Headed there tonight for light dinner and heavy desserts and will post a followup. Any other recent feedback?

Nice work by Mindy and staff tonight made for an enjoyable meal. We walked in after a Cubs game overheated and casually dressed and were welcomed with open arms and tall glasses of water. I love that one theme of the restaurant is salt, from the soft pretzel and antipasto to the salted caramel ice cream on the signature chocolate "souffle"; sometimes you just need to replenish that sodium without apology. Four of us could not finish the salumi, which came on a long plank with two types of olives, three types of pickled peppers, and crunchy cruciferous vegetable giardinera, served with olive oil-rich focaccia (replenished by our waiter as needed).

We went with the lower priced dinner options: excellent tuna and caper sandwich on ciabatta, good salmon, a half-chicken special, and my favorite, the lamb sausage flatbread. A steal at $12, this is one they should have at Hopleaf: very rich lamb, chewy pita-like bread (denser and strongly herbed), wilted greens and peppers, and accompanied by house-ground mustard and delicious heirloom beets. Piping hot, pleasantly pressed flat, and easy to handle.

Dessert was the signature chocolate #1 - the low-rise tart (which Mindy explained was very low in dairy content, good to know) with the salty caramel ice cream and pretzel on the side - and the brioche donuts, liberal steam escaping when broken into. Good portion sizes and immensely satisfying. With the restaurant.com certificate ($25 off order of $50 or more Monday-Thursday dinners), dinner for four with drinks, tax and generous tip came to around $130, which seemed very fair. Parking was easy, atmosphere conversation-friendly, and service very thoughtful and prompt. I'll be ducking back in to sample the iced black-and-tan hot chocolate soon!

We had a nice dinner there last night. The mussels were good, we both got burgers. They were quite tasty, not huge, but yummy with an assertive cheddar cheese and bacon. Burgers came with chips, very tasty pickles (my guess is house made) and red coleslaw. DH enjoyed his Three Floyds Alpha Klaus porter, I had a glass of red wine that was served too warm. I'd say that the burgers rival Kuma's for tastiness, though of course they only come in one style, and without either heavy metal music or anger. We also shared a side of caramelized brussels sprouts - these crossed over the burnt threshold a bit, but were mostly good.

We didn't have dessert, and had a pleasant walk home. Definitely a reasonable mid-week dinner option that we should have had long ago.

In "Mindy's Hot Chocolate" (as the menus and some other items now proclaim) for dessert last night. Re prior post, the mussels did look good as did what appeared to be perfectly-cooked lamb... but no dessert? At Hot Chocolate?

Mr. DebsDiningDigs and I enjoyed "banana" and "heirloom apples", along with a "black and tan" hot chocolate. The banana was a heavenly combo, while the heirloom apples was hit and miss. The "crumbaline" and pecan pie ice cream side was fantastic. The caramel-dipped lady apple was, well, almost a tooth-breaker. The candy/caramel coating was so rock-hard that it was almost painful at first bite. Mr. Digs didn't even manage to finish it. Perhaps it needed to be warmed up or otherwise softened before serving, since it understandably wasn't freshly dipped. As for the hot chocolate, it was uber-rich, very yummy, and a nice touch is that this particular one is served in a glass (rather than a mug) as if a "real" black-and-tan.

It's always interesting to see Mindy Segal working front-of-house in her place, and the wide-open kitchen provides a nice peek at the comings-and-goings. Still some attention should be paid to their website, which features a menu from 15+ months ago...this stuff is basic, why so many restaurants can't post a current menu online is beyond me.

I paid my first-ever visit to Hot Chocolate last night, and enjoyed it.

Beets in the beet salad were tender and sweet, with clementines and balanced vinaigrette adding just enough contrast. I would have preferred a green with slightly more bitterness than the hard-to-eat frisee that topped the salad.

House-made sourdough-rye was tremendously good, with its flaky crust giving way to an airy, earthy, very sour center. Served with Zingerman's pungent farmer's cheese, this was a preparation for people who really want to stimulate those sour taste buds.

Mushroom lasagna with homemade noodles had what our server said was homemade buffalo ricotta (Where in Chicago does one get buffalo milk?). This dish was a relative disappointment, with somewhat boring flavors and undercooked, rubbery mushrooms.

Roast chicken had charred, crispy skin and was loaded with fresh herbs. It was delicious, as were the Plapp Farm grits served with it.

I don't love the banquette-style seating at Hot Chocolate, or the ridiculously uncomfortable bar stools that belong in a stylish torture chamber rather than a restaurant. Service was friendly and passionate about the restaurant's food, but too sales-pitchy for me. I got a little tired of hearing the long description of how amazing everything was, every time a new table was seated what seemed like just a few inches from ours. I also wondered how, over the course of an hour and half, the server could try to sell the pretzel appetizer by saying "they just came out of the oven a minute ago, so they're hot and fresh as could be." I heard this from him 4 times over a wide spread of time, leading me to doubt the veracity just a bit.

The food is very good at Hot Chocolate. Perhaps close to on par with other very nearby places including The Bristol and Mado. But I much prefer the service, comfort and vibe at those latter places, so I doubt I'll be making many return visits to Hot Chocolate.


(PS, for Mods - perhaps this thread should be merged with this one)

Kennyz wrote:The food is very good at Hot Chocolate. Perhaps close to on par with other very nearby places including The Bristol and Mado. But I much prefer the service, comfort and vibe at those latter places, so I doubt I'll be making many return visits to Hot Chocolate.

Thanks for the report, Kenny. You reminded me that I have a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate for Hot Chocolate that I should use or give away. I've always found the food there just OK, not good enough to return on my own initiative, but the vibe there just really irritates me. I know that my annoyance is tied to my first visit, when they were showing these really obnoxious nude paintings of the trying-too-hard-to-be-provocative kind. I need to get there with a better attitude.

My mom and I have been wanting to go here for years now, and finally made it there today with my 8 month old daughter in tow.

The food was delicious. I had the smoked portabello, wrapped in flatbread with hummus and red pepper and tomato preserve. The flavor was great, and the chickpea yogurt salad that came with it was really good, too. The chips were the only miss for me, but were a bit superfluous anyway, so I didn't notice much. My mom got the cheddar melt, which she liked, too. For dessert we both got Chocolate #1, which was heavenly. the ice cream was the best part, for me (and Gracie enjoyed her taste too, along with the little nip of chocolate I gave her. no, neither is a first food, but I figure, neither are grass, cat food, or the dog's paws, so eh.), though the chocolate wasn't too shabby either;)

The service, IMO, left a bit to be desired. We requested a high chair for my daughter, and the waiter who was seating people told us to choose any table and he'd bring one to us. We sat for 5-10 minutes, waiting for both the high chair and menus. We thought maybe there was a misunderstanding and we were supposed to take our own menus. I went back up front and grabbed two menus (they were sitting out in a way that made it seem like maybe we should take them? that, combined with the fact that we were told to choose any table made me think we were supposed to get our own menus), earning a dirty look from the waiter, but did get the high chair we'd asked for (I wasn't getting the menus to be snippy, though I guess he took it that way). From there on out, service was positively glacial, both in terms of pace and in terms of warmth. I'm not sure if he was unhappy about my daughter bieng there? she was an absolute angel, did not make a single noise thru the entire lunch, and we picked up every last cheerio she dropped on the floor, so she was not remotely disruptive.

The food was good enough that I'll be back, but prepared for less-than-stellar service.

LTHers,

Is the Burger at Hot Chocolate worth $13? I suggested it to a group of coworkers for lunch, and I dont want to end up with egg on my face (which will happen quite literally for $15).

It looks good, but thats a pricey sangwhich.

I think so. IMO, its one of the best burgers in the city.

It's only a couple bucks more than a Kuma's burger... and I think I like it more than any of Kuma's burgers. So yes.

Good Times!

HC's burger is pretty tasty, however it's not quite as good as Kuma's. Kuma's is a place where you would expect a proper burger to be served. HC's is a bit too posh. If your a dessert person, go to HC....If your a proper rocker/burger connoisseur, go to Kumas. A burger stain on a Pantera shirt is a badge of honor.

pasta pronto wrote:HC's burger is pretty tasty, however it's not quite as good as Kuma's. Kuma's is a place where you would expect a proper burger to be served. HC's is a bit too posh. If your a dessert person, go to HC....If your a proper rocker/burger connoisseur, go to Kumas. A burger stain on a Pantera shirt is a badge of honor.

Can you elaborate on how the burger is too posh?

The burger is not too posh. The restaurant is just a little more posh than Kuma's.

I absolutely love the desserts at Hot Chocolate, but I've never had one of their burgers. I hope to remedy that soon.

pasta pronto wrote:The burger is not too posh. The restaurant is just a little more posh than Kuma's.

I guess what I'm asking is how the burger at HC compares to that at Kuma's. I've been to Kuma's and like it a lot. I haven't been to Hot Chocolate. I'm trying to figure out if you think the burgers are really different, or just the atmosphere.

Atmosphere aside, I still like Kuma's burger better. If you like to customize your burger (such as myself) then Kuma's is the place for you. HC's burger is very good, however there is pretty much only one standard model. Toss in the tasty waffle fries, and I give the nod to Kuma's.

Either place you won't be disappointed.

NAV MAN wrote:LTHers,

Is the Burger at Hot Chocolate worth $13? I suggested it to a group of coworkers for lunch, and I dont want to end up with egg on my face (which will happen quite literally for $15).

It looks good, but thats a pricey sangwhich.

Great burger and fwiw, Chicago Magazine just ranked it as the second best burger in the city. Btw, weekdays, they're only open for lunch W-F.

But the desserts are (obviously) the thing at Hot Chocolate. Afaic, they have no equal in town. I was just there for dessert about 2 weeks ago and our party of 5 (which included a couple of major dessert snobs) was smacked into speechlessness by a few of the desserts -- most notably the Chocolate #1 and A Tribute To The Malted Milk Ball. I also have to tip my fork to the Peppermint Patty, which completely blew me away, even though I don't usually love peppermint. Yowza!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: Afaic

I am not going to be able to communicate in this world anymore if this trend continues. Crawling back into my cave.

Lol! 2ff.

Kennyz wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: Afaic

I am not going to be able to communicate in this world anymore if this trend continues. Crawling back into my cave.

Ihtltou (I had to look this one up).

pasta pronto wrote:Atmosphere aside, I still like Kuma's burger better. If you like to customize your burger (such as myself) then Kuma's is the place for you.

Kuma's has (or had) a "No substitutions" policy, so, presumably, no customizations. I know that they'll make exceptions sometimes, but do you really ask them to make something off-menu when you go?

Darren72 wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: Afaic

I am not going to be able to communicate in this world anymore if this trend continues. Crawling back into my cave.

Ihtltou (I had to look this one up).

Fwiw, I'm sorry.

=R=

gleam wrote:Kuma's has (or had) a "No substitutions" policy, so, presumably, no customizations. I know that they'll make exceptions sometimes, but do you really ask them to make something off-menu when you go?

IIRC, in the early days Kumas would happily substitute, add and basically let the customer run free. I remember sitting at the bar one day and having them put together the Donny and Marie, basically everything spicy in the house, on and in a burger.

These days, with the constant crowds, I can easily understand a no substitutions rule.

Enjoy,
Gary

ronnie_suburban wrote:

NAV MAN wrote:LTHers,

Is the Burger at Hot Chocolate worth $13? I suggested it to a group of coworkers for lunch, and I dont want to end up with egg on my face (which will happen quite literally for $15).

It looks good, but thats a pricey sangwhich.

Great burger and fwiw, Chicago Magazine just ranked it as the second best burger in the city. Btw, weekdays, they're only open for lunch W-F.

=R=

Lunch from 11:30 - 2. After we ate a charminly pale skinned woman of seemingly Thracian decent apprached our table. The four of us had all gotten burgers. The below is a detailed account of selected excerpts from this encounter with whom ostensibly is the owner.


Thracian: "How was [sic] the burgers gentlemen"
NAV MAN: "Delectable"

She also mentioned the chicago mag article, which was the reason we went, and asked if it was better then Kuma's. As to not offend, i said it was different. She also mentioned they mix their meat and Kuma's doesnt.

She was very much in competition with Kuma's. That was our experience, YMMV.

Kennyz wrote:I am not going to be able to communicate in this world anymore if this trend continues. Crawling back into my cave.

^^^
is well under 140 characters Kenny, it would have been fine length for a tweet without requiring abbreviations. You'll do fine...

-Dan

I've always been a fan of Hot Chocolate - in fact, I had never had anything there that I didn't like . . . until yesterday at brunch. I hoped to have the burger, but learned that they don't serve it at brunch (and I begged unsuccessfully for an exception).

I had decided that if I couldn't have the burger, I would try to eat a healthy meal. Somehow, I ended up with a chicken salad which was simply awful. Greens (IIRC, watercress), dried cherries, cold and dried out chicken and a balsamic vinaigrette. This chicken was the type you find in the back of your refrigerator days and days after it was made and say to yourself "I forgot that was in there." It was ice cold and so dried out and the salad was just so boring that I could not believe they even served it. I was picturing the chef standing in front of the Top Chef judges getting ripped thoroughly.

I ended up slightly angry at my dining companion (for no rational reason) who enjoyed an Italian sausage and egg dish which I thought was excellent. I'll return for the burger some time, but for now I'll stew a bit over my awful salad.

Went to H C yesterday for brunch. My wife has wanted to go here for a long time, me not so much. I figured it was just another over prices sweet shop. I should have read up on it, I was wrong. We started out with the donuts and raspberry preserves, they were fabulous. I am not a donut person but would eat these every day. My wife had a hot chocolate, was good but thought the marshmallow that came with it was better. I had the BLT with a tomato soup. The BLT was about the best I have had (sorry mom) every piece of the sandwich was just so good. My wife has the habit of ordering something and liking mine better. She had the biscuit with cheese and sausage. The buttermilk biscuit was great, the cheese was a great aged cheddar, very very sharp the way I like em, and the sausage was good. This was not something I thought my wife would like, but she sure did. I had tea to drink my wife had the HC and a coffee. I was very happy to finally get dragged here and could see going back again soon. My ONLY COMPLAINT, prices on coffee and Tea were 4.00. Maybe its just me but that seems high. Drinks (coffee, tea, and hot chocolate were almost half the cost of the food)

I too was at HC for dinner on Sunday the 6'th, after deconstructing Mahler's 4th at the CSO. This was my fourth visit over the past two years, and I must say that this locovore palace is rising into my Chicago's ten best list.

I have not yet had a Kuma's burger yet, but the Heartland Beef (piedmontese cattle) burger is as good as the ones I make myself from Tallgrass beef. It is served with 4 year old cheddar and applewood smoked bacon on a pretzel bun, I think Chicago Mag got it right when they placed it as the #2 burger in Chicago. It is an excellent, juicy burger, where the whole is greater than the sum of its estimable parts.

But the real stars are the desserts! The latest in a string of great seasonal efforts was the pear, poached in port, and served on an oh-so-crispy wafer, accompanied by a rice and sour cherry pudding (a tiny amount - and I wonder why the menu said wild rice?), and a ginger spice cake with cream cheese-red wine frosting that got me, someone who avoids spice cakes like the plague, to get every crumb.

The vibe was a little less "see and be seen" than in the past; I saw a few more families and casually dressed folks than I used to. The place was hopping and busy, and the kitchen really worked to keep diners happy. Service was excellent as always, despite heavy volume.

I have to recommend Hot Chocolate, at least for dinner.

One other point - if memory serves me right, prices for the beers and wines by the glass have actually shown a bit of moderation, with glasses of interesting reds under $10.00. This is a step in the right direction. Now if the excellent french press coffee would follow...

My wife and I finally made it to Hot Chocolate for dinner (she had been there for brunch and loved it). Our dinner was very good and we are both excited to return. We hatched a plan not to order too much pre-dessert food so we would be hungry enough to eat two desserts. This was quickly amended to order a little more, but not to finish everything.

We started with the hot pretzels and the braised/charred octopus. The octopus was incredibly good. My wife said that it is rare to get a crispy octopus that isn't overcooked. The pretzels were also very good for what they were, though I think they would fit better in a more causal meal with a lot of beer. The pretzels were served with a tallegio fondue that was good.

Next we split the macaroni and cheese and a fish called Dorade. Some research later indicated that Dorade and Dorado are not the same thing (though apparently in Spain Dorade is referred to as Dorado). The Dorade at Hot Chocolate is a thin Mediterranean fish. (Dorado, which is more popular in the US, is also called Mahi Mahi and Dolphin Fish.) The Mac and Cheese was great and we had enough self control to save half to take home. The Dorade had a real nice flavor and was cooked nicely, but it was served with diced avacado that didn't have any taste and bits of grapefruit that contrasted too much with everything else we were eating and drinking (and seemingly everything else on the menu as well).

For dessert we had two great dishes: one was a play on a peanut butter and chocolate. The other was a banana bread pudding. Both were really impressive - I wish I could remember more of the details!