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This strip-mall take-out and delivery spot is the latest and most out-loud outpost for the Wisconsin-based Broaster Company, which trademarked and began marketing its pressure-frying system in the early 50s. Today there are more than 80 licensees in the Chicago area, including hospitals, gas stations, groceries, and buffets. The idea that broasting renders the premarinated and breaded poultry juicier, crispier, less greasy, and less damaging to the human form than typical deep-frying is the key selling point of the method, but though Annette’s chicken might indeed leave a smaller stain behind, its minimally seasoned recipe is no juicier or tastier than dozens of well-fried birds available at places from Harold’s Chicken Shack to Laschet’s Inn. Wings, fried seafood, and an array of corporate-approved sides are available, but the crispy broasted items have no more of a half-life than their deep-fried analogs and, like them, should be removed from their cardboard containers and consumed as quickly as possible. —Mike Sula
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I’m all for the pandemic of serious pizza we’ve been blessed by in recent years. Every block deserves a wood burner, every neighborhood rates an experienced pizzaiolo. But Andersonville is already home to one significant pie shop, Great Lake, and there’s another newcomer, Monticchio, farther south on Clark. Here’s hoping that in the future people like Antica chef-owner Mario Rapisarda (a Spiaggia vet) will target areas that desperately need earnestly pie-focused professionals in their midst. At Antica the pies are of the Neapolitan species, thin, charred, blistered crusts that get a bit swampy toward the center. They’re as pricey as the ones at Ravenswood’s Spacca Napoli, but topped less lovingly: I was happy with the quality of the olives on the quattro stagioni, but the prosciutto could have been better. The balance of the menu is composed of a few antipasti—including calamari, tender but overbattered—and salads, including a particularly well-composed arugula-radicchio-frisee trio with diced black olive and some crumbles of goat cheese. There are also a handful of pastas and a few fish and poultry entrees, all delivered with supreme haste. Their house-made desserts include profiteroles, tiramisu, and a wonderfully creamy panna cotta in a martini glass. —Mike Sula
$Mexican | Lunch: seven days; Dinner: Monday-Saturday | Reservations not accepted
Chicago Curry House899 S. Plymouth | 312-362-9999
Chutney Joe’s has a good backstory—according to its Web site, co-owner Vijay Puniani was thrown in a New Delhi hoosegow in the 70s for refusing to bribe inspectors to keep his restaurant open, prompting his emigration to the States, and eventually the opening of this new fast-food “Indian diner” in the South Loop. But if the concept sounds prosaic—and the posted instructions for eating naan seem unnecessarily hand-holding—Puniani and son should be given credit for not dumbing down the food for potentially timid Loop lunchgoers. The scalable offerings of “slow-cooked” meat and vegetarian dishes (including several vegan options)—all with a relatively impressive level of intensity, complexity, and variety—are available in variable combos with naan and/or rice, accompanied by a half dozen complimentary chutneys. While the lamb rogan josh may not seem tender enough to have been cooked as low and slow as claimed, its curry sauce, thickened with ground almond, is certainly tasty, as is the red bean rajma, which unleashes a sharp, spicy yogurt tang—certainly they’re better than they have to be for the captive downtown crowd. —Mike Sula
$$Asian, Japanese | Lunch: Friday-sunday; Dinner: seven days | Open late: Every night till 4 | BYO
