1 post tagged “favorite restaurant”
What's your favorite restaurant?
The problem with living in Chicago is there's too many good restaurants to just have one favorite (as my ever expanding waistline will attest). So here are some favorites:
Jay's Amore: this great little Italian place is just across the street from us and has wonderful food. We end up there frequently on Friday nights when we don't feel like cooking. The baked goat cheese appetizer is so yummy!
Mon Ami Gabi: a French bistro with the best steak frites and baked french onion soup I've had anywhere.
Frontera Grill: the best margarita in town. And with an average 60-90 minute wait for a table, you'll have time for a few... But it's worth the wait - the food here is always good. This place taught me to not just like guacamole, but to start making it myself.
RJ Grunts: This is where we used to end up on Friday nights when we lived up on the north side of town. It's not like it's all that far away, but we just don't get there as often anymore, which is sad. It's a really friendly place and one of the waitresses still recognizes us from when we were there nearly every week (cue "Cheers" theme here...) They play a lot of music from the 70's I forgot I loved so Matt has to endure me singing along sometimes. The baked french onion soup is almost as good as Mon Ami Gabi, which says a lot, since burgers are the specialty here. It's also the home of the first, original salad bar (or so they claim). We had dinner there last Friday with Lisa, Ann and the boys. We shared a dessert that was deceptively simple - a huge warm snickerdoodle cookie topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, sprinkled with cinnamon. Probably one of the best desserts we've ever had (shared 3 ways and still too much).
Bouchon: another French bistro. We've been to both the Las Vegas and Napa Valley locations, but I think Las Vegas is my favorite. This might be my favorite place in Las Vegas (although Diego at the MGM Grand was really good too).
Over on Matt's Blog, he mentions Gramercy Tavern in NYC, and I definitely remember that as one of the more special meals we've had while vacationing. If we're ever back in NYC, I'd also want to return to Otto (Mario Batali's pizzaria - especially now that I've read this book, which was fabulous:)
I also have a very big weakness for Chipotle. Does that count as a restaurant? And I often find myself craving Monical's Pizza, from home. We spent many Sundays after church there and I think the super-thin crust pizza is still my favorite pizza ever. We went there this summer and it's still tastes exactly the same. Closest one to Chicago is Manteno, IL, a mere 50-mile drive... and I fear it wouldn't taste the same as back home.
OK, this has gone on WAY too long - I'm making myself hungry. And it's embarrassing, and probably somewhat revealing, that I've managed to write this much about restaurants.
