Marino's Pizzeria - Arlington Heights - Rand Rd
 

Buddy and I have been on a pizza kick, tried Marino's.

Skip their pan & stuffed pizzas, not good.:td:

Thin crust was a decent pizza^ , not great to go out of the way for but for sure better than Domino's/Dominick's crap. If Marino's could make this a very thin crust it would be a very good pizza. Sauce/sausage/cheese was quite good.

Marino's Pizzeria
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Italian , Pizza
Italian/Pizza
Street Address: 2300 E Rand Rd
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Phone: (847) 398-3377

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I saw that this place joined the other day. I used to work at the Wood Dale location 12-13 years ago. My friends actually like their stuffed pizza. I like it all as I'm used to it, but I think the stuffed is overpriced.

Maestro Seafood and Grill
 

500 Anthony Trail
Northbrook, IL 60062 US
Phone: (847) 272-8111

My friend and I ate dinner there two weeks ago. It looks dumpy on the outside as it's in a warehouse building. The decor inside is very nice. We came to try to $10 Kobe beef burgers. I want to try them again so I can really get a chance to taste them. When we went though, we ended up ordering the $25 appetizer plate and we were so stuffed by the time the burgers came that we only ate half of them. My friend had wanted to get calamari and something else and then I suggested that we just get the huge sampler plate as it would only be like $6-8 more and we'd get to try more food. The sampler had calamari, hummus, tuna tacos, ginger beef tempura and fried shrimp. I didn't really care for the calamri or the beef tempura. The shrimp and hummus were good but my favorite had to be the tuna tartar crispy tacos.

Rolls come with the meal. They were good but very oily.

My friend and I plan on going there again as he lives close by and I pass by the Lake-Cook Road exit on my way up to Milwaukee (where I'm working now). I loved over the menu the other day and the rest of the stuff looks reasonably priced and I was happy with this place on my first visit.

Dined recently at Baja Fresh and tried a variety of items with a co-worker who is a fan of reward network spots.

Most of the food was crap (even the chips) the lone standouts that we both agreed we would go back for, were the grilled fish tacos and some of the salsas on the salsa bar but with the chips being crap, it diminished the love of the salsas.

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Black Ram Steakhouse - Des Plaines
 

Have had a few lunches at Black Ram in Des Plaines. The rueben sandwich wasn't that best, but some of the other items have been very good.^
Address, menu, details on their website: http://www.blackramsteakhouse.com/

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Chinalite - Wrigleyville
 

a friend (who's opinion I value) lives near Chinalite stated that they serve very Americanized Chinese food but that it is very good.

I should have listned to my internal alarms go off at the words "Americanized" and "Chinalite" and suggested some other place.

Meal was VERY VERY bland even though we ordered items with the chillies next to them.

I rarely care about the interior, but this looked as if I had nailed up some plywood and painted over it.

On the door is stated one of Chicago's best restaurants for 2008. I don't see how.

Not good, stay away.

Chinalite
3457 N Southport
Chicago, IL
www.chinalite2go.com

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Himalayan Restaurant - Niles IL
 

Had the buffet here, very cheap for lunch time,

food is probably more Indian than Himalayan but I'm not an expert on Himalayan so how do I really know?:)

worthwhile, I'd certainly return.

Himalayan Restaurant
8265 W. Golf Rd
Niles, IL 60714
P. (847) 324-4150

Himalayan Restaurant Website:
http://www.himalayanrestaurant.com

Have to agree with you! the Himalayan has been a favorite of mine even before they became an iDine. Not only is the food good, they have a good selection of Indian Beers and parking is sooooo much better than on Devon Ave. I really enjoy their regular menu and the goat is my son's favorite.

Main Street Smokehouse - BBQ - Libertyville
 

Dined recently at Main Street Smokehouse in Libertyville, miles just posted to my account was the only way I knew it was part of iDine, I didn't search it out.

Had 3 meats: brisket, pulled pork, ribs.

dry rub ribs were overdone, most of the sugar in the rub had burned, fix this and they'd be very tasty.

brisket was good, of course not near as good as brisket in Texas but this was some of the best I've had in the midwest.

pulled pork was the highlight for both of us who dined. Again, not as good as what you'll find in the SE but for Chicago/Midwest, this was very good.

They have 4 sauces to choose from, two vinegar based, one mayo, one sweet tomato based sauce.

We don't often get to Libertyville but we for sure would stop back at this place.

Main Street Smokehouse
536 N Milwaukee Ave
Libertyville IL
www.mainstreetsmokehouse.com
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Ate recently at Havana on Clark St. in Chicago. It was pretty bad. It's a Cuban restaurant, yet their Cuban sandwich was essentially just a ham sandwich that you'd order at any bar.