Guess where this is?

Just something short for tonight…. I'm guessing most folks have more pressing matters at hand…. like finishing up all that Xmas shopping!

Of course most will know just by the facade……

 

Yes, it's Mitsuwa Marketplace of course! But where?

I realized when I walked through this Mitsuwa how important design is….. this one is set-up basically the same. It is much larger than the Mitsuwa in San Diego. And so is the the food court, with a variety of restaurants…

And of course there's a Santouka Ramen…….

 

But also a Chinese Fast Food shop and at least one Korean influenced food stop to go with some other interesting offerings.

 

First off; the name makes me think that the burgers here are pork. Having already had an R Burger, whose ahem, buns are fortified with collagen (you know, I should just have someone provide me with the best collagen bun line…. there must be thousands), a teriyaki wasabi burger doesn't sound that strange. The fries here do sound interesting as you can choose various options like curry and cheese flavored or corn soup flavored fries…… I almost gave in…. well, maybe next time.

There are several more restaurants in this rather large food court.

 

I noticed that the market itself had quite a few Korean products…. more on that later. There were also local products…… and you just know that there are folks out there who can't go a day without Phil's Fertile Eggs, right?

 

Can you imagine the untapped marketing potential for Phil's Fertile Eggs!!!

There are of course more conventional Japanese items.

 

 

Ok….enough with the guessing game thing….. this Mitsuwa is located in Arlington Heights, about 25 miles outside of downtown Chicago. When my Admin Assistant was nice enough to book my overnight accommodations, she told me that I'd be staying in Arlington Heights….. I had no idea where Arlington Heights was….and neither did she. So I obviously saw the irony in the fact that there was a Mitsuwa almost right across the street from my hotel. Of all the places in the greater Chicago area….

It did look like business was pretty slow. After waking from my post Hot Doug's nap, it was already 6pm on a Friday, but the place was pretty dead. And there were several of these in the Marketplace.

 

I do hope they make it. I'm thinking I'll stay in this area if I'm in these parts again. As I drove down East Algonquin Road into Mount Prospect, i couldn't help but noticing all the Korean Restaurants….. there was even a restaurant named Dae Jung Keum……sound familiar???

Mitsuwa Marketplace
100 E Algonquin Rd
Arlington Heights, IL 60005