Oldies but Goodies
A big bowl of Mish-Mash Soup—chicken broth with noodles, kreplach, rice, kasha, and a matzo ball—is the object of many a flu-addled diner’s pilgrimage to this much-loved Lakeview deli. Other menu items, while not as overtly therapeutic, have similarly comforting effects. They include an array of hearty sandwiches, daily soups, and hot entrees. Breakfast is served all day. The room has been given a recent face-lift, but retains its Broadway theme. A takeout counter in front does brisk business. —Martha Bayne
$Southern/Soul Food | Breakfast, lunch, dinner: seven days | Reservations not accepted | Cash only
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Back when Route 66 was the main route west you could buy Blue Bird bus tickets at Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket. Now the restaurant’s a bit off the beaten track, but it’s still in the business of fried bird, and still well worth the ride. The deliciously meaty chicken, rather sparsely breaded in the old-school style, is cooked to order—there’s no poultry drying under heat lamps here. Coleslaw is creamy and not too gloppy; potato salad, specked with shreds of red spuds, is obviously homemade. So too the baking powder biscuits, the taste of which seems almost unreal in this day and age. In addition to chicken, there’s a nice selection of steaks and hamburgers and some fish and seafood, including catfish and oyster po’boys. A darkened lounge with a full bar recalls the time when having one for the road was still considered acceptable, and there’s a live banjo band on Wednesdays. —David Hammond
Diner Grill1635 W. Irving Park | 773-248-2030
Regulars and insiders have the honor of dining on the first floor at this River North landmark; the rest of us are banished to the second level, where the floors slant and the waiters are indifferent. But though finer and certainly friendlier steak joints have opened since its heyday, Gene & Georgetti still has everything that made it great in the first place: a low-key location, designer-free ambience, stiff martinis, and bigger-than-big steaks. —Laura Levy Shatkin
$Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Kosher/Jewish/Deli | Lunch, dinner: Sunday, Wednesday-Saturday | Closed Monday, Tuesday | Reservations accepted for large groups only | Cash only | BYO
