J. Alexander's

Dinner. Caesar salad: delicious. Hamburger medium-well with Swiss cheese and no mayo: very good.

They only charged us for the side-salad-with-an-entree, instead of full price for the salad. Nice!

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

Uncle Julio's Hacienda

Lunch. Cheese and onion enchiladas: pretty good. Chicken tacos: bland and too difficult to eat.

Why did the lunch food come out so differently than the dinner food? It had a bowl of beans instead of a weird bean/tomato/onion/etc. mix, and it had a small lettuce and cherry tomato salad. Weird.

Uncle Julio's Hacienda
855 W. North Ave.
312-266-4222

M. Henry

Breakfast. Fried plantains: good, but not crispy enough. Mango pancakes with passionfruit sauce and marscapone and brown sugar oat crust: delicious, not too heavy like Bongo Room.

Very cute little place, packed at 9:00 AM.

M. Henry
5707 N. Clark St.
773-561-1600

Bhabi's Kitchen

Dinner. Samosa: very good, very hot, very obviously freshly cooked. Butter chicken: delicious, with a subtle spiciness that slowly builds but never gets very spicy. Aloo something (potatoes swimming in pureed spinach): not great, not great at all.

Mr. Syed was very very nice. Gotta go back. By 7:00 the place was packed.

Bhabi's Kitchen
6352 N. Oakley
773-764-7007

Ann Sather Cafe

Breakfast. Chicken fajita omelette: just OK.

Ann Sather Cafe
1448 N. Milwaukee
773-394-1812

Coast

Dinner, dine in. Gyoza: not that good, shrimpy. Miso soup: pretty good. White dragon: delicious. Asparagus tempura roll: good. Namasake: good. Hamachi: delicous. Maguro: delicious.

Coast Sushi
2045 N Damen
773-235-5775

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

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita burrito bol w/ double mild, double corn, and no hot salsa: very good!

At 1:00 PM, the line was past the soda fountain! :-(

Chipotle
316 N Michigan Ave
312-578-0950

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious.

Chipotle
291 East Ontario St
312-587-7753

Babylon

Dinner. Hummus: fine, but the "pitas" were as thin as a tortilla. Fried potatoes: OK, weird spicy green sauce on top. Chicken kabob sandwich: just OK, again thin "pita".

Doesn't hold a candle to Sultan's Market.

Babylon
2023 N. Damen
773-342-7482

Alliance Bakery

Snacks. Pecan caramel cookie: not bad. Raspberry heart-shaped cookie: not good.

Alliance Bakery
1736 W. Division St.
773-278-0366

Costello Sandwich & Sides

Lunch. Turkey grinder: OK, didn't care for the vinegar flavor.

Costello Sandwich & Sides
2015 W Roscoe
773-929-2323

Uncle Julio's Hacienda

Dinner. Chips and salsa: not bad. Chicken enchiladas: pretty good.

Wow, before 5PM it was still 25-33% full!

Uncle Julio's Hacienda
855 W. North Ave.
312-266-4222

Milk & Honey Cafe

Breakfast, to go. Banana toffee muffin: deee-licious! :-)

Milk & Honey Cafe
1920 West Division St
773-395-9434

Wildfire

Dinner. Small Wildfire chopped salad, without blue cheese: dee-licious! And enormous! Parmesan-crusted filet: pretty good. Bernaise-crusted filet: very good! Mushroom-crusted filet: pretty good, not at all mushroomy.

A pretty inexpensive and very filling meal!

Wildfire
159 W. Erie St.
312-787-9000

Evergreen

Dinner. Egg rolls: good. Wonton soup: just OK, stuffed wontons are hard to cut in half and full of questionable stuffing. Kung pao chicken: pretty good, but zero veggies. Hong sue chicken: pretty good, decent veggies.

This place was quite crowded for a Wednesday evening. White tablecloths, cloth napkins. The best place so far in Chinatown.

Evergreen
2411 S. Wentworth Ave.
312-225-8898

Moretti's

Lunch. Some kind of spinach, bacon, apple, and nut salad, without the cheese: pretty darn good, and quite large. Sausage, onion, and pepper thin-crust pizza: pretty good.

Service was horrendously slow, and the other diners were ... interesting.

Moretti's
6727 Olmsted Ave.
773-631-1223

Hunan Homes, Los Altos, CA

Dinner. Potstickers: good. Sizzling prawns platter: delicious, but no veggies.

Hunan Homes
4880 El Camino Real
Los Altos, CA 94022
650-965-8888

Just Desserts, San Francisco, CA

Dessert. Turtle cheesecake: pretty good.

Just Desserts
Sony Metreon

Sanraku, San Francisco, CA

Dinner. Gyoza: OK. Deep fried shrimp and crispy potatoes: delicious! This was large shrimp battered in shoestring/hash potato pieces and deep fried to a crisp! Namasake: very good. Hamachi: very good. Maguro: very good.

Sanraku
Sony Metreon
101 4th. Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-369-6166

Palace BBQ Buffet, Sunnyvale, CA

Dinner. Great! But not much in the way of veggies to eat.

Palace BBQ Buffet
1092 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA
408-554-9292

P.F. Chang's, Sunnyvale, CA

Dinner. Lettuce wraps: not bad. Eggplant: not great. Chow fun: just OK. Kung pao chicken: pretty good. Shrimp: don't remember. Beef and green beans: don't remember. Veggie stir fry: bland.

P.F. Chang's serves up yet another mediocre meal.

P.F. Chang's
390 W El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
408-991-9078

Le Boulangerie, Sunnyvale, CA

Lunch. Turkey and cheese and tomato and avocado sanwich: pretty good!

Thai Basil, Sunnyvale, CA

Dinner. Chicken satay: delicious!

On Mother's Day, they were the only people in Sunnyvale Town Center who could accommodate take-out.

Thai Basil
210 Town & Country Village
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-774-9009

Wolfgang Puck Cafe, O'Hare

Lunch. Spinach salad with apples, nuts, and goat cheese: pretty darn good!

Dragonfly Mardarin

Dinner. Koo-teigh (pan-fried dumplings): very good. Entrees were good, and large.

Service was terribly inattentive.

Dragonfly Mandarin
832 W. Randolph St.
312-787-7600

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: delicious!

Chipotle Mexican Grill
2000 N. Clybourn Ave.
773-935-5710

Fogo de Chao

Dinner. Tonight, the filet was definitely the best, not the top sirloin.

Fogo de Chao
661 N. LaSalle St.
312-932-9330

Chipotle

Lunch. Chicken fajita bol: good.

Hardly any line around noontime -- surprising! The line was twice as long when we left.

Chipotle Mexican Grill
10 E. Jackson Blvd.
312-566-0308

Pacific Cafe

Dinner, delivery. Lemongrass stirfry w/ chicken, medium spicy: very good.

It took them forever to answer their phone. Then they said their computer was down. Then when the food (2 non-noodle entrees) arrived, there was no rice! :-( Second time in a row they forgot to bring us food.

Pacific Cafe
1619 N Damen Ave
773-862-1988

Mac's

Dinner. Cheesy nachos: enormous, and pretty darn good, plenty of cheese (good cheese-to-chips ratio), the jalapenos weren't good, but the black beans were more than bearable. Chicken salad with strawberries, walnuts, goat cheese, and vinaigrette: good, and enormous again. Chili mac: I didn't like the kidney beans in there, plain mac would have been better.

They brought *tuna* salad instead of chicken salad. After a long wait, chicken salad arrived, and with half the price taken off -- nice!

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

Potbelly

Lunch. Turkey on wheat, with provolone and extra turkey: good, but I think he didn't hear me ask for extra turkey, and so probably also gave me Swiss instead of provolone. :-(

Potbelly Sandwich Works
55 West Monroe
312-577-0070

Penny's

Dinner, delivery. Japanese gyoza: good. Vietnamese spring rolls: good. Hot pepper noodle w/ chicken: good. Pad se ew w/ chicken: great!

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