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No plane tickets are needed to venture to these 6 restaurants, ranging from Burmese to Polish cuisine

By Kevin Druley | Photos provided by Somkit

Somkit, a Thai food and sushi bar in downtown Dixon, scarcely strays from its ethnic cuisine.

For the “typical burgerand-fries kind of person,” general manager Stephanie Binkley recommends the Thai fried rice. For those with more inquisitive palates, she vouches for the rest of the menu.

“A lot of family members get dragged here and they’re like, ‘Well, I don’t want any of that Thai food,’” Binkley says, “and they end up finding things that they absolutely love.” With an eye on branching out as we salute summer in this edition, Neighborhood Tourist offers a glance at restaurants that go beyond the basics — and borders — of traditional American fare:

¢ LA CASA JALISCO 101 E. Bridge St., Streator 815-673-5070 Facebook: La Casa Jalisco

Tradition is a staple at La Casa Jalisco, which pays tribute to its namesake southwestern Mexican state.

“I always try to bring the best in food product from Mexico,” owner Juan Hernandez told The Times of Ottawa in 2015. “Sometimes more expensive, but I give it to my customers for more taste from Mexico. My secret is doing fresh every day in the moment, especially rice, meat and beans.”

Visitors certainly can find Tex-Mex staple dishes on the menu — including tacos, burritos, enchiladas and chile rellenos — but entree cuisines also are a good place to start. The Times’ Mystery Diner recently recommended the pollo ranchero, three thinlysliced chicken breasts in a red sauce the diner compared to “tangy hot wing sauce,” complemented with rice and beans.

¢ PA LIAN BURMESE

RESTAURANT

254 E. Geneva Road, Wheaton 331-716-7905 Facebook: Pa Lian Burmese Restaurant

The “one and only Burmese restaurant” in Illinois, per its Facebook page, Pa Lian’s popular selections include Nangyi Dok. It’s a warm rice udon noodle in Burmese dressing and finished with shredded chicken curry, green onion, chickpea powder and more, according to the online menu.

¢ PHO ROYAL & SEAFOOD 230 W. Virginia St., Crystal Lake 815-893-6119 Facebook: Pho Royal & Seafood

The Mystery Diner, a newsroom employee of various Shaw Media publications, proved especially prophetic when visiting Pho Royal in April 2021 on behalf of the Northwest Herald. It was his or her “first time trying Vietnamese cuisine,” the Mystery Diner wrote, “but it definitely won’t be the last.”

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While the diner made sure to try the establishment’s take on traditional Vietnamese dishes, including spring rolls and banh mi with roasted pork, the Meatball Pho proved especially palatable. An ample bowl of broth was included in separate containers from heaping helpings of meatballs, bean sprouts and other vegetables, keeping the takeout dish from getting soggy. “The meatballs were sliced up, making them easy to spear with a fork, and they picked up the flavor of the broth well,” the diner wrote. “All the ingredients were fresh, especially the bean sprouts, which were nice and crunchy for an appealing contrast to the soft rice noodles.”

¢ PHO XICH LO 507 S. Third St., Geneva 331-248-6785 www.phoxichlogeneva.com Pho, pronounced “fuh,” as the restaurant’s Facebook page kindly reminds, is a light Vietnamese noodle in broth, and a staple of several dishes at Pho Xich Lo, which has a sister operation in Elk Grove Village. Still, it isn’t the only offering or culinary vocabulary word you can absorb. A top seller at the restaurant, which had its soft opening in April, is the crispy bao, a dumpling stuffed with meat, vegetables or a combination of both.

¢ SOMKIT (FORMERLY

TOUCH OF THAI)

214 W. First St., Dixon 815-284-8499 www.somkitdixon.com Binkley finds that those newer to Thai cuisine often enjoy the Crazy Noodles — wide rice noodles stir-fried in light sauce with egg, bean sprout, green beans, basil, jalapeño, carrot, tomato and bell pepper, according to the online menu. “Great for those who want a little spicy and more complex flavor,” she says.

¢ U GAZDY RESTAURANT 270 W. Irving Park Road, Wood Dale 630-694-5840 www.u-gazdy.com Fifteen years ago, owner Betty Pierscionowski opened U Gazdy in part to diversify the DuPage County dining scene. “I felt like there was nothing around here with regard to represent Polish food, one, and, two, I thought that Polish food was underrepresented,” she told My Suburban Life in 2018. “A lot of it was just the standard things that you hear — pierogi, stuffed cabbage, Polish sausage — and there’s a limit on what Polish people ate, and that’s it.”

U Gazdy surely goes beyond the usual after whetting visitors’ appetites with complimentary rye bread and smalec, a traditional Polish spread comprising lard, bacon, onion and spices. If lard isn't your goto, try the animal from which it came and give the Captain’s Cutlet a try. This breaded pork cutlet is stuffed with mushrooms, mozzarella and eggs and served with choice of potatoes puree or hoof-shaped dumplings and three Polish salads.