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Heaven on 7th

L

Liegekiller

My brother Mark and I were stuck in Chicago an extra day after doing a trade show there a few weeks ago. We heard about a Cajun restaurant called Heaven on 7th, that specialized in hot sauces. They have a "Wall of Fire" with over 3,000 different hot sauces on it!
If you bring them a sauce they don't have, you get a free lunch for 2. Since our brand, E.Z. Earl's Blazin Hot is pretty much brand new, we knew we were a shoo in for the free lunch.
They started us off with a Habenero popper (cream cheese filled, battered and deep fried) that was awesome. I had fried catfish with our sauce on it, and Mark had the "angry chicken". Everything paled in comparison, heat wise, with the appetizer. I tried most of the 12 to 15 hot sauces they had on each table for use, but most were just hot, not very tasty, and some were an affront to my taste buds altogether.
The food was great, the beer top notch, and the wall of fire was very interesting. Worth finding if you are in dowtown Chicago. It wasn't too far from the Hancock tower, but not on 7th. Go figure.
 
Wife and I were in Chicago for Christmas. Wednesday after Christmas we headed out to Heaven on Seven in Naperville. Quant little restaurant and bar.

I had:

"Hotter than a Mutha" - stuffed habanero pepper - was the hottest thing I have ever eaten in a restaurant open to the public. My mouth burned for a good 25 minutes. Very good. Was way to hot for the wife.

Chili: "Texas Roadhouse Chili" - was labelled as hot but I could not taste any spice in it. Could have been the habanero was masking the spice in the chili. They need to come to Texas to learn how to cook real Texas Roadhouse Chili.

Chicken Fried Steak: Delicious. Garlic mashed potatos and veggies. One of the best chicken fried steaks I have ever had.

Wife had:

Gumbo: Gumbo was good. Good taste, good color, good aroma and texture.

VooDoo Shrimp that she said was delicious. Head off whole shrimp dusted with mild spice/garlic and grilled. Served over a bed of rice.

Overall rating - 8 out of 10 and not too expensive.
 
Liegekiller said:
It wasn't too far from the Hancock tower, but not on 7th. Go figure.
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i believe that rush street is 700 north.... its called heaven on seven...not 7th and in my opinion there sauces are whack.....tried at least 40 of em.....nothing really hot to me
 
Headed back to Chicago for Thanksgiving...a week from today, wife and I are headed back to Heaven on Seven....probably one of the ones downtown this time...I am going to try and find out which restaurant the owner/chef is at and go to that one...will take him a care package of 7 Pots and Dorset Nagas...
 
Friday, 28 November 2008 @ Heaven on Seven - Long Post

Wife and I decided to go to Heaven on Seven on Rush Street in downtown Chicago instead of the Naperville restaurant...this is the second eatery Chef Jimmy Bannos opened.

I took a bag of Red 7 Pot, Yellow Seven Pot, Trinidad Scorpion, Fatalii, Dorset Naga, Datil, and Red Savinas with me to give to the chef is he was interested. I also took a bottle of DefCon 1 & DefCon 2 with me. The offer of "if you bring an unopened bottle of hot sauce that is not in his collection, you get a free meal" still stands. If I recall correctly, he has over 3000 bottles of hot sauce on one of the walls.

When we were seated, I told the waitress we were from Fort Worth and asked her if Chef Bannos was there. I then gaveher the bottles of DefCon sauce. I was lucky in that Chef Bannos was indeed there and came to our table. After introductions, and a little talk about the DefCon sauces, I pulled out the bag of peppers I had taken with me....he was delighted. I was even more delighted to learn that he was familiar with most of the superhots I had given him. He spent about 15 or 20 minutes with us talking about different stuff and I found out he comes to Fort Worth pretty often and is familiar with a lot of the restaurants I have frequented in the past.

Appetizers: "Hotter than a Mutha" - stuffed orange hab popper served on a bed of diced peaches, red onion, red/green/yellow bell pepper, cilantro, jalapeno with a little lemon juice...great presentation and a pretty good popper...the popper this year was not as hot as last years was since it was made with an orange hab instead of a red savina. Don't remember the name of the second appetizer but it was large shrimp served on a bed of rice with a tomato base salsa over the top...delicious...I then had a cup of his gumbo and the wife had a cup of a shrimp/corn chowder. The gumbo was delicious with many flavors that mixed well together. I will have a bowl or cup everytime I go to Heaven on Seven from now on. The shrimp/corn chowder was thick and creamy and looked heavenly as it tasted.

Main Course: The wife had "Voodoo Chicken Enchilidas" and the look on her face plus her comments put it up there with the best tasting food she has ever had. I had the barbeque sampler platter consisting of brisket, pulled pork, and babyback ribs with sides of cajun cole slaw, red beans and rice, and etoufee.


Overall evaluation of the restaurant on a scale of 1-10 is a 10+. Delicious food, excellent service, all set in a quaint New Orleans type decor.

Well done Chef Jimmy Bannos...we WILL see you again whether it is Fort Worth or Chicago.

I gave him the address to this website and you never know, but Chef Bannos may pay us a visit. He is a great chef developing all his original recipes and on top of everything else, he is as nice a person as you would ever want to meet.

One last note is I didn't try any of the 10-15 hot sauces on the table because I had taken my personal stash of Wild Brazilian, Cherry Tops, Orange Thais, and NuMex Bailey Pequins to add heat to my meal.

Kudos to Heaven on Seven.
 
Man oh man, I'm jealous AJ! I love fine dining, don't do much of it anymore I'm afraid as everybody knows single parents are always broke.;) I do enjoy hearing about other peoples experiences.

Everything sounds delish for sure. Was the meal free or did he have a some Defcon sauce on hand? Very cool that the man had time to spend with you. Sounds like you made a friend.
 
I knew he didn't have any DefCon since I had been to one of his restaurants last year. Yup....meal was totally free for both of us...and that included the drinks too...

I had my bottle of DefCon Zero in my pocket but didn't offer him a taste of that...I used it to spice up my bloody mary...
 
Holy Smoke! I'm am definitely going there when we are in Chicago the weekend of Dec 20th. We are going to be there for 4 days for my wife's cousins wedding and in fact, we are staying with my wife's uncle and I think he lives somewhere not too far from there. I am excited about this trip more now than before seeing this thread.
 
Cool Paul...and try to meet him if he is there...and don't forget to tell him I sent you... :lol:

Ask him if he has tried any of the superhots I gave him... (evil wicked grin)...
 
Well, I'm back from the windy city and I must say, it was COLD and WINDY!!! With the wind chill it was -30 f. I am really disappointed that I didn't get to eat at Heaven on 7th. We only had one lunch that was open and it was Friday when the weather was really bad. Long story short, no one wanted to drive downtown to Heaven on 7th. I did enjoy a nice lunch at Portillos, however I ended up ordering a Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad (I know, going to a cool 'Hot Dog' joint and ordering a salad? WTF???). LOL But it was a really good salad, but needed a shot from some of my personal hot sauces...if only I had brought them.

We had a good stay and I'm also glad to be home.
 
Heaven on Seaven is on the 7th floor if you go to the original location, 111 N. Wabash which I just learned is celebrating thirty years this year.

PF, If you make it back to Portillo's try the Italian beef. Or if you make it to the combo Portillo? Barnelli try the bbq chicken pizza. Portillos is owned by a member of the family that owns Browns Chicken.
 
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