Cafes and Culture at Chicago Restaurants

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:53:31 +0000

Chicago – with a rich cultural background and great shopping, it is no wonder tourists are attracted to this fun-filled city. When you have high end shopping down Magnificent Mile and State Street, or beautiful Millennium Park with an ice skating rink, Crown Fountain, sculptures, and outdoor theaters with bands, where else would you want to visit. Chicago immediately sucks you in with a night life of music that ranges from gospel to hip-hop or punk. Now that you are in this great city, where do you go to eat? Well here are a few suggestions and great cultural and fun Chicago restaurants to check out while you are in town.

A Middle Eastern restaurant called the Chickpea is a great place to start on your tasting tour of the best Chicago restaurants. This diverse place is decked out in American movie posters in Arabic and Islamic patterns and decorations. Its family own and run restaurant serves up an assortment of fine dishes. Their Palestinian and Middle Eastern menu sports items such as mussakhkhan, falafel and hummus. It’s a fun little cultural experience, but don’t forget to bring cash or a credit card, they don’t accept travelers checks. They serve dinner and lunch and meals go for under nine dollars. As most reviews say, this restaurant pays more attention to the food they serve than the atmosphere. So enjoy good food and a bit a culture at this Chicago Restaurants.

Another great one of the many Chicago restaurants to try out is the unusual Café Bella. With brick walls, an open kitchen and hardwood floors creates a mix of casual atmosphere. They serve quick lunches and dinners as a café during the week, and on the weekend, the place is full as it becomes more of a restaurant. They are open from eleven to nine pm daily. And they don’t seat more than thirty people. The menu consists of items such as salads, Caribbean Chicken, soups and Latin, Italian or French based foods. One important thing to note, this restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol, but they do have BYOB (bring your own booze). Expect the meals to be around or under nine dollars per person. This place is great for a small get together or a quick meal during the day.

Looking for a great Mexican restaurant? Why not try out La Palapa. It’s a one of a kind Mexican restaurant that serves real traditional Mexican style seafood. This place is easy to find and to spot with a large life-size shark on top the restaurant. Once again this is bring your own booze restaurant, but they will cork them for you at a fee of a dollar fifty cents. Their menu contains items such as mariscos, ceviche, and handmade quesadillas. If you visit this restaurant during the summer, you will have option to eat outside at tables under large thatched umbrellas. The average meal will cost between nine dollars and fifteen dollars. The restaurant is open from ten am to nine pm and on weekends from ten am to ten pm. The menu makes this one of Chicago restaurants a must for authentic Mexican seafood.

The Chickpea, Café Bella and La Palapa are just a few of the great restaurants that you can find in Chicago. If none of these restaurants appeal to you, then try and find your own restaurants online. It’s easy just search for Restaurants in Chicago and you will be able to find reviews and other information. This also works for other place you may travel to as well, like for Phoenix restaurants. There are great restaurants, just get out and find them.

Never second guess a decision, embrace it; Then you will succeed.

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Best Mexican Food Across the Country; per Mexican Restaurant Reviews from Boston to San Francisco

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:45:41 +0000

“You can’t get good Mexican food anywhere north of Texas.” So averred my good buddy Tony when I suggested a Mexican meal on his recent visit. Now, I’m a good deal north of Texas, being in the Heart of Massachusetts, but that’s the kind of challenge that I can’t pass up. Three hours later, he was rubbing his stuffed belly as we left Tortilla Sam’s, voted Worchester’s Best Mexican Restaurant for the third year in a row. Being voted Best Mexican Restaurant in a little northeastern city may not seem like much – till you stand in front of the window at Tortilla Sam’s and watch the tortillas – freshly mixed and cut by hand – roll through the steam press and catch a whiff of the mole. Then you realize that this is real Mexican food. And if the Mexican food in Worcester is good enough to impress Texas-born-and-raised Tony, we’ve got to figure that there are great Mexican restaurants in other unexpected places, right? I went looking for the most out-of-the-way and unexpected places to find good Mexican food. My criteria and method were simple – and hardly foolproof. In order to make the list, the restaurant must serve primarily Mexican food, and must have been voted a Best Mexican Restaurant in a local newspaper poll. There must be some mention in the review of authenticity. If there was a comment from someone who really KNOWS Mexican food, that gets bonus points. The list is a long way from exhaustive, but if you’re looking for good Mexican food a long way from home, you just might get your craving satisfied at one of these unlikely places to find authentic Mexican food. Charlotte, N.C. Me, I’d go looking for a good mess of pinto beans and Southern barbecue in beautiful Charlotte, but if I did have a craving for Mexican food, I’d head on over to Taqueria Las Delicias. It only took the #8 spot on AOL’s CityGuide City’s Best awards, but any place that serves its tamales wrapped in corn husk AND offers lesser known Mexican foods like pupusas and taquitos is going to get a visit from me when I hit Charlotte. Boston, MA The home of baked beans and clam chowder (white, thank you very much) is also the home to Andale!, a tiny restaurant that seats 8 at the counter. Forget the ground, slightly spiced meat mush that passes for Mexican food in most of Massachusetts, and build yourself a quesadilla from chunks of roast chicken and spiced vegetables. It’s fast Mexican food at its best, even if it is in Boston. Philadelphia, PA Next time I’m in Philly, I’m skipping the cheese steak and heading out for Mexican food. Voted Best Mexican food in the Philly area, Coyote Crossing in Conshohocken has all the standard gringo-Mex foods on the menu, but it also has… caramel crepes and homemade sangria. Seattle, WA Can I get a café latte to go with the chilies relleno? El Puerco Lloron in Seattle has been serving up its handmade tortillas and fresh salsa for over two decades and they’re still making the Best Of lists. If there is real Mexican food in the gateway to Alaska, chances are that you’ll find it here. Baltimore, MD The folks at the Baltimore Citypaper appreciate the irony of naming a Best Mexican Restaurant in Baltimore. To paraphrase, it’s like naming the best air conditioner salesman in Antarctica. Still, they dub the Mexican food at Los Amigos Mexican restaurant ‘good’ and the wait staff friendly. Not quite a ringing endorsement, but if I get sick of crab cakes in Baltimore, I know where I’ll go.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Visit this Food Website and Majon’s Food directory.

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American Fine Dining » mexican restaurant

Cafes and Culture at Chicago Restaurants

Best Mexican Food Across the Country; per Mexican Restaurant Reviews from Boston to San Francisco