I first stumbled upon the Goddess and Grocer when out hunting for places to eat around the Clark and Divison Red Line stop. I was meandering my way back from their through the Gold Coast, the area with all the posh shops, towards the Hancock when this place suddenly appeared. At the time I had a look inside and there was a really good looking deli section with hot and cold foods, soups, salads and sandwiches, even a small wine selection. The only reason that I didnt get anything that time was that it was too cold outside to eat a sandwich on a park bench and I was too hungry to get one to take all the way home to eat. Then this week I popped in again and found that they have a small section at the back where you can eat, so today with that in my mind I headed back to try them out properly.

You can get soups, salads made up, and cold sandwiches, but I was focused on the hot sandwiches board. In particular I was liking the sound of the “Smokin Brisket” sandwich. This was listed as slow roasted brisket with bbq sauce, caramelized onions and cheddar on an onion kaiser roll. I paid my $8.50 and settled down in the back to wait for it to appear. Not too long a wait later and my sandwich arrives and a most beautiful sight it was. It was so packed with brisket that it looked like a burger of some sort, but I assure you that it wasn’t, it was just one big meaty beast. The brisket was in big chunks, at least thumb sized pieces but it was still so tender. The bbq sauce was mild and lightly smoked and there was a sweetness that I think came from the caramelized onions. The Cheese was on the base bun which was a good idea as this stopped the bun soaking up the sauce and getting soggy. You really needed the bread to stand firm as it had a tough job to do holding in all of this meat. I have to say I enjoyed this sandwich immensely and I suspect that from what I saw of other peoples sandwiches that they do a good job here with all of their offerings. If there were not so many other places to try I would be here a lot.

As I mentioned at the top there was plenty of prepared food items to take home, including some good looking chicken pot pies, lasagne, and quiches, plus a whole host of deli items to build your own sandwiches with to take away too. Luckily I was happy enough with the sandwich that I had just had and was not hungry enough to succumb to the temptation to buy even more food. So replete I left and headed out back towards the Chicago Red Line stop to find my way back home.

The Goddess and Grocer is on the corner at 25 E Delaware Place in Chicago’s Gold Coast district. It is easiest to get to from the Chicago Red Line El station, just walk North about 10 minutes and you will find it.