Chicago/St. Louis/New Buffalo Restaurant recs from recent road trip in the Midwest...

Hit the Midwest w/ family a few weeks back and we ate at some solid places so I thought I would share. These are not ranked in any particular order.

Stray Dog Bar & Grill - New Buffalo, Michigan

For BR peeps, this is the equivalent of The Chimes, but not as "seasoned" or dark. Loaded fries as appetizer were really good. Ate there two nights in a row. Beer battered Cod sandwich was very good, and the Spicy Thai salad was excelled (the steak on it was well cooked and tender). Also, the Mahi tacos are close to the best fish tacos I have ever had (my daughter could not finish all 3). Excellent service.

Sugarfire Smokehouse - St. Louis, Missouri

Can't really go wrong here. Son couldn't stop talking about the PBLT a day after we ate there. I had the brisket cheesesteak, which was solid. Ribs were good as well. Very good shakes. Counter service style, so no real comment on the service.

Fox Run Restaurant & Louge - Springfield, Illinois

Had the cheese curds and onion rings for appetizers - both were good. Had probably the best Reuben sandwich I have ever eaten (daughter had one as well and thought it was great). They serve a local item - a "Shoe" - which is an open face sandwich: thick slice of homemade bread with a meat on top, pile fries on that, then a cheese sauce on that. Wife (buffalo chicken breast) and son (hamburger) gave thumbs up. Relatively new place, but the wait staff operated very well and was attentive.

Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken - Memphis, TN

Probably the best fried chicken you will ever have. Get it with the hot "Sweet Spicy Love" sauce on it. Corn fritters are a good side item, as is the coleslaw. Honey buttered biscuits are very tasty. Uncle Lou himself brought us our food.

Little Goat Diner - Chicago, IL

Owned/run by Stephanie Izard - one of the new Iron Chefs on Food Network and previous Top Chef winner. Very good. Appetizer of fried pickles/onion rings. I had the all-American burger and my son had the patty melt. It was so good, he said it was better than the PBLT he had (and was still talking about) a few days before. Very good and attentive service.

Giordano's Pizza - Chicago, IL

Ate at the Navy Pier location. Very busy. Pizza takes 45 mins to an hour, so you better go and order in anticipation of being hungry. The pizza was good (stuffed deep dish pepperoni), but the crust was different. It tasted almost like a crust for a pot pie, which is not a bad thing, it's just not what you would expect for a pizza. Had to remind the waiter to refill waters a few times. Otherwise, no complaints on service.

Remington's - Chicago, IL

Hands down, probably the best place we ate on the trip - which is high praise considering the other places listed were very good (a few clunkers that I won't mention here). Anyway, I had the filet w/ creamed spinach (which is better than Ruth's). My son got the crab cakes, which he said were excellent. He got a side of fries. My wife got the Wrightwood salad, which she liked and we ordered a spaetzle mac and cheese for the table, which was very good. My daughter ordered the special (a fish dish) that she said was great. Service was excellent. Definitely worth the visit.