Girl’s night out is always a blast and this particular get together didn’t disappoint. For this go round, my friend Nicole chose the restaurant and decided upon Big Mike’s Café. She was so excited because she had finally found a restaurant that neither I nor our friend Adrienne had dined at before.
I was the first to arrive at the Northside eatery. While waiting on the ladies, our server took my drink order and gave me a menu to look at while I waited. As I perused Big Mike’s selections I made a mental note to keep this restaurant in my mental Rolodex as a place to eat with my husband. Although I had yet to try anything, Big Mike’s menu featured some of our favorite foods and the prices were reasonable.
My friends arrived and we immediately began catching up. Our server didn’t want to interrupt our conversation, but approached our gossipy table anyhow to tell us the specials.
We decided to get down to business and order our meals. We began dinner with the garlic Parmesan knots, Big Mike’s version of breadsticks. They’re baked, tossed in garlic butter, then finished off with plenty of Parmesan cheese. We had ours with the house marinara sauce, but they also had Alfredo, ranch, cheese and sweet onion aioli sauce.
These were the best breadsticks I’ve ever had. Hands down.
We also agreed to split the Chicago style deep-dish pizza with sausage. Had we not ordered it, I had my mouth set for the pesto club sandwich (turkey, Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, Swiss and pesto mayo on sourdough or wheat) or the fish sandwich (blackened or fried served on a buttered pretzel bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and tartar sauce).
Ordering the deep dish was perfect because it gave us 30 minutes to chat and polish off those garlic Parmesan knots.
When the pizza arrived, I couldn’t wait to see how this pie stacked up to other deep dishes I’ve had in my lifetime. See, I’m a pizza connoisseur and am very picky about my Chicago style. I took a bite, eyes rolled back and I savored my bite of buttery crust, cheese, sausage and house made marinara.
It passed my test with flying colors. I had two large slices. My friends seemed to enjoy the pizza as well. There was one piece left after we had our fill. We behaved like ladies, but I really believe we all wanted to grab that last piece and take it home for a midnight snack.
Although it was three of us splitting the cost of dinner, Big Mike is the perfect place to go if you’re on a budget. The garlic Parmesan knots were $5 and the deep dish was $25 for a 14 inch. Their salads, burgers and sandwiches topped out at $10.
Big Mike’s has ample parking, a wonderful restaurant, a very friendly staff and food that will knock your socks off. I will definitely be returning. I’ll try to keep my visits to a minimum, though, so Big Mike won’t transform me to big Jessica!
