Its been a busy week filled with food, travel, food, weddings and more food. It seems events and occasions are at an all time high. Curse my mouth, but I may actually be ready to kiss Summer buh-bye. It isn’t just me, is it?
Finally sitting down to catch my breath feels amazing. I was thinking back on the last week and wondering what delightful bites to highlight and couldn’t settle on just one. There were a lot of tasty treats, amazing morsels and effervescent cocktails to be had. Chicago and its culinary scene are buzzing louder than ever.
For our time together this week, I figured a Restaurant Roundup was in order! The places I have visited most recently and a bonus (!) upcoming event are here for your reading pleasure. Live like a blogger for a week, why don’t you!
The Local Chicago
Helloooo, Gold Coast! New kid on the block, The Local Chicago, has cropped up as a great option for lunch or dinner when finding that you’ve worked up an appetite after a day of shopping on the Mag Mile. Set just a block off Michigan Avenue on Delaware, the proximity is super convenient (dangerous?) to the best retail therapy this city offers.
Pop in for comfort food, good times and a great environment. The patio is ultra-spacious and covered – AMEN! – so you can enjoy these final dog days of summer in the shade.
Standout dishes were the Blue Cheese Fondue Chips, Truffled Deviled Eggs and the Fried Chicken Biscuit Sandwich. However, the shining star of the menu was quite unexpected. The Veggie Tots (pictured below) are a stroke of sheer brilliance. Packed with flavor and kissed with bacon, I was fighting over the last tot like a soldier in battle. Do not miss these!
The Local Chicago | 198 East Delaware Place | Chicago | IL | 60611
Chop Shop
Nestled in the heart of Wicker Park is one of my favorite spots, Chop Shop. It’s so many things to us folks in the neighborhood that multiple stops throughout the week are typically quite mandatory. The fact that I ended up here this week is no shocker.
Whether you’re shopping their butcher counter for a great steak to take home for dinner, or grabbing a craft cocktail at the bar, Chop Shop has it all. The vibe is hip/industrial and is a complete haven of food, drink, nosh and meat. Oh, and did I mention they also have an amazing rooftop patio? A quiet respite off busy North Avenue, it’s positively serene and shockingly private.
I love to sit on the patio, order up a big plate of their charcuterie, a porchetta sandwich, have a few expertly-poured cocktails and waste the day away. Which is exactly what I did this week. It was perfection squared.
Chop Shop | 2033 West North Avenue | Chicago | IL | 60647
Tippling Hall
In any given week, one must always make time for brunch, yes?
Yes.
This week was no exception. I was finally able to get myself to River North to try the much lauded Tippling Hall. This trendy eatery has become a little bit of everything to everybody in the sense that they do brunch, lunch, dinner and super late night eats. Who needs that yucky ‘ol burrito to sop up the suds when Tippling is serving up spicy deviled eggs and steak frites ’til 5am on Saturdays?
My late nights are few and far between these days, so I hit up their brunch to kick my day off right, and ended up getting way more than I bargained for! The $29 ‘brunch special’ that I opted for came with my choice of pastry, breakfast entrée and bottomless mimosas. Read that again, babes: BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS! It might just be the best steal in town.
A cider donut, lobster sriracha benedict and 6 mimosas later…
And I’m deeply, deeply in love.
Tippling Hall | 646 North Franklin Street | Chicago | IL | 60654
BONUS!
This week in food was pretty awesome as you can see. In addition to these great eats, I also had the fabulous opportunity to preview this year’s upcoming Oyster Fest which takes place on Friday, September 11th. Tons of oysters were tasted, all in the name of research, of course and I can’t begin to tell you how delicious of a time this is going to be.
Hosted at the legendary Shaw’s Crab House, this event includes music headliner, St. Lucia, and bites from Publican Quality Meats, Luke’s Lobster, Bub City, Harbor House and more! I’ll be there, will you?
Tickets are available here.
Cheers to another tasty week to come!
You have so many great foodie establishments to choose from! Can’t you send one or two out to my neighborhood?? Loved your post.
Sure! I’ll send one… which one ya want??