Chicago: Cold Enough To Snow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr6r6lbQXJo

I can't believe you have me killfiled, Eric. That's straight bullshit.

I hope this makes up for it.

You know me so well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Hey, Chicagoans, help us out:

Jeff and I are entertaining an old, dear internet friend who is visiting from Australia. She is cool and interesting and into art and music and surfing. We would like to take her to dinner. Where should we take her? My only criteria is that it can't be a place where we have to stand around for three hours waiting for a table.

I took a French couple to lunch at Five Guys earlier this year, and they loved it. Can't get that over there.

So maybe just Piece or Ranalli's or something straightforward and very good. Or Karyn's, the raw place.

NO KARYN'S.

Piece is a really good idea. She's staying in that part of town, too.

Outback Steakhouse.

urban belly aint far and is good and fast

I wonder if I should meet her. V02?

xp lol jmc

I already made the Outback joke last night to Jeff. Sheesh, John, do you have me killfiled or something?

note to self: 1 boob is free with 1

Oh, Jesse, do you know her from the old message board days?

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Urban Belly, too. Quick and not too pricey but doesn't feel overly casual. BYOB, too.

What do you people mean by "quick"? I don't want to eat fast, I just want to either be able to make a reservation or get a table in less than an hour.

weird, why are you guys naming restaurants? it's not like someone asked you to recommend restaurants or anything

Yes, Jennbun, I know her from FRM.

in this week's matt jones crossword puzzle (apologies in advance to jaymc if that's part of your weekly regimen):

17A - "Garnish that some upscale fries at Chicago restaurant mk are served with" - TRUFFLECREAM

Once you have a table, you place your order at the counter, and the food comes out relatively quickly. Depending on when you go, you may have to wait for a table, but I think the hype has died down, so I bet it won't be too bad. I've seen people eat there and then split, but I've also seen people linger at their tables with a bottle of wine.

Ha, Jordan, that's a weirdly specific clue. Although it doesn't beat "Game my dad refused to install on our computer in 1993 because it took up 40 megabytes."

I am still interested in restaurant recommendations, if anybody has any other ideas. Urban Belly doesn't quite seem to be what I'm looking for.

The Bristol? Might be a bit of a wait though.

I want to go to The Publican.

Jeff and I are going there for brunch the Sunday after Christmas. They serve scrapple!

OK.

I went to El Nandu last night and it was gooooooooood. Never had a problem w/ reservation or tables there.

yea but publican on friday is gonna be a wait dudes
nandu is good tho

We're going on Saturday, but Publican on Saturday is going to be a wait. So is Piece - I called to ask how tough it would be to get a table and the LOLed at me.

They're all gonna LOL @ u!

I guess in order to make a better recommendation, I would need more parameters. Neighborhood? Cuisine? Price level?

(I forget -- have you guys been to HB Home Bistro in your very own neighborhood?)

Neighborhood: doesn't matter, but near a train stop strongly preferred as our visitor is getting around via train
Cuisine: doesn't really matter, either, but something that Chicago is good at or something that is maybe not so common in Australia
Price Level: moderate
Atmosphere: causal/down to earth

El Nandu looks pretty good.
I don't think we've ever been to HB Home Bistro.

i always recommend gino's north but it is surely too far north for you. they have good thin crust pizza and are very old fashioned chicago bar type bar. on granville near the red line, though.

xp It's good. I would recommend you make a trip even if not with your Australian pal.

Mixteco Grill might be a good idea -- a Mexican restaurant that's upscale but moderately priced and easier to get into than a Bayless joint, two blocks from Montrose Brown Line stop.

(no affiliation with the other gino's that serves thick crust exclusively)

yes, mixteco is delicious but i always have a hard time getting a table on weekend nights.

they have grown, though.

Others:

Ras Dashen
Glenn's Diner
Wishbone
Hopleaf (I know it can be a zoo on weekends, but since so much of that is just in the bar upfront, I don't know what that realistically means in terms of wait time for a dinner table)

I took two out-of-town friends to dinner at Hopleaf over the summer and we waited several hours for a table. It was kind a disaster, but not really because we just sat in the bar upstairs and drank.

Ah, well scratch that, then.

I think good Mexican might be a great choice. Australia is about as far from MX as you can get.

And I don't think they have a big Mexican immigrant problem there so there is probably no good Mexican food there.

It seems very wrong to me that the Cook co. Circus Court's home page has ads for attorneys on it.

"mexican immigrant problem"

hahahahahahaha

i know he meant immigrant population but OMG

(no good mexican food is a big mexican immigrant problem btw)

i think he was making a "joke" (?)

He masks his real intentions, which is what makes him so alluring.

Yeah, I took it as a joke, too?

oh yes, a "joke"
i am only somewhat familiar with those

i bet he talks about guitar tone a lot

"Hindjew" also means "to your rear."

"Wherejew go?"

"Hindjew."

yeah but i have a hard time saying no when people ask me to play drums. i'll probably say no.

xp :/

I used to live a few doors down from a Chabad House, and one night a five-year-old ran up to me and said, "Are YOU a Jew? Are YOU a Jew?" Funny kid.

A few years ago I won 3 months at the Cheetah Gym, and was very happy last weekend to discover that the gift certificate is still valid, so I'm doing that 'til April 2 and loving it.

Gomorra was definitely one of my favorite movies last year, and at the time I saw it said that it was the best mob movie ever.

I think I might get up ass early and go the gym tomorrow! How exciting!

I can even take a steam bath to stay cozy outside.

xp - oh, cool. I liked Cheetah b/c they have a TV on each cardio machine.

jordan don't do it
u need time 4 u

time for jew

just had a good meeting in which we discussed the scientific method while unconsciously using the scientific method
now i am going to walk home

i said no. then he emailed me a newspaper article about how he used to be big in chicago.

That's unfortunate.

http://www.klassiskgitar.net/Botero,%20Fernando%20%28born%201932%29%20-%20Man%20Playing%20Guitar.jpg

"Time After Time" live at Silvie's.

tbf he seems like a nice enough guy and is obv a talented guitar player, but i really do need time for jew.

i mean moi.

Friends,

I'm going out of town last minute this weekend, which means I will miss ABC. I posted about it on the FB group, and asked someone to step in an coordinate the reservations. So yeah.

Also, do any of you know the woman who posted on the ABC front page? Should we email her and invite her to the next meeting?

That sounds really ominous - I'm going to CA to see Jeff who is staying out for work an extra week, so it's a fun trip, plus it's going to be in the motherfucking 60s. Word.

Can I join your reindeer game? Not this weekend, obviously. But for the next book.

(I wasn't knocking the guitar guy, just guessing what big in Chicago might have meant.)

OK who has bets for how much snow we get in this next storm?

I heard 6" by the lake. Ill go w that.

Jesse, you'll go with 6" no matter where it is.

I think Dirty Projectors nicked the lyric from "Two Doves" that goes "Don't remind me of my failures" from "These Days" by Jackson Browne. I realized this well after I put the two songs on the same mix. Call it intuition.

xp jaymc otm.

Skilling's forecast (sorry Jeff) says by tomorrow night, we could be looking at 12 inches "near the lake". It's going to snow for about 36 straight hours apparently, and it's barely going to get above 20 while it's doing it. Ski powder, yo.

Twelve inches, if I am not mistaken, would be more snow in one weather event than I have seen in all my seven winters here. That's two assloads of snow.

If Skilling said 12, you'll surely get 3.

I'll split the difference and predict nine. Which is still an assload and a half.

I was back in my old hood today and didn't know that the Dominicks at Sheridan and Foster, along with its big parking lot, and maybe the motel behind it, have all been completely razed.

I discovered that several weeks ago when I tried to swing past that Dominick's. I was pissed that I had to then walk to the Jewel on Berwyn right then, but I was also like "good riddance." Terrible store.

Whoa! I was just thinking about going to that dominicks for their fab cereal specials.

12" is a lot. I don't know if I can take that.

That was the first grocery store that the three J's ever went to in Chicago.

I could probably manage 12" if it was really slick, but definitely not dry.

Totally a Bad Times Dominick's.

Also stop making dick jokes.

I was just riding the dick joke that John started.

I'm with Jeff. 3 inches.

Skilling's predictions are sure to yield 45 degrees and sun.

I see somebody else is angling for a Skilling Snuggie...

I accidentally watched like five minutes of Cougar Town tonight and I'm still very unhappy about that.

I have never understood Jenny's aversion to that artless comedy standard, the dick joke. But there is much I do not understand.

Also, I would totally use a Skilling Snuggie.

I'm reading a recipe that says "Once the rub is on the pork loin, go ahead and brush the olive oil..." and "After cooking for about an hour and 45 minutes...go ahead and pour some of the wine over the meat" and it's annoying.

It is not my fault that Skilling is incompetent.

I have a peculiar question for those of you in couples. Is there a writer/artist/musician/etc. who, if you bring them up in conversation, will bring the conversation to a halt because of the disdain for this person? Woody Allen, or whoever?

There are Woody Allen movies that Jules refuses to discuss -- Stardust Memories will seemingly not be viewed by her for quite a while. (Nor will 8 1/2.)

There are probably more examples. Things seen as needlessly lecerous do not go over well at all.

lecherous, even

I have tried to explain that both of those movies are far more about *movies* than anything else, but no go.

I made the mistake of bringing up [Removed Illegal Link] (amazing!) artist.

er this

i'm looking at 10" tomorrow (i'm a few blocks from the shore in milwaukee)

I made the mistake of bringing up [Removed Illegal Link] (amazing!) artist.

Can't stand her. Sorry.

I think we need a new thread, not because this one is crazy long or has been going on too long, but just because it's a new DECADE, ppl, and new is the new old.

Also, I kind of miss my long-ago habit of starting new Chicago threads. And starting them off with album covers.

Chicago - New York