Food On My Mind...

Marisa's Top Picks for Eateries in Chicagoland

1. The Elephant Thai Cuisine in Edgebrook - http://theelephantthai.com/default.aspx - This place has the best Thai food I've ever had anywhere. Everything we've had is good. I wasn't a fan of Pad Thai until coming here. Some of my favorites are Pad Kee Mao, Pad Thai, Panang Chicken, and for appetizers Fried Tofu and Crab Rangoon.
2. Tony's Italian Deli - http://www.tonysdeliandsubs.com/ - Authentic, hole-in-the-wall deli located in the heart of downtown Edison Park. This place has the best Italian sub hands down. Their prices are SUPER cheap for the amount of sub you get and usually pretty fast at making your sub. Other favorites are the pasta salad and homemade cookies with jam filling they have by the register. While you wait, there's tons of imported items to browse through too!
3. Pickwick Restaurant - Yeah, there are a ton of mom and pop diners around the Chicagoland area, but this one is my favorite located in uptown Park Ridge. The soups of the daily are always delicious and the waitresses are personable and provide good service. The husband and I frequent this place on Saturday mornings usually after morning errands. Often described as no-frills, which is true, but this diner's got character with the table of Greek family and friends of the owners that often occupy the middle table and decorated cafe for each holiday. Their breakfast and coffee is my favorite. Just don't expect substitutions - they don't do 'em.
4. Makisu Sushi Lounge & Grill - http://www.makisu-sushi.com/ - Unexpectedly located sandwiched between an MRI clinic and a kid's portrait studio in a Skokie strip mall, this is a sushi gem! Walking in, we were surprised at how upscale the decor was and unoccupied it was, especially after eating the food. IT's fabulous! The artistry of each plate is creative as well. Their speciality rolls are the best, IMO, with the Mercy roll being hands-down decadent. Normally we stick to stuffing our faces with as much sushi as possible, but we've tried the edamame, chicken teriyaki skewers, and for dessert the chocolate pyramid and have never been disappointed.
5. The Firkin - http://firkinoflibertyville.com/ - A ways north of Chicago in the town of Libertyville is this fancy bar located. The husband and I were in town and heard this place was good. Boy were we surprised at how good everything was. We both agreed that it was the best meal we had both ever eaten. Surrounded by lots of people and festive Christmas lights strung overhead, we dined on hot and fresh Belgian pretzels for appetizers and for dinner I had a turkey pastrami sandwich and he had a free-range BBQ bacon cheeseburger. Both were served with crinkle-cut fries cooked to perfection. The bar is known for it's outlandish and wide-variety of beers from all over with selection changing about every week. This restaurant is nothing short of amazing.
6. Bistro 110 - http://www.bistro110restaurant.com/ - Our first downtown dinner experience was at this French bistro-style place. We experienced roasted garlic for the first time as it was given complimentary with our bread. I ordered scallops and we ordered a spring vegetable medley a la carte to go with our meals. The husband and I LOVED the vegetables. It was fun trying root vegetables we'd never had before and enjoying them. We got 2 desserts the flan and the creme brulée (award-winning in the city) and were pleased with both.
7. The Orange - http://orangerestaurantchicago.com/orange/html/ - We ended up trying this place the morning of the St. Patty's Day festivities in Chicago. We were trying to find a good brunch place to go and upon researching realized brunch was the thing to do on the weekends. We figured that on top of it being a holiday weekend we wouldn't be able to get in anywhere without a long wait. We stumbled upon this place's website and saw it had a new branch open in Glenview and decided to try it out since it was close to wear we live. It was small and unobtrusive and had a great assortment of breakfast and lunch items (it closes at 3pm). I got the Chai-infused french toast and the husband got an omelet with leeks, brie, and asparagus. We tried the orange-infused coffee and I got one of their freshly-squeezed juices (orange carrot). They also have a "Pancake Flight" where you get 4 different dollar-sized stacks of specially-themed pancakes that change weekly.
8. Frontera Grill - http://www.fronterakitchens.com/home.html - For the longest time, the husband and I thought we had eaten at Topolobampo when in fact we ate at its sister restaurant. It's more casual and I hear Topolobampo sometimes requires months in advance for reservations. Regardless, it was delicious. I had some sort of chicken tacos with a mojito and everything was great. It was quite crowded, but our server was very attentive and even offered to bring more chips and salsa when we finished the basket, which surprised me at an upscale restaurant such as this. Afterwards, we decided to get coffee and were surprised it was Intelligentsia brand, another thing we wanted to try in Chicago. I'm not sure how, but it was the best coffee we'd ever had too.