Food & Drink in Oak Lawn

Specializing in the art of nail design, Tracy Nails Salon’s team of technicians spend their days gilding nails in vibrant coats of chip-free polish. While their focus remains on digits, staffers also bustle about the salon restoring radiance to complexions with meticulously applied facials or easing shoulders achy from serving as a perch for overweight parrots with the soothing kneads of a relaxing massage.

Smashburger isn't just the name—it's the way chefs grill every burger. First, they form never-frozen, 100% Angus beef into a giant meatball. Then they season it, place it on a butter-glazed grill, and smash it into a patty. The process caramelizes the beef, locking in flavor while keeping the meat juicy and tender. The chefs then sandwich each slab in an artisan bun and turn it into one of an array of standard burgers or locally inspired specialties unique to each market. This handcrafting approach typifies everything else the chefs do, from blending handspun Häagen-Dazs shakes to hand painting Smashburger's logo onto every beverage cup. Letting its food stand for itself and relying mostly on word of mouth for advertising, the Smashburger franchise expanded to 160 restaurants in five years, with its swift growth from zero to 100 stores making it one of the nation's fastest-growing restaurant companies. This rapid development even caught the attention of Forbes and Inc. along the way.

Wall-to-wall windows fill Sushi Thaime with natural light, creating an inviting atmosphere for the enjoyment of fresh sushi and sizzling East Asian cuisine. Chefs slice salmon and freshwater eel for sashimi, as well as fashion more complex sushi such as the Godzilla roll with tempura shrimp, spicy bean sprouts, and fish eggs served on the plate-size battery-compartment door of Mechagodzilla. Korean-beef short ribs absorb the flavors of a sweet marinade before being charbroiled to perfection, and shrimp mingles with straw mushrooms in the coconut soup's creamy, herb-infused broth.

Just in case you don't believe that all of Muchi Muchi Yogurt's frozen flavors are low- or non-fat, the menu offers up the nutrition facts to prove it. A stocked topping bar invites you to double the chocolaty effect of the triple-chocolate flavor with crumbled brownie bites and Reese's cups. On the other side of the spectrum, fruity, tart flavors refresh and invigorate taste buds with bites of green-tea yogurt topped with mango or pomegranate yogurt sprinkled with gummy worms and Fruity Pebbles. Instead of mixing your own flavor combos, you can head to the smoothie counter for a fruit drink as thirst-quenching as a fire hydrant with a straw in it.

Within warm, inviting pub of Jack Desmonds, a menu laden with traditional Irish entrees, savory sandwiches, bold burgers, and scrumptious salads transports patrons across the ocean without requiring a plane ticket. Customers can quickly quiet talkative tummies with irish-curry fries ($5.95) or Blarney Balls, potato croquettes with bacon, scallions, and parmesan cheese, served with sour cream ($4.95). Classic dinner dishes such as shepherd's pie ($8.95) and bangers 'n' mash—Irish sausages served with an entourage of mashed potatoes and Irish baked beans ($7.95)—are known to inspire sudden spoutings of limericks, while foods such as the veggie wrap ($6.95) and classic caesar salad ($5.95) sate herbivorous humans and rebellious venus flytraps.