I live near Libertyville, and I've grown fond of a funky little place on Milwaukee Ave. called the Green Room.

Used to be Henry Yee's Kitchen forever, so they've kept a few items, but also do a mean ramen and go eclectic with some salads, mussels, Italian piccata, and a pretty good burger.

The Green Room of Libertyville
624 Milwaukee Ave.
Libertyville, IL
(847) 362-2292

http://www.thegreenroomlibertyville.com

D'angela dumplings just opened on Milwaukee and they freshly prepare them. Haven't tried it yet but it's on my list.

Burts deli for a yummie. It's not objectively the best corned beef or pastrami, but I still love it.

A little further south in Vernon Hills, you have a new outpost of ramen house shinchan. And invicto for what turned out to be better than expected mexican food.

Also, I always enjoy shake shack for their burger and chicken sandwich

WhyBeeSea wrote:D'angela dumplings just opened on Milwaukee and they freshly prepare them. Haven't tried it yet but it's on my list.

Burts deli for a yummie. It's not objectively the best corned beef or pastrami, but I still love it.

A little further south in Vernon Hills, you have a new outpost of ramen house shinchan. And invicto for what turned out to be better than expected mexican food.

Also, I always enjoy shake shack for their burger and chicken sandwich

The LTHNLG did dumplings earlier this week. Good stuff.

It looks like Dangela’s Dumplings is open now. Has anyone tried it yet?

shorty wrote:It looks like Dangela’s Dumplings is open now. Has anyone tried it yet?

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45350

Hi,

The topic on bread near Libertyville has moved to Cooking and Shopping board:

Libertyville eats? Bread?

Regards,
Cathy2
for the moderators

Has anyone tried the deep dish at Pizza Italia in Libertyville? I keep forgetting to check it out. Dolinsky said it was one of the best around. It's a small place, but there are at least 8 tables. Try the deep dish (with buttercrust), not the pan.

Pizza Italia
218 Milwaukee Ave
Libertyville, IL
847-281-8404

I gotta be in Libertyville on Saturday and Sunday for kids' sporting events. Somewhere near 45 and Peterson. Looking for breakfast, lunch, dinner for a group of possibly 4 parents, and two kids - one the kids is a very mild wildcard (nowhere close to "picky" tho- claims he doesn't like Chinese food, but gobbles up Indian, ramen, and anything spicy.) Anything good & interesting ethnically, OR, a real solid choice for good ol' bbq or burgers. The Green Room looks interesting as hell, but skews Asian, not sure if the one kid would be fully happy with that. The Firkin looks great for better than avg burgers and sammiches, and apps. Issue is, I don't really know what time we'll be there yet, so just trying to prep with suggestions of good stuff. I already know that Pita Inn in Mundelein is only 10-15 minutes away, so that could easily be my first suggestion to make.

Lee donuts has an excellent apple fritter as well as a nice old fashioned donut in case you need some early snacks. I have not been there in a while but Milwalky taco has been very good. Firkin is a good choice with a lot of atmosphere.

-Will

Bibim Town
They were in Chicago and recently moved to be closer to home.

Bill's Pizza is the classic, and not far from Pita Inn, though I always feel it is undersalted.

Nearly across the street from Pita Inn is a Russian deli called Olef that sells various filled pastries. I bought several last weekend: meat piroshki and cabbage piroshki that were less than $2 each. They had a crisp pastry filled with lamb chunks for $3.99 (or $2.99?). A mushroom cap fill with cheese bedded in something like a bagel for $5.99 a pound. I bought one to try for less than a dollar.

I have never been, but a friend met people at Elly's of Mundelein, which is not far from Pita Inn and Olaf's.

Regards,
Cathy2

Elly's is closed for a month for remodeling.

Bibim Town was around the corner from us before they moved. I miss them.

wesuilmo wrote:Elly's is closed for a month for remodeling.

Is it any good? I have never been there.

Do you have any recommendations to offer? What about the Taste of Paris in Mundelein? I have heard good things, though never managed to go yet.

Maybe it is me, though Mundelein, Vernon Hills and Libertyville sort of blend together.

Thanks!

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:[Nearly across the street from Pita Inn is a Russian deli called Olef that sells various filled pastries. I bought several last weekend: meat piroshki and cabbage piroshki that were less than $2 each. They had a crisp pastry filled with lamb chunks for $3.99 (or $2.99?). A mushroom cap fill with cheese bedded in something like a bagel for $5.99 a pound. I bought one to try for less than a dollar.

...Olaf's.

Regards,
Cathy2

I'll split the difference and guess it's Alef Sausage Co?
I'm beelining it there if we hit Pita Inn. The website doesn't mention much of pastries, but tons of cured and smoked meats. The pastries sounds like one of those places where I just say, "4 of each, please."

I'll split the difference and guess it's Alef Sausage Co?
I'm beelining it there if we hit Pita Inn. The website doesn't mention much of pastries, but tons of cured and smoked meats. The pastries sounds like one of those places where I just say, "4 of each, please."

I've had good luck with some of their smoked fish. They also have tons of imported canned goods from Russia and eastern Europe.

Hi,

Sorry about the name, I was going by memory. Worse, I knew it began with an A.

They also sell prepared dishes to take home. A lot of frozen foods (berries, dumplings and such) and European breads are there, too.

A lot of the people behind the counter speak mostly Russian. It is often the other customers who pipe in to share information.

Regards,
Cathy2

seebee wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:[Nearly across the street from Pita Inn is a Russian deli called Olef that sells various filled pastries. I bought several last weekend: meat piroshki and cabbage piroshki that were less than $2 each. They had a crisp pastry filled with lamb chunks for $3.99 (or $2.99?). A mushroom cap fill with cheese bedded in something like a bagel for $5.99 a pound. I bought one to try for less than a dollar.

...Olaf's.

Regards,
Cathy2

I'll split the difference and guess it's Alef Sausage Co?
I'm beelining it there if we hit Pita Inn. The website doesn't mention much of pastries, but tons of cured and smoked meats. The pastries sounds like one of those places where I just say, "4 of each, please."

If you have the time = swing through Garden Fresh Market at the east end of the strip mall. Lots of goodies inside, including carryout.
400 Townline Rd.
Mundelein, IL 60060
https://www.gardenfreshmarket.com/

If you want something fast and basic, Luke's on Rt 45 is an excellent hot dog stand. Depending on where you are in Libertyville, if you want to go to Bill's skip the Diamond Lake and 45 one and go to the one by CLC instead.
+1 on Garden Fresh. Cheap bulk spices and bring a cooler for unusual frozen items.

If the adults are beer drinkers, Mickey Finn's on Milwaukee has decent bar type food. I believe it is the 3rd oldest micro-brewery in Illinois. Open for lunch and dinner.

-Will

There's really nothing a stone's throw away from that complex other than a Wendy's, but thankfully it sounds like you'll have time between games to venture out. You're actually only an 8-10 min drive from downtown Grayslake, but I don't have much knowledge there (I've been meaning to check out a hole in the wall cash only diner called Fred's, as well as Abel's Cantina which I've been told has solid Mexican at really affordable prices, and people seem to love a place called Twisted Burger).

Anyways, as far as Libertyville, I'll throw out some places to research before your tourney this weekend:

BREAKFAST there's an under the radar counter service cafe called Anam Cara in a strip mall that's only a few min down 137 if pinched for time https://www.anamcaracafe.com/menu, and a zillion sit downs around town like Wildberry, Townee Square, Liberty Restaurant, Egg Harbor, etc. Wildberry is the closest to sports complex, but always seems packed on weekends.

LUNCH in a pinch for time, the Sunset Foods just down 137 has a counter service area (customize your own sandwich/wrap) and large quiet seating area with a TV https://www.sunsetfoods.com/images/grill/Sandwich_Werks_Boards_LV.pdf. For good to great sandwiches a further drive away, you could look at Picnic Basket and/or Burt's Deli. For full sitdown in close prox, Austin's is 5 min from the sports complex and has something for everybody in your group. A bit further (downtown), I'm def a big fan of the aforementioned Mickey Finn's and Milwalky Taco too; lunch might be best since the weekend wait time for dinner could be very long.

DINNER: While I haven't been quite yet and am planning to go ASAP, as a change up from Pita Inn you could eyeball a brand new place in downtown Lville called Singh's Kitchen https://www.eatsinghskitchen.com/ which looks fantastic. It's Indian/American fusion in an upscale counter service atmosphere (I believe they'll be offering full table service in the bar area in near future). Just south of Green Room on the same (east) side of Milwaukee Ave. Prices might look a little steep at first, but I'm told the portions substantiate it. Website says 4-10pm, but they might just be open for lunch if you call to inquire.

PRO TIP: The concession stand at Canlan sports complex has a liquor license, so if any of you adults get thirsty later in the afternoon/evening, they offer maybe 8-10 beers plus spirits. Upon request, they will give you a soft drink cup to use if you prefer to stay under the radar (just from what I've heard of course haha)

I didn't read the sports location carefully enough. You don't really want to go into the Libertyville Milwaukee Av strip if you can avoid it. Mundelein or Grayslake are better choices. Hillside Restaurant on 83 might be a good lunch spot, my kid & his friends love it. For BBQ, best choice is to go north on 45 to 120 and take 120 to Big Ed's at Fountain Square. That section of 120 is mostly an expressway so it's pretty quick. Sunset is also a good choice for a quick meal and they used to have a wine bar.

Ok, some great stuff to go off of. I'm wondering if Mickey Finn's > Firkin for the whole adult drink + above avg burger/sammich/plate of food, and also for kids that might be a little bit casual (sweatpants/crocs after game.)

Sounds like I can push for Pita Inn / Alef's one day, and then Mickey Finn's the other day. Not sure if the other parents will have suggestions, but I do know that they'd appreciate something besides Portillos or Mcfood. Truth be told, I'm a tiny bit excited to try and get to that Pita Inn on Townline - it's been YEARS. Used to be a weekly "go-to" when I worked in Bannockburn.

I immediately looked for how far Big Ed's was when I heard we'd be in Libertyville, because I know we'd all be up for that, but google lead me to believe they were closed - maybe I looked at the wrong day of the week, and just assumed (like a jerk.) Big Eds is easily on the list now, too. Good lookin' out!

There's also an outpost of ramen house shinchan in Vernon Hills not too far from the portillos.

And Burts deli is on Milwaukee just north of there in Libertyville proper. But it's pretty much as far away as 2 places can be in Libertyville

I would point out that Mickey Finns and Firkin are completely different. Firkin is more upscale and nicer but not overly so. Mickey Finns is a pretty basic but large brewery. If the adults are beer drinkers I would do Mickey for sure. If more interested in cocktails, Firkin would probably be the way to go. You might want to check out the menus too, which are fairly different.

-Will

Heading to Alef's with a cooler now. The reviews are a hoot. Fully prepared to be ignored.

Cathy2 wrote:

wesuilmo wrote:Elly's is closed for a month for remodeling.

Is it any good? I have never been there.

Do you have any recommendations to offer? What about the Taste of Paris in Mundelein? I have heard good things, though never managed to go yet.

Maybe it is me, though Mundelein, Vernon Hills and Libertyville sort of blend together.

Thanks!

Regards,
Cathy2

I have been to Taste Of Paris numerous times over the (at least 15) years. It is solid, well-constructed French-tinged fare. Is it destination-worthy? Probably not. But...it is literally 5 minutes from my house, and each time we say, why do we forget about this place?

Is it LTHNLG material? Our group likes ample portions--at least I do--and portion size here is scaled back a little. Still a decent value at their price points, I think.

Alef's is an absolute treasure. The other customers translated for the super friendly counterpeople whenever we couldn't understand each other. We did just fine most of the time. Even tho some words were a challenge, the counterperson thanked me for helping her "practice English."

I basically went "kid in a candy shop" nutso and ordered a comical amount of their prepared foods, and savory stuffed breads. Also a quarter pound of Bresola and headcheese on a whim. Both were outstanding.

I've tasted a handful of their stuffed breads, and a sweet cheese blitz, and also something called "cheescake" which appears to be a small round of breaded and fried sweet cheese. Everything so far has been dee-freekin-licious.

I stopped myself from buying far more, since my better half is travelling this week. We Pita Inned for lunch, other set of parents were ecstatic. It's truly not the best ever, but for casual and generally competent+, it's way up there, in my book.

But that Alef's tho? TREASURE. I haven't tried the few heavy things yet, like the stuffed chicken, or the cabbage and pork, but I swear, every nibble of anything else has been outstanding.

I am so glad you like Alef's.

I really like your exuberance, too.

Cathy2

Pretty easy to be enthused about Alef's. The person I went with had to finish a zoom meeting in the car, so I walked in without him. He's of Eastern European descent, and was absolutely thrilled to go on this adventure with me between the kids' games. As soon as I walked in the door, I sent him a 2 word text: "Holy Shit!"

It smells like a for real deli, as soon as you open the door. Reminded me of a more Russian focused Bobak's with a smaller footprint, and virtually no American branded products. The stretch of lunchmeat deli hides the treasures around the corner of the L-Shaped layout of the prepared foods cases. There is absolute MAGIC around that corner.

What I tried:

The mushroom pastries -
Three bite rounds of bread with chopped mushroom inside, topped with cheese and browned. The filling had a hint of sweet, and I wasn't too thrilled with them.

Crispy Ground Chicken Half Moon Things -
Absolutely loved these. Think giant empanada, filled with chicken and spices. Nicely greasy when I got them home and baked them for a minute. These were hot in the store.

Buns stuffed with ground chicken -
Loved these as well. The buns they use have a hint of sweet to them. I'd say they are reminiscent of King's Hawaiian, but a hair less sweet. These had the same ground chicken as the half moon things. I really loved them.

Buns stuffed with egg/onion/rice. Same bread bun, stuffed with scrambled egg, maybe chopped/boiled. Kinda bland - the bread was better than the filling.

Pastry stuffed with ground lamb:
These were triangles, and the pastry was like a VERY good croissant, super crunchy outside, but tender inside. The lamb was gamey - caught me off guard. I'd buy a bunch of these next time, tho.

Stuffed chicken -
These are like ground chicken, seasoned, then reformed into the shape of a leg quarter, stuffed with a very sparse unidentifiable filling. I LOVED these things.

Chicken Thigh Topped with Mushroom and Cheese -
Baked, HEAVY. There was also a dotting of some kind of creamy sauce on these, which tasted like cream of mushroom soup. These were sold individually. So it was a boneless thigh on the bottom, topped with shrroms, sauce, and then cheese, then baked / browned on top. The chicken was a tad overcooked, but these were still good and homey. Heavy.

Smoked Cheese Chubs -
Little, two bite cheese chunks, no idea what type of cheese, but it was kinda simple, like a mozzarella, not highly flavored, but smokey and salty. REALLY good.

Chicken and pork polish sausage -
Freshly made and still warm, I had to get a little of both. Not overly salty, kinda plain-ish. I've never been a huge fan of polish sausage in general, but these are homemade, for sure. Mild.

Bresaola -
I limited myself to one mid priced fancy dried/cured meat substance from the deli, even though they had plenty to choose from. This was very mild, and I truly love this stuff.

White Head Cheese -
They had several diff varieties of head cheese. My dad LOVES the stuff, so I figured I might be genetically pre-disposed to as well. Kinda simple flavor, but I do like this stuff.

Have yet to try the sausage and cabbage stuff which is in a tomato looking sauce. Loose, not stuffed like a golobki.

The sweet cheese blintzes and "cheesecakes" described above are fantastic. Lightly sweet.

We also tried their "Rye Bread Soda" for the first time with our Pita Inn lunch -
Wasn't as horrific as I thought it would be. I was halfway expecting it to taste like carroway, but it was more just like a sweetened beer. Beer soda, if you will. The other guy bought a liter of Tarragon Soda to take home. It was the color of Green River. We were both just amazed at the drink section, trying to figure out what the heck everything was. I discerned that "Tarhun" meant "Tarragon," and then we saw that there were like 7 different brands of tarragon soda, and rye bread soda, so we each decided to be guinea pigs. I haven't heard back from him if the tarragon was any good.

If I ever go back, I'd try some of their smoked fish, and fried fish - looked great.

That place is a treasure. One thing I've noticed is that generally everything I'd normally expect to be a salt bomb was not too crazily oversalty for my palate.

Funny side story:
I was basically the spectacle of the hour, looking like I do, and having literally NO clue what anything was, but wanting to know what it all was, and just buying, and asking, buying and asking, with a pile sitting on the counter of my tallies. I mean, there were times when the counter person did not know the English word at ALL, but she would say "meat fill" and I would make a flying motion with my arms, like a bird, and she and everyone else would laugh, then she'd shake her head and say "no" then ask the crowd for the translation, then someone would pipe in from the crowd, after a few moments, and say "liver, it's liver." One of the other patrons who was helping translate told me to use the translator on my phone - which is what he said he does with English. I asked him if there is anything in the deli case that he likes, so I could buy it for him if he helped me for a few more minutes. He politely refused with a laugh and said, "no, this is just helping, it's no problem." But then, he thought for a few more seconds, and said, "Wait, I know - I REALLLY like Wodka!"

Everyone laughed loudly.

I'm quite positive that they will be talking about my black ass for quite some time.

TREASURE.

For next time, the “rye bread soda” is kvass, the stuffed pastry is (usually) pirozhki, the lamb triangles are samsy.