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From Chinatown cookies to La Unica coffee, Misty was on the prowl last weekend.

Monday Sep 25, 2006.     By Misty Tosh

Food Feed

Keeping company with my parents has always been one of my ultimate joys. Like me, they're always up for a good adventure and can turn an absolutely dreary situation (like a daughter being sick) into the best of times. So when I told them I was practically on my deathbed last weekend, they jumped in the car (puppy in tow) and hauled up from the mountains of Tennessee.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect, it being my first full weekend off in what seems like decades. Ill as I was, I had big plans for Mom, Dad and pup Pearlie Mae, and they all involved food.

There was only one problem...the doggie. If Pearlie couldn't roll, then neither could they. This slight inconvenience only meant one thing: Everything we did had to be on the fly, picked up to go or delivered. Let the eating fest begin.

They arrived in town late Friday night, and I ordered in New Jeanny's Chinese Restaurant to get the bellyaches started. Dad proclaimed the eggrolls the best he's ever tasted, and I slammed an entire order of crab rangoon before my mom had even made her plate. Pearlie got in on the chowing and slyly managed to wolf down some fist-size chicken potstickers before we could blink. We promptly passed out.

At the crack of dawn on Saturday we made our way up to La Unica for a few cups of sugary cafe con leche. My dad was blown away by the price (a buck) and preached for a good while about how other coffee shops rip you off for triple the price on a drink not nearly as good. Mom just sipped her foamy drink and let Pearlie lick the sweet milk that spilled on her hand. After a city tour that started in Roscoe Village and led north to Evanston, I looped around Montrose Harbor to check out the gorgeous sailboats and blazed straight south through Chinatown, stopping at a small bakery right in the heart of it all. I bought a handful of cream-filled buns and almond cookies that Mom and Pearlie devoured within minutes in the back seat.

Their sore tummies set in while Dad and I navigated our way toward George's Hot Dogs in Bucktown for a gigantor gyro and a rave-worthy Italian beef with sweet peppers. I had ordered an accompanying chicken pita from Nick's Pit Stop along with a much-needed side of mac 'n cheese. When I offered the mouthwatering sandwich to Dad to sample, he handled it like a flimsy taco and all the mayo-laden fixin's dripped out the other end. Pearlie was on it stat and lapped it up, eyeing us all suspiciously. Talk about pass out material. We were dead asleep by 5 p.m.

Sunday morning was a little on the gray side, but my Dad and I popped up bright and early to grab more cafe con leche from La Unica. This time we decided to grab some Cuban tamales, black beans and yellow rice for breakfast, and Dad went nuts when I smothered the whole lot of it in fresh lime. We packed up a few tamales to go and headed over to Ba Le for some buttery chocolate croissants, lightly fried pork eggrolls and shimp goi cuon for Mom.

Breakfast behind us, we took a mad twirl back up through the North Side and hit up the sailboats at Wilmette Harbor. We happily plotted our next sailboat purchase, but food was on the mind and we made our way down to the South American joint, Caracas Grill, for one last supper, to go of course.

As Eliadia, the cheeky owner, chatted about her sister's sweet life in Venezuela, she packed up my drop-dead delicious cow leg soup and crispy queso arepas with a side of garlicky guasacaca sauce. I laughed as I tested out my rudimentary Spanish, tossed a few bills on the counter and made my way back to the truck where Pearlie gazed out the window, tail wagging furiously, and Mom and Dad just smiled, awaiting their next city treat. Limes included.

The Final Rave: I must have burned through half a tank of gas in 48 hours, but I unearthed so many new restaurants, who's complaining?

Keep It Going

Eat it: Thai Grocery
After picking up coffee at La Unica, shoot down Broadway for some fried bananas at this tiny back-of-the-store deli. No sample for us this time around; the bananas sold out immediately.

Drink it: Irazu
The oatmeal milkshakes are to die for here, but again the lines were mad. Next time, Pearlie, next time.

Do it: Nuevo Leon
The line snakes out the door on the weekends, but the blissful huevos rancheros are worth it. Not with a dog in tow, though. We had to move on real quick.

Get crazy with it: North Clark Street
There were so many quaint little places I wanted to slip into while driving down this edgy dining frontier. Oh well, they will still be there next time.

Fatcake Misty Tosh explores back-alley eateries, holes-in-the-wall and seedy ethnic joints as she treks the city in search of the next raving dish. Join her in the quest.