January 2007 Archives

Bandera makes Michigan Avenue part of its décor.

When Adam (an out-of-towner planning a weekend trip to Chicago) recently asked Tammy and I about our must-eat restaurants, Bandera was one of the places I recommended.

The food is tasty, the location is prime, and the wine list is better than average. Large windows looking out on the Magnificent Mile give the loft-like dining room and bar a citified feel, and the live jazz ensemble that plays there every night completes the effect. It’s a restaurant specifically designed to show off Michigan Avenue.

Bandera is practically flanked by hotels, so I’m sure it’s frequented by folks just passing through town. But it also appeals to locals. Located in a condo building, the restaurant has a regular cast of characters to offset the Chicago newbies. My favorite is an older woman who lives in the building. She stops by every night to sip a single glass of wine and observe the goings on. Everyone on staff knows her, and they save her a comfy seat in the corner of the bar.

It’s a shame I’ve never seen her eat because the menu at Bandera has something for everyone, from fantastic roasted chicken to lovely barbequed salmon, which is my favorite.

I recommend you start with the skillet cornbread as an appetizer. It’s technically supposed to be a side dish, but I like it as a starter. It’s served warm in the skillet and is mouth watering.

For the main dish I almost always get the barbequed salmon (Although, I’ve had the pork and chicken there too and liked both very much. I’ve also heard the ribs are good). I used to think the salmon at Bandera was the best in the city.

And sometimes it is. But on recent trips, the fish has been smothered in barbeque glaze instead of accented with it, and that makes me wonder... Is the chef masking the fishy taste of a cheap fillet with more sauce? Not a happy thought. But it’s worth the risk. Because when the salmon is on the mark at Bandera it really is on the mark!

Which brings us to dessert. There are many good choices on Bandera’s dessert menu, but one in particular stands out. The homemade Oreo cookie ice cream sandwiches. Tammy’s picture (below) really speaks for itself, but I will tell you this… they taste even better than they look! Hard to believe but very true. The bottom line is that saving room for dessert is an absolute must at Bandera.

Here are a couple of other Bandera observations worth mentioning:

1. The restaurant will take reservations for small parties after 4 p.m., but not for window tables. You can put your name on a waiting list for a window table when you arrive. On weeknights there usually isn’t much of a wait, if there is a wait at all. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are great nights to go.

2. The jazz ensemble is a nice complement to the meal. But if you happen to be sitting too close to the musicians, it can be hard to talk to the person your dining with, which can be a very good or very bad thing.

3. When you order alcohol at Bandera, your waiter will take your ID and scan it into the restaurant computer to ensure that it’s authentic. Now, the wait staff assures me that my personal information is not stored in the restaurant’s computer, but since identity theft is so prevalent these days, I can’t help but be a little uneasy when anyone scans my ID for any reason.

4. Bandera is part of a restaurant chain throughout the county, but it is my understanding that the names of the restaurants and the menus served are all different, with a few shared items here and there. Bandera’s sister restaurant in Denver, for example, is called the Cherry Creek Grill, and there is no barbequed salmon served there.

5. If you use a wheelchair, getting into the building where Bandera is located is a two-person job. You’ll need someone to go through a revolving door for you to open the regular door for wheelchair access. To get to this accessible entrance, follow the walkway by the art gallery along the side of the building, past the Subway and the Popeye’s. Once inside the building, take the elevator to the second floor. It is a slow elevator, so it won’t feel like it’s moving, but it is. Bandera itself is very wheelchair friendly once you get inside.

Price: Plan on spending roughly $35 to $40 per person for an appetizer, dinner entrée, dessert and a glass of wine.

I rate Bandera 7/10.

The homemade Oreo cookie ice cream sandwiches are...in a word...scrumptious!

Related Chicago Bites Posts:
The Walnut Room
Viand
Elephant and Castle

The veggie paella is worth the 20 minute wait.

Bridget and I agree that even though there are better places for tapas in the city, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba is still a good place for standard tapas classics. You can load up on a combination of sangria, patas bravas & goat cheese, feed a crowd, and then go home with cash in your pocket. If you want a fun, lively atmosphere and food that everyone in your group can agree on, then head over to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!

(5.8 M)

00:00 - 00:50 Intro
00:51 - 11:54 Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! Review
11:55 - 12:24 Sign-Off

Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!
2024 N. Halstead

Bridget rates this restaurant 6/10
Tammy rates this restaurant 6/10

Related Chicago Bites Posts:
del Toro
Quartino

The Blind Faith salad is enough food to make your eyes bug out.

Want to give your New Year's resolution to eat healthier a boost? Feel guilty about eating warm and fuzzy little farm animals? Overcome with loathing for all the hormone-laced dairy products you eat? Then try The Blind Faith Cafe. You have plenty of options at Blind Faith. Whether it's vegan tofu scrambled eggs for breakfast, a barbeque seitan sandwich for dinner, or a grab-n-go gluten-free cookie, you can satisfy your appetite and your social conscious at the same time.

To be honest, it wasn't my appetite or my social conscious that lead me to Blind Faith Cafe (BFC) on this past visit. BFC happens to be a favorite compromise spot that my friend Joan and I hit whenever we head into Evanston. We know they will have something we can both eat at a price point that we're both comfortable with -- that, and I think that Joan is a bit smitten with their sauteed greens. They are yummy!

Many of the dishes at BFC have an ethnic cast to them, but there are attempts to recreate American classics. On my last visit, I tried their tofu crabcakes and was surprised by the results. The crabcakes had the flavoring down and the sauce was fantastic, but the texture? As my friend Dave would say, it could have benefited from some actual fish. I was also a bit disappointed by the enchildas verde which lacked anything resembling verde sauce. They were delicious but not very spicy. However, Blind Faith makes magnificient salads and does not skimp on those ingredients. We enjoyed the eponymous salad that could have substituted for a main course - it had loads of avocado, nuts and dried fruit over a huge platter of mixed greens. On past visits, I've also enjoyed the Blind Faith burger, which is a rich and tasty vegetarian classic.

In addition to an extensive list of teas, shakes, smooties and healthful drinks, BFC has a decent wine and beer list, which they rotate periodically. They make a point of marking places that pay attention to environmental practices or avoid additives to their products. I like the attention to detail. However, the healthy vibe at BFC has never put me in the mood to drink there. Maybe I would enjoy it more if I did, but I can't bring myself to hoist a glass.

Service is slow at the BFC. Every time I've been there, I've waited for service after being seated. This time it took over ten minutes to get glasses of water delivered to our table and another ten before we could place our order. The place is always busy and if you go during prime dining hours you can expect to wait for a table. Knowing this, we made a point of eating early and were still disappointed by the attentiveness of both the waiters and the support staff. However, I am impressed with how knowledgeable the wait staff is about their food and the attention they pay to the special dietary requests of their customers. Dietary concerns are, after all, their bread and butter.

If you find yourself in Evanston, the Blind Faith Cafe is a good choice. However, for the price, execution and attention to service, there are better options to be found in nearby Chicago. My recommendation is to spend a few more minutes in the car and head to either Alice and Friends Vegetarian Cafe or the Chicago Diner.

525 Dempster Street
Evanston

Price: You get a huge amount of food at Blind Faith for less than twenty dollars a person.

I give Blind Faith a 5/10.

Their enchiladas verde was suspiciously lacking in verde sauce...maybe they meant the salad...

Related Chicago Bite's Posts:
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Setting foot in here is akin to a quick trip to France.

Think that crepes are only good for breakfast? A trip to La Creperie will quickly disabuse you of that notion. The menu is simple but gives you all of the tools you need to build the perfect breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert crepe. Don’t like cheese? Just leave it out. Want whipped cream with that? No problem!

My favorite trick-of-the trade is to go to La Creperie with a like-minded friend who is willing to share food. That way I can taste a little bit of everything. The salad, French onion soup and cheese plate are all excellent appetizers. The crepes are the size of a large dinner plate, and they are very filling, so eating half of one is more than enough. Besides, you’ll want to leave room for dessert! My favorite dessert crepe is a toss-up between the banana sara and the nutella crepe with fresh strawberries.

La Creperie also has a nice wine list that includes a small selection of ports and dessert wines. I highly recommend trying a glass of port, especially if you get a chocolate dessert crepe… it’s a lovely combination.

Like any good Parisian café, the atmosphere at La Creperie is laid back and comfortable. It’s the sort of place where you can linger over a cup of coffee with a book in hand, and it’s also a good spot for long quiet conversations. The dining area is long and narrow, and the quaint outdoor courtyard in the back, as well as the photos of Paris on the walls, successfully complete an overall European feel.

La Creperie’s close proximity to the Century Shopping Center makes it the perfect place to stop after going to a movie.

But remember, it’s closed on Monday. I’m always forgetting that myself. If you find yourself faced with a closed sign on Monday, you may be tempted to settle for dining at the nearby Crepes on Broadway. Don’t do it. La Creperie is so good that Crepes on Broadway never fails to disappoint, even though it’s not bad. After La Creperie, “not bad” isn’t good enough.

La Creperie
2845 N Clark

Price: For the whole shebang (namely a whole savory and a whole dessert crepe) plan on paying roughly $15 a person, $20 with alcohol.

I give this restaurant at 7/10.

Related Chicago Bites Posts:
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Kiki's Bistro
Bistro 110

Even before Tammy and I started Chicago Bites, exploring the city’s restaurant scene was one of our favorite things to do. Now dining out is a passion for both of us, and our podcast gives us the perfect excuse to indulge in the name research.

We do a lot of “research.” So much research that some of the places we go never make it into a podcast. Sometimes that’s because one of us has been to a restaurant that the other hasn’t. Other times it’s because we don’t have enough to say about a place in a podcast (which is rare) or because we just never get around to recording the review we intend to. Whatever the case, there are places we’ve been to that we haven’t reviewed.

So this year, watch for a series of written restaurant reviews in addition to our regular podcasts… a side dish, if you will, to complement the entrée.

Tammy and I discuss our 2007 restaurant list and more during a guest appearance on episode number seven of the Brit and Yankee Pubcast, a show hosted by our friends Phil Clark and Mike Lingafelter. Thanks for having us guys. And thank you too for the cool sweeper used in the show and the holiday greetings!

The breakfast pizza is right-sized and made-to-order.

Ever have one of those mornings when a hearty breakfast is what you’re craving, but you can’t muster the energy to cook? Time to call Ritter’s Breakfast Delivery. They’ll bring breakfast right to your door, and if you want, fresh flowers and the morning paper to go with it. Your food arrives ready-to-eat, along with a fantastic cup of coffee capped with a nifty spill-proof lid so that you can drink it even if you’re still half asleep.

(4.6 M)

00:00 - 00:42 Intro
00:43 - 08:00 Ritter's Breakfast Delivery Review
08:01 - 10:04 Sign-Off

Ritter's Breakfast Delivery
2665 N. Clark

Bridget rates this restaurant 6/10
Tammy rates this restaurant 6/10

Peach cobbler french toast is a Ritter's special.

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Adam, from Washington, D.C. writes to say:

Hi, I found your webpage online - I am coming to Chicago this weekend and I have no clue where to eat. I have never been, but want to hit up the "must do" spots for food in Chicago. Any suggestions? Thanks - and keep up the good work, you have a great website.

Well, Adam, if I could ignore the bill and I were visiting Chicago, I would make it a point to eat at Aliena at 1723 N. Halsted St. It's one of the top rated restaurants in the country and on everyone's must eat list, including ours.

If location doesn't matter to you and you're more price-conscious, there are several ethnic restaurants that could be had for cheap. For a single meal at Aliena, I could eat for a week at Semiramis, Tank Noodle, Venus Greek-Cypriot, and Lucky Platter. I'd be very, very happy, too.

Hope this helps. Thanks for writing and visiting our site!

-Tammy

Hi Adam,

In addition to Tammy's recommendations, here are a couple of other places where I like to take out-of-town guests. Enjoy your stay in Chicago and thanks for the e-mail!

The Signature Room
Go to the bar here not the restaurant. It is roughly $10 for a drink, but you get a seat and a better view of the city than at the top of the Sears Tower.

Russian Tea Time
The food here is fantastic and it is very close to a lot of fun downtown activities.

-Bridget

Bridget's soft and chewy waffle with unmeltable Frankenberry sprinkles

Want a waffle? Can't stand the thought of toasting another eggo? Then scoot over to Baladoche where they serve them up hard and crunchy or soft and chewy, and always with more flavor than can be found in your grocer's freezer section. No need to l'eggo -- they are generous with their samples of waffles and gelato. Walk by and give them a try.

(6.9 M)

00:00 - 00:11 Intro
00:12 - 00:50 Wine Review
00:51 - 14:12 Baladoche Review
14:13 - 15:04 New Year's Resolution & Sign-Off

Baladoche
2905 N. Clark

Wine reviewed in this podcast was Fess Parker 2004 Frontier Red.

Bridget rates this restaurant 7/10
Tammy rates this restaurant 6/10

Tammy's nutella waffle, extra crunchy

Bridget and I throw restaurant ideas at each other all the time, and we get plenty of suggestions from our friends and listeners of this podcast. There's certainly no problem with finding places to eat. However, it's a little difficult to stay organized about it and actually go to all the places we talk about. Want to come eat with us? Here's our proposed list for 2007: