Brick's Chicago Blog: Brick's Picks

Used to be my favorite Chicago restaurant

I really like to eat. But more than just eating I really enjoy the restaurant experience. There is something so satisfying about having people you don't know bring you food. Dining allows me to spend quality time with friends and family and to experience new and sometimes extremely satisfying experiences that become memories. And I'm not a snob about it either. I can enjoy the well apportioned filet mignon right after a dog at the ball park with equal "relish". One of the things that I am really looking forward to this summer is finding those great historically proven eateries of Chicago or discovering the new hot spot before it becomes the new hot spot. Life is too short to have a bland diet. So I thought that I would write about my favorite restaurants that I have already determined so that I have a specific menu of venues with which to measure.

Brick's Picks (Restaurants and Food)

Korean: I'll start with what I know best. The single most important thing that I did when I first started dating this woman I know to ingratiate myself to her mother was to eat her cooking like I had been starving for days. It was the first time I had ever eaten Korean food and I loved it from the start. To date the best place that I've been for great Korean food is San Soo Gab San.

Chinese: Close on the heels of Korean food in terms of ethnic food we typically eat is Chinese. When we go to Yu's Mandarin Resaurant I typically will get "ja jang myun", a noodle dish which is actually Korean, but I've also had lots of the Chinese stuff from Yu's and it is really good too.

Japanese: We don't really have an actual Japanese cuisine restaurant that we frequent, but I really liked our recent trip to the Slurping Turtle, a new ramen noodle place that just opened in Chicago and it is getting great reviews. And as for the Japanese hibachi steakhouse kinda place Lisle's own Tairyo Restuarant is one of my son's favorites.

Italian: If you want to leave a place 5 pounds heavier than you were when you got there, then Maggiano's Little Italy is what you're looking for. And if your dinner wasn't enough they give you an additional meal to take home with you built into the price. Crazy amount of very good food.

German: 5 years ago this would have been a no-brainer. I went to the Berghoff on my first trip to Chicago and it became synonymous with the city for me. The food, the waiters, the buzz, it was a great place. But it closed and then reopened under new management and it just isn't even close to the same. So now when I'm looking for food from the "fatherland" I just stay in Lisle and go to The Bavarian Lodge. They are so close and so popular that people park their cars all through our neighborhood when they go there to eat. And, oh yeah, they don't have a lot of parking.

Middle Eastern: Yeah I know, not typically on the main list of ethnic restaurant categories but I've got a place that fits the description so I'm adding it. I could eat the chicken shawarma and the lentil soup daily from the Naf Naf Grill. They are awesome!

Mexican: Angie Remigio's house. But when she won't cook for me I usually end up at Cozymel's. It kinda has a corporate feel, but the food is good and they just added a seafood chili relleno to their menu that is outstanding. If you are just looking for a burrito and some horchata then Los Burritos Tapatios is a very good place that I pass by on my walks down Ogden Ave. most everyday.

Chicago Style Pizza: This is a very specific category of pizza and my selection for this is also one of those Chicago iconic places that is as much about the history and crowds as it is about the food. The Original Gino's East is the king of CSP. You may be wondering why the specificity about pizza? Well it's because I come from a town in Indiana that has a chain of restaurants called Pizza King. Most kids are raised on a steady diet of this stuff from about the time when their teeth come in and become so addicted to the pizza that it is the first place they visit when they return home from their adventures abroad. Hail Pizza King!!

Seafood: I wasn't much of a fan of seafood coming from the Midwest and a family that didn't experiment at dinner time much more than to decide which type of potatoes to have with their meat. But after our trip to Hawaii where we literally ate the fish as they came off the boats I have sought out good seafood more often. We have a place in Lisle that is always busy named Chin's 34th St. Fishery. They actually post the airline bills of lading on their door as you come in so you can see that the fish is fresh. They are also honest and helpful. I left my wallet at our table and didn't know it for a couple of hours. When I returned it was waiting for me in tact. That kind of thing will always get a place a return visit from me.

Hot Dogs: Their hot dogs are good, very good, but they may not be the best (hey they're hot dogs), but you absolutely can not beat the experience of the drive in at Superdawgs. It makes me glad to be a convertible owner.

Steaks: I'm about to lose all credibility here because there are so many really great steakhouses around but in all honesty when a steak is what I'm in the mood for we usually head to Texas Road House. If you can see past the hokeyness of the peanuts and the birthday saddle, you get a consistently good steak when you go there and they are very accommodating. I also could eat two baskets of their rolls and honey butter at each setting (but I don't).

Upscale Eclectic: So this could easily have been my pick for steaks but I had this category in mind when thinking about J Alexander's. They don't have an extensive menu, but it is all over the place. My absolute favorite item is the Cajun crab cakes!!

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: If Guy Ferrari ever retires I want the Food Channel to know that I'd be happy to be the "Guy". We started checking out the places that he visited that were within driving distance a couple of years ago and it has been fun. I think our conclusion at this point is that Hackney's on Harms has been the best. If you've never had a hamburger on pretzel bread, put it on your bucket list.

Breakfast: I guess the Swedes know how to start the day. Ann Sather's has the most delicious breakfasts on the planet.

Desserts: This discussion begins and ends with the New Orleans Beignets from The Grand Lux Cafe on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Never really tasted anything better.

So those are Brick's Picks for restaurants. I have left lots of good places out and if you want a suggestion or an opinion those are always free, just ask. I'm going to put a bunch of my pictures from these places down at the bottom because what else am I going to do with them?