Dobra Bielinski and her mother, Stasia Hawryszczuk; dough for paczki; assortment of small pastries Rob Warner

June 22, 2007

Delightful Pastries
5927 W. Lawrence
773-545-7215

THERE ARE A lot of Polish bakers in Chicago, but Dobra Bielinski believes she's one of the few doing things the right way. "No offense to other bakeries, but they skimp on ingredients," she says. "I bought a cheesecake from one place and my dog refused to eat it."

For nearly a decade, Bielinksi has been the proprietress of Delightful Pastries, a cozy European bakery in Jefferson Park. A onetime employee of Gale Gand, she's meticulous about her food, sourcing fresh ingredients from local producers as much as possible. Her butter and heavy cream come from Wisconsin and Illinois; apples, cherries, blueberries, peaches, rhubarb, and raspberries from small family farms in southwest Michigan; and vegetables from southern Illinois.

Bielinski, 35, moved to Chicago from Poland with her family when she was 15. She graduated from Madonna High School for Girls and attended UIC, earning bachelor's degrees in French and history and a master's in U.S. foreign policy. But she was bored with academia. As an undergrad she'd spent a year in Paris studying at the Sorbonne and fallen in love with the city's pastry shops, so rather than work toward a doctorate as she'd planned, she decided to change course entirely and enroll at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago.

After completing the culinary and bakery programs in 1997, Bielinski worked under Gand at Brasserie T and Vanilla Bean Bakery. The following year, tired of "doing the same thing over and over again," she bought a two-story building not far from her home and went into business for herself. Her mother, Stasia Hawryszczuk, who'd run restaurants and cafes in Poland in the 70s, provided seed money and signed on as the bakery's manager.

The confections at Delightful Pastries are simple and clean. "The effort goes into the inside of a cake, not the outside," Bielinski says. "When you bite, you know what's in it right away. We make a pumpkin pie that actually tastes like pumpkin. The Black Forest cake, you taste cherries, chocolate, whipped cream -- there's no wondering." Sugar is used sparingly. "It's more in the European tradition," she says. "America has made huge steps forward, but some people still overdo the sugar to cover a blah taste. I want to let peaches and strawberries speak for themselves."

The bakery's glass display counter is typically filled with treats like Viennese almond crescents, Parisian macaroons, authentic tiramisu. But Bielinski's heritage plays heavily in a lot of her recipes. "I'm American and Polish," she says, "so we've got a fusion going on here." She bakes desserts she says are too sweet for the Polish palate, like chocolate-chunk cookies and cream-cheese brownies, and the otherwise traditional Polish ambassador torte -- a tall chocolate sponge cake filled with creme mousseline spiked with 95-proof grain alcohol -- contains diced pineapple, mandarin oranges, and dried cranberries. "The Polish would use raisins," Bielinski says, "but the cranberries give it a nice tartness."

Alcohol is a must for many Polish specialties. "We go through a lot of rum and grain spirits," Bielinski says. "Polish pastries are famous for being liquored up. It just gives anything chocolate that little zip on the end." One of her tortes, a three-layer sponge cake with poppy seeds and walnuts, is filled with an "extremely boozy" mocha butter cream; each batch of the stuff, which gets spread over 54 individual slices, requires two liters of alcohol.

The Polish treats can also be incredibly labor-intensive: a raisin cheesecake with candied orange peel takes about a week. "You have to soak the orange peels in water before removing the pulp, then blanch them three times and candy them four times to remove the bitterness and hold the scent of the fruit," Bielinski says.

Every year before Lent, Bielinski and her crew spend nearly a month preparing more than 40,000 paczki, little ceremonial pastries not unlike jelly doughnuts. The dough, infused with rum and lemon- and orange-flavored oil, "has to hold up when you bite," Bielinski says, "so it doesn't collapse in your mouth like a Krispy Kreme." They're filled with plum butter and rose-petal jellies imported from Poland and apricot, blueberry, and raspberry jellies made on-site, but the amount Bielinski puts in each is one tradition she won't change. "Americans want more filling than dough," she says. "Poles want just one teaspoon -- they like the dough." --Alan Mammoser

For more on restaurants, see our blog the Food Chain.

Polish, Russian, and Eastern European Food

Alliance Bakery
1736 W. Division | 773-278-0366

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN, BAKERY | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

This small bakery turns out a fine selection of delicious offerings: savory croissants, a flaky yet firm kolacky. A nutty six-grain bar ($1.75) salves one's conscience, while any chocolate item is rich and wonderful. Strong Intelligentsia coffee and espresso drinks are available, in addition to Naked juices, hibiscus lemonade, and a few upscale sodas. The charming 1930s burnt-orange interior is warm and comforting. Claire Dolinar, Rater

Andrzej Grill
1022 N. Western | 773-489-3566

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED | CASH ONLY | BYO

Serving a dining room about the size of a one-car garage, Andrzej and Anna Burak crank out traditional dishes for a steady stream of Polish folks who know what the food of their homeland should taste like. The list of house-made soups usually includes very good chicken noodle, a tangy sauerkraut and meat, or seasonal "summer soup": a refreshingly cool pink broth of sour cream, beet, hard-boiled egg, and pickle. Most people fall hard for the stuffed potato pancake enclosing goulash; the most popular item at our table was the platter of peppery meatballs in a creamy mush-room sauce, served as are many dishes on boiled potatoes flecked with dill. Uncommon on Chicago menus, the toothsome veal ribs are surprisingly rich; stuffed cabbage, however, is pretty much the expected paper-thin leaves surrounding lots of rice, little meat, and splashed with neutral tomato sauce. There's also a vegetarian menu section featuring pierogi and salads. Andrzej Grill is BYO; try the European sodas or sample kompot, a Polish fruit punch. Most dinners are $8.50; come early -- it's lights-out at 7 PM. David Hammond

Argo Bakery
2812 W. Devon | 773-764-6322

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | CASH ONLY

The Georgian breads here are baked in a large brick dome called a tune, and the dough is stuck directly to the inner walls of the oven, as with Indian naan. The result -- which comes in a large round or a smaller torpedo-shaped loaf -- is soft, chewy, and incredibly flavorful. Other specialties include hachapuri, bread filled with mushrooms or a gooey combination of feta, moz-zarella, and farmer cheese; lobiani, bread stuffed with cilantro-and-anise-spiced beans; and tapluna, a baklava with honey and walnuts. The turnover is so high that you stand a good chance of buying something hot out of the oven. Laura Levy Shatkin

Bobak's Sausage Company
5275 S. Archer | 773-735-5334

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Sausage maker to the nation since 1967, this southwest-side establishment also serves up a full homemade buffet seven days a week, including salads, sides, desserts, and lots of meat: stews, sausages, shish kebabs, ham, chicken. It's $9-$13 to eat in, depending on the meal and the day, or you can take out buffet items for $5 a pound ($5.95 on Sundays). Holly Greenhagen

Brisku's Bistro
4100 N. Kedzie | 773-279-9141

F 7.2 | S 8 | A 5.7 | $$ (7 reports)
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN, MEDITERRANEAN | LUNCH: SATURDAY-SUNDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: SATURDAY TILL 1, OTHER NIGHTS TILL MIDNIGHT

With its dartboard, pool table, signs on the wall advertising buckets of Rolling Rock for $10, and Led Zep blaring from the jukebox, Brisku's is more bar than conventional bistro, but the menu is ambitious for the setting. Besides pizza, there's a full lineup of appetizers, sandwiches, and entrees, many reflecting the owners' Albanian heritage. The chicken kofta appetizer, four fist-size meatballs, is stuffed with creamy feta, and the tzatziki, with long strands of grated cucumber, was some of the best I've tasted in a restaurant. The house salad -- romaine lettuce, tomato wedges, onion, and cucumber -- was crisp and fresh. Entrees faltered a bit: quvapas, described as "Balkan sausage links," were tough and salty, and the lamb kebab, though flavorful, was also tough. But the place is friendly, and the beer selection isn't bad -- all the usual suspects and close to 20 microbrews. Kathie Bergquist

Continental Cafe
3661 N. Elston | 773-604-8500

$$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN, AMERICAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: EVERY DAY TILL MIDNIGHT

We liked the amenities at the old Little Bucharest: the free limo service, the jazz duo, the alcoholic "holy water" that owner Branko Podrumedic animatedly proffered to one and all. The dark, gloomy atmosphere, however, would have suited an inn under the shadow of Castle Dracula. Continental Cafe, Podrumedic's new place, is worlds away from that -- high ceilinged, airy, and modern. He's also added lighter food -- salads, sandwiches, burgers -- to the menu of hearty Romanian standbys, but you can still get ciorba de burta (tripe soup), mamaliga (polenta topped with feta and sour cream), and traditional grilled meats such as muschiulet de vita (marinated Romanian skirt steak). For appetizers we tried buffalo wings, which were meaty but not spicy, and icre a la Mediterana, a salty caviar spread. Entrees were tasty and, as is typical of Romanian food, very filling -- especially the tochitura Moldoveneasca, a Moldavian pork stew in a savory red sauce. The crispy skin was the best part of rata pe varza, half a roast duck served on sweet-and-sour cabbage; on the side there was mamaliga rather than the promised mashed potatoes, but we preferred it and the waitress was so friendly that a fuss would have been out of place. Before dessert (apple strudel and a just-right creme caramel) a mellow Podrumedic, sans holy water, offered us coffee on the house. I got a shot of whiskey in mine, for old times' sake. Jeffrey Felshman

Czech Plaza
7016 W. Cermak, Berwyn | 708-795-6555

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY

Czechs are traditionally frugal foodies, and Czech Plaza delivers a lot of value with a roster of substantial old-world platters, many clocking in at under $10 for soup, entree with two sides (sauerkraut, dumplings, or salad), dessert, and coffee. The bread is quite good, full flavored with baked-today freshness. Meat is the featured player in most preparations, starting with a fabulous soup in which floats one big liver dumpling of preternatural lightness. The signature duck is superb, with crackly skin and moist, flavorful flesh (hint: forgo the gravy). Lamb shank is shaded with cinnamon and served over an earthy blend of bulgur and the beloved hobies (mushrooms). On tap, find Czechvar (the original Budweiser) as well as other eastern European brews; however, when we were there, coffee seemed the beverage of choice for most diners. If you're vegetarian, your options are rather limited, though huge, magnificent house-made fruit dumplings -- packed plump with blueberry and peaches -- could easily make a meal. Desserts are also the fruit-filled variety: kolacky, strudel, tart. David Hammond

Halina's Polish Delights Restaurant
5914 W. Lawrence | 773-205-0256

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH: MONDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | CASH ONLY

I love the breaded fried pork and veal cutlets at Halina's. The cutlets, each the size of an elephant ear, include Swedish style (stuffed with mushroom puree), cubao (with white cheese filling), and Wiener schnitzel (the Berghoff's version was no match). They're cooked to order and served hot enough to burn your tongue. Polish standbys like pork shank, stuffed cabbage rolls, and pierogi are good too. The indecisive should consider the Polish Plate, a greatest-hits platter with a breaded pork chop, three pierogi, a stuffed cabbage roll, and Polish sausage on sauerkraut. All dinners (except the pierogi) include buttery mashed potatoes and a trio of cold salads: sauerkraut, coleslaw, and beet. The homemade fruit drink, kompot, pale red sugar water made with the juice from leftover fruit (usually strawberry, watermelon, peach, and cantaloupe), tastes a lot like Kool-Aid. If you're taking a date, be warned: the harsh lighting reflecting off wall-to-wall mirrors reveals every blemish. Peter Tyksinski

Healthy Food Lithuanian Restaurant
3236 S. Halsted | 312-326-2724

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY; DINNER: THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | CASH ONLY | BYO

Owner Grazina Biciunas-Santoski has run the place for the last few decades, but Healthy Food (read: no preservatives) has been operating under the same name since 1938. On Saturdays and Sundays the place is full of people ordering the popular blynai (pancakes), which are slightly sweet and filled with varskinis (cheese) or topped with a choice of fruits including (depending on the season) apple, cranberry, and sour cherry. Grazina's meat and cheese dumplings are her mother's recipe, sprinkled with bacon and topped with sour cream. Traditional Lithuanian dishes include sauerkraut soup and saltibarsciai (cold beet soup served with a boiled potato); American items like burgers and tuna salad are also available. When you're done eating you can browse Biciunas-Santoski's collection of Baltic amber, much of which is for sale. Laura Levy Shatkin

Jolly Inn
6501 W. Irving Park | 773-736-7606

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

This Polish buffet is similar to the Red Apple but homier. For $6.55 ($7.55 on weekends) you get a choice of meats -- baked or broasted chicken, roast pork, Polish sausage, meatballs -- various kinds of pierogi, stuffed cabbage, blintzes, sauerkraut, and then maybe you want some dessert? There are cakes, cookies, ice cream, the works. My wife was braver than me when it came to the lard -- whipped and white with dark specks of meat, set in a bowl. Customers at two other tables had to explain what it was and how to eat it: spread on bread like butter. "It tastes like Crisco with bacon bits," she said. Jeffrey Felshman

Klas
5734 W. Cermak, Cicero | 708-652-0795

$$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN, AMERICAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY

For more than 80 years, Klas has served hearty eastern European cuisine to customers that have included Al Capone and George H.W. Bush. It's one of the best dining bargains in the Chicago area: most of the reasonably priced dinners come with a medium-dark Bohemian rye, homemade soup, a trip to the salad bar (laden with red cabbage, delicious ham salad with dill pickle slivers, and beets), a main course, spaetzel or dumplings, dessert (most often a cakelike kolacky filled with fruit or poppy seeds), and coffee. The Wiener schnitzel a la Holstein (one of the more expensive items at $13) is topped with two fried eggs, anchovies, and capers, and it's a superb combination of flavors and textures. Some meat dishes, such as sauerbraten, are drenched in sauces that tend to be a little heavy and sweet. There's a pocket bar attached to the restaurant (described on the menu as a "14th century wine and tap room") that offers a full selection of domestic and Czech beers (including draft Staropramen and Radegast), as well as wine and mixed drinks. After eating, take a tour of this castlelike building: there's a pleasant walled garden; the Dr. Zhivago Room on the second floor is decorated with colorful murals depicting scenes from Russian history; and a long band-rehearsal space has smaller side rooms that hark back to a time when the restaurant accommo-dated the world's oldest profession. David Hammond

Kurowski's Sausage Shop and Rich's Bakery
2976 N. Milwaukee | 773-645-1692

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

This Polish market is like a trip back in time: the variety of products offered puts many upscale grocers and specialty stores to shame. Over a dozen kinds of eastern European sausage hang behind the meat counter, and the shelves are filled with intriguing cans and jars. Rich's Bakery supplies only the bread -- two-pound loaves of rye and short white baguettes -- but there are racks full of goods from the nearby Laramie Bakery, which doesn't have its own retail outlet. Jablecznik is apple cake with a latticed pastry top; pychotka is layers of sponge cake separated by a fruit and custard filling. To make ptasie leczko, layers of marshmallow, vanilla pudding, and strawberry or orange Jell-O are formed into a loaf shape and cut into slices; I may not think it sounds good, but it must evoke fond memories for some. Laura Levy Shatkin

Lutnia
5532 W. Belmont | 773-282-5335

$$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | OPEN LATE: SATURDAY TILL 11

If you thought there was no such thing as Polish fine dining, then you haven't been to Lutnia. They serve many upscale non-Polish dishes (their Caesar salad and duck flamb with orange sauce get raves), but traditional dishes also have an elegant flair. The soups are rich -- like the hot-and-sweet beet soup with sauerkraut dumplings or the hunter's stew, a concoction of cabbage, beef, veal, sausage, mushrooms, and wine -- and the potato dumplings are full of delicious homemade lumps. Although you might want to clean your plate, try to save room for the luscious desserts on the cart. And treat yourself to the Polish coffee, prepared tableside with honey liqueur. Ben Dooley

Mabenka
7844 S. Cicero, Burbank | 708-423-7679

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY

Parking can be a challenge at this southwest-suburban restaurant, but the massive menu offers plenty of standard entrees (chicken, fish, pasta, salads) as well as an extensive array of Polish and Lithuanian dishes. Stuffed cabbage, kugelis, dumplings, and cepelinai (a large potato dumpling stuffed with ground meat and topped with bacon and sour cream) are just a portion of what's available. There are also Polish and Lithuanian combo plates. Ben Dooley

Old Lviv Ukrainian Food Restaurant
2228 W. Chicago | 773-772-7250

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED | CASH ONLY

A holdout from the days when Ukrainian Village was Ukrainian, Old Lviv still offers the traditional cuisine, from pierogi and blintzes to potatoes and sauerkraut, beet soup and salad to schnitzel and stuffed cabbage. For those who have difficulty choosing, this place is perfect: it's all served up in an abundant buffet, Tuesday through Saturday 11 to 8 and Sunday 11 to 7. Seating is extremely limited, but the $8.50 price tag ($9 on weekends) is small. Ben Dooley

Paprikash
602 W. Northwest Hwy., Arlington Heights | 847-253-3544

$$$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY

There are less-inviting places to eat yourself into a coma than Paprikash, a warm, classy Hungarian bar and kitchen that lays claim to being the sole restaurant in the area serving the meals of the Magyars. The arrival of langos, deep-fried, garlic-studded dough puff balls, warms up the guts for what's to come. Those and a few appetizers -- sweet, spicy pickled-pepper salad, cheese spread, sausages, a creamy soup -- alone could knock out timid eaters; the entrees challenge the stoutest. Variations on gulyas (a meat stew with gravy), the Hungarian standard-bearer, include rich beef, pork, and tripe gulyas, gulyas soup, and a sturdy island of the stuff in a creamy zucchini-dill puddle. These are accompanied by potatoes or spaetzle, as are the paprikashes -- veal and chicken. The Gypsy steak is a breaded pair of pork saddles spiked with enough garlic to outfit a vampire slayer. Meats are often accented with more meat: a ragout of tomato, bacon, onion, mushroom, and calf's liver rides the filet mignon, and a fried pork loin is blanketed with ham and smoked cheese. Flaming crepes, pastries, and chestnut puree don't let up, and the custard-and-fruit-filled cake makes tiramisu taste like a pudding pop. The Bull's Blood black label, a Hungarian red wine, can stand up to anything on the menu. When you're finally beaten, a snifter of pear brandy or a shot of pungent herbal liqueur will ease you through the next few hours. Live music is played every weekend; when I was there a cimbalom player was noodling the theme from The Godfather. Mike Sula

Pasieka Bakery
3056 N. Milwaukee | 773-278-5190

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

This classic bakery is full of luscious treats: tall babka with poppy seeds, kolacky filled with sweet cheese and raisins, fresh plum tart, and apple squares. Kremowka, squares of pastry layered with vanilla custard and whipped cream, sit next to karpatka, a torte of chocolate and yellow cake with thick buttercream and pineapple pieces and topped with a wavy egg dough that peaks and drops in a sporadic pattern. There are also crescent-shaped tea cookies oozing with apricot, prune, or poppy seed filling. Laura Levy Shatkin

The Pierogi Factory
1034 W. Belmont | 773-325-1015

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

"Reach for happiness!" the inspirational label on my bottle of Polish apple-cherry juice instructed. I reached for my plate of fried sauerkraut-and-mushroom pierogi instead. Same thing, as it turned out. The dozen or so pierogi varieties at the Pierogi Factory -- cabbage, potato-cheddar, and spinach among them -- are available fried or boiled, but any caloric difference drowns under the topping of fried onions, bacon, and sour cream. Marginally less heavy menu items include cheese or meat pyzy (potato dumplings), grilled Polish sausages, and potato pancakes. White borscht with potato, onions, and sausage appears as a special now and then; the always-available red borscht takes the form of a thin, hot beet broth with stained-pink ravioli floating in it. For dessert the cherry pierogi, topped with powdered sugar, are filled not with the oozy-sweet cherry pie filling I expected but with pleasantly sour whole cherries. Plastic forks and knives, wax-paper-lined trays, and counter service produce a fast-food atmosphere, but the pierogi are fresh and the service is downright jovial. This is the first location of a projected chain. Anne Ford

Players Club
2500 N. Ashland | 773-477-7769

$$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN, VEGETARIAN/HEALTHY | LUNCH: SATURDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS; SATURDAY AND SUNDAY BRUNCH | OPEN LATE: SATURDAY TILL 3, MONDAY-FRIDAY TILL 2, SUNDAY TILL MIDNIGHT

Chef-owner Mary Jurczyk creates healthful twists on her Polish grandmother's recipes, using free-range chicken and sprouted bread and substituting whole-grain spelt flour for white flour, sea salt for rock salt, and honey and fruit juices for refined white sugar. But the meals aren't light -- the eight-page menu is full of pierogi and goulash, plus non-Polish treats like grilled tuna steak, pastas, steak Diane, and rack of lamb. Brunch is especially decadent: besides a complete egg menu that includes filet mignon Benedict, there are strawberry and apple crepes as big as king-size burritos, stuffed with fresh fruit and sour cream, sprinkled with triple sec and amaretto, and garnished with pecans and ribbons of whipped cream. A. LaBan

Podhalanka Polksa Restauracja
1549 W. Division | 773-486-6655

F 7.6 | S 8.3 | A 5.7 | $$ (6 reports)
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | BYO

It isn't just the knickknacks and portraits of the pope in this former tavern, a remnant of Division Street's days as the great "Polish Broadway," that remind me of my grandmother; I'll be damned if I don't sense her presence in the pungent whiff of cabbage that floats from the kitchen or the gentle tang of fermented rye flour in the zurek. That's white borscht, a smooth, creamy dill-specked soup with chunks of garlic and slices of kielbasa that has been fortifying Hunky peasants and steelworkers for generations. At Podhalanka you'll still see old-timers at the bar, warming their bones with cabbage or barley soup or fat pierogi stuffed with piquant ground pork, cabbage, or potato and cheese, but also younger folks who may or may not speak Polish working down bowls of caraway-flecked sauerkraut and heaps of smashed potatoes in gravy, accompanied by something big and meaty: a pork roll, perhaps, stuffed with mushrooms, green peppers, onions, bacon, paprika, and a few allspice berries, or uncured spareribs cooked in sauerkraut until tender. These meals are almost entirely drained of color, but they're big, inexpensive, and preceded by baskets of fresh bread and butter. Mike Sula

Przybylo's White Eagle
6839 N. Milwaukee, Niles | 847-647-0660

$$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH: MONDAY-SATURDAY; DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED

It's a banquet hall without any atmosphere, but if you're seeking a traditional home-style Polish dinner you'll find it here. Large bowls are served family style, with six different types of pierogi among the options. Meat selections range from Polish sausage with sauerkraut to golabki (hearty stuffed cabbage rolls) to a flavorful goulash that would make a Polish grandmother swell with pride. Perfect for groups, the White Eagle doesn't refill bowls once they're empty, but that's hardly necessary; more likely you'll be taking home leftovers. Not recommended for those looking to eat light or healthy. Ben Dooley

Red Apple
3121 N. Milwaukee | 773-588-5781

F 6.5 | S 6.4 | A 5.6 | $ (5 reports)
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

For Polish home cooking, the Red Apple -- or Czerwone Jabluszko -- is a real find. Raters rave about the all-you-can-eat buffet, a bargain at $8.49 ($9.49 on weekends). The impressive spread includes homemade sausages, pierogi, and golabki (stuffed cabbage); soup, salad, and dessert are included. One Rater cautions that it's "never low-fat" but doesn't mind because "everything's so good." Laura Levy Shatkin

Russian Tea Time
77 E. Adams | 312-360-0000

F 7.3 | S 8.5 | A 7.8 | $$$ (8 reports)
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Raters recommend Russian Tea Time for a unique dining experience in an elegant, old-world atmosphere. One says, "My wife and I spent several weeks in Russia a few months before going to this restaurant and found the food to exceed any dining experiences we had overseas." The menu is huge and inviting, offering a wide array of Russian, Ukrainian, and Georgian dishes, from stuffed cabbage and excellent Russian dumplings to food fit for a czar: pheasant, quail, sturgeon, and caviar. There are many vegetarian offerings too. This variety comes with a price: choose wisely or pay a huge tab. Ellen Joy, Rater

Sak's Ukrainian Village Restaurant
2301 W. Chicago | 773-278-4445

$
EUROPEAN, POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN, AMERICAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY

It's TVs and draft beer up front, food in the back at this 90-something-year-old neighborhood place where the crowd, according to one Rater, ranges from Girl Scouts to old men. The inexpensive menu features sausage and kraut, chicken Kiev, and Ukrainian burgers, made with spiced ground meat and served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. "The hamburgers and the potato pancakes are as good as any I have had, bar none," says one Rater. "The tap beer is wonderful -- they keep their taps clean and it tastes as fresh as anyone would want. The only weakness can be the bar staff, who tend to give you an idea of what service in the Soviet Union must have been like." Holly Greenhagen

Staropolska Restaurant
5249 W. Belmont | 773-736-5230

$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Staropolska's smorgasbord emphasizes Polish favorites such as kielbasa, cabbage rolls, kishka, and pierogi but includes American offerings such as fried chicken. As with most Polish meals, you won't still be hungry after eating here. At these prices ($7.95 for adults during the week, $8.95 on weekends) don't expect gourmet offerings, but you will get hearty fare. Fresh fruit (kiwi, strawberries, grapes, grapefruit) and delicious layer cakes cut into small pieces cap off the meal. Coffee and soup are extra -- 95 cents and $1.50 respectively -- but worth it. Waitstaff is a little harried due to the steady stream of customers. Dinner passes for five, six, or seven days are available. Claire Dolinar, Rater

Szalas
5214 S. Archer | 773-582-0300

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POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

The Gorale, a sheepherding people of the Polish highlands, have a substantial community on the south side -- which explains the presence of not one but two fantasy European hunting lodges straight out of the Brothers Grimm on an otherwise mundane stretch of Archer Avenue northeast of Midway. (The other is the Polish Highlanders Association.) The wealth of rustic detail at Szalas includes a working waterwheel, stuffed animal heads, and staff in billowy peasant dress -- you can even dine in a sleigh if you can fit. The most interesting among the appetizers is moskul, a flatbread that looks like pita but is made of flour, potato, and eggs; it's accompanied by a sheep's cream cheese called bryndza and a schmear made of lard studded with bits of smalec, Polish bacon. The lard is delicious, though non-Gorale may find it hard to eat more than a bite or two without health qualms. Entrees don't do anything to reverse the reputation of Polish food as hearty, though the Highlander's Special -- veal goulash inside a large potato pancake and dotted with sheep's sour cream -- is almost delicate for its kind. But a roasted pheasant, plated impressively with cranberry chutney stuffed in a hollow apple, was overcooked and, rare among Polish entrees here or anywhere, not cheap. Making up for it was a dessert of fluffy orange-scented cheese blintzes that came with loads of fruit and vanilla ice cream. Service was a bit blase at an early seating but weekends, with live Gorale music, are reportedly quite lively. Michael Gebert

Zhivago
9925 Gross Point, Skokie | 847-982-1400

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POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | LUNCH: TUESDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | OPEN LATE: SATURDAY TILL 2, SUNDAY TILL 11

The banquet room is bustling on weekends: there's live music, with two or three singers, and everyone's dancing. The whole place is decorated in a pleasant pseudo-Russian style, with a lot of light. The Sunday champagne brunch includes 14 appetizers, four meats for the main course, and an absolutely wonderful dessert plate with melt-in-your-mouth miniature pastries. Unfortunately our appetizers were cleared too fast, while the main course came too slowly, and in a very limited quantity (one big dish for our ten-person party). I got a better impression at dinner; service was less hectic and more attentive in the dining room, and there were more menu options, includ-ing caviar and some outstanding soups. The full bar serves some excellent wines from different regions of eastern Europe. Emma Krasov, Rater

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