Tasty Bites in Chicago

Veggie stuffed pizza at Giordano's Chicago.
(Photo: Liz Barrett)

There is never a lack of great food when in Chicago for the National Restaurant Association show each year. This year I'm sharing a few favorite menu picks from various restaurants, including the veggie stuffed pizza from Giordano's you see at the left. Our waitress told us three times that it would take 40 minutes for our pizza to be ready, and three times we replied that we were perfectly fine with 40 minutes. All good things come to those who wait.

PMQ's senior copy editor Tracy Morin and I will be including more information about our Chicago pizza stops in the Pizza Press section of PMQ's August issue, but in the meantime, I hope the below items will get your creative juices flowing.


Here's an appetizer from Siena Tavern -- burrata with eggplant caponata, aged balsamic and pecorino oil. The cheese was creamy and salty, perfect with the eggplant and crispy bread it was served with.




Utilizing house-milled Midwestern wheat, this tagliatelle pasta from Nellcote featured Illinois ramp pesto, snow peas, pecorino romano and marcona almonds. The combination was earthy and fresh.



I love a good bruschetta. This unique offering from Balena combined spring peas, ricotta, green garlic and pea shoots for a true taste of springtime.




I'm a sucker for a good cookie, especially one that's cooked in a skillet, which is exactly what I spotted when we sat down at historic Aurelio's Pizza in Homewood. The gooey chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate chips was the perfect finish to a lunch of salad, pizza, meatball sub and calabrese.