151 Bourbon Street, Merrionette Park, IL

This is just half of the portion - and believe me it tastes way better than it looks. I look forward to going back on a non-St. Patrick's Day and tasting the food, too. The place is huge and the food looked quite good.

This bread pudding made me wish I had a higher rating. It has intrigue - there's pineapple or apple (I couldn't tell) and pecans! I love a nut in my BP. This was dense with just the right amount of sweetness. I felt like it was made with a different kind of bread - maybe Irish soda? It's definitely worth the calories and a trip back to the suburbs.

Price: $6.95
Raisins: No
Sauce: Whiskey
Ice cream: No
Visited: March 17, 2011


151 Bourbon Street
3359 West 115th Street
Merrionette Park, Illinois 60803
708.388.8881

Poag Mahone's, Chicago, IL

OMG - thank you St. Patrick for whatever you did and thank you people of Ireland and New Orleans for loving to bake bread pudding. I got two different BPs to celebrate March 17, though I'm still eating them days later. This texture is so smooth. It's sliced like French Toast, and I didn't even use the caramel sauce because whatever it was lying in was good enough for me. It was already just a tad too sweet - minor complaint.

Price: $6.95
Raisins: Yellow and black, though not too many
Sauce: Whiskey
Ice cream: No, but whipped cream
Visited: March 17, 2011

Poag Mahone's - it's in a big office building.
333 South Wells
(in the 175 West Jackson Building)
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Ph 312-566-9100

Mama Dip's Country Cooking Restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC

This could have been a 3.25 if the waiter had heated it better. I have been looking forward to visiting Mrs. Dip's for years. I haven't gotten there lately when I visited the Triangle. I was delighted when I went because I didn't even know they had bread pudding on the menu, and not only was it a regular, but the chef chose a new variety every day! This day was pineapple. It was a wonderful end to the soul food veggie meal (including pinto beans) and I liked the fresh whipped cream. The bowl was cold, and the pineapple BP was lukewarm, but it was also Mrs. Dips, so the ambiance and the memories from when I was in school in Chapel Hill, back in the, well, a while ago. I even interviewed Mrs. Dip for a class I was in back then so I felt more connected. The new (to me) location was country and clean, like an elegant Cracker Barrel.

There was one place I wanted to go, Papa Mojo's Roadhouse, which also has BP. Maybe next time.

Price: $5 (I think)
Raisins: No
Sauce: No, just a little whipped cream
Ice cream: No
Visited: March 2011

Mama Dips Kitchen (for some reason, desserts aren't listed)
408 W. Rosemary Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 942-5837
info@mamadips.com

Grapevine Mediterranean Gourmet Cafe, LaGrange, IL

I didn't take a photo of this bread pudding. It was so unassuming, just a corner piece in a plastic container. The staff offered to sprinkle it with powdered sugar but I declined. It wasn't pretty or interesting, just was. I waited a day to eat it. But when I did, I was so wonderfully surprised. I heated it and it was a little too loose but the top crusted and the eggy custard was nice. It had just enough cinnamon to make a difference and was truly a no-muss dessert.

Price: $3.50
Raisins: No
Sauce: No
Ice cream: No
Visited: March 2011

The Grapevine
9 West Hillgrove Avenue
La Grange, IL 60525
708-482-4774