elfin

Salt-lots of salt. Malt vinager if I am eating fish and chips. BBQ sauce if I am eating BBQ or Harold's Fried Chicken. NEVER mayo-even in France. No cheese fries either.

Spending one night in Ann Arbor and will have a car. (driving from Chi-town). Looked up the prior Ann Arbor threads and plenty of good eats abound. But after driving 4.5 hours after working until midday-I want a no brainer yummy meal. I can get all kinds of asian, middleastern, indian, etc. locally so I do want something either unique or just a good steak or a bistro french meal. Is Zingerman's Road house the place? The menu is very electic. What should I get there? Thanks

Menu says they do-Minimal charge is 20 bucks and the delivery is 3 bucks. No charge for an order of 50 bucks-now dats a lotta wings! 312-345-1200 fax-312-345-1201. Harold's Shack #77 -39 N. Wells.

Just finished 4 of the 6 wing dinner( $5.39 ) from Harolds located on Wells street in downtown Chicago. Medium sized wings fried to perfection-nice and crispy but moist-not greasy- on the inside. Some wings had a little bone showing . No old oil taste-pure chicken flavor. Lots of pepper in the batter this time. I ordered the sauce on the side rather than smeared all over. Plenty of folks ordered the box drenched with hot sauce. I mix the BBQ sauce with the hot sauce for the perfect blend. The plentiful fries are sub par- soggy- which is a good thing since I would eat the whole mess. But had to eat a few with the bbq/hot sauce. Skipped the 2 pieces of white bread which laid on top. The spoonful sized coleslaw was fine-too small to really taste- sweet mayo dressing and soggy cabbage but it did have a little carrot and red cabbage. The red, green and white box still has a smiling man dressed in a santa clause-like outfit complete with a red beret wielding an axe toward a sweating chicken running for its life. My dining companion who only ate at Harolds by U of C could not tell the difference in the meal. Food coma is sinking in. My colleague who picked up the food unsuccessfully tried to abscond with my only menu.

Just phoned in our order to be picked up in an hour.....

What do oysters add to the flavor? Does it taste fishy? Does it taste like mushrooms? Do you use fresh shucked? Do you use the 'liquor' or do you drain the oyster? My stuffing is a mix of old breads-rolls, sliced bread which is cubed then toasted to a nice brown. My celery and onions have been sauteed in tons of butter. The ingredients are mixed and extra butter water is added for moisture. Tons of dried sage is added with salt and pepper. Hubby likes to have cooked pork sausage added. The bird is stuffed and extras are put into a butter lined baking dish for baking. I love to eat the the 'raw' mixture!

There is a pretty good Thai place-Ruby of Siam in the strip mall across the street.

Is this the place at the end of Ridge just before you go under the train tracks? I have always wondered about this place. Just defaulted to Hecky's located around the corner on Greenbay. Good to know.

I ate at Bob Chins only once. The place was really noisey and packed so hubby did not like it. I love seafood and they had good crab legs but I really have had no desire to go back. The $21M was not from me! Pardon my ignorance but I only know of the place on Milwaukee in Wheeling-are there others?

In Mexico City the VIPS chain (looks like a Denneys) charges for the bread basket that is immediately placed on the table at breakfast before you order. You have to say no thanks or not touch it to avoid the charge.

Born and raised eating Chicago round- thin crust pizzas cut into squares. As a kid, we would fight over the center squares-no border crust and the pieces were fully covered with cheese. As an adult, we now fight over the outside pieces- for the hard edges that are not totally covered with the toppings.

Born and raised eating Chicago round- thin crust pizzas cut into squares. As a kid, we would fight over the center squares-no crust and the pieces were fully saturated with cheese.

Check the chocolate bars to see if they have seperated from the milk solids/fat and are white. If so they are old.

Looking forward to this blog!

Had Harold's yesterday for lunch at the Wells Street location in the heart of the loop. Wing special-5 wings, slaw, fries and bread for under $6. Yummy. Would not have thought of it until this thread. May have to repeat...

Have actually eaten at Healthy Food Lithuianian-wonderful! Exactly our type of place.

Oh My God!! Must go!! ( btw- really nice pictures)

Where is Eddy's and Bobby's BBQ? I know AH pretty well-Rand and where? I had great BBQ in OK City, OK last month-lots of smoke-it was Earl's. Russels is no Earls. Hubby did not like Russel's but I thought for the price it beat the mega chains' burgers/tacos/chicken selections. I have not been to the original location.

Halloween is around the corner so the candy brigade is out in full force. I am not a big candy eater but just bought a bag candy corn and a bag of Kraft carmels because they were there and it does not seem like Halloween without it. Now, Kraft/Brach sells the stuff year round and it does not tempt me. Why now? IThis candy really is not good and the carmels are a PIA to remove each square from its cellophane barrier. (Plus no more chocolate carmels that a few always made way into each bag). Anyone else unable to resist this holiday force? Also what is everyone giving out this year to trick n treaters?

Okay, really mad-my jug is 80%. Read the article again and the reason for the change was a taste test in a few (unamed) states and overseas markets. Well sorry but not a valid reason IMHO. Does Japan ask for our taste preferences when it makes sake? And the cost cutting defense that the cost of relabeling would mitigate the cost savings- nope-not a believer on this one. The lack of notification by way of advertising- ie "Lite Jack" speaks volumes! After my jug is gone I am divorcing Jack!

I wonder if the reason that I have missed seeing Russells is that the Rolling Meadows location is newer-ie since 1984 or so and the 80 year history is for the other location. I recommend it since that Golf Road/Algonquin Road/Wilke Road area basically has only chain food places and this is different. Plus, 5 bucks for a bbq sandwhich is pretty cheap. I was just in Oklahoma City and ate some AWESOME bbq- smokey, big portions and tangy sauce. But the pulled pork sandwich was around 7 bucks with a side.

Went to Russel's BBQ located on Algonquin Rd by Route 53 in Rolling Meadows-just south of the Holiday Inn. The place boasts that they have been doing bbq for 80 years. Somehow I missed the place despite taking that road daily for a year or so. The exterior is a tudor style -not many windows- with an outdoor garden. But the inside is self service with many seperate rooms of tables. Plenty of BBQ options-bbq beef, pulled pork, ribs, chicken etc. Really cheap and plenty of beer on tap. The bbq sauce is not spicy-more of the sweet variety but tasty. There is a take out counter. A bbq beef sandwich (med. size meat portion) with lots of fries and coleslaw (tiny slaw portion) is $4.85. Family friendly-the high chairs came sani-wrapped. I recommend it if you are in the area. Went to Euro Cafe also on Algonquin Road but in Des Plaines. (Between Mt. Prospect Rd and Wolf Rd.) Serving Bosnian food. Sweet Willie mentioned this place a while back. Went there early Sat. morning and had wonderful burak-pastry dough stuffed with meat/onion mixture or cheese. A bit greasy but hubby says that is how it is. He had the bosnian sausages on a homebaked roll-yummy! Friendly service but english is limited. Menu is translated. Wanted the goulash but only available at lunch/dinner. So it obviously is prepared fresh. Next door is a bosnian deli/butcher selling various sausages and meats as well as canned/jarred goods. The butcher did not seem interested in serving us since he ignored eye contact and continued to speak on the cell phone.

Of late my drink of choice is Jack and Gingerale. I have tried some small batch bourbons such as Basil Haydon (sp) and still prefer Jack or Crown Royal. I did not notice the decline in alcohol percentage and will check my 'jug' tonight. I really only have one drink or two at the most so the buzz is not relevant. I am looking more for the mellow.

Ronnie, the same could be said about Vietnamese cuisine-lots of cheap places but Pasteur (high end) seems to thrive. Also Aruns for Thai and Fronterra for Mexican. Some people do not want to go to dives to sample ethnic cuisine (no comment) and feel more comfortable in westernized venues. Some of our friends fall in that category and are willing to try new foods but are not inclined to go native. All three of these places have really great food but admittedly not typical of local cuisine. We are spoiled by the Indian places in Chicago-many cities have only a few Indian restaurantss and they can be pricey for the typical plates. I guess I am not sure what high end Indian food would be-how does one plate sag paneer for example to make it look special? We have been to India five times and have eaten at higher end restaurants and basically did not see too much of a difference in food preparation-only service and cleanliness.

My arbitration is not going so alas I am not going to LA (boo hoo). But I have printed out this thread and put it into my California folder for future reference. THANK YOU alll for the recs and invites to meet. I know I will get to meet you soon.