Restaurant No. 3: A tacueria

Normally this would not fit my criteria. But this is not your typical taco and burrito place that can be found all over Chicago. One of the oddities of this place is that it is a restaurant inside of a grocery store. I have been to a few before and have always found the food to good and the offerings a lot more extensive, so it fits because it is more restaurant than most Mexican joints.

Place: Tacueria North Pulaski, 3850 W. North Ave., Chicago. Located on the west edge of Logan Square/Humboldt Park, near Humboldt Park.

Cost: Cheap eating. Prices are pretty much $7 and under.

I went out to Costco with a friend of mine and on the way back, we decided we were hungry. Shocking, that after eating all the freebies at Costco, we want more. But alas, we did.

If you can get over eating in a grocery store (hello Whole Foods makes a fortune), you will really like this place. The options were amazing. You could get pretty much whatever you want, from tacos, burritos, sopes, carnitas, chilaquiles, carnitas, fajitas, rotisserie chicken, soups, pork chops, to so much more.

I decided that I wanted chilaquiles. If you aren't familiar with it is a dish with fried corn tortilla strips, eggs, a tomatillo sauce (this was a verde), onion, fresh cream (Mexican sour cream) and cheese. How could you go wrong. It was really good. I couldn't even eat half of it, the portion was so large. It was all good. And I highly recommend.

My friend Bill had the chicken plate. There was a lot of food. I'm not sure if it was a half chicken but it was definitely more than a quarter. The chicken was really juicy and well flavored. The chunk of avocado was huge and super creamy. It was really worth the price.

All over, it was really good. Not everything about the place is great: my hochata was weak (they served it warm), the ordering line cramped, and you are better served if you know some Spanish, but overall this tacueria is a worthy place. The moral of the story here is if you are willing to give a place a chance, you may end up with a huge surprise.

Home Made No. 2: Chicken and Veggie Soup

With the cold weather upon us, I was really feeling like having some comfort food. And what says comfort more than home made soup. Plus it makes for a good week of eating. It is fairly easy to make as I had a frozen rotisserie chicken in the freezer. I stuck the remainder in a pot of water and slowly simmered to obtain as much flavor from the chicken and the carcass as possible. It also makes removing the leftover chicken a whole lot easier. I added some stock, fresh basil, rosemary, sage, poultry seasoning, paprika, celery salt, and pepper to the mix. In terms of veggies, I used cabbage, corn, carrots, potatoes, green pepper, onion and peas. All in all, it was delicious.

Restaurant 2: Semiramis

Semiramis is a Lebanese restaurant recommended by my friend Nancy. She described it as very good, inexpensive, BYOB and heart healthy. I don't need much to try a new place and I love Lebanese food, so I was in.

Restaurant: Semiramis, 4639 N. Kedzie, Chicago IL.

Who I went with: My friends Nancy, Chris and Cody.

Cost: Moderately Cheap. Sandwiches range from $6-$8 dollars; Appetizers from $3-$6, entrees $12-16. Once again BYOB and proud of it (I believe they have a small corking fee, around $3).

The restaurant was nice. Not fancy but a good size and conversation friendly. We started with some basic appetizers, hummus (with pita bread) and fries with paprika sprinkled on and a garlic and sumac mouse. The hummus was good, had a nice texture and the pita was tasty. The fries were surprisingly good. Some nice spice and the mouse was interesting. I would never have thought of ordering fries in a Middle Eastern restaurant but would not hesitate to do it again.

For my entree, I had the mixed grill plate which was a combination of chicken kabobs, beef kabobs and a lamb and beef kafta roll served over spiced basmati rice and grilled vegetables. For those who have never had it before, kafta is a a meat mixture of in this case lamb and beef, spices (usually cumin, coriander, parsley, mint, garlic, etc), rolled into a ball and grilled. The beef and kafta were very good, with lots of flavor. The beef was especially tender. The chicken was good but not really inspired with nice flavors but a little dry. Chris has the Chicken Chawarma with Fatuous. The chicken looked good and the fatuous salad looked fresh and amazing. Nancy had the vegetarian plate which is basically an appetizer special of hummus, baba ghannouj, falafel, tabbouleh and dolma (grape leaves). For desert, Cody and Chris split a mix of baklava -walnut, pistachio, and cashew. Not being a fan, I didn't take part. Chris and Cody really enjoyed it. Everyone was pleased with their meal as it was fresh and tasty.

A couple of things that I really liked about the restaurant. First, the waitress was outstanding. Service was good without being pesky. She also explained the specials and the prices. It annoys me when you have to ask for the price of the special. She was willing to explain the menu also, but as we all were experienced with Middle Eastern food, it was not necessary but important because not everyone is.

As for hanging out with my friends, it was a huge success. It is always good to see everyone especially Chris and Cody as I had not seen them in awhile. Getting caught up, sharing a few bottles of wine and going to an unexpected art exhibit at the Chicago Mosaic School was cool. If you haven't been there, it is amazing to see the variety of work that the artists there produce. Below are some pictures of a mural in the bathroom that I snapped.

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I was interested in the name of the restaurant and figured it had some sort of cultural influence. Being inquisitive, pays off, because I learned a bit too.

In doing some online research, Semiramis was a legendary Assyrian queen, also known as Semiramide, Semiramida, or Shamiram.

According to legend, Semiramis was of noble parents, the daughter of the fish-goddess Derketo of Ascalon in Syria and a mortal. Derketo abandoned her at birth and drowned herself. The child was fed by doves until she was found and brought up by Simmas, the royal shepherd.

Afterwards she married Onnes or Menones, one of the generals of Ninus. Ninus was so struck by her bravery at the capture of Bactra that he married her, forcing Onnes to commit suicide.

She and Ninus had a son named Ninyas. After King Ninus conquered Asia, including the Bactrians, he was fatally wounded by an arrow. Semiramis then masqueraded as her son and tricked her late husband's army into following her instructions because they thought these came from their new ruler. After Ninus's death she reigned as queen regnant, conquering much of Asia.

Not only was she able to reign effectively, she also added Ethiopia to the empire. She restored ancient Babylon and protected it with a high brick wall that completely surrounded the city. She is also credited with inventing the chastity belt.

In the end, however, her son killed her.