Dinner Recs in Chicago - Page 8

I see. I understand your tastes far better now.

Enjoy Longman and Eagle.

I'm glad you kept posting here, because your vitriol makes you hard to take seriously.

To whomever asked about reservations or is looking:
Longman is fantastic the neighborhood is fine. I've been there a ton, through many menu changes, and I think the drinks and menu have always been good. I also love going down the street to the Whistler for cocktails afterwards (or before!). The Viking Funeral and the (no longer on the menu) Gin Gin Mule are both fantastic. Another popular drink is the Busy Bee. I've been to the Bristol once for lunch and once for dinner, and it was ok, but I haven't had any desire to return there. I thought Avec was much better, and I like Blackbird. Publican isn't a place I visit often, but I'm not a fan of the menu. A few restaurants that are also good: Boka and MK.

I don't really find Girl and the Goat really worth it, but that's just me. I know lots of other people who enjoyed it. If you're around for lunch someone mentioned Hot Doug's. I would second that and say visit that place. Its a Chicago institution.

Don't worry, based on your recommendations and tastes, I don't take you seriously either. And given that I've been here far longer than you have, all the people who I take seriously, do in fact, take me seriously in turn.

The Bristol does have some of the best brunch food I've ever had, I've been meaning to have dinner there forever. I guess now that I live a few blocks away, I really have no excuses...

Aha, this guy! I don't think "living in Chicago for longer than you" is a valid reason for taking anyone seriously. I trust the opinion of someone coming from New York, San Francisco, or Seattle to this city far more than a native. I'm sorry, but this city has only recently started to come up as a serious culinary player, making me trust natives (and god forbid, native suburbanites, which you certainly sound like given your "badass" username referencing Soldier Field) less than transplants.

Khan has only been a force in Chicago for the last few years. What the fuck did you have before him and Achatz? Charlie Trotters and the most overrated steak houses in the world? Seriously, I want to know.

I'm glad you get your kicks by being a condescending ass on internet message boards, as opposed to actually promoting some sort of civil discourse for people looking for restaurant ideas in our city.

Now to actually get back to the topic at hand.....

For people looking for great local spots, I honestly think you'd be hard pressed to do better than the following guides:

Local, cheap, and ethnic:

LTH Great Restaurants

High(er) end establishments, but also some excellent inexpensive options:

Eater 38

Not that it should even matter, but both of these lists include your precious "Bristol"....
Edited by thomasec - 8/25/11 at 9:40am

There are so many assumptions in this post that it's a joke.

SField - "Field" is my mother's surname. Simon is my middle name.

I am not from Chicago. I've lived there for a few years. I spent my entire childhood in London and New York City. I am at least as urban as you. I am not even going to qualify myself as far as dining and food because I think you're a joke, but really, your little pseudo analysis is among the most pathetic things I've ever read on this forum.

I don't like Khan. I hate Publican and Big Star, Avec I've grown tired of, and Blackbird gets far more press than other restaurants in its class, and much more than it deserves.

What assumptions? I said you sound like you're from the suburbs, and you're not. Big fucking deal. I'm just curious as to whom you consider to be the big players in Chicago before Khan + Achatz. It's obvious that we're not going to agree on a few things, so let's just get back to recommending some places for visitors without reverting to insults. Deal? People looking for recommendations will probably give up on this thread if they see a back and forth argument between two dudes, when all they're looking for is a place to go for dinner.

No, you're making the assumption that I'm some backward hick, based on what I don't know but frankly if I were from Chicago I suppose I'd be a bit offended.

What does it matter who was where before some certain point in time? The fact now is that Chicago has a number of world class restaurants, some old and some new. People don't even really mention Trotter's that much anymore in Chicago. Paris as a dining city has reinvented itself, and it's totally new places that have turned the Paris idea on its head that have made it. Does that lack of permanence and pedigree suddenly disqualify it?

Chicago's restaurants have been discussed to death here, and before you misinterpreted my saying "I've been here longer than you" (which refers to this forum, not the fucking city of Chicago) you'd know that a lot of this stuff has been hashed out already in numerous threads, including the one about Chicago's recent michelin guide, which frankly, is far better than that retarded list that puts pond scum like Tank Noodle (wtf) and Sun Wah on a list of even halfway decent neighborhood restaurants. Maybe that list is for inexpensive food, but even the Bib Gourmand did a far better job... the list you posted is just bullshit.

But anyway, if people want small plates, I recommend Bristol, that's all I'm saying. People like that style of food, and I feel that they do it the best. I used to like Avec, but have fallen out of love with it, where it once used to be at least a monthly place because everyone from out of town wants to go there.

If anyone is interested in Chicago, just read posts my kwilk, ChicagoRon or Despos as far as fine dining goes. I think they have the requisite experience to make their recommendations meaningful... plus Kyle agrees with everything I say so I like him.

jeeze....usually before I start writing that much shit about a member whose prior posts I have apparently somehow missed, I would take a little time to read their post history from their user page...

SField's not the most public of posters (he's certainly not like kwilk where you could probably recreate his resume and apply for a job by reading old SF posts) but he is pretty obviously not at all what you described.

I don't think those lists you posted are bad...there is stuff on there that probably shouldn't be but for the most part the places that I have been to from that list were all good. You could do better picking a random restaurant off of that list than a random restaurant off of most streets in the city.

Alright, let's all just calm...down. I certainly did not mean to criticize anyone's character, and I apologize if I did. SField, curious what some your favorite places are at the moment. What did you think about the Michelin Guide choosing places like Thai Village and Opart Thai House to include on their list of good ethnic places in the city, as opposed to some of the more established Thai spots in the city (Aruns, Tac Quick, etc...)?

I didn't eat much asian in Chicago because frankly, it's a horrible, horrible city for asian food. TAC is good but in LA or out in Flushing in NY it is literally the minimum you can expect.

My favorite places in Chicago would have to be Alinea, Ria, Everest, GE, Boka, Spiaggia (in desperate need of a renovation, but the best italian in the US,) Avenues, Les Nomades, I liked Tru but haven't been back since Tramonto left... for more affordable, neighborhood type stuff, Osteria via Stato is good, as is Bristol and Takashi is alright if you know what to order. Places like L20 are highly rated and I think they're worth a visit but if you're on a budget, Alinea first. It really is, for me, the best "fine dining" experience in the United States, and among the best in the world. I haven't eaten at El Bulli (although I've had his food in private functions and in his test kitchen) so I can't say it's the best, but I've been to the other "best" restaurants in the world and I think Alinea does very well for itself in that genre.

The first few that I mentioned are not to be missed, and you can include CT there too. As far as old american standards, it's as good as anything else in the country, and I would strongly recommend the vegetable tasting.

On member recommendations here I tried Great Lakes pizza which was fantastic, and probably the best pizza I've had in the US, but it's like $30 and not a nice place to go. We always just sit on the public benches down the block and eat there. Lockdown for burgers did not disappoint, I liked it better than Kuma's.

To me Chicago is a fine dining city. That's basically what it has to offer that is world class. Steak, hot dogs, deep dish... all that shit I could go the rest of my life without eating again and I wouldn't really care. I'm not the type of consumer that goes for that food, but for those people that like it, I understand Chicago is very good for it. But in my opinion, you come here for the fine dining.

Really - no trust for the palate of any Chicagoan because the food scene lagged behind San Francisco and DC? It's been pretty well established for a good 15 years now, whether or not the rest of the country knew about it.

As to who we had before Achatz and Kahan... how about Rick Bayless, Shawn McLain, Jean Joho, Rick Tramanto, Charlie Trotter. And Blackbird opened in the late '90s IIRC, so it's not really a newcomer at this point.

When I'm in Flushing, I tend to stick with Chinese, since IMO that's probably one of the more underrepresented Asian cuisines in the City. I haven't been to LA in a few years, but I'd love to try some Thai the next time I'm out there to see how it stacks up against Tac, or even Spoon, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's pretty much the standard out there.

And agreed about Great Lakes, they seriously need to get over themselves. $30 for a fairly basic pie with pretty standard ingredients is fucking robbery.

Do you have any places you like for under $25 per person? As much as I've love to hit up Alinea, Ria, and Everest every night, I can't quite swing that with my current salary.

On the "lockdown over kuma's" note, I'd say Franks and Dawgs on Clybourne is better than Hot Doug's if you factor in wait time, location, etc.

Tank Noodles is solid for under $25; There's also Manny's (A Chicago classic), Pequod's for deep dish pizza, Brunch at Bongo Room or Flo, Italian Beef at Al's or Portillo's , Tacos at the flea market on Canal and Roosevelt on Sunday morning (succulent lingua or al pastor with fresh pressed tortillas), Xoco or Gramwhich if you want discount celebrity chef.

Yeah, I'd say Franks and Dawgs is right up there with Hot Doug's, and the wait isn't obnoxiously long every time you go there. I've never been a fan of the Bongo Room, but I can see how it'd be a fun place to take out of towners.

I've lived here 6 years and haven't eaten a single Italian Beef Sandwich.....I decided that's going to change this week. I take it Al's is the place to go?

Maxwell Street market (the flea market at Roosevelt and Canal) has probably the best Taco's I've had in my entire life. Cool vid from when Bayless went there with Andrew Zimmerman: