Oz Park

"A park featuring sculptures from 'The Wizard of Oz,' located on Chicago's north side." - Meena Thiruvengadam Meena Thiruvengadam Meena Thiruvengadam is a lifelong traveler and veteran journalist who has visited more than 50 countries across six continents. Her writing has appeared in The Wall Stree

"Snaggletooth sounds like the villain in a fairy tale - watch out for Snaggletooth and his friends Hook and The Wicked Witch Of The West. But this Snaggletooth is pretty much the opposite: a very cute little specialty café-meets-deli in Lakeview. Think of Snaggletooth as an upscale version of your favorite bagel shop. The concept is similar, but the food is more sophisticated, and focused around all sorts of truly excellent cured fish. They do a fancy take on smoked salmon (gravlax), the pastrami-cured trout is delicious, the bbq sablefish is meaty, and the lime-cured hamachi is like a deli margarita party in your mouth. The selections rotate daily, but everything is good. Get a tasting platter with a bagel (from New York Bagel & Bialy in Lincolnwood) if you want to try it all, or get a tartine, which is a fancy way of saying half a bagel with schmear and one kind of cured fish. We say schmear because Snaggletooth has an entire “schmear bar” of Greek yogurt-based spreads. They're lighter than regular cream cheese, plus there are interesting options like kimchi schmear, honey-walnut, or jalapeño. There's also a small rotating menu of other great items like savory oats or homemade hummus and pita with pickled onions - but any first Snaggletooth trip should include the fish. The only complaint about this place is the fact you can spend a solid $20-25 on breakfast or lunch and still end up hungry. We understand that fish can be pricey, but they could also give you a whole bagel with a tartine instead of only half. There's nothing else like Snaggletooth around, which is why we'll splurge for it. You can't always put a price on the Oz-like enchantment of quality cured fish." - Sam Faye