A Lucky Find- Hot Spot Hot Dogs

Have you ever found a truly awesome place to eat or shop totally by accident? Whenever I find myself in that scenario, I always feel so proud of myself, like somehow my good taste helped me maneuver my way into a lucky find. When in actuality, it is just that. A lucky find.

After a recent trip to a very cool park with my boys and some good friends, we ventured out to find some lunch near by. One mom knew of a great little local sandwich shop, but when we got there we realized it had fallen victim to the poor economy and closed down. So, being in an area that none of us were all that familiar with, we were forced to go with what was in the same strip mall. Lucky for us, we stumbled into Hot Spot Hot Dogs.

Located in a strip mall near the Fountains of Carols Stream (near the corner of Gary Ave. and Leis Rd.), Hot Spot Hog Dogs is a small little eatery with big flavor. The unassuming exterior may lead you astray. But once inside, the food is great! Hot dogs, burgers, Italian beef, and tamales (yes, tamales!) are the mainstays of the minimal menu. We tasted a little of everything between those in our group. It was all fabulous. The extras are amazing too. The fries are unpeeled, home cut, and fried to be a little soft and perfectly salty. I got some pasta salad with the intention of feeding it to my 1yr. old and ended up eating most of it myself. It was de-lish!!!

The cool factor gets taken up a notch when you pick your beverage. You can certainly order the run-of-the-mill 12oz. soda in a can. But, they also have all kinds of old-school sodas in bottles cooled in big metal tubs. Orange Fanta, Root Beer, yummy sweet tea. HotSpot has dozens of different bottled drinks to quench your thirst and give you that little bit of nostalgic flare.

The prices are reasonable, probably because they haven't invested too much in seating for their customers. The only downside of my new favorite lunch spot is their lack of table space. They only have two picnic tables and a few bar stool tables for those of us who like to eat-in. It seemed that most of the constant stream of customers had their food packaged to-go. But what they lack in atmosphere, they more than make up for in taste and friendly service. They do have a super cool metal representation of the Chicago skyline on the wall.

It is a lucky find, indeed. One I will be going back to again and again and telling all my friends about. It was that good. And I was that lucky to find it.

HotSpot Hot Dogs
1030 Fountain View Drive
Carol Stream, IL 60188
(630) 690-3644
Mon-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

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Sweeter Than Honey

FEEDING OUR FAMILY:
This is the beginning of a series of posts about Feeding Our Family. For the next few weeks, we will have at least one post each week which focuses on all the different aspects of this topic and how we can help each other in this often daunting task of making sure our families eat healthy, well-rounded, on-time meals. If you have an idea for a post on this topic, please e-mail us at dupagemamas(at)gmail(dot)com. We would love to hear from you! Stay tuned for some really great discussion about how we can better Feed Our Family.

In this quest to be smart and healthy in how I feed my family, I am always on the look out for places that help me on this path. And while I always want to serve the best to my family, I don't always feel like cooking that food in my own kitchen. That is when it is super nice to have someone else who is cooking the healthy, organic food that should fill my boys' tummies.

Honey is an amazing restaurant in downtown Glen Ellyn, in the western suburbs. They call themselves a "modern comfort cafe" and that pretty much says it all. Except I might add "yummy," and "delicious" and "soul-satisfying" to the list of descriptors. It is comfort food in the true sense that it is warm and flavor-ful. But beyond that, it is comfort food because I know that what my family and I are eating is good for us and good for the earth. Their produce is all organic, their meat is free range/grass-fed and often local. Even the wine and beer and coffee are organic. They bake most of their own bread and sweets every morning and make all their own sauces and salad dressings from scratch.

While these things are great and certainly key, I think the thing I like most about Honey is the atmosphere. It is laid back and friendly. It is the type of neighborhood place where people could sit with a cup of free-trade coffee and chat about the local happenings. I don't know if people actually do that, but you could. It is comfortable that way. It brings healthy, organic food down to an approachable level and makes it available for everyone. The prices are pretty reasonable for what you are getting. They cost more than a breakfast at your run-of-the-mill pancake house, but you are getting so much more for your money. When your options include Filet Mignon Benedict and Triple Chocolate French Toast, you know you have found a gem. For lunch and dinner, they have everything from yummy meatloaf and pot pie (see, comfort food!) to sandwiches to just about everything in between. They even have something called "Truffle Mac-N-Cheese" made with white truffle oil. Modern comfort cafe, indeed!

There is a "Little Honey's" menu for the kiddos with organic chicken nuggets or mac-n-cheese or organic PBJ. Even if you don't come for a meal, you gotta come for the dessert. For dessert, try the "cupcake of the day." You can't go wrong with that.

Honey offers delicious food that you know is good for your body. Sitting there eating yummy food in a laid back neighborhood cafe... comfortable!


Honey
499 N. Main St.
Glen Ellyn, IL
630-469-0000
www.honeycafe.net
Mon-Sat 9a-9p
Sun 9a-3p

Originally posted by Farrah at Chicagonista.

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Sushi in the Suburbs

There are many great things about living in the suburbs versus the city. Bigger living spaces, plentiful parking, and indoor malls just to name a few. But one of the many advantages of being in the city is all the fantastic restaurants. In the city, one can find just about any style of food any time of the day or night. But thanks to Kinta Sushi, us suburbanites can have a little taste of city life without the parking meters.

Kinta Sushi is this tiny little Japanese restaurant in a strip mall in Carol Stream. From the outside, it looks like nothing special. But as soon as you walk in, the great atmosphere and friendly staff make you feel welcome and hungry. It is a bit small, with just 4-5booths and 4-5tables and then some stools at the sushi bar. The decor is like hip Asian-chic with a little splash of traditional thrown in for good measure. Very cute!! The perfect date restaurant or girls' night out.

Most importantly, the food is fantastic! The portions are large, but the prices are not. We got California Rolls and Miami Rolls and Ginger Chicken Rolls and Edamame. It was all amazing. Seriously some of the best food, not just the best sushi, I have ever had. They brought out some sort of broth and tofu soup as an appetizer. And even though I am not a fan of tofu, it was really yum. Our total bill was around $35 for generous portions of all the food you see above. Can you beat that, city sushi restaurant?
The staff was attentive but not pushy. The place had a steady stream of people for both eat in and carry out for the entire 2hours that we sat there. And although the atmosphere was great, the pull to get back there is to have the taste of that Ginger Chicken back on my tongue. It is like one of the best kept secrets in all Dupage County.

So if you get that urge for good Japanese food with quiet ambiance but you don't want to drive downtown or fight for street parking, Kinta Sushi is your best bet.

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Kinta Sushi Japanese Restaurant and Contemporary Sushi
Carry out/Catering
Hours:
Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 - 2:30
Dinner: Mon-Thu 4:30-9:30
Fri-Sat 4:30-10:00
Closed Sunday

135 Hiawatha Dr.
Carol Stream. IL 60188
Tel (630)-260-9557
www.kintasushi.net

Originally published on Chicagonista.

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