One of my favorite sandwiches, EVER! And it's not in Chicago. Sad face, very sad face.

R & O's (Roland & Ora's) in lovely New Orleans/Metairie at 216 Old Hammond Hwy. has one of the best sandwiches I have ever put in my mouth. Period! The R & O special is Monte-licious!! And actually worth traveling out to, it is amazing!

The R & O special is chunks/chips/strips of roast beef in an absolutely amazing brown/beef gravy, topped with fried/shaved ham, tomato which I remove, cheese which I remove, mayonnaise, lettuce, and pickles on a house made bun with some sesame seeds. It is sloppy, delicious, and a real freakin delight to eat.

They also have awesome, home made desserts. They are really made at someones home and brought into the restaurant. The desserts aren't on the menu, but there are hand made signs up all over that list the desserts.

Also, they have really cute waitresses, as well as few that aren't.

I love R & O's and I love Nola!!!!

Petterino's, For date night. Maybe Valentines Day? Wink, wink fellas.

Petterino's at 150 N. Dearborn in Chicago's Loop neighborhood is a great place to get a skirt steak dinner. Usually I like to go to a mexican spot for skirt steak, it is usually gonna be a decent price, and you'll get a lot. But every now and again my wife and I like dress up, well I just wear a black shirt and khakis, and then we go some where a little nicer than we usually go to.

Petterino's is one of those spots. They do a great job with the skirt steak, it is grilled to perfection, then placed on top a ton of crispy frites (french fries), and the steak itself gets topped off with a little butter, spices, and chopped parsley? Maybe. something green, tasty. Probably not parsley. And it is drizzled with a ton of fried onions. So Monte-licious! It is not inexpensive here, but the skirt steak dinner is comparable to most places.

the wedge salad, and dessert were Monte-riffic! That vinaigrette is some of my all time favorite. And the chocolate, pecan pie, a 10!

Petterino's is named after the guy who ran Chicago's ever popular Pump Room.

Burrrr - Ger!

This is the burger from Reel club in Oak Brook at 272 Oakbrook Center
Oak Brook, IL And it is ridiculous. This Burger is so freakin Monte-licious you will wanna hug me. It is juicy, meaty, covered in bacon, and sweet grilled onions, with a soft bun.... what more could ask for? Maybe the ability to make love to one of the cute waitresses? If I were single!

The Bongo Room for breakfast. Remember Congo Bongo on Atari 5200?

The Bongo Room in Wicker Park at 1740 N. Milwaukee Ave. Serves up a Monte-licious breakfast, and on of my recent faves.... The BLT Benedict with a pesto hollandaise sauce is delicious. They use spinach, and bacon, topped by a wonderfully monte-riffic poached egg, and that pesto hollandaise sauce... it makes the meal. It comes served with triangled , seasoned red potatoes, get em well done, which are very tasty, and the english muffin is good.

One of my favorite things about the meal was, I took half home, and reheated it the next day in my counter top convection oven... it was so goooood! Even the next day. Keep in mind I said convection oven, and not microwave. Microwaves ruin everything, don't use em.

The place is definitely expensive, they charge over $3 for a small OJ that is no more than maybe 3 shot glasses worth of product. And the meals themselves are pricey, but, and this is important, for the meal, it's totally worth it. Completely. Skip the drinks. The service is good, and there are a lot of cute girls there. And the ladies will probably like the boys there.

Shizzity Shaw's Crab House.

when yer ready to splurge, go to Shaw's, it is definitely Monte-licious!
Shaw's in Chicago is at 21 E. Hubbard in the Near North Side. We had the wedge salad, which they have one of my all time favorite house salad dressings there. We also had the King Salmon, Grouper and Raspberry pie. And by we, I mean me and my wife, Meatball Head.

My favorite breakfast spot closed. Sad face.

My favorite spot for breakfast was a place called Patty's Diner which was at 3358 Main St. in Skokie, Il. It is gone/closed/finito. It closed Dec. 31st. 2010. This place was absolutely the best place I have ever been to for Ham Hash, a hamburger, and biscuits & gravy. It was owned and run by Patty and her sisters, and a few friends for 20 years! I am still saddened by it's absence, so here are a few pics. to remember it by.