“An excellent, quirky little Polish restaurant/cafe with handmade pierogi and great service.”
An excellent, quirky little Polish restaurant/cafe with handmade pierogi and great service!
My mom and I drove 45 minutes on a cold Chicago night to eat here just before closing - and we're glad we did! The food was excellent - there are over 200 kinds of tea you can try (we considered coming back for the tea service alone!), as well as over 12 varieties of pierogi and delicious Polish dishes. I really liked the mushroom and mozzarella pierogi, which sounded like some strange Italian fusion until I tried it and it was just like the stewed mushrooms my Mom makes! Some of the best Polish mushroom soup I've ever had with loads of parsley, dill, and real forest mushrooms from Poland in it, as well as a tasty beet Kvass to finish it off, made it a memorable dinner. At about $30 per person for a bowl of soup, 6 pierogi, tea, and dessert, it was a solidly affordable and very tasty place to eat a full dinner out.
The fun decor and variety of two-person tables made me think this would be the perfect date spot, which would probably be even cheaper. It was also decorated for Christmas when we stopped by! There are vintage-style mural decorations that I thought lent a very upbeat and cosmopolitan energy to the place, as well as a variety of antique teacups for purchase.
Since we were the only people there, the proprietor also chatted with us throughout our meal - offering us a homemade dessert, explaining the different cuisines, and every once in a while trying to convince us to become Polish citizens, haha. He even stayed open late so we could finish our dinner! We really appreciated his insight and attention during our meal, and felt very at home here! If I lived nearby, I would be a regular :)
One note for other patrons is that there is an (adorable!) restaurant cat, so if you are allergic to them you may want to steer clear (or eat outside!)
