Regional Specialty Restaurants--Mexican, Chinese, Indian, ??
Regional Specialty Restaurants--Mexican, Chinese, Indian, ??
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Regional Specialty Restaurants--Mexican, Chinese, Indian, ??
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Post #1 - August 4th, 2004, 8:51 amA couple years ago on Chowhound, VI started a thread trying to list all the different cuisines represented by Chicago restaurants. Well, we've come a long way, baby. I'd really like to develop a list of regional cuisines represented, and give representative restaurants for each. This post about regional Thai, Mexican, and Indian restaurants got me thinking. This conversation has really taken off on Chowhound and now LTH over the past year+, but really the info isn't very easily accessible. I imagine listing under country, the region, restaurant, and a few exemplary dishes native to that region where possible.
For example:
Mexico
Oaxaca: Restaurante Oaxaca, Taqueria la OaxaqueOaxaca: Restaurante Oaxaca, Taqueria la Oaxaquena, (a particular mole, perhaps?)
Puebla: Taqueria Puebla
Oaxaca: Restaurante Oaxaca, Taqueria la Oaxaquena, (a particular mole, perhaps?)
Puebla: Taqueria Puebla
Michoacan: Los Mogotes (is this right? is this place even still around?)
Veracruz: ??
Nuevo Leon: Nuevo Leon
Jalisco: specialties or too generic?
Guanajuato: didn't someone just report on this?
Yucatan: ??
Others...
Clearly my grasp of the subject matter is not very strong...which is why I would like this document.
You know, we could also expand to one-dish specialists--I don't know if these are regionally affiliated or not. Carnitas Uruapan (sp?) for carnitas or Taqueria el Gallo for carne en su jugo, for example
India
Kerala? (Malabar) Goa? (Chutney Janet?) Punjab? Gujarat?
China
Yunnan: Spring World
Szechwan: Lao Sze Chuan, Spring World
Shanghai:
Cantonese:
...
Anyway, you get the idea. And are there other countries we should include? Can we discern Bangkok Thai and Isaan Thai and "diner-style" Thai (Siam Noodle & Rice?). Italian seems like a lost cause, but am I wrong? I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.
And I especially look forward to the work of filling in the blanks with new places.
Cheers,
AaronLast edited by Aaron Deacon on August 4th, 2004, 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #2 - August 4th, 2004, 9:46 amAaron, this is a great idea, and fun to think about. Here are a few more for your Mexican listings.
Nuevo Leon: also Polo, 1454 W. 18th.
Guanajuato: Mi Cafetal, 1519 W. 18th (a cafe, limited food offerings)
Michoacan: Carnitas Uruapan, 1725 W. 18th (and probably all the carnitas places)
Guerrero: Asi es Guerrero, 4114 W. North , San Juan Pozoleria 1523 N. Pulaski
Jalisco: Amanecer Tapatio in Joliet
[I have edited this post to add addresses]
Perhaps RST can be tempted to "un-retire" and add some more here? Where are the people on Cermak offering cecina de venado from, for example?
AmataLast edited by Amata on August 4th, 2004, 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #3 - August 4th, 2004, 3:11 pmAaron great topic, I've stolen your formating and will add to your list:
Mexico
Puebla: Taqueria Puebla
Michoacan: Los Mogotes (is this right? is this place even still around?)
Veracruz: I know of no restaurant in Chicago that serves true Veracruz style food--much more Euro influenced, olive oil, olives, than other Mexican food. J.Gold does list one place in LA that serves true Veracruz style food
Nuevo Leon: While Polo features the great wheat tortillas of the north, neither it or Nueva Leon feature THE dish of Monterrey, ie, grilled goat. To know what I mean, seek out last month's (or the month before) Saveur. Of course I got to put in another plug for my favorite at Maxwell Street, the cowboy empanadas.
Jalisco: Birria is the key dish of Jalisco and in Chicago one can find many birria's, including those serving the style of Occoloton, a city in Jalisco. As noted, I am fond of Los 3 Gallos which also has that Tapitio speciality, carne en su jugo.
Guanajuato: Well, there's the come on in, come on in guys from Maxwell street with their masa empanadas filled with zuchini flowers, brains and such
Yucatan: Really nothing as far as I know
Guerrero: Besides the pozole specialists mentioned by Amata, there's that rarely discovered place in Cicero now branching out, what's it called, oh yea, La Quebrada. Also, both vans parked on Milwaukee with their versions of sopes and such.
D.F. (Mexico City) - Dona Lois is a good example, but let's also plug again the Rico Huarache people at Maxwell St.
Aguascaliente - Gorditas Aguascalientes - See recent Hammond paen.
Nayarit - Islas Maria
Others...I'm sure they're more out there!
South Asian
Kerala? (Malabar) Goa? (Chutney Janet?)
Gujarti - Sukhadia Sweets
Andra - Sizzle India
"Southern India" - Udupi Palace
Punjabi - I'll leave it to Zim to answer how Punjabi Sher-A-Punjab really is, but it has the name! There is also a recently opened Punjabi Sweets on Western.
Bangladeshi/Bengali - Sonorogan
Pakistani - Sabri Nehari
Bombay - Chowpatty
China
Yunnan: Spring World
Szechwan: Lao Sze Chuan, Spring World
Shanghai:Moon Palace, the Restaurant called Mandarin Kitchen in English
Cantonese: Happy Chef
Northern Styles - Ed's Potsticker House
Taiwainese - International Mall
Chiu Chow - Shui Wah
Fukinese - Fu Choy
MIA - Islamic Chinese, Hakka, fake meat Chinese
South Asian
Thai Avenue's owner's are Issan, and their chef is from Northern Thailand. They have regional dishes from both areas.
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Post #4 - August 4th, 2004, 3:31 pmWhich reminds me, I just noticed today that the space occupied by Kawali at Kaldero, an indifferent Filipino place near Irving and Western, has a new sign in the window which says:
Coming Soon
STICKY RICE
Northern Thai Cuisine
To my recollection that's the first time anyone has advertised a region of Thailand; probably someone else has already, but I find it interesting that we've reached that point.
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Post #5 - August 4th, 2004, 3:43 pmAdding regions within a continent, i.e. South America and also Central America, I put this list together for Slow Food in the initial stages of the book - it's a year old so there are surely additions and deletions that should be made
Argentina
Penguin, 2723 W. Lawrence
Tango Sur, 3763 N. Southport
Tango Miel, 2346 W. Fullerton
Brazil
Brasil Legal, 2153 N. Western
Belize
Flower's Pot, 7328 N. Clark St.
Chile
Latin Sandwich Cafe
Colombia
Las Tablas, 2965 N. Lincoln Ave. & 4920 W. Irving Park Rd.
La Fonda, 5350 N. Broadway
Costa Rica
Irazu, 1865 N. Milwaukee Ave.
El Salvador
Izalco, 1511 W. Lawrence Ave.
Ecuador
La Humita, 3466 N. Pulaski Rd.
Guatemala
El Tinajon, 2054 W. Roscoe St.
Peru
Rinconcito Sudamericano, 1954 W. Armitage Ave.
Taste of Peru, 6545 N. Clark St.
Mi Familia, 3624 W. Fullerton
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Post #6 - August 5th, 2004, 12:10 amThe La Quebrada mini-empire offers the seafood dishes of Acapulco (vuelve a la vida, mariscos estilo Acapulco) as well as specialties of the surrounding Guerrero region (notably cecina).
La Quebrada
Roosevelt W of Cicero
51st & California
Cermak & Marshall Blvd (2900 W)
63rd bet. Hamlin/Springfield
Aurora
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Post #7 - August 5th, 2004, 1:25 amA couple regional Mexican questions:
* Another common dish in Jalisco and nearby states is the molcajete, a stone mortar filled with meats or seafood, vegetables, and a sauce. Anyone serve molcajetes?
* The most prominent dish of the Yucatan is the pibil, cochinita pibil or pollo pibil (pit cooked pork and chicken). They're especially delicious when served with a good escabeche. Anyone serving these?
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Post #8 - August 5th, 2004, 6:18 amI believe that Playa Azul on North Broadway would probably be representative of the Vera Cruz style of cooking though I'm no expert in the regions of Mexico.
I've had a couple of terrific meals there of late including a wonderfully seasoned halibut steak tucked into a neat little pouch of fried scrambled egg. One of the most moist and succulent dishes that I have ever eaten.
The caldos there are wonderful, too.
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Post #9 - August 5th, 2004, 11:56 amChorito, up on Devon and Broadway has an excellent pibil taco, and good tepache and ensalada de patas as well. That should scratch your itch for unusual Mexican. Nearby is one great grocery store, La Unica, Cuban and Colombian/Ecuadoran, with a fine, fine cafereria on site. And just south of Chorito is a Venezualen place, open maybe 6 months, with excellent arepas. And, of course, further west on Devon is your Indo-Pak, Russian, Orthodox super-hood.
Just go to Devon already.
PS, these might have been mentioned already, but for fantastic Nayarit-Style seafood, look up Las Islas Marias. There are some Jalisco-style birria spots, La Aurora (right by the Irving Pk. Blue Line stop near O'Hare has great DF style pambazos and huaraches; I'd say El Barco, another fish specialist might be Veracruz style, though I'm not entirely sure. For Tex-Mex, we've got the Uncle Julio's chain. But that Mama Maria lady probably told you already.
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Post #10 - August 5th, 2004, 2:33 pmVital Information wrote:Aaron great topic, I've stolen your formating and will add to your list:
South AsianKerala? (Malabar) Goa? (Chutney Janet?)
Agree with both these - havent tried Malabar yet, but Chutney Janet's is
the closest thing to Goanese cuisine in Chicago by far. At least some
dishes on her menu (as usual, there is a hodge-podge of Indian cuisines
on the rest of the menu).
Ive heard there is a Kerala cuisine place in Schaumburg, somewhere off of
Ogden (in a strip-mall-type spot, next to a smallish grocery/convenience
store that also sells Kerala-based stuff, groceries, movie videos etc). Was
told by a Keralan that it was the only real place he could think of for
authentic Kerala food in the Chicagoland area. But I havent been able to
visit it yet.Gujarti - Sukhadia Sweets
It is Gujarati, but a poor example - just snacks and sweets after all. Not sure
how many really good Gujarati places there are in Chicago - most serve a
little bit of Gujarati cuisine as part of their menu I suppose. There is one
place that is supposedly properly Gujarati - the wonderfully named
"Wise Guys" in Schaumburg (no, thats not a Tony Soprano hangout or
a Sicilian place - its pure Gujarati-Indian, but just happens to be on
"Wise Road" in Schaumburg
A very good Gujarati friend eats most of
his authentic Gujarati food at home, and he at least didnt seem overly
impressed by Wise Guys (ordinary stuff that I can get better and cheaper at
home, was his reaction, mostlyAndra - Sizzle India
Yes, probably the only one. However Andhra is strange - Hyderabad is the
capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, but "Hyderabadi" food is a whole
different class from Andhra food. Mostly because Hyderabadi is seen as
more Muslim food from the city itself, and is famous throughout the world.
JK Kabab House has a Hyderabadi owner, and a few Hyderabadi items
on their menu - but there are many Hyderabadi places, mostly very cheap
and "cabbie joint" type. Hyderabad House and Daata Durbar both qualify,
as does..umm... this one place just off Devon (about 20 yards off), right
in the middle of the Indian section, a block or two off Talman, cant remember
the street name. Right next to a mosque-ish place. Sheesh Mahal? Not
sure, cant remember the name anymore."Southern India" - Udupi Palace
Yes, the original. Or Mysore Woodland, also very good.Punjabi - I'll leave it to Zim to answer how Punjabi Sher-A-Punjab really is, but it has the name! There is also a recently opened Punjabi Sweets on Western.
All Indian restaurants in Chicago are Punjabi-ish, and all are bad-Punjabi
Most "non-veggie" places have Punjabi dishes, but quite ordinarily done.
The veggie places have a few Punjabi veggie dishes too (Mysore Woodlands
or Udipi's excellent Chole Bhature might qualify as examples). But no
really good Punjabi spot around I dont think (with authentic Sarsoon da
Saag and Butter Chicken etc).Bangladeshi/Bengali - Sonorogan
Pakistani - Sabri Nehari
Sabri Nehari and Usmaniya both qualify as Pakistani I suppose - but both are also
a bit of a mixture. Some Hyderabadi stuff thrown in too. (Haleem is more
Hyderabadi than Pakistani for example, IMHO, but is a staple in both spots).Bombay - Chowpatty
Bah! I refuse to accept Chowpatty as Bombay food
Actually, Iam kidding, sort of - it does have some Bombay snack food, and does
it well. Its also ridiculously pricy (but then so is Bombay compared to the rest
of India). It is also a total hodge-podge, including mexican tacos etc (but then
Bombay is a hodge-podge compared to the rest of India too I suppose).
Huh. Tasty, hodge-podge, ridiculously pricy... maybe it *is* Bombay food after
all
It is really a very small example however - its purely vegetarian after all,
and most in Bombay are not. The best neharis Ive ever had were in
Bombay, no chance of that here Their "Bombay fast food" is decent, but
a couple snack spots on Devon do it just as well, the bhel-puri type
stuff (Annadata used to do a fair version, of that, of batata vadas and
so on) and are much cheaper than Chowpatty is. Their kulfi is IMHO the
best in Chicago, but also ridiculously expensive (and not as good as
Bombay's kulfi obviously Bombay biryani is second in fame only to
the Hyderabadi version, but you obviously cant get it at Chowpatty since
it isnt veggie.
In addition to the above, there is Nepali food - Mount Everest in Evanston and
one in Niles I havent tried. Havent seen any Sri Lankan food spots in
Chicago, however.
c8w
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Post #11 - August 5th, 2004, 10:50 pmAgree with both these - havent tried Malabar yet, but Chutney Janet's is
the closest thing to Goanese cuisine in Chicago by far. At least some
dishes on her menu (as usual, there is a hodge-podge of Indian cuisines
on the rest of the menu).
One caveat on Chuntey Janet, which I tried on Saturday (and will do a complete write-up of) is that many of the goan dishes are only on the carry-out menu and not on the menu offered at the table, some of these it is unclear whether they make anymore - such as the tiger prawn peri-periGujarti - Sukhadia Sweets
It is Gujarati, but a poor example - just snacks and sweets after all. Not sure
how many really good Gujarati places there are in Chicago - most serve a
little bit of Gujarati cuisine as part of their menu I suppose. There is one
place that is supposedly properly Gujarati - the wonderfully named
"Wise Guys" in Schaumburg (no, thats not a Tony Soprano hangout or
a Sicilian place - its pure Gujarati-Indian, but just happens to be on
"Wise Road" in Schaumburg A very good Gujarati friend eats most of
his authentic Gujarati food at home, and he at least didnt seem overly
impressed by Wise Guys (ordinary stuff that I can get better and cheaper at
home, was his reaction, mostly
I don't really think of sukhadia as gujarati at all, or any of the chaat shops really, even though the majority of these (as most of the businesses on devon are) are owned by gujaratis. I think slightly more representative gujerati stuff is available at arya bhavan, has more of the characteristic sweetness that I associate with gujerati cooking, though I doubt it can compete with home cooking, for that matter I don't think any of the regional places really compete with home cooking from the region in questionAndra - Sizzle India
Yes, probably the only one. However Andhra is strange - Hyderabad is the
capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, but "Hyderabadi" food is a whole
different class from Andhra food. Mostly because Hyderabadi is seen as
more Muslim food from the city itself, and is famous throughout the world.
JK Kabab House has a Hyderabadi owner, and a few Hyderabadi items
on their menu - but there are many Hyderabadi places, mostly very cheap
and "cabbie joint" type. Hyderabad House and Daata Durbar both qualify,
as does..umm... this one place just off Devon (about 20 yards off), right
in the middle of the Indian section, a block or two off Talman, cant remember
the street name. Right next to a mosque-ish place. Sheesh Mahal? Not
sure, cant remember the name anymore.
I wonder if the spot you are referring to is Pakwan? anyway Sizzle is Andhra rather than hyderabadi which you point out there are quite a few of. The stuff at sizzle shows its "andhraness" IMO more in the veggie stuff than in the meat options. For example a dish they sometimes have on the buffet of shredded cabbage studded with urad dal, coconut, and peanuts, and chilis - very andhra, and very goodAll Indian restaurants in Chicago are Punjabi-ish, and all are bad-Punjabi
Most "non-veggie" places have Punjabi dishes, but quite ordinarily done.
The veggie places have a few Punjabi veggie dishes too (Mysore Woodlands
or Udipi's excellent Chole Bhature might qualify as examples). But no
really good Punjabi spot around I dont think (with authentic Sarsoon da
Saag and Butter Chicken etc).
Actually I think most indian restaurants all over the place are Punjabi-ish, and mostly bad Punjabi-ish, most often in the veg more than the meat (I always think of the meat as mughlai more than punjabi with no real regional home), it seems that the Punjabi veggie selections somehow became the typical veggies offered, such as palak paneer, baingan bartha, etc. Sher-A-Punjab used to be a little better than they are now, though I do still plug their dal makhani. I still haven't tried Bhabi's Kitchen yet, but apparently they do sarsoon ki saag and makki ki roti (which is probably the closest thing to punjabi soul food)
Also Bharatmela - the odd place in Naperville that shares a dual identity with a chinese restuarant is Tamil and another kerala takeout place is banana leaf steps away from thai aree on milwaukee - I think Rene G did a write up of them on chowhound
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Post #12 - August 6th, 2004, 10:02 pmOne caveat on Chuntey Janet, which I tried on Saturday (and will do a complete write-up of) is that many of the goan dishes are only on the carry-out menu and not on the menu offered at the table, some of these it is unclear whether they make anymore - such as the tiger prawn peri-peri
Ah, you tried it? Will look forward to the review - I think Ive always been the
only one on this forum to have ever tried it (and thought it very good, too
Maybe I have a different experience however - first couple times I was
there was with an uncle who was a regular, and that madea difference.
The last time I was headed there with friends, we called on the way there
from a movie and asked about the menu - and she just said "ok, you want
shrimp pakoras, I'll have that made by the time you get here" etc. Thus I
think if one calls in advance, one probably has a pretty good shot at
getting pretty much everything on the old menu too.
(The place used to be open for lunch too, with a lunch buffet. She told me
she used to do a really good job on her buffet, including authentic Goan
fish curry etc, all for the usual 6-odd bucks! But apparently the lunch crowd
was very small and it wasnt worth it at all financially, and so they no longer
open for lunch anymorel, just do dinners IIRC).I don't really think of sukhadia as gujarati at all, or any of the chaat shops really, even though the majority of these (as most of the businesses on devon are) are owned by gujaratis. I think slightly more representative gujerati stuff is available at arya bhavan, has more of the characteristic sweetness that I associate with gujerati cooking, though I doubt it can compete with home cooking, for that matter I don't think any of the regional places really compete with home cooking from the region in question
Hmm. Always thought Arya Bhavan was more south oriented - but havent
really tried it much, and probably never will, so dont know much about it.
Will suggest it to a couple if its supposed to be Gujarati-like, however,
thanks.Andra - Sizzle India
I wonder if the spot you are referring to is Pakwan? anyway Sizzle is Andhra rather than hyderabadi which you point out there are quite a few of. The stuff at sizzle shows its "andhraness" IMO more in the veggie stuff than in the meat options. For example a dish they sometimes have on the buffet of shredded cabbage studded with urad dal, coconut, and peanuts, and chilis - very andhra, and very good
Yes, Sizzle is clearly Andhra as opposed to Hyderabadi, clear from the menu
itself really. The spot I was referring to wasnt Pakwan I dont htink, but I
dont recall the name - it might have been Sheesh Mahal or something like
that. Will check on it - they used to do a fine kabab-roti (mostly famous
because people from the mosque would line up after prayer and consume
itActually I think most indian restaurants all over the place are Punjabi-ish, and mostly bad Punjabi-ish, most often in the veg more than the meat (I always think of the meat as mughlai more than punjabi with no real regional home), it seems that the Punjabi veggie selections somehow became the typical veggies offered, such as palak paneer, baingan bartha, etc. Sher-A-Punjab used to be a little better than they are now, though I do still plug their dal makhani. I still haven't tried Bhabi's Kitchen yet, but apparently they do sarsoon ki saag and makki ki roti (which is probably the closest thing to punjabi soul food)
Same here in re Bhabi's Kitchen - their menu looked to have a couple of
solid punjabi-style dishes, but havent been. Was there about 12:15 on one
day, but it wasnt open (despite the sign outside declaring a 12:00 opening
time), thats the closest Ive come so far.
c8w
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Post #13 - August 6th, 2004, 10:39 pmA good doc to crib from may also be McCawley's rundown of chicago restaurants:
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/depts/li ... o_Food.pdf
For instance, he provides the following (just a short excerpt) in the "Other Latino" category:
Peruvian, available at Rinconcito Sudamericano (1954 W. Armitage, an
outstanding restaurant with reasonable prices, especially for their fine appetizers), El Inca (514 Main St.,
Evanston), Machu Picchu (5427 Clark), Mi Peru (4920 Irving Park), and Ada Peru (4348 Fullerton).
Ecuadoran food is available at Ecuador (2923 W. Diversey) and Ecua Rico (3621 W. North).
Colombian:
Sabor a Cumbia (4008 Montrose), Asi es Colombia (3910 Lincoln), La Esmeralda (3638 W. Fullerton), Las
Tablas (2965 Lincoln), Pueblito Viejo (5429 Lincoln), and El Rincon Paisa (3002 Diversey).
Guatemalan: El
Tinajon (2054 W. Roscoe), Guatemala (Wilson, just west of Sheridan), Casa Guatemala (4554 Broadway),
Rinconcito Chapin (4755 N. Rockwell).
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Post #14 - August 13th, 2004, 12:07 pmTwo notes I have been meaning to make on this topic:
1) Ecuadoran is to my mind THE growth category at the moment. Okay, probably sushi places are opening faster than humita places, in real terms. And Subway's and Quizno's open faster than anything. But boy, when I look around in my driving around, that's what I notice-- a lot of new Ecuadoran places. Will try to try and report on some of them...
2) Here's a new one. I grabbed some a croissant and coffee at Artopolis in Greek Town recently and walking back to my car along Adams just west of Halsted (where there's both a new sushi place and a new Subway's, fyi) I saw this:
Cypriot Cousine [sic]
Opening soonWatch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
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Post #15 - August 13th, 2004, 12:33 pmInteresting. My sister-in-law just got back from teaching in Ecuador for two years. Humitas are essentially the same as tamales de elote or uchepos, right? Fresh corn tamales? I'll have to look them up. Are they just humita places or full on Ecuadorean restaurants?
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Post #16 - August 13th, 2004, 12:49 pmLa Humita on Kedzie, for instance, is a full restaurant but serves an afternoon tea-type service with humitas. Don't know about the others but I'd be surprised if anyone could make it on that alone.
Here's a review of La Humita I wrote, from another board, which talks about the "tea time" aspect:
La Humita, slightly upscale Ecuadoran beyond Logan Square (May 14, 2003)
...La Humita turns out to be specifically Ecuadoran, and "humita" is the name for the kind of tamale, soft and cheese-filled and pretty damn scarfable, that I've had at other South American restaurants like La Pena. Having the Wild Boys with me, I ordered extensively off the appetizer menu for them, and as it turned out had many of the same things I'd had on a sampler plate at La Pena-- besides the humita, we had plantains (very nicely fried and sweet) and "potato pancakes" which were less like any potato pancake your Jewish grandmother made and more like fried balls of mashed potatoes in a peanut-tasting gravy. The effect was sort of like mixing the kugelis from Julia's Lithuanian with the peanut sauce from a Thai restaurant.
The dinner menu is pretty standard South American-- you've got grilled meat, grilled meat and more grilled meat, including some pork, lamb and fish choices. (The most unusual one is Guatita, stewed beef tripe in, again, a peanut sauce. "You got tripe in my peanut butter...") Not vast variety but my steak was very nicely done, with the usual salty crust and a sprinkling of parsley which hinted at chimmichurri without actually being it. The pleasant surprise on the plate was a side of lentils stewed in a tomato-based sauce which was hearty and flavorful.
La Humita is several steps more upscale than the typical South American, not that it's dressy but it would fit right in Lincoln Park or Bucktown with its sponge-painted walls, square china and the sleek stainless-steel cooking area on display on the other side of the bar (not to mention real chef's uniforms and hats on the people working it). Obviously the proprietor had restaurant experience elsewhere, and when I asked him about it I very quickly got the whole story.
His name is Ulpiano Correa and yes, he does have restaurant experience-- years working for Marriott. Finally he has managed to open his own restaurant, and he designed everything, the menus, the interior, the whole works. They've been open about a month, and he's still refining the menu. He definitely wants to offer an experience that's nicer than the corner taqueria yet still reasonably priced for the neighborhood; though I would say dinner is fairly priced (pretty reasonable, really, but just barely in Cheap Eats range), there's a $5.95 lunch special that's quite cheap. Despite being on Pulaski, which is a semi-forlorn side street compared to bustling Milwaukee, he says Thursday to Sunday night business has been quite good, but lunch needs help and in fact he killed a selection of sandwiches because they were just not selling and he preferred to offer something more like dinner at a lunch price.
As far as the humitas go, apparently it's common in Ecuador to nosh them (a la tea time) with coffee, and he has posted hours for "humita time" from 4 to 6. Also, though normally I try to avoid cheesecake, he talked me (or my 4-year-old) into ordering his homemade cheesecake with a passion fruit sauce, and it was very tasty-- the tartness of the passion fruit gave it what those gloppy strawberry-covered ones lack.
Like other South American cuisines, Ecuadoran is not highly spiced (when I mentioned chimmichurri he went off for a minute on how he doesn't like garlic!), but very pleasantly done in its own way, and the atmosphere is nice enough you could have a business lunch there. Check it out.
La Humita
3466 N. Pulaski Rd.
773-794-9672Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
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Post #17 - August 13th, 2004, 1:12 pmextramsg wrote:* Another common dish in Jalisco and nearby states is the molcajete, a stone mortar filled with meats or seafood, vegetables, and a sauce. Anyone serve molcajetes?
Good news, bad news.
The bad news is you may have to come to Atlanta for molcajetes if your research in Chicago comes up empty.
The good news is that Zapata--an upscale place serving cleanly prepared food such as you might find in Mexico City targeted at yuppies; and La Fonda San Carlos--the most authentic Mexican place (both good and bad) I've encountered outside of Mexico proper (down to ice heaped in the splendidly tiled men's room urinals) both serve outstanding molcajetes.
I'm partial to La Fonda's which come with a massive steak (sliced thick from the whole sirloin flap, or 'fajita'), grilled cactus leaves, melted ranch cheese, grilled scallions, grilled tomato, roasted banana peppers and rice-- with whole beans (charros) served separately on the side. Accompanying salsas have never seen a tomato--only chilis or tomatillos.
The rice, the tomatoes, all the juices, bubble against the molocajete's sizzling stone surface to render up tantalizing glimpes of chow nirvana.
Sadly (or maybe good!!!), La Fonda gets no local chowhound or critical buzz. It may be that its just too genuine (have never seen another gringo there in a dozen visits) or too far from Atlanta's epicenter. But everyone at La Fonda is always extremely nice--which is another consistent hallmark of most every restaurant at every price point I've been to in Jalisco, Guanajato and Colima.Chicago is my spiritual chow home
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Post #18 - August 13th, 2004, 1:20 pmNuevo Leon: Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant, 9648 S. Ewing Ave.
Nigerian: TBS Nigerian Restaurant, 8910 S. Commercial
Mississippi: Johnson's Soul Food., Ashland and 83d
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Post #19 - September 18th, 2004, 1:48 pmWhat about different Jewish Cuisine such as Sephardic...?Please enlighten me.
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Post #20 - September 19th, 2004, 9:31 pmPaul Mollica wrote:Mississippi: Johnson's Soul Food., Ashland and 83d
Paul, what distinguishes Mississippi soul food from other Southern soul food?
Hattyn, Chicago is not a hotbed of Jewish cuisine. For that matter, traditional Jewish cooking isn't really a restaurant cuisine anywhere -- except possibly New York, and I'm not sure abou that.
For Sephardic fare you might try the Israeli/Morroccan restaurant Hashalom, 2905 W. Devon, Chicago, 773/465-5675. Most of the kosher restaurants in town serve what I would call American food or deli fare. A few diners, like What's Cooking in Lincoln Village (6181 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, 773/585-3050), offer some Ashkenazi dishes, although most places in Chicago offering matzo-ball soup and the like are Greek-owned establishments with Mexican cooks. I can't think of anywhere in town regularly serving dishes like cholent or flanken, and the only places I know of to get mamaliga call it "polenta."
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Post #21 - September 19th, 2004, 9:47 pmhattyn wrote:What about different Jewish Cuisine such as Sephardic...?Please enlighten me.
Taboun Grill is a very good Israeli restaurant on California just south of Da'Bomb (6339 N. California). It is also kosher, and perhaps because, pretty expensive for what it is.
Here's what I wrote a while back:Taboun Grill
Great but expensive Israeli food - Kosher too!
Israel has always had a bad rap for food. I mean from a tourist perspective. A lot of that, I think has to do with low quality beef. Avoid the McDavid's. Does that mean the food of Israel is really bad. On my lone trip, I found nearly all of the meals outstanding, especially the multitude of stuffed vegetables at a Yemenite place and the multitude of stuffed falafel sandwiches, everywhere. For those falafel sammy's chose at will from a ton of salads, offered from countless street vendors. My opinion of Israeli food is also futzed up by an especially good restaurant in North Miami Beach run by Israeli's. From them, I expect every other Israeli restaurant to have superior fresh cut fries and bowls full of sour pickles for the taking.
I enter Israeli places with that prejudice, but I also soon find myself at ease entering any Israeli place. I believe, but could be wrong, that there is something relaxing for nearly every American born and raised Jew when they enter a room filled with yamulked men. Outside of a pledge party for ZBT, are there any other settings where you feel more comfortable with your Jewishness? (On the other hand, my wife, felt totally il-at-ease, expecting stones to be hurdled her way any minute because she was wearing a sleeveless dress.) On top of this, your kids are no longer, by a long shot the worst behaved, and even if they were being particularly poorly behaved, no one would hear much of their commotion over the rest of the commotion. Finally, it gives a Jewish man special pride to be served by a slew of dark haired, dark skinned stunning waitresses, who also know how to take apart and put back together, an Uzi while blindfolded. Portnoy would not complain.
So how bad could the food be? Not bad at all. I will say up front, I think the prices are pretty high at Taboun, much more than they should be. I wondered if Rabbinic supervision costs that much more, and my sources in the kosher community tell me kosher meat even at the market costs a lot. Still, what they served at Taboun is very, very good.
If you need a first course, and unfortunately you might, the portions are small, I've enjoyed the Moroccan salad, the standard dips like hummus and baba ganoush and the Yemenite soup. The soup is a greenish yellow, like lakewater, with a taste of odd spices (not like lakewater). A dose of very hot, hot sauce (zug I think it is called), not only heated up the soup, but it amplified the other ingredients. Fresh vegetables helped a lot too. Forget the color, order the soup.
The main course are mostly simple but well done. I like their kefta and their shwarma, and again, the worst I can say about them is, the portions are too small. The sandwiches are stuffed just as in Israel with several toppings, although not as many as you would find there. Also, again, the hot sauce enhances. Now, the fries were nothing special, not fresh made. No pickles graced our table, which I miss. Still, when you wake up the next morning with the flavors still parading your palate, well you want to return.
Service, besides being beautiful, has been efficient and fast. Very fast, they really get you your food quick for a place with table service, although with all the din, lingering is not that important.
UPDATE: The newly mysterious Stirs-the-Pot (that is he/she is not becoming more mysterious, but that he/she is new to Chowhound and rather mysterious), reports on Chowhound that ample pickles appear when dining at Taboun. I'll have to confirm.
Taboun Grill - Kosher/Meat
Address: 6339 N. California
Chicago, IL 60659 Phone: (773) 381-2606
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Post #22 - May 11th, 2005, 4:30 pmTo help bring this post forward a little, let me add a link to the excellent recent discussion of Moroccan restaurants in Chicago.
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Post #23 - October 22nd, 2005, 4:02 amThis thread has been moribund. Let me try to jumpstart it with a list of African restaurants.
And surely we can do better on Chinese?
• Algeria- Couscous Restaurant, 312/226-2408, 1445 W. Taylor St., Chicago
Crêpe & Coffee Palace, 773/404-1300, 2433 N. Clark St., Chicago
Tassili Cafe, 773/685-6773, 4342 N. Elston Ave., Chicago- Little Egypt, 708/923-0392, Tiffany Square, 7216 W. College Drive, Palos Heights
Taste of Egypt, 773/478-8400, 3949 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago
Mediterranean Cafe, 708/597-3301, 13337 Old Western Ave., Blue Island- Mama Desta's Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant, 773/935-7561, 3218 N. Clark St., Chicago
- Ethio Cafe/Ethiopian Village, 773/929-8300, 3462 N. Clark St. Chicago
Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant, 773/338-6100, 6120 N. Broadway St., Chicago
Ethiopian Market and Restaurant, 773/878-2658, 5403 N. Broadway St., Chicago
Mama Desta's Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant, 773/935-7561, 3218 N. Clark St. Chicago
Ras Dashen Ethiopian Restaurant, 773/506-9601, 5846 N. Broadway St., Chicago
Sheba Cafe, 773/878-2352, 5403 N. Broadway St., Chicago- Bolat African Cuisine, 773/665-1100, 3346 N. Clark St., Chicago
Palace Gate, 773/769-1793, 4548 N. Magnolia Ave., Chicago- Dekegar Restaurant, 312/243-3863, 1530 W. 18th St., Chicago
- Andalous Moroccan Restaurant, 773/281-6885, 3307 N. Clark St., Chicago
Cafe Fez, Moroccan Delicacies, 773/286-8991, 4659 N. Elston Ave., Chicago
Casbah Café, 773/935-3339, 3151 N. Broadway St., Chicago
Couscous Restaurant, 312/226-2408, 1445 W. Taylor St., Chicago
Marrakech Cuisine, 773/227-6451, 1413 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago,
Marrakech ExpressO, 773/271-4541, 4747 N. Damen Ave., Chicago- B & Q Afro Root Cuisine, 773/878-7489, 4802 N. Clark St., Chicago
Bolat African Cuisine, 773/665-1100, 3346 N. Clark St., Chicago
Toham African Restaurant, 773/973-4602, 1422 W. Devon Ave., Chicago
TBS African Restaurant, 773/561-340, 4507 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago
Vee-Vee's African Restaurant, 773/465-2424, 6243 N. Broadway St., Chicago- Banadir Restaurant, 773/274-2778, 6221 N. Clark St., Chicago
- Couscous Restaurant, 312/226-2408, 1445 W. Taylor St. Chicago
What have I left out? Anyone know of places serving the food of these countries?
• Angola
• Bassas da India
• Benin
• Botswana
• Bouvet Island
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Congo
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Djibouti
• Equatorial Guinea
• Europa Island
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Glorioso Islands
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Juan de Nova Island
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Libya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mayotte
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Niger
• Reunion
• Rwanda
• Saint Helena
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa
• Sudan
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Uganda
• Western Sahara
• Zimbabwe
• Zambia
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Post #24 - January 5th, 2007, 9:13 amI stumbled across this thread today... I love the idea, although I'm afraid the mechanics of maintaining a list like this in the forum software make it hard to keep it up to date. (This is why we need an LTH Wiki
)
Anyway, I thought David Hammond's Chicago Reader series on regional Mexican deserved mention here (not that it hasn't been mentioned elsewhere on LTH).
Part 1, Jalisco (PDF link)
Part 2, Michoacan (PDF link)
Part 3, Oaxaca (PDF link)
Part 4, Veracruz
Part 5, Guerrero
Part 6, Yucatan, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, and others
(Thanks to EatChicago for organizing these so conveniently on his blog.)Joe G.
"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement