crackedconch's Profile
Not the Gout! a celebration of food...
Shortly after posting a question on best eats in
chicagohttp://chowhound.chow.com/topics/621656 , I received several great answers! Thanks!
And then my husband was diagnosed with gout. :( However after walking and running around alot (he's a cop) on his bum foot for a month, he's been correctly diagnosed with poor guy. He got his moon boot today and walking next week will be difficult, but not impossible! And yea!!! we can eat again!!! After trying "tofu chicken wings" (YUK!) and cherry juice extract, real food will be a treat!!!!!
So, our plans are as follows. Please assist in any way you can as far as suggestions and logistics! Thanks!
We're staying at Hyatt Regency MP
1st day:
tasting lunch: al's #1, portillos, possibly bari's and publican
dinner: le bouchon
2nd day:
breakfast: lincoln park green market
visit: lincoln park zoo, notebaart mus, lp conservatory
Lunch: spoon thai or ras dashen
visit: agentine meat market, wells st spice market
happy hour: j-bar for wii
dinner: sayat nova
after: signatures for fireworks and desserts
3rd day:
breakfast?
museums at grant park; harry potter exhibit!!
lunch: lao sze schuan
tour garretts, vosges, the pier, billy goats
dinner: mercat a la planxa
4th day:
hot dougs at 1030am!!!!
nhu lhan, pupuseria cuscaleteco, spoon thai for big tasting/lunch
maybe a double decker tour? (no interest in water tours, sorry)
dinner???? help
SCTV and violet hour afterwards
5th day:
breakfast: fox and obel
lunch? something to grab near union station???
places we're missing and would rather not: cemitas pueblas, borinquen, tango sur or nandu, malnatis or pizzanos, avec, jerry's...
we are looking for original ethnic places, not fine dining...
we would like to go to several spots in one day and share one item rather than have a full meal at one spot! Thanks!!
Key West Recommendations?
Lunch: BO's Fish Wagon, Hogfish Bar n Grill ( Stock Island), Camille's (cx salad outta this world!), on the beach- Salute. Don;t rule out Dion's. I'm not kidding, if you don't have GREAT fried cx at home, we get ours at Dion's- 2 locations in KW. This is food from a gas station! We regularly get it and take it out on boat trips. The cx is fresh, never frozen and is unbelievably good when you get it fresh out of te fryer.
Dinner: KW food scene is not superb. But, our outstanding spots are: Braza Lena (bettter Brazilian than anywhere!!), Ambrosia (sushi chef owns and regularly drives to Miami for the BEST stuff, ie toro), Cuban: either fine, ie el Meson de Pepe (huge menu, try the antojitos-YUM!) Joses on White St or El Siboney. 915 is also ok. Lots of folks like 7fish. Don't get sucked in to Duval St!!! I worked there, and the reason that mahi-mahi is the fish of the day every day is that it is the cheapest frozen fish imported from China and it has been the fish of the day at places like Margaritaville fo the last 20 years... btw, worst ritas and burgers you could possibly get in KW....
Tourists Seeking Unusual Chicago Food Spots
WOW.
I really appreciate your detailed reply!!!! Want to come to Key West? I'll totally point you in the right direction... :)
We are making our decisions based on all of your recs and the other hounds as well.
PS Still looking for Pupuserias and maybe Afghan -got it there?
Thank you so much!
Shawn, I take it all back.
SKatewing needs to be soaked in salt water and rinsed ALOT for hours before it is fabricated and served. Some people are immune to the strong odor/taste of ammonia but many are not and it can ruin your meal. Skate, like most species of shark, have no system for excreting liquid waste, ie: urine; instead it is excreted through their flesh and skin causing an "off" odor and taste.
Tourists Seeking Unusual Chicago Food Spots
And, I've just been informed to add Banh Mi to the list, so i'm thinking, maybe just a sandwich day to taste things?? Then we could check out jibarons as well...
I won't rule out renting a car, but we're trying not to, so might pass on the pierogi stop that needs a car, but I like the suggestion so if there's any closer in town...
Tourists Seeking Unusual Chicago Food Spots
I sure do appreciate all the posts so far!
Our list is growing exponentially, so it looks like now we'll be taking a food tour day. Darn ;p
hot Doug's is a definate, I've been looking at his specials all week... yum
Chicago style dog is definate maybe Portillos maybe Wieners Circle
Chicacagoe style pizza ? not so much . I've hated every deep dish pie I've ever tried... sorry. But we did see the Chicago ep where Tony Bourdain loved Burt's, but it's hardly mentioned in these boards. If you can recomend some so highly, we'll try it : )
Thai: spoon, sticky or tac- this is difficult. We have 3 good thai places where we live, but no secret menus. But, hubby is Thai, so maybe just skip it????
Lao Sze Chuan sounds like the spot for some off the normal menu chinese
Ras Dashen for Ethiopian. I doubt there's an Ethiopian restaurant in the entire state of FL...
Bari for Italian sub with delicious meats
Blackbird for pork belly sand... maybe
Pastoral for chz fix. We ain't got squat here except the St Andre/Manchego "Gourmet Plate" I'd really love to eat some stinky cheeses that smell like my dog's ears.... ;)
The Argentinian meat market with cookies and empanadas sounds like it may fit into our "eat-a-thon" day
Al's#1 also, sounds like a hot beef dinner w/o mashed potatoes? only, on a sand?
Considering Sayat Nova or Salam- love Shwarma, but beef only-not lamb!
Pupuseria Cuscatleco found their menu ;sounds good
Mercat seems like the best option for tapas, maybe we can get some more people to join us and go in for suckling pig?? (hint, hint)
French-undecided. Campagne or Bistro 110?
Anyone know much about Jerry's Sandwiches? the menu is utterly bizarre, but intriging!
And finally, one last dinner: Publican, Mado or Hopleaf? I know they're all so different, but we have limited time and $ so we can't do them all!
Thanks for all your advice!!
Rockstar Dogs?
Has anyone tried Rockstar Dogs at 801 n ashland ave?
it was one of the top rated on this reviewer's site, but I don't see it in a search on this forum.
http://www.hotdogchicagostyle.com/rate_chicago.php#chicago
Just wondering...
Thanks!
Tourists Seeking Unusual Chicago Food Spots
Thanks for the replies so far!
I've added Publican and Al's Italian Beef to the list. Still considering Mado.
I've removed Arun's and replaced it with Sticky Rice. It seemed the reviews were not all that great and we were hoping for something a little different. Plus, they have mango and sticky rice for dessert there!
I really appreciate the link to the other forum, I've found it easier to search and was able to find a one stop shop for www.chicago.menupages.com through another poster- almost all menu pages are listed, even for restaurants w/o websites. They have other major cities as well...
Also through lthforum.com I found a map of Chicago area restaurants via google http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&z=10&om=1&msid=115707820952343749632.00000111c483d5e1c71db&msa=0 which is pretty cool.
We regularly visit a Korean BBQ w/ hubby's family, but if you have one that's really stellar we'd be obliged to go.
Also we won't be there on a Sunday, so the Hispanic market is out. Any other recs for Pupusas?
Thanks!!
Tourists Seeking Unusual Chicago Food Spots
Hi,
I'm new to chowhound and have been browsing for days for our upcoming visit to Chicago. We will be there Tue-Sat Aug18-22 and can't wait for the eating to begin!
Background: We are foodies, not food snobs and we can't get alot of things where we live that we like (from Key West it's a 4hr drive to the mainland...) so when we go on vacation it's a big feeding frenzy ; ) My husband is a grad from CIA and we were both chefs in the past. His family is Thai-American but he didn't eat alot of thai growing up. We are both suckers for artisanal cheese, all forms of charcuterie and secondary cuts being transformed into delicious treats!
We will be staying downtown in order to be close to the different museums and attractions and using mass transit to get around. We will travel up to an hour for something really special...
We are looking for what we don't have here. We have seafood, fine dining and Cuban.
We are also looking to try Chicago-specific foods.
So far we are interested in:
Gold Coast Dogs (theres one in MDW for when we arrive)
Giordano's or Pizanos
Arun's (sounds different, ?)
Pastoral for lunch near Grant park area
M Henry for breakfast once
Garrett popcorn
1492 or Mercat a la Planxa
Avec or Bistro Campagne (marrow bone app-mmmm!)
Hopleaf for a meal and beer
Lao Sze Chuan (hoping to score new food finds for us)
Ras Dashen (never had Ethiopian)
Signatures for a drink/snack instead of the observation deck
Jerry's sandwiches
Hot doug
and some one please tell me where can I get my hands on some Pupusas!
I need to narrow it down a little more, but I would like suggestions of any other Chicago specialties or unusual or ethnic spots before I do.
I know it's a long way out, but I already got so excited about this Chicago style dog that I went out and bought all the ingredients to make this at home from a recipe I'd found online! I had to substitute whole wheat buns for poppyseed, peperoncinis for sport peppers (?), normal relish for the lime green kind... but I steamed the dogs and buns, added: mustard, tomatoes, relish, pickle spear, peppers, cucmber, chopped onion and celery salt. OMG! It was so good we each ate 3!!! I've never in my life eaten 3 hot dogs or enjoyed pickle relish, I can't wait to try the authentic version when I get there!!!!
Any help is appreciated and I promise to write a detailed review when we return.
Thanks!!
