Gaztro Wagon

This week’s schedule, Chicago, IL‎
Neighborhood: all over the city!

Gaztro-Wagon.

On their website, Gaztro-Wagon describes their food truck as “A curbside solution to your hunger” with “hand-crafted, modern street fare with a focus on seasonal availability and local partnerships.”  If all of that and the recent food truck craze that has swept major cities isn’t enough to interest you in the Gaztro-Wagon, keep reading.  Due to our obsession with The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network and food trucks in general, Rob and I read on Twitter this past weekend that the Gaztro-Wagon was going to be in Lincoln Square on Friday evening.  Although Chicago food trucks aren’t allowed to actually cook aboard their trucks, that hasn’t stopped a handful of enterprising chefs from stocking their trucks full of gourmet treats and roaming the streets of Chicago.  We hightailed it to Lincoln Square and were pleased to find the Gaztro-Wagon near Lincoln and Montrose with plenty of menu items still left on-board.  I ordered the corn beef reuben with warm cabbage slaw and provolone and Rob had the braised lamb with queso panela, apricots, walnuts, and peppers.  Both sandwiches were wrapped in a pita, not on bread, which was a welcome twist to ordinary sandwich cuisine and also kept the contents tasting fresh and warm.  We also shared a bag of plantain chips, which were crispy and had just the right amount of salt on them.  For $18, it was an inexpensive meal and a unique dining experience.  Be sure to check out the Gaztro-Wagon’s schedule and see if they’ll be in a neighborhood near you.

-Anna

Inside the Gaztro-Wagon.

Our plantain chips.

Rob’s braised lamb on the left and Anna’s reuben on the right.

The Book Cellar
4736 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL‎
Neighborhood: Lincoln Square

Book Cellar.

The Book Cellar is is an independently owned bookstore located in the heart of Lincoln Square. What makes The Book Cellar so unique is the wide selection of wines that are available in their cafe.  This means you can browse the book shelves while having your a glass of pinot noir or merlot.  If you’re not much of a wine fan, they also sell beer and coffee and a wide variety of sandwiches too.  Unfortunately, Anna and I did not take advantage of their wine selection since we visited on a Sunday afternoon and weren’t in the mood to imbibe.  However, I had a wonderful hazelnut iced mocha that was very delicious and refreshing.  I also bought two books: The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin and an autographed copy of Will Leitch’s Are We Winning?.  Anna bought a cool Sonic Youth biography that she’s looking forward to reading.  It is also worth noting that The Book Cellar is very committed to the community of Lincoln Square, by sponsoring local author nights, hosting book clubs, and even collaborating with the Chicago Public Library.  The Book Cellar is certainly dedicated to “enriching the literary culture” of Chicago, as they state on their website, and Anna and I will definitely make it a point to visit them again soon.

-Rob

Inside The Book Cellar.

Our purchases.