The Wicker Park Gadfly

New! Just Opened!

Dining Cute
Crepe Crave is evidence of a growing trend that may not bode well for the culinary future of the neighborhood.

 
Crepe Crave
1752 North Avenue
773-698-8783  

Leaving aside the question of whether crepes can be considered sufficiently novel to qualify them as something fresh and original, the challenge for any Wicker Park restaurant is to be compelling enough to generate a devoted following in a neighborhood rife with many interesting choices.  On this score Crepe Crave appears to be struggling. 

I sat in Crepe Crave between 10am and Noon on a Sunday morning and two other customers came in.  The staff of four disappeared into the back and I had the place all to myself for awhile.  I sat on the leather sofa in the back and read the paper.  The Illy coffee was quite good but my apple butter crepe was merely serviceable, a thin spongy pancake folded like a pocket hanky and filled with tiny diced apples and apple butter, sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with a swirl of whip cream.  The most interesting part was the whip cream. 

A previous visit familiarized us with the Napoleon, a crepe filled with ham, brie and Dijon mustard.  It tasted like… well, ham, brie and Dijon mustard inside a thin spongy pancake folded like a pocket hanky.  Which is to say that there is nothing inherently interesting about the way Crepe Crave is serving crepes, except for the fact that they are in fact serving crepes. 

If Crepe Crave is relying on the novelty of their concept, they may be sorely disappointed.  While certain urban communities in the United States like, say, Paducah, Kentucky or Odessa, Texas might find the concept of crepes wildly outlandish, hip metro neighborhoods like Wicker Park have seen crepes before.  To catch fire in this environment the crepes themselves would have to be remarkable, and they’re not.

No amount of cuteness can make up for this.  Yes, there are S’More crepes with marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers; and Funky Monkey crepes with peanut butter, nutella and bananas.  There are savory crepes for dinner and sweet crepes for snacks.  To keep the proclaimed European ambiance going there are 18 gelatos and Illy coffee.  But if little of this impresses, what’s the point?  Just to be different? 

Increasingly, as Wicker Park emerges from its gentrification phase into its homogenization phase – where bold concepts and innovations give way to the cookie cutter chains and dumbed-down choices – the emergence of faux-novelty is perhaps to be expected.  Faux-novelty, characterized by style over substance, supposes that being unique and different will be enough to appeal to the trendy vibe of the neighborhood while avoiding the risk of alienation that being unique or bold in execution could incur. Other neighborhood practitioners of this approach include Skewers and Pannenkoken. 

The opposite of such an approach is to present familiar food in daring new ways, either by tweaking the concept or elevating the quality.  Neither of the latter two tactics are in evidence at Crepe Carve.  Like other faux-novelty practitioners Crepe Crave is dining cute, utterly reliant on the assumption that customers can’t ferret out the difference between a cute concept and a superior product.

That might work well in some areas of the country, and it might even work well in some areas of the city, but when it begins to work here it will be a sad day for Wicker Park because it will mean that we will be ready for the next phase, the arrival of the chains where predictability and mediocrity will trump originality and superiority every time.

Crepe Crave
1752 North Avenue
773-698-8783

Hours:  8am-8pm daily / Reservations not accepted 
Features:  Carryout, BYOB
Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax:  $18.00

New! Just Opened!

Big Star Shines

Rising from the ashes of the old Pontiac Cafe, Big Star is a phoenix not a butterfly.

   

Big Star
1531 N. Damen Ave.
773-235-4039

 

When rumors broke last summer that the dynamic duo of Terry Alexander (Violet Hour, Danny’s) and Donnie Madia (Blackbird, Avec) were taking over the old Pontiac Cafe, expectations were high.  The Pontiac had always had a couple of good things going for it, a to-die-for location on the corner of the park and a funky old gas station chic that passers-by found irresistible.  Long a summertime staple for al fresco imbibing beneath a snappy orange and white awning, the Ponitac’s patio was typically jammed from May to September. 

But like a butterfly that reveals itself on closer inspection to be an ugly black worm with flamboyant wings, the Pontiac was a dismal disappointment in execution, the food (such as it was) was awful, the service was deplorable, the attitude was snippy, and the drink selection was a joke.  Watching it shut down brought an odd mixture of regret and schadenfreude. 

But then word got out that Alexander and Madia were taking over.  Score!  Two of Chicago’s most successful drinking and dining impresarios would be taking over Wicker Park’s choicest location.  Who could ask for more?

Well, Big Star has been open for six weeks now and the verdict is in.  Big Star is everything we’d hoped for, and more.

The Alexander/Madia playbook is on full display here: the soft opening, the anonymous presentation, the friendly, down-to-earth service, the amazing drink selection, and the terrific food.  Working a Texas roadhouse theme with grace and subtlety, Big Star burnishes those qualities that make a good honky-tonk shine while never crossing the line into parody.  Chef Paul Kahan’s menu of mouthwateringly delicious tacos and tostadas are the perfect accompaniment to a cold bottle of Lone Star and the vinyl strains of Patsy Cline, Lefty Frizzel and Waylon Jennings.   

 

While the cash only policy may take you aback, it’s nothing if not authentic and it helps to keep the prices down.  And that’s one of the most remarkable things about Big Star.  The prices here are Texas roadhouse prices, not Wicker Park prices, meaning that a taco costs $3 and a bottle of Blatz will set you back a whopping two smackers.  You can walk away from a night here for less than $20.  By accident or design, Alexander and Madia have hit on the perfect antidote for an ailing economy.

The result has been a minor sensation.  From day one, there have been long waits for tables or a seat at the bar, particularly between 7pm and 9pm, and most especially on the weekends.  But if you can manage to score a seat at the giant pine wood wrap-around bar, you are in for a treat.  Big Star doesn’t trade in flat screens or blaring noise, the main draw is conversation, between strangers, at the bar, underscored by country music records adjusted to a perfect volume (enough so you can hear them, but not so much that you have to shout over them). 

Sporting a stripped-down look (the concrete floor and exposed light bulbs recall a cinder block dive on the outskirts of Lubbock) and sans the usual ornamental overkill, about the only thing you can do here is drink and eat and talk, which may be why the crowd is mostly made up of bright thirty-somethings with something to say.  My companion and I struck up conversations with strangers on either side, one was a fashion designer for Giorgio Armani and the other was a part owner of the country soul band the Duke and the King.  The conversation was a full-fledged debate over whether Tiger Woods deserved the media savaging he had been getting.  It was ten times better than anything we could’ve seen on a flat screen and called for a shot of bourbon.  We indulged.

 

Big Star is all about the bourbon.  Under Terry Alexander’s expert guidance, Big Star offers 20 quality bourbons from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, 9 from Heaven Hill, and 4 more from Old Forester.  In addition, they offer 6 ryes, 2 whiskeys and 25 tequilas.  Already Pontiac is a distant memory.  And if you want beer – which the old Pontiac regularly ran out of – Big Star offers 25 American and Mexican varieties in bottles and cans, as well as five on draft, and they never run out. 

Big Star has no sign and is easy to miss, despite its choice location.  One of Alexander’s signature moves is anonymity, so the non-descript gray building looks abandoned during the day and only comes to life at 4pm when the doors open.  Yet something tells me that things will be different come summer when Big Star will take advantage of Pontiac’s chief asset, the sprawling 90 seat patio for al fresco dining right on the corner of Wicker Park.  Expect huge waits.

Big Star has taken one of Wicker Park’s biggest disappointments and made it shine, good food, good drinks and down-to-earth companionability, the best qualities of a genuine Texas roadhouse. 

We’ll have another round.

 

Big Star
1531 N. Damen Ave.
773-235-4039

Hrs:  4pm-2am Su-Fr;  4pm-3am Sa / / Reservations not accepted
Features:  Outdoor Dining, Open Late, Carryout
Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax:  $35.00

New! Just Opened!

Rich But Seldom Rare
Don’t beef about the steaks.  Wicker Park’s new Argentine steakhouse isn’t for everyone.  But if you approach it just right it can be rewarding.

 
Folklore
2100 W. Division
773-292-1600

If you’re concerned about the long wait for tables on Friday and Saturday nights at Folklore, just wait a few months.  The initial surge will taper off once patrons figure out that Folklore isn’t for everyone.  Yes, this is Wicker Park’s first bona fide steak house, and yes that’s a welcome commodity in a neighborhood rife with vegetarian-friendly restaurants and sushi joints.  But before you go pelting off to Folklore with visions of a rare and juicy Kansas City steak dancing in your head, be forewarned.  Argentine steaks, at least those served at Folklore, are another matter.

If you like your steaks rare or medium rare, you may be surprised to find that Folklore prefers not to serve them that way.  More than one diner has beefed about their steak being overcooked; others have been explicitly advised by their waiters that medium-to-well would be a better way to go.  Rare cooking requires a top-notch cut of meat, and depending on the cut you’re ordering at Folklore, you may or may not get one.

Some of this is put down to tradition.  Apparently, Argentine’s are not always assiduous about the integrity of the cut, a deficiency made up for with plenty of fillings, toppings and sauces.  The Bife Vesuvio is a case in point, a steak stuffed with cheese, spinach and garlic and then bathed in a white wine sauce.  If the flavor of the steak was the main selling point you’d never know it with that much glop disguising it.

On the other hand, if you don’t really savor an exquisite cut of meat and prefer your steaks medium or well done, or bathed in something that takes the edge off that meaty flavor, Folklore may be just the place for you.  Their medium cooked steaks, darkly seared on the outside and dressed with chimichurri sauce are roundly praised by those who like such things. 

For true steak lovers, however, grilling your server about which cuts are best for rare cooking is strongly advised before letting the kitchen start their grilling.  If the server advises medium-to-well instead, take his advice or opt out of steaks altogether.  Folklore certainly has plenty of other meaty options.

The parrillada is a tabletop grill abounding in so many short ribs, flap meats, sweetbreads, chorizo and blood sausages that you’ll be dining on the leftovers for a week.  The blood sausage has been singled out for particular praise, as have the crispy sweetbreads, which melt in your mouth.  If you are dining on a budget, you can cut corners here by ordering the outstanding parrillada for one, along with some appetizers, and sharing everything.

In addition to steak and parrilladas, Folklore offers chicken, veal, lamb chops and, oddly enough, pasta.  As with the steak, a tendency to ladle on the sauces is evidenced with the other meats as well.   Among the appetizers, the empanadas stand out, although the spinach and sweet corn varieties earn higher marks than the ham and cheese.  Steer clear of the provoleta which sounds intriguing on the menu but is really just a cheese pizza without any crust whatsoever.  Cheese, sauces and fillings are all over the landscape here.  Gooiness is never very far.  If your constitution rebels at the thought of rich foods, the menu at Folklore can be a minefield.   

The wine list is notable for its emphasis on 19 well considered Argentine reds and whites, along with a dozen Chilean wines.  The malbec is outstanding.  There are 17 beers, including Quilmes, a crisp Argentine lager rarely seen in the US.  In addition, there are the predictable mojitos and caipirinhas as well as some interesting specialty cocktails.

The décor is all dark, rustic wood, charming mullioned windows and exposed brick.  The candlelit interior is either sexy and intimate or annoyingly dark, depending on whether you are here for a hot date or a discussion of last year’s numbers.  With nothing but hard surfaces all around, the room can get noisy as hell when the place fills up but is suitably tranquil other times. 

The best way to enjoy Folklore is to come on a weekday night with an intimate friend, order the parrillada, empanadas and a bottle of malbec – or if you like your steak well done and drenched in chimichurri, go that route.  Then kick back and enjoy a quiet conversation by candlelight.

The worst way to enjoy Folklore is to turn up between 7pm and 9pm on a busy weekend hoping to discuss business, order a rare steak like a Texan, precede it with a plateful of cheesy goo, squint at your spread sheets, shout your conversation at each other and blow a gasket when your steak is brought out overcooked. 

Folklore can be a fine experience.  But it’s not for everyone.

Folklore
2100 W. Division
773-292-1600

Hrs:  M-Th 5pm-1am; Sa 5pm-3am; Su Noon-2pm /Reservations Accepted
Features:  Carryout; Late Night Dining
Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax:  $100.00

Back for Seconds

Ground Zero in the Culture Wars
Rodan does everything right and for its trouble it becomes a skirmish zone.

 
Rodan
1530 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-276-7036

Enter the seductive, Zen-like interior of Rodan with its birch wall panels and ultra-suede banquettes and you find yourself in a cool modern ambiance ideal for enjoying the first-class Asian fare of chef Maripa Abella.  The marinated hangar steak with yuzu chimichurri sauce is deemed savory and delicious.  Hefty Kobe beef burgers are the recipients of enthusiastic praise.  Maki sushi with miso foam shines, and sides like tempura green beans and wasabi fries never fail to impress.  Except for an annoying tendency to run out of things there are few negatives about the dining experience at Rodan.

But dinner is just the beginning, for as the witching hour approaches Rodan turns into one of the most popular late night lounges in Wicker Park.

During the week things remain relatively calm but on the weekend the place fills up with a diverse throng.  The problem is one half of the crowd seems to be glaring at the other. It’s like a high school party thrown by the most popular girl on campus: if you are in the fashionable clique, you are all about it, but if you are sensitive about being picked last, you are embarrassed and seething with resentment.

Words like pretentious and snobby regularly adhere to Rodan.  This is because the regulars include a large pool of well-dressed 30-something hipsters, long time denizens of the neighborhood, looking to chill and toss some ‘tude.  This drives the $2 PBR guzzlers around the bend.  Without too much exaggeration it can be said that Rodan is the place where the aging hipsters of Wicker Park have drawn the line against the growing incursion of sports bar bohunks and their Trixies.  What we have here is a culture war – and Rodan is ground zero. 

For there to be friction, however, both sides have to want to claim the territory, and for that to happen, Rodan has to be desirable – and it is. 

The bartenders are frequently praised for their friendliness and competence, qualities that apply to the staff generally.  (If the clientele can be said to be off-putting, the staff cannot be accused of the same.)  Both sides of the cultural divide enthuse over the $3 lychee and champagne Mondays.  The DJ’s are widely praised for their skill and savvy - especially when it comes to electronic music - and the large projection wall at the back of the room is the perfect backdrop for dancing. 

Before midnight the noise level remains adequate for conversation, but afterwards the volume climbs.  The place can get packed.  Withering looks from disapproving hipsters are common, and sudden displays of drunken bravado from miffed bohunks can ensue.  Down the hallway in the bathroom the ladies seem more annoyed than amused by the too-clever computerized video screen that hangs there in lieu of a mirror.  Some folks are having a ball.  Others are fuming.  There is an underlying feeling of tension.

But the next morning all is Zen-like calm again, the perfect setting for brunch.  Brunch at Rodan is a treat.  Eclectic Asian fare encompasses plenty of vegan options as well as sticky pork and egg buns with chili dipping sauce, house cured salmon, and New Orleans beignets with Vietnamese coffee.  Not a sign of last night’s unease.

The fact is Rodan performs well in all three of its incarnations: restaurant, dance lounge and brunch spot.  Ironically it is this very acheivement that draws a diverse crowd, a crowd which behaves itself well enough over wine and coffee but becomes increasingly territorial over cocktails, spoiling the vibe. 

The frat boys from Lincoln Park and the sports geeks from Schaumburg may think they are taking over Wicker Park unopposed.  Nights at Rodan they are rudely reminded that was someone here before them, and that's not good for Rodan. 

Rodan
1530 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-276-7036

Hrs:  Su-Th 6pm-2am; F 5pm-2am; Sa 5pm-3am; Su Brunch: 10am-3pm / Reservations Accepted
Features:  Late night dining, Live Music (DJ’s and VJ’s), Carryout
Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax:  $75

New! Just Opened!

Chasing an Audience
The basic sports bar starter kit works well enough in the rural collar counties and hometown USA but will it work in Wicker Park? 

 

Take a walk by Six Corners Sports Bar before opening time and you could be tricked into thinking something interesting is going on.  Heavy drapes covering the windows suggest a place both mysterious and sexy.  You couldn’t be more wrong.

 

This is a sports bar in the most generic sense of the term.  Besides the “Get Sauced” approach to noshing (fried appetizers combined with a variety of different sauces) there is almost nothing new happening.  This is the basic sports bar starter kit as you will find it in any collar county strip mall or hometown USA.  Unless you count the rather novel approach (for Wicker Park) of actually playing the sound to the games, something that suggests that this bar is actually catering to sports fans rather than frat boys on the prowl, there is not much to get excited about.  Nevertheless, the back to basics approach has a welcome working class flare to neighborhood residents put off by the hipster flavor of the hood, and given the recent history of this location, perhaps its implementation here is not altogether surprising.

 

Six Corners Sports Bar is representative of what happens when a concept chases an audience.  This particular address has had a long history of shifting from concept to concept in search of approval.  Seven years back it started out as D’Vine Wine Bar, a romantic, upscale establishment catering to discerning palates with an eclectic menu serving things like mustard crusted salmon and mushroom fettuccini.  Apparently there weren’t enough discerning palates around because new ownership shifted the concept to casual dining (think quesadillas and bruchettas) while trying to hang onto the cachet of being a wine bar.  It appears, however, that the new audience was less interested in wine than cocktails and the concept shifted again becoming a trendy hip-hop lounge where DJ’s spun nightly into the wee hours.  That, however, drew a class of clientele which eventually forced ownership to post signs discouraging certain modes of dress, usually an indication that undesirables are coming home to roost.  Shortly thereafter, D’Vine closed its doors.  

 

But D’Vine’s rapid descent from classy, upscale wine bar to street level purveyor of whatever seems saleable was not yet complete.  D’Vine’s former owners took a look around and decided that what Wicker Park really needed was a sports bar, a curious conclusion given the fact that at least four establishments fitting that description are within two blocks of the present location.  But then what’s a sports bar?

 

If you have walls lined with flat screen TVs, is that enough?  Six Corners Sports Bar has 13 decent quality flat screens, which is fine, but doesn’t outnumber a couple of nearby competitors.  If you have plenty of beer, is that enough?  Six Corners has 6 beers on tap and 16 more in bottles, including $2 PBR cans.  But that doesn’t beat the number, variety or quality offered by nearby competitors.   If you offer bar food, is that enough?  Well, 6 Corners has seasoned potato wedges, cheese sticks, tempura veggies and grilled chicken skewers along with the aforementioned dipping sauces, but nearby competitors have more.  So why does Six Corners fancy itself the only real sports bar in the neighborhood?

 

Maybe it’s because they turn the sound up to the games.  And maybe that will be enough to attract hordes of working class types in White Sox caps to our little slice of heaven.  

 

If it is, get ready for the big box stores next.

 

 
    

Six Corners Sports Bar
1950 W. North Ave.
773-235-5700

 

Hours:  M-F  5am-2am; Sa 9am-3am; Su 11am-2am

 

Features:  Open Late

 

Average Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax: $25

New! Just Opened!

Why no Lines?
They cluster outside Bongo Room, they queue up outside Toast, so why isn’t Pannenkoeken Café drawing the same crowds they did in Lincoln Square?

As a general thing, novelty sells.  Just the prospect of trying something new and different and then bragging about it to your friends can bring in plenty of new-adapters who fancy themselves all cutting edge and such.  So it’s kind of odd that Pannenkoeken Café hasn’t caught fire.  All the more odd in that the flagship location in Lincoln Square had them standing in line for hours when it first opened.  Nevertheless, the response of Wicker Parkers to their first traditional Dutch pancake house seems to be a collective “meh”.

Maybe it’s because once you’ve had one of these crepe-like Dutch style pancakes topped with a variety of different ingredients you’ve pretty much had one.  While the idea is intriguing, the execution is somewhat less than jaw dropping.  Which is not to say its bad, just nothing to write home about. 

Perhaps if they were to actually cook the ingredients into the pancake, as is often the case in the Netherlands, rather than just sprinkling them on top, the effect would be better.  And maybe if they were to be more generous with the ingredients, the experience wouldn’t feel like a hunt and peck excursion, as is often the case. 

The selection of ingredients is decent enough.  Havarti cheese plays a major role and is quite good combined with crumbled sausage or paired with sliced apples on a baked-in golden raisin cake.  Ginger makes a frequent appearance, taking a turn with sliced apples or joining golden raisins and powdered sugar.  For a more American palate there’s the obligatory bacon, cheese and mushroom, and for the out-of-control sugar junky there’s the chocolate banana pancake with toasted hazelnuts, whipped cream and cocoa powder.  All of this promises an orchestra strike of deliciousness, but somehow it all falls a bit mute.

Maybe there’s a clue to the anti-climactic nature of things in the sparse décor.  It baffles me why a restaurant with ample wall space prefers to leave those walls blank when a little well placed art would enliven the joint and give it some character and warmth.  Bare wood floors, large street side windows and exposed brick walls provide an airy space, but one that has about as much charm as a dealership showroom.  If it weren’t for the wicker globe pendant lamps left over from when this was Su-Ra Korean, the place would be devoid of any character whatsoever.

Pannenkoeken has been taken to task for its spotty service.  Good service is a tricky accomplishment for any brunch spot which sees the majority of its business in a couple of brief windows between 9am-1pm on the weekends, but particularly challenging if that rush is not ample and consistent. 

Getting the requisite crowds and keeping them could be difficult for Pannenkoeken.  Recently this stretch of North Avenue between Six Corners and Western has become breakfast central for Wicker Park.  Not only is Birchwood Café doing steady business a few doors down but two new bakeries have opened in the same stretch and Bon Bon Café is serving tasty Vietnamese coffee in the AM.  The competition is growing.

Still, Pannenkoeken has potential.  Warmer, more cheerful décor, less stinginess with the ingredients and solid service could turn things around.  It would also be helpful to take credit cards.  The cash only policy doesn’t reflect well when the average bill approaches $30.

Let’s face it, if owners Linda Ellis and Gina Salgado were expecting the same sort of stand-in line sensation they had in Lincoln Square, the jury has already rendered a verdict.  Pannenkoeken could still wow the jaded brunchies of Wicker Park & Bucktown, but they need to step up their game.

Pannenkoeken Café
2257 W. North Ave.
773-227-6600

Hours:  M-Th 7am-9pm, Fri 7am-11pm, Sa 8am-11pm, Su 8am-7pm

Features:  Carryout, BYOB, Cash Only

Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax:  $27

New! Just Opened!

Cool Not Chilly
Grace and subtlety, warmth and charm are not words normally associated with the chilly austerity of Eastern Europe.  But the folks at Lokal are serving farm-to-table in ways that are surprisingly heartfelt.

Lokal takes farm-to-table and marries it to Eurostyle and serves up what seems at first to be the thin gruel of Eastern European austerity. Working with small plates, deliberately blurring the lines between appetizers and mains, and eschewing desserts entirely, the sparse menu tops out at a mere sixteen dishes, six of which are soups or salads.  A wine cellar that boasts only twelve bottles, and a specialty cocktail list that challenges the very concept of a list by numbering a mere three might lead one to conclude that a chilly minimalism is the order of the day.  But hold on.  

If Lokal offers a relatively slim selection, they nevertheless do justice to everything they offer by adding grace notes of subtlety and charm.  The salad of roasted red and golden beets expresses its farm freshness with a toothsome snap that is agreeably balanced by accompanying greens bathed in a wonderful pomegranate vinaigerette truffle oil.  The seared scallops on wide egg noodles in a roasted red pepper sauce with crispy chard leaf mixes flavors from sea and soil to achieve a delicious enhancement of the basic concept of roasted vegetables.

The portion of the menu labeled “market specials” are comprised of the best ingredients presently available and are revised regularly, depending on what the owners have found in their weekly forays to local farms.  In early November we enjoyed a to-die-for butternut squash soup exquisitely sweetened with candied walnuts and honey vanilla whipped cream, as well as an expertly prepared skatewing in a tasty caper sauce sided with an orange infused black quinoa walnut salad.

The fact is Lokal’s food is anything but stripped down.  Unlike farm-to-table competitors like Mado, the food is not naked, but built up from a handful of intriguing ingeredients and then skillfully orchestrated and enhanced.  Unlike Hot Chocolate, however, it is never unduly rich or flavor drenched.  Lokal has achieved a delicate balance.

What’s more, the presentation of each of these dishes is as artful as anything you will find at more expensive restaurants.  And given the quality of the ingredients and the competence of the kitchen, Lokal is a genuine bargain. 

So don’t be thrown by the stark ambiance whose bare concrete floors and blocky, modernist functionality owe much to Ikea, and whose loungey alcoves suggest a techno-club in Copenhagen.  And don’t be put off by the slim pickings.  From the well constructed wine list to the deftly handled cocktails there is grace and substance aplenty. 

Far from being austere, this is one restaurant that provides more for less.

 

Lokal
1904 W. North Ave.
773-904-8113 / Reservations Accepted

Hours:  9am-2am Daily

Features: Carryout, Live Music, Open Late

Average price of meal for two including drinks and tax  $78.00