I woke up one morning, craving enchiladas. I can’t explain how these things happen to me, except that they do sometimes. While still horizontally ensconced in Frette, I did a bit of thumbing around on the old iPhone until Flo popped up. Good reviews, good enchiladas, and easily accessible by Divvy Bike, my newest infatuation.

I showed up to Flo by myself and took a seat at the bar. I wasn’t the only one, alone at the bar, placing my order. That gave me instant confidence in this “New Mexico” restaurant. Normally, in this part of town, I don’t run into that many solo diners. Especially this early in the morning. But I was one of at least three.

The enchiladas arrived. They were simple and perfect. And at $9, also a pretty good value. By the time I left, the line for Flo was out the door. Hipsters, families, and tables for one.

The Verdict: I can only speak for Sunday brunch — which I’ve done here now three Sundays in a row —  but you should go. Get the enchiladas.

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No one mentioned the heavy metal.

I am not a heavy metal fan. If anyone had told me that The Lockdown was all about the heavy metal, I never would have eaten here.

Do you know how hard it is to listen to excruciatingly loud, ANGRY heavy metal and eat a huge juicy burger at the same time?

I took home three-quarters of my burger — “The Punk Bitch” with garlic mustard, gruyere, and proscuitto, — and 7/8ths of my caesar salad. I ate them at home in the quiet comfort of my living room. With some Satie playing.

Everything was very good, particularly the garlicky caesar. But I won’t be going back for more.

The Verdict: LOUD, even with no patrons.

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After my Big Shoulders experience the other day, I decided to check out the source of all Unicorn Blood — I mean Dark Matter Coffee — and try out the Star Lounge.

It’s an interesting space…it must have been a real bar at some point, but now it’s a coffee bar full of kids with Mac Book Airs mooching off the free wifi. This furthers my notion that what Chicago really needs is an Internet pub. A true pub with beer, but with lots of outlets and super fast wifi too. Anyone want to go in on this one with me?

The guy next to me was doing Bayesian equations. I was just drinking a cappuccino, staring off into space.

It was a good cappuccino. $4.25 worth of cappuccino  Dark Matter is a fruity blend. Based on my limited experience, I currently like Big Shoulders better, but this will be determined by a repeat visit to Big Shoulders in, oh, about 15 minutes.

The Verdict: Good stuff.  A little hot inside and the staff is a bit distant and slow. But an interesting experience nonetheless.

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I particularly like the vibe at Big Shoulders. It’s all clean and neat and white, and they’ve got a big TV showing approaching train and bus times, which is awesome. You should go here. Take the bus!

P.S. I took this photo with my iPhone 5. It’s so awesome. I love it so much.

The post Great Coffee first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

I live by this little taco stand. I used to walk by it and think it looked a little sketchy. But then one day when the taco cravings hit, I went in. And I had the tacos al pastor and they were so gosh darn wonderful that I think I ate them three times that week. I like the staff. I like the service. I like that they give you a real hunk of lime and not just a little sliver and that they use corn tortillas, not flour. The interior decor — what there is of it given that there are really only about eight stools — could use a lot of work, but lately, they’ve spruced up the outside, so that’s nice. Oh, and did I mention that, besides for being super delicious, Taqueria Traspasada is also super, super cheap?

The Verdict: You should go here. Like really.

The Question: Where are you favorite tacos?

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I was lucky today. I had an errand to run and the shopkeeper told me to come back in 30 minutes. So I went in search of tacos to kill some time. I thought for sure I’d find tacos somewhere.

But instead I found Chickpea, just west of Damen on Chicago Ave. So I paid $4 (!!!) and had the best falafel I’ve had since Hoxton Beach on Whitecross Street in London. And that’s saying a lot because Hoxton Beach is sort of awesome.

The vibe at Chickpea was pretty great too. All old action movie posters, in Arabic. And cool dangly lights. I liked it. I think you will too.

The Verdict: Go!

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For someone who was gone for a while, this is casual American bar food, but grown-up. Venison chili, DUCK TACOS, pulled boar sandwiches, rabbit and dumplings, and DID I MENTION THE DUCK TACOS? And the oyster menu? And how on Tuesdays, they do $2 half pints?? The beer menu is pretty awesome as well.

Now if only they had free wifi. That would be awesome. But a minor quibble, that.

Here’s another example of how awesome they are:

They’re open for lunch now, during the week (except Mondays) but word doesn’t seem to have gotten out yet because it’s Friday as I sit here and write this and it’s pretty quiet. But that’s a welcome change from the craziness of Big Star.

My lead photo? That’s my lunch today. An Ahi tuna sandwich with crispy tobasco shallots, sprouts, WASABI GINGER MAYO, and rosemary fries. (!!!) Pretty great, for a casual Friday lunch. Excellent, actually.

Life is good.

The post I Love My Local first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Not a bad lunch if I do say so myself. And quite a steal at $8 for the set-menu. You should visit Yuzu. And soon.

The post Yuzu, West Town first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

The post Being Mayorly… first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Skyline during Crazy Storm Day

Under the Tracks at North & Halsted

New Noble Square Art

Somewhere on Chicago Avenue

Along Ashland. A Variation.

At Ashland & Chicago

Love These Signs

Ropa para Caballeros

He Still Loves Her (Above)

Low-voltage

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Date of Last Visit: Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Victim: Joe aka Chicago Food Snob

The Damage: $20 each

The Breakfast: I am a bad American. I’ve never been much one for big American-style breakfasts and brunches. Waffles and pancakes and all that. If given the choice, I would happily have Chinese food for breakfast every morning. Or roast chicken. This is why the UK suited me so well. Sunday roasts!

But when fellow Chicago food blogger Chicago Food Snob suggested we meet up for brunch at Jam, I of course said yes because firstly, he is Chicago Food Snob and secondly, Food & Wine magazine voted Jam’s Malted Custard French Toast as one of their best dishes of 2010.

I did not order the French toast because it sounded a bit too dessert-y for my liking. (I was catching up on No Reservations on my flight back from London yesterday and was glad to hear Tony B announce that he too is not a huge dessert fan and is more a savory person. See I’m not crazy.) Instead, I opted for the Spanish Omelet, with chorizo, roasted peppers, melted onions, garrotxa Cheese, and fingerling potatoes. For $1 extra, I added white anchovies.

It was a pretty little omelet of manageable size. The chorizo was excellent; my only wish would be for larger chunks, as the chorizo was diced up quite small.

All-in-all, this was very well done.  A very good breakfast indeed. One complaint would be that they don’t put salt and pepper on the tables and I would have liked some salt for both the potatoes and the omelet. Then again, I probably could have asked our server and I didn’t. Lazy beans.

Service: Antipodean (we don’t get many around these parts) and quite nice.

The Verdict: Nice.

The post Jam, West Town first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit:  Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Victim: Liz of Elizabites

The Damage: About $40 each

The Background: I love Liz’ blog, Elizabites. Her posts are simple and straightforward, and there’s always a contest or two thrown in for good measure. She doesn’t always write about the food…it might be the decor or a sign or something on the table or a product-find. each post is its own little nugget. There’s no messing around.

Liz is much the same herself and we had a very enjoyable dinner at Leopold in West Town talking all things food. (Seriously, have you seen that Wendy’s is hocking sea salt fries?)

We split the mixed green salad, which was accompanied by gouda croquettes. The croquettes were cold and hard. They could have been so much better. The salad dressing was nice though.

The home-made pierogi of cheese and onion were a bit on the stodgy side and had maybe a tad too much butter, but that didn’t stop us from finishing them.

Best was the cassoulet. Confit rabbit, braised pork belly, and German bratwurst. This was a ridiculously huge portion for one; I would highly recommend splitting it. But be ready to fight over all the juicy bits of meat in here. I really enjoyed this dish and finished my leftovers for breakfast the next day.

The Service: Quirky but attentive. “Working on his poetry,” and all that.

The Verdict: Enjoyable company and good food overall. I’d definitely go back for the cassoulet.

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