Once again, crazy weather in the area kept me from dining out over the weekend.  So I did what any other afraid-to-drive-in-the-snow person does — I ordered in. Even though the snow had stopped, in my opinion the roads were still way too snow-covered to drive anywhere. We decided to order a pizza from Sal’s Pizza Company, 5 Hanson Road, Algonquin, and has pickup and delivery but does not offer dine-in. I called Sal’s about 5:30 p.m. Saturday and placed an order for a large sausage and bacon pizza, an order of mozzarella sticks for the kids and an order of cream cheese jalapeno poppers for my …

The weather in the area has been a little off this winter. I always hear people say, "If you do not like the weather in the Chicago area, wait a few hours because it will change." Last week was a perfect example. It was 53 degrees one day, and the next day we received 5  inches of snow on our green-again lawns. The weather folk keep mentioning El Niño and La Niña are to blame for the recent odd weather patterns — which reminded me that a friend suggested we try the El Niño sub at Bubs Subs. No need to ask us twice: As soon as we had a free moment, we decided to check it out. Bubs Subs, 260 S…

Before you read this review, let me say, my reviews are the opinions of one family. A mom, a dad, a teenager and two little kids, ages 7 and 4. This week we went to Day Go Dogs on the West side of Algonquin. Day Go Dogs is located at 2761 West Algonquin Road, in a strip mall just a little west of Caputo’s grocery store. We arrived at Day Go Dogs at around 6 on a Monday night. We placed our order and found a table for the four of us. After a few minutes our order was ready. My husband ordered two double dogs, while the kids and I each ordered a single dog. All our dogs came with fries. The …

In my last column I mentioned that at my house after the Holiday season ends, the cold and flu season starts. This year the cold season did not wait until after Christmas ended, it started in the middle of our holiday festivities. The entire family was feeling a bit sniffle-y and sneeze-y so as soon as we had all been fever free for 24 hours, we decided to go to Panera Bread to have some soup. Panera Bread is located at 451 South Randall Road in Algonquin. We arrived a little after 6 p.m. on Monday, the day after Christmas. We checked out the menu hanging over the registers and after …

I like having my kids home during school breaks. I enjoy waking up without an alarm, spending half my day in my pajamas and the ability to do things we do not normally get to do – like having lunch with friends during the week. On Monday, I grabbed three of my kids and picked up my friend, Karen, and her daughter, Elizabeth, and headed to Noodles & Company. Noodles & Company is located at 315 North Randall Road, Lake in the Hills, in front of the movie theater. We arrived at a little after noon to a packed restaurant. We got in line and looked over the small menu while we waited. The line was…

This time of year stresses me out. Shopping, colder weather and extra traffic is what usually puts me in a crabby mood during the holiday season. On Saturday, my eldest daughter, McKenzie, had a cheerleading tournament at Jacobs High School. As I drove down Randall Road, I spotted Buffalo Wild Wings and thought, “Hmmmm, wings might change my mood.” Later that evening, we packed up the family and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings or as McKenzie calls it, B-Dubs, at 461 S. Randall Road, Algonquin. We arrived at B-Dubs about 7:15 and were told there would be a 10-minute wait for our party of five. We…

After an especially gluttonous Thanksgiving Day meal, I was not sure I would be able to eat again. I was so full after eating dinner with my family at my brother’s house, I had to skip Black Friday shopping. I was that full. By the time Saturday rolled around, I was starting to get my appetite back. I was finally hungry, but not in the mood to face any of the Randall Road eateries during Thanksgiving weekend. We decided to stick to our side of town and eat at Chubby’s Gyros, located at 1720 East Algonquin Road in Algonquin. We arrived at Chubby’s a little after lunch time and were able to …

I am thankful for many things: my family, my home, my friends and a whole bunch of other little things that happen every day. One of the things I am most thankful for is my husband’s ability to think of restaurants to review for my column. This past weekend after a trip to the grocery store, his clever thinking took us to Giordano’s Famous Stuffed Pizza. I am fortunate to have him in my life because after a trip to the grocery store on a Sunday, I am usually too exhausted to think. Giordano’s Famous Stuffed Pizza is located at 1505 South Randall Road in Algonquin. We arrived at about 5:30 p.m…

I feel blessed that my parents chose Algonquin as the town they in which they wanted to raise me and my brother. Growing up here was the greatest. The only drawback was eating out. There were only a handful of restaurants in the area and none of them served anything seriously international. Sure, we could go to The Breakers and have Chinese or El Molino and have Mexican, but we were hard pressed to find Indian or Japanese or Mediterranean foods in the '70s and '80s. If my husband, Tom, and I would not have met, I probably would not have had the opportunity to try anything other than the usual…

I was really looking forward to my restaurant of choice last week. So much so, that I hired my wonderful teenage neighbor to come over to babysit the little kids so my husband and I could take my teenage daughter, McKenzie, to dinner. I had been looking forward to Bonefish Grill all week. It is one of my parents’ favorite restaurants and actually, one of mine as well. Bonefish Grill is located at 1604 South Randall Road in Algonquin, in the Algonquin Commons area. I made a reservation for a party of three for 6:15 on Friday night. We arrived promptly at 6:15 p.m., but our table was not ready…

A few weeks ago, a friend who follows my weekly column suggested I take my family to a Mexican restaurant in the downtown area of Algonquin. I was a bit apprehensive about trying it because I have seen the space change hands many, many times and for some crazy reason that makes me nervous. On Sunday we took a break between our pre-Halloween festivities and went to lunch at Algonquin Mexican Restaurant, located at 648 South Main Street in Algonquin. We arrived at Algonquin Mexican Restaurant at about 12:15 p.m. to an almost-empty restaurant. We seated ourselves and waited just a few seconds …

Life is made up of embarrassing moments. Mine is, anyway. And it seems a lot of my embarrassing moments have happened since I've had kids. One of my more embarrassing moments happened over the summer. My girls and I were out running errands and decided to grab lunch at Einstein Bros Bagels. We placed our order and walked to the other register to pay. As we stood there waiting for our lunch to be made, I frantically searched my purse for the $20 I knew was in there. I couldn’t find it. I started looking for my check card… it was not in there either. That is when I had a flashback of my …

Each week the McHenry County Patch sites are on the hunt for the best place to get a certain type of food in McHenry County. Last week’s Chowdown Showdown Challenge was all about burgers and The Tracks in Cary won. I do believe I started thinking endlessly about burgers after reading that article. On Saturday afternoon, we found ourselves on the west side of town finding fabric for Halloween costume construction and I was still thinking about burgers. My hubby suggested we go to Red Robin and before he could finish his side of the debate about going, I was already clicking my seatbelt. Red …

When I was pregnant with my daughter, Piper, I craved Chinese food. I did not crave it occasionally either, I craved it all the time. My cravings were usually satisfied at Gourmet House in Algonquin. Before I got pregnant with Piper, I was not a huge fan of Chinese food. It was not something I usually thought about or wanted. Now that my pregnancy days are long gone, I have resorted back to the old me. When it comes to Chinese food, I can take it or leave it. On Saturday night I went to a 40th birthday party for my friend Jeff. I left my kids at home with my husband because they were still …

When I was growing up, our family had a birthday tradition – we got to have whatever we wanted for our birthday dinner.  As a kid I would either ask my mom to make SOS or I would ask to go to Cattleman’s Burger and Brew (which is now a gas station at the corner of 62 and 25). I still follow the same tradition with my family. My four kids always pick the same thing – Japanese food — and I thought for sure my husband would do the same thing and pick Sushi Station or Kobe Steakhouse for his birthday dinner last night. He surprised me by picking Dante’s. I probably should not have been surprised…

There is a lot of talk about New Jersey lately—from Hurricane Irene to Jerseylicious, Jersey Shore to nine-time Olympic Gold medalist Carl Lewis running (or trying to run) for a New Jersey senate seat. After weeks of hearing about one Jersey thing or another, I decided it was time to head in the car and drive to Jersey… Jersey Mike’s Subs. Jersey Mike’s Subs is located at 285 North Randall Road at The Randall Road Shops at the Centre in Lake in the Hills. We ended up at Jersey Mike’s at about 12:30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. There was a line, but it was not long, maybe a half dozen people…

This week I wanted to review someplace I had not yet been to. I felt like trying something new — stepping out of the box. So, that is just what we did. Yesterday, Piper and I visited Diced Fresh, located at 132 South Randall Road in Algonquin. Diced is located in the tiny strip of stores in front of Joe Caputo & Sons grocery store. Piper and I arrived at about 12:30 p.m. and found Diced packed. There are about a dozen or so tables and a small bar at the window and every seat was taken. We walked to the back of the restaurant and looked over the menu hanging on the wall. Piper decided she …

Holiday weekends usually throw me off my schedule. Labor Day weekend was no different. My oldest son, Alex, came home for a visit, which threw me off my schedule even more than usual. I usually do my weekly grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons. This past weekend, because of the holiday and our out-of-town visitor, I did not get to my shopping until Monday. We found ourselves on the West Side of town, and after a mean game of rock-paper-scissors, the winner decided that we were eating at Chili’s, 1480 Randall Road, Algonquin. We arrived at 2 p.m. and were seated immediately. As we walked to …

Yesterday morning I realized I let the entire weekend go by without going out to eat. It was a busy weekend full of cheerleading, grocery shopping, getting the kids ready for another school week and adopting a puppy from a pet rescue. As I was getting my youngest child, Piper, ready for her first day of preschool yesterday, I decided it was time for me to give Mimi’s Café another try. Several years ago we had a bad dining experience at Mimi’s Café. Our waitress was rude, my food was never delivered to our table, and when we finally received our bill, after waiting for more than 30 minutes to …

Several times a week the ice cream man makes his way through my neighborhood. I always cringe when I hear the familiar ice cream truck song playing down the street. Without fail, the ice cream truck shows up in my neighborhood between 5 and 6 in the evening, right before dinner time. I know when I hear that song that my two youngest kids are going to come running into the house to ask for money, and I am going to break their little hearts when I tell them no. This past weekend I decided to take the advice of one of my close friends, Erin, and try out the new gourmet frozen yogurt shop, Yumz, …