Chicago Foodies

Fonda Del Mar

If you can't tell I rarely go out on a weekend. Especially not on a Saturday night. When I do I try to avoid trendy popular spots. When I was invited to Fonda Del Mar I figured it's 4 weeks old, in west Logan Square... how busy could it be? Well news travels fast in this town and an 8pm reservation that we blew by 15 minutes turned into an hour and a half wait for a dining room that was dominated by 2 large groups, one a 10-top. The host was gracious and suggested hitting the neighboring liquor store for a drink - Fonda Del Mar was BYOB. **It no longer is BYOB!

A six pack of Coronitas later the waiting crowd had swelled to a throng of 20 people. Standing room only in the front and a group waiting in the back as well. I'm only dragging on about this as it was half the time we were at the restaurant. I was expecting slow service and rushed food. I was wrong.

Bennigan's

I recently took a good job in a not so good location.  Technically still in the city (I have a 773 area code) but located in an office park off the freeway.  Due to the location the only restaurant in walking distance is....Bennigan's.  As frightful as it sounds I have frequented the place for lunch and even more frightful is I actually found something on their menu that I like, actually crave. 

They do a burger exactly the way I like it - grilled medium well, nice and juicy with gooey American cheese on a big white bun with medium cut French fries and a bottomless glass of Coke.  It doesn't get any more basic than that and I like it.  I find that "diner-style" burgers are hard to come by.  Restaurant burgers are usually piled high with blue cheese or come on a pretzel roll with sweet potato fries or some such "gourmet" topping.

Brunch at Tahoora

Tahoora, on Devon, is part restaurant and part bakery. While waiting for breakfast I scored a couple of sweets that were basically really sweet, wet donut holes they were either gulab jamun or very similar. Although I've never had it served without the bowl of sugary rosewater.

Halva Puri is a breakfast dish made from semolina, sugar, fruit and ghee. When you order it you get a styrofoam tray molded into 5 portions, T.V. dinner style. All in all you get spicy chickpeas, a potato dish, yogurt and tomato sauce, hot sauce and the halva puri.

Indie Cafe pt.2

It's been a long while betweeen visits to Indie Cafe. My experience had been months ago, during their Reader-induced celebrity. It was time to go back.

They're still BYOB and they're still packed. Thursday night we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. The dining room is small. So I'm guessing their business is still very brisk. That was a good sign and I was in for more good news.

The Duke of Perth

We went on a trip to the old neighborhood, where we used to go for the all-you-can-eat fish fry and never make it past an occasional second helping. The Duke is a Scottish pub on Clark just north of Diversey and aside from an occasional leek or shepard's pie we only order the fish fry. We also only order it with stovies. We also only get glasses of McEwans. So 4 years later we return and guess what we ordered?

The Fireside Inn: Quest for Burger

Back from a virtual leave of absence, and finally in town after the holiday season, I was pressed into service late Monday to quell a burger jones. Moody's is the local Edgewater burger place but it's really a summer beer-garden spot. I did some thinking and found Hamburger Mary's online. Had I done some more poking around I would have found out it has closed... Time was of the essence. It was a burger jones. There was imminent crankiness.