After my friend Tommy Else and I finished our Photobiomodulation sessions at Restore Hyper Wellness, we embarked on the first stop on a new food journey. The Village Inn in Skokie was our first stop on what will become a regular event for us.

Dubbed the Taco Salad or Else Turkey Burger Tour, Tommy and I are on a quest to try our food favorites all over the Chicago area. Knowing Tommy loved the taco salad at North Side in his Glen Ellyn neighborhood while the Village Inn serves my favorite turkey burger, we intend to see how other restaurants rank with our favorites.

Tommy and I haven’t seen each other since the pandemic hit. On a recent phone call, while discussing how things are opening again around Chicago, we decided to make up for lost time and use the tour as a way to hang out more often while also trying new restaurants.

Since Tommy had never been to the Village Inn and I hadn’t eaten inside in months, we decided it would be the perfect first stop. I ordered my usual turkey burger with Swiss cheese and mushrooms on a pretzel bun, while Tommy ordered his taco salad.

As always, I enjoyed my burger, but the real test was Tommy’s taco salad. Overall, Tommy gave it a B. Tommy took off points because the three main components (taco meat, cheese and pico de gallo) were separated in the taco shell, and the meat needed more taco seasoning. He admitted he had to work on his grading scale, but this was only our first such outing.

Of course, the Taco Salad or Else Turkey Burger Tour is more about friendship than the actual food, but we will be taking the food sampling seriously. I’m guessing finding turkey burgers will be the more challenging part, but it all adds to the fun.

— John Wroblewski, online writer