Since my 2011 review of Mity Nice, I have been to this great American cuisine restaurant many, many times. Â The service and food have never disappointed me.
Upon entering the dining room, you will notice the calmness of this restaurant with the mixture of wood, and the calming paint selection on the walls. Â The bamboo flooring is another great touch to keep the feeling of modern restaurant. Even though the restaurant is large, the noise level is very minimal. Â There is a bar available in case if you need an adult beverage or waiting for other members of your group. Â The bartenders have always been pleasant.
My recent dining experience without exception was relaxing. Â The server was Jose Z; who was very attentive to all of his tables. I had ordered the full slab of ribs with fries (see picture). Â Within a reasonable about of time, the food was delivered with extra wet napkins, which you need with ribs. Â The meat was very tender. Â The fries were also good - not soggy or reheated. Â For dessert, I had ordered the chocolate cookie with ice cream. Â I asked him to take is time being out the dessert since I needed a little time for digestion. Â The cookie was about four to five inches in diameter. Â The cookie was also very good.
I would always recommend the mac'n'cheese from the starter selection from the burger selection, go with the cheeseburger or the applewood bacon cheeseburger. Â From the Sandwich selection, I would recommend the Grilled cheese with tomato jam or the grilled chicken sandwich. Â Regarding the Signature Plate selection, I've had them all! Â Never a bad meal. Â I have never a bad dessert either.
So go and enjoy a great meal with relaxing service.
My wife & I have dined at the Water Tower Place location at least 6 or 7 times in the past year. The food is consistently delicious, and the service generally has a "warmth" that you don't find at many restaurants in the Chicago Loop. I love the motivational quotes that are posted to the wall of the restaurant (from great thinkers like Ghandi), which are updated on a regular basis. In addition, you can find many of your fave "comfort" foods at this eatery, all at reasonable prices. The chicken pot pie, coconut cream pie & chicken paillard are a few of my favorite dishes. Recently, we had a minor service issue at the Water Tower Place location (our very first), and the manager resolved the issue immediately, to our complete satisfaction. From my perspective, that's the difference between a "great" restaurant & a "good" restaurant. The ONLY consideration that prevents me from giving Mity Nice a 5 rating: The fact that some of the more popular dishes (like chicken pot pie) are unavailable later in the day. This has happened several times, but I've always found a suitable (and very tasty) replacement dish.
Review Source:Had a late lunch here with my husband and a few  friends. Service was friendly and attentive. Free warm cheesepuff appetizers are a nice touch. Fritzy's Special peppercorn burger was a flavorful blend of griiled burger, warm rich bleu cheese, and crispy fried onions with a mild peppercorn flavor on a fresh bun.The sauce on the bun was very good  (butter/mayo?) but not needed, at least for my taste. Other burgers got high marks too. Burgers were large, arrived hot and juicy, and were served with a generous portion of regular or sweet potato fries - both were very tasty.  One friend had the chopped seafood salad, ate every bite, and said it was fresh and  delicious.  Burgers with fries were $12-$13 which seemed OK for the location, great food and service. Mity Nice is also nice and quiet compared to the din of the food court that you walk through to get to it. A great spot for lunch at Water Tower Place!
Review Source:I came here with a big group of family on a Saturday for lunch, and the service was impeccable! Â The staff was quick to accommodate extra people arriving in our group, and they were also quick with taking orders and placing bread at our tables. Â The bread was amazing! Â It was also naturally gluten free, which is why I'm so in love with this place. Â They had a separate gluten free menu (for people like me who can't have gluten), and the gluten free burger was the best I've ever had! Â The bun was warm and toasty, and I wasn't just gritting my teeth and eating it so that I could eat a burger that looks like everyone else's. Â The burger itself was really juicy-- perhaps even a little too juicy because it dripped all over as I tried to eat it! Â Everyone else in my family seemed pleased with their food as well. Â Mity Nice has raised my standards on gluten free burgers, and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for great gluten free option or just a classier sit-down restaurant in Water Tower.
Review Source:Aside from being hard to find as another reviewer said, this place was very good. We ordered the calamari appetizer and were surprised that they actually fried thin slices of lemon in with the calamari. My wife loved it and it was served In a little fryer basket which was pretty cool.
We had the French onion soup, guacamole and the meatloaf and all we're very good. The guacamole was very spicy so my wife could not eat it (despite really liking the flavor). The waiter asked if everything was alright and we explained that it was delicious but a bit too spicy. He took it off our bill even though we did not ask.
Service was prompt and courteous, seating was comfortable and the value was there. All in all we would go back to try other eats.
The food here was good, but I cannot say the same about the experience we had. This place is tucked away in the Water Tower food court. We decided to try it one day after shopping based on the positive reviews and the gluten free menu.
The gluten free cheese popovers were amazing! I can't believe these are gluten free. The server told us the secret is that they use tapioca flour. We shared the 4 deviled eggs and the just-made Guacamole appetizers which were both good. They also have Sprecher's root beer on draft which is also a huge plus.
The restaurant itself was a turn off partly because it is part of a food court and crowded with noisy shoppers. The main reason I was turned off from this place is my glass was dirty and I had to ask for a new one, then shortly after I opened my napkin and it had a big piece of gum stuck in it. Gross!
My review is completely biased because a) I love popovers and I love cheese, so those mini cheese popovers had me at "hello" and b) they have Left Hand Milk Stout on tap, which is my beer obsession of 2012 (and possibly 2013).
Lunchtime (yes, beer at lunchtime - don't judge, it was Saturday) at Mity Nice post rush. So the place isn't really that busy, but our waitress still seemed to have a heck of a time attending to us. Normally I would care more, but again, in my happy place with the cheese popovers and the Milk Stout. Damn that combination!
Ordered the mac n' cheese and patty melt (share plate with my dining companion). Mac was the creamy variety with crumbled top. I prefer a more baked in mac, so not my fav (but don't kid yourself, my love of cheese helped me carry on fork to mouth). The patty melt was just okay. I don't love a patty melt to begin with, but my dining companion LOVES patty melts and was trying to turn me onto them. We both agreed that there's better out there, but plenty of people would be happy with the Nice version. The side of fries were fresh, crispy and salty. A perfect side dish for my beer:)
Overall, a pleasant experience, despite the not-so-great service. A gazillion complimentary popovers, two Milk Stouts, one Cosmo, mac n cheese, and a patty melt with fries - a little over $50 with tip.
What a hidden gem in the middle of the most touristy area in Chicago! This is my new gluten free mecca for clean comfort food with an emphasis on locally made ingredients.
Where to start? Oh yeah - those cheese popovers they drop off at your table? GLUTEN FREE. Start there.
The deviled eggs are crazy good (!!!!) and the freshly made guac is served with vegetables to be gluten free. My husband and I agreed that the guacamole was incredible! Surprising, right?!
Burgers and Nice Sandwiches are served on gluten free buns that are simply delicious. Ah, to have bread again! The fries are gluten free except that they are fried in the same oil as breaded items - so if you are celiac or worried about cross contamination, sub some delicious veggies. I subbed some delicious brussels sprouts with my merkt bacon cheeseburger (yes, the pub cheese from Wisconsin - IT ROCKS!). What a great meal!
Did I mention that they have Sprecher root beer on TAP?!
My husband and I cannot wait to come back here, even if it means fighting the crowds on Michigan Avenue. A true hidden gem.
Gluten free friendly and just plain awesome.
Excellent restaurant! Great staff and terrific food. The poppers they serve you are so incredible and gluten free!!! They should just be called gluten free pieces of pure heaven!! We then had the nachos, so delicious, blue cheese burger, and the chicken terri D. Burger was fantastic the chicken was good but not the greatest. Price was super reasonable and we'll definitely be back!
Review Source:Restaurant Review
How I wanted to make this my neighborhood restaurant to come back to over and over.... I ended up switching my wife's dinner plan for my birthday to Mity Nice because there was raving reviews on Yelp and I ended up with quite a experience. To start off it was quite busy already at 530 which is the only time we could get reservations on open table. We were quickly seated without issue. Our server was great and spent probably at least 4 minutes going over the menu. I had my eye on the prime rib which looked delicious after walking across a lady who had ordered this. My wife ended up choosing the lobster roll. This is where the wheels fell off the wagon.
Our waiter was so busy he did not get a chance to bring over the cheese rolls until I asked. The rolls themselves I would say were two thumbs down maybe because they were look warm. They weren't crispy or had a lot of flavor. It felt like I was eating a soggy ice cream cone, but maybe if they were served piping hot it would be better.
Next my wife's lobster roll arrives and it was good, but for 18 dollars you would think there would be a few more pieces of lobster. My dish arrived and ended up being a disaster. The waiter had recommended medium rare which is how I like my steaks/prime rib. What I received was SO OVERDONE that there was no red except a small section in the middle. I took one bite and my wife made me send it back. I found out that they had accidentally overcooked the whole prime rib so everything was close to well done and they were nice enough to comp something else on the menu. I ended up taking the second best prime rib sliders with sweet potato fries. There were 3 small sliders that would have been great if there was more meat. Also I did not have the heart to tell them I had ordered sweet potato fries as I was greeted with normal fries... The waiter felt bad and even got us a free dessert for my birthday which was the highlight of my meal. A warm skillet cookie with ice cream. All and all they tried to make up for the mistakes, but it definitely tried my patience on my birthday.
Pro- friendly staff appeared to make the situation better given all the above problems. The manager even stopped by to apologize.
Con-
1. Over cooked prime rib- all of it was overcooked so I couldn't even get my choice entree
2. Servers super busy, didn't even have time to bring the cheese bread until almost time for the meal. Water ended up not being filled at the end
3. The more expensive dinner items I think are not worth it, I should have gone with the 10 dollar burgers or salads.. I would avoid the lobster roll (not worth it for the price)
I can't say my birthday meal went according to plan with all the hiccups, but at least they tried to fix it...
Hidden deal- Sign up for lettuce entertain you mail list to get coupons during the summer month. Join the lettuce entertain you frequent diner club to earn points. You have to pay to join, but you get your money back after 3 meals in the form of 10 dollar credit. 25 dollar membership life-time fee.
The food has always been really strong here, but the service has been inconsistant at best. Â Example 1 (Good service): Had a server and a trainee cover our table, and they were attentive without being over bearing. Â Sure, he had to ask for drink refills, but no harm here. Â Average/good service.
Example 2 (Horrible service): Â Sat at a table, where both my order and one of my friend's orders were wrong. Â Our server was more interested in chatting with a co-worker who was sitting at the table (on their off day) next to us than even coming over to check our meals. Â After getting his attention, I received a "gimme a minute" and waited another five while I watched him continue to chat... 6 FEET AWAY! Â Finally, when he did saunter over, he acted like WE screwed up our orders, and whispered something to the co-worker neighbor, and headed to the kitchen. Â After screwing up the order again, I was done. Â
Again, the food has generally always been good (I'm a fan of the chicken french dip), and they do have a handful of respectable beers. Â If you do wish to dine here, do what I do now, sit at the bar. Â Much better service, less jackassery.
Found this on Yelp when visiting Chicago for the first time. It was hard to find in the back of the good court, but well worth asking for directions.
The waitress, Chyna, was great. I got a flight of 3 beers (Krankshaft, Dog Days, and Eliot Ness) and she was actually interested in how I liked each one.
I ordered the Greek salad and French Onion soup. I love both of these and find it interesting to see how well some places can excel or screw then up.
This was the best French Onion soup I have ever had. The soup was sweet and the cheese was perfect. The lettuce in the salad was chopped, which is great because you aren't flinging vinaigrette in you eye when the overly large piece of lettuce flaps while trying to get into your mouth.
Overall, a great experience with great food and drink.
P.S. Â the booths are also quite comfy.
Comfort food is my friend and they have plenty of it here. Â Plus, they give you those little popovers before you order which I have always wanted to keep just for me. Â Last week we were here before a play and my dream came true, the waiter dropped off baskets of them twice so I got my own. Â Didn't really matter what else I got, I had my own basket of the popovers. Â
We had planned to eat at a different restaurant and even had reservations made but we didn't factor in The Taste of Chicago. Â We allowed an hour and fifteen minutes for what is normally an hour drive and it took two hours with all the traffic. Â Along the way we cancelled the other reservation and just decided to grab something. Â (My wife had even mentioned McDonalds which she despises.) Â Once we were out of the car and feet on the ground we had one hour and twenty minutes until curtain and decided to eat at Foodlife but just out of curiosity asked at Mity Nice if we could have our meal and be out in time. Â Absolutely they assured us and they did.
We had the popovers, drinks and our deviled egg appetizer in minutes. Â My meatloaf arrived in a timely manner and although we skipped dessert it was a great meal done at a wonderful pace that allowed us to be in our seats by curtain.
Bravo, Mity Nice, there will be encore performances.
This place is nice looking, has quality service and really good food. Â I absolutely hate the name though since it kind of sounds like a dive. Â It isn't though. Â Nice leather booths, contemporary finishes.
My husband and I had the acapulco salad which was fresh, full of flavor, and filling. Â The kids had a burger that my husband took a bite of and said was good. Â Sweet potato fries were shared and enjoyed by all. Â
The server brought out a tray of 4 different cupcakes, which we could get all for $7. Â They were pretty to look at: carrot cake was my fav but they were all decent: chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet.
This is a nice spot since we had errands to run in Water Tower. Â I cannot say I would seek it out otherwise but it is a great sit down option to have in the mall.
WHY HAVEN'T I ATE HERE BEFORE?!?!
Foodlife has so much going on, but this is a little gem. If you're looking for a sit down experience rather than the "food court" this is where you should go. I was with some people from work and one of them chose this location because it is a little more quiet.
They give you "cheesy bread" which is very light and has an interesting texture, I totally wish I had snagged a second one before they were cleared from our table.
They had some specials so I opted for one of those. I went with the Strawberry Bib salad which had all kinds of goodies in it: hearts of palm, strawberries (obvs), goat cheese, walnuts. I wanna say there was a champagne vinaigrette. It was amazing, FYI I opted to add chicken for an extra $4. Â
I guess I'm turning into a salad person...what's become of me?
They had several options that looked good, but I was just at working lunch so I didn't wanna go crazy. I would totally go back again.
I attended an outing for a friend's farewell dinner. That friend is gluten intolerant.
This place is great for a person who is looking for a gluten free menu. Even their "rolls" were gluten free. Â These rolls were puffed bread it seems with some cheese in the middle. It had crisp, a soft inside, and was really delicious.
For dinner, I only had the crabcake appetizer. It was three small-medium crabcakes with 3 types of sauces. The sauces were all delicious and complimented the crabcake well.
For dessert we split the cupcakes. I think the chocolate chocolate was divine but they were all quite tasty.
I wish I wasn't full when I got there because the brisket/mac and cheese looked absolutely delicious. My friends that ordered it said the brisket totally made the dish.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this hidden gem (really hidden since it's in the back of a food court). The decor is nice, service is good, and good option for food. When I am on a mission for food after shopping at the mag mile, I would definitely try and make a stop at mity nice to get more of that popped bread and try that oh so delicious looking mac and cheese.
Some co-workers threw me a "mity nice" litle bridal party luncheon here and everything was excellent. Â I absolutely love the bread - it's unique tasting - the inside is sort of hollow, but has some kind of yummy tasting cheese inside. Â So good! Â And of course we ordered their delicious mac n cheese. Â After tasting theirs, I'm definitely going to start putting green chiles in my homemade mac n cheese.
For my entree, I ordered the Acapulco salad. Â I was tempted to order a burger as I usually do, but the Acapulco salad attracted me so I went for that and glad I did. Â The salad had black beans, cilantro, corn, avocado (anything with avocado and I'm sold!) bits of torilla chips, and shredded cheddar cheese in it. Â Â For dessert, I ordered the cherry pie with vanilla bean ice cream on top. Â :) Â
I suggest making a reservation if you plan to dine in on the weekends. Â Since it's located in Water Tower place, it does tend to get busy.
Over several visits for the past 3-4 years, I have never been disappointed here. Â The service, food quality/taste and pricing/location made this place my favorite go-to spot while I'm in this part of town. Â (the food court area in front of it is also quite good, by the way).
During off-peak time, I always get seated right away. Â Instead of crackers, rolls, or boring bread sticks, you get a bowl of popover (puff pastry with cheese in it) which by themselves are worth the visit. Â I have tried many items on the menu but my favorites are french onion soup, burger, mac & cheese. Â On recent visits I had the "special menu" of seared tuna with Asian noodle salad and green chilli mac 'n cheese and they were both excellent. The sweet potato fries are one of the best I have had anywhere.
The bloody mary looks intimidating with the thick-cut spicy bacon and cubes of cheese!! Â but OMG it tastes so good, also one of the best anywhere. Â For $10 it is quite large and fairly-priced. Â This would have been a steal (and dangerous!!) during half-price happy hour.
Service is always friendly and efficient. Â The price/portion is good for Water Tower Place. Â There are all kinds of deals/points you get with the Lettuce Entertain You network. Â Seating is good and comfortable for both family and casual small groups/dates. Â Noise level is low. Â Or you can sit at the bar.
Love it, love it, love it. Â The food is not the "absolute best" I have ever had but the consistency and good quality of both food and service makes this place deserving of its namesake. Â I am a fan!
Mity Nice is a very fitting name for this unique restaurant. I was treating some friends to dinner on a Friday evening (4-27-12) while I down in the Windy City for a weekend of fun...(and little sleep :) It is situation in the Water Tower Place on the bottom floor along with a host of other unique eateries. We didn't have reservations when we showed up at 7 PM. to eat and only had to wait about 15 mins to be seated. The place was packed too so I was surprised to be seated so soon.
Our server, Jessie (male), greeted us about 10 mins after we were seated, which was a bit long but as the night went on, I noticed he had a lot of tables as well as ours. Never being there before, he explained the restaurant to us and gave us some great suggestions for dinner. He also informed us that on Fridays, the Mity Nice Cocktails are half off (only $5 instead of $10). Being that we were starving from our travels, we ordered quickly to the tune of 1 cup of Baked French Onion Soup ($5.50), 1 Green Chili Chicken Nachos ($8), 3 Filet Minon Pot Roast ($17.50/each), and 1 Lemonhead Martini ($5).
The meals came out within 15 mins, and we got our chow on. The soup was excellent, perfect temperature with lots of cheese. The nachos were a downer though. They were waaaaaayyyyyyyy too soft and soupy assuming due to the green chili. The chicken on it was great, but I like a nacho with a crunch and this was not it. Live and Learn. The Filet Pot Roast (per my 3 guests) was excellent along with the smashed (yes, smashed) potatoes. The meat was tender and not over cooked. The Lemonhead Martini tasted just as the name says. YYYUUUMMMMMMM!!! I could have had 1 or 2 dozen more of those :)
I love to save money and being that we were visitors to the area, I stopped at the Water Tower Place guest services to see if they have a discount pass for visitors. Yes, they do, and it offered a free dessert coupon to Mity Nice. Now we were stuffed from dinner, but still had a small corner in our stomachs that were saving room for a bite or 9 for dessert. We used 3 coupons to get 2 Chocolate Chunk Cookie Skillets ($7/each) and 1 Blueberry Cheesecake ($6)...again all 3 were FREE. We seriously all had about 5 bites total of the various desserts. They are huge. Easily 3 people can share 1 dessert. The blueberry cheesecake had a graham cracker crust with huge fresh blueberries. It was better than the Cheesecake Factory - Yes, that good!
My bill came to a silly low $71.xx for 5 adults without tip which I consider a deal in Chicago. Jessie was a great server, and made the experience wonderful despite the nachos. They rolled me out of there like Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka. So grab some Oompa Loompas and meet me in the Juicing Room ASAP!
A Mity Nice place to grab a good tasting dinner.
Mity Nice is located in the Water Tower Place, at the back of Foodlife, which is an interesting place for a restaurant, but so far it's worked for them I suppose. I was carrying out today, so I grabbed the mac n' cheese (with optional green salsa), broiled whitefish with yukon golds and wilted spinach for me, and a chicken sandwich with jus on the side for my wife. I also grabbed two strawberry lemonades to go.
The mac n' cheese... yes, this is how mac n' cheese is supposed to be done. Real cheese. Real breading. A unique twist on spices, and yes, adding the green chili salsa wasn't a bad idea. The texture of the pasta itself was nice and creamy. Highly recommended.
My broiled whitefish (crusted in garlic, I believe) was cooked just right. The spinach was acceptable (maybe I'm just not a fan of spinach this way, or something happened to it in the 10 minutes between the restaurant and the hospital). I liked the potatoes quite a bit; crunchy, buttery, seasoned, just a bit salty.
I only had a couple bites of my wife's chicken french dip, but even with the jus it was surprisingly moist, and throwing in the jus made it taste much better. The fries that came with it were okay... probably would have been better in the restaurant itself, but at the same time I still thought they were greasy.
Overall I got what I paid for, which is a date-night quality dinner to go!
P.S. - I do have to throw in a recommendation for the bartender serving me that night... I think her name was Michelle. The after-work crowd up here is, umm... interesting to say the least, so tip her well!
I really enjoyed the ambiance of this restaurant. First, you have to go obtain two passes to pass through Food Life (another food establishment) to get to Mity Nice which is rather odd.
Then, we were promptly seated by our friendly host. Our waiter was very friendly. Right away, he mentioned the drink specials. I think right away that he is awesome for mentioning them. Today, they had $5 glasses of wine as the special.
I ended up ordered a grilled chicken chopped salad without cheese. It was really delicious. It was a really large salad so I ended up taking leftovers back home. Also, our waiter did a good job with refilling our drinks in a prompt manner.
Deep down in the pits of a high end food court at the bottom of an enormous mall sits Mity Nice, a small contemporary American restaurant that is more hit than miss.
Our meal came with complimentary cheesy bread, which was good for one or two but was ultimately too greasy to consume anymore. Â On my quest to find great hot dogs I ordered their "Silver Service Haute Dog" for lunch. Made of 100% Wagyu Beef, the hot dog comes on what seemed like a potato bun with all the traditional Chicago-style ingredients surrounding it, all of which sits on a silver platter with crunchy french fries. I suppose some people would enjoy the customization, but I just ended up with a slightly ugly hot dog when I built my own.
The flavor itself was actually a bit too strong, with the savory meatiness of the Wagyu Beef wiener overwhelming the rest of the ingredients by the end of meal. As one of the key aspects of a Chicago Dog is balance, I have to say that in the end I wasn't particularly a fan of their hot dog, but that doesn't mean it was bad. Â Plus everyone else's dishes were quite good, from the gooey mac n cheese to the meaty chili.
They also had some craft beer on the menu, and while I don't remember what I ordered I do remember enjoying it. Good for you, restaurant-in-a-mall.
I am not a mall person much less a person who eats in a mall food court. So when the doorman at our hotel recommended Mity Nice in the mall, I was a bit skeptical but decided to give it a go anyway. The staff was really nice and we were seated immediately. Once in the restaurant, its hard to imagine you are in the food court of a mall! There are booths and tables, nicely decorated, very modern and comfortable. The menu is varied and offers wonderful staples such as turkey dinner, burgers, mac and cheese. I had a blue cheese burger with sweet potato fires and strawberry lemonade. Everything was cooked as I requested and very tasty. My husband had fish and chips and was very happy with his choice. We also started with a flatbread topped with mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto, and basil - delish.
We head out to Chicago a couple of times a year and Mity Nice will definitely be on the list of casual places to get yummy food.
My friends and I always lose our phone signals when we dine here. That alone earns Mity Nice an extra star.
We recently re-discovered these folks, tucked away in the back of Water Tower Place's FoodLife. The menu is decidedly American. Everything from white fish to cheeseburgers and turkey dinner.
The for-sure, must-have item? Â Southwest chicken nachos. Â Loaded with cheese, shredded chicken, verde salsa, and corn. Â
They keep your drinks topped off and are consistently friendly and efficient.
This place was packed, and deservedly so.  Service was great  (I swear it was the server's first day because he was so nice.), full bar (place looked like trendy bar...but it's in the mall...in the "food court"), awesome food.  Quite loud, but that was nice because it drowned out my 1-year old's joyful screams.  Food was definitely worth coming back for. Â
We had the Two Bite Ribs for an appetizer. Â Three adults split it, and it was plenty. I had the whitefish, cooked perfectly and was really flavorful. Â Recommend it, for sure. Â My wife had the Rotisserie Chicken Salad (split that with our baby girl...she didn't eat too much...she's only one) and our friend had the special burger. Â They looked terrific and tasted even better. Â
If you are in Water Tower Place and have a bit of time, you don't need to go out of the building for some great grub in a great atmosphere.
The first time I came here, I was on vacation and shopping at the Watertower. I was really reluctant to eat at a food court because I'm kind of a food snob but we were starving and there was a lack of options.
I had some fried chicken and it was GREAT! Super juicy.
What really stood out however was the cornbread (actually they call it a muffin - but it tastes like cornbread). I was back in LA and suddenly had a craving for it... And so I am here again, back in Chicago, back to shopping at the Watertower and back to eat cornbread again.
The make your own salad with lime cilantro dressing is good too.
Best food court food ever. Hands down.
It is an extremely rare occurrence that I'm not in the mood for any type of food in particular, yet this was the case one eve in Chicago. So, I figured WTH, I'm in an all-American city with solid all-American eats, I'll just grab a cheeseburger with my date (Mr. Kindle) at a Lettuce resto. How could it go wrong? It did.
Burgers to me are like pizza to others, so I find enjoyment in even less-than-stellar ones. This one, however, really disappointed, was way overly salty & overcooked (I ordered medium, got jerky instead); the bun was tough and I immediately removed it. Â Came with fries, which were fresh no fewer than 2 days ago. Â Gag.
Also, my server was not interested in me at all, a solo diner who wasn't ordering an app, alcohol or dessert. (Sorry dude, I'm trying to lay off the sauce through the week.) Overall, this place is a pass. Way too many good places in Chgo to settle for suckiness.
We had a very enjoyable Seder here the other night - sans the earlier drama due to Barry's late arrival. Â I personally want to thank the hostess for not staring at us like crazy while my boyfriends mother cried and he was yelling on the phone at his brother... bravo... bravoooooo. Â It would of taken magic powers for me not to open mouth blank stare at the madness prior to our dinner. Â
Once Barry's brother arrived, we ordered off the Passover menu, which was REALLY delicious. Â The four of us split (2) Matzo ball soups, a platter of gefilte fish and the chopped liver. Â The matzo ball soup was so perfect and had nice big balls for sharing! Â Yeah I said big balls... I am not crazy over chopped liver and was honestly kind of full after a few bites of the gefilte fish, but it was pretty good!
We all ended up ordering the same thing for dinner... the whitefish. Â AMAZINGLY good. Â I savored that like it was my last supper. Â The green beans were really rubbery... their only down fall of the night. Â The boys ordered the flourless chocolate cake and there was not one crumb left! Â The tall bald worker was very nice and basically told us what was in the cake - he's lucky I can't bake! Â
Overall, we ended up having a wonderful time together over a great meal. Â Couldn't ask for more...
Everyone at the table got a laugh when the server described the french fry options: super awesome spectacular (you get the point) sweet potato.....or regular. Well golly, give me a helping of the regular crap...
Sweet potato fries live up to the accolades. Very, very good. I had a fish sandwich that tasted pretty good but sort of fell apart in the bun. Oh well, it was certainly better than a McDonalds Filet-o-Fish and I did finish every last bite, which was a big mistake as the portions are fairly large.
Service was nothing to write home about, but the orders were put in accurately and my water glass was kept full. My only complaint is that the popovers were rationed out on a 1-to-1 basis and arrived at the table cold. Alas, for free munchies I'm not one to bitch too loudly, but they were tasty and I could've gone for another.
My friend mentioned that an entree on the dinner menu was the same as one at L. Woods. I replied that in time, all Lettuce restaurants become Mity Nice. The burger is from L. Woods, the chopped salad is from Tucci, the onion soup is from Grunts, and on and on. This isn't a bad thing, it just is.
Mity Nice is a good basic restaurant for decent comfort food. The meatloaf isn't as good as you'd find at a very good diner, but it's better than an average diner. There are some interesting choices, and a mini mac n cheese that you can get as an appetizer, and that's always a good sign.
I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but if I'm on Michigan Avenue and want something not too pricey but better than McDonald's, Mity Nice is a good choice.
* * * * *
One addition, and I can't believe I forgot this: they do that thing with brown butcher paper over cotton tablecloths that I hate, hate, hate. Sure, it keeps the tablecloth clean, but it bunches up and slides and crumples and is generally annoying. This I could live without.
I'd give this place 3.5, but as usual, I'm rounding up.
I am truly a creature of habit and always order one of two things-the asparagus and goat cheese flatbread, or the Minute Chicken Terri D.
The flatbread is a great option as either an appetizer or a light meal. It also has roasted tomatoes and pesto, and all the flavors work well together. The Minute Chicken is heavenly. It's a panko and parmesan crusted chicken breast that's pounded thin and pan fried until crispy. It comes with sauteed spinach and a lush lemon caper butter sauce that makes me want to lick the plate clean, it's so good.
The menu has gotten more limited and pricier over the years and the clientele is a little long in the tooth. I'm usually the youngest one in this place by at least 25 years.
Still, it's a good dining choice in Water Tower that has something to please any palate.
"... This is bread?? What? Where's my butter? or olive oil?" That was my first thought when I saw my bread basket. Then I tear apart a piece and ate it. It was crispy on the outside, but soft and warm on the inside with just a hint of cheese and butter. Almost reminded me of my friend Ebony's corn bread at Thanksgiving... Best cheesy puff bread ever! I almost wish I hadn't ordered the hamburger so that I could munch on the bread all during lunch.
The hamburger was good though. Probably the best burger I've had in Chicago. It was tender and juicy (medium-well). The fries were delicious (possibly even the best fries I've had in Chicago too!). I ordered my burger with swiss cheese, and the cheese was melted just right -- Don't you hate it when burger places give you hardened cheese? I think that's disgusting, but Mity Nice Grill melted their cheese just perfectly. They also provided these cucumbers on the side that were soaked in chili and vinegar -- they reminded me of a Korean side dish (as well as something my parents used to make).
That was pretty filling, and I'm quite happy with the results.
I love Foodlife. I think it's pretty awesome. Unfortunately, since we'd been wandering around all day, my mom wanted to just sit and be served, so we wandered back into the Mity Nice Grill instead. I was a little disappointed at the time, but not anymore!
First off, pao de quejio! Cheesy puff things! Oh man! I discovered them in the Bay Area, and bought some packages to make at home, but I'd been too lazy, so I was so excited when they brought these to the table! Our waitress even brought us a second basket when she saw how much we were enjoying them.
As usual, we ordered two dishes to split, the spinach and avocado salad, and the asparagus and goat cheese flat bread. MAJOR points to them because they came to our table pre-divided for us. I love when restaurants do that.
The salad was lovely, light, and simple. I've been known to order the complicated salads with fruit and nuts and cheese and three types of greens, but this salad had only a few components, and that's all it needed. The flat bread was great as well, with the perfect amount of goat cheese so that I could get some in every bite, but it still didn't feel like a heavy dish.
We finished with a mini root beer float apiece. Any restaurant that has mini desserts is very smart.
All in all, wow, great meal, great service. I'm rarely at the Water Tower Place, or that area of Chicago in general (mental note: next time I go by train, make sure it's not on the day of a Cubs game), but when I am, I'll definitely be passing up Foodlife for this.
We were going to go to food-life which is good, however we were feeling a bit lazy and decided, hey let's have someone wait on us. Good choice.
Service was fast and friendly without being overbearing. We both are fans of French Onion soup, which was good maybe just a bit too salty, but still one of the better versions in the city. I also had the wedge salad. Normally I'm not a fan of just iceberg lettuce, however it did sound refreshing and it was. The blue cheese dressing was enjoyable with just the right amount of bacon bits.
Word of caution, the tiny bites desserts should be called tiny bite. I was so thrilled to see a small dessert option, however this was really, really small. Yes it was only a buck fifty, however you get larger samples at Costco, this was a treat that you could put in one of those little paper cups. Order a regular sized dessert and split it.
I'll go back again to try the chicken pot pie, the people at the table next to us ordered it, and it looked mity nice, I wanted to lean over and put my fork in it. I did manage to control myself though.
BEST MAC AND CHEESE I'VE EVER HAD!!! I would literally fly to Chicago right now for this Mac & Cheese.
I grew up with Mity Nice...all the "cool" kids (or kids who wanted to pretend they were cool, like me) hung out at Water Tower in middle school. Mainly, my friends and I laughed at all the suburbanites who traveled in hordes who thinking how cool it was to be in the city, but we KNEW we were eminently cooler than them because we LIVED in the city. Ha ha, suburbanites.
This is what I think of when I think of Mity Nice. But I digress.
The Mac & Cheese (which I must capitalize to bow down to it's wonderfulness) is more like a traditional pasta dish. It has rigatoni-sized noodles swimming in a perfectly creamy sauce. And the toasted breadcrumbs on top are the piece de resistance. A perfect dish.
Mity Nice has other really good things too - the Mity Nice burger, grilled flatbread pizzas, cobb salad...yum yum yum.
I haven't had the Mac & Cheese here for years. I want it now. It's amazing. Eat it and think of me. I'm still on the lookout for the next best Mac & Cheese...but in my book, nothing holds a candle to Mity Nice.
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