Almawal Restaurant | $$
10718 S. Harlem Worth, IL 708-361-5100
Cunis Candies | $
1030 E. 162nd South Holland, IL 708-596-2440
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Viewed from the strip mall parking lot next to a combination lottery ticket and Chinese-takeout counter, Cunis Candies has all the charm of a Baskin-Robbins. But the old-timey ice cream parlor, opened by George Askounis in Chicago the same year as the Century of Progress, is an original. While the regular flavors of dense, American-style, house-churned ice cream are pretty good (rum raisin being a personal favorite), come summertime fresh peach and blueberry are essential picks. Sundaes drizzled with a dark chocolate sauce hint at the quality of the huge variety of hand-molded and/or -dipped chocolates, everything from almond bark to coated Oreos, green meltaways to cherry cordials, dixies to turtles. —Mike Sula
A delicious-smelling haze wafts across George’s parking lot. Inside all signs indicate an artist at work who cannot abide distractions: “Please do not use cellular phones in the rib house,” it says on the bulletproof glass barrier. Behind the counter, owner George Rogers keeps a plastic elephant—a replica of a brass model he says Ronald Reagan sent him as thanks for the large orders of pork his staffers regularly picked up. His ribs and tips are in fact luscious. All the elements of crispiness, fattiness, and juiciness are in perfect proportion, and accented by the salty rub he uses. There’s just one thing missing: smoke. George openly admits that he uses only lump charcoal—no wood—for the following reason: “Logs got worms and insects. I don’t want to bring ’em in.” —Mike Sula
Johnsen’s Blue Top Drive-In | $
8801 S. Indianapolis Blvd. Highland, IN 219-838-1233bluetopdrivein.com
This 20-strong northern Indiana burger chain (with a few Illinois outlets) is probably the best-known champion of the smashed, Indiana-style burger, duplicated to much better effect at Evanston’s Edzo’s, but not necessarily so at more classic indie joints like Johnsen’s Blue Top Drive-In and Miner-Dunn. The Mickey, with two slices of American cheese, mustard, ketchup, relish, and onions, sets the sloppy standard. It’s a style I’m not particularly fond of but I do see its merits, particularly in the lacy corona of meat that crisps around the edge of the discus-size patty. —Mike Sula
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