Food find: The Patio

I love going out and trying something new like The Patio, a Chicago chain. And there's something really cute about going to an eatery inside in the dead of winter that's decorated like an outdoor patio in the middle of the summer. They have bistro tables with umbrellas, indoor trees and booths.

You order at a central counter and then they bring the food out to you, just like at Panera. Tim and I went with summer classics -- a beef brisket sandwich with fries for him and a 1/3-pound cheeseburger with garlic mashed potatoes for me. Although this place is famous for ribs, I had to pass because they were kind of expensive for a Sunday lunch.

Tim's lunch was super tasty -- great beef brisket with a smokey, slow-cooked flavor and amazing barbecue sauce. Really, the sauce is what made it. Not too sweet, just a little smokey and tangy. The fries were also great with a crunchy exterior and soft middle without being too dry or overcooked. They were also salted nicely.

My burger was great too. The patty was tasty and moist. It would have been nice to have crisper lettuce, but it is the dead of winter after all. I didn't really like the mashed potatoes, they were instant and not that tasty. But hey, no one's perfect.

Definitely give it a try and be sure to get something that goes with barbecue sauce!