Pizza at Nick's...er...I mean the Moose House

Ranking: Value - 3; Dad Fun Factor - 4 out of 5; Kid Fun Factor - 4 out of 5

One of our favorite restaurants to take the kids to, besides the other favorites I've listed, is Nick's Pizza. Nick's is a small chain of pizza joints (meaning two) in the far western burbs. We have never visited the Crystal Lake version so I can't give much insight into that location. Our local spot is in Elgin. The boys really love the ambiance. Step inside through the heavy barn doors and you enter a taxidermist's dream. The whole place is littered with stuffed (meaning formerly breathing) animals. Everthing from deer, ducks, fish, bears, and moose (hence the nick name). The center of the restuarant is an enormous rock fire place with a large Moose Head centered up the wall. Very spectacular. There are live fish in large tanks used as seperation from the dinning area and the bar. One special feature is the bottomless baskets of peanuts on the tables which beg to have shucked shells thrown to the floor. Nothing thrills the boys like throwing food on the floor and not being sent to the naughty chair. They love it.

The pizza is pretty good. It's not traditional Chicago style. I would categorize it as thin crust with a little thicker body. I really like it, especially the Nick's Special with pepperoni added. The boys love the pepperoni and can easily split a small between them. Dad's will also like the large selection of beers. I like to order take-out and sit in the bar sipping a shorty while I wait. Nothing better after a long day.

All in all I'd give Nick's a try. Be scared if you are looking for a table after 5 pm on the weekend. We always meet friends there right at 5 and get seated right away. 10 minutes later and you are waiting for 15 minutes. That can seem like a lifetime with little people in tow. They do have a small video arcade to spend you lunch money. You can also litter the floor with peanut shells while you wait as well. Plan on spending $50 for a family of four with a beer each.

For more information visit their website. For a chain of two it is a very good site and worth a trip. You will immediately recognize the pictures I stole..er..borrowed: http://www.nickspizzapub.com/site/home

Update on Batavia Chuck E Cheese

Quick update on one of our favorite rainy day sites. Let it be known that Winter 2008 has arrived in Elgin, IL. It is -4 deg out as I type and not getting any warmer. OUCH! That's cold and definitely not for the faint of heart. Needless to say, we are not heading to the zoos, Brookfield or Lincoln Park, today. Instead we decided to head to another great indoor spot, Mr Chuck E. Cheese's house. We made it there around 4:00 p.m. to find the place insanely busy. I have never been when there was a wait. Today we did. 30 minutes to be exact. Not a good mix with antsy little men and a cold draft streaming in from the door next to my ass. So we bailed. Instead we went to Red Robin (expensive again) and our local stand-bye: McDonald's. God I love that place. We spent $4:50 on a small coffee, a small coke and 2 small sundaes. About $31 less than Red Robin and the boys played in the habitrail for nearly an hour, burning off energy and giving mom and dad some time to chat (a rare thing these days).

I'm all about Mr. Cheese's house but today it all belonged to Ronald.

Pray for warm weather and a Packer's victory.

Schaumburg IKEA, or the best place to shop with Kids in Chicago

Ranking: Value - 5; Dad Fun Factor - 4 out of 5; Kid Fun Factor - 5 out of 5

I don't want to take much of your hard earned pro football playoff weekend to describe the best shopping experience in Chicago so I will keep it short. We went to Ikea in Schaumburg (they are all the same so the location is not that important) today to look for a couple of magnetic bulletin boards so we can put up loose photos in the boys' rooms. Not important. What is important is that you can drop your kids off (as long as they are potty trained and between 3' and 4' tall) in a safe, secure, fun, and stimulating play area while you do your adult thing. Ikea has been doing this for some time now (how long I don't know) and it works great. You fill out a detailed form with your personal information and your child's name. You sign it and anyone else (like a spouse) whom you want to be able to collect your child. They take their shoes and coat and off they run and play. A wrist band and sticker with claim in for is put on your child. There is only one way in and out and there were at least 5 care workers on duty with about a dozen rug rats. They have puppet shows, movies, slides, and toys all about (like the kinds Ikea sells). You get an hour of peace and quiet while you shop or have a bite in the cafe. It's a great chance to have a little mommy-daddy time without hiring a baby sitter.

I know I sound like a cheap bastard here. Fact is, I am sometimes. In this case, we bought the stuff we needed and still had time to poke around. Not too shabby.

Have fun! For an Ikea near you go to www.ikea.us

Elgin Chuck E Cheese and Red Robin - a tail of two child-friendly eateries

Quick blog entry here. This weekend I discovered the value of a truly good neighbor - a snow blower. My good neighbor Paul came over after I had shoveled what seems like 10 acres of snow (really only 1/10th of the driveway) to offer his snow blower. I reluctantly (as guys do) accepted and whizzed through the driveway, side walks, and some of the street with the ease of Hercules. I'm so close to buying one it's scary. But, alas, I will not. I am too scared of Global Warming turning Elgin into a desert and us needing that same $500 for sun screen.

As for fun with the boys, let me just tell you that thanks to a great coupon we received from one of the many mailings we get we had a terrific time at one Chuck E Cheese's place. Mr. Cheese, for those not familiar, is a pizza place (OK but not great pizza) that is designed for kids. Video games for all ages, play mazes, riding things, Skee Ball, video simulators, you name it. It's awesome. We spent a few hours and only $30 on lunch (pretty pricey 'za) and games and still walked away with hands full of tokens. That was the magic of the coupon. Large pizza, 4 drinks, and 100 tokens for $28. I waited 37 years to visit one and now I love to return. We'll be back. A few notes on the layout. It's crawling with birthday parties on the weekends. Stay away from the area near the stages because that is party central. Lots of waitress, other people's kids, and milling parents not moving in the aisles. Make sure you dress your child in something easy to find in a crowded room and 100 feet away. It's hard to find them in the play area. Also, bring some hand sanitizer for pre-meal cleansing. The bathrooms are close and work but it's cold and flu season so why risk it. They mark your hand and your child's with invisible ink. This prevents the perves from snatching one and they are very serious about the security...at least that's what they let you think. I could not for the life of me read the number on my hand. I'm not sure if it worked or not. I still left with my own boys so no blood no foul.

The second place we tried was a brand new Red Robin on Randall Rd in South Elgin. It's right off Randall in the area where a new Best Buy and Home Despot is. I'll spare you the map this time. We haven't been to one in years (decades for me) so I wasn't sure what to expect. First off, if you don't have kids you want to stay away. It's all about the little people. They have balloons at the entrance for you to take. Need I say more? The food is pretty pricey so I won't say it's going into the permanent rotation but the food is good, well portioned, and fast. We love the fast delivery and they hit it out of the park on our first visit and maybe a double during our second. It really depends on the server. Sorry Tyler, you weren't that great. I think they put something in the onion rings. I swear I'm jones'in for them daily. The down side is the boys like the pizza. Why go here for pizza. No....we did not serve pizza for three meals in one day! Only twice in a weekend thank you!

I give them both thumbs up but the star goes to Chuck E's house.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

Not much to report other than a full belly, some great football, and dinner with friends and loving family. I also spent the weekend throwing up the Christmas lights. I'll post some pics of that when I get off dead arse. Nothing wears me out more than putting up Christmas lights. We finished off the left overs as well. So I consider the weekend a complete success. Now to survive the rest of the season.Wish me luck.

Jack and Jesse got elbow-deep into the cupcake baking process.

Love it!

Eating at Chipotle

Ranking: Value - 4 out of 5; Dad Fun Factor - 4 out of 5; Kid Fun Factor - 4 out of 5

We don't eat out very often (as you can see from the posts on taking food to every activity we do) but when we do go out we're picky. We aren't at a point in the boys' lives that we want to hit the top notch restaurants yet. They aren't ready to sit through a long service at all and would simply implode. So we hit the spots that are kid friendly. I don't mean to push any one place over another but one that I really like is Chipotle. We started going there about 5 years ago while living in Kansas City. Here's what I like. One, we order it at the counter and not from a waitress. That's a big plus when we're looking to eat now and not in 20 minutes. The second is the simplicity of the foods. Jack, my 4 year-old, calls the place "Chicken-Rice-and Beans" and for a good reason. That's all he wants and that's all he gets. Mom and I get some pretty complicated burritos and that's what we like. The second thing we like about Chipotle is the price. It's not cheap by any means but we can all eat really, really well for $22. One word of caution. They have high chairs out the wazoo but not a single booster. We always take our own for Jack. Easy fix. If you haven't tried it maybe give it a shot. I like a ton of other places but this is one of the consistent winners for us.

For my info check it out at: http://www.chipotle.com/