A Look Inside Sawa’s Old Warsaw: the Ultimate Polish Smorgasbord Buffet Experience

Catch up with A Look Inside Sawa’s Old Warsaw: the Ultimate Polish Smorgasbord Buffet Experience. Our latest report covers the primary developments in this concise summary.

While Eastern European roasts draw purists, two specific items command an almost obsessive following among regular diners: the potato pancakes (placki kartoflane) and the fried chicken. A great potato pancake requires ruthless precision. If the grated Russet potatoes sit too long, enzymatic browning ruins the interior color; excess moisture creates a limp, oily disc. The kitchen team at Sawa’s fries these thin, heavily seasoned potato patties in continuous rotations, ensuring guests receive discs with lacey, brittle edges and tender, savory centers, served alongside sour cream or chunky applesauce.

Equally prominent on diner plates is the fried chicken. Though fried chicken is rarely associated with standard Old World Warsaw menus, it became an indispensable cornerstone of Polish American banquet halls across the Midwest in the mid-1900s. Sawa’s prepares its poultry using a light, seasoned flour coating rather than a thick, craggy Southern buttermilk batter. Pressure-cooked and finished in hot oil, the meat stays remarkably juicy under a paper-thin, crisp skin scented with garlic, black pepper, and paprika. It routinely rivals dedicated fried chicken shacks across Cook County.