Friday, June 11, 2010

Greek Islands West Lombard Review


View Larger Map300 E 22nd St
Lombard, IL 60148

There aren't that many places to go for Greek food in Lombard so it's no surprise this place gets packed on weekends. Actually, all the restaurants get packed in the western suburbs after a certain hour on the weekends.

Went for an early dinner, arriving early because the wait can be 20-30 minutes during the diner rush hour, and it can be hard to seat anyone if you arrive too late. It was just starting to fill up when we arrived.

After a short wait we got a table by a window in the bar section of the restaurant which is the first time I've sat there. We pondered over the menu for appetizers and we greeted by our waiter. We ordered the usual: Greek Salad, Taramasalata and Calamari

Flaming Saganaki's and the accompanying "Opah!" were going of around us, we were use to it by now and too concerned with our food (it's also kind of gimmicky but people who have never seen it enjoy it)

The appetizers were good as usual.


 Our waiter was attentive and made his best effort in checking up on our table despite the place filling up quickly and having other tables to wait on.

I ordered the Arni Fournou, or the roast lion of lamb.I always order the lamb, that's one of meats of Greece.


It was a little overcooked yet still juicy, and good as usual. It comes with roasted potatoes which are good but a bit salty. The portions here seem larger than at the Greektown location.

During our dinner the bar area filled up quickly and the dining area became so loud we couldn't hear the other person sitting across from us unless we shouted. The main dining area is more quite in general.

For desert I ordered the Tiramisu. Good but slightly dry, it had probably been sitting in the case for a couple of days. I could barely finish it as I was filled up from the large portions.

Near the end of desert I  looked out the window saw a mouse run across the dining terrace outside and watched as he slipped into a crack in the building. Presumably going into the basement or headed toward the kitchen. This is the first time I've seen anything like at here and I've been a lot over the years.

Despite that, if you want some pretty good Greek food in the western suburbs than Greek Island's is the place.

Overall rating 3.5 out 5

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Best Chicago Hot Dog: Hot Doug's

Owner Doug Sohn speaks about his famous hot dog and "encased meat emporium" and this favorite Chicago hot dog joint.