Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [145]
There is a full menu beyond ribs, including steaks, fried chicken, and sandwiches. They look fine…on other people’s plates. When we come to Twin Anchors, we know nothing but ribs.
The place is a charming corner tavern in Old Town dating back to the early twentieth century. It was a soda pop store (i.e., speakeasy) during Prohibition, then christened “Twin Anchors” in 1932 by a proprietor who had twin sons whom he considered his anchors to reality. Today the walls are festooned with nautical knickknacks and abundant pictures of the Chairman of the Board.
Walker Bros. Original Pancake House
153 Green Bay Rd.
847–251–6000
Wilmette, IL
BLD | $$
One of a nationwide chain of the Original Pancake House, which has defined pancake excellence since 1953, Walker Brothers is clean, polite, comfortable, generous, and delicious. Name your favorite restaurant accolade, and this place sets the standard…except for “fast.” There is usually a wait for a table, a long wait on weekends.
Everything served is eye-opening good, from fresh orange juice and dark coffee (with a pitcher of heavy cream) to thick-sliced bacon and chicken-apple sausage. Order eggs and you may exclaim, as we have, “I forgot how good a fresh egg, cooked in pure butter, can taste!” Granted, it is difficult to order eggs when the pancakes are so good. The plainer ones are simple excellence—rich buttermilk cakes, tangy sourdough flapjacks, old-time buckwheat—and the snazzy crepe menu includes banana crepes and Cherry Kijafa crepes, and there is lavish seafood Newburg with crusty potato pancakes.
Our favorite meals, and the kitchen’s showstoppers, are baked pancakes: the German pancake and the apple pancake, magnificent skillet creations of egg-rich batter that puff high above the plate. The apple pancake is a breakfast mountain running rivers of cinnamon. The German pancake is a vast mesa that totally covers its plate. On the side come lemon wedges and powdered sugar to spread across it and create a fine, sweet-tart syrup. This is pancake perfection!
The Wiener’s Circle
2622 N. Clark St.
773–477–7444
Chicago, IL
LD | $
The name of the Wiener’s Circle is a typically Chicagoan bit of culinary wordplay, but there is no joke about the red hots served here. They are among the city’s best, presented in steamy soft Rosen’s-brand poppy seed buns and topped with flawless condiments.
The mustard is classic yellow, the piccalilli is brilliant green and vividly pickly, the tomatoes are small and flavorful—four or five fresh-cut slices per dog. And there are grilled onions or raw, hot peppers, and a sprinkle of celery salt. Have your frankfurter as you like it, from naked to loaded, and you will not be disappointed. The major decision to make, dog-wise, is whether you want it boiled or charred. At many of Chicago’s red-hot joints, we recommend boiled or steamed because it yields the plumpest, tautest skin, but here at the Wiener’s Circle, charred is the way to go. Cooked on the grate just behind the order counter, the char dogs get a good crunch from the flames; and for us, that rugged tube steak nestled in its super-tender bun is essential Chicago.
Don’t get a hot dog without French fries. These are beauties: hand cut, freshly fried, served in ridiculously large amounts that totally overflow their cardboard boat and fall all over the wax paper on which the boat is pushed toward you out the order window.
Inside, the perimeter of the Wiener’s Circle is outfitted with counters and stools well-suited for hot-dog eating and for gazing out the window at Clark Street. Orders are taken and food delivered