Pierogi: The new pizza?

Traditional Polish dishes are crossing food boundaries by popping up on Belgian, Italian and American restaurant menus across the Windy City.

By Magdalena Slapik

Chicago’s Polish community — more than 933,000 strong — is one of the largest outside of Warsaw. You can see its impact in indecipherable storefront names along Milwaukee Avenue, hear it spoken in local Catholic parishes, and feel it while savoring that workless Monday in March on Casimir Pulaski day.

And food. Who here hasn’t devoured a tasty, fatty Polish sausage or pierogi? “The Italians have ravioli, the Asians have wontons and the Poles have pierogi,” says chef Ted Przybylo, 49, co-owner of White Eagle Restaurant in Niles. “At the end of the day, it’s a stuffed dumpling.”

But no longer are these Eastern European delicacies only found in traditional mom-and-pop food joints. In the past three years, these old-world dishes have popped up on non-Polish restaurant menus across Chicago. Check out the eateries below to satisfy your pierogi cravings with a side of fries. No translator necessary.

Leopold

1450 W. Chicago Ave.
312-348-1028
leopoldchicago.com

This West Town, Belgian-inspired restaurant offers a plateful of house-made pierogi for $12. Nestled on the menu between the slagel heart of rib-eye tartare and the poutine, Leopold’s locally sourced “Polish ravioli” are rolled out, stuffed with a mixture of farmer’s cheese and potato and onion. Then the chef tops the dumplings with woodland mushrooms, spring peas and crème fraiche.

Flo & Santos

1310 S. Wabash Ave.
312-566-9817
floandsantos.com

No one does Italian and Polish fusion better than this red-boothed, exposed brick South Loop pizza and pierogi joint. Bite into the house specialty — a Polish sausage pizza made fresh with Polska kielbasa, sauerkraut, applewood smoked bacon and mozzarella cheese — as you sip Zywiec, Poland’s most popular beer, and watch the game on one of the five flat- screen TVs behind the bar. For dessert, try the jam-filled fried donuts called paczki — only 470 calories each!

LOKal Restaurant & Lounge

1904 W. North Ave.
773-904-8113
lokalchicago.com

This Wicker Park eatery specializes in comfort food, no matter the country of origin. Customers can eat Polish, Italian, French and American fare all in one sitting. Try the potato pancakes, farm smoked kielbasa or potato pierogi served with bacon, onions and scallion cream if you’re craving good grub from the land of the Poles.