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PostPosted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:17 pm 
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UrRight,

Fantastic.

I know Peppino's real well. My wife grew up right down the street. It was on Sibley across from the bowling alley. Great chicken sandwiches also. Used to eat there all the time when we were dating. Where exactly is it on Indianapolis Blvd?

Capri Deli is ok, but I prefer De Rosa's in Griffith. Anthony can get you just about anything if you ask, even if its not in the store. Good for other ethnic food as well (Serbian, Greek, Turkish, etc...).

Speaking of Italian deli's, two of the best I've ever been to are Bari Foods on Grand just west of Halsted and Freddie's on 16th and 61st Ct in Cicero.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:49 pm 
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I honestly have to look it up
Code:
[code]on the yellow pages, or drive by his old building to see the address they posted, as to where they moved.

I'm sure you can google it. He is notorious for his food; I used to do his printing for the menus back in the '80s. Since then, he came a long way with his menu. I just love that they grill everything right on the spot in front of you...the salads expanded, his menu expanded.

His parking lot was always full. I miss the place for a quick stop for real good food.

I've noticed a lot of Italian places that were a great place in Cal City moved out. Guess too many chicken shacks. LOL. Demographics played a role.

You can type in Pepino's Restaurant on google, and it will give you the current address. Schererville is worth the travel time for me from Hammond for down-home, old fashion Italian food. He's among the best in that trade...

I've also noticed another Italian place on Indianapolis (not sure if Pepino's is on Indianaplis or off of it in Schererville), but it is on U.S. 41, next door in a small mall, to the T-mobile place...a few blocks before Menard's on the right...I can't recall the name. They serve and offer Italian export food. Haven't eaten there, but it sure looks enticing.

It's really sad we have to travel for ethic food...outside of Mexican food in our area.

I have learned a lot from my ex-mom-law, regarding homemade Italian bread, pasta, etc. I make my own Giaradena (who ever you spell it). She passed the recipe to me, along with the pizzales.

Here's a great hint that you use the same ingredients for stuff shell to line your lasagne....One egg, one big "real chunk of mozzeralla cheeze, grated), cup of real parmesan and romano cheeze grated, and one container of Ricotta cheeze...a lot of fresh parsley, pepper, dip of salt, and stir it all up...and layer that on top of each layer within your lasagne.

This can be used in stuff shells...instead of spaghetti sauce, I actually use Pasaquelli's pizza topping sauce (not sure of the spelling), but use that cuz the spagetti sauce makes it too runny - honest!

While making real spaghetti sauce, saute' green peppers, onions and add the mushrooms last, in tons of chopped garlic and use that as a base....in a little Olive oil, not much, cuz the juice from the vegs, adds to it. Tons of basil, a dip of oregano, and Italian seasoning. Then take crushed tomatoes, add tomato paste, and ADD a pinch of brown sugar to take the acidy taste away, and YUM.....she used to add a can of tomato soup to take the acid out...then reverted to grated carrot, (very little), but I prefer the one can of tomato soup to take the tartness out...the pinch of sugar or brown sugar really does the job, though. Gee, we should be in the recipe section.

I love provolone cheeze, so I add some grated provolone to the stuff shell recipe, and the other one for lasagna.[/code]



Garlic, garlic, garlic....that's the key. Can't go wrong without all that garlic....


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:50 pm 
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I tried a spell-checker, hit "code" instead, got green within a box, sorry.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:21 pm 
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Hit Pepinos today. Its on 77th Avenue a block west of Indianapolis (I believe Ottawa is the cross street) diagonally across from CVS Pharmacy.

Same great place.

Their sausage is excellent. Mild, just the way I like it. Fresh cut fries also. Can't find that around these parts. The only thing I'm not a big fan of is their giardinera. And I prefer Gonella to Turano bread (minor detail, Turano is still good).

Never really paid attention to their steak sandwiches, but they're monsters. 7 oz!!!!!!

Also had a nice selection of pasta salads and desserts.

DEFINITELY going back.

I believe the pizza sauce you're thinking of is Pastorelli.

The Deli you're talking about on 41 was a real disappointment. Go and see for yourself. De Rosa's is MUCH better. No comparison.

However, if you want a top notch deli, Freddie's is DEFINITELY worth the trip. Excellent pan pizza (although I'm not a big fan), great lemonade (bunch of other flavors also), homemade prosciutto and assorted cold cuts, fresh salads of all varieties (caprese tomato/mozzarella, calamari, button mushroom, artichoke, sopressatta, etc....), great homemade pasta, and absolutely the best arancini balls I've ever had anywhere, even in NY.

Bari has incredible sandwiches.

You can also try Fontano's on Carpenter a block north of Taylor Street. Best Italian subs in the entire metro area.

Almost forgot. Minelli Brothers in Niles has a phenomenal selection of sausage. I believe they have four different types-mild, hot, very hot, and unbelievably hot. The place is massive. You could get lost in there.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:43 am 
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Joey Doves wrote:
You can also try Fontano's on Carpenter a block north of Taylor Street. Best Italian subs in the entire metro area.

Almost forgot. Minelli Brothers in Niles has a phenomenal selection of sausage. I believe they have four different types-mild, hot, very hot, and unbelievably hot. The place is massive. You could get lost in there.

If someone is thinking about driving to Niles, they should also think about going to Caputo's on the way. Actually they should think about going to Super H-Mart, the Korean mega-mart in Niles. There is nothing even remotely like it in the south suburbs or in NW Indiana. There's a Super H-Mart in Naperville as well...

Fontana's has the best Italian subs in the metro area? Hmm. That deserves its own thread, because you'll get some arguments from me about that! There are some incredible small delis in DuPage County that make subs to order using fresh-cut GREAT meats and cheeses. Amici's in Downers Grove is the closest to me, but I've been to similar places in Westmont, Naperville, and particularly Addison.

FWIW...if you don't mind driving 30 minutes for amazing food/groceries, you REALLY need to head out to Brookhaven Marketplace on LaGrange Road in Mokena. It's a mile south of the LaGrange Road exit of I-80. While it has a very good selection of Italian food, its strength is food from the eastern Mediterranean (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey). Brookhaven is owned by the importer (Minos Imports) that supplies DeRosa with many of its products, so the prices for these products at Brookhaven will be less than at DeRosa...

http://brookhavenmarket.com/homepage%20 ... %20II.html
http://minosimports.com

(Note: Links don't seem to work for me on the Brookhaven webpage.)


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:01 pm 
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markh wrote:
Joey Doves wrote:
You can also try Fontano's on Carpenter a block north of Taylor Street. Best Italian subs in the entire metro area.

Almost forgot. Minelli Brothers in Niles has a phenomenal selection of sausage. I believe they have four different types-mild, hot, very hot, and unbelievably hot. The place is massive. You could get lost in there.

If someone is thinking about driving to Niles, they should also think about going to Caputo's on the way. Actually they should think about going to Super H-Mart, the Korean mega-mart in Niles. There is nothing even remotely like it in the south suburbs or in NW Indiana. There's a Super H-Mart in Naperville as well...

Fontana's has the best Italian subs in the metro area? Hmm. That deserves its own thread, because you'll get some arguments from me about that! There are some incredible small delis in DuPage County that make subs to order using fresh-cut GREAT meats and cheeses. Amici's in Downers Grove is the closest to me, but I've been to similar places in Westmont, Naperville, and particularly Addison.

FWIW...if you don't mind driving 30 minutes for amazing food/groceries, you REALLY need to head out to Brookhaven Marketplace on LaGrange Road in Mokena. It's a mile south of the LaGrange Road exit of I-80. While it has a very good selection of Italian food, its strength is food from the eastern Mediterranean (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey). Brookhaven is owned by the importer (Minos Imports) that supplies DeRosa with many of its products, so the prices for these products at Brookhaven will be less than at DeRosa...

http://brookhavenmarket.com/homepage%20 ... %20II.html
http://minosimports.com

(Note: Links don't seem to work for me on the Brookhaven webpage.)


Fontano's DOES have the best subs in the metro area. Must be their mild giardiniera, but there's nothing like it anywhere else.

The deli you're thinking about in Addison is Marios, which used to be in the strip mall on 53 and Lake next to my buddy Jerry De Marco's restaurant. Not bad, but not Fontano's.

Ther's also a good deli in Franklin Park (want to say its called Ozzie's) on 25th and Belmont (I believe). Its been years since I've been there. But its subs are still not like Fontano's. Neither are Alpine's in Elmwood Park.

Amici's is ok also, but, not Fontano's. Btw, if you're in Westmont, try Vicinato on Cass just north of the railroad tracks in the downtown area. Very underrated restaurant, as is La Notte in Darien. And if you want something "nicer", go by my friend Gigi at Capri in Burr Ridge.

The closest to Fontano's I've found is Bari Deli, next to Amatos Bakery on Grand Avenue ( which makes fantastic cannolis).

As for Brookhaven, their specialty is actually Greek products but they also have an extensive line of products from all other Balkan countries and Italy. John opened his first store (Minos Foods) in Addison on Lake Street in the early 80's and now owns two other places in Darien and Mokena. The Mokena location was opened not long ago last year by two brothers from Barrington, they promptly went belly up, and John came in and bought the place just recently.

The original Minos Foods on Lake Street carries homemade Greek Loukaniko (sausage) with orange peel. They also do a good job roasting lamb and pig. And I don't think Anthony from De Rosa's buys too many things from John. Some, but not many.


Last edited by Joey Doves on Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:04 pm 
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expresso66 wrote:
So when are you eating? You've already ate two cups of sh*t at your favorite DP eating joint.


You really have problems. If you aren't going to contribute anything, why even post?


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:07 am 
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I'm getting tire of you always bringing up my posts and ignoring the others on purpose, typical punk lawyer tactic.

_________________
THE TRUTH, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, So help me GOD!


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:54 pm 
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^^^^

huh?


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