Szalas Restaurant

If you're in Chicago looking for quality and authentic polish food this place is a must.
We stopped by during our New Years trip to Chicago and loved it.

I headed over to Szalas hoping for an outstanding authentic Polish experience, straight from the southeastern mountainous region of Poland. What I had experienced, however, was the exact opposite.
First of all, what annoyed me right off the bat, was that I wasn't able to simply enter the restaurant. No, I had to stand outside, on a gloomy autumn day, in the rain, pulling a rope which caused a bell to ring on the opposite side of the door, waiting until one of the employees finally came to the realization that he or she should kindly open up. I really don't understand this "innovative" concept of making customers wait outside, having to pull that rope every time they need the door to be opened. I just don't.
Second, it really was not as impressive on the inside as I had hoped for it to be. Sure, there was a mass of objects, decorations straight from the region of Zakopane or Tatry, Poland... But besides that there was a mass of other items thrown in which totally did not go hand in hand with the main concept. The place was dead quiet, except for some Polish TV show blasting from the TV which all of the employees were crowding around. It was immensely dark and cold inside... Really not an inviting atmosphere. Actually, the women's restroom made the best impression on me, in that respect.
Our waitress was OK. Can't really complain about the service I've received. The food however was something different. In a bad sense.
First of all, the menu was incredibly limited and overpriced! And not only that, but whatever they actually did serve could hardly even be attributed to Polish cuisine at all! Sauteed shrimps?! New York steak?! Chicken breast with mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes?! WHAT?! Big disappointment right there! Also, seemed like they were "out" of just about everything I had wished to eat. I ended up ordering sheep cheese (oscypek) as my appetizer and fried Russian pierogis as my main dish. Waitress came back a couple of minutes later saying my pierogis cannot be fried, because they only serve them boiled. Well, all pierogis need to be boiled one way or another, couldn't I just have them additionally fried on a pan? Apparently I couldn't... So much for that, I had my Russian pierogis boiled... The sheep cheese wasn't anything spectacular either. Just three thin slices of warm greasy cheese on a plate, with some kind of red paste on the side.
All in all, the best part of my culinary experience at Szalas was most likely the grzaniec (which is a red wine served hot with additional spices, very sweet and warms you up like nothing else). Even though they did not offer it on the menu, they managed to make it anyway.
In conclusion... Not really worth my trip. I can fry my own pierogis at home. Will not be stopping by here any time soon, unless it's just for the grzaniec. And to visit the ladies room LOL.

I keep going to this place each time i am in Chicago. It's close to Midway airport so it's great to go to on the way in to town or when you are leaving.

The dishes are wonderful and so far I haven't had anything that I didn't like. One evening they were giving out samples of their lemon vodka aperitif. Try this place out. You won't be disappointed.