My Reuben philosophy has always been that the corned beef is the driver of the Reuben truck. The main player, front and center. This probably stems from my grandmother’s steadfast refusal to make or order Reubens, on the grounds that the mixture of corned beef and swiss cheese was not kosher (can you believe I didn’t try bacon till I [...]
I watch a lot of home improvement & cooking shows on HGTV, Food Network, The History Channel, and A&E. Recently on A&E they were promoting this show about the actress Kirstie Alley, who has been struggling with weight issues since appearing on the sitcom “Cheers”. Being a Gen Xer, I saw “Cheers” when it was on TV in the 80′s [...]
We go to The Pumping Company for lunch at the studio all the time. Normally, I get the chicken avocado wrap – pretty good, safe bet, overall not a bad lunch choice. But recently they changed their menu, and lo and behold yesterday I found out they added… a REUBEN. Overall, this is a really good reuben. Rye bread gets [...]
West of Sheridan & near Touhy, hidden in the little side streets of Rogers Park is a small commercial block called Jarvis Square. There’s a great little Italian place (Gruppo di Amici) that’s only open for dinner, which is connected to an Italian bar (been there a few times but can’t remember the name of it, go figure) and a [...]
I’m a big fan of the Reuben at The Bagel in Lakeview, so when I was downtown recently I had to try the Reuben at Ada’s Famous Deli. The menu at The Bagel features many items from Ada’s, so Ada’s Reuben has to be as good as the Reuben at The Bagel, right? Sadly, no. What a disastrous pile of [...]
I like Potbelly. Their “Wreck” is really good, and I pretty much never order anything at Potbelly except that. However, I recently went to Potbelly for lunch with the studio crew and noticed they had this new sandwich – The Turkey Rae. Now *technically* this isn’t a Reuben, but according to Wikipedia the “Rachel” is related to the Reuben so, [...]
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m kinda fanatical about Reubens. Pretty much anyplace I go that has a Reuben on the menu – I’ll order it. Bar food, sandwich joint, any type of restaurant that has a halfway decent sandwich selection is bound to have a Reuben on the menu. But if you want the real deal Reuben, you gotta [...]
Reuben Dip. Reuben Soup. Reuben Egg Rolls. There’s all kinds of variations on the Reuben out there, so when I saw “Phyllo Wrapped Reuben Rolls” on the menu at Sable the other night, I had to give them a try. Did I want to like these, oh man did I ever. I tried to like these. Theoretically, I should have [...]
A few years ago (when we first moved to Chicago, way before settling down & having kids) my girl Tonya and I used to go out every Saturday morning / early afternoon for lunch with friends. Partially motivated by a sense of adventure and partly motivated by the need for greasy food to kill our hangovers, our rule was simple: [...]
