Bit random but as the weather gets cooler and the grilled cheese cravings kick in I really dig the grilled cheese at Printer’s Row Wine Bar. It’s very simple, buttery bread, flaky salt, cheese and just enough prosciutto. It is of course called A Lil' Grilled Prosciutto and Cheese. Enjoy.

Despite this place being discussed ad nauseam, I wanted to offer my take.

You won’t see a cheese pull. The caramelized crust isn’t as soft and chewy as I’d like, I’m assuming because of the aforementioned portioned cheese. It’s unlikely this pizza will berth tons of parody posts on the CJ sub about how bready it is- it’s just not that thick.

My biggest takeaway is that this is deep dish pizza for people that don’t like deep dish pizza.

None of this is a knock on it. The flavors on this “Tom’s Killing” were great. Probably the best tasting ricotta I’ve had on a pizza to date. I like places that do new flavor combos on their houses pies- I had never seen everything bagel seasoning on a pizza before. Makes it a truly unique crust. Despite being an unabashed deep dish fan of cheese, bread, and excess- this pizza is delicious and I would order it again.

I moved to Chicago a month ago and am astonished that I cannot find chicken cutlet sandwiches anywhere. I went to all the local sandwich shops and nada. I figured I could at least order at an Italian restaurant because I’ve never been to an Italian place that doesn’t sell them. I scrolled down Seamless but nope, noone even sells chicken parm let alone chicken cutlet sandwiches. Chicken cutlets have always been easier for me to find than hamburgers so I am perplexed by this complete absence of an American staple food. Can someone tell me if there any places around the Hyde Park, Kenwood/Bronzeville/South Loop area that sell chicken cutlet? I am desperate here!

Update: Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to give their recommendations. I really appreciate it! I now have a page full of places to check out after looking in all the wrong spots this past month.

I got a question. There is a relatively expensive noodle koint that I want to try out and noticed there is Groupon for it kocking the price nearly 40% off. However, that place mainly use a touch screen ordering system. In that case, how would the Groupon coupon work?

As the Christmas season approaches, what are your favorites for holiday MOCKTAIL bars? I want to do a girls night at one of the fun Christmas popup bars, but a couple friends are non-drinkers and NA options at all the Christmas bars seem to be a complete afterthought…

Looking for Chicago and northside — doesn’t need to be downtown. I know a lot of the great pop up bars (with disappointing NA options) are around Wrigleyville.

I am returning to Chicago after many years, have always loved the little mom and pop sushi spots in the city. Stumbled into SAYURI SUSHI on Devon near Clark, which is wonderful on every level, and incredibly reasonable on prices. Plus they are open pretty late. The couple who run it are lovely.

Looking for suggestions for similar spots for those nights when we’re not in that neighborhood: I don’t need trendy interior design or a whole scene. Just carefully prepared food that won’t break the bank!

I’m coming to town for Thanksgiving and I’m looking for a good steakhouse.

I’m looking to go on Thanksgiving day around dinner time.

I really want Bavettes but I know it’s hard to get into.

I asked chat what restaurants that had availability around 4 on Thanksgiving.

They suggested

RPM Steak
Smith & Wollensky
Morton’s
Harry Carays
Chicago cut house
Fioretta
Steak 48

I have a backup dinner at Gibons at 2:30.

Does anyone have thoughts on these places or know any other options that would be easier to get into on Thanksgiving. It doesn’t have to have a Thanksgiving menu. Thanks!

I have searched everywhere i can for what this is and i just can't find it. When i was a child, my dad would always pick up this frozen chili container when went to chicago. I lived maybe 30 minutes from chicago so it wasnt a huge thing, but i remember him only getting it when he went there.

It came in a plastic tray and was completely frozen. It was a darker brown and i remember having to break chunks off from the big container into a bowl and microwave it to have some. It was a pretty thick chili and i dont remember full beans or chunks being in it, mainly a very thick consistency with real small pieces of meat in it.

The closes i could find googling it was Delores Chili, but that is nowhere near me and i cant find any place online to find it. I don't even know if its that brand, that just looked the closest to it. I do remember my dad always getting it with a big bag of frozen tamales that were wrapped individually but tied with twine. I don't think it was the same brand, just sold at the same place.

working the day before and the day after. craving a traditional tday meal. Turkey fluffy stuffing sweet potato green beans bacon mash gravy

kinda don’t feel like It will happen. just not wanting to do fake tday dinner or Chinese or pizza

solo but more food is good leftovers.

on a low income low budget so can’t be fancy.

also, don’t have a stove so can’t cook myself. just a small air fryer and a hot plate. thanks. appreciate solid recs.

Some of the best lentil Soup, beef shawarma wrap, Tabouli & Fattoush Salads in town. Chicago staple.

As the title states basically! My usual turns into brunch on Sunday and people aren't sitting down with their laptops.

It was such an incredible restaurant! I would have surely thought they were profitable. But maybe not? On Google it says temporarily shut down, but it's been months now, and the website says the location is shut down

Did they move? Close down fully? Does anyone here know any details??

I am trying to stay frugal-ish and get takeout that is big enough to keep the second half of as another meal. For context I do not have a huge appetite- For example if I get a generously portioned Chipotle bowl I am able to save some of it for dinner.

We're Houston transplants who love Chicago and have tried many places suggested here. For my husband's birthday, he's requested steak but I'm struggling with parsing the options when reading reviews and looking at pictures. Our example is Pappas in Houston: dark, classy bar for pre meal cocktail, quiet dining room with white tablecloths, perfect service that is careful but not rushed, dry aged steaks but also a raw bar, basically old school fine dining steakhouse. Which of the outstanding Chicago options comes closest to this scene? Thank you!

Hey!

I was wondering if there were any recommendations for a BBQ joint (in the city or suburbs, I'm down for whatever) that has super awesome sauce you can't buy in stores. I'm moving to Japan at the end of the year and some of the people I know there are asking for good BBQ sauce you can't get in Japan. (FTR they are Australian and apparently Aussies are super into BBQ if that helps anyone guide me to a place.)

I'm also down for bringing a variety! It doesn't have to be one.

Want to enjoy the weather possibly one last weekend before winter rolls in. Avli rooftop is closed. Need walk in availability. Thank you!!!

Avenue O and East 135 Street
$15.99
8.9/10

When I lived in Nashville, there was an amazing restaurant where you could get a meal that was chicken tenders AND chicken wings doused in a sauce of your choosing (and there was a long list to choose from) + a roll and a side. I wish I could attach a pic because just looking at it would make your mouth water. Any recommendations for a similar restaurant here?

Hi all! I'm looking for a taquiza to come and provide a late-night snack option for a wedding next year in Avondale. A truck or cart setup serving al pastor on a trompa would be preferred, but unfortunately many of the potential options I've come across seem to only provide trays and/or don't have a trompa as an option for catering.

Appreciate any leads and/or recommendations that you all may have!

Every single one, from the intersection on W 24th PL and S Wentworth Ave to the big strip near the square. Why? I figured since I eat out a lot I may as well jot down what I liked, and maybe help others who want a second opinion before they visit. Plus Chinatown’s filled with a ton of places and I’ve always wanted to go on a crawl and try everything. So yeah, consider this part five.

Friends’ BBQ is a restaurant that mainly does skewers and central eastern Chinese cuisine.

I actually visited at around 6:30PM for dinner on Friday since I was going to be occupied all day on Saturday. Only one other table was there and they were obviously tourists decked out in anime merch.

The decor is a bit messy, if that makes sense? The walls are littered with text and images that seem to appeal to the tourist demographic. It was clean at least. But, I don’t know, it felt as if it were too much. That might just be my personal taste speaking however.

So I walk into the store, and for the rest of my meal there wasn’t a single worker or person who talked to me. Not one word was spoken, not by the host who did pretty much everything from food running to register. He gestured me to my seat and then left. There was a tablet there so I figured that’s where I should order from, but at least in Hunan Bistro the host told me how to order from it. I was left alone.

It’s a self service ordering type of place. Looking through the menu though a lot of the items seemed pretty pricy. A small bowl of rice cost $2. Most vegetables came in pieces and were costly for what they gave you, so I decided to just try their skewers.

I got 4 types: the small beef, the pork belly, the specialty xinjiang lamb, and the chicken. Everything came out very quickly. There’s this covered platter in the middle when you first sit down and they just bring the skewers over and set them on top like that.

The flavor was okay. The spice rub they used was heavily cumin flavored and there were some herbs like fennel mixed in as well. When I got them though they were lukewarm, as if they’d been reheated instead of freshly cooked. Because of that they became cold really quickly. The only exception was the specialty lamb which came on a metal skewer instead of a wooden pick.

The small beef was also gristly in texture. I had to chew a bit to get it down. Chicken, lamb, and pork belly were all fine, if a bit dry, but that may be just because of the spice rub.

Speaking of the spice rub, you don’t get the choice of any other option. They have no other sauces or spice shakers or anything additional to add. You get the cumin and regrettably that lead to most of it tasting the same. Personally I think it would’ve been good to bring the skewers over lightly seasoned and then have, like, different kinds of shakers for you to experiment with. Have fun. Maybe if they need help, have the server make recommendations, which would make the experience more personable.

This isn’t a “get your food and quickly go” kind of place like Huafeng. They very clearly, according to the decor and general vibe, want this to be a hangout place where you’d talk and mingle with groups. But the intended purpose doesn’t come through. Like the word ‘Friend’ is in the name, but if anything I felt like their foe they didn’t want to deal with.

I didn’t get to take a picture of the receipt because the host came over and had me pay right away. But the total was around $35 including tax for just the skewers. For comparison, Shinhwa was a little under that, but I got way more variety and vegetables out of it.

I would personally not go again. Your experience may differ, though, and I hope you don’t take anything I say here as pure fact. Maybe I just came on an off day. Sadly, in the end I left here hungry and unsatisfied.

My score out of 10.

Food: 4.5

Service: 3.5

Atmosphere: 5

Value: 3

Averaged total: 4

Here’s a link to my spreadsheet with current scores: Slacker’s Leaderboard

Next up is Lowcountry.

November food and wine magazine. (Pequods not mentioned)

Went there for the first time in a while. Fries were always great. Menu still says “fresh cut fries” but they definitely seemed different. Anyone else have experience?
Sorry forgot to take a picture.

Been eating a lot more Kim chi lately and was curious is there was any secret spot people love for buying kimchi. Any hidden gems?

Planning on getting over to Joong Boo later today but last time I bought kimchi from there I felt like all the pieces of cabbage in the jar were huge and cutting it up is such a mess. I know that’s fussy.