PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

A sign hanging by Ann Sather's door bears the following inscription: "Once one of many neighborhood Swedish restaurants, Ann Sather's is the only one that remains." This is a real Chicago institution, with an old-fashioned diner look. You can't go wrong ordering one of the Swedish specialties -- such as meatballs with buttered noodles and brown gravy, or the Swedish sampler of duck breast with lingonberry glaze, meatball, potato-sausage dumpling, sauerkraut, and brown beans -- but there are plenty of American choices, too, from catfish and crab cakes to pork chops and shepherd's pie. (All entrees are full meals, including appetizer, two sides and a dessert.) There are also a few vegetarian pasta choices. Sather's popular (and very affordable) weekend brunch can get frenzied, but you should be okay if you arrive before 11am. The restaurant's sticky cinnamon rolls are definitely a highlight (if you crave more -- and I always do -- you can buy them at a counter up front on your way out). Sather's attracts a truly diverse crowd, and the people-watching at brunch is especially priceless: a cross section of gay and straight, young and old, from club kids to elderly couples and families with toddlers. There are smaller cafes with similar menus at 3411 N. Broadway (tel. 773/305-0024) and 3416 N. Southport Ave. (tel. 773/404-4475).

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Chicago 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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