Jury's

Jury's Food & Drink
4337 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: North Center
Jury's website
We ventured to Jury's last week with our friends Brad and Lindsey in search of a delicious burger. Jury's has been awarded with several "Chicago Best of.." awards and lists, so we knew we were in for a treat. It was even listed as one of the top 10 hamburgers in the world according to National Geographic.


We sat in a cozy enclosed patio area in back of the restaurant. Jenn ordered the veggie burger and I got "The Judge", a 1/2 pound burger topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, sliced avocado and the usual trimmings of raw onion, roma tomatoes and romaine lettuce. I honestly thought I might have trouble downing a half pounder, but when a burger is this good, it's easier than expected. The burgers are cooked to order and all toppings were fresh. I don't think I've ever had an avocado on a burger before, but it has quickly become one of my new favorite toppings. Jenn's veggie burger was very good, but not great. She's had better she said. In addition to the burgers, we recommend Jury's onion rings, which are HUGE and fried to perfection.

The Judge

Veggie Burger (half eaten)

In all, our meal was about $20 total (sans drinks). Not bad for some above average burgers and some pretty amazing onion rings. While our burgers were delicious, I'm not sure we would agree with National Geographic that they are one of the 10 best in the world. But still worth checking out! We give Jury's an 8.5 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.5
Value: 8.0
Atmosphere: 8.8
Customer Service: 8.7
Overall: 8.5

Coobah

Coobah
3423 N. Southport Ave.
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Coobah's website

We walked past this lively Latino restaurant on Saturday afternoon and noticed that they served brunch til 2:00 p.m., so we decided to stop by. Coobah is known for its "Latino fusion" take on brunch and dinner and serves everything from breakfast burritos to fried calamari.


We stepped inside and it was a bit too loud and dark for us, so we decided to sit outside and enjoy the perfect late summer weather. The brunch menu contains traditional breakfast dishes with a unique twist. I got the french toast, which was topped with powdered sugar, strawberry compote and whipped cream and was served with delicious cinnamon butter. The french toast was good but what made it great was the cinnamon butter. Jenn got something called the strata grande: a layered egg dish similar to a frittata or quiche and consisting of layers of eggs, roasted potatoes, vegetables, french bread and chiuahua cheese. The dish is then topped with a tomato sauce and served with pita bread. The dish was excellent but probably would have been better without the tomato sauce.

French Toast

Strata Grande

Coobah also offers many exotic alcoholic fruity drinks and is also known for their mojitos and sangria. The service was friendly and fast and the bill was only about $20 (sans drinks) total. We were more than pleased with our brunch and will probably come back again. We give Coobah an 8.5 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.9
Value: 8.0
Atmosphere: 8.6
Customer Service: 8.6
Overall: 8.5

Spoon Thai

Spoon Thai
4608 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: North Center
Spoon Thai's website
Spoon Thai is one of the 5 or 6 Thai restaurants along a 2-3 block stretch on Western Avenue and along with Opart Thai, it may be one of the best.


The interior is similar to Opart, with an emphasis on wooden surfaces, although it is less spacious. I ordered the necessary crab rangoon, and although very tasty, they were much smaller than typical crab rangoon. For entrees, I ordered the ginger chicken. The vegetables were large and fresh and the chicken was tender. It was pretty good, but the ginger flavor was a little weak. Jenn got the pad thai. Again, all ingredients were fresh and the portions were large for the price of about $7 per dish. They also have a weekday lunch special with $4.95 dishes.

Ginger Chicken

Pad Thai

Spoon Thai offers delicious Thai cuisine at a very reasonable price. We liked Opart Thai slightly better than this place, but it was still very tasty, authentic Thai food. We give Spoon Thai an 8.6 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.7
Value: 8.9
Atmosphere: 8.3
Customer Service: 8.5
Overall: 8.6

Bleeding Heart Bakery

Bleeding Heart Bakery
1955 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL
Neighborhood: Roscoe Village
Bleeding Heart website
We were craving cupcakes the other day, so we decided to check out Bleeding Heart Bakery, a bakery in Roscoe Village known for its organic and sometimes vegan creations.


This place gets points not only for being organic, but also for being unique. Among their unique cupcake creations are the Elvis (banana cake with candied bacon and chocolate frosting), a caramel apple cupcake consisting of butter poached apple flavored cake with caramel frosting and a spiced pear cupcake with ginger frosting. We wanted to try all of these, but unfortunately organic does not mean fat free, and we each ended up getting a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.


These were quite good. The frosting was amazing. It was creamy and sweet, but not overwhelmingly heavy. Our only complaint was that the cake was a little dry. Perhaps the cupcakes we had were a day or two old. Despite this, the cupcakes were still delicious and we will certainly be coming back to try some of the more unique flavors. They also change their menu from month to month, which is further incentive to come back. We give Bleeding Heart Bakery an 8.3 out of 10.
Quality of Food: 8.3
Value: 7.9
Atmosphere: 8.5
Customer Service: 8.8
Overall: 8.3