by Terry Gorman –

Andies Restaurant
5253 North Clark
(773) 784-8616

www.andieschicago.com

Looking for a quiet, comfortable  restaurant with a large menu to please all your party — carnivores, vegans and vegetarians? We have a suggestion: Andies Restaurant.

Let’s start with quiet. There’s no annoying music and no hubbub. Comfortable? The chairs invite you to stay. And the food? Healthy Mediterranean, cooked with locally sourced ingredients and “from the heart.”

Start with the butternut squash soup with roasted apples, peppered organic pumpkin seeds and yogurt. Yum! Or saganaki — the flaming cheese familiar to us from Greek restaurants. Opah! Or the Burek Spring Rolls, stuffed with seasoned lamb and beef, and served with a honey-ginger sauce.

Mediterranean restaurants have samplers so you can taste small amounts of several items. We ordered the Dip Sampler                (hummus, sweet harressa, smoky baba ganoush, and patata) spread on fresh pita bread. Patata is a garlic potato dip less bold than scordalia, its counterpart in Greek cuisine.

The main entrees offer many choices: lamb, chicken, beef, shrimp, and tilapia. Stars indicate the vegan and vegetarian dishes. Those we’ve tried and enjoyed include Tunisian Seafood Tagine, Lamb Osso Bocco with Polenta,  Curry Vegetable Couscous (ask for spicy), and several kabobs.

And the Sharwerma platter with hand-sliced marinated beef sirloin, cooked on a rotisserie with onions, tomatoes, and tahini sauce? Dreamy, said one of our party.

Andies menus change with the seasons and there are numerous daily specials to please the budget-minded.

Mon BYOB, no corkage fee
Tue half-price bottles of wine
Wed half-price glasses of wine
Sun kids 12 and under eat free (maximum two kids)

Allow me to mention a spectacular dessert, not really Mediterranean but truly inspired: the Peanut Butter Brownie. Ask for it cold. One of these will serve four people we think. It’s very rich and peanut butter lovers will be astounded!

Andies has been serving healthy Mediterranean food since 1975 and is still going strong today. It’s a regular for us. Definitely check it out!

When you have a hankering for Middle Eastern food at lunchtime, Andies has a brunch on weekends and lunch weekdays.  Andies participates everyday in the United Mileage Frequent Diner Program and they do deliver to Park Tower.

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Terry is a Park Tower resident and a regular contributor to TowerTalk.