Restaurants
$$$ $15-20
CHERUBS
This smart BYO spot started life as a casual deli and cafe and still does double duty as a catering kitchen, but owners Shin Thompson and Kurt Chenier hit their stride earlier this year when they introduced three-course prix fixe dinners. The contemporary American menu showcases clean, streamlined, seasonal flavors; the summer menu includes pan-roasted barramundi in a pink peppercorn sauce with a grilled asparagus risotto cake and plum chutney as well as a toothsome serving of braised pork shoulder in a burly bourbon sauce. On Saturdays the restaurant offers a five-course “underground” dinner for $55; to get invited sign up for the mailing list at bon-soiree.com. | Dinner Tue-Fri and invite-only Sat, brunch Sun | $$ | 2728 W. Armitage | 773-486-7511
AsianFRIENDSHIP CHINESE RESTAURANT
Sai Mai is a tiny spot with just eight or so tables. But the menu is extensive, offering appetizers, soups, salads, noodles in broth, fried rice and curry, rice plates, house specials, desserts, and beverages including Thai iced coffee and bubble tea lattes. The Sai Mai salad is a flavorful and refreshing mix of apples, white cabbage, carrots, green beans, and roasted peanuts with a tangy lime dressing; barbecue pork noodles come with perfectly cooked pork. Green tea ice cream is a perfect finish. Best of all, it’s affordable—you’ll leave with a full stomach and a full wallet. No reservations; BYO. | Lunch and dinner daily | $ | 2532 N. California | 773-276-8424
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Meals at this Puerto Rican place start with free bowls of thick, tomatoey noodle soup, and the pace is slow and friendly. Appetizers are heavy on starch and light on meat; mofongos need the garlicky dipping sauce they come with. Steaming, spicy empanadas, rellenos de papa—crisp potato-and-meat pastries—and tostones, thick, salty disks of fried plantain, are also meant to be dipped. Entrees include a simple, well-cooked skirt steak and the more complicated cabrito en fricassee, a bony, tangy dish of soft baby goat in a white-wine stew studded with big pieces of green olive, onion, and raisins. It’s great mixed over arroz con gandules, mild yellow rice with pigeon peas. The jibarito is supposed to rival the one at Borinquen, where the sandwich was supposedly invented. Reservations for large groups only; BYO. | Lunch and dinner daily | $$ | 2420 W. Fullerton | 773-235-7377
