The first week back at school after any break is always challenging, but after you have been away for three quarters, the adjustment is even harder. Each day is a different schedule, in a different type of specialty, with different preceptors. While adjusting to a new schedule can be tiresome and difficult, adjusting to the city is much easier. Since being back, we have foregone the diet for a week and have been enjoying the Chicago food scene.
The first meal back was the famous pizza pot pie from Old Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder. I wrote a blog a few years ago, but this is a must while in Chicago.
Next, we had to get Giordano’s deep dish pizza. Luckily, we had enough people to order two types: a typical every-meat deep dish and my favorite: a bbq chicken deep dish.
To celebrate the first week being over (well, almost over, since I have clinic on Saturdays,) on Friday we went to Davanti Enoteca for appetizers. Unfortunately, they got rid of their Arancini balls that were previously mentioned on my blog.
For dinner, we walked to a great sandwich place called Capriotti’s. Dan had the 20-inch Slaw be Joe (he ate the whole thing) and I had a bowl of soup.
For dessert, we headed over to Magnolia’s bakery for some cheesecake (side note: they are known for their famous banana pudding.) Dan and I had different cravings, so he ordered the pistachio cheesecake, and I had the key lime pie cheesecake. While both were very good, we decided the “flavor” wasn’t strong enough in either to be able to guess which was which. Next time, I would try either the caramel pecan cheesecake or the German chocolate cheesecake.
The following day, we had Saturday clinic. Since Southtown Subs (check out the blog) has changed their hours of operation, we decided to go for lunch. Dan had the Gym Shoe, which to be honest, I think he had been craving all year. I ended up getting a strawberry malt at Portillo’s with a beef and cheddar sandwich.
The nice thing about being back at school is that you have a group of people to hang out with. So, for dinner, we ended up at Elephant & Castle, which has been a favorite of mine since I visited Chicago in high school. I love their stuffed Yorkshire pudding but ended up ordering butter chicken poutine (butter chicken, cheese curds, and french fries.) Dan tried the steak and mushroom pie. They also have a great beer and drink selection if you’re looking to celebrate.
At 1 a.m., I forced Dan to walk to the Big Wig, which is a Chipotle-knock off that is open until 6 a.m. While Carbon (try the Mother Clucker!) is open late, it isn’t open this late! Big Wig has more than burritos; they also have nachos, tortas, tacos, and quesadillas. Currently, they have Mahi Mahi available.
Sunday was supposed to be our fasting day, but we were weak and ended up trying Labriola’s (the same owner as Stan’s Donuts.) They had a sign promising the best deep dish in Chicago. They also have brisket ravioli nachos! We ordered one deep dish with sausage, goat cheese, garlic, and artichoke hearts. The pizza was good. However, it was no better or worse than any other deep dish.
While being able to pig out may not be good for my diet, it sure was a great week to fall back in love with Chicago. Be on the lookout for more food blogs, because we have a giant list to eat through before we graduate in May!