Bongiorno’s Italian Deli & Pizzeria

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**** (4 stars)

This homey little counter service Italian place off the lobby of River View Plaza is a great spot for lunch or dinner.

The price for a ten inch pizza is great, and it has a very authentic crust such as you’d get in Napoli.

You can get any kind of pasta with any kind of sauce, but I haven’t yet found a combination that excites me, although the serving size is large enough for two or more.

I do like the Caesar salad, which isn’t tossed, but has a tasty dressing.

And the very best item is the garlic bread, a generous serving with lots of garlic butter, fixed in the pizza oven so the edges have a slight char.

There’s a pleasant outside patio where you can enjoy the view of the Trump tower–if you look straight up.

Bongiorno’s Italian Deli & Pizzeria
405 N Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 755-1255
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bongiornos-italian-deli-and-pizzeria-chicago

Hot “G” Dog

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**** (4 stars)

This place is the heir to the Hot Doug’s legacy, and they’re doing a good job of making creative gourmet dogs, without the block-long line.

I tried the New York, which included bacon and spicy mustard and ketchup, and the duck, which reproduced the famous foie gras dog, complete with truffle aioli. Both were quite good. The accompanying “small” fries was bountiful, but nothing special.

Hot “G” Dog
5009 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 209-3360
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hot-g-dog-chicago

Union Sushi + Barbeque Bar

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**** (4 stars)

This restaurant combines sushi bar, robot grill and noodle shop all in one. The lofty main room is pleasantly modern and upscale without being dressy.

I enjoyed the sashimi, and a King crab special appetizer. The skewers from the robot grill didn’t really impress. Despite the elaborate menu descriptions of sauce, they were all fairly bland.

The ice cream trio for dessert was the highlight of my meal. The espresso was a real standout.

There are some excellent cocktails, particularly if you enjoy bitter and complex flavors.

Service is friendly. It can take a while to fill orders, even though there is a team of delivery people.

Union Sushi + Barbeque Bar
230 West Erie Street
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 662-4888
http://www.yelp.com/biz/union-sushi-barbeque-bar-chicago-2

Billy Goat Tavern

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** (2 stars)

This place is a dive. It revels in being a dive. And I think dives are just fine, if they have great food. But there is absolutely nothing special about the hamburgers here, other than the fact that they were featured in a funny sketch on Saturday Night Live three decades ago. Having not seen the sketch, I entertained myself by reading the very interesting memorabilia that covers the walls. If only the food had been as interesting.

Billy Goat Tavern
430 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 222-1525
http://www.yelp.com/biz/billy-goat-tavern-chicago

The Chicago Diner

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**** (4 stars)

This is one of the better vegetarian restaurants I’ve been too. They do a great job of using ingredients such as seitan in ways that give it great texture and flavor.

We started with the barbecued sauce coated “wings” which had a great crust and delicious coating. The serving was generous, to say the least, and when we’d finished sharing the appetizers we were wondering if we could eat any of our entrees.

The cuban sandwich was okay, but the tostadas were great, with just the right balance between quinoa and black beans.

Shakes are a specialty here, and my coffee flavored one was wonderful. Note: a small is plenty!

The Chicago Diner
3411 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 935-6696
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-chicago-diner-chicago

Trenchermen

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***** (5 stars)

Trenchermen provides a very interesting menu in a great environment that is a mix of retro and modern.

The very reasonably price four course menu offers a nice way to sample (rather large) tasting portions of two appetizers, and entree and a dessert. Having complete flexibility of wha tot choose from the menu is really a nice idea. Our eight choices were:

Shrimp was served on interesting toast, and with a lemon curd garnish, it was good, not superb.

Ham was thin sliced and served with a BBQ-like sauce, very good.

Carrots with exotic spices were accompanied by wonderful English pea falafel.

Pickle tots were more like potato puffs, with very little pickle flavor.

Cauliflower was a spectacular slice of a whole cauliflower, browned on both sides and served with tangy relish. This was stellar.

Double burger was perfectly cooked, served with spectacularly crisped steak fries and the most delicious “burger sauce” for dipping I’ve ever tasted. This was addictive.

Basque cake had a wonderful buttery crust and came with delicious poppy seed ice cream.

The cheese plate included three American artisanal cheeses, but the highly was the accompanying house-roasted nuts.

The focus here is on cocktails more that the rather eclectic selection of wines. Service was very friendly.

Trenchermen
2039 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 661-1540
http://www.yelp.com/biz/trenchermen-chicago

Amazing Kale Burger Lunch Counter

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**** (4 stars)

It’s always a pleasure to eat where the employees are really passionate about what they do, and that epitomizes The Amazing Kale Burger. From the moment I walked in I felt right at home, and my server’s enthusiasm for the food was very clear.

I tried the Vaden, which is served with a beet-based BBQ sauce. The kale burger patty is quite delicious, with all the ingredient in balance, and a nice crust from cooking. The accompanying lettuce and tomato were quite fresh, and the BBQ sauce was delicious. The bun was a bit small, sturdy and dry for my taste, but I can see where others might like it.

For a side dish I had pickled asparagus, which was tossed with yellow peppers and extremely fresh oregano bits. It was delicious.

House made mint tea was pleasantly unsweetened.

The kale burger was one of the better vegetarian patties I’ve had, and I’d often choose it over a meat patty if it were available elsewhere. Coincidentally, I ate here on national burger day!

Amazing Kale Burger Lunch Counter
741 Howard St
Evanston, IL 60202
(847) 660-4330
http://www.yelp.com/biz/amazing-kale-burger-lunch-counter-evanston

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza

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**** (4 stars)

This is a great concept for pizza.

It’s always bugged me that pizza places charge some ridiculous amount for each ingredient when you roll your own. Well not at Blaze. Here you can get anything you like, in any combination, for one reasonable price. Assembly is quick and easy, and the baking process is equally quick, so it’s as fast as fast food, but completely custom, and with much better ingredients.

Service was friendly and efficient, and they took extra care to get my crust crispy, the way I like it, and to melt the ricotta cheese I selected.

It’s great that there’s finally an excellent pizza place in Evanston!

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza
4999 Old Orchard Center
Ste F9
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 568-1649
http://www.yelp.com/biz/blaze-fast-fired-pizza-skokie

Etch

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***** (5 stars)

The food at Etch is astonishing. Seriously. This was one of the best meals of my life. Every flavor component of every dish was surprising, complex, and worth savoring. Some dishes–such as the cauliflower appetizer–had different flavor combinations at different ends of the dish. There wasn’t a single element of anything we tried that didn’t contribute to the whole.

An interesting wine list and knowledgeable servers complement this amazing food. And the ambiance is upscale, trendy, yet not too loud to have an intimate conversation. This restaurant would be a major weekly temptation if I lived in Nashville. Truly memorable.

Etch
303 Demonbreun St
Nashville, TN 37201
(615) 522-0685
http://www.yelp.com/biz/etch-nashville

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

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*** (3 stars)

Cracker Barrel isn’t one of my usual haunts, but when you’re driving through the South it seems almost required dining. We had a pleasant enough breakfast here. The wait staff was friendly, and as far as I could tell it was identical to the other 100 Cracker Barrels we passed that day.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
5631 Highway 20 NE
Cartersville, GA 30121
(770) 386-6973
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cracker-barrel-old-country-store-cartersville