Results tagged “soups”

A huge, golden brown turkey coming steaming from the oven. Piles of fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes. And a pumpkin pie, perfectly set in its pan. Also, a kitchen full of dishes precariously piled on top of each other and one or more exhausted cooks, too tired to do anything but sit down and watch everyone else enjoy the day's feast. Sound like your family? If so, there is an easier, less messy way to give thanks. It's called take-out. And it doesn't mean scrimping on the savory and sweet tastes you know and love. It just means everyone can enjoy the day, and the only clean-up is putting the to-go boxes in the trash.

It may have been delayed, but fall is finally upon us. What better way to celebrate it than to put on comfy slippers, elastic pants and a heavy sweater whilst slurping a rich and hearty soup? Even before the temperature dropped Chicagoist was gearing up to make a creamy mushroom soup. It was fortuitous that the day we made it was also the day that the median Chicago temperature fell by a whopping thirty degrees....

It takes a strong constitution to negotiate Archer Avenue on a bicycle; some stretches between California and Cicero require a rider to put the fear of death out of his head. But it's worth the trip west, young man, for the literal smörgåsbord of Polish restaurants, meat markets, and European delicatessens you'll come across. One that we're ashamed to have never visited until this weekend is Racine Bakery. This Garfield Ridge institution has been in business since 1984, eighteen of them in its current location at 6216 S. Archer. For émigrés from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and other areas of central and eastern Europe, a visit to Racine Bakery can ease the transition to their new lives in America by giving them a taste of home.

Winston’s Market on Southport suffers from multiple personalities. But unlike Sybil, it’s a good thing. Opened last May, this former shoe boutique now houses a deli, a self-service restaurant, a beer and wine store, and a gourmet prepared-foods shop. Sound like they have too much on their plate? Not when we stopped by and noticed that the friendly staff had plenty of time to answer our questions, take our order (they didn’t even flinch when we asked for our bread to be toasted on the already prepared sandwich), quickly wiped down tables and chairs (why do other places always forget this?), prepared orders to go, and hand-delivered them to customers checking to make sure they had pronounced their names correctly, and waved at babies. Whew!

Chicagoist doesn’t live with our mama. Since our June Cleaver impersonation is rather lacking, when we want to feed a home cooked meal to our family we trawl Chicago’s restaurants. Our favorite is Panes, a family-owned Lakeview original, nestled in between chains Chicago Pizza and Pompei on Sheffield and Wellington.

The writing was on the wall or, to be more precise, the windows. And, as often is the case in these scenarios, we weren’t happy about it. Perhaps that’s why we didn’t notice at first. Instead, we happily sauntered into Onu, a small Asian market in Boystown, like we have many times before (call us kooky, but ethnic markets make us happy, especially ones in our own hood). When we asked the clerk if she...

This ain’t your ordinary brown sack lunch. When your Reuben comes with butter-sherry sautéed onions and the sloppy Joe hails from New Mexico with jalapeños and chilies, you know you’re not going to have just an ordinary sandwich at this charming lunch spot in Logan Square. Maybe that’s because the head chef and owner, Malaika Marion, who trained at CHIC (Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago) and Le Cordon Bleu, has racked in time at...

Three minutes after we walked into Beograd Meat Market, we figured out that it’s a place that attracts a lot of regulars. How did we decide so quickly? That’s exactly the amount of time it took for Dusan Pavlovic to come over and ask if we needed any help. It’s this kind of customer service — Beograd is family owned, and it shows — coupled with a genuine passion for the Eastern European products...

Parents of Chicago, we know what you’ve been craving: a place to get a decent beer with friends and pick up a quality picture book for your child at the same time. Order your favorite Unibroue, pull up your stroller, and relax at Lincoln Square’s Book Cellar. This independent bookstore has our favorite children’s book selection in the city; they stock everything from board books about urban babies to favorites like Don’t Let the Pigeon...

Dharma Garden Thai Cuisine is a restaurant full of contradictions. And we mean that in a good way. One side of this Albany Park eatery is flanked by a long bar, although the restaurant is BYOB. Dharma prides itself on using healthful ingredients and cooking processes — the menu informed us “dharma ragsar” means “natural healing” in Thai — but 10 out of the 20 apps are deep fried. To be fair, a majority of...

With a serious addiction to coffee and an ever-growing frustration at the sheer number of corporate coffee chain locations, we love to find independently owned and operated coffee shops around town; especially when these places do pretty much everything right. Enter, The Grind. We gladly stroll right past the Starbucks on the corner to visit this cozy little place, located on the main strip of Lincoln Square. The Grind offers a warm ambiance, consistently friendly...

Chicagoist was confronted by a large number of beets the other day. They were all like "hey bitch, why don't you do something with our sweet, sweet dark purple asses instead of letting us rot away into moldy piles of nothing?" And we were like "um, excuse me?" You might think that this happened in the middle of the street, but, in actuality, this throw-down transpired in our very own kitchen! Can you believe it? The nerve of some root vegetables. The tricky thing about this whole situation was that the beets had a point. We let them languish longer than we should have, and they definitely were looking a little rough around the edges. So with no further conversation (it was weird, the beets talking) we got down to business. If you, too, need to adjust some root vegetable attitude, this is the recipe for you. Maybe you're just a fan of colorful and hearty soups — if so, well, this recipe is for you too!

How would you like to have delicious gourmet meals delivered to your home several times a week? And even better, how would you like to know that the money you pay for the food isn’t going to some huge corporation, but instead towards feeding the hungry in Chicago? Meet First Slice, an innovative, self-funded, non-profit organization started by Mary Ellen Diaz, former chef at the acclaimed North Pond restaurant. The organization, which is profiled in...

While Chicagoist awaits the imminent opening of Eleven City Diner and breaking in the on-duty soda jerk they're promising we decided to walk two blocks south to a place that's been serving up affordable food for over two years. Nestled in the middle of a packed block for dining that includes the trendy Opera, Gioco, and Zapatista, proprietor Howard "Howie" Stein advertises his eponymous restaurant as "the South Loop's neighborhood joint." While Howie's doesn't have the pretension level of its neighboring restaurants, the atmosphere is perfect for enjoying a quick nosh; the quality of the food is impeccable for a fast food joint; and, compared to its neighboring restaurants, the prices are affordable enough to fit any budget.

Chicagoist doesn’t venture much outside the city limits, but last night, we found ourselves way north, up in Evanston. With our stomachs rumbling, we stopped inside Prairie Moon (at 1502 Sherman Ave.), which bill itself as all-American dining. However, most of the menu items, as well as the interior décor, boast a Southwestern twist.

Venture to the Southwest side enough and one will find that Mexican restaurants pop up like the ragweed we’ll be pulling from sidewalk cracks come spring; some of those serve food that doesn’t taste much better. And so it was that Chicagoist’s Bridgeport Bureau Chief found himself hopping on the Orange Line Monday, camera in tow, to find one that stood out. Luckily we didn’t have to go farther than Las Islas Marias at 5401...

Chicagoist calls it the "'Super Size Me' fallout"- fast food and restaurant chains scrambling to provide healthy alternatives to the greasy, fattening, in some cases tasty food they were offering. Or maybe this just strikes a chord with us because breakfast this morning consisted of two chili dogs and a hot toddy. Either way, the Eatery Formerly Known As Pizzeria Uno has taken steps to offering alternatives to the deep dish pizza that made the chain famous. It's part of a ten-year makeover that, when completed, will make the restaurants indistinguishable from Applebee's, TGI Friday's, Houston's, and Bennigan's aside from the name.

Hey everyone, if you’re like Chicagoist, you’ve noticed the days are getting shorter, a portend of our slippery decent into winter and into heartier food. However, we are not really ready for super-hearty stews and soups, just something leaning in that direction. Poached salmon with mushrooms, tarragon, and cream is just what we need.

It is tucked away, but once you find it you will know where to go when you need a break from shopping or a quick lunch if you work in the area. Café Nordstrom is hidden on the Fourth Floor of the Shopping Center between Kids and Juniors.

This weekend the New York Times Magazine had an interesting peek into the life and home of Roger Ebert. Ebert and his wife, Chaz, live in a 4 1/2 story town house in Chicago. Does anyone know where? Just wondering, not that we're gonna .. uh.. stalk him . .. or anything..

Last week's call for favorite delivery and carryout spots elicited several responses, which we'll list this week.

If 2004 was the year of tapas, or small-plate dining, then 2005 will be the year of the Comfort Food. Comfort food — think hearty, filling — has been making its way onto menus for some time now. After 9/11, the school of thought was that restaurant patrons wanted something that would soothe the mind as well as sate the belly. Meatloaf, for instance, has popped up in some unexpected places such as Bar Louie,...