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GB received some new acclaim! We’re legit!

Spotlighted Post

GB Mac and Cheese Crawl

Fresh Choice

Location – 1534 N. Wells (North and Wells) or 233 N. Michigan (Illinois Center)

In one word – Smoothie

Food – I had a craving for a sandwich and smoothie, so my eating partner and I headed to Fresh Choice in Old Town. The meal totally satisfied my craving. I had the Avocado Sandwich – Avocado, Provolone, lettuce, roasted peppers, tomatoes and mayo. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the bread. They used submarine bread instead of regular loaf bread.

Drink – Fresh Choice is really known for their smoothies. They are made with skim milk, so they feel lighter than your average smoothie. I chose the raspberry smoothie and was not disappointed. My eating partner was raving about his strawberry and pineapple smoothie.

Service – There’s not too much to say about the service. You order at the counter and then they bring you your food. No negative things to say about the staff here.

Scene – It’s your average lunch spot. We came on the weekend and ran into Old Towners, people headed to a movie at Piper’s Alley and a few cops. They have an outdoor seating area in the front of the restaurant, which is nice for a quick lunch.

Dress – Um, just have a shirt on and you’ll get service. There’s no dress code here.

Cost – For my smoothie and sandwich, I paid $11. It was sort of expensive in my opinion, but the meal definitely was filling.

If you like, try…Potbelly’s

Piccolo Sogno

Location – 464 N. Halsted (Grand and Halsted)

In one word – Underdelivers

Food -This place was hyped up a lot. They were getting press all over the place, so I was expecting to be blown away by the food. I was not. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, it just wasn’t outstanding. The upside to the place is that they get their produce locally at the Green City Market, so things are fresh. Our table shared the Bianca con Rucula pizza (a white pizza with parmesan, olive oil and argula). It’s a nice dish to share. I think I would have been overwhelmed by the olive oil had I chosen this as my main. Then we moved on to salads. I chose the Insalata di Pesche (pronounced “PESK-A,” as our server told us…twice), which was peaches with goat cheese. I would order this again. My eating partners dove into the Panzanella, veggies and bread in an olive oil marinade (worth getting!) and the caprese salad (pretty standard). Then we moved on to the main. The good thing about the pasta is that you can order an appetizer size, which proved to be the perfect portion for me. Our table ordered the meat lasagna, the spinach and ricotte gnocchi, the string cut spaghetti and paglia with a veal ragu. Nothing was notable, everything was just average. Our entire table had to uncharacteristically salt each dish because the sauces were bland. When the gnocchi came out, it was cold. That’s a mistake from Restaurant 101, we were not impressed.

Drink – I had the Soave white wine, which as the name says, was smooth.

Service – I am always a little bit accommodating towards a new restaurant, kinks have to be worked out. But our server stretched my accommodation threshold, he was straight up spastic. He said he didn’t know anything about the restaurant’s wine selection and requested that we order all our courses at once because “we are a new restaurant and are still figuring everything out.” When we were telling him the wine we were considering (and being very obvious about the price range we needed to stay in), he told us to get a bottle which was $20 more than what we wanted to spend. When we were ordering our food, he corrected our pronunciation of the Italian not once, but twice. And he did it in a really aggressive way. I’m all for correct pronunciation, but be tactful. And later in the meal, it comes out that he’s not actually Italian. His credibility was shot at that point. Overall, he was pushy and stood too close to us.

Scene – This is the old Thyme/Timo spot. Go when the weather is nice and request to sit on the patio, you really feel like you’re eating in a garden. Because the restaurant received so much press, it’s pretty busy. I was surprised to see it full on a Wednesday night.

Dress – While I did see an unfortunate soul wearing Crocks, most people seemed semi-stylish. Jeans are appropriate, but you need to look like you put a little effort into your look.

Cost – We each paid $45. For the amount of food, it’s seemed reasonable. For the caliber of food, it felt overpriced.

If you like, try…Anteprima

Kuma’s Corner

Location – 2900 W. Belmont (Belmont and Francisco)

www.kumas-corner.com

In one word – Accoutrement

Food – I had only heard fanatical raves about KC, so I needed to check it out myself. It’s a burger joint, you receive a menu with a page full of different burger options. Unlike Epic Burger, vegetarians are welcome here. You can get any burger option with a beef patty, chicken breast, portabella mushroom patty or chicken tenders. Also, they use pretzel bread buns (which I LOVE!). I was a bit overwhelmed by the options, so I went with my server’s recommendation (all the menu options have a rock theme), the Lair of the Minotaur – Beef patty with caramelized onions, pancetta, brie and bourbon soaked pears. This is apparently a shout-out to the May Street Market burger. One of my eating partners went big and chose the Bongzilla burger – Beef patty with a sausage on top of it (I’m not kidding). My other eating partner took the Motorhead Burger – Portabella burger with goat cheese, Kalamata olives, oregano, tzatziki, onion and tomato. Overall, don’t get me wrong, the dishes were all good. However, it was all about the accoutrement and less about the actual burger. Please don’t read this as a criticism, it’s meant to be an observation. Here’s a little advice, you have the options of choosing chips or fries with your meal. Choose the fries, the chips are super dry.

Drink – They have a healthy selection of beers to choose from. I saw SKA beer, my new favorite Durango, CO brewery, on the list and stuck with that. One of my eating partners chose a beer only to find out that it was raspberry flavored (which was not noted on the menu).

Service – So I was expecting to wait at least 30 minutes for a table for three. However, perhaps by going to KC on a Tuesday night, we found the golden ticket to “no line, no wait.” Plus, we lucked out and got a table in the back outdoor patio (it’s much quieter back there compared to the actual restaurant). When we got to our table, our server sat down with us. She definitely had spunk, one of those girls who starts talking to you as if you’ve been sarcastic friends for years. She had that balance of jadedness without being unpleasant. It’s a winning combination. Every table in her section seemed like they had created a friendship with her when they finished the meal. KC won me over when the manager (at least I think he’s the manager) came around to make sure that the food was satisfactory.

Scene – KC has this heavy metal biker theme. Don’t let that intimidate you. While the ladies room is wallpapered with illustrations of scantily clad ladies, the clientele is diverse and respectable.

Dress – I would wear something that feels comfortable to you. Everyone at the restaurant is so distinct, there isn’t a real dress code.

Cost – For a burger and two beers, I paid $24. For the caliber of the food, I felt like this was affordable.

If you like, try…Epic Burger, Twisted Spoke

Smoque BBQ

Location – 3800 W. Pulaski (Grace and Pulaski)

http://www.smoquebbq.com/

In one word – Tenderness

Food – Vegetarians not wanted.  You come to Smoque for great meat.  I had a fabulous eating experience at this Texas barbecue joint.  My eating partner and I order a half a rack of St. Louis ribs.  The meat was SO tender and fell off the bone; it was truly the highlight of the meal.  I didn’t even need to dip the ribs in sauce, the meat was so flavorful on its own.  We ordered a plate of pulled pork, also excellent with a tangy kick.  Our last meat foray was the chicken, which had the sweetest flavor of the three entrees.  None of the meat options were disappointing.  It’s hard to believe, but we did eat some more food after all that meat.  The coleslaw was the kind made with vinegar, the perfect antidote to cut through that meat.  My only complaint was that the corn bread had a strong baking soda taste to it, but that was easy to get over.  Finally the peach cobbler, though made with canned peaches, was an awesome ending to the meal.

Drink – It’s BYOB here, cost saver!

Service – When you get to Smoque, you stand in a (long) line and order your food.  Once you order your food, you put your name in for a table.  They call your number for food and then you bring it to your table.  So, there is a lot of self-service in place here.  But, I figure that you have to put in a little work to get such delicious food.  When I say long line to order food, beware that I mean it.  I think we waited 45 minutes in line before we got our food.

Scene – We went on a Friday night, so the place was hoping.  Everyone was really casual here, there’s no one you need to impress.  It’s kind of no frills, the tables are close together, and you use plastic silverware.  It just helps make the place feel more authentic as a Texas barbecue establishment.

Dress – It’s so casual, so jeans and a t-shirt work just fine here.

Cost – For all that food plus a soft drink, I only paid $16.  I thought that was a steal.

If you like, try…Smoke Daddy

The GB Cupcake Crawl

Sometimes I think, there are so many places in Chicago to go get a cupcake.  Which establishment has the best product?  That was the impetus for the GB Cupcake Crawl.  My two eating partners and I set forth to determine the best cupcake in Chicago (according to GB).

As it was a crawl, we picked three locations to test:  Sweet Mandy B’s, Molly’s Cupcakes and Cupcakes.  Note:  We did not include the cupcakes from the Alliance Bakery , Southport Grocery or Letizia’s.  This does not mean that they do not have quality cupcakes.  We just had to draw the line somewhere before going into a full sugar coma.

Winner of GB Cupcake Crawl:  Molly’s Cupcakes

2536 N. Clark (Clark and Deming)

Cost:  Mini Cupcake $1, Regular Cupcake $2, Center Filled Cupcake $3.50 – $4.50

Sampling:  Tiramisu Cupcake, Pumpkin Spice Cupcake, Key Lime Cupcake

Positives:

- Cupcakes:  The Pumpkin was uber moist, we were giddy with it!  The Key Lime had a really complex taste that hit me at different moments.  The Tiramisu actually tasted like a real tiramisu.  You can also build your own cupcake (genius!), and they offer vegan cupcakes, too.  If you’re watching the figure, indulge in a mini cupcake.

- Venue:  Kitschy in a good way.  There are swings that serve as seats at the counter.  And they have board games.  The best part of the place was their Sprinkles Station, a place to overload your cupcake with sprinkles.

- Staff:  The people who run the place are super relaxed and like talking to their patrons.  We chatted about those pesky canvassers who stand at the end of a block asking “Do you have a moment to save the whales?” and “Hi, do you care about impoverished children?”

- Other:  They serve Intelligensia coffee.  The story of why it’s called Molly’s Cupcakes is really cute (if you go in, you’ll the cards that explain the story).  Open late (midnight) on the weekends.  The owners give some of the proceeds from the shop to local schools (awwwww!).

Negatives:

- Cupcakes:  The frosting was piped on, instead of spread with a spatula.  This prevented even distribution of the frosting over the entire top of the cupcake.

Second Place:  Sweet Mandy B’s

1208 W. Webster (Webster and Racine)

Cost:  $2.15

Sampling:  Red Velvet Cupcake with Walnuts and Lemon Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream

Positives:

- Cupcakes:  The icing on the Red Velvet Cupcake was perfect, soft but not too soft.  The Lemon Cupcake had sprinkles on the top (!), the taste was of a creamy lemon.  They did use a spatula to spread the frosting instead of piping it on, that means a well-coated cupcake.

- Venue:  The place is uber cute.  There’s space to sit inside at the small tables or outside on the wicker benches.

- Other:  They serve a variety of coffee beverages.  You can buy their buttercream on the side (someone alert Paula Deen!).

Negatives:

- Cupcakes:  The Red Velvet Cupcakes was a tad dry.

- Clientele:  Lincoln Park Trixie moms and babies.  Lots of ‘em.

Loser:  Cupcakes

613 W. Briar (Briar and Barry)

Cost: $3

Sampling:  Cherry Pineapple Cupcake, Almond Joy Cupcake, Orange Poppyseed Cupcake

Positives:

- They serve cupcakes.

Negatives:

- Cupcakes:  The cake was dry.  The flavors weren’t distinctive enough.  Even though all three of the cupcakes were supposed to have different flavors of frosting, they tasted the same.

- Staff:  The owner was a little bit of a diva when we were there.  Having just left our fun times at Molly’s Cupcakes, it was a huge letdown.

- Venue:  There’s no where to sit.  And there’s no ambiance.

Hai Yen

Location – 2723 N. Clark (Clark and Diversey) or 1055 W. Argyle (Winthrop and Argyle)

http://www.haiyenrestaurant.com/home.html

In one word – Pho

Food – I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not the expert on Vietnamese cuisine.  Luckily my eating partners knew what they were talking about and guided me well.  I started with the Bo Lui, which are beef skewers covered with soy sauce, honey, lemongrass and sesame seeds.  I dug them.  For my main, I chose Pho Ga, which is a rice noodle soup with chicken.  Post meal, I learned that the proper way to eat Pho is to go for the substantial items (meat, noodles, etc.) first.  Only after you’ve taken on the big items do you drink the broth.  I was a fool and got sucked in by the broth (it’s so tasty!).  As a result, like a novice, I filled up too fast and not on the hearty stuff.  I took the rest home, so I’ll practice my Pho eating skills again tomorrow.

Drink – They’ve got bubble teas here.  I went for a glass of wine, a pinot noir, which was actually pretty good.

Service – We had a little confusion regarding a Thai iced tea over.  But, the mishap was taken care of quickly and quietly.  Other than that, service was good.

Scene – It was more chic than I expected.  The place has a very warm, rich feel to it. 

Dress – However, don’t feel like you need to dress to the nines.  Everyone was really casual, jeans and sweaters work just fine.

Cost – We split our bill, and I paid $20.  All in all, a decent deal.

If you like, try…Pho 777 (haven’t been myself, but my eating partners recommended it)

Menu Pages Again

Menu Pages write up on Roy’s review

Menu Pages write up on Frankie’s Pizzeria review

Restaurant Week

Restaurant Week is coming to Chicago!

February 22 – February 29

This is the ideal time for those of us with smaller checking accounts to indulge in the high end eating options in the city.

Culinary Choices

Be sure to let GB know where you’re planning to eat and your experiences there.