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The first time I dined here, it was with our own Bradrico Flores, for lunch. Having eaten there for dinner, I can say that the atmosphere was quite different on some levels, and the food even more stellar with the addition of the dinner entree menu. Normally I'm not one to gush and to post twice in such a short time, but this eatery deserves a second look before Check Please grabs it and tables become scarce.
Cosina Grill in Andersonville, Revisited
tamalechica.blogspot.com - 2 weeks ago - 253 views
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Twenty dollars for each of 20 weeks campaign, Tamale Chica?
Let's keep Andersonville thriving!
Haha, and who would compensate us? Or would they pay us in food?
It's interesting that Andersonville has a diverse range of Mexican restaurants, of which I seem to have eaten at most of them. There was one where the waitress (the owner's wife) really didn't even speak much English. Some are really cheap eats of the dive variety, some sit down venues that are very, very casual, to the more upscale range. It's easy to forget that besides the obvious Swedish background of the neighborhood, there is a reasonably sized population of Mexicans and Mexican immigrants in the area.
My grandfather came from Sweden, but did not settle in Andersonville. I sort of lived in Andersonville back in the eighties (dang I'm old, huh?) Even then it had lots of Hispanics and Middle-Easterners (Syrians, a lot). Swedes aren't really into non-assimilation. Most of the Mexican restaurants I've gone to aren't real big on ingles. I used to go to El Presidente a lot. No habla mucho ingles at El Presidente!
Wow, Cosina looks good. Some pretty fancy dishes!
I also used to go to Cocina Mexicana (?) on Webster back in the old days. That was a very popular place for a long time, not super fancy but very good quality.
I lived in Andersonville for a year with the ex hubby during the mid 1990's, and there were still a lot of Assyrians and Mexican immigrants, quite a few Asian Americans and of course a decent amount of Swedes. Svea's used to be our regular Sunday routine. Last week I finally made it into the Swedish Museum and their gift shop, which I'll do a share on in the future. Was Books on Berwyn open when you were in the area?
I think I've been to the restaurant on Webster, but it was awhile ago.
Thanks for mentioning El Presidente. I just checked it out and the menu looks pretty good. Except for the opportunity to order a surprise meal, going to the type of Mexican restaurants that you mentioned usually means you're getting much better, authentic home cooking. Great, now I'm really hungry!
I think Books on Berwyn may have been there then. I don't think I made it in, however. Mostly I went to Barbara's and the odd used-book store. Aspidistra was great. I was amused by "Seoul Food" on Clark Street. Koreans tend to have a good sense of humor, it seems to me. El Presidente on Ashland was an interesting place when I went there. The decor was kind of stark. They had one of those common philodendron vines that grew all the way around the big dining room. When it finally reached itself, going all the way around the room, they removed it. That reminds me of the House Of Eggrolls, up the street on Lincoln. They used to have a big fish tank in the customer area, with a huge Jack Dempsey cichlid swimming around in it. Then one day I stopped in and the tank was empty....
I was trying to remember the Books on Berwyn owner's name -- it was Phil (Italian last name). He started out in the Landmark, on Berwyn and by the time I met him he was on Clark Street. My landlord loved Apidistra and he still talks about it. One of my other book junkie friends used to rave about a bookstore that was on Lincoln Avenue, somewhere around the Biograph.
I've never heard of Seoul Food but what a funny name.
Stark is a diplomatic way of describing some of these ma and pa immigrant run restaurants. I've been into some real dives, where the upholstry (or lack of) on the booths made sitting across from your lunch partner kind of impossible. One of my favorite places has such bad lighting that it casts a lovely greenish glow on everyone's skin.
Too bad about the fish. The sometimes kooky stuff that many small business retailers have in their stores really gives them a unique character onto their own.
You're thinking of Bookseller's Row on Lincoln. That was a nice place but I didn't go there a whole lot for some reason. There was a place on Morse that I got a few good things from. These days Powell's is the spot I like. It's big and they get some unusual stuff from time to time. Anyway, more books I don't especially need; I need more reading!
That name doesn't ring a bell at all. I think it was around Altgeld on Lincoln.
I'm online so much that more reading seems mindboggling at times.
Bookseller's Row was a few steps away from the Biograph, down the street from Altgeld. If you haven't looked at what Google Maps has for that corner, you should. It's like a map made up by the Lincoln Ave. Chamber of Commerce. Incredible. Anyway, they're showing "Books In The City" being across the street. I never heard of it until now. I don't go over there any more. What's AMAZING is Uncle Dan's is still there, WOW.
With apologies to Brad, everyone needs to read great books, whether fiction or non. The internet is junk food compared to what you can find in a real book.
I'll have to ask someone I know who used to go there - it's possible that this is the name but it rings no bells.
I've noticed the upgrades on Google Maps -- it's kind of interesting in what shows up in some neighborhoods.
I've gone into Uncle Dan's on Southport, so they've grown. And the rents on Southport can't be cheap.
That's so true about a good book. I have a pile of them waiting for me to do something besides look at them. Lately the only thing I'm reading are short stories but in Espanol, which doesn't lend itself to fast reading.
Got the name! It was The Guild. A friend of mine said it was on the west side of Lincoln and that Booksellers Row was on the east side of Lincoln.
OK, I remember Guild Bookstore. It was kind of vaguely left-wing, I thought. I went there a few times but never really got hooked by the place. I used to go to Barbara's on Broadway every Friday after work to get the Reader and check out the offerings. Then I would pick up Chinese at Mark's and head home. That was a LONG time ago.
My "old" Chicago bookstore bot friend told me that the Guild purchased by a guy who was a member of the Communist Party, and that he purchased it from a group of people who owned it before, who had left the Communist Party. So it makes sense that there was still that leftist touch.
What I liked about their selection is the variety of offerings about Latin America, Asian and Asian American authored and topical books, and other international topics.
A few reviews are up on Yelp here.
Seems like everyone but one guys loves it, and even he said the chips and salsa were great.
Thanks for the link. Of course reading more reviews just started to make me get hungry again, thanks a lot!
Eye for an eye, I was starving after reading yours.
I don't know where you live, but if you're in my hood you can probably now hear my tums growling! I ate a light dinner because I've been eating out far too much.
Good thing Bradrico hasn't figured out how to do smell-a-posting or I'd break down and start cooking at this late hour.
Love this exchange, Tamale Chica & Nelson! I'm sure other Windy Citizens will agree that these discussion threads distinguish our share from all other similar web sites.
Here, you have a restaurant critic-publicist, a former CHIC corporate executive & a Mexican Food aficianado discussing South of the border fare served one of Chicago's eminent Swedish-American neighborhood of Andersonsville.
Thanks, but I don't consider myself a publicist. We do integrated public relations, of the stakeholder (not a Buffy thing) type. TC is the personal, fun blog so none of the restaurants I ever talk about are ever clients. I just happen to like small businesses, which is why I like to blog about them and hopefully help them out with added online exposure. Sometimes I even Yelp but under a different name.
I'm just an Anglo, but shouldn't it be "cocina?" No comprende!
I think they went with Cosina Grill because there is a chain of restaurants that use the name Cocina Grill (with a c).
And si, normally it would be a "c."
Gracias.
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