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mabenka resturant -- 79th/cicero ave.

mabenka resturant -- 79th/cicero ave.
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  • mabenka resturant -- 79th/cicero ave.

    Post #1 - December 17th, 2006, 4:29 pm
    Post #1 - December 17th, 2006, 4:29 pm Post #1 - December 17th, 2006, 4:29 pm
    mebenka is in burbank and serves lithuanian/polish food

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    located at 79th and cicero
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    today marked the 4th time ive been lucky enough to experience the fine products of this establishment

    describing the food as 'hearty' is to put it lightly; i recommend coming here after a 48 hour bender or at least minimal hangover

    or at least complete the meal by doing about 17 hours of roofing

    all 4 times ive gone ive ordered the same thing
    the friend of mine who introduced me to the place (a SW sider himself) recommended it and its hard to turn away

    the expression 'closeminded to a fault' comes to me, but then i think of the 180 degrees between my meal choice and a 'fault' and realize teh cliche is faulty

    this ladies and gents, is.........the lithuanian combo plate!

    for $9.15 you will get all of the following
    i am 6'4 and about 220 lbs and i have a borderline eating disorder (gluttony) and its hard for me to get this all down

    the 1st time i went i was stricken with the worst hangover of 2006, and a top 5 hangover for my entire career
    i picked at my food and ive vowed never to do that again

    i clean plates and bowls with the efficency of a touchless car wash

    well here we go

    first course is soup
    you have 4 choices i think, (all are listed in the menu i believe) but i always stick with the kaputska -- sourkraut

    ive consumed many a barrel of the stuff in my lifetime due to some ethnic and proud eastern european (geman) grandparents/mother, and i can say this is the real deal

    it is also served with a boiled potato, which somehow the mad geniuses of mebenka have figured out how to turn into gold
    pure alchemy

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    i have a great system where after you eat some soup, your spoon gets so hot (as the soups here are always served at just under 212 farenheit, seemingly) that it cuts thru the potato perfectly

    my companions today both opted for the mushroom soup
    which oddly contained elbow macaroni as well (one friend commented that it was truly al dente, tho for me softer noodle in that context would have sufficed)

    while you mange that soup and potato i recommend no less then 3 slices of bread

    left to right:
    -raisin bread
    -pumpernickle of indescribable proportions
    -rye (my choice for the day)

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    the rye makes a great appetizer before your soup arrives as well as an accompaniment

    the dark stuff is stricly as a partner to the hot soup in my estimation

    while the raisin breads sweetness and pillow soft texture is best suited after soup as you await your salad

    they also provide margine, butter and whipped butter
    cant beat those options

    the salad is standard
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    green pepper, tomato, cucumber (one thick slice with skin on, very nice) as well as some shaved carrot and iceberg lettuce

    they let you dress teh salad and offer numerous dressings (i opted for ranch)

    at this point with soup, salad, potato and numerous slices of bread laid waste its easy to misgauge your power meter

    i was feeling strong today but i tried not to forget what was to come

    the main event
    and a daily meal of bruising roughhousing roofers thruout the eastern bloc

    DINNER
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    if youre bored, ask for additional sour cream. they will bring you a saucer with 4-5 extra containers

    first on the left you have the lithuanian sausage
    extremely tender and fork cuttable
    truly a delicacy; it can only be called luscious

    up above you have one of the densest foods on earth
    possibly one of the densest substances in general

    a meat stuffed dumpling
    this is hard to get down with everything else in its midst, tho i made short work of it as well

    next to that you have mebenkas staple
    kugelis
    ive had jewish kugela as well as this is certainly similiar
    perfectly soft but with enough structure to stay together
    and a pallette begging to be slathered with soured cream

    and as if that wasnt all enough, you are provided with yet more saurkraut

    this pic is of my buddy jim's plate, by the time i remembered i had to take pics i have devoured 1/2 my meal

    his sausage was a mutant, it had part of another sausage fused into it!
    wild stuff

    to round it out dont forget dessert, included in your dinner
    there are a few options but i always opt for the rice pudding
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    interesteingly enough i have recieved it both hot and cold
    today it was cold (the majority of the time it is)
    a great brother to a cup of joe before you drag yourself home and back to bed

    my buddy simon ordered some cheese dumplings
    he got about 10 half dollar size and aboug 3/4" thick
    i tried one, alas it was divine
    i took a pic but my camera somehow corrputed the file

    he got some boiled beets as a side upon my request (he was going to forego any of his complimentary sides)

    i enjoy pickled beets but havent had plain boiled beets very many times
    as you might expect they are a bit blah
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    to close let me comment that i hope to hot wire this beast one day and crusie it around town

    hell ill buy it and make it my daily driver
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  • Post #2 - December 17th, 2006, 4:37 pm
    Post #2 - December 17th, 2006, 4:37 pm Post #2 - December 17th, 2006, 4:37 pm
    forgot the menu! oops!

    http://www.lowpro708.com/pics/40/maxwel ... ebenka.pdf

    i had them eFax me a menu which i saved as BMPs

    then rendered them into a PDF for your ease in reading

    enjoy the perusal
  • Post #3 - December 17th, 2006, 5:42 pm
    Post #3 - December 17th, 2006, 5:42 pm Post #3 - December 17th, 2006, 5:42 pm
    Thanks for the interesting post; it's a place I've wanted to visit!

    Welcome to LTH

    (hope you don't mind, but I corrected the restaurant spelling for you on the post header)
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #4 - December 17th, 2006, 7:07 pm
    Post #4 - December 17th, 2006, 7:07 pm Post #4 - December 17th, 2006, 7:07 pm
    thanks for the correction and welcome
    much obliged
  • Post #5 - February 21st, 2011, 11:33 pm
    Post #5 - February 21st, 2011, 11:33 pm Post #5 - February 21st, 2011, 11:33 pm
    I could have sworn I posted about Mabenka years ago but apparently not. Here's the Lithuanian combination plate—cepelinas, kugelis, sauerkraut and sausage. It was preceded by a bowl of soup with a large boiled potato on the side.

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    Since I haven't visited recently I shouldn't say too much about Mabenka except that I like it quite a bit. As I recall the Lithuanian sausage (made in house I believe) was especially good. Go hungry!

    Mabenka
    7844 S Cicero Av
    Burbank IL
    708-423-7679
  • Post #6 - February 22nd, 2011, 10:29 am
    Post #6 - February 22nd, 2011, 10:29 am Post #6 - February 22nd, 2011, 10:29 am
    Rene G,

    I will amend your advice to: Go hungry and bring a cooler for the leftovers.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #7 - February 22nd, 2011, 11:21 am
    Post #7 - February 22nd, 2011, 11:21 am Post #7 - February 22nd, 2011, 11:21 am
    Cathy2 wrote:I will amend your advice to: Go hungry and bring a cooler for the leftovers.

    Mabenka has scaled back somewhat to merely gargantuan dinners. Back when I took the picture, the dinner consisted of a generous bread basket (light rye, pumpernickel and raisin bread), a bowl (not cup) of soup with a boiled potato on the side, a good-sized green salad, the combination plate shown above (plus plenty of sour cream on the side), dessert (bread pudding!) and coffee. From the current menu on their website, I see it's now soup or salad and dessert isn't included.
  • Post #8 - August 3rd, 2022, 7:37 pm
    Post #8 - August 3rd, 2022, 7:37 pm Post #8 - August 3rd, 2022, 7:37 pm
    From their facebook page:
    Mabenka
    It’s with heavy but grateful hearts that we share that after over 30 years of serving our community, Mabenka will be closing August 14th, 2022.

    We’d like these last 2 weeks to be a time of celebration and reminiscing.

    We invite you to come dine with us one last time and ask for patience and grace during our last 2 weeks. We’ll be offering your favorites and hope to serve you the best we can while supplies last.

    Please come to reclaim any remaining gift certifications. While catering and banquet services are now closed, we will be open for dining and takeout until the 14th. Please call ahead for reservations for groups of 5 or move so we can plan accordingly.

    These last few years have been tough on everyone, and we were not immune to the struggles of the challenging times.

    We feel very blessed for the support of our patrons and community for this long. We hope you’ll join in making this time a joyous transition full of memories and laughter.
    Over the last 30 years we have celebrated thousands of birthdays, weddings, baby showers, and shared in countless celebrations and passings of life. It has been an honor and a privilege to experience it all.

    We’ll be sharing a journey of old photos here, and we invite you to share your memories and photos of your occasions as well.

    -All of us at Mabenka Restaurant
    7844 S Cicero Ave, Burbank IL
    708.423.7679
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #9 - August 4th, 2022, 11:16 pm
    Post #9 - August 4th, 2022, 11:16 pm Post #9 - August 4th, 2022, 11:16 pm
    Menu above from 2006 is worth a read. Amounts of food and prices are stunning. But perhaps prices at the time were fairly typical?

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