Jacob "Chitown Masala" J.'s Profile

So my run in with Sigler's is due to them being a part of the umbrella of approved body shops for State Farm.

The folks got into a fender bender in the snow, so I took care of the leg work of getting the work done via insurance and the back and forth.  Once I was told via State Farm that Sigler's was a local body shop which was approved, I started doing some homework on local reviews.  I've seen advertisements that they do through the local Jewel's.  On the backs of grocery store receipts one can often find a discount for service done at Sigler's.  

I put in a call to Sigler's and stopped by with the car.  A 2002 Honda Civic had front body damage from the bumper to the hood.  It was clear that the hood would have to be changed, some actual body work of the frame, quarter panel and some painting.   It was almost closing time but Oren said just stop by and he'd have a look.  He quoted me a few days to perform the work and he would handle communication with State Farm.  Via Oren (Owner) he managed to get a rental for my folks to use while the car was in the shop.

Within the time specified plus one day, they got the car back.  Almost as good as new, I liked that the car smelled like "fresh car" almost like a minty fresh.  I think he said they do a routine cleaning of the car before returning it.  I've done some insurance work with cars as of late.  This experience was easy.  No bullshit or hassle over the original estimate or any of that.  Clean cut from the start to finish.

Shipley's for me is all about their spicy cheese Kolaches.  I love them fresh, never day old, though they usually sell out daily.  Spicy cheese kolaches? Think a fresh baked bun with a wiener inside, cheese and diced jalapenos.  Ahh, it's good stuff and its (right now) begging me to jump up and get one.  Sadly, I'm writing this review in Chicago.  =( and it's too late, I'm pretty sure this location closes early daily.

If it's not available I will occasionally do the ham and cheese, though it's not a favorite.  Shipley's does a lot of business on these, their donuts and coffee.  I hardly ever order their donuts, almost every time I have, I get a sweet rush headache.  

For the area there are a few other donut shops but they offer nothing in comparison.  Stand on the corner where the stoplight is on any morning and watch, a pileup begins of folks waiting to get something tasty here.

Shipley's is a chain that has been in business for over 75 years.  Mainly operating out of the southern states.  They call it their do-nut belt, most would consider it part of the bible belt.  To this day I often meet other Texans that have heard of Shipley's but never had a kolache.  A typical kolache does not have meat in it, FYI.  In the Dallas area however, one can find many bakeries offering the kolache with their own version with cheese and meat.

My review is dated as the first experience I had dining with them was some months back.  We came in to celebrate a good friends birthday and decided to go with the prix fix menu offered.  We paid roughly $80 per person for 3 courses plus booze and all of us went with the prime rib 16 or 22 oz cuts.

The meat and trimmings with it was amazing.  Presentation, table service, coat service, servers, bartenders and the etc, it was all amazing.  The food was perfect, the meat sung to us, my only gripe was the dessert.  It was a triple layer chocolate something that was a bit too chilled and not very pleasing.  Sweet enough, decadent to the max, just didn't hit the right notes for me.

The venue is something a bit too ritzy for the area, maybe.  I mean I could see a place like this in Highland Park, maybe outskirts of Deerfield but it takes Wheeling to a new height, if that makes any sense.  Makes more sense though that its adjoined by the Westin hotel.  

Another reviewer said basic ambiance.  The night we dined it was lively, though they had a very light piano type music in the background.  I could hear the droplets of water from a second story waterfall in the background.  The booth we sat in was deluxe, uber comfortable seating.  I immediately thought, great place to bring a date on a special night.  Dinner and a hotel room, check!

Now that I remember more details my second gripe was the server failed to show us their signature steak.  "Chef Tramonto's Signature Tomahawk - 38 oz."  bone in mind you.  They are supposed to bring it out on a silver platter to every guest but he didn't. (Who knows why.)   Supposedly you get a sort of exit prize if they don't mention it.    He did a good job serving us when he was around and serving his other guests, his "regulars".  One thing we didn't appreciate about him, hard to get his attention when it was clearly focused on his regulars.

2011 was the first year of a BBQ fest serving the 6 corners community and hosted by the Six Corners Association.  I see that someone has posted it in the Events area of Yelp so it's happening again this year (2012).  If you click the link for the website you may not find any information, yet.  I clicked it already and it's a homepage for a new blog.  Last year's site was up for some time but offered little to not enough info.  It's another year and I hope for 2012 we can see more representation of local restaurants.  There are some big names in Chicago BBQ that are nearby and if the association could get them to come out, that would be a big deal to barbecue enthusiasts like myself.  Jefferson Park has a reasonable festival that gets Gale street to theirs, it'd be a place to start?

2011's fest was okay, best for families and kids.  They are operating this in the shadow of bigger BBQ festivals happening all around the city.  Ribfest Chicago being the biggest and best of, at least for the 606 zip codes.  Another local big one with big names is one which happens in Forest Park during later summer which happens to attract barbecue caterers and wannabes that aim to find out if they have the gusto to start a new business off of winning a prestigious title of, "best of".  If you attended the Windy City BBQ fest which happened in the Uptown area last year, their  festival was almost exactly like the 6 corners version.  Except less drunken, strange people.  Don't get me wrong, drunken strange people make for interesting people watching.  The six corners area is more family involved.  So, what I liked most about it was the layout and offering.  They kept one area for the stage and music which was far away from where the children and families were seated and playing.  They had a few jumpers set up for the kids but the hours of service of those areas was a detail very hard to get at their different entrances.  My first visit out there with four wee ones in tow turned angry when the entrance folks told us there was still time for the kids to play, but after paying and entering, we find out the carnies are taking the jumpers down.  The kids were heartbroken, especially after the length of time sitting in the car looking for nearby parking.  

FYI, good information for a festival website =  Times of or schedule of a kids area and or shows for the kids.  They may have had a schedule of shows last year, but I don't remember a timing schedule for kids activities & jumpers.  If the kids are happy, then I can manage to get in some beer time with the parents and check out the local singles scene for myself.  As far as ribs, tips and more I found the selections to be too typical.  Some of the people they had offering food are the companies we always see at Chicago festivals.  The guys with the huge triple layered signs selling frozen lemonades, fried snickers and run of the mill BBQ and those huge turkey legs.  They had one or two Chicago barbecue names like Robinson's which I don't have the highest regard for.  If I go to a fest for barbecue I usually always come out with fingers stinking of sweet barbecue.  After leaving this one, that wasn't the case.  The fest was geared more for the likes of the neighborhood or felt like one huge block party.  I hope this year the fest has a larger offering and involves more of the community.  Maybe more stores that are located on that stretch of street have open doors and are participating in the fest.  More inclusion or involvement from area businesses or other service providers hosting tents at the fest.  Just some ideas, I hope will enliven this years.

Almost three years later than when Amanda C. wrote her review and I had an almost same experience.  I've been stopping by and calling in looking for a filter for my ride. Due to work and travel, just not having the time to seal the deal on the purchase and have it installed.

I'd been waiting over a week for the store to receive the part.  Contrary to what I was told during my first call, the part was not in by 3 pm, but rather new parts arrive the Thursday of the week before 3 pm.  When I eventually got to the store to buy, the customer service of the first guy stunk.  I thought about walking away during the purchase, he wasn't cool to talk to, maybe he had a cold or something.  I've always found it's better to be vocal with people, I'm saying this as if (for example) I were in his place that's what I would have done.  So that I don't come off as rude.  Since I'd been waiting and waiting for the part I decided to just suck it up and buy it.  Guess what.. it didn't fit!  Or so I thought.  First time for me changing this part.  There was a little bit of work involved with removing housing and fitting it in.  When I returned to the store to get a refund, a different fellow was behind the counter.  He asked for the opportunity to try himself.  Long story short, he tried it a different way and it fit perfectly.  I left satisfied.  I just finished submitting a thank you letter to Autozone so that dude gets kudos for saving my business.

Since I'm happy with their service, I'm considering some performance air intake parts.. we shall see.

Per the recommendation of Peter "The Skeeter" H. I decided to check them out.  For whatever reason I didn't know there was a large enough population of Korean peeps in these parts that would be able to sustain a Korean bar of the bangin' proportions this place indicated to us.  It was a reminder of what we used to have back in Chicago more than a decade or so ago.  Those times are long gone and replaced with business owners willing to replace K staff with underpaid staff that can't cook for shit.

I came for good bar food and that's what we got.  Tastes that sent my mind thinking of awesome times had at Korean bars back in Chicago so many years ago now. That was when the flavors were authentic and before they sold out to doing things a cheaper way.

We had the spicy thukkbokki with ramen and I really wanted a dish like sam kyub sal kim chi bokkum, instead their waiter suggested another spicy, pork belly type dish.  The flavors were on point, spicy at the right level and we went to town on that meal.  For the sake of old memories I added in a pitcher of yogurt soju.  I'd forgotten the flavor of Soju since it's a liquor I only drink out of sentiment now.  When drinking the pitcher I thought.. wow, this thing is so light.  Meaning, where is the freaking booze?  The thing about Soju is, the buzz catches up to you slowly and much later.  Usually around the time you make it out to a karaoke bar.  My DD came in handy.

The bar was not busy on the night we checked them out.  Mid week night.  Service stunk as it usually does at any  Korean bar with awesome food.  No back and forth with any staff, just cold responses like a bowl of naengmyeon.  Dishes are costly like most K bars tend to be these days.  I didn't mind it so much though, only because the food did it for me.  The food brought back fond memories and I dug the interior of the bar, I am rating them four stars for this.  The decor is quite common in themed bars like this back in Korea.

If I were local, I'd hit this place up weekly.  Maybe carve my name into a booth in Hangul just because I can and serenade some yeppun yujahs and see where the night goes.

Local liquor shop and open late.

I ran into a 6 pack of Coors, I've never seen anything other than Coors light, so I was surprised to find it out here in the land of loved micro brews.  I took a moment to awe at the 6 pack, this made the counter gal nervous and she sent over a janitor to sweep up in my aisle and watch me.  How funny is that shit.  I was in the aisle of refrigerated coolers for a mere 2 -3 minutes and she sends over a porter to check on me.  Fucking people.

The 6 pack cost me around ten bucks, I'm sure I could have scooped this up at a grocery store for less, but this store was a short distance from my hotel.  An often convenience for me, when I am staying nearby.

Since childhood I've always wondered about this place though never bothered to try.  The street front sign with its italic lettering which always made me wonder about what awaited inside.  That old school 70's era signage with blinking lights.  So what wonders await inside?  Nothing.  It's your run of the mill dilapidated diner.  I wouldn't bring a lady friend or children with me.  I'm sure in decades past this place was host to an abundance of parties.  It's really too bad management has mismanaged the place and allowed it to fall into ruin.  Fresh paint, new tiled flooring and a serious wipe down of any area visible is desperately needed.  This would make for an interesting episode on the sitcom Kitchen Nightmares.

Thinking back about this wasted lunch trip, I should have tried them out when I was a kid.  Most children won't remember bad food experiences as they get older.  Too bad for me I waited.

The lunch special was hardly special.  It wasn't expensive and it wasn't tasty.  Let me tell you, I feel offended that they served me shit on a plate.  The fried rice was definitely microwaved and I would bet it was either recycled food or has been reheated many times.  Bits of rice clumps that have extra crispy textures and heat which isn't properly dispersed through the rice.  Also an overwhelming taste of fish sauce as if to mask it's old flavor.  I'm an Asian dude, I have rice almost every day and this rice was not fresh by any standards.  On a side note while I dined the entire staff came out and had their lunch.  Surprise, surprise, the rice they ate was fresh white rice.  What I should have gotten with my crappy lunch special.
The entree I got was General Tso's, if the dish could speak, it too would be offended by how it was prepared.  Just a few measly pieces of battered chicken tossed in a brown sweet and sour sauce with broccoli.  I will never order foods other than the occasional egg roll or appetizer ever again.  If you are reading my review and have read the other bad reviews but still think you want to try.  Do so at your own risk.  Stick to appetizers only.  I had the crab Rangoon which was made fresh, the stuffing was not sweet, it went well with my usual mixture of hot chili with sweet and sour sauce.  Nothing too special.  Their S&S sauce is that brightly colored orange kind.  I hate to point it out but the Rangoons arrived with a hair on top of one of the pieces.  How freaking cliche`.  I think that's a detail the server should pay attention to, right? But in her defense she had a bad cold and was trying to make the best of her work day.  I may also recommend to order entrees versus lunch specials (maybe they are made fresh) but after dining in and feeling the same loss that some of the other reviewers have felt, I really don't know.

A detail about egg rolls.  Egg roll aficionados (experts) agree that a proper egg roll should have its insides cooked, then stuffed and rolled.  Once rolled it should be flash fried.  This way it's cooked properly and will not be soggy or overly oily.  An egg roll made this way takes time but is a quality egg roll.  A lazy method many restaurants adapt is to add peanut butter to the contents.  Some places may also use additional wrappers so that the end result isn't an oily mess.  The egg rolls made here have additional wrappers and the taste of peanut butter is present.  I suspect that's what these glowing reviewers mean when they say the egg roll is extraordinary.  It's probably one of a few items made fresh.

Additional tips on this business?
Good for kids? Not if you strive to feed your kids good food, in which case you need to go elsewhere.

Noise level:  You may think you've gone deaf.  

Good for groups? Hell yeah, they have a party room.  If it wasn't so dated, this could be a party room for rent.  It's huge.

Good for:  Not a damn thing.  Okay, just appetizers and their food if you get them to promise to make it fresh.

It's cool that it's been owned by the same family for around thirty years but it hasn't been maintained.  It's just a place waiting to die unless a next generation is willing to spend the funds to bring it back to decent.

I was here looking for some winter boots.  Unfortunately I didn't realize that this DSW stands for designer shoes for Women as most of their store is devoted to ladies shoes.  Needless to say, I didn't find any boots.  I did find a pair of casual, pointy Madden's for the reduced price of $40 dollars which is the always plus.

So ladies, come on down!  A store full of discounted shoes for all your needs and a cave full of clearance racks with shoes up to 50% off on sale prices.  Bookmark it, its worth a look.

An example of things gotten better over time. Or I found new ways to appreciate the little hardware shop around the corner.

Keys  $1.99 each or more depending on the style. I get them done by the same guys usually. The older gentlemen tend to have more patience than their younger counterparts. Mark has been my usual key maker.  I'll usually take a walk around the store looking for him before allowing anyone else to cut keys for me.  Making keys is easy these days with the newer systems but it takes a person with confidence and patience to get it done correctly the first time! In the past I'd let whomever make me keys and find myself returning multiple times because of bad cuts.  Regarding bad cuts, that's just something which can happen if a person doesn't check their work.  (Look at the ridges!)  It's more convenient to come here rather than Home Depot (Mt Prospect) which is about a fifteen minute drive away.

Over time I've gotten to like this little shop for its convenience.  My previous review mentions a fact most don't know about little hardware shops; which is that much of their product line is composed of items commonly needed for the housing in the area.  Everything from fuses, piping, repair of common household problems, paint, lawn gear and more.  A couple pluses to the small hardware shop experience other than the personalized services of their staff, are lowered prices on some nameless brand tools and hardware.  Clearance shelves and blowout sales on past season accessories.  Multi-packs of bottled water are usually cheap and one can usually find some cool one-off items like this awesome double sided sticker you can use to save your windshield from the crappy residue left behind by all the useless city stickers we have to purchase.  Liquid latex gloves which are great for adding a coating to your hands before getting into a (last minute) dirty job or a kind of hand salve or hand glue to seal up small cuts on hands.  The next time you walk into the little hardware store, take a look around, you may find some items of use.