My Review of Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple)

I've been busy for several months that I hadn't had time to do this review. My first time having Polish food was on Memorial Day May 25th, 2009. Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) has 2 locations: 3121 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood & 6474 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's Forest Glen neighborhood. This review is for their original location at 3121 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.


First off, Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) is a Polish buffet, and is open for lunch & dinner. Lunch price is $9.49 Monday - Friday, dinner is $9.99 Monday - Friday, & $10.95 on Saturday & Sunday.


They serve according to their ad 50-60 hot & cold dishes daily. Since most Polish dishes have been incorporated into American cuisine, some dishes were familiar to me, but not flavor though.


The day I went to Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) had on the buffet (not listing everything): baked chicken & breaded chicken, schnitzel (sounds German to me), roast beef & turkey, meatballs & gravy, cheese & potato pierogis, apple pancakes, potato pancakes, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, steamed rice, carrot salad, potato salad, regular salad, fruit, & Polish style desserts.


When I arrived, I was asked how many were with me, and I was by myself. The waitress asked me what I wanted to drink, and asked what kind of soup I wanted. Soup is included in the meal, but isn't on the buffet. On Memorial Day, they were serving Chicken Noodle Soup & Tomato with Rice Soup. I chose Chicken Noodle Soup. Unlike American style Chicken Noodle Soup, Polish style Chicken Noodle Soup has little to no salt in it. Since I hadn't had Polish food before, I took smaller portions. I started with mashed potatoes, green beans, baked chicken. Then had potato pancakes, apple pancakes, breaded chicken, turkey, and some more green beans. I also had some pierogis too. I started to fill up quickly, and decided to have some fruit & desserts before I was too full to have that. I had some fresh pineapple, bananas, chocolate pudding (Polish Style), and chocolate cake (Polish Style). Ice Cream is supposedly included in the meal, but not on the buffet. The waitress forgot to ask if I wanted some ice cream.


On Memorial Day, they charged the weekend price of $10.95. Pop was $1.95. Subtotal came to $12.93. Chicago's sales tax of 10.25% came to $1.32, with a grand total of $14.22. That's the most I spent on any buffet. Doing business is expensive enough in Chicago. Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) makes their food from scratch, which is rare for any buffet.


While Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) is expensive, the food was good enough that I will consider going to their restaurant again in the future. I wanna go to Polish buffets, like Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) to try out various Polish food, and eventually be able to order from the menu at a regular Polish restaurant.


A word of warning: since this restaurant allows people to eat first, then pay at the end of the meal, make sure you only take what you'll eat. They have a note on the buffet that you can take what you want, but don't waste food. They charge for any waste. If they allow the extra food to be taken out, then you'll be charged $4.49 a pound. That's the rate charged for carryout, and yes, they do weigh the food in a styrofoam container.


Payments taken are cash & credit cards: Mastercard, Visa, & I believe Discover. If you have a ATM debit card, then it goes thru as a Visa or Mastercard transaction.


This is my own review, and is done the best of my knowledge. Their website is http://redapplebuffet.com . Any information you need is on the website. If you wanna read the website in Polish, there's a link in the upperhand corner that says wersja polska (Polish version).
This review was for the 3121 North Milwaukee Avenue location in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood, and is open from 11am - 9pm Sunday - Thursday & 11am - 9:30pm Friday & Saturday. I give Czerwone Jabłuszko (Red Apple) 3½ stars.