First Look at Soul Surfing Pizza

First Look at Soul Surfing Pizza

First Look at Soul Surfing Pizza

I went into Soul Surfing Pizza this past Saturday night with my wife.  They are in the old Malibu Pizza location, and stuck with the same decor, although it does seem to be a new owner. They are still in soft open mode, although they are open to the public.  

Two weeks prior I had taken a couple of pizzas out from there and what happy with the pizza, but was hoping they would be a little more organized by this week. It took over ten minutes before a waitress came to take our order.  Generally wait times were long, which I will chalk up to the fact that they are still working out the kinks.  At that point they did not yet have menus, so you had to try and remember the types of pizzas they have as the waitress rattled them off.  It appears as if their specialty is using all sorts of fake meats on their pizzas and in their soups. The waitress mentioned that they finally got fries but their fryer was broken. 

My wife and I both started with soups, she got the cream of potato with "bacon" and I got the Italian wedding "meatball" soup.   My wife's soup came without the bacon, which was brought later but was cold, rubbery, and was way too salty.  The potato soup itself was decent.  The wedding soup on the other hand was thin and bland and had two tiny meatballs. 

The star of this place is their pizza.  We ordered 12" 1/2 five cheese, 1/2 Hawaiian barbeque chicken, which was delicious.  The crust is wonderfully thin and crunchy, the sauces where flavorful, and the topping combinations are well thought out.  I only have a few small complaints about the pizza. When I asked what the five cheeses were on the five cheese pizza I was told by the waitress it was secret, which I think was just a cover up for the fact that she did not know.  They don't have anything smaller than 12" which is in my opinion a little large for one person, but perfect for two. Finally pizza by the slice would be nice, especially if they hope to attract families with children.  

My early assessment of Soul Surfing Pizza is that it has potential once they get their act together.  Once they have menus and work out their service issues, this could be a great new Saturday night spot.  My suggestion is give them until after the New Year to work out the kinks, bring a friend, and skip the soup, because here it is all about the pizza.  Look for a full review of this place sometime after it is no longer in a soft open mode.

Disappointing Pizza and Service at EJs

I was at EJ's Pizzeria in Skokie tonight.  I ordered a mushroom, pepper, and onion slice.  They took an existing mushroom slice, warmed it up and then added the peppers and onions on it afterwards.  The peppers and onions were still completely raw and not integrated with the cheese at all.  When I showed it to the girl who was helping me behind the counter, the response I got was "I'm not the one who made it."  
Seriously, take pride in your product and learn how to speak to your customers!!!

Full Review of Hamachi Sushi Bar

Full Review of Hamachi Sushi Bar

Hamachi is the newest kosher restaurant in Chicago. It is a fairly small restaurant with about 5 tables and another 5 or so seats at the sushi bar. The restaurant has a sleek modern Asian look with a lot of solid red and black.


They offer a full range of kosher sushi options from basic vegetable rolls to complex rolls with multiple types of fish topped with multiple sauces. It looked as if there was only one waitress and no bus boys, but it was not too busy when we got there so she took our order almost immediately.

I started with the miso soup and shared an order of edema-me with my wife, both of which seemed on the bland side. The water seemed a bit tepid like it had just come out of the tap and there was no ice. For the main course I ordered their "Blue Man Group" and "Rainbow" rolls, while my wife had the "Sweet 2" and the "Sake Goma Tempura." The sushi tasted decent but their rolling technique could be a bit better. I had a few pieces fall apart on me when I picked them up.

I did have to ask for more water, the soup and edema-me were slow to come out, and people who ordered after us received their food before we did.

The prices seemed reasonable for what was being offered, comparable to Shallots, and maybe a dollar or two cheaper per roll. I generally find that higher end kosher sushi places suffer from a severe case of gilding the lily, in that they over complicate their signature rolls, and Hamachi is no exception.

On a scale from 1-10:

Food: 7

Service: 5

Ambiance: 8

Overall: 7

First Look at The Main Grill

First Look at The Main Grill

 

 

 

I picked up some take-out from The Main Grill yesterday.  I ordered a two piece fried chicken, my wife had the baykon burger, and my kids each had hot dogs.  The burger and chicken came with fries and the hot dogs were supposed to come with chips which I was told were "round fries."  I also ordered a side order of sweet potato fries.

I had a taste of the burger and it wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about.  There was one  notable feature to the burger, it came with chipotle mayo, which is a condiment that I am generally fond of.

I also had a bite of my kids hot dogs which was decent.

The fried chicken was breaded as opposed to a traditional batter or flour dredge.  The guy behind the counter did not know what type pieces came in the order.  I asked for one dark and one white, and they gave me a leg and a breast.  The breast was semi-boneless, and by that I mean it looks like the tried to pass off a piece of shnitzel as fried chicken, but did a poor job boning it.  It was also a little over done.

Both the regular fries and the sweet potato fries were under done and under seasoned.  The hot dogs just came with regular fries, which makes me sad, as I really like round fries, as they remind me of old school fries from Kosher City.

As for the look of the restaurant, they have a semi open kitchen, which is not a great thing, unless you like watching your dinner being tossed in the fryer.  They have a decent looking salad bar.  Based on the decor you can tell this was a different restaurant at one point.  There were 2 different types of tables and 2 different types of chairs. Also for some reason they have a "Subsational" sign.