Woo Chon Restaurant Chicago
5744 N California Ave (773) 728-8001

I was here many years ago and remember it being one of the best in Chicago and for my 1st time back it was everything I remember.  The waitress was super friendly and helpful and gave me some recommendations on meats to grill up and helped us cook a little and was very attentive.  We enjoyed all the little side dishes and the were all very good plus they give a Pajeon (vegetable pancake) that was complimentary and tasty.   They have a few Korean beers that are good and I really enjoy the OB and will try some others next time.

This place is a awesome very traditional Korean BBQ and I highly reccomend

Girl And The Goat
809 W randolph st, Chicago 312-492-6262
http://www.girlandthegoat.com/

Did it live up to all the Hype?  That is the question…  Well I think it was pretty damn good and I enjoyed many aspects of this new Chicago hot spot.  I love the look and the feel of the entire restaurant from the black outside to the wide open rustic black interior,  the smell of the wood burning stoves really hits you when you walk in and gets your taste buds tingling.   If you dont know about The Girl and The Goat,  it is Stephanie Izard from top chef along with some great Restaurant owners in Chicago that own BOKA, Perennial and Landmark.   The food was really really good and the menu was very interesting,  I love the small plates so you can try and share a few things.  We enjoyed the Seared Scallops and also Hiramasa Crudo and Shrimp to get us started with some Cauliflower followed by Roasted Lamb Shank and the Pig Face.  The Lamb was just ok but presented amazing and the Pig Face was superb.   All in all a very solid dinner and I will be going back.  One quick highlight was the Pinot Noir list,  it was loaded up with Oregon Pinots and they were all great and hard to choose from.   Liked this place a lot and hope to love it more next time.

I had the pleasure of hitting up some of my favorites over the last 3 or 4 weeks and the list is Sunda twice, Zed451 brunch twice, Hub51 twice and a awesome dinner at Mia Francesca’s one night.   I love Chicago dining and I have about 100 more places I want to get to ASAP

33 Club Chicago
1419 North Wells Street, Chicago 312-664-1419
http://www.33clubchicago.com/

This was actually my second time here,  the 1st time was just a couple appetizers and this time was a full meal and some great wine.  I really like the look and feel of this place and the food is really good and the outdoor seating is awesome for people watching and checking out Old Town.   My one small complaint is the service is just average and I am surprised since I know Jerry Kleiner does an awesome job with all his places and both times I was there I was not in hurry so it didn’t bother me but I did hear from a friend they left after 20 minutes of waiting for service.   The food for the dinner I just had was good and we started with some Oysters that were good and the bacon wrapped dates.  Shared to fishes for the mains,  the Halibut which was really great and the Tuna was good also but Tuna is always pretty much Tuna.  All in all the food was good and it was a nice night out

Benny’s Chop House
444 North Wabash Avenue, Chicago 312-626-2444
www.bennyschophouse.com/

Ok now this is my kinda steak house, I loved every aspect about this place from the decor to the menu to the staff that was a little older but very experienced and made it the perfect Steak House.  We got some extra special treatment since I recently became friendly with the sommelier and he brought out us out some special wines and special appetizers to pair up with some cool beers.  We dined on some amazing steak TarTar and some perfectly done Foie Gras for apps and entrees were awesome.  They did something I had never heard of in all my years of dining,  they only offer Line Caught fresh fish and I thought that was really cool.  All the fish were caught by fisherman on single lines all over and flown in fresh.  I enjoyed the Bone In New York strip that was cooked perfect and tasted incredible, my dining partner enjoyed the Dover Sole that was very good also.  Everything on the menu looked amazing and I can’t wait to go back soon. After dinner Justin the sommelier brought us some delicious after dinner drinks and all in all the place was perfect.

Perennial Chicago
1800 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago 312-981-7070
www.perennialchicago.com/

I had heard about Perennial and BOKA and Landmark but for some reason I have not had the pleasure of dining at any of them in the past.  I finally made it to Perennial and fought the worst rain storm to get there but it actually worked out very nice since only a couple other people made it out that night.  Perennial is in the perfect spot right on the corner of Lincoln and Clark with a great Lincoln Park feel.  I started with some wine at the bar followed by being seated right by the window where the fun started.   Started with the fish tacos and they were nothing like you would have expected,  they had no shell and were fresh Crudo and some mango papaya salsa and was shaped like a little taco.  We had another appetizer and split two delicious entrees and everything was very very good.  I look forward to trying BOKA and Landmark very soon.

Blue 13
416 West Ontario Street, Chicago 773-787-1400
http://www.blue13chicago.com/

When hearing about Blue 13 and then reading about the owners and the food and inspiration,  I was really excited and my expectations were pretty high.  The place was nice and the menu was great but the food was not as good as I expected but I am going to just put it at a off night and give them another chance since the couple people I heard about this place from never steer me wrong.  The decor and the menu and the waitstaff were all perfect and I loved the menu and will head back soon for another try.

Elate at the Felix Hotel
111 West Huron Street, Chicago 312-202-9900
http://www.elatechicago.com/

I am a big fan of Elate and loved that it was not to big loved that it was on the corner of the hotel and high ceilings and just had a very good feel.   We started at the bar and the staff was great and friendly and we had a few drinks before we sat down for dinner.  We actually orders all the items off the Raw Menu starting with TarTar which was really good and reminded me of My favorite back place back in the day (Spago) them we had the Tuna Civiche which was good but not great and then we had the Oysters which were outstanding.    For the main we actually split 2 small plates and a trout entree and they were all great and the mussels were perfect.  I look forward to going back and trying a few other things and enjoying this place and really like the feel and relaxed atmosphere.

Charleston Crab House
www.charlestoncrabhouse.com
41 South Market Street, Charleston 843-853-2900

Very very cool local crab house,  we were very pleased with everything we order and especially the Mussels.  The Mussels were some of the best I have ever had and everything else for lunch was good but the Mussels really stood out.  We enjoyed some King crab and some flounder plus a decent seared Tuna appetizer.  If you are looking for some Charleston seafood and good cool place I would recommend this place….

Peninsula Grill
http://www.peninsulagrill.com/
112 North Market Street, Charleston, SC 843-723-0700

Holy almost perfect meal!!!! This place was out of this world and words can’t express when a meal comes together perfect. We had two great Willamette Pinot Noir’s that were great with this meal that started out with Steak Tar Tar that was good but not great but the Seared Foie Gras was beyond amazing. I enjoyed the Duck which came sliced and juicy and as good as the best Duck I have ever had, PJ had the NY Strip that was perfect and pepper seared and super tasty and cooked perfect. I usually don’t do big desserts but we heard the Coconut Cake here is suppose to be the best in the world so we decided to try it and holy cow was it out of this world. order coconut cake