Chi-Town Grill: My Kinda Food

Mrs. Voice and I recently had the pleasure of eating lunch at the new Chi-Town Grill, located next door to Starbucks in Geneva Commons. Upon entering the restaurant, one could easily be mistaken thinking that the Chi-Town Grill is a standard, run-of-the-mill hot dog joint. There are a half-dozen or so two-seater tables and plenty of Chicago-centric artwork and photos on the walls. And, after all, it is named for the city that invented the greatest portable meal the world has ever known: the Chicago-style hot dog (all-beef hot dog, tomato wedge, diced onions, pickle relish, sport peppers, mustard (no ketchup for pete's sake!), dill pickle spear, dusting of celery salt).

Don't get me wrong, the Chicago-style dog is on the menu. But it's the other items and ingredients that make the Chi-Town a bit special. In addition to some interesting takes on the "Dawgs" (including one featuring a cream cheese sauce called the Geneva), they offer several renditions of "Da Burger", all named for famous Chicago comedians. There's the Belushi (BBQ sauce and jalepenos), the Murray (steak sauce and fried onions), and the Bernie Mac (chili and red onion). For this excursion, we sampled the Newhart (guacamole) with cheddar and a bag of skin-on fries. The burger was hot, juicy, and cooked to perfection. It made me wonder why I don't have guacamole on every burger I eat. And the fries are a must, especially with a cool side of ketchup fresh from the fridge.

Another difference between a typical hot dog joint and the Chi-Town Grill was the availability of a bunch of healthy tortilla wraps on the menu. The Lake Michigan (tuna salad), Turkey Mango (turkey and, um, mango), and Grant Park (veggie) wraps are there for the taking if you feel you've had too many Newharts lately. We chose a wrap called the O'Leary's Chicken Salad (homemade chicken salad, dried cranberries, chipped walnuts, spring mix, tomato and honey mustard). Going from the burger to the wrap was a bit of a shock, but a pleasant one. The ingredients were crisp and flavorful, and the serving size was satisfying.

The menu is rounded out with various soups, salads, and some sandwich favorites, including Italian beef, meatball, and several deli-style samiches.

A final note on the staff. A very friendly and helpful guy named Nick was running the counter. When we told him it was our first visit, he patiently took us through the menu pointing out his favorites. Several other members of the staff visited us, bringing our food out and then clearing the table after we were finished. Overall our experience was enjoyable and recommended. Stop in to the Chi-Town Grill and say hey to Nick and the rest of the gang.

And tell 'em you heard it from The Voice!