Chicago - Day 3
Our plan was to get up at a reasonable hour and head out to Hot Doug's. It is supposed to be a hidden gem of the Chicago food scene. It is also on Anthony Bourdain's "13 places to eat before you die". Since it is "that good", there is always a line, even when it first opens. We planned to get there right around 10:30 when it opened, hoping that a relatively short wait in line would make us hungry for hot dogs before noon. Well, that didn't happen. We sat around talking, drinking coffee (tea for me), and eating fruit. I think we left the house around 11:00.
When we got to Hot Doug's, the line was already half a block long. While quite a treat, we did not have the patience so we drove on. Instead of the best hot dog ever, we decided to go for the best burger ever. That would be at Kuma's Corner. It is a heavy metal themed restaurant with some excellent food. Dustin said that Kuma's also usually had a line, but not as bad. We waited about 5 minutes before getting a table.
It was interesting that a place so busy and so well loved by locals has such a small grill. I won't argue that good food takes time, but when you can only prepare about two table's worth of meals at a time, things tend to drag out. It took us a bit under an hour to get our food, but we made do. The decor was interesting, with tons of rock paraphernalia. All of the staff were heavily tattooed. And in the end, the food was pretty good. I'm not 100% sure about my selection, but that was my own fault.
My burger was the June special. The hamburger had jerk seasoning mixed in and was topped with pulled pork, red onions, and pickled mangos. It was quite good, but I should have gone with my first choice (that I don't remember). Jaime had he "Yob": a chicken breast (instead of a burger), smoked Gouda, bacon, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic mayo all on a pretzel roll. She also had a JuJu's Ginger Ale, a slightly alcoholic (4%) drink.
After stuffing ourselves silly, we drove back home where we freshened up, filled some water bottles, and headed onto our next adventure. Our plan was to walk to Wrigleyville, pretty much the next district over. Of course we walked by Wrigley Field and took an obligatory picture. Then we kept going, eventually making our way to the lakeshore.
The "beach" we ended up on was not your typical sandy beach, but was made entirely of concrete. We sat on a cement wall for a while, watching the boats and enjoying the sun. There were a lot of boats out on the water as well as tons of people on the shore enjoying the summer weather. After a while we moved to the nearby grass under some shade. It was pretty warm outside, but the shade made it bearable (at least for me). While we were sitting in the shade, Wong called. He was on his way to Chicago for a short visit. It was somewhat unexpected (one day warning), but not totally undesired. Dustin gave him some advice as to which route he should take, but of course he did not listen and got stuck in traffic. We also saw a blimp flying along the coast, likely heading to U.S. Cellular Field where the Cubs and White Sox were going head to head in the Cross Town Classic. Once we got tired of the beach, we headed for home. Since we had already walked a couple miles and it was hot out, we decided to take a cab.
Back at the apartment, we relaxed in the air conditioning for a while. We knew Alden would arrive in a couple of hours, so we didn't want to go far. Dustin fired up the PS3 and we played Call of Duty 4 for a little bit. I am not very good at playing FPS games on a console, but I held my own. We both laughed quite a bit as we obliterated each other over and over. We also laughed when remembering the episodes of The Office where they played one of the Call of Duty games and Jim was so terrible he was told to stand in a corner.
As dinner time approached, we headed out to Cafe 28, a Cuban and Mexican "fusion" type of restaurant. Since Wong was running late, we had him meet us there. It was only a handful of blocks away, so we walked.
Once again I find myself focusing on the food and beverages. Jaime and I started out with mojitos. Ever since our trip to Key West, we have been searching for a mojito that would rival the ones we had at Kelly's. The one at Cafe 28 was good, but did not end my search. For dinner I had Cuban style chicken with black beans, rice, and fried sweet plantains. Jaime had Cuban roast pork with caramelized onions, black beans, rice, and fried yucca. She also ordered a side of plantains. I had never had yucca before, so I tried some and it was pretty good. Jaime also had a mango margarita. For dessert I had Tres Leches while Jaime had flan. Both were quite good.
As dinner wound down, the sky looked as if it might bring rain. Those with fancy shmancy phones confirmed the inclement weather. Jaime, Maria, and I walked home while Dustin and Alden drove Alden's car. Rather than be out in the rain, we stayed in the apartment for a while. We hoped it might move by after a while, but the radar showed several state's worth of "green" to the west. I didn't mind because it gave me an excuse to partake in Dustin's fantastic Scotch collection. Dustin and Alden did go out to meet up with an old friend. The remaining three turned in a little after midnight.
[Pictures] [ Day 1] [ Day 2] [ Day 4]
When we got to Hot Doug's, the line was already half a block long. While quite a treat, we did not have the patience so we drove on. Instead of the best hot dog ever, we decided to go for the best burger ever. That would be at Kuma's Corner. It is a heavy metal themed restaurant with some excellent food. Dustin said that Kuma's also usually had a line, but not as bad. We waited about 5 minutes before getting a table.
It was interesting that a place so busy and so well loved by locals has such a small grill. I won't argue that good food takes time, but when you can only prepare about two table's worth of meals at a time, things tend to drag out. It took us a bit under an hour to get our food, but we made do. The decor was interesting, with tons of rock paraphernalia. All of the staff were heavily tattooed. And in the end, the food was pretty good. I'm not 100% sure about my selection, but that was my own fault.
My burger was the June special. The hamburger had jerk seasoning mixed in and was topped with pulled pork, red onions, and pickled mangos. It was quite good, but I should have gone with my first choice (that I don't remember). Jaime had he "Yob": a chicken breast (instead of a burger), smoked Gouda, bacon, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic mayo all on a pretzel roll. She also had a JuJu's Ginger Ale, a slightly alcoholic (4%) drink.
After stuffing ourselves silly, we drove back home where we freshened up, filled some water bottles, and headed onto our next adventure. Our plan was to walk to Wrigleyville, pretty much the next district over. Of course we walked by Wrigley Field and took an obligatory picture. Then we kept going, eventually making our way to the lakeshore.
The "beach" we ended up on was not your typical sandy beach, but was made entirely of concrete. We sat on a cement wall for a while, watching the boats and enjoying the sun. There were a lot of boats out on the water as well as tons of people on the shore enjoying the summer weather. After a while we moved to the nearby grass under some shade. It was pretty warm outside, but the shade made it bearable (at least for me). While we were sitting in the shade, Wong called. He was on his way to Chicago for a short visit. It was somewhat unexpected (one day warning), but not totally undesired. Dustin gave him some advice as to which route he should take, but of course he did not listen and got stuck in traffic. We also saw a blimp flying along the coast, likely heading to U.S. Cellular Field where the Cubs and White Sox were going head to head in the Cross Town Classic. Once we got tired of the beach, we headed for home. Since we had already walked a couple miles and it was hot out, we decided to take a cab.
Back at the apartment, we relaxed in the air conditioning for a while. We knew Alden would arrive in a couple of hours, so we didn't want to go far. Dustin fired up the PS3 and we played Call of Duty 4 for a little bit. I am not very good at playing FPS games on a console, but I held my own. We both laughed quite a bit as we obliterated each other over and over. We also laughed when remembering the episodes of The Office where they played one of the Call of Duty games and Jim was so terrible he was told to stand in a corner.
As dinner time approached, we headed out to Cafe 28, a Cuban and Mexican "fusion" type of restaurant. Since Wong was running late, we had him meet us there. It was only a handful of blocks away, so we walked.
Once again I find myself focusing on the food and beverages. Jaime and I started out with mojitos. Ever since our trip to Key West, we have been searching for a mojito that would rival the ones we had at Kelly's. The one at Cafe 28 was good, but did not end my search. For dinner I had Cuban style chicken with black beans, rice, and fried sweet plantains. Jaime had Cuban roast pork with caramelized onions, black beans, rice, and fried yucca. She also ordered a side of plantains. I had never had yucca before, so I tried some and it was pretty good. Jaime also had a mango margarita. For dessert I had Tres Leches while Jaime had flan. Both were quite good.
As dinner wound down, the sky looked as if it might bring rain. Those with fancy shmancy phones confirmed the inclement weather. Jaime, Maria, and I walked home while Dustin and Alden drove Alden's car. Rather than be out in the rain, we stayed in the apartment for a while. We hoped it might move by after a while, but the radar showed several state's worth of "green" to the west. I didn't mind because it gave me an excuse to partake in Dustin's fantastic Scotch collection. Dustin and Alden did go out to meet up with an old friend. The remaining three turned in a little after midnight.
[Pictures] [ Day 1] [ Day 2] [ Day 4]