TA S T E E E E !

People often ask us how we pick out restaurants to review. There are three ways in which we do this. The first is simply “Googling” restaurants near me and hope the result yields restaurants that are still open. Second, we receive recommendations from our endless swarm of paparazzi. The third, and the most important criteria, is whatever Nancy has a taste for.

BIG menu, BIG portions, sweet name

Every Friday after a taxing, strenuous round of bocce ball, a few of us seasoned athletes get together and go out for lunch. After playing three challenging games and being physically and emotionally drained from either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, we really needed to load up with a lot of food. One of our friends suggested we try a new restaurant that offers huge portions to match our huge appetites. We all jumped in our cars and made our way over to Randall Road to check out Sweet Basil Café in Algonquin.

‘REAL’ onion soup

Every once in a while, the food gods smile down on the Dining Duo. Such was the case at our last neighborhood Christmas party where we won a $65 gift card to a local restaurant. We checked the menu prices online, and after seven short months, we finally saved up enough additional money to use our gift card. We put on our Sunday best, and headed off to Montarra Grill in Algonquin.

King of the eggrolls

Our kids have grown up and moved on, our house is too small to have them return, therefore, it’s just the two of us. Because of this, where is the logical place for us to go grocery shopping? Sam’s Club, of course. We can stock up on such necessities as the five-gallon jug of mayonnaise, the giant drum of nacho cheese sauce (both of which turn blue and fuzzy before you can use them up), and the giant log of processed American cheese which has a shelf life of…forever. After loading up the mini-mobile with our treasures, we headed home with the hatch back dragging on the road behind us.

Jim had a taste for his favorite Italian dish, Veal Saltimbocca, and the restaurant that made it the best years ago was Cucina Bella in Algonquin.

A hint of springtime

Mother Nature has been teasing us with hints of sunshine and warm weather to come. Because of that, our thoughts immediately went to outdoor grilling. However, we waited too long and a couple of hours later we were back to winter. Don’t you just love the Chicago weather???

A vine-covered hacienda

A restaurant’s life is a very complicated one. It has its ups and downs, highs and lows, with new owners or management in control. Years ago, we loved a nearby Mexican restaurant, but as time went by, it fell out of favor. We recently received a letter bragging how good it was, so we decided after 26 years to give it a visit once again. We are referring to El Molino Mexican Restaurant in Carpentersville.

Family Memories

Once upon a time, the Dining Duo received a recommendation from one of their loyal readers requesting us to review a specific restaurant. Honestly, we have never heard of the restaurant he requested. Nancy added it to our long list of potential articles. Not being in the mood for anything ethnic, we decided to give this good old fashioned family restaurant a try.

An unassuming cafe

Over the years we received quite a few recommendations for restaurants to review. The one that keeps popping up is an unassuming cafe on Route 20. We must admit we have driven past this café numerous times, but never gave it a second thought. People have told us over and over about the broasted chicken, their Friday fish fry, and the German fare, so we finally decided to give Café 20 in Marengo a try.

Be careful what you wish for

For years, and years, and even more years, Panera Bread has teased us with a location supposedly opening in the famed restaurant row on Route 47 in Huntley. The paint on the sign announcing this new location is rapidly fading, but our hopes have not. We just could not wait any longer, the suspense was killing us. If Panera Bread will not come to us, the Dining Duo will go to Panera Bread, and that’s just what we did. We jumped into the Mini-Mobile and headed out to the Panera Bread in Algonquin.

Hidden in plain sight

The Dining Duo is getting old, and like the commercial says, we are starting to become our parents. We must admit, we now eat our main meal at 1:00 in the afternoon and try to be back in the safe confines of our beloved Del Webb before dark.

A valentine nightmare

The holiday feared by most red-blooded American men is rapidly approaching. I’m not talking about anniversaries, the wife’s birthday, or Sweetest Day. I’m talking about the holiday with the most pressure and angst of all: Valentine’s Day. Nancy does not appreciate flowers, she will not allow me to cook in her kitchen since I burned up the microwave handle, and chocolates are a “no-no” in keeping with her New Year’s resolution. After much contemplation, I thought of a relatively new restaurant where I can get a good steak, save a few bucks, and have a Valentine’s dinner with my better half. I whisked my sweetie off to the Longhorn Steakhouse in Algonquin. Cupid’s got nothing on me.

A breakfast bullseye

January is such a wonderful month. You wake up, open your blinds, and you think you are looking at an old black and white television screen. This is punctuated by fits of snow, freezing rain, and dense fog all in the same day. So far, 2023 isn’t looking very “bright.”

And the B.E.L.C.H. Awards go to…

Hollywood has the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. Broadway has their Tony Awards and music has the Grammy Awards. The food industry has the James Beard Awards and the Michelin Stars. All of these pale in comparison to the most prestigious, most sought after, and coveted award ever. Of course, we are referring to the annual Dining Duo’s B.E.L.C.H. Award (Best Eating Location Close to Huntley).

Giacomo’s favorite restaurant

If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that we sometimes have a habit of overdoing things. Since we live on a corner lot, we feel it’s our duty to honor Chevy Chase in the movie “Christmas Vacation” by filling up our yard with every imaginable blinking, flashing, and twinkling light decorations. They can take the shape of snowmen, Santa Claus, or elf figures. This is a four-day process which includes taking anti-inflammatory medications, drinking a half bottle of Fireball Whiskey, and smoking several Cuban cigars by our fireplace.

Cooked sushi

Old habits and recipes die hard, especially with Nancy. Truth be told, she is actually an excellent cook. This was evident when we were younger and had a houseful of people over for holiday dining. Now our family is dwindling and the kids and grandkids have all moved away, but the recipes stayed the same. As a result, Nancy always cooks for the holidays a meal that would easily feed 12 people even though it is just the two of us. I made the mistake of mentioning that maybe she could cut down the recipes, but to her, change is evil. The recipes have been handed down from generation to generation, and must not be tampered with. Such was the case during the recent Thanksgiving holiday.

Maple, no hash

Anytime a new restaurant opens up in our area, it causes quite a stir, especially when it’s not the usual fast food. We have been receiving a lot of questions and comments concerning a new breakfast/lunch venue that recently opened in Pingree Grove. To see what all the fuss was about, we headed out one morning to get the lowdown.

Let’s make a deal

October is such a wonderful month. It is a month that has jack-o-lanterns, witches, and appropriately, Nancy’s birthday. Since she signs up online with every restaurant possible, she is inevitably inundated with offers for birthday “freebies.” With her purse bulging with gift cards, and her phone’s email inbox full, she was armed to celebrate her birthday at the Crimson Crustacean, aka, Red Lobster Seafood Restaurant in West Dundee.

An ice cream ‘break’

The golden years are so much fun. Every day is an adventure, you never know what aches and pains the day will bring. Nancy woke up one morning with a sore ankle, which grew worse as time went on. This prompted her to call our orthopedic doctor. Getting a doctor’s appointment is no easy task since you never know which branch office within a 50-mile radius they will be in.

What’s in a name

When planning a day out with friends, they invariably ask us “where’s a good place to go for lunch.” We are trained professionals, after all. This time, however, one of our friends, Barb, remembered a sandwich that she loved from days gone by. She then suggested a restaurant that once seemed to be everywhere, but suddenly vanished off the face of the earth.

‘Berry’ difficult to find

Jim and I wanted to have a big breakfast one morning since our best friends were coming in from California and we were planning on a late dinner.

A friend of Nancy’s recommended an establishment in Crystal Lake for breakfast/brunch, and since we are always looking for new places to eat, we decided to try it out.

Now is where the fun begins.

Gators and mudbugs

One dull rainy day we were sitting around the Dining Duo palatial estate bored out of our minds. Our lives are so hectic that we cannot stay at home for a couple of hours and do nothing but relax. How screwed up are we?

Under new management

Bocce ball is one of the most strenuous sports in the world. You have to pick up a little white ball, roll it about 15 feet making sure it goes over a designated line. After this, you then have to pick up an even bigger and heavier ball and roll it as close to the little white ball as possible. It is a very complicated game.

Even though Jim and I are trained athletes, after three rounds of this exhausting activity, we work up quite an appetite. Because of this, every Friday we go out with a group of our fellow bocce athletes to refuel at a designated restaurant. The latest post game oasis was Pub 47 in Huntley, which is under new management.

A Trio-course dinner

A friend of ours, Mike, was performing a blues show one Wednesday evening and invited us to come and listen to some blues trivia and music. Truth be told, it was also his birthday and the audience was to be peppered with a lot of his friends. This was all happening at the Trio Grille in Marengo.

When we arrived, we were looking for an entrance to the restaurant and discovered the restaurant was inside the Glo-Bowl bowling alley. We didn’t bring our bowling shirts or shoes, but we went in anyway and were escorted to our table.

Winging it

Whenever Nancy and I have a day dedicated to running errands, we always like to plan out our itinerary in the morning while sucking down coffee and watching cartoons. Our travels that day would take us to Schaumburg where Nancy had to get the obligatory COVID test before having a medical procedure in a few days. As a reward for Nancy having to bear the horrific ordeal of having a cotton swab jammed up her nose, she requested to have lunch at Heng Wing Restaurant in Palatine.

The BIG chicken

As you go north on Route 47 things seem to get bigger. You approach the town of Hebron, and immediately you see a giant basketball cleverly disguised as a water tower. This undoubtedly was the game ball when the Hebron High School won the IHSA championship in 1952. Drive past the downtown area, look on your left, and there stands as Henery Hawk, the cartoon character would say, “that is the biggest chicken ever I see.” It must be a monument to Foghorn Leghorn. He is standing guard in front of Crandall’s Restaurant in Hebron.

40 Years and counting…

People use a lot of adjectives to describe Nancy and I, some are even complimentary. The adjective smart is not one of them, let me explain why. We headed out at 5 p.m. one Friday night to review a restaurant. We said to ourselves, it’s pretty early, we don’t need no “stinking reservations.” We proudly walked in and were asked if we had reservations. Since we had none, we were informed that the next open table was at 8:30. Of course this was my fault judging from the explicit phrases coming from the mouth of my loving bride. We returned to our car and started searching our restaurant “hit list” for something nearby. We picked a restaurant and called for a reservation at Al’s Café in Elgin. I told you we were smart.

Proudly Serving the Community of Sun City in Huntley

Proudly Serving the Community of
Sun City in Huntley