ChiDopers, I need your help!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Mr. Athena and I are pondering a trip to Chicago in the next few months. Given that we live in the frozen north, part of this trip will be to buy some provisions, stuff that just ain’t available up here. With this in mind, can you recommend to me the following:

  • A really good liquor store. I want to stock up on wine & champagne, and Mr. Athena would enjoy browsing a good collection of Scotch.

  • An uppity yuppy grocery store. I’d like to purchase such things as REAL dijon mustard, and a nice cheese selection would be good as well. I also need to stock up on dried porcinis.

  • A good place to buy some fresh seafood, preferrably one which would wrap the stuff up so it can travel in our ice chest back to the frozen north. It’s been forever since I had nice scallops. One which I could establish a relationship with and be able to call them and say “Hey, Fedex me up some fresh halibut, wouldya?” would be nice as well.

If we do end up going, we’ll probably be staying somewhere downtownish, so close to downtown would be good.

Thanks!

2

I recommend Treasure Island for the food items, and Binny’s for the booze. Both have several locations, including downtown. Also, Whole Foods is good for the food items.

If you have some extra time and like ethnic stuff, I recommend walking around near Argyle/Broadway for Asian groceries/restuants (it’s my 'hood!), and walking west on Devon Ave. starting at Western Ave. for Indian/Pakistani/Middle Eastern, blending into Russian after a few blocks. Yummy, colorful, and very cheap! If you’re into Polish, check out the area near Milwaukee Ave. & Fullerton/Belmost (a not-long cab ride from downtown). Cheap and yummy ham, honey, dried mushrooms, jams, mustard, tea, and generally all things Slavic. Be prepared to have people speak Polish at you, though. (They will speak English upon noting your blank stares; it’s just not their first reaction.)

3

That’s Belmont, not Belmost…
www.binnys.com

Treasure Island Food Mart INC
75 W. Elm St.
Chicago, IL 60610-2716
Phone: (312) 440-1144

Bon appetit!

4

http://www.foxobel.com/index.html

Fox and Obel at McClurg Court shouldn’t be missed. Hope you have a wonderful trip!!

5

Sam’s Wine and Spirits is another good place to go for liquor and some fine food items. You’ll definitely be able to get there from downtown (there’s a map on the website).

6

Booze: gotta be Sam’s Wines and Spirits - 1720 North Marcey Street, Chicago, IL 60614. There’s a map and more info on their website. Huge store, thousands of wines plus an impressive selection of liquors and beer, very knowledgeable staff.

7

:smack: I swear Judith’s post wasn’t there when I hit reply.

8

For wine and champagne, I recommend Sam’s Wine and Liquors 1 block W of N. Clybourn and W. Willow- You will see a Best Buy, Its just N of there.

For Scotch you can try there but if you want to make a trip of it there is a place in Glenview called D’artagnan’s Cellar at 1486 N. Waukegan Rd in Glenview (Just N of Lake Street, W side of street in mall) that has an amazing selection of Scotch and whiskey.

If Mr. A really likes the Water of Life, I’d highly recommend it.

For groceries, you have a couple choices.

Dijon; Trader Joes has good stuff but Fox and Obels is right downtown and has good stuff but it’s pricey.

Cheese; Binny’s also has a wonderful cheese shop, Fox and Obels does a good cheese counter too; again, pricey.

Porcini mushrooms;

Trader Joes has them as well

There are numerous little Italian places on Harlem N. of Grand Ave. You can probably get porcinis and lots of other fungi there but I don’t know it well enough to recommend a single place. Only if you are looking for Italian stuff is it worth the hike.

Seafood
This is a tough one. I get salmon from Whole Foods. For scallops etc. try

Plitt at 1455 West Willow (near to Binny’s),

Assassin and Stein at 800 W. Fulton.

Both of these places will most likely ship to you as well.

Fishguy Market at 4423 N. Elston has gotten good reviews from friends but I’ve never been.
Binny’s & Marcy St. Cheese shop
1720 N. Marcy St.
1-800-777-9137
1-773- 664-4394

Trader Joes I HIGHLY recommend this place!
3745 N. Lincoln

Fox & Obel Food Market Cafe
401 E. Illinois St.
1-312-379-0112

Plitt Co. (Call first, I don’t remember their retail hours)
1455 W. Willow
1-773-276-2200

Isaacson and Stein
800 W. Fulton Corner of Fulton and Halsted 1 Block N of Lake)
1-312-421-2444

Right around the corner from I&S on Lake is a MUST SEE for cutlery and cooking gadgets!
Northwestern Cutlery 810 W. Lake
1-312-421-3666

Fishguy Market
4423 N. Elston
1-773-283-7400

Hope this helps!

9

Yeah, I forgot that there’s now a Trader Joe’s in the city. If you can find what you want there, it will be WAAAAAY cheaper than most other places, except possibly some of the ethnic markets.

I also forgot about Sam’s, because it’s great, but it’s absolutely cavernous and I find it quite overwhelming. If it exists in America, though, you can probably buy it there.

10

Haven’t been to Sam’s, but I agree on Binny’s. The one at Clark and Wellington is quite good. Treasure Island is also a great store for food.