Chicago and looking for a great Italian restaurant, I would highly recommend La Za' Za' Trattoria.

Wildwood Tavern - Niles, IL

A place that has popped up over the past couple years is the Wildwood Tavern at the corner of Touhy and Caldwell Avenues in the northwest Chicago suburb of Niles.  (see map)  I've thought that the place looked pretty nice from the outside with its mountain cabin-type exterior with a nice patio on the side and I always had it in the back of my mind for a place to try out at some point.  During a trip into Chicago earlier this year, I decided to stop in and have something to eat at Wildwood Tavern.

Mark Freedman was only 11 years old in 1971 when his father Myron, and his uncle, Phil, opened a steakhouse - the eponymously named Myron and Phil's - along Devon Ave. in Lincolnwood.  Mark Freedman started out bussing tables shortly after the steakhouse opened up and he eventually worked his way up in nearly every capacity from kitchen work, to waiter, to manager, finally taking over ownership of the restaurant in 1998.  Mark's wife, Ellie, became a defacto partner as Ellie's background in business and the food service industry made it a match in heaven for the both of them.

In May of 2013, a devastating electrical fire destroyed Myron and Phil's. It was a double shot of grief for Freedman as his father passed away the same day at the age of 95. But the Freedman's held their head up and vowed they'd rebuild and reopen.  However, negotiations with the insurance company dragged on long enough that Freedman decided to not rebuild Myron and Phil's, but to have a new place that catered to a more casual crowd rather than a steakhouse clientele.   

Pictured right - Ellie and Mark Freedman.  Photo courtesy Chicago Tribune.

The Freedman's found a place in Niles that had recently been a steakhouse/barbecue spot that closed in 2013.  They gutted the building and gave it a northwoods motif.  Since the restaurant before them had a smoker, the Freedman's incorporated smoked meats into a mix of food items that included burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and some entrees.  With everything in place, the Wildwood Tavern opened in late August 2015.  

It was around 1:30 when I went into Wildwood Tavern in between appointments in the area.  There's a good-sized dining area off to the right when you come into the restaurant.  It has a high ceiling with a number of tables and booths interspersed throughout the area.  An outdoor patio is just off the main dining room.  

I took a seat at the large rectangular bar that had metal high-back chairs around it.  There was an island in the middle with glass refrigerators below and a line of flat panel televisions that were perched above for viewing on all sides of the bar.  The bartender that day, Marissa, was also going to be my server.  She got me a food menu and showed me a beer list that had a number of domestics and a smattering of craft brews.  Wildwood Tavern also had a pretty good wine menu, as well.  I ended up getting a Lagunitas IPA while I looked through the menu.   

It was a wide and varied menu at Wildwood Tavern.  They had a handful of sharable appetizers, as well as soups and salads.  Since they do have a smoker from the restaurant they took over, they have ribs, brisket, pulled pork and smoked chicken on the menu.  They have a number of burgers and sandwiches, as well as signature entrees such as the original Myron and Phil's skirt steak, pork chops, fish and chips, a charbroiled New York strip, and another Myron and Phil's specialty, braised brisket.   Wildwood Tavern also had thin-crust pizza that looked pretty good, as well.  They had a lot of things to choose from, but I just wasn't certain what I wanted.   

For starters, I got a cup of their chicken/andouille sausage and rice soup.  It was similar to gumbo, only not as thick of a consistency as good gumbo.  Still, this was very good soup.  It had a bit of a spicy bite from the andouille sausage, and the chicken was cut into big chunks.  If I had just gotten a bowl of the soup, I would have been happy.  

For my lunch that day, I went with one of their specials - Gramma's meatloaf.  It came with mashed potatoes and a hearty mushroom gravy.  It was two slabs of their house-made meatloaf with the mushroom gravy slathered over the top.  Getting meatloaf in a restaurant can be an iffy proposition, but this was actually very good.  While it wasn't as moist as I may like my meatloaf, it had a good consistency and taste quality.  I enjoyed the mushroom gravy with the meatloaf, but the pieces were pretty big.  I had a couple bites of the adequate mashed potatoes with the gravy and was able to finish off one of the meatloaf pieces and had the other one about halfway gone before I threw in the towel.  It was such a filling and well-rounded meal that I was full the rest of the day and didn't even bother getting dinner that evening.   

For my first time into Wildwood Tavern, I would have to say that I was more than happy with the meatloaf special they had that day.  The cup of chicken/andouille rice soup was also a warm and hearty opener to the meal.  While I sat at the bar, the service was prompt and attentive.  And it was a nice wholesome atmosphere at Wildwood Tavern.  Since it's not too far from where I stay when I go to Chicago, I'm sure I'll be back at some point to try their pizza.  The ghost of Myron and Phil's has come back in the form of the Wildwood Tavern.  (Photo courtesy Tripadvisor.) 

Barrel + Rye - Geneva, IL

I had met one of my dealers in the western suburbs of Chicago for lunch at a place called Barrel + Rye in downtown Geneva, IL late last year.  I thought it was a pretty good meal and when my wife and I went into Chicago recently to have a long weekend, we ended up out in Geneva in the middle part of the afternoon.  We had a late breakfast and it was finally getting to the point where my wife needed something else before we drove back home.  I suggested Barrel + Rye since I'd been there previously and she was up for that.  

Buddies Jack Waters and Nicholas Roberge opened the doors to Barrel + Rye in November of 2014 offering over 200 whiskeys to choose from, as well as a nice selection of craft beers.  It's an American-style bistro where the food is eclectic with offerings such as a braised lamb/grilled cheese sandwich, mushroom risotto, tuna poke, and an herb-crusted grilled salmon salad.  Waters and Roberge have also developed another restaurant in Geneva - The Burger Local - and they also have a restaurant in west suburban Glen Ellyn - Maize + Mash (similar to Barrel + Rye) - and The Burger Social in Waters' and Roberge's hometown of Wheaton.  

Barrel + Rye is located at the corner of S. 3rd St. and South St. in Geneva.  (see map)  We found a parking spot on South Street just around the corner from the front door.  

Barrel + Rye is not a large place, it features an L-Shaped bar with tables along the wall.  It seats - maybe - 50 people tops.  The decor was a mixture of contemporary and somewhat rustic with an array of interesting Edison lamps hanging from the tin ceiling.  They had a large number of bourbon, rye and Scotch whiskies to choose from at Barrel + Rye.  

We took a seat at a table opposite the bar, given menus and were greeted by our server, Stacie.  They also had a good sized menu of craft beers and I ordered up a Stone Brewing Co. Delicious IPA while my wife ordered a Lagunitas IPA.  

I would have to say that because of the brevity of food items on the menu, that Barrel + Rye is more whisky-centric than an emphasis on food.  I don't want to say that food is an afterthought at the bistro, but the menu is pretty limited.  But that doesn't mean that what they have isn't pretty interesting.   They had a braised lamb grilled three-cheese sandwich, they had a five pepper-seasoned chicken sandwich topped with smoked gouda, a fried egg and maple syrup, and they had a rolled seasoned pork belly sandwich, as well.  

They had a number of sharable appetizers that could have been basically entrees, too.  They had a ginger-marinated ahi tuna poke mixed with avocado, cilantro, macadamia nuts, cucumbers, snap peas and a samba aioli.  There was a mushroom and saffron risotto for an appetizer, as well as shrimp and grits.  They also had soups, salads, and a charcuterie board available, as well.  

But because the menu was limited, I didn't want to get the same thing that I had got before - the Local burger. But that's what my wife ended up getting.  It was a half-pound locally-raised black angus beef patty that came with cheese for $12 bucks.  My wife didn't want cheese on her burger, but she did ask for grilled onions instead.  It was served on a toasted bun with red onions and lettuce on the side.  Along with the burger, she got a small B+R salad that consisted of mixed greens with chopped roasted red peppers, grilled corn, avocado, tortilla chips and topped with feta cheese and a cilantro vinaigrette.  She ended up eating much of the burger without the bun and she thought it was a very tasty burger.  But she really enjoyed the B+R salad, probably even more than the burger.

When I was in before, I had seen that they had brisket chili on the menu and I thought I'd try some of that.  I ordered a cup of the chili and Stacie brought out what I would call a bowl of the stuff.  (Turns out they only had one size offered.)  The chili consisted of large chunks of lean brisket with beans and topped with cheese, green onions and tortilla strips.  The chili was wonderful.  It had a great chili taste with hints of cumin and possibly oregano.  It was thick and rich.  I should have just stopped with the chili because it filled me up quick. 

But no, if the chili wasn't enough, I also got a plate of the duck confit poutine.   It was a classic poutine dish with French fries topped with pulled duck breast, cheese curds and a housemade gravy.  It was put under the broiler to melt the cheese curds and mix all the toppings together.  When Stacie brought it out, I noticed that there was a dearth of gravy to my liking.  She was kind enough to bring me a small bowl of gravy to add to the poutine.  

As much as the brisket chili was rich and flavorful, well, this had that beat in terms of taste sensations.  The duck confit was tender and had a great flavor.  The fries were crispy and the cheese was melted perfectly to allow everything to coagulate into one big gooey wonderful mess.  I could only eat about half the poutine - if that - concentrating fully on the pulled duck breast making sure that I got every last morsel of the succulent taste.  I was so full after the chili and the duck confit poutine that I didn't even think about having dinner that evening.  

Barrel + Rye is a nice little place that emphasizes the drink over the food with a large selection of whiskey to choose from, and a limited menu that is heavy on sharable appetizers over individual foods.  They also have a nice array of craft beers, and while the menu is small, the food is definitely unique and interesting.  My wife thoroughly enjoyed the Local burger - as did I on my first visit to the place.  And on this visit, I was more than happy with my rich and zesty chili, then topped that with the excellent and sinful pulled duck breast poutine.  It's a quiet, cozy little place with a great bar and good service.  If you're shopping in Geneva and would like to get a drink with some appetizers - or a sandwich - I think Barrel + Rye is a great little place to stop by and try.  

Max's Deli - Highland Park, IL

I had a dealer who moved from the northwest suburbs of Chicago to the tony Highland Park area north of Chicago last year.   He relocated along a busy stretch of Skokie Valley Road across the street from the Crossroads Shopping Mall, a strip center whose largest store is a Binny's Beverage Depot.  Just down from Binny's is a Jewish delicatessen that has been around for nearly 29 years - Max's Delicatessen and Restaurant.  One day after calling on my dealer, I went across the street to have lunch at Max's.  

Bernie Katz was a North Shore Chicago real estate broker/investor who worked with his son, David.  When two aspiring restaurateurs approached Katz asking for monetary help with an idea they had for an authentic Jewish deli in Highland Park, he offered to be a partner in the new business.  One thing he wanted was to have it named after his favorite uncle, Max.  Mirroring many of the large sandwiches, big bagels and traditional Jewish dishes found at deli's in New York City, Max's Delicatessen and Restaurant - "Chicago's New York Deli" - opened in 1989.  

The business was open for only two months when Bernie Katz and the two men who he partnered with had a difference of opinion as how to run the business.  Katz ended up taking over the deli and oversaw the operation along with his son, David.  The two spent six months of on-the-job training to learn the restaurant business from the bottom up.  Whatever Katz and his former partners disagreed over, it turned out that he was probably right all along.  At one point in time, Chicago Magazine called Max's the best deli in Chicago.

The success of Max's on the North Shore called for a second location, this one was opened along N. Clark in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1991.  It was there for a number of years before the Katz family closed that down to concentrate on the original Max's Deli in Highland Park.  

In 2003, Max Katz's grandson Joey Morelli, who was working as a chef in a restaurant, wanted to open his own pizza place in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.  With the financial backing of his grandfather, Joey Morelli recruited his father, Frank, a retired developer, to supervise the construction of the place.  He got his mother - and Bernie Katz's daughter - Barbara to decorate the place.  And he asked his brother, Greg, who was working in finance in New York City, to join him in the restaurant.  Joey's Brickhouse opened in May of 2004.  

In 2007, Bernie Katz and his son David had a falling out which estranged the two up to the time Bernie passed away two years later at the age of 89.  Wanting to keep the deli in the family, two years later Greg and Joey Morelli - who had closed down Joey's Brickhouse - took over the day-to-day operation/ownership of Max's Deli along with their cousin Stacey Katz Goldberg.  However, last fall, Greg Morelli was removed from ownership of the company after an escalating series of controversial and inflammatory social media posts set off community backlash and outrage.  Hoping the storm has passed now that Greg Morelli is gone, Joey Morelli and Stacey Goldberg continue to run Max's Deli today.  

Coming into Max's Deli, you'll find large refrigerated cases full of meats, cheeses, baked goods and side dishes.  Off to the side was a small counter with fixed stools.  There was a sign that said, "Take a menu and seat yourself".  

The dining area featured a large open area with a number of tables and booths.  There was a step-up dining area for overflow dining that was closed off after the lunch rush that day. 

I took a seat in one of the booths and was looking over the menu as to what they had to offer.  It wasn't much different from other Jewish deli's I've visited in the Chicago area - they had sandwiches, soups, salads and a number of "nosh" sides such as stuffed cabbage, chopped liver, whitefish salad, and potato knish.  They also had comfort food such as an open-faced hot beef sandwich, open-faced grilled sandwiches such as a reuben, tuna melt, and a turkey pastrami.  And they also had burgers on the menu if you wanted that instead of a deli sandwich.  Their breakfast menu was also extensive and interesting with a number of omelettes (the corned beef omelet really caught my eye), Challah French toast, cheese blintzes, and eggs Benedict.  

While I was going over the menu, a server brought me a basket of bread, rolls and matzo along with a small dish of sliced kosher dill pickles.  I didn't want to fill up on the bread, but I helped myself to the wonderful dill pickles.  They were a bit salty, but had a great dill cucumber taste.  Max's sold the pickles in their deli area and I should have stopped and got a jar or two to take home with me.  

My server for my visit was Maria and she came back later to take my order.  I ended up getting the brisket pastrami sandwich - the larger one of the two they offered.  I had her put it on the Jewish rye bread they had and put some Swiss cheese on it, as well.  The lean brisket pastrami was piled high and had a wonderful slightly salty taste to it.  The rye bread was a little dry - comparable to other Jewish deli's - but it held together very well.  While I prefer yellow mustard on my pastrami sandwiches, they had Gulden's spicy brown mustard at the table.  

I always go into these things thinking, "Well, I can always eat a half and take the rest with me."  But the sandwich was so good that I really couldn't quit eating it.  Actually, the meat was piled high on the one side of the sandwich and not as thick on the other side.  (A Jewish friend told me one time to look out for some deli's who will do this - they'll present one half of the sandwich as being over-stuffed with the other half not as full of meat.)  But it didn't matter to me.  I just thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich the way it was. 

I've eaten at a half-dozen Jewish deli's in and around the Chicago area over the past few years and it's difficult for me to say which one is the best of them all.  And Max's Deli fits into that group.  There really wasn't much of anything about Max's Deli that I could really complain about.  It's a large, yet, comfortable place to get a good deli sandwich.  The sandwich, itself, was delicious - especially the lean brisket pastrami.  I could have just eaten the meat without the bread along with the wonderful kosher dill pickles they provided before the meal and I would have been happy.  With one of my accounts literally across the street from Max's Deli, I know I'll be sneaking back in there from time to time to get a great sandwich.  Or maybe I'll even try their breakfast at some point.    

Ten Mile House - Evanston, IL

My wife and I took a long weekend in Chicago not long ago and she wanted to go to the Spice House in Evanston to get some herbs and spices.  It was around 1:30 p.m. and my wife's stomach was starting to growl from lack of food.  I really didn't know what was in the area, but my wife looked up some food options in the area on her phone.  She mentioned a bistro that wasn't too far away, a place named Ten Mile House.  

As you can see in the logo to the left, it says that Ten Mile House was re-established in 2014.  The original Ten Mile House dates back to 1836 when Major Edward Mulford became one of the first settlers in the area after the Potowatomie Indian tribe was relocated by treaty to what would be present day Iowa.  The Green Bay Trail - a military trail that turned into a stagecoach trail after the Indian tribes had been located - had its southern terminus at the Chicago courthouse.  Mulford built a stage stop/post office/tavern at a spot that was 10 miles north of the start of the Green Bay Trail and called it Ten Mile House.  The city of Ridgeville evolved around the Ten Mile House and the building also became the first courthouse in the area, as well.  

Ridgeville existed until 1857 when the Illinois General Assembly decreed that the Township of Evanston would annex Ridgeville.  Ridgeville ceased to exist and Ten Mile House was no longer needed as a public building.  Mulford ended up building another house - the first two story house in Evanston - and sold the original Ten Mile House to James Kirk who renovated the building into a mansion.  The mansion was eventually bought years later, razed and today the St. Francis Hospital sits on its former site.  

In 2014, three Chicago restaurant veterans - Joe Krouse (Unite Urban Grill), Robert LaPata (La Petite Amelia and Omaggio), and Frederic Gale (Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group) - leased the corner spot on the ground level of the Central Station building near Ryan Field, home of Northwestern University's football team.  At first, they were going to call the new restaurant the Wood Shed as they were going to serve smoked meats and wood-fired pizza.  However, before they opened, the trio decided to change the name as a nod to Evanston's past and to connote the atmosphere of community gathering such as what occurred at the original Ten Mile House over 150 year before.  The re-established Ten Mile House opened in December of 2014.  

Ten Mile House is located at the southwest corner of Central Street and Eastwood Ave. north of downtown Evanston.  (see map)  We were able to find a metered parking space just down the street, just across from the Evanston Art Center.  

The restaurant is an open space with a lot of natural light coming in from the outside.  An open kitchen area is toward the back.  It had a sort of contemporary decor to the place with a high ceiling with LED lights.  But they had some interesting shelves with candle-style LED lights hanging at intervals across the restaurant.  

The bar area featured a small three-sided bar with a small back bar area and a couple of flat screen televisions on the wall.  

We were seated at a table next to a window that looked out onto Central.  We were given menus and found that they were in the midst of serving brunch and had a limited menu compared the lunch menu they have through the week.  We'd had a hearty breakfast hours before in downtown Chicago and I wasn't really wanting to get breakfast for a second meal in a row.  

The brunch offerings did entice, however.  They had a smoked corned beef hash that sounded good, as did the frosted-corn flake brioche French toast topped with berries and a blueberry maple syrup.  But I was there for a sandwich and they didn't have much to choose from.  

They had a number of salads on the brunch menu and that was fine with my wife.  She ended up getting the grilled salmon salad - an herb-crusted salmon that is grilled and placed on a bed of mixed greens with artichokes, asparagus, fingerling potatoes, and tomatoes mixed in.  It's topped with a French feta cheese and finished with a lemon-garlic vinaigrette.  She also got a glass of the Peyruchet blend of sauvignon blanc and semillion to go along with the salad.  She thought everything was very good.  

My choices were very limited, but all were good choices.  They had a grilled cheese sandwich that you could add smoked corned beef or bacon (or both!), a breakfast sandwich with eggs, ham, bacon, creamy poblano pepper strips and topped with a green chile hollandaise sauce, or the Cuban sandwich that I wasn't to whippy on getting.  

I ended up with the Ten Mile House prime burger - a half-pound wood-grilled prime beef burger served on Texas toast with a smoked tomato aioli.  For an upcharge, I was able to get some cheese on the burger and I asked our server if she could have the kitchen put some gruyere cheese on it.  Only, they forgot to put the cheese on it.  When I pointed it out to our server, she offered to take the burger back and get me a new one with the cheese.  But I'd already taken a couple bites out of it and it was fine enough without the cheese.   

While I think it would have been better with the gruyere cheese, the prime burger at Ten Mile House was very good.  It had a great beefy flavor, there was a hint of a smoky wood flavor from the cooking process, and I liked the Texas toast with the burger.  I had a pint of the American pale ale from the Brickstone brewery out of Bourbonnais, IL to go with the burger.  

For stumbling upon Ten Mile House in Evanston and not knowing what to expect, it turned out to be a pretty positive experience.  My wife was very happy with her herb-crusted grilled salmon salad.  And while I wanted more of a choice of sandwiches due to the limited menu that comes with their weekend brunch, I felt their prime burger was very good.  Other than forgetting my gruyere cheese on my burger, the service we had was very good, as well.  It was a nice, laid-back atmosphere at Ten Mile House and I would like to get back there again at some point to try more of their food without the restrictions of the brunch menu.    

The Harp and Fiddle - Park Ridge, IL

One evening on a fall night when I was staying in Chicago, I was sort of in the mood for some good comfort food at an Irish pub - something like a Shepherd's Pie or a good braised corned beef reuben sandwich sounded really good to me.  I got on line to see if there were any Irish pubs that served food near the hotel I was staying at near O'Hare Airport.  One immediately popped up in my search that I wasn't familiar with - The Harp and Fiddle in nearby Park Ridge.  I checked out their website and decided that I wanted to give the place a try.

It took nearly six years from the time partners Declan Stapleton and Ed Berry first came to Park Ridge city officials with their plan to open an Irish pub - originally to be named O'Reilly's - to the point where they were actually able to open their doors.  In 2010, they had found a space along a block of old buildings in downtown Park Ridge and immediately procured a liquor license.  Hoping to get into the space sooner than later, the two found that the building had some environmental hazards during the rehab and they had to stop the renovations of the new pub and the dream of opening Park Ridge's first Irish pub was put on hold.

But the dream never died and when a space that used to house a drug store became available in 2015, Berry and the Irish-born Stapleton jumped on the property.  Things got even better when a small grocery store next to their space closed up and they bought that spot to make their pub even larger.  In May of 2016, the Harp and Fiddle opened their doors bringing Park Ridge residents a "modern bar with an Irish flair."  

The Harp and Fiddle is located along Main St. in downtown Park Ridge, next to the Metra tracks that run diagonally through the heart of the town.  (see map)  There were some parking spots along Main and I was able to get in there around 7:30 that evening.  

Entering the Harp and Fiddle, I found a nice comfortable and cozy pub with wooden floors and wood accents on the ceiling.  The lights were more pronounced along the walls giving the place a laid back atmosphere.  There was a smaller room off to the side in the front of the place.  

Along the walls were a number of paintings and artwork done by Irish artists.  Most notably shown was a collage painting of musician Elvis Costello and a large portrait of the Irish band U2 over the mantle on the fireplace.  On weekends, the Harp and Fiddle features live music in their dining area.    

The Harp and Fiddle also has a nice patio on the side of the main building.  It was a cool fall evening and there were a lot of people on the patio, but it looked like it would be a popular place in the summer months.  

I ended up seated at the bar and I had to stop for a moment to admire the workmanship of the woodwork on both the bar and back bar area.  Accent lights were built into the bar, and both recessed and hanging lights added lighting from above.  Three large flat screen televisions were hung on the back bar wall.

I was greeted by James who was working with Eric behind the bar.  James was new to the Harp and Fiddle and Eric was showing him the ropes of where everything was placed.  James was obviously a seasoned bartender as he was on top of things with me all during my visit.  He gave me a menu to look over and I ordered up a Smithwick's, one of the two dozen craft and import beers that they had on tap.  They also had over three dozen craft, import and domestic beers available in bottles.  

The menu consisted of a number of interesting entrees including a bourbon glazed pork chop, three beef tenderloin medallions served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable, a chicken curry dish, and a house-made meatloaf that caught my eye.  They also have a number of burgers and sandwiches, as well as soups, salads and appetizers such as a charcuterie board, quesadillas, wings, and tacos with either chicken, steak or fish.  

They also had a number of Irish specialties on the menu including a Shepherd's Pie, bangers and mash, fish and chips, and what I ended up getting - the Guinness Stew.  It featured chunks of braised beef along with carrots, potatoes and onions served in a hearty Guinness gravy.  Three pieces of toasted bread came with the Guinness Stew.  

The stew was a definite spot-hitter for me.  I was in a stretch of travel where I was getting burned out on some foods and I knew I didn't want a burger or a corned beef sandwich at that time.  The Guinness Stew was rich and tasty, the braised beef was tender and flavorful.  The gravy offered a nice full taste and it was wonderful on the bread which I dipped into the stew.  

There are other things on the menu that will make me go back to the Harp and Fiddle and try out at some point.  With a great beer selection, and a cozy and laid back atmosphere that was welcoming, the Harp and Fiddle is one of the better Irish pubs I've encountered.  Service was good, the Guinness Stew I had really hit the spot for me, and I felt comfortable in there as a single diner.  I had no issues with my visit to the Harp and Fiddle and would have no problem recommending the spot for anyone looking for a nice casual place to eat in the near northwest suburbs of Chicago. 

 

Stonewood Ale House - Schaumburg, IL

There is a high-end audio trade show - AXPONA - that takes place each April in Chicago at which my company participates.  The trade show was at the Westin in Rosemont near O'Hare International Airport for the past few years, but it will be moving out to the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg for the upcoming show in April.  Being that Chicago is "my town" (an old joke in our company to signify that any city in our given territories are "my town") I'm usually called upon to provide the eating arrangements for our ever growing group of colleagues who attend the show.  When it was held in Rosemont, that was no problem for me because I usually stay around there when I go into Chicago.  However, with it now 13 miles to the west in Schaumburg, I wasn't really familiar with restaurants in the area.  I knew that I needed to check out some spots to see if they would be up to snuff for us to dine in when we all got together in Chicago in April.  After calling on an account in Hoffman Estates one day, I drove back toward Schaumburg to look around at the various restaurants and to give one a try.  One that stuck out to me was a place called the Stonewood Ale House.  I pulled into the parking lot to see what the place was all about and to have some lunch.  

Louis Gatziolis grew up in a family that had restaurants in their blood.  His father, John, ran Finley's Grill Room on Finley Road in Downers Grove for a number of years, and along with his brothers Alex, John Jr., and Tom, they ran a number of dance clubs in the western suburbs of Chicago for years.  Louis decided to open his own place where he wanted to strike a balance between having a great classic restaurant and a great bar.  He opened Stonewood Ale House in early 2005, featuring a good beer list and food that is wood-fire cooked.  

It was around 2 p.m. when I got into the Stonewood Ale House, located on the corner of Mall and Kimberly Drives, just south of Woodfield Mall.  (see map)  There was plenty of parking available on the south and east sides of the 

The front door of Stonewood Ale House took me right into the large bar area.  There was a long, rectangular bar with an island of flat screen televisions hanging in the center.  The bar area was bright, open and roomy.  Along the wall near the ceilings were reproductions of old-time beer signs from breweries such as Genesee, Grain Belt and Adler Brau.

The restaurant was segmented into smaller rooms or areas.  There was a large room toward the back of the place that could be used for receptions, parties or gatherings, and possibly for overflow dining.  Other areas featured tables with banquette seating and tons of televisions throughout the place.

There was a nice room the featured a large stone hearth fireplace as the centerpiece in the room.  The room had a number of tables and booths, and was well lit in the daytime from natural light coming in through skylights in the ceiling.  

It wasn't very busy at 2 p.m., so I ended up taking a seat at the bar.  The bartender that day was a nice young lady named Margaret who handed me a food menu to check out.  They have a number of beers on tap at the Stonewood Ale House and I ordered up a Bells Two Hearted pale ale while I looked through the menu.  

Stonewood Ale House has a wide and varied menu that sort of told me that they probably did a lot of things all right, but nothing really well.  There was a full slate of appetizers to choose from - your standard sports bar variety of wings, nachos, mozzarella sticks, and fried pickles.  They had a large number of salads on the menu, as well as pasta and seafood dishes, a number of sandwiches and burgers, and a number of wood-fired entrees including pork chops, steaks, ribs, and chicken.    

Two things that really caught my attention were the pot roast sandwich and the meatloaf.  The pot roast is slow roasted for six hours, then simmered in a demi-glace.  It's served with mashed potatoes and gravy along with a medley of vegetables.  The meatloaf sounded almost as the pot roast as it featured a blend of ground chuck, brisket and short rib beef topped with a sweet-tomato demi-glace.  It was also served with mashed potatoes, gravy and an assortment of vegetables.  

But I'd had a pretty big breakfast and I didn't think that either the pot roast or the meatloaf would sit too well on me for the rest of the afternoon, so I ended up going the safe route and got a burger.  They have over a dozen assorted burgers to choose from at the Stonewood Ale House and I went with my old standby burger - the Swiss/mushroom burger.  I asked Margaret to have the cook throw a couple slices of bacon on the burger, as well.  A side of fresh cut fries came with the burger.  

The burger featured a blend of chuck, brisket and short rib - like the meatloaf - and hand-formed into 1/2 pound patties.  It was grilled over a wood fire and came on a sesame seed bun with sliced red onions and tomatoes, pickles and shredded lettuce.

For a wood-fired burger, it wasn't overcooked or dried out like most burgers cooked over wood can be.  It was actually a very juicy and flavorful burger.  The only complaint I had was that there was too much bun for the burger.  The crown of the sesame seed bun was too thick and I ended up pulling away chunks of the bun as I made my way through the burger.  But other than that, the burger was pleasantly surprisingly good.  

Even the fries were good.  I'm normally not big into fries all that much these days, but these fries had a nice crispy outer shell and a nice puffy inside.  I could easily tell these were the fresh cut variety and not out of a freezer bag.  

My colleagues and I usually have lunch together the day we get into a city for a trade show and I'll be able to put the Stonewood Ale House at the top of the list for a lunch opportunity this coming spring.   The burger I had was very good - a little too much bun came with it, but it was still a good burger.  The place was clean, comfortable and had a lot of space.  The service I received that day was fast, efficient and friendly.  Along with a good beer selection, there wasn't much to not like about the Stonewood Ale House.  

Milwalky Taco - Libertyville, IL

I was up visiting an account in the far northern Chicago suburb of Libertyville last fall.  Before I went there, I was talking with a Chicago area friend who used to live in Libertyville and he was telling me about a place up there called Milwalky Trace.  "The guy who owns it, Lee is his name, is a friend of mine," my friend told me.  He said that I really needed to stop in and eat there.  When I was done with my dealer meeting, I found Milwalky Trace and parked just down the street from the place.  I walked up to the building and the place was packed.  It was their very popular "Burger and Beer" night at Milwalky Trace and it was going to be quite sometime before I would be able to be seated.  The hostess said, "If you want, we have a little taco place next door."  The name of the place was Milwalky Taco and there appeared to be room at the bar in there, so I ended up going there instead.  

The "Lee" my friend was referring to is Lee Kuebler, native of nearby Gurnee, IL who started to work in restaurants as a teenager.  Taking a break from the restaurant business to go to college, Kuebler studied at a botany school in Chicago and became a commercial flower grower.  He did that for a few years, but his hobby for cooking became a passion.  

Kuebler ended up getting back into the restaurant business working in the kitchen at the Union League Club of Chicago, and while he was there he entered the culinary program at Kendall College in downtown Chicago.  After culinary school graduation he worked with noted chef Michael Lachowicz at Restaurant Michael in the tony suburb of Winnetka where Kuebler learned the finer parts of French cooking - something that he embraced and became the foundation of his cooking style.

After a two and a half year stint under Lachowicz, Kuebler went on to work for the DMK Restaurant Group under Michael Kornick and David Morton.  Kuebler helped open Ada Street for Kornick and Morton and learned the business side of running a restaurant there.  When a childhood friend who admired what Kuebler had accomplished in his culinary career approached him to tell him that his family had a building in downtown Libertyville that had just opened up, Kuebler decided the time was right for him to strike out on his own.  He opened Milwalky Trace - named after the trail that connected Chicago and Milwaukee that roughly runs where Milwaukee Ave. is located - in early 2014.  

While classic French cooking is still Kuebler's forte, he also studied and dabbled in other cuisines such as Mexican, Vietnamese and Thai.  When the space next to Milwalky Trace opened up in the fall of 2015, Kuebler decided to put an eclectic taqueria in the spot.  Kuebler opened Milwalky Taco in January of 2016.  

Both Milwalky Taco and Milwalky Trace are located along Milwaukee Ave. in downtown Libertyville.  (see map)  I was lucky enough to be able to find a parking spot just down the block from both places.  (There are parking lots behind the businesses, as well.)  

After finding out that getting into Milwalky Trace was going to be a problem, I almost found the same problem at Milwalky Taco.  The tables with banquette seating along the brick wall were all full.  And there was a bar area near the open kitchen that was also filled up.  

I sat at the small bar up front - the last seat available in the restaurant that evening.  They had a baseball game going on the large flat screen television behind the bar.  They had a dozens of varieties of tequila on the shelves, as well as a large selection of whiskies.  But I ended up going the beer route that evening as I ordered a Rogue IPA that they had as one of the dozen or so beers on tap.   

The kitchen area was a beehive of activity keeping up with all the orders that evening.  There were three or four people scurrying about trying to keep up.  It's mainly just tacos on the menu at Milwalky Taco, but they also have a seafood cocktail and a handful of appetizers, as well.  

Milwalky Taco has a wood-fired grill where they cook their meat directly over a blazing hot fire.  Chicken, skirt steak, and crimini mushrooms are some of the items they cook on the grill to give it a great Southwestern flavor. 

I ended up getting three tacos - the lamb barbacoa taco, the carne asada taco, and the pastor taco.  They had a fish taco on the menu, but it was battered and deep-fried - I'd rather have it grilled with no batter.  And I know my wife would have liked the wood-fired chicken taco and the braised cactus taco they had at Milwalky Taco.

The pastor taco featured spit-roasted pork along with grilled pineapple and grilled red onions.  It was topped with chopped cilantro and a tomatillo salsa.  The pork had a bit of a spicy bite to it, but the pineapple helped counter the spiciness of the pork.  

The carne asada taco featured wood-grilled skirt steak along with a fire-roasted tomato/guajillo chile sauce, topped with chopped onions and fresh cilantro.  The meat was smoky and tender, and the tomato/guajillo went very well with it giving it a mild taste to each bite.

But the best taco was the wonderful lamb barbacoa taco - braised lamb topped with a somewhat spicy tomatillo/pasilla chile sauce and finished with chopped onions and cilantro.  Now, the other two tacos were tasty, but the lamb barbacoa taco was completely off the chart in terms of flavor.   As much as I liked the carne asada and the pastor tacos, I could have easily gotten three of the braised lamb tacos and been more than happy.  

While I will still try to get into Milwalky Trace at some point, the meal that I had at Milwalky Taco was a nice consolation prize.  The atmosphere was hip and fun, the service was a little hurried, but efficient, and the tacos were very good to outstanding.  There's a lot of places like Milwalky Taco that have sprung up over the past few years, but the tacos I had here were some of the better street tacos that I've encountered in my travels.   

 

Holt's - Park Ridge, IL

Looking for a new place to eat near the hotel where I stay most of the times when I'm in Chicago, I found a place on line in nearby Park Ridge that I was not familiar with.  Holt's is in a space at the corner of Summit and Prospect in downtown Park Ridge (see map) that used to house a former men's wear shop and was the first restaurant owned by Park Ridge native and resident Matt Ranalli.  Along with managing partners Brad Doyle and Grant Blaszynski, the group opened Holt's in October of 2015 offering sandwiches, pizza, and a lengthy craft beer menu.  I thought it sounded interesting enough to me to go find it and check it out for dinner. 

I was able to find parking just down the street on Prospect and walked into Holt's around 7:30 that evening.  They had a nice patio area that appeared to be able to seat about 30 people, but it was chilly out and they weren't serving patrons out there that evening. 

Inside Holt's I found a nice contemporary decorated space that featured a long dual banquette seat in the middle of the restaurant with tables on either side.  (I thoroughly despise banquette seating.)  There were also larger tables off to the side for communal dining (I probably hate communal dining even more) or for large groups.    There was also outside dining, albeit in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the place.  It was a nice night and there were people seated outside enjoying the fall evening.  The hostess at the front stand was a young lady who was too interested as to what was going on with her smart phone than to greet me when I came in, so I just took a seat at the bar.

The bar was also modern and very nice.  It featured high-back padded seats along a long wooden bar with contemporary lighting hanging from the ceiling.  Large flat paneled televisions were hanging along the back bar area and there was a lot of contemporary country music playing in the background in the restaurant.  

One of the bartenders gave me a food menu and a beer menu.  They had about a dozen beers on tap - all of them locally-brewed craft beers - and over 40 beers, ciders and meads available in bottles.  I immediately ordered up a 3 Floyd's Spaceship Middle Finger American Pale Ale.  She looked at me funny and said, "We don't have that."

I turned the beer menu that she had given me toward her, pointed to it and said, "It's right here."  

She studied it for a moment and said, "Oh!  That's the old beer list.  Sorry about that."  She took that one back and came back with another beer list.  This time I ordered the 3 Floyd's Necron 99 India Pale Ale.  I studied the beer menu as time went on and noticed that they had the Solemn Oath Lü, a nice Kolsch that I've had before.  While I did like the Necron 99, I got the Lü for my second beer.  I love a good Kolsch and the Solemn Oath Lü is definitely a good one. 

The food menu wasn't all that long and didn't seem to be very creative.  They had a number of appetizers - things like chicken wings, cheese curds, and calamari.  They had a couple of burgers on the menu, an egg and pepper sandwich, a salmon BLT, and even a Sloppy Joe.  There were a number of salads available, but the main focus seemed to be on pizza.  They had a handful of specialty pizzas including a sausage and mashed potato pizza, a pizza topped with goat cheese and sliced grapes, and an Italian beef and giardiniera pizza.  You could also dial up your own combinations of pizza including over a dozen toppings and three different types of cheese. 

But I wasn't all that hungry that evening and none of the sandwiches sounded all that appetizing to me.  I wandered back to the appetizer part of the menu and found that they had a mac & cheese appetizer that featured three different types of cheese (gouda, white cheddar and Monterrey Jack) where you could add bacon and/or crab meat for an upcharge.  But that even sounded too filling for me, so I ended up getting something lighter - the fish tacos.

The fish tacos were made with grilled Alaskan cod that went with chopped red and green cabbage, pickled red onions, and a chipotle mayo sauce all mixed in flour taco shells.  The tacos were good - not great - but they were fine for what I needed that evening.  The cod wasn't fishy in taste, the cabbage was crisp, the pickled onions gave the tacos a nice balance, and the chipotle mayo sort of tied everything together nicely with a bit of smoky and spicy flavor.  It was the perfect amount of food on an evening when I really didn't need a lot of food, but I needed something.  

I'll have to say that Holt's is a nice place and they had a pretty good selection of craft beers - as long as you get the current beer menu rather than the old one that was initially presented to me.  The food menu isn't all that extensive and I did see one of their pizzas later in the evening that piqued my interest as it looked pretty good - thin, misshapen crust with plenty of toppings.  Other than the uninterested young lady at the hostess stand, the service was also pretty good.  Holt's seems to be more of a place for groups rather than a single diner, but I think I'd go back again at some point.    

Amici Ristorante - Niles, IL

In my travels around the northwest suburbs of Chicago over the years, I've frequently passed an ornate Italian restaurant at the corner of Milwaukee and Howard Avenues in Niles.   One recent evening after a long day of calling on accounts in the Chicago area, I happened to be driving past the restaurant on my way to my hotel.  I thought I'd give it a try that night and I double-backed and found myself in the parking lot in front of Amici Ristorante.  (see map)

Mike and Sarah Zimmerman are the owners of Amici (Italian for "friends") Ristorante which opened in 1989.  The exterior of the restaurant resembles an Italian countryside villa, while the two main dining rooms are also rustic in their decor.  

In front of the restaurant is a nice patio area for al fresco dining.  It featured a number of wrought iron tables and chairs, some tables with small umbrellas.  Vines grew on the exterior wall and on an arbor over the outside dining area.  It was a beautiful evening, but no one was seated on the patio.  

I ended up sitting in a booth in the lounge area.  The lounge was located in the middle of the two dining areas and looked more like an old time Italian eatery's bar.  The music playing in the background reflected the old time atmosphere to the place - there was music from Frank Sinatra, Kay Starr, Perry Como and Keely Smith that was played in the lounge.  I also heard a great Nat King Cole/Dean Martin duet - Long, Long Ago - that I added to one of my Tidal song lists when I got back to the hotel.  

I was greeted by my server for the evening, Monica.  Monica told me that she has been a waitress at various places in the area for 45 years.  She fit into her lounge surroundings as she had that endearing old-time quality to her that 50 years ago she would have been referred to as a "broad".  But I say that in the most complementary and affectionate way.  She was a fun and brassy lady.  

Many of the items on the dinner menu at Amici Ristorante were Italian specialties including pasta dishes, chicken entrees, as well as veal and seafood dishes.  They also have ribs, steaks, pork chops and pizza on the menu.  A couple seated near me in the lounge got the pizza that evening and it was a thin crust with plenty of toppings on it.  It looked very good.  

After I ordered my entree, Monica brought out a dinner salad and a basket of warm, fresh-baked bread.  The salad had their housemade Italian dressing on it and featured fresh lettuce greens, chopped red onions and carrots, and a slices of pickled beets and cucumbers.  Everything was fresh and cool in the salad and the Italian dressing had a great zesty taste.  

I've been on a meat-filled ravioli kick as of late and that's exactly what I ordered for my dinner at Amici Ristorante.  For good measure, I had Monica have the chef throw in a couple meatballs with the ravioli and bolognese sauce that I had on top of the ravioli.  I thought a glass of wine would be a nice thing to have along with the ravioli and meat sauce that evening and they had the Liberty School cabernet available by the glass from their wine list.  

The ravioli were good sized and had to be cut in half to eat.  There was plenty of the beef/veal/pork mixture in the ravioli, themselves.  The bolognese sauce was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but it was still very good.  The meatballs were also pretty large and had pretty much the same mixture as what were in the pillows of ravioli.  It was a great, old-home Italian dinner - one that made me pretty full by the time I was finished.  

For driving by Amici Ristorante many times over the years, I'm almost kicking myself for not trying it sooner than this visit.  From the Italian rustic decor, to the wonderful old time lounge, to the 50's and 60's pop classics playing in the background, to my server's wonderful service - complete with a bit of sass and old school attitude - my visit to Amici Ristorante was more than I expected.  The meat-filled ravioli in the slightly sweet bolognese sauce, along with two large meatballs, was a spot-hitter.  And after seeing the pizza at Amici Ristorante, I'd like to head back at some point and try one of those.  Let's just say I won't be ignoring Amici Ristorante when I drive by in the future.

Bella Sera - Schiller Park, IL

Looking to change things up after a long and taxing day of calling on dealers in the Chicago area, I was wanting some Italian food that evening.  As I usually stay out near O'Hare International Airport when I'm in Chicago, I was looking for something in the area that I hadn't been to before.  My new GPS gave me some suggestions in the area and there was one place - Bella Sera - that I wasn't familiar with.  (see map)  I thought I'd give it a chance and see what Bella Sera was all about.  

Over 50 years ago, Holiday Inn built a hotel along Mannheim Road near O'Hare. It was one of the first hotels built in the area and it had a restaurant on the premises - the Armada Room.  When the movie The Blues Brothers was filmed in the Chicago area in the late 70's, the Armada Room was prominently featured in a scene in the movie where Jake and Elwood Blues went to convince former bandmates "Murph and the Magic Tones" to come back to work for them.  

The restaurant changed hands - and names - over the years becoming Spiazzo's, then Cafe USA, before Ron Kammo opened Bella Sera Restaurant and Lounge 20 years ago.  It is now located in what looked to be a rather rundown Quality Inn that had a local disaster restoration company working on some renovations on the building.  Yellow tape and fencing was prevalent on the outside of the building.  But the front of the restaurant looked like it had just had a facelift, so I was somewhat hopeful about the place.  There was also limited parking, but I was able to snag what proved to be the last space in front of the restaurant.  Everything in my body was telling me this was a mistake, but I decided to trudge ahead and see what it was all about.  

It was truly a restaurant/lounge with a three-sided bar area, neon lights and pop/dance music pumping from the sound system.  The ambience was pretty horrid for an Italian restaurant.  Well, really for ANY restaurant.  The bar area had a number of people sitting there, but there were only a couple of tables that were filled in the dining area.  My deep down feeling was that I needed to flee the joint, but I decided to stay.  

There was only one waitress working in the restaurant, a young lady by the name of Yovana.  She dropped off a menu and said that she'd be right back.  Well, she wasn't.  It was over five minutes before she was able to get back to me to take my drink order.  In the meantime, I looked through the menu to see what they had available.  

The menu wasn't very lengthy, but they did have a nice offering of items.  Chicken parm, chicken Marsala, lasagna, grilled salmon, and steaks were on the main entree page.  They  also had pizza at Bella Sera, as well.  But the thing that caught my eye was the "Build-Your-Own" pasta page.  

You start out by selecting one of four different types of pasta - mostaciolli, bow-tie, fettuccine or spaghetti.  Then from there you have a choice of six different types of sauces including a straight marinara, a meaty bolognese, an alfredo sauce, a spicy diablo sauce, a simple olive oil topping, and the Concasse sauce which had chopped tomatoes, garlic, and fresh basil in an olive oil.  You can top off the pasta dish with a variety of vegetables, chicken, shrimp, Italian sausage or meatballs.  

And that was the route that I took - well, once I was able to get Yovana back over to the table to take my food order.  (She did apologize a couple of times during the course of the evening, but I was surprised that she was the only one working the floor of the restaurant.) I got the mostaciolli with the bolognese sauce, sliced fresh mushrooms, and four meatballs.  

For as slow as the service was and as bad as the ambience of the place was, the pasta entree was - I felt - outstanding.   The bolognese sauce was meaty and had chunks of tomatoes mixed in.  The meatballs had a great Italian herb taste, and the combination of the mostaciolli pasta with the fresh mushrooms was a wonderful taste experience.  I was really glad that I didn't bail on the place when I had the chance - more than once.  

Sometimes you can't judge the book by the cover.  But, quite actually, the outside of Bella Sera was nicer than the inside.  The cheesy lounge decor, the neon lights and the pumping dance music aside - not to mention the slow service - I forgot about all of that with the pasta combination dinner I got that evening.  It was one of the more surprising meals I've had at a restaurant where my expectations were so low by the time my meal was served to me.  The mostaciolli with the meatballs, bologese sauce and sliced fresh mushrooms was simply outstanding.  Had the meal been mediocre - at best - I would have been more harsh on the overall experience of the restaurant.  But the food was good enough to balance out the bad that I experienced at Bella Sera.  

Morrison Roadhouse - Niles, IL

I've driven by the Morrison Roadhouse countless times over the past 15 years that I've been traveling to Chicago for work.  It's always sort of intrigued me as it's been in business for 85 years and was probably a true country "road house" when it opened in 1932.  One night on my way back to my hotel, I decided to stop in to have something to eat and to check the place out.  

Morrison Roadhouse is located along Harlem Ave. in Niles, not far from where Harlem intersects with Milwaukee and Howard Avenues, and just north of the intersection of Harlem and Touhy.  (see map)  I was able to find a parking spot - the last one that was open in the lot next to the building and went in.  I would have to characterize Morrison Roadhouse as a sports bar more than anything, but it did have sort of a neighborhood tavern feeling to the place.  

Morrison Roadhouse features a large rectangular bar in the middle with a number of tables and booths around the bar area.  There was a game room toward the back of the place, as well.  

I ended up taking a seat at the bar and was greeted by Brittany, one of two young ladies working behind the bar that night.  (It turned out that both Brittany and the other bartender were also the servers for tables - more on that later on.)  I ordered up a Revolution Anti-Hero IPA to enjoy while I looked at the menu.  

There seemed to be a lot of regulars in the place, especially around the bar area.  Brittany and the other bartender were having conversations with a number of people on all sides of the bar.  The clientele was mostly male at the bar - many of them middle-aged to older men.  I fit in pretty well with that demographic.

Now, I couldn't find much historical information about the place other than its present day owner is a guy by the name of Robert Castle.  I asked the other bartender working at the bar if Morrison was the name of the small town that Niles possibly engulfed at some point.  "Hmmm...  I don't think so," she said.  "I think it's named after the guy who started it."  

A guy seated next to me said, "I remember my parents used to come into this place and it was sort of a fancy dress-up place that was more of a mixed-drink crowd than a beer bar.  But that was in the 60's."  

The menu at Morrison Roadhouse was extensive with a number of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers and steak sandwiches.  They had a number of deep-fried appetizers on the menu, and there were nearly a dozen different types of salads to choose from, as well as a like number of burgers on the menu.  There was about 10 different chicken sandwiches and a number of wraps to choose from.  Sandwiches ranged from a Cuban sandwich, a beef sandwich that is slow roasted in Guinness beer, a classic reuben, and something called the St. Jarvis Beef sandwich that featured Italian-style beef served on ciabatta bread and topped with mozzarella cheese, giardiniera, and pepperoncini's.  I looked long and hard at that sandwich, but I ordered something else.

The burgers sounded good, but I was sort of burnt out on burgers for the time being.  I ended up ordering the toasted Italian sandwich with a side of tater tots.  Well, it took me a long time to be able to order it.  Remember, there were only two people behind the bar and they were also table servers, as well.  I was done with my first beer and no one was coming back to check on me.  I just couldn't believe for as busy a place that Morrison Roadhouse was that evening that they didn't have more wait staff.  I had to get Brittany's attention to order up the sandwich - a good 10 minutes after I was done with my first beer and ready to order something to eat.  

The sandwich was all right - it featured French bread with sliced ham, pepperoni and salami with mozzarella cheese over the top of it that was put under a broiler to melt the cheese.  Then it was topped with chopped lettuce, red onions and tomatoes and finished off with an Italian dressing.  It was nothing fancy, but I liked it.  I've always been partial to these type of Italian sandwiches since I first used to have the "hoagies" at Pizza Hut when I was a teenager.  I couldn't even begin to eat a Pizza Hut pizza these days, but if they ever brought back the hoagie on their menu I'd stop in to try one.  But I have to believe that the toasted Italian sandwich at Morrison Roadhouse would be even better than a Pizza Hut hoagie.  

The tater tots were good, too.  They had some hot sauce in a caddy on the bar and I was able to drizzle some Frank's Hot Sauce on the tater tots to give them a little zip in taste.  Tater tots are getting to be about the only potato I will eat at places like this.  That is, when they have them on the menu.  

Service continued to be slow as the two bartenders were obviously overwhelmed by having to work the bar and be the wait staff for tables the whole time I was there.  I was sort of peeved that they wouldn't have more people in there working as the place was more than half full.  And I'm sure other people were just as frustrated as I was.  But other than that, the toasted Italian sandwich was good, as were the tater tots I got on the side.  OK, so I was able to finally stop into Morrison Roadhouse.  And it was all right.  I think that if you're a regular there, you'd probably feel more comfortable in the place.  I'm just not certain that I'll be going back anytime soon. 

The Assembly American Bar and Cafe - Hoffman Estates, IL

I have a dealer out in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago and he and I were talking one day about our favorite burgers in the Chicago area.  He then told me about a place that wasn't too far away from his store that he thought had a great burger, a place called The Assembly.  "You haven't had a burger an Assembly burger," he asked me incredulously.  Right then and there, I put The Assembly on my "Restaurants to Visit" list on Google Maps.  Earlier this year, I finally had a chance to stop in and try one of their burgers.  

The story behind The Assembly starts with Glenn Taylor, a long time CPA.  However, his off-hours hobby was home-brewing beer.  Along with his sons, Gary and Steve, and his wife, Amy, the Taylors were having fun with coming up with different types of beers in their basement.  

Glenn Taylor was getting burned out on his accountant job and he certainly enjoyed brewing beers with his sons. He ended up chucking his CPA career in the early 90's and in 1994 the Taylor family opened up a brewpub - Taylor Brewing Company - in an old furniture factory in Naperville.  By 1999, the Taylors had moved the brew pub to a new location along Butterfield Road in Lombard.  

The man who Glenn Taylor worked for as a CPA had a side business that he had opened in 1978 - The Assembly American Bar and Cafe.  If he wasn't enjoying brewing beer at home, Taylor liked to hang out at The Assembly with its fun atmosphere and regular clientele.  In 1995, Taylor's old boss informed him that he was looking to retire and sell The Assembly.  Glenn Taylor jumped at the chance and bought The Assembly later that year.  After Taylor Brewing Company shut down in late 2011, Gary Taylor came over to The Assembly to run the day-to-day operations.  

It was a cold and rainy spring day when I made it out to The Assembly which is located between W. Higgins Road and Interstate 90 along Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates.  (see map)   I pulled in just before noon and I took pause for a moment when I saw "Awesome Food Here" spelled out underneath The Assembly sign on the front of the building.  I sort of cringed when I saw that thinking that they were trying too hard to lure in customers.

The inside of The Assembly was dimly lit, cozy and looked a little dated.  There was a large rectangular bar in the middle of place with step-up booths on the outer side of the floor plan.  There were a number of flat panel televisions that were hung throughout the restaurant.  There was an appreciable number of people in the place when I got there and more came in through the noon hour.  Many of the patrons seemed to be older men.

I took a seat at the bar and was greeted by Brenda who doubled as a bartender and grill cook.  She gave me a menu and I ordered up a Sweetwater 420 extra pale ale that they had in cans.  Her co-bartender that day was a spunky lady by the name of Denise. She was wearing a t-shirt that said on the back "I Hate Kale - I Like Burgers - Have a Burger".  

The grill area for burgers was in between the bar counters.  It featured a gas char-grill cooking surface and a flat cooking surface next to it.  Opposite of the grill area was a condiment area where burgers were dressed.  There was a kitchen for other items on the menu in the back of the restaurant.  

The Assembly's gourmet burgers are their signature item on the menu.  The burgers are all 10 ounce, never frozen beef patties that are blended with different cuts of beef to The Assembly's specification.  Gary Taylor once said in on an on-line video that they serve over 1600 burgers a week and that loosely translated out to a total of over 2.5 million burgers in the 39 years The Assembly has been in business.  Their Bionic Burger - topped with bacon, sautéed onions and a choice of Swiss, mozzarella or cheddar cheese - is also known as the Hulk Hogan Burger as the Hulkster himself named it "a bionic burger" after eating at The Assembly in the late 70's.  It continues to be one of The Assembly's most popular burgers.  

In addition to the Bionic Burger, The Assembly also has a Parmesan burger topped with garlic butter and Parmesan cheese, The Grand Champion that is topped with bacon, sautéed onions, grilled peppers, sautéed mushrooms and a choice of Swiss, mozzarella or cheddar cheese, and a Bloody Mary burger topped with bloody mary seasonings, tomatoes, pickles and finished with a green olive.  They also had a burger that was topped with macaroni and cheese.  

Their selection of gourmet burgers are the most prominent feature on the menu, but they also had a number of other items to choose from.  The menu consisted of a number of pub-style appetizers, many of them deep-fried such as onion strings, mozzarella cheese triangles, fried pickles and mushrooms stuffed with a bread crumb mix of chopped bacon, celery, onion, and red and green peppers.   They had five grilled chicken sandwiches, as well as entrees such as pork ribs, ribeye steaks, beef tenderloin filet medallions, and grilled tilapia.  Corned beef reubens, as well as turkey reubens and turkey club sandwiches were also featured on the menu along with a variety of salads.  

I ended up getting the mushroom and Swiss cheese burger.  I asked Denise if I could get some bacon on the burger and she said it would be no problem.  Creamy cole slaw came with the burger along with The Assembly's signature mushroom/onion sherry wine sauce.  And I also got a choice of a potato side and it was a no-brainer for me to pick the tater tots.  In fact, the tater tots come out about three or four minutes before the burger was placed in front of me.  

The burger was thick, juicy and cooked to a perfect medium with a bit of pink in the middle.  And when I mean it was juicy, well, it was a multi-napkin burger.  The sautéed mushrooms were fresh and earthy, the bacon crisp and smoky, and the Swiss cheese was slathered on top of everything.  The bun was soft, yet it held together very well with all the good gooeyness going on with the burger.  The mushroom/onion sherry sauce was interesting - it was sort of thick and I suppose that you were supposed to put it on the burger.  But I ended up dipping some of the tater tots into the sauce.  And while the tater tots tasted good on their own, the mushroom/onion sherry wine sauce helped give them a savory taste.  

I thought the burger at The Assembly was very good.  It was thick, juicy and full of great flavor even without the sautéed mushrooms, bacon and Swiss cheese.  The tater tots were a nice change of pace - especially outside of the states of Minnesota and North Dakota where tater tots are a potato staple.  The cole slaw - honestly, I don't know if I even tried the cole slaw, I concentrated on the burger and the tater tots because they were so good.  The interior of The Assembly appears to be a little dated, but it was still homey and comfortable in its feel.  And the service I received sitting at the bar was very good.  Overall, this was a very good place to get a very good burger.  

Lola's Diner - Park Ridge, IL

There's nothing worse than being sick on the road.  I contracted a bad cold earlier this year during a trip to Chicago and one day I just couldn't function very well.  I needed some comfort food including some soup and I needed it quick.  I did a quick search in the area to see if there was any place close to my hotel and found a little restaurant named Lola's Diner that sounded exactly like what I was looking for.  

Lola's Diner is run by longtime restaurateurs Herman and Lola Rivera.  The Rivera's also had a restaurant by the name of the Sunrise Diner in nearby Mount Prospect that they ran until they shut it down in the summer of 2013 to fully focus on running Lola's Diner.  The Rivera's make many of their foods from scratch, soups are made in-house, and they use only fresh, locally-sourced items for many of their foods.  

Lola's Diner is located along Busse Highway in Park Ridge, just east of the intersection of N. Dee Road.  (see map)  I was able to find some parking behind the place and went inside.  It was an unseasonably cold early spring day and had snowed off and on as winter was still trying to hold on in the Chicagoland area.  I was greeted by a hostess who took me to a booth in the corner of the restaurant.  The diner was nice and clean with a parquet tile floor, light blue accents on the chairs and booth backs, a small 3-sided counter toward the back of the place, and a series of plexiglass columns that featured various model cars or trucks.  This place just screamed, "We have comfort food!"  

Since Lola's is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the week (7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends), they do both breakfast and lunch.  And both menus are extensive with omelets, waffles, skillets, Swedish pancakes and crepes available for breakfast, while lunch features sandwiches, burgers, salads, wraps and panini melts.   But the thing that jumped out at me on the menu were the hot plates they had listed.  

They had a meatloaf plate, a hot turkey sandwich plate, a breaded pork tenderloin plate and a good ol' fashioned country fried steak.  But I went with the hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy.  A cup of soup came with the hot beef sandwich for just a dollar more.  I asked my waitress if I could get a bowl of soup and she said, "That would be a couple dollars for an upcharge."  That would be no problem, I said. 

One of the soups they had that day was just what the doctor ordered - lemon chicken rice soup.  And it was excellent.  It had a nice chicken broth with a hint of a lemony taste.  The chicken chunks in the soup were teddy and tasty.  And there was a lot of rice in the soup, as well.  I could have just had the soup and I would have been happy.  For a brief moment, I suddenly felt better.

The hot beef sandwich was served open faced with the mashed potatoes - made from real potatoes, not that boxed crap - off to the side.  Some grilled asparagus came on the side.  The beef was thinly cut, but it was a little tough and overcooked.  The gravy was very good and helped out with the semi-toughness of the beef. There was a seasoning in the gravy - a spice - that I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.  But I liked the gravy with the potatoes and the roast beef.  The asparagus was basically a throw away side.  The asparagus was limp and lifeless.  But that was all right - between the excellent soup and the very good gravy helping the taste of the beef and potatoes, I had more than enough food that day.  

Unfortunately, my cold only intensified from there on out and I ended up spending the rest of the day and evening in bed at the hotel.  But the comfort food I had from Lola's Diner helped ease the discomfort of my cold.  While the beef was a little overcooked, the mashed potatoes - made from real potatoes - with the very good gravy was a spot-hitter.  But I could have probably gotten a quart of the excellent lemon chicken rice soup to go and had that for some subsequent meals as I was trying to get over my cold.  I was glad that I found Lola's Diner and I've already made a mental note to go there for breakfast some morning in the near future.

The Garden Grill and Bar (Hilton Garden Inn) - Des Plaines, IL

When I'm in Chicago for business - which seems like an awful lot as of late - my base of operations is usually the Hilton Garden Inn - O'Hare along River Road in Des Plaines.  (see map)  I've been staying there for years and I call it my "home away from home" when I'm in Chicago.  The past three or four years, we've participated in a trade show just down the street and I've put some of my colleagues up at the place and many are amazed at the level of service they get and the overly pleasant nature many of the staff possess.  "I've never stayed at a hotel where everyone is so nice," one of my colleagues remarked a couple years ago.  While I'm usually not big on eating at a hotel, I have to say that the Garden Grill and Bar actually serves some pretty damned good food.  I decided to let the secret out and tell you about this place where I like to stay.  

I used to stay out in Addison at a Hampton Inn for a long time.  But my wife and I stayed at the 9-story, 253 room Hilton Garden Inn near O'Hare International Airport during a Chicago excursion weekend not long after it opened in 2005 and I thought it was a nice place.  Trying to save my company money, I kept staying out in Addison for basically $20 bucks a night less than what they were charging for rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn.  Finally, I made the decision after driving for an hour and a half in rush hour traffic to get all the way out to Addison that it was worth the extra money in time saved and aggravation reduced to stay closer in.  With access to the Tri-State Tollway, the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway and the Kennedy Expressway all within a mile of the hotel, I could easily go in any direction to get to appointments around the Chicago area.  

After staying there as long as I have, I've been recognized as a regular customer and that has some advantages.  While the hotel doesn't offer a Park-and-Fly program like other hotels around O'Hare, they do have shuttles that go to and from the airport every 20 minutes.  Last year when my wife and I went to Hawaii for a week, the manager allowed me to park my car there while we were gone.  We spent the night before we left at the hotel, shuttled to the airport the next morning, and then they picked us up at the airport when we got home a little over over a week later.  It was sweet and saved us about $150 to $200 bucks.   

The Hilton Garden Inn - O'Hare in Des Plaines is managed by The Raymond Group, a Middleton, WI-based hospitality company.  Most of them are Hilton and Marriott-branded hotels and I've stayed in a number of Raymond properties around the Midwest during my travels.  I'd have to say that all of the Raymond hotels that I've stayed at over the years are very nice, clean and comfortable.  The Raymond Group got their start in the late 70's managing a number of Country Kitchen restaurants around Wisconsin and Illinois. By the early 80's, the group had branched out into hotel management with four Super 8 properties.  In the mid-80's, the Raymond Group partnered with a hospitality company to develop hotels for the fast growing Hampton Inn hotels.  In 1989, The Raymond Group was recognized as the "Developer of the Year" by the Hilton corporation for their work with Hampton Inn's.  In 1994, the company sold their interests in Country Kitchen and began to solely develop hotels.  Today, the company oversees three dozen hotel properties in 11 states.  

About three years ago, I was traveling with one of my newer colleagues and a guy from one of our manufacturers through the Midwest.  One night we stayed in a Hampton Inn in Omaha and I made the mistake of not booking us at a hotel with a bar.  We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn - O'Hare a couple nights later and they liked the bar so much that I was immediately absolved of all transgressions I committed on the trip.  The bar is cozy and comfy with a couple of flat-panel televisions that are usually tuned in to a game involving a Chicago team.  The main bartender through the week is a Greek guy by the name of Jim who speaks with a heavy Chicago accent.  He's a great guy and he treats me like a friend every time I pull up a seat at the bar.

One of the perks as a Hilton Diamond member (actually, I'm a Hilton Lifetime Diamond member - I no longer have to annually qualify to earn that level) of staying at Hilton Garden Inn properties is the free breakfast.  And the breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn - O'Hare is very good.  (The bacon they serve is exceptionally good!)  The servers - Wioletta (pronounced Violetta), Maria, Lily, Elisa, and Vicki all know me and take great care of me.  

A few years ago, I was staying at the hotel one night and I was stuck in traffic.  A friend of mine was waiting for me at the hotel and I told him that I would be at least 45 minutes before I got to the hotel.  He said that was no problem, he'd grab something to eat in the restaurant.  He had the salmon that evening while he waited for me to show up.  When I finally did get there, my friend was raving about the food.  "This salmon is so fresh," he exclaimed.  "I can't believe I'm having this at a hotel restaurant."  

Jim came over and said to my friend, "Isn't it good?  Didn't I tell you the salmon was great?"  

My friend couldn't find anything wrong with his meal.  "I've had much worse salmon in upscale seafood restaurants," he said.  "You certainly didn't steer me wrong on this." 

Jim explained that they have their seafood flown in daily.  "And we have a real chef in the kitchen," he said.  "He knows his way around the kitchen."  

The menu for the Garden Grill and Bar is definitely upscale compared to comparable Hilton Garden Inn's that I've stayed at.  Steaks, seafood and pasta dishes make up many of the main entrees the restaurant serves.  They also have burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads to choose from, as well.  Their burgers are very good, I like their open faced tuna melt made with fresh tuna, and even though it's a little more salty than I like the French onion soup with housemade croutons and gruyere cheese is a spot hitter on a cold evening.  

Every couple of weeks they will have a number of dinner specials that they feature in the restaurant.  On this visit, it was around Mardi Gras time so they were featuring a number of Cajun-inspired dishes off the menu.  It was a cold evening, spitting rain and an east wind off Lake Michigan that just cut through the body.  I decided to eat at the bar and I sat down at the bar to let Jim take care of me.  I started out with a Bell's Two Hearted Ale that they perpetually have on tap.  (They also feature a rotating selection of local Chicago area breweries on tap.  Jim is a beer guy and he knows his beer.)

One of the specials they had that evening was a bowl of gumbo.  I've had gumbo in a number of places over the years and this was very good.  It featured chunks of chicken, andouille sausage and shrimp along with chunks of vegetables.  I gave it a little more of a kick with some Tabasco sauce, but on its own it was very flavorful.  

Surprisingly, the meat loaf that they serve on a regular basis is also very good.  I think I make great meat loaf at home and having meat loaf in a restaurant is usually a dicey proposition.  But the meat loaf they have at the Garden Grill and Bar is well above average.  For one of their specials that evening they kicked it up a notch with a Cajun meat loaf.  It featured Cajun spices on the meat loaf and a somewhat spicy sauce.  Usually, their meat loaf comes with mashed potatoes, but the Cajun meat loaf came with white rice and a side of fresh sweet corn kernels.  The spiciness on the meat loaf wasn't overly hot, but it was enough that it got my attention.  It made me think that I could make a Cajun-style meat loaf at home, it tasted so good.  

So, my little secret is now out.  The Garden Grill and Bar has some excellent food for a hotel restaurant.  The Cajun meat loaf special along with the gumbo they had that evening were both very good and hit the spot on a cold evening.  But other things that I've had in the past have also been very good - surprisingly good considering most Hilton Garden Inn's that I've stayed at don't compare in the quality of the food served at the Hilton Garden Inn - O'Hare.  The staff is always courteous, friendly, and helpful.   This is my home-away-from-home when I go to Chicago for business and one of the reasons is the very good food they serve at the Garden Grill and Bar.  

Nonna Silvia's - Park Ridge, IL

A place I'd really been wanting to try for quite sometime is an Italian restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge by the name of Nonna Silvia's.  When I found out that there was some family lineage between one of my new favorite Italian restaurants on the northwest side of Chicago - Pasta d'Arte (click here to see the Road Tips entry on Pasta d'Arte) - then I knew that I really wanted to try Nonna Silvia's.  My first visit to Nonna Silvia's was a strike-out - they were having one of their four-course/wine dinners the evening I showed up and I couldn't get in.  But on a couple of subsequent visits, I was finally able to give the place a try.  

Cousins Steve Marti and John Giannini are the men behind Nonna Silvia's.  Both were raised on their grandmother Silvia Giannini's food while growing up.  Marti and Giannini cut their culinary teeth while working at their uncle's restaurant Via Venuto (click here to read the Road Tips entry on Via Venuto).  

Pictured right - Steve Marti and John Giannini

Steve Marti was trained as a chef by his brother and by a number of chefs in Italy.  Getting together with John Giannini after Marti came back to the U.S., the cousins opened Nonna Silvia's in 2000 using many of the base recipes handed down from their grandmother who grew up in the Italian countryside, but adding a contemporary take to many of the dishes they make.

Nonna Silvia's is located at the corner of North Canfield Ave. and West Talcott Road in Park Ridge.  (see map)  There's diagonal parking along Canfield from Nonna Silvia's and down, and there's also parking across the street to the southeast in a lot after 5 p.m.

As I said, the first time that I tried to go to Nonna Silvia's, they were packed from a four-course wine dinner they have scheduled from time to time.  The hostess apologized profusely when I came in after telling me there were no seats to be had that evening.  I ended up going back the next night when it wasn't anywhere close to being as busy as it was the night before.  

Nonna Silvia's is not that large with two cozy dining areas in the place.  The front dining area has a small bar while the back dining area also features a small bar and can be used for private parties or receptions.  

I was seated in the front dining room along a wall and given a menu to look over.  My server for the evening, a man with a thick Eastern European accent by the name of Karol, came over to greet me.  I ordered up a glass of the Avalon cabernet to start out with while I looked through the menu.  

The menu consisted of antipasto appetizers such as grilled or fried calamari, beef carpaccio, grilled portobello mushroom caps, and Prince Edward Island mussels in a San Marzano tomato broth with fresh basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  I almost got those along with an order of baked little neck clams as my dinner.  

But the main entree options were just too good to pass up on my first visit.  Pasta dishes - with all pasta made from scratch in the kitchen - included pumpkin ravioli, linguine vongoli with clams, gnocchi in a vodka cream sauce, and Nonna Silvia's signature dish - a housemade Swiss chard fettuccine mixed with extra virgin olive oil, roasted garlic, cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and topped with a parmigiano reggiano cheese.  

In addition to pasta dishes, Nonna Silvia's had bone-in Cajun spiced pork chops, a red snapper entree, a couple of chicken dishes, a beef tenderloin filet with a blue cheese crust and served in a shiitake porto mushroom reduction sauce with garlic mashed potatoes.  But something else on the entree list caught my eye and I ordered that up.  

With my meal, I got a basket of fresh baked bread.  Now, the bread was absolutely fabulous.  It had a thin crust that wasn't too crunchy and the inner part was soft, spongy and literally melted in my mouth.  

I got the house salad which consisted of organic greens with sliced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, shaved carrots and topped with a red wine vinaigrette dressing.  The salad was fine, but it was at this point that I started to notice something.  My server was ignoring me.  

Now, eating out alone is always a tricky part of traveling for a living.  Finding restaurants that are keen on making sure the solo diner is comfortable and welcome has been easier as the years have gone on as restaurateurs have figured out that single diners can make up a significant portion of their business.  I'm still self-conscious enough when I dine alone in a nice restaurant, but a server who is friendly and accommodating can help out a lot.  (Plus, it's bad enough when loud-mouthed diners point out to others at their table that you're eating alone, as what happened on my second visit to Nonna Silvia's.  A typical Chicago wise-ass saw me sitting along at the table next to him, his wife, and another couple and he told his wife to go over and sit with me as I was all alone.  It was pretty embarrassing and I damned near got up and walked out.)

In this instance, I noticed that Karol - who was very friendly with a number of tables he was working around me - had offered freshly cracked black pepper to a table of four people who had gotten their salads after me.  I was never offered the fresh black pepper.  Karol wordlessly placed the salad in front of me and scampered away.  I just sort of brushed it off as him being busy.    

For my main entree that evening, I got the veal piccata.  It featured three veal cutlets, pan-fried and served with capers and garlic on a bed of linguine in a lemon/white wine sauce.  The veal was tender and delicious, as was the linguine in the sauce.  The linguine noodles were thick, yet soft and pliable - cooked to perfection.  Along with the sharp and salty taste of the capers, as well as the pungent fresh chopped fresh garlic there were a lot of taste sensations going on all at once. 

However, Karol continued to ignore me.  Not once did he come over to check on me or ask if I needed anything else.  I was nearly finished with my glass of wine and I would have ordered up a second glass to savor with my dinner.  My water glass, too, was nearly empty and I would have liked to have some more water to counter the salty taste of the capers.  Plus, I really needed a spoon to twirl my linguine with my fork.  As it was, I was having to twirl it on the plate, but that wasn't working well thanks to the laws of gravity and the lemon/white sauce.  

As I continued with my meal, Karol continued to accommodate the tables with three or four people seated at them around me.  He carried on conversations with them - I was guessing that some may have been regular diners.  But he continued to ignore me, right up to and after my plate had been removed by a busboy.  I could only shake my head thinking that he could have been a LOT more attentive to my needs as a solo diner.  When he dropped off the check (not asking if I wanted any dessert - which I didn't), he laid it on the table in front of me and merely said, "Thank you, sir."   Let me just say that Karol didn't get any more than a 10% tip from me that evening.  And I could make the argument that the 10% was possibly too much of a tip.  I was extremely disappointed with the level of service I received that evening.  

Having been thoroughly disappointed in the service, but being thoroughly happy with all aspects of my food, I knew that I couldn't let the lack of attentive service by one person stop me from trying Nonna Silvia's again.  Besides, when I was there on my first visit, a table of four seated near me got a couple of pizzas that looked absolutely great.  Thin crush, fresh toppings - and plenty of them.  It was my kind of pizza.  I had to go back to Nonna Silvia's and try their pizza.  

It was about two months after my initial visit to Nonna Silvia's when I went back into the place to get one of their pizzas.  I was seated at a table in the middle of the cozy dining room (close enough to the table of four people with the jack-ass who made the joke of having his wife go sit with me because I was by myself) and given a menu.  The only problem I saw, initially, were that the pizzas they had on the menu were Italian artisan-style pizza.  They had a margherita pizza with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil and bocconcini mozzarella cheese balls; a house-made duck sausage pizza with goat cheese and bocconcini; and a rustic Italian-style pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, sliced red onions with marinara and mozzarella cheese.  

I was there for a couple minutes - they were busier than the last time I was in - and I noticed Karol was there that evening.  Thankfully, a lady by the name of Rachel rushed past the table, stopped for a moment and came back to me.  "I'll be with you in a moment," she said somewhat breathlessly.  "Can I get you anything to drink in the meantime?  I ordered up an Anchor Steam beer and she cheerily said, "Great!  I'll get it for you and be right back."  

She came back a couple minutes later and said, "Gosh, I'm sorry.  We're out of the Anchor Steam."  I ordered up a Revolution Brewing Co. Anti-Hero IPA instead.  "We have that one, I know for sure," she said to me in an assured and good-natured tone.

When Rachel came back with my beer, she started to give me the specials for the evening.  (Hmmm... come to think of it, Karol never offered any specials to me the night I was there for my previous visit.  Maybe they didn't have any that particular night, but I doubt it.)  I stopped her and told her that I was going to get a pizza.  I was getting ready to order the roasted mushroom medley pizza with the burrata cheese and marinara sauce when Rachel said, "We can do just about anything on a pizza.  Sausage, black olives, Canadian bacon..."

I asked if they could do my standard - Italian sausage, pepperoni and mushroom - a 10-inch size.  (They also have a 12-inch pizza available.)  "Absolutely," Rachel exclaimed.  "Mmmm...  That's sounds delicious!  I'll get it in right away for you."  Rachel's demeanor was already making up for the lack of service I received on my first visit.  

When she brought the pizza out to me about 15 minutes later, I was ready to eat.  She sat this pizza down in front of me with a load of sausage chunks, fresh sliced mushrooms and pepperoni slices all mixed in with fresh mozzarella and a marinara sauce.  The thin-crust of the pizza was light and flaky, but held together very well with all the weight on top.  

And the overall taste of the pizza was excellent.  This was one of the better thin-crust pizzas I've had in all my travels.  While it wasn't big, it was more than filling with all the toppings.  By the time I was done, I was more than satiated.  

And Rachel couldn't have been a better server.  She poured my beer into new glasses at the table with each one I ordered (I had three - and the pizza went very well with beer), she checked on me at least twice while I was waiting on the pizza and a couple more times after the pizza arrived.  She did everything that Karol didn't on my first visit.  You think I'm throwing Karol under the bus in this entry?  I am.  But Rachel did more than enough on this visit to make up for the poor service I received on my initial visit to Nonna Silvia's. 

I knew that I needed to give Nonna Silvia's a second chance after the horrible service I received on my first visit.  Even with that said, the food I had on both visits was outstanding.  The veal piccata I had on my first visit was excellent, and the pizza I had on my second visit was exceptional.  My server on the second visit, Rachel, more than made up for the crappy service I received on my first visit.  She made me feel welcome and she was attentive and pleasant during my second visit.  I'm glad I went back to Nonna Silvia's and I'll probably be going back again sometime soon.  

The Tiki Terrace - Des Plaines, IL

There's a place that I've been wanting to try that's located not too far from the hotel I stay at near O'Hare Airport when I'm in Chicago.  I've tried to get in a couple times before, but on the first visit the place was packed - there was some fund-raising event going on one evening - and then I tried to get into the place on a Friday night where they had a luau going on that included dinner and a show.  On a cool winter evening on a trip to Chicago recently, I was finally able to get in and see what the Tiki Terrace was all about.

The Zuziak brothers - Scott, Jim and Phil - learned the art of juggling as they were growing up in the far west suburbs of Chicago.  Eventually, the brothers started to learn the art of Polynesian drum and dance, as well as the art of Samoan fire knife dancing.  The brothers entered - and won - several fire knife competitions before they joined The Barefoot Hawaiian, a local Hawaiian-centric troupe that entertained at corporate parties and celebrations around the Chicagoland area.  

The brothers went deep into the Hawaiian culture as they designed and built their own Hawaiian-style wooden tikis and even made their own volcanoes for the performances.  They learned about Hawaiian foods and realized that there weren't a lot of places around the Chicago area that served Hawaiian food.  They set out to bring the people of Chicagoland a taste of Polynesia.  

The brothers were told by a local restaurateur that a Hawaiian-themed restaurant would be a horrible idea, but that only gave them more of an impetus to succeed.  Designing and making most of the Polynesian decor for the restaurant in their sister company A Custom Productions, they opened the Tiki Terrace in the far northwestern suburb of Prospect Heights in November of 2005.  Jim ran the kitchen, Scott was the business manager and Phil ran the bar.  

In June of 2007, Jim Zuziak suffered a debilitating stroke.  Jim was only 28 and in good shape when he was stricken and the prognosis for recovery was not good when he was first admitted to the hospital.  Given only four days to live, the family prepared for his untimely passing.  However, after three days in the hospital, Jim's condition stabilized and he began to show signs of improvement.  He did survive, but he couldn't be involved with the restaurant any longer.  The Zuziak's sister Kelly was drafted to work in the kitchen in Jim's absence.  

The Zuziak family realized after a couple of years that their location was sort of detrimental to those in the city who would like to experience a little bit of Hawaii in the Chicago area.  They found a new location in strip mall at the corner of E. Oakton St. and Mannheim Road in Des Plaines (see map) and reopened the new and larger Tiki Terrace in April of 2008.  Jim is still involved in the Tiki Terrace while Scott Zuziak is running Lazy River Studio, a company that makes custom wooden signs.   

The entrance to the Tiki Terrace doesn't give any indication that it's a Polynesian/Hawaiian-themed restaurant, but upon entering the restaurant you're immediately transported to the South Pacific.  

The intricate woodwork, the thatch walls, the Japanese lanterns, and the tiki wood columns in the restaurants gave it an authentic Polynesian vibe.  Two 12-foot high Easter Island Moai statues loom in the background of the stage area along one of the walls.  

The bar area is just to the right as you walk in the door.  It had a thatch room over the bar with bamboo accents behind the bar area.   I thought about taking a seat at the bar, but it was pretty small and there was only one seat available.

Nearly every evening, the Tiki Terrace offers some sort of live music.  On Friday and Saturday night, they have a luau dinner and show they call Echoes of Polynesia complete with hula dancers and chanting Moari warriors.  Through the week, they have a revolving number of Hawaiian-style musicians that are based in the greater Chicagoland area.  The evening I was there, the Tiki Cowboys were playing their style of island music and they were pretty good and fun to listen to.  The Tiki Terrace has also hosted a number of slack-key guitar and ukulele musicians from Hawaii over the years.  

I was greeted by a young lady who came out from behind the bar and offered me a booth across from the stage area.  She dropped off a menu and asked if I would like something to drink.  They had Kona Brewing Company products there and even though I love Big Wave Golden Ale, I decided to try their mai tai.  It was called the Tiki Mai Tai and it was made with almond orgeat syrup, fruit juices and, of course, rum.  It was sort of sweet in taste, but pretty good.  However, when I looking through the menu I saw that they had something called the Original Mai Tai.  I ordered one of those for my second drink and all I have to say is "Wow!"  It was packed - and I mean PACKED - with rum.  It was all I could do to finish that drink it was so full of liquor.  

For food, the Tiki Terrace has some Hawaiian staples such as Kalua Pork and Loco Moco, but they also feature fresh seafood such as mahi mahi that is dusted with Asian bread crumbs, ahi tuna that is marinated in sesame oil and soy sauce, and coconut shrimp curry.  They also have Korean Kalbi short beef ribs; a chicken breast marinated in a coconut cream sauce; and a beef, chicken or shrimp stir fry entree.  They also had sandwiches, salads and a number of pupu's - the Hawaiian word for appetizers.  Taro chips, Bora Bora egg rolls, and Kalua pork nachos were the more prominent items on the menu.

Now here is where the problems started.  It turned out that the only person working the floor that night was the young lady who was also the bartender.  It wasn't all that busy, but she had her hands full with making drinks, taking food orders, getting food to tables, etc., etc.  I had fully finished my first mai tai and was wanting a second one - as well as wanting to order some food.  It took her nearly 20 minutes to get back to me to take  my food order. 

I thought I'd start off with one of the appetizers to start out - the seared ahi poke. The ahi tuna is marinated, then seared and served with marinated sweet onions and tomatoes.  I'd never had poke before that had been seared and I would have to say that it was more than seared.  The tuna was a little dry on the outside and nearly fully cooked. 

I had long finished my seared ahi poke and was having trouble finishing my second - and more potent - mai tai.  I was considering getting the grilled mahi mahi tacos, but the young lady just never came back to check on me.  After struggling to finish the second mai tai, I thought it would just be best to cut my losses and get out of there.  She must have known, as well, as she just brought me my ticket and didn't ask if I wanted anything else.

Given the level of service - the lack of it, that is - that I experience that evening, I can't really give the Tiki Terrace any glowing reviews.  The seared ahi poke was just all right in my book - I would have liked it better had it not been seared, I think.  The mai tais were good - especially the rum-packed Original Mai Tai they have at the Tiki Terrace.  I was sort of bummed that I wasn't able to try the mahi mahi fish tacos, but I was in the place for over an hour having just two drinks and the ahi tuna pupu.  That was way too long to be in there and not have a full dinner.  I'm hoping for the Tiki Terrace's sake that this evening was just an anomaly in terms of the level of service they provide in the place.  I'm just not certain I want to try my luck that the service will be better if I go back at some point.   

Cucina Biagio - Harwood Heights, IL

On my continuing quest to find good Italian eateries in the Harwood Heights area on the west side of Chicago, I went to a place that I'd had been by a handful of times - Cucina Biagio.  The building is styled after an Italian villa and it's pretty tough to ignore as you drive down Lawrence Avenue.  Here's the story behind Cecina Biagio and my meal that I had that evening.  

Biagio Cirrincione grew up in Altavilla Milicia, a small town along the northern coast of Italy.  One by one, members of his large family moved to the United States in the early 60's.  By 1966, Biagio Cirrincione was the only member of his family not to be in the U.S.  Along with his wife Giuseppina (Josephine) and their children, the Cirrincione's moved to Chicago in 1966 to be near other relatives.  But hedging their bets, Cirrincione kept the family house and business in Sicily in case America didn't work out for them.  

Biagio Cirrincione worked in a number of restaurants in the Chicago area learning the business and imparting his knowledge of blending ingredients for the best tasting Italian specialties.  After six years, the Cirrincione family held a meeting and they voted to stay in the United States.  Biagio Cirricione went back to Sicily to sell the family home and business, coming back to America shortly afterward to continue to work in the restaurant business.  

In 1977, Biagio Cirrincione bought a Nancy's Pizza franchise and learned the way of making a stuffed pizza.  A second Nancy's owned by the Cirrincione's opened in 1979.  A dispute with Nancy's owner Rocco Palese led to the Cirrincione's breaking away from the Nancy's Pizza franchises and opening his own stuffed pizza restaurant called Biagio's.  Biagio's eventually transformed into Suparossa and grew into three locations around the Chicagoland area.  Today, under the Suparossa Hospitality Group, the Cirrincione family operates nine restaurants including Pete's Pizza, Legno and Cucina Biagio along with two banquet facilities.

Cucina Biagio is located on Lawrence Ave. just west of Harlem in the heart of the Italian neighborhood of Harwood Heights.  (see map)   It was around 6:30 when I pulled into the parking lot just to the west of the building.  I went inside and was met by Boris who would eventually be my server.  He showed me to a booth in the ornate dining room.  It was still pretty early so only a handful of diners were in the restaurant.  I ordered up a beer to have while I looked through the menu.  

Traditional southern Italian and Sicilian specialties made up the bulk of the menu at Cucina Biagio.  Pasta dishes, veal and chicken entrees, as well as seafood pasta offerings were available at Cucina Biagio.  I was in the mood for something different that evening other than just pasta and meatballs in a meat sauce.  

Coming out before the main entree was a small loaf of fresh baked bread that came with marinated roasted garlic, whole black olives and parmesan cheese.  I smashed some of the roasted garlic on the bread slices and sprinkled some parmesan on top.  It was absolutely killer in taste.  I also got a house salad with fresh greens, sliced onions and cucumbers with tomato wedges, olives and julienne carrots topped with a house Italian dressing.  This was a great start to the meal.  By that time, I had finished my beer and had ordered a glass of the La Flor malbec wine from the Pulenta Estate Winery in Argentina to have with my dinner. 

For dinner that evening, I decided to go with the chicken parmigiana.  I had been looking at the veal marsala for a moment, but Boris - with a thick Eastern European accent - told me that their chicken parm was outstanding.  It was a breaded chicken breast, pan-fried and then baked with a marinara sauce and a slathering of fresh mozzarella cheese across the top.  The chicken parm sat on a bed of angel hair pasta.  

My server was right - the chicken parm was outstanding.  The breast was thick, but tender and juicy.  The marinara was sweet and tangy, while the mozzarella cheese was fresh tasting.  I was more than happy with what I got.  I think I make a pretty mean chicken parmigiana at home, but this was excellent.  

I felt everything about Cucina Biagio was outstanding - the chicken parm, the great bread with the marinated roasted garlic, the salad with the fresh greens and veggies, even the service was top-notch.  The atmosphere was elegant and friendly.  There's a number of items to choose from on the menu at Cucina Biagio and I will be back at some point to try either a pasta dish or a veal entree.

Georgie V's Pancake House - Northbrook, IL

I was up in the northern suburbs of Chicago on my way to meet a new dealer early this year and I got a phone call from him.  He said that he had to cancel our appointment - he was traveling out of the country in a couple of days and he found out the night before that his passport had expired.  He needed to make arrangements in downtown Chicago to get a new passport and he wouldn't be available.  I thought it was sort of a weird excuse, but I had to accept it.  Faced with a void in my schedule for about 90 minutes, I decided to find someplace for breakfast.  I did a quick search for a local place on my smart phone and found a restaurant by the name of Georgie V's.  I punched in the address and went to Georgie V's in north suburban Northbrook.  

Georgie V's is a typical Greek-family-owned restaurant, one of many similar restaurants you can find across the Chicagoland region.  It has been in business since 1987 when George Vlahakis opened the doors to his restaurant located in a strip mall near the corner of Church St. and Shermer Road in Northbrook.  (see map)  George had worked in restaurants when he was growing up in his native Greece, but was pursuing a medical degree in the mid-80's.  He was a week away from getting his degree in medicine when he abruptly quit to pursue his dream of owning his own restaurant.  George opened his eponymous restaurant and never looked back.  

George Vlahakis also helped his sons Peter and Ted get into the restaurant business as the family opened a  restaurant not far from Georgie V's - Greek Feast.  The family opened Greek Feast in 2011 and the emphasis is on Greek foods that George Vlahakis grew up with in Greece.  

In 2015, George decided to retire and he ended up selling the restaurant to his friend and fellow Greek native Angelo Panagos.  Panagos owned ice cream and gelato parlors in Athens before he and his family moved to the Chicago suburb of Glenview in 2012.  Panagos got a job as the front of house manager at the Greek Islands in Lombard (click here to see the Road Tips entry on the Greek Islands) waiting for an opportunity to one day own his own place.  When George Vlahakis approached Angelo about buying his place, Panagos jumped at the chance.  Angelo Panagos, his wife Dina and their daughter Georgia took over Georgie V's in the summer of 2015.  

It was a little after 9 a.m. when I got into Georgie V's.  The place was about half-full so I was able to get in pretty easily.  I took a seat in a booth long one of the walls in the restaurant.  Dina Panagos is also a fifth-grade teacher at a local elementary school and framed art work from some of her students was hanging on the walls throughout the restaurant.  

The menu at Georgie V's is heavily skewed toward breakfast with a few lunch items available, as well.  It opens at 6:30 a.m. and closes around 2:30 p.m. daily. (7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.)   Pancakes, omelets, waffles, French toast, skillet dishes and crepes are the main items on the menu with a number of soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps available for lunch time diners.  The dizzying amount of breakfast items made me stop two or three times and change my mind.  

I first thought about getting the blueberry crepes that came with both fresh blueberries and blueberry compote, but then I saw the challah bread French toast.  I can't remember where I've had challah French toast, but I remember that it was delicious.  I thought about getting an omelet because they had 8 different types of meats that you could add, a like number of different types of cheese, and a dozen fresh veggie options to choose from.  

But then I got to the eggs Benedict part of the menu and I saw something that tripped my trigger - the Corned Beef Benny.  It was two poached eggs covered with a chipotle béarnaise sauce seated on top of a bed of house-made corned beef and English muffin slices.  Hash browns came on the side with the Corned Beef Benny.   This was interesting and delicious all at once.  The béarnaise sauce had a bit of a smoky bite to it, but it wasn't overpowering to the taste of the eggs and the wonderful corned beef.  And the portion of corned beef I got with the poached eggs was generous, as well.  It wasn't too much food, nor was I still hungry after I finished the breakfast.  

Georgie V's is one of those places that has been in business for so long that I'm certain that about anything they have for breakfast would be delicious.  I truly liked my Corned Beef Benny eggs Benedict breakfast.  The service I received was good, and the restaurant was comfortable and friendly.  Georgie V's is a great little breakfast place in the north suburbs of Chicago and one that I was glad that I found.  

LaBarra - Oak Brook, IL

One of the more hyped restaurant openings in the western suburbs of Chicago last fall was the new pizza restaurant from artisan baker and restaurateur Rich Labriola, Pizza Barra.  I have eaten at both of his other restaurants - Labriola Bakery Cafe in Oak Brook and in downtown Chicago (click here to read about my visit to the one in Oak Brook) - and was impressed with the food on both visits.   Since my visit earlier this summer, Labriola has changed the name of Pizza Barra to LaBarra signifying a shift in their food philosophy to more of an Italian restaurant more so than just being pizza-centric. 

Rich Labriola's background in the culinary arts began at his parents south side Chicago pizza joint when he was a young boy.  He learned how to bake artisan breads at a young age and ended up studying under world-class bread makers to learn from the masters.  Labriola found that taking the extra step or the extra minute to sift or add ingredients made all the difference in the world.

He opened his artisan bakery - Labriola Baking Company - in 1993 using specially designed baking ovens from Italy and using only the finest ingredients for his breads.  Not long after he started his bakery, he was selling his breads to a number of top-end restaurants in Chicago.  At its peak, Labriola Baking Company was supplying bread to over 700 restaurants in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.  

Pictured right - Rich Labriola (Photo courtesy Crain's Chicago Business)

Labriola dove into the restaurant business when he opened the first of his two Labriola Bakery Cafe locations in the Oak Brook Promenade in west suburban Oak Brook in 2009.  He sold his namesake bakery in 2013 and opened a second Labriola Bakery Cafe just off Michigan Ave. at E. Grand.  While the Labriola Bakery Cafe in Oak Brook is an upscale cafe, the one in downtown Chicago features a more formal Italian menu in an even more upscale setting.  

For his pizza restaurant, Labriola joined forces with Chris Macchia whose background included stints as the executive chef at The Florentine and Coco Pazzo, two highly acclaimed Italian restaurants in Chicago.  The two came up the idea of having all different types of pizza from Chicago deep-dish style, to a thin-crust tavern style, to a coal oven-baked Neapolitan-style of pizza.  Macchia helped Labriola fashion a menu that used locally grown and sourced items for the pizza they served.  With both Labriola and Macchia well-known in the Chicago restaurant community, Pizza Barra opened to much fanfare in September of last year.  Initial reviews were overly favorable.  (Macchia has since gone on to become the executive chef at Nonnina which was the former Piccolo Sogno Due in Chicago's River North neighborhood.)  

I had a late day meeting with one of my dealers in the Oak Brook area and decided to head over to Pizza LaBarra - which what it was still called at the time - to try one of their pizzas.  It is located on the east side of the Oak Brook Promenade, literally a stone's throw from the Labriola Bakery Cafe off of Butterfield Road.  (see map)  Valet parking is available at peak times, but this was just after 6 p.m. when I was there and there was plenty of parking in the lot out front.  

Walking into Pizza LaBarra, the pizza ovens are prominently on display behind the counter.  There are two ovens - a gas oven for regular tavern-style or deep-dish pizza - and a coal-fired oven for the artisan Neapolitan pizzas the restaurant offers.  

There is a nice outside patio dining area that was nearly full the evening that I was there.  It overlooks a small man-made pond and is fully covered.   

There are a couple of dining areas off to the main dining area.  These are used for private parties or overflow from the main dining area in the middle of the restaurant.  A divider separates the two rooms that can be individually closed off.  A large mural of black and white photographs depicting the melding of Italian and American cultures ran the length of the two rooms.

The main dining room features a large rectangular bar with a window that looks into the kitchen.  It features contemporary decor and a number of booths along the wall.  Wooden floors and a wooden ceiling made the room a little loud and echo-y.  

I ended up sitting at the bar and was greeted by Angel, a pleasant young guy who handed me a menu to look over.  They had a number of beers on tap and I ended up getting a Goose Island Summertime, their seasonal summertime Kolsch.  

The menu has changed since I was there initially - as I said they went more to an Italian-centric menu with pizza now sort of down on the menu.  But I was there for the pizza that night and I got my standard Italian sausage, pepperoni and mushroom - a small thin-crust. I was tempted to get a deep-dish pizza given Rich Labriola's reputation of making great bread.  I could almost imagine how good the deep-dish crust would be at Pizza LaBarra.

The pizza came out and was piping hot.  The chunks of the sausage that Pizza LaBarra sources from DiRusso Italian Sausage Co. were sweet and spicy.  The pepperoni slices were large and salty, and the sliced mushrooms were very fresh.  The sauce they used on the pizzas at Pizza LaBarra was a little sweet, yet had a good tangy taste.  The crust, however, was light, flaky and wonderful.   The overall taste of the pizza with everything wrapped together was outstanding.  There wasn't much I could quibble about with the taste of the pizza.  A small was just enough for me.  I was full after I finished the last of the "honey-pot" squares in the center of the tavern-cut pizza - the best pieces of any tavern-cut pizza.  

I've encountered a lot of great pizza places in Chicago over the years, but I will say that the thin-crust, tavern-cut pizza that I got at Pizza LaBarra would give some of my favorites a run for their money.  The hand-tossed crust was wonderful and the toppings were plentiful and full of flavor.  Pizza LaBarra is a little more upscale than most of the pizza places I like in the Chicago area, but the service I received was fine, and the surroundings and decor of the restaurant was pleasant.  I'm definitely going back to try one of Pizza LaBarra's deep-dish pizza sometime this fall.   

Emmett's Brewing Company - Palatine, IL

After seeing a dealer in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago, it was early in the afternoon and I thought about stopping somewhere for lunch.  I pulled over and did a quick look up for brew pubs in the area and I found a place that turned out to be not too far away, a place with four locations that I'd heard about before but had never been to before - Emmett's Brewing Company.  

Hunt's Block was the name of one of the first large buildings built west of downtown Chicago.  Also known as "Hunt's Folly" at the time because of it's size, the three story corner building was finished in 1871 and has housed everything from a dry goods store, a bank, professional offices, a ballroom and a billiard hall.  It was a rundown relic when Timothy Burns, along with his sons, Matthew and Andrew, bought the building in 1998 and installed brewing tanks, eventually opening a brew pub the following year.  The Burns family named the place after Timothy Burns' father Emmett, a man who they all revered in life.  

The second Emmett's Brewing Company location opened in Palatine not long after, but that was closed in 2005.  However, it reopened in 2006 and is still going today.  Subsequent Emmett's Brewing Co. locations opened in Downers Grove and last year a new Emmett's location opened in downtown Wheaton in a restaurant that was simply known as The Bank.  

The Palatine location of Emmett's Brewing Company is located in the downtown area in the midst of a number of other restaurants and bars in the area.  (see map)  I immediately recognized the area as one that I had visited previously on a couple of occasions, one to go have dinner at Schnell's Brauhaus across the railroad tracks.  (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Schnell's Brauhaus.)  It was just after the noon rush when I got to Emmett's Brewing Company and the parking lot in front was sort of full, but I was able to find a spot near the front door that had just opened up.  

There's two parts to Emmett's Brewing Company in Palatine - the dining room and the bar area.  Doors from the bar area went out to a patio that was half-filled with diners on this beautiful day in Chicagoland.  I thought about sitting at the bar for lunch, but I was told by the hostess that there was no service in the bar until later in the day.

I was seated in the dining room, a cozy and ornate area that looked more like someones suburban living room than a restaurant.  It featured high-backed booths, a number of tables in smaller rooms, a fireplace and a number of prints and paintings on the wall.  I was given a menu and I took a quick look through the beer list to see what I'd like to have for something to drink.  I saw that they had something called World's End American Pale Ale that day and I signed up for that.  

In the middle between the dining room and the bar area is a glass enclosed space behind the hostess stand that looks down into the brewery portion of Emmett's Brewing Company.  They have won a number of awards including top-three finishes at prestigious beer festivals such as the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup.  Also downstairs is a tap room that is used for private dining or events.  

The menu at Emmett's Brewing Company is a pretty extensive and diverse offering.  The appetizers went from pretty eclectic such as truffle fries with garlic aioli, sesame-seared ahi tuna, and portobello mushroom fries to basics such as fried calamari, chicken quesadillas, and an artichoke and spinach dip with pita chips.  Soups, salads and small bites that could be shared such as blue cheese and bacon potato chips, barbecued pork pulled pork sliders, and a baked pretzel twist.  

Emmett's also featured a number of sandwiches and burgers, and a number of seafood entrees as well as steaks, pork chops and chicken dishes.  I was sort of burned out on burgers although their Boursin cheese burger with a portobello mushroom sounded pretty good.  And their entrees just sounded like too much food for lunch, but I did give the braised pot roast with veggies and Yukon potatoes a quick look before moving on.

I ended up getting the Tavern Tacos with seared ahi tuna.  (Steak, battered cod or roasted vegetables were also an option with the tacos.)   The tacos were filled with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo and a spicy Southwest ranch dressing.  I got a side with it and I wasn't too fired up about fries, sweet potato fries or potato chips, so my server - Cynthia, a pleasant lady who was very helpful throughout the meal - suggested I get the cole slaw.  And I'm glad I did.  The cole slaw had that perfect mix of sweet and tangy.  

The seared ahi tuna tacos were also very good.  The tuna wasn't fishy, the cabbage and the pico de gallo both were fresh and delicious.  The spicy ranch dressing was a nice accompaniment to the seared tuna.  The meal was light, it had a lot of different tastes going on, and it was perfect for lunch.  The American pale ale was somewhat hoppy, but it was a great pairing for the fish tacos.  

Now that I've tried Emmett's Brewing Company and I know the extensive menu they have, I can see going to one of the other locations - or going back to the one in Palatine - at some time.  The fish tacos were very good, I was happy with the American pale ale that I had, the service was top notch and it was tough to beat the homey atmosphere at the Palatine Emmett's Brewing Co.  There's a lot of good to very good brew pubs in the Chicago area and Emmett's is one of the better ones that I've encountered.  

Jay's Beef - Schiller Park, IL

A place that I had been reading about in a list of good Italian beef restaurants around Chicago was Jay's Beef with three locations around the greater Chicago area.  It turned out that the Schiller Park location for Jay's wasn't far from the hotel I was staying at near O'Hare Airport and one afternoon after a dealer visit I decided to go to that Jay's Beef location for a sandwich.  

Justin Fortuna was a noted athlete in the Chicago area who ended up playing basketball for DePaul University in the late 40's and early 50's.  But his first love was baseball, a sport that he played well past his 50th birthday after transitioning to softball.  Fortuna was a member of a national championship 16" softball team from 1969 thru 1972.  And when he wasn't playing softball, Fortuna was a basketball official and baseball umpire for over 30 years, culminating in 1996 when he was named to the Chicago Public League Coaches Hall of Fame for officials.   (Fortuna was also inducted into the Chicago 16" Softball Hall of Fame in 2014.)  

Justin Fortuna had a stint in the Army after graduating from DePaul, and coming back to Chicago after his tour of duty was over he became a clothing salesman.  In 1958, Fortuna opened his own clothing store - Justin's Mens Wear - a place he ran for three years.  After getting out of the clothing business, Fortuna sold aluminum siding for a number of years before changing vocational directions once again.  This time he got into the restaurant business.  

Pictured right - Justin Fortuna

Justin Fortuna's wife, Muriel, came from an Italian family that had their own secret recipe for Italian beef.  Muriel's mother, Edith, and Edith's sister Margie came up with the family recipe in the 1940's and passed it along to other family members.  Margie and her husband, Al, first owned an ice cream shop that they turned into an Italian beef sandwich shop.  Justin Fortuna decided to get into the Italian beef business and he took over a small building in the village of Harwood Heights in Northwest Chicago that was reportedly owned by notorious Chicago mob boss Tony "Big Tuna" Accardo.  Named after Justin and Muriel's oldest son, Jay's Drive-Inn opened its doors in 1976 in what Fortuna called a "shack".  (The original location was demolished in 1994 and a new building was built in its place.)  

In 1982, Fortuna opened the second Jay's - now called Jay's Beef - in Schiller Park, while a third location opened in Des Plaines in 1987.  Justin Fortuna passed away in 2000 at the age of 72 and his son Jay carried on with the restaurants.  Jay Fortuna opened a Chicago location on North Ave. in Wicker Park in 2007, but closed the Des Plaines location about five years ago.  Jay Fortuna's brothers - Frank and John - and his sister, Ginny, currently help out with the restaurants.  

The Schiller Park location for Jay's Beef is on W. Irving Park Ave. in the flight path of one of the runways from nearby O'Hare Airport.  (see map)  There's a small parking lot along the west side of the building.  The interior of the place is small - it seats maybe a couple dozen people, max - and is counter service only.  The menu is located on a small board next to the ordering area of the counter.   

The menu primarily consists of Italian beef and sausage sandwiches - there's an Italian beef/Italian sausage combo available - along with hot dogs, Polish sausages, a grilled chicken sandwich, burgers, and a ribeye steak sandwich.  On Friday's, Jay's serves up their famous pepper and egg sandwich.  Sides include fries, onion rings, chicken tenders, fried mushrooms, chicken wings, tamales and jalapeño cheddar poppers.  

For my first visit to Jay's Beef, I had to try the beef sandwich.  The Italian beef is cut thin and is very juicy from the gravy its simmered in.  Red pepper flakes and spicy giardiniera topped the sandwich that was served on spongy Italian bread from the Gonnella Bakery in nearby Schaumburg.  The sandwich was simply delicious.  The roast beef was tender and flavorful with a zesty taste thanks to the pepper flakes and the giardiniera.       

I also wanted to try one of their Chicago-style hot dogs.  Like many other places in the city, the hot dog came with crispy fries.  I got it with everything - chopped onions, neon-green sweet relish, tomato slices, a dill-pickle spear, sport peppers, yellow mustard and topped with celery salt.  The Vienna Beef hot dog had the signature "snap" to each bite.  It, too, was a very good Chicago hot dog.  

I wasn't all that interesting in the fries since I had an Italian beef sandwich AND a hot dog to eat, but I did try a couple just for the hell of it.  Those two turned into two more, then two more, etc., etc., because the French fries were very good - crispy on the outside, fluffy potato taste in the middle.  I find most French fries are either limp and greasy, or they're frozen, then deep-fried where the life is cooked out of them.  But the fries at Jay's Beef were fresh, crispy and flavorful.  

With all the Italian beef places around Chicago, there's a huge debate as to which one is the best.  I've found that most people like the ones they grew up with and many people in the Schiller Park and Harwood Heights areas think that Jay's Beef is the best.  I thought both the Italian beef and the hot dog were very good and delicious. But the French fries were simply wonderful.  Jay's Beef is a simple, no-frills place with good Chicago-style food at reasonable prices.  And it's been that way for 40 years. 

Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe - Oak Brook, IL

My wife and I just had an exhausting 8+ hour flight from Maui to Chicago getting into O'Hare International Airport around 5:30 a.m.  It was exhausting in that we didn't get much sleep thanks to the obligatory screaming child on the flight.  Usually, screaming kids will quiet down after an hour or so.  But this kid was screaming for over half the flight.  Couple that with the fact that when we left Maui it was sunny, humid and 84 degrees and when we got into Chicago it was cloudy, drizzly and 44 degrees.  We needed to get something to eat before we drove back home that morning and we ended up stopping at a place in Oak Brook that I'd seen a few times in the past - Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe. 

The Oak Brook Blueberry Hill is one of seven locations of the restaurant around the greater Chicagoland area found mainly on the south, southwest and far western suburbs.  Each restaurant opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. daily.  (The Oak Brook location stays open until 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.)  The restaurants offer farm fresh breakfasts as well as soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps and burgers for lunch.    

The Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe in Oak Brook is located in the Oak Brook Promenade shopping and entertainment center along Butterfield Road.  (see map)  It was around 7:30 when we got into the restaurant and there was a smattering of people in the place.  We were seated in a comfy booth in the larger of the two dining rooms in the restaurant and given menus.  Our server, Melissa, came over with some coffee which Cindy took, but I asked if they had espresso available.  She said they did and I ordered a triple espresso just to get my groggy brain going on that somewhat dreary morning.    

They had a little bit of everything for breakfast at Blueberry Hill - pancakes, waffles, omelets, French toast, skillets, as well as classic breakfasts like eggs Benedict, and steak and eggs, as well as a number of Mexican-influenced breakfasts.  They also have fresh squeezed orange juice at Blueberry Hill and I ordered a large glass of that to go along with my espresso.  

With "Blueberry" in the name, I automatically assumed that they'd have a number of breakfasts featuring blueberries.  Anything with blueberries is my favorite for breakfast and while I thought about getting the blueberry waffles - a featured breakfast at Blueberry Hill - I ended up getting the blueberry crepes.  Melissa asked me if I wanted the blueberries served plain or glazed.  I didn't know what she was getting at with the "glazed" description - I thought they were covered with a powered sugar.  But she said it was like a compote.  I took the blueberries plain.  

Cindy got the California skillet with scrambled egg whites.  It featured fresh spinach, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and goat cheese on top of American fries.  She had a choice between toast and pancakes and she got the toast.  She was happy that she didn't get the pancakes as there was a lot of food in her skillet.  She knew she wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing.  

My crepes were light and tasty, filled with a slug of blueberries in the three crepes.  A light dusting of powdered sugar were on top of the crepes.  I was pretty hungry - we hadn't eaten since we left Maui - and I was able to make short work of the crepes.  I got a side of thick cut bacon as a side with the crepes.  It was a great breakfast.

Cindy loved her California skillet.  She said the veggies were fresh and flavorful, and the potatoes were very good.  But it was just a lot of food.  She was able to eat just over half of the breakfast before she threw in the towel.  

If you're in the south, southwest or west suburbs of Chicago and you're looking for breakfast, I recommend that you look no further than Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe.  With seven locations, a full and interesting breakfast menu, a helpful and friendly wait staff, and a comfortable setting it's tough to beat a place like Blueberry Hill.  

DiMaggio Cafe - Harwood Heights, IL

When I stay in Chicago near O'Hare International Airport, I'm doing my best to try all of the Italian restaurants that are located in Harwood Heights, a small community on Chicago's west side. I've hit a couple three so far and was impressed with all that I've had.  My next restaurant on my list to try was a small family owned place located in a strip mall along Lawrence Ave. - DiMaggio Cafe.  I went there on a recent trip to Chicago.  

For over 30 years, the DiMaggio family has been serving up Italian food in Harwood Heights.  Specialties are pasta dishes, chicken entrees, seafood dishes, thin-crust pizza and house-baked Italian treats.  Today, the restaurant is run by Francesco (who also goes by Franco or Frank) DiMaggio, the son of the original founders of the restaurant.  

DiMaggio Cafe is located west of the corner of Lawrence and Harlem Avenues in the heart of Harwood Heights. (see map)  It's tucked back in on the north side of Lawrence in a strip mall that also featured an authentic Polish restaurant and a sushi bar.  

Inside the restaurant, they did their very best to simulate a warm and cozy Italian restaurant complete with checkered table coverings, subdued lighting and a laid-back feel.  I found it to be welcoming and very unpretentious.  

There was a small bar area in front of the kitchen.  Franco DiMaggio was seated at the bar talking in Italian to another man when I found a seat in the restaurant.  They had a rack of wines available for take out along one of the walls. 

As you come in the door, there is a bakery case full of Sicilian cookies, cannoli and other baked goods.  I understand the restaurant does a brisk business with their baked goods, especially in the morning.  

I was greeted by a young lady who would be my server that evening.  I looked through the menu and found a number of Italian specialties including Chicken Vesuvio, grilled calimari, and a number of pasta dishes.  DiMaggio Cafe also has a number of sandwiches including Italian panini sandwiches.  And they are also well known for their Sicilian-style pizzas.  

For my starter that evening, I got a house salad that was served with a house salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  It came with a tomato wedge, sliced cucumber and sliced red onions.  The greens were fresh and the balsamic vinaigrette had a thick consistency with a forward tart taste.  I also got a glass of a Malbec wine to go along with my meal.  It was a healthy pour with the wine going nearly all the way to the rim of the glass.  

But the highlight was the fresh-baked bread that came with the salad.  It was served with a bottle of DiMaggio Cafe's house-brand extra virgin olive oil and fresh parmesan cheese.  The bread was soft and very flavorful on its own.  Dipped in the olive oil with some parmesan cheese and black pepper, the taste of the bread was heightened even more.  Thankfully, there was a lot of bread that they served me.  But I had to watch it as I didn't want to get so full on bread that I couldn't enjoy my entree.  

I ordered the meat ravioli - ground beef and pork tucked inside ravioli pillows - topped with a marinara sauce.  And for good measure I got a couple meat balls to go along with it.  It took a little time to get the meal, but I was told that they make everything from scratch at DiMaggio Cafe.  The ravioli looked like they had just cut the pasta in the kitchen, filled them with the meat and then quickly boiled them.  The marinara sauce had a great sweet tomato flavor that went great with the ravioli.  The meat balls were a tad underwhelming for me. They were a little bland in their taste and had a lot of breading in them.  Still, they were good in the marinara sauce.  

Franco DiMaggio came over and asked in a very thick Italian accent how my meal was.  I let him know that I was very happy with what I got.  I told him that I was thinking about getting the chicken parmigiana, but I was happy with the meat ravioli.  "We make great chicken parm," he said.  "You try it your next time in."  

And I probably will.  DiMaggio Cafe was a great little find in my quest of trying the Italian restaurants in the Harwood Heights area.  While it did take a little longer than I thought it should have taken to get my dinner to me, that's a sign that most of the items they serve are made from scratch.  The meat-filled ravioli appeared to be made moments before it was served to me, the marinara sauce was wonderful, and even though I thought the meatballs were a little disappointing, they were still good in the ragu meat sauce.  But the bread with the house-brand virgin olive oil was outstanding.  I was happy with the service I received and the atmosphere was laid-back and friendly.  I may have to go back to DiMaggio Cafe before I try some other Italian restaurants in the immediate area.   

Chef Klaus' Bier Stube - Frankfort, IL

Frankfort, IL is a far-southern suburb of Chicago and named after the city of Frankfurt in Germany.  German immigrants settled in the area in the 1840's, so there is a strong German heritage in the town.  So, of course, there has to be a German restaurant in the area and on a visit earlier this year to see a dealer in downtown Frankfort, I passed by a large sign on S. LaGrange Road that read Chef Klaus' Bier Stube.  I was hungry and after I called on the dealer in Frankfort, I made my way back to Chef Klaus' and try their German food.  

You'd think a guy by the name of Klaus Ditschler would be born and raised in Germany, but that wasn't the case.  In fact, Klaus Ditschler was born in the United States and the first time that he went to Germany was when he was stationed there with the U.S. Army in the late 50's.  After getting out of the Army, he ended up back in Frankfort opening the first of what turned out to be a handful of German restaurants in the area.  

Pictured left - Chef Klaus Ditschler

The original Chef Klaus' Bier Stube was located in the historic downtown area of Frankfort, it's huge beer garden a huge draw in the warmer months.  Tragedy hit in 2001 when a devastating fire took out the building in which Chef Klaus' was housed.  He had just opened a second restaurant in nearby Peotone, IL, but he wanted to reopen a restaurant in Frankfort.  He was able to find a large space in the Frankfort Town Center on the north side of the town.  Klaus Ditschler also opened Chef Klaus' Country Kitchen in the town of Mokena, north and west of Frankfort with his son, Michael, in charge of that location.  There was also a Chef Klaus' steakhouse that was open for awhile in Frankfort.  

Unfortunately, Klaus Ditschler passed away in 2012 at the age of 77 leaving his restaurants to Michael and his other son, Karl.  Nothing changed in the Chef Klaus' Bier Stube kitchen as head chef Ernesto Luciano continued with the restaurant.  He had worked side by side with Klaus Ditschler for over 35 years - Ernesto's brother, Savano, also worked for Ditschler for over 30 years.  After the death of their father, the Ditschler's eventually closed the Peotone location in April of 2013 focusing on the Mokena and Frankfort Chef Klaus' restaurants.     

You can't miss the sign along S. LaGrange Road touting Chef Klaus' Bier Stube.  It's located on the east side of the strip mall that includes a couple of other restaurants and a grocery store located just north of U.S. Highway 30.  (see map)  There was plenty of parking in front of the restaurant.  

From the front, it didn't look much like a German restaurant.  It had a faux wooden front with a white picket fence in front of the building.  But going inside, it looked like a German restaurant.  An overly kitschy German restaurant filled with carved wooden clocks and artifacts, beer steins, and painted plates.  On Friday and Saturday evenings, Chef Klaus' hosts a duo playing German polka music.  

There was a nice bar area with an old walnut bar and flat screen televisions hung high above the back bar.  They have a number of imported bottles as well as at least 7 different types of German beers on tap.  

Hanging from the ceiling were deer-rack lighting fixtures, models of vintage planes and military jets, as well as a number of hunting and army rifles.   It was some of the most peculiar decorations I've seen in any restaurant - even ones that are trying to be kitschy with their decor.  

There were also a number of World War II memorabilia on display, including some toy soldiers and old weapons on display.  I've read that at one point they used to have some Nazi Germany memorabilia on display, but I didn't see any of that on this visit.  But, then again, my wife says I'm not very observant.  

I was seated near the bar and given a menu.  My server came over to greet me - well, greet is not the operative term here.  She was rather surly with a gruff, "What do you want to drink?"  I hadn't looked at the beer list yet and I said I'd just have water.  She scurried off to get my water and it allowed me time to look over the beer menu.  They had Spaten on tap and I asked her if I could get one of those when she brought my water to me.  She sort of took a deep breath and asked if I wanted a small or a large.  I ordered a large and she wordlessly turned away from me and bellowed at the bartender, "Spaten!  Tall!"  She brought it back to my table and sort of dropped it on the beer coaster, splashing some out of the glass.  She turned and walked away without offering to clean up the spill.  

My server didn't come back to my table for a good ten minutes after that giving me a chance to A) Look over the menu; and B) To realize that my Spaten was sort of flat tasting.  I didn't have the heart - or the guts - to tell her that I thought it was flat.  I just went ahead and drank the beer down without saying a word.

It's a full menu at Chef Klaus' - steaks, roast duck, chicken, seafood, ribs, and, of course, German specialties.  They had Hungarian goulash, Kasseler Rippchen (cured and smoked pork chops), a sausage platter, and nearly a dozen of different types of pork schnitzel dishes - all of which could be made with veal instead of pork.  

When my surly server finally came back to take my order, I got the Jagerschnitzel - a breaded sautéed pork cutlet topped with chopped bacon and imported mushrooms.  She was much more pleasant in her demeanor and I asked her if I could get a tall Warsteiner this time around.  "Coming right up," she said in a cheery voice.

Along with the main entree, I got a relish plate with a liver paté, carrot and celery sticks, three different types of bread including a dark pumpernickel bread that was very good, and a cup of a mushroom rice soup that was also very good and very hearty.  They had a cinnamon honey butter along with regular whipped butter in a small bowl.  There was a lot of stuff on the table long before she brought my jagerschnitzel out.  

I didn't want to overeat the preamble to the meal and I'm glad I held back as much as I did.  When she brought it to the table, my eyes must have gotten as big as saucers.  This was a BIG plate of jagerschnitzel topped with a brown sauce, the chopped bacon and the sliced sautéed mushrooms.  I got a choice of two sides with the jagerschnitzel and I got the potato dumpling in a gravy, and red cabbage.  There was little to no chance that I'd be able to eat all of this meal.  

But I made a pretty good dent in it.  It was somewhat different in taste from other jagerschnitzel dishes that I've had in the past.  I wish I knew my spices and herbs better, but there was some taste in the gravy that was pronounced and very distinct.  I wasn't quite certain what it was, but I liked it.  The pork cutlets were tender and had a good flavor above and beyond the taste of the gravy.  The chopped bacon and sliced mushrooms only enhanced the overall taste of the jagerschnitzel.  The only regret I had was that it was too much food and I couldn't take the leftovers because I was traveling.  

By the time I was ready to leave, my server - who was cold, gruff and testy when I first came in - turned her attitude 180 degrees and turned out to be a nice person.  And it turned out to be a pretty good meal at Chef Klaus' Bier Stube.  And it was a lot of food at a pretty good price.  It was too bad that I couldn't finish all of the meal - everything from the bread, the soup, the schnitzel, even the potato dumpling and the red cabbage (the two bites I had of each) were all very good.  Chef Klaus' was a great find and the big sign out front helped steer me in.  

Dotombori - Des Plaines, IL

I get in food funks when I'm on the road and I had been on the road a lot up to this one evening when I was in the Chicago area.  Staying out by O'Hare, I've pretty much hit all of the restaurants in the area and was thinking about trying something new.  But I wasn't really certain what I was hungry for.  I got in the car and took off toward Des Plaines trying to see if anything would jump out at me for dinner that evening.  Nothing that I saw as I was driving around piqued my interest, so I thought about going to a sushi place that was about 3 miles away.  I punched in the address in my GPS and started to head that way.  At a stop light along Miner St. in Des Plaines, I happened to look over and spotted a sushi place - Dotombori.  It was a small place and I thought, "Hmmm...  I was going to get sushi.  Sushi is right there.  And I haven't been to the place before."  I did some maneuvering around and made my way back to have sushi at Dotombori.  

Dōtonbori is the name of a highly popular tourist destination in Osaka, Japan.  (Sometimes the "n" is transposed with an "m" to make it Dotombori.)  It features shops, restaurants and entertainment venues that makes it one of the more lively destinations in Japan.  When Jay and Suzy Park opened their little sushi place in 2010 in what was an old Subway restaurant, they decided to name it after the lively section of Osaka and bring to Des Plaines authentic Kansai regional foods from Japan.  

I was able to maneuver around the streets of Des Plaines to end up parking on Miner Street just past the corner of Pearson Street where Dotombori stands.  (See map)  I went in and found a seat at the sushi bar.  The interior of Dotombori was stylish, sort of a contemporary Asian decor that featured a number of booths along the wall.  It was tough to see that this place was once a Subway.  

I was given a menu and they had a number of specialty rolls available, as well as a number of cooked entrees made in the kitchen.  But I was there for sushi and I got a large Asahi beer to enjoy while I looked through the sushi menu.  

Sitting at the sushi bar, you get to see some interesting things happen.  It so happened that someone ordered a specialty roll that was wrapped into aluminum foil, then was drenched in saké and set on fire.  They were pretty theatrical in the preparation of the specialty roll.  I got a good chuckle out of it.     

They had a number of different types of tuna sushi to choose from at Dotombori.   I ended up getting a spicy tuna roll, some salmon nigiri and a couple pieces each of regular tuna, chi-toro tuna and a peppered tuna nigiri.  The spicy tuna roll had hot chopped jalapeño peppers rolled in with the tuna - usually a sushi joint will use a spicy sauce on the roll to give it the spicy taste.  But the chopped jalapeños were an interesting - and tasty - twist to the spicy tuna roll.

The salmon was very good, but all three of the tuna nigiri sushi were delectable.  The peppered tuna was the most interesting - it looked a little funky compared to the other pieces of sushi, but it had a nice deep black pepper taste with a hint of a spicy bite on the back end of the flavor.   The fatty chi-toro sushi had a wonderful taste and a good consistency, and the regular tuna was flavorful and fresh.  

Had I not been sitting at the light at Miner and Pearson in Des Plaines one evening and happened to look over to my left, I might not have found Dotombori.  And I'm glad I did.  It was a pleasant dining experience, the service was fine, the atmosphere was comfortable, yet fun, and the sushi I had was delicious.  Dotombori is not a big place, but I didn't feel like I was crowded at all.  This was a wonderful dining experience for me and now that I know that Dotombori is where it is, I'll be back when I'm staying near the airport and looking for a sushi fix. 

Johnny's Beef and Gyros - Joliet, IL

Always on the lookout for a good Italian beef sandwich, I've been trying to find places in and around Chicago that serve up one of the iconic sandwiches.  I read about a place that started out in Joliet, but now has a second location in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood - Johnny's Beef and Gyro's.  (This is not to be confused with Johnnie's Beef in Elmwood Park, IL.)  On a trip toward Indiana down Interstate 80, I stopped off at Johnny's to try one of their Italian beef sandwiches.  

Johnny's is co-owned by brothers Johnny and Nick Anastopoulos - Johnny is actually six years younger than big brother Nick.  The Joliet location has been open for a number of years and the brothers opened their second location on N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago in 2013.  Both locations continue to do stellar business with sandwiches, gyros and hot dogs.  But they're getting well known for their burgers, including the Big Daddy burger that features a double burger topped with cheese, gyro meat and a cucumber sauce.  They have a Big Daddy challenge where a customer must eat what amounts to two Big Daddy's (four burger patties, double the gyro meat), plus an order of chili cheese fries and a large glass of Italian ice in under 30 minutes.  Only a handful of people have been able to complete the challenge.  

I got off I-80 at the Houbelt Road exit and went north about a mile.  In a strip mall caddy-cornered kitty-cornered from the Joliet Regional Airport is a strip mall.  In the corner of the strip mall, there was Johnny's Beef and Gyros.  (see map).  

It's not a large place, it seats probably around 50 people.  In warmer months, they have an outdoor patio to the side that would nearly double the seating capacity.  The menu is above the counter and that's where you place your order.  I ordered up an Italian beef sandwich with mozzarella, giardiniera and sweet peppers.  I almost got a hot dog to go along with it - I love Chicago-style hot dogs - but I ended up just getting the sandwich on its own.

And that was a probably a good thing.  It was a big sandwich.  The Italian bread was probably 8 inches in length and it was cut deep and piled high with sliced Italian beef that was covered in shredded mozzarella cheese and pickled sweet pepper slices.  Liberal amounts of spicy giardiniera topped off the sandwich.  The bread was fluffy and chewy and held together very well with all that was on the sandwich.  The beef was moist and tender, and seasoned very well.  With all the different taste sensations going on with each bite, I couldn't help but go, "Mmmmm..." a couple of times.  This was a very good Italian beef sandwich.  

Sometimes I get a hankering for a good Italian beef sandwich when I'm traveling on the south side of Chicago to or from Indiana on Interstate 80.  Portillo's is usually my go-to, but there aren't really any locations that are close to the interstate. With Johnny's only about a mile north of Interstate 80 (and less than a mile east of Interstate 55), it's the perfect stop to grab a very good and tasty if you're driving by.  I enjoyed the Italian beef sandwich immensely and I would say that Johnny's Beef can certainly hold their own against many of the more established and famous Italian beef places in the Chicago area.     

RoccoVino's (Formerly Vince's on Harlem) - Harwood Heights, IL

There seems to be a large Italian population on the far west side of Chicago, not far from O'Hare Airport.  Most of the Italians in the area live in Harwood Heights, a small community just west of Chicago and sort of south and east of O'Hare.  It turns out there are a lot of Italian restaurants concentrated in the area around Lawrence and Harlem, and I decided to try one that had been around since the early 70's, but had recently gone through a name change - RoccoVino's.  

Vince Loiacono was born in Sicily to an American father and a Sicilian mother.  One of four siblings, Loiacono had wanted to come to the U.S., but couldn't leave Sicily until his 18th birthday.  Since he was under 21, his trip to the U.S. was sponsored by an Italian-American group and he ended up in the Chicago area.  And as his father was an American, Loiacono was also an American citizen by birth.  He then entered the U.S. Army and became a paratrooper in the 173rd Airborne Division in the early 60's.  

Loiacono decided to open a restaurant in the Harwood Heights area of Chicago in the early 70's.  He contacted his mother and grandmother back in Sicily to get family recipes.  He also sought the help of his Italian-American sponsor, Josephine SanFilippo, for other Italian recipes.  Once he had the recipes in hand, he opened Vince's on Harlem in 1973 in a small building on the west side of Harlem.  The restaurant moved to its present day location across the street in the 80's into the Holiday Plaza strip mall.  (see map)  

In 1981, two young Italian immigrants who had settled with their families in nearby Norridge - Savino "Nuccio" D'Argento and Rocco DeFrenza (pictured right) - went to work at Vince's.  Both started out as dishwashers and pizza makers, eventually working their way up the ladder at Vince's to waiting tables, managing the kitchen, and as front of house hosts.  

In 1989, D'Argento got a side job working for Sbarro, the national chain of pizza by the slice eateries that are found in malls, airports and other high traffic areas.  D'Argento was a regional manager for Sbarro and even got DeFrenza a job working for the company.  But they still kept their other jobs at Vince's hoping for a chance to open their own place at some point.

That happened in 2001 when Vince Loiacono - who owned other restaurants by that time - came to the two friends and asked if they would be interested in buying him out of his Vince's location.  The two were already working on a restaurant concept, but they couldn't say no to the deal Loiacono offered them.  (Today, Loiacono owns Vince's the Pizza People, a family-friendly pizza and wings joint in the far northwest suburb of Pingree Grove.)  

D'Argento and DeFrenza decided to go ahead with their own Italian restaurant concept - RoccoVino's Express - and opened in Elk Grove Village in 2003.  Their little place was sort of a cross between Sbarro and Vince's - a place where people who worked or lived in the area could grab something quick on the go.  Their second RoccoVino's location opened in far western suburban Carol Stream and featured a traditional sit-down restaurant with old world Italian favorites and pizza.  They soon opened another location in Orland Park on the far south side of the Chicagoland area, and eventually turned the RoccoVino's Express into a straight RoccoVino's sit-down location in Elk Grove Village.  

The two realized that Vince's on Harlem was starting to show its age.  In early 2015, they decided to shut down Vince's and give it a much needed face-lift.  After spending over $100,000 in improvements and updates to the place, they reopened in November of last year as RoccoVino's.  They also updated the food selection, but made sure that any of the old Vince's favorite dishes could be whipped up for the regulars, some of whom had been coming to Vince's for over 30 years.  

It was about a 10 minute drive from my hotel to RoccoVino's on a cool and misty evening in Chicago.  I found it in the corner of the strip mall that also houses an Office Max.  There seemed to be a lot of cars in the parking lot, but I was able to find a slot not far from the front door.

I found out why there were so many cars - there was a group of older people having what appeared to be a club meeting in a room off to the side of the dining room/bar area.  The dining room/bar area had a number of tables open and I was seated at a four-seater in the middle of the room.  I was given a menu and not long after that a young lady by the name of Stephanie came over to take drink order.  

The bar featured a full wine list and a good selection of beers to choose from.  I didn't think I wanted any wine that evening, so I ordered up a Goose Island IPA.  A basket of bread with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese was dropped off at the table.  The bread was soft, warm and very fresh.  I'm guessing they baked it on-site as it was very good.  

The menu featured a vast array of old world Italian specialties - pasta, steaks, seafood, thin and thick pizzas, a number of salads and appetizers, and classic Italian dishes such as chicken (or veal) parmigiana, stuffed egg plant, or chicken, veal or pork Vesuvio.  Every thing is made from scratch in the kitchen, they have only one microwave in the kitchen and it's used very little.  This was the place to go if you were hungry for Italian food, but didn't know exactly what to get.  

I've been on kind of a meat-filled ravioli kick over the past few months - my wife doesn't care for ravioli too much so I don't make it at home.  But on the road, I like to have some ravioli, maybe with a marinara or bolognese sauce with a couple meatballs to go along with it.  When I ordered the ravioli from Stephanie that evening, I was in a quandary as to get either the marinara or the bolognese sauce.  She said, "Do yourself a favor.  Get the tomato basil sauce.  It's my favorite."  So, I did just that.  

For a starter, I got my choice of soup or salad and I went with the salad.  I had asked Stephanie if they had a house-made Italian dressing and she said, "Get the sweet vinaigrette."  She didn't steer me wrong.  The vinaigrette had a wonderful flavor with the fresh greens and veggies that were mixed in the salad.  I didn't want to over-stuff myself on the wonderful bread, but I couldn't help but sop up some of the vinaigrette when I got toward the end of my salad.

The ravioli featured large pillows of ground meat filled pasta with a healthy amount of the tomato basil sauce.  Two smaller meat balls came on the side.  From the first bite, I knew exactly what Stephanie was talking about with the sauce.  It had a nice sweet taste with a hint of Italian basil mixed in.  The ravioli was generously filled with meat and along with the sauce it was very tasty.  The meat balls were mixture of pork, veal and beef and were mixed with herbs and spices.  They, too, were very good.  The amount of food that I had was just perfect - I was full enough by the time I finished the ravioli and meatballs and had a little bit of sauce left to dip some of the bread into.  

I liked everything about my visit to RoccoVino's.  The service was excellent, the place was cozy and inviting, and the food was superb.  They have quite a selection of Italian specialties on the menu at RoccoVino's and I'm guessing I could go there a dozen times and get something different each time.  This was a great find and it will definitely be in the rotation of Italian restaurants that I go to in the Chicago area. 

Shakou Sushi - St. Charles, IL

I met one of my Chicago-area dealers at the new location of his store in the far western suburbs one evening.  He and his wife were showing me their new building, which is actually an old building where the foundation dates back to the late 1800's and was rebuilt after a devastating fire in the early 1900's.  We decided to go out for dinner that evening and I asked them where they'd like to go.  My dealer didn't hesitate - "You like sushi, right?"  Oh, of course!  He suggested we go to a place that has suddenly become their favorite sushi place in the area, Shakou Sushi in downtown St. Charles. 

It turns out that the Shakou Sushi in St. Charles is the second of now three similar sushi restaurants in the north and west Chicago suburbs.  A small group of people who lived in the far northern Chicago suburb of Libertyville - Ed Hartigan, Aleks Dupor and his wife, Chrissy, and Adam Garvanian - partnered up to open the first Shakou in 2013.  Aleks Dupor and Garvanian both had extensive histories in the restaurant business and had been friends for over 20 years before going in together - along with Dupor's wife, Chrissy - and coaxing their friend Hartigan out of the investment banking business to start the first Shakou in downtown Libertyville in March of 2013.  

Pictured at right - (seated) Chef Sang Choi, Chrissy Dupor and Aleks Dupor.  (standing) Ed Hartigan and Adam Garvanian.  Photo courtesy Quintessential Barrington.com

The group was able to convince long-time sushi chef Sang Choi to run the kitchen at Shakou Sushi.  Choi previously worked at a number of upscale Chicago-area sushi places such as BluFish, Blue Ginger and Starfish.  The Libertyville location for Shakou Sushi was an immediate hit and in a little over a year after opening it was named one of the Top 100 Hottest Restaurants in America by OpenTable.com. 

The group opened the second Shakou Sushi in downtown St. Charles - mainly because it reminded them of downtown Libertyville - in April of 2015, while a third Shakou Sushi opened up in the up-and-coming community of Barrington on the far northwest side of Chicagoland in October of 2015.  

I followed my dealer and his wife from their new store location to downtown St. Charles.  Shakou Sushi is located on W. Main (Illinois Highway 64 or North Ave. from Chicago) in St. Charles.  They said that parking is sometimes tough to find on the street in front of the place, so we parked in a public lot a block north of the restaurant.  It turned out that we both could have found a place to park on Main St. in front of Shakou that particular evening.  (see map)

The interior of Shakou Sushi in St. Charles is stunning.  The lighting under both the regular bar and the sushi bar in the back had an elegant purple hue.  The fixtures - lighting and furniture - were modern in their design.  A beautiful chandelier hung from the center of the dining room that was separated from the bar by a short wall.  There was an upstairs to the place - it was very nice, my dealer told me as they had eaten up there before.  Hanging from the ceiling next to the stairs that led to the upstairs was a banner displaying the Japanese character for Shakou (which means "social life" in Japanese).

We took a seat in a high-backed leather booth along the wall.  The wall had an interesting texture to it.  At first glance, it looked like it was made out of metal.  But upon touching it, we found it to be sort of a pre-formed dry wall wave design that was painted with a high gloss gold color.  My dealer said, "Yeah, every time we come in here I look at that wall and think of how cool that would be in a home."  

He was telling me a little bit about the building.  He thought at one time that it used to be a liquor store, but it turns out that the building has housed a little bit of everything since it was originally built back in the 50's.  "This had two levels because it's sort of built on a hill," he told me.  "They had to spend a lot of money to take the higher level out and make the ground floor all on one level.  But what they did in here was absolutely remarkable."  I couldn't agree more.  The space was very elegant, urbane and sleek, but not pretentious in the least.  

Our server for the evening, Christina - a pleasant young woman - came over to greet us and take our drink order as we looked through the menu.  My dealer and his wife were on a 30 day cleansing diet, so alcohol wasn't part of the diet.  I've had meals with them before and they do like their adult beverages, but not that evening.  I was on no sort of cleansing diet and I ordered an Asahi beer.  Christina came back a moment later apologizing that they were out of Asahi.  "We had a big weekend," she explained.  "Our Asahi doesn't get replenished until tomorrow."  I had to settle for a Kirin instead.  

We went big on sushi that evening.  My dealer and his wife had never had otoro before.  I explained to them the different grades of fatty tuna - otoro being the highest fat content in tuna making it the most delectable of the sushi tuna cuts.  It's also a quite different consistency than regular tuna.  Otoro has a more of a mushy consistency and that sort of took my dealer and his wife by surprise.  I don't think they cared much for the nigiri toro all that much.  That was fine with me as it meant I could have more of the fatty tuna.

We also got some Scottish smoked salmon nigiri sushi.  Now, I've had smoked salmon in many sushi places over the years but the stuff they served at Shakou was outstanding.  It literally melted in your mouth and the overall taste was just excellent.  Quite frankly, I would have easily traded the otoro - even as good as it was - for the Scottish smoked salmon.  

My dealer and his wife are big on specialty rolls.  They normally don't do sushi as much as they do the rolls.  We ordered up three different tuna rolls - the Flaming Hamachi consisted of spicy tuna and cucumber topped with fresh yellow tail, jalapeño, tobiko (flying fish roe) and a citrus-based ponzu sauce; the Rainbow roll was spicy tuna with cucumber topped with assorted fish filets and kaiware sprouts (I joked that the assorted fish was probably what they were trying to move that evening); and the Urban Heat specialty roll had - once again - spicy tuna (see a pattern here?) with jalapeño, a spicy mayo sauce, avocado and tempura crunch all wrapped in soy bean paper, topped with a thick sweet unagi soy sauce.  Now THAT was the spiciest of all the rolls!  But they were all so flavorful with a lot of taste sensations going on with each bite.  We couldn't finish all that we had and I let them take what we had left over home for their kids.  My dealer's wife said that they had a growing boy who was at the age where he could have a big meal for dinner and then want to eat an hour later.  "He'll love the sushi rolls for his dessert," she said as she boxed up the remaining pieces on the table.  

I love sushi and I have to say that the nigiri sushi and specialty rolls I had at Shakou Sushi were simply outstanding.  The contemporary design in the restaurant was stylish and cosmopolitan without being pompous and flamboyant.  The service we received from Christina that evening was prompt and professional.  I can't think of anything that I can even complain about other than them being out of Asahi that evening.  But that was far from a deal killer.  Shakou Sushi offered one of the more memorable sushi experiences I've encountered in all my travels.  (Photo courtesy Fox Valley Magazine)