Chicken and broccoli casserole

Dinner. From Cover and Bake (A Best Recipe Classics). With sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Very good, a little bit bland. Maybe needs more black pepper. Very moist chicken. Had to use straight-up mozzarella instead of "smoked".

J. Alexander's

Dinner. Some kind of Thai chicken and peanut salad: very good, and very big. (The free croissant was a no-show. "We don't do that anymore.") Chicken fingers platter: OK, the batter was a little bit gummy, and BBQ dip was runny, and the honey mustard wasn't that good. Fries: Good.

J. Alexander's is clearly a knock-off of Houston's. Their chicken fingers are a step down, and their dipping sauces are 5 steps down. Their fries are admirable, though.

J. Alexander's Restaurant
1832 N. Clybourn Ave.
773-435-1018

Thyme Cafe

Dinner. Wagu ("similar to kobe") steak with some red sauce and some mustard sauce: very good, much better than I expected, not at all fatty. Frites: very good, some kind of coating on them, like Arby's fries or something. Skinny like Houston's.

Thyme Cafe
1540 N. Milwaukee
773-227-1400

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious! And no line!

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Potbelly

Lunch. Turkey, bacon, provolone sandwich, on wheat: very good.

Potbelly Sandwich Works
55 West Monroe
312-577-0070

312 Chicago

Dinner. Table bread: good. Tapenade for bread: olive-y (yuck!). Butter for bread: creamy deliciousness! Butternet squash soup: good, but not great. One-pound bone-in ribeye, medium: pretty good, not as much edible meat as I expected. Potatoes w/ rosemary and garlic: very good. Passion fruit semi-freddo w/ white cholocate sauce and mango and orange: very good.

Our server was weird. Either he hated us (and people in general), and was trying hard to hide that, or he was just trying really hard to be a good waiter and wasn't succeeding.

312 Chicago
136 N La Salle St
312-696-2420

Indian Garden

Lunch, buffet. Free sizzling tandoori chicken, brought to the table: just OK. Free naan, brought to the table: delicious. Curry chicken: not bad, not too curry-ish. Aloo gobi: pretty good.

The buffet had very few items, and few of them interested me, but it was still pretty good.

Indian Garden
247 East Ontario St.
312) 467-0271

Pizza Metro

Dinner, carry out. Pepperoni and sausage: good. Rosemary and potato: good.

Pizza Metro
1701 W Division St
773-278-1753

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: very good. New worker there today, she gave me a huge helping of chicken. :-)

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

Atwood Cafe

Dinner. Tuna and salmon tartare w/ crispy wonton squares and Asian slaw: delicious. Goat cheese and salad greens and beets and honey: delicious! Beef mini pot pie: pretty good, the pearl onions were exciting. Quesadilla: good, but not terribly exciting. Spinach and jumbo shrimp in a maple glaze dressing: good, the maple dressing was delicious!

Another great meal at Atwood, and the server was very friendly.

Atwood Cafe
Hotel Burnham
1 W. Washington
312-368-1900

Pizzaahhh

Dinner. Pepperoni deep dish: OK.

Pizzaahhh
175 Old Orchard Shoppng Center
Skokie, IL
847-329-3750

Cafe Laguardia

Dinner. Fried sweet plantains: delicious, not mushy! Fried yucca w/ some kind of white sauce: delicious (sauce was almost reminicient of mk's frites' white truffle oil sauce)! Lobster w/ garlic sauce: very good, the garlic sauce was delicious and had delicious pieces of onion -- I'm sure just plain old chicken w/ garlic sauce would be delicious. Yellow rice: good, it had weird brown "peas", but it was good. Fried green plantains: very good, not as sweet as plantains, but still very good! Chocolate/vanilla ice cream w/ chocolate dusting and whipped cream in a frozen metal martini glass: very good!

The owner/manager guy is super friendly. Our waiter was very nice and good. We were somewhat rushed out of there, because it started to get very very packed. This place is worth going back to. Our bill was a touch high, but we got some expensive items; other items are pretty cheap.

Cafe Laguardia
2111 W. Armitage
773-862-5996

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: very good, it's been too long.

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

Penny's

Dinner, delivery. Gyoza: good; Vietnamese spring rolls: good; pad se ew w/ chicken: good.

They said 45 minutes, and that was almost right on the dot.

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

Zen Noodles

Dinner, delivery. Crispy rolls: very good, terrible sauce (use anything else in the fridge instead). Thai cashew chicken: strangely curry-ish, and drowning in watery sauce, not like normal. Spicy drunken noodle w/ chicken: OK, killer hot if you eat the jalapenos.

What happened to the Thai cashew chicken? That was so delicious.

Delivery was promised in 45, arrived in 20 or 30.

Zen Noodles
1852 W North Ave
773-276-8300

Dirk's sea bass w/ teriyaki marinade

Dinner. Dirk's (Chilean?) sea bass was outstanding as usual. This time we got a cup of their teriyaki marinade (recommended by them, along with the miso marinade). It was delicious, not too salty, not too sweet, not too glaze-y. They recommended 10 min @ 425, then some time under the broiler. It was still pretty raw and tough, so it went back in for about 5 more minutes at 425, and it came out flawless.

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

Maggiano's Little Italy

Dinner. Free bread basket: one kind of bread was fluffy and had burnt onion strings on top, it was OK, the other kind of bread was skinny and crisp and had (cold) melted cheese on top, it was terrible. Shrimp arrabiatta was very good, and entirely too much food, even for the "half" portion. Four-cheese ravioli was just OK, not as good as it has been before.

Why is this place so crowded all the time? The food is good, but not spectacular. We were sitting under a draft and were freezing cold the whole time.

We arrived a few minutes early for our 6:00 reservation and ended up waiting until well after 6:00. :-(

Maggiano's Little Italy
516 North Clark St
312-644-7700

Coast

Dinner, dine in. The white dragon was delectable. White tuna sushi was not spectacular, and everyone said the "special" (very?) white tuna was not good. The Po Boy was good, but almost too big. Everything was delicious.

At 7:00 PM, there were still plenty of empty tables.

Coast Sushi
2045 N Damen
773-235-5775

Pacific Cafe

Dinner, delivery. Yaki soba (meant to get yakiniku!!!): not very good, the neon red ginger must be avoided at all costs.

Delivery was about 30-40 minutes, faster than in the restaurant!

Pacific Cafe
1619 N Damen Ave
773-862-1988

Oriental Express

Lunch. Chicken fried rice: just fine.

Oriental Express
233 E Wacker Dr
312-938-1118

Mac's

Lunch, dine in. Burger, well done, w/ bacon and BBQ sauce: pretty good. Fries: good, orange in tint (seasoned? sweet potato), not bad or sickly.

Mac's
1801 W. Division
(773) 782-4400

Chicken and rice cassarole w/ peas and carrots

Dinner. From Cover and Bake (A Best Recipe Classics). Delicious! Like a luscious chicken pot pie filling, only with rice. Nice and moist. Could use a little more salt and pepper. Leftovers reheat very well.

My Pie

Dinner, delivery. Deep dish w/ pepperoni, sliced tomato, onion, and green peppers: delicious.

My Pie Pizza/Li'l Guys Deli
2010 N. Damen Ave.
773-394-6900

Penny's

Lunch, dine in. Vietnamese spring rolls: very good. Lad nar w/ chicken: very good. Pad thai w/ chicken: very good.

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