Macho delicacies in Little Village

CenterStageChicago.net

You too can be a ranchero eating macho delicacies to prove your manhood. La Casa de Samuel in Little Village serves grilled alligator, rabbit, wild boar, rattle snake — even bull’s testicles. This food will make you want to jump into the saddle on display in the restaurant, and ride (but please, don’t take your guns to town). Or bring a friend here, ask for the menu en español, order for them, and don’t tell them until afterwards that they’ve eaten a bull’s cojones.

Samuel Linares, himself, owns a ranch in the Mexican state of Guerrero, and he loves to hunt. The delicacies here don’t strike him as unique. But if they’re a little ambitious for your taste, go with the more traditional south-of-the-border fare: a fajita, a steak or the killer huevos rancheros, served with fresh, locally made tortillas. The prices here won’t make you reach for the hilt: The traditional Mexican items run $8-$15, whereas you’ll cough up $25 for the grilled rattlesnake. La Casa de Samuel stocks a full bar, but nevertheless offers a family-friendly ambience. The colorful paintings of Mexico on the wall, and the Sun God in the corner, will calm that shooting hand of yours.


3116 Club

This new club next to the Green Line in Garfield Park looks grungy, and sketchy, from the outside, but warm and accommodating once you get inside the 4,500-square-foot space, adorned with local graffiti, a stage on one end and a lounge on the other. 3116 Club opened in late April and hosts shows on most Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with the occasional benefit concert on a Monday night. You’ll catch bands including “The Orphan Age,” “Jehovah Mustache,” “Charlie Don’t Shake” and “Raise High the Roof Beam”.

3116 doesn’t serve alcohol, but you can bring a six-pack or a fifth of Jameson with you and buy mixers inside. There’s free parking — bike parking too, and the El stop is just steps away. The club’s goal is to showcase local artists, right down to the graffiti artists. Dress code? Just wear shoes. Cover charges range from $5-$25, and 3116 has been a hit thanks to word of mouth. The grand opening show was sold out even though it was pouring rain on a Monday night.


Jay’s on Taylor

After 30 years on Rush Street, Chicago restaurateur Jay Emerich has moved into this cozy lounge and restaurant in the heart of Little Italy. He lives next door, so to him, Jay’s on Taylor feels like a mom and pop joint. Sit at the bar in the front room with a glass of Vermouth, and you’ll likely meet Jay, sauntering around in stylish black with a gold chain around his neck. A younger version of him appears in a painting behind the bar, lighting up an Ashton cigar, and the framed photos adorning the walls are all of Jay and his famous pals: Frank Sinatra, Harry Caray, Ryne Sandberg.

If you actually came here to eat, head to the back room and the white tablecloths, and prepare for a plate of pasta the size of your head. Jay’s a meatball and salad guy, himself. The thin-crust pizza is popular as well, and Jay’s will deliver it within the neighborhood. He claims that the locals helped him craft the menu. Create your own pie with a long list of fresh ingredients, both meaty and fresh. Almost everything on the menu is between $8-$15, to the liking of local college students, though steak and seafood dishes cost a bit more.


Spectrum Bar & Grill

Does drinking in Greek Town until the wee hours make you hungry? Then head to the Spectrum Bar for live blues on Saturdays, no cover charge, and downright cheap munchies during the week. Spectrum serves $1 tacos on Mondays, $1 cheeseburgers on Tuesdays, 20-cent buffalo wings on Wednesdays, and Greece’s famous souvlaki shish-ka-bob sticks for $1.50 on Thursdays. The kitchen closes at 3, but stay and drink until 4, or the bewitching hour of 5 on Sunday mornings.

Partying college kids love this place. So do sports fans. Spectrum boasts five TV monitors broadcasting the big game(s) from a satellite feed, and bar games including darts and Golden Tee golf. So once you tire of the Zorba soundtrack and waiters burning cheese to chants of “Opa” at Greek Town’s classier restaurants, cross the street to Spectrum, where you’ll find AC/DC on the jukebox and, more than likely, a Bulls or Blackhawks game on TV.


Market on Randolph

Professional hockey and baseball players may not all be beautiful, but they and their paychecks can certainly hang with a sultry crowd. Market on Randolph, a snazzy new restaurant and lounge with an outdoor patio, is partly owned by White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams, and the place is popular with Chicago sports stars (some live down the street) — as well as sexy clientele sporting mascara, pearl necklaces, silicone cleavage and pressed suits.

The restaurant’s fancy drinks, with names like Darryl Strawberry, Voodoo Child and Market Mojito, are popular with the hotties at the bar. If you’ve come to watch sports on the five flat-screen TVs behind the bar, and five more on the patio, order the dozen Buffalo wings that come in a platter with elevated cups of spicy buffalo sauce and blue-cheese sauce on either side — like basketball hoops. Other favorites on the appetizer list include the Mac & Cheese Muffins and the Popcorn Shrimp. Considering the upscale crowd, Market’s entrée plates, burgers, and M.V.P’s (Most Valuable Pizzas) — try the Chicken Vesuvio with sautéed chicken and spinach — are reasonably priced. Manager Dan Schwab says that Market wants to go against the grain and cater to several crowds, upscale and mid-range.


The Ledge Bar & Grill

The upscale Wicker Park restaurant Parlor has given way to The Ledge Bar & Grill. Don’t let the marble countertops and mosaic tiles on the wall here fool you. This venue is more about drinking and partying than it is about fine dining. The Ledge holds court until the wee hours, and the easy-on-the-eyes waitresses will seduce you with a list of spirits and cocktails.

But if drinking beckons your appetite, sink your teeth into the Ledge Burger, a patty of ground lamb, Muenster cheese and a fried egg on top, for $10.95. The Ledge sports flat-screen televisions above the bar, limited outdoor patio seating and all the cuisine you’d expect at a tavern: burgers, BLTs, chicken sandwiches, salads and appetizers including chicken wings, fries, chicken tenders, a hummus platter and “ledge bites” of deep-fried chicken, bacon and cheddar, topped with a variety of sauces. Fit in your yoga session before you come here, because you won’t feel like it afterwards.


Las Fuentes

Invite your entire family, your softball team and all your work buddies to the outdoor patio at Las Fuentes, and there will still be room for 200 new friends. The painting of a traditional arch and cobblestone street on the back wall will transport you into a colonial Mexican town (ignore the errant telephone poll leaning over the garden wall). Drink a Las Fuentes Margarita with 100 percent Blue Agave tequila ($9) and you won’t want to leave the daydream. House Margaritas of various tropical flavors are also available for $5 per 12-ounce glass, $15 for half a pitcher or $25 for the whole deal.

The Albarran family from Guerrero has served delicious pan-Mexican cuisine at this tasty restaurant near DePaul University since 1980. It’s authentic; the salsa is fresh and garden-like, not Tex-Mex spicy; the Mole will encourage you to expand your spice rack; and the energy here is cien por ciento Latino. Admire the traditional Aztec plates and flowerpots along the patio walls and let the Christmas lights put you in a Holiday mood. Students, this is a great place to bring your parents. Cubs fans, a suitable spot to drown your sorrows. Private parties are held in the Pachanga Club, and the fiesta moves inside to the bar with hip-swaying music in the evening. Come on Saturdays for mariachi music. End your night with flan or cake of the day ($6 or $7), and, as always, order another Margarita.


Smash Cake

Smash Cake is a kids’ paradise. The walls at this new Lincoln Park café are painted with flowers and funky prints of squirrels, ducks wearing baker hats and relief pitchers with crazy moustaches. Buckets of toys and slinkies await just inside the door. Better yet, the long wooden tables are just high enough for children, and the spools of paper towel at one end are all the encouragement they’ll need to draw and make a colorful mess.

Smash Cake is owned by the people who brought you Bleeding Heart Bakery and features the same baked goods to go with java drinks by Metropolis Coffee. Try the smashed cake balls — because kid food is encouraged here. Smash Cake will host occasional reading hours for children, and your elementary school can rent the entire café on weekends. This spot is ideal for a young one’s birthday party. Let them decorate cupcakes or shortbread cookies … let them have their cake and eat it too!


Oh Fusion

Ed grew tired of overfeeding his buffet customers at the Katachi sushi joint, so he eliminated the buffet, renamed the place, and expanded the menu to include a fusion of Japanese and Euro-American items such as calamari, bacon sticks, garlic bread, clam chowder, risotto and pork chops. Oh Fusion offers a strange marriage of Western gluttony with healthy fish from the land of the rising sun — all with a sleek, cozy black and white décor and soft electronic music.

Still, the sushi prices are phenomenal. Five pieces of crab, mackerel, tuna, red snapper, squid or octopus sashimi are yours for $5 or less. Combinations range from $5 for 9 pieces to $19 for 24 pieces. And the sushi bar offers a variety of chef’s choice entrees for only $10 each. Oh Fusion offers a net-full of deals: free crab or gyoza, veggie roll or edameme, seaweed salad or cucumber salad, or miso soup with any order over $15. The restaurant is open late and happy to deliver if you have a late-night craving but don’t fee like venturing out on the town.


Felony Frank’s

Ever wanted to set foot in Cook County Jail and then leave again, with all your faculties intact and without doing any hard time? Well, at least now you can eat like a convict at Felony Frank’s, a takeout food joint opening in May on the near west side.

Your menu in the slammer includes such creative delicacies as Burglar Beef, Bail Bond BBQ, Subpoena Sausage, Lawbreaker Meatball Sandwich and Fraudulent Fish Sandwich. Smile at the warden, and he might loosen your handcuffs long enough for you to gobble down a Felony Frank, Misdemeanor Weiner, Cell Mate Dog or Chain Gang Chili Dog. Need more alliteration from inside the joint? Add Convicted Cheese Fries, Handcuff Tamale or the Mistrial Fried Mushrooms.

On second thought, the food in jail probably isn’t this creative. Best to enjoy Felony Frank’s and stay on the right side of the law.