Take our annual Dining Poll and tell us about the best of the best
Time to sharpen those pencils or warm up the computer. The third annual Chicago’s Choice Dining Poll is here, soliciting your votes on 10 dining topics. And as in previous years, we’re offering a few fabulous prizes as incentives to play. One randomly selected grand prize winner will receive $500, and two randomly selected runners-up will receive $250 each.
Just fill out this handy ballot and mail it in, or vote online at metromix.com/go/choice. We’ve thrown in a few rules to discourage ballot-stuffing, but for the most part it’s pretty straightforward. Entry deadline is Nov. 6; we’ll report the results on Nov. 17. To get the ball rolling, here’s a definition of each category, along with the votes we would cast (but we won’t; this poll is for the readers):
Favorite New Restaurant
We define “new” in this category as any Chicago-area restaurant that opened on or after Oct. 1, 1999. Eligible restaurants from late-’99 include Atwood Cafe. Bin 36, Bistrot Margot, Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, Echo, Encore, Gioco, 120 Ocean Place, QP and Samba Room. Notable members of the Class of 2000 include Adobo Grill, Biaggio’s, Big Night, Cannella’s on Grand, Chilpancingo, D’Vine, 437 Rush, The Grill on the Alley, The GrillRoom, JaponiSante, J.Gerard’s Bistro, Kafe Kokopelli, Karizma, Le Passage, Mirai, MOD, Nine, NoMI, Opus, Rambutan, She She, The State Room, Saussy, Tanzy, Timpano Italian Chophouse and Zealous. Last year’s winner was Grace. This year? We love Mirai, MOD and NoMI, but our vote would go to Zealous.
Chef to Watch
Last year, Priscila Satkoff of Salpicon won this category, which is intended to focus on lesser-known talents (don’t bother voting for Charlie Trotter or Rick Bayless, in other words); this year’s winner might also be a woman. On our radar: Jennifer Aranas at Filipino fusion hotspot Rambutan, Kelly Courtney at MOD, and Carrie Nahabedian, executive chef-to-be at eagerly awaited Naha. But don’t forget the guys, including Sandro Gamba of NoMI and Geno Bahena of Ixcapuzalco and the recently opened Chilpancingo, currently one of the city’s most buzzworthy eateries.
Favorite Server
Here’s your chance to bestow glory on the waiter or waitress who makes dining out especially enjoyable.
Favorite Dessert
When we conducted a dessert poll in 1998, more than 1,000 votes were cast. Will the winner here be a local institution, such as Eli’s Cheesecake, or a signature dish, such as the Chocolate Bag that Jackie Shen created at Jackie’s and continues to serve at Lawry’s the Prime Rib? From the classic (Calo’s terrific tiramisu) to the continental (chef Sarah Stegner’s cheese course at The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton) to the zany (s’mores mashed potatoes at the Mashed Potato Club), our favorite desserts finish strong.
Favorite Place to Take Out-of-Town Visitors
This is a question we’re asked a lot so we’re throwing it back at you, the readers. Where would YOU take your out-of-town guests if you wanted to show your town in the most flattering light? One of Chicago’s lavish four-star dining palaces? A trendy, see-and-be-seen hotspot? An eatery that’s part of Chicago history e lean toward unique restaurants, such as Topolobampo, for a dining experience your friends are unlikely to replicate elsewhere.
Favorite Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurant
It may be a dubious distinction, but you know the old maxim: Some of the best restaurants are real holes in the wall. While hip, celebrity-chef restaurants blow millions on mise-en-scene, these joints focus on producing quality food, atmosphere be damned. Our favorites: The slightly dingy, underground (literally) Half Shell in Lincoln Park, where fresh crab legs can be had at bargain prices; and shabby-chic Leo’s Lunch Room in Wicker Park, where playful meals are served on mismatched plates.
Most Daring Restaurant
We left this category open-ended for a reason-to find out what strikes our readers as daring. Is it the unfettered spiciness of Soul Kitchen’s food? The plastic-fantastic sheen of MOD’s modern decor? The jazz-riffing creativity of Charlie Trotter? The exotic grilled menagerie at Grizzly’s Lodge?
Favorite Place for Wine Slobs and Snobs
This category is meant to honor restaurants whose wine programs excite and educate. Places that can impress the wine aficionado without intimidating the wine novice. Likely candidates include Cru Cafe & Wine Bar, D’Vine, Hudson Club, The Tasting Room and The Stained Glass in Evanston. Our vote would go to Bin 36 and wine director Brian Duncan’s always-interesting, ever-changing wine lineup.
Favorite Place for Customer Perks and Pampering
In New Orleans, it’s called “lagniappe”-a little something extra. Let’s face it; you want to feel appreciated. At Tru, niceties like velvet purse rests, valets who remember guests’ names and cashmere shawls kept at the ready for ladies who feel a draft take the sting out of the sticker shock. But customer-coddling perks are just as common at more modest eateries-for example, the free cinnamon rolls served with every order at Ann Sather. Vote for the restaurant that goes that extra mile to make your visit a pleasure.
Favorite Deli
No one lives on bread alone; you need cold cuts and a crisp kosher pickle. Our favorite delis run the gamut from the uppity-yuppitiy Costello Sandwich and Sides in booming Roscoe Village, where the pastrami- and salami-packed Mess sandwich comes with french fries and cole slaw (in the sandwich), to the wonderfully working-class Falbo’s Deli, a Taylor Street institution. What are yours?
HOW TO ENTER
Use the ballot on this page or a 3×5 card to vote in at least one category, or vote online at metromix.com/go/choice
Deadline: Nov. 6, 2000
THE PRIZES
One randomly selected grand prize winner will receive $500. Two randomly selected runners up will receive $250 each.
THE RESULTS
We’ll print the results here on Nov. 17.
LAST YEAR’S RESULTS
Favorite New Restaurant: Grace
Chef to Watch: Priscila Satkoff
Favorite Place to Pop the Question: The Signature Room at the 95th
Favorite All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant: Flat Top Grill
Favorite Dining Neighborhood or Community: Bucktown
Favorite Place for Vegetarian: Blind Faith Cafe
Favorite Place for Sushi: Sushi Wabi
Favorite Place for exotic dining: Tizi Melloul
Favorite Server: Mark Amodeo of Sapicon
Favorite Place for Latin food: Copa Cubana
Favorite Place for Burgers: The Country House
Favorite BYOB Restaurant: Salbute
Favorite Place for appetizers: Cafe Iberico
Favorite Landmark Restaurant: The Berghoff
Snootiest Restaurant: Charlie Trotter’s
CHICAGO’S CHOICE DINING POLL
Vote for choice in any or all categories. Restaurants must be in the Chicago area.
1. Favorite New Restaurant
2. Chef to Watch
3. Favorite Server
4. Favorite Dessert
5. Favorite Place to Take Out-of-Town Visitors
6. Favorite Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurant
7. Most Daring Restaurant
8. Favorite Place for Wine Slobs and Snobs
9. Favorite Place for Customer Perks and Pampering
10. Favorite Deli
Your name
Address
City, State, ZIP code
Phone
Send your ballot, or a 3 x 5 card, with your name, address, phone number, and your choices, to:
Chicago’s Choice Dining Poll,
P.O. Box 802048, Chicago, Ill., 60680-2048, or vote and enter on the Internet at metromix.com/go/choice.
THE OFFICIAL RULES
Send your entry ballot, or a 3 x 5 card, with your name, address, phone number and your choices in any or all categories listed on the accompanying ballot to: Chicago’s Choice Dining Poll, P.O. Box 802882, Chicago, Ill., 60680-3884, or vote and enter on the Internet at metromix.com/go/choice. No purchase is necessary, but you must be a United States resident to enter. All entries must be received by noon on Monday, Nov. 6, 2000. Only one entry per person. (Tribune Company employees and their families are not eligible.) One Grand Prize winner and two additional winners will be selected at random from eligible entries and their names will be published in the Chicago Tribune and metromix.com/go/choice on or about Friday, Nov. 17, 2000. Winners also will be notified by telephone. The Grand Prize winner will receive $500; the two other winners each will receive $250. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Entries become property of Chicago Tribune and will not be returned. Entrants agree that disputes will be resolved by Chicago Tribune, and that Tribune’s decisions are final. Entrants agree to allow use of their name, photograph, likeness and all information submitted with their entry ballot, in print or any other medium of communication, without additional compensation. Winners must execute an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability prior to receiving the prize. Winners assume all applicable tax liability for the prize. Winners must claim their prize within 60 days of being notified of winning. Sweepstakes is sponsored by Chicago Tribune Co. P.O. Box 802882, Chicago, Ill. 60680-3884. For the names of the winners, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope after Nov. 6, 2000, to: Chicago’s Choice-Dining Poll Winners, Chicago Tribune Company, P.O. Box 802882, Chicago, Illinois, 60680-3884.The Chicago Tribune is not responsible for lost, incomplete, damaged illegible, late, postage-due or misdirected entries, or for errors in mechanical transmission, technical difficulties, or the inability to transmit Internet entries. Void where prohibited or restricted.
