Sticky Rice - Get your Fried Worms here!!!

Sticky Rice
4018 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
Cuisine Type: Thai
Price: $

We watch Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre foods quite frequently. So, when Jon expressed interest to try a cuisine that included insects, I naturally began the search in the Chicago area. Suprisingly, (or maybe not too suprisingly), I came up short in my search. I did, however, manage to find one restaurant wedged deep in the city that served something very special; Fried Bamboo Caterpillars.

With Jon's birthday being in December, I took him to this restaurant explaining why I had chosen it for him. He seemed pumped to try this bizarre concoction.

From the street, the restaurant is small in an old brick chicago storefront with a bright yellow awning. On the front glass, they had a menu posted with a sign that said "Fried Worms served here". We knew were were in the right place.

Inside it was very colorful. Definately a small, local place... nothing too fancy, but definately eye catching. This place was BYOB, but we didn't have anything with us, so we opted for a water. We looked over the menu and made note of all of the odd things served. Some bizarre things they had were of course the Fried Bamboo caterpillars along with an omlet with Ant Eggs, Pork & Intestine Stir Fry and Pork & cubed pork blood with curry.

Now, if you aren't into the "bizzare" cuisine, have no worries! They serve all of the normal dishes that any Thai restaurant would have. They have plenty of rice, noodle, vegetarian and chicken and beef dishes.

When we went to order, there was definately a language barrier. Our waitress looked at us like we had 3 heads every time we said something. So, we started pointing at things on the menu. We got the Thai Sausage first, which was wonderfully spiced with curry and spicy herbs. Then, the Fried Bamboo caterpillars came out. It was definately disturbing to see all of the little fried caterpillars on the plate, but we were here to try something new, so we did it. I tried 3 little worms and they were suprisingly not too bad. They reminded me of little crispy french fries.



Jon ate the entire rest of the plate and I opted to get the Thai Noodle soup with Beef which was delicous!!! Jon also got the Mango Chicken because the bugs weren't very filling and that was phenominal. So juicy and tender and full of flavor, almost like a sweet and sour chicken.

The prices were extremely reasonable for a small city restaurant. I believe the bill only set us back $30 dollars.

So, if you love Thai Food or are looking to do a little adventurous eating, definately check this place out!

Overall Rating:
Food - A
Atmosphere - B
Service - B

- Review by Theresa