John's Place Roscoe Village Home cooking in Roscoe Village

Successful men often try to reprise their younger, hungrier days -- the Stones scrapped expensive production to achieve the raw authenticity of Stripped, and Louie Anderson is back to stealing other kids' public-school lunches. Getting back to restaurant roots, John's Place Roscoe Village.

JPRV's a "soothing homestyle cooking" joint that, with just four booths, 11 tables, and a bamboo & recycled aluminum tiled bar, is about the same size its Lincoln Park older brother was before hitting its growth spurt and finding hair in strange places (figuratively). Meanwhile, the limited menu will only feature best-sellers from the original, plus a precious few newbies -- for lunch & dinner, that means the Roscoe Burger (caramelized onions, smoky bacon, cheddar), plus stalwarts like chile-lime marinated carne asada, roasted chicken stew pot pie, and BBQ-glazed turkey meatloaf, which would do anything for love, but it won't do fat. New for breakfast/brunch is the goat cheese & veggie Roscoe Village Omelet, while classics include Chihuahua-cheesed chilaquiles and Noah's stuffed chocolate banana pancakes (good enough to eat for 40 days & nights when you can't get high off your own animal supply).

JPRV's pouring a limited selection of brews (Hacker-Pschorr Weiss, Negra Modelo, Fat Tire, etc), with eventual nightly specials like $4 margs and half-priced wine night -- which the older resto also offers, as you're never too successful for a cheap drunk.