Restaurants

New Too

Ten more recent openings

Plus: Asian fine dining in Bridgeport, a wood-fired oven in Pilsen’s Thalia Hall, and glossy chain Mexican in Logan Square, and visit our Reader Restaurant Roundups for our recent neighborhood and cuisine guides.

June 18, 2009

Cocodrilos Grill 1758 W. Grand | 312-846-6650

$$ Mexican/Southwestern, Bar/Lounge | Dinner: sunday, tuesday-saturday | closed monday | Open late: Friday & Saturday till 2; Thursday till 1; Sunday, tuesday-wednesday till midnight

This strange and depressing replacement for the late Il Jack’s serves a predictable assortment of Mexican staples and obnoxious concoctions in a space divided among a front bar room and two separate dining rooms, one adorned with framed black-and-whites of Mexican movie stars. Completely unpredictable was the consistently wretched food that came out of the kitchen, prepared with such a lack of love I felt like weeping into the oily pozole. Some ill-advised presentations aim at willful overindugence: the Tres Amigos is an assortment of quesadillas, flautas, marinated mushrooms, and sickly sweet barbecue pork ribs, and a lava-rock meat bowl filled with chicken and steak fajitas, chorizo, and melted cheese made the average Taco Bell mutation look restrained. Cocodrilo’s also takes the prize for the most lackadaisically prepared watery margarita outside of a sorority house. —Mike Sula

FDM Mexican Cuisine & Lounge 3908 N. Lincoln | 773-348-7635

$$$ Mexican | Dinner: seven days | Saturday & Sunday brunch | Open late: Friday & Saturday till 11.

The primary differences between FDM and its folksier Logan Square sister, Fonda del Mar, are cosmetic. Housed in a former nightclub, this sleek North Center upscale-Mexican restaurant is all blond wood and curving white lines, as if plopped down straight from an Ikea showroom. Menuwise, despite claims to contrary, there are only a few items that deviate from the mothership’s. Execution of most—from an oversalted cucumber-jicama salad to a past-its-prime marlin ceviche to an overcooked monkfish escabeche wobbly atop bland mashed potatoes and swimming in its vinegary sauce—doesn’t bode well for FDM’s chances of standing out in an increasingly wide field. —Mike Sula

La Fonda del Gusto 1408 N. Milwaukee | 773-278-6100

$$ Mexican | lunch, Dinner: seven days | saturday & sunday brunch | Open late: friday-Saturday till 11 | BYO

Upscaled from an old family taqueria, La Fonda del Gusto puts forth classic Mexican with little flourishes, amid exposed brick and blaring music. You may find roasted poblano sour cream with the nachos, a little ancho butter on the skirt steak, and house-made chorizo and queso fresco garnishing a number of dishes, all nice touches even though someone in the kitchen hasn’t yet developed the dexterity to avoid overcooking red snapper or tequila-lime shrimp or undercooking a steak ordered medium rare. A number of old-school budget-friendly antojitos are available, though the al pastor huarache I tried was buried in bland lettuce and tomato. The best thing we had was a champurrado ice cream sandwich—mellow, subtle corn ice cream on chewy cinnamon-chocolate fudge cookies set on a pool of lime creme anglaise—which showed more skill than the other offerings combined. Though service is professional and friendly, there’s a puzzling BYO restriction of one bottle per two diners posted in the front window and on the menu with just enough implied disapproval that it feels weirdly unwelcoming. —Mike Sula

44th Ward Dinner Party 3542 N. Halsted | 773-857-2911

$ Bar/Lounge, American | Dinner: Sunday-Monday, Wednesday-Saturday | Closed Tuesday | Open late: Saturday till 3; thursday-Friday till 2; Sunday-Monday, Wednesday till midnight

44th Ward Dinner Party, in the former Lakeview Broadcasting Company space, is a restaurant with a mission: grilled cheese. That’s pretty much all the menu consists of, but with a build-your-own option featuring 20 add-ons, from alfalfa sprouts to bacon, and a choice of ten different cheeses and breads, it hardly seems limiting. There are also a handful of signature sandwiches; the vegan 60657, with soy bacon, tomatoes, portabellos, alfalfa sprouts, and soy mozzarella, is probably one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. The Vic—sauteed mushrooms, grilled eggplant, roasted red pepper, pesto, and goat cheese on olive panini—was also good, though there was so much cheese it kept falling out. The only disappointment was the bacon, sharp cheddar, and apple sandwich, in which the bacon lacked flavor and crispness. Attention to detail is apparent in sides of house-made potato chips and fries that are crunchy, sweet, and salty, and one of several reasons I’ll be back. (Another is a dessert of grilled cheesecake served between slices of pound cake and topped with whipped cream.) There’s a small and undistinguished wine selection, a slightly longer beer list, and a few cocktails. A minuscule sidewalk cafe affords a good view of passing buses and ambulances on Halsted. —Julia Thiel

The Grocery Bistro 804 W. Washington | 312-850-9291

$$$ American Contemporary/Regional | lunch monday-friday; Dinner: Monday-Saturday | saturday & Sunday brunch | Open late: Friday & Saturday till midnight, Monday-Thursday till 11 | BYO

If you’re trying out a hot new restaurant these days, odds are good that, seated at a communal table in a room so loud you have to yell to be heard, you’ll order organic, locally sourced food—possibly including some part of a pig you never thought you’d consume—from a menu that changes seasonally. The Grocery Bistro is that hot new restaurant without the snout-to-tail devotion: there’s no shortage of meat here, but it comes in comfortably familiar cuts, and seafood and vegetarian dishes are equally prominent on the menu. Chef de cuisine Andre Christopher is a vegetarian, but judging from a special of silky seared foie gras served over poached strawberries with chocolate sauce and crumbled Heath bar, it hasn’t impeded his ability to prepare nonvegetarian dishes. Salmon sashimi was fresh but slightly overwhelmed by its fried-egg-and-caper topping, while flavorful strips of baked pancetta were the star of a velvety, creamy potato-leek veloute. Rich Gorgonzola polenta complemented by poached tomatoes and (too few) cloves of roasted garlic outshone the sausage-stuffed chicken thighs it was served with. All the desserts flirt with savory flavors; even the banana tiramisu has bacon in it. The Grocery Bistro is BYO, but Perman Wine Selections next door offers suggestions for menu pairings. UPDATE: Chef Andre Christopher has left the building. —Julia Thiel

Iyanze 4623 N. Broadway | 773-944-1417

$ African | Breakfast, lunch, dinner: seven days | byo

At Iyanze, a casual, cafeteria-style spot in Uptown from the proprietors of Bolat African Cuisine, it’s up to the customer to mix and match sides, starches, and proteins from the menu board overhead—which can be a daunting task for the uninitiated. I had egusi, a rich pumpkinseed-spinach soup made with no small amount of palm oil, which was then heaped with chunks of braised goat and paired with a hefty softball of fufu, the steamed paste of yam or cassava that’s the West African standard for both starch and utensil. Rice—in fried, coconut, or traditional jollof varieties—is another staple, as are oxtail, fried fish, and plantains. The space is bright but utilitarian, dominated by flat-screen TVs showing grainy video of the Nigerian news. But for a filling, affordable taste of authentic West Africa this is the best bet around—at least until Bolat’s Lakeview location reopens. —Martha Bayne

El Mariel 1438 W. Chicago | 312-226-0455

$ Cuban | Breakfast, Lunch: seven days; Dinner: Monday-Saturday | Reservations not accepted | Cash only | BYO

I don’t know about the “best” Cuban sandwiches, as the postcard menu proclaims—the crucial balance of meat, cheese, and pickle was slightly off—but there’s much to like at this bare-bones storefront, not least of which is the amiable owner. Bread, soup, and the crunchy brown complimentary potato chips are all made in-house, as of course are traditional sides like tostones, papas fritas, maduros, and croquetas, the last a taste I can’t seem to acquire. The lechon sandwich, meaty and juicy, was another matter; don’t miss it. There are just two tables, and preparation was slow enough that this seems a good thing, but there’s something heartwarming about the decor (and menu) commemorating the Mariel boatlift. —Kate Schmidt

Los Moles 3140 N. Lincoln | 773-935-9620

$$ Mexican | Dinner: sunday-monday, wednesday-saturday | closed tuesday | open late: friday & saturday till 11 | BYO

Vagabond chef Geno Bahena, one of Rick Bayless’s most renowned (and elusive) disciples, returns to ply mole in this modest Lakeview spot. Sparsely decorated by his usual peacock standards—though the dedicated tortillera who emerges in the dining room to press masa to order is a nice touch—the menu isn’t radically different from what we’ve seen before. There are lots of moles in pretty presentations, notably the conceptual mar cielo y tierra, sea (shrimp), sky (quail), and land (lamb), each bedded on distinctly flavored, wonderfully complex green, white, and red sauces meant to symbolize the Mexican flag, or a sliced duck breast cooked to exacting specifications in a mild pumpkinseed mole. Appetizers were particularly good: a murky sopa azteca, redolent of the pasilla chile swimming with chewy strips of tortilla and chicken: a pair of tlacoyos, masa ovoids stuffed with earthy mushrooms and topped with chorizo, and a ceviche whose fresh marlin held up well among olives, tomato, avocado, and chile. Desserts were likewise well done, particularly house-made strawberry ice cream atop a chewy, rustic coconut pie or a light white dulce de leche cake special. In a city increasingly cluttered by average-to-disappointing Mexican fine dining, Bahena—despite his past unpredictability—is still one the city’s most talented chefs in this arena. I hope this time he hangs up his saddlebags and stays put. A liquor license is pending, and brunch and lunch are in the works. —Mike Sula

Saluté Wine Bar 46 E. Superior | 312-664-0100

$$$ Bar/Lounge, Italian, Small Plates | Lunch, dinner: seven days | Open late: Every night till 2

Saluté Wine Bar is a warmly lit space with a sidewalk patio that seems perfect for a drink and a bite to eat before a movie or play. On a recent weeknight, however, even though the place was mostly empty, service was so slow that we had to rush through the last of our food and leave our drinks unfinished to make it to our movie on time. The food, mostly OK, hardly made up for the sluggish service. Beet hummus was pleasant, with plenty of tahini and a subtle earthy sweetness from the beets, but could’ve used more of the aged balsamic reduction it was served with; thin crostini was piled high with goat cheese and a garlicky white bean and roasted red pepper spread that I liked but seemed excessive in proportion to the toast. In the second round—which arrived at least half an hour after we’d finished the first—the flavors of an open-face sandwich of chopped smoked turkey and “cranberry hash” with basil pesto meshed beautifully, but a wan Caesar salad that arrived sans Parmesan was pretty flavorless. The all-Italian wine list includes about 20 wines by the glass, mostly priced a little under $10, and close to 100 in total, all served in stemless glasses. There’s also a small selection of cocktails, including the Caprese, a smooth basil-infused vodka martini garnished with a mozzarella-stuffed cherry tomato, and a limonata with citrus-infused gin and lavender water that went down easy (maybe because I couldn’t taste any gin). For dessert there are house-made cellos including Meyer lemon and kumquat—but we didn’t have time to try any of them. —Julia Thiel

Taxim 1558 N. Milwaukee | 773-252-1558

$$$ Greek | dinner: Sunday-Monday, Wednesday-Saturday | Closed Tuesday | Open late: Friday & Saturday till 1:30; Sunday-Monday, Wednesday-Saturday till 11

At Taxim 29-year-old former caterer David Schneider, with the help of sous chef Jan Rickerl (Green Zebra, Scylla), has raised the bar for what passes as serious, interesting regional Greek food in this town. The brass lanterns in this Byzantine lounge (dimly) expose some of some of the freshest yet oldest ideas in village cuisine: seasonal ingredients in simple, wonderful dishes like fresh-shelled favas with yogurt and lamb confit. That’s not to say Taxim is a bastion of tradition. Pomegranate-glazed duck gyros are an updated nod to street food, dressed in a thin, unstrained house-made yogurt that’s deployed with amazing results in a number of dishes, from sauteed baby eggplant to a brawny (if dry) minced goat kebab, as well as on its own for dessert, accented with some tart candied kumquats. The moderately sized selection of hot and cold mezzes and large plates—which also includes supersweet roasted peppers, capers, and kefalograviera cheese and a phyllo-clad goat feta and ramp pie—apparently just hints at Schneider’s repertoire, said to include hundreds of recipes from Greece and Asia Minor. The all-Greek wine list is affordable and interesting; add to that the promise of a daytime yogurt bar in the front of the house and rooftop dining amid native Greek verdure from Schneider’s grandparents’ village. —Mike Sula

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