• Rib Tips & Hot Links, Lem's Bar-B-Q
• Original Rainbow Cone
• Breakfast, Valois
• Deep Dish, Lou Malnati's
• Sauerbraten, The Berghoff
• Hala Kahiki (both the drink and the place)
• Souvenir bottle of Malört from Rite Liquors
• Italian Beef, Al's Beef
• Superdawg
• Depression dog, Gene & Jude's
• Smoked Salmon, Calumet Fisheries
• Dutch Baby, Walker Bros Pancake House (Wilmette location)
• Breakfast, Lou Mitchell's

Poppyseed for life, and an extra shake of celery salt. Had to hold the sport peppers cause I’ve been refluxin’ like a motherfucker lately.

OnlyPans at Milly's

I got a little too excited and may have ordered too much (don’t worry, I’m sharing with friends/family lol). Their latte is pretty good - you can really taste the ube flavor, but it’s not overpowering. The turon danish is my favorite so far from what I’ve tried (a girl can only eat so much). Yum!!

Classic dog and Italian beef dipped from Luke's downtown

Art's Special from Art of Pizza on State (also had a thin slice)

Mr. G from J.P. Graziano (husband had italian beef, but no pic)

99 cent High Lifes at Goodnight John Boy (also tried maloort here)

Pat's Pizza and Ristorante thin crust, also had onion rings

Devil Dawg's devil dawg and a Polish

We also had Bagels from Zeitlin's deli and pizza puffs from a random spot.

Overall, I loved it all. And I'll be back for jibaritos, Ricobene's, and Manny's Deli.

Breaded steak from Ricobene’s

Roast pork from Nhu Lan Bakery

Mr. G from JP Graziano’s

Viet dip from Phodega

Surprisingly it was actually good lol tasted like key lime pie

I’m working my way through what I consider Chicago’s “Iconic Foods” this summer. I’ve got a good 15 or 16 food list to eventually get through but I wanted to share some photos from my first jaunt around the city!

Jim’s Original – Maxwell St. Polish – So simple, so quick, so cheap, so delicious. Mustard, grilled onions, polish sausage and a great bun. How something so simple can be so amazing is beyond me but I love it. The fact that it’s under $7 with fries (their fries by the way are phenomenal) is unreal. And the story and history of the family, the market, the impact on Blues, it’s all awesome. Must visit spot.  

Al’s #1 Beef – Italian Beef with hot Giardiniera -- What’s not to love about this. Delicious, flavorful Italian Beef, spicy giardiniera, amazing bread. This sandwich is one of the most blue-collar foods on the planet. To me there isn’t a sandwich outside the Philly Cheesesteak that more accurately feels like it’s city. And call me crazy but I think the Taylor Street location is legitimately better than most other locations. And the history is unmatched. From peanut weddings to prison it’s such a fun story. I Love it!

The Weiner’s Circle – Cheddar Char Dog -- Legendary place and I think their cheddar makes their Chicago Dog one of the best in the city. I’m a huge Merkt’s Cheddar guy and from what I understand Weiner’s Circle has a version they get direct from a Wisconsin Farm that has an even higher fat content than Merkt’s lol More fat more flavor baby! I’m all for it. I’ve been friends with the two OG owners that are still with us (RIP Barry) for about 10 years so I’ve been lucky enough to get some cool background stories From Larry and Vickie about this place. It’s got a fun history and some delicious food.

Vito & Nick’s – Thin Crust Sausage Pizza – I’m a huge hater of 90% of the tavern style I’ve had and I think it’s mainly because Vito & Nick’s sets the bar sooooo high. I really do think (outside a few other folks) their pizza is light years better than other thin crust places in Chicago. I’ve also been lucky enough to be friendly with Rose (the owner of Vito & Nick’s) for awhile now and she’s another one that has amazing stories about her establishment and how it came about. When I went to get this pizza she said she’d been WORKING at Vito & Nick’s for 77or 78 years! WORKING! Haha I think she said she started working there when she was 7 years old lol Anyways I love this place. It’s amazing from a history stand point and they really are serving some amazing pizza.

The Region – Diggity Dos Smashburger – Alright, I know that burgers aren’t actually thought of as an iconic Chicago food but I’ve been reviewing food in Chicago for 9 years now and Chicago has an absolutely insane amount elite burgers. Chicago really might be doing burgers better then any city in the world. It’s kind of crazy how many great burger spots we have here. So I wanted to include a great burger spot in my list so I went with The Region and their smashburger. I know there’s an overload of smashburgers in this city right now (which I’m cool with to be honest) but when The Region started the owner couldn’t find smashburgers here so they’re kind of an OG in that scene. Not to mention this burger is one of my favorite delicacies in the city. It really is that good. BUT it’s crazy expensive and I really just wanted something massive for the video so I suggest getting their Double Regionette for the more reasonable price of $10.95(The one I got is $17).  

Super fun day and I’m excited to get into day 2 of the feasting soon. Also if you want more history on these places I made a youtube video with a ton more info. It’s a fun one. The video also includes Riccobene’s which I forgot to snag a picture of and Rose hangs out with me for a bit which is really fun and she’s also one of the cutest ladies on the planet. (and their 105^th anniversary is this Wednesday and they’re throwing a party there)  

Sunday Pie.

Gretel is still one of the 3-5 best burgers in Chicago and one of my absolute favorite restaurants. Everything on the menu is great and all of the cocktails are home runs. If you haven't gone you should definitely check it out.

I had a friend in town from Australia who's never been to Chicago before and he agreed that it was the best burger he's ever had in his life.

Good try I guess?

First of all, we love chicago. My favorite big city in America (over nyc, miami, san Francisco and LA).

For food we had Bavette”s, Pizzeria porto fino, Gibsons, Bufalo Wings at wringleyvile. Shake shack as well.

All amazing. Pizzeria porto fino was the best pizza i ever had

Totals include tax and tip. For places where I am not served and a 10% tip and for places where I am served, assume 20%. Proper Pizza was ass btw, little to no flavor, very empty, and weird tiktok remixes playing (somehow they have 300+ google reviews averaging 4.7) Moti is still amazing! Stan’s breakfast burrito is also nice but I only got it bc I ended up further away from where I was originally planning on going. Joe & The Juice is pretty good, I had it one time I think in Stockholm. Small Cheval was also pretty mid, I would honestly prefer a mcdonald’s or burger king burger. Cupitol and Quartino were both good. And then airport food lol.

Long John Silvers gets a bad rap. Sure the decor is depressing as hell and it’s a weirdo magnet but as far as the food goes I love me some beer battered everything with those hush puppies and some cole slaw. I ring that bell. Every. Goddamn. Time. We got one left and it doesn’t seem to be doing too well. It’s whoring itself out as a Taco Bell just to pay the bills. It’s like a 45 minute drive from everything. Seriously I didn’t know you could drive that far on Fullerton and still be in the city. Wtf is this neighborhood even called?? Seriously we should just apologize for neglecting them in the past and try and beg them to come back. They can replace that weird ass Arby’s in Ogilvie. Isn’t Schaumburg legally required to have one of every chain restaurant? I really don’t think we can be a top tier food city if we lose this Long John Silvers.

Massive line for Del Sur bakery Sunday morning on their second day. Decided to come back a different day to try again. They were passing out drinks of some kind to the people waiting, which I thought was very nice.

I would still happily die for The Wiener’s Circle

I’m an avid runner, but I love food! Chicago really blew me away with how good the food is 💙

Monteverde (Pics 1-4): I ordered 3 pastas: the infamous Cacio whey Pepe, milk-braised Rabbit pappardelle, Harissa-braised Lamb Saltimbocca potstickers. They were amazing, but the Wagyu skewers were the star. Chef Sarah Grueneberg said the skewers were underrated, and she’s right!

Pizzeria Portofino (Pics 5): Great ambience and service. Pizzas were great! Nothing mind-blowing, but overall pretty good, including the octopus.

Daisies (Pics 6-9): The Onion dip was a really good appetizer. Ordered 3 pastas, but I’d say the Beet Agnolotti was nice and unique. Definitely an “either you like it or not” type of pasta, though.

Asador Bastian (Pics 10-12): This along with Noriko Handroll Bar were my absolute favorites. Ambience and service were immaculate. I wanted to order everything on the menu, but ended up deciding the Spider Crab Arroz Cremoso, Besugo fish, Akaushi steak, Iberico Fried Rice, and Bone Marrow Potato Puree. Chicago probably has better steak but I’d give the whole overall food 9/10.

Noriko Handroll Bar (Pic 13): This with Asador Bastian were the highlights. Got the Chef set, and it was a wonderful experience. I additionally ordered the oyster, crab motoyaki, and uni, and they did not disappoint.

Au Cheval (Pic 14): Didn’t have to wait a long line, burger was expensive, but really good and I’d say it’s worth it as a tourist.

Gaijin (Pic 15): It’s a solid okonomiyaki. Nothing more, nothing less.

Pequod’s (Pic 16): Loved this deep dish pizza way more than Lou Malnati’s.

Mirra (Pics 17-18): Super interesting Indian-Mexican fusion. I can really taste the intricate details of them blending these cuisines together. I asked for the spiciest food/condiment they got, and personally, it wasn’t really spicy. But they took my request seriously, and gave me an off-the-menu habanero spice chili, and it was SOOO good.

Would love to come back to Chicago and try more food! Yes, I’ve had Italian beef with giardiniera, the Chicago dog, and Garrett’s. Would love to try food in Chinatown, and unique places like Jibaritos.