Warning: Do not look, if hungry!

These are some photos from a visit to a Bulgarian restaurant "Avantgarde" in Chicago, IL. I found the address on the web, looking for the famous "Mario Cafe". I guess they renovated it and it has a new name now :). It felt like I am in a Bulgaria. They had a Bulgarian menu, so I had to ask for an English one for Scot. We have a very good bread in Bulgaria as you see. :) The traditional bread you buy every day. It has a crusty skin and soft inside. Mmmm - delicious!

These is a traditional meatball soup, like a Italian wedding soup but it's creamy. And of course Coke in a bottle, served with a glass, just like in Bulgaria. Since it's cold we do not add ice ;)

This is "Pileshko Vreteno" - it's made on the grill, chicken breast stuffed with cheese, mushrooms and pickles. Scot loved it. The fries usually come with grated feta cheese on top, but Scot decided against that.

"Meshana Skara" is usually a feast of: kufte"-meatball," kebabche"- log shaped meatball, "shishche"-kebob and a pork chop. For side I am having a very popular in Bulgaria "shopska salata"- salad made of cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted pepers and toped with grated feta cheese. The salad dressing is served on the table so you put as much as you wish and it's simple oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.
It was a fun experience for us! I knew that Chicago has the biggest colony of Bulgarians in USA around 30 000, but I was surprised to see that they had a small Bulgarian district of a Bulgarian Pharmacy - "Apteka", a wedding dress shop and the restaurant. I got a free issue of Bulgarian newspaper and I found out that there are more Bulgarian restaurants in the aria.
I hope you enjoy the pictures :) , we enjoyed the food :)) !