Chicago Foodies

Nacional 27 Prix Fixe for $27

Though the recession is probably over at this point, good deals still abound for those still willing to eat out at restaurants, particularly at off-peak hours. At Nacional 27, I stumbled across a $27 prix fixe dinner that looked worth investigation, and included 3 courses plus wine or sangria. The catch is that it is available from 5-6:30 pm every day, and your party needs to be seated by 6:15 pm. No matter, I can eat at pretty much any hour of the day, and if anyone can make the early-bird special sexy, it's Nacional 27.

If you are unfamiliar with Nacional 27, it is named for the 27 Latin American countries south of the border. Their mission is to take traditional Latin dishes and serve them with a twist. This means your steak may be covered in a Malbec reduction, and your guacamole served with taro chips. Popular Chicago mixologist Adam Seger helms the bar offerings, and regularly teaches classes featuring his cocktail recipes. The restaurant also serves as a part-time dance hall, with complimentary lessons, salsa competitions and DJs spinning Latin rhythms after 11 pm on weekends. This is contemporary Latin with a flair for theatrics.

Belly Shack

Belly Shack, the follow-up act to the much-lauded Urban Belly, has arrived. Personally, I have been eagerly awaiting this opening ever since the news broke in July that Bill Kim had signed the lease for this space, right under the Western Blue line stop (rather than in a strip mall). Urban Belly put a sophisticated, contemporary spin on noodles and potstickers. With this new venture, Kim moves into Asian-Latin fusion street food. Though this was only the restaurant's first night, the results are impressive, and more importantly, fun.

After ordering at the counter, we plopped ourselves down in the center of the room at a large communal table constructed of reclaimed 200-year-old maple. Belly Shack's decor was designed by Yvonne Cadiz-Kim and has been self-described as "reclaimed industrial." With an abundance of metals and browns, and a sprinkling of anti-establishment-esque graffiti messages on the walls, Belly Shack is the restaurant incarnate of a skater. I reached for my Vans and red hair dye. The noise of the trains overhead even serves to amplify the urban grittiness.

Cafecito – The Cubano Sandwich

New visitors to Chicago invariably assume that the Loop is the city's center for nightlife and dining activities. However, the sad truth is that the Loop has a reputation for being a culinary wasteland of fast food chains and Starbucks, which means I am always a bit flustered when asked to grab lunch in the Loop. Like a perpetual motion machine, there must be some universal law against restaurants in the Loop being good, fast and cheap. Well, I am not here today with breaking news that the singularity is here. However, the addition of Cafecito, just a couple blocks shy of being in the Loop, means that we are inching closer to achieving that perfect triumvirate.

Cafecito is a small cafe tucked inside the HI Hostel building, and their claim to fame is their Cuban sandwich, anointed the city's best by TimeOut Chicago. They also offer an impressive display case of baked goods, pastries and side salads. The cafe itself is bright and cheery, with couches for lounging and a danceable mix of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican tunes in the background. This tends to attract a coterie of hostel travelers, students and cubicle dwellers. Aside from its proximity to the Loop, Cafecito is right next to the Auditorium Theater, making it ideal for a quick pre-theater dinner.

Lito's Empanadas

Lito's Empanadas is an extremely tiny place located on Clark St. in Lincoln Park, and it was love at first sight.  When I was on the bus on my way to getting my haircut, I thought I have to stop at this place.  Lito's sells nothing but eight styles of empanadas, including a choco-banana empanada for those with a sweet tooth.  It's a great place for street meat food at street meat prices, which range from $2.09 to $2.29.   

Carnivale: Pan Latin Food in a Theatrical Setting

Though we've never been, for Valentine’s Day my wife and I went to Carnivale as it's had received good reviews.  When we walked in right away we felt the place was over the top, yet awe-inspiring with generous use of primary colors, high ceilings, Cuban music, and lots of energy. Coming in there was someone handing out free samples of Spanish olives.  Carnivale is mostly pan-Latin but does throw in Spanish dishes like manchengo and zamarano cheese as well as the ever-tasty jamon Iberico.  The other thing we noticed was the people patronizing the establishment,  were very eclectic and perhaps not a typical West Loop club crowd.

 

Coobah: Pan Latin Cuisine Nightclub Style

Situated on Southport area of Lakeview, not many steps away from the Brown Line stop, Coobah is a pan-Latin restaurant with some Filipino dishes. The interior is very dark, almost like a nightclub or a café-bar with a lot of dark browns mixed in with red lights, and when we came at 6 p.m. it was like almost walking into a dingy bar in broad daylight, albeit without the smoke.

In the grand scheme of things the club atmosphere makes sense and provides for an exciting dinner experience—they serve food until 1 a.m., and bring in djs playing trendy music. The dinner the crowd was mostly younger. We appeared to be the first table seated but by the time we left at 7:45 the place had mostly filled up.

After ordering a delicious mojito, we ordered a “pizza” on special. It was more of a spongy olive oil-soaked thick bread, with piquillo peppers and green onions on a bed of spicy red pepper aoli. The pizza was devoured relatively quickly, in part because we and I were both hungry but also because it was very tasty.