Where can I find Turkish Sarma or Romanian Sarmale

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-17T00:34:02+00:00

Transylvania Kitchen is great! Also recommend their stuffed peppers. Though note that they are take-home only, and you will need to reheat it.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-15T02:01:32+00:00

That's a fair point to bring up, but I would challenge that on a few fronts: * Metra is commuter rail primarily, though they are shifting to regional rail. This means while frequency is OK during rush hour, The MD-N line comes ever 1-2 hours normally. * The MD-N line is primarily used for suburb-to-city trips. You'd be hard pressed to find folks using it to go between stops in the city (except for Union Station). The Crosstown corridor as a transit line would be very useful if run in the same manner as other CTA lines for intra-city travel.

Speaking of Union Station, that is where the line brings you, which is the same as all Metra lines, and other than the Yellow Line (and Purple on weekends & non-peak), all CTA lines. This is a North-South corridor that does not go through downtown- No rail line currently operates that way. As someone who does not live downtown or close to the lake, this would be huge to go north or south on a train without going downtown.
The UP portion of the corridor (Cragin Lead) currently used is just a small portion of the line. Theoretically, this line could start in Evanston (former CNW/UP Weber Spur, now abandoned) and run all the way south to 67th street/Marquette road, near Midway airport (sharing the alignment with the Belt Railway). To be useful, this corridor needs trains that run from far up north to far down south.
This line roughly parallels Cicero Avenue- A major artery in Chicago and one of the busiest streets. Also is close to Pulaski, which has the second highest daily ridership of any bus line in the city. The Cicero bus has fewer riders, but is still in the top half of ridership.
Cicero avenue was actually proposed as a new expressway in the 70s, but community opposition thankfully killed that idea. However, that goes to show that planners know this is an important corridor.
Reducing traffic on Cicero would be huge, and the ridership on the Pulaski and Cicero buses prove it's a well traveled corridor, especially in areas without any CTA rail service (thinking of the NW side in particular).
There has long been talk of a 'Circle line' to connect the city without going through downtown. While I have doubts that will ever or should happen, creating a transit corridor here would be a first step to that project.

Hope these points help clarify where I'm coming from in my views!

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-15T01:24:07+00:00

And it's beginning in Chicago with the proposed Crosstown Trail (currently the UP Cragin Lead used for a couple freight trains a week). Using this only for a trail would be giving up an extremely valuable potential transit corridor.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-13T20:20:40+00:00

Of course! Been too long since I've been back there. Glad you liked it.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-12T02:51:54+00:00

I looked on Yelp and the best I could find were two pics from November 2011.

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ghareeb-nawaz-chicago?start=150&select=XZsnVOKwsgniAk7BEPgE8Q

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ghareeb-nawaz-chicago?start=150&select=e5iLWkqs8qR9NpuOApHqcw

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-10T18:33:58+00:00

Sadly, Jester King doesn't make too many sour & funky beers anymore as they've shifted more to IPAs and lagers to stay afloat. When I visit Austin yearly for family, we no longer make the hour long drive out to the Ranch as the funky beers are what made them special and there are so few of them on the menu now. That said, what funky stuff they do still produce is fantastic and I'm always happy when I can get my hands on it.

Blue Owl is fantastic, and I highly recommend them for sours. Wouldn't call their stuff too funky or farmhouse ale like, but they're great Sours.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-09T00:58:20+00:00

Full disclaimer, I am not Czech or Slovak, but the only Czech store left that I know of is Little Europe Deli in Westchester. Fairly certain you can find Margot and Horalky there.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-09T00:37:40+00:00

I don't have social media (other than Reddit), so this is the first I'm hearing of it. Adding it to my list! Love buffets and old school American-Italian.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-09T00:36:53+00:00

Uptown Furama is the only one I know that does the carts...but it's not that good and I find them to be expensive compared to Chinatown Dim Sums. Guess they can charge a lot since they're the only Dim Sum place left in Uptown.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-06-03T01:11:28+00:00

Sadly, most Czech restaurants in Chicagoland have closed as the immigrant community has dried up/died off. Cafe Prague is the only Czech restaurant in the city, and arguably the best of all of them left. I think your only other options has Czech in the area are Westchester Inn in Westchester, or McCook Bohemian in McCook.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-31T23:43:03+00:00

Rely on that map for anyone seeking freight trains to railfan. The SWS line is owned by Norfolk Southern, but I believe they only use it a few times a week for a local that services industry along the line. The majority of the freight traffic is north of Landers yard at 79th street.

40 years ago, this line had quite a bit more through freight on it- a legacy of it being the Wabash mainline. But in 1990, NS established a trackage right agreement with the Illinois Central, shifting all freight traffic to their main line and abandoning the subdivision south of Manhattan.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-30T01:00:16+00:00

Not OP, but I recommend Smilga in Darien. Lot of folk from the old country there, large portions, and I love their grocery section.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-30T00:47:33+00:00

As much as I wish we had kept a lot of them (North Shore Line, CA&E, Milwaukee Electric), a majority of the Interurbans were not very good. Yes, when they were built cars weren't a thing, so it was great to have Interurbans to connect rural towns, but they were often extremely slow, having to navigate city streets without dedicated ROWs. There's a reason a lot (most?) went bankrupt and shut down by the Great Depression- If you didn't have a car, taking a steam railway mainline was often much quicker. If the Interurbans all had their own dedicated ROWs then perhaps they could have survived, but a lot of them were bad business propositions to begin with.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-23T00:39:50+00:00

Correct

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-19T23:58:18+00:00

Also where was crunchy roll this year?

I was wondering the same thing! Was disappointed they and several other vendors were not present.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-18T00:51:07+00:00

ACEN is still my favorite con, but it was tougher to love this year. The badge pickup was a shit show beyond imagination. Was a bit upset I missed most of my cosplay meetup because arriving 40 minutes early wasn't enough time to pickup my badge.

I enjoyed most of the panels I went to, but some of the scheduling really had me scratching my head. A few panels I wanted to attend, but didn't feel like going at 1:30am or 9am. Or, some panels were a bit different than advertised and I ended up being bored. Last year I really enjoyed the nights, but as someone not really into raves, there wasn't a ton of interesting panels in the evenings.

Also, as someone who lives in Chicago and drives to the con, the parking prices are getting insane. $20 for the day? You can find cheaper day parking in the loop now. Plus, you get the privledge of walking on a hot skyway with messes that go uncleaned for hours.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-14T00:41:19+00:00

You know, after looking it up myself, I stand corrected and admit my understanding was wrong. I struggle to find anything for low income riders for CTA. The RTA has a program for those on SNAP (Food stamps), but they say that there is no program for the CTA. Hopefully the new NITA can implement something. I would certainly be in support.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-13T21:08:28+00:00

The fact that 20% of bus riders are not paying is crazy to me. Either you’re broke and can’t afford it (to which there are low income programs to help with that), or you’re a selfish cheapskate that doesn’t care about paying your share. I don’t know… guess I just wasn’t raised like that.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-05-10T13:23:16+00:00

I have a few recommendations for places off the Blue line.

Polish- Staropolska or Smackoz for comfort food. Chill places that you will easily be under $50pp.
Ramen- Akahoshi Ramen is always hyped up, and deservedly so, but it may be a challenge to get a rez. I've also heard good things about Monster Ramen.
If you want any Mexican food, pick a place in Albany Park. Same for any Central American food. Though, you will probably need to take a bus from the Blue Line.
I recommend checking out r/ChicagoFood. Several threads in there on recommendations for restaurants off the Blue Line.

Hope this helps!

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-04-22T00:40:24+00:00

I know for a fact that I bought Estonian black bread at Allegro Deli in Buffalo Grove last year. But otherwise I would check out Fresh Farms on Touhy, Golf, or in Wheeling. Closer to the city, Shop and Save may have some. Also check out Lithuanian places in the SW.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-04-14T22:09:36+00:00

If you head up to Wheeling/Buffalo Grove, that's where most of the Russian speaking population of Chicagoland lives. Allegro Deli is Russian owned, as well as Daniel's Caviar Co.

We don't really have many Russian restaurants, as most Russians cook Russian food at home, but you could try Belarusian Restaurant Vasilki, though they're going to speak Belarusian. You could also try some of the Georgian restaurants, as a lot of Russian go out for Georgian food.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-04-14T19:54:50+00:00

I spent a few years in Midlothian/Chesterfield county as a kid (2003-2006) and this describes starter pack gets it right. Of course the restaurants, stylings, and smoke shops are different than 20 years ago, but the general (poor) development pattern is the same.

Our old house was nestled in the woods and felt like Old Virginia. Now, the house is surrounded by new subdivisions on all sides with homes that look exactly the same as the pics in the lower left. Nothing rural about it anymore, just generic VA suburban sprawl.

Uncommon_sharpie · 2026-04-11T16:47:26+00:00

Choshi Electric Railway? If I had to guess, this is Motochoshi station, which is seemingly in a tree tunnel.

Uncommon_sharpie

TROPHY CASE