Reservations tonight!

went to maude's liquor bar on wednesday. All I can say is that it kicked serious ass

Tried Jake Melnick's today for lunch. Heard it won for best wings at Wingfest so we had to go. It's located on Superior and State. Tried the onion rings which were some of the fanciest onion rings I think I've ever had. the batter has garlic on it which was particularly tasty. Then we went with their award winning wings. First off, the wings had some crunch to them which I liked. not as big as advertised but by no means were small, just when you say jumbo wings, I expect huge wings. the flavor .... damn this was tasty, clearly could understand why it won at wingfest. sweet yet some heat to them, you understand why they're called "Firecracker" wings. Tried their traditional spicy wings which honestly were nothing special, its all about the Firecracker sauce imo. Add a couple drinks and the bill was $30/each, half food/half drinks. Beer is overpriced at this place I think. All in all, I'd go back for the award winning wings, but i'd have to try their other dishes there too.

After a quick browse (so mostly grunching), too much high-brow IMO. Wiener Circle on Clark late-night. Order the chocolate milkshake.

+ to Jake Melnick's wings being pretty damn good. Was randomly walking around looking for a place to watch a hockey game earlier this spring and ended up there. Was impressed by the wings, onion rings, and the fish which someone had (lol fridays during lent)

You forgot one important piece to the puzzle.

I finally made it to Pritzker PAvilion in Millenium Park for a show last night (Iron and Wine). It was insanely packed, but a blast. Great weather, good music, and awesome venue.

They have classical music shows each week I believe over the course of the summer. Highly recommend grabbing some snacks, wine, and a blanket and heading out there for an evening to relax and enjoy the music.

Paddy Long's is great. They also have a very popular "beer and bacon" tasting. I have never done it, but several friends have recommended, and it's high on my to-do list...

Going to see Ray Lamontange tonight! Since it is a pay show I purchased seats.

The free shows at the Pritzker are great because they let you bring in food and drink, not so the pay shows.

Kuma's Corner has the best burgers.....

Yeah, going to eat at Kuma's for the first time for lunch later this week.

Looking for somewhere new to go for dinner on Friday. Nothing fancy, just something different. Any suggestions?

try Ban Po Jung in North Park. Its a great Korean BBQ place on Foster. I tried it the other week and it was really damn good

Had a nice run last weekend:

Drinks at Sepia Friday night: drinks fantastic as usual, and the new North Shore "Sol" chamomile-citrus vodka is nice.

Dinner at Nightwood Friday night: Honestly perfect french fries. Food was as expected - nothing super exciting, locavore type stuff, all done quite well with some interesting flavor combos scattered throughout. They've got a pretty crazy list of Rose(/)s right now, if you're in to that. The patio looks great, but it was too cold to actually sit out there.

Saturday brunch at Perennial Virant: Apparently it was the first day they did brunch service. Really fantastic food, great vibe in the restaurant. Ordered "The Skillet". The waitress says "the guys in the kitchen say that anyone who doesn't like the skillet is an *******." Dark meat chicken, gravy, parisian (ricotta?) gnocchi, asparagus, eggs. So, so, good.

Didn't really need to eat again until Sunday dinner, at Sunda: what I'd heard about Sunda was that the food was good. In fact, better than expected given the type of douchey scenesters that are to be found there. This largely matches what I found to be the case. I had a Gilt City coupon for a five course dinner for 2, actually 2 coupons. I feel like they were going overboard or something, but if this was the standard for these coupons, or even if this was the standard at 2x the price, it was pretty great.

Chopped Asian chicken salad (the two girls got theirs with no chicken, they gave us the chicken on the side because they didn't want us to feel cheated out of chicken. The other guy took the chicken home for his dog - there was just a ton of food). 2 mushroom sushi rolls, 2 spicy tuna sushi rolls, each 10 piece jobs. Steamed bun sandwiches with eggplant. Beef lollipops (I think on sugarcane?), tempura-d/fried shrimp with walnuts, mayo. Grilled tofu, grilled pork belly (these were steak sized pieces of pork belly). Something like half a chicken, maybe a whole small chicken. Honestly, everything was very, very good. Way better than expected. The hostess was kind of a bitch, and the drinks were overpriced, but those are in line with the expectations of a scene-y kind of place.

Anyway, all of it was very good, and I look forward to eating at all of these places again soon (particularly Perennial Virant, which I've been pretty excited for for a while). Some time next week maybe I'll be ready to eat again?

GP -

Idk what level of not fancy you're looking for, but man, I love me some Korean BBQ. Ban Po Jung and San Soo Gab San are both very good.

Urban Belly is great, casual, and different.

Up in Andersonville, Ceres Table (reasonably rustic medium end Italian) and Vincent (Dutch food, but probably a better cold weather place, maybe) are out of the ordinary.

From the news this week, Gene's Sausage Shop, 4750 N. Lincoln Ave, and The Black Sheep, 1132 W. Grand Ave look like a good time.

Went to cheesie's for lunch today, it was awesome. Its right under the belmont red stop and its all grilled cheese sandwiches. I've been meaning to go there since my friend lives up the street, but I'm lazy. I can only imagine how great it'd be when drunk

Kuma's is fantastic.

Great Lake Pizza in Andersonville is very very good. It scores very low for decor though, but you should definitely check it out some time.

Mana food bar (Division & Paulina) does outstanding vegetarian food, and excellent cocktails. It's swanky too, great date place.

Was at their website today, their rooftop area looks pretty awesome. Would be very interested to hear how the food is.

First Cubs game of the year under my belt Tuesday in extra innings. Solid game and good times at Sports Corner.

Going to Sox/Cubs on Monday at the cell. (Indifferent to the team rivalry since I'm a transplant).

311/Sublime tickets have been purchased for 7/14 @ Northerly Island and have two days of Lolla planned.

Got a groupon for kayaking the river so I'm going with a lady friend.

Also does anyone else in this thread do anything besides go out to restaurants? I mean yea Chicago has good food but there are many more things to enjoy aside from food.
Just sayin...

The fiancee and I are looking for a new place in a few months and are between the West Loop and New Eastside.

Anyone have any strong feelings on either area? I had no familiarity with the New Eastside, but walking through that area (and that amazing park) and I was absolutely sold. I still have no idea what the actually day to day life is down there though.

FWIW I currently live in Lincoln Park (Wrightwood and Halsted) and she lives in Streeterville. We are in our late 20s and both work primarily in the loop but have a car (I am in the suburbs occasionally for work).

Any quick thoughts? I would be especially interested in anyone's experience with the New Eastside. It seems like an oasis down there, but I have absolutely no firsthard experience with the area.

I'm with ya. Some activity-based convo would be good in here.

On that note, I'm taking the lady to the Lincoln Park Zoo tomorrow. Haven't been since I was like 10. Actually pretty excited, I love animals. Hopefully the weather holds.

Here's a nice summary of the the New East Side.

http://www.urbanrealestate.com/Chica...-Side/profile/

A few experiences I've had with NES:

It's isolated. I market some office space over there and while there are a bunch of el stops on state and michigan the walk to get over to all of the main NES buildings is usually a windy one, which makes it seem much longer than it is.

That said, depending on what buildings you're looking at and which way the units face, the views can be absolutely unreal. I have a friend who lives at 340 E Randolph and his view looks straight south over the park, has views of the lake and the loop.

I know there is a major supermarket planning to open there soon, can't remember which one though.

The NES park is really cool too. To be able to throw the ball around, lay out during the summer, right outside your door and so close to all of the big buildings on mich ave and the loop is pretty sweet. You're obviously much closer to the lake as well, which is nice.

I'm not a downtown person at all, so if it were me I'd definitely go with something in a small building in the west loop. But if you want to live close to work, go with NES.

I was just looking at apartments in the New East side/Lakeshore east area the other day. They were incredible. Large spacing, great amenities, unreal views, good location. I agree that the location is somewhat isolated from public transpo and the hustle and bustle, which can be good or bad. Ultimately I don't think I am going to go with them since they will be out of my price range.

Oh, and the new supermarket opening is Mariano's. They have some in the suburbs and are supposed to be amazing.

people have posted about activity stuff in here before, and it seems to get ignored

meh, just because people don't comment about it doesn't mean it gets ignored.

the bulk of convo is about bars/restaurants though, pretty undeniable.

Yea I was just curious why that was?
I'm not much of a "foodie" since I stick to a certain diet and workout so I just eat pretty cleanly/boring lol. I don't really seek out fancy restaurants or whatever just not my thing and am surprised how much of an activity it is for some.
However I'm always looking to hear about other activities going on, especially since I'm gonna be moving in a few months.