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 seven.

Central East Asian Cuisine is a restaurant that specializes in its namesake, specifically from the Xinjiang region of China.

Walking up, the storefront was absolutely littered with these ai photos of food. It kind of set off my Trypophobia lol. I counted six in total, but yeah you get a sense that they’re really trying to appeal/attract to the tourist market.

I visited around 12:30PM on a Monday, so a late lunch. I was the only customer in the restaurant. The inside contrary to the ai signs is actually quite cute. There’s a softer palette of these light blues and golds, which kind of gave off a Mediterranean sort of feel if that makes sense. Not what I expected from a Chinese restaurant but I didn’t mind it. Their lighting is also so good that my phone didn’t even blur this time!

The server sat me immediately and was polite enough. Water was already available in these large pitchers and there was a big, round disk covering what I assume to be an opening for hotpot. The menu is very large and offers everything from skewers to fish to meats and dumplings. The prices are very high, but they’re meant for large groups. The restaurant in general seems to cater to big parties of people instead of individual diners.

Although there was a bit of a language difference, ordering wasn’t too bad, and I got her recommendation which ended up being the Xinjiang Big Plate Chicken. They didn’t have a smaller option so I went for the one that could feed two and did my best to finish it.

Food came out quickly, about 5 minutes, and had visible steam from the heat. It comes accompanied with chicken stewed on the bone, potatoes, split green chilis, onions, and wide chewy noodles hidden underneath.

In terms of preparation, it was cooked well. The chicken was very tender from being stewed and the chewy noodles had a nice and fun bite to them that I liked to slurp up. Taste wise, though, I felt it was lacking something. There wasn’t any noticeable flavor profiles, no boldness or cumin or distinguishable spices/herbs. It had an overall subdued profile which is a bit of a shame. I think they toned down the flavors to appeal to the western palette.

I got the standard spicy level, the third level, and their max is four at extra spicy. Maybe they up the toned and flavors there. For my meal however, I was left a bit wanting.

The total was $32.40 including tax and before tip. The dish was easily big enough for two people though so keep that in mind. About $16 per person isn’t too bad. Not Evergreen level when it comes to portion value, but decent enough for the area. Wish it came with some rice though to suck up the sauce/broth.

Would I go back again? Sure, I’d be willing to give it a second try, since they have some other items that might be more what they’re strong in. If the experience was more or less the same I’d probably not return.

My score out of 10:

Food: 6

Service: 6

Atmosphere: 7.5 (Would’ve been 8 but the ai photos were ehhh)

Value: 7

Averaged score: 6.6

Next up is Happy Cafe.

Link to my spreadsheet with current rankings: Slacker’s Leaderboard

This is the new pizza in the neighborhood I think. Almost $9 for a "slice."

It tastes just like a frozen target pizza with the cheap shelf stable parmesan sprinkled on it to the extent that I'm asking: is it a frozen pizza with the cheap shelf stable parmesan on it??

Not planning to go back.

I finally tried Taipei Cafe a Taiwanese Restaurant in Chinatown across from Palmisano Park on 26th and Halsted Street. The bento box is such a good value! You can pick your protein (braised or fried chicken, beef or pork) and it comes with the braised cabbage, stewed greens, rice and meat sauce with a boiled egg for about $21 with tax plus tip. I also ordered side dishes of wood ear mushrooms with goji berries, kimchi and pickled cucumber. Everything was flavorful and served hot! I preferred the braised chicken over the fried though the breading was interesting and light kinda like cornflake batter. The “kimchi” was the same as the cabbage in the bento box with a few more carrots and nothing else that would qualify it as real kimchi. I also enjoyed the winter melon tea which came iced and sweetened. I would definitely come back when I’m in the area for this meal!

Secured the bag 💅🏻 good luck everybody else!!

My friends and I went to Lia Tavern in River North. We had the thin crust carbonara pizza and it was good. The ceasar salad, whipped ricotta and garlic bread was good too.

The only thing that was disappointed (and it’s our fault for not checking the menu) was ordering a $45 Lobster Ravioli 😰 we were too busy yapping and when the server came we just start pointing stuff on the menu and it was dark.

When the ravioli came, I looked at it and asked the others, “Why does it cost $45 for 6 pieces?” 😂

Most posts I’ve seen are from about a year ago. A friend is taking me there for dinner in a few weeks. Are there any things on the menu that you thought were must try items or anything you thought was a disappointment?

Hey everyone, it's been almost 3 years since we introduced AMAs to the subreddit and wanted to have a living document that could be a resource for anyone that wanted to see all of the AMAs we have hosted on the sub. If you have any requests for people you'd like us to host here for future AMAs, please let me know here or even if you'd like to have someone back for another AMA that did one a while ago. I know that some groups are underrepresented in this list, more people say no to being asked to do an AMA on here than not, so please keep that in mind as many of your favorite characters in our food scene may have already declined to do so, however, I do not mind kick tires on some of those again as well.

Below are all of the AMAs we have hosted in reverse-chronological order:

• Chef Donald Young of Duck Sel

• Chef Devin Denzer of Atsumeru

• Cecily Federighi of Pizz'amici

• Danny Shapiro and Tim Tierney of the Joiners Podcast

• Chef Norman Fenton of Carino

• Chef Wilson Bauer of Flour Power

• Amy Cavanaugh, dining editor of Chicago Magazine

• Patrick Bertoletti, former Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion and former owner of Taco in a Bag

• David Manilow, creator of Check, Please!

• Chef Otto Phan of Kyoten

• Jeff Mauro of Mauro Provisions and celebrity chef known as the Sandwich King

• Michael Muser, formerly of Ever and now runs the Jean Banchet Awards

• Michael Nagrant of The Hunger and former Chicago Sun-Times food critic

• Nick Kindelsperger, former Chicago Tribune food critic

• Monica Casillas-Rios, former award-winning beverage director of Elske

• Chef Mike Satinover of Akahoshi Ramen

• Dennis Lee, food writer for The Takout, The Party Cut, and Food is Stupid

I did grad school at Illinois down in Champaign, and to be honest, there ain't much I miss about that town. Chicago is obviously superior in just about every way one can imagine.

However, one thing I do miss and hope to find up here is something like Golden Harbor, which I'm sure most everyone who went to Illinois has heard of and hopefully eaten at. Huge menu, a lot of super authentic dishes (as far as I could tell anyway, plus a couple of my students from China vouched for it), barest of decor, some of the best Chinese food I'd ever had. Their crispy tofu is so damn good I would actually order it over a meat dish, which I wouldn't do in any other situation in the world, with my apologies to tofu. I probably ate there every other month for eight years and every single thing I consumed was delicious.

Is there any place like that Chicago?

Fun interview with Richard Mott, owner of North Pond.

Some good tidbits on working with the city/Park District, the impact of people drinking less and a restaurant's margins if you're going to operate within employment/immigration law.

Checked out Black Briar Tavern this past Friday and really enjoyed it. The place has a cozy tavern vibe without feeling too fancy or stuffy, and the food was great.

Pictured are the pork short ribs, NY strip, onion rings, pistachio cheesecake, and sugar pie. I didn’t get a pic of the venison tartare, but it was one of my favorite things of the night. The meat was pretty mild and not too gamey, and the horseradish added a nice kick that balanced out the richness.

Black Briar is a little pricey, but I thought the food was worth it. Definitely a spot I’d go back to

Just back from a beautiful weekend in Chicago and wanted to give props to three restaurants - Burl (Evanston), Mahari (Hyde Park), and Fiya (Andersonville) - Yes, we covered a lot of ground!

One of the members of our party of three is a vegetarian and all three restaurants, especially Mahari and Fiya, had plenty of vegetarian options that didn’t feel like we were missing out on flavor, fun, or protein.

Burl‘s farm-to-table food was excellent, healthy, and flavorful but we were surprised that they did not have as much in the way of vegetarian entrees. The restaurant’s decor makes it a beautifully warm and modern space for an autumn meal. Definitely order the bread. One thing to be aware of, when the restaurant fills up it gets LOUD. Maybe not the best place to bring older folks or someone with hearing issues.

Mahari (photo above) was the stand-out among stand-outs. Folks were recommending the James Beard-recognized restaurant in the neighborhood, and I’m sure it’s great, but as Southerners we were looking for something that we couldn’t get back home. Mahari’s African diaspora menu was inventive. The dishes were all wonderfully flavorful. They also made a delicious NA cocktail. The staff were warm and welcoming (and entertaining).

Fiya‘s Middle Eastern fare reminded me that I really want to learn to make khachapuri. The khachapuri and the cauliflower were the stand out dishes for us. We were a little disappointed to see the same red sauce served with several of our dishes but it was delicious. They also made a nice NA cocktail. The restaurant itself is nicely decorated with a good amount of space between tables so that we didn’t feel cramped or rushed.

Sadly (not sadly), the proportions at all three restaurants were so substantial that we didn’t get a chance to sample their desserts. Note to self: Ask for the dessert menu first, and plan accordingly.

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 six.

Yes, I know this is a chain, and not even an Asian one, but it’s a restaurant and it’s in Chinatown so I have to try it.

Lowcountry is right next to the Marriot and specializes in seafood boils. The main ‘bag’ options they have are snow crab legs, shrimp, mussels, and crawfish.

I walked in at around 4:00PM on a Sunday. And surprisingly, the decor is actually pretty nice. They have a lovely mix of flowers and pottery on display that mesh well with the vibrant green and red and gold color palette. You can tell they made an effort to match the ‘Chinatown’ theme, although the table coverings and cafeteria chairs did mess with the vibe a little lol.

I was sat immediately by the host and brought to my table, where there was a QR code thing to check the menu. You don’t actually order from there though but rather at a counter, and they also have physical menus if you prefer that.

The workers were pleasant, also did well cleaning the eating area and bussing tables quickly. I spoke with them a bit and got their recommendations.

My order was the crawfish bag with ‘everythang’ sauce (Cajun, lemon, and garlic mixed together) and standard heat. It only comes with the crawfish and sauce. If you want anything else it’s an additional charge, which for mine I went with sausage, corn, and potatoes.

Food came out in about 6-7 minutes in this plastic bag you shake around to mix everything. Then I dumped everything on my platter and started getting to work.

Food was nice and steaming hot. The crawfish had this naturally sweet flavor that worked well with the garlicky, buttery taste of the sauce. Wasn’t too salty. Be warned it is quite heavy though. If that’s not your thing then it’ll probably be too much.

Sausage was okay. It didn’t have much flavor beside a meatiness so it takes on the profile of the sauce. The potato and corn was standard, cooked tender, but the sweetness of the kernels did help when the garlic and butter started being overpowering.

The size of the crawfish is not consistent. I counted ten pieces in total, with two being large and the other ones being noticeably smaller. I would’ve liked there to be a bit more for what you pay. I could easily take on like thirty of them without a sweat.

Overall, a decent experience, much better than I expected it to be considering it’s a southern joint in the middle of Chinatown. Would I go back? Not really, as you can probably find better seafood elsewhere, and the value here was on the lower side. Still I enjoyed my time for what it was.

Total price was $32.37 including tax. There is an additional surcharge for using card.

My score out of 10:

Food: 6.5

Service: 7

Atmosphere: 7

Value: 4.5

Averaged total: 6.3

Next up is Central East Asian Cuisine.

Link to my spreadsheet with rankings:Slacker’s Leaderboard

It’s my boyfriend’s 30th birthday and he’s been wanting to go to Bavette’s, but they are temporarily closed. I still want to take him to a really good steakhouse. Which is the next best option to take him to, out of the list below? 

• Hawkmoor
• Sophia Steak (downtown location)
• Adalina Prime
• Butcher and the Bear
• Chicago Chop House
• Fioretta
• Maple & Ash

He recently-ish went to Boeufhaus and Joe’s Seafood and we’ve been to Gibsons, so that’s why those aren’t on the list! Please also let me know if I’m missing somewhere even better! I did look at Asador Bastian but that one is a lil out of price range… maybe for his 40th haha

edit: I should mention that the reservation would be just for the two of us, not a group! we are celebrating with friends the night before! so, ideally looking for an intimate/celebratory/unique experience. i want to take him somewhere that will make him feel as special and taken care of as he makes me feel every day!!

Hi all! We're visiting from Ireland from Jan 22nd to 28th. My only US trip was New York, so this is new territory for us. I'm a chef and my wife and I are both completely obsessed with food.

What we're after:
Proper old-school diners
Chicago pizza (deep dish, tavern cut, the lot)
Authentic, neighbourhood restaurants, the places locals actually go
No Michelin or fine dining this time

One big thing: my wife is coeliac, so we need places that take cross-contamination seriously, not just "we have a gluten-free menu". Any dedicated gluten-free spots, or restaurants that are genuinely great with coeliacs (especially pizza!), would be amazing.

I think Restaurant Week overlaps with our trip, what’s that like? Any good talks etc? If there are good-value spots taking part, or places to avoid that week, let me know.

We're staying downtown in the Loop and happy to travel out to neighbourhoods for something special. What would you eat if you only had a week?

Thanks in advance!

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.

Hello all anyone have recommendations on a bakery? Or someone who does really good birthday cakes? Any suggestions are much appreciated!

Thank you!

Left to right: hush puppies, steak; ice cram pastry. Not pictured: half chicken, pasta, charred cabbage, crispy potato’s. Ambiance and service 10/10 S/O Andrea!

Hello! :) I work in the loop (Madison x Clark) and have been experiencing a huge hot sandwich + soup kick since the weather started getting colder. It's all I want every day.

I love the lentil soup at Seedo's, the Abreo at Gayle's grilled cheese, and the ham and cheese pie from Ground Up.

Please drop recommendations of your favorite hot sandwich + soup in the comments!!! TIA!

with calabrian chili honey, arugula. Delicious. Definitely recommended, will need to try the other pies soon

Snagged this combo with guava and coconut and my wife got passionfruit. All the flavors were super yummy. The guava flavor tasted exactly like fresh guava (not like the artificial tasting guava candy). The texture of all the flavors was nice and smooth, especially the coconut 10/10, plus the cinnamon stick was a nice touch. Definitely recommend if youre looking for a sweet treat while the weather is still nice.