My Bacon Girl!

"Lime Chicken", so says the waitress!

spot: Thai Pastry

food type: guess… Thai

address/info.: 4925 N. Broadway St. 773-784-5399

neighborhood: Uptowns! One of Chicago’s classic neighborhoods

Lime Chicken, so says the waitress.

I tried something new at one of my old spots that I haven’t been to in over a year, and I feel kinda bad about it. I have walked past Thai Pastry so many times goin to my new fave. “Tank”, that I almost forgot how much I used to love eating there.

I rotate through favorite spots like a whore rotates through Johns.

It has been so long since I have been to Thai Pastry, that it felt like a new spot to me. But since I already knew that all my staple meals there are great, I decided to ask the cute waitress what she really likes to eat there. And she told me that if she wasn’t working there, and came in as a customer, she would get the “Lime Chicken.” So I did.

Let me tell ya’, she made the right choice, it was “Monte-licious!” It’s 2 chicken breasts that are breaded and fried, and the breading is kinda like a heavier tempura breading. It’s placed on top of a bed of fried seaweed, which is strangely tasty, next to some shredded carrots. Then it's covered with a sweet lime sauce and tiny, thinly sliced pieces of lime. It is such an interesting taste explosion in yer mouth, that I can’t wait to get back there and order it again.

I almost forgot, they also have excellent sweets, pastries, desserts, and bubble teas. I got the watermelon bubble tea filled with tapioca, and we got honey, custard cake. "Monte-licious!"

Peanut butter, burger time, peanut butter, burger time, peanut butter, buger time.... (repeat till blue in the face)

spot: Tina's Best Beef
food type: burgers n' stuff. thai too!
address/info.: 2415 W. Montrose Ave. 773-478-2055
neighborhood: on the edge of Lincoln Square, it's pretty decent over there

Come fer the burger, leave for the Thai!
Tina's! This is the spot for an excellent, thin, char grilled burger, or during the winter, soup! I live kinda near this place, and didn't even go to it for it a while. I remember always goin to the gas station next door to Tina's and thinkin, while I'm fillin up, that spot doesn't look to good. So I didn't go there for a long while.

One day I had this crackhead alley mechanic form my old neighborhood workin' on my car, and he was hungry. Like hell was I gonna make him any food, he just stole a cheapy tool set of mine two weeks previous. And I know what yer thinkin', but he did brakes for only $20, and changed a transmission out in one of my cars fer only $50!!! So he was hungry, and I wasn't cookin' him anything. Then, like a light bulb goin off, I was like "you want a hot dog or somethin from that little spot next to the gas station?" and with his usual speech impediment lisp, he said "yesth." I have no problem with people with speech problems either, just being descriptive, I actually like those things in people. It's unique to an individual.

Anyway, I ended goin' to Tina's for some inexpensive eats.

I was just getting the kid and his brother hot dogs, it was the cheapest thing on the menu. And F*ck him, he did steal my sh*t not to long ago. But I saw they had a char grill, which surprised me for this run down little hot dog stand. So I asked what they made on the grill, and it was only burgers. Perfect. I ordered one. And of course I sat there and ate before I brought the food back to my mechanic. The burger was so freakin good I couldn't believe it! So I ordered another one and took it back with me.

I actually remember my mechanic and his brother joking that it tasted like they just took the hot dogs right out of the refrigerator and put 'em in the bun. My hamburger had steam coming up from it. Yeah, keep my stealin my shit! Now fix my brakes!

Back to the food. Seriously, the burger is excellent! If you like a thin, tasty, char grilled, burger this place is for you. Also, during the winter they make fresh soups, and they're really, really good. I especially love the mushroom barley soup, I'd go so far to say it's the best I've ever tasted. Maybe. They also make excellent chili. If you like it non-chunky. I hate chili that's loaded with huge, ridiculous chunks of stuff. Not here, just meat n' beans. Perfect for chili mac.

They also have Thai food, and it's all listed on a completely separate menu. Did I mention the owners are an older Asian couple? I didn't, cause it didn't matter till now. That being said, they have some Thai options. Well, one day I asked the dude, "Hey! How's the Thai food?" He kinda shrugged his shoulders, his voice had a bit of a higher a pitch and he said, "Eh... Not to good." And it's been only burgers and soup ever since.

See ya soon at Tina's, it's "Monte-riffic!"

Any recommendations? Drop me a line.

I wanna hear from you, no matter where you live! Send me recommendations of some of yer favorite spots. Keep in mind that I'm always lookin' for "A good Meal at a Good Deal"

Contact me at: offtheeatinpathwithmonte@yahoo.com

"Patty's Diner!" Where ya gotta watch what yer charged, but the food is great!

spot: Patty's Diner
food type: American Diner
address/info.: 3358 W. Main St. / closed Mondays and only open till like 3 or 4
neighborhood: it's Skokie, so it's pretty nice

"Nothing could be finer than eating at Patty's diner" (until she chisels you consistently out of money)


Patty's diner is one of my all time favorite breakfast spots. I have been goin there fer years for the Ham Hash, which is ham off the bone, onions, hashbrowns, and lots of pepper fried up together topped with an egg and a homemade bun. I actually discovered Patty's while I was a driver for an escort service, yes, I drove ladies of night for a short time. Boy do I miss that job! ; )

But that's not what I'm tellin you about today. After having only the breakfast for years, I decided to try a burger one day. And Holy Sh*t was it great!!! I couldn't believe it.

The burger is huge, which usually I don't like, but here, it's great! It's char grilled, and nothing tastes better than food on a char grill to me. The fries are fresh cut, and the bun is also made in house. She bakes her own bread!!!!! While grilling the burger, she repeatedly coats it in margarine, which makes all firey like the "Human Torch". Cool! I actually thought it was butter, but that's to flammable I for the grill I was told. And this is easily one of the tastiest burgers I have ever eatin'. It's "Monte-licious!"

But be careful, the prices are subject to change instantly somehow. The burger on the menu is $6.75, but I was consistently charged $9.00. I never even noticed the fact that she was chiseling me fer years. But recently I actually decided to look at the menu, and so I was being overcharged. I called it out to her waitress, and she just kinda folded and deferred it to Patty. I let it go, and haven't been back since. But the food is good, and you should go. Just watch what she charges you! And tell her Monte sent ya'.

First ever "Masticaing with Monte" a success!!!

First "Masticating with Monte" a success!!!
We did it!!! A group of 15 of us met today, Sunday Roctober 25, 2009 at "Uncle Mike's Place" (1700 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago). We ate together as a motley crew, and it was a BLAST!!! We ate, laughed, cried, and made masticating history. Everything was delicious from the skirt steak n' eggs to one of my new favorites: Filipino Tocino. Which is a sweetened cured pork that tastes like the best ham you've ever eaten! And it was served with a garlic flavored rice and eggs!! A super delicious breakfast treat!!! I can't wait to go back for more.

The day was great, but almost didn't happen.

At 8 a.m. a friend of mine, John, sent me a text saying "Corosh", which was the original meeting place, was now closed on Sundays. But I wasn't sure because a few weeks ago they had a sign on the window saying they'd be closed on Sunday October 4th. so I assumed maybe the person who informed my friend had seen that sign too, and just assumed it was lasting. So to be safe I went there early to check it out. It was closed! Of course I panicked, called a friend in the hood, Rob, and he suggested "Uncle Mike's Place". I had completely forgot about this spot and I used to go there all the time for the steak n' eggs. So my wife and I went there, got them to put 4 tables together for us, and it ended up being the perfect spot for the event.

The only thing that could have made it better, was seeing the rest of you who couldn't make it out this time, but I'm sure we'll see you next time.

As a side note, my buddy who informed me of the closing, who was supposed to go, jumped ship immediately. 5 minutes after I received his text I called him back, and at 8:05 a.m., he was already at another restaurant having breakfast. That is not the friend you want around when the ship goes down. When yer looking fer him, he'll be by himself in the only row boat rowing away. But I love him anyway.

Baconfest Chicago 2009, PIMPS!!!!!!!!!!!! Check it!!!!

Bacon!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fest!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today my wife and I went to the first ever Baconfest! And as you can imagine, it was pig lovers paradise!! The deal was that every dish served had to be completely based around bacon, and who doesn't love that? Don't answer if ya don't, cause I don't wanna know. Anyway, it was sensational! There were so many fantastic dishes, and amazing taste explosions, and so many things to list. But since I am lazy, I am going to ask that you click on the top pic., the baconfest form, check it out. It has the complete menu for the day. It will knock yer socks off. Now on with the rest of the event.

We met a lot of really cool people, due to the fact that it was standing room only. Which may sound uncomfortable for a foodie event, but it was perfect. They had around a dozen or more little round tables set up, and there were no seats, so every one forced to be on their feet and move through space. It was a mingle-rs paradise. Different people kept moving in and out of our table, and with each new guest we shared the joy of conversation. It was amazing for that alone. Then the food!! Ridiculous!!! Everything was excellent!!! And I truly mean that. We had to vote for our favorite on the Baconfest form, but honestly, there wasn't a weak link in the bunch. I would go into a battle with any one of the meals served today at the event. We even met a few of the gents and woman running the event (Seth Zurer being one of the gents), and they were a pleasure to speak with. As well, we met Gary, and Ron from: http://lthforum.com/bb/index.php they were super cool. And check out their site if yer in Chicago, their site is excellent for any foodie. One of the greatest treats of the day though was reconnecting with an old friend Chuck Sudo. This is a gentleman I grew up with as a child and have not seen for a while, and it was great to see him today. Love ya' Chuck! Well, I didn't write a lot about the bacon, but I hope I set the experience up for ya, cause it was a great one, and I can't wait for the next one.
I forgot to mention the gift bag, that is my last pic. in the blog here, it is a shot of all of the goodies we got to take home with us, check out all that stuff. Amazing gift bag. Amazing! And tons of beautiful woman were there from young to cougar. Thank you Seth and everyone from the fest. Finally, the only thing that could have made it just a pinch more perfect, someone grabbing their chest at the event. You NEED a heart attack at a Baconfest yo! And I forgot to mention, no XXl shirts!!! Xl was the largest! At a Baconfest? Come on fellas!!! XXl shoulda been the smallest.