The Restaurant That Keeps Me Coming Back... By: Bethany

Bethany hails from Albany Park and enjoys softball, football, reading and dining out in her free time. Her favorite foods include anything Latin inspired and she loves eating out because it allows her to take a mini vacation to a different culture, so she can feed her love of experimenting with new cuisines. She thinks Check, Please! is a great resource for checking out the restaurants people are talking about before you actually go there.

My favorite go to restaurant is called Al Dente located on Irving Park near Pulaski. It is a little off the beaten path, but it is probably one of the best restaurants you will go to in Chicago. This restaurant is one where you will never get bored. The owner Javier Perez has worked in some of the highest rated restaurants in Chicago such as Spiaggia and Cibo Matta. As a result, the cuisine offered at Al Dente is a little eclectic. It is influenced by Italian, French, and Mexican cuisines, which lends itself to the adventurous diner. The food is also served with only the freshest ingredients and creates a truly upscale dining experience.

This combination of influences results in some of the most tantalizingly delicious meals I have ever had in a restaurant. My personal favorite dish is the Lobster Ravioli, which is a little surprising because I would never have ordered that dish at any other restaurant. I was able to take the risk because the servers at Al Dente are both extremely knowledgeable and exceedingly patient with their diners. I am the type of diner who has a million questions and always asks for the servers recommendations. The way the ravioli was described left my mouth watering. A few other dishes that are musts include the gazpacho, salmon, and lamb. In reality, there is very little on the menu that you would not enjoy.

Perhaps, my favorite aspect of dining at Al Dente is the ambiance and laid back atmosphere. The restaurant is also a BYOB. From the moment you walk in you will see that most diners bring in a bottle (or two.) It is a great place for a nice intimate date for 2 but it also attracts big groups, as I have seen groups of 10+ people dining there. The servers are very attentive as they immediately come over to greet each table and chill and/or open wine once you arrive. They always try to gauge what type of experience you are looking for in the restaurant. If the meal needs to be quick, you can inform the server and they will instantly accommodate; if you want it to be long and intimate they can accomplish that as well.

One of the aspects I appreciate most about Al Dente is that it really is not an excessively expensive restaurant. Most entrees are between $20-$30 and the appetizers are all between $10-$15. In fact, the first time I went to the restaurant I was surprised at how little the bill was in comparison to my experience. Al Dente really has few equals in terms of their amazing food and experience, so it keeps me coming back.


Al Dente
3939 W. Irving Park Road 
Chicago, IL 60616
(773) 942-7771

Mana Food Bar By: Maggie Duplace

Maggie is a special education teacher who enjoys going out to eat, being with friends, crafting and riding her scooter. Maggie considers a restaurant worthwhile if it has delicious and interesting flavors delivered with consistency. She also appreciates a restaurant that has inventive and thoughtful vegetarian dishes. One of the reasons Maggie watches Check, Please! is to encourage her to leave her neighborhood and try new places. 

The restaurant that keeps me coming back is Mana Food Bar. As a vegetarian, I am willing to try anything that doesn't contain any meat or stock in the dish; dairy will do. There are a variety of cold, hot, small, and large plate, sides and drinks to choose from that make me feel like I really have entered a restaurant that actually tries to make vegetarian food outstanding.
The hummus is creamy and smooth, spiked with garlic and is served with an endless supply of pitas and veggies for dipping. Toast points make the perfect spoon for delicious baked goat cheese in spicy marinara. The sliders delight even my carnivorous friends, made of brown rice and mushrooms topped with spicy mayo and served on a sweet little bun. The sweet potato pancakes are one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. It's a pairing of sweet and salty magic topped with a seasonal chutney and fresh cream. A sprinkling of green onion brightens the rich flavor. The small is enough for 1, but I order the large because they are just that good.
Anyone's hand that comes near my plate is swiped away when they reach for a bite- my friends have learned. The cool and natural decor and outside seating make the restaurant a comfortable spot and provides great Wicker Park people watching. Add a glass a wine and I am definitely the happiest vegetarian in the 60622 zip code, maybe even the city. 

Mana Food Bar

1742 West Division Street

Chicago, IL 60622

(773) 342-1742

http://www.manafoodbar.com/index.html            

Turquoise: A Delicious Gem By: Tom Gull

Tom Gull is a sales manager who enjoys singing, bike riding, travel and of course cooking. Tom thinks that good food, unrushed service, and a knowledgeable wait staff makes a restaurant worth going to. He watches Check, Please! to see how others view the restaurants that he has experienced already.

I was introduced to Turquoise Café by a friend who is Turkish. My initial impression was how clever the name is. In subsequent visits with friends for whom it is their first visit, they too were surprised by the name that points to the cuisine – maybe everyone first thinks of the rare gemstone. 

This was one of the only restaurants I know of where I didn’t know what to expect. I figured the menu would be a cuisine that would be similar to Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants. Greek restaurants to me all taste too similar to each other and Middle Eastern restaurants also seem to be a slight variation on a theme – shawarma and kebaps. I couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Sure, there are kebaps and hummus but even these well known dishes took on a flavor all their own. The hummus, when served as an entrée is accompanied by all sorts of vegetables (wild mushrooms, carrots, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, broccoli) each cooked perfectly.  Each dish is unique unto itself. One of the kebaps I’ve tried is served with a reduced pomegranate sauce.

There were a dozen people at my first dinner at Turquoise. We went with a group of twelve who were in Chicago from all parts of the U.S. for a conference. It seemed like most had some food restrictions – gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian, diabetic. The server was knowledgeable and easily directed everyone to appropriate choices or asked the chef to alter the dishes to accommodate their needs. I do not have any food restrictions so I chose the sampler platter. I try not to overeat but I figured the sampler platter would be a great introduction to the restaurant. It was filled with shrimp, salmon, chicken, beef and scallops all on a delicate bed of rice pilaf. It was so flavorful that I knew I would soon return.

On future visits, our group has been six or fewer persons. Upon a recommendation from the sole male waiter, who will proudly tell you he is not Turkish, but Kurdish, we always order 2 appetizers and one less entrée than the number at the table to share. There is always plenty to eat. The appetizers tend heavily toward seafood (diver scallops, calamari, mussels, salmon carpaccio or vegetarian – think zucchini pancakes, or spreads made from roasted eggplant) all served with delicious warm, homemade bread. At Turquoise, each dish I have tried tastes completely different from the next. Each entrée is served with uniquely perfect sides – rack of lamb with roasted vegetables, braised beef short rib with a creamy polenta, grilled salmon with gnocchi in a light tomato sauce, gorgonzola chicken with roasted red peppers, salt crusted Mediterranean white fish with steamed vegetables.

With the waiter’s recommendation, I have literally had over 50% of their entrees. With each dish, I feel like I am experiencing eating for the first time with new taste buds being awakened.  Unlike many other ethnic restaurants where the moussaka, pasta marinara or Wiener schnitzel all taste the same, the chefs at Turquoise have created a menu where there are no similarities. The accompaniments to each dish are as unique as main dish itself.

Dessert tends to be traditional, offering crème brulee (odd for the region), baklava, gelato and cheesecake but then they surprise you with an almond parfait that is flambéed tableside and drenched with a warm chocolate sauce. Also available is Kazandibi, which according to the menu is a mixture of caramelized butter, sugar and custard served with vanilla ice cream. It is a dense custard but the caramelized top is reminiscent of the flavor of toasted marshmallows.

For the past twenty or so years, I have taken three of my nephews, who are brothers, out to lunch or dinner a few days before Christmas. This tradition began when the oldest was 9 or 10 to give my sister an afternoon to finish her Christmas preparation. Each year, I choose a different ethnic restaurant for our meal. Each year as we get into the car, I ask the boys “why are we doing this?” They respond in unison “so we learn to appreciate other cultures.” As a native Chicagoan, I enjoy taking my friends, visitors, and nephews to the many ethnic neighborhoods that make Chicago a world-class city.  Through the years, we have “visited” Mexico, Guatemala, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Ethiopia, Japan, China, Korea, India, Lithuania, Peru, Russia, and Thailand. As we drive, I give them clues to where we are going and along the way I detour through different neighborhoods to throw them off the track. In 2010, I took my nephews to Turquoise. When the meal was finished, they all proclaimed that it was the best restaurant yet.

Turquoise Restaurant

2147 W.Roscoe
#1W
est Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 549-3523
www.turquoisedining.com