John's Place

Dinner. Hummus: pretty good, but the pitas were too wheaty; pork tenderloin with mango sauce, sweet potato fries, and broccoli: not bad, the pork had a bad spicy mustard with the mango gooey honey sauce, the fries were terrible, and the broccoli didn't seem fresh or fully cooked. The starter bread -- and flavored whipped butter -- were delicious, as usual. What happened to this place? It stinks nowadays.

John's Place
1200 W. Webster Ave.
773-525-6670

Chipotle

Lunch, fax ahead. Chicken fajita bol: not enough fajita veggies, too much hot salsa.

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

California Pizza Kitchen, St. Louis, MO

Lunch, carry out. Garlic-cheese foccacia with checca: OK; Thai chicken pizza: good; roasted potato and grilled chicken pizza: OK, would be better piping hot.

St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis, MO

Lunch. Grilled Italian sausage: OK; Tasty Tates: delicious!

Brazie's, St. Louis, MO

Dinner. Toasted ravioli: not bad, very very good sauce; tomatoes with Asiago cheese: good; linguine diablo (with shrimp and crab meat): just OK, not that spicy, only 3 (big) shrimps. Service was slo-ow, and they forgot to omit shrooms from my plate. Blah.

Brazie's Italian Restaurant
3453 Hampton Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63139
314-481-5464

Graffiti, St. Louis, MO

Lunch, dine in. Chicken wings, Graffiti style (sweet and sour): not bad flavor, but chewy wings; fish and chips: not bad, but very small pieces of fish, French fries instead of waffle fries (as menu read) weren't that good. Overall, not very good food. Our server was crazy wacked-out spacey.

Graffiti Global Grill & Bar
313 North Euclid Ave.
314-361-1701

Penny's

Lunch, dine in. Gyoza: very good; lad nar with chicken: very good, hot pepper noodle with chicken: very good today; Thai iced tea: a little strong flavor.

Penny's Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100

Sushi X

Dinner, carry out. Godzilla roll: good, but hard to eat; shrimp tempura roll w/ tempura crumbs: delicious; vegetable (sweet potato) tempura roll w/ tempura crumbs: delicious; asparagus and cucmber roll w/ chili sauce and tempura crumbs (deee-licious and exciting!). All rolls had rice on the outside. Free extra cup of ginger.

Sushi X
1136 W. Chicago Ave.
312-491-9232

Costco crab cakes

Dinner. Very good.

Fresh Choice

Lunch. Chicken with rice soup: pretty good, all white meat (?) chicken, and I like the side pieces of French bread.

Fresh Choice
233 N Michigan Ave
312-856-1456

Homemade pizza

Dinner. Frozen foccacia pizza crust from Whole Foods: surprisingly good, very very fluffly and filling; Muir Glen canned pizza sauce: surprisingly good; Whole Food ground sirloin: very good topping, pan fried with just salt and pepper.

Le Peep

Brunch. The Wanderer skillet: OK, but got (c)old after a while.

Le Peep
100 S. Euclid
Park Ridge, IL 60068
847-318-7337

Pegasus

Dinner on the rooftop patio. Chicken coquettes: good, not dry; pork kabobs: good, not dry; cucumber yogurt sauce: very good, with bread, but even better with meats; fried zuchini with garlic paste: very good; gyros: just OK, meat was dry, and pitas cost extra; "apple pie" with shaved fillo: just OK, oozing honey. This place was pretty good food at a slightly high price, in a very nice setting (looking eastward over downtown and the Sears Tower). The place was busy, even early, and your evening will be as pleasant as your fellow diners will allow (case in point: crazy sweet 16 birthday party next to us). And free valet parking, do not park across the street for $6 with the crazy little man.

Pegasus
130 S. Halsted St.
312-226-3377

Janik's Subs

Lunch. BBQ pulled pork sandwich: decent, not good, not bad. Their "hot" pepper are ridiculously spicy.

Janik's Subs
2011 W. Division St.
773-276-7930

Think Cafe

Dinner. Caprese: good; lobster with shrimp pasta and lobster cream sauce: very good, enough to share for two; double mousse with apricot sauce: very very good. The only bad thing about the meal was the people at the table next to us.

Think Cafe
2235 N Western Ave
773-394-0537

CPK ASAP, San Jose, CA

Lunch. BBQ chicken pizza: not bad.

Teatro Zinzanni, San Francisco, CA

Dinner. White bean purée, herbed crostini; summer corn chowder; heirloom tomatoes with cherve-avocado mousse; chile-lime salmon with mango-cucumber salsa, orzo with basil, summer string beans; cheesecake with fruit compote. Very good. Entertaining show, much better than expected. The chef was the best part.

Teatro ZinZanni
Pier 29 on The Embarcadero (at Battery)
San Francisco, CA
415-438-2668

Baja Fresh, Sunnyvale, CA

Lunch. Tres tacos (2 chicken, 1 shrimp), pretty good. The "hot" sauce was actually terrible (like watery Tabasco), and by the third taco, it was all you could taste.

Baja Fresh
701 Sunnyvale Saratoga Rd.
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
408-773-8466

Sushi O Sushi, Santa Clara, CA

Dinner take-out. Kona crunch roll: strangely crunchy, like there are nuts in there or something; soybean wrapper was OK but not as exciting as I wanted. Rainbow roll: crazy, don't need to try this again. Crispy Alaska roll: not that good, it's really battered like tempura, not panko crumbs. Shrimp tempura roll: just OK. Sake sushi: rubbery.

Overall disappointed. It was better last time, when I dined in. Too much roe. Everything was a little off. It seems like a waste of money. :-(

Sushi O Sushi
2789 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA
408-241-1677

Sushi Tomi, Mountain View, CA

Dinner. Shrimp tempura roll: not very good, bad batter reminiscent of Long John Silver's hush puppies, with an interesting lettuce leaf in the roll; sake: dee-licious, very very very good; halibut sushi: not very good, came with some skin on, which was hard to swim through.

Sushi Tomi
635 W. Dana Street
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-968-3227

El Paso Cafe, Mountain View, CA

Lunch. BBQ ribs: OK, not great by any means, only a half rack; rice: fine; beans with cheese: OK, forgot to get just rice; buttered toast: just OK.

El Paso Cafe
1407 W El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040
(650) 961-8858

In-N-Out, Sunnyvale, CA

Lunch. Double double, animal style, no pickles: delicious; French fries: delicious; vanilla milkshake: delicious. Mm, mm!

In-N-Out Burger
604 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA

Stacks, Menlo Park, CA

Breakfast. Chicken apple sausage omelet: OK; side potatoes: OK, they were julienned strips ... weird; bagel with butter: good.

Stacks
600 Santa Cruz Ave
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 838-0066

Hunan Chili, Mountain View, CA

Dinner, carry-out. Potstickers: good; honey pecan chicken: OK, kind of goopy, heavy in the stomach, it was breaded smooth like some shrimp tempura can be, not mottled like Panda's orange chicken.

Hunan Chili
102 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
650-969-8968

Penny's

Lunch. Gyoza: good; Vietnamese spring rolls: good; hot pepper noodle with chicken: good; pad thai with chicken: good.

Penny's Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100

Oysy

Dinner. Sake: dee-licious, better than we've had in a long, long time; Chicago crazy roll (forget); shrimp tempura roll: good; more sake: disgusting, weird brown ribbon that we couldn't bite through and tasted bad ... they brought more and they were better but still had a little bit of the brown gunk.

Oysy
888 S. Michigan Ave.
312-922-1127

Room 12

Brunch. Banana pancake w/ strawberry and banana: good; chocolate tower: too rich and creamy. This place was almost as packed as Bongo Room.

Room 12
1152 S. Wabash
312-427-9972

Margie's

Dessert. Turtle fudge sundae: deee-licious! Good to share, it's so much food ("only" two scoops).

Margie's Candies
1960 N. Western Ave.
773-384-1035

Handlebar

Dinner. I got 3 sides as a meal (only $6 -- everything is so cheap!). Fried plantains: delicious; mac and cheese: pretty good ... not macaroni, some other boring kind of pasta; soysage: wow, pretty good, way better than grocery-store frozen Morningstar Farms breakfast patties.

Service was really slow.

The Handlebar
2311 W. North Ave.
773-384-9546

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: good, a touch too spicy, and maybe not enough rice.

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

Eat First 2

Dinner, carry-out. Orange chicken: not bad, considering it is all dark meat, swimming in goop (but not necessarily in a bad way), with crunchy (in a bad way) chewy broccoli. I asked the cashier what to get, and that's what she said. The place was completely empty, all the employees seemed to be lounging around, and my ticket was #103 -- was I the third customer all evening -- or all day?

Eat First 2
1289 N Milwaukee
773-227-8899

Tokyo Lunch Box

Lunch, carry-out. Vegetable gyoza: very disappointing, strange rubbery feel; asparagus roll: good, with a decent amount of soy sauce and a light touch of wasabi. Again, I wish the cashier wouldn't touch the soy sauce tray with his bare hands.

Tokyo Lunch Box
111 E. Michigan Ave.

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: excellent, just a touch too spicy (needed 2 cups of water). Why oh why is so cold in there?

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

Pizza Metro

Dinner, carry-out. One slice pepperoni and onion: good, greasy; one slice rosemary and potato: very good. The staff was a lot friendlier today (different personnel than last time).

Pizza Metro
1701 W Division St
773-278-1753

Whole Foods kebabs

Dinner. Steakhouse marinated chicken kebab (not great, kinda dry); teriyaki beef kebab (pretty good); rosemary and mint lamb kebab (not good, lots of fat/gristle/something). The hunks of meat on the kebabs were larger than I'm used to (Cook's Illustrated advises 1.25" cubes), so it was hard for me to cook them. I think I dried out the chicken and possibly undercooked the beef and lamb. Oh well, they weren't that good.

Sultan's Market

Lunch. Spicy falafel sandwich: asked for it half-spicy, and that was a good amount of spiciness. Still, I got sick later. I gotta get to the bottom of this.

Sultan's Market
2057 W. North Ave.
773-235-3072

Caffe Gelato

Dessert. One scoop of caramel (delicious), and I think one scoop of chocolate with white chocolate chips (very good). Sharing one bowl is the way to go, after a filling dinner.

Caffe Gelato
2034 W. Division St.
773-227-7333

Penny's

Dinner. Gyoza: very good; Vietnamese spring rolls: good, nice big peanut chunks in the sauce; hot pepper noodle with chicken: very very good (the Saturday cook rules!), almost too spicy though. Had the same bad waiter we had before, but he wasn't bad to us; instead, he completely screwed the table next to us.

Penny's Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100

VTK

Dinner. Shrimp satay: delicious, great sauce, but a rip-off, because it was only four little shrimp; garlic chicken with Thai chiles: good, not very spicy at all; chili shrimp with spicy pepper sauce: good, very spicy, almost too spicy; Thai iced tea: good, but a slight bad aftertaste; Valrhona chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream: good, but not terribly special. Overall, it was good food, overpriced. The outside tables were nice, but it really stank being next to the cigar store (which had chairs outside for its patrons to sit on while smoking the stogies).

Vong's Thai Kitchen
6 W. Hubbard St.
312-644-8664

Oriental Express

Lunch. Chicken fried rice: good.

Oriental Express
233 E Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60601
312-938-1118

Adobo Grill

Dinner. Guacamole: very good; "Las Cazuelas" (baked asadero cheese in casserole with chile poblano, chile de árbol salsa, with tortillas): not very good; Empanadas Potosinas (empanadas stuffed with asadero cheese, fresco cheese and epazote; served with chile árbol-tomatillo salsa): OK; special plantain pastry: very very good; special quesadilla: very good.

Adobo Grill
2005 Division St.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-252-9990

Ada's Famous Deli & Restaurant

Lunch. Turkey burger: a little dry, but huge; steak fries: OK, needed salt; turkey BLT: pretty good, huge. Pretty fast meal (for being sit-down), nice sidewalk patio, so-so food.

Ada's Famous Deli & Restaurant
14 S. Wabash Ave.
312-214-4282

Coast Sushi

Dinner, take out. White dragon roll: delicious, mm, mm, mm; asparagus tempura roll: yummy; spicy tuna crunch roll: very good, not very spicy at all; namasake: lucious. Tons of wasabi and ginger. Asking for extra ginger is unnecessary (and complimentary).

Coast Sushi
2045 N Damen
773-235-5775

Brian's Juice Bar and Deli

Lunch. Falafel sandwich with hummus: so-so, bland, pales in comparison to Sultan's Market spicy falafel sandwich (and as it is wrapped up like an overstuffed taco, miles harder to eat too); fruit blast smoothie (red grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, peaches): so-so, a bit watery. Overall, a rip-off.

Brian's Juice Bar and Deli
80 E. Lake St.
(312) 332-3435

Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop crab cakes

Dinner. Crab cakes: very, very good -- huge chunks of delicious crab meat, not like anything I've ever seen in any restaurant. Need to learn how to cook them better, I scorched one side, cooked the other side OK, and the middle ended up fine (surprisingly).

Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop
2070 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL, 60614
773-404-3475

Chipotle

Lunch, fax ahead. Chicken fajita burrito: they left out my mild tomato salsa! :-(

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60601-3702
312-578-0950

Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop's tilapia fillets

Dinner. Chunked, breaded, and pan-fried: very good, very mild. 0.54 lb/person may be a bit too much though!

Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop
2070 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL, 60614
773-404-3475

Crate and Barrel Cafe

Snack. Chocolate caramel cookie: dry and brittle; cinnamon walnut cookie: dry and brittle; some kind of pound cake: nice and fluffly; bottled water: some crazy fancy French brand name in a crazy curvy bottle, with chunks of ice inside -- crazy!

Crate and Barrel Cafe
850 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 573-9800

Flying Saucer

Brunch. Chicken fried steak: not bad, not great, a little chewy, but the breading held up until the end, and the gravy wasn't bad at all; home fries: surprisingly good; spiced apples: pretty good; scrambled eggs: retched, way overcooked, yuck.

Flying Saucer
1123 N California Ave
(773) 342-9076