Cheap, plentiful Chinese -- Hoy's, Bensenville

I drive past Hoy's, 455 W Irving Park Rd, Bensenville daily. It's in a strip mall that's actually one of the bright spots of the Bensenville stretch of Irving Park, which has a lot of auto shops and empty spaces.

This cheery little strip mall contains a taqueria, a Jimmy John's, a Polish deli, a barber shop, a couple other small shops and Hoy's Chinese Restaurant.

So I drive past Hoy's regularly, but I hadn't indulged my Chinese take-out craving for quite awhile -- until the husband was away for the weekend and I wanted something fast and tasty.

The restaurant is not very big, but has a decent-size dining room for eating in. I perused the large menu briefly and selected a small wonton soup and Taiwan Style Rice Noodles, described as "Taiwan style thin rice noodles mixed with shredded pork, pea pods, peppers, carrots, bean sprouts and onions."

About 10 minutes later, I had my piping hot bag in hand and was out the door.

Even though it seemed a touch overpackaged, I appreciated that the soup was in its own small plastic bag and then a bigger paper bag inside the largest plastic bag, so there was no chance of leakage.

The soup was packed with veggies -- unusual for wonton soup -- and instead of one or two big wontons, it contained maybe six or seven small meatball-sized wontons. The broth wasn't quite as flavorful as I'm used to, but I appreciated the tons of cabbage and sprouts.

The noodles were a HUGE portion -- easily enough for two. It was flavorful, with fresh, plentiful veggies. There was also plenty of pork, although it wasn't really shredded. Instead it was big slices and strips, and some of it was a bit on the chewy side. Oh, and it also contained egg, which is not mentioned in the description. That said, it was fresh-tasting and very good, both for dinner and the next morning when I polished off the rest of it.

Given the prompt service, tasty food and very reasonable prices, I am looking forward to trying more of Hoy's huge menu.

Time for tacos? Taqueria El Sol Del Pueblo, Bensenville

Despite living pretty close to Bensenville, we don't go that direction much. Which is too bad, since I know B-ville has its share of good places to go too.

But on Friday we decided to check out a taqueria we've passed many times -- Taqueria El Sol Del Pueblo, 1221 W Irving Park Rd.

Located just barely east of the Route 83 overpass, at the corner of a strip mall, this taqueria is brightly painted and warmly decorated. Warm reds, yellows and oranges cover the walls, and the ten or so booths are pretty comfortable. There's also a counter for take-out.

It's a taqueria, so don't expect fancy. Each table has two salsa bottles and you get free pickled veggies (gringa that I am, I don't know the name for the marinated jalapenos, carrots, garlic, onions etc that many taquerias serve). Chips aren't free, but since everything is so cheap it's worth ordering a basket if you want to showcase the (fairly spicy) salsa, which comes in two varieties: medium salsa verde (tons of cilantro flavor) and spicy salsa roja (and boy was it spicy, but with great flavor).

The menu is fairly simple; tacos (served the RIGHT way with just cilantro and onions), burritos, quesadillas, tortas, etc. Lots of agua fresca and smoothies. Lots of Mexican soda.

I got one of the few dinners they do offer, a flauta platter (two cheese, two chicken) that came with rice & beans. My husband got tacos, a chorizo and two beef. My flautas were crispy and hot, the rice was delicious, the beans were above average. The tacos looked great and my husband devoured them.

The food was all fresh, hot, and made right. Service was pretty good; though not five-star they were very friendly. They offer some more obscure meats, like tongue, chitterlings and goat (yep, goat). I won't be trying the goat, but I do want to try more tacos, their guacamole, and probably some agua fresca. They also have Mexican breakfasts.

We'll definitely be back to El Sol Del Pueblo the next time a taco craving hits :)

Make me one with everything, please -- Scooby's Red Hots, Bensenville

(Q: What did the buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?)


Saturday, after sitting around watching it rain, and rain, and rain some more, and watching a Food Network special on hot dogs, we decided to have a little greasy treat for dinner.

So we ventured to Bensenville (right on the B'ville/Elmhurst border, actually) to Scooby's Red Hots, which for my money is the best greasy hot dog joint in Chicago. And Chicago knows hot dogs.

The place is nothing special -- I'm not sure it qualifies as a "restaurant" -- with about five tables and kitschy signs all over the walls. They have dogs, burgers, fries, tamales, shakes -- the usual. The hot dogs are great -- love those squishy buns, crisp pickles, the dogs themselves have a good flavor.

And the fries. Oh, the fries. Hand-cut, they actually taste like potatoes. Only greasy. Mmmmmmm.

And the shakes. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, banana and green river. I had a banana. Yum.

All in all, an excellent greasy meal with an excellent Chicago dog. We'll be back.