We’ve tallied the results and are ready to share our reader favorites for places in Barrington to get coffee, picnic food, takeout, home delivery, catering and the best farm, market or stand. They’re the final results in our 2012 Best of Barrington Survey in the Best Eats category.
So before you plan your next coffee run, party, picnic or night off in the kitchen, read on for more of our reader recommendations…
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Best Place to Get Coffee: Cook Street Coffee & Starbucks
When it comes to the Best Place to Get Coffee in Barrington, we have a tw0-way-tie for the top spot.
Cook Street Coffee and Starbucks each received 42% of the recommendations from our readers. Both Barrington Starbucks locations, on Hough Street and the drive-thru on Northwest Highway, were named by our readers as their favorite places for a cup of joe and Cook Street Coffee received high marks for being locally owned and operated with delicious coffee plus a great atmosphere and sidewalk seating right in downtown Barrington.
Ambrosia Euro American Patisserie, that incredibly delicious french bakery in The Foundry of Barrington, also received many recommendations as a reader favorite for coffee in Barrington. And there were also votes for the coffee at Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds.
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Best Place to Get Picnic Food: An 8-Way Tie
Here are the eight places our readers recommended for best places around to pick up food for a picnic in Barrington…
Barrington Country Bistro – 718 W. Northwest Highway
Boloney’s Sandwich Shop – 114 W. Main Street
Caputo’s – 2070 N. Rand Road in Palatine
Einstein’s Bagels – 208 S. Cook Street
Fresh Market – 20771 N. Rand Road in Kildeer
Jimmy John’s – 168 S. Northwest Highway
La Mesa – 243 W. Northwest Highway
Savory Salads – 215 N. Hough Street
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Best Farm, Market or Stand: Barrington Farmers Market
With 40% of the recommendations received, the Barrington Farmers Market is the number one choice among our readers for their favorite farm, market or stand in Barrington.
Located at the corner of Cook and Main Streets, the weekly Barrington Farmers Market is open during the warmer months from 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
It was started in 2000 by the Barrington Village Association (BVA), a local homeowner’s group working to build community, adding to the character to downtown Barrington.
The Foley Farmstand also received recommendations in our survey along with the seasonal farm stand at Route 22 & Kelsey Road, Palatine’s Farmers Market, Whole Foods, Fresh Market and The Gentleman Farmer, organic veggie growers and a family farming business right here in Barrington.
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Best Takeout: Ciao Baby
The most reader recommendations we received for Best Takeout in Barrington were for Ciao Baby, the extremely popular Italian restaurant at 232 E. Main Street in downtown Barrington. 25% of our survey responders chose Ciao Baby as best place for takeout and it’s a true testament to Chef Vince Pecora. He’s the man in charge of the menu who serves authentic Italian cuisine including amazing pizzas and pastas to a diners who regularly stand in line for a seat in this casual, family-run dining room.
Chinese Palace on Northwest Highway also received many reader recommendations in this category.
And so did Frantonio’s Italian Deli & Cafe, La Mesa, Lou Malnati’s, Naomi Sushi Express, PL8 Simply Asian, Sagano Japanese Restaurant, Dog Tracks and Amore Mio at 1457 Palatine Road in Hoffman Estates.
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Best Home Delivery: Lou Malnati’s and Primo’s Pizza
When it comes to home delivery, Lou Malnati’s and Primo’s Pizza share the top spot in our reader poll in Barrington. Lou Malnati’s in Lake Zurich offers pizza delivery, takeout and catering out of their location at 1225 Rand Road. Primo’s Pizza & Catering at 630 S. Northwest Highway has been serving “superior thin crust since 1992” and is extremely popular for it’s light and crispy pizza crust along with its deep dish, stuffed and unique specialty pizzas.
Also receiving shout-outs for best home delivery were Chinese Palace, Jimmy John’s, Papa John’s in Palatine, Wool Street Grill, ZaZa’s Tavola Italiana, Seattle Sutton’s and Ripe Organics in Lake Zurich.
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Best Caterer: Wild Asparagus
In the very last reader poll in our Best Eats category, we asked people to recommend their favorite local caterer. The highest number of recommendations we received, 31%, were for Wild Asparagus Catering located right across the street from the Barrington Jewel at 114 Applebee Street. Wild Asparagus was established by Chef/Owner Jeramie Campana in July 2008. Former Sous Chef for prominent Barrington caterer Tastefully Yours, Chef Campana has built his business based on exceptional customer service, extraordinary cuisine, and a dedication to his clients. As described on their website, “He is continually developing new menu ideas to keep your event unique and your guests impressed.”
And it’s no surprise that Ciao Baby also received high praise from our readers for best catering in Barrington, with 25% of the reader recommendations received along with Frantonio’s Italian Deli and Café, Egg Harbor Café, Biltmore Country Club, Jimmy John’s, Supreme Cuisine and our very own Kelly Donlea’s Organizing Dinner. Chef Kelly Donlea is a caterer, cooking coach and also writes the Barrington Eats column here at 365Barrington.com. She never ceases to inspire us with easy and delicious recipes and tips to help us master the art of meal planning at home.
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These are the final results in Best Eats, the fifth category in our Best of Barrington survey. CLICK HERE to review all of the survey results we’ve revealed to date.
Coming up next, we’ll share results in our Sweet Treats category followed by results from our categories titled For the Home & Garden, Barrington Services, Health and Beauty and Neighborhoods.
If you’d like to let others know your business or organization was named a “reader favorite” our 2012 Best of Barrington Survey, we have a digital seal that you’re free to share online. Email liz@365Barrington.com for a custom seal. Or copy & paste the following code into your webpage:
<a href=”https://365barrington.com/best-of-barrington-2012-survey-results/”><img title=”Voted Best of Barrington” src=”https://365barrington.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/BOB-Voted-Best-of-Barrington1.jpg” alt=”” width=”200″ height=”200″ /></a>
Congratulations to all of our reader favorites in the Best Eats and please stay tuned as we continue to reveal our readers’ picks for the very Best of Barrington.
In the meantime, please feel free to leave a comment in the box below if you have any other recommendations about your favorite restaurants and dishes offered in Barrington.
Why was Cooper’s of Barrington left completely out of this list?
Hi Kay,
This list includes the results of a survey we published at the beginning of 2012. Visitors to our website voted for their favorites in a number of categories. Cooper’s did get many votes in areas like “Best Burger”, “Best Pizza” and “Best Wings”. You can see all of the survey results at this link: https://365barrington.com/best-of-barrington-2012-survey-results/
And, if you want to take our survey and recommend Cooper’s in any category, that would be great! We’ll be publishing results for the new year toward the end of 2013. Here’s the link: https://365barrington.com/best-of-barrington-survey/
Thanks for your comment and have a great weekend, Kay
Happy New Year,
Liz