I think there was some kind of food related thread on the old board.

Let's use this one to suggest one dish that's worth checking out that you've had at a Chicago restaurant.

Name of restaurant
Address or web site
Name of dish/type of food
Why

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Yuki Hana
2920 N Clark St, Chicago, 60657 (couple blocks north of Diversey)
Tempura Calamari
I practically live across the street and have become addicted to this. The pieces are huge, I think they get it from some kind of mutated squid. Doesn't come with typical marinara sauce, I think it's some kind of soy sauce with spices or something.

El Pastor Tacos from Garcia's 4749 N Western.

Best El Pastor in the City, make sure to ask for the El Pastor sauce, they won't give it to you if you don't ask. wolfden and I had been going there for a long time before we found out about it.

Polish, Fries & a Drink, $3.99 @ the Hoagie Hut
intersection of Lincoln, Sheffield & Wrightwood

Truffle Oil Pot Stickers At Kevin on Hubbard. Tortilla Soup At Norton's house made by his missus.(bonus pick)
.

cashew chicken
cozy rice and noodles
3456 n. sheffield
http://www.cozychicago.com/

i'm constantly pimping cozy because it's a fantastic restaurant with fantastic thai food. maybe not the BEST thai in chicago, but the atmosphere of the restaurant, the friendly staff and inexpensive prices bring me back all the time. i eat there at least once a week and cashew chicken is the shit. get it extra spicy. trust me.

BBQ Salmon w/ avacado chutney and cornmeal pancakes
Feast
Near North/Damen/Milwaukee

Salmon melts in your mouth, avacado is surprisingly refreshing, and pancakes are a great alternative to potatoes

20 Oh My Gosh wings and a Leinies Honey Weiss, w/ a Blackhaus chaser
Yakzies
Clark St., same block as Metro.
go get 'em, tiger!

best bar appetizer --
mini Buffalo Chicken sandwiches
Grace O'Malley's
1416 S. Michigan

Tang pizza = oddly yummy

Matza Ball Soup

Bagel Restaurant & Deli - (773) 477-0300 -
3107 N Broadway St,
Chicago, IL

this is a meal in itself.

dig

Chan's Chinese Kitchen Two - Chinese Restaurant
7117 S State St
Chicago, IL 60619

Phone Chan's Chinese Kitchen Two at 773-874-8366


Good ass food! I used to eat it every day when I worked at Trinity Hospital on the South Side. Good stuff. I was obsessed with the Szechwan Chicken dinner combo. Spicy and tasty.

oh yes. when I lived near there my Sunday dinner was a small chicken tang pizza and 10 oh my gosh.


might explain my big ass.

Los Nopales Mexican Restaurant
4544 N Western Ave

Caldo de Pollo (chicken soup)


huge bowl o' soup. a good full meal.

so true....so true.

Bacon wrapped dates from Meson Sabika

It's like eating dessert during the meal.

where is this place? i love the ones at babareeba.

m. henry
5707 n clark
mango bliss cakes

i usually settle for little or no breakfast during the week and make up for it on the weekends. and m. henry's been rising on my list of favorite chicago brunches since late last summer. almost everything on their brunch menu is divine, but i find myself with the mango bliss cakes more often than not. they're mango pancakes with many other fruits (apples, raspberries, blueberries, etc) poured over a hot stack. a perfectly-textured vanilla creme tops it.

Opart Thai House
4658 N. Western Ave.
773-989-8517


Tiger Cry

My favorite apetizer/starter. Marinated, spicy, grilled beef with a wonderful vinegar/cilanto/red pepper dipping sauce.

Chicken Panang

Best Thai curry in the city.

BYOB is you want booze.

La Bocca della Verita'
4618 North Lincoln Avenue
773-784-5222

Go there and order the roasted veggie plate with a couple glasses of wine.

The gnocchi are pretty good, too.

It's in Naperville/Aurora on New York avenue. I'm reluctant to say it's better than Babareeba but some of their stuff definitely rivals it.

http://www.mesonsabika.com/naperville/index.php

went to a wedding their last summer- nice venue, foods ok- nothing great, but I'm sure (or at least I hope) the banquet menu and restaurant menu are different...

Bacchanalia Ristorante
2413 S. Oakley Ave.

The veal parmigiam is the best I've ever had.

Holy shit. Amen. I've never heard anyone else who knew about this place...the Chicken Bacchinalia was one of my favorites as a teenager. Get this dish:

Chicken Bacchinalia
1/2 of a roast chicken
Cover it in Potatoes, Italian Sausage, Green Peppers
Die Happy

Thai Classic
3332 N. Clark Street

http://www.thaiclassicrestaurant.com/home.html

Get yourself some drunk noodles, but at medium spice.

If you love el pastor so much, please visit mexico city before you die.
Words cannot do it justice.

[minor nitpick]Al Pastor[/minor nitpick]

One dish. That's tough. Well, it's gotta be BBQ, don't it?

I'll say the tips-links combo from Uncle Johns, 337 E. 69th Street, Chicago, IL.

Cancel that order, and make it mish-mosh soup. Hold the Kashi

Also:

Superdawg.

Cheesy dawg.

Marigold
4832 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL
Website

Their Lamb Vindaloo is my favorite. It's lamb shank marinated in chiles and vinegar, and then simmered in garlic and chiles, served with yogurt. It has a very intense, but not overbearing, heat that builds throughout the meal. I also order a side of naan with their chutney trio (it's usually mint, tamarind and one other I can't remember), which helps with the cooling process.

Borinquen Restaurant
1720 N California Ave / 3811 N Western Ave
Yelp reviews

Home of the jibarito!
Two crisp plantains smothered in garlic to make the "bread" of this sandwich; some sort of meat (I usually get the chicken breast); lettuce; tomato; cheese; mayonnaise. Served with a side yellow rice and pigeon peas, with little bits of ham. It's divine.

Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen
1141 S. Jefferson
Chicago, IL 60607
(Jefferson and just north of Roosevelt)

Corned Beef or Pastrami Sandwich $9.99

you have to eat this sandwich with a fork. they keep it simple, just the corn beef and the rye. i recommend also having a pickle, a potato pancake and some root beer.


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Cheeseburger from Muskie's.

edit: it's more than one dish but this thread will do in a pinch.

Spotted this link to Steak 101 in a blog today. Binko to thread.

Seriously, if I lived in the area I'd totally do this.

Well, a vanity search turned this up, so I'll suggest a new one (but an old favorite). I haven't been there in about a year or so, but the black pepper garlic beef at Double Li is a thing of beauty. Beef tenderloin marinated in oyster sauce, ginger, and garlic, then fried (actually deep fried in a wok and drained), then fried again in butter, lots of garlic and black pepper, and oyster sauce. It's really a fantastic combination of simple but powerful flavors, crispy and soft textures, and the butter gives it a bit of an unusual almost French kick to this standard Chinese stir fry. I've never had a preparation like this anywhere. Served with a side of broccoli.

Double LI
228 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60686

Every once in awhile I riff on this basic idea at home, too, with stir fries, although I don't bother deep frying--just fry and brown my protein first, then add the butter+lots of chopped garlic+coarsely ground black pepper+oyster sauce, and maybe celery and/or bell peppers for some extra texture. Wonderful stuff.

I miss the Monster Cookies from Panes Bread Cafe.

wait, did something happen to Panes?!

Man... I got loaded one time at that Uberstein joint and a buddy of mine had the good sense to order the giant appetizer platter of German sausages, soft pretzels, etc. Maybe it's just the big tankards of beer talking, but the excellence of that experience has stuck with me.

Sorry to cause panic. Not to my knowledge-- the joint's still there. (Panicking myself, I checked.) I haven't lived in the neighborhood in 10 years. Sigh.