Our Chicago Dining Choices

Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, Chicago

I took the dining recommendations of my friends, did some internet searches on those choices and even blocked them out on a map, so I could see where they were located in relation to where I was staying. That was a good plan. It helped narrow the field a bit.
My big sister and my newly-turned-21-yr.-old niece met me (they live in Indiana) and I knew that while we might want to walk a little, this trip really was about relaxation.
 

We began with Saturday lunch at The Taste of Chicago, held at Grant Park (at Jackson and Columbus). Some big changes were made for Taste 2012. They cut the festival run time in half, from it's usual ten days to five (lots of debate on both sides about that choice), moved it from the raucous time block of July 4 to the more laid back mid-July (I vote yea on that.) and trimmed the vendor attendance by 20 (I didn't think that was a good idea.). I thought the food was reasonable in price. $8 got you a strip of 12 tickets. At many stands, you could purchase a full portion or a tasting portion. My $16 got me 1 order of potstickers and 1 Pad Thai from Arun's pop-up stand, 1 less-than-ripe-and-delicious bruschetta, 1/2 a Billy Goat Cheeseburger (shared with my niece, no Pepsi! Coke!- I had to!) and a bottle of water. I wasn't impressed with the vendors. I expected less street festival and more real taste of Chi-Town. There was a lot of pizza. A lot. Not regretful that I went, but won't clamber to get back.
 



Fresh fish on display at Santorini, Chicago

For Saturday dinner, my nephew and some friends joined us and we took the party to Greektown. It was a hopping neighborhood and we took a table at the noisy (OPA!) Santorini, where we had a family-style meal. The meat was just a bit overcooked to my rare tastes, but I loved the Spanikotiropita (spinach and feta in phyllo) and Saganaki (flaming cheese), which is tastier than any fried mozzarella could want to be. Best of all was our waiter, George. An older, fun-loving Greek guy. He was the perfect combination of professional and don't-give-me-crap-I'm-not-your-dad.

Sunday breakfast turned into Sunday brunch, not just because of the timing (it's okay to sleep in/gab a lot when you're on holiday with your sister!) but from the sheer amount of food we consumed at The Bongo Room. (We chose the Wicker Park location, there are three.) Nary a bad review in site, this was an ideal spot to enjoy some extraordinary food at affordable prices, albeit in a popular, noisy, slightly crowded place. The wait is long, just like the reviews say and there's little shade to be had while you're waiting, but the wait is worth it. I am a protein eater, so I knew that eggs would be involved somewhere. I chose the BLT Benedict. Two delicious sourdough English muffins were lightly toasted and topped with baby spinach, applewood smoked bacon bits (so much easier to eat than strips, thank you), perfectly poached eggs and tomato-basil pesto hollandaise sauce. That sauce is the real deal. You can watch the cooking line and I found myself fondly reminiscing as I watched a brother-in-arms ladle the sauce from it's warm place above the stove. Pathogens, be damned! A heaping of hash browns mashed themselves up against the entree, but they didn't receive much attention because I had to save room for my dessert...The pancake.

The pancakes come in orders of three. They are 10 inches, each and some incorporate ingredients or combinations of ingredients not normally found in griddle cakes. The trick is to know that orders of these fluffy flap jacks can be brought in a lesser (but not smaller) portion. I had read this AND our friendly server also mentioned it. When I asked the server to help me choose between the Red Velvet Pancake and the Caramel White Chocolate Pretzel Pancake, she gave me an important and very accurate answer. "So many people order Red Velvet because they just loooove Red Velvet, but I think the Pretzel Pancake is just so much more flavorful," she said.

And she was right. I like Red Velvet, but I am always disappointed in the lack of chocolate flavor and my CWCPP was a carnival ride of flavor. I do not like white chocolate, but including it on this pancake was genius. While I am a pretzel lover, I find myself having texture issues when they are included in some dishes (keep those pretzel M&Ms-they're like malted milk balls!) and almost had a problem here, but then I'd crunch into a salty bit and forget my sorrows. The Bongo Room is not to be missed.

My sister and my niece enjoyed a croissant sandwich and a breakfast burrito, respectively.