Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing with the King

The Party Trailer at Super Bowl 46

2012-01-25T11:11:00.002-06:00

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin'

So anyone here in Chicago planning on taking the ride down to Indy during Super Bowl Week? What's that you say? You don't have tickets, nowhere to park, no hotel to stay? Hey, Hey, you got me and I got a deal for you. If you ever wanted to experience just the atmosphere and surroundings of what's always one of the biggest weekend events our country has, look no further. Tailgate Charters and The Party Trailer will pick you up in Chicagoland. Drive you down to Indianapolis where you'll get to party in the parking lot (1 mile from stadium) and eat and drink all day until you think you have a shot at sneaking into the Playboy Party. Then after all that, they'll drive your drunk ass back. Who dat you ask? Have you ever wished you could party for a living? Meet the Guy you envy.

ThePartyTrailer.com from Renovation Studios on Vimeo.

Looks dope huh? You can bet whatever you plan on putting on the Pat's or Giants that it is. We've been to Indianapolis twice now leading up to the Super Bowl and I gotta say it's a fun place. That little pelican wasn't lying when he said "there's more than corn in Indiana" Especially the weekend of Super Bowl 46. Its going to be three days of madness with all sorts of special guests including the folks at Coast 2 Coast Cuisine. Come for each day or stop by on one of them, it doesn't matter, the only thing we care about is that your Super Bowl weekend is a memorable one. Please note, it will be if your partying with the Party Trailer.

Click flyer to enhance for exact details or go HERE

I've done an entire week down at the Super Bowl and anyone else who has knows its a madhouse. Many places are rented out for VIP parties while others have lines down the block and some charge upwards of $500 just to get in. Good luck getting a drink or two when you do. So why waste your time with all that? We'll be living it up large in the parking lot while consuming all the food and drink you can with all sorts of other special events planned and games to play along with people to meet. You never know who might stop by. As far as the food, were not talking frozen beef puck patties and Oscar Meyer wieners. You'll be chowing down on pulled pork, brisket, Championship Chili, sausage from both Chicago and places far away like Texas etc

Cruisin' to Detroit

To give you an idea, some food served alongside the Party Trailer this past Summer/Fall

You hungry yet?

Rock on! Questions? Concerns? Email the Party People
________________________________________

See ya there? If not see ya next time @chibbqking

Woori Village

2012-01-23T11:11:00.000-06:00

-Asian in Chicago
Korean BBQ in Niles

It's been a while since we stopped in at a real deal Asian restaurant so today I thought we would over to Niles and visit Woori Village for lunch. Located in a strip mall, Woori is a large place and it gets packed on the weekends. We visited on a weekday and there were still plenty of Koreans in there enjoying lunch.

a locals favorite in Niles, IL

I was brought here by a friend who was recommended it by her good friend when she asked where we could find me some good bi bim bop. Korean food is varies. There's noodle dishes, rice dishes, rice cake dishes, seafood, meat, vegetarian, soup, stew, stir-fry, barbecue... all kinds of things. As always the lunch started out with the tray of small bowls of a little bit of everything aka pan chans. With kimchee and all that other good stuff, it's hard not to get a little filled up even before the main dishes come when eating at a Korean place.

Compliments of the house

My friend wanted to eat here because she loves the soup which she gets whenever she dines at Woori with her best friend. We went here overt he summer so I cant totally remember what soup she got that I snapped this picture of but I believe it was a jang choong dong which has a spicy beef based red broth. It was very good and would be even better in the winter months now. If anyone knows more, please feel free to comment.

Spicy Korean Soup

Woori is a buffet and does do Korean BBQ but we were only there for an easy lunch but a light Korean lunch is still bigger than most. We also got a order of Korean scallion pancakes, which she loves and I started to love. I always liked them but this version at Woori won me over.

Pan Jun aka Korean pancake

Then there's the bi bim bap, one of my favorites. At first I was being a little bit of a food snob when I saw that theirs came with ground beef. I'm not sure if you can upgrade to steak but I didn't and got ground beef. At first I was like WTF but after a couple bites I was like hot damn! It came served in a stone bowl and the rice was crispy and browned on the bottom, just the way I like it. All in all this was a very good version and I should of known from the get go since my friends good friend is Korean and knows whats good. Make a day of it and stop in at the King Spa and Sauna which is located in the same complex.

Bi Bim Bop from Woori Village

Woori Village
8526 West Golf Road
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 966-8990

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

2012-01-20T02:22:00.000-06:00

Regional Fast Food
-Classic Delaware Sandwiches made famous in Vegas

I first read about Capriotti's on LTHforum, the Chicago based food forum. Someone, either from the East Coast or Las Vegas, wanted to know if there was anyplace in Chicago with sandwiches similar to theirs. Which the poster said he craves daily. Not too many people knew of Capriotti's since they have no Chicago or even Illinois locations. The closest one's to us are all in Wisconsin. They have two locations in Madison, neither of which were around when I was living there and one in downtown Milwaukee. I was intrigued by what I had read about them after learning of the place so I always had it on my list. I checked it off while in Milwaukee not too long ago.

Location in Downtown Milwaukee

Birthplace: Wilmington, DE
Type: Franchised
Founded in: 1976
How Many Today: Over 60
Locations in: 11 states incl. WI and FL
Menu item that made them: Sub Sandwich

Today Capriotti's is well known by those people who are lucky enough to be near one. It all started off in Wilmington, DE which if you were unaware is a sandwich paradise. I've never been to Delaware but when I do get there, I'll be eating a bunch of signature sandwiches from all over. Capriotti's was started by a young lady who wanted to open her own sandwich shop in Wilmington's Little Italy so she borrowed the money to do so and teamed up with her brother and they named the shop after their grandpa. A recent trip to Philly aka Sandwich City, USA confirmed my love for the cheesesteak so I gave Capriotti's version a try. Not bad at all, especially for a franchised place, in fact it was really good. It was cooked to order, chopped up and topped with fried onions, their famous hot peppers and sweet peppers too. Should of got two.

Capriotti's Cheesesteak Sandwich

It was in1987 that the Capriotti's teamed up with their cousin and opened up a 2nd and 3rd store. They started to introduce their signature sandwiches around this time including "the Bobbie" which is it's most famous today. The Bobbie was the sandwich the person looking for something similar in Chicago wanted. Their approach when they first started was to capture the heart of "real turkey lovers" and they would roast fresh turkeys overnight. This was something that separated them from the other seven sandwich shops in the neighborhood. They began roasting one a night but then were up to twelve per. The sandwiches were made to order with the turkey meat. The most popular today is the 'Bobbie' which comes with that fresh roasted pulled turkey meat, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo.

Capriotti's famous "Bobbie" sandwich

Again this was another very good example of a "fast food franchise" sandwich. The bread was the best I can remember from a franchised place and I thought the 'Bobbie' was a satisfyingly simple sandwich thanks to the fresh turkey paired with their bread. I'd say I slightly enjoyed the cheesesteak better but so do many as that's their most famous hot sub sold. Well the companies dedication to quality sandwiches with above average ingredients got them to 44 stores before they started franchising which they do today. Now located in Las Vegas (Where most of their locations are) the original founders sold the company to an original franchisee and they seem to be doing a great job with with plans to have over 500 locations by 2015. I'm a fan.

The "Bobbie" is something Subway franchise owners enjoy...

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop
111 E. Wisconsin ave #130
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 223-2277

*Please note there are multiple locations throughout the country. Click HERE.

The Original Nana's

2012-01-17T00:01:00.004-06:00

-In Chicago: Every Dog Has it's Day

Do you ever have those days when you just want both a hot dog and a Italian beef? But not just any old of each? Legit representations! Well if you do I got the spot for you as today we head to the Northwest suburbs. You can ride all the way along Irving Park Road which is quite the ride for finding many different offerings of ethnic cuisine as you cruise it for miles on end from the lake all the way west past O'Hare. Once you get to the village of Streamwood you'll come across a spot which I consider to be the best place to get a good juicy beef and hot dog together.

a locals favorite/Vienna Beef Hall of Fame member in Streamwood, IL

I randomly found Nana's one day a few years back when taking a summer roll down Irving Park Road. As I can remember it's colorful sign letting you know they do Italian beef and sausage as well as Vienna Beef Hot Dogs along with a packed parking lot had me inside in no time. They've been around Streamwood since it was a sleepy little community back in 1973. It says alot that there still there today because plenty of eating options exist today but Nana's remains King. Originally owned by the daughter of Gene (from Gene & Jude's) and now Mike DiSilvestro. They perfected the art of the Chicago style depression dog aka the Minimalist dog with fresh cut fries.

A fresh fry cutter, seen at the best Chicagoland Hot Dog Stands

Mike who served our beloved country during Desert Storm added homemade Italian beef, grilled sausage, burgers, pizza and other items to the menu. Years and years of quality service to go with the authentic Chicago style eats and those hot dogs that remain the same as they ever were have this place a legend around its way. I love to stop in anytime I'm within 10-15 minutes of the area. Nana's offer's up a sweet combo deal that allows you to get one of their famous hot dogs as well as a mini beef and drink. You can go over to 'Beef With Hot' to check how their sandwich scored but I'll include here that their thinly sliced beef, which is homemade, is some of the best in Chicagoland and well worth the stop in for one.

Beef With Hot from Nana's (See how it scored HERE)

Then there's those dogs they do. Chicago is renowned as the best place anywhere for hot dog lovers such as myself and of course we got our own style, actually we got two. The Chicago style dog is a great, great creation but it's not the only way we make them here. My preferred style is the minimalist dog, which is what I grew up on eating Demon Dogs 5-7 times a week as a kid. The most famous place serving them these days is most likely Gene & Jude's in River Grove and as was already mentioned, Nana was Gene's daughter. So they got no problem making a classic version of "the other Chicago style hot dog". What makes this style so beloved by lifelong residents of the city is a combination of a couple of things.

a minimal amount of toppings available on your hot dog here

The first and most important part for making a perfect rendition is the dog itself. It's gotta be a Vienna Beef natural casing wiener. These all beef beauty's pack a nice beefy bite with a snap to them when you chomp in. Then they top the minimalist style dog with mustard, relish, chopped onions and sport peppers and stuff it inside a regular steamed hot dog bun and top all that with the other important part, the fresh cut fries. When you visit these famous minimalist style stands you'll see the workers cutting potatoes in the machine seen up above which are then twice fried to perfection and loaded onto your dog, almost like a topping. It's always standard they're included with the price which should never be more than $3. I always leave a few fries on when eating the dog. This my friends, is classic Chicago. No other city does it better.

Nana's Hot Dog with fresh cut fries

The Original Nana's
1102 East Irving Park Road
Streamwood, IL 60107
(630) 289-2226
Website

Annie's Jamaican Beef Patties

2012-01-12T11:11:00.002-06:00

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

I recently got to spend an early afternoon learning how to make an old favorite of mine. Jamaican Beef Patties first won me over when I visited the island for the first time. The islands signature and most well known dish is jerk chicken but the patty plays an everyday roll in most locals diets. You can find the pastry's, traditionally filled with spiced ground beef, almost anywhere from the side of the road to a restaurant or the grocery store and of course bakeries too. They're quick, ready to eat and cheap and as long as you like a little kick, taste great. However the best beef patties I have ever had come from a beautiful Caucasian baker from the Bronx. Annie is her name and you may have had your soups at Toons.

A typical Jamaican lunch (chibbqking does Jamaica)

When I first tried Annie's Patties I was blown away. Never expecting that that there day I would taste the islands dancing the day away to dancehall in my mouth. Her miniature Patties came to be, not from a trip to the island, in fact Jamaica is still on her and her hubby's "to get too" list. They were made one day when she wanted to go back in time to grade school when Jamaican beef patties were served in the Bronx school cafeterias for lunch. Since she was already an amazing baker it took no time to perfect the beef patty. Lucky me! I got to learn how. Ja Live! Paaaaaty YEAH!

Pattie Dough ready to go (Please Note: Dough is best made ahead)

I have zero to little experience when it comes to baking. I've never had a big sweet tooth and it's more of a science than it is freestyle cooking. However if I get the chance to learn how to make one of my favorite treats, which includes spicy beef, then I'm willing to learn some tricks of the dough and oven trade to do so. It was actually super smooth and I may even go as far to say I could do these again without the help of the Pattie Queen, but probably not. If you have any prior experience baking and dough making you shouldn't have a problem with these top notch treats. So first up is the filling. Traditionally a spiced ground beef mixture is used and that's what I like best but the filling options are almost endless.

Ingredients for Ground Beef Filling
(Yield 75 mini Patties)

- 3 lbs ground beef
- 1 bunch of cilantro stems
- 6 stalks of green onion (finely chopped)
- 4 TBSP flour
- 1 TSP curry powder
- 1 Cup water
- 1 Cup Jerk Paste (Mild or Hot depending on preferred spice)

Essentially what you'll need

Directions

1) Start off by adding a little oil to the pan and then browning and draining all of the ground beef. Use a potato masher or something like a wooden spoon to crumble it into very a fine consistency.

2) When drained and crumbled add in the curry powder, cup of Jerk paste, cilantro stems, flour and then the cup of water and the green onions. Mush it all up until it blends as one and then cook it a little longer, browning it and set aside to cool once done.

The beef filling cooking

Next up was the dough. this is where I had no clue what was going on but I did get my hands dirty and learned some things that will come in handy next time I'm baking up some meat filled pastries. The dough is best made ahead and left to sit in the fridge for a little bit. That's what we did and the first batch was ready to be rolled while I made the second batch with her from scratch. Lets check out a step by step look at how it was done.

Ingredients for Pattie Dough
(Yield 75 mini Patties)

- 8 Cups Flour
- 1 TBSP Curry powder
- 1 TSP Salt
- 1 Cup shortening
- 3/4 to 1 Cup of Water

1 Pack Goya
1 TSP Turmeric

Directions

1) Get your hands dirty and slowly start mixing the ingredients together until you have a nice ball of dough with the right consistency. Practice makes perfect. Add the water slowly allowing yourself to see and feel the consistency as you go, you cant take any out but you can always add more. Once ready give yourself a nice little space and sprinkle the area with flour and roll your dough.

Ready for rolling

2) Start from the middle and gently roll out from each side until its nice and thin. Flip the dough over each time you roll the pin from the middle out along each side.

Rollin' away

3) When the dough is stretched right to the point where any more and it'll pierce thru, your ready to cut it. Depending on what size you want them, take a cup or round cookie cutter and make circles of dough. Take the leftover dough and roll it together and repeat.

Ready for filling

4) Take the beef filling which should be at room temperature and also clumpy. This ensures that none falls out when biting into them, the beef sticks together. Use a small spoon to scoop out a mini meatball size worth and place each ball into a circle of dough as seen below.

Spicy beef filling

Ready to fold

5) Next your going to take the circle of dough with beef in it and fold them over. Use water to tighten them closed and then take a fork and press down making sure there are no air holes. Its gets easy after going thru a few. Make sure they're tightened otherwise they open during baking.

an unbaked beef pattie

Ready for the oven

6) Place your patties on a baking sheets with parchment paper and bake at 365 for 12-15 minutes (until golden brown) then serve. These make a great Super Bowl gameday snack and can be made ahead of time and reheated easily. I promise you wont have anyone that eats just one.

Please Note: Yes these will be the best beef patties you have had. I've had many and the ingredients here mold together perfectly and I love making them a little smaller so you can go thru a few. Do stay tuned, if like me, your scared of baking, you never know, a truck or store slanging these by the bag could come one day soon. Perfect munchies food.

Annie's Jamaican Beef Patties
________________________________________

See ya next time @chibbqking

Carniceria Ricardo

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

-Eating like a Mayan King in the Windy City

Those that love Mexican food and live in Chicago are lucky to do so. Whether you enjoy eating it out and whether that's the fancy high end or the low, low brow spots you love we got lot's. If you like to experiment in your kitchen and play around with recipes the Supermercados are as abundant as the taqueria's are and most of them have their own place you can eat at. The ingredients coming from the grocery store in almost all instances connected to each other so you can kill two birds with one stone and eat lunch while shopping for dinner needs. Always eat first before shopping. Today we head West on Diversey to a unique Supermercado Taqueria.

a locals favorite on Diversey in the Hermosa Neighborhood

I'll be the first to admit, not too many of these combo market/restaurants are different than one another, yeah the menus can vary but it's either the typical taco/torta/burrito menu or a cafeteria style line with stews and ready made meals like your at grandmas. But then at the same time, their almost always comforting, extremely filling, above average and have character to each their own. But what got Ricardo on my radar was their grilled chicken. The restaurant is located next door and connected to the grocery store. You can also enter the restaurant thru it's own door and you can see their awning with wood grilled chicken below.

Wood Grilled Chicken!? Sweet

As we enter

I was first rec'd Carnaceria Ricardo by Mike G from Sky Full of Bacon when he did a great round up of these Supermercado Taquerias over at LTH. It was an inspiring piece especially to someone like myself who will always try to stop in at as many of these as I can. Ricardo was named the favorite to that date. It wasn't just the food but the charm is what he said and I agree, when inside you can feel like you've stepped into Mexico. It's a popular neighborhood stop and one of their more popular ordered items is their wood grilled chicken adobo. No gas grills here, it's authentic, grilled with real wood and you just don't see this too often especially inside so when you do show some love. How can you not. Check out their setup below.

Wood Burning Grill

The menu is expansive and sitdown service is available but the chicken is what they boast about outside and it's what most people stopping thru for pickup are rolling in for. My visit was a couple months back but I got enough to feed three folks that can chow and couldn't believe the price, it was too cheap, I felt bad. The chicken being the highlight as advertised, it had some really nice wood flavor and was kicked up with the spice, it came grilled perfectly. Crispy skin, moist meat and plenty of warm corn tortilla's, grilled onions too.

Half of a Grilled Chicken Dinner (Rice, Beans and Fries included)

Since they grill up so much chicken they also have some specials like chicken tacos and flautas for $.99 which are popular with folks going into shop. These arent as good as the chicken dinner. The tacos were nice, they come with housemade salsa but the flautas are fried before and weren't crispy at all. But as cheap as they were I might even get a couple to chow on again if I ever stop in for some ingredients or a grilled chicken dinner. It's the places like Ricardo that keep Chicago running. I'm looking forward to exploring more of these Supermercado places this year.

Chicken Taco and Chicken Flautas

Entry into the Supermercado

Wood Grilled Chicken Adobo

Carniceria Ricardo
4419 W. Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL 60639
(773) 292-0400

Burger's, Pizza & Pasties up North

2012-01-06T07:11:00.001-06:00

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-Where WI meets MI in the U.P and the food they eat

Some chow from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this past summer. I like to post about spots during there prime season, however. I can still share these spots here today since this area is also alive during winter with people skiing and snowmobiling. It really doesn't matter what season this area is a beautiful place with plenty of lively outdoor activities.

Where Wisconsin meet Michigan along Lake Michigan

The Pass-ty, Paste-e or whatever you call it is something I'm not sure why I like but I eat. Simple flavors and somewhat bland I still like a pastie once or twice a year when up that way. The breakfast ones if offered tend to be much better but both these places featured here today were without them on my visit. I stopped into the U.P Pasty Express when riding by while taking a cruise to Lake Superior from the Northwoods of WI. I guess the main reason I'll get a pastie is b/c of the reason they were made for the miners. They're fine if you eat them an hour or three after you get them and both these ones tried were eaten when I got a little hungry while along the lake.

Ironwood, MI

Miners special (beef, potatoes, carrots and rutabaga)

Well as seen in the pic above the potato to beef ratio is about 90% to 10 and the taste was so damn bland I used the ketchup it came with to liven it, I don't use that sweet shit on fries. I would of enjoyed it much more if I was working in a cave mining coal, starving hungry on the 2nd part of a double day/night shift. Dobber's was a place I stopped in at while up in Marinette, WI. This location was in Menominee, MI right over the WI/MI border. I liked theirs better than UP Pasty due to there being a tad more beef and enhanced flavor with the side of gravy it came with. I don't know why but I'll probably order a pastie the next time I pass a place in Yooper Land that sells them. I just hope they arent out of breakfast ones.

Dobber's Pasties (Multiple U.P locations)

An Old Family Vaca favorite

Next stop was a place we found while driving along the lake near the WI/MI border last Spring. Jozwiak's looked like a classic Midwest tavern from the outside. The fact they've been around since 1948 and that there was a nice pizza aroma outside along with plenty of cars in their lot made it a stop despite not having much hunger in me.

Menominee, MI

Oh boy, whats that? Gonna have to try one of them too now...

Well if there was any night to stop in when I wasn't all that hungry, the night we went was it. It turns out the Wabash is their famous burger and on this night the special was a small, one topping pizza, two Wabash's and two drinks for $11 and those drinks can be beers. Not bad especially since the other fellow I was with, an amateur when it comes to chowing with the King, wasn't able to withstand any more food after the order was placed and thus left before it arrived.

The "Wabash"

Which left me with two burgers, two beers and a small pizza pie. Not bad for cheap tavern eats. The Wabash is a double cheeseburger served in the same way of many places in Wisconsin along Lake Michigan such as Mickey Lu's (report coming soon) in neighboring Marinette. I didn't see a real charcoal grill on display but the patties are charred and placed inside a crunchy toasted semel hard roll and topped with a nice chunk of butter and slice of Wisconsin cheddar. Pickles, ketchup, mustard, onions and relish are your options.

Two all beef charcoal grilled patties inside a crunchy toasted semel hard roll and lots of butter

The pizza was also pretty good especially for the price. 'The brothers three' was a place started in Marinette, WI in 1972 which was started by The Brothers Three who's original place is in in Cicero, IL. So they say the pizza made at Jozwiak's today is the same recipe the family used in 1962 at their pizza place in Cicero and the other WI locations. Good tavern thin sausage pie, worth the stop on a trip into the UP thru Wisconsin with the fam or friends.

"the brothers three" sausage pizza from Jozwiak's

U.P Pasty Express
1310 East Cloverland Drive
Ironwood, MI 49938-1606
(906) 932-4414

Dobber's Pasties

Jozwiak's Bar & Grill
1010 16th Avenue
Menominee, MI 49858-2854
(906) 863-2229
Website

La Tacorea

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-06:00

-Grubbing in Chicago
New to the 'Scene'

I have a couple new places to post about located on Belmont between Sheffield and Clark streets right off the Red Line. Korean Taco's burst onto the scene a few years back in Los Angeles. The fusion tacos became a popular on the food truck scene giving yet another example of the good that comes out of America and it's diverse backgrounds. In case your a food fan that's been living in a cave these are actually more Korean than anything ingredients wise, it just all goes into a tortilla so thus they're called Korean tacos. In Chicago we only have three spots that I know of serving Korean tacos with the newest of the three being La Tacorea.

Newly opened on Belmont just West of Clark Street

La Tacorea had the awning on their new place up for a while before they actually opened so I passed by a few times and it stayed fresh in my mind and since it's not far from Lincoln Park I got to stop in eventually a little while after they opened. It's a son teamed up with this mother and the menu is pretty simple. They offer the namesake tacos which come with the options of bulgogi (thinly sliced ribeye), short rib, chicken, shrimp and tofu. On my first visit the chicken looked promising and I went with that inside a burrito.

Korean BBQ Burrito

I'm not a big burrito boy but must say I enjoyed this one for what it was. The chicken wasn't dry which is the main reason I usually don't get chicken as my filling. It was well marinated and chopped up nicely into perfect size chunks. Along with the chicken they threw rice inside the tortilla as well as a bunch of other options of your choice including the Korean loved kim chi. The real stunner though when it comes to these are the homemade sauce they offer with them. Its a Asian/Mexican fusion like the rest of menu and really hits the spot. Get extra on the side.

La Tacorea Honey Soy Chicken Burrito

Then there's those tacos. Here they offer "jumbo tacos". Unless your a big chow king odds are one might be enough for you. They use flour tortillas as opposed to the other Korean taco spots I've been to which use corn. I think the flour are good for here because they fill the tortillas up, stuffing an entire meal inside and they hold up well. The owner told me his moms bulgogi is where its at, so I tried a sliced ribeye taco and came away impressed. This was the best bulgogi I've had used as a taco filling yet. The best part being how juicy it was, which was created by it sitting in a bunch of its own juices. So in the end yes Mexican-Asian fusion is and or was trendy but also can be very tasty. I just wish they'd infuse more Mexican into them aside from the tortillas.

Bulgogi Taco from La Tacorea

La Tacorea
847 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 549-3500
Website

Honey 1 BBQ

2012-01-01T11:11:00.001-06:00

-Grubbing in Chicago
Where the locals eat.

Happy New Year and cheers to a spectacular 2012. Year number five promises to be a chowing adventure of biblical proportions here at S'C'&C. I cant believe the eating hasn't stopped since Sept. of 2008. In fact there's longtime favorites that I still haven't posted about and places I went to a few years ago that still haven't made there appearance on here. When I first started using the internet and LTHforum as a tool to find the best most locally loved food stops I had never been to, Honey 1 BBQ was one of the first places I tried out.

a locals favorite on Western just south of Fullerton

Honey 1 has long been a favorite of Chicago BBQ aficionado/extraordinaire Gary Wiviott aka Da Wiv. It was his love for Robert Adams (proprietor) smoked pork that put Honey 1 in my rotation. It's nice to have a real deal no frills wood smoked BBQ joint on the Northside and I know there's plenty of regular customers who agree with that. The ribs are very good here but my go to order is always the tips/links combo. Great gameday eats and perfect to bring to a party. Honey 1 will set you up with whatever amount you need.

Bucket of Rib Tips

It's only fitting that I quote G Wiv since he described it best over on LTH. "Robert Adams is a man in tune with his BBQ pit...The perfect marriage of wood smoke and pork with just the right amount of chew, toothsome but never tough, moist, flavorful meat" Mr. Adams and his son use a real Chicago style aquarium smoker and when you catch them at the perfect time this is some of the best BBQ the city offers. The hot links have the perfect amount of smokiness, nicely grounded with some crunch on the outside. If Gary's description didn't get you hungry for some BBQ then you just don't have the love for it others do. So there's nothing more I can say except check them out.

Rib Tips & Hot Links Combo

Honey 1 BBQ
2241 N Western ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 227-5130
Website

See you in 2012!

2011-12-19T10:20:00.002-06:00

chibbqking will be back and better than ever for it's fifth year coming January of 2012, so don't stray away. See ya'll then and Happy holidays to all. Catch sneak peak pictures and what I'm eating/drinking in the meantime on Twitter @chibbqking

Hurtin'

2011-12-12T07:53:00.002-06:00

Gonna need a few days folks...

Cavalier Inn

2011-12-09T03:33:00.003-06:00

-Exploring NW Indiana

It's the holiday season and heavy shopping loads are here. Outlet malls are one of the more popular shopping stops during this time and in Chicago we are fortunate enough to have three within an hour ride of the city. Anyone going to the Michigan City, IN outlet mall, take note, I gotta food stop for you.

a locals favorite in Hammond Indiana

The Cavalier Inn or the 'Cav' as locals call it has been serving the Polish community of NW Indiana since 1949. Located in North Hammond it's a family owned joint that's now in it's 2nd generation with the founders son having taken over. Aside from the wonderful Polish 'stick to your ribs' menu there's also some great hospitality here and I found that out with my friend when we went to visit.

The view inside from the end of the bar

As always is the case I sat at the bar and we were greeted by the quirky guy with the long hair who I'm sure has been there forever, he knew everyone. We got started with some dirt cheap beers from the tapper and then went with a few of my must order items when dining at a Polish place. First out and this just show the old school-ness of the place was the relish tray.

Bread and Relish Tray before food comes out

The first item I always order from a Polish place is one of my favorites, potato pancakes. One of my favorite foods since my youth I usually never pass on them unless I know their from a box. I'm not sure where these ones were from but they were good. Perfectly browned and moist inside, I always go with sour cream as my preferred dip of choice with these.

Potato Pancakes from Cavalier Inn

Then there's the other item I gotta have at a Polski place, the pierogis. In fact they hold the annual Pierogi Fest in Whiting, IN next door to Hammond and take their dumpling serious around these parts. The Cav had an excellent example, both the cheese and meat ones. As we sat and raved about them the regular next to us started to chat us up. He told us how his mom used to make pee-air-ogi's as he called them and kept mentioning them throughout our talk. He said his mom made the best ever for he and his seven brothers and three sisters. She would make them at least twice a month and a minimum of 350 each time.

Pierogi's from Cavalier Inn

I bought our new buddy a Christian Brothers and the bartender gave him a token, He told us he only eats potato and cheese pierogi's and switched over to cheese when he started going to the Cav 40 years ago. He told us how he loved meeting folks like myself at the Cav and whenever he gets in his car he ends up there. There's never any fights, just friendly talk and folks is what he said. He was scared to let me take a pic but one of the cooler dudes I've ever met on my foodventures. We also got an order of the fried perch which was pretty good, I don't think it was lake perch, but not nearly as great as the guy we got to meet. That's why I love going to the locally loved spots, you can meet some great people.

Fried Perch Dinner

Cavalier Inn
735 Gostlin Street
Hammond, IN 46327
(219) 933-9314
Website

Joey's Shrimp House

2011-12-07T02:22:00.002-06:00

-The Shrimp Shacks of Chi

Joey's Shrimp House opened up back in 2010 and had my attention right then when I read about it in the 'Coming Soon' section of some food site. Unfortunately for whatever reasons I had never been by until recently. I drove by plenty of times and always said "I'm gonna check Joey's out soon" but would never remember too. Well I felt like some fried shrimp and remembered Joey's this crave around so I finally checked out the shrimp shack over on Western ave in Humboldt Park.

Another really nice fried shrimp shop in the Chi

When compared to some of the remaining fried shrimp shacks of Chicago, Joey's is just a little baby. But that comes with some perks. You can actually dine in here and they also serve beer and are open late, until 2a Fri. & Sat. It's a pleasant vibe inside I actually felt like I was at a seafood shop somewhere in Porta Del Sol. This is not a complete surprise since Joey's is a Puerto Rican owned place. On my visit, there were a few regulars watching TV, with who I assume to be Joey, the man who made the food.

View from one of the tables inside

I went with my standard order of jumbo shrimp (regular available too) and got a full pound to split with my mom. Not a bad price at $16 and Joey's uses Gulf shrimp which is nice. The rest of the menu is typical fried foods and also some sandwiches like a shrimp po' boy and what I plan to try next time, a shrimp jibarito. Joey's goes the extra mile and has homemade sides, including fresh cut fries, and also five sauces for your shrimp dipping pleasure. I thought these were really nice and similar to Goose Island Shrimp House which is a favorite of mine. Not as heavy breaded as the Goose's that's good and their hot sauce is identical and my favorite of them all. Joey's is now in my fried crustacean rotation, it took me long enough but it was worth the wait and probably better for my heart after four straight years of Smokin' Chokin' & Chowing. See ya next time.

A pound of Jumbo Fried Shrimp from Joey's Shrimp House

Joey's Shrimp House
1432 N. Western ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 772-1400

Santouka Ramen

2011-12-05T00:01:00.003-06:00

-Grubbing in Chicago (land)
Where the local 'burbans eat

The recent opening of Takashi's 'Slurping Turtle' has people from around Chicago excited to try what many are describing as "the real ramen" of course others who've been everywhere are saying it's average. For whatever reason the ramen craze hasn't taken off here like it has elsewhere. In fact some people will tell you there is no spots to grab the good stuff. However that's untrue, if were talking Downtown than yeah that's a valid statement. But if you go out to Arlington Heights and visit Mitsuwa Market (report on that coming) you can try some of the most well known and much liked Tonkatsu (Pork broth based) Ramen.

Santouka Ramen at the Mitsuwa Market food court

Santouka is a Japanese franchise that is the brainchild of it founder who one day had average ramen and from there on in started making his own. The popularity of the mans shop became so big and the legend rose with each mention in publications from all over the world that today they make his original recipe at locations all over Japan as well as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vancouver with several US in California and one in New Jersey and also Arlington Heights. Yeah that's alot of spots, all over the globe, but people swear by it for tonkatsu ramen. They also have a great track record for consistency from one spot to another. Ramen is what they got and its offered in S, M and LG sizes with a few different pork based broths with pork meat on top. I've had the miso and soy so far and enjoy them both very much.

Bowl of Tonkatsu Ramen from Santouka

I was put onto Santouka by a Hall of Fame poster over at LTH who also introduced me to the wide world of ramen. Before his review I had only been aware with the stuff I loved in high school and was already sick of in college. Sure I knew there's better in Japan but I never knew this good. This style comes from Northern Japan where it gets very chilly and it's made to warm you up PIGMON explained, that's why it's so damn good on a cold winter day. The broth is rich and super deep in flavor. Each broth has different tastes from rich to really rich but I liked them both and don't remember the differences that much. The noodles are imported from Japan with the perfect amount of chew and the pork is Berkshire and fall apart tender. Next time I'll be trying the founders favorite and their signature bowl the toroniku.

The noodles up close

Mitsuwa Market
100 East Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 956-6699
Website

Stefanelli & Sons

2011-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

-Chicago's Italian Grocers

Were heading out today to Blue Island to check out the historic Cook County suburbs original Italian grocer. From it's very beginning up until now Blue Island has been a very diverse town with a few of the blue collar favorites from when it was a thriving railroad town still around. These old time neighborhood establishments along with a history that traces back to the 1830's give Blue island an authentic feel you just don't get when visiting many other Chicagoland suburbs. Steffanelli & Sons opened up in 1975 and are still providing the people of the area with all their Italian grocery needs as well as some great options for a quick lunch.

A neighborhood favorite in Blue Island

Located on Main Street in Blue Island they also have a spot in Lockport, IL. Originally Calabria Imports which is now in Beverley, the people at Stefanelli are the family members who stayed behind and changed the name. Once you walk inside it's a clean nice sized grocery store with the shelves stocked with Italian goods. In back is the deli/lunch counter where you can get sliced meats for your fridge or maybe some of their homemade Italian sausage or if you cant stand to wait they make sandwiches to go too. Lets take a little look around.

Very nice selection of quality goods

I've only been to Stefanelli once and made sure I got a little taste of it all. Aside from some sausage (very good) that I bought to make at my place I also went with not one but two of their sandwiches. In Chicago, especially the southside and surrounding suburbs, you might encounter a "Freddy" on the menu at an Italian joint. It's nothing too crazy but still unique to the city. It's a Italian sausage patty placed on a sub roll then topped with marinara sauce, sauteed green peppers and melted mozzarella (giardiniera an option). They are a lunch staple around this way.

A Freddy sandwich from Stefanelli & Son's

I had eaten a few Freddy's in my lifetime before I knew they were a fixture for some and just like the 'Big Baby' cheeseburgers had caught on within this part of the city. The same man that taught me about those Big Baby's wrote a post on the Freddy sandwich over at LTH which is great. I'd eaten these sausage sandwiches before while hanging out in Beverley with my cousins in my youth but forgot about them along the way. Rene G, the man who wrote the post, liked the Freddy at Stefanelli & Son's best and I agree that it is very good. The sausage is well spiced and grilled as opposed to griddled which makes for some more good flavor.

The insides

Then there's also the good old Italian sub which they also do justice too. There are endless options for an Italian sub but not nearly as many options for one as good as those at Stefanelli.

The Italian Sub

Because of the high quality Italian deli meats and attention to detail along with wanting to do it right they are able to make a mean sandwich. As I ate this I remember thinking how this place might be considered the best if it was anywhere near the buffoons of the food globe who decide what the cities best is based on three or four neighborhoods. Just thinking about it as I post this has me planning a trip back at some point soon. Not much else to say expect look at the picture below, that about proves it. No?

The insides

Stefanelli & Sons
13012 S Western Ave
Blue Island, IL 60406
(708) 389-0300
Website

Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

2011-11-25T11:11:00.000-06:00

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

Hello all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and well while enjoying it. Now it's time for the shopping season so I know many family folk out there are going to be busy this Christmas season. So I have one more thing for y'all to be thankful for. The perfect recipes (that arent soups or gumbos) for your leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. The first one is the obvious one to many and in my opinion the best way to enjoy the leftovers and that's as a sandwich. With there being so many ways to make a turkey sandwich the toppings options on top of the turkey are endless. My favorite way to eat them is the simple simplicity of the slider.

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Sliders

Ingredients

- Whatever you have as far as leftovers incl. Turkey
- Mini Rolls such as Hawaiian or potato

Directions

1) Build your sandwich your way

I like to use a couple slices of turkey breast with some stuffing* on top of that. Then on go some mashed potatoes topped with gravy then some bacon garlic brussel spouts followed by cranberry sauce. All of this is served warm on the sandwich although its good too if the cranberries are cold.

Note* For these to be real turkey sliders you have to have made White Castle stuffing for Bird Day. Although your family favorite stuffing will work just fine.

Turkey Sliders for leftovers
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Mom's Turkey Divan

No my mom didn't create this dish. I imagine that at some point she saw a recipe for it and said "that look's easy" and made it one night back in my youth. You cant blame her for that because it was probably at a time she was busy as could be with four kids and the Christmas season here before Thanksgiving even leaves. This is childhood comfort food for me but if you you dont have any major beefs with any of the main ingredients you should like this almost effortless hearty dish. It's great for those of us in the cold weather states.

Ingredients

- Leftover Turkey (about a layer of a casserole dishes worth)
- 1 bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing
- 2 cups cooked broccoli cuts
- 1/2 cup cooked, chopped celery
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can or cans worth of cream of...soup (your choice)
- 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1) Layer baking dish with stuffing and then add the milk and celery. Add the turkey and then broccoli followed by the cheese. Pour the can of soup over all that and bake at 350 until done (about 30-40 minutes).

Turkey Divan Stuffing

Very tasty and easy to make
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See ya next time @chibbqking

5 More Tacos...

2011-11-22T01:11:00.004-06:00

-Eating like a Mayan King in the Windy City

Chicago is well known for our Pizza, Hot Dogs, Italian Beefs and a few other treats native to the city. No tacos arent indigenous to Chicago but they can be found on pretty much each and every block in all sorts of styles. Chicago is one of the best places in the world (outside of Mexico) to eat Mexican cuisine. It would be impossible to make a special trip to each and every taqueria in town but I try as many as I can, especially ones that for one reason or another stand out. So here are five more tacos spots from Chicagoland to which I have been.
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Big Star Taco Lounge

Chicago's most trendiest taqueria located in Bucktown

Despite the fact you have never seen a post on Big Star here on the site, that doesn't mean I don't like. First off I'm still waiting on time to get up some of my favorite food spots in Chi, so just because they haven't been featured doesn't mean I don't get there. While I'm the first to admit I'm not Bucktown's biggest fan, I'll also be the first to admit Big Star does it right. The popular stop for whiskey and tacos has been a hit with residents since they first opened two years ago. The menu is small and that allows them to do it well. On top of tacos they offer Sonoran Hot Dogs, a chicken tostada, salad and chips and guac too. The tacos are my go-to but the tostada is great too. Consistency has varied over time but it's usually better than good.

Big Star Chicken Tostada

The taco menu at Big Star has a little bit of it all with the exception of a beef/steak stuffed one. I think the fish taco is just ok and I'm not a Veg-Head so I never get the offerings with no meat. For me I tend to get the same two each and every time. While the al pastor is not cut from a spit the authentic and much preferred way, it's still very good. In fact it's the best pastor I have had that wasn't freshly cut. Perfectly crisped and well seasoned I enjoy the pineapple on top and eat these monthly. Then theres the tacos de panza, pork belly tacos, how can these not be good? They're great when they're on when super crispy and one of my favorite tacos in the city.

Taco Al Pastor (L) Taco De Panza (R)
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Carniceria La Villa #2

On Grand ave in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood

Of the 1000's of taquerias in Chicagoland, many of them double as butcher shops/grocers. It's hard to go a block in the heavier Mexican populated parts of town without passing one of these neighborhood groceries. It makes sense when everything they need to make a meal is stocked in store and many Mexicans and folks from all races for that matter who are from the working class enjoy a few tacos for lunch. I tried the skirt steak tacos from La Villa #2 this past summer and got a real nice bang for my buck. The steak wasn't char grilled fresh but it did have a nice char taste and some juiciness left. At under $5 for two these were something I'd eat often if I lived near there.

Dos tacos de carne asada y queso, onions, cilantro
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Super Tacos

At Manheim Road and Lake Street in Stone Park, IL

I passed by Super Tacos and noticed it for the cool looking old school building it sits in. Then I saw the 'tacos al pastor' sign seen on the window in the pic above and I pulled in to try them. You can see the fresh spit of meat they advertise and it was a pleasant surprise to also see the spit in motion as I entered.

Spit Roasted Pork Meat

Unfortunately that's about where the good signs stopped. Despite the roast being in place the men behind the counter never shaved the meat for my taco off of it. The place wasn't busy and it really should of been done the real way because then it might of been a good taco. Instead it was most likely cut off hours or maybe a day or two before my arrival and then reheated on the flattop and served dry with little goodness. The best places for al pastor are the ones that do it right which takes time, there are no shortcuts with it.

Tacos al pastor from Super Tacos
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Lauro's Tacos

On 26th Street in the Little Village neighborhood

When you take a drive down 26th street (South Lawndale) you can be taken to Mexico after just a couple blocks of riding. The Little Village or La Villita neighborhood is actually one of the cities largest communities with 1,000's of business that make their home there. Nowadays its predominantly Mexican and is also known as "Mexico of the Midwest". I couldn't tell you how many taquerias there are in La Villita but I can promise theres almost too many to try solo. I was attracted into Lauro's when I saw they do handmade tortillas.

Chili Rellano Taco

It is somewhat surprising that considering how many Mexican restaurants Chicago has that only so few do tortillas in house. But the (legit) reason for this is Chicago also has something like 6 or 7 tortilla factories all of which play a huge role in the local economy. Most taquerias and carnicerias get them delivered daily and their still warm when they use or sell them. But I still like a thicker handmade tortilla and Lauro's had those. They were very good and I liked the chili rellano taco very much. However the other fillings (steak and Tripa) were just ok. This is the biggest problem with the countless places the city has to offer, many of them are just average. But this is no different than anywhere else. The reason the alright places are just average is because there's so many places for great ones. What I'm trying to say is the average taco joint in Chicago would be one of the better ones in many other spots.

Carne Asada (L) and Tripas (R) Tacos
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Taqueria Ochoa

On 47th Street in Back of the Yards

Another one of the cities more ethnic and interesting streets to chow is 47th street. Stretching from Hyde Park all the way west you'll come across all sorts of different cuisine from all sorts of varying backgrounds. There's a couple stretches along 47th that are full of Mexican flare and I tried Taqueria Ochoa along one of them last spring. What got me in was their specialty of al pastor but I was saddened when I went in and there was no spit. I still opted to try one and instead also got one of their other forte's a taco de cabeza or 'head taco' too. The al pastor was ok. It wasn't a Sat. or Sun. so I would hope maybe they do a real spit on weekends and this meat was leftover and previously shaved off.

Taco al Pastor

The cabeza was actually pretty good, once you get past the fact it's the cows head your eating. It's steamed and rich in flavor making it perfect for a taco. Throw it in a tortilla and add on some onions and cilantro and a squirt of salsa and you got a meal. What really intrigued me though was the fact they serve carne en su jugo (on WKDS only) and traditionally the broth for this Jaliscan soup is made with the head of the cow and the meat is shredded and used in the soup. Now that cold weather is back it's my plan to get back and try that. Do stay tuned.

Taco de Cabeza from Taqueria Al Ochoa
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Big Star
1531 N. Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 235-4039

Carnicería La Villa #2
5800 W. Grand ave
Chicago, IL 60639
(773) 622-5453

Super Taco
1500 N. Manheim Road
Stone Park, IL 60165
(708) 223-2245

Lauro's Tacos
3443 W. 26th Street
Chicago, IL 60623
(773) 823-1554

Taqueria Ochoa
4151 W. 47th Street
Chicago, IL 60632
(773) 273-5144

French Onion Soup @ Home

2011-11-18T13:11:00.001-06:00

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

As any meatball American would tell me I'm not supposed to like anything about the French. But you gotta give it to them on their classic dishes in the kitchen including one of my favorite soups. French Onion Soup is something I usually order out and it can either be really good or very bad. If your at a steakhouse or very good classic French bistro it's usually great but other places it varies. I decided to go ahead and dip into the 2-3 day process of making a real deal batch of it. The most important part is the beef broth. So for this I made my own which is pretty easy.

Ingredients for Beef Stock

-3 lbs beef neck bones
-2 lbs beef soup bones
-Quartered Onion, Celery and Carrots
-Water and regular old canned beef broth
-S&P

Directions for stock

1) Take your beef soup bones and place them on a oiled baking dish and cook them at 350 for an hour.

2) Start out by lubing the bottom of a pan and proceeding to brown the beef neck bones on each side and then set aside.

Browning

Beef Neck Bones

Note: You can eat the meat off the beef neckbones as a snack or use it in another dish as I did.

2) Once the neckbones are browned and removed add water little by little to pot and scrape off the black bits on the bottom and then add the soup bones and half water and the other half beef stock to your pot (use a bigger pot and fill it 3/4 way). Proceed to add the quartered onions, carrots and celery as well as the salt and pepper and bring to an almost boil and then turn the heat down and let it simmer for at least 4-5 hours.

Note: It's best to let your stock sit overnight which is why you should always make the broth a day or two ahead. After it sits in the fridge for a few hours a layer of fat will form on top. Remove this but save it for cooking.

Ingredients for French Onion Soup

3 tablespoons butter (quartered)
2 tablespoons rendered beef fat
8 large yellow onions (halved and sliced)

2 cups water , plus extra for deglazing
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
6 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme (tied with kitchen twine)
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons paprika
Salt and Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons
1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
Shredded Gruyère cheese (about 3 1/2 cups)

Please Note: I used what I liked from two recipes including one from LTHforum via Cook's Illustrated and the other from what's said to be the recipe for Barr's (St. Louis) French Onion Soup.

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400, with rack in lower-middle position. Spray the inside of a dutch oven with nonstick spray. Add beef fat, butter, onions and 1tsp salt. Cook for an hour, covered, and then remove and stir, scraping the pot. Put it back in the oven with the lid off just a bit and cook for another 90-105 minutes, scraping at the hour mark, until the onions are brown and very soft.

Onions just added in

2) Remove the pot, put it over medium-high heat, and keep cooking for about 15-20 minutes, or until all the onions brown and the liquid evaporates. Keep cooking for another 6-8 minutes until you have a dark crust on the bottom, and then add 1/4 cup water and deglaze. Repeat this deglazing/evaporating process two or three times, and then stir in the sherry and let it cook until it evaporates again.

Onions just about ready

3) Add all the broth, two cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 tsp salt and deglaze again. Bring to a simmer over high heat, and then reduce the heat back down and let it simmer (covered) for 30 minutes. Throw away the herbs and season with S&P.

French Onion Soup ready for serving

4) To make the croutons, bake the baguette slices on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until dry and golden.

Soup in the bowl before bread and cheese

Before the layer of cheese goes on top

5) Fill broiler-safe crocks with soup, top with baguette slices, sprinkle with gruyere, and broil for about 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted bubbly, and then let it cool for another five minutes.

French Onion Soup: Good to go
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Bonus chibbqking Original Recipe

Beef Neckbone Poutine

Ingredients

- Meat removed from beef neckbones
- 3 large Idaho Potatoes
- 1 Onion (diced)
- Shredded cheese of your choice
- Beef Gravy
- Salt & Pepper

Directions

1) Bake the potatoes until done and let cool in fridge. Then make your beef gravy. I made mine from the beef fat rendered from the stock using a traditional recipe for gravy.

2) When ready to make take the potatoes out and dice them up and then do the same with the onion. Sautee a frying pan and then add the onion and cook for five minutes. When onion starts browning add the diced potaotes and let them get crispy on the edges and then add the neckbone meat and salt and pepper and cook another five minutes.

A different take on a French Canadian favorite

3) Two minutes before you turn off the heat, add the cheese and toss it around. Add desired amount onto each plate and then top it with gravy.

chibbqking Beef Neckbone Poutine
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See ya next time @chibbqking

Brando's Beef

2011-11-16T11:11:00.001-06:00

-Got Beef? Italian Beef
as seen on 'What's Your Beef?'

With cold weather coming you can expect constant beef with hot's over at it's homebase. Around sometime last year I was informed of a newly opened beef spot in Berwyn called Brando's. As many Italian beef focused food stops as Chicago has there arent tons that focus on da beef that open up. Many and most of the stands that have already been reviewed on here have been around a while. When a new beef place opens up it tends to be franchised Al's or maybe a Pop's or Buona. I had Brando's on my mind since I was informed about it but never made it until just last month. Lets take a look.

A newly opened instant favorite beef shack in Berwyn

Brando's is a family run business that feels like they've been there forever. The staff was joking around and obviously enjoyed each others company and there was a family there for dinner and a few regulars who came in and took orders to go. Brando's menu includes other options like pizza and whats supposed to be a very good meatball sandwich but this being my first visit I was there for the beef. I went with my usual beef with hot and also an order of the fries which came with heavy praise from those who had already been. What took me so long? I thought this was one of the better beefs I've had of late. The gravy had depth to it (wasnt from a can or a bag) and the beef was excellent, made in house and finely sliced, it melted on my tongue. Those were the best parts to it while the bread was very good and the peppers were ok. I doubt they make the giardinera on site but it didn't detract from this classic example of a Chicago style Italian beef sandwich. If they can be consistent it's gotta be considered one of the best.

Brando's Beef with hot and fresh cut fries

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 5
bread: 4
gravy: 5
hot peppers: 3

Score: 17/20

Brando's Beef
6838 Windsor Avenue
Berwyn, IL 60402
(708) 788-2333
Website

Butcher & the Burger

2011-11-14T10:10:00.001-06:00

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Chi

I normally stay away from the newly opened hot spots at least a couple months before I decide to try them, if I ever do. Butcher & the Burger would be one of these types of hot spots (for now anyway). As far as trendy goes B&tB has everything going for it. They got the name which nowadays has to include two names with an & in between, they do burgers which are HOT and are also a butcher shop in fancy Lincoln Park. Everyone in line was on FB and Twitter (incl. Me) while using their iPhone. I'll save their story and the names behind the place for all the press that's coming and share my experience. I tried it recently because I was hungry, driving by and happened to pull upon a parking spot.

on Armitage in Lincoln Park just west of Sheffield

I walked in around peak lunch hours and there was a line (you order and then sit down) and a few if any seats. It's a pretty small spot including the kitchen, I thought the grill space was and could be a problem. Then again it had just opened 10 days ago and it was a beautiful Friday afternoon. So they were packed and the order took 20 minutes but I cant complain about that. They encourage you to call ahead but with this being my first visit, added to the fact you build your own burger I didn't want to call in. I understand mistakes in orders happen when a newly opened place gets flooded and one seemed like it could doing a call in.

Waiting in Line

They also have a guy walking around with an iPad like device that takes orders and payment to those in line so they were trying to move it despite the limited space which is nice. After I ordered I went off to the back where you can get a peak inside the meat locker. The team making the food seemed to be in-sync as one lady hand patted and seasoned each patty before handing it off to the grillmaster who grilled it and then dressed them before handing the plate to the extra help guys who would top them with fries. The flames were rising high with the grill being packed with patties. I liked what I was seeing which was because of the fact there wasn't anywhere for me to stand except over the action. I was tempted to try their custard when I saw the top flavor for the day.

Custard Menu (Flavors change)

I took my order to go since I'm only a five minute drive back. You start off with your preferred burger, I did the ground in house beef blend ($8.50) but there are other options and not all beef. Then you choose a blended spice mix to add in which also has many options ranging from Simple (sea salt and cracked pepper) to Burger Meets Sun (ghost pepper). I went with Chicago Steakhouse blend which you cant ever go wrong with.

Spice Rack

Next is your bun which I chose to be the traditional split and buttered egg bun, pretzel rolls are available for .50 cents extra. Only after all that do you tell them your topping options. The "on of the house (no charge)" toppings include your cheese preference and all the usual suspects while theres also options that are extra like a fried egg ($1) or Benton’s Tennessee Mountain Smoked Bacon ($2). I went with my traditional toppings of grilled onions, mustard, pickles, I chose cheddar cheese and had to try the bacon. I also got the fries which I've heard good things about so I wanted to try them too.

Waiting at the back

The result? Not bad! If your willing to look past the price ($13 and change) and you like a good burger then this could be a good spot. They cook them to your preferred temp inside mine came out medium rare. The bacon as seen below was thick and fantastic, which the same can be said for the fries. I cant recall which type of fancy potatoes they said they use but they taste great and my order was cooked to a perfect crispy consistency with the perfect amount of salt sprinkled on. My only complaint and this is personal taste is that they use the bread and butter pickles which are too sweet for me. I like deli sliced better. Even if it wasn't as good as it was I'd of given them another shot if only because they're close to me and it was crowded to the point where I could see the new workers, not yet in the groove, getting overwhelmed but they didn't so extra props for that. I'll be back.

A burger built my way

I stopped back in this past weekend to try a breakfast sandwich which had me tempted on my first visit. They make their breakfast sausage in house and on my most recent visit the meat locker had some nice looking things inside of it. On top of some nice coffee and beignets which are offered all day you can also get a burger with no bun for breakfast as well as a sandwich with your choice of pork along with eggs, cheese and onions served on a croissant roll. This time I tried the house sausage and that too, like the bacon, is really tasty. It's got a little more of a sweet kick to it than spicy but worked well with the fresh croissant. I look forward to buying some items out the meat locker on my next visit back. Nice to have them in the neighborhood.

House breakfast sausage sandwich

Butcher & the Burger
1021 W. Armitage ave
Chicago, IL 60614
773-697-3735
Website

Don's (Drive In Restaurant)

2011-11-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

-In Chicago: Every Dog Has it's Day

With the recent post on Philly sandwiches here on the site followed by a big Bears win this past Monday night, it's only fitting we show some love to the home city. Today we go to Don's Drive In on Kedzie between 77th & 78th streets in the Ashburn neighborhood on the city's Southwest side. While I haven't been able to get an exact date I do know they've been around for a while. It's long been a neighborhood favorite for this blue collar working class community and also a lunchtime hot spot for the workers at the Nabisco factory down the block.

A locals favorite in the Ashburn neighborhood

Although not a working drive in it signifies the old school Chicago style hot dog stand with it's small walk in space where you go to place your order along with a few tables outside to eat. Otherwise it's in your car or on the hood if it's nice out. Don's will catch your eye if your driving by with their cool little building with a hot dog man standing on top. The only problem is the hot dog is committing suicide as he seems to be spraying ketchup onto his head. As you 'drive in' to their lot your also greeted by a large burger on display which they purchased from a now demolished Drive In in from the suburbs.

"We Move Our Buns"

Don's has a pretty large menu for such a small space but most people are there for their hot dogs and Polish sausage. Some people I have seen do get burgers, steak sandwiches and some of their other offerings too but the Vienna Beef encased meat is where its at. Although I prefer my VB's in natural casing form I still love the dog at Don's. They're Chicago Style to the fullest with the only little twist being they use sliced cucumbers as opposed to pickles. Everything else associated with the better known of the two Chicago style's is on there including the poppy seed bun.

A Chicago Style with everything from Don's

My preferred choice at Don's is the Polish sausage, particularly the Fire Polish. That's the one that comes fried (the regular does too) with the works. I believe the name for it comes from the neighborhoods local firehouse and the past firemen from there that loved it although don't quote me on that. Yes I do prefer my Polish with just grilled onions (lots), mustard and sport peppers but how could this be bad? It's a deep fried Polish with Chicago style dog toppings. You gotta love Chicago and all the classic neighborhood hot dog stands that have survived the times.

Don's 'Fire' Fried Polish Sausage

Don's Drive-In Restaurant
7748 South Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60652
(773) 476-9392

Sandwich City, USA

2011-11-01T01:11:00.003-05:00

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-The World Class Sandwiches of Philadelphia

Hey folks, sorry about the delay between posts but it was a busy October. I got to make my inaugural visit to Philly and came away loving it. I spent 2.5 days with three different friends of mine who live there and showed me well. The only jag bag the whole trip was the first guy I saw on the train collecting ticket money. "Great folks all around from all sorts of backgrounds" is the description I would give the locals I got to interact with on my trip.

Center City Philadelphia

Philly is the "Don of all Dons" when it comes to good sammys. The Iggles most certainly looked better against the 'boys and now have a pivotal in-conference game vs. Da Bears, however they aint no "Dream team" but the sandwich shops in Philly are indeed the real deal. Sick as I am, I planned my whole trip around sandwich stops. So I never made it to the Liberty Bell, other historical notes of interest or any of the museums, no running the stairs with Rocky just lots of food and beverage stops and nonetheless I now think Philly is one of the more underrated cities in America. I cant wait to get back.

The only statues I saw were those I happened to walk by

Day One I got in early and before leaving had plugged some address' into google maps to see which spots were near and others that were close to each other. None of my friends were off until the early eve so I planned a taste tour of my own. First stop was John's Roast Pork. About 3 miles from the Historic District where I was staying so it was a easy bus ride getting there.

A Must Stop Philly Sandwich Shop

John's has been discussed as one of the must do's while in Philly. All of the talk I've ever heard about the place is praise. Well let me further glorify the sandwiches sold here. Located in what looks like it could be most suburbs in America it's tucked away between a bunch of newly developed strip malls holding the usual suspects. Nonetheless it's a James Beard award winner and the famous sandwiches are why.

The sliced pork and beef

Sandwich being made

The roast pork is Philly's lesser known signature sandwich but also it's more valuable. The weather was perfect on my visit which was right around Noon so there was a line out the door to eat. No tables inside but they got a few benches out back otherwise its the hood of your car or the sidewalk. Lets take a look.

John's Roast Pork Sandwich

The Philly pork sandwich is thinly sliced roasted pork which is stuffed into an amazing seeded roll. Topping options include sharp provolone and sauteed spinach as well as assorted peppers. I wanted to taste the pork so I opted for no greens but did get cheese at John's. Unlike most other Philly sandwich shops you do have the option for a smaller sized portion here but you don't want to do that as they are served on round buns and not the signature seeded loafs.

Centerfold Material

Excellent sandwich, one of the best ever as has been said by so many others. John's is also supposed to have one of the cities better cheesesteaks but no way I could do both in one visit with what I still had coming. On top of that their roast beef sandwich is also supposed to be fantastic. Philly was alot of fun so I know for sure there will be a next time. If you can in addition to a roast pork, try a Steak Milano (w/Grilled Tomato & Provolone) or roast beef sandwich too.

A Popular South Philly Sandwich Shop

After about a mile or so walk into South Philly I arrived at Chickie's. This was on my list but not for their famous veggie hoagie but another one of their must try subs. It seems like theres 100's of these corner store/deli's around Philadelphia. It's a small space inside but people were still shuffling in and out for sandwiches, drinks, snacks and such.

Fried Tomato Hoagie

I was here for the Fried tomato hoagie. Basically a BLT on HGH, it's fried tomatoes with lettuce, lots of bacon, roasted red peppers and the option of turkey too. Just like every sandwich I ate in the city this was huge. It was a beautiful day out so I was able to sit at one of the tables outside along the shop. I threw down half and saved the other for my buddy who I was meeting up with too watch the Phillie's game later. Exceptional start to my Philly Sandwich Tour.

The insides

Then there's the Philly cheesesteaks, the most well known food item the city is famous for. Most people not from Philly I've talked too seem down on it as a super sandwich. It seems to me that most of those who didn't like their cheesesteak experiences had them at Pat's and or Geno's. Neither nor of them for me on this trip. But even still during the times I was in the area of them I had other tourists asking me where they were...

The Tourists spots

I did stop in at the South Philly Sports Bar (across the street from both) for a few mid afternoon brews but I had two other spots both within a mile range of Pat's and Geno's for my steaks on day one. In South Philly they're offered everywhere, its the center for them. But just walking around Center City and most every other neighborhood I was in you'll get whiffs of cheesesteak from every crevice and corner.

Walkin' South Philly

I don't see how those that live and work in the area cant and wouldn't get a craving for one now and then. The whole city smells like Union ave in Chicago where the dueling Maxwell Polish Sausage stands reside. On my first day in town I walked over to Cosmi's Deli after some Yuengling's at the South Philly Sports Bar. This would be my first cheeseteak experience ever in Philadelphia. So how did that go?

South Philly locals favorite

Cosmi's came rec'd from a trustful source who knows his Philly sandwich shops. I was all over it, ready to try them when I was also told its the cities best example of a cheesesteak hoagie. The difference being as a hoagie it comes topped with lettuce, tomatoes, both raw and fried onions, mayo and oil. Actually my preferred way to eat a cheesesteak, at least from Ken & Betty's in WI (report coming) and the now gone Hoagie Hut from Highland Park and Lincoln Park.

Philly Soft Pretzels at the Register

I was offered a regular roll or seeded and chose the seeded one and it made the sandwich taking it to elite status. Along with the finely chopped steak that was loaded into the middle and packed some real meat taste up in it. I would eat this sandwich again and again. So far so very good.

Cheesesteak Hoagie from Cosmi's Deli

After those first three sammy's I was a lil woozy and headed back to my spot to freshen up before heading out for the evening. We watched the Phil's blow game 4 to the Cards at Cavanaugh's Sports Bar right on the Rittenhouse Square. Philly sports fans much like Chicago are very passionate so it was fun watching a big game with them, even if we were in the trendy part of town. One of the few non sandwich items I ate were the house blended wings which were excellent. No idea what their special sauce used is but these were great. Sweet and spicy the perfect balance of each.

Wings from Cavanaugh's Rittenhouse Sports Bar

So no win for the Phil's meant a little less happiness in the air but we still went off to Philip's for another cheesesteak. I did a little websearch on locally loved cheesesteak spots and a few factors put Philip's on my list. I was with two buddies from Philly who had just met thru me, one of them never heard of Philip's, the other was shocked that I knew about it and insisted we go as it was his late nite steak stop.

Phililp's Steaks on West Passyunk in South Philly

Not far from Pat's and Geno's they also got a walk up ordering system, you either eat outside or take them to go but no attitude given, they were nice and knew I was a tourist after my friends told them so. The onions flood the streets and there were a few people pulling up for their steak fix every few minutes. No whiz for me, my regular steak order is American cheese with (onions). Although this was my 2nd steak in Philly it was my first late nite after hours one and maybe that played a part in why I inhaled the whole thing in less than four minutes. But I wasn't Mike Ditka at the White House, I was actually tired.

Cheesesteak from Philip's

What made it so good was what got me in when I read a rec. Philip's uses ribeye and slices it there in house (I saw the batch, it was beautiful bright red) and does so a little thicker than most places do. Cheeseteaks biggest difference from one another is the steak itself and what cut of beef is used, how it's cut, cooked etc and the ribeye sliced a little thicker made this taste like, well a ribeye steak sandwich. The onions as always are great and the bread was fresh too. If you do find yourself inebriated at Philip's one late Philly nite, don't run your mouth off to anyone. It's mobbed up. But that doesn't keep the cops from stopping by for one .

A cheesesteak that might make you switch your mind about them

It was time to call it a night Wednesday. As one of my friends walked home from Philip's the other gave me a ride back to the Historic District but was still hungry and wanted to get another. I was stuffed but couldn't pass it up as I wanted to try as many as I could. So we stopped in at Jim's Steaks on South Street after he determined Steve's Prince of Steaks was too far North.

The famous Jim's Steak's on South Street

Jim's however was also on my list. It's one of the popular spots and has a few locations. Not the original but the most frequented is this location on South Street which is basically Philly's version of Belmont and Lincoln ave (Chicago) smushed into one. A lively street and neighborhood especially when the sun goes down and the freaks and college kids come out. This was my only visit to South Street but I had hoped to get back. Jim's usually has lines out the door up until bars close but with the Phillie's loss it was kind of dead around 1a.

Waiting in line at Jim's

Jim's has been around for almost 70 years. One of the more appealing cheeseteak shops to your eyes it's got a beautiful art deco design to it and a fun experience as well. As you enter you go into the line which takes you past the grill as the steaks are made so you get to see and smell them. It was the usual order for me, American cheese wit (onions). No more secret menu at Jim's so I didn't get the chance to stock up on any Lady Gaga, Ecstasy, Greenery or any of Rush's favorite Prescription Pills, as the bust took place before my arrival . They do still serve beer and have seating upstairs and down. We ate at the counter inside downstairs.

Half of a Cheesesteak from Jim's

Jim's is another one of the places that chooses to chop the steak finely as seen in the pic. Another good sandwich but not my favorite. It tasted more like a roast beef sandwich, which might of been due to the cut they use, not that that's a bad thing I just preferred the first two to Jim's. What a great first day in Philly I thought to myself as I then proceeded to pass out within a minute of hitting the bed.

Sunrise on the Delaware River

Day Two my buddies both had work again so I had a eating/seeing itinerary all planned out. I walked from the hotel over to Center City and stopped in at the Reading Terminal Market, one of the countries oldest and largest public markets. I really wasn't that hungry and that was a shame because this place is fantastic. I wish we had something like it in Chicago, they have everything to do with food in there. Books, ingredients, prepared meals, cooked to order lunch, they got it all.

A Philly Destination for everyone

Views from inside the Market

Most discussions on where to stop and get Philly's best sandwiches will direct you too Dinic's. The famous sandwich shop that almost always has a line and everyone who's been and knows is happy to wait. Dinic's serves sandwiches, pork butt and brisket. With sharp provolone and or broccoli rabe as your topping options. I arrived right around 11a and just beat the line which was around the corner by the time I sat down. The hunks of pork and beef sit there as the sandwich makers roll thru them with breeze so the line does move fast which is good because your mouth will drool.

Located inside the Reading Terminal Market

If you go after 11a they also offer the Pulled Pork Italiano sandwich which is the same pork used for the sliced sandwiches except it's cooked until 11a and then shredded. The combination of all that goodness together easily makes it a favorite at the books in Vegas for "best regional sandwich in the states". Incredible, the only thing that could of been a little better was the bread but with Philly being one of the better bread producing places I've ever been too, even the alright stuff is superior to most other places.

Dinic's Pulled Pork Italiano

I already got the sense that Philly was thee spot for sandwiches on day one and then my first sandwich on day two made that even clearer. We also stopped at Dinic's and the Market before leaving for the airport on the way out of town and I tried half of a sliced roast pork which is equally good.

The Meat Slicing Station

If your with someone else get one of each. I know the brisket is supposed to be phenomenal as well so that's what I'll get next time. I just didn't have the room after trying some other treats from the many other merchants. All these sandwiches you see in this entire post are pretty much foot longs and none of them offer half options. No surprise the only place not packed at lunch time in the Market was the salad bar shop. There's not much of anything that's small in Philly .

Dinic's Sliced Pork Sandwich

Frank's Famous Baked Wings

Pastrami and Corned Beef Sandwich from Eastside Deli

After taking in the Market I headed out and walked over to 9th street and took that into the Italian Market. Again another spectacular place. The walk from Center City was beautiful passing thru the neighborhoods and then entering the blocks of butcher shops, produce vendors as well as seafood and most everything else you need. It's a fantastic stretch of many different cultures with Italian being the forefront but you can find everything you need no matter what type of cuisine your planning on cooking.

The Italian Market Neighborhood Story (Click Pics to enhance)

I came thru here both Thursday and again on Friday and loved my visits. There's a nice bar called the Wishing Well which I stopped in at and liked. Also a really cool seafood distributor/store/bar/restaurant called Anastasi's Seafood that has great oysters and a fun bar with fantastic food. Their fish sandwiches are supposed to be really good as are the Italian seafood pasta dishes. Let's take a little pic-trip thru the Italian Market.

Philly's Italian Market neighborhood

Of course I also stopped for a sandwich while walking thru the magnificent mile of meats, cheese and other eats at the Market. George's Sandwich Shop has been heavily endorsed by regulars over on LTH as well as 'Holly Eats' both of whom I'd trust with my last meal on earth. Just like many of my previous stops George's delivered but with the rec's it got there was no reason to think it wouldn't.

Italian Market Sandwich Shop

George's was praised on LTH and Bizarre Foods recently for their tripe sandwich and I really wanted to try that and hoped to on the rebound but never got the chance. You can walk in and sit down at the counter or order from the walk up window. The menu has nothing that's not supposed to be anything short of fantastic. The tripe, veal and sausage looked great sitting in the window and the cheesesteak has won cities best a few times.

The view of the meats from the window

But I had heard that the meatball was the best in Philly and they take their balls of meat in bread serious there. I was tempted by the Charlie Sheen which was "a little bit of everything" but went with a meatball with sweet and hot peppers. I came to Philly expecting to have the best cheesesteak and roast pork sandwiches I ever had and that was accomplished but so was eating the best meatball and best Italian sub (read on) I've ever had too. It's no surprise though since this is Sandwich City, USA and they love the old Italian-American favorites.

George's Meatball Sandwich

The sandwich had perfect not too big sized meatballs. An old family recipe that's sits in their special gravy which is ladled on top. After a few beers and then the sandwich I was ready for a late afternoon nap before having to do it all over again. I walked from the Market back toward the river. Unfortunately Water Ice (think Italian ice) season was over with so I never got to try John's which is famous for it's six flavors. As I walked home along the river I passed by another stop on my list. Shank's Original has been a famous Philly sandwich shop since they first opened up in the Italian Market in 1962 and became the spot for locals of the area. They closed down there but weren't gone long as they opened up shop at Pier 40 along the river.

Shank's Original on Columbus ave along Delaware River

Now called Shank's Original its the same as it ever was just newer location. They have a few spots to stand inside as well as tables overlooking the water outside but most people take it to go. Again just like everywhere else they offer an array of sandwiches. Also, so it seems, like everyone else they won best of Philly Cheesesteak too. In fairness they've been doing the award since the early 80's. But they also won "best chicken cutlet in town" and that was another Philly signature sandwich I wanted to try. I went with the Cutlet Italiano which comes with sharp provolone and rabe.

Chicken Cut Italiano from Shank's original

The cutlet was big and juicy as was the sandwich as a whole and again the pairing of that sharp provolone and rabe is an instant winner. I was happy to have checked another one off my list but equally as happy to be getting a nap and not have to eat for a few hours or so. I was starting to feel the heat and could only finish half.

Looking across the river into Camden

A funny thing happened as I walked the Italian Market earlier in the day. I heard my name being called out and when I looked back it was my old friend who I had thought moved from Philly to San Fran since I last saw him this summer at our annual Sisters Lakes Michigan gathering. Small world he was working at his uncles shop so we made plans to stop in at an old favorite of his which we had chatted about over the summer. He used to work at Dalessandro's Steaks & Hoagies in his college days and had told me it was the best and thus I had it on my list. Unsure if I'd make it since it was a little bit away and I didn't have a car it all worked out as he borrowed one and we planned to meet around 8p to head over there. But not before I stopped in at Nick's Original in South Philly which was near his place while I waited for him to get ready.

a South Philly Locals Favorite

Nick's was the shit. One of the more authentic bars I've drank at, it was a great time inside. The Flyers were kicking off the NHL season and all the regulars were at the bar shooting the shit. Philly and South Philly in particular is very diverse and so was Nick's. They had the group of regular Italians sitting along the small bar inside, with a group of young black men sitting at a table dead focused on the hockey game. Asian and Mexican folks too both dining in the room in back and taking orders to go with their families. I visited twice, came back the next day before leaving for AC, and both times regulars walked in and announced their presence with a big HEY! and told the bartender what they wanted to drink and to "add a round on for everyone at the bar too".

The view inside

What a great place, people I didn't know buying me drinks on separate visits. Of course it wasn't long until they wanted to know who I was, where I was from, how I found Nick's etc They loved that I was from Chicago and there to try their famous roast beef sandwich. Nick's has been around since 1938 and they have a limited but plentiful menu. They do sandwiches and offer their namesake roast beef as well as a pork and turkey. Everything is roasted on site and sliced to order. The guys making the sandwiches are pros as they yell across the bar to the patrons about the Eagles woes and whether or not the Phillie's got a shot (I guess not).

The roasted meats bar

It wasn't until I returned to Chicago that I read the pork might be better than the roast beef at Nick's but I had to have a roast beef my first go. I love a real roast beef sandwich served hot with gravy on top. Plus on top of that I'm pretty sure it's all good-pork, beef and turkey at Nick's. I'll get thru all three, I would go on a Philly vaca just to hang out here.

Nick's Original roast beef sandwich

If that looks mighty good to you it sure was. Cooked to a perfect consistency as to where they slice it off but it doesn't crumble apart like a real roast beef sandwich should. The gravy is made from the juices of each roast and the bun is great. Get it with sharp provo for that extra kick. The only other menu option at is fries which can come with or without gravy. I had to stop in on Friday to try these and was loving it when I did. Just some average fries are taken to another level when they add gravy with all the fallen pieces from the roast mixed in. Perfect bar food.

Gravy Fries from Nick's

My buddy scooped me up from Nick's and we headed North to Dalessandro's. This was fun as I got to see an entire different part of Philly and it was really nice. Some sweet homes in this 'hood where the famous steak shop has been located since 1960.

Another winner in the Best of Philly cheesesteak category

It was a Thursday night and as mentioned the Flyers were playing so people were out and Dal's was packed. We waited a few minutes for some seats and eventually got them. They serve beer and have a nice bottled pop selection as well and you can eat there and watch whatever is showing on the TV.

The view inside

My buddy who was a former employee told me the story of how it was sold out of the family a while back and everything changed for the worse but since then it was bought by another family, friends with the original owners and from the neighborhood and everything is back to normal which is great. The cheesesteaks are sliced ribeye and chopped here so you can hear the steakmasters chopping away as you sit and eat yours.

Dal's cheesesteak with onions and green peppers

My overall winner of cheesesteaks on this trip I loved this sandwich. Similar to Al's Italian Beef in not just that the meat was shredded but the seasoning was unique too. My buddy told me to get it with their peppers which they cook in beef juice all day and those were full of flavor too. I think green peppers on top of onions and no whiz (American) are the best ways for a cheesesteak. Located opposite corner to Dal's is Chubby's. My buddie wanted to do a taste off so we split one from there but it was no contest finishing in dead last in the October 2011 cheesesteak race. Only a little bit better than Philly's Best in Chicago so no need to ever try that.

Chubby's Cheesesteak

After that we rode over to the Manayunk neighborhood (nice vibes) and bar hopped around to a few spots before heading back to South Philly to do the same as we watched the Yankees get knocked out of the playoffs. After that it was back to bed. The next morning I had that and the early afternoon to stroll around and knock down whatever other places I wanted to before leaving for my buddy's wedding in Atlantic City. I took an early morning walk along the river, past the casino over to Johnny's Hot's for a breakfast sandwich.

Old Philly Favorite

Now in a new location near the casino they originally got started in 1950 near an old Philly scrapyard. Just walk up windows no inside dining, its still in an industrial undeveloped part of town so its got the old school charm despite the new location. Also famous for their hot dogs and cheesesteaks (YES! they too won best of Philly one year) I had to have the namesake hot sausage which comes on a great bun with their signature pepper hash. If its before 10a you can add an egg and I did do that.

Johnny's Hot Sausage with a fried egg and pepper hash

The split sausage was really full of spice and the pepper hash cooled that down, great combo with the two of them eaten together. Nice way to start the beautiful day as I then made my way back to South Philly thru Center City to check out a few more spots.

a Popular South Philly Hot Dog Shop

I'm a sucker for the locally loved Coney shops around America. Although not called Coney's in these parts where they call them Texas Weiners (how they spell it) but they're still hot dogs with chili sauce. They did have the weiners in the window except they split them here just like they do the sausage at Johnny's and then put them into what could best be described as the offspring of a hamburger and hot dog bun.

a Texas Weiner found in South Philadelphia

I was rounding down completing the list of Philly style sandwiches when I saw a Philly combo on the menu at Texas Weiners. Whats that you ask? It's a split hot dog with a fish cake on top. I wanted to try one at Johnny's but passed but couldn't do so here. It sounds weird but tasted better than I was expecting. The fish cake was crispy outside and mushy inside but it worked well with the hot dog which had some snap to it.

a Philly Combo

As I was rounding out my day I took a stroll around another part of South Philly and passed by what I believe to be the original Dinic's Tavern. I hear the sandwiches here are even better than the one at Reading Terminal and cheaper too. The truth is there weren't many places I didn't want to stop in at. South Philly is like one big ass Taylor Street without any redeveloped lofts or Starbucks and Potbelly's. Every corner had a store or bar that looked like they'd been there forever. Gotta love Philly.

On Snyder ave in South Philly

I wish I had the time to stop in here and drink or knew about it before the last couple hours I had but I keep mentioning it on here, I'll be back. I was en route to a hoagie shop, the other Philly style sandwich I hadn't had yet. P&S Ravioli Co. has a few locations throughout the city but only a couple of them have delis too.

On West Oregon in South Philly

I was told about P&S thru Hawk Krall a Serious Eats contributor in Philly and hot dog aficionado. Hawk told me his favorite hoagie shop was here so that's where I went. I ordered an Italian with hot peppers which are banana rings there. Made to order it was ready after about 10 minutes and I took it to go. If you've seen Hawks work both at Serious Eats and art you know he knows whats up. Another classic indeed.

The view from inside

I sat, unwrapped it and ate it at a cemetery in the middle of the neighborhood. Nothing spooky here, this was heavenly. A hoagie if you were wondering, now you can see is just what people in Philadelphia call a sub. A grinder is when its baked. Well I mentioned it upthread this was the best sub sandwich I ever had from anywhere. Simplicity at its finest with it being just a regular Italian sub taken to new levels by the bomb ass bread and high quality meats and the overpowering addictive oil they soak them with.

P&S Italian Hoagie

Amazing sandwich you cant ask for any better. I had to shower later that evening in AC just to get the oil smell off of me. Nonetheless it was well worth it. I'll be back to P&S and that's saying something because there were tons of spots on my list that I missed including Philly's beloved Tony Luke's. On top of that I missed Paesano's, Sarcone's, El Cafeito, Chinks Steaks, Steve's Prince of Steaks, Greenman's Deli, McNallys Tavern, Carlino Specialty Foods, Pastificio Deli, J&G Lunchmeat Villa, Koch's Deli and a few others I'm forgetting and then theres the ones I don't even know about. I'll for sure be back, Philly knows Italian style sandwiches like none other.

America the Tasty
________________________________________

The art of expertly prepared sandwiches spreads out around Philly too. I hear Delaware has some great spots and there's also a famous one in Atlantic City which is just a hour and half train ride from Philadelphia. I met my buddy at 30th street station (their Union station) and we caught a train to AC Friday early evening. Easy trip and even better we stayed at the Sheraton which was nicer than most places in AC (no casino though) and just steps away from the train station there. Friday was a blur and Saturday we had the wedding and needed to get alot of food in us for what was coming. The Famous White House Sub Shop did the trick.

An old AC favorite

White House has been around since the 40's and they've served everyone and everybody who was ever anything that came thru Atlantic City. Famous for their subs which are bigger than any jackpot your likely to hit playing the slots.

The view as you enter

A peak at the walls which are covered in photos

The large sandwiches are two feet long, basically a whole loafs worth. Half of a large is what a large is at most other places, Philly included. These gotta be some of the biggest sandwiches anywhere. But are they any good? Yes and No. The Italian was really satisfying. We ordered it with everything including the pepper relish and along with the raw onions, fried ones as well.

Half of half of an Italian Sub from White House

We also got a half of a cheesesteak hoagie and that wasn't all that. I still ate the whole thing but had much better cheesesteaks in Philly. Still White House is worth a visit for lunch especially considering the other options around like McDonald's and Chili's.

Lunch at the White House

Overall I thought AC was much nicer than I was expecting. A few of the casinos were old and nothing special but they have a huge outlet mall with every last store you can think of right in the middle of it. So shopping is a very popular activity there since they also got high end shops at the Borgata and Ceasers too. The boardwalk was nice during the day as the weather that weekend was perfect, I didn't get to do much else since we only had Friday evening and a wedding most of Saturday but I'd like to get back to Philly in the summer and take a trip to AC while out there. Only other place aside from the wedding dinner I ate at were Johnny Rocket's (late Fri only spot open) and Harry's Oyster bar inside Bally's which was serving oysters after midnight that Saturday as they hosted the after wedding party-party.

Harry's Oyster Bar inside Bally's

The beaches were nice and if you go right before the high season the gelled up, 'roided out, fist hump each others are all gone. My buddies wife whom he met at Boston College is from a community a few beaches down from AC and the drive there on the wedding bus was gorgeous. There's some really pretty houses and country club resorts to let the day fade away. I could happily spend summers out there like many from that region do.

Boardwalk Empire

John's Roast Pork
14 Snyder Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19148
(215) 463-1951

Chickie's Italian Deli
1014 Federal Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147-5041
(215) 462-8040

Cosmi's Deli
1501 S 8th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 468-6093

Philips Steaks
2234 West Passyunk Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(215) 755-4820

Jim's Steaks
400 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 928-1911

Dinic's at Reading Terminal
51 North 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 922-2317

George's Sandwich Shop
900 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 592-8363

Shanks Original
901 South Christopher Columbus Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 218-4000

Old Original Nicks Roast Beef
2149 South 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(215) 463-4114

Dalessandro's
600 Wendover Street
Philadelphia, PA 19128
(215) 482-5407

Johnny's Hots
1234 North Delaware Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19125
(215) 423-2280

Texas Weiners
1426 Snyder Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 465-8635

P&S Hoagies
1722 West Oregon Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(215) 339-9929

White House Sub Shop
2301 Arctic Avenue
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
(609) 345-1564

Mad City Burger Bounce

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Wisconsin

I spent one of the last weekends of Summer in Wisco doing some heavy eating and drinking, 'Sconnie style. It had been over a year since my last visit (a year too many...) to Madison so we would spend Saturday in my old stomping grounds walking around the Capitol. Sunday it was off to Spring Green for the night as we explored and ate the Rolling Hills of Green County, WI. I'll post my fun finds from that portion of our trip as the days go by as well as some other bites and drinks we had from Madison in a future thread. In the meantime I wanted to share three fancy "upper class" burgers from the Cap City in this thread here. Badgers might of lost their BCS title hopes but Madison's world famous rowdy Halloween still awaits and these burger spots will always be around town.

Madison, WI
______________________________________

The first stop upon arrival was an old favorite of mine in the hippie part of town. I always lived on or right off State Street when I was in school but I was lucky enough to have a car and know about the Weary Traveler Freehouse. One of the best places in Madison to kill a hangover with food and more booze it's a great little spot that plays the "buy fresh, buy local"game and their menu reflects that.

a longtime residents of Madison favorite located on Willy Street

This part of Williamson street where the Weary is located has alot of Phish-heads that have formed a pond in the area. There's quite a few hipsters and hippies around and the business' reflect that, Weary Traveler included. It's got that "I rode here on my funny bike to play my ukulele vibe inside". On any given day you may find a grungy artfart guy who came to Madison in the 70's and never left in there enjoying a coffee while some struggling "musician" is there using the free WIFI. Then there might be a few college kids at the bar drinking beers while a couple of families enjoy food at their table on an early afternoon. On the weekends they have a brunch menu including some nice morning mixed drinks, so I started my day in Madison the only way I remember how to.

The view from inside...and we're off!

A Bloody Traveler for me with a few Spotted Cows from the tap to follow and some mimosas for her. My usual go to eat from here back when was the "West of the Andes" steak sandwich served in egg-wich form since I liked going here on the weekends during brunch. But they also have what I remembered to be one bad ass burger. 'Bob's Bad Breath Burger' as it is called comes with a half pound of hand-packed fresh ground Lange Farms organic beef with cream cheese, green goddess dressing, caramelized onions, garlic, tomatoes and Pickapeppa Sauce. Served with a side of Yukon Gold potatoes and mixed greens it's one of the best "fancy burgers" your ever going to find. Bob could easily hang and hustle on Kuma's Corner if he wanted to. I call it upper class because the pricetag is double digits, but the lowest it can be at $10 makes it a steal.

Bob's Bad Breath Burger from the Weary Traveler
______________________________________

Saturday we continued on and hit up some great spots for both food and drink. Madison is a great place for both. The original plan was to stop in at the old favorite Tornado Room Steakhouse for dinner. Maybe their signature bone in tenderloin or since it was a Saturday, the prime rib maybe was what I was thinking. However a somewhat new spot opened up, The Old Sugar Distillery and it's a must visit for any drinkie. More on that in a future post. They only serve the dinner menu at Tornado until 10p but they also have a late night menu available until 1a. We went over to the Great Dane for some brews and headed to Tornado around Midnight.

Famous Downtown Steakhouse on Hamilton Street

The Tornado is a classic Midwestern steakhouse as far as looks and feel. But it's also in Madison so the clientele can be anyone from college kids to local businessmen and politicians alike. There's also the Corral Room located downstairs which is an underground nightspot with live music on the weekends. They serve some great steaks and mix excellent cocktails here and it's always packed up until close on the weekends.

The view from inside

The steaks are great and they do all the WI supper club traditions of a Friday Fish Fry, Saturday Prime Rib and Sunday night chicken dinner too. The late nite menu includes a few things and since I was hungry and hadn't ate in a few hours I said screw it and went all out. Started out with their excellent French onion soup and also got the sirloin steak with an onion ring on top ($13), the steak sandwich with aus jus and horseradish cream ($10) and for the sake of this series of posts I also got the Bacon bleu cheeseburger.

Late Nite Eats at Tornado Room Steakhouse

The sirloin was very tasty, the steak sandwich aint what it used to be and the burger? Hot Damn! What's that old saying about college? If I only knew then, what I know now?

Bacon bleu cheeseburger from Tornado Room

This is what a steakhouse burger should be. A fresh 1/2 pound patty of local farm raised beef cooked to a perfect red on the inside with crispy Bacon, bleu cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw purple onion and some special sauce. No sesame seed bun needed, as is the case with most places in state the bun was fresh and great. Fries and onion rings are available on the late menu as baskets but do not come with the burgers. Either way at $9 you wont regret trying one.

The insides
______________________________________

The Old Fashioned has been on my radar since I first read about "a bar that was shaping itself after the 1000's of Taverns in the state. It's been mentioned that may might open locations in Milwaukee and Chicago but as of now those remain an idea. Think an upscale (but not too classy) tavern with an amazing menu selection that reflects the states popular eats and of course great beers on tap too.

Downtown on the Capitol Square

The Old Fashioned took the concept restaurant and nailed it. Aimed to take after the 100's and 1000's of popular state wide supper clubs and taverns they did a great job making me feel like I was "in state" and all I kept saying to my friend is how much I would have loved this spot and been there when I lived around town. They have over 150 WI brewed beers including 30 of them on tap. The drink it's named after has its own page on the menu that allows you to build your own Old Fashioned. As they mix you one up the way you like from their selections in each category offered.

Endless beer and some expertly prepared mixers is how it should be

Wisconsin Beer Sampler

We actually stopped in here for drinks on Saturday afternoon and then returned for brunch and more booze Sunday. Since the brunch menu was no longer being served Saturday we came back for that and went with the highly rec'd cheese curds as well as the Wisconsin Benedict which comes with a Miesfelds brat patty and of course, the house burger. The curds were the real deal, "best I've had" in fact. The brats Benedict was awesome. They take the authentic thing serious to the point where they grill their meats over real charcoal just like many of the places around state do. The smoke flavor in the patty was pretty damn tasty with the hollandaise and everything else added into the mix.

Wisconsin Cuisine

The burger was really stellar as well. For the most part everything is local and from instate as far as the ingredients, hell even the beef jerky bar snack foods come from local suppliers. The house burger is grilled over a live fire, topped with fried onions, Bavaria's hickory-smoked bacon, aged Cheddar, garlic sauce and a soft-cooked egg on a buttered and toasted roll. The ingredients were fresh and the burger was great but all I could think about was how next time I'm going to have to order a "combo" Sheboygan style and have them add a brat patty onto the burger as well. Great stop, the atmosphere was on and it's very reasonable too, for drinks and food. The burger was $9.95 with a $1 upcharge for the popular around the state onion strings included. Get those too. Cant wait to back back to Madison, it's only been about a month but that's already too long. See ya soon Mad City.

The Old Fashioned House Burger
______________________________________

Weary Traveler Freehouse
1201 Williamson Street
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 442-6207

Tornado Club Steakhouse
116 S Hamilton St
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 256-3570

The Old Fashioned
Ste 1, 23 North Pinckney Street
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 310-4545

Mickey's Drive In

2011-10-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

-In Chicago: Every Dog Has it's Day

Places like Mickey's are a rare breed these days in and around Chicagoland. Its not a chain or franchise and its been family run since it first opened in 1959. They've been a big part of the neighborhood ever since Mickey Sangiacomos' wife Ann bought a used car lot on Manheim (that was an A&W stand before that) for $500 with a loan from the Bellwood bank. Its still in the same lot today. Lets take a visit.

50+ years in Bellwood

Mickey who's wife was inspired by the food carts of Taylor St and wanted to have a hot dog cart of her own now had a stand, it is called a drive in because in the original building there was a drive up window for patrons. The hot dog joint was helped off the ground by Mickey and Ann's good friend and neighbor Jimmy Faruggia of The Original Jimmy's Hot Dogs featured on HERE before. It's been a great run since they first took off and they now have tons of loyal customers and are also a member of the Vienna Beef Hall of Fame.

Inducted into the VB hall of Fame

When they first started a hot dog and fries was just 37 cents. Ann would work long hours and the kids worked the register after school growing up at the stand. I guess at first they used a tin can cookie jar as the cash register. As the years went on, the menu expanded and it stayed running due to the family's hard work and they eventually opened other stands around town. I guess most of them are gone now but there's still one running in Villa Park. Mickey's has been a favorite of mine for a few items for some time.

Hot Dog with fries

The dogs have changed over the years because they started off ala Jimmy's with his help and Gene and Judes and the minimalist stands around town and also used to do fresh cut fries. The dogs now come with tomatoes and a pickle spear on a poppy seed bun and the fries are similar to McDonald's. Its still a good dog that I get now and then. I also like their homemade Sloppy Joe's which I also get every now and then. It is true that sloppy Joe's are best made at home to your liking but these are good and great for a quick fix.

Mickey's Sloppy Joe

I will also post my full thoughts and score on their beef over at "Whats Your Beef?". Its not one of their better menu items, at least not the last one I had which was the first in a few years. It is nice that they have a mini beef, which is pictured here. I believe they have a dog/mini beef combo ala Nana's in Streamwood, another spot I should get around to posting my pics from.

beef with hot

But the item that keeps me coming back to Mickey's is their Polish sausage. Its one of the five best in the city and on my All Chicago Style Polish Sausage 1st Team (another post coming). They take a Vienna natural casing, slit it up and throw it in the deep fryer and top it with grilled onions and mustard (peppers avail too) and throw it in a poppy seed bun. Its great grease eating and as I said, one of the city's best streets and sans type spots. It's still in the family and always filled with locals while carrying on the tradition of their mother. Classic Chicago.

Mickey's fried Polish

Sweet Home Chicago(land)

Mickey's Drive In
635 Mannheim Road
Bellwood, IL‎
(708) 547-7866‎

Eating BIG in Detroit

2011-10-05T13:11:00.002-05:00

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-Classic Motor City Eating Establishment's

It's time to spend another day eating like a King in a classic Midwest city and Detroit is where were headed. Classic old school America and a very undervalued place to visit is what I consider the D to be. Especially for us Chicagoan's who's pro sports teams make annual visits to Rock City. How about them Detroit Lions? They might be back and around for a while. Then theres the Tigers too. Calvin Johnson might give Justin Verlander a run for best in state athlete by the time this season is done. Big things going on in sports and as always food. I spent a night in Detroit this past June. I tried to do it up like a 'local tourist' and came out loving the city even more than I already did. I can easily foresee it being in my regular weekend vacation rotation with its close proximity to Chicago.

Strolling Greektown

The night we spent in town was a fun one. With the Tigers playing a home game and it being a hot night people were out and about in Greektown. We didn't get in until about 7p, so the first order of business was dinner and then some drinks which is how we ended up in Greektown and thus stopped into a Greek restaurant for some eats. The cop we talked too about where to stop in at and get some good Greek food told us 'The Golden Fleece' was one of the two or three good Greek spots left in the area. You dont have to trust your local cops as far as them doing their job is concerned but you can always have confidence in their knowledge of local food stops.

An old Greektown favorite

Good place, I liked what we ate. Nice location too right across from the casino. Both affordable and filling. We tried the marinated (cold) octopus, saganaki, fried calamari and I went with the combo plate of gyros and souvlaki. No gyro cones from Chicago companies used here as you can see in the pics below, they use their own homemade blend which is cut into larger chunks. The meat was excellent and the pork souvlaki was also very tasty and well charred but a little on the dry side. I went with the rice with red sauce atop it instead of the fries and that was the right call, just regular frozen fries. With Comerica Park and Ford Field not far away, this is a nice place for dinner with the group before or after a Lions, Tigers or Red Wings game.

Getting Greek with it for dinner

After a big dinner we went out on the (Greek) town. We hopped around first to a popular Irish bar and after that stopping in at Cheli's Chilli. It's a typical Wrigleyville atmosphere with the Tigers doing well this past summer. Nothing great but they were the only place around to serve Vernor's and not just generic ginger ale, so I got my Pure Michigan summertime fix of Vernor's and Vodka while in there. Another cool little spot in the area is La Casa De La Habana, a cigar shop/martini lounge. I don't know if it qualifies as an "old" place but we stopped in and it felt like old times inside. Good live music, well made cocktails and lots of people of all variety's with everyone enjoying their night out that evening. Also a great post game place to post up at.

Cigar Lounge near Comerica Park

After deciding to call it a night/early morning there was only one option...a Coney throwdown at Detroit's famous dueling Coney Island Hot Dog stands. Similar to our Maxwell Street Polish Sausage stands in Chicago Detroit has two Coney shops right next to each other. They're about a 10 minute, 5 block walk from the Greektown casino and it was as safe as could be. The only people that talked to us were the ones who led us in the right direction and told us to enjoy our Coneys and visit to Detroit. The people as always were nice as could be, they want visitors there and are happy to have them. Be not afraid my fellow friend's.

Detroit's famous Coney Island Hot Dog Stands

This was my most sober experience at the famous Detroit Coney shops, meaning I remembered it. What separates Detroit Coney dogs from the rest of these spots around the Midwest, aside from the fact Coneys were born in Michigan, is the wiener. While most other places use cheap Oscar Meyer like hot dogs, these guys use Koegel's which is a hometown hot dog company that makes a mean natural casing wiener. As always with any classic Coney shop, the hot dogs and sauce are on display in the front windows.

View from outside the window at Lafayette

The view from inside at Lafayette

Coney with everything from Lafayette
__________________________________

View from the window inside at American

The view inside the shop at American

Coney with everything from American

It's hard to pick a winner. I appreciated the feel and look at Lafayette more but liked the fact American used the perfect amount of sauce for my tastes. Who had the better sauce? That's still TBD. I gotta get one of those cold brick's of sauce from each place and do a scientific test with the corny guy in glasses from 'America's Test Kitchen' to determine who's is better. The next day we only had the morning and what turned into the early afternoon when the RV carrying the Party Trailer wouldn't start up with the heat and all. We ended up getting a taxi and checking out three spots I had on my "must get to, no matter what" list for this trip. Some real deal Mo-Town gems. Too many commercial, touristy "where all the visitors visit" places that we visited last night. If your into big old beautiful architectural buildings, there's many to be seen. But it's a shame so many are gone or soon to be.

The old Cass Tech High School currently being torn down

All new food spots to me, it worked out very well as they were also within reach of each other. The taxi cab system in the D is odd and well "Shady" but we had great luck. We called for a taxi that morning and they sent us one cool dude. An owner of eight cars he does taxi and chauffeur services and is a born and raised Detroit boy. When he pulled up I thought he was either the police or FBI in his unmarked black sedan. When we told him, he said whenever he visits his cousin in the Chi, people here think the same. But he aint popo so we arranged to give him $20 (and I bought him some burgers and tipped) to take us around and take in some of "real" Detroit. If anyone ever wants a reliable honest guy for a driver, email me, I got his card. He was impressed with where we were headed. First stop is a "good ole place" that I absolutely loved.

In Detroit's Hamtramck neighborhood along Six Mile

Marcus Hamburgers is everything I love about the good old spots of Detroit. Located all by itself in a part of town that was once thriving with industrial and manufacturing plants, its one of the few places to survive from another time, when Detroit was booming. There's nothing else around this longtime Detroit "brakefast" spot that once served all the workers in this area from all the long gone plants and warehouses. As soon as we walked in, I felt like I was in the real Detroit city. I say that because as we all know, it has fallen on hard times but the people and many of the business refuse to give up on the city. The folks working at Marcus and the one lonely customer along with our cab driver sat and told stories of the D's past. The man eating breakfast was a member of a famous Mo-Town band who the taxi driver immediately knew and was shocked that one of its members was still in Detroit let alone next to us eating breakfast.

As we enter

Marcus Hamburgers was started in 1929 by an immigrant from Macedonia. Charles G. Marcus started selling his snacks from a horse-drawn pushcart at the Highland Park Ford factory which eventually lead to 12 restaurants in and around Detroit. The Six Mile location is the original. What makes the burgers unique is the fact they're served on hot dog buns. There's a great article you gotta read HERE about the place and why it's so great. When I read it, I had to get there. Here's video below of how they make the burgers, same way as when Charles Marcus was outside the Ford factory selling them.

Marcus Burgers being made

Marcus is still all in the family and now owned by two brothers who worked at the same spot in their youth. When they heard that their aunt and uncle were moving Marcus Burgers to a suburb they bought the original location where we are at today and didn't change a thing. Still fresh ground in house beef, burgers cooked in their own juices served on hot dog buns. They're open for breakfast and lunch only. I've been to so many burger places and they are all different but I think Marcus is right there with any for best old school tasting hamburger. It's all about cooking them in their juice I guess. They arent rare, fully cooked thru but so juicy and full of flavor you truly cant eat just one.

a Marcus Burger

Burgers can come with cheese and toppings are in bowls along the U shaped counter where you top them yourself. I got a couple cheeseburgers and used some raw finely chopped onions and mustard and they were excellent, green relish is also available. I had three while there and got three to go ($2) these are everything White Castle wants to be. I liked the use of the hot dog bun, it worked real well, the cheap bun was all that was needed just like a great minimalist style Chicago dog or BBQ sandwich. Three bites of each and I was done so you need to order a few. What a great breakfast stop. Read that article. I think the longtime waitress mentioned in it is the lady in the video walking by, she was sweet as could be. We might not be in paradise, but that's a cheeseburger!

My cheeseburgers as they arrive

Wow so as good as Marcus Hamburgers was there was still more to go and the greatness went with us as we headed over to Mike's Famous Ham Place. I already knew this place was the shiznit before I tried it. That was thanks to a very enthusiastic rec' from someone who knows how to find the gems. I used to think Marshall Mathers was the King of Detroit but Mike is making me have second thoughts about that . They're very proud of being named Metro Detroit's "best sandwich" and I'm going to go as far to say it's one of "America's Best Sandwiches" too.

Ham "Heaven" as I call it

We stopped in and they were about halfway thru with the ham that day. Mike bakes up one every morning and everything comes from that. Mike and his wife are one hell of a duo. He does the ham, she does the soups and that's about all they offer which is all you need. We ordered a few to go, with the works which include cheese, mustard and fresh deli pickles which work great, much better than sweet ones would. We watched as Mike carved the ham for our sandwiches off the bone giving us taster samples after each slice.

Ham off the bone from Mike's

Take a tasta!

Mike's is an amazing little place. Despite the fact it was 100 outside I had to get some soup which I ate later that night, my dad makes a mean split pea but don't tell him Mike's wife's is better, than everyone else out there's too. Just great friendly folks both behind the counter and sitting at it enjoying their ham from heaven. If your ever in Detroit for some Football make sure to give Mike a call for a couple tubs of soup for tailgating and some ham sandwiches for breakfast. It's going to be better than anything that can happen on the field and I know they have hosted Super Bowls there. A Mike's in my city or a Super Bowl? I honestly don't know which to choose, they're that flame. It's easy to understand why this was named the best sandwich in a city with so many. Yes! it's as good as it looks.

Mike's Hamtastic sandwich

Off to the Eastern Market where we needed to take a quick look around and pick up a few things to throw on the Party Trailer grill for later that night. I love this place. It's truly a pitmasters paradise. Everything you could ever need and then some as far as the good stuff like sausage and every cut of beef or pork you need. Then there's the corned beef selection which is unlike anywhere else. It was too much for me. We only needed a couple things to grill for dinner so I had to pass on so much this time. I cant wait to get back here and shop for a tailgate one day. We got some beef tenderloin kebabs that were the best ever. Better than any restaurant or grocery stores pre-made kebabs. Check out the Party Trailer for an epic tailgate toy that you can rent.

Andouille from the Market grilled up later that day

Detroit takes it's corned beef seriously. There's all sorts of places that serve it. Well I did Greek food in Greektown, ate Coneys in the wee hours of the morning, went to an old school hamburger joint, had a ham sandwich at Mike's and shopped at the Eastern Market so there was only one thing I was missing as far as eating like a local. I needed a corned beef sandwich. Nathan's Deli was a block down from the gas station we stopped in at to fill up so I ran down there and got myself a sandwich.

Nathan's Deli Downtown Detroit

I took it as a good sign that there were quite a few cars in the lot and it looked alright from the outside so I went on in and knew what I was getting as soon as the lady ahead of me ordered one. Another popular local eat in Detroit is the Dinty Moore sandwich. Nope it's not canned beef stew on a bun but rather just a triple decker corned beef sandwich with Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, lettuce and tomatoes on toasted rye. I liked the sandwich but wouldn't go back here specifically for another. I would see whats up with one of the many other corned beef spots around town before swearing Dinty's off. Next time I'm going to try Hygrade Deli, our driver said it was his favorite and it looked like classic Detroit from the outside.

Nathan's Deli Dinty Moore Sandwich

See you again soon Detroit. Check 'Pure Michigan' to plan your trip.

America the Beautiful

Golden Fleece Restaurant
525 Monroe Street
Detroit, MI 48226-2932
(313) 962-7093

Lafayette Coney Island*
118 West Lafayette
Detroit, MI
(313) 964-8198

*American Coney Island is Next Door

Marcus Hamburgers
6349 E McNichols Rd
Detroit, MI 48212-2023
(313) 891-6170

Mike's Famous Ham Place
3700 Michigan Ave
Detroit, Michigan 48216
(313) 894-6922

Nathan's Deli
581 East Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48226-4324
(313) 962-3354