Posts Tagged ‘menu’

Jerry’s Sandwiches, Wicker Park

Friday, July 16th, 2010

he said:

If you’re planning to go to Jerry’s, I hope you like reading. Obviously, you’re reading this blog right now, so you don’t have an issue with the activity… at least not yet.   We’ll see how you feel by the end of this post.

Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, reading.  Do you like it?

Which is an annoying way to say that Jerry’s has a long, meandering menu.  By the time I’d read a quarter of the items, I was more confused than hungry, but once I saw the Buffalo Chicken sandwich, I knew was going to put this tedious enterprise to a rest and go with a classic.

A gourmet’s concert hall or a music lover’s dream diner?

Maybe I should back up here and give some background. We were watching our friend’s band play. They have a standing gig on Tuesdays at Jerry’s, but they used to play at a bar in Rogers Park every week. So I went in expecting a similar scene: darkness, few seats, limited food. But Jerry’s is bright, large, with lots of patrons, some completely oblivious to the music that’s about to start, others there solely for the show.   

Once you see the menu, there’s no doubt in your mind–Jerry’s is a full on restaurant. On the other hand, with its high ceiling, large stage, and great musical lineup, you might even say it’s a venue.

So let’s just call it: A venue with a menu.

(Give me one second, I’m patting myself on the back for that clever piece of wordplay.)

(Okay, I’m back.)

Buffalo Chicken to the rescue

Back to my meal. Like I said, I went with a classic, buffalo chicken sandwich. Pedestrian, I know, but I was awash in a sea of protein-packed-between-two-slices-of-bread and I needed to hold on to the one thing I knew, a life preserver of delicious, delicious spicy chicken. And I’m glad I did.

This version of the buffalo chicken sandwich is one of the best I’ve ever had. Nice and crispy, good heat on the spice, not too much bleu cheese dressing. These are the elements of a good buffalo chicken sandwich and Jerry’s has them all, stacked in a spicy medley. (You can tell when I get poetic about a sandwich, I really liked it.)

The sides were great too. I had their great homemade potato chips and a Thai cucumber salad, which did the job. And by “job” I’m referring to making me feel a little better about eating the huge sandwich and chips, washed down by a few hearty beers.

So despite the fact I almost choked on the menu, Jerry’s has proven to me they can get a classic right. I can’t wait to go back and get a little more adventurous with my meal selection. Oh, and the music was superb.

So there you go: good food, good tunes … These are two of my three favorite things.  Now if only I had something to read…

she said:

I admit that ordering at Jerry’s felt a tad like taking a pop quiz.  There are hundreds of sandwiches, 200 American craft beers, 32 condiments, 9 types of bread, dozens of sides.  The menu is only slightly less confusing then the check, which required six adults to study before we finally gave up and split it evenly.  I felt worse for our waitress, who had to shepherd us through the entire process like a bunch of idiot sheep. 

Oh well.  These are itty-bitty complaints and my overall experience at Jerry’s was two thumbs up.  I love hot sandwiches, especially delicious ones, and one of my favorite Chicago bands was bluegrassing it up, making for a very lively and upbeat time.

I ordered the Fried Tofu sandwich, which came on toasty dark rye with a thick slice of Louisiana-style tofu, avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, cheddar and a thin schmear of salsa.   For my sides, I also enjoyed the savory-sweet Thai cucumber salad and the macaroni and cheese, which is blended with a creamy medley of Gouda, swiss, cheddar and ginger (yes, ginger).  I also sampled the Fried Green Tomato sandwich (yum!) and the Jenny F, which is a cold sandwich with avocado, grilled veggies, mozzarella and southwest mayo.  Not my favorite – cold grilled vegetables have never rubbed me the right way – but still good.

When we arrived, our friends had ordered the beer cheese plate, which is served with pretzels and pita.  Needless to say, it was delectable.  In case I’m ever on death row and you’re in charge of bringing me my last meal, hear me now: Let it be beer cheese and pretzels.

Should you need more convincing, Jerry’s also serves milkshakes.  I ordered a chocolate-banana one for my pregnant friend and detected a smile surrounding the large shake-filled straw.


Hophaus, Rogers Park

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

he said:

As you may know,  I’m fairly new to Chicago. That means I’m not a Bears fan.

(audible gasp)

I know, I know. But really, with the way they’ve played this year, can you blame me? No, I’m a Bengals fan. And I’m trying to convince my beautiful girlfriend to bleed Bengal black and orange. This year, it hasn’t been hard. The Bengals are clearly superior, as evidenced by their 45-10 drubbing of the Bears. No, the hardest part has been finding the Bengals game on TV.

Which brings us to Hophaus. We’d heard a rumor that you could watch any NFL game on Sundays, but that’s the only thing we’d heard. So when we went to the game one Sunday recently, we were simply hoping to watch the game and maybe have a beer or seven. (Well, maybe just me. She’s always looking for a fine culinary experience.) So we were surprised when we loved the menu and, well, pretty much everything about Hophaus.

Great, Patient Service

We walk into this huge pub, and I knew we were in a great place when I see a huge mural of sports figures. Not just Chicago sports figures, though I do believe I remember seeing Ditka in there.  I think Pete Rose was in it as well, so I liked my chances for a Bengal victory. Or at least seeing the game.

We told the hostess that we wanted to watch the Bengals game, and she put us in a spot that didn’t have a great view of the game. So we asked our waiter if we could move to another table. Oh, and could they put it on another TV? Great, thanks.

Oh wait, this table of softball players is leaving and we just heard we have more friends coming? You don’t mind if we move, right?

We may have been the most annoying table on that particular Sunday, but our waiter, David, was really cool about it. He even put the game on a couple more TVs for us.

Book Length Menu

I always worry when we go into this sort of situation, for my girlfriends sake, that everything on the menu will have some sort of meat in it. Like every dip is made with a chicken broth, or they put bacon fat on toast instead of butter, and beef chili on top of their portobello mushroom sandwich. But as we looked through the menu, we realized everything looked good, and it seemed like 1/3 of the menu was vegetarian.

I started things off with bloody mary, which was good. We then shared a spinach and artichoke dip, also good. Then things got interesting.

I ordered a breakfast pizza, from their extensive selection of breakfast pizzas. I was amazed, I’ve never seen an extensive collections of breakfast pizzas. That’s like the marriage of two of my favorite things. I had a spicy chipotle pizza, with spicy chorizo and covered in a thin layer of scrambled eggs and topped with a chipotle sauce. It was delicious. It was also a lot of food, but so worth it.

Oh, and the Bengals won.

she said:

I admit, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed Hop Haus.  I mean, it’s a sports bar that touts a selection of 24 burgers, many of which are made with creatures like ostrich and wild boar.  Not my cup of tea.  Or so I thought.  They actually have an incredibly impressive selection of vegetarian and vegan options.  Now, don’t get me wrong, you’re not gonna get a plate of steamed rice and raw veggies.  Almost everything on the menu is decadent.  For example, the macaroni and cheese I ordered, pictured to the right, was ridiculous, even by my standards.  Already a cheesy mess, it was topped with a slab of Velveeta-like cheese that I definitely could have done without.  Overall, though, this place rocks.  There is absolutely something for everybody.  In summary, go Bengals.