Chicago: On a Food Mission

Sometime last year (yes, it's been that long), Greedy Eater 2 and I went to the Chicago area on the hunt for two things: 1) donuts and 2) bacon jam. We were successful with the donuts, but not the bacon jam.

Do-Rite Donuts:
The first place we went to was Do-Rite Donuts on Randolph St. This place is small like the Doughnut Vault. The flavors and size of the donuts are different than the Doughnut Vault, but they're still just as good. We decided to get a dozen of donuts. Greedy Eater 2 chose 6 and I chose 6. The donuts we got were: Valrhona Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean Glazed, Pistachio-Meyer Lemon, Double Chocolate Old Fashioned (2), Candied Maple Bacon (2), Chocolate Old Fashioned, Buttermilk Old Fashioned (2), Raspberry Jelly-Filled, and Cinnamon.

Even though all donuts were good, the best donuts were the Candied Maple Bacon and the Valrhona Chocolate Cake. The bacon wasn't flimsy, it was thick with a good flavor. There was a generous amount of valrhona chocolate on the donut.

Southport Grocery & Cafe: 

The next place we went to was Southport Grocery and Cafe. I've been on the hunt for Skillet Street Food's Bacon Jam. Southport was on a list of locations that sold the Bacon Jam. When we got there, the place was packed. We didn't realize that the cafe and the grocery were all in one small space. They had about 2-3 big shelves of grocery items such as sauces, spices, etc. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the bacon jam. We did buy some sauces and spices though. We plan on going back and eating at their cafe, but will need to get there early since it fills quickly. Plus, maybe next time they will have the bacon jam.

David's Tea:
After Southport, we stopped by David's Tea. Neither one of us had heard of this place before. If you love tea, this is the place to go to. They have approximately 100 teas to choose from that range from caffeinated to caffeine-free, green teas to herbal, energy to cold-fighters, etc. Definitely a place worth checking out.

The Shanty:
After leaving David's Tea, we headed north to Wadsworth, IL to eat at The Shanty. This place was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It's interesting that I lived around this area a good chunk of my life and never realized this place was here. Maybe it was for a good reason.

We weren't sure what to order since the menu is mainly steaks and seafood. We were hesitant about ordering seafood since there's the possibility of over or under cooking it, but we took a chance and ordered two seafood dishes. That was a mistake. We would have been better off sticking with appetizers or just ordering a burger.

We ordered the Alligator Tail appetizer. It was pretty good, but no where near the alligator I had in New Orleans. Turns out that the appetizer was the best part of this experience.

 

Greedy Eater 2 ordered the Tequila & Orange Grilled Salmon and I ordered the Shrimp & Sea-Scallop Sautee. It was a good thing that there was a glaze on the salmon because it was pretty dry.

The dish I ordered was just okay. There were more vegetables and rice than there was seafood. I only had 4 shrimp and 2 scallops, and they were slightly overcooked. The vegetables were cooked fine and the rice was okay.

Probably better off just sticking with the appetizers and burgers at this place.