pamiam's Profile
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
Hi NO Hounds --
I've done some searching regarding places that are open on the holiday, but I have a few specific questions. First, does Galatoire's serve the full menu on Christmas Eve, or just the Reveillon menu? Also, I've seen references to an auction for Christmas Eve tables? Is it possible for a regular ol' party of 3 to get in? If we want to go for dinner (early dinner is just fine), do we need to be waiting all day (Christmas Eve is a Saturday)?
Second, we we thinking to check out the Christmas lights at the Celebration in the Oaks in City Park on Christmas Day, since very little else seems to be open. Is there anything over in that vicinity that's worth checking out and is likely to be open? (I can do the legwork on finding out what's open).
Thanks so much!
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Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130
Pizza Delivery to North Center
I've not gotten delivery from Marie's, but have eaten in and gotten takeout on several occasions, and it is DELICIOUS. If they deliver to you, definitely give them a shot (they also will deliver beer/wine/liquor from the attached liquor store, which is a fun perk).
Topolobampo- Help!
The private room is, in fact, downstairs. A private function seems like a logical reason for the seeming sartorial segregation.
Looking for a lounge/bar to entertain clients that is walking distance from the Intercontinental hotel on Michigan Ave.
Rockit and Hub 51 are LOUD. Both bars at the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive (Whiskey Sky on the top and Wave lounge/restaurant on the bottom) have good drinks, are not loud, and have a nice atmosphere for professionals. When I worked at Northwestern, we often brought visiting professor speakers there for snacks/drinks. Whiskey Sky also has a great view, though its atmosphere may get clubbier if you stay late (we were always there early -- done by around 9).
Great Lake wait strategy - specific questions
I'm not sure how the holiday weekend might affect wait times, but I share your intuition that if you get there at 4:30, you are likely to be in the first round of people seated. You could get there at 4:30 and then let people cut you in line until you ended up in the second round of seating (to avoid ending up so far back in the queue that you wouldn't be seated until very late).
They will indeed take your name and phone number even if your whole party is not standing in front of them. For a fuller (and tasty) Andersonville experience, I suggest putting your name in and then decamping to In Fine Spirits (for great cocktails) or Hopleaf (for an excellent beer selection). In Fine Spirits has an attached liquor store where you can pick something up for BYO to Great Lake, but there are also a few corner stores that sell wine/beer between Hopleaf and Great Lake, if that's more up your alley.
When I went, we put our name in and were told it would be about 1.5 hours. We went to Hopleaf, got a round of beer and some mussels as an appetizer, and just as we were finishing up, they called. Once they call, they're pretty generous with the time they allow you to take to make it back to Great Lake. We paid, picked up two bottles of white at a corner store, and settled in for some delicious pizza. This plan would also work with In Fine Spirits, as they have tasty small plates, but Hopleaf's more of a Chicago institution.
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Hopleaf Bar
5148 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640
In Fine Spirits
5420 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640
Great Lake
1477 W Balmoral Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
Birthday Cake
Wow, just stumbled across this thread while looking for cake recipes for (new) boyfriend's birthday. Sorry I never reported back! I ended up making two cakes: the Suzanne Goin hazelnut torte (two layers stacked) with chocolate ganache and candied hazelnuts, and the Nick Malgieri Chocolate Mousse Cake with Cinnamon Cream (though I subbed Frangelico for the dark rum and made Frangelico whipped cream). I don't think I have any pictures of the final cakes (why oh why not?) but I have a pic of my practice hazelnut cake. The day of the party was quite humid, so the spun sugar didn't work too well, but the hazelnuts came out fine (though it was a bit of a pain hanging the skewers over the sink waiting for them to set up, as I recall). They both went over well and were totally devoured.
Birrierias, Soul Food, Jewish Delis, and more?
Add another vote for Zaragoza. It's simply perfect: small menu, everything delicious. I agree with the suggestion to get the salsa molcajete, either with a quesadilla, or just to eat on the handmade tortillas. Amazing. As mentioned above, the family that runs it is delightful as well. As for it being goat stew, I convinced my not-super-adventurous mother to make the trip out there with me, and now she's addicted. It's not all that different from lamb -- the goats they have are not super-gamey, and the broth is nicely spiced, good to cure whatever ails you, and is actually vegan (should a vegan/vegetarian wish to venture out there with you).
Looking for Unique Experiences (Recs please!)
Have you checked out the menu at iNG, Homaro Cantu's other restaurant? http://www.ingrestaurant.com/
I haven't tried it, but it looks still creative while being less pricey, and I've heard at least one good review.
Another option might be graham elliot - Chef Bowles also likes "playing with his food" (see, e.g. foie-llipops). http://www.grahamelliot.com/
Old Orchard in Skokie
Ruby of Siam. http://rubyofsiam.com/ It's about two blocks south on Skokie Blvd. from the mall. Delicious. Get the Khao Soy, and whatever else piques your interest (one-bite chicken is another one of my favorites).
Best Tortilla Chips
totally concur on Xochitl. AMAZING. (be sure to get the salted ones). has anyone tried the blue corn ones? i saw them today for the first time.
One lunch, between O'Hare and Art Institute, close to train? (See specs below.)
As opposed to just being a different restaurant, Mado is now CLOSED closed, per Groupon.
Alinea and licorice
The menu currently posted doesn't seem to list licorice, anise, or fennel as an ingredient in any of the courses. However, just in case: when I dined there, there was a course that involved black licorice (which I dislike), but it worked with the rest of the flavors really well. I would say that if there was any place that would do well by things one didn't think one liked, it would be Alinea.
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Alinea
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614
Excellent restaurant open on Sundays?
Thanks, everyone! It's going to be Scarpetta - extra thanks, ghg, for coming up with a great place we haven't been to and hadn't thought of at all.
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Scarpetta
225 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Excellent restaurant open on Sundays?
We've been searching for a nice (expense-account covered) dinner for Sunday the 2nd. All the usual suspects seem to be closed. Does anyone have any ideas of a delicious place that's open on Sundays, preferably not Japanese?
Thanks so much in advance.
Last minute New Years Eve dinner nr Quartier Latin in Mtl
Last year, we were in Montreal for New Year's, and found this in the Montreal Mirror listings: Nantha’s Cash & Curry
68 Duluth E., Info: (514) 994-8587
Nantha Kumar and friends serve a vegetarian-friendly 10-course Malaysian/Thai/Indian meal until midnight at this BYOB dinner party, where patrons provide the tunes (bring your iPod). 8 p.m., $30
It was amazing, and we really got to mingle with the restaurant staff and locals. (we left before midnight to catch the fireworks.) It's not listed in the Mirror this year, but that doesn't mean it's not happening. You could also see if anything on the Mirror listing floats your boat.
2 days in Chicago, Hot Doug's is closed, need other recs for (cheap) good eats - please help!
There is a bar. You can see it in the "gallery" photos on the Publican's site. On the other side of the high-tops, there are seats in a L-shape along the kitchen area/where the taps are. I've eaten at it, somewhat accidentally, as we had planned to stop in just for a drink or two. However, once we were seated at the bar, it definitely seemed like we should order food. If you're only drinking, you'd probably be better off at the high-tops. If you're eating, you can definitely sit there. However, it is equally in demand as the tables, so you might not be able to just "plop down."
Veg friendly, ethnic, secret places?
I agree with nsxtasy's recommendation of the Devon strip. Two more great options that are off the beaten track are:
1) Ethiopian Diamond/Ras Dashen (I prefer the flavors at Ethiopian Diamond, but Ras Dashen has 18 veggie options to ED's 12). Both places allow you to select various combos of the vegetarian options, and both are very good - better than any Ethiopian I've had in New York (and I tried a few). They are both located on the north side of the city (RD=5846 N. Broadway and ED=6120 N. Broadway), and accessible off the Red Line at Thorndale for RD and Granville for ED (Thorndale would really work for either, but Granville's slightly closer).
2) Amitabul, an all-vegetarian Korean restaurant (closed Sunday and Monday). It purports to be "healing cuisine," and it definitely doesn't weigh you down. It's at 6207 N. Milwaukee Ave., which is much more accessible by car than by any other form of transit.
Coming to Chicago in September. Recommendations?
And also slightly out of that range, but probably worth the trip if you're not going to make it all the way up to Violet Hour, is the Drawing Room. Great drinks, and tableside mixology available if you're not sitting at the bar.
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The Drawing Room
937 N Rush St, Chicago, IL 60611
Violet Hour
1247 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Coming to Chicago in September. Recommendations?
For creative cocktails within your 8-10 block parameters, try Gilt Bar, Sable, and (slightly out of that range) Sepia.
Ideas for religion-themed dinner party?
Religieuses: http://www.cuisine-french.com/cgi/mdc/l/en/recettes/religieuse_cafe.html
In need of airport-accessible restaurants
Between those two options, DEFINITELY Cafe Spiaggia. The Gage is a fine place and all, but I don't find it all that special, and certainly wouldn't put it at the top of my list for out-of-towners unless they were determined to not travel at all away from the park. Additionally, it's doing something not that different than Girl and the Goat, and not doing it quite as well. Cafe Spiaggia will give you delicious food that's not hitting the upscale American, small-plates, pub chow trend that the other two are.
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Cafe Spiaggia
980 North Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
Looking for neighborhood pub (food & drink) recommendations....
I suggest Weegee's Lounge. Definitely neighborhoody (take a cab, though), but a cut above most in terms of cocktails/beer. http://www.yelp.com/biz/weegees-lounge-chicago
Deep Dish Sauce
I'd say that if you want "zesty," you might actually be better off going with the stuffed pizza at Giordano's. The sauce at Pizano's and Uno's is mostly just crushed tomatoes (slightly seasoned, and good quality tomatoes), but certainly not "zesty" (though all of them provide oregano, hot pepper flakes, and cheese at the table). It's been so long since I've been to Lou Malnati's or Gino's East that I don't want to make a blanket statement about their sauce (not that those places don't have great pizza!)
Brief overnight visit to Chicago
Moon Palace's soup dumplings are tasty, but not AT ALL soupy. We go there a fair bit just for the dumplings and the hot and sour soup (the best in town, IMO), but the dumplings are really not what you'd think of as soup dumplings. Tao Ran Ju has soupy soup dumplings, but the flavor's not great - not that the flavor's bad, just that there's not much flavor at all.
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Moon Palace Restaurant
216 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60616
In need of airport-accessible restaurants
The Bayless restaurants are closed on Sunday and Monday (I always seem to crave a Xoco torta on those days, too....) Frontera Fresco, a Bayless quick-lunch upscale food court outpost at the Macy's on State Street, is open on Mondays, but it's not the same. While the food at Frontera Fresco is very good for food court food, save your Bayless expedition for the real stuff and find some other place for Monday lunch.
RECO NEEDED near AMC River East 21 on E Illinois
Niu is indeed to be avoided.
In addition to the cafe at Fox & Obel, they've been running a wine bar on the other side of the store, right on the water, for the past several months. If you check around in the store (in the cafe, most likely), they've recently been offering a buy one entree, get one half off as well. We checked it out for the first time a few weeks ago, and found it delicious. We had the pea risotto, tuna carpaccio, halibut, and lamb. All were very good, but the standout was the halibut, which was perfectly cooked, and more flavorful than I ever imagined. In addition to the wines and desserts on their list, you can also have any wine or dessert sold in the main store for retail price, so it's a good value. I'd go with that over any of the other sit-down options in the immediate area.
Alinea Waiting List...Chances of getting in? L2O Good back up plan?
I've been to the Roof, but haven't tried the food. Most of what was coming out looked good, with the notable exception of the pizzas, which were tiny and looked underbaked. The drinks were excellent, particularly the very refreshing, not-too-sweet cucumber-ginger mojito. Beware - it gets very busy, and it's not exactly bargain priced, since you're paying for the view. As cliched as it sounds, though, it is a great space.
Spacca Napoli
Was it a Saturday you were trying to get in to Great Lake? I'm trying to figure out what time to get there - we're fine with a wait (in fact, would prefer time to drink some beer at Hopleaf in the interim), but don't want to get turned away without pizza.
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Hopleaf Bar
5148 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640
Great Lake
1477 W Balmoral Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
Sweets and Savories Groupon
I bought one as well, but FYI, it said on the Groupon page that it could not be used for brunch or for the prix fixe.
breakfast and lunch near State & Goethe
There's a place very close to you called 3rd Coast Cafe & Wine Bar that was quite tasty - I know the online menu doesn't seem super-creative, but everything I've had from there has been really well-executed and delicious. If you're looking for a somewhat more casual neighborhood-type place, it's only a block away (and they have scones).
