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My favorite is pickles and cinnamon applesauce. It works best if you have whole dill pickles. Bite the end off, then spoon some cinnamon applesauce onto the top of the pickle and eat. I add more applesauce after each bite.

First, it's a good thing I don't have to use proper grammatical rules here, because I'm not going to. I love mac and cheese with tuna and peas. Rice, tuna and frozen peas works well...of course it needs a sprinkling of cheese. French fries with honey...yum! Bananas with sour cream?...that is something I might enjoy. I can see the whole M&M and goldfish cracker thing working...too bad I can't eat goldfish anymore! Before I found gluten-free crackers and bread I liked, I would put the following on plain rice cakes...not all mixed together!...nutella, brown sugar and cinnamon swirl cream cheese, any flavor jelly or jam, peanut butter, a slice of cheese... Applesauce goes with everything. Sausage with maple syrup is a combination found everywhere. Frozen sausage with maple syrup is out there, the McGriddle, etc. Oh man, I used to love the McGriddle! Banana pudding with chocolate sprinkles...I never got into the peanut butter and mayo sandwich, but mayo and cheese work great between two slices of bread. This thread is quite interesting, and I look forward to reading more.

Do a search on Serious Eats for the recent post on Hot Dougs - sounds amazing, wish I could go! I've never been there myself.

Okay I found the link:
http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2008/03/serious_sandwiches_hot_dougs_citrus_burgundy.html

also: www.hotdougs.com

Definitely go to Hot Doug's on Friday for their french fries - fried in duck fat on Fridays!

Blackbird for a dinner.

Alinea for a 24 course one of a kind meal.

coolname, do you mean the Maxwell St. stand on the corner of Damen and Elston? That's been very recently taken down.

For Lula, you can go to Farm Dinner on Mondays and get an entirely local menu.

I also recommend Terragusto. They make their pasta daily and their menu features Northern Italian dishes with local market ingredients. Despite being a pretty nice restaurant, it's BYOB only, so don't forget to bring some wine.

ewww, i wouldn't go to the med, unless you're getting bread or pastries from the bakery. the florian is only a step above, and that's not saying much. salonica's okay, but i'd save your money for other spots, if i were you. (if you must eat in hyde park, go to seoul corea, really.)

Lula Cafe is hand down my favorite restaurant in Chicago. There are two menus to choose from: their regular (and very reasonably priced) menu, with a lovely beet bruschetta and chickpea couscous; and their weekly (slightly more expensive) menu full of local produce and innovative food. Their brunch is fantastic too. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I would go Cafe Florian before the med (medici) but maybe that's just because I lived right across the street from it.

IMO Iberico is better.

It's been a while since we lived there - but we loved Rose Angelis and Las Tablas (sp?). We also went every week to a small Thai place called Panang at Chicago and Clark.

LOL I thought I was the only one that dipped french fries in my Frostys -- milkshakes and sundaes too. Yay!!!

When I went to McDonald's as a kid, I used to throw 4-5 french fries in my saimin* and fish them out later. They were soggy, but for whatever reason, I loved it.
* Hawaiian version of ramen except in a fish-based broth, with fishcake, green onions, and char siu on top.

@Chisai - I introduced the mayo+soy sauce as asparagus dip to my husband years ago and he LOVES it. He uses it with fish sticks, french fries, anything you can think of.

I always...always...dip my french fries in mayo-ketchup-mustard (1/2 mayo, 1/3 ketchup, 1/6 mustard), unless I'm at a Greek place, then I dip them in the tzatziki. Replace "mayo" with Kewpie mayo when I am at home.

Growing up, I used to dip my fries in honey, mainly because it was leftover from the fried chicken. I would also dab brine from pickled jalapenos on my fried chicken and eat it with whole jalapenos. I was also one of those kids who loved digging for and eating marrow. What a mess!

French onion dip lightly spread on fresh sour dough bread and sour cream and onion potato chips in the middle.

Best snack - candy corn and salted peanuts
Toasted bagels with cottage cheese and applesauce on top.
Speaking of applesauce, one of my friends just loves to dip potato chips in applesauce!
Back in the day, used to love blue box mac & cheese w/ tuna and peas, Haven't had that in years.

Pepperjack cheese and fresh pineapple.