A coupe weeks ago Celeste and I celebrated our 1.5 year wedding anniversary, and in honor of the special day we decided to finally use one of the gift cards my brothers got us for Christmas last year. Along with that, I also picked up an anniversary-sized version of our wedding cake… Now I know what you’re saying, “Well didn’t you have the cake topper from your actual wedding to eat on your 1 year anniversary?”… yes and no. After we got married we put the cake topper in the freezer without taking the time to properly wrap it as you’re supposed to. Fast forward to our anniversary and I had no desire to eat a cake that had been improperly wrapped and frozen for an entire year. I decided it’d be easier to just buy a new cake from the bakery that made our wedding cake and be done with it, so I did. Then, as we’re taking the original cake out of the freezer to throw away, we found out that the hotel did the fancy wrapping job on it, so it was probably just fine. Oh well, the new cake tasted better than 1.5 year old cake anyways. But I digress, back to our anniversary dinner.
Cantina Laredo Chicago
Celeste had been to Cantina Laredo before and loved it, so we decided to have my brothers get us a gift card so I could try it out. I do really enjoy Mexican food, but I must say that there wasn’t much that looked appealing on the menu here. I ended up going with some beef tacos with queso. Now in my mind I thought that just meant that the tacos only had shredded cheese on them, not a bowl of dipping queso similar to the chips and queso we got as an appetizer. The queso itself was pretty spicy, but along with that, so was the beef, which made my meal less than desirable. It wasn’t terrible, but I could have done with a little less heat and a bit more shredded, white, delicious Mexican cheese. The other thing about the beef is that it was super chewy to the point that it was probably worse than the chewy steak at Chipotle that I always get. And to make that even worse, it wasn’t small chunks of beef, it was long strips, so breaking off a piece of it to eat was a nightmare, and then I just looked rude when I had to spit parts of it back into my napkin… Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, who knows, but I don’t think I’ll be recommending, or going back to, Cantina Laredo anytime soon. On the bright side though, the margaritas were strong and the churros dessert was pretty solid… Celeste did enjoy her food so this could just be me being picky again. And unfortunately I didn’t feel comfortable taking out my phone and taking photos of the food, so all you get is a picture of our meal on Sunday.
So to make up for the subpar meal the Friday before, on Sunday morning we decided to take advantage of a Groupon we recently purchased and go somewhere that would have food more my style. Something a little closer to home… or at least it would be closer to home if I grew up in the south, which I didn’t, so that was probably a pretty bad comparison. But nonetheless, Chicken and Waffles is a little more up my alley than chewy Mexican tacos so Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles in Evanston sounded pretty good.
Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles and Waffles in Evanston
We decided to get there right when they opened so that we could be home for the start of the Bears game at noon, but we didn’t anticipate being the only people in the restaurant. We had heard good things, so for it to be completely void of any life outside of the staff was a bit odd. But that wasn’t going to stop us from utilizing our Groupon and getting some great breakfast food.
Ironically, I didn’t even end up getting fried chicken with my waffles, however I did eat turkey sausage, which surprised even me. I normally don’t like turkey anything unless it’s just straight turkey, so for me to actually eat turkey sausage was a feat in itself, but for me to say it wasn’t half bad is insane. Combine that with the waffles and eggs and I was happy. My only complaint would be that I like my waffles a tiny bit crispier (if that’s the right word), I don’t like them when they are on the soggy side, which these were. Don’t get me wrong, they were still delicious. But a few more minutes in the waffle iron probably would have made them perfect.
Celeste did get the fried chicken to go along with her waffles and I gave them a bite, it was just a bit too early for fried chicken for me. The fried chicken was very good, but I’m not sure if it beats Chicken Shack on Ridge in Evanston. We’ll have to do a comparison taste test to really see which is better.
So if you’re looking for a decent chicken and waffles place in Evanston, definitely check out Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles in Evanston, you won’t be disappointed. Good food, good service and a great looking restaurant.
Stay tuned for the Thanksgiving post which consists of smoked turkey from Reagan Meats in Glenview and Fried Flounder… yup, deep fried Flouder, which I actually ate.
Hi Tom!
Thanks for the review of Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles! I help out with their social media. Next time you visit just let them know you want your waffles crispier. 😀
Thanks for the comment Tabz, I will indeed do that next time I’m in there… as there will definitely be a next time.