So the Frontera Grill outpost at Macy's 7 on State—Frontera Fresco—now has a new torta, "de cochinita pibil".

It is pretty darn good, if still expensive (comes out to more than $8 for the sandwich alone, no drinks, no chips, no nothing). Pork is moist, the glazy sauce is tangy and delicious, break is crusty and good... if only they could figure out a way of not having their sandwiches collapse as you eat them.

But flavor-wise, they beat anything else in the loop. I challenge anyone to find anything that tastes as good within a 7 block radius of the AIC!

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Frontera Fresco
111 N State St, Chicago, IL

Went to Chutney Joe's yesterday. Got a Rogan Josh desi bowl, rice, naan, and a samosa. It cost me more than $10. It was a complete failure. The samosa tasted like the vegtables had been boiled in a swimming pool. The crust lacked any and all flakiness. Samosa fail.
The naan was a pita in the shape of a naan. Nann usually puffs up to form a pocket, there was no pocket here (which really means a naan half the size). Naan fail.
The Rogan Josh looked appetizing enough, and it is my favorite thing to get at Indian restaurants, so even though I tasted the Chicken Tikka Masala and liked it, I caved and went Rogan. By the time I got back to the office, what had seemed like a creamy, textured sauce had disappeared. I was left with grey, ugly, grainy pieces of lamb on a bed of wet, not-at-all-interesting-or-flavorful rice. Rogan Josh fail.
The condiments seemed OK, but most of them had been refrigerated too long and so were too thick to pour. They were OK. I mgith go back and see if the Tikka Masala Chicken holds up, but I'm not very excited about it.

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Chutney Joe's
511 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605

Ok, So I went to Cafecito today, try out their Cubano sandwiches (voted TimeOut's best Cubano in Chicago) and was pleasantly surprised. The sandwich was rich without being greasy, the pickles serves as a flavor accompaniment rather than a principal player (which is what i want it to do: don't love the pickle) and the bread was flaky, soft and delicious. Plus it only costs 5 bucks!
Add Cubanito to my list of daily lunch spots, along with Pizza-Ria, Burrito Buggy's Friday red snapper, Frontera's cafe at the Macy's food court and the occasional Oasis schwarma.
Now if only I could find a good sushi in the area a little closer to the Art Institute, I would have a well-rounded lunch calendar.

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Cafecito
26 E Congress Pkwy Ste 1, Chicago, IL 60605

Went to Wow Bao today... not bad! I got the sixpack of baos (stuffed sticky buns) for 9 bucks and it was more than I could eat, and not bad. Mongolian beef was pretty good, the only one I won't order again is the Curry one. And in the future, I might get the pot-sticker/bun combo, which is cheap and looks filling.

What's people's take?

Alright, back to Burrito Buggy on Friday—much thanks to ferret for that tip! That was really delish! The fish was real tasty, I''ll make sure to get some lime to go next time (if they have it) because it would've been great with a dousing of straight-up lime juice. The one gripe is that, absent the beans, there is too much tortilla and you get the expected tortilla-bunch-up at the tips: compared to the jerk chicken burrito, it's half the size. Maybe next time I'll ask for beans, see how that goes.
But, YES, Buggy's now on the weekly lunch cycle, maybe even twice a week. Three cheers for Chowhound!

Went to Buggy today, not bad, not bad. Had the jerk chicken burrito and it was pretty straightforward. The chicken was pretty good, the rice and beans were pretty good, the corn seemed to be there only symbolically, as they didn't add to the flavor much. The salsa I got (green) was hot and good: is there a secret one I have to order by name, zgwarnki?

Anyway, I'll go back on Friday for the snapper: I'm very curious, but thanks for the tip, I'll include the Burrito Buggy in my lunch cycles from now on.

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Burrito Buggy On Van Buren
206 W Van Buren St, Chicago, IL 60607

Thanks ericg for the recommendation, I'll put Burrito Buggy on my list.

Alas, the only news I have to share is that I went to Sushi Sai.

And, you know what? It wasn't half bad. It was pretty good, actually. Sure, I didn't get any raw fish, I got the Spider Roll (soft shell crab tempura), so I can't speak for the quality of the catch. But I was satisfied with what they gave me. One thing that should be mentioned is that I asked the waitress if their soda was canned or fountain and she said it was from the can and proceeded to bring me what was obviously a fountain soda. I complained, she gave me my can of Coke and didn't charge me for two sodas. With the soda, it came out to $10.42.

Now, this doesn't mean I think it's among the best sushis in Chicago... I won't bring my girlfriend there for a classy dinner. But for Lunching in the Loop... it's ONE MORE POSSIBILITY.

"Some of the best middle eastern food in Chicago at Oasis?" I WOULD NOT GO THAT FAR.

In my opinion, considering the options downtown, Oasis falafel and schwarma sandwiches are a relief. I stay away from the Moroccan chicken.

Where do you eat lunch CathleenH?

What's good at Fontana's? What do you normally order?

I still haven't gone to Max's, I will try tomorrow. What do you get when you go, a Polish?
I haven't tried Sopraffina, it looks fancy, I will check it out.
Ditto Tamarind, it's now on my radar.
IMHO My Thai is barely passable, and I'm looking for something actually desireable. Like, remember that Vietnamese Pho place on Wabash that closed?

I guess what I'm really looking for is: something fresh, something not too heavy (otherwise I'd be all over Epic Burger), and something that tastes good and has enough variety on the menu.

Thanks turkob.

Went to Riccobene's today. Forgot what exactly I was there to get. Ended up getting a Sausage Pan Pizza, and it was... pretty OK. I'm not much of a pan-guy, what with the fried-tasting dough, but this was pretty doable. Six bucks with a soda. Filling.
Was I supposed to get something else, though? I feel like I was...
I'm also curious about their breaded steak sandwich, (it comes only with "red sauce"), will have to try again, even though it's a little further than I'd like to walk for lunch.

Yeah, Oasis, that's what I said.

Never been to Taco Fresco, will have to try it out. Any specific suggestions?

Potbelly's I vote against. At first, it's OK, but after a while it kind of gets to you. They're not quality meats, they're not sliced anything near fresh, the vegetables are just flavorless... nothing about that sandwich tastes good after a while. The shakes are alright.

OK, so I went to Hey Sushi in the Pedway, not expecting much. I asked for a roll, the guy handed me a preprepared box. I told him I wanted something fresh, he pointed towards the other boxes and said, "it's all fresh." Don't think he caught my drift.
So I decided to skip Hey Sushi and went to Pastoral instead. I got the Bocadillo de la Mancha. Unfortunately they douse the thing in grain mustard and the two ingredients I wanted to taste—the Serrano ham and the Manchego cheese—were barely perceptible. The baguette felt a little stale, like it was from the night before.
Anyway, it's totally acceptable as a sandwich (if the point of comparison is Potbelly or Jimmy John's). I will have to go back and try something else. Unfortunately, it was almost $10, without chips, without a drink, just the sandwich on its own. For $10 I want a soda.
I will add Hannah's Bretzel to my explorations, will let you know what I think.

I've been to La Cocina, and am a big fan of their guac. Cheap, filling, fresh-tasting. I've gotten something from there—a burrito, maybe?—that I wasn't too fond of so I never ordered anything else complex from them. But I guess they're still worthy of another shot.

thanks lbs and jbw for the suggestions

Working in the loop has its advantages (view of the lake, thank you very much), but eating is not one of them. Having tried to bag myself lunches to bring to work and failed, I'm resorting to an all-out search for anything to eat for lunch in the neighborhood.

After OD'ing on Chipotle (and realizing that there must be something unhealthy about eating a burrito the size of my bicep and still wanting more) I ate Oasis every day for the last 3 years. As much as I love it, I'm a little bit sick of it. When Kabob 2 opened in the place where Oasis had been (and has now returned to) it was a huge relief. What delicious baklawa! And the variety of sandwiches! Alas, a crane fell on them May 2007 and they closed and back to Oasis I went, with my tail between my legs. I'm not much of a babaganoush guy, and I'm not a fan of their Morrocan chicken, so it's been chicken shwarma or falafel sandwich for me. They are satisfying, made with loving care, and are a good value. I still recommend it to all (21 N. Wabash in the back of the Jewelry Mart) who hunger in the Loop.

The other place I eat regularly is Pizza Ria (formerly Got Pizza) on 719 S. State. The slices are huge and foldable like in New York (ask them not to cut the slice) and pretty tasty to boot. They are a bit fascistic about the soda machine, but it's cool. For near $6 bucks, I'm satisfied.

So these are the restaurants on my radar, but if you know of any others let me know and I will try them out.

Khyber Pass 233 E Wacker Dr
Chicken Planet 21 West Jackson
Epic Burger 517 S. State
Sushi Sai 123 N Wacker
Max's Take Out 20 East Adams
Taza 176 N. Franklin Street
Pastoral 53 East Lake Street
Perry's Deli 180 N Franklin
Ricobene's 222 N Wells

Khyber Pass: I discovered this restaurant recently and just as quickly I've decided never to return. The lunch buffet is full of good looking dishes that just don't go anywhere. I had a lamb curry that tasted neither of lamb nor particularly of curry: soggy and flavorless. It's hard to kill the lamb flavor in a piece of lamb, but they figured it out. It's all you can eat, but how much would you want to eat, anyway? The tandoori chicken they throw in is dry, more than usual. Feels like the leftover dinner special is being forced on the lunch crowd. Samosa, crusty crust, but the inside was just mush.

Chicken Planet: Admittedly, a great deal in the loop. I get a quarter bird with only dark meat and it satisfies. The sides I've tried so far are pretty uninteresting: the corn tasted like it was soaking in a salty broth for days, I knew I was biting into a cob, but the kernels would just pop like little water balloons releasing flavorless water. The potato salad was tolerable. The mashed potatoes with gravy are the only side I would repeat. The piece of pita they throw in there, though, oh man, I could eat a plateful of those. Anyway, it's all about the value. if you ever want to picnic in Millenium or Grant Parks, I would say get yourself a bird at Chicken Planet.

Epic Burger: Man, what a burger. If only they had American cheese, I'd be set. I'd get the bacon and the egg, too. But for some reason, American is out, blue cheese and cheddar are in. So I get the plain burger and it still trounces Patty's, in my opinion. This burger tastes and looks like a real burger. Shakes are good, but are like $5. Fries are beautiful and tasty, but one portion will feed two. I might just do a shake and fries lunch there. Eating a burger at lunch kinda hurts, so not a place I'll be going to often, though I recommend it to anyone seeking the future of burgers.

I will keep posting as I keep eating.