Bopping and Grilling

Last night, Tyler and I covered a basketball game at Evanston Township. The game was at 7, so we decided to grab a quick dinner somewhere close to the high school. I let Tyler pick the place, and he decided on this hole-in-the-wall place called Bop N Grill that recently sprung up along the Bus 93 route. (Read: I dropped subtle hints all week that essentially strong-armed Tyler into "making" this decision).

As some of my Korean friends/aficionados (ahem, Nicholas 107) might suspect from the name, Bop N Grill is a little Korean-owned establishment that serves a combination of Asian and American foods. BBQ short ribs and french fries? Sure. Angus burger topped with a fried egg and a side of rice? You got it, dude.

"This place is like an American restaurant and a Pan-Asian restaurant had sex and now we're standing in its baby," Tyler said, checking out the diner-style menu board and a wall taped with pictures of its star dishes like a proud mama's living room. We both ordered the BBQ short ribs plate, which came with scoops of rice, a side salad drizzled with Thousand Island dressing, and heap of french fries. Check it out (all pics are from their website, http://bopngrill.com/index.html):

Picture is slightly misleading, as there was no kimchi. I think I'll ask them about that next time. Anyway, the kalbi were hot and tasty, reminding me a lot of Connie's mom's amazing cooking. Of course, it was more fast-food-y, and less made-with-love-y, but still, quite yummy. Tyler and my dinner conversation went something like this:

T: Yum. That was good.

V: Mmmphtgrrffff [tears into another piece of beef] Ohmygarrghmmmm.

T: [scoots away] Easy there, lioness.

The guy behind the counter was super nice and seemed to know a lot of his repeat customers by name and recent agenda. He asked if we liked sweets, and then made us the restaurant's only dessert, the eggroll brownie, on the house.

I imagine it must be what a fried Twinkie must be like--hot and sweet on the inside, kind of crunchy and kind of oily-tasting on the outside. It wasn't bad. I dunno if I'd get it on my own, but you can't turn down free dessert, right? I would've gone back for the food alone anyway, but that definitely sealed the deal. Guy knows how to do his business, huh? So yeah, if you're in the mood for delicious and reasonably priced Asian-American food and happen to be on Church St, this is definitely the place to go!