Spring Fling for the Milwaukee/Chicago Contingent (and anyone else who want to join in)

I'm in--can we carpool from Milwaukee? (You don't want me to drive unless everyone wants to learn to cuss in Italian.) I will gladly pitch in for gas.

We are all in for the 18th.  We should have room for one rider from The Spring City.

You know I'm in in regardless, and after duck fries, I vote for the smoked shrimp and Jibaritos since we missed those on the last go round.
Maybe the weather will cooperate for Burts, if not a few of us could always go Sun w PCDiva before she flies home...does Burt do lunch Sun?

Actually, if enough people would commit, Burt would do an early opening/private gathering for us on Sunday.  It would mean the Milwaukee folks would have to come down two days in a row, or we'd need enough of the Illinois people to show up, maybe even some who didn't make the tour on Saturday.  If you're serious about this, we might be able to pull in some LTHers to supplement our regular group.  I'm thinking 15-20 would be the minimum, but I'll double check and let you know.

Buddy

FYI: I'm at Hot Doug's on a weekly basis with Hot Dog U students. If you're not in line by 10:00am on Saturday morning, you're in for a long, and I do mean long wait.

CSD PhD Professor of Hot Dogs

Does this mean we'll see you there?


(Jim, I'll PM you my cell#)

Guess I'll have to stop at Kaufmann's in Skokie for a bagel to nosh on while I'm in line.
Btw, Mrs MFL said she wouldn't be going.

Burts on Sunday is not an option for us. I'd be willing to pay for a cold slice on Saturday morning if one appeared.

stricken_detective


Does this mean we'll see you there?

Only in spirit, especially if you wash down your duck fries and dogs with my favorite drink-Green River.

Mark

MilwFoodlovers


Guess I'll have to stop at Kaufmann's in Skokie for a bagel to nosh on while I'm in line.
Btw, Mrs MFL said she wouldn't be going.

Ooo, wanna get one for me?  Onion with chive cream cheese?

abe_froeman

MilwFoodlovers


Guess I'll have to stop at Kaufmann's in Skokie for a bagel to nosh on while I'm in line.
Btw, Mrs MFL said she wouldn't be going.

Ooo, wanna get one for me?  Onion with chive cream cheese?

No problem Abe.
Stricken, I've room if you need a ride.

I would suggest picking up a couple dozen for the group and then we would pay you for them when we all gather at Hot Doug's.  Of course I've got a pretty good idea of how much we're going to eat that day, without the bagels, so maybe not...

Buddy

Just thought I'd confirm that I'm joining up with youze on Saturday; I'll be heading down there with the Mke contingent. Looking forward to it.

MilwFoodlovers

abe_froeman

MilwFoodlovers


Guess I'll have to stop at Kaufmann's in Skokie for a bagel to nosh on while I'm in line.
Btw, Mrs MFL said she wouldn't be going.

Ooo, wanna get one for me?  Onion with chive cream cheese?

No problem Abe.
Stricken, I've room if you need a ride.

MFL, thank you for the offer. The JRPfeff contingent & I do not live very far from each other, so that works out nice.

Now if I could figure out a place that has Green River in 20 oz bottles I'd be all set. I know Woodman's has the 2 liters but that's kinda bulky.

SD,

Hot Doug's sells Green River in the small bottles. So does Burt's Deli in Libertyville. It's also available in the vending machines in the Vienna Beef Factory Deli & Cafe' store.

CSD PhD Professor of Hot Dogs

Just an FYI in case it affects routes, locations and times:

The Cubs are hosting the Cardinals at 2:40pm on April 18 (Sox are on the road).

Mrs. O and myself are interested but won't know for sure if we can make it until next week.

Brad

Except for our initial stop at Hot Doug's, we will be well away from Wrigleyville, the hapless Cubs, and their plethora of fans who haven't yet figured out how to take public transportation that will drop them off, literally, right outside the back door of Wrigley Field.

We should be standing in line at Doug's no later than 10am; they open at 10:30, and we should be on our way by noon or earlier.  Our second stop will be Borinquen in Humblodt Park, due south and a world away from the blue hatted ones.

After that, the neighborhoods we'll be in will be closer to White Sox territory.  The Sox are on the road that day, playing in Tampa Bay.

I'll post a full schedule here shortly.

Buddy

So, here's the first draft of the list, roughly in the order we'd be visiting each place:

Hot Doug’s-Hot Dogs and Specialty Encased Meats, Inexpensive
3324 North California Avenue
Chicago
(773) 279-9550

Borinquen Restaurant-Puerto Rican, Jibarito Sandwiches, Inexpensive
1720 North California Avenue
Chicago
(773) 227-6038

Lem’s Bar-B-Q-Barbecue, Inexpensive
311 East 75^th Street
Chicago
(773) 994-2428

Calumet Fisheries-Fried and Smoked Fish and Seafood, Inexpensive
3259 East 95^th Street
Chicago
(773) 933-9855

The following are the remaining places that we have to choose from.  I've taken the liberty of removing some names of places that are either closed for remodeling (Dodo), out of business (Helen's Soul Food), or just not worth making the visit when compared to other choices on the list (Hecky's doesn't even come close to the 'Que at Lem's, and we really don't need two Barbecue joints on one trip-I can't believe I just wrote that...)

All the others are worth considering and I welcome your input.  We've got three different Soul Food places, two Mexican, one chili/ice cream parlor, one pizza, one Chinese, one Polish and an Indian/southeast Asian place to choose from:

Army & Lou’s-Soul Food, Inexpensive
422 East 75^th Street
Chicago
(773) 483-3100
 
Burt’s Place-Pizza in the Pan, Inexpensive
8541 Ferris Avenue
Morton Grove
(847) 965-7997
 
Carnitas La Michoacana-Carnitas (Roast Whole Hog), Inexpensive
2049 W. Cermak Road
Chicago
(773) 254-2970
 
Ed’s Potsticker House-Chinese, Inexpensive
3139 South Halsted Street
Chicago
(312) 326-6898
 
Gorditas Aguascalientes-Mexican (Gorditas a specialty), Inexpensive
3132 W. 26^th Street
Chicago
(773) 254-3466
   
Izola’s-Soul Food, Inexpensive
522 East 79^th Street
Chicago
(773) 846-1484
   
Lindy’s Chili & Gertie’s Ice Cream-Chili, Burgers, Ice Cream, , Inexpensive
3685 South Archer Avenue
Chicago
(773) 927-7807
 
Soul Queen-Soul Food, Inexpensive
9031 South Stony Island Avenue
Chicago
(773) 731-3366
 
Szalas Restaurant-Polish, Moderate
5214 South Archer Avenue
Chicago
(773) 582-0300
 
Zaiqa Restaurant-Southeast Asian, Indian, Inexpensive
858 North Orleans Street
Chicago
(312) 280-6807

So, how shall we fill those last two slots?  And no, driving back north for Kopp's is NOT an option!  Keep in mind that Burt's is probably not going to work out for us on a Saturday night.

Let the discussion begin!

Buddy

Ed's has to be on the list (I've heard good things about them).

Ed's or any place with good parking options could be a deciding factor.

I'd be happy with Ed's.  Plus I may have answered the question of the final stop with my little joke above about Kopp's--we need dessert in the mix and Gertie's is a Chicago classic.  Maybe not quite the same as frozen custard, but it's in the neighborhood.  Plus, if anybody is still hungry after all that, Gertie's is run in conjunction with Lindy's Chili.

So, our final stops will be (drum roll please) Ed's Potsticker House and Gertie's Ice Cream.  Any other thoughts?

Buddy

I was gonna vote for Zaiqa, Ed's & Gertie's.

(What's the flavor @ Kopp's that day?)

But considering the other stops, Zaiqa may be too much. Especially if I'm the only one who wants to go there.

I just got home from N'awlins about an hour ago ( I took the loooonnnng way home! ) and just wanted to let y'all know that I'll be with you on the 18th.

Sounds like an excellent itinerary. Thanks for putting it together. --Q

It sounds excellent, and ed's and gerties sounds like plenty on top of what is already planned- it sounds plenty ambitious to me...

stricken_detective


I was gonna vote for Zaiqa, Ed's & Gertie's.

(What's the flavor @ Kopp's that day?)

But considering the other stops, Zaiqa may be too much. Especially if I'm the only one who wants to go there.

Turtle Sundae

Caramel flavored custard, loaded with pecans and swirls of caramel and fudge

Burgundy Cherry

A special cherry flavor with cherry halves makes this a very cherry custard

Hmm, that Burgundy Cherry is very tempting.  I was hoping maybe they open early (never too early for custard) and one of you Wisconsinites could grab some on the way, but, alas, they don't open until 10:30.

There is a feature on their website- don't know if they always had this- where you can pick out your favorite flavors and they'll email you an alert when it's coming up!

With six days to go before the big event, here is the proposed final schedule, in the order we would visit each location.  I’ve included some links to various internet sites that might give you some advance insight into what each place holds in store:
 
Hot Doug’s-Hot Dogs and Specialty Encased Meats, Inexpensive
3324 North California Avenue
Chicago
(773) 279-9550
Hot Doug's website and menu
 
Borinquen Restaurant-Puerto Rican, Jibarito Sandwiches, Inexpensive
1720 North California Avenue
Chicago
(773) 227-6038
Borinquen's website and menu
 
Ed’s Potsticker House-Chinese, Inexpensive
3139 South Halsted Street
Chicago
(312) 326-6898
LTHForum discussion of Ed's
Ed's menu with pix!
An interesting article about Ed's
 
Lem’s Bar-B-Q-Barbecue, Inexpensive
311 East 75^th Street
Chicago
(773) 994-2428
LTHForum discussion of Lem's with plenty of food porn!
 
Calumet Fisheries-Fried and Smoked Fish and Seafood, Inexpensive
3259 East 95^th Street
Chicago
(773) 933-9855
Calumet Fisheries' menu
Lots of reviews
 
Lindy’s Chili & Gertie’s Ice Cream-Chili, Burgers, Ice Cream, , Inexpensive
3685 South Archer Avenue
Chicago
(773) 927-7807
Gertie's Ice Cream menu
A little background on who they are
 
I’ll spend the week contacting as many of these places as possible; letting them know we’ll be coming in with a big group, and asking are there any tips they can give us to make the experience any easier and more enjoyable for both us and them.
 
I’ll post again toward the end of the week with directions to our first stop, Hot Doug’s.  As has been discussed, we'll need to be in line at Doug's by 10:00am if we don't want to be waiting up to two hours to get in.  Just like the last tour, once we’re all together, I’ll hand out a list of all the places we’re going with detailed directions to each.
 
I’d like to get a firmish count of how many we’ll be.  So if all interested parties could give me one last confirmation with your own personal head count, that would be very helpful.
 
Hope you all had a good Easter and/or Passover as the case may be.  See you soon,
 
Buddy

I'll be there!

Me!

I'll be there, if FL is still hauling my arse down there.

Hey, Buddy, just a thought....but if you're going to be contacting these places to "warn" them we're coming (excellent idea)....perhaps there's a way you can wheedle Hot Doug's into an early opening, reserved just for us, or a reserved place at the head of the line? Probably won't happen, but might be worth a try, especially if we're a big group. If my count is right, I think we're at least 15, if not 20+.
If it means we have to leave Milwaukee 15 minutes or 1/2 earlier, I really don't mind - it'd be worth it.

Sorry I missed you on Sun - see you Sat!