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Dark Lord Day and Chicago

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Paul Mick

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Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by Paul Mick » Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:53 pm

Some of my friends and I are traveling up to Three Floyd's Indiana for Dark Lord Day this weekend (a beer festival celebrating the annual release of Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout), and we're planning on heading up to Chicago for at least a couple of days.

On that note, does anyone have any restaurant suggestions for Chicago. We're all college and grad school students, so affordable is better. We also have a vegetarian and vegan with us, and none of us are opposed to such fare, so any good recommendations in that category are also appreciated.

Last of all I suppose, what's your favorite Chicago style pizzeria?

Thanks for your help!

*EDIT*
Good brewpub recommendations are also highly appreciated.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."--J.R.R. Tolkien
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John Hagan

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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by John Hagan » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:23 am

As far as the pizza goes...one of the best in the city...Vito and Nicks on Pulaski. Go look up Chicago Pizza Club(all one word .com) that will give you the best overall list of the pizza in Chicago. There is also a Chicago food forum that looks almost identical to our forum here,check it out as well. I think there is a link somewhere on this forum to it.
The tall one wants white toast, dry, with nothin' on it.
And the short one wants four whole fried chickens, and a Coke.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by Robin Garr » Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:55 am

Chicago is one of the few cities with an active independent consumer/industry forum similar to this one, and it's excellent:

http://lthforum.com/bb/index.php
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Ryan B

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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by Ryan B » Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:14 pm

Have fun at Dark Lord Day. I hope you have a golden ticket.

Good cheap eats in Chicago are everywhere. And there even some good beer bars. Bar-wise, check out the Map Room or Hopleaf. Both have a pretty solid selection of crafts and imports. I think last time I was in the Map Room they had Alpha King on Cask. Talk about fantastic...

For inexpensive eats, I have to recommend Hot Dougs. Truly a glorious selection of encased meats. I'm pretty sure they have veggie options as well. As a bonus, duck fat french fries are available on Saturdays. Just be prepared for a wait. If you're feeling adventurous head out to Pilsen or the Little Village and hit any of the taquerias for some of the best Mexican food this side of the border. I always enjoyed the home made tortillas inside the Aquascaliente grocery store taqueria.

I know there are other threads on this site with some Chicago recommendations, but I would take Robin's advice and check out the LTH forum. They are on top of every restaurant out there.
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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by Paul Mick » Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:45 am

Thanks for the LTH link. It looks like it will be really helpful. I'll have to comb through it tomorrow before we head out.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."--J.R.R. Tolkien
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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by Paul Mick » Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:28 pm

Dark Lord Day was very successful. I've returned with a bounty of Dark Lord and Pop Skull (a collaboration by 3 Floyd's and Dogfish Head), and Chicago was great.

I don't have terribly long to elaborate now, but for inexpensive, vegan-friendly food in Chicago you should definitely check out Earwax. The name might sound off-putting, but the food was delicious and the service was great. Although I'm not a vegan, I went with a seitan reuben that, in the end, I think I prefer to a corned beef reuben. Their smoothies were also excellent, and they had quite an array of vegan baked goods.

The only problem I had at all was that they have a policy to not split checks with parties of 6 or more (we had exactly 6) and they don't take cards. Also, they included a mandatory gratuity in the bill that they wouldn't split, so if we had really tried to split it evenly we would have had to calculate 18% for everyone. The service definitely warranted the tip, but it still made calculating difficult.

Overall, a great experience that you should definitely check out. Its on Milwaukee near Wicker Park, which is just a short jaunt on the blue line out of the loop.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."--J.R.R. Tolkien
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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by John S » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:20 pm

I just got back from a trip to Chicago with my wife, who is vegan. Here few places that are vegan-friendly, while still serving food those of us who aren't vegan or vegetarian will enjoy:

Blind Faith Cafe
525 Dempster Street
Evanston, IL 60201

Lula Cafe
2537 N. Kedzie Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60647

Handlebar
2311 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647

Earwax Cafe
1561 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by DaniS » Fri May 08, 2009 6:16 pm

I know this info is a bit late to help the Dark Lord Travelers, but we just ate at a wonderful Thai place called "Sticky Rice" on Western Ave. It's BYOB and when they say spicy, they mean it. We love truly spicy food and we ordered "spicy" (the 3rd level) and we were nearly crying as we ate. The flavors were so delicious and the northern Thai specialities are worth trying out. We especially liked the northern Thai sausages. There are also many vegetarian dishes--I didn't see any dishes marked vegan, but that doesn't meant there weren't any.
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Re: Dark Lord Day and Chicago

by Spencer B » Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:18 pm

If you're going to Chicago I would recommend Crofton on Wells. It's reasonably priced ($30-$50) and is a great fine dining experience. You could also check out Capital Grille-Chicago. Great food but pricer. ($50 and up) Those are my two favorite Chicago restaurants. Cheers!

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