LTH Home

Prairie Joe's in Evanston

Prairie Joe's in Evanston
  • Forum HomePost Reply BackTop
  • Prairie Joe's in Evanston

    Post #1 - March 14th, 2005, 10:48 pm
    Post #1 - March 14th, 2005, 10:48 pm Post #1 - March 14th, 2005, 10:48 pm
    Hi,

    I've been to Prairie Joe's on three occasions with George R whose business is in the area. I've enjoyed each of my two lunches there, though I wasn't too dazzled by a very early breakfast.

    During my first lunch, I had a falafil sandwich. Unlike most falafil sandwiches, where they pack in the falafil and some lettuce, then squirt the thinned tahini on top. Prairie Joe's approach is to mix the tahini with the lettuce like a salad, then layer the falafil and the dressed lettuce. It's a small yet distinctive approach, which I liked very much especially since I like the taste and texture of tahini evenly distributed.

    George needed to be at work early and suggested meeting for breakfast. It's funny we live just over a mile apart. Where do we meet for breakfast? Evanston! I had the Southern, which is two eggs, ham, grits and half order of biscuits and gravy. The eggs and ham were fine. The grits were dry and had a feel of being yesterday's leftovers warmed up rather than fresh. I may be mistaken on that, it can be the cook prefers a drier grits when I am accustomed to something creamier. The biscuit was fine as a platter to sausage gravy, though I was lukewarm on the gravy itself. So breakfast, at least relative to my choices, was not a strong suit.

    Last week those who are in Evanston on the second Thursday of the month, check Events during the week before, had lunch together at Prairie Joes. Just a glance at the specials, I knew instantly I wanted their Creamed Chicken on Biscuits, a comfort food classic. This was two split biscuits and a mound of fresh mashed potatoes spread with a thick coat of creamed chicken. The cream sauce was not straight from a tin or made from a mix, this was butter, flour, milk and seasonings properly whisked together for a medium thick sauce. My only quibble was the chicken was in shreds rather than meaty chunks. However, everything tasted so fresh I could eat and enjoy hardly caring how the chicken appeared.

    Prairie Joe's certainly suits my pleasure for an occasional lunch. Once lunch is over, then stroll a bit west to visit the Spice House and an interesting map store nearby (I know the owners of both shops).

    Prairie Joes
    1921 Central Street
    Evanston, IL 60201
    http://www.prairiejoes.com
    847-491-0391
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #2 - May 8th, 2008, 7:46 pm
    Post #2 - May 8th, 2008, 7:46 pm Post #2 - May 8th, 2008, 7:46 pm
    Prairie Joe's on Central Street has a larger selection of different nationality's food than any place I can think of. American, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Italian...It's good diner fare...with really good soda drinks, malteds, phosphates and berry pies for dessert.

    Their falafel is good. Their meatloaf and mashed potatoes are good. So are the nachos. And it's *very* reasonably priced.

    Nice kitsch decor with naif paintings by the owner (all for sale) and plasticized collage menus.

    Prairie Joe's
    1921 Central St.
    Evanston. IL,
    847-491-0391
  • Post #3 - May 8th, 2008, 9:07 pm
    Post #3 - May 8th, 2008, 9:07 pm Post #3 - May 8th, 2008, 9:07 pm
    I love their eggs and chorizo quesadilla breakfast. It comes with rice and beans and some of their house made salsa verde, very tasty.
  • Post #4 - May 9th, 2008, 9:59 am
    Post #4 - May 9th, 2008, 9:59 am Post #4 - May 9th, 2008, 9:59 am
    Has anyone tried the Chicken Fried Steak? I had to ask
  • Post #5 - January 5th, 2010, 3:12 pm
    Post #5 - January 5th, 2010, 3:12 pm Post #5 - January 5th, 2010, 3:12 pm
    I haven't been to Prairie Joe's in a while because that neighborhood is no longer on my regular rotation (I used to have weekly business near there) but my friend Don, who runs the Ageless Northshore web site, recently did a feature on PJ's and its owner Aydin Dincer, who is also an accomplished artist. It's an informative piece -- and video interview -- that explores the organic connections between artists and their various media. LTH's own Jazzfood (my friend, I'm happy to say) is a professional chef and musician who has spoken and written frequently about the connections between his 2 arts, which I find fascinating.

    In any event, if you're interested in these cross-platform connections, I highly recommend checking the piece out.

    Aydin Dincer & Prairie Joe's: Restaurant? Gallery? A way of life

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #6 - May 20th, 2013, 11:51 am
    Post #6 - May 20th, 2013, 11:51 am Post #6 - May 20th, 2013, 11:51 am
    We had a very enjoyable breakfast here Saturday morning. It seemed to me that they had even more of the daily handwritten specials on the menu than in the past. Frankly, I have never gotten by the specials here to order a regular diner style menu items.

    On Saturday, I had the "Mexican Eggs" which came with beef tongue, chicharones, rice, beans and two corn tortillas. The tongue was rich and beefy. I never had had it before and was glad I went for it. The chicharones were prepared in a soft stew style with gravy instead of than the crunchy preparation I am familiar with, but still enjoyable. My wife had curried eggplant with shrimp and cous cous which she enjoyed and which tasted very good and well spiced to me as leftovers on Sunday. Other specials I noticed included a Spicy Andouille with shrimp and grits and a couple of dishes incorporating lamb patties.

    Low key atmosphere with a wide variety of well prepared specials and friendly service. I always leave vowing to come back here for breakfast more often.
    "I live on good soup, not on fine words." -Moliere
  • Post #7 - September 16th, 2021, 7:29 pm
    Post #7 - September 16th, 2021, 7:29 pm Post #7 - September 16th, 2021, 7:29 pm
    Long-time Evanston restaurant to close next month. https://evanstonnow.com/long-time-evans ... ext-month/
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #8 - October 17th, 2021, 4:29 pm
    Post #8 - October 17th, 2021, 4:29 pm Post #8 - October 17th, 2021, 4:29 pm
    Has anybody been to Prairie Joe's lately since they announced they were closing? I have never been there, and I wondered if anybody here would like to go there. They close on 10/24, but they are having a farewell party 10/26-10/28, where there are serving drinks and appetizers, and selling some of their memorabilia. I wonder how the crowds are right now.
  • Post #9 - October 19th, 2021, 9:35 pm
    Post #9 - October 19th, 2021, 9:35 pm Post #9 - October 19th, 2021, 9:35 pm
    I was there a couple of weeks ago. Food was as good as ever. Crowds seemed about normal. I wouldn't be surprised if they increase as the closing date nears.

    I spoke with owner Aydin Dincer who said there would be a new restaurant in the same space. Breakfast and maybe lunch too. He said the new owner is a nice person and thought he would succeed.
    Where there’s smoke, there may be salmon.

Contact

About

Team

Advertize

Close

Chat

Articles

Guide

Events

more