Sweet Willie

Opera and Marche Restaurants are at it again. ^

Dine any Sunday through Wednesday night at Opera Restaurant , now through end of Sept 2006, and each person in the dinner group receives a $50 certificate redeemable for a meal at Marche. The $50 cert is good until end of March 2007.

And the reverse is true as well

Dine any Sunday through Wednesday night at Marche, now through end of Sept 2006, and each person in the dinner group receives a $50 certificate redeemable for a meal at Opera. The $50 cert is good until end of March 2007.

Opera's website: http://www.opera-chicago.com/
Marche's website: http://www.marche-chicago.com/home.html

to note:
the previous $50 certs required a $75+ spend in order to apply the $50 cert.

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rhwbullhead

I enjoyed this place too. I actually bought gift certificates there 8/31 & 9/30 so I could meet the dining requirements for the 25K UA miles.

On 10/13, I went to use my certificate there and found out that they were closed. The sign said it would soon be a Lalo's. I was able to use the certificate at the Foster location (which actually is closer to where I live). Idine shows the Des Plaines Maria's as a participating restuarant. I don't know if the owner decided to turn it into a Lalo's (which means it might be an Idine place) or if the owner went bellyup.

Sweet Willie

A bud wanted to go have a couple beers at a sports bar around noon today, I was working, and Moretti’s was close for both of us so we went.

Not bad sports bar area. ^

Had calamari to start. Not very greasy, very tender and nice flavor. They also have a grilled version with giardinera mixed. Buddy is heat adverse so we didn't try that kind.

A thin crust pizza with sausage and mushrooms. A good pizza, not great but respectable enough.

I'll go back for lunch sometime, there was steak wrap with gorgonzola cheese I want to try. ^

Moretti's Ristorante & Pizzeria
Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Pizza , Italian
Entrée Price: under $10 Lunch , $10 to $20 Dinner
Moretti's
1893 Walden Office Square
Schaumburg, IL 60173 US

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Sweet Willie

Tried the burger at PAPS this eveing. A REALLY REALLY GOOD burger, USDA Choice Angus, actually cooked to a Medium Rare like I requested. ^ ^ ^

I had tried some pizzas from this place at a party I had gone to awhile ago, the cheese/sausage was ok. The BBQ Chicken pizza was not bad. The BLT pizza was odd, a pizza crust piled with lettuce tomato mayo and bacon, very strange combo and taste but bacon is so damn good!!!

Stick with the burgers here.

PAPS Ultimate Bar & Grill
Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: American , Pub Fare
Entrée Price: under $10 Lunch , under $10 Dinner
Street Address: 1904 S Elmhurst Rd
Mount Prospect, IL 60056 US
Phone: (847) 806-7733

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Sweet Willie

I had lunch the other day at Roti.

From the looks of their menu I was very hyped as I LOVE roasted meats with flatbreads and veggies.

Tried both the fire roasted Chicken and also the Steak, both on flatbread.

I went at 11:40 am to be sure to get fresh ingredients.

The bread, veggies were very fresh but both meats were very dry and did not have much flavor. I was very disappointed with the food.

Roti Mediterranean Grill
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Mediterranean
Entrée Price: under $10 Lunch , under $10 Dinner
Street Address: 768 E Dundee Rd
Palatine, IL 60074
Phone: (847) 705-0600

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Sweet Willie

This Maria's is now closed, to become a Lalo's.

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bseller

Just another reason to abandon I-dine $$'s and go for real Mexican at Taquerias Arandas, Oakton St., DesPlaines, IL!!

Best, Dave

rhwbullhead

Chicago Prime Steakhouse
Street Address: 1370 Bank Dr
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Phone: (847) 969-9900

I just ate there with Sweet Willie. It's new to the miles program. They won some wine award a few years ago according to their website. Sweet Willie will also post a review. He'll give a better opinion on the quality and taste of the food. As I said on page one, I'm not much of a taster. I grade more on a pass/fail basis, and I like big portions, so when I saw the size of my steak, I knew I was going to like it.

We both ordered the porterhouse. The steaks are wet aged. (I'm actually going to looked up a description of the meat aging process on wikipedia b/c I have no idea what that really means.) The steak was good. The twice baked potatoe was okay, but I think I've had better ones at other places. I'd say it was equivalent to Charlie's Charhouse (which I reviewed on page one, and which, sadly, left the program earlier in the year). The pricing is similar to Gibson's or Ruth's Chris. The place was quiet, but keep in mind that it was a Tuesday. The tables seemed well dispersed, so you won't get the sardine feeling you get at Gibson's downtown, or Morton's (I've been to the Westchester location).

It's definately worth visiting if you want a higher quality steak and the miles. If you are in the Schaumburg area, and want a budget steak with you miles, you can visit Chandler's instead.

Sweet Willie: What was your opinion on the wine list? I dont' know about such things and most wines ssem to taste the same to me. I just thought about asking you this when I read about the wine award that they mention on their website (Wine Spectator Award of Excellence). The website says they won it three consecutive years.

Sweet Willie

As rhwbullhead states just had dinner last night @ Chicago Prime Steakhouse. I think it was pretty quiet at first as we were early in the evening and it was Halloween. It got pretty busy by the time we left.

The bartender sucked, he was so busy chatting it up with what I took to be some of the regulars that his service to me was very poor. Being an ex bartender, I of course chatted with my regulars, but that does not excuse poor service to other patrons.

We split the calamari to start, heavily breaded, mediocre for a high $ place like this restaurant. The tomato sauce was a why bother IMO, no flavor.

I liked my steak, I'm always concerned when a steak place has to put what I perceived as beef broth on the plate to try and accentuate my steak. At a lower end place I don't mind, but at a USDA Prime (wet aged) place, the steak should speak for itself.

Twice baked potato was just ok, mushrooms were very garlicky the way I like them.

Wine list was very good, lots of options from $7 - $25 a glass.

While I might go back, for an IDine steak in the area I like Magnum's better.

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rhwbullhead

On Saturday, I went to A La Turka Turkish Kitchen. Here's the link to their website: http://www.alaturkachicago.com/

3134 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60657

My experience didn't start out so well. I was afraid they might have been an Idine place that went out of business b/c no one answered when I called their two phone numbers Saturday night. They really need to solve that problem: not only did no one answer, but a machine answered with a generic greeting (one that comes with the answering machine). Still, I decided to risk driving outthere b/c it seemed like the place shouldn't be out of business.

My friend and I arrived around 11:30PM. My first impression was that the place was very boisterious. The place also had a good number of people in it considering it was way past normal dining hours, so I know this place is not in danger of going under. We were given the option of a table, or the traditional floor seating. My friend wanted to do the floor seating, so we did that.

First impressions:

The very next thing I noticed was that I recognized the owner from the website. He was the one who seated us. My friends likes when the owner of a place is present at the restaurant. That was one thing she really like about Maza. Now, Maza is Lebanese food, but some of the dishes are similar, so it's the closest experience I can compare to this place.

Food:
The Hummus at Maza is $4 a n order, which is a great price. At A La Turka, the dish is $7, but you do get a much larger portion here. We also ordered the Zuchinni pancakes. Beata (my friend) and I both enjoyed these appetizers.

For the entrees, I ordered the Mixed Grill and Beata ordered the Sultan's Wrap. When the food arrived, we were both impressed by the amount of food we were given. I can eat a ton (recall that I devoured the large steak at Chicago Prime Steakhouse), but I didn't finish my entree. Now, I did eat a ton of bread with my hummous, but the amount of meat you got is impressive. As I've stated many times, I can't say much about the taste. It tasted good to me, but for me to say something tastes bad means it's horrible. (This reminds of my response to Sweet Willie's post in the pizza thread about chicago Pizza Kitchen. You know that the pizza bowls must be terribe if I tell you it was bad )

As it was the end of the night, the only desserts they had left were the baklava and some Turkish flan. We opted with the flan b/c the baklava looked like Greek sytle baklava, which Beata doesn't like. (The Lebanese style Baklava, which I've had at Maza is drier, and less oily). We devoured that quickly, so it was tasty enough.

Hookah Bar:
As the website says, on the second flooor is a Hooka bar that's open late. You can order food (as we were asked if we wanted food), but I'm not sure if it's just appetizers or if it includes the entire menu downstairs. As for the hookah, there are a bunch of different hookah flavors. Beata first experienced hookah on her trip to the HImalayan region last month, and she wanted to try it again. She ordered the coconut flavor. The hookah there is a single pipe one. (I read on wikipedia that some places have hookahs that have multiple pies coming out). You're giving a plastic sealed mouthpiece so that you're not sharing other people's saliva when you smoke.

Now, I don't smoke cigarette and I don't smoke this stuff, but I wanted to try it again. I had had a puff in Egypt 15 years ago, so I had long forgotten what it felt like. I read on wikipedia that the smoke is very smooth since it's cooled by the water. I took a huge puff and I must say that it really doesn't feel like your inhaling smoke down your throat. I can see how it's easy to smoke large amounts of this stuff as it's not harsh like cigarettes. (That's what the article said).

Recommendation?
I would say that this place is worth trying. It met my needs: the service was good, my water was always full, and the portions were large and tasty to me. Beata also wants to go there again. I want to try the lamb shank next time b/c it sounds tasty to me. Also, I want to watch to belly dancing show. We were too late to catch it on this visit.

rhwbullhead

Wok'n Fire
1576 Lake St
Addison , IL 60101 US
(630) 775-0290

I dined at this last week. For those that are familiar with the area, it's in the fairly new retail area across Lake street from Marcus Cinema.

Wok'n Fire serves Asian food. It's like a more pricey version of big bowl, but with sushi. I didn't try any of the sushi b/c I like Todai's and don't like to pay $4-5 for sushi pieces at regular sushi places, though I did notice they have the sea urchin on the menu and I might try that next time ($8 for two pieces.)

We ordered the fried calamari for an appetizer. For our entrees, we ordered the panang curry with chicken and the chicken pad thai. This place was pricer than at Thai places I've been to in the past including Thipi Thai in La Grange (which used to be a miles place) and Mai Thai Cafe in Wheaton (which is still a miles place). Now, Mai Thai Cafe in Wheaton is a little store front that's more of a takeout place, so this Wok'n Fire is a better dining experience, but I'm not sure the taste of the food is actually better for the higher price. I think the food was comparable to other Thai places, but my favorite Pad Thai in the area comes from Evergreen Park's Chi Tung Restaurant (sadly not a miles place, but I like it so much that I've taken the long drive several times to go eat there).


My only complaint is that they serve a pitiful amount of rice with the Panang curry . They give you a small soup bowl of rice. I didn't ask for more, so I don't know if they'd provide more free of charge.

The dessert menu didn't look that appetizing so we just walked a few doors down to the Oberweiss Ice Cream place.

Recommendation:
It's close to me, so I'll probably visit there again. There service is good(my water was and iced tea were constatly refilled by the bus boy). If you want a slightly better version of big bowl with slightly higher prices, then check it out. If you live closer to other Thai/Asian miles places and like those, then I don't think this place is worth the extra drive.

Sweet Willie

Just had lunch today, skirt steak sandwich was a great cut of meat and cooked perfectly, served with sauteed mushrooms. Big steak fries on the side. About $8.

Associate had a salad, looked ok. I'd stick with the steak sandwiches or steakburgers.

Chandler's Chophouse
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Steak
Entrée Price: $15 to $25 Lunch , $15 to $25 Dinner
Street Address: 401 N Roselle Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60194
Phone: (847) 885-9009

Sweet Willie

WHOA !! Stay away from this place.

I dined on a Thursday night and there were two other couples in this large restaurant, that's it, not a popular place with good reason.

Mahi Mahi was overcooked, oyters were not fresh, soup tasted like from a can.

A few lone lobsters in the tank probably shows they don't do the volume to support having more than a few on hand.

Service was poor, as a lone diner dinner should not have taken an hour to complete.

Not worth it even if I got miles.

Cy's Crab House North
Menu / Details Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Seafood
Entrée Price: $10 to $20 Lunch , $15 to $25 Dinner
Street Address: 301 N Milwaukee Ave
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
Phone: (847) 279-1700

rhwbullhead

Buona Beef
Street Address: 1170 N Arlington Heights Rd
Itasca, IL 60143 US
Phone: (630) 773-2333

I was doing my usual search for new restaurants and I just noticed that a BUNCH of these places are set to join Idine. This is the one closest to me. I'm sure I've eaten here before, but I dont' remember it. If you live in the Chicago area, I'm sure you've been to one of these. I believe it's similar to Portillo's. As soon as this pops up as "Participating" instead of "Coming Soon," I'm going to go grab some grub there.

rhwbullhead

I've driven by this place several times and judging by your review, it's good that I never found time to stop by. I know we've discussed how we don't put much stock in the Idine ratings, but the 3.5 rating still scared me away. (On the other hand, Cody's in Wheaton got a 3.5 something rating, yet I still consider that place acceptable. I'm glad I tried that place b/4 seeing its rating.) Anyway, sorry you found another dud, but thanks for posting so the rest of us can avoid this place.