Mr. Allison's

-Grubbing in Chicago(land)  
A Ham Hotspot in Arlington Heights 

It's going to be a while before the Bears become full time suburbanites but when they do I got a pre-game breakfast spot for you. I've said before somewhere on here that Arlington Heights and the surrounding Northwest suburbs have some really good food options. Particularly when it comes to Asian and especially when it comes to Japanese. The international food scene in this area is strong. So when ever I'm up this way it's usually something Asian as far as food goes. But sometimes I'm out here before any of those spots open which is how I found Mr. Allison's. A popular early morning spot. 

Locals Favorite in Arlington Heights 

Mr. Allison's sits in a busy strip mall that houses a couple handful of businesses. It's the busiest of the bunch especially during breakfast hours. They're open daily from 6a-3p and feature all the classics as far as an American diner goes. But check the common mentions online and it's the ham that gets love in the majority of reviews. They serve cut from the bone ham in a variety of ways which means split pea soup is an every day offering. I suggest ordering a cup anywhere where ham is the focus.

Split Pea Soup at Mr. Allison's

I went in with the intent of getting a ham sandwich and that's what I ordered, add a side of fries. First off the fresh cut fries here are a contender for some of the best in all of Chicagoland. Fried to perfect golden hue they're crisp on the outside and fluffy within. I was not expecting them to be that good. The ham sandwich is three thickly cut slices of tender ham dressed with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Pick your bread which was toasted white for me. This was a two hander meaning you needed both of them in order to not make a mess. It's a typical simple ham sandwich but also an exceptional one. 

Ham Sandwich at Mr. Allison's

Perhaps the best part about this place is the fact you can buy an entire ham bone for something like $5. That's right, what's typically the most coveted part of a big ass ham roast is yours for the price of a bag of beans to cook with it. As opposed to having to buy an entire ham and what not. It wasn't until somebody online told me that this place was in Roselle and not Arlington Heights that I put two and two together and realized there must be some sort of connection between Mr. Allison's and Mr. A's. The latter of which is in fact in Roselle and has been featured on HERE before. It's a HAM WAR!

Ham Bone from Mr. Allison's 

Mr. Allison's 

1711 Central Rd
Arlington Heights, IL 60005 
(847) 228-5870
Website

Sozai Banzai

-Grubbing in Chicago (land)
Japanese Classics in Arlington Heights

Most folks who love Japanese food in Chicago already know to go to the NW Suburbs particularly Arlington Heights' Mitsuwa Market. The Japanese grocery store boasts a fantastic food court with different stalls specializing in specific Japanese dishes. But if you venture out past the grocery store you can find handfuls of other lesser known Japanese restaurants. Today we visit one of these spots.

Locals Favorite in Arlington Heights

Sozai Banzai is kind of hidden in that it sits in the corner of a random strip mall on Golf road. Even if you were to drive by you might not be able to recognize it's a full fledged Japanese eatery and not just another generic sushi spot like the outside might lead you to believe. In fact the customer base from here is made up almost exclusively of Japanese businessman both from the area and in town on business. Because I usually eat here during lunch hours it's almost always filled with both of them.

Specials Menu

You know a place is catering to it's people when the menu is not only in English but also Japanese. What you see up above is a small portion of the menu which is quite large and filled with almost all of the common Japanese classics. First item I'm going to most always test a Japanese kitchen by is their gyoza. Dumplings are one of those things I'm very passionate about. Not going to lie I rarely find gyoza in restaurants that I like better than my own. While I didn't like Sozai Banzai's as much as mine they were pretty damn good for restaurant made. Most of the time restaurants miss on the crispness factor that I care so much about. They weren't crisp like I like but the filling was flavorful.

Gyoza with Chasu Bowl

One of the things I really like about Sozai is the fact you can make a meal out of a few things. They have lots of menu items that are on the smaller side and under $5 such as the mini chasu bowl seen above. Chashu being braised pork belly over white rice. But if you want to go all in you can do that here too. One way I like to do so is the Japanese Hamburg Steak plate. I always chuckle a little when thinking about this dish bc if you weren't told it's Japanese you might think it's something a mother of four in rural Iowa serves her family for dinner. It's classic Yoshoku cooking which is Japanese interpretation of Western cuisine. Something I'm very fond of as to me it's one of the more interesting cuisines within a cuisine. Hamburg Steak is a cross between a burger and meatloaf. A patty of what's usually beef and pork is cooked in a brown gravy similar to Salisbury steak and stuffed with cheese.

Japanese Hamburg Steak Platter at Sozai Banzai

Speaking of stick to your ribs food that's exactly what Japanese curry is. Curry is one of the most popular forms of food in Japan where all of the curry isn't exactly the same but it's all made in the same way which believe it or not is with store bought curry cubes from companies like Golden Curry. These companies make pre-made roux that you just add chicken stock, veggies, and other ingredients that people like to add in. There's three very popular ways of enjoying curry in Japan and those are as curry rice, curry udon, and tonkatsu curry which is one of my favorites. It's a simple dish of Katsu pork or chicken (breaded meat ala schnitzel) served over white rice with curry sauce. I make this alot at home so I dont order it out often but SB makes a mean plate that will knock you out cold.

Katsu Curry Platter

While I haven't been able to try everything at Sozai Banzai I have gotten to give all of my favorite Japanese classics a go. One of those would have to be Oyakodon which is surprise surprise really good comfort food. The Japanese are masters at making simple dishes turn into something extraordinary. Basically I love all forms of Donburi (rice bowls) with Oyakodon being near the top. If the idea of chicken, onions, eggs, and rice sounds kind of boring to you that's probably bc you've never had it where it's all cooked in one bowl with other stuff such as dashi, mirin, and sake. It's not only really good but it's pretty damn healthy too. Most importantly it's one of those delicious dishes you can make quickly on a weekday. Also seen below is an order of fried chicken bones aka nankotsu. Must get dish if you see it on special. They fry up cartilage and it's somehow crispy and soft all at once. Sozai Banzai is one of those spots I'll always be exploring. So much on offer.

Oyakodon and Nankotsu at Sozai Banzai

Sozai Banzai
1089 E Golf Rd
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 758-7328
Website

Tonkotsu Ramen Rundown

-Grubbing in Chicago 
Where's the ramen at?

Since my initial introduction to ramen I've been to Santouka as many times as I've been anywhere else to eat. This is the spot that turned me onto ramen and as more and more shops popup of late I've tried them to see how they compare with one of my favorite bowls of anything in the vicinity. For those unfamiliar Tonkotsu ramen is a rich and fatty almost milky pork bone based broth with ramen noodles and slices of pork amongst other things included in your bowl, those can vary. It's usually very rich and perfect for hangovers. This is a rundown of five different places in the city that offer it.

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Slurping Turtle

When they were set to open shop the hype for here was high. With that came some big expectations. Since I'm not an expert I didn't know what to expect but was hoping for something as good or better than Santouka. Nope. The biggest plus from here was the sheer size of the portion which at $15 should get you full. I thought the noodles were pretty good and plenty but the broth tasted more like Pho than Tonkotsu to me. The biggest downer of this bowl was the pork. It was resistant which I like when it comes to ribs but not so much in my soup having to fight with it to break it down into bite size pieces. Good not great.


Tonkotsu Ramen from Slurping Turtle
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Wasabi

It's hard to compare and contrast exact notes when the tasting is being done on different days in different months but this was the "as close to bowl" as there was for my partner in slurp. I liked it just fine as well. The broth, meat and noodles were all comparable to Santouka but not quite there. Easily the 2nd best of the broths in this round up. It cost more than Santouka ($13 to $11 w/ cheek meat) but on my visit they had the option to switch the regular option pork to cheek meat free of charge. This place is much closer to me than Arlington Heights so when you figure gas costs etc its close in price. There's been reviews all over the board on them. Maybe consistency is an issue. I featured them in a full post HERE.


Tonkotsu Ramen from Wasabi
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Oiistar

I tried this spot last week but wasn't as impressed as others especially given the price ($15). So they have a machine that makes their own noodles but I didn't notice any difference that separated them from the rest except they were a little softer than all others. The up-charge to pork belly ($1.50) made a meal for two with a drink each just over $50 with tip. But the inside of the place has that trendy vibe going so welcome to Bucktown where hipsters drink cheap canned beer but eat $20 bowls of noodles. It fits right in. The broth was weaker than the rest. Though I do wonder if quality at ramen shops can vary like BBQ. But would also wonder why. People seem to be all over the place on who has the good stuff.


Tonkotsu Ramen from Oiistar
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Izakaya Sankyu

Thanks to those on LTHforum that mentioned this cool little Izakaya in Mt Prospect this place was put on my radar. Some folks over there still share tips rather than just whine about it. Not far from Santouka I normally wouldn't try this place when my standard is so close. However Santouka is done for the day by 7:30p and this place is a bar with food open later. This was the cheapest bowl at $8.50. It was was good and hit the spot on a cold winter night but I wouldn't say it was great. Nothing really stood out except the steaming sweet smelling plate of yaki soba someone next to us ordered. I liked the little bottle of hot sesame oil at the table to boost up the spice in your bowl. All places should have those as an option at your side.


Tonkotsu Ramen from Sankyu
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Santouka

Still the standard as far as Chicagoland goes. I've never actually had ramen outside of the cityscape but will seek out legendary places when the chance comes. So really I'm just a sharp shooting 6 foot tall white dude from Indiana aka an amateur. I'm no Lebron but as of now Santouka is tops and it's not really close. Well worth the ride in my eyes. Best broth, best pork, best noodles and I love getting a cup of white rice topped with green onions and dumping it in the soup when the noodles are done. The rice soaks up all the milky pork broth, food court dining at it's finest. More on them HERE.

Torinuku Meat Tonkotsu Shia Ramen from Santouka

All mixed together

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Slurping Turtle
116 W Hubbard St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 464-0466

Wasabi
2539 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 227-8180

Oiistar
1385 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 360-8791

Izakaya Sankyu
1176 S Elmhurst Rd
Mt Prospect, IL 60056
(847) 228-5539

Santouka (Inside the Mitsuwa Market)
100 E Algonquin Rd
Arlington Hts, IL 60005
(847) 956-6699

Jimmy's Place

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
as seen on 'What's Your Beef?'

Its a special month for the people of Arlington Height's and the lifelong patrons of Jimmy's Place. Its this September that Jimmy's celebrates its 50th anniversary. The only way to describe Jimmy's place located on Northwest Highway in the Northwest suburbs is a world class grease dive. I actually got to try Jimmy's for the 1st time ever last week and just loved it. Stepping into this bar/fast food joint is like stepping back in time because nothing has changed. Upon your entry you are greeted by a dark room with a bar with a some regulars drinking and some old TV's showing the games and there's also tables for food patrons. On the walls are a bunch of Jimmy'd memorabilia and newspaper clippings from thru the years highlighting their excellent hot dogs and Italian beefs. Its been all in the family for three generations now.


Everything is old School over there

On top of all that, its been the same bartender and food prep people going on 30+ years so when I say nothing has changed I mean it in every sense. Same atmosphere, same beer, same people, same food. Same as it ever was or so I'm told anyways and I can see why. We were greeted by the lady who had been there 30+ and she was very alive if you know what I mean. I did the ordering so my buddy said he "was fine" when she asked what he needed. Lets just say she told him that she was just fine too. It was all in good fun because obviously they knew we were new. It was really easy to feel that this was a classic Chicago hot dog and beef kind of joint. The dogs are served up somewhat Chicago style minus the poppy seed bun and were a real winner if your in the area and craving yourself a hot dog. Guess what? for the month of September they will be rolling back the prices on the hot digs to the price when they first opened.


Jimmy's Place always gets love when best dog in Chicago is discussed

The hot dog was very good but it was the beef that I came here for. Its very rare that I just randomly drive by a beef joint that's been open for fifty years and I've never been to it let alone heard of it. So it was a special day and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I guess I wasn't expecting all that much because I was shocked at the old school taste of Jimmy's Italian beef. It reminded me of the beefs i used to eat as a kid from the places that are long gone. I especially liked the gravy which was seasoned very well and took me back to a time when everyone made their own beef and didn't order it pre-sliced from one of the many distributors of it these days. It really tasted like a beef I hadn't had in over ten years. The meat was tender and the peppers were average and served on the side even when ordering a beef with hot. So that was its only blemish and I would give it my signature of approval any day of the week should you be in the Arlington Height's area near Jimmy's Place.


beef with hot from Jimmy's Place

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 4
bread: 4
gravy: 4
hot peppers: 3

Score: 15/20

Jimmy's Place
640 W Northwest Hwy
Arlington Hts, IL 60004
(847) 398-9783