Staff/Contact Info Advertise Classified Ads Submission Guidelines

 

MY SUN DAY NEWS

Proudly Serving the Community of
Sun City in Huntley
 
News & Features Columnists Editorials Hang Your Hat Obituaries My Huntley News

January 24, 2019

Dining Duo

The Dining Duo’s best of 2018

Another year and 23 restaurants bite the dust. This was a tough year to review restaurants since we had a run of mediocre venues. Jim and I sat down, locked ourselves in our office, and tried to pick the best 10 restaurants by pondering over the reviews we did last year. “Pondering” is such an understatement; it was more like yelling, screaming, biting, and kicking.

1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor…

Jim officially retired on October 1, and boy is he enjoying his free time. He has spent most of his days touring doctors’ offices staffed by the medical team of Moe, Larry, and Curly, with Shemp being on call. He also visited the hospital, the emergency room, and physical therapists trying to get his new knee and hip play nice together. These truly are the “Golden Years.” We wanted to celebrate the doctors’ decision to let him graduate from a walker to a cane, so we decided to try Good Tequila’s Mexican Grill in Elk Grove Village. Is there such a thing as bad tequila???

It’s not in Addison…

We decided to go all out for Jim’s “Last Supper” before he goes “under the knife” once again. He is turning into a living “Operation Game.” The doctor replaced his knee and the buzzer went off, WRONG!!! Now, the hip doctor is giving it a try with a back surgeon waiting in the wings. Jim is turning into the bionic food critic. He felt he needed a good steak before surgery, so we thought we’d give Addison’s Steakhouse in McHenry a try.

Lucy, I’m home!

Before Nancy and I moved to the sunny confines of Sun City, we lived in Hoffman Estates, which is basically a suburb of Schaumburg. Our days living there included a lot of fond memories, such as when our son played basketball for a church league that was coached by one of my high school buddies. He coincidentally now also lives in Del Webb. After the games, the whole team would often go to a local haunt and “lick their wounds” over a big pepperoni pizza. We decided to revisit this haunt and “go back home” to Riccardo’s Ristorante in Schaumburg.

Where is it??

While we were scouring the countryside in search of new and exciting eateries, one restaurant in particular piqued our interest. In researching this restaurant we became very confused. Its address is listed as St. Charles. It’s located across the street from Niko’s Tavern and Mel’s Diner in Campton Hills, which we recently reviewed. The website address says Wasco, but the name of the restaurant is Old Towne. So, where is it??? We’ll tell you how to get there, but the world may never know its exact location. We are referring to The Old Towne Pub & Eatery in Wasco.

Gifford’s… not Kathy Lee

“What’s in a name”?

“You can’t judge a book by its cover”.

These two sayings apply to the restaurant we are reviewing today. The building’s exterior does not do justice to the beautiful wood accented interior. We are referring to Gifford’s Kitchen & Social in Elgin. Dining Duo Useless Information: This restaurants namesakes, Hezekiah and James Gifford, founded the city of Elgin in 1835.

Where’s the ‘Grits!?’

When we were reviewing Niko’s Tavern & Neighborhood Grill in Campton Hills, we drove by a little place called Mel’s Diner. Could this be the place where the 1970’s sitcom “Alice” was filmed? Will Mel and Alice be inside? Would Flo be there yelling “kiss my grits”? Inquiring minds want to know.

How now Blue Cow

Several of our loyal readers recommended a new restaurant in the neighborhood. Since we both love Polish food, we put it at the top of our list. One evening we jumped into the Mini-Mobile and headed out in search of kapusta pierogis. When we pulled into the parking lot, we spotted a sign over a storefront that said Polish Restaurant. We said to each other, “this must be the place.” We are referring to the Blue Cow Polish Restaurant in Lake in the Hills.

Schnitzel happens

Nancy has been having a craving for different types of ethnic foods lately. I hope she’s not pregnant! This time it is a craving for German cuisine. She was reminiscing about how her and her mother would go shopping at the Harlem Irving Plaza (HIP) and out to lunch. She remembered passing by a cute German restaurant on Irving Park Road in Norridge called Edelweiss. So again, into the Mini-Mobile, and off we went in search of schnitzel.

Meeting around the table

The Neighborhood 35 Supperclub is on the road again. This time we traveled to the South Barrington Arboretum to “meet around the table” with our friends. What better place to do this than a restaurant with the name Incontro a Tavola, which loosely translates to “meeting around the table.”

Due to some new construction and the fact that the restaurant is by a roundabout, parking is a challenge. Just be creative and put on your walking shoes. Since Jim’s new knee is not playing nice, I was his own personal valet parking attendant.

Cruisin’ to Carrabba’s

Nancy and I seem to be slaves to our food cravings lately. First it was Chinese food, and now Nancy had an insatiable desire for lasagna. She remembered that one of the stops on a Del Webb Senior Safari was Carrabbas Italian Grill. The one she went to is now closed, so the next closest one we found was in Woodridge. Off we went in the Mini-Mobile, Nancy salivating at the thought of having her craving satisfied.

Sammy’s “SI”

The World Cup is in full swing, and the entire planet is excited about “Futbol”, except for the U.S. We call it soccer and consider whatever “da Bears” do to be football. So what better way is there to join in the celebration since Mexico is in the World Cup, but with a dinner at Sammy’s Mexican Grill in Elgin.

Niko’s – Part Deaux

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The sun was shining, the birdies were chirping, and the Del Webbers were out walking their fluffy white doggies. What does the Dining Duo do on such a lovely afternoon? I’m glad you asked. We hop into the Mini-Mobile and venture out in search of food. We do have to keep up our strength, you know. It was such a gorgeous day for a drive in the country, and we wanted to go to Ream’s Meat Market in Elburn for some sausages to put on the barbie that evening.

See Yu’s for dinner

“Yu” know what they say about Chinese food? They say, “after you’ve had it, a few hours later, you’re hungry, and want it again.” This saying proved to be true with us. We just reviewed a Chinese restaurant, and we found ourselves having an overwhelming desire for Chinese food again.

Chinese food ‘your way‘

It was a dark and stormy Saturday afternoon, and Jim and I had an intense craving for Chinese food, but we didn’t want to venture far from home. We drove up to what we thought was a new restaurant with shiny brand new signage. We were, as Confucius would say, confused because the front window had the old restaurant’s website on it, and the welcome mat also had the old restaurant’s name on it.

This little piggy went to Woodstock

We received a very interesting letter, from a very interesting person, about a very interesting restaurant. The letter was from Pierre Pollin. If his name does not sound familiar, allow us to enlighten you.

Come sail away with Neighborhood 35

Two ladies (Diane and Carol) in our neighborhood came up with an ingenious idea to bring the neighborhood closer together. Their idea was to form a supper club. Every few months, Neighborhood 35 would pick a new target and descend upon the restaurant. The inaugural event was held at Port Edward Restaurant in Algonquin.

Big skillet, small price

We received a letter from a loyal reader recommending the restaurant that we will be reviewing today. This restaurant was recommended to them by a friend, who had a friend who recommended this restaurant, that was recommended to them by a friend, and so on…You get the idea. This highly recommended restaurant is the Big Skillet Restaurant and Pancake House in Elgin.

A dragon in a garden

One weekend, Jim and I found ourselves “discussing” at great length where to go for dinner that Saturday night. During this “discussion,” I did tell him several times where he could go, and it sure wasn’t a restaurant!

Winter got your goat?

Hang in there, we’ve almost made it through another Midwest winter. The days are getting longer and spring is on the horizon. Because we’re all getting grumpy, we thought it would be fitting to pay a visit to the Grumpy Goat Tavern in Elgin.

Back to Bavaria

Believe it or not, Nancy has a real job. She is a travel agent, and years ago she won a river cruise for two through Bavaria with a German cruise line. Out of 80 passengers, only 10 spoke English. As we were sailing along, our cruise director would point out various landmarks and give a five minute dissertation in German. He would then point and say to us in English, “there it is.” While showing her clients some photos of our trip, she developed a taste for German food. We remembered seeing the Bavarian Lodge in Lisle and decided now would be a good time to review this restaurant.

Ya-hooey for Chuy’s

If any of you have seen Jim walking around Del Webb lately, he looks like Chester from the old Gunsmoke TV show. He’s been limping along for the past year, but his time is running out. Today is his last visit when the doctor can use his knee like a Voo Doo doll and sticks needles in it with various drugs to stop the pain.

Frog vs. Gator

Jim’s arms were getting too short for him to read anything, and the adhesive tape wasn’t holding his broken glasses anymore, so off we went to Spring Hill Mall to remedy the situation. His vision was impaired with his old prescription eyeglasses, but isn’t it funny how he could spot a restaurant from a mile away??? The name piqued our interest, so we decided to try the Chubby Bullfrog Bar & Grill (next to Sears) in West Dundee.

Elvis has left the restaurant

It was a cold, dreary, Sunday morning. Cabin fever was rearing its ugly rear. Nancy was staring blindly at the computer screen when she noticed a Groupon coupon for a new brunch restaurant. I was staring at the TV screen sucking down my first cup of coffee when she yelled, “Breakfast is ready!” We bundled ourselves up, jumped into the Dining Duo Mini-Mobile, which now resembles a block of salt, and headed for Southern Belles Pancake House in Carpentersville.

It’s Miller time

T’was the week before Christmas and all the presents were wrapped, the cookies were baked, and the tension within our family was running rampant. As they say in the movie Christmas Vacation, “It’s the holidays, and we’re all in misery.” Since we had the time, and Nancy needed a beer, we put ourselves in harms way, and ventured out near Woodfield Mall. We went to review the newest restaurant in Schaumburg called Miller’s Ale House.

The Dining Duo’s Best of 2017

“Father Time” for the year 2017 is getting old and wrinkled, just like most of us here in Del Webb, with the exception of Nancy. I better say that because my back can’t take sleeping on the couch anymore at my age. Another 23 restaurants, and several inches added on to our waistline, brings us to our annual “Best Of” article. So sit back, relax, get your reading glasses and antacids ready, ’cause here we go… All restaurants are handicap accessible.

Just wing it

Today’s restaurant was closed for vacation the first time we attempted to review it. Because we received so many letters recommending this restaurant, we decided to give it another try.  Nancy, aka “Debbie Downer”, said we should call first to avoid spending half a day scouring the countryside for another restaurant if this one was closed again. Me with my “devil may care” attitude said, “let’s just wing it.” So off we went to Heng Wing Restaurant in Palatine.

“Famiglia” style … not

A long, long time ago, on a Del Webb day trip far, far away, as we were passing by a restaurant, our friendly escorts Jan and Jerry suggested we review it. We put them on the “fast track” and only three short years later, we finally found the time to do it.

A Polska Tradycja

Over the Labor Day weekend, we were invited to an “end of the summer” party. Jim must be slipping in his old age, since it took him a while to nonchalantly drop the fact that we are the Dining Duo into the casual conversation with other guests. As a result, we did receive a lot of good recommendations and were asked several questions. One inquiry was about a new Polish restaurant in Hoffman Estates called Tradycja (Tradition).