Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘chicago’

 Booby's Charcoal Rib

Booby's Charcoal Rib

Name: Bobby’s Charcoal Rib

Location: Niles, IL

Meal: Skirt Steak Sandwich, Fries, Cole Slaw, and a Coke

Type: Sandwich Shop

One of the culinary strengths of Chicago is that every neighborhood can be home a dozen great restaurants all representing different cuisines. Located to the north, Niles is one of the old Chicago suburbs and has the food heritage that comes with it. In determining where to eat during my limited time in Chicago, I kept hearing about Booby’s.

(Let’s just take a moment for the 11-year-old kid in all of us to giggle at the name.)

Booby’s is a old-school Greek owned counter service sandwich shop. They serve everything from sandwiches and gyros to salads and the ubiquitous Vienna Beef hot dogs.  The star of Booby’s is the steak sandwich, a healthy slice of skirt steak char-grilled,  smothered in BBQ sauce, and served plain on crusty bread that has just the right amount of chew to it. The sauce, despite being generously applied, is not overpowering; it provides just the right amount of flavor, letting the grilled taste really shine. Accompanying the meal were fries and cole slaw. Neither of them were too remarkable but that’s not their role, they direct the attention to the sandwich’s simplistic perfection.

As a visitor, and likely a resident, you’ll never have enough time fully explore all that Chicago has to offer your stomach. Booby’s makes my shorter list and I think you’ll agree it is worth it. My only advice, pay cash if there is any concern of Booby’s showing up on your credit card statement.

Steak Sandwich Lunch

Steak Sandwich Lunch

More pictures after the Jump

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Italian Beef

Italian Beef

Name: Portillo’s

Location: Greater Chicago

Meal: Multiple (Italian Beef, Chop Salad, Garbage Salad)

Type: Local Restaurant

Portillo’s is one of my favorite restaurants when it comes to Chicago food. What they do best, is doing so many things well. Not only do they serve one of the best Italian Beef sandwiches around, they also serve great Chicago style hot dogs, and they also serve some of my favorite salads. They do this while providing some of most consistently great service I’ve ever experienced. In the two years that I have visited the Chicago area, I would say that I’ve eaten at Portillo’s more than five times; once even for lunch and dinner in the same day. For someone who prides himself of being the Hungry Traveler, always looking for another place, that is saying something.

Lots more after the jump. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Als Italian Beef

Al's Italian Beef

Name: Al’s Beef

Location: Chicago, IL

Meal: Italian Beef sandwich, Cheese fries, and Pepsi

Type: Sandwich

Chicago, besides being a great city of its own right, is a city torn between three culinary poster-children. You can find good support for the Chicago hot dog, the deep dish pizza, or the Italian beef being the food to best associate with Chicago. As previously mentioned, I have love for the Chicago hot dog, but for my money Italian beef is Chicago to me.

Lots more after the jump. (more…)

Read Full Post »

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mazur/4002859286/

Fresh made Frontera Salsas

Name: Frontera Grill

Location: Chicago, IL

Meal: Margaritas, Guacamole, Flautas, and Tacos Carbon

Type: Mexican

Rick Bayless is amazing. I’m pretty sure any of the words I could write up about my experience at Frontera Grill would distract from that key point. From my personal experience I can tell you that everything you’ve seen on Top Chef, in newspaper profiles, or his own show is absolutely true; this man knows how to cook. I will note that you shouldn’t plan a trip to Frontera if you expect to catch a glimpse of Chef Bayless. To me, him not cooking the food is a non- issue; developing such a strong program that it continues to soar without him is a testament to expertise in the restaurant business. The entire meal was great from the subtle heat of the guacamole to the pleasant orange sweetness of the flautas to the smoky beans served with the tacos. The service was impeccable. What Chef Bayless also deserves a lot of credit for is keeping such highly applauded food accessible. As much as Frontera is raved about the prices were maybe $2-$3 more than the chain Mexican restaurant by my apartment in the suburbs. Go, be prepared for a wait, but expect to leave thoroughly impressed with your experience.

Lots more pictures after the jump.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Superdawg

Superdawg

Name: Superdawg

Location: Chicago, IL

Meal: Chicago-style hot dog and a chocolate milkshake

Type: Hot Dog Joint

As previously noted Chicago food is a food lover’s paradise. Two foods in particular scream ‘Chicago’ to the outside world louder than anything else: deep dish pizza and the Chicago-style hot dog. As someone who drew up outside Philadelphia with the Pat’s vs. Geno’s cheesesteak debate I find it interesting that with so many independent hot dog stands in Chicago there is not the contention title of ‘best’ the City of Brotherly Love provides. The hot dog stand that normally tops the lists and gets the calls for television shows is Superdawg. Superdawg has be operating for over 50 years and still provides friendly carhop service. Located in a largely Polish neighbor on the North Side of Chicago you’ll be able to find it quite easily thanks to their famous hot dog characters on the roof. What awaits you after you park is the pride of a city tucked inside a small box, covered in fries.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Harolds Chicken Shack

Harold's Chicken Shack

Name: Harold’s Chicken Shack

Location: Chicago’s Southside

Meal: Quarter Chicken with mild sauce, Fries, Cole Slaw, and a Pepsi

Type: Chicken joint

You could write extensively on just the wonders of Chicago cuisine, both highbrow and lowbrow. My limited travels to the Windy City have only amounted to a very tiny scratch on the surface of Chicago cuisine. I like to think that in my limited experience I’ve been able to get to parts of the Chicago short list. On Chicago’s Southside, Harold’s Chicken Shack is an institution, plain and simple. For over 50 years, Harold’s has not only been providing great food to some neighborhoods others chains would scoff at, they’ve been making some of the best tasting chicken there is.  This is another one of those places people say to expect a 30-45 minute wait for your food; I was eating within five minutes of ordering.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.