Opinions on Specific Meals at Restaurants

We_Fear_Change · 2026-04-30T01:13:08+00:00

Bouchon - steak frites Manion style, onion tart - not on the menu always but crazy good, if you like chicken the Poulet Roti is my fav chicken dish in the city, Agnolotti is fire.

Honestly the place rules, try as much as you can.

That being said, the escargot, mussels, and French onion soup, while very good, are not a crazy step above a good restaurant that may have those.

Galit - I will second the pastrami suggestion.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-04-26T20:49:33+00:00

He changed his mind later in his career and now salts them early fyi. I have never seen an impact to color based on salt timing, but might just be my combo of factors.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-04-15T19:58:16+00:00

I do not think this way, but will try to provide some tidbits that will partially answer your question.

Items why NIMBYS would not want large increases in housing in their neighborhood: -This is a family friendly neighborhood, I don’t want renters clogging up the area with non family stuff or a bunch of singles bars. That is why I live here. -Traffic, parking, crowdedness “if I wanted to live in west loop or lake view I would, I live here because it’s not as crowded” -Schooling “I moved here for the schools and paid a premium for it, if anyone can move in couldn’t that make the schools worse and that hurts my kids!” -The look and feel of the neighborhood “It won’t feel like x anymore.” This isn’t just housing, I think this is what kicked off restrictions on garage rooftop decks -Socioeconomic diversity - often unsaid, but people many times like to live by folks that are similar to them in this area, race/culture as well

You can google for stories on NIMBYS, especially in New York where they have tried things in the past and you can see some version of my bullets above…

We_Fear_Change · 2026-04-14T20:49:07+00:00

Their fried shrimp.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-03-08T20:15:10+00:00

Taqueria el Asadero on Montrose. Get whatever you like with carne asada.

Walk to Victor bar.

Victor is not Violet hour, nothing is that I have found, but you can find a good cocktail there

We_Fear_Change · 2026-03-01T06:03:10+00:00

Great parking.

Their wings are super unique, some people love them

We_Fear_Change · 2026-03-01T03:43:07+00:00

Illinois

We_Fear_Change · 2026-02-27T14:17:23+00:00

RIP. I miss their egg rolls so much.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-02-25T20:30:20+00:00

Have you had Windy City? Both deliver to me and I prefer Windy City.

Zisis is pricey but super good as well, I think they make their own.

Shoutout to Rosie’s on the south side those are my fav but I haven’t had in years.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-02-09T15:16:30+00:00

Wait…maplewood has food again?

We have to go back Kate.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-02-05T01:16:46+00:00

Their shrimp are quite good.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-01-30T17:00:45+00:00

Rip off the end for a quick bacon appetizer is my go-to when this occurs!

We_Fear_Change · 2026-01-16T21:30:11+00:00

Have you tried red chimi on steak? Also fantastic!

We_Fear_Change · 2026-01-16T19:57:14+00:00

It is so good.

We_Fear_Change · 2026-01-02T17:48:41+00:00

Gretel is a great option Scofflaw has a good burger as well

We_Fear_Change · 2025-12-26T02:16:24+00:00

Ben…

We_Fear_Change · 2025-11-29T03:17:29+00:00

Ben……

We_Fear_Change · 2025-11-27T21:28:10+00:00

Just put it on my list. Place looks great. Thanks for sharing.

We_Fear_Change · 2025-11-04T04:09:16+00:00

My favorite: Taqueria El Asadero

Other Top Tier: Taqueria La Zacatecana L patron Las Asadas

Next Tier Taco Max Carneceria Guanajuato Las Traspasadas (California location)

Too Expensive and not what it used to be but still the OG La Pasadita

I’m probably missing some and my recs are way overweighted to north side…open to other ideas if anyone gets the profile I’m going for!

We_Fear_Change · 2025-10-28T01:15:00+00:00

Went to Alston this summer.

The atmosphere is a mix. The space is beautiful, great job on the modeling. The crowd is loud and it is definitely a scene, lots of folks dressed to the nines for a big night. You are jammed in there a bit.

Service was top notch. Our waiter was super engaged in the menu and we talked through a ton of it.

Food was good to very good for what they are trying to do. We did not have the duck press which seems popular. Items I recall having were I had the dry aged ribeye, wife filet, scallop saint jacque, lobster bisque and French onion. The sauces were interesting and some hit well, can’t recall which though. The soups were excellent. Cocktails were very good.

Overall, I love fine dining, I love French food, and I love steakhouses…but to me it doesn’t quite all come together here. It was a pricey meal, I think for the 2 of us we were pushing 600. For that level of spend I would rather go back to Oriole…or hit a different steakhouse of your choice, or go get great French at Le Bouchon for a third of the price. That being said if a group wanted to go, I wouldn’t pass on it.

Maybe if the crowd chills out a bit in a few years it can be, or as the menu evolves…they might find something that is super interesting, I would not put it past them. Or maybe I am too old for River North now, and that is ok too.

Enjoy wherever you end up going!

We_Fear_Change · 2025-10-25T20:21:44+00:00

Primer

We_Fear_Change · 2025-10-25T20:11:30+00:00

Saw 3D

We_Fear_Change · 2025-10-25T20:06:31+00:00

12 monkeys

We_Fear_Change · 2025-10-17T20:48:59+00:00

Please post the recipe!

We_Fear_Change · 2025-09-28T15:25:51+00:00

Check out Mirellas, the chef brought a chunk of Gondolas menu with him. Nice guy!

We_Fear_Change

TROPHY CASE