The Food Scene in Chicago

What an amazing first weekend! Although I was entirely exhausted from moving, unpacking, organizing, etc., nothing could stop me from exploring the immense selection of restaurants right in my new backyard. After getting myself mostly settled, my best friend Lee Bunting came to visit me and spend the weekend with me walking and eating!

All you can eat from Sushi Para II

After giving the tour of my new digs, we decided to check out the all you can eat sushi place down the street, which also happens to be B.Y.O.B. The restaurant is called Sushi Para II. The menu has a wide selection of raw and cooked sushi. The atmosphere is small, loud and fun. The service here is very fast. We ordered and were done eating in thirty minutes. The sushi was good, however it was not the best I’ve ever had, but for a college student on a budget, all you can eat sushi for $18.99 is a great deal. The wait to sit down at Sushi Para II can be very long so it is always a good idea to call ahead and make a reservation.

Once all the odds and ends that I have obtained over the years had a permanent resting place for the next year and half, we decided to find food. We walked up and down Clark Street in Lincoln Park taking photos and enjoying the beautiful Chicago weather. We stopped at a restaurant and bar called The Galway Arms. It was a very relaxing atmosphere with wonderful food. The proportions were very large so we decided to split two of their burgers, one was a BBQ chicken burger and the other was a cheddar bacon burger. Bother were delicious! And we of course had to have a few Guinness’ with the meal.

BBQ Chicken Burger and Cheddar Bacon Burger from The Galway Arms

It’s amazing how many wonderful restaurants are merely blocks from one another. In business classes we discussed the true definition of competition, and I have no doubt in my mind Chicago restaurants’ are always looking for new ways to differentiate themselves.

The restaurant we ate dinner at this past weekend, figured out how to take Mexican food, and turn it into a blue ocean. Zapatista in Lincoln Park created a new style, atmosphere, and taste for their Mexican restaurant. Starting from the moment you walk through the doors, you feel as if you’ve walked into downtown Mexico where the music is loud and everyone around you is loving life. We chose a liter of their Margarita Rustica which consisted of fresh squeezed lime juice, Mezcal, and orange liqueur.

Margarita with a spicy pepper dusted rim from Zapatista

Luckily our waiter warned us about the spice that is placed on the rim of your glass with this type of margarita. It is a spicy pepper dust that they make in house. We chose half salt and half pepper, and I still thought my lips were going to fall off, but the Smokey flavor it added to the margarita was spectacular.  For dinner we had the Atun Taco Especial and the Alambres de Pollo. These tacos were out of this world. The tuna had a pineapple salsa that gave it an amazing fresh flavor and the chicken tacos came with a three chili salsa which knocked my socks off. The combination of flavors they created and the uniqueness of their dishes really did make this place exceptional in my eyes.

Atun Taco Especial and the Alambres de Pollo

I cannot wait to explore more of what Lincoln Park has to offer, and to begin sharing my journey through school with all of you very soon. My orientation is August 12 and I begin classes on August 15. Let me know what types of things you would be interested in reading about regarding what I do in school. Would you want to learn about specific recipes, or perhaps see small clips of knife work when I learn them? I’m open to the wants of the readers because this is definitely a two way street. We’ll be learning together and I think that will make this a really unique blog to read and write! Look forward to writing soon. Keep eating and reading.

Alexandra