Chowit has weighed in. This thread is officially CFMB foodie bona fide, or something. Love the concept of making a day trip out of the suggestions. We need Mr. Beef to weigh in with a breakfast place and I am all in.

Breakfast? The Norway Store out on 71.

. . . and you top that off with a trip to Dairy Delites, and then take your ice cream a few blocks down and enjoy it by the Big Black Steam Engine Pavilion.

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I like thinking big. . . If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
-Donald J. Trump, BPE

Fantastic place. Cheap beer and good pickles. They even give you the crumbs!

126 miles?

Nope

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Once again, the good Doctor is right on the money. Rip's is an institution and legacy down here. I can liken it to a smaller scale of one of the places around Wrigleyville on game day. Especially summer, holidays and weekends.

I miss Lanuti's as well but the truth is that it will most likely never come back let alone be the same. My guy tells me there is a TON of work to do in there in order to bring it up to local and state codes. A lot of the stuff that was wrong with the place prior was grandfathered in and overlooked. Not the case for any future owner.

I moved to this area from Bolingbrook years ago and discovered another great place not far from Rip's. Verucchi's Ristorante is awesome as well. Go there for lunch and hit Rip's for drinks and dinner.

The area, which includes Arlington, Cherry, Ladd, Seatonville, Hollowayville, Spring Valley and Dalzell is locally known as "Ravioli Alley". Because of the heavily Italian immigration in the early 1900's and restaurants. Many here refer to tortellini as ravioli... never exactly understood why but it is what it is.

Take the trip down here in late July and hit the APBA Races in nearby DePue and then hit Rip's. That's a great time. Power boat racing on Lake DePue is a pretty good weekend. Hotels are very reasonable.

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

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I watched that last night. I really like that show and try to DVR it when I can.

The wait for Rip's is sometimes 3 hours long?

F that! I'd rather go try KFC then wait that long for anything.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Well, we can all agree that Popeye's is better than KFC is better than Brown's.

It is hard for me to believe that a bumblefuck chicken restaurant could be amazing...but I'll have to try it eventually. I'm rarely out that way though.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

First hot dogs at Burger King... now KFC instead of Rip's? Jimmy, we have to develop your palate.

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Yeah,I know but I can't stand waiting for a table longer than 15 minutes.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Pfft...jimmy is part of that instant gratification generation.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Two to three hours waiting for a plate of Chicken and fries????

What is this,N. Korea?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

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Koreans like to boil their chicken.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Verucchi's fried chicken is very good as well. Never waited more than 15 minutes for a table there. Great Italian food and only a couple miles from Rip's.

http://www.verucchis.com/

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

They have a bar with affordable beer and mixed drinks for you to drink while you wait.

Sack up, Gramps!

Excellent as well.

Yes - You go with a nice group, drink and socialize while waiting in line and talk to the people you pass sitting at the tables. Guaranteed you will know at least half of them. Before you know it, you are seated, buzzed and starving. Time flies... well worth it.

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"This is Chicago, my friend. Anything can happen."

You are.

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Just be careful to not let anything you own touch the floor.

don't go to a restaurant hungry.

that said, the chicken looks great but i lived in the south. i don't think i need to venture to podunk illinois to see if it measures up.

It does. Our chicken tastes great and isn't racist.

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Correct. I just got back from the south. The chicken was disappointing and certainly not as good as Rip's.

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You know me like that.

coming from people from illinois...sure.

Yes, it must have been a real boost to profit when they expanded the bar area so the line snaked through the inside 3x longer than before and stopped people from running across the street to buy beer or bringing it themselves to drink on the sidewalk.

The typical wait on a weekend is generally an hour or so. The 3 hour wait times are usually the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving or some other holiday where a lot of kids are home from college.

If you get there early, you usually don't have to wait very long at all.

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You know me like that.

Chicago and its surrounding areas do food better than 99% of the country. It is just simple fact.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Are you saying that they immediately identified me as an Illinois person and served me the substandard chicken?

That's diabolical.

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You know me like that.

Good tip, Zachary!
Always fill up with a big meal before going to a restaurant.

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Host of the weekly "We Fish ASA" podcast
Weekly columnist for the Northwest Herald
Bi-monthly columnist for Illinois Outdoor News magazine
Former host of The Outdoors Experience on WIND and The Great Outdoors on CLTV
http://www.wefishasa.com

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