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nsxtasy

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  1. I've eaten at Original Pancake House restaurants in approximately ten different states around the country. In some of them, including the Chicago area (and, as previously mentioned, especially the Walker Brothers locations), the quality is absolutely top notch. In others, the food is mediocre; even the same dishes ordered at different locations can come out differently. In addition to Chicago, off the top of my head I can recall good experiences at OPH locations in Ohio, Georgia, and Indiana, whereas I've had mediocre to dreadful experiences at OPH locations in Milwaukee, San Jose, and Portland, Oregon (ironically at the "original Original"). Incidentally, one of the reasons that Walker Brothers is the only franchisee permitted to place its own name on their OPH locations is because of their consistently high level of quality.
  2. To me, they are two entirely different kinds of places. Nuevo Leon is an inexpensive restaurant specializing in conventional Mexican cuisine (enchiladas, carne asada, etc), similar to the Mexican food you can find in any city in the country. Frontera Grill (as well as Topolobampo next door and Mundial Cocina Mestiza, which is just down the street from Nuevo Leon) specializes in dishes from regions throughout Mexico, dishes you're not likely to find north of the border, except in Chicago and Los Angeles. All of these are good at what they do. Nuevo Leon is significantly less expensive than the others, although lunch is an excellent deal at all of these places. It just depends on what you're looking for - the lowest price possible, or the creativity of dishes you probably won't find elsewhere. Additional Chicago-area restaurants featuring the less common provincial Mexican cuisine include: Flamingo's in suburban Mount Prospect Mixteco Grill on the north side Fonda del Mar in Logan Square FDM in North Center Los Moles in Logan Square Tepatulco in Lincoln Park Real Tenochtitlan in Logan Square Amelia's on the south side Salpicon in Old Town Adobo Grill in Old Town and Wicker Park Fuego in Logan Square and suburban Arlington Heights Xni-Pec in suburban Cicero Sol de Mexico on the northwest side as well as the previously-mentioned Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in River North Mundial Cocina Mestiza in Pilsen For those who have not yet tried some of these provincial cuisines, I encourage you to check out the sample menus on their websites to get a better idea of their dishes. And there is quite a bit of variation within this group, too. Some of them specialize in cuisine from one particular region (e.g. Oaxaca for Los Moles, Yucatan for Xni-Pec) while others offer cuisine from multiple regions around Mexico. Together, they constitute one of the ways in which Chicago's culinary scene offers an incredibly high level of diversity and quality.
  3. I think Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is FABULOUS, a true treat whenever I have it. Also, the deep-dish varieties are unlike anything you are likely to find elsewhere. Coalfire, like other varieties of thin crust, is similar to what you can find in just about any big dining city. When in Rome, do what the Romans do. When in Chicago, there's one absolute "must try" local specialty, and that's deep-dish pizza. Even for chefs. Huh? You must be getting alcohol to drink, and maybe more than one. Because at both Frontera and Topo, the main entrees at lunch are $15-17, and the light entrees at Frontera are $10-15. Even if you splurge and get dessert, you're still nowhere near $50, not even with tax/tip, unless you run up the bar bill. I recommended Blackbird for lunch, where its prices are very similar to Frontera Grill - $15-17 for main entrees, $10-15 for light entrees; they also have a $22 3-course prix fixe menu. For a finer dining experience, that is cheap, beyond question. Avec is not open for lunch (and FWIW has not impressed me, neither for its food, nor its no-reservation policy and lengthy waits, nor its uncomfortable seating). There are a lot of good French bistros. Last time I ate at La Sardine, I had the mussels meuniere, the sweetbreads, and the chocolate souffle, and everything was wonderful. It was a Tuesday, so all that was $25; it would have been $40 on any other night, which still isn't bad. As is becoming fairly common at many restaurants in this economy, La Sardine also has a limited, bargain-priced 3-course menu ($27.50) on other nights. Yes, Kiki's is good too, and so is Mon Ami Gabi, and so too are many others around town. Bongo Room charges around $4 for a very large pancake topped with a creative sauce, and $7 for two of them; those 1/3 or 2/3 portion sizes are very reasonably priced. Waiting times are primarily a problem only on Sundays, and to a lesser extent on Saturdays. The other real gem of the Chicago breakfast scene is not just the Original Pancake House (which is a national franchise although locations away from Chicago vary in quality and consistency), but specifically the six OPH locations in our north and northwest suburbs run as the Walker Brothers. They take the OPH menu, including the huge puffed-up cinnamony apple pancake, and elevate it to fine art, adding original stained glass and elaborate woodwork at their locations. I've had the a la carte Sunday brunch at Big Jones in Andersonville, and it's pretty good, particularly the beignets, but not noteworthy in any way. If I'm going to be that far north (and Andersonville is not that close to downtown, especially since it's a good half mile walk from the nearest el stop), I'd instead go to M. Henry, just a few blocks up Clark Street from Big Jones. M. Henry is similar to Bongo Room, a place specializing in breakfast (and which unfortunately does not take reservations, so waiting times can be lengthy on Sundays). Their specialties are a bit broader than just pancakes (although I love their "bliss cakes") and also include egg dishes and a great bread pudding. But I agree with you that the brunch scene on Sundays can be murder at the ultra-popular places that don't take reservations. Thank goodness for Opentable, which makes it so easy to find out which places are open and take reservations! (David Burke's Primehouse, which I mentioned for their American dim sum brunch and is also better known as a steakhouse, accepts reservations on Opentable.)
  4. Hot Doug's is extremely inconvenient to downtown Chicago, so it will take you a while to get there as well as a long wait once you do. Fortunately, there are quite a few excellent choices right in and near the downtown area, that don't cost an arm and a leg and don't require extensive waits. For example (click on restaurant names below for links to their websites)... Deep-dish pizza - This local specialty is delicious and you won't find it back home. The single-crust "pizza in the pan" is one variety, and some of the best places to get it downtown include the original locations of Uno and Due in River North, Lou Malnati's in River North and the South Loop, and Pizano's in River North and the Loop. If you'd like to try the double-crust "stuffed" pizza, you can find it at Giordano's in River North and in several locations in the Loop. Wherever you go, you can phone ahead with your order to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for your pizza to bake. Provincial Mexican - This is another type of food that is found in numerous places in Chicago, but is not available most other places this side of the border. Both of Rick Bayless's restaurants, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in River North, are moderately-priced at lunch. For dinner, Frontera Grill is the moderately-priced option. There are other such restaurants; my personal favorite is Mundial Cocina Mestiza in Pilsen, a couple miles from downtown and right near the 18th Street stop on the el (CTA Pink Line). If you go there, don't miss the steamed mussels slathered with strips of bacon and poblanos. Contemporary American - Yes, such restaurants are often expensive, but there are bargains to be had. For example, you can have lunch at Blackbird in the West Loop for a fraction of the price of dinner. And Cafe des Architectes, under the stewardship of Chef Martial Noguier and IMO the very best food of any of our casual fine dining restaurants, offers their three-course "neighborhood friends" $29 dinner menu on Sundays through Tuesdays. French Bistro - Another category that is overlooked for bargain dining. La Sardine in the West Loop lets you pick any three-course dinner from the menu for $25 on Tuesdays (but it won't cost you all that much more on the other nights of the week). Greek - Walk to Halsted Street and Greek Town, and take your pick of places like Santorini, Greek Islands, etc. Chinese - Take the CTA Red Line south 3 miles to the Cermak/Chinatown stop, and walk to Double Li or Lao Sze Chuan. Thai - Take the el (CTA North Line) to the Sheridan Road stop and TAC Quick. Jewish Deli - Steve's Deli is in River North. Chicago-style Hot Dogs and Italian Beef - These two specialties are both available at two places just a block away from each other in River North, Portillo's and Al's Beef. Breakfast - Go to Bongo Room in the South Loop or Wicker Park for their exquisite pancakes and egg dishes. Some of my favorites include the pretzel pancakes with white chocolate sauce, and blueberry pancakes with almond panna cotta cream. Tip: The standard portion size of three pancakes is HUGE. It doesn't say so on the menu, but you can order a 1/3 or 2/3 portion size at a reduced price - perfect not only for the smaller appetite, but for those who want to try more than one dish. Sunday Brunch - The best bargain in Sunday brunches is at David Burke's Primehouse in River North, where they serve their "American dim sum brunch". Served as roughly 22 dishes in 8 courses (two selected from rolling carts, six prepared to order), with unlimited seconds, for $35. All-you-can-drink drinks (bloody marys and margaritas, IIRC) are another $10. Enjoy!
  5. I travel several times a year to Indiana, and the restaurants there have improved dramatically in recent years - not only in Indianapolis/Bloomington, but throughout the state. Indianapolis itself has come a long way, with great standouts like Oakley's Bistro, R Bistro, and Oceanaire. But you need to travel around to try some of the other outstanding eateries throughout the state. A few months ago I ate dinner at Joseph Decuis just outside Fort Wayne, and it was as good as any place I've eaten in Indiana. LaSalle Grill in South Bend continues to be excellent. And at both ends of the state you're right across the state line from two terrific eating cities. Of course, as previously noted, we need to hold the event somewhere where one or more eGulleteers are willing to step up to do the organizational work, and that may or may not include Indiana. But there are some great eateries in the Hoosier State...
  6. There's a restaurant just outside Fort Wayne that is fantastic in every way: Joseph Decuis 191 North Main Street Roanoke, IN 46783 (260) 672-1715 http://www.josephdecuis.com I ate dinner there a few months ago, and it was wonderful! I had an outstanding foie gras starter, a main of sauteed soft shell crabs, and a marvelous chocolate dessert. It was one of my top dinners of the year, and the best dinner I have ever had in the state of Indiana, where I visit several times a year and enjoy trying out the best restaurants all over the state.
  7. Yup, those would be my top two picks nearby. The hotel is on Higgins near Cumberland. Giordano's is about a mile west of the hotel on Higgins at River Road, and Gibson's is maybe half a mile south of Giordano's on River Road. If you go to Giordano's, get the "stuffed" deep-dish pizza. You can phone ahead with your pizza order to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for the pizza to bake. If you enjoy seafood, there's also a McCormick and Schmick's just south of Gibson's. Right next to the hotel is a shared location of Al's Beef, for Italian beef sandwiches, and Nancy's Pizza, for stuffed deep-dish pizza, whose address is shown as Park Ridge on their website. I haven't had either at this particular location, and I've heard at least one negative report about it. If you're willing to take a longer (10-15 minutes) cab ride for more "foodie-worthy" food you won't find back home, consider Flamingo's Seafood in Mount Prospect, for creative Mexican seafood. If you don't want to spend the $$$ for the cab, you can also get there on the Pace #606 bus, which goes right past the hotel (and originates in the parking lot of the Cumberland station on the CTA Blue Line, about a 3-minute walk from the hotel), then stops at Algonquin and Busse, about a hundred feet from the restaurant. For a bus schedule, map, and other info, click here. You can also take the CTA Blue Line from the Cumberland station into the city, to places such as Smoque near the Irving Park stop for barbecue, Lula near the Logan Square stop for local/seasonal cuisine, The Real Tenochtitlan near the Logan Square stop for Mexican, Spring near the Damen stop for contemporary seafood, and of course all the great places in downtown Chicago. For CTA information, click here.
  8. I am. To me, the word "overpriced" (your word, not mine) means that either you can get better quality for the same price, or similar quality for less money. I've found better quality food, including the seafood dishes, for the same price at those other top-tier restaurants that don't specialize in seafood. I've also found better quality seafood for significantly less money at Oceanique (just to cite one example), which may not use the foams and may not have the decor but I know for sure I'll get one dish after another that will be "wow, delicious!", without any misses like the main courses at L2O. L2O isn't a sushi place. It's a restaurant that serves many foods, with an emphasis on seafood.
  9. I agree. OTOH the article did appear (today, BTW) in the New York Times, which is still to some extent a local newspaper, so maybe he felt the need to provide comparisons that New Yorkers can identify with. Incidentally, I thought his experience was similar to my own. IOW the decor is sublime, the food has its share of misses as well as hits, and the service is uneven. In fact, although I didn't mention it in my post above, I had the exact same experience he describes regarding the need to see the dessert menu before being able to decide whether or not to order the souffle in advance. I'm sure I wasn't the first, but they should have ironed that out by now. I've now had a chance to reflect a bit on my meal there in March, and put it into perspective. The problem I keep coming up with is one of price and value - basically one of comparisons, and what L2O should be compared with. I had a very nice dinner there, loved some of the dishes, and found others just okay. If it were priced like our better casual fine dining restaurants, such as Aigre Doux or North Pond (i.e. around $100/person inclusive), I would consider it a good contender worth considering. However, it's not. You'll pay $200+/person, which is comparable to our top tables from top chefs, fewer than a dozen restaurants in the Chicago area. And if you compare it with those other places in that price bracket (Alinea, Charlie Trotter's, Avenues, Everest, TRU, Spiaggia, Carlos), I don't think it compares well. At all of those other places, everything is just perfect, with one "wow, delicious!" dish after another after another with no misses, with exquisite service without any issues whatsoever, without the wine service issue, without the attire issue, without the tipping issue, etc. When I have a special occasion worth spending the money, I would easily go back to any of those other places rather than return to L2O. And that's why L2O just didn't particularly impress me, even though I loved the space and much of what it had to offer.
  10. You can hit the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb on your way to or from New Glarus. See my post above about it!
  11. See my post above regarding Pedro's, for affordably-priced Mexican. Also consider Sardine for brunch, especially eating on the terrace if it's a nice day.
  12. Great photos! Just so no one gets the wrong idea, though, I'd like to put in a word for the variety and quality of restaurant dining in the Hoosier State. I've been a frequent visitor to Indiana over the past 15-20 years and I've seen a huge evolution (even revolution!) in its dining scene. When I first started visiting, traditional American foods such as those pictured here were just about the only kind of food you could find in Indiana, with the possible exception of one or two traditional French restaurants (notably the Glass Chimney in Carmel). Fortunately for those living and visiting there, times have changed! Now, you can find modern contemporary cuisine in bistros where a visitor from New York or Chicago will feel right at home, not only in Indianapolis (e.g. Oakley's Bistro and R Bistro, among others) but also elsewhere around the state, including Fort Wayne (Joseph Decuis), South Bend (La Salle Grill), Bloomington (Tallent), and elsewhere. And excellent examples of other types of food can be found as well, such as amazingly fresh seafood (Oceanaire and Z's), Jewish delis (Shapiro's), Thai (Sawasdee), sushi (Sakura and H2O), Mexican (Adobo Grill), and Turkish (Bosphorus), to name a few. At the time of my earliest visits, I used to regard Indiana as a culinary wasteland, but now I look forward to trying excellent restaurants on every trip. It's got plenty of choices that are likely to please even the most finicky eGulleteer!
  13. I'd love to hear what you think if you check out Sarah's. I've been there, and also to their adjunct store in Marshall... I mean, in Macy's in the Loop, and I've been sorely disappointed. I've tried a bunch of different things there, pastries and candies, and the only thing I really liked was a savory item (a ham and cheese brioche). (And FWIW, it doesn't bother me that the shop is tiny; Vanille Patisserie, on the Clybourn corridor a couple miles northwest of your hotel, is also very small, but everything they have at Vanille - entremets, French macaroons, croissants - is outstanding. As is true of Fox & Obel, which is much larger, of course.) But it's definitely close to your hotel, and convenience is always a big consideration!
  14. Lots of good suggestions above, but some of them not conveniently located near your hotel. Here's the "location-specific advice" you're looking for, noting approximate distances from your hotel. I'll also include a couple of unique suggestions that aren't quite as geographically friendly. Click on restaurant names in this post for links to their websites. Deep-dish Chicago-style pizza comes in two varieties: the single-crust "pizza in the pan" served by Lou Malnati's, Pizano's, Gino's East, and the original Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due; and the double-crust "stuffed pizza" served by Giordano's, Bacino's, and Edwardo's. Both types are delicious, and all of these places are excellent representations! The closest location to your hotel for pizza in the pan is Pizano's on State. Like Lou Malnati's, Pizano's was founded by a son of Rudy Malnati Sr., who played a lead role at the original Uno and Due in their early decades. Gino's East on East Superior is also quite close. The closest location for stuffed pizza is Giordano's on Rush. All three of these places are about a five minute walk from your hotel. Florida's recommendation of Portillo's and Al's was right on point. You can get Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches at either place. Both have a location (about a block apart from each other) in River North, on West Ontario a few blocks west of Michigan Avenue and a 10-15 minute walk from your hotel. Normal highs are in the mid sixties, lows in the mid forties. Rain is a possibility, but most days in May are sunny and delightful. In the area around your hotel, it can be windy/gusty and is sometimes significantly cooler than elsewhere. The good news is, the chances of snow are unlikely. We have bagels too. I hear they also sell them in New York City. But there's nothing so stereotypical that it is "THE" Chicago breakfast item. allenkelson's recommendation of the Original Pancake House was right on; there is a location on East Bellevue Place within a five minute walk of your hotel. Note that Walker Brothers, which he mentioned, is a local franchisee of that chain and has six locations in the Chicago-area suburbs, but the city locations (and some others in the suburbs) are not part of the Walker Brothers operation. For something unique to Chicago, you can go to Bongo Room, which is unfortunately not as convenient to the Mag Mile. Bongo Room is a breakfast-focused restaurant with two locations, one in the South Loop 2.5 miles south of your hotel, the other in the Wicker Park neighborhood about the same distance west of you. Bongo Room's specialty is creative pancakes and they also have good egg dishes and lunch items. My two favorite pancakes recently have been the blueberry pancakes covered with almond panna cotta cream, and pretzel pancakes with white chocolate sauce. The pancakes are huge and a standard serving size is three of them; it doesn't say on the menu but you can get a one-third or two-thirds portion size at reduced cost, perfect for the smaller appetite or if you want to try more than one dish there. Bongo Room is a unique local treasure! IMHO it's better and more unique than Orange or Ann Sather, both of which are even further from your hotel. Beware long waits for seating on Sundays. Lou Mitchell's is a local institution that has been around for ages, serving commuters arriving at the nearby train stations. That being said, the food is conventional breakfast fare you can find anywhere. It's at the far end of the Loop, about two miles from your hotel. About a fifteen minute walk southeast of your hotel is Fox & Obel, our premier gourmet food store, with the finest fresh meats, seafoods, prepared foods, etc. Of particular note for breakfast, they have the best selection of outstanding breads and pastries in the city, including the world's best cinnamon swirl rolls and bran muffins, excellent croissants and brioche, and a lot of other things that are just wonderful. They also have a cafe in the rear of the store where you can get anything from a cup of coffee to a complete meal, cooked to order. Our best local brew is Intelligentsia, which has several locations but none close to your hotel. A block from your hotel, Lavazza has a location on East Walton. There are several other kinds of foods in which Chicago excels, and unique places, both of which you can't readily find elsewhere, and I suggest considering them for your itinerary as well. One is creative provincial Mexican food. Rick Bayless started the trend 20+ years ago at Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, both of which are still excellent and a nice 15-minute walk from your hotel; there are many others throughout the city. Another place worth mentioning for "casual fine dining" is North Pond, which features excellent contemporary American cuisine from James Beard Award nominated Chef Bruce Sherman. What makes North Pond unique is its exquisite location (two miles north of your hotel) in Lincoln Park - the park itself, not just the adjacent neighborhood of the same name. It faces its namesake pond, with the city skyline towering over the opposite shore; the renovated building formerly served as a warming shelter for wintertime ice skaters on the pond. At the high end, Alinea, this week named one of the ten best restaurants in the world, provides an experience that's unique and different from most other temples of haute cuisine. About two miles northwest of your hotel. For a snack, don't miss Garrett's for their caramel popcorn and cheese popcorn; they have several locations in the Loop, Chicago's historical and commercial central business district, just over a mile southwest of your hotel. Feel free to ask more questions, and enjoy your visit!
  15. Many restaurants in Indy are indeed closed on Sundays, including some of my favorites (e.g. Oakley's Bistro, R Bistro, and Elements) as well as places I've been wanting to try (Peterson's, Scholar's Inn/SI Lounge). Here are four nice places that I can recommend that are open on Sundays. The first three are all downtown, on the block that includes the Circle Center mall, although the restaurant entrances are from the street, not from the mall. I ate at three of these four (all but 14 West) this past weekend. 1. The Oceanaire (www.theoceanaire.com) is widely acclaimed as Indy's very best seafood restaurant, and with good reason. The seafood is superb and amazingly fresh, and there is a wide variety of preparations to suit all tastes. The decor is nautical, designed to resemble a cruise ship. Perfect for a business group; get one of their comfy booths. I've been there numerous times and I've never been disappointed. 2. 14 West (www.14westindy.com) is a contemporary American restaurant with lots of wood paneling. A very nice place with good food. If the weather is nice, consider the outdoor sidewalk seating. 3. Palomino (www.palomino.com) has a bit more casual feel to it than the previous two places. It's a ten-location chain that is part of the Restaurants Unlimited restaurant group (which includes Kincaid's, with a location in Carmel). The Palomino website describes the food as "Palomino's European-inspired regional American Cuisine"; more specifically, there was a distinctly Mediterranean feel to several dishes I had. 4. If you're not right downtown, but are instead north or northeast of downtown, I recommend Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse (www.zsoyster.com) in the Castleton area northeast of downtown, near where I-69 crosses I-465. The restaurant is lovely, with classy contemporary décor. They also have a large outdoor patio overlooking a small lake, and they offer al fresco dining in warmer weather (they said this should be starting a few weeks from now). They have extremely fresh seafood specially flown in, and the preparations are excellent. Although the decor/atmosphere are not your typical steakhouse, they do an excellent job with steaks and meats as well.
  16. Oh, please! I was NOT denigrating Polish food in any way, so please don't throw out that phony red herring! I was simply noting that if you want good Polish food, you can find it in many other cities around the country. You're welcome to claim that Los Angeles is not one of them, but I can assure you that you can find very good Polish food in New York City, which has more Polish-Americans than Chicago, as well as in Toledo, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee, all of which have a higher percentage of Polish-American residents than Chicago. I can also assure you that you can find Thai food as good as Chicago's in many major cities, including Los Angeles (home to the largest Thai community outside of Thailand, where two thirds of the Thai-Americans in the entire U.S. live) as well as in San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, New York, etc. If any city in the country has a claim to the best and most varied Thai food in the country, it's L.A., not Chicago. Don't look for authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza in any of these cities, because you're not going to find it. And that was my point. Case closed! Of course, if you love Polish food, or you hate pizza, or however you feel, I'm sure I don't need to tell you you're welcome to get whatever kind of food you like! We have lots of great food in Chicago. Unfortunately, the options within 15 minutes of Midway Airport are somewhat limited - but at least you have a few good ones to choose from. Enjoy!
  17. Comments I have read from folks who have visited the Giordano's locations in Florida make me suspect that the product and quality served there is not comparable to those in the Chicago area - a phenomenon that is familiar to any Chicagoan who has had the misfortune to visit the 200+ nationwide locations of Boston-based Uno's Chicago Grill franchised by Chicago's original Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due.
  18. Call it right around six months; there's a "First Look" on Metromix dated October 2, and they usually do that after a place has been open a week or two.
  19. My previous post, outlining timing and including information about Giordano's, was removed because it included a photo from the Giordano's website. Below is the entire post, replacing the photo with a link to it - sorry about that! (And note that the assumption below about not traveling during commuting hours was later found to be incorrect.) - nsxtasy When you say you have a three-hour layover, I assume you mean three hours between your flight arrival time and your flight departure time, not three hours away from the airport. A three-hour connection is NOT enough time to go to downtown Chicago and back taking the el, and get back in time to check in for your flight. Even in off hours, between the 15+ minute walk from the gate through the concourse and then through the parking garage to the el station, plus 10 minutes waiting for the train and the actual train ride, you have to allow a minimum 50 minutes each way, which doesn't leave you enough time to eat somewhere and get back to the airport in time to get through security and check in for your flight the required 30 minutes before the posted departure, etc. It's not even close; don't even think about it. If you took cabs, you could get downtown in about 25 minutes (and an equal number of dollars) each way, but even that scenario is really borderline, and would depend on your flight arriving exactly on time, exiting the plane quickly, getting a close-in departure gate and arrival gate, no traffic backups in either direction downtown and back, etc. So everything would need to go perfectly to make it downtown and back; again, I don't recommend it. With these time estimates, I am assuming (from your reference to lunch) that travel will be between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., so commuter traffic is generally not an issue. During prime commuting hours, the el travel times are the same, but cab travel times are often longer than the times by el. There aren't a lot of great eating places around Chicago Midway Airport, but there is one, which is totally manageable with three hours between flight times: Giordano's, for our delicious Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. There are two principal styles of deep-dish, and Giordano's specializes in the double-crust "stuffed" variety. It's my favorite pizza in the entire Chicago area, and with all of our great deep-dish pizza, that is high praise indeed! There is a location at 63rd Street and Cicero, about 3/4 mile south of the main terminal building. Cicero Avenue is a very busy street so you may be better off taking a cab than walking. Phone ahead with your pizza order when you arrive at the airport so you don't have to wait 30-45 minutes while seated for your pizza to bake. Giordano's 6314 South Cicero Avenue (773) 585-6100 http://www.giordanos.com For photo, click here. If my assumption is mistaken, and you have a four-hour connection, which would allow you to spend three hours away from the airport (again, if the arriving flight is on time), then going downtown is do-able by cab (although still very iffy timewise by el and not recommended). To answer your question about Kahan's restaurants, which are all just west of downtown Chicago, Blackbird is open for lunch during the week; Avec and the Publican are not. You're confusing O'Hare Airport with Midway Airport. Wolfgang Puck's and Billy Goat have locations at O'Hare, but not at Midway. The dining options in the terminal at Midway are really poor.
  20. Stuffed pizza is indeed pizza! It is one of two popular styles of deep-dish pizza here in Chicago. There are some places known for their double-crust stuffed pizza; in addition to Giordano's, they include Bacino's, Edwardo's, and Carmen's. There are other places known for their single-crust "pizza in the pan", including Uno and Due, Lou Malnati's, Gino's East, and Pizano's. Anyone who wants to get into a semantical debate can create his/her own personal definition of the word "pizza"; for example, I suspect anyone from Naples would claim that if a place is not certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, it's not pizza. But ask anyone in Chicago, and they'll tell you that stuffed pizza is indeed one kind of pizza here. And I'm not the only one who thinks it's delicious; there's a reason Giordano's has more locations here (40) than any other place, all descended from a single location on the Southwest Side in the 1970s, where two brothers developed stuffed pizza from a family recipe in the Torino (Turin) area. (The first restaurant serving stuffed pizza in Chicago was Nancy's, which opened a couple years before Giordano's and also developed their stuffed pizza from a family recipe in that same part of Italy.) Personally, I think that if you're visiting Chicago briefly, you may as well enjoy one of the local specialties that you've never had and you can't get anywhere else. Our deep-dish pizza is one of those; Polish food, while good, isn't, since you can find it in most big cities. Wherever you decide to go, make sure they are open at the time you will be there. Some restaurants aren't open till 5 p.m. or later, which would be a problem for your travel plans. Also, I would disagree with the above description of the area around Midway. The surrounding neighborhoods are a combination of commercial/industrial use and working-class bungalows. There are other parts of Chicago where personal security is indeed an issue, but I would not characterize the area around Midway Airport that way. (However, the lack of middle-class and affluent demographics in the vicinity are one reason for the lack of more upscale dining options.)
  21. I see from your post on another board that this assumption is NOT valid; your flight arrives at 3:00 pm and the departure is at 6:30 pm. This makes the travel times downtown and back significantly longer by cab, so much so on the return to the airport that the cab would almost certainly take longer than the CTA el. At that time of day, I do not recommend going downtown.
  22. Maybe - if your arriving flight is on time or reasonably close (within 15 minutes), and everything goes perfectly, you could make it to downtown Chicago and back by cab, with 75+ minutes to have lunch at Blackbird, assuming that is your desired destination. However, you may want to have a backup "plan B" in case your inbound flight is more than 15 minutes late. Giordano's is still wonderful, delicious and one of our top local specialties, something you can't get outside of Chicago. There really is nothing else I would recommend within a 10-15 minute drive of the airport. There are some places that are slightly closer than downtown, but not within the vicinity of the airport, so you're looking at maybe 15-20 minutes by cab rather than 25. For example, I know you said you don't want Mexican food, but Mundial Cocina Mestiza in the Pilsen neighborhood is open for lunch, and its creative regional Mexican cuisine is representative of one of Chicago's more creative cuisines and not what most people think of as Mexican food (i.e. not just enchiladas and carne asada).
  23. Thanks for the report! Funny, I have had some of the exact same experiences at Blackbird! The food is phenomenal, but that long line of tables on one side of the dining room is so close together, you feel like you're part of the conversation on either side of you. (It's also very noisy.) And the last time I was there, it was for a private event, and the portions were so small I left hungry too! This is why I generally direct folks to other places instead - particularly Cafe des Architectes, Aigre Doux, and North Pond - because they also offer spectacular food, but without those downsides. I had that short rib dish at Custom House not too long ago - on the bone, with the horseradish cream puffs - and it's wonderful. I was chatting with Rob Hurrie, the chef-owner of Margaux in Sheboygan WI, where I had the best short ribs in my life, and he said that braising short ribs is one of the simplest dishes to prepare. So by all means try it! (As for the rest of my dinner at Custom House, I also loved the sweetbread appetizer, but was disappointed by the desserts.) Come back and visit again soon!
  24. I ate at L2O a week ago last Sunday, and my experience was totally consistent with KD1191's, right down to the issues with the wine service and salt. It wasn't a bad meal; I thought the food was very good while not extraordinary, and it's a lovely space. But the real question is a matter of value. While you don't have to spend $400/pp - the four-course menu is $110 before wine/tax/tip and one of the tasting menus is even less - it's still expensive. If I'm going to spend that much money, I would easily prefer any of our high-end mainstays (Alinea, Everest, Avenues, Trotter's, TRU). We started with a drink in the "bar" area (it's really more of a lounge area with a couple of tables, where you can order drinks; no bar was visible). They have a bar menu including drinks as well as starters and desserts, for those who wish to go there for less than a full meal. The décor of the dining room is breathtakingly contemporary, just an exquisite space. Those who dined there in its previous guise as Ambria will be shocked at the transformation. On this Sunday evening, about 40 percent of the tables were occupied during dinner. (I have no idea whether that's considered busy or not for a Sunday evening.) One surprise was that I expected the attire to be more dressy than it was; the Opentable listing says "jacket preferred" but about half the gentlemen were not wearing jackets, even with diners wearing jeans and collarless pullovers at a couple of tables. One dining companion and I discussed our displeasure at this discrepancy, and noted that a restaurant should either enforce whatever dress code they want to dictate (for example, by advising diners when making their reservations), or else describe the actual attire accurately (such as in the Opentable listing, which would be more accurate if it described it as "dressy casual"). Either way, there would be no surprises. The menu offers "good news and bad news" and requires some explanation. It was similar (although not quite identical) to the version on their website. The good news is that it offers tremendous flexibility, as the server was happy to note. On the left is a six course "tete a tete" tasting menu for $90 and a twelve course tasting menu for $165. There are a few specific "singular" items shown on the left with two prices, the first an upcharge when substituted on one of the multi-course menus, the second the price when ordered on a standalone basis. Souffles are shown because they require ordering at the same time as the other courses; other desserts can be ordered later. Upon our request, the server was happy to bring us the dessert menu at the same time, to help us decide whether or not to order the souffles. (This really ought to be mandatory for places that require the advance ordering of souffles.) On the right side of the menu is their four course menu ($110), which all six of us ordered. The four-course menu was grouped as "raw" (I think some of these items were apparently better described as cold rather than raw), "warm", and "main". The server also noted that they can be very flexible in ordering; for example, an extra course can be added to one of the multi-course menus (for an additional charge, of course). Our server also confirmed, when we asked, that one could order two warm starters rather than one raw and one warm. Not shown on the website version is the fact that three of the items on the four-course menu involved upcharges: the lobster dish shown on the website was an extra $10, a "surf and turf" item for an extra $40, and I forget the third. Personally, I found the lobster upcharge rather odd, because lobster is not all that expensive right now (and on a $110 menu, why "nickel and dime" with a $10 upcharge?). OTOH the seared foie gras starter did not have an upcharge, which was a good thing. One thing I find frustrating is that the menu descriptions really don't do the dishes justice; you can't get a sense of what the dish is really like from the listing of a few ingredients on the menu. Most of the dishes were elaborate and exquisite, but you might never know it from the menu! For example, the foie gras starter is described as "foie gras, port, cocoa nibs, apple, celery", which sounds like a fairly standard foie gras preparation. What it actually consisted of was a nice-sized piece of seared foie gras, on a bed of celery. (Yummy - but wait, there's more!) Alongside it were half a dozen half-inch cubes of apple, and each one was topped with a very spicy chocolate sauce - very unusual and creative and delicious - who knew? (But wait, there's more!) The dish was also served with a scoop of what I think was pear sorbet - who knew? (But wait, there's more!) The cocoa nibs were crunchy chips that provided a nice counterpoint to the soft foie gras; I've had cocoa nibs before, but these were bigger and better (not huge, but not tiny like the ones I've had). Another illustration of how much the menu falls short in adequately describing the dishes is the short rib, described on the menu as "short rib, cabernet sauvignon, huckleberry, black trumpet". Most restaurants braise short ribs and serve them. What L2O does is, they braise the short rib and form it (boneless) into a long thin rectangle, and then grill it. It was very good - properly tender on the inside, and ever so slightly crispy on the outside edge (although it could have even been more so); however, the flavor seemed somewhat overly salty. There were three elements of cabernet sauvignon in the dish: a sauce on one side of the short rib, a gelee on the other side, and an evanescent foam on top (over the black trumpet mushrooms which topped the short rib). The result was a visual treat which you wouldn't necessarily have expected from the menu description. One of the delights of the meal were the five complimentary small dishes that were brought without being ordered. (I understand one served before the main course is properly called an amuse bouche, whereas one after the main course is a mignardise.) After we ordered, the staff brought out the first, a delicious smoked salmon croque monsieur. The second followed shortly: tuna tartare topped with a savory granite. Between the mains and desserts, we were served a meyer lemon marshmallow sorbet. Following the desserts, we were served two different amuse desserts: a passionfruit marshmallow, followed by a "canelé", a small pastry that I had never had before (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canelé ) which was one of my favorite items of the entire dinner. Bread service was interesting, with six different kinds of miniature bread/rolls, all very good (notably the rosemary croissants). They were not warm, but they were so small that warming really isn't appropriate, since they wouldn't stay warm and it would only dry them out. They came by a couple of times with refills, without having to ask. One minor but noticeable glitch was a bottle of white wine we ordered, and arrived insufficiently chilled. The server seemed flustered, and although she was happy to bring an ice bucket to chill the wine, we wondered whether perhaps on other nights of the week, they may have a sommelier who might have realized the problem before actually serving the wine...? Some random impressions of other dishes I had/tried during dinner... The diver scallops were good, and prepared exactly as we requested ("cooked through"). The lobster bisque was excellent, with a couple of nice chunks of lobster and a couple of small lobster quenelles in it. In the skate preparation, the soy flavoring tended to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the skate. The arctic char was quite mild in flavor, almost bland. Of the ordered desserts, the souffles are definitely the way to go; they were quite ample in size for individual souffles, and incredibly light. The two ingredients in the menu description ("praline, praline" or "orange, Grand Marnier") refer to the souffle and the sauce, respectively. I had the "chocolate surprise", which was a small rectangular shape filled with several different mousses of different consistencies, and I also tried the passionfruit mousse which had a bit of ginger flavor to it; both were good, but both were also too small in portion size (they could have easily been twice as large without anyone possibly thinking they were particularly generous). I wasn't entirely thrilled that the restaurant applied an automatic 20 percent tip to the bill. I can understand the need to do so for large parties; I just don't think a party of six should qualify. However, the service was consistently excellent (friendly, knowledgeable, and unobtrusive, as the finest service should be) and the amount was warranted; I just prefer to make that decision myself. L2O is an excellent restaurant, and deserves the acclaim it has received (including four stars from the Mobil Travel Guide in its first year); it's worth considering for a special occasion. However, it's a somewhat different approach from the rest of the pantheon of Chicago's finest and most expensive restaurants (e.g. Alinea, Everest, Avenues, Trotter's, TRU, Spiaggia, NoMI). At those other restaurants, you're likely to look back at dinner and recall how wonderful everything was, but especially the food, perhaps making you recall about how such-and-such dish was the best you've ever had. L2O is not "all about the food" - at least, not nearly as much as those other high-end places. I would instead describe it as a delightful experience rather than spectacular food, with the delight arising primarily from the gorgeous surroundings and service. That's what makes L2O a very special place. (But again, if I wanted to return to one of our high-end restaurants for a special occasion dinner, I'd easily choose Everest or Avenues over L2O.)
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