NICK MOSS' CULINARY TOUR OF CHICAGO

HOMETOWN ALBUM RELEASE SHOW FOR THE NICK MOSS BAND'S 'TIME AIN'T FREE' COMING UP FEBRUARY 28 AT BUDDY GUY'S LEGENDS AS ALBUM SET TO BE RELEASED MARCH 18

With the Nick Moss Band's album release show for 'Time Ain't Free' coming up February 28 at Buddy Guy's Legends, we asked the bandleader and born-and-raised Chicagoan for his restaurant recommendations. "Being Italian, I usually cook myself," he says, before launching into a long list of mouthwatering Windy City spots and what to order at many of them:

"The south side has killer barbecue. I used to play at the Checkerboard Lounge every week with my brother [Joe Moss] and Buddy Scott. There was barbecue right on 43rd Street, rib tips and hot sausage, Alice’s Bar-B-Que. Another killer place we used to go to was Barbara Ann’s on Cottage Grove and 76th Street. We used to go Lem’s Bar-B-Q on 75th. We spent a lot of time playing on the south side. After the gig, usually, everyone went and got barbecue. In the summer or when weather was nice, some of my favorite memories are of getting barbecue and hanging out by the lakefront."

Click here to hear "I Want the World To Know," "She Wants It," and "Was I Ever Heard" From 'Time Ain't Free,' coming March 18 on Blue Bella Records.

"Chicago is known for their Italian beef sandwiches. It's a fairly regional thing. My favorite places are—in no particular order—Jay’s Italian beef; Johnny’s Italian Beef; or Al’s. At Johnny’s, you say give me Italian beef & make it cry. Or you can get the combo: Italian sausage & beef on a roll. The sausage has to be really charred."

"One of my favorite restaurants for homestyle cooking is the Italian Village. It has been there since 1927 so obviously they’re doing something right. I get the linguini fruitti de mare fra diavlo. It's a giant bowl with everything from the sea, in a hot spicy broth."

"Everyone knows about Taylor Street when they come to Chicago but absolutely the best Italian sub sandwich in the city is Bari right on Grand Ave. It's a tiny little grocery store. There's a line out the front door at lunch time."

"There are some great Bohemian style, eastern European style place. We used to go to The White Eagle when we were kids and it's still there. Banquet style, great Polish food. the Red Apples are a great value for your dollars. I used to frequent them a lot when I was single living in the city. For $5, you could load up your plate and feed yourself for three days in one sitting. Just outside of Chicago on Berwin, on the near west side, Czech Plaza was one of my grandpa’s favorite places to go to."

Guitar World posted the scorching guitar-driven new song "No Reason" and calling the NMB's music "nothing less than a powerful gumbo of Chicago soul, funk, blues, jam music and rock and roll."

Billboard agreed, posting the soul song "I Want The World To Know," saying, "Moss reaches deeper into soul, funk and rock 'n' roll on Time Ain’t Free."