Etno Village Grill

How to kill a Vampire!!!
Etno Village Grill

Lincoln Park is known for its college feel and upper class neighborhoods. There are a number of fine eateries, which you will most likely find a number of DePaul students in as well as business professionals. Etno village grill is something that I have passed numerous times and had always caught my eye (especially since they have a giant cow on the roof)

I have heard nothing but good things about Etno village grill and after sitting down the other day and opening up Time Out Chicago I was presented the perfect opportunity. The recent Time Out Chicago issue featured some of Chicago's top burgers and of course on that list a some what hidden gem, Etno Village Grill!

Before I begin I just want to talk about the all around experience that I had when walking into the place known for serving, "real food fast!" Etno does nothing but this! The food is amazing and it comes faster than some fast food joints.

Having never stepped foot into the restaurant before I was welcomed with a giant chalk board over the register that listed everything they had on menu with a number of other small chalk boards around the main one. One thing that I had noticed was a small rack below the register that had a few boxes of girl scout cookies, solid move in my opinion, and under that was an assortment of chips. The place had a nice feel with all food benches and tables. While observing the menu I could see the cooks preparing everything behind the counter as well as grilling the burgers, oh boy was I hungry too!

Striking a polite conversation I asked the girl working the register what she liked at Etno..."My favorite would have to be the Vampire Hunter!"
Well that sounded like it was just up my alley!

At Etno's you can order a large or small burger. The small is a 1/3 pound while the large is a 1/2 pound. The burger contains a mouth watering collection of asiago cheese, sauteed mushrooms, roasted garlic and chive cream spread, what else could you want out of a burger!
According to some friends of mine I couldn't pass up the parmesan french fries either, so being a sucker for food I had to get some of those too!

Vampire Hunter
Living up to its name this burger had everything it needed to kill a Vampire! The roasted garlic was a great flavoring to the burger along with the chive cream spread. The asiago cheese melted in my mouth and the juicy burger purged with flavoring with its nice medium rare grill job. The fresh lettuce and assorted greens provided the experience with a nice crunch and a clean crisp taste. The mushrooms were big and juicy and absorbed the flavoring the burger perfectly. There was not a dominate taste over all, the mushrooms didn't take over the chive cream spread and the grilled garlic didn't leave my breath smelly. This I have to say is one of my favorite burgers and I look forward to going back to Etno's to try some more options out!



Parmesan Fries
The fries had a thick cut to them and were seasoned and salted just the way that I liked them. I wish they had a little more crunch to them, but don't take that statement as they were soggy (I just like my fries with some more crisp!) The fries had a type of grainy parmesan on top of them. The cheese had a great flavor and this was also the first time that I ever had paremsan that way, new but not bad.


Over all my experience at Etno's was nothing short then the rants my friends went on. I will no longer look at that goofy cow on top of the roof with skepticism anymore, but knowing that Etno's serves great burgers with fresh produce. Although they are a little pricey, the food is worth the money!

Duck N Roll

Duck N Roll Home Page

So I was finally able to meet up with a well-known Food Truck in Chicago, the Duck N Roll truck. The Duck N Roll Trucks can be seen featured all across the United States and has held captive people’s memories of their amazing cuisine! Duck N Roll is a must try in Chicago and I know for a fact that you will not be disappointed with what you have there.

Beef Short Rib

Miso braised short ribs a delightful punch of sweet and salty flavoring that you could eat again and again. The braised short ribs lay on top of a warm bed of some of the best Jasmine rice that I have ever had. This Jasmine rice is not just a normal Jasmine, but a coconut Jasmine rice, so it is even better for those that don’t know! Along side of the rice and beef was a tasteful picked cabbage. All of the flavors came together so well that I was left craving more. The whole plate satisfied my palate through its Asian explosion of flavor and sweet tender meat. If any of you were interested in the miso braised short ribs, I am apologize, but you will have to keep guessing! Even if I was given the recipe, I don’t think I could share it because it is so good. I suppose you will have to keep coming back to Duck N Roll to get your miso short rib fix that you have been looking for all this time!

Banana & Chocolate Donut Holes

Who ever thought of taking out the middle of a donut I am sure had no idea about what the creative geniuses at Duck N Roll had in store for this savory treat. The chocolate banana donut whole is a must try! The dessert was a banana nutella rolled in brown sugar and cinnamon. WOW…. A sweet treat that will melt in your mouth with the soft banana accompanied by the sweet and memorable taste of the mix of nutella, brown sugar, and cinnamon. I could have eaten a couple of boxes.

Duck N Roll supplies some of the best food that I have experienced so far in Chicago. I do not suggest consuming this before work because after I had cleared my plate all I could do was layback and think about how great the experience was. Duck N Roll provides catering at events and you can learn more from their website. You can find the truck roaming the streets of Chicago Tuesday-Thursday because they are booked up the remainder of the week working on catering events.

Check out the Truck on Facebook and Twitter; make sure you tell them that Windy City Food Review says thanks again!

Hey out there!

Hey all,

Hope everyone is doing well. I know I have not been on here much recently due to new and exciting adventures in life, but that doesn't provide a sound reasoning for my absence. I will have a new post up here soon (I know I keep saying that).

I am open to any suggestions on new food trucks or old ones let me know what your thoughts are, I want to hear them!

Make sure you leave comments on some posts and let me know where you think I should go next.

Find us on Instagram to see some of dishes that I have had and some dishes that I have made myself.

I look forward to reading your comments!

Journey to the Southwest

I hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year so far, I know I have. As I said way back in 2012 I was going to be in Tucson Arizona for a little while and I would be telling my story about being out there. Well I went and had a blast at the Tucson Food Truck Roundup at Himmel Park on January 1^st. A few of the Trucks that I was able to visit were MaFooco, Stolen Recipe BBQ Company and Jamie’s Bitchin Kitchen. The round up was great there were a number of other trucks, but I was not able to make my way to all of them. In the time that I spent in Tucson I re-connected with some great people and met some more amazing people in my travels.

Now what you really want to hear about… The food!

            I would like to start off by saying, WOW! MaFooco does it right. I was fortunate enough to try the Korean beef taco, which had some amazing Korean beef accompanied by Kimchi, lettuce, and purple cabbage. This delight was serving of three mouth-watering tacos on flour tortillas with a lime on the side. The sweet tangy taste of lime along with the tender beef was delicious. I wish I still lived in Tucson so that I could eat at Mafooco more! I was actually told by a friend of mine that, “ You would be missing out if you DID NOT go to Mafooco!” Since it was my first time ever having Kimchi I was very happy to report that I would be trying to again very soon!

            The Stolen Recipe BBQ Company does it right with their “Red Neck Nachos” and their “Pulled Pork Burrito”. I was able fortunate enough to try to of their treats, a friend of mine and I split both of them. The Red Neck Nachos was a great blend of corn tortilla chips along with a heaping pile of BBQ pulled pork with some chopped green onions and sour cream. This nacho was right for me. The pulled pork very juicy and went great with the sweat and tangy BBQ sauce that was drizzled on top under a great serving of sour cream. I am a big fan of green onions so as an extra feature it sealed the deal for me in the end!

            I was also able to try to pulled pork burrito, which was originally a sandwich until they ran out of bread. Either way bread or burrito this was a great meal. The hardy burrito was packed with a large serving of warm pork, rice, black beans, peppers, and more! After eating at the BBQ company I had to take a break before I was able to continue with my journey of food trucks at this great gathering!

            After a much-needed digesting period I was able to get back into the eating game and wrap up my day with a Cuban Hot Dog at Jamie’s Bitchin Kitchen. This uniquely decorated truck appealed to my digestive track because of the well known Sonoran hot dogs that can be found all over Tucson. Needless to say watch out hot dog vendors Jamie knows how to make a great dog! The beef hot dog was decorated with some amazing tomatoes, cilantro, special sauce, cheese, and pinto beans. This was a hardy dog even more me! The great flavoring of the special sauce, beans, beef dog, and tomatoes gave me a great curiosity to Cuban food, if it is anything like this I want try it!

I was only able to stomach three food trucks in the hour and half that I was there while breaking at times to take a breathe from inhaling some delicious food that can be found in the southwest region. If you ever get a chance to get out here make sure you try these three trucks. There were some others there that I wish I was able to try as well, but due to the time that I was there unfortunately was unable to try them all! In the end my trip to Tucson was a success in trying the great trucks that they have out there! Make sure you follow them on Twitter and check out their Facebook pages to learn more about them!