Chicago Eats

Hey followers, I just got back from a great trip to Chicago. This trip was even better than the last few since I had a friend there with me which made it way more enjoyable both for the work part and the free time.

Let me tell you where we ate, and what we ate, so if you are in Chicago you will have some ideas.

Su Casa.  49 E. Ontario Street.  312-943-4041.  We were just walking around looking for a place to have lunch, and we came across this place.   The outside color was a bit bright which caught our attention and we didn't know if it would be any good.  We walked in we were surprised how many people were in there at 2pm.  The staff was very friendly, the atmosphere was typical fun Mexican, and the place was quaint.   Chips and salsa were quickly brought to our table.  The salsa had a little kick to it which was really good.  Turned out we both ordered the same thing:  Strawberry Margarita $8 each and Chicken Enchiladas Verde $6.95 which came with a side of rice and beans.  The enchiladas I thought were quite tasty, the rice was moist (nothing worse than dry rice!) and the beans were cooked well. 

Niu.  332 E. Illinois Street.  312-527-2888.  I actually ate at this place 4 years ago and had my first ever sushi experience.  I thought it was good then, but only had sushi one other time since then, so I really had no comparison.  We found a sushi place we wanted to try, but when we called we couldn't get a reservation until 9pm and we didn't want to wait that long since we had a really long day.  The hotel concierge recommended this place because it was very close to the hotel and because she said it was very good.  So my second time there confirmed that indeed this place is pretty great.  The inside is a bit modern the staff is friendly and more importantly we didn't have to wait.  We started with the steamed Vegetable Goyza $7 which were good, but had a hard time maintaining its shape/staying closed from when you picked it up to dipping/eating.  Then since we waked 10+ miles and it was FREEZING we had a chill and split the Shrimp Tempura Udon Soup $14. We were a bit surprised with this one.  The udon noodles in the broth was very good - but on the side was 4 shrimp tempura, 2 sweet potato tempura, a broccoli tempura and one other one.  Not quite what we pictured, but the udon part was great and we didn't finish the tempura.  I ordered the Sexy Mexican $12 and my friend had Mellow Yellow $14.  Both were phenomenal, and both had a little spice to it.  Yum, thinking about it makes me want to eat some right now.

Pizano's.  864 N. State Street.  312-751-1766.   We wanted some Chicago deep dish pizza but were unsure where to go.  In my many times in Chicago, I've been to a few, but thought a new place would be good.  We asked a local where they went for pizza and she said Pizano's - but she went there for the thin crust pizza which supposedly is the best in the area and even Oprah endorsed them.  But of course, we didn't want thin crust, but went there anyway.  Since deep dish pizza takes about 20 minutes, we split a BBQ chopped salad $12.50 with the house dressing as opposed to the ranch.  The salad was very good, the basil (I think it was that) really added a lot of flavor.  The pizza then came out, and I was a bit disappointed just looking at it.  Oh, we got the Mark's Pizza which was garlic, tomato and basil.  There was no sauce on it just the tomato.  We did finish the small pizza - but realized it was probably a mistake to go to a place that is recognized for their thin crust.  Oh well.

Signature Room at 95th - Hancock Observatory.  875 N. Michigan Avenue.  312-787-9596.  After a very difficult work day, we thought we would splurge a little and eat at the top of the Hancock Tower.  There is a dress code (no sneakers, no jeans, etc) so it was nice to go out in our work clothes and really enjoy our evening.  We had a great table near the windows at the end of the seating area. Unfortunately it was rainy and foggy so we didn't get a view of anything except the greenish cloudy fog.  Made for a great laugh.  We ordered a bottle of Brassfield Pinot Grigio $45, mixed green salad $9 which I had a hard time eating since I don't really like that type of greens.  The entrees were the sea scallops and shellfish risotto.  The risotto is what I ordered and it was amazing and delicious.   The risotto was perfectly cooked and seasoned and had a mix of I believe crab, shrimp and topped with 4 scallops.  My friends dish of scallops were also perfectly cooked and go good.

Ghiardelli.  After our dinner above, we decided some ice cream was in order, and it was just across the street.  I ordered the brownie sundae and my friend ordered the caramel sundae. Neither of us were able to finish the ice creams, but it was so yummy.

Sullivan's Steakhouse.  415 N. Dearborn Street.  312-527-3510.  We wanted seafood, but elected to eat at the steakhouse for it as opposed to a 'seafood' place.  The place was a bit fancier than I thought it was going to be.  Our waitress was so nice and attentive.  I never had a martini, so I ordered their signature one The Knockout $10 and my friend had the blueberry lemondrop $11.    My friend warned me that martinis are mostly vodka so we ordered an appetizer: the fried calamari $13.  Oh my...can I say this was the BEST calamari I have ever had?  Sure, calamari is best fried (in my opinion) and is usually served with some sort of red sauce.  This one was cooked in some sort of sweet and sour sauce.  We ate all the rings, every last one.  Then we ordered a bottle of wine to keep the momentum going. I don't remember the kind, but it was a sauvernon blanc.  We had salads $3 - which were way larger than I expected. I got the chopped one, and friend go the regular house one.  I had the king crab legs $42 with a side of mac & cheese $9 and friend ordered the Ahi Tuna $31 with a side of sweet potato casserole $8.  We were stuffed before our entrees even came out...but she ate about half of hers, I did try it, but I am not really kean on chewing practcially raw tuna (it was just seared) but it was smooth.  The mac & cheese was creamy and oh so good (and I hadn't had a pasta in such a long time that I really enjoyed some of it).  The sweet potato casserole was good too, and it was topped with some sort of caramelized walnuts? I felt bad wasting so much food.