BonaPit Grill & Smokehouse- Palos Heights, IL

29 12 2008
  • 12200 S. Harlem Ave
  • Palos Heights, IL 60463
  • (708) 361-9610
  • Website
  • Menu
BonaPit Grill and Smokehouse on Harlem in Palos Heights, IL

BonaPit Grill and Smokehouse on Harlem in Palos Heights, IL

I told J as we were eating dinner, it’s a good thing we don’t actually live in Chicago.  Every time we go home, I gorge myself when we go out because the food is so damn good!

J and I were at one of her friends house catching up with them when dinner rolled around.  They ordered pizza from a place I’ll probably blog about next time we go home.  They encouraged me to try a slice and a slice ended up being two and a half. It was delicious.  We didn’t eat because we had plans to meet her parents at a BBQ place in Palos Heights. 

BonaPit (not Bon Apetite) is located on Harlem near 122nd Street in Palos Heights.  J’s mom said there used to be a fancy, white tablecloth restaurant in the building and that was the first thing we noticed.  BonaPit doesn’t look like a BBQ joint.  The floor was a wood planked floor, but the tables, walls and ceiling all looked like we should be sipping wine over candlelight.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : BBQ, Chicago, Illinois, Palos Heights, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Mr. Gyros – Oak Lawn, IL

25 12 2008
  • 10806 S. Cicero Ave.
  • Oak Lawn, IL 60435
  • (708) 741-4014
  • Website
  • Menu
Mr. Gyros on South Cicero in Oak Lawn, IL

Mr. Gyros on South Cicero in Oak Lawn, IL

I can only take so many cookies.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas cookies, but usually by dinner time on Christmas day I’m craving some real food.  J and I made it back to her parents in the south suburbs of Chicago and went on a hunt.  Surprisingly, there’s not a whole lot open.  We drove around for ten minutes or so before finding Mr. Gyros open.

Mr. Gyros is in a small strip mall on Cicero near 108th.  Neon signs filled the front window and there signs for their specialty, the “Big Pappa.”  J and I went in to find a counter and a small dining room.  There were a few other people who had the same idea we.  Most of the tables were full and there was even a guy sitting at the bar along the wall.

Mr. Gryos must have brought the whole family in to work Christmas Day.  We were met at the counter by a kid who couldn’t have been very far into his teens.  He asked what we wanted and started writing down the order.  J asked for a grilled cheese and fries then I ordered the Special #5 which is an Italian Beef, fries, and a pop.  I think we confused him.  He wasn’t writing as fast as we were talking and he got all confused.  He thought the #5 was the grilled cheese and it took some explaining to straighten things out.  Finally, it must have sunk in.  I got my beef without peppers and onions, but I did add mozzarella.  In another weird twist, J ordered a Diet Coke to add to her sandwich.  After we paid, the kid turned around and grabbed a can of Coke out of the cooler for me then got J a fountain Diet.  That was bizarre.  Why they have both cans and fountains and why one comes with the special over the other beats me. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicago, Illinois, Oak Lawn, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Fazoli’s – South Lansing

23 12 2008
  • 5705 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 394-0539
  • Website
  • Menu
Fazolis in South Lansing

Fazoli's in South Lansing....sorry about the focus...it was snowing really hard.

Looks like I can squeeze in one more Mid-Michigan review before Christmas.  I made it back to Lansing Monday morning at 3 AM after a 12 hour ride on an Amtrak that is only supposed to take 4 1/2 hours.  I’m not going to bitch as much as I want to, but let me just say, it was awful.  What makes it even more awful, is we’re supposed to hop on another train tomorrow morning to head back to Chicago.  We’re both a little stressed out wondering if we’re gonna make it home by Christmas. 

Since I’m just back in Lansing for a few days, we didn’t do any grocery shopping this week therefore, we have no food in the house.  Let me take that back, we have food, but it’s only to make cookies which I’ve been doing for two straight days now.  So, the only option was to eat out.  Last night, we hit up Steak ‘n Shake to take advantage of their 4 meals under $4 menu.  Tonight, it was Fazoli’s.

Strangely, my family has a history with Fazoli’s.  When I lived in Joliet, the only place, other than Chicken-n-Spice (review HERE), I took my parents to eat when they came to visit was Fazoli’s.  At that time, I had never heard of the chain and didn’t even realize it was a chain until I saw one on one of my “party visits” to the University of Illinois.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Fast Food, Italian, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Urbana Garden Family Restaurant – Urbana, IL

22 12 2008
  • 810 W. Killarney St.
  • Urbana, IL 61801
  • (217) 328-1514
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
Urbana Garden Family Restaurant in Urbana, IL

Urbana Garden Family Restaurant in Urbana, IL

It’s always fun when you’re in a strange city to go out to eat with the locals. I was working at Assembly Hall for a University of Illinois basketball game with a few other guys who live in the area. I’m somewhat familiar with the Champaign/Urbana area, but not nearly as familiar with the local joints, so I was happy when one of my co-workers took the lead and suggested we go to Urbana Gardens for dinner.

Urbana Gardens sits near Interstate 74 in Urbana a few miles from campus. It’s one of those down home, friendly restaurants where it’s more about having a good time than white table cloths. Five of us left the arena together for lunch. When we showed up at Urbana Gardens, we were relieved to see the holiday shoppers didn’t make it down this far. The place was pretty empty for a Saturday night and we were seated at a table together. I sort of felt sorry for the other patrons. We were loud. The guys I was with all have a sarcastic sense of humor and the waitress was playing along, so things got a little noisy. The table sitting next to us didn’t seem to mind as eventually, they started asking questions about our line of work.

The waitress came with drinks. I ordered a Coke. We also had one coffee, a Sprite, an iced tea and two Arnold Palmers. The waitress looked at the first guy that ordered it and said, “you’re going to be surprised I actually know what that is.” I had no idea, but after a quick Internet search, I now know it’s half iced tea and half lemonade. The waitress had a system when it came to keeping track of orders and she wasn’t about to let anyone mess it up. She started with the first guy to her left. He asked what the specials were and eventually decided on chicken fried steak. He asked if it had mushrooms and if so, to keep it off. The waitress asked if he was alergic and just didn’t like them. He said he didn’t like them. She said she would have to check if it even had mushrooms because the gravy was already made and if he was alergic, she’d pick them off….if he didn’t like them, he’d just have to deal with. That sounds mean, but she was being sarcastic and messing around with him. It was all in good fun and I don’t think she would have actually made him eat them. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Big Ten Tour, Burgers, Champaign/Urbana, Illinois, Local Flavor, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Urbana

Chicken-N-Spice – Joliet, IL

18 12 2008
  • 251 N. Chicago St.
  • Joliet, IL 60432
  • (815) 727-1100
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
Chicken-N-Spice in downtown Joliet, IL

Chicken-N-Spice in downtown Joliet, IL

The biggest chicken breasts you’ll ever see.  That’s how I used to describe the chicken from my favorite chicken joint.  I went to school at the University of St. Francis in Joliet.  I wasn’t quite the foodie then that I am now.  When I ordered out, it was usually to Papa Johns or one of the other national chains.  I wish I knew then what I know now about food in the Chicago area.  I’m sure there are hundreds of places I missed out on.

Fortunately, one of the places I didn’t miss out on was a little chicken joint in downtown Joliet.  Chicken-N-Spice sits on Chicago Street near the ballpark, theater, and casino.  There’s not a lot of food options in downtown Joliet but as far as I’m concerned, there only needs to be one.

I was on my way to my parents how from DeKalb when I got the idea to detour to Joliet.  I was tired of paying tolls anyway and I was running out of cash.  I now owe the Illinois Toll Authority some money since they still have the change baskets on I-88.  Seriously, who carries $1.10 in change?   I thought they were doing away with all of those and didn’t bring enough home with me.  Instead of dealing with that, I got off  I-88 and made my way to Route 30 which would eventually take me into Joliet.

Chicken-N-Spice is the kind of place you look at and think twice about before going in.  It’s not a very inviting building.  It’s a small store that needs some work down to it.  The thing I always notice is that it’s constantly surrounded by Joliet PD, Will County Sheriff and a number of prisoner transport vehicles from surrounding counties.  For once, that’s not a bad thing.  Chicken-N-Spice is a gathering spot and if the cops eat there, it must be a good place. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Downtown, Illinois, Joliet, Local Flavor, Restaurant, Reviews

Fatty’s Pub & Grille – DeKalb, IL

18 12 2008
  • 1312 W. Lincoln Highway
  • DeKalb, IL 60115
  • (815) 758-7737
  • Website
  • Menu
Fattys Pub & Grille near the campus of Northern Illinois University

Fatty's Pub & Grille near the campus of Northern Illinois University

I have never been so happy to be in DeKalb, IL.  I got up early because of the snow storm last night, but I never thought it would be as bad as it was.  The roads were awful between Lansing and Kalamazoo.  I didn’t think I’d ever make it to where I needed to go.

It was slow going, but I did finally make it.  My four and a half hour trip took closer to six.  By the time I got to DeKalb, I was exhausted and my day was just starting.  I was working at Northern Illinois University where the NIU Huskies were taking on the Southern Illinois University Salukis in  men’s basketball.  Just before four o’clock, we were released for lunch.  No one knew where to go or what was even around.  Lucky I did some research before leaving Mid-Michigan.

Fatty’s Pub is located on Lincoln Highway not far from the Convocation Center and Huskie Stadium.  We piled into a couple cars and set out looking.  I put the address in my GPS, but by the time it found the satellites, we were turning into the parking lot.  The building sits pretty close to the road, so you have to go down a little alley to the back.  The parking lot and main entrance are located behind the building.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, DeKalb, Illinois, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews

Max & Erma’s

14 12 2008
  • 2515 Lake Lansing Road
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 316-7477
  • Website
  • Menu
Max & Ermas near the Eastwoode Towne Centre in Lansing Township

Max & Erma's near the Eastwoode Towne Centre in Lansing Township

Another lazy Sunday.  J and I were laying on the couch watching a Fox News Channel special about corruption in Illinois.  We didn’t learn anything that we didn’t already, but it’s fun to see the rest of the country coming to the same conclusions we had five years ago about the current political situation in Illinois.  Neither of us were in much of a hurry to do anything, but my tummy was really growling.  I was hungry.  We needed to run a few errands, so we just decided to eat out.  I asked J what she wanted and she said a nice big salad with dried fruit, nuts, and cheese.  That really narrows it down.  Nothing was coming to mind.

I went to Google and typed in “Restaurants in Lansing, MI.”  I do that a lot for out of town meals because it gives you a list of all the restaurants in town.  I started clicking on website links figuring the chain restaurants would have what she was looking for.  I clicked on a couple and got a “yeah, those look ok” response.  When I clicked on Max & Erma’s I got a “YES!  That’s what I want!”  Off to Eastwoode.

Max & Erma’s is one of many chains located around Eastwoode Towne Centre.  Even though they have several locations throughout the country, I had never been to one nor had I ever seen one anywhere else.  J had never heard of it, so I didn’t go in with my preconceived notion that all chains are evil.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Applebees – South Lansing

14 12 2008
  • 6270 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 882-8320
  • Website
  • Menu
Applebees on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Applebee's on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

We got lazy.  After a brutal day in Novi, we crashed on the couch and watched a little TV just killing time until Saturday Night Live came on which we knew had a skit harpooning Rod Blagojevich.  Doing nothing made me hungry.  We didn’t have a lot of food in the house and neither of us wanted to get dressed up again to go out for dinner.  That made carry-out or delivery the top choice.  Neither of us had cash to tip a pizza delivery boy and for some reason we both thought of the same thing.  Applebees Carside-To-Go. 

Yeah, it’s a cookie-cutter chain that I can’t stand, but the prospect of not getting out of the car was what sold me on it.  We got on Applebees.com and I found a burger that sounded good.  J’s done the Carside-to-Go a few times at work and Applebees used to be a hangout for her and her friends when she lived out West, so she knew what she wanted.  I let her do the hard work and call in the order.  I hate talking on the phone.

After fifteen minutes or so, we paused America’s Funniest Videos and went to pick up our order.  The way Carside-to-Go works is you give the person taking your order a description of your car.  You then park in one of the designated spots and they see you on a closed-circuit video system.  An employee comes out with your food and you pay right there at the car.  Usually, they have a Wi-Fi credit card machine, but their system was down tonight, so the employee ran the card in and came back for a signature.  When we pulled in, our order was ready and our food was in our hands almost before I could get the window rolled down.  It went pretty quickly. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

O’Toole’s of Novi

14 12 2008
OTooles of Novi on Novi Road down the road from Twelve Oaks Mall

O'Toole's of Novi on Novi Road down the road from Twelve Oaks Mall

Our tour of Michigan continued today as we made our way East to Novi.  When we woke up, the choices were Ann Arbor or Novi.  I chose Novi.  I shouldn’t be allowed to pick things. 

Let me back up and explain a little.  The goal today was to find a new shirt for J.  She had something from H & M that she really liked and wanted to go there again.  The closest H & M stores are Novi and Ann Arbor.  She talked about Zingerman’s many times this week.  I should have just took the hint.  Instead, I wanted to go someplace new.  Things were fine until we got five miles from our exit.  MDOT decided to START construction on a Saturday two weeks before Christmas.  We sat in traffic for 40 minutes….20 of those were at a complete stop.  Crews were painting lines.  It was ridiculous.  That just set the day off on a bad note.

After finally making it to our exit, we took a right on to Novi Road and headed away from the mall and big commercial area.  About a mile down the road, we came up a little bar set back quite a ways.  It’s not what you would expect in such a highly commercialized area. 

When walked in around two o’clock on a Saturday afternoon.  There were a few people at the bar watching basketball, but the dining room was mostly empty.  Around the bar, there are some pub tables.  On the other side of the room, there are some booths and regular four tops.  I chose the pub table hoping we’d be close enough to the bar that the waitress would be on top of things.  Again, I was mistaken. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Irish Bar, Michigan, Novi, Restaurant, Reviews

CiCi’s Pizza

11 12 2008
  • 6520 S. Cedar St #7
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-9900
  • Website
  • Menu
CiCis Pizza in South Lansing

CiCi's Pizza in South Lansing

Like most people, J and I are trying to stretch our dining out budget during the holiday season.  I’d rather buy J something nice than spend a fortune on cheap, but expensive bar food.  This morning, we needed to make a grocery store run.  We had planned on the weekly Horrocks/Walmart trip, but neither of us could get out of our warm bed.  Instead, we slept in and settled for Meijer which doesn’t have the flavor or Propel I like.

Before hiting the grocery store, I needed food.  I was starving.  J suggested hitting something close and I thought of CiCi’s.  I figured it would be fairly cheap and we shouldn’t leave a buffet hungry.  I had eaten at a CiCi’s a few years ago with my dad back in Peoria (review HERE).  I wasn’t a huge fan of the pizza, but it was cheap.  J had never eaten there so it would be something new for her and a second chance for me.

CiCi’s Pizza is part of a strip mall on South Cedar across the street from the Meijer.  There are a couple other restaurants in the strip mall and Finley’s American Grill (review HERE), Applebees, and Pizza Hut all have stand alone buildings.  We found a place to park in front of the Dollar Store which is just a few doors down from CiCi’s.  When you walk in, you come to a register where you pay.  The lady working was right on top of things and saw us walk in.  The only option for dine in is the endless buffet.  We got two of those and two drinks.  The total was just over $16 which I thought was high.  I thought it’d be closer to $10, but when I did the math in my head, it made since.  Six bucks for each of the buffet’s, a couple bucks for drinks and taxes come out to $16.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

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