Classic Chicago Restaurants: From Dives to Diva's

Chicago's central location to the best fertile agricultural areas results in an abundant harvest that is delivered with the dew still clinging to the vine. If you take the time to go to the market located on West Randolph before the sun rises every day, you'll be amazed not only by the volume and variety of food items being prepared for shipment to restaurants, but also the electric current in the air as vendors load crate upon crate into waiting vans or trucks. This is an earthy place where the aroma of freshly turned soil mixes with an overlaying sweetness. I always smell ripe canteloupe, even when I can't see a crate of them, I know they are here somewhere! Colors swim before your eyes....green grapes, yellow bananas,red tomatoes, white onions,oranges,purple eggplant!

The characters who work here are as rich as the food! Old men with furrowed faces,rich with lifes drama and young Italian boys with attitude who strut and sling insults taken in due course and slung back by the victim !

Quick Tips:

The battle cry of hungry Chicagoans: "It 'Bedda be a 'hole lotta'food for a fair price---or you're outta' 'ere !", goes beyond the quality of the freshly delivered food! You could live here, and never be able to sample it all in a single lifetime! There are some ethnic places that I would have to grab a globe to try and figure out where in the world it originated from! The Nouveau places open and close faster than I can open my wallet! Public opinion is continuous in a place where a patron is likely to tell the owner " how we make it in Chicago." (* My husband tried telling an owner in Italy how to make pizza as I slunk under the table....)

So in preparation for your trip here....bring sweatpants and prepare to loosten your belt !

Best Way To Get Around:

There are many ethnic neighborhoods that offer very good dining choices. I'd like to recommend the following:

GREEKTOWN: located on Halsted from the 100 through the 300 block where there is one Greek Restaurant after another. I have 4 siblings, and we all fight over which one is" Best", but frankly, they are all good! When we start throwing the pita bread, you'll know that the arguement is out of hand!
Shiela's favorite- Greek Islands- 200 S. Halsted
Teri's favorite- Athena-212 S. Halsted
Gary's favorite- Rodity's- 222 S. Halsted
My Favorite- The Parthenan- 314 S. Halsted
Decorated with Greek landscapes and faux columns you'll be transported when you enter the door! The lemon chicken is excellent, and so are the gyro's. I seem to remember a belly dancer here...my sister says that I drank too much OZO ! ---

CHINATOWN--Located in the 8 blocks between Canal and Lake Shore Drive, North to Cermack Rd.is this historic neighborhood since the 1870's. You'll find over 40 restaurants and Asian grocery stores here. To avoid another family fight, I won't ask for their recommendations. Just take my word for it, and go wander the streets and choose!

Herman Joseph Berghoff moved to this country from Germany and opened this brewery in 1898. At that time, beer (regular and dark) was a nickle a glass and the sandwiches were free! Most people don't know that the Berghoffs (still family owned) also package their own bourbon that you can only buy here.

When you enter the bar or the restaurant you will immediately feel the comfort of the old world...with Neo-classical European murals above walls that are a rich patena of dark oak and with decorative stained glass windows sending prisms of color over the black and white floor. The fixtures look like they were the original brass ones converted from gas to electric. Pictures of the Columbian Exposition have probably been on these walls for over a hundred years. The menu prices I quoted above are for lunch, which is the meal I usually have here, although it is open for dinner as well. The choices range from the very traditional German to light American or Vegetarian. The hot corned beef on rye with a side pickle and potato salad runs $ 6.50 and I have never, ever been able to finish it! You have to squeeze and squeeze the thing to get it small enough to get a good bite...it's that huge !

Reservations are NOT accepted, so you must prepare to eat here for an early or a late lunch to avoid the waiting lines.

Do you remember on Saturday Night Live when Jim Belushi imortalized the "cheezebagga, cheezebagga" lunch counter? Well, Jim lived here in Chicago, and it is believed that this skit was based on the Billy Goat. If you wanna' get somethin' 'ealthy to eat like one 'a 'does freakin' salads....'den don't be a fool by goin' 'ere!

This is a greasy spoon with the best classic double cheeseburgers and fries around. If you dare to order something else....guess waahhhtt? 'Ya probably will get a cheezbagaa anyhow! The service is quick and to the point, so if yu stand undecided and hesitate, the staff will cut you up like a weeping onion! If you wallow by the door you will be stampeded, so for 'Chrissake have a gameplan in mind and don't be shy about it!

Since this is the home of Vienna and Armour, you will find a "dog shop" (as in beef hot dog) in every single neighborhood.

Superdog is celebrating over 50 years of loading the little barkers in a 1950's theme (complete with car jockeys) that is original. My parents used to stop here on dates to share a malted. My husband and I did the same. Now our kids have to drive here for their fix!

WARNING: do not spill onions in your car, because it will smell for weeks like dirty underwear every time you get into the vehicle!

Menu prices are from $3.75-$8.25, and all the dogs come in their own cute little decorated box!

There are 3 dining rooms, but I only go to the one upstairs where I fell in love with a tuxedo'd waiter who kissed my hand and brought me a dozen cherries in my kiddy cocktail (when I was 4)! Open since 1927, this is a place loved by many generations.

The Capitanini brothers will meet you at the door with that devilsih twinkle in their brown eyes! To this day I am mesmerized by the illuminated star ceiling and the recreation of a Tuscan Piazza that is strung with festive white lights. The stucco walls are a rich senna and rose hiding the private rooms of the convent and the mill. These side rooms used to have long curtains that closed so you couldn't see who was eating with whom! Guess the escapades behind the curtains got out of hand, so they have now been removed. (So Behave yourselves!)

I almost always order the special grilled Swordfish sauteed in wine with pinenuts, garlic, and fresh tomatoes. It isn't always available, so my second choice is the Petto Di Pollo Con Fontina- chicken with fresh spinach, garlic, and cheese.($15.75 or $ 17.75)

My husband orders the Tuscan fish stew--"Cacciucco" ($17.95) or the Wonderful Linguine Con Fruitta Di Mare which is scallops, fish, squid, shrimp over a spicy tomato sauce and noodles. ($ 17.50 or $ 19.50).

For those of you who like veal, there are 6 classic dishes to mull over! The Decoration on the main floor restaurant is very Chic Milan-style. I love the inlaid floor at the entrance shaped in a spiral pattern that reminds me of the Florentine art form called " Pietre Dure".

Downstairs is the " Enoteca" or wine room. The Italian Village has a wine list of over 1000 choices....too overwhelming for me...so just ask your Cameriere (Waiter) for a suggestion.

This is a great place for pre or post theater/concert dining, and arrangements can often be made here for you to leave your car parked by the valet, so you don't get dinged for parking fees twice!

This is THE PLACE since the late 1800's to do your Christmas Shopping and have lunch. At Christmas, the Walnut Rooms centerpiece is the 2 story tree that is decorated in a different theme each and every year. After the holidays, the ornaments are given to local charities who auction them off. Whenever I travel or meet people who have visited here, ladies will ALWAYS talk with fondness about their memories in the Walnut Room!

They don't take reservations, so let me make a few recommendations for your sanity. Arrive BEFORE 10:30 a.m. to wait in line (already) for a pager. They will always tell you that the wait is up to 2 hours, and I have never waited longer than 45 minutes in over 40 years of coming here. They serve lunch from 11-3:30 only, so if you arrive later, you will wish that you had stayed home in bed! Once you receive your pager, you are free to wander and shop or go and see Santa Claus if you have young kids, until you are called to a potential 2nd line that moves quickly.

My Grandmother's favorite lunch was the Cobb Salad, My mother's is the French Cassollette, my daughter loves the Primivera Shrimp with fresh mushrooms, I love the Chicken pot pie.(main meal $ 9-$12) We ALL love the special brandy egg nog ($5.00, and you get to keep the collector glass), or the lobster bisque soup. It is tradition for the children to eat the icecream snowman for dessert (my daughter just gave it up last year at 17 years old.) While the rest of us share the Frango Mint Ice Cream pie or the Frango chocolate mint cheesecake. You can eat here at any other time of the year without all the waiting and fuss, but it is our special place for Christmas, so we just don't do it at other times.

This is a great Scandinavian breakfast place that has been slinging the ligonberries in this neighborhood for the last 50 years. Breakfast is served at any time of the day with choices like Swedish heart shaped waffles,or paperthin Swedish pancakes with berries. Some breakfast dishes come with Swedish meatballs (also can be ordered alone from the lunch or dinner menu.) This is the sweet deal....all menu items come with a side of their famous hot cinnamon rolls.

Heaven anyone? If you really like them, you can get some more to take home from the bakery area.

There are several spinoffs of this restaurant around town, but this is the first (and best) location in my mind. The one near Foster Avenue and Clark isn't bad either.