Appetizers are $8-13, main courses $15-28
where? :confused:

OPERA - The Restaurant
 

Dined at Opera recently. Mrs Sweet Willie & I had the tasting menu with the wine pairings. VERY good. Started out so-so but ended in fantastic flavors.

To start a coconut/jelly amuse served w/a Rose Champagne

Shrimp Dumplings w/truffle oil scallions & chipotle/mustard sauce, served with a German Riesling

Seafood crepe w/smoked red pepper sauce w/micro greens, lychee & cucumber & blackberries, served with a chenin blanc

Lobster/Pork Shu Mai w/a smoked Thai influenced sauce, served with a Spanish fruity wine (not a fan of fruity wines but the pairing was excellent)

Twice cooked Beijing Ribs w/5 spice and hoisin sauce, served with a hearty Spanish Red, also came with a pork/ginger dumpling

Grilled Scallops served over chantrelle mushrooms, peas, beef rib glaze served with a pinot noir. THIS WAS ONE OF THE FINEST DISHES I'VE EVER HAD!! ^ ^

Trio Duck prepartation:
leg/thigh confit over sour cherry sauce
duck with chow fun (big fat rice noodles)
roasted sliced duck breast w/mustard & hoisin sauces

All in all a wonderful meal, chef Paul Wildermuth came out and asked about our meal, a nice touch.

Opera
1301 S Wabash
Chicago
Phone: (312) 461-0161

Sweet & Savories:

I'm glad I read this thread again. I'm going to try this place on Wednesday. I've always wanted to try a Kobe Beef burger and I want to try the duck fat fries. Too bad the foie gras is going to be gone in a few weeks. From Sweet Willie's review, I'm betting I'll regret not discovering this place sooner.

Maza: ^
I was surprised to see that it's back in the program. In May, Idine listed it as leaving the website at the end of the month. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it ended up not leaving the program. After going to Maza for awhile now, I have to say that I have a love-hate relationship with it. I enjoy the food and the owner is friendly. He remembers my friend and I every time we go there. As other have said in other threads, most 20 miles places are junk, but this place is an exception. I planned on going (though not as often) after it left the program. I even did a big dine blowout on May 31st since I thought it was leaving the program. I finally tried the "Maza Signature Entree." It's a rack of lamb that's cut into 6 pieces and it's cooked in front of you. It's not a bad deal, considering some restaurants charge $30+ for 3 rackcuts of lamb. The lamb tasted good, but in the future, I'll just got the normal entrees. These are a good value at $10-20 (most of them hovering around the $10 side). I finally tried the desserts on the last trip. The Mamoul Bi Tamr was good. It tasted like a giant fig newton flavored with whatever alcohol they use to cook it table-side. I'll definately order that again. The baklava and Halawat al-jubn were tasty as well.

So all that's good, but as I believe I mention in this thread and I have another thread about my birthday experience, I HATE having to send in my receipts to get miles posted. The miles posted automatically the first time I dined here, but I've had to send in EVERY receipt since then. I assume it's because I use my Mileage Plus card, and b/c the owner knows I get miles (one disadvantage of the guy knowing me). I think I should talk to him about the miles so I don't have to get them posted manually.


Chicago Pizza Company, Rolling Meadows, IL:
:td:

Avoid this place. The interior is new and clean. There's a sign in the window that says it also has free wi-fi. Those are about the only positives. The Pizza bowls, which the restaurant descriptions says are what it's famous for are okay, but in my opinion, and they are overpriced. A full bowl is about slightly larger than your average kitchen bowl. The bowl is lined with some crust and it's filled like a pizza. To be fair, the bowls tasted fine, but for $18 a bowl, I'd rather get a stuffed or deep dish pizza from a participating Nancy's Pizza, or a non-mile Chicago style pizza place like Gino's East or Due.

For our appetizer, the waitress sold us on the Portofino bread. That was very good, but it is pricey for $6.25.

The waitress was attentive but our waitress messed up our order. She also messed up the other waitress's table next to us. We orded a meat pizza bowl, but we ended up with a spinach bowl that was supposed to go to the table next to us. My friend noticed it after I had eaten most of the bowl. We ended up not saying anything b/c I ate almost the whole bowl anyway, and it tasted fine. Also, we felt sorry for the restaurant b/c it looks like it may go out of business soon. We went at about 6:30PM and there were only 2 other tables being served. The place was dead. Also, the table next to us ended up getting our meat pizza delivered and they were angry. I guess the owner ended up giving them a comped pizza bowl, but I could tell they also weren't going to dine here again.

India House Schaumburg
 

I dined there last night. I was disappointed to find that they no longer offered the buffet. If I understood the guy correctly, the buffet is only available at lunch now. My friend still wanted to eat there and order a la carte so we stayed. The food is good, but I think it's a bit pricey compared to other Indian restaurants I've visited in the suburbs.

sweet and savories

Maza is definately gone from the program. The website was messed up last month, so it appeared to be still in the program, but it was really gone. (Luckily, I didn't dine there after May 31st, so I didn't have to try getting miles credited due to the messed up website).

Sweet and Savories also is gone. When I looked it up on the RN/UA site, it shows "No Benefit" for every day. Note that I did get miles from them on July 1st for some reason.

Sir Nick's vanished from the program last month (without any notice). I wonder if the owner got pissed that people were getting 1/2 price pizza + miles?!

In my experience Chicago has the most quality IDine restaurants of any city.
Red Light and Marche have been on the IDine for a number of years now and I've hosted groups at both (especially Red Light) when in Chicago on business. Like many pan-Asian restaurants Red Light is especially good for ordering a number of dishes and sharing everything.

Spiaggia's great too if on an expense account.

Two updates
 

Hi Everyone. Just spent last weekend in Chicago and checked this thread before I left. Had dinner at Bistro Zinc and my points posted today--it was a great recommendation....

I tried to go to To Pho restaurant on Wabash, several blocks from the Palmer House but that restaurant is not OUT OF BUSINESS...

Sparacino
Located on North Avenue across the street from Oak Park. It's a wonderful family owned Italian place. Different speicals every night and they've all been perfect. Try to avocado and shrimp appetizer. Miles on week nights only. This is our very favorite restaurant now.

Las Tablas
Two locations in both Lincoln Park and on Irving Park. We've heard the Lincoln Park location has more ambience but we've only been to the Irving Park location. Columbian steak house at a reasonable price. The combination platter for 2 can feed 4! Great place if you love meat.

I have some friends coming to town; does anyone have any feedback on these:

Phil Stefani’s (Italian/Steakhouse) - 437 N Rush St (312)222-0101
Bice (Italian) - (312) 664-1474
Sunday Brunch:
Horseshoe 4115 N Lincoln Ave. 773-549-9292 (Damen and Lincoln)

Thanks.

Skip Stefani's :td:
Bice, I've never been.
From the Chicago BBQ thread: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308690 Here is my review of Horseshoe.

Ok, so I tried Horseshoe

The good news, Horseshoe serves the best BBQ beef brisket in Chicago.

The bad news, Chicago doesn’t make a good BBQ beef brisket

I did get excited when the waitress first set my dinner on the bar in front of me, there they were, THICK slices of brisket. Woo-hoo, could this be it?!!?

Nope.

As usual for Chicago brisket, there is virtually no smoke flavor and no rub. It was passable but only because all other BBQ beef in Chicago is so terrible. Horseshoe would not make it down South.

If you've never had BBQ beef brisket, I think you'll believe this is ok, but if you've been to Texas, stay away from the brisket here.

Pulled pork was some of the better in town.

--

Thanks, Sweet Willie.
I'll skip Stefani's - the heck with IDine points when there are so many great steakhouses in Chicago.
I'll probably try Bice (because I'll be staying next door at the Fairfield Inn) so I'll let you know how it is.
I'll also hit the Horseshoe; I believe they have live music during Brunch - I'll definitely stay away from the Brisket; now that you mention it, I have been dissappointed with Chicago area BBQ brisket.

Bice

The main dining room is very nice, though the place is loud.
Food was mediocre.
I had a chicken dish (w/ricotta, mozzarella and mushroom sauce) - I thought it was good, not great. 1 friend had Chicken Marsala; another had a pasta dish and they thought it was adequate. Another friend had seafood in Risotto - he thought it was fair.
The service was absolutely terrible. My friend ordered a Michelob Ultra - the waiter wasn't sure he had that brand, but he would bring a light beer for him - he wound up bringing an Amstel light. We were seated for about 20-25 minutes before the drinks were served. In general, the waiter did not seem to care to give us service. My friend asked what wine would go good with his dish; the waiter was condescending and said his dish was made with Marsala wine - my friend responded that he knew that; he was asking what wine would go with it - the waiter wouldn't answer the question; later he brings him a red wine. My friend asked him what kind it was - he wouldn't answer.
The waiter either had a hearing problem, didn't speak good English or kept quiet purposely so as to not answer any questions. It was extremely odd.
I only noticed two waiters in the main dining room; most of the work is done by the bus boys; the second waiter seamed to be more attentive to his tables.

Horseshoe

Sunday brunch had a buffet brunch of pancakes, french toast, sausage, bacon, pulled pork, brisket, potatoes, and a few other dishes. You could not order anything off the menu. It was $14 per person. I thought it was so-so; the food tasted ok but it was luke warm; I enjoyed listening to bluegrass type music during the meal. My friends didn't like the food or the place.

Thanks for the feedback on Bice killerbrew ^


Just went to Magnum's Steakhouse in Rolling Meadows and Sphinx Cafe in Niles.


Went on a Thursday night to Magnum's Steakhouse, seeing as Magnum’s is in an office building that is far off of Algonquin Rd with not much signage visible, I didn’t expect it to be busy on a weekday night and sure enough it was almost empty. Out of the 17 people in this large restaurant 10 were at the bar. Place was so empty that the busboy seated us, I don't think they had a host(ess), at least none was on when we showed up.

Service was quite good however.

Started out with a ½ dozen oysters and a shrimp cocktail. Oysters were fresh and very good. Shrimp were slightly overcooked but still had a lot of flavor.

For entrees, we both chose meat entrees although as with most steakhouses, there are seafood entrees as well. We love leftover steak for sandwiches, so we ordered large. Mrs. Sweet Willie had the 24oz bone in ribeye and I had the smoked prime rib. All of Magnum’s steaks are wet aged and we were told USDA Prime, but it did not say USDA on the menu only descriptor used was Prime.

Ribeye was good and quite flavorful, not that tender but I really don’t care about that, I want flavor.

I had the smoked prime rib, yes that is correct, Magnum’s smokes their prime rib, it is not a heavy smoke, it was one of the best pieces of prime rib I’ve had, quite delicious.

The side of sautéed mushrooms we ordered was excellent, perhaps heavy on the black pepper but still excellent.

Lots of well known wines, especially reds, Stag’s Leap, Freemark Abbey, Cakebread.

Magnum’s Steakhouse
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Steak
Entrée Price: $20 to $35 Lunch , $20 to $35 Dinner
Street Address: 1701 Golf Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Phone: (847) 952-8555

----------------------------------------------------

Tried the Sphinx Café this evening. The owner has not decided what he wants this property to be. ½ of it is a “nightclub” w/old wooden floor that had small puddles on it from today’s hard rain. There is a big screen TV in one end of the restaurant that was playing techno dance music videos the whole time we were there.

Started out with Kibbeh – fried cracked wheat & meat shell stuffed with seasoned ground beef, onions, and nuts. This was ok but just that ok, nothing special

Jerusalem Salad – chopped parsley, tomatoes, and cucumber with a tahini dressing. Good, not great.

We split the hummus platters with Chicken Shwarma and Lamb Shwarma. This was ok but I much prefer the shwarma ½ mile north of Sphinx Café on Milwaukee Ave, at a place called Pita Town.

Sphinx Café
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Mediterranean
Entrée Price: $10 to $20 Lunch , $10 to $20 Dinner
Street Address: 8743 N Milwaukee Ave
Niles, IL 60714
Phone: (847) 967-0030

---

Tried Stefanis at 437 Rush last night. Despite the negative comments here, I had a very good Veal Milanese. The service was good. Weather was perfect in Chicago last night so we sat outside and had a very nice dinner.