OrlandParker.com
SuburbanChicagoland.com, &
RadioChicagoland.com present:
Chicagoland's
Cyber Restaurant Reviews & Guide
Watch Ray Hanania
on Check, Please! Reviewing Juliana's Middle Eastern Restaurant on WTTW Channel 11
We
offer a simple rating system:
A maximum of FIVE STARS designates top of the line service;
A maximum of FIVE
STARES designates
the absolute worst (usually in service, setting, price, etc.)
PITA OVEN Restaurant
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9328 W. 159th Street, Orland Park, Illinois
(in the expanded Jewel Commercial Lot)
(708) 349-7482
Reviewed: July 24, 2010
Finally a restaurant that offers fast service, great Middle Eastern food and one of the cleanest shops in a long time. Pita Oven offers a wide menu, for takeout and also eating in their seating area. AND, they make dinner meals like stuffed grape leaves and stuffed zuchinni and lamb for takeout service. They make full meals.
The owner is from the Orland Park area and his family is originally from Ramallah, Palestine. The cook staff is experienced having worked not only at many restaurants but also receiving professional training.
This is a great place to stop for a great lunch -- offering all the popular sanwiches like Gyros (which is called Shawerma in Arabic) in lamb and chicken. They also offer entrees including beef/chicken shawerma, lamb or chicken baob dinners with rice, combination platters that include skewers of lamb, chicken and "kufta" which is spiced diced ground lamb grilled like tasty hamburger.
They offer a variety of salads including tabouleh and Jerusalem (or Tahini) diced salad -- tahini is merely a great tasting sesame seed paste mixed with olive oil that gives the salad an easy to enjoy falvor. Not too spicy at all. They have hummus (garbanzo bean dip) and babaghanouj (eggplant dip).
And, it is very affordable. A typical sandwich will cost between $3.50 for a falafel sandwich to $4.99 for a lamb, beef, chicken, or kufta sandwich. They offer a special gourmet falafel sandwhich for $4.50 which you ust try.
You are going to love this place. If you have never had a Middle Eastern meal before, don't worry. It is not as spicy as the Indian cousines and very healthy and tasty. Just walk in and the staff will be happy to explain any sandwhich. And once you find one you like, you'll be back every day.
If you like making some Middle Eastern foods (go to www.ZiyadRecipes.com to get great easy to make recipes) then you will also find they have a well stocked grocery section for the essentials like making tabouleh with cracked wheat, or coucous (maftoul).
Sahtein! (Arabic for enjoy the meal)
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al BAWADI Restaurant
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7216 W. 87th Street, Bridgeview, Illinois
(708) 599-1999
Reviewed: April 17, 2010
There are many Middle Eastern and Arabian restaurants in Little Arabia in the Southwest Suburbs between Burbank and Orland Park, but one of the best in terms of both food and presentation is al Bawadi Restaurant.
Opened in 2009, al Bawadi seeks to offer not only great Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food with a Palestinian and Jordanian twist, but also an environment right out of the suburbs of Jerusalem with waiters and staff dressed to the culture and the restaurant decor reflecting an environment as if you had traveled to the Middle East.
The menu is a little pricey but worth it. The food is always fresh and has a family-friendly atmosphere. It offers both lamb cnd chicekn-based specialities as well as vegetarian menus and even has a kid's menu - which is unusual for most Arabian and Middle Eastern restaurants. Baba ghanouj and hummus dips, and a variety of pre-meal appetizers, stuffed kibbeh and salads including Tahini Salad (Jerusalem Salad) and tabouleh are choice.
Kabobs and skewered meats and sandwiches are popular including Kufta Kabob, which is spiced ground lamb on skewers served with yellow and white rice with almond slices.
This is definitely a good choice for families whow ant to experience a Middle Eastern flavor along with Mediterranean and Arabian food menu items.
Don't forget to try the fruit juice as a dessert. A mixture of banana, strawberries and more, topped with nuts and pomegranate syrup, this taste better than Jamba Juice (and I LOVE Jamba Juice!)
Visit their web site at www.alBawadiGrill.com.
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CULVER'S FAST FOOD
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9130 159th Street Orland Park, IL 60462
Reviewed: April 11, 2010
I have always liked Culver's, but I have to say this one is the worst. Seriously.
The have mini-me'd everything from the restaurant to the hamburger.
It cost me $24 to takew my son and wife to the restaurant, hoping to get one of those great burgers, only to discover that the restaurant is half the size of the others (or less) and was so crowded there was no room to stand up. And the hamburger I ordered had a meat patty that was razor thin and drowned in bread, and extras. Yikes!
It still makes them a better alternative than McDonald's which is a cholesteral haven. But forget about the Orland Park location. Corwded parking (in a section of a strip mall that is ALWAYS crowded with parked cars). Crowded small dining area. And a sliver of a meat patty that is crowded out by the bun and junk.
I did like the strawberry milk shake, though. And, the employees were very courteous. Too bad they are stuck there.
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BACI Italian Restaurant
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24018 Lockport Street, Plainfield, Il
(708) 671-1716 815-436-3588
Reviewed: DEC. 28, 2009
This is a phenomenal restaurant in an historic district former church in Plainfield. The food is magniificent as is the dining area built into the design of the old church landmark which the restaurant helps to preserve.
You need to check the hours before going there. It's open 11 to 2 and 4 to9 and Tuesday thru Thursday, and Fridau 11 to 2 and 4 to 11. On saturday, it's only open 4 to 11 and Sunday 3 to 8. The times are very confusing but it doesn't hurt to check ahead.
Despite that, this place serves wonderful food. Veal Lemon is my favorite but there are many pasta and meat dishes, and a wide assortnment for vegetarians, too. You can park in the back.
It's a little pricy, but like I said, the food is magnificent.
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BIG TUNA
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13137 S. LaGrange Road, Tinley Park
(708) 671-1716
Reviewed: OCT 7, 2009
They advertise on their sign all-you-can-eat sushi for only $20 for lunch (starting at 11:30, and you'd better get there early to grab a seat) and $25.99 for all-you-can-eat dinner. It's great. Although I think the Japanese are sometimes shocked at how much Americans can eat. Big Tuna Restaurant has a rule that if you don't finish all the sushi on your plate, and leave "four sushi roll cuts" or more, you have to pay for the sushi roll. "No waste food!"
So I ordered my first two, then three ... prompting the waiter to tell me if I don't eat it all, I will pay. Oh yea? So I ate them down and ordered two more rolls. Seven rolls of sushi for $20 wasn't bad. But I imagined if I went on to keep eating "all-you-can-eat" means "all-you-can-eat," they would turn on the spotlights and start yelling in Japanese ... "Whale at the East bar counter" with sirens at full blast.
All-you-can-eat means all-you-can-eat. And without the hassles or the pressure.
It was a great meal, except for the pressure. The looks on the waiter's face. You going to ordewr again? Yea. All-you-can-eat.
Unfortunately for Big Tuna, I had just ended by all protein diet and was dying for rice.
The all-you-can-eat option is only served in the limited seating area around the front bar, 16 stools, eight on each side of the two-sided bar. But the sushi chefs make the rolls right in front of you. You also get miso soup and a salad. I ordered the seaweed salad. Yummy.
It was a great meal, if the sushi waiter would just leave me to eat and stop staring at me like, "Hey, you'd didn't really think we meant all-you-can-eat, did you? That's just for the publicity."
The problem, of course, is all-you-can-eat Ray Hanania is planning to come back there for "all-you-and-I-can-eat." This whale will gobble up loads of rolls -- I don't like the standard sushi. And when someone tells me all you can eat and then seems to hover over me watching to measure how much I am eating, well, I am going to eat more than I can eat.
But I have to say, the menu was great, the food tasted perfect and I left feeling like a whale, too. And for $20 plus tax, that ain't so bad in this economy. Let's see how long Big Tuna's Big selling promotion for "all you can eat" is going to last. It got me and my wallet into the door. Let's see now if the quality of the food and service can get me to stay. They have a lot to compete with. Ichiro is phenomenal and their sushi is the best! Big Tuna, though, is close. And the "all-you-can-eat" option definitely puts them over the top, as long as it is "all-you-can'eat."
Read my humor column on this experience?
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Texas Roadhouse
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18345 S. LaGrange Road, Tinley Park
(708) 444-8358
Reviewed: March 1, 2009
I've been here many times and do my best to enjoy it. The Texas Roadhouse restaurant always makes it so difficult. The place is always packed into a side room at the entrance. Okay, they have a barrel of peanuts and that's okay for the most part while you wait. The staff is friendly, though, but the food delivery is always so slow. Most of the time the food is great, but twice, now, we've gotten food that just didn't taste good at all, like the Salmon. And fish is not a dish you want to screw up.
The steaks are okay. Fatty. And pricy, too. But okay. The food service is slow although the waitresses and waiters do their best to stay on top of your needs while the kitchen slowly prepares the food. By the time it gets to you, it can be a bit cool and not as hot as you might want. The two side dishes you get with the main meals are always cool, like they came out of a waiting bin and not very fresh.
And the Cowboy music is a little much, but that's the crowd they tend to draw. I go there occasionally because i want the diversity, I guess. I'm not sure. It could be better. But then, there are other places to go to fill in the time gaps. Once every six months is okay, I guess.
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Granite City Food & Brewery
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14035 S. LaGrange Road, Orland Park
(708) 364-1212
Reviewed: Feb. 22, 2009
Every Sunday from 10 until 1, Granite CIty has a limited but great brunch for under $40 for two adults and a child. Granite City is best known for its brewery, and releases unique seasonal beers. But it has eggs that you can die for. They are best scrambled eggs I've ever had and to be honest, scrambling eggs isn't that difficult. It has nice open dining room. and a bar area with dining booths, too. But the eggs off the menu or the brunch are phenomenal. They are the best I've had in a long time. The bruch also offers an array of breakfast basics: scrambled eggs, eggs with potatoes, bacon, sausage, fruits, crescent rolls, and also a chicken and rice dish with chunky mashed potatoes and gravy. A breakfast chef also prepares eggs benedict and scrambled eggs in any fashion, plus pancakes. Adding to the food service is the staff which is very attentive, always upbeat and smart. It's an efficient and enjoyable meal.
Ample parking, best entered off of 143rd Street just east of LaGrange Road through the near-abandoned mall. Check them out on the Internet at www.GCFB.com. This is definitely a place I will check out again.
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Red Robin Gourmet hamburger
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15503 South LaGrange Road, Orland Park
(708) 873-9110
Reviewed: Jan. 24, 2009
When you get past all the piad hype in the local media, Red Robin still comes down to a very expensive hamburger. $10 is a lot of money to pay for a hamburger that carries the branding "gourmet" but that doesn't deliver.
Now, on the otherhand, it has a great atmosphere. And I love the strawberry lemonades with the free refills. The towering onion rings look cool, although the guacamole and sauce dip baskets are somewhat chintzy. We went there as a family Friday night, around 6:30 and the entrance was jam-packed with people willing to wait 35 minutes for a table.
Although I didn't particularly like the burger -- it was okay -- maybe worth $6 a sandwich -- the wait staff was so pleasant I astill left an 18 percent tip. They made up for the costs. Afterall, eating isn't everything in a restaurant, although it is the reason you're there. The employees have to be great and the one thing Red Robin in Orland Park has that I like is great employees who no matter what have a smile on their faces.
I may go back again to try something else, but if anything, I will go back to guzzle down those GREAT strawberry lemonade. Check out their online menu at http://www.redrobin.com/home/menu.aspx
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Potbelly sandwich works
SPECIAL MENTION
-- entertainment
Food: Delivery:
Setting: Price:
15825 South
La Grange Road, Orland Park
(708) 346-0395
Reviewed: July 18, 2004
Like Lincoln Park or the
downtown ambiance? This is the next-best thing. First, the food. It's
great. The sandwiches are tasty and worth the price ($3.69). Only
complaint isn't really a complaint at all if you don't know what you want:
they are too helpful and constantly ask if you want something on the
sandwich or not. Okay, petty. Not a black mark. If you are new there, it
helps. If you are a veteran it is annoying.
Setting. It's located in
probably one of the hottest locations in Orland Park, the LaGrange Road
exit of the Target Shopping mall area. Trendy, you ask surprised? Well,
this little corner -- an oasis in a sea of mediocrity and run-of-the-mill
retail choices -- has a great variety that includes Einstein Bagel and a
Starbucks. People actually go there to eat, drink and read, exactly what
you do when you get downtown to work, or live in one of those quaint
Chicago neighborhoods like Lincoln Park.
Entertainment: every Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, Potbelly features a folk singer between 12 noon and 3
PM. Free. No charge. And on Friday night, from 6 to 9 PM they showcase an
open mike for comedians, singers, poets or whomever. No charge. Free. This
place deserve extra special mention. It's hopping.
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Cafe Gaston
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14438 John
Humphrey Dr. Orland Park
(708) 403-3363
Reviewed: July 14, 2004
Paris, France. The next best
thing to being there is Cafe Gaston. It's not just any ordinary
restaurant, but a fabulous French eatery. There isn't a menu item I have
not tried or dislike. They are all wonderful. And in the French tradition,
they are served with a certain, je ne sais quoi that you don't find
elsewhere. Breakfast omelettes, excellent lunch sandwiches, and some great
dinners, too. All in a quaint, convenient restaurant. A little simple.
Plain with a French air. Italian sausage doesn't taste quite as good until
it is made by the French!
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Buca di Beppo (Orland)
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15350 S
94th Ave, Orland Park, Illinois
(708) 349-6262
Reviewed: April
4, 2004
The menu offers Southern
Italian food. The only thing I hate is it's package for "family style." I
don't mind it at weddings that need to save money, but at a restaurant? It
can be difficult to get used to. But the waitresses will offer suggestions
on the side to make up for a rigid menu. The dining room here is too
cramped. I thought Southern Italians were tall and big people. You sit
literally with your back bouncing against the person behind you on the
other table, and you often find yourself talking to strangers at the table
next to you. That can be good and bad, I guess. Still, the food was good.
The restaurant is situated on 94th Avenue (two blocks East of LaGrange
Road) and may not be that easy for some to find since it is not a main
road, but really a "service drive" for the Orland Park mall further north.
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G-in
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Setting: Price:
7140 W.
183rd St., Tinley Park, Illinois
708-342-1652
Reviewed: April
17, 2004
Don't let the spartan
interior of the dining room discourage you. The food here has real punch
and presentation. I ordered seven different rolls that came on a black
slate tray, well laid out and designed for eye appeal as well as taste.
Alison ordered a special which came on the traditional wood serving tray.
We also ordered the seaweed salad and ginsu soup. Excellent. The salad was
especially good. Crisp and cold, unlike some places that serve it "soft."
Best of all, the entire dinner cost under $75 (for the massive order we
put in.) This is definitely one of the new hot spots in the Southwest
Suburbs. The dining room and carry-out offers so great Japanese food
selections and dinners. www.G-in-sushi.com
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Kung Po House
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6064 W.
159th Street, Oak Forest, Illinois
708-687-4681
Reviewed: Dec. 8,
2003
Very efficient and delicious
food servings. Economical and good tasting. It just opened. The dining
area is very efficient. Not enticing to eat at. But a nice waiting area as
the food is cooked to order. The pace is slow -- it's new so the hustle
and bustle is down low. But the costs are very competitive and attractive.
Best in the area when it comes to oriental foods. I loved this place. The
beef fried rice is perfect. Definitely a place to stop off at on the way
home from work to put in a compulsive buy. When that bug for Chinese food
hits, this is the place to go. The service is very fast. The food is well
cooked, thorough and tasty. No disappointments so far. Top notch.
Portillo's Hot Dogs
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15900 S.
Harlem Ave, Tinley Park, Illinois
708-444-1000
Reviewed: Dec. 20,
2003
The ribs are great! But the
service is not only difficult, it is confusing and disrespectful. It seems
that Portillo's has an arrogance they don't share. They know they have
great food and figure that it's your problem to get it, regardless of the
hurdles in service. The menu is so large it's confusing. Those who go
there often, probably have a handle on the top five orders they enjoy and
that's it. Occasional visitors will find it confusing, difficult and
disappointing. By the time you get the food, you'll be exasperated or the
glow will be gone. When I go out to eat, I not only want good food, I want
a good experience. They rush you through the order process. The
behind-the-counter setting is filled with so many people that rustle and
bustle will have you double checking your call number repeatedly just to
make sure you are not going insane. They push you through the order
process, you don't have a chance to really appreciate the depth of the
menu, or even consider whether or not the full slab dinner is more
economical than the full slab by itself. A side order ala carte, or
together as a package. You don't have time to review, so get moving
customer and pay. Pay! Pay! Pay! Move! Move! Move! Move! And then you
huddle like cows at a counter that is organized and efficient for the
restaurant, but very confusing for the customer. Why so many places to
order different food types. Want a salad and a slab of ribs, order from
two different places. And there is one thing you will see often if you
by-pass the drive-through and enter the restaurant planning to eat in. The
order errors are numerous and frequent. People are either always missing
something or they got something they didn't order. The errors are the
result of the confusion at the order line, but are not discovered until
many minutes later when the orders are "filled."
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Fuji Japanese
Steak House
Food: Delivery:
Setting: Price:
15132 S.
LaGrange Road, Orland Park, IL 60462
708-403-1580
Reviewed: Nov. 1,
2003
Small store front restaurant
packs a lot of grill-set tables where guests dine around the grill that
the Japanese chef prepares and cooks the food. This concept replicates
Beni Hana Restaurants which were so popular in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Like its mentor, Fuji Japanese Steak House prices are high. It's not an
inexpensive place to eat. But the food servings are very good. The waiting
room is a small front entrance bar with hardly any room for more than a
few groups to wait their turn to be seated. the tables mix several
couples, 8 at each table setting, so you have no idea whom you will be
eating with. But the chefs offer the same kind of razzle dazzle
showmanship. Knives bouncing and clanking. Eggs flipped, opened and
grilled without mixing the shell into the food. I'm always worried the
chef will mix up my food and I won't get the order I asked for. I always
order the surf and turf (lobster and steak) with vegetables and an
appetizer and soup. Excellent food. Confined, crowded setting. Very
pricey.
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Miroballi Pizza
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15911 S.
76th Ave, Tinley Park
708-532-7600
Reviewed: Oct. 20,
2003
Pizza is very popular and
abundant, but very few pizza parlors offer real quality pizza. Miroballi
is an exception that provides one of the best pizzas in the region. The
best is its deep dish and the cheese is excellent. Always hot when
delivered and they cover the entire area of Tinley Park and Orland Park,
too. Fast delivery. Very affordable. You can depend on Miroballi for the
best pizza.
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Chipotle
Food: Service:
Setting: Price:
15240
S. LaGrange Rd, Orland Park, IL 60462
708-403-3258 (phone), 708-403-3386 (fax)
Go Online: Get a fax order form
Reviewed: March 1,
2003
This fast food service, sit
down restaurant has great food. But, it's a plain, interior efficiency
dining room is nothing to brag about. They prepare and slop the food down
as fast as they push you to order. Don't stand in line and get trampled.
As you walk in, you'll find a menu on the wall near the entrance. Read it
first and then walk up to the counter to order. Or else, the people behind
you will mow you down. Yet, the cost was under $17 for two people. The
food is always fresh, tasty and well prepared. Cost is not bad. But, they
charge you for the chips and salsa dip. Booo! It's the best part of going
to a Mexican restaurant.
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Ichiro Sushi
Food: Service:
Setting: Price:
15866 S.
LaGrange Road, Orland Park
708-364-1234
Reviewed: Feb. 15,
2003
It's about time the
Southwest Suburbs get a great sushi house. We have enough bars and grills
to feed a famine. But this offering is a jewel. No longer do we have to
drive to Westchester or Oak Park or the North Side to enjoy class Sushi.
The menu and food are as good or better than any other Sushi restaurant.
The service is equally as great and only makes the food offerings that
much better. It's hidden in the Lakeview
Plaza and can't be seen from LaGrange Road. It faces west in the out-lot.
Tight seating, so a reservation might be wise. Enjoy it! Great price, too,
compared to other sushi bars. Two people, one Deluxe, five rolls including
one large 10-piece roll, and two seaweed salads, $52.
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