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

I don't have many pictures from yesterday that are suitable for mixed company, but here are a handful.

At the day's first stop, the presentation of four bottles of Roadhouse goodness is made to Hot Doug by Buddy and his clan.



You can tell from his look that Doug is not about to share that sauce with anyone.



This is at the next to last stop.  You won't find this kind of ambiance in Wrigleyville.



While there, we dove into the ribs and hotlinks from Lem's BBQ.  We went upscale on this eating tour.  No trunk lid dining this time around, those are genuine card tables.



Another scene from the Southside, it made me want to sing:

Almost Heaven, South Chicago
Rusting trusses
Calumet River
Life is rough there
Rougher than the streets
A young John Belushi
Flying through the breeze

Buddy Roadhouse, take me home
To the place, I belong
South Chicago, Oh Hot Momma
Take me home, Buddy Roadhouse

I've never used Picasa/Google public albums but I'm hoping this link may work:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MilwFoodlovers/20090419ChicagoSpringFlingApril182009#
I see I uploaded some doubles but ...................................

Wow! So far so good, all of you..

Southside, reprazent! *throws gang signs*

I took a pic of Comiskey (I know it's not called that anymore, and don't care) but it's from my cell, so I don't know how great it will turn out, or if the Sprint website is even available today.

I'll put my link in this thread when the pics (over 100) are done uploading. Does anyone know how to finagle Photoshop so I can replace someone's real name with their Username?

I forgot to mention that as good as the food at Hot Doug's was, the company was better.  I doubt I'd drive almost 2-1/2 hours one way just to eat there by myself but I'd absolutely do it again as part of a Roadfood event.

Brad

Nice pictures, MFL.

I think Picasa is waaaay better than Flickr. 

Hello to all my favorite Roadfood dining companions!

What a day, eh?  Perfect weather, reasonable traffic, fantastic food from a wide array of ethnic sources, and of course, even better company!  I can't tell you how grateful I am to all of you for making the trek, tolls and all, down into our fair city.  The early response seems to be that it was well worth it.

No pictures from me, but plenty of good memories which I will try to recall and relate here.

Favorite non-food moment of the day:  Walking into Hot Doug’s and seeing that the Celebrity Sausage of the day was named for our very dear friend Gregg Pill, aka ChiTownDiner who was sadly, but understandably absent from our trip.  Gregg has been suffering from an illness lately that keeps him from joining in the fun.  Gregg, you were foremost in our minds throughout the day, and deeply missed.  We hope that Doug's brief homage to you brightened your day and hastened your recovery.  We're counting on you to be well enough to join us on many more tours in the future!  BTW, can anyone post a picture of that Celebrity Sausage tote board without having to go to Flickr or Picassa of any of that other nonsense?

Second favorite non-food moment of the day: The arrival of buffetbuster and The Travelin' Man at our last stop, Gertie's Ice Cream.  bb and TTM were in town to visit CTD, offering companionship, good spirits, and help with his convalescence.  While I received many thanks for organizing from the folks who participated in this tour, as far as I am concerned, buffetbuster and The Travelin ' Man are the real heroes of the day.  Hats off to them for taking time from their busy schedules to travel all the way up to Chicago to spend time with a Roadfood friend!

Third favorite non-food moment of the day: Gathered around those card tables on the sidewalk outside Calumet Fisheries.  A dozen and a half Roadfooders blocking the sidewalk as we devoured a surf and turf feast of smoked and fried fish and seafood along with a pile of Lem's Bar-B-Q; ribs, tips, and hot links, all overlooking the scenic Calumet River and a chaos of electrical cabling and industrial background, the kind of atmosphere that makes the southeast side of Chicago great!

Favorite food moment of the day: My initial bite into the Pan Fried Smoked Pork Cake at Ed's Potsticker House.  A beautifully crisp scallion pancake, typical of the Chinese appetizer menu, but then split open like a pita pocket and stuffed with a thick slab of sweet, smoked, fatty pork belly.  Sweet merciful mama that were good!  Leftovers held up pretty well the second day, too!

Second favorite food moment of the day: Hot Doug's Celebrity Sausage of the Day, the Gregg Pill.  Doug put together a brilliant combination of rosemary smoked chicken sausage with rosemary-garlic mustard and caruchon cheese.  The caruchon is a sheep's milk cheese, very mild, unbelievably creamy and soft in texture; it just melted in your mouth and caressed the other ingredients all the way down your throat into your belly.  Wow!  The gentle tang of the mustard was the perfect compliment to the mild yet flavorful chicken sausage.

I wish this could have been my favorite food moment of the day, but that pancake at Ed's was just so outstanding, this just has to come in second!  I suppose I could have lied to make Gregg feel better, but I know Gregg would lose respect for me if I lied just for the sake of it.  Besides, I guarantee you, there is no shame coming in second to the Pan Fried Smoked Pork Cake.

Third favorite food moment of the day: Back to the mean streets outside Calumet Fisheries.  What a spread!  Smoked trout, smoked shrimp, deep fried oysters and clam strips, Barbecue ribs and tips, and oh, those delectable hot links!  We got our share of stares from the passing locals, but who cares.  We even shared with a passing gentleman who had just picked up his order from Calumet.  He tasted a hunk of our smoked trout and thought about going back to get a pound or two for himself!  Roadfood is nothing if not about the camaraderie between not only us but the world around us, too!

Fourth favorite food moment of the day: The garlic feast at Borinquen!
Garlic #1: Mofongo-no this is not a Puerto Rican curse word!  Rather it is a huge matzo ball-like creation except that the key ingredients are mashed plantains, garlic, and pork cracklings .  Everything is rolled into a ball, slightly bigger than a league baseball, deep fried and served as a side dish or in a brothy soup.  Pungent and delicious!

Garlic #2: Tostones; pan fried discs of plantains, lightly salted and smothered in fresh chopped garlic.  Suitable as a side dish or just for snacking with a cold beer while watching the soccer game on TV.

Garlic #3: The Jibarito sandwiches smothered in a garlic mayonnaise.  As explained in earlier posts, the Jibarito is a creation unique to Chicago's Puerto Rican community.  It consists of a plantain, sliced lengthwise, flash fried to make it soft, then slightly mashed in a special press to create a wide, flat slice.  The slices are then refried to crisp them up.  The resulting slabs of plantain are used in place of bread to create the sandwich which is then stuffed with any variety of meats.  We opted for two pork, two steak, and one vegetarian version.  Along with the meat, the Jibarito is adorned with lettuce, tomato, and finally, a thick slathering of that killer garlic aioli (mayonnaise).

No worries about vampires when we left Borinquen!

Least favorite non-food moment of the day: Speaking with ChiTownDiner about midway through the day and finding out that he wasn't up to joining us at any point on the trip.  The hope was that with buffetbuster and The Travelin' Man there to bolster him, they might get Gregg road-bound for at least one brief meeting at at least one stop on the trip.  Unfortunately the high Gregg received from their visit, along with seeing his name on Hot Doug's menu might have put too much of a strain on him leaving him debilitated for the rest of the day.  We missed you buddy.  Keep fighting and knowing that all our thoughts are with you!

Second least favorite non-food moment of the day. Not realizing that Brad Olson and his lovely wife were standing right there in front of me, waiting on line at Hot Doug’s.  I'd only met Brad once, late  last summer when we all met for burgers at Fred's Bar (Home of the World's Best Hamburger) in Burlington, Wisconsin.  That was a noisy, hectic day, and it takes me a while to associate names and faces in my brain anyway, so I guess I had a different mental picture of Brad from that meeting.  My sincere apologies if it seemed like I was ignoring you or worse, snubbing you.  This was not the case, and I hope to see you both on many more Roadfood excursions in the future so I can more firmly plant your faces in my feeble brain.
 
Third least favorite non-food moment of the day: Not being able to spend more time with buffetbuster and The Travelin’ Man.  It was the end of a long day that started early, I was constrained by the fact that we were carpooling with someone else who was anxious to hit the road (understandably), plus some of our supplies for the day were in someone else’s car entirely, so in order for all things to come together at the end of the day, I was forced to part company much sooner that I would have liked.  Thanks again to both you guys for making the trip to see CTD, and for making the long run from Mustard’s Last Stand in Evanston to the southwest side of Chicago to hang with all of us for a few minutes.

Least favorite food moment of the day: The Turtle Sundae at Gertie's Ice Cream Parlor.  I had high expectations for this fountain creation.  The usual ingredients were all present, thick caramel sauce, roasted whole pecans, slightly salted, a mound of fresh whipped cream almost as big as your face, and my choice of ice cream flavors.  My thought was that if a Turtle Sundae with vanilla ice cream was good, a Turtle Sundae with chocolate ice cream would be even better.  Wrong!  What arrived was a huge dish containing all the aforementioned ingredients with two massive scoops of very dark chocolate ice cream.
 
Based on the color alone, I was expecting a deep, rich, satisfying chocolate flavor.  What I got was almost nothing.  That enticing color was the only thing going for it.  This stuff was almost tasteless.  At first I thought, maybe I’ve just consumed too much food today and my taste buds have shut down.  But then I got to the caramel syrup and the nuts and they were full flavor, no holds barred.  The folks around me, who had predominantly ordered vanilla, said theirs was some of the best vanilla they’d ever tasted.  I guess it might not be true, NOT everything is better with chocolate...so sad.
 
I guess if those were the low lights of the day, compared to the oh so many highlights, I’d say we had an outstanding time and I’d do it again in a heartbeat!  Which reminds me, the next big outing is being organized by nocarolina, featuring his favorite southside Chicago and suburban spots.  We’re looking at sometime in August, so set your calendars accordingly and show Bob the same kind of love and support you’ve shown me for the last two tours!
 
Thanks again to one and all for you friendship.  More good times to come, I promise!
 
Buddy
 
P.S.  While we don’t have any more "big" plans until August, there are still plenty of little things we can do all summer long.  Shorter trips with just one meal, where we can spend more time visiting and eating and less time driving in between would be a welcome change.  I’d still like to get a group over to The Shanty, a great Roadhouse setting serving excellent burgers, down on Route 41 (no tolls!) just south of the border.
 
Also, I’m particularly interested in coming up to Milwaukee for a fish dinner at this place , highly recommended by Jane & Michael Stern.  Looks like fun.  Anyone want to do a little more research and see if it’s worth our while?
 
B.

Another outstanding tour Buddy!! Thanks for all your hard work. The card tables on the sidewalk overlooking the magnificent Calumet was a touch of pure genius.
Wish I could have been there for the entire tour, but what I was able to join in on was well worth it.
Thanks again and hope to see you all again soon,
Chuck

BuddyRoadhouse

Second least favorite non-food moment of the day. Not realizing that Brad Olson and his lovely wife were standing right there in front of me, waiting on line at Hot Doug’s.  I'd only met Brad once, late  last summer when we all met for burgers at Fred's Bar (Home of the World's Best Hamburger) in Burlington, Wisconsin.  That was a noisy, hectic day, and it takes me a while to associate names and faces in my brain anyway, so I guess I had a different mental picture of Brad from that meeting.  My sincere apologies if it seemed like I was ignoring you or worse, snubbing you.  This was not the case, and I hope to see you both on many more Roadfood excursions in the future so I can more firmly plant your faces in my feeble brain.

No worries, Buddy.  You seemed a little busy at the moment and I thought nothing of it, and if I'd stuck around for longer I'm sure you would've recognized me.
 
Brad

BuddyRoadhouse


BTW, can anyone post a picture of that Celebrity Sausage tote board without having to go to Flickr or Picassa of any of that other nonsense?

All right, I'll try....


That's MilwFoodlover's pic, btw.

BuddyRoadhouse


 ...  BTW, can anyone post a picture of that Celebrity Sausage tote board without having to go to Flickr or Picassa of any of that other nonsense? ....

..... 
Also, I’m particularly interested in coming up to Milwaukee for a fish dinner at this place , highly recommended by Jane & Michael Stern.  Looks like fun.  Anyone want to do a little more research and see if it’s worth our while?
 
B.

Boudreax,
Your wish is my command-

 
I'd last stopped at Klinger's East 35 years ago which is way before those current folks were owners or possibly even born. I'll check it out but that poor cod looks woefully overcooked to me.
 
The Shanty sounds great but I'm suffering from a bad case of Freddy's in Cicero withdrawal and I've got several friends begging for a stop at Ba Le.
 
I see a home and home series in our futures. You want Milwaukee fish? How about some pan fried walleye? Pan fried lake perch? I know, some pan fried blue gill with potato pancakes? I see stops at either Beer Belly's or McBob's for fish. Some proscuitto wrapped scallops or flash fried squid at Christy's Pub and Grill, a smoke free bar in Brewtown (rare, but more are opening all the time). And son, you need a proper Turtle Sundae. I'm talking Kopp's, Leons or Gillies now. Chocolate ice cream? WHAAATTT??? I'll bet even the folks at Ted's in St. Louis are praying you'll recover from that abomination against man and country.
 
I can't tell you how much fun we had and certainly most of the credit goes to your legwork and diligence with props for the folks at LTH. While a stop at Mickey D's might not satisfy the stomach, having the food shared with Roadfooders might just make that palatable. It was great to TTM again and to finally meet up with Buffetbuster. I slept little the night before and was fairly deep in my self-induced food coma so I hope next time we can chew the rag while breaking bread together.
 
Thanks again to all.

Abe, you hit that send button before me. Congrats. Here's that Klingers East Cod that Jane and Michael enjoyed:

MFL,

I dunno, that doesn't look too bad to me.  But if you've got some better ideas, You know I will defer to your greater knowledge on the subject of Milwaukee dining!

Pick the spot and name the date (Sundays work best for me, although if we can only get fish fry on Fridays, I might have some openings somewhere down the line).

As for your hankering for Freddie's and Ba Le, we can definitely accommodate that urge.  Once again, pick a day and let's make the run!

Thanks again for your company and support on yesterday's excursion,

Buddy

Thanks everyone - had an excellent time! Food and company were great, of course. Nice to see everyone (bb and TTM were a welcome surprise) again, and I, too, am  sorry Gregg could not join us this time. Oh, well - there's always next time!

I see Ba Le has been mentioned. I'm re-mentioning it. :D

PS - Klinger's East?! I didn't even know that place was still open! LOL

I thought I'd jump in and say how much I enjoyed yesterday's Chicago Food Tour: it was lots of fun and went along with no glitches (thanks, BuddyRH!). It was truly a pleasure to see and talk with you all, and I consider myself extra lucky to have met the legendary buffetbuster and Travelin Man. Thanks for taking in a "newbie," and I hope to see you at more events and excursions. It's really wonderful chowing down with such a group of fun-spirited and adventurous people.

By the way, I will be in Chicago next Saturday, and I plan to go to Ba Le, so if anyone wants to meet up, just PM me or otherwise say so.

Buddy, many thanks for putting together such an enjoyable event. I had a great time meeting n' eating with everyone, and I eagerly await the next such event. As it turns out, that next event may be my South Suburban Chicago food tour/meet n' eat that's tentatively scheduled for a Saturday in August ( which one is still up in the air. ) Thanks for the plug for my planned gathering, and if it's half as successful as yesterday was, I'll be happy. Since I've never put anything like this together before, don't be surprised if I come running to you begging for help a few dozen times this summer ( seriously!! ) Thanks again for a great Spring Fling.

Has this already been posted?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk_hotdougapr09,0,1779125.story


My trip report, by Stricken_D:


JRPfeff & his wonderful wife met me very near my apartment & we (along with their GPS navigator, Karen) left for Chitown. Traffic was a non-issue until a section of the freeway that was bottlenecked down to one lane with no signage to let us know what was going on. There were chunks of the overpass that were falling onto the freeway! So glad they were cleaning that up!

We got to Hot Doug's & as we were walking up, Brad_Olson & the Mrs were pulling up. Nocarolina was there & we all said hi & I waited as patiently as I could for them to open Doug's so I could use the ladies room. We also took bets on how late Buddy would be. hehehe The best part was a nice man named Pete walked up & asked if we were the Roadfood people. We said yes & took him right in. He said he has all the Roadfood books & saw the thread & thought he would come meet us for some food & fun. That's what it's all about! I think this was my favorite part, that a complete stranger could come & be welcomed in like one of the gang, "Come on, dude! We're havin some encased meats & some duck fat fries! You're one of the gang now so you'd better do your part & eat your share of those fries!" We even came up with a screenname for him, Lurker Pete.

The doors opened, we got tables & JRPfeff figured by the time we were done eating would be the time the Roadhouse contingent would be ready to sit down with their breakfast. So when our food came, we made quick work of it & shared a large order of the fries, which worked very well. So well, in fact, that we let the Roadhouse crew know that we had over-ordered on the fries, so not to order any, we would be sharing. We took pics of the cute signs & our Celebrity Sausage sign on the wall (congrats, CTD!!!).

Everyone made sure I got my Green River (Thanks, guys, for having my back!) and we saw the line not get ANY smaller the whole time we were there. In fact, on the way back from the Puerto Rican place, the line was even longer than it had been earlier in the day!

The Puerto Rican place was near Humboldt Park. Due to a language barrier, we received an extra order of Puerto Rican rice. A LARGE extra order. I took it home & treated my mother to a nice Chicago-style lunch. She has MS so a day like yesterday would have been too much for her, but she enjoys hearing about the trips & I make it a point to share the leftovers with her. She loved this rice, so flavorful. When the gals I work with make it, they add green olive pieces & more meat? It was still very good.

After this was the Chinese place. I don't know what they do to make those pork pancakes so good. Perhaps they add crack like Chick Fil A does to their lemonade? OMG. It's the next day & I can't stop thinking about them. How they're doing. When will I see them again. Did they like me as much as I liked them? *sigh*

In the meantime, abe_froeman had a birthday Friday. Mrs Roadhouse made cupcakes & brought them to share. Burnt. Sugar. Cupcakes. With caramel frosting. o. m. g. They were so awesome.

We went to Lem's BBQ next. They have a counter outside you could eat at, but not everyone wanted BBQ (what?) so we decided to just get takeout & go to the next stop. It was here that Chuck L met up with us & he was bombarded with stories of all the good things we'd already had, and was ready to eat.

But that was before Quijote & I got to talking & decided to check out the bakery across the street. They had Brown Sugar Cafe which looked closed, but the Brown Sugar Bakery was open for business!!! Hot diggity dog!

We decided to get a brownie, the guy behind the counter declined when I asked to take pics until I explained the concept of Roadfood in 10 words or less, "For people who want real BBQ like Lem's as opposed to, say....Famous Dave's." He then said I could take pics of whatever I wanted. He also gave us samples of warm yummy gooey peach cobbler. The brownie was the kind I love. Walnuts, enough frosting (not too sweet, not too thick, it was baby bear's porridge--just right. No shortening here, all butter.)  to let you know, "Hey honey, this is DESSERT", and a nice thick fudgy cake. It wasn't too sweet, and I could have easily (on ANY other day) eaten 3 of them in a row with a tall glass of milk. Buddy was sad he'd missed out on free cobbler, but I have a feeling he will check them out next time he's having Lem's.

Even though Jim, Bobbi & I were among the last to leave Lem's due to my brownie excursion, we were the first to arrive @ Calumet Fisheries. By a good 10-15 minutes. Karen, the nice Australian lady who is the voice of their GPS, knows her stuff. We may have interrupted a basketball game, but it doesn't matter because we got there in about 4 minutes, if that.

We took some pics, they tell me this is the bridge the Blues Brothers jumped off, but I haven't seen the movie (stop screaming, I was really little when it came out). I knew we were near the lake, and I had a feeling we were nearing Gary, Indiana by the bridges & whatnot. It was confirmed as I was listening to all the conversations around me & the Skyway to the West of us.

Everyone else showed up, we got out the tables, and during all this 3 big guys pulled up in an SUV, turned on their hazards & almost backed into me as I was trying to save a parking spot for MFL. These classy bastards also ate their fish on the lids of the trash cans out back. I wanted to take their pic, but didn't want to die.

The smoked shrimp were heavenly. I had saved a bottle of Green River to have with my shrimps. YUM. The BBQ was good & the best part is the french fries covered in BBQ sauce on the bottom of all the dishes. We had sausage, rib tips & actual ribs.

Quijote & I shared our brownie, everyone liked it, or was polite & said they did.

After this there was some talk of going to Freddy's for gelato, but BuffetBuster & The Travelin Man were meeting us @ Gertie & Lindy's, so off we went. Again, thanks to Karen, we were the first to arrive.

They had Green River. Oh yes, they did. Green River phosphates, Green River Malts, Green River shakes, and Green River sundaes. Awesome! Jim & Bobbi were kind enough to order me a phosphate while I waited outside to get the perfect Chicago pic--the el coming out from behind the Jewel. Mission impossible. While I could have gotten the pic, I received a text from a close personal friend that the Cubs had won at the moment the El was going by. Irony, far out.

So I went back inside & I wasn't at 'the wall' yet, but I was getting there. I took a long time making up my mind & went with a blueberry marshmallow sundae. It was phenomenal.

In the bathroom the floors were kinda dirty & there was no shelf or hook to hang my purse. So I put it in the sink & the automatic water dispenser (who thought that up? let me know so i can strangle him/her?) promptly turned on & chugged about 3 inches of water into my purse before I realized what was happening. My camera, iPod, prescriptions, etc. Nice.

The highlight of this stop was getting to see Buffetbuster again & meeting The Travelin Man. It was also fun to see JRPfeff with his butterscotch malt & everyone with their sundaes & X1 with a malt so full of malt powder that she was having trouble getting it up the straw to her mouth. 

We said our goodbyes & made pretty good time getting to Kenosha. I stocked up on Green River 2 liters & discovered they do make other flavors, but stuck with the lime. They also had Nehi Peach, which I got & loved, and Red Pop, which wasn't as good as I remembered. Bobbi looked for & found some Faygo Rock & Rye and insisted I take 2 cans home with me. Now I have to admit, I was kind of in a food coma & didn't know what to expect, but Bobbi makes awesome desserts, so I figured she would not steer me wrong. I brought the can over to share with my mother & as soon as we sipped it (out of wine glasses with crushed ice!) we realized we had tasted this before. Faygo Rock & Rye tastes EXACTLY like Fanta Red Creme. My mother & I used to get Fanta Red Creme all the time back in the 80's. IIRC, Fon Tan Blu in Kenosha used to sell it with their sandwiches & soakies.

A big THANK YOU to Buddy Roadhouse for planning the trip & an even bigger THANK YOU to JRPfeff & the Mrs for the transportation & putting up with me taking flash pics on the freeway. I look forward to seeing everyone again soon, enjoy the pics!!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=4lhy15d.bafcuod5&x=0&h=1&y=77jbru&localeid=en_US

 What a very nice day!!!  I'm so glad you all had a great time.  Stricken, excellent pics. and kudos on including so many nice photos of Karen; I feel bad that she had to sit in the car all day    Dawn

Like previously mentioned, Travelin Man and myself caught up with the group at the last stop for ice cream.  We knew Gertie's was our kind of place when we noticed the outside overhead sign said, "Welcome Back Meat Eaters"! 

Not shown, on the other side of the sign it said, "And All you Vegetarians Can Go to H#@*".  No, just kidding.
 
We sat at a booth with old friend nocarolina, here showing off his new digital camera. 

He has only been on Roadfood for less than four months, but he and I  have already been to the same "eat & greets" in Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans and now Chicago.  I'm not sure if he is stalking me or I am stalking him.
 
Here is a table

where some SERIOUS ice cream eating is going on!  Don't these sundaes look huge from this angle?

 
I was glad to finally meet irisarbor, since I have enjoyed her trip reports, especially the one on Rte. 66.  So who is more excited about the ice cream showing up, mom or son? 

Yeah, I think it's mom, too!

And both Travelin Man and myself are always happy to see tour organizer extraordinaire and all around good guy, BuddyRoadhouse.

And I'm not saying that just because he brought us a couple of the delicious burnt sugar cupcakes!

 
We sincerely appreciate letting us catch up with the group and join you for ice cream.  It was great getting reacquanted with Roadfooders I met in Milwaukee for the first time, just a few months ago. (Beautiful photos Aimee!)  And it was especially nice to meet others for the first time, like quijote, JRPfeff, abe_froeman and MilwFoodlovers, whose posts I have enjoyed for years.

Did anyone get chili at the last stop or did Gertie rack up all the sales?

Brad

buffetbuster, to answer your question: I am stalking you!! Better call your attorney and get a restraining order, pronto!   :~)

Brad,
I was amazed that ice cream, sundae's and malts were ordered but I saw no chili from our group. I did see a table nearby where the fella was eating what looked to be a plattter of tortilla chips with tamales. They looked very interesting.

stricken detective,

I had the same reaction to that little Mexican seafood place with the shark on top as you did!  Believe me, If I had known it was there, I would have included it on the tour!  It looks amazing!  Next time for sure.

Buddy

Brad_Olson


I forgot to mention that as good as the food at Hot Doug's was, the company was better.  I doubt I'd drive almost 2-1/2 hours one way just to eat there by myself but I'd absolutely do it again as part of a Roadfood event.

Brad

Oh come on now, i have driven 5 hours one way to eat there (and to see a cubs game :-) )
 

BuddyRoadhouse


stricken detective,

I had the same reaction to that little Mexican seafood place with the shark on top as you did!  Believe me, If I had known it was there, I would have included it on the tour!  It looks amazing!  Next time for sure.

Buddy

I couldn't stop laughing, but HAD to get a pic, how funny was that? Not a shark with a laser beam on its' head, but almost as good!!!

These are great reviews, comments, and photos from the trip; I've already sent out the forum link to many (jealous) friends! Stricken, you're absolutely right about that brownie. Too bad the peach cobbler sampler wasn't "quite there," but it's not like I hated tasting it, either.

Just finished a dinner with some Chicago leftovers--cumin lamb and smoked pork belly pancake. I didn't feel like making rice, so I had these things with the Puerto Rican rice I brought home. Delicioso!  Aside from the lamb, pork pancake, and duck fat fries, another major highlight of the food aspect of the trip for me were the fried oysters from Calumet. An eye-popping "wow."

CajunKing

Brad_Olson


I forgot to mention that as good as the food at Hot Doug's was, the company was better.  I doubt I'd drive almost 2-1/2 hours one way just to eat there by myself but I'd absolutely do it again as part of a Roadfood event.

Brad

Oh come on now, i have driven 5 hours one way to eat there (and to see a cubs game :-) )
 

Actually, Brad only has to drive about an hour if he wants to see the Cubs play a home game.  As a bonus, he doesn't have to go to the ivy covered dump to do it. 

We had a great time on Saturday, Buddy did another fantastic job of arranging a tour of truly unique restaurants.  Well done young man.

My Smoke Day Party is just over a month away.  I handed out invitations on Saturday and the rest of my Roadfood friends are invited, too.  Just send me a PM for an invitation (I'm talking to you annpeeples).  CTD, I'll understand if you can't make it, but have a deal for you.  When you are up to it, let me know and we'll have a (smaller scale) barbecue day for you.  Maybe you can convince bb and TTM to show up.

Now the best part.  I just went to the YMCA, and following my workout I stepped onto the scale.   My weight was down one full pound from last week.  I guess I could have consumed the chili at Lindy's after all.

See you next time,

Jim

I didn't get no stinkin' invitation.  What gives dude?

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse


I didn't get no stinkin' invitation.  What gives dude?

Buddy

Ummm, if you are nice to Abe, maybe you can be her date.

I get mistaken for her boyfriend all the time-not that she'd want you to know that...

Buddy