Five More Sandwiches (Part 2)

-The Sammy's of Chi

Did you know that National Sandwich Day is November 3rd? So in honor of this bizarre food holiday (does every food have its own day?) I thought we'd get another post from the S'C'&C series "Five More Sandwiches" You can click HERE for the last series of sandwiches. We go and get a different sammy from five different spots previously featured on my site. I find myself going to these five featured spots often which is why I have new pics of eats not seen in the previous threads. So here we go again, five more sandwiches from places already featured here on S'C&C wit Da King. Click the link mentioning the spot to see the previous post on that particular place. A Happy Sandwich Day to all.


We revisit these five spots already seen on here for more good eat Sammy's
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El Cubanito

I lived in Tampa back during my first year of college and developed a deep love for its regional locals favorite foods. The most popular being all the little tiny Cuban cafe/sandwich shops throughout the area. Not only do these places have great food and coffee but they are also always full of energy and there will always be people just chilling and talking about whatever the days topics are. Whenever I want that mixed in with a great sandwich, El Cubanito is my spot. The little shack on Pulaski just past Wrightwood is one of the best sandwich shops in the city. It was jam packed on my last visit with the dude slanging the bootlegged movies inside and taking up half the space. I went with their newest available sandwich, a tripleta. This style of sandwich which means "three meats" is popular in the Latin American influenced Caribbean countries. Very good and quite the bang for your buck ($6). It was like a Cuban stir fry on bread. Next time I'll try one with eggs.


Tripleta sandwich: steak, ham and chicken...damn!
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Toons Bar & Grill

What else can I say about Toons? It's one of the very best neighborhood bar and grills in a city filled with them. However despite there being so many it seems that these spots are always lacking something or another. If they have good beer and food, the TV's might suck or vice versa, its always something. Not at Toons where the beer is abundant in selection and always cold and the games will be on, if yours isn't, ask and it will be. Then you top all that off with the food being great, bar food at its best. Since this spot is one of my hangouts and I love doing so I've ripped thru the menu but there's always something new or on special on the hand written menu of the days specials. Alot of these times the food specials will be mouth watering sandwich creations like the Georgia Reuben seen below. They take some house smoked turkey meat and pile it on some toasted rye bread and cook it up with some Swiss cheese and sauerkraut and comes with their fantastic fresh cut fries. Just add some bacon and you will be a happy camper.


Toons Georgia Reuben sandwich
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Tony's Submarine

I originally tried this popular Northshore sandwich spot after reading about how it was one of Chicago's premiere chefs, favorite spots for a Italian beef. The beef was good as seen in my post on Tony's over at "What's Your Beef?" I've been back a few times since my initial visit and on one of my stops I tried their number one seller the Italian. It was a sandwich I was able to eat but I didn't like the fact they pack the meats for the sandwich beforehand in individual bags. It made the meat which was all clamped together into one slide out from the bread. I would get the Italian beef on my future visits.


Tony's Italian sub
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Athenian Room

This is another spot I frequent quite often since its connected to another one of my local drinking hangouts. I've also been eating here since I was a kid and have been thru the entire menu more than a few times. In fact this is the third separate post I have made on the AR since my site started. The feta burger and gyros have already been featured. I go through different ordering phases from this place and of late I've been on the chicken kebab sandwich with cheese. Its a little lighter than some of their other selections and every bit as satisfying.


Chicken kebab sandwich with cheese from Athenian Room
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Chicago's Legendary Maxwell st. Polish Stands

Chicago's famous combo sandwich now has a brother. I came up with this one night when I wanted the best of both stands. You see I love both the Polishes and pork chop sandwiches at both Jim's and Express. I like the all beef Polish from Jim's Original a little more and I like the pork chop sandwich from Express Grill a little better than the others. So why not have the best of both worlds?

Introducing: Da Combo Part II

Directions

-Take an all beef Polish sausage with everything from Jim's Original ( My pref. for a Polish) and a pork chop sandwich with everything from Express Grill (My pref. for a pork chop) and remove the bottom bun from the pork chop and place the chop on top of the Polish and eat. Follow with a package of Rolaids and sleep.

Note: beware of the bone in da chop and watch your teeth.


The combo: a second coming
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El Cubanito
2555 North Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL 60639-2115
(773) 235-2555

Toons Bar & Grill
3857 North Southport Avenue
Chicago, IL 60613-2823
(773) 935-1919

Tony's Submarine
1480 Waukegan Rd
Deerfield, IL 60015
(847) 940-7352

Athenian Room
807 W Webster Ave
Chicago, IL 60614-3628
(773) 348-5155

Jim's Original
1250 S Union Ave
Chicago, IL 60617
(312) 733-7820‎

Express Grill
1260 S Union Ave
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 738-2112

Morty's Pub

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-Fresh Whitefish in a Wisconsin tavern up north

I got to spend a week way up north in and around Bayfield, Wisconsin over the summer. It was my second trip to the little quiet town of Bayfield which is on Lake Superior is the gateway to the Apostle Islands and has been named the best small town in America by numerous publications. Like they say on the website "How far away is Bayfield? Just far enough" Its actually about eight hours from Chicago but your taken to a place with pristine beauty and a total stress free environment. Its a very popular spring/summer/fall getaway destination and a place I love going to so I can sit back, relax and catch a contact. Your going to have to wait for my full on report sometime this spring. I'm so backed up in posts and thought it should wait since winter is almost here. But the busiest weekend in Bayfield I learned on my visit was the annual Applefest when the small town becomes a huge party with every hotel room within a 30 mile radius reserved for the weekend of fun. So if your heading up there this year or in the future I got a bar for you that's a great little place to eat and drink in the heart of the town.


Morty's Pub in Bayfield, WI

We stopped in here on my visit over summer one night for some food and drink and ended up having a great night and it was one of our favorite easy going meals of the trip. The menu here for drinks was nice and they had a pretty damn good mojito and some nice WI micros on tap. We ended up drinking both of those and started with an order of fried pickles off the appetizer section of the menu. The entree part and the rest of the menu for that matter isn't all that big but it doesn't matter because its the Lake Superior whitefish your going to want to get. Its a popular eat in these parts and they do it up in a variety of styles at Morty's.


View from my seat at the bar


Really nice mojitos, great on the hot summer day we were drinking them


Fried pickle spears

As you can read in the shot of the pub from the outside up above, Lake Superior whitefish is their specialty and its delivered fresh every morning from local fishers. This is about as fresh as you can get since the lake and the dock for the fishing boats is about a block away from the pub. They do an excellent fried version of whitefish which is what we had on our visit. Everything was fresh battered by hand including the fried pickles we had as an app. The fish didn't disappoint and it never has when I've been up there. The fries were well done and the slaw was a perfect accompaniment and was also homemade and really fresh. The skin on the fish was my favorite part due to its expert frying it was really crispy and crunchy. If you ever find yourself in Bayfield you'll know every restaurant and bar after a couple visits and Morty's is a great stop for lunch or dinner with some drinks and friendly chat with locals. Looking forward to my return visit.


Fresh fried Lake Superior whitefish

Morty's Pub
108 Rittenhouse Avenue
Bayfield, WI 54814
(715) 779-3996

The Plaza Tavern

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Wisconsin

Its that time of the year, football season is officially here. So today we head North to Madison, WI one of my favorite places to chill in the country. I think Fall is the best time of the year to visit Wisconsin's state capitol and one of the best college towns in America. One of the reasons Fall is so desirable is its a great time of the year weather wise for the area and with students in session its very lively and on Saturdays when the Badgers are playing its a great time. I was recently in Madison late Summer and stopped on in at the world famous Plaza Tavern for one of their famous Plaza burgers.


Madison, WI

The Plaza Tavern is a bar located just off State street on north Henry that serves many people in Madison's favorite burger which is named The Plazaburger. Many generations of UW graduates and lots of current students spent many nights at The Plaza which has remained pretty much the same. The famous burger was created in 1964 and there's been over two million sold since. Its a burger that's been mentioned when talking the best burger in Madison for a couple decades now.


The Plaza Burger

I only had a Plazaburger a number of times even though I lived in Madison for four years but that was more so because I didn't really drink there. The Plazaburger is a great burger after a few cold ones and everything you would expect a burger from a Wisconsin tavern to be. They cook a fresh pre-formed patty on the griddle which is in plain view for patrons sitting at the end of the bar. The thing that makes these burgers stand out is the secret sauce used on them which I think is just kicked up ranch dressing but it makes the burger what it is. They top that off with some cheese and put it on a wheat bun (I guess to feel healthy) and are served with some pickles on the side. I liked them then and still do now. The burger hasn't changed a bit since my last one there a few years back. Amen to that.


The insides

The Plaza Tavern
319 North Henry Street
Madison, WI 53703-2018
(608) 255-6592
Website

T's Tap

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Chi

Today we head south along Lake Michigan towards Indiana and also the state of Michigan. The Eastside of Chicago and the Hegeswisch neighborhood is a place we've been to before here on S'C'&C but never before to a local tavern, specifically-T's Tap- located at 98th and Ewing right along route 41 and the Lake Michigan circle tour. I've passed T's countless times over the years and was always intrigued by the "homemade sandwiches" text on the sign. Since T is also one of my nicknames, I always said I'd stop into my place one day. That along with the fact its an old school corner bar, in what I believe to be the only neighborhood in the city to see very little change these past couple decades, made it time to visit and so I did last January.


a popular Eastside Chicago hangout

When you scope out T's from the outside, it doesn't tell you much, just a bar in the bottom floor of another old brick building located at the corner of 98th & Ewing. But upon entry you step into a little bit of a time warp. My friend with me commented on how much he felt like he was in St. Louis as we sat down at the bar to get some drinks. It was a Saturday afternoon and the bar had a bunch of regulars sitting at it from ages 25-65 and there was also a bachelorette party with quite a few girls getting rowdy around 4p to Kid Rock's "all summer long". To give it some more of that old school tavern feel they also serve free popcorn in an old popcorn making machine and they have all your lotto needs covered from scratch cards to the big game, you can play it all inside here while you have a drink or five.


a little video peak into the tap

I very much enjoyed my visit to T's. Even though we weren't recognized by anyone in there the bachlorette party and bartenders were really friendly and couldn't believe I came there from Lincoln Park. At some point in time, T's was ranked one of the Top 15 bars in Chicago by the Chicago Tribune. After one visit I am ready to agree with this call. Chicago doesn't have too many places left like this anymore.


Front of the menu (click pic to enhance)

Aside from cheap drinks you will also find a menu filled with food of the greasy variety. They have a deep fryer and a grill in the front and the menu consists of the typical things you would throw in a fryer along with fresh grilled burgers, pork chop sammy's, Italian beef etc...We went with both a burger and a Patty melt (1st thing listed on the menu) along with an order of chicken wings. T's also has a specialty drink called the Pink thing and plenty of other thirst quenchers.


T's Tap fried chicken wings

Not bad at all for a small little neighborhood shack. The patty melt, although we got it with American cheese, was awesome. I got a patty melt for the 1st time in a while at Top Notch a few months back and forgot how much I like them. The patty melt at T's was damn good and when you consider the monster 1/2 pound melt is only $4.25, its a bargain. The burger was also good and both sandwiches were made by the potent yet excellent batch of grilled onions served on them. We also got an order of wings which were decent. They came fried nicely and they give you a huge bottle of sauce to douse them on your own with. If you go and are tempted by the pizza, don't be, its just Tombstone.


T's Tap Cheeseburger


T's Tap Patty Melt

I loved my first visit to T's and plan on heading back there this summer as I scoot back and forth between Chicago and Indiana/Michigan. If your ever taking the lake up or back and become hungry and want to catch a game on the tv, stop on by at T's, they'll treat ya like you been a regular for 30+ years.


a fine version indeed

T's Tap
9801 South Ewing Avenue
Chicago, IL 60617-5564
(773) 221-3111

Little Frank's Pizza & Shaved Ice

-The other Chicago-style pizza: Tavern Style

Back in April I took a trip to Burbank to try out a longtime favorite pizza spot of the locals and also a BBQ buddy of mine. I was with two of my boys and we weren't starving since we hit up another place to be featured but wanted to try a pizza from here since that was the original plan. We made our way over and before getting in the parking lot I spied a Hawaiian shaved ice spot that I made a mental note of that was right around the corner from the pizzeria/bar/barber shop trio that's been around since the 70's. There also happens to be a model train shop next door to the trio so this place is indeed pretty damn old school.


Locals favorite in Burbank, IL

In the trio of the barber shop/bar/pizza place both the pizzeria and the bar are connected. The ordering area for Little franks has no seats and is used for pick-up, delivery and anybody who wants to eat a pizza at the bar next door. We went with a large thin sausage pizza and told the people at the SRO ordering area that we'd be eating the pie at the bar next door. So we hopped on in to watch a little baseball (it was early in the season, Cubs still had hope) while we waited. It already started right with the fact their special that night was a large pizza and pitcher of beer (the usual cheap ones from USA) for $12, still you cant beat that. It took about 20 minutes and then the bartender brought us out the pizza.


Large sausage pizza from Little Frank's

It came out piping hot so we gave it a good five minutes before we digged in. The pie wasn't as thin as Marie's or Pat's and other spots like that but still thin. It reminded me of Rosangela's on 95th in Evergreen Park more than anything. This was some really good bar food and they had some great specials like two for one pizza night etc...


Sideshot

Overall the pie was great for what its there for, bar patrons and neighborhood people. I thought the best part was the sausage. Like usual in Chicagoland it was very good and the best part of it. I also liked the sauce, nice and tangy. It's a good pizza to have if your at the bar next door and for anyone from the neighborhood to have as their go to pizza place. I enjoyed the trip and loved the leftovers I chowed down at room temp later on that night.


Piece of tavern style thin from little Frank's

Rating Scale 5/5

crust: 3
sauce: 4
toppings: 4
Crispness: 3

Score: 14/20

The best part of the meal wasnt even ordered and came from a stereotypical Harley riding Vet. He had the gut, beard and bikers outfit as your picturing in your head right now along with the Veteran baseball cap. He was a regular at the bar named Gordo who stopped by to tell a few jokes, that were pretty damn funny, and to offer us up some of his homemade super spicy peanut brittle. It was a wonderful treat that went from sweet to super hot and then back to sweet. He was a really nice and also funny dude and even gave us a bagful that he insisted we take upon leaving. All he asked was that we come on back. That I will next time I'm in the area.


Gordo's Spicy peanut Brittle

My mouth was feeling the heat from the brittle and I went around the corner to check out the Hawaiian shaved Ice spot and see what was up. It wasn't anything crazy authentic according to my buddy who goes to Hawaii every year, but it did the trick of cooling down my steaming mouth and I still quite enjoyed it since I have always loved shaved ice and its a great summertime treat, especially after some of Gordo's brittle.



around the corner from little Frank's in Burbank


The machines can be rented out for parties


cantaloupe/watermelon Ice
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Little Franks Pizzeria
6355 West 79th Street
Burbank, IL 60459-1149
(708) 598-8660

Tropical Sno
7905 Narragansett Avenue
Burbank, IL 60459-1807
(708) 430-8604

The Great Steak Sauce Taste Off

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

I recently mc'd a gathering for 6 (+me) of my food buddies and we had a steak sauce taste off. It was a great event and a helluva way to start off summer the grilling season. We would be trying six different steak sauces including the most well known of the bunch, A1. I had brought a few and another friend of mine who said he had a few different kinds in his pantry brought the others. We had a friend who was judging the contests wife pour the bottles into plastic cups and label them 1-6 and since she wasn't all that into it, she would be the only one who knew what the numbers of each sauce was. Scoring was quite simple with 6 points being awarded to a judges favorite all the way down to just one point for their least favorite. Of course we would be using grilled steaks as the meat of choice for tasting the sauces with. Here is how it went down. Read on to see how you can have a chance to get a free bottle of the winning sauce.


2010 Great Steak Sauce Taste Off Contestants
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A1

Final Score: 17 points for 5th place
Highest Score: 4 by one person
Lowest Score: 1 by one person
Weird Ingredient: raisin paste

Notes: Well this was interesting considering that A1 is the most widely known brand at least in the United States. Well it didn't fare too well in this blind tasting contest and was voted in the bottom half by six of the seven judges. I would believe the steak sauce is one of the Kraft food companies big earners and I actually don't mind it but it didn't stack up with the rest, it got a two from me.
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Ashanti

Final Score: 23 points for 4th place (lost tiebreaker)
Highest Score: 5 by one person
Lowest Score: 1 by one person
Weird Ingredient: raisin paste, OJ concentrate, oil of grapefruit

Notes: This is a steak sauce made by Bridge Foods who is based out of New Orleans. I brought this one with me and score it a four and quite enjoyed it to the point where I wanted to give it maybe even a five but when I had a taste off with my five score it just lost out.
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Louisiana Supreme

Final Score: 23 points for 3rd place (won tiebreaker)
Highest Score: 6 by one person
Lowest Score: 1 by one person
Weird Ingredient: raisins, crushed oranges

Notes: The second of the Louisiana natives steak sauces just so happened to score the same points as the other contestant. Louisiana Supreme won the tiebreaker with having a score of six (Ashanti scored a high of five) from one of the judges but it also had a one just like Ashanti sauce did. I gave it a score of three so I actually slightly preferred the Ashanti sauce but never the less I also liked this. The contestants in the 1st ever Sauce Off were pretty strong in my opinion.
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Original Australian

Final Score: 12 points for 6th place
Highest Score: 3 by two people
Lowest Score: 1 by four people
Weird Ingredient: raisin paste, anchovy

Notes: The sauces full name goes by Original Australian Awesome Steak Sauce but nobody thought of it like they think of themselves. The main reason being how much thinner it was than all the others. It was almost like a marinade and not a sauce. It was my lowest rated mostly to do with this. I kept thinking maybe it would be better served by marinating some cubes of beef for Australian steak kabobs or something to that effect.
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London Pub Jamaican Style Spicy

Final Score: 35 points for 2nd place
Highest Score: 6 by two people
Lowest Score: 4 by one person
Weird Ingredient: Tamarind concentrate

Notes: This sauce comes from the London Pub line of condiments which is a line of many English condiments including their original style steak sauce and this spicy Jamaican version that scored very well. I am a regular consumer of this brand when I see them in the grocery store and had brought this bottle with me along with the two Louisiana sauces. I love this stuff, specifically the Jamaican style due to the extra heat and fact it goes so well with everything. I use it in my Sheppard's pie, meatloafs, steaks, tater tots, you name it. I was surprised when I scored it a five and it had me wondering what I scored the six. Its still one of if not my favorite steak sauces.
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YR Sauce

Final Score: 37 points for 1st place
Highest Score: 6 by three people
Lowest Score: 4 by one person
Weird Ingredient: Apples, Dates

Notes: It was a close call but the fifth generation YR Irish Sauce beat out the English sauce for 1st place in the 1st ever Great Steak Sauce Taste Off. In fact I even gave it a six over my favorite that I had brought which I gave a five. I really liked the stuff because as opposed to the last place finisher it was thick and hearty as it describes itself. I will stock up when I get my chance. If your in the Chicagoland area and you know where to get this let us know. Read on.


The 2010 Great Steak Sauce Taste Off Winner (win this bottle)

Oddly enough my rankings pretty much equaled the final results with just a switch here and there. So when I asked my friend where he got the bottle he told me Strack & Van Til over on Clybourn, a spot I like b/c they carry regional products and have a selection unlike the two main grocery stores in town. But then when I went over there to get some they didn't have any and I went to the people at the company and they told me they didn't think there were any spots for it in Chicago but that they would send me a few bottles, after I told them why I was looking. Well I'm pretty sure you can because I've seen the stuff since at a couple Irish Pubs and know its around since my friend got it at S&VT. But I can make it easy for you. Read on below.


One of the steaks used in the taste off with some twice baked mashed

To get a bottle of the 2010 "Steak Sauce Taste Off" just join my facebook group or click follow on this very site near the top right (those already in the group or following are automatically entered) and you will be automatically entered into the contest where two random winners will be chosen from a random computer drawing on June the 25th, 2010. Good grillings to all and thanks again for reading. Plenty more to come this summer. Stay tuned.

More Fresh Fries

-Fried out on 420

Do you have that holiday feeling? You getting hungry because of it? 420 is here and so is the now annual "Fresh Fries" post that comes with it. Last year I showed you around town and where to go to get the best sets of fries in the city and beyond and this year is no different. So I hope you got your munchies going and are enjoying yourself on 4/20/10. Check out last years featured fries right HERE.


an old neighborhood standby in Pilsen (Fran's Beef)


Fran's Fry sandwich: fries and hot peppers loaded inside a gravy bread


Something I do up at Pop's now and then with their fries and gravy bread


an old neighborhood standby in Evanston


Little Islands cheese fries have been eaten by generations of locals


Toons Bar & Grill: best stoners creation with the use of fries
(nachos ordered with fresh cut fries instead of chips and topped with chopped brisket)


fRedhots: best unique set of fries in the cityscape


Tore's Beef: best fries at any of the blue collar favorites


W&SC: best fries and dipping sauces for them


Illinois Bar & Grill: largest and best batch of fries in the city


Top Notch Beefburgers: best old school style fries in the city


Miner Dunn: best fries with a burger in NW Indiana


Kopp's: best fries with a burger and custard in Milwaukee


Mr. D's: best sandwich and fries combo in the city


Redhot Ranch: best set of fries loaded up on top a hot dog

You know your hungry.