I Fulfilled My Chicago Foodie Goals

Day 13 of 31  

Book Expo America has come to an end. I learned…A LOT (DJ Khaled voice). I absorbed a wealth of information, met some amazing human beings, made some meaningful connections, and got some new stories brewing. Why not treat myself to my grandest foodie desires?

Outside of me flying all the way out here for the convention, I’ve always wanted to visit Chicago — mainly (solely) for food. I am a Food Network addict. I’ve watched many a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives marathon. I can tell an episode by the color of the douchey glasses on the back of Guy Fieri’s head. I can tell a season by how bleached his spikes are. You get it, I watch a lot of Triple D. My favorite episodes almost always include food from Chicago. Where else are they making philly cheesesteak egg rolls — bulgogi style!?! Where else will you wait nearly an hour for a yummy, gooey, buttery deep dish pizza?! Who else gon put pickles and peppers on your weiner??? Huh?! Who?! Chi-city, that’s who. #RespekIt

Because all things tasty reside in Chicago, I’ve made it one of my life goals to visit. Thankfully, I had a logical reason to come here (not that I wasn’t tempted to make a trip here, strictly for eats). Now there’s a lot of restaurants I want to visit while I’m here but I only have so little time, as I spend most of my days at Book Expo. So I made sure to achieve three of my most important foodie goals:

Deep Dish Pizza

DISCLAIMER: Photo of the fake pizza. I was so hungry at Lou Malnati’s that I forgot to snap a pic!

It’s actually a law that you can not leave the city of Chicago without devouring at least one personal pan of deep dish pizza. Ya’ll know I follow the rules, so much so that I ate two personal pizzas. The first one was not good at all. I knew from the tin foil pan that they baked it in that it was NOT going to be an authentic Chicago pie. But I was hungry! And lost! And this pizza place was right there. Must like the establishment, the crust was dry (I wanted wine 🙁 ). The sauce left much to be desired and the pepperoni was just bleh. A heartbreaking foodie tale, I know. But I fully redeemed my tastebuds at the legendary Lou Malnati’s Pizza. It was all anyone talked about during the convention. “Have you had Lou Malnati’s Pizza?” to which I replied “Illuminati pizza?!”  No, this pizza joint isn’t linked to any secret society (not to my knowledge, anyway), but I totally get the cult following. It’s delicious! The crust was buttery, the cheesy was perfectly gooey, and the pepperoni was not “bleh” at all.

Chicago Hot Dog

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Duh. This is a basic must. I did cop out on this one though, because I bought it at the food court in McCormick Place. Not exactly made with love, but it tasted pretty ok. I understand the tangy and savory elements. I can imagine how good it must taste from an old school Chicago hot dog spot.

bopNgrill

If nothing else, I just HAD to go to bopNgrill! From the second I booked my Airbnb, I mapped out the distance between the restaurant and my stay. Thankfully, it’s not too far. The menu offers a plethora of  hardcore gastronomical porn, but I decided to stick with what was featured on Triple D: Philly Bulgogi Egg Rolls and the legendary Umami Burger.

All that’s missing is cheese sauce!

The egg rolls were by far one of the most delicious foods I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. And I’ve been eating food for a very, very long time. The only thing it was missing was that yellow cheese sauce shown on the show. Whatevs, it was still tasty. The egg roll casing was bubbly and crispy but not too greasy. The filling was a perfectly imbalanced meat to cheese ratio, with sweet and savory barbecued ribeye being the main star.

Umami Burger was just…. you know what, just watch this video:

This was sooooo gooood! BUT if I must give a critique, it was pretty soggy and messy. Not a bad thing but not a great thing either.

I have only one more Chicago day left. But before I go, I want to say: Farewell, Chicago. You’ve been scrumptious.
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