Well, some good news today: Mickey’s has reopened. Heading over soon for lunch.

seebee wrote:Please don't play with my emotions on this one.

I'll walk, not run back to Katy's OP. If another positive report gets logged, I'll pick up the pace to a jog.

We've Katy OP'ed a few times since this, and it has gotten better each time. We did a pickup last Saturday for a blowout meal to celebrate an elementary school graduation (guest of honor was jonesing for Katy's Dry Chili Fish and dan dan.)

I'm happy to report that Katy's is about 90% back to full trust. The noodles were homemade.
-The dry chili fish was excellent.
-The 3 chili fish was excellent
-The 3 chili chicken, for some reason, was lackluster compared to the fish. It was rubbery and flavorless.
-ALL noodle dishes had the handmade noodles, but suffered from the travel. Most were on the mushy side.
-The beef noodle soup was excellent. A little on the too salty side, but we watered it down, and loved it. Still had plenty of the spice flavor, and pepper heat.
-The Dan Dan was back to it's old self. Still not the better, soupy version like Westmont, but totally acceptable to scratch an itch, all things considered.

(The Lake Street construction is pretty awful for getting there, right now.)

I'd say Katy's OP is BACK!

So, I'm hesitate to say a place is back when I never found it quite good in the first place. On top of that, what do I know, from one lucky meal. Still, the food I had at Q BBQ yesterday was so above average, for area BBQ, for suburban BBQ, for BBQ in or near Oak Park, that it deserves some call out. Was it just because it was lunch time.

In these times of lockdown, the weekly carry-out has been a huge reprieve. For a few weeks, my wife and I had this thing, where we were gonna walk down to Lake Street. She'd have Munch. I Q. But you don't like Q, she insisted (rightly). But in times of lockdown, bbq really appeals to me. The only way I could get her to do the deal was to promise not to complain, serenity now, serenity now, no matter how bad was the food I got. I did not complain an iota yesterday.

A fluke?

Vital Information wrote:The only way I could get her to do the deal was to promise not to complain, serenity now, serenity now, no matter how bad was the food I got. I did not complain an iota yesterday.

"The Scorpion and the Frog"
A scorpion, which cannot swim, asks a frog to carry it across a river on the frog's back. The frog hesitates, afraid of being stung by the scorpion, but the scorpion argues that if it did that, they would both drown. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung the frog despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "I couldn't help it. It's in my nature."

I've made a couple of stops into Oak Park's newest wine shop, Anfora Wine Merchants on South Marion, across from Poor Phil's, and have been impressed. It is all still coming together, but they are building a selection of Italian native variety wines across all price points. The $11 corvina from the Veneto is a great summer barbecue wine and way better that anything else in town at that price point. The owner is ex-Il Buco in New York, which has a great wine program, and they have some space in the back where I heard them say food and perhaps wine by the glass will be available post-COVID. Anyhow, a nice add.

Anfora Wine Merchants
128 S Marion
Oak Park
https://www.anforawinemerchants.com/
(708) 613-5388

RE: Anfora

I split a case of their choosing with Dr Wino. Some real oddities in there. Definitely could do better at Binnys for the price (about $25/bottle).

Though the variety was inneresting

Panther in the Den wrote:Edit: Disregard (Plumbing issue for a day)

La Bella Pasteria
1103 South Blvd, Oak Park

80499E5D-CFC0-423A-911B-74CC9891FED2.jpeg

I know nothing...

Suburban Italian sister spots La Bella Pasteria and La Bella the Bar are permanently closed

https://chicago.eater.com/2020/5/12/212 ... oronavirus