ELIZABITES

Grilled Wisconsin Rainbow trout filet with lemon jam, beans and grenobloise garnish from North Pond’s lunch menu. Almost too pretty to eat.

A work of trout

Living in a West Loop loft when I first moved to Chicago in 1999, I was in close proximity to the UIC campus, and thus Thai Bowl on Taylor Street. Smack dab in the middle of our Little Italy is this random Thai restaurant that I have been getting take-out from ever since. There are closer Thai restaurants, but this has always been my go-to spot. The yin? I live out of the delivery zone. The yang? Killer Thai iced tea. 1049 W. Taylor St., 312-226.5865 (note..I have heard rumblings of a Lincoln Park Thai Bowl..hmmm..could it be a sister location?)

Bubble tea at Saint's Alp

I stumbled upon Chinatown’s Saint’s Alp Teahouse two years ago while working on a story on places to hang out along the route of the Chicago Marathon. Like a sprawling bright orange beacon of bubble tea heaven, this teahouse (actually a chain based in Hong Kong) is right on Archer Avenue, under Phoenix restaurant. An orange footprint and tons of windows marks the spot, where $4-$5 can get you a steaming pot of almond milk bubble tea, agar-filled coffee drinks or regular hot teas. Although it looked like leftover milk from a bowl of BooBerry cereal, the hot taro milk tea with black tapioca bubbles was a recent discovery and new personal favorite. The place is open until midnight on weekends, so it’s a nice alternative to dessert or when you want to stay out but you don’t feel like boozing. And if you are out boozing and looking for late-night Asian eats on the cheap, they’ve got those as well. Be prepared for lots of servers hanging out but not hounding you, no music but a great energy nonetheless, and as hard as it is to fight, your brain’s tendency to want to call the place Saint Alp’s. 2131 S. Archer Ave., 312.842.1886