This week takes us to Chicago and Lollapalooza. In addition to these meals, we had tons of food at the show itself, which was reasonably priced and provided by Chicago restaurants. In fact, the only reason we went out to Adobo Grill was because their food at Lollapalooza was so good. I stretched this week back to Friday evening for the purpose of keeping all the Chicago meals on one page.
Friday: Dinner at Giordano’s: Giordano’s makes the heaviest slice of pizza I’ve ever seen. After running around all day at the festival working up an appetite, we ordered some Cheese Garlic Tomato Bread to start and a large stuffed pizza and were worried it wouldn’t be enough for the four of us. We tore through the appetizer and when the pizza came out, we each hefted a slice onto our plates. What happened next can be likened to running as fast as you can into a brick wall. After we finished that slice, we all just stared at the other half of the pizza in silence. Then we got a box. Giordano’s is crazy good, and if you’re heading to Chicago and haven’t been before, you need to check it out.
Saturday: Dinner at Adobo Grill: Saturday afternoon at the festival, I grabbed a tamale and some guacamole from one of the vendors. They had three squeeze bottles of salsa out: mild, medium, and hot. I drowned the tamale and chips in the hot sauce and took first bite of the tamale. Nothing could have prepared me for the hell that was unleashed in my mouth. Combined with the high 90s heat that we’d endured outside all day, I’ve never sweat that hard in my life. I was kind of annoyed that the only warning I’d received was the “Hot” written on the bottle with a Sharpie, but it also made it easy to decide where to go for dinner. After cabbing it across Chicago, we were unexpectedly dropped off in front of a very posh looking restaurant. I ordered the Pork Tenderloin and my brother got the Chicken Enchiladas with Mole. Both dishes were unbelievably good. The only bad part of the meal was the sticker shock in realizing we’d spent over $100 on mexican food for four.
Sunday: Lunch at Big Bowl: When we lived in Nashville, I frequently commuted to Chicago to dock with the ThoughtWorks mothership. Big Bowl was right around the corner from my normal hotel. While it is a chain restaurant, it’s a very good one. Besides, any place with a page of their menu dedicated to their most fiery dishes gets on the top of my list. I ordered a glass of their fresh ginger ale, which is actually made with ginger, and has the bite to prove it. I don’t remember exactly which noodle dish I ordered, but it had a creamy lime sauce, chicken, red peppers, and red chilis. It was sublime. I would love for a Big Bowl to open closer to here, even if I had to drive to DC.
Monday: Breakfast at Potbelly: If you’re ever flying in and out of Midway, do NOT dismiss Potbelly as crappy airport food. They’re sandwiches are incredible.
And now, back to Charlottesville…
Tuesday: Lunch at Littlejohns: Littlejohns is probably the best deli in Charlottesville, but I still don’t think it’s very good. I had the Littlejohns Special this time around, which is corned beef, pastrami, cheddar and horseradish on a kaiser roll. Except for being greasier than I would’ve liked it to be, it was actually pretty good. I’ll be ordering it again next time I’m in Littlejohns.
Wednesday: Lunch at College Inn: I would classify the Meatball Sub I had here as “awesomely mediocre”. Quality wise, it was a very average sandwich, but sometimes I get that craving for something to be reliably average. It really hit the spot.
Wednesday: Dinner at Italian Villa: Speaking of awesomely mediocre, Italian Villa definitely falls into this category. The few times I’ve been there, my order has come out and been exactly what I imagined it being. Reliability like that is hard to come by, and the only reason I don’t eat her more is because Waffle House is so close to home. This particular night, I had the gyro platter with onion rings, and surprise, surprise, they were exactly what you’d expect.
Thursday: Lunch at Take It Away: Corned Beef on Onion Rye. If College Inn and Italian Villa are reliably average, Take It Away is reliably awesome. I guess it’s hard to mess up meat and mustard on bread.
Friday: Dinner at la Cocina del Sol: Something about this restaurant in Crozet makes me really happy. I had a couple of mojitos, lpk had a couple of margaritas, and we started with their fundido appetizer, which is basically a little pan of molten cheese. For my entree, I had their fish tacos. They were really good, but I like my fish to be pan seared, rather than breaded and fried. If you like them breaded and fried, you’ll love these. You know, I might love la Cocina del Sol so much because I know I’ll be going to Dairy Queen after.
Only one more week to go!!!
