90 Miles Cuban

When Nick's parent's came into town they wanted to for sure hit up 90 Miles Cuban because they had seen it featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives.  We had eaten at this restaurant a few years ago right before we started the blog but we think it was before the DDD episode so we ordered differently this time based on what Guy Fieri ate.

Croquetas

We ordered croquetas as an appetizer. They were fried ham and bechamel balls that were packed full of flavor.

Puerco Rostizado

Puerco Rostizado - this was the main dish featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  It is a pork dish marinated and roasted over night with bacon guava and ham. So this dish was pretty amazing. Here is the funny thing Natalie tried the dish first and had the ropa vieja second and this dish made the ropa vieja kind of taste bland. Nick tried the ropa vieja first and then the pork and that was the proper order because he loved the beef and then loved the pork even more. The marinade really brought out great flavors in the pork.  This was definitely the best dish we had from both our visits to this restaurant.

Ropa Vieja

Ropa Vieja - slow cooked shredded beef with onions, peppers, garlic, in house creole sauce. The dish was good but not as good as ropa vieja we have had at other restaurants.  It was tasty but not nearly as dynamic a dish as the puerco rostizado.  Natalie wishes she had eaten the entrees in the different order because she would have been a lot happier.

Ceviche

Ceviche - Nick's dad chose to have this as an appetizer but it was so large that we got to try a taste of it later. It was a typical ceviche but such a great deal due to is overwhelming size.

Final thoughts on 90 Miles Cuban:
Food - The pork was amazing! Cuban food is known for its pork dishes so stick with them.  The last time we went we had a Cuban Sandwich which was also very good. We went there on a Tuesday night which is Paella night so lots of other tables were ordering that.

Service - The order and sequencing of bringing out the appetizers and the entrees was a bit weird. The croquetas came out first and then the ceviche a little later.  But then the entrees came out soon afterward so it was awkward with having the courses overlap and not having enough room at the table.

Atmosphere - the restaurant had a vibrant atmosphere and Tuesday night is also Flamenco night so there was live Flamenco music and dancing going on right near our table.  That was fun to experience the entertainment and the dancers were great.  It is quite dark inside the restaurant and we had to use flashlights on our phones to read the menu.

Nana (for dinner)

A couple of years ago we went to Nana for breakfast and loved it (see our posting for that here).  So when we saw they were participating in Restaurant Week we wanted to try their dinner fare.

Avocado Fries

Starters
- avocado fries, cilantro, chipotle - lime aioli
- pulled pork tostones, cirispy plantains, cilantro-lime slaw, harissa honey
These were both great.  We would definitely order the avocado fries again. Good flavor combinations for both.

Tostones

Main
- ancho chile braised short ribs, bacon and brie mashed potatoes, leeks, sun-dried tomatoes
- chili rubbed pork tenderloin, squash puree, kale, apples, cider jus
Awesome flavors in both dishes. Unique combinations of ingredients. The short ribs had a bit of heat but that was balanced with the bacon and brie mashed potatoes. The pork was sweet with the squash and apples so getting to try both dishes together was enjoyable.

Short Ribs

Pork Tenderloin

Dessert
- Chocolate Sformato
There were other choices but this sounded the best so we both ordered it.  It was kind of a chocolate mousse and it was VERY rich.  The serving size was pretty large as well so we were more than satisfied when we were done.

Chocolate Sformato

Final thoughts on Nana:
Food - great local food. We enjoyed all of the courses, but especially the appetizers and the dessert.
Service - fast and friendly service.  All the dishes came out more quickly than we expected.
Atmosphere - they have a more casual vibe than the other restaurants we went to during Restaurant week.  It felt cozy.

Bop n Grill

Philly Cheese Steak Egg Rolls

We went to dinner at Bop n Grill in Roger's Park.  We have seen it featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives and Chicago's Best and despite being located on the furthest north part of Chicago (therefore furthest from where we live) we wanted to try it.

What we ordered:

Philly cheese steak egg rolls - this is an appetizer that is only available Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They limit the amount one can order to 2 egg rolls and once they are gone they don't make any more for the day.  They were cooked to order - served hot and fresh. It is a fun twist on both a cheese steak and egg rolls.  Nick wished there were more cheese.  Maybe it was bit overhyped - it was tasty but we wouldn't need to go there on a weekend specifically for this dish. This is one of the dishes featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives.



Kimchi fries

Kimchi fries - also featured on DDD. These fries were pretty great. The fries were topped with caramelized kimchi, scallions, bacon, cheese sauce and sesame seeds. We were worried the kimchi might be a bit much for us but it was milder than we thought and gave the whole dish a nice heat. But if you need more heat, they had sriracha sauce on hand. We ate the fries with a fork to get all of the toppings in one bite. These fries were also featured on Chicago's Best.

Umami Burger

Umami burger - also featured on DDD. This is their number one selling burger. Topped with truffled mushroom, sun dried tomato, bacon, smoked gouda and togarashi mayo. Umami is known as the 5th basic taste after sweet, salty, bitter and sour. This was the quntessential umami taste - juicy burger with both salty and sweet components.  Mushrooms are high in the umami taste which is why they were on this burger. It wasn't an overly large burger; we split it in half and each wanted more.

Chicken Katsu- panko crusted chicken served as a dinner platter with rice, kimchi, a side salad and katsu sauce.  This was featured on Chicago's best.  Of the 4 things we ordered this was the least impressive.  It was a nice tasty fried chicken dish but not something we would order again. Not much to say about this compared to the Umami burger and the kimchi fries.

Final thoughts on Bop n grill:

Chicken Katsu

Food - a different way to fuse Korean and American styles.  We really haven't eaten too much kimchi in our lives but this made it more accessible.

Service - there is counter service where you order your meal at a counter and then wait for your number to be called.  It took about 15 minutes for us to get our food which seemed to be the normal wait time because they cook everything to order. We happened to get to the restaurant right at a moment when it was raining pretty hard outside.  This worked to our benefit because it kept some other customers away for a bit longer.  We didn't have to wait to order at all.  But while we were eating (and the rain stopped) many locals walked in.

Atmosphere - Bop n Grill is located right in the middle of the Loyola campus in Rogers Park. So there are a lot of college age customers.  We felt that except for one other party we were the oldest customers there. After the rain stopped we got a sense of the more normal busier atmosphere for dinner. We loved the food but this is literally one of the furthest restaurants from our house so it would be hard to return.

Garifuna Flava

We finally got to eat at Garifuna Flava in Chicago.  We had seen it on many food shows including, Diners Drive Ins and Dives, Check Please and Chicago's Best. It is known for Caribbean (especially Belizean) food, so we knew we had to check it out.

Fun Caribbean drinks

We ordered a bunch of appetizers instead of 2 full entrees:
Panades - corn patties with hashed buffalo fish and garnished with sweet vegetable sauce.  The panades kind of look like emapanadas but they have a different filling.  It didn't didn't taste fishy; but warm and sweet and it was served with some restaurant made hot sauce that looks like coleslaw but it definitely packed a punch.

Garnaches

Panades & Conch Fritters

Garnaches - crunchy tostada like dish of round fried corn tortillas topped with refried beans, a lettuce sauce, shredded cheses and a ketchup sauce.  We really liked these - they reminded us of Mexican tostadas.  They were very simple but delicious; Nick's favorite dish of the day.

Conch fritters - minced conch seasoned with various Caribbean spices. This style of conch fritter was in a ball shape; it is reminiscent of a hush puppy in texture.  It of course had the sweet conch meat inside.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken lunch - marinated with Jamaican spices and slow cooked on the grill, served with rice and beans, a fried ripe plaintain and Belizean potato salad.  The chicken wasn't too spicy (well not on its own there were some sauces that came with our meal that were sure spicy). The rice and beans were good and the chicken was tender and moist without being overly spicy.  The plaintain was nice and sweet (so we ordered more later). The potato salad was just ok - you have a choice of a garden salad, steamed cabbage or the potato salad and we thought the potato salad sounded the best.

Jerk Chicken

Potato Salad

Hot Sauce

Rice & Beans and Plantain

They didn't have Cassava cake available for dessert so we had a side of fried ripe plaintains for dessert instead. We only got one plaintain with the jerk chicken meal so we were eager for more.

Also we had some beverages - a Ting soda and a Pineapple Coconut smoothie, to put us in the mood of being in the islands (on a colder day) before our meal began.

The price was great. We were there for lunch so that may have been why; but we really got a lot of food for not too much.

Now this restaurant is located somewhere on the south side of Chicago. It's probably not in that bad of a neighborhood, but they do have their own parking lot.  And inside the restaurant, one of the tv's has a live camera feed of the parking lot just to give you peace of mind.

Final thoughts on Garifuna Flava:

Plantains

Food - warm and spicy and reminds you of the Caribbean
Service - we were the only patrons in the restaurant for the majority of our meal so it was very personalized.  But they seemed willing to help you navigate the menu. At the end of our meal they gave us menus to take with us and to share with our friends.
Atmosphere - It is a very casual establishment - definitely falling in to a Diner, Drive in or Dive category.

DMK

We went to dinner at DMK Burger in Lombard (they also have a location in Chicago).  The Chicago location has been featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

Deviled Eggs

The burgers here are really thin patties, kind of the opposite of Kuma's Corner in that regard. But the flavors were pretty incredible.  They had good burger flavor combinations where you could taste all of the components.

Bison Burger

Bison Burger - with goat cheese, pickled onions and blueberry BBQ sauce. Really nice combination, especially with the onions and blueberry BBQ.  The only thing was that since the burger was so thin it was hard to tell that it was indeed a bison burger.

Holy Guac-Aoli Burger - with chorizo, guacamole  chipotle aioli. Nice amount of spice, not too overwhelming

Holy Guac-aoli burger

Cheddar scallion fries

Fries - with cheddar cheese and scallions. It was real cheddar cheese not just fake cheese wiz so it tasted really good

Chocolate shake - really good.  We were debating on whether to order this but it tasted great.

Free deviled eggs - They brought these out before the burgers - they had a little bit of a kick to them, almost like there was chili powder sprinkled on them instead of paprika.

Chocolate shake

We went before six on a Friday night and got seated right away but by the time we left there was definitely a line waiting for a table.

Final thoughts on DMK Burger:

Food - Good burger combinations - we really enjoyed the flavors more then Kuma's Corner. But Natalie thought the burger patty sizes were a bit small.

Service - good service; looks they may bring all newcomers to the restaurant a free deviled eggs order
Atmosphere - bar up front, all of the wait staff was dressed up for Halloween (we were there the weekend before Halloween).

Kuma's Corner

We ate dinner at Kuma's Corner after hearing about it for a while. We saw it on Diner's, Drive ins and Dives, and it has also been featured on Check Please.

They mainly serve burgers (but there are other items on the menu).  The burgers are 10 oz - so quite large, and they are served on pretzel buns.  These burgers were almost too large - in the sense that Natalie couldn't even fit a full cross section bite into her mouth.

We ordered 2 different hamburgers and tried each of them. All of the burgers are named after heavy metal bands to go along with the theme of the whole restaurant - it is very dark inside and they play metal music.

The burgers we ordered:

Absu - Tomatillo Salsa, Pepperjack, Red Onion Avocado Relish, Queso Fresco, Trio of Breaded Deep Fried Chiles.  This was a little spicier than Natalie would have wanted.  The toppings seemed to not be placed very evenly because sometimes you couldn't really taste some of the items - especially the case for Nick, he didn't even get to taste the cheese.

Mega Deth with chips

Mega Deth - Chorizo and Red Potato Hash, Pico de Gallo, Cayenne Avocado Cream, Tortilla Strips.  The combination sounded great - but it was a little mild after eating the Absu.  We would have preferred cheese on it

The menu did have a lot of very unique burger combinations.  Maybe we chose poorly but we really didn't think they were super special. If we compare this experience to our experiences eating at Hot Dougs or Frank N Dawgs (gourmet and specialty hot dogs and sausages), we didn't enjoy the food as much. 

Absu burger with fries

Kuma's has a lot of rules

- i.e. no reservations. no substitutions of ingredients, so you have to follow how they do things.  This is fine with us but might be a problem for others

We had heard that because they don't take reservations and they have a smaller dining area that some people can wait up to 2 hours on busier nights.  Therefore we went on a Wednesday night and succeeded in having a much shorter wait - about 15 minutes.

Maybe there was just way too much hype about this place but there is no way we would want to wait 2 hours to eat here.

Another thing to mention is that the kitchen is very small so it takes a few minutes longer than normal to get the food out to each table.

Final Thoughts on Kuma's Corner:
Food - good but not great.  It could have just been our expectations or because we have some awesome burgers within a 10 minute drive of us at Palmer Palace and Back Alley burger (with little to no wait and not as many rules)
Service - pretty standard, we already knew what we wanted to order because we had looked at the menu while we were waiting to be seated, so that sped things up a bit
Atmosphere - very unique, you could tell pretty easily who were the regulars versus the newbies (all of the newbies, including us, had cameras out taking pictures of everything). It was loud inside so not a place to take grandma.

Nana

We went to breakfast at Nana in Bridgeport.  It has been featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives and Check Please and has only been open for 3 years.  They don't open until 9 am so it really is more of a breakfast/brunch and they also serve lunch and dinner. We decided to go with both a savory and a sweet dish for our breakfast.

Savory option:

Biscuits and Duck Gravy

Biscuits and Duck Gravy - 2 eggs any style (we had over hard), 2 smoked cheddar biscuits, duck gravy, duck ragout, spring onions and corn. The biscuits were a bit dense, but that was good so that they didn't fall apart easily with all of the other ingredients.  With some bites the gravy was a bit salty.  But, the duck elevated the traditional biscuits and gravy to another level. Overall it was very rich in a savory sort of way.

Sweet option:
Lemon Pound Cake French toast - with whipped cream, chocolate mousse and peaches.  This was practically a dessert.  This was definitely at the other end of the spectrum with taste and richness versus the biscuits and gravy. It was great to be able to sample both of these breakfast items - they were a good balance for each other since they were both rich meals in different ways.

Final thoughts on Nana:

Lemon Pound Cake French Toast

Food - it was different than any other breakfast place we have been to recently because it was fresh, clean, and not overly heavy.  Compared to other Diners, Drive ins and Dives picks this seems a bit more upscale, especially for the neighborhood.
Service - it was ok, there was one server for lots of tables.  We waited a bit to order but the food came out relatively quickly.
Atmosphere - had a lot of original artwork on the walls, we got their right when the place opened and were okay but it definitely got hopping as we were leaving.

Interior

Interior

Smoque

After being inspired by the most recent Top Chef episode about BBQ, we decided to go to Smoque, considered to be one of the best BBQ joints in Chicago.  Smoque is located at 3800 N Pulaski.  We had heard about Smoque through word of mouth and know that it was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

Sliced brisket, mac n cheese, coleslaw, cobbler

We ordered the following: Sliced brisket platter, with coleslaw, macaroni & cheese and cornbread.  Pulled pork with a side of brisket chili.  Peach cobbler for dessert.
We had heard that brisket was the thing to order here and it did not disappoint.  Nick especially loved it because it was moist but didn't fall apart when you stuck your fork into it. The pulled pork was good and flavorful but the brisket is the best we have had in the Chicago area. The sides were all tasty and could have been a meal unto themselves. Nick liked the cornbread because it wasn't gritty and it was moist. The brisket chili was wonderful because it had the great brisket in it and it had a bit of a kick to it - now we have an idea of how to make good chili at home. The peach cobbler was warm and gooey and had a nice crusty top.

Pulled pork, 2 cornbreads, brisket chili 

We knew that sometimes this restaurant can have long lines.  So we tried to get there as early as possible for dinner.  We arrived about 5:45pm on a weeknight and had no line to order and were able to find parking in the lot behind the restaurant.  When we left at about 6:30 a line had formed and seating was starting to get limited. If you are in the area you can call ahead and pick up your order.

Final thoughts on Smoque:
Food - excellent, definitely go for the brisket and try your favorite sides, bbq sauce has a vinegar base
Service - counter service, but all the employees were very helpful and attentive.  It sounds like when things get busier, there is an employee who manages/expedites the limited seating.        
Atmosphere - most of the seating is long communal tables so you might not be sitting next to someone you know.  If you get there at a non-peak time like we did you will get your pick of seats. You can see their many accolades and awards on their walls.

Start of a lineup as we are leaving

Cemitas Puebla

The main reason we went to Cemitas Puebla now is because we had a Living Social coupon (kind of like Groupon) that we wanted to use. We had been there over 2 years ago and had enjoyed it immensely - also it has been featured on all sorts of Chicago food shows and on the Food Network Diners, Drive Ins and Dives show.


Cheese Chalupas

Cemitas Puebla is located at 3619 W North Avenue in Chicago.  They are the only Mexican restaurant in Chicago serving cemitas, in fact they may be the only place outside of Mexico.  A cemita is a Mexican sandwich, originating from Puebla, Mexico.  It is different from a torta due to the type of sesame seed bread/roll it is served on.  At Cemitas Puebla you can get a cemita with various types of meats, avocado, chipotle peppers and Oaxacan cheese.

Our Living Social coupon included 2 cemitas sandwiches and an order of cheese chalupas. We picked the carne asada and the arabe (roasted pork) cemitas.  They were both great.  On the table there are 3 different types of salsa you can put on your food depending on how hot you want it.  The chalupas were corn tortillas with salsa verde and cheese on them.  If they hadn't been included in our deal we may have either ordered another cemita or a taco.

Roasted Pork Cemita

Final thoughts on Cemitas Puebla:
Food - great tasting food that is unique, it takes us 1/2 hour to get there (more if there is traffic) so we wish it were closer so we wouldn't be waiting 2 years between visits
Service - very quick, when you walk in the owner asks if you have been there before, if not he goes through the menu with you and explains what a cemita is and what they cooked for Guy Fieri when he was filming for Diners, Drive ins and Dives.  It is very nice, especially if you don't know what the restaurant is about

Atmosphere - order at a counter and then your food is brought to you, there is street parking in front or on the side streets.  Now on our second visit here we noticed that they have updated the flooring and the furniture so it looks a little classier inside.



Cane Asada Cemita