Chicagoland Meet 'n Greet - The Main Event

Here are a few of my shots from Pilsen.



While Buddy and Irisabor were waiting in that 45 minute line for that meat at Carnitas Don Pedro the rest of us slipped a few doors down to Taqueria Iguala. Between the tacos, tortas, and warm places to sit, I think this was the better choice. I shared Carne Asada, Chorizo and Al Pastor tacos with my family. I forgot to get a picture, but this is some of what others had to eat.





Coming out of the warm taqueria here was Buddy serving his score.



This is one of the tacos that was put together on the trunk of the Toyota.



It was worth having Buddy wait.

We also got some chicharones!

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Before we left Pilsen, Gyp found a street vendor serving elote, sliced corn off the cob mixed with mayonnaise, lime, Mexican "parmesan" cheese and topped with chili powder

[img]http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/MilwMike/IMG_0397.jpg?t=1226372728[/img]

I do want to post one picture of LTH's BBQ pork stuffed pancake; it was that good!

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Ba Le's 3 menu boards for Bahn Mi

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My camera battery gave out at Glen's but not before I got a picture of my 4.5 oz. shrimp cocktail shrimp!

[img]http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/MilwMike/IMG_0412.jpg?t=1226372957[/img]

or their take on escargout, "shrimp cargo".

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gustpas, CTD, irisarbor and CSD survey the crowd.

[img]http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/MilwMike/IMG_0408.jpg?t=1226373149[/img]

Batteries and brain both dead, we shuffled across the street to Margie's. Every one in our group moaned they couldn't eat one more bite. Then Traveling Man appeared with a box of St. Louis treats, gooey cake. One brave soul tried a sliver and started moaning, "OMG, is this good"! Someone else said, "Well I'll try some too". They started shivering and doing what I imagine was the St. Vitus dance.
Soon everyone tried slivers and before Johnny Olson said "Come on down", 11 slices of the most incredible dessert I've ever tasted disappeared ( (and without a picture!)

Thank you, thank you, Traveling Man.

MFL - I was looking around for the elote. i've never had it and ws hoping to try some. Did you like it? I traded TTM a dozen kolaches for a dozen Gooey Butter Cakes. Just had the White Chocolate Rasberry...those are pretty good!

CTD, I hate to say it but I'd trade 24 Racine Kringle's for 12 gooey cakes; maybe because it was new to me.
The elote was great but it's better when corn is at its peak. The elote fella was just outside Don Pedro's.
I'm looking forward to more pictures from inside Glen's.
My wife overate today feasting on various Bahn Mi's.
What a great day.
Great food, great company.
Thanks to all who worked so hard making this day the success it was.

OMG, Chicago, what a great city! and what an epic trip report!

Great report...enjoyed...thanks!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by ChiTownDiner

We never got everyone together...but here's 13 of the 20 or so at this stop.

For those keeping score at home we are, left to right:MilwFoodlovers, Mr. Maki, Gyp, abe froeman, Mrs. Roadhouse, BuddyRoadhouse, irisarbor offspring #1, irisarbor, ChiTownDiner, irisarbor offspring #2, JRPfeff offspring, ChuckL50, and JRPfeff.

MFL. what sort of batter was used for the BBQ pork pancakes? Ive never seen anything like it. My guess is a mung bean paste of some sort. Surely not like any chinese pancake Ive seen on a MooShoo before.
britt

quote:

Originally posted by ChiTownDiner
MFL - I was looking around for the elote. i've never had it and ws hoping to try some. Did you like it?

Typically, the street vendors use the frozen corn on the cobs that you get at the supermarket. They overboil them leaving the corn soggy and nearly tasteless. It's still worth trying sometime, but you can make a fresher, tastier version at home with this simple recipe:

6 ears of Corn, stripped
2 TBSP. Butter
1 small Lime cut in half
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
4-6 oz. grated Cotija Cheese
2 tsps. Chili Powder
salt, sugar, black pepper to taste

Sautee the corn kernels in the butter. Add sugar, salt, and black pepper to taste. Remove from heat and spray lime juice from half the lime over the corn. Taste. Add more lime juice to taste. Mix in the mayo. Spread mixture into a medium sized baking pan and cover with the shredded cotija cheese. Dust with the chili powder. At this point you can either serve as is, or you can bake the dish at 350 degrees until the cheese on top melts.

Enjoy,

Buddy

P.S. In fact Gregg, next time we get together I'll make you a batch. How's that for motivation to do another meet 'n greet.

B.

quote:

Originally posted by brittneal
MFL. what sort of batter was used for the BBQ pork pancakes? Ive never seen anything like it. My guess is a mung bean paste of some sort. Surely not like any chinese pancake Ive seen on a MooShoo before.
britt

I think they use the word "pancake" very loosely in this dish. The texture was more gelatinous than anything else. Nothing at all like a mushu pancake.

Buddy

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyRoadhouse

quote:

Originally posted by ChiTownDiner

We never got everyone together...but here's 13 of the 20 or so at this stop.

For those keeping score at home we are, left to right:MilwFoodlovers, Mr. Maki, Gyp, abe froeman, Mrs. Roadhouse, BuddyRoadhouse, irisarbor offspring #1, irisarbor, ChiTownDiner, irisarbor offspring #2, JRPfeff offspring, ChuckL50, and JRPfeff.

Great Pic!!!!!!!

I'll only join you all in ChiTown this summer if Buddy takes me to a scarey part of town and subjects me to a bunch of jibberish speaking locals while feasting on the back of his sedan.

Hey--It's what i know .

My goal is to get to Burts on a Sat. this spring. Plus other places.
Be afraid. VERY afraid.

Jerry
jjjrfoodie

Jerry,

Eating off the back of my car in a bad neighborhood is a typical day for me. It's how I pick my friends; if you can't work with my modus operandi, you can't roll with the Man From Roadhouse.

After our dinner at Alabama Fish Bar, you my friend have passed the test with flying colors!

Come to Chicago and I will take good care of you!

Buddy

quote:

Originally posted by tracy20

I want to thank everyone for being so accomodating when I signed up for this trip and had never been on a meet & greet before... I had to bail out at the last minute because my 1ST grandchild came 2 months early Sat night.... He weighs 2 lbs.... and we never thought he would be so anxious to join us this quick.. Hope you all had a great time.... it looks like you did and thank you for sharing, awesome looking eats!!!!!!

Congratulations on your birth of your Grandson!!!!

A tiny baby. How is the little guy doing?

Buddy's right about the pancakes. I would say they were fresh rice noodles, sometimes called chow fun noodles. They were 100% delicious. The sauce was not simply soy sauce and I wish I knew what went into that. LTH was the grand slam for me in a day of home runs every at bat. Here's the other side of the noodle menu.
[img]http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/MilwMike/IMG_0380.jpg?t=1226404354[/img]

One more "big" picture of LTH salt and pepper shrimp

So many great photos from every one!
I'll add a few of my Glenn's photos since there aren't too many of those yet...
When you walk in there are two things you notice:
The chalkboards with whimsically named specials: (Simon N Garfinkel Tilapia Anyone?)




and the wall of cereal...(free seconds and thirds)

Here a photo of RF'er doing what they do best, socializing and taking pictures!

Some of what we had to eat...

NE Clam Chowder was more like Bacon Chowder, not that there's anything wrong with that....

which I followed with a crab cake appetizer.

Son #2 Had French Toast and Bacon (there is no shortage of bacon at Glenn's)

The Travelin Man had a pretzel coated walleye that he shared a taste of- this was great!


At the end of the day one very happy and very full irisarbor and twin (!) sons
(who still managed to eat an ice cream cone each at Margies, plus many slivers of gooey butter cake!)



Meantime Mrs. Roadhouse and Buddy just smiled at what he hath wrought!

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyRoadhouse

quote:

Originally posted by ChiTownDiner
MFL - I was looking around for the elote. i've never had it and ws hoping to try some. Did you like it?

Typically, the street vendors use the frozen corn on the cobs that you get at the supermarket. They overboil them leaving the corn soggy and nearly tasteless. It's still worth trying sometime, but you can make a fresher, tastier version at home with this simple recipe:

6 ears of Corn, stripped
2 TBSP. Butter
1 small Lime cut in half
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
4-6 oz. grated Cotija Cheese
2 tsps. Chili Powder
salt, sugar, black pepper to taste

Sautee the corn kernels in the butter. Add sugar, salt, and black pepper to taste. Remove from heat and spray lime juice from half the lime over the corn. Taste. Add more lime juice to taste. Mix in the mayo. Spread mixture into a medium sized baking pan and cover with the shredded cotija cheese. Dust with the chili powder. At this point you can either serve as is, or you can bake the dish at 350 degrees until the cheese on top melts.

Enjoy,

Buddy

P.S. In fact Gregg, next time we get together I'll make you a batch. How's that for motivation to do another meet 'n greet.

B.

I like your way of thinking...perhaps a TV Roadfood trip...featuring places that have been on TV - i.e., Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, Check Please, etc.

We'd have Burt's, Paradise Pup, Wiener and Still Champion, Glenn's Diner and a host of others.

This is really cool getting a variety of perspectives on the same place--and I'm going to have to try elote at home.

Had a good time.
Thanks, everyone.

SO this is what Legends are made of......
Phenomenal!!!

So let me get this right. Travelin Man was with you and yet, every restaurant you tried was open? I wonder what went wrong right!

Great looking photos everyone. The only thing I like better than all the food photos are the photos of other people taking photos! Congrats to all of of you for a great event and especially to BuddyRoadhouse for a first class job of organizing everything!

Hats off to Buddy for putting this together. I had wanted to join one of the Chicago events, I sure didn't think it would be this soon. In just over 2 weeks Buddy planned this, got almost 2 dozen people together and successfully filled our mouths and stomachs. An absolutely amazing day. Next time I'll take Monday off so I can stay for dinner.

I like the TV Roadfood idea. I think a tour of Chicago's best Italian specialties would be another good one.

Jim

Glenn's Diner - The Final Frontier - As we pulled up in front of Glenn's Diner, we noticed Margies' Candies (and ice cream) right across the street. Since we were 15 minutes early, we decided to scope out what might be the last stop of the evening. Within minutes, we were stuffing ourselves with English Toffee, Rasberry Creams, Chocolate covered orange peels, Turtles, you name it. Now the plan was to finish at Margies after Glenn's, so I skipped the camera for round 1 at Margies. Big mistake as we had to leave Glenn's rather quickly to make a school play at 7pm.

We did run in to someone else thinking the same...


JRPfeff and family...


So across the street we went to the famous Glenn's Diner. How famous?


Glenn's will be on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on November 24th.


Menus on the wall and at your place setting...two breakfast menus, one served all day and a specials list until 3pm on weekends.


Lots of really fresh seafood...


The cereal box back bar...

http://windowsxp-privacy.net/?id=12434619123
Funky artwork everywhere...


And Roadfooders in all quadrants...




My brothers shrimp fed 6! At 1 for about $10, 2 for $16 and 3 for $21, it was fist sized.


A perfect pair...of crab cakes with 0% filler.


MilwFoodlovers got the last of the shrimp-cargo, but was most generous and gave me a wink and a nod to try one. Each shrimp was nestled in butter and garlic, covered in cheese and served with a great warm loaf of bread for perfect dunking. Many thanks!


Tiger shrimp poor boy...


Steak sandwich...with a great potato pancake!


Fried perch poor boy...


A great smoked mac 'n cheese...

At this point, we were watching the clock and wearing out. It had been a really fun day meeting new folks, renewing Roadfood friendships and trying some really interesting foods at 9 different stops! All in all, a great day. Thanks everyone for participating and sharing all the wonderful foods. I close with lasting memories...


Our host...Mr. Buddy Roadhouse...relaxing in the afterglow of a day well organized...thanks Buddy! Cigarette?


The crew of 24, some recorded, some under contract and unable to be photographed and our adopted food beneficiary...


And last, but never least, The Traveling Man emerging from the darkness of Chicago's streets with two boxes of St. Louis Gooey Butter Cakes! What a finish!
Glenn's Diner
1820 West Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL 60613
Tel: 773-506-1720

www.glennsdiner.com

Margies' Candies
1813 West Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL 60613

quote:

Originally posted by JRPfeff
I think a tour of Chicago's best Italian specialties would be another good one.

I will need more than 2 weeks notice for this one.

quote:

Eating off the back of my car in a bad neighborhood is a typical day for me. It's how I pick my friends; if you can't work with my modus operandi, you can't roll with the Man From Roadhouse.

You won't be sorry! Buddy knows how to do it up.

Great pics, guys. Glad you had a great time.

So, let me get this straight....you guys actually take the pictures off your cameras and write up the trip reports, huh? How does that work?

Actually, since we all departed, my life has been quite the whirlwind. I managed to spend a brief period at/going to both Chicago airports, helping the friend with whom I stayed plan a last-minute trip home, a side trip to visit another friend when I got into Orlando last night, and then a trip up to Tallahassee this morning (from which I just returned home - note the time) to watch our school's men's basketball team get CRUSHED in an exhibition game at FSU last night. On top of that, my boss expects me to be at work in about 5 hours. Hmmmm....wonder how that's going to work out?

I will do my very, very best to download the pics off my camera, upload the pics to the Internets and post something here soon. If nothing else, I think I got clear shots of the specials at Glenn's, which seemed to pose a challenge in that dimly lit room. I also have some good pictures from Margie's.

The other sad news that I have to report is that my leftover walleye will die a horrible death in my friend's fridge while she is out of town, as I forgot to grab it and the handful of chocolate covered almonds from Margie's out of said fridge upon departure Monday morning.

Fortunately, there is an outlet of Nuts on Clark in my terminal at Midway, and I was able to rectify the chocolate situation (at 50% off pricing!). Unfortunately, they were out of walleye.

quote:

Originally posted by The Travelin Man

So, let me get this straight....you guys actually take the pictures off your cameras and write up the trip reports, huh? How does that work?

Actually, since we all departed, my life has been quite the whirlwind. I managed to spend a brief period at/going to both Chicago airports, helping the friend with whom I stayed plan a last-minute trip home, a side trip to visit another friend when I got into Orlando last night, and then a trip up to Tallahassee this morning (from which I just returned home - note the time) to watch our school's men's basketball team get CRUSHED in an exhibition game at FSU last night. On top of that, my boss expects me to be at work in about 5 hours. Hmmmm....wonder how that's going to work out?

I will do my very, very best to download the pics off my camera, upload the pics to the Internets and post something here soon. If nothing else, I think I got clear shots of the specials at Glenn's, which seemed to pose a challenge in that dimly lit room. I also have some good pictures from Margie's.

The other sad news that I have to report is that my leftover walleye will die a horrible death in my friend's fridge while she is out of town, as I forgot to grab it and the handful of chocolate covered almonds from Margie's out of said fridge upon departure Monday morning.

Fortunately, there is an outlet of Nuts on Clark in my terminal at Midway, and I was able to rectify the chocolate situation (at 50% off pricing!). Unfortunately, they were out of walleye.

I've never known Nuts on Clark to be out of Walleye.

You Chicagoland people are the best. From the fist mention of a get together to the final Burp, this was a 1st class lesson on "Meat n' Greets". It was a hoot watching this all come together. Great trip and report.

TTM - Coincidentally, I awoke at 2:21:55, precisely as you hit your "Submit Reply", in a cold sweat thinking I had run out of Gooey Butter Cakes. Fortunately, there were two still under the pillow! Back to sweet dreams!

I'm jealous...you guys look like you had a great time....the perfect duo....good company and good food!!!

What a great report of food that I would not really expect to see covered in a Chicago tour. Are you sure that you guys weren't in California during a cold wave? The food was enticing and it looks like a fun time was had by all. It is great that you went beyond pizza and hot dogs.


==The crew of 24, some recorded, some under contract and unable to be photographed and our adopted food beneficiary...===

Who's the guy in the red jacket?

mark

mark