Posts by Jill Charles

Honky Tonk Barbecue is a delicious, no-frills barbecue joint, which upgraded from a portable smoker and catering service. I would recommend it for a date because of its excellent food, relaxed atmosphere and frequent live music.

Don’t be put off by the plain metal doorway at 18th and Racine, the interior is bright and comfy with light wood tables, swinging shutter doors and local art on the walls. Two types of barbecue sauce - smoky and sweet - bring out the best in the beef brisket and pulled pork. My favorite meal here is the half chicken (whole ones are also available) fresh - never frozen - and succulent. All chicken here is free-range; owner Willie Wagner prides himself on natural meat and Memphis-style barbecue. Free-range doesn’t mean high-priced here; most menu items are under ten dollars with your choice of two side dishes.

The side dishes include baked beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob and Mexican style cornbread with a few kernels baked in. The salad of jicama, walnuts and mixed greens calls itself “What Your Girlfriend Wants.” If you and your date like beer with your barbecue, you’re in luck; Honky Tonk is BYOB. Some regulars were sharing a bottle of wine when I visited, but the two dining rooms weren’t overcrowded or too loud. The restaurant seats 60. Menu items, such as salads and sides sometimes rotate and all are house-made. The applewood-smoked pork spare ribs never disappoint. Bratwurst, hamburgers and cheeseburgers and pulled pork and brisket sandwiches arrive on fresh rolls with your choice of sauces.

Local country, blues and jazz bands play here a few nights a week. Every Friday night you can hear the Northside Southpaws, John Hasbrouck and Matt Gandurski, a left-handed duo playing “archaic country and obsolete ragtime” on a steel guitar and mandolin. Their mellow waltzes and fun folk songs mix well with the delicious old-fashioned meals. A row of old theater seats provides extra spots for watching shows.

If you or your date live near Honky Tonk, call for delivery. Catering remains available for special events. No matter how many take-out and delivery orders people call for, servers are smiling and friendly.

The Hideout, Chicago’s favorite alternative country bar, makes a great date spot. Popular, but not overcrowded, the Hideout offers all kinds of entertainment and bargain price drinks. It’s fun, unpretentious, and feels like drinking at a friend’s house.

Best known for its alternative country music, the Hideout also offers blues, rock, dance mixes, metal and reggae. Last year, I saw Delta Bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards there, still sounding great at 92. Every Tuesday the house band, Devil in A Woodpile, plays ragtime and bluegrass with piano, string bass, jug and washboard. D.J. Bald Eagle and Mother Hubbard host a dance party every other Saturday night, starting at 11. The Hideout also throws block parties with food and music outdoors in the adjoining lots. Last summer’s Hideout Block Party included rock and roll choir Blue Ribbon Glee Club and post-modern marching band Mucca Pazza. An April 4 show called “The Hideout Gets Heavier” featured Yakuza, Rabid Rabbit and Kommandant. No matter what your date’s musical taste, you can find something to impress them at the Hideout. It’s a fun place to dance or just sit back and watch a show.

If you and your date prefer comedy or film, check out the Chicago Short Film Brigade or the Interview Show. Once a month, the Chicago Short Film Brigade shows serious and funny short films, with popcorn and sometimes pie for concessions. The Interview Show follows a Jay Leno/David Letterman format with host Mark Bazer bringing in local musicians, comedians and filmmakers. Covers for these entertaining shows are $5 to $10, less than a movie.

Drinks at the Hideout are also reasonably priced. My favorite beer there is the Berghoff Red for $2.50 a bottle. Goose Island, Red Seal and Newcastle Brown Ale are also on tap and the full bar serves cocktails like the house special “Wooden Leg” with rye. Note that there is no food except snacks, like the popcorn on movie nights and the bar is cash only, but there is an ATM.

True to its name, the Hideout is isolated from the rest of Wicker Park and somewhat hard to find. Industrial lots surround the Hideout, so there’s plenty of parking nearby. The Hideout is close to North Avenue and Elston. You can walk there from the Damen Blue Line El Stop, going east on North Avenue and north on Ada. Look for the Old Style beer sign.

The Hideout’s building is a two-story wood house with a big patio out front. Inside, it has stuffed deer heads and swordfish on the walls and yellow Christmas lights strung up from the ceiling. Its relaxed kitsch welcomes all visitors and the chalkboard above the bar reads “Drinking unites; sobriety divides.”

Since it opened in 2006, the Mercury Cafe has hosted many poetry, art and music events. Located in West Town at Chicago and Greenview in an old brick house, the Mercury offers great coffee, food and a fun meeting spot for you and your friends.

Come for lunch, dinner, coffee or one of the open mics. Mercury’s Italian style menu features coffee, sandwiches, salads and yummy pastries. Well-roasted coffee comes in espresso, macchiato and lattes ($2.85) or mochas ($3.35) with iced coffee in summer. Most sandwiches include chewy ciabatta rolls. My favorites are the Veggie Medici with pesto, provolone, artichoke hearts, lettuce and tomato and the Sorta Italian with salty, savory prosciutto, salami, pesto, basil and sun-dried tomato. The Caprese salad is the classic trio of tomato, mozzarella, and basil ($5.45) and the roast beef salad is a meal in itself. The inexpensive prices remain the same for lunch or dinner; you and your friends can have half a sandwich and soup $6.10 or half a sandwich and a salad or $6.35. Splurge and split a lamington, chocolate and coconut-covered yellow cake with raspberry jam or try a scone, brownie or cupcake. Loose-leaf tea flavors include rosehips, ginger and Chinese gunpowder green. Chocolate, Tahitian vanilla and hazelnut gelato complete the menu. Tahitian vanilla, with flecks of vanilla bean, is my favorite

The Mercury’s large, open layout with tables and couches and chairs lends itself to hanging out for hours. Groups and clubs sometimes meet up at the tables behind the library shelf in the back. You can take or leave library books from paperback fiction to revolutionary history and social commentaries. Each month new local art is for sale on the walls.

There are three regular open mics at Mercury Café. Poets meet here on the third and last Fridays of the month and an open mic for music, poetry, comedy and all types of performers takes place on the first Wednesday of each month. All open mics begin at 7pm and end at 9pm. Look for art openings and music acts on Mercury’s calendar. Many clubs meet here, including language groups and political meet-ups. The Mercury’s groups are good places to meet friends with similar musical and cultural interests.

You can also bring laptops and take advantage of Marcury Café’s free wireless Internet. If you and your coworkers want to order from the Mercury, call 312-455-9924 for bike delivery to any location between Damen, Lake, Halsted and North Avenue between 11am and 3pm.

Meet your friends at the Red Line Tap in Rogers Park for plenty of good beer, all kinds of music, and good food from the Heartland Cafe. The Red Line Tap shares a building with the Heartland Café; look for the broken missile on the roof next to the Morse Red Line El stop.

At first glance the Red Line looks ordinary with a small stage, concrete floors and one pool table. The selection of beer and music, both modestly priced, sets the Red Line apart from other bars. On a Saturday night I saw three bands there for only $5, including rock, folk and jazz. Many types of bands play here including the regular features: country and rock with Poverty Tax on Sundays, jazz, jam and funk with Project 99 on Mondays, the much-loved bluegrass band Sexfist on Tuesdays, punk rock and metal acts on Wednesdays and an open mic on Thursdays. No matter what your friends’ musical tastes, you can find something they like at the Red Line. Covers are $5 and entertainment is free on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Bring your instruments and vocals to the long-running Thursday night open mic. Sign-up is at 8pm with the music starting at 9. Miki Croisant from Funk to Punk hosts and visiting bands can use the house drum kit. Performers each get one free drink, which your musician friends will love.

With over two dozen beers on tap, the Red Line serves a mix of local and domestic beers from Goose Island 312 to New Holland’s Mad Hatter to Sapporo and Fransiskaner Weiss. The $2.50 or $3 nightly beer specials always offer a good domestic or import like German Jever, and never wuss out and give you an overpriced can of corporate beer. You can also order cocktails and wine from the bar.

When you get hungry at Red Line, order quesadillas, nachos or other food from the Heartland Café kitchen, which also serves a smaller menu here. You could make a night of it, meeting up at the Heartland for dinner first, then moving to the Red Line to enjoy the music. The Heartland Café has been a cornerstone of Rogers Park for over 30 years. Since 1996, the Red Line has served drinks in this location, which housed Roy Kawaguchi’s bar before that. All types and ages of people feel welcome here and the small bar offers great music, beer and food for you and your friends.

As too many Wicker Park restaurants rise out of my price range, and Starbucks replaces Filter, the Earwax Cafe remains refreshingly the same. Don’t be disgusted by the name, which came from the record store in the same location on Milwaukee Avenue, near the North/Milwaukee/Division intersection in the heart of Wicker Park. The café is now a delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee spot. The Earwax Café makes a perfect place to relax with friends before a show at the Subterranean or after hunting for second-hand treasure at Myopic Books or Reckless Records.

Groups of friends can sit in one of the high-backed gold and red booths by the old circus posters of Ostrich Boy and the knife thrower and the golden horned dragon head on the wall. You can talk for hours over the bottomless coffee ($3.75) and eat breakfast at any time of day. Vegetarian or vegan friends can dine well on the meatless burgers made from soy, or black beans, tempeh (soy, barley and spices) and even a seitan chorizo burrito. I was impressed by the Reuben with seitan (wheat gluten) seasoned exactly like corned beef. I would recommend the chocolate soy shake with ribbons of chocolate syrup to anyone. Carnivores can go straight for the pulled pork sandwich ($7.50) or Jamaican Jerk chicken ($8.95) with mashed sweet potatoes and rice. Crunchy, gingery sesame coleslaw and seasoned thin French fries make excellent sides and the vegan carrot cake lets you claim that your dessert is socially responsible. Get all your daily servings of produce at once in the Garbage Salad ($8.95) with romaine, spinach, carrot, bell peppers, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and honey mustard dressing.

There’s no wine or beer here, but a good selection of espresso coffee drinks and loose leaf teas like oo long, sassafras and medicinal teas to fight off a cold. The Blue Velvet berry smoothie and Peanut Butter Chocolate smoothie are fun and filling. If your friends need a good meal before or after hitting the nearby bars, Earwax Café is ready for you.

Be warned, Earwax Café is cash only. The flyers for local art and music shows covering the wall and the litany of graffiti in the bathroom keep it real. This is the type of humble punk art place that made Wicker Park cool to begin with. Look for videos to rent and independent magazines in the back and downstairs.

Want to go out with some friends in Wrigleyville without paying too much for drinks and having to yell at each other to talk over the game on TV? Pass Wrigley Field and continue west on Addison until you see the Guthrie's Tavern sign.

The red sign and corner door remind you of an English pub. Although you will find Newcastle, Sam Smith and Guinness on tap here, the interior of the bar feels more like an American den. Art posters stick to the walls and funky paintings cover the ceiling. The back room still feels like a screened-in porch, even with its heater and fan and red picnic cloths cover the tables.

Bartenders here are experienced and friendly. House cocktails include a creamsicle orange drink with whipped cream or juicy rum punch for $6, each a good deal. Your non-drinking friend can drink cider or hot chocolate here (depending on the weather) for $1.75. Beer drinkers will find plenty of domestics and imports, even my favorite Lindeman’s Framboise, the Belgian raspberry ale. The hard cider here is Woodchuck , which tastes like green apples.

Guthrie’s claim to fame is the huge wall of board games across from the bar. They not only have the everyday games like Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly, but also Balderdash, Scattergories, Operation and dozens of new and old games I had never heard of. Round up all your friends and go to Guthrie’s for a game night. There’s no loud crowd, jukebox or noisy TVs to interrupt your concentration at Scrabble or Apples to Apples. Plus, you can make the loser buy you a Sam Smith’s Nut Brown Ale.

Guthrie’s has a sparse and modest menu, just mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings and a few basic pizzas. However, they more than compensate for this by stockpiling takeover menus at the bar. No one here will object if you call for Mongolian beef, California rolls or a piping hot calzone from a neighborhood restaurant. When I played Taboo with my friends at Guthrie’s, a nice man came in selling six tamales for five dollars; I hope he is a regular because I am definitely going back.

Guthrie’s has served drinks here since 1986 but this location has been a bar since 1933 when the Moretti family opened it after Prohibition. The name Guthrie comes from a developer from the 1800s who contributed many buildings to the Lakeview neighborhood. With so many fun games and good drinks, all your friends can feel like winners at Guthrie’s.

In the former location of a Lakeview hardware store, the Wilde Bar opened in November 2007. Featuring two full bars, authentic Irish food, and a beautiful interior, the bar would not disappoint Oscar Wilde. Were he alive today, the great gay Irish playwright would feel comfortable here eating a plate of bangers and mash, drinking whiskey in the back with a boyfriend or seated by the fireplace writing something witty.

Inside, the Wilde Bar is much longer and broader than the narrow storefront would lead you to expect. Amber and bronze chandeliers hang over the two long dark bars, the leather booths and two fireplaces with portraits of Oscar Wilde. Portraits of other Irish writers like William Butler Yeats and Samuel Beckett hang on the walls. Two stained glass windows in the ceiling show red dragonflies and Celtic knots. The décor reminds you of Wilde’s insights about aesthetics; even the tile and wood beam floor looks beautiful. Two plasma TVs silently show basketball and other sports, so you can keep up with the games and keep up a conversation at the same time. Like a pub in Ireland, the bar features some booths with walls on three sides, called “snugs”. At night you could drink privately here with a date.

The menu features old-fashioned Irish with staples like lamb, chicken pot pie, champ (mashed potatoes with milk, scallions and butter ($2.95) and the enormous savory Irish breakfast with bungers, bacon, grilled tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, two eggs, toast and black and white (sausage) puddings. Other menu items put an Irish spin on American food like the burgers with Irish chips and coleslaw or the chicken salad with Irish cheddar and bacon. Two soups are on the menu; one is always vegetarian. Desserts include a Guinness chocolate cake, sticky toffee pudding and lemon syllabub with wine sauce. For a brunch, dinner or dessert date, portions are generous and satisfying. My only complaint about the menu is that beer does not come cheap here; Guinness is $6 and Bud and Coors or $4. This would move me to skip directly to whiskey and other drinks.

Service was prompt and attentive here and the food was the best I’ve had since I visited Dublin. The Wilde Bar and Restaurant combines old-fashioned beauty with American comfort and great Irish food and drink. There are DJs here on weekends and private parties. I have nothing to declare but its genius.

For a good date in Wrigleyville, pass up the noisy sports bars and meet at Uncommon Ground on Clark Street. The restaurant has two bars, a big one in the front and a smaller one in the back. It offers coffee drinks as well as beer, wine and cocktails and a menu from breakfast to desserts from Bittersweet Bakery. Your date may be impressed with the organic, seasonal menu and both meat-eaters and vegetarians can find tasty dishes here.

In summer, grab an outdoor table on the sidewalk. In winter, settle into some cozy leather chairs near one of the two fireplaces. Enjoy the local art on the walls, all of which is for sale. Even the restrooms are decorated with paintings; I liked the big tree on the ladies’ room wall. The front room tends to be brighter and louder, while the lights and sounds are lower in the side room. Enjoy local bands here or the sounds of the Monday night open mic.

Share a plate of Spanish tapas with Manchego cheese, Serrano ham, Marcona almonds, quince paste and olives. The menu ranges from pizza, pasta, and burgers (including a veggie burger), to duck, salmon and even buffalo. The distinctive, healthy Sunshine Salad combines seasonal farmers’ market vegetables with sprouts, sunflower seeds and avocado in organic cider vinaigrette. For a breakfast date, try the Uncommon Huevos with eggs over easy on a black bean corn cake topped with ancho chili sauce and Chihuahua cheese.

Uncommon Ground prides itself on one-of-a-kind cocktails. Two of the most promising are the Frida Kahlo with dark chocolate liquor, vanilla vodka, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, and the Cold and Flu Buster, a whole pot of chamomile tea spiked with ginger vodka, honey liqueur and a lemon slice. Local beer, a good selection of wine and Uncommon Gound’s famous coffee offer enough variety for any date to drink what he or she enjoys.

As a coffee shop, bar, restaurant, and music venue, Uncommon Ground stands out in a crowd and makes you feel welcome. The Clark Street restaurant opened in 1991 and a new Uncommon Ground coffee shop opened recently at 1401 W. Devon. Check them out for a great and uncommon date.

Sometimes my plan for a girls’ day out centers on cake and coffee rather than cocktails. For a sweet treat, take your mom, sister, best friend or any chocoholic or coffee aficionado to Julius Meinl’s Café.

Julius Meinl (the name rhymes with ‘vinyl’) was the name of the first Vienna merchant to sell roasted coffee in 1862. Before that, coffee drinkers roasted their own beans over woodstoves. The Meinl logo shows a boy in a red fez, a reminder of the Turks who first introduced coffee to Vienna. The Meinl coffee business has prospered in Austria for five generations. Their cafe on Southport in Chicago serves the same roasted coffee, imported tea and traditional cakes and dishes as the original in Vienna.

Meinl’s imports tea and makes its own coffee and hot cocoa. Lattes and espresso here are identical to their Italian counterparts. The unique Viennese coffee drink is the melange , a big sweet espresso drink with equal parts steamed milk and foam, topped with chocolate shavings. For true luxury, order this with a shot of your favorite flavor (mine is orange). Your tea drinking friends can enjoy a wide selection of imported tea from chai and lapsang souchong to Earl Grey and strawberry. Drinks arrive on elegant silver trays with tiny teaspoons.

Unique Austrian cakes here include Vienna torte, flourless chocolate cake with marzipan, apricot jam and chocolate, Cardinal Schnitte, ladyfingers with lemon mousse and strawberry jam and gugelhupf, a marbled chocolate and vanilla cake. Meinl’s own creations include mousses, cookies and Mozart torte with chocolate and pistachios.

If you and your friends want a light brunch, the croissants and jam or baked eggs with toast taste great with coffee. You can order your eggs with smoked salmon, cheese or vegetables. Breakfast lasts until noon on weekdays and two on weekends for late risers. For lunch, try the crepes with cheese and ham or asparagus and mushrooms, which come with a mixed green salad. Imported cheese and Hungarian goulash round out the menu.

Julius Meinl's is a great place to meet before a movie at the Music Box. If you take the Brown Line El, the Southport stop is closed for construction, but this is well worth the walk from Paulina. In warm weather, you can sit at a table outside and watch the world go by. In winter, enjoy the cheerful yellow interior of the café and pick out a cake from their opulent display case. Servers treat you very well here and never rush you. At Julius Meinl's, you can invite your friends to Vienna without leaving the city.

The outside of the Skylark bar in Pilsen looks like an ordinary two-story brick house. The white bird over its front door and the neon beer signs in its window hardly hint at its strange inner beauty. Friends had recommended the Skylark to me and I was pleasantly surprised by its unique charm. I expected a good dive bar and this is one I would recommend for a date.

Inside, the Skylark has brown walls and red lights on the liquor cabinets behind the long dark bar. Bring a date and enjoy the soft lighting and honky tonk or alternative rock music. Hang your coat on a hook and slip into their comfortable vinyl booths. Look up at the cases of kitschy curios like china ducks and someone’s tin foil art project. Play some pinball on the Elvis pinball machine and take a picture in the old curtained photo booth. The one part of the Skylark I cannot recommend is the library, a magazine rack with a few abandoned paperbacks and artsy local magazines like The 2nd Hand and Interview. It’s too dark to read in here.

There’s a full bar and the beers range from cheap date Pabst and Old Style ($2-$2.50) to high maintenance Edmund Fitzgerald Porter and Robert the Bruce ($3.50-$4). The menu has something for everyone, including vegetarians, with food items from cheeseburgers and fried chicken to the eggplant sandwich and butternut squash. I had a spicy barbecue pulled pork sandwich on a white roll with crisp coleslaw and tater tots. You can get piergoies or tater tots as an appetizer. If you press them, most folks will admit their secret love of tater tots. Most of the menu items cost $6 to $11, so you can treat your sweetheart to a complete lunch or dinner and not break the bank. Skykark's kitchen stays open late, until midnight on weeknights and one on Fridays and Saturdays. When you and your date are suddenly starving at 10pm, this menu is more fun than fast food and more satisfying than basic bar grub.

Skylark is kitschy but not pretentious. It can get crowded when a band plays there, but on the Thursday night when I went, they had plenty of room. My waiter was fast and friendly and the beer bottles came with a small glass for slow sipping. Before you go, note that the Skylark only takes cash, so don’t count on your credit card here. In case you forget this, an ATM waits by the front door. I may be a cheap date, but I’d definitely see the Skylark again.