Moving to Lakeview

After 10 years of exile in the DFW area, I am returning home to my beloved Chicago. Although I have several favorites in various parts of the ciy, I alwys lived in the suburbs and trips to the City for Dinner were only to favorite places. I am looking for suggestions for move week within walking distance of where I will be living which is just North of Belmont between Clark and Halsted. Any suggestions wil be appreciated including good Thin Crust Pizza delivery.

Also any markets bakeries etc will be appreciated.

Thanks

First, welcome to the neighborhood!

There are lots of great options in and around the neighborhood. Recently, somone asked on another food board, what was there good to eat in and around Wrigley for a visitor. I compiled the following list of some good chow worthy place to eat for them:

Upscale Near Wrigley: Erwin, Yoshi's
Upscale not near Wrigley: Avec,Topolobompo, Avenues, Alinea

Upscale Mexican Near Wrigley: Platiyo

Upscale Mexican Away from Wrigley: Topolobompo, Frontera Grill, Chilpancingo

Inexpensive Mexican near Wrigley: Riques, Playa Azul (order seafood only)

Inexpensive Northside Mexican Several Miles From Wrigley: Oaxaquena (hope I spelled that right, Eldon)

Best Thai Near Wrigley: Thai Authentic Cuisine (TAC)

Cuban Near Wrigley: Cafe 27, Ambassador

Decent Northside Barbeque: Hecky's in Evanston, Fat Willie's

Best Barbeque in Chicago (Southside Takeout Only): Barbara Anne's, Lem's, Honey1 (presently closed for relocation)

Good Bar Food Near Wrigley: Irish Oak, Cleary's on Clark, Duke of Perth

Northside Dogs Fairly Close to Wrigley: Weiner's (Burgers, too)Circle, Byrons

Most Unusual Fast Food Somewhat Near Wrigley: Aloha Grill (Hawaiian) at Clark and Wrightwood

Good Breakfast/Sandwiches/Burgers Somewhat Close to Wrigley: Frances

Best Cup of Vienese Coffee and Pastry Near Wrigley: Julius Meinl at Addison and Southport


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In addition to these, there's a really good cheese shop on Broadway between Surf and Oakdale called Pastoral. It's a small place with a great selection of breads, cheese and salume.

Good bread can be had at the Red Hen on Diversey, east of Broadway.

The best of the thin crust pie that you'll find in the neighborhood is at Renaldi's (Broadway between Diversey and Surf)- specify very thin with light cheese. Otherwise, you may find yourself overwhelmed with a knife and fork kind of pie. There are not a lot of great thin pie options in the neighborhood.

You may be pleased to know that, by the looks of things, an Eatzi's is opening in the next few weeks in the mall at Diversey and Clark.

Actually the Ambassador has closed it's doors. Sadly - it was my favorite cuban place in town.

I'd add Goose Island Wrigleyville to the good bar food category. Their stilton bleu cheese burger is just fantastic - thick beef patty topped with melted stilton bleu cheese and whole roasted garlic cloves, served on a brown bun. mmm!

as well my favorite outdoor patio restaurant is walking distance from there - La Creperie. They have great sweet or savory crepes, and just a fantastic atmosphere. the outdoor patio would be a great place to relax, sipping mimosas or a glass of wine after a grueling move!

leesh

Goose Island Wrigleyville
3535 North Clark Street
773.832.9040

La Creperie
2845 N Clark St
(773) 528-9050

Yes, welcome to the neighborhood!

You can get a pretty good thin-crust (New York-ish-style) pizza delivered by Luigi's, on Clark.

Good bakery (bread) options include Pastoral, on N. Broadway and (if you like Jewish-style rye), the Bagel, a bit north of Pastoral. Pastoral also has a good selection of cheeses, wines, and gourmet items.

Treasure Island is on N. Broadway south of Addison, and you'll find a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's a bit further afield, north of Belmont and Ashland and Lincoln and Addison respectively.

If you like Moroccan, you might check out Andalous on N. Clark. For mid-scale pan-Asian, we like pingpong on N. Broadway, and for affordable and decent sushi, we like New Tokyo, also on N. Broadway. For good Philly Cheese Steak (and, come to think of it, thin-crust (presumably Philadelphia-style) pizza), there's Philly's Best on Belmont. Also on Belmont, Sinbad's is good for a quick falafel sandwich (especially with hummus). For somewhat more upscale middle-eastern, we get delivery from Fattoush on N. Clark. We have had all-right Mexican from El Mariachi and Buena Vista, but nothing to compare with Pilsen. For Jewish comfort food, we go to The Bagel, and for breakfast we like Stella's.

For finer meals, we've particularly enjoyed Angelina's Ristorante (Italian), Socca, and Yoshi's.

And I've certainly missed stuff. So again, welcome to the neighborhood, and enjoy exploring!

Cafe Luigi
2548 N. Clark St.
(773) 404-0200

Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine
2945 N. Broadway
(773) 472-4781
(773) 472-4782 fax
http://www.pastoralartisan.com/index.html

The Bagel Restaurant
3107 N. Broadway
(773) 477-0300
http://www.bagelrestaurant.com/

Treasure Island
3460 N. Broadway
(773) 327-3880

Whole Foods
3300 N. Ashland
773.244.4200
773.244.4074 fax

Trader Joe's
3745 N. Lincoln Ave.
(773) 248-4920

Andalous Moroccan Restaurant
3307 N. Clark
(773) 281-6885
www.Andalous.com

pingpong
3322 N. Broadway
(773) 281-7575

New Tokyo
3139 N. Broadway
(773) 248-1193

Philly's Best
855 W. Belmont
(773) 525-7900

Sinbad's
921 W. Belmont
(773) 477-6020

Fattoush
2652 N. Halsted
(773)327-2652

El Mariachi
3420 N. Broadway
(773) 549-7020

El Nuevo Buena Vista
3147 N. Broadway
(773) 871-5782

Stella's Diner
3042 N. Broadway
(773) 472-9040

Angelina's Ristorante
3561 N. Broadway
(773) 935-5933

Socca
3301 N. Clark
(773) 248-1155

Yoshi's Cafe
3257 N. Halsted
(773) 248-6160

You know, Stella's is growing on me. For a long time, Melrose was my diner of choice. But, I've had some good grub hub at Stella's of late.

I'd add Bittersweet for a nice casual lunch/brunch place - the menu is tiny (you usually have about 5 choices total), but the food is more than decent, and the selection of desserts is a fantastic added bonus.

Bittersweet
1114 W. Belmont

Thanks to all for the responses, it is greatly appreciated.

I'm sure you'll end up trying a whole host of pizza places, and here are three more names to add to the list:

D'Agostino's (Southport and Addison)
Pat's (Sheffield just south of Belmont)
Art of Pizza (Ashland near Barry)

All three will definitely deliver to you. For pizza, to each their own, in my opinion. I know people who swear by each of these places.

Someone here recommended La Creperie. I cannot in good conscience let that go uncontested. The restaurant has a wonderful room and outdoor eating area in the back. But the food is nothing write "maison" about.

The crepes are all made earlier in the day. So if warmed over, hard crepes are your thing, by all means go for it. And my bubbe used to broil better chops of meat than the grisly $12 steak & frites.

Overall, wonderful atmosphere, underwhelming food.

jildo wrote:The crepes are all made earlier in the day. So if warmed over, hard crepes are your thing, by all means go for it.

Actually i've had the opportunity to watch them make my crepes fresh - so i would disagree that "all" their crepes are made earlier in the day. and i've never had a bad meal in the 12 years i've been going there. the several times i've ordered the steak frittes, i've never had a gristly piece of meat. I find the meal to be a pretty good deal at $12.

sorry to hear you had a bad experience when you ate there jildo, but i guess every place can be off their game once in a while....

leesh

Here are some places within walking distance:

I love Pizano's (on Clark) deep dish pizza, but their thin crust is very good too. I used to order in from Tomato Head which is at Sheffield and Webster and I liked their thin crust too.

Irish Oak (Clark/Cornelia) is a great spot for Irish food and they have great burgers, but if I have a craving for tater tots I head to the Full Schilling on Clark just north of Addison. They have very good burgers too.

Orange, on Clark just north of Belmont, is an amazing breakfast spot -- their pancake flight is great.

Bittersweet (Belmont/Seminary) is a very good bakery -- the best croissants.

P.S. Bangkok has good Thai food, but their specialty is their weekend brunch which has a few less than typical items on the buffet, which is too good to call a buffet.

HB Cafe on Halsted is a good brunch/dinner spot -- chefs soon to have a Food TV network show.

Platiyo is a very good casual Mexican spot next door to Mia Francesca (decent Italian).

Philly's Best on Belmont makes a Philly cheese steak that I think is nearly as good as the ones from Philly.

One man's meat, eh?

I have been to La Creperie at least 5 times recently -- I live several blocks away in the neighborhood for over 7 years. At dinnertime one evening I finally commented to a waitress my dissatisfaction with the crepes, and ASKED for a crepe to be made "soft." The waitress came back and told me that the staff make all the crepes earlier in the day and that they would NOT make me and my family fresh crepes.

Perhaps if you were there earlier in the day, you saw kitchen staff preparing crepes for dinnertime.

By contrast, the crepes at the greencity market in Lincoln Park are a little $ but so far superior -- perhaps it is an entirely different style from a different region so comparison is apples and oranges.

Last time I went to La Craperie (and that will be the last time) we spent $80 for 3 adults and 2 kids who eat hardly anything. There was barely a satisfying morsel of food available. Wine has a fair mark up. I think the restaurant banks on its reputation in the 80s and the fact that the ambiance is superb. I always wish it could be my neighborhood standby.

What can I say? I miss Zoom Kitchen -- fresh, cheap, close...closed.

For cheap eats in the neighborhood, Panes on Sheffield between Barry and Wellington -- they're inexpensive, fast and reliable. & Ann Sathers breakfast is a community staple. Second the motion on Bittersweet. Red Hen has sandwiches and sometimes soups. Finally, Orange is on Transmedia and has some good omelets (a little overworked in some people's opinions with all the hoo and the hah).

jjwall wrote:I'm sure you'll end up trying a whole host of pizza places, and here are three more names to add to the list:

D'Agostino's (Southport and Addison)
Pat's (Sheffield just south of Belmont)
Art of Pizza (Ashland near Barry)

All three will definitely deliver to you. For pizza, to each their own, in my opinion. I know people who swear by each of these places.

My 1st pizza was going to be Pat's for Chicago thin crust is it true they are no longer there?

Pat's is no longer there, exactly, but it's only a few blocks west of where it used to be-- on Lincoln, 2679 N.

The waitress came back and told me that the staff make all the crepes earlier in the day and that they would NOT make me and my family fresh crepes.

As the New Yorker used to put it, that calls for Words Of One Syllable. The continent of Europe has approximately 1 billion people running tiny portable crepe stands where they manage to make wonderful fresh crepes filled with all sorts of things for a very small price. If you have the mix made there's absolutely no reason you can't take the time to make a crepe fresh-- it takes less time to griddle than almost anything you get off the typical diner menu, for instance. That a standing restaurant resorts to such cheats and then charges noticeably high prices for the substandard result is simply ridiculous. I knew there was a reason I hadn't been back there in years. Go to Crepe and Coffee Palace instead, they're a little less money and definitely fresh-made (you can watch them do it).

Mike G wrote:Go to Crepe and Coffee Palace instead, they're a little less money and definitely fresh-made (you can watch them do it).

Crepe and Coffee Palace is good, but it's not exactly French style crepes. More description here.

It makes me sad to have such negative things said about Le Creperie. I have in fact many many times watched them make my crepes fresh. i have never had a bad meal there. and the service has always been very attentive.

Seriously, go there on a thursday night and listen to the live music played by Jeremy and Germain, the owners. Talk to them - they're really wonderful people who care about the product they produce. You can sit at the small bar up front and actually see them make crepes to order.

It's a shame to see a place get a bad rap from one person's negative visit...

Crepe and Coffee Palace is good, but it's not exactly French style crepes.

What's more French than Algerian food?

I have ordered sweet crepes like banana and nutella for my kids and they seemed pretty much exactly like what you get on the streets in France.

I was thinking of the savory crepes. No sauce.

never had a bad experience at Le Creperie, always good...but always breakfast too. never been in after the lunch hour closing.

as for pizza, i cant believe that NEITHER of my favorite pizza joints were mentioned.

Pete's #1 on western is the best thin crust in chicago...great sweet sauce.

Nancy's pizza on broadway is the best stuffed in chicago...it will make you like stuffed even if you dont now.

i dont think i have ordered from anyone else in the last three or four years. i would rather take carryout on foot than order delivery from someone else.

welcome to the neighborhood!!

We don't eat out much in Lakeview (I've found more interesting and tasty food for my$ father west), but here are my faves.

As mentioned by others, Pastoral (2945 N. Broadway) is the neighborhood crack, oh sorry, cheese supplier. I could live on their goat cheese on raisin fennel bread.

Intelligentsia (3123 N. Broadway) is my other dealer. Delicious, potent coffee brewed by depressed ukranian village hipsters. Tuesday is $2 off a pound day (plus a free cup).

For pizza, I've always been a Lou's girl, so we'll walk down to the dine-in location on Sheffield (958 W. Wrightwood).

And for dessert, Sweet Mandy Bs (1208 W. Webster) isn't actually in the neighborhood, but again, it makes for a nice walk.

Lakeview is great for one's mental health. A diet of cheese, coffee, pizza, and cupcakes will do wonders.

w/r/t Whole Foods, I heard a new location is opening up on Halsted south of Addison... anybody know anything about this? The grocery options in East Lakeview have gone from terrible to terrible and extremely inconvenient with Dominicks going up in flames.