usa :: chicago :: general

[christophjc]

You've probably heard of this, but my favorite Mexican restaurant is this place called Tecalitlan on W Chicago in Ukranian Village. I've also been to a decent pho place called Pho 777, I believe, on W Argyle.

[quid pro quo]

ill second the sultans mention.

also, irazu is some good eats. the oatmeal shake is off-putting, but great.

theres also this sandwich/pizza place next to untitled in wicker thats pretty good.

[Mr Fingers]

sultan's market in wicker park << falafel, etc. decent price for portions and location.

Love that place!

[dismalfuture]

where is the best Japanese in Chicago?

[aho]

where is the best Japanese in Chicago?

Don't know about best as I'm no food expert, but Oysy (oishii) on 9th and Michigan Ave. is a place I frequent when in Chicago...it's nice because it's not usually crowded, is cheap and the food is great...

http://www.oysysushi.com/oysy.html

[dismalfuture]

I just got dragged to Kamehachi and put food in my mouth to be polite, but felt it was like eating prison food since just getting out of Asia. I'd kill for proper nice sashimi in the Midwest.

will try Oysy when I have the chance.

[Sancti]

oysy, republic, and japonais.

in order of laid-backness/price to pricey/higher end.

food is pretty much awesome at all spots. what changes is decor type, presentation style, and scene.

japonais is staffed by assholes though so beware. the food is delish however.

[sarcastic]

those cheese fries sound ethereal . . .

Jitlada Thai House, Wrigleyville/Boystown, read my post below

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showpost.php?p=590145&postcount=13

Nuevo Leon Restaurant (near South Side, try the tacos de sabinas)

http://www.nuevoleonrestaurant.com/

there are so many taquerias in the city if you like mexican food, some of them are great and some of them aren't, see if you can get a recommendation.

Wow.... I was just about to post Nuevo Leon. Very good mexican food and for the price of some of it's food its amazing. Not to mention you get a free appetizer/starter before you order.

In China Town I recommend Lee Wing Wah and Joy Yee's Noodle. -both in S. China Place

And I also recommend Mi Tierra. They also have great mexican food

[dismalfuture]

joy yees is ok for the frute swags, but do you guys really like the food there? I may have oredered the wrong thing everytime I go, but I've never been too impressed by it...

[sarcastic]

joy yees is ok for the frute swags, but do you guys really like the food there? I may have oredered the wrong thing everytime I go, but I've never been too impressed by it...

Yeah, Joy Yees is a good place for the boba tea and drinks, but I'm going to be honest with you I haven't been there for the food yet. Some members of my family really like the food there though and judging by the drinks I get sometimes, I recommended it.

[stroke5]

joy yees is ok for the frute swags, but do you guys really like the food there? I may have oredered the wrong thing everytime I go, but I've never been too impressed by it...

i don't think the food at joy yees is all that great. i always figured it was popular because of the huge portions they give you (that's why i go). it's like two meals for the price of one.

[dismalfuture]

Does that Sultan's in Wicker Park have shawarma too?

Any place with a good English breakfast? (a stretch as 'ethnic' I know, but bear with me...)

[pete mcstunna]

wow, this thread has really grown. thx a lot!

[Mr Fingers]

Does that Sultan's in Wicker Park have shawarma too?

Yup: http://chicagofalafel.com/

[mojinho]

i don't think the food at joy yees is all that great. i always figured it was popular because of the huge portions they give you (that's why i go). it's like two meals for the price of one.

i second the Joy Yee's dubiousness. i went there once and had some kind of multi-tiered bamboo steamer with rice and shrimp and the shrimp were my far the worst shrimp i have ever had. they were not only flavorless but rubbery, which is inexcusable.

i have not tried the bubble teas so i cannot comment.

good chinese can be had at Moon Palace, 216 W. Cermak in Chinatown (you can walk from the Chinatown Red Line stop).

in terms of mexican, i love Nuevo Leon but a lot of peopel don't. my friends who still live in Chitown say they've found a new Mexican place down on S. Cicero somewhere that's very nice inside and has amazing food. will post the name if i can get it from them.

[B-15C]

i second the Joy Yee's dubiousness. i went there once and had some kind of multi-tiered bamboo steamer with rice and shrimp and the shrimp were my far the worst shrimp i have ever had. they were not only flavorless but rubbery, which is inexcusable.

i have not tried the bubble teas so i cannot comment.

good chinese can be had at Moon Palace, 216 W. Cermak in Chinatown (you can walk from the Chinatown Red Line stop).

Joy Yees in Chinatown also now sports segrigated seating, which made everyone I was there with feel uncomfortable-- chinese in the front of the house, and dirty westerners in the back. On the upside though, all the chairs look like something out of Voltron. I haven't been to the University Campus Joy Yees since August so I can't comment. Moon Palace is a secret though. Shh.

Ethiopian Diamond is great, and also probably the biggest restaurant on that several mile stretch of Broadway-- they're huge inside. If you like sweet stuff, they make an amazing honey brew that is probably traditionally Ethiopian, but the girl I was there with fell in love with. Of the three Ethiopian restaurants on Broadway, two remain, and they're both awesome-- the other one is next to Cheetah Gym, and is way more intimate. You can expect to spend ~$60 on dinner for two at E. Diamond.

I can't ever get enough Ba Le, and find myself totally willing to cross town in the middle of winter to get Chinese pork or that veggies/fried noodles sandwich. Never got into the head cheese, but their french bread is my favorite in the city. Up the street at Patisserie P they make an amazing array of French pastries and Chinese pork buns-- kept in separate glass cases, so your carmel drizzled finger length cakes need never share space with street food. There are a couple tables in there, so theoretically you could sit down and eat a couple pastries with a cup of coffee, but I've never seen anyone do it. Argyle has at least 1/2 of my favorite Asian food in the city, but winter makes me extra partial to Pho. 888 makes my favorite right now-- I don't know what they're doing to the broth but it's so much better than anyone else's on the block.

Sun Wah never disappoints if you go in for that stack-of-barbequed-meats thing-- a friend told me that she once got chicken that was too pink for her on the inside, but I've never had anything from them that was less than perfectly cooked. If you check the wall after you go in, there are some pretty exotic specials depending on what they've got.

Wish I could remember the names of the good Korean BBQ joints in the city-- you almost have to have a car to get to them, but they're both open late, and one stokes wood fires all night. I'm just being too lazy this morning to look them up.

Anyone have any recs for Cuban sandwiches? I'm kind of getting a craving...

Renegade Craft Fare is today, so Wicker Park brunch and then to Pulaski Park Auditorum.

EDIT:

How could I have forgotten the entire stretch of Devon Ave. in Roger's Park?

My favs:

Hema's Kitchen - Devon favorite that serves the best Indian food.

King Sweets - Samosas for a couple bucks, lunch for under $5.

Hyderabad House - Indo-Pak is what the sign says, some of the most beaautiful and delicious food I had while living there. Consistently amazing for incredibly cheap. I've never not been the only white guy in there, and they're open incredibly late.

[B-15C]

Any place with a good English breakfast? (a stretch as 'ethnic' I know, but bear with me...)

I don't know about authentic, but the places I know expats go for English/Irish fare in Chicago are The Globe and Ginger's Ale House-- the former more resembling a dining establishment, but I know that both do a breakfast, the globe's being all day, not sure about Ginger's breakfast hours.

a quick scan of lth tells me others like: Irish Oak and Atlantic Bar & Grill

Damn this thread is making me hungry.

[///mzeasy]

Calypso Cafe in Hyde Park has some pretty decent Caribbean food. Great place for me to get my curry fix.

[mackelface]

not exactly "ethnic," but i went to buffalo joe's in evanston the other day, and the food there was quite good (wings and cheese fries)...

I grew up on that shit, I went to high school in Evanston. my favorite mexican place downtown is allende in Lincoln Park, you get free nachos and salsa and the food there is amazing, they cook their chicken on a gyro thing so it's soft and stringy-ish because they scrape it off. Soooo good. Huge burritos but the quesadillas are small so get 2 or 3.

[mojinho]

jesus christ free nachos?! who ever heard of that? sounds like heaven!

[twistedtrees]

I've eaten at the Joy Yee's in Evanston. Food was ok, they gave a lot of it for the price, but they were not in the customer service game.

I've eaten at Oysy. it was good, and I will also second that it's not too expensive.

Should there be another thread about beer places? I'd like to get some recommendations of good places to go to get decent beer on tap. I know about Hopleaf, it's pretty good, but that's about it. Any rec's would be appreciated.

[B-15C]

I've eaten at the Joy Yee's in Evanston. Food was ok, they gave a lot of it for the price, but they were not in the customer service game.

I've eaten at Oysy. it was good, and I will also second that it's not too expensive.

Should there be another thread about beer places? I'd like to get some recommendations of good places to go to get decent beer on tap. I know about Hopleaf, it's pretty good, but that's about it. Any rec's would be appreciated.

If you're going down the beer snob road the other Chicago place you're missing is The Map Room, which probably gets more respect than Hopleaf. A friend told me to go to Duke of Perth on Clark and I was not disappointed; the owner is a fan of good beer and the food is not bad, but naturally pub fare right down to the green peas. Beyond beer-snobbery, this city has so many bars you can be incredibly particular and niched to death.

Oysy is good for being in the loop-- that place is a desert when it comes to good things to eat. There are more convincing joints as far as authenticity goes further north, and if I want to eat trendy Japanese I can just go to Agami on Broadway. I always hesitate to recommend anything ethnic as "authentic" if I'm not from the culture, so I will refrain from making that mistake again here.

[sarcastic]

jesus christ free nachos?! who ever heard of that? sounds like heaven!

...where have you been? Every mexican restaurant I've been to gives free nachos..

[pete mcstunna]

Siam Noodle & Rice Restaurant - maps.google.com

4654 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago - (773) 769-6694

...for the best thai food you can get in chicago.

[avatar]

My favorite place on Devon Ave. is Sabri Nihari. Amazing Pakistani food.

[persephone]

Moving to Chicago in May and will be scoping out some apartments in a week. Prob gonna look in Uptown, Ravenswood, or Edgewater (want cheaper and heat/water incl)

Would like some opinions on neighborhoods and curious about pricing for places in general

[twistedtrees]

I live in Ravenswood & I love it. Of course, I moved from a smaller city (back in August), so I was cool with it being a bit more residential/family area. It's a quiet neighborhood, and I rarely worry about safety & crime (knock on wood). If you're wanting more bars/nightlife, it may not be the area for you. Andersonville, which is only 5 blocks east or so, has got some nice restaraunts and some great bars (Hopleaf).

But one thing, make sure you look for places where the train stop isn't shut down. I the Damen stop shut down for a year in November & now I walk almost a mile to & from the train everday. Right now the Damen, Southport, Irving Park & Diversy stations are closed, but the Southport is supposed to open within the next month, meaning that the Paulina stop will shut down for a year.

My only main complaint is that I go to school downtown & the commute time is close to an hour one way. But if you won't be going downtown much that won't be a problem.

I have friends that live in Wrigleyville and I honestly don't like it. It's too loud & crowded for my tastes. I mean, it's good to go visit & go out to eat around there, but it's too fratty for me.

I also have a bunch of classmates that are living in Wicker Park, Bucktown & Logans Square. They like it. It looks pretty cool, but I think WP is getting expensive. Logans Square is supposed to be cool, like it's the new Wicker Park, but there still seems to be a bit more crime than the northern neighborhoods. And it's a bitch to even think about trying to get a cab in Logans Square.

Hope this helps. & I hope I didn't offend anyone in WP or LS, I really do like those areas, they are nicer than what I probably made them sound like.

[persephone]

Thanks!^

I am anxious to start looking at places in person, I think I might try andersonville too now. I will look up more about the brown line closures.

[pete mcstunna]

I have friends that live in Wrigleyville and I honestly don't like it. It's too loud & crowded for my tastes. I mean, it's good to go visit & go out to eat around there, but it's too fratty for me.

accessibility to train and proximity to good restaurants along broadway between wellington and irving = only positives about living in douceville

[sungrak]

if youre typical sufu, stay the hell away from wrigleyville.

unless you like madd corny white guys and/or girls. im talkin "reformed" frat boys.

pilsen or logan square are probably the best places to be.

pilsen is a predominantly mexican joint, but the apts a little south of uic are not only nice, theyre not that much ($1000 2bdrm). around 18th st and west of halsted or so.

logan square (fullerton/milwaukee area), like pilsen, is slowly becoming gentrified, but has CHEAP rent/properties (i paid $300 a month splitting a place once), and is also a hop skip and a jump into downtown. its also a short bike ride away from pretentious hipsters in bucktown/wickerpark, the ones you have to carefully avoid while going to some not so bad bars in the are (north and milwaukee).

otherwise, if you got that older, stable job hipster steez, like twisted trees said, check out andersonville. it doesnt hurt that chicagos ABSOLUTE BEST beer bar is in the area (hopleaf).

didnt realize that everything i said revolved around drinking. im currently moderately intoxicated.