Belly Shack

Great little place to pick up food under the blue line. The Belly Dog has a fun flavors and textures going on, a must try.

Tried the regular and the big bowls. The beef and chicken flavors are amazing! The pork was too sweet for my taste but that's just personal preference. They have beer, sake, Mexican cola, fresh juices and some nice soft serve options.

Belly Shack has the best food in the area. The menu specials change often. I really like the belly dog with ramen noodles and Kim chi. The french fries and dip are very good, the Hot and Sour soup is the best, and the soft serve ice cream comes with real, natural toppings. It's right under the blue line stop, easy to get to. The original owner sold to a different group recently, so I hope they keep the quality the same.

Friendly service in a hip, urban setting. Korean BBQ plate, with Kim-chi, BBQ Beef, and Bread was good. I would have liked the bread to be thinner so I could fit more fixing into it. Asian Meatball Sandwich very tasty, but the bread was ridiculously thick. Something closer to a pita would have been perfect. The spiced fries were very good, with a nice dipping sauce. We also had the Yuzu Lemonade!!!!!! It was wonderful, not too sweet, not sour, very refreshing.

Oh my word. Ever since I left this place I am dreaming of when I will be able to go back and eat there again. I got the kimchi dog which was delightful. There spiced french fries are simply something that needs to be tried with its perfect tangy dipping sauces. The hot dog was not in your average bun, it was clearly homemade and so s moist. I think wanted to get the bacon soft serve that I had heard so much about but they were out of it so I opted for the caramel topping. I am happy that I did because I have never tasted anything like it before. I make caramels and caramel sauce all the time but this was something extraordinary. I will definitely be back...probably today!

I can say that Belly Shack (or anything that Chef Kim makes) is wicked out of this world. I've tried the whole menu due to the many times I go there. Its fantastic. Its my favorite place in all of Chicago. The combinations are so different yet they work harmoniously. When you eat anything, you can taste the different layers of flavors on each dish. I loooooove this place. Chef Kim is the only one that has gotten me to eat Brussels sprouts, pickles and spicy. The service is amazing too. Very nice. Very welcoming. I love all his restaurants but, Belly Shack is my top fav.

I'm going to get the bad out of the way first on this review. The Yuzu margarita was just barely drinkable. I didn't like it much at all. Far too acidic and not well balanced. Other than that the actual food was great. I had no idea what I should order so I ended up deciding on the togarashi fries. They were really tasty and a little bit spicy. I also enjoyed the brussel sprouts that did that played into those classic combination of salt from the bacon with an Asian flare from the soy sauce. The balsamic brought a nice acid as well. As far as my entree goes, I ended up ordering a sandwich that I remember being OK but honestly can't recall any other details about it. There were lots of things on the menu that I was interested in trying, but my aversion to kimchi kept me away. All things considered it was a good place for a quick meal.

I am the type of guy who can notice and appreciate fine, gourmet food, but who can also enjoy a cheap, simple spicy McChicken sandwich for a buck. I preface my review of Belly Shack with this statement to say that I have a pretty wide and liberal appreciation for foods, and that there are very few foods that I actively dislike. That being said, Belly Shack's food (at least the sandwich I tried) is one of those few. The fries with curry sauce is good, but the sandwich on fried plantains simply did not work. Firstly, it was annoying to eat because the fried plantains did not really hold anything, and the plantains were less crunchy and more stiff. More importantly, the Asian-Latin fusion was forced. The different flavors were there, but not in a working unison. Each flavor stood in awkward contrast to one another, like the husband and wife of an interracial couple trying to celebrate Christmas with each other's parents...who are all racists. Sure, everybody was in the same space, and nobody was yelling, but it sure was not pleasant. The defining moment was, as I was finishing the final bite of my fried plantain sandwich, when I looked up and out the window, saw a Subway, and thought: "Man, I would totally rather be chewing on some Spicy Italian on Honey Oat with spinach, olives, extra red onions, tomatoes, hot peppers, Italian seasoning, and vinegar right now."