Chicago, Chicago, a beautiful city, one of the greatest cities in America to just keep eating some of the best food anywhere. But there is another Chicago, sections of the city that just have the vibes you might be looking for, interesting people, great ethnic restaurants, and coffee shops that you wish were in your neighborhood. Sections like Rogers Park, Evanston, Andersonville and Edgewater are four of our favorites.
Dinner at Taqueria El Charro in Rogers Park is delicious and fun. Served and cooked by the Mexican owners, it is a completely satisfying experience with delicious burritos, tacos, enchiladas, guacamole with homemade chips. and wow, very hot homemade salsa. A great find.
Taqueria El Charro
📍 6661 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60626
📞 (773) 743-7056
Of course Chicago has plenty of Starbucks, but it also has some of the best independent coffee shops ever!. The anti Starbucks. They are large and comfortable with great pastries and amazing coffee.
Metropolis Coffee Company on West Granville is such a place. Light and bright and large, with baristas who know their stuff are actually happy to help you. Metropolis is one of the largest fine coffee roasters in the states. Their roasting facility is not too far from the cafe. Jayde, the barista we spoke to, gave us a little history. The company was started by a father and son team. A linguist and a philosopher respectively, about twenty years ago. A perfectly executed idea! There is a large dining area in the adjacent room where the tables are not close together, and customers are able to chat, to work, to think.
Metropolis Coffee Company
📍 1039 W Granville Ave, Chicago, IL 60660 (Edgewater)
Another coffee shop that is equally comfortable, trendy and also stunning, is Collectivo. Collectivo is actually part of a chain in the midwest but has a similar feeling, with a large separate seating area and amazing coffee with fair prices.
Architecturally the first room is elegant with an extremely high ceiling and great antique tables and chairs, You are able to sit for a long time for whatever reason, and you will feel relaxed. And if you are a people watcher, it will double your fun. Both of these cafes have outdoor seating
Colectivo Coffee
📍 716 Church St, Evanston, IL 60201
Bagels, everyone loves bagels, but these are like no other. Lefty’s Righteous Bagels, is a gorgeous, modern cafe with an emphasis on bagels. Actually the best our staff ever tasted. Similar to Montreal bagels, but with a softer inside, they are just right.
So many amazing flavors, Cinnamon Sugar, Jalapeno, Pink salt , cheddar, plus all the usual flavors. It is hard to know what to order, The large assortment of different cream cheese choices, jalapeno , lemon dill, chive, chocolate, cacio pepe. will make you dizzy.
The cafe serves beautiful sandwiches, named after some left handed heroes, like RBG and Larry Bird although he’s right handed.
Oh and the coffee and the hot chocolate are great. Lefty had a dream and we all do benefit from it. Yum!
Lefty’s Bagels
📍 827 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL 60202
📞 (224) 714-2245
Princeton, Illinois, would not be on your bucket list, but it should be. You would not exactly call it a suburb of Chicago. It is a charming town about a two hour drive from Chicago. It is a small town with beautiful preserved architecture, many buildings, dating back to the late 19th century.
Some of the most interesting shops combined with some great foodie spots fill the Main Street – Myrtle’s pies are handmade and beyond delicious. Gluten free is available if you call ahead. People come from all over Illinois just for a slice or to take an uncooked pie and bake it at home.The menu includes cream pies, fruit pies and cinnamon buns.
Rachel Rene
🌐 www.RachelRene.com
📧 [email protected]
Across the street is The Alpaca store. Gorgeous clothing and outerwear all handmade from alpaca yarn. Unusual and interesting. Rachel Rene is a bath and body shop. Every item is produced in the store. The prices are reasonable, and the products are truly amazing. Bath salts, elegant soaps and exceptional face creams, which might have you rethinking that expensive cream you just ordered. They are excellent and are made with the best ingredients. We can vouch for them. There are body polishes and some loungewear and lots of samples to try. The shop is lovely and the owner is knowledgeable and fun to talk to.
Wild Ginger
📞 (815) 872-3976
A gorgeous children’s clothing store, and loads of other shops abound. It was truly a treat just looking in the windows. This small town boasts a well known public library and a theater for live performances, plus some art galleries. The absolute best reason though, to go to Princeton, Illinois is the Wild Ginger Restaurant. Chef-owner Dan Marquis has done everything right. Just walking in puts one in a good mood. Funky bookshelves with lots of local memorabilia, tables not too close together and even with a large group you feel completely private. The waitstaff which includes some of Dan’s family could not be warmer or more solicitous. But it is the food. that just does not disappoint such as meatless, beautiful, perfect lasagna.
Our staff member that had ordered it, had lived in Italy for many years. It was better than any she had eaten in Milano – perfect tomato sauce, perfect bechamel, delicious ricotta . One person had a hanger steak, perfectly cooked, as ordered , yummy meatballs, crayfish, beautiful salads and for dessert Kings cake.That night they were celebrating Mardi Gras so lots of colorful beads and elegant masks were waiting for us at the table. Dan is approachable and happy to give you the lowdown on his history with Princeton and his terrific restaurant. We highly recommend a visit to this historical, beautiful town
We know this is far for most of you, but in our opinion, absolutely worth the trip.
Chicago proper is famous for fabulous food Randolph Street, “restaurant row” has some of the best restaurants in the states. But finding out of the way, great places, reasonably priced, being served by an owner, talking to the people around you is definitely an unbeatable experience.
