With summer diners still out in full force, restaurants continue to open their doors. We all know winter will be here before you even finish reading this newspaper, so now is the time to get over to your favorite outdoor dining spot for a relaxing al fresco experience.
A second location of the popular, but tiny Pizza Metro has opened just around the corner from the original spot. The crowd pleasing rectangular thin crusts can still be enjoyed at the Pizza Metro in the 1700 block of west Division, and now at the second spot, on Ashland, near Augusta Boulevard. It's just down the block from the Ritz coffeehouse. Perhaps these two establishments will finally help to turn over some of the vacant storefronts in the area.
Pizza Metro's neighbor on Division Avenue, the long-standing Latin American-flavored Mas, will be opening Motel, a bar modeled after a hotel bar, in the old Montgomery Ward's building, on Chicago Avenue, at the river. Already housing a mini upscale grocery store and seemingly endless condominiums, the building also has an eatery, the big scene, big bucks Japonais. Mini skirts, black high heels, fancy cars, lots of noise. Oh, and some tasty, rather expensive food.
While Japonais continues to pack them in, Ohba, the Asian-influenced upscale storefront, owned by some of the same people, has quietly closed its doors on Division. It will reopen as a bar, a variation on Logan Square's popular Small Bar.
With some hot days (finally!), ice cream lovers may have noticed that more cafes and restaurants in the city are offering the premium Homer's ice cream. While the barn-like North Shore Homer's location in Wilmette remains popular (and noisy), folks can now get their favorite flavors all over the city. I had been getting Homer's at Janik's Subs, a new and friendly sandwich place on Division at Damen, until I decided to try the fat-free soft serve, and I haven't gone back. The free rainbow sprinkles help. And the chocolate cookie crumbles. Get a twist or just the plain vanilla.
Exactly next door, in the old Fortunato space, is the new location of another Adobo Grill, featuring the same menu that has made the Old Town location so popular. This spot has a larger outdoor seating area, located on the wide sidewalks out front, and an even longer wait for a table, if that's possible. Guacamole is still served tableside, and prices are consistent with its sister spot. The instantly popular location bodes well for a takeover of Adobo Grills, along the lines of the ubiquitous Corner Bakery. Guacamole on every corner of every city.
Another good outside option is Ping Pong, a few blocks north of Belmont on Broadway. Sure, if you've passed it, you know that the sidewalk dining area is nothing special, and you are right out in the open, on display for the whole wide world to see, but, and here's the important part, at least you don't have to wait to be seated. Well, you don't have to wait as long to be seated. Like the original Pizza Metro location, the outdoor area is bigger than the seating availability inside the restaurant. Get the lettuce wraps, some of the supposedly heart healthy entrees (they taste too good to be healthy to me), and dig in.
If you still have the room, try dessert at the new Bobtail ice cream parlor. Started up by two guys who were simply putting together a business plan for a college assignment, Bobtail features premium ice cream in traditional and new-to-you flavors. The plastic cups are unfortunate, but the ice cream is tasty, and even the cookies look good.
Some of my favorite cookies at the moment are found almost every day at the always crowded Milk and Honey in Wicker Park. Sure, there's chocolate chip and oatmeal cake, but you have to try the lavender sugar cookies. Two small cookies sandwich sweet and buttery lemony creme filling. Yum!
Others swear by Sweet Mandy B's, on Webster, just west of Racine. Try the banana pudding with vanilla wafers or one of the ubiquitous cupcakes, decorated with pastel shades of icing, and certainly modeled after Magnolia Bakery's attention-grabbing cupcakes in Greenwich Village. The double chocolate chip walnut cookie is quite a grown-up taste compared to the cookie sandwich, featuring two chocolate chip cookies squeezing together white cream frosting. Sickening in the very best way.
