Friday, March 15, 2013

Corned Beef Hash Crawl

 -Grubbing in Chicago
Who has the Hash?

Here in Chicago, when you think of the month of March both Spring and St. Patrick's Day come to mind. We might not have a Spring season anymore but March 17th and the parades and parties that come with them will always remain. It's the official headquarters of St. Patrick's Day in the States. We have parades on both sides of town and plenty of places to drink. Instead of making people choose which one to attend, they're on back to back weekends. Last week was the Southside this week is North. In celebration we check out five places slanging homemade hash. One of my favorites to eat, these places should help you thru that hangover. If you're too lazy to move or have leftover corned beef check my recipe HERE. Ever had a corned beef hashburger? Check it out.
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Yellow Rose Cafe

Blink once and you'll miss this place on Elston just past Bryn Mawr

We used to eat at the Yellow Rose Cafe very often when I had a summer job with some lawmen. We did some work in the Portage and Jefferson Park neighborhoods and would often meet at this great nondescript place across the street from the CTA terminal garage to start the day. It's a true family owned place where most everyone is a regular. The menu features real deal home cooking and their CBH is a perfect example of that. No canned crap here where they leave it in nice size hunks so you know you're getting the goods. On top of nice sized chunks of potato in the hash mix, they make sure you don't leave hungry with a big side of hash browns to go with it along with your choice of eggs and toast too. Primo stuff.

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CBH from Yellow Rose Cafe
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Cafe Selmarie

Over in Lincoln Square you'll find a real nice upscale and classy type of hash. Cafe Selmarie is a popular stop for brunch in this neighborhood that embraces it's breakfast places, especially on the weekends. I stopped in here unknowingly and ended up getting their CBH. An excellent choice it was. They pull the corned beef here and pick it apart into shreds of nice bite sized pieces. They top a decent sized portion made mostly of meat with two perfectly poached eggs. Top notch stuff.

CBH from Cafe Selmarie
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George's Family Restaurant

For our next installment we have a special guest who gave me (and everyone else) the rec of George's Family Restaurant in the historic border suburb of Oak Park. David Hammond has written for various papers about the great food in this city and goes by none other than "David Hammond" over at LTH. He sings the praises of the CBH at George's. I'd never been nor heard of this place though I'm sure I drove by. So I just had to have a try after I saw the 1st installment of his new web series "You Really Should Eat This". It features specific menu items on different Oak Park restaurants menus. I'll let him explain why he loves the hash here. I'll just add, I concur sir.

Give the man the 'Check Please' job already!
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Burgundy Restaurant

The further West you roll in the city the more likelihood you're to pass a place that there were once many of. That's the Greek and Eastern European owned lounges where they serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and booze. These spots seemed to fade away with both the cigarette ban and the folks that frequented these places passing. There's still a few left and the Burgundy wont let you down if it's that atmosphere you seek out. Old lady with the accent working the cash register and all.

Home Made Cooking and Stiffy Cocktails at Irving Park and Austin

The menu here is large as in a handful of pages that have 20-30 items on each. But their CBH came up as being some of the best in the city when I did a search online and thus it went onto my list. They give a huge portion to go with the eggs and hash browns that come with it. I like to mix all of it up and then spread that over the toast when eating mine. The one thing I would ask next time I try this place is "extra crisp" please. But do beware as booze and hash make for a lethal combination.

Corned Beef Hash from the Burgundy Restaurant
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McNamara's

On Irving Park at the corner of Lowell

We cant go on a CBH crawl and not include at least one Irish influenced based drinking space. McNamara's is an authentic little corner tavern which also happens to have a room in back for it's diners. So it's both bar and restaurant. Guinness' are poured proper ($4.50 Half & Halfs all month) and they don't take short cuts in the kitchen here either. Their homemade hash is a finely ground blend mixed with onions and carrots. It comes with two eggs your choice and some perfectly crisped on the outside while still mushy inside pan fried potatoes. Let me sing the praises of theirs while I throw down a Jameson and listen to the bagpipes roll.

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CBH from McNamara's and a Happy St. Pat's Day to You
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Yellow Rose Cafe
5640 N Elston Ave 
Chicago, IL 60646
(773) 631-2297

Cafe Selmarie
4729 N Lincoln Ave 
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 989-5595

George's Family Restaurant
145 S Oak Park Ave 
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 848-4949

Burgundy Restaurant
5959 W Irving Park Rd 
Chicago, IL 60634
(773) 283-4114

McNamara's
4328 W Irving Park Rd 
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 725-1800

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