Recession Road Trip: restaurant review: Chicago Chomps

Frequently when we arrive in a new place we find the need to orient ourselves in one way or another. Often this involves finding a cafe and some wi-fi, browsing the local alternative newspapers, and generally getting our bearings. In Chicago when looking for a cafe for just such an orientation session we happened upon the local gem argo tea. Argo, a local chain with several locations around Chicago, offered a decent range of nosh: quiche, muffins, flatbread, little pre-made salads, parfait cups, etc. So nosh we did, because we were in need of nourishment, but the truly spectacular offering was the tea selection. You can choose from their enticing selection of their “signature blends” (autumn leaves, sangria and others) or you can choose or blend your own from dozens of teas available at their tea bar!

CIMG2979 Must haves on the menu: a specialty tea!

-o-o-o-

On the recommendation of a good friend, we headed to The Chicago Diner for some brunch and were blown away by everything about this famous little vegetarian dinner. The diner was hip and cozy with a mix of customers from large family groups with young children drinking green veggie-filled smoothies to hip young philistines like ourselves. We perused the menu at length, finding it difficult to decide from the array of truly unique and tasty-sounding dishes! Our waiters were pleasant and patient with our indecisiveness on a busy Sunday noontime. In fact they were so attentive and appetizing some of us wished the waiters had been on the menu too!

In the end we ordered a Philly cheese steak, a sweet potato quesadilla and avocado tostadas. All three were delightful. The vegan version of the classic dish that we missed out on in Philly was hearty, creamy and messy(the bun falling apart halfway through greatly increased the instance of Zach-a-doo*). The use of sweet potato in a variety of vegetarian and vegan versions of classic dishes has always been pleasing to the Amato pallet, but she remarks that the sweet potato quesadilla was a particularly tasty example of this vegetarian ingenuity. The avocado tostadas were delightful mix of crunchy tortilla shells with creamy bean spread, seasoned quinoa and of course fresh avocado (Iris is a sucker for avocado) the zippy Argentine salsa tied together the whole experience.

With his meal the vegan also indulged in a peanut butter banana chocolate shake. When it arrived he gleefully dove in while the girls looked on longingly. Eventually they mooched a taste and were so moved by the decadence of it that they just had to order another one to split! While the shakes were polished off, two out of the three dishes provided leftovers enough for a second meal for the road. The Chicago Diner won a place in our hearts and our stomachs and is a guaranteed stop for any future visits we might make to Chicago.