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