The much vaunted Purple Pig is located on the Magnificent Mile just down from the Tribune Tower. It taglines itself as “Cheese, Swine, and Wine” which sounds like an invitation to me. I had heard that it is packed to the rafters and since it does not take reservations we made the effort to get there…
Category: Illinois
Kuma’s Corner – Massive Burgers, Rock Music, and Beer = Perfect place to take your Mum for lunch
I had heard a lot of talk about Kuma’s Corner and it’s infamous burgers. “Big burgers”, “Hard Rock music”, “Long waits, but worth the effort” seemed to be the general theme of those conversations. So with my Mum in town and knowing that she likes a good US Style hamburger I figured it was a…
Finally I made it to Hopleaf! and finally got some of that brisket!
I can hardly believe how quickly time can fly by. About two and a half years ago I was heading up to Andersonville with my copy of the Chicago ‘Not For Tourists’ guide in my hand hunting down a Belgian bar called Hopleaf. I got all the way up there and sady it was not open….
Publican Quality Meats – Truly Great Sandwiches
Publican Quality Meats is in the Fulton Market district of Chicago and is easily accessible from the Pink Line via Morgan or Clinton El stop stations. It is part of Paul Kahan’s notable empire, and is right across the road from The Publican Resturant. Not only is it a purveyor of quality meats and associated meat related deli…
Going from Chalk to Cheese, and back to Chalk again
This is a somewhat ‘throw away’ story of going from hero to zero, a case of chalk to cheese, or rather in this case from cheese to chalk. I came from such an excellent lunch at Marion Street Cheese market all the way down to a rather inept sandwich at ‘Toasted’. To be fair I…
Marion Street Cheese Market – This is a “destination” Cheese Shop
I really was not sure what to expect as I rode the Green Line out to the end of the line at Harlem. To be unkind I was not expecting the best, not a ghetto as such, but not an oasis of delight either. What I did find was a lovely little section of streets…
Sugar Bliss – “Mini-cupcakes for when you want to pretend that it’s OK to eat lots ‘cos’ their small”
I like the odd cupcake on occasion, but sometimes it is hard to decide which one to get, and I often wish that I could manage to eat more than one so that I could try a few different flavours. Luckily for me while alighting from the Elevated Rail tracks at Madison and Wabash I stumbled upon The Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique where…
Q. Can I include Popcorn as a El Stop food hunt blog? A. Yes if it is Garrett’s
Under normal circumstances I would not dream of including a review of somewhere that sells Popcorn in the El Stop Food Hunt Project, but somehow I find that I can easily justify talking of my experiences with Garrett’s Popcorn. It has been as much a part of my food encounters in Chicago as my flirtations with…
Goddess and Grocer – Gold Coast Greatness, in sandwich form
I first stumbled upon the Goddess and Grocer when out hunting for places to eat around the Clark and Divison Red Line stop. I was meandering my way back from their through the Gold Coast, the area with all the posh shops, towards the Hancock when this place suddenly appeared. At the time I had a…
Need some spices, rubs, or even some pasties? Try the Middle Eastern Bakery in Andersonville
Middle Eastern bakery and grocery in Andersonville has been a great place to stock up on spices, spice mixes, rubs, teas and pretty much everything I have needed for my varied and eclectic cooking. There are shelves packed with practically every spice you need, ground or whole, plus a whole lot of pre-mixed rubs, tagine mixes,…