We’ve driven passed the Filipiniana Restaurant in Niles many times. We’ve even mentioned it as we passed by but we didn’t make enough of a note in our heads about it to actually think to try it when we discuss lunch or dinner plans. Today, it popped into my head probably because I needed to go to Valu-City which is very close to it.

So, we left Evanston and headed down Golf Rd. When we hit Greenwood, I started looking for the strip mall where the restaurant was. I felt like I’d driven passed it but no - I hadn’t, it’s farther down than I remembered.

As I pulled into a parking place, I looked at the window and saw several Philippine lanterns in the window and I smiled. I wish I had kept my Philippine lantern, even if the lights were burnt out and I couldn’t repair it myself. Someday, I’m going to get a new one…

The restaurant is nothing special to look at. Just a strip mall restaurant. At 3:30pm, there were several tables full - full of Filipino customers. Good sign. All of the employees I could see were also Filipino. Another good sign.

I looked at the menu… real live honest to goodness Filipino food. Most restaurants I’ve been to that claim to have Filipino food - don’t. This one did.

The kids were a bit unsure of what they might want. Prince J immediately mentioned the Pancit - I reassured him that this was a good choice as I was trying to choose between Chicken Pancit or Chicken Adobo. I recommended the Chinese noodles, not the rice noodles and he agreed… when he ordered, the waitress misunderstood and ended up bringing the rice noodles out. That’s ok, they were excellent. (He and RJ shared a plate and halfway through, the waitress came over to make sure they didn’t need her to bring more out. Nice, since she’s the one who suggested they share because it would be a lot of food.)

I did order the Chicken Adobo and Chicken & Veggie Lumpia. TW went for the Lumpia, as well.

She brought out six Lumpia, plenty for all four of us to have some. We all shared the Chicken Adobo which was also excellent, though I’d like it just a bit spicier.

RJ had a mango tapioca smoothie of some sort and TW ordered the lime juice, aka Kalamansi (which I had not even thought of in 20 years!)

I have to go back this weekend, and take my “Filipino children” with me.

I have always wanted to go to a Renegade Craft Fair. Moving to Chicago made that possible. Except, when the fair was scheduled in September, a hurricane hit and the entire area was flooded (including our basement) and so we did not go. The Renegade Craft Fair is cool but not cool enough to attend outside during that kind of weather.

When TW told me that there was a Renegade Craft Fair HOLIDAY Sale at Pulaski Park ie INDOORS, I was totally up for it.

Unfortunately, it’s freezing and there’s no parking around Pulaski Park. Bah. This is what I really hate about living here. I don’t mind walking 10 blocks but 10 blocks in freezing wind just plain stinks.

The field house itself is pretty interesting and I think a good location for such a craft fair. Rooms that aren’t too big or too small and are spread out enough that there aren’t a lot of bottle necks as people move from one room to another.

We stopped just inside the door and looked at the “official” tshirts and then talked to the woman at the Yelp table and got a free Yelp back, which was nice since we forgot to bring a bag.

And then we entered the first room. Oh my. So many cool things. It’s been a very long while since I’ve found so many things that I wanted to buy (or try to make) at a craft fair. TW and I collected a lot of cards so that we can explore the artist’s websites (and actually buy stuff once we have money again.) Liz also collected some cards and spent a lot of time trying to decide which vendor she liked the best. She’s quite the discriminating shopper, who knew?

Here are some links from the cards I collected at the fair.

The Renegade Craft Fair rocks.

When our move to the Chicago area was only a rumor, we did what smart women do - we turned to Google. We googled everything and one of the first restaurants we got really interested in was Walker Bros. The Original Pancake House.

We are big breakfast fans and the very idea that we would not be anywhere near a Waffle House scared us to the core of our very southern bodies.

Walker Bros. was one of the first restaurants we ate at when we arrived in the area for our house hunting visit. The Glenview branch is very, very close to the house we decided to rent and if truth be known, one of the reasons why I was in favor of renting this little yellow house.

On our first visit we were seated relatively quickly (for Walker Bros. which is ALWAYS packed) in a very nice corner booth and we took our time figuring out what to order. I went for the spinach crepes because I have yet to find spinach crepes that I love and I’m ever hopeful. These are not spinach crepes that I love. They were fine but not love-worthy. TW ordered some pancake variation and enjoyed her meal much more than I did mine.

We’ve been back to Walker Bros. several times, taking various combinations of all of the kids with us and we’ve always enjoyed our breakfasts. We’ve had everything from the pumpkin pancakes to the challah french toast to the chocolate chip crepes to the apple pancake.

Just writing this post makes me wonder if it isn’t time for another trip to Walker Bros. Original Pancake House. Saturday morning, possibly?