By Dan Rankin
Special to Inside
According to a nurse at Children's Memorial Hospital, many of her colleagues are now skipping the hospital's cafeteria cuisine and making the short walk up Lincoln Ave. to dine at the Zig Zag Kitchen, where an extensive lunch and dinner menu are winning tastebuds in this restaurant-rich community.
The name is hard to forget and the location is hard to miss for those who stroll this popular stretch of Lincoln Ave. adjacent to the landmark Biograph Theater. But it is the extensive menu, large portions and reasonable prices that will bring you back.
What won over this hurried nurse's business was the quick service and large salads she enjoys on her 30 minute lunch break. There are 10 salads on the menu, her favorite being the Zig salad, romaine topped with red and yellow peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, delicious imported French goat cheese and Dijon dressing. When she was boycotting France last month she switched over to the Zag salad, which featured diced tomatoes, European cucumbers, red onion, fresh basil, shredded lettuce with a lemon oil dressing and feta cheese. The unusual string bean salad and bountiful spinach salad are also winning over converts from the lunch crowd.
The vegetarian items on the menu are nice and healthy, but the carnivore need not feel left out. The mushroom rigatoni and mushroom risotto are favorites along with their two veggie sandwiches and third roasted eggplant sandwich. The flourless chocolate cake, tiramisu and rice pudding sweets are, ahem, also vegetarian.
But then meat-eaters may prefer the traditional Italian meatball sandwich, spicy chicken guacamole sandwich or mama's homemade meatloaf with mashed potatoes and more of those crunchy string beans. There is also a fresh fish of the day and a variety of kebab dishes to choose from. All of their sauces, dressings, breads, soups and desserts are homemade and it shows.
Gaining notice in a market filled with fine pie makers are Zig Zag's pizzas. Many locals feel Zig Zag earned its name by the efforts of their delivery drivers attempting to get through Lincoln Park's notorious traffic to get piping hot pizza to your door in time enough to earn a living on their tips. Whether choosing one of their gourmet pizzas, like the Florence with grilled zucchini, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms and cheese, or the shrimp pesto pizza, or the Mexican pizza with jalapeno, cilantro, diced tomatoes, corn, black bean sauce and grilled chicken, or even your Chicago standard deep dish or thin crust offering 33 different toppings, pizza lovers will find what they're looking for only a phone call away.
Located at 2436 N. Lincoln Ave., Zig Zag Kitchen's menu items range in price from $3.50 to $15, with most items well under $10. There is no liquor license so feel free to bring your own if you're coming for a pre-movie dinner date. Lincoln Park traffic and parking being what it is, delivery is available over a broad portion of the North Side and is reported to be darn snappy; call (773) 472-7607 to place an order.
They are open seven days a week until 11 p.m. Zig Zag will take orders as early as 8:30 a.m. Catering is also available for parties up to 100. Homemade personal lunch boxes are available for six or more people that include a choice of salad, apple, cookie and a soda for only $8.75 per person.
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