Chicago: They paved a fetid swamp/and put up a parking lot

what, did they turn the Cosis into Rotis?

Nope. Still plenty of Cosis and Corner Bakeries. It is like some dimensional space folding that allows for the construction of endless quick lunch chains.

Cosi and Roti and Freshii

You got the hooch, baby
You got the Freshii Freshii
You got the Cosiest Roti in the world

roti is pretty good but it's funny how exactly like chipotle it is ... is it owned by the same company?

I don't think so but it is totally the same set up.

Cosi Cosi
Roti Roti
Freshii Freshii
Jaffa

Today would be a good day for a work Slanket.

xp Ha is that a Kreayshawn parody?

Yes!!!

god that song is fucking awful

Aw I like it. In fact, I just managed to get it out of my head last week. Now it's replaced by Cosi Cosi Roti Roti Freshii Freshii Jaffa.

I'm sorry I missed lunch with you, Nick. You work, like, damn near in my building, it sounds like. I'm surprised we've never run into each other on the street.

I wanted to play "Gucci Gucci" at the wedding, but Kr nixed it.

(Not out of dislike for the song, mind you.)

we're have a work potluck for thanksgiving on monday, i signed up to bring a vegetarian entree. but we're supposed to bring foods that represent our neighborhoods, and north center/lincoln square is pretty much a german neighborhood heritage-wise, and there are no vegetarian german entrees. only idea i have is some kind of potato salad, but that's lame. i should just decide what i want to make and come up with the justification later.

Man I hate potlucks.

What would I bring from Lakeview? Toast?

that is an overcomplicated potluck, my god

also there are like 5 people in my office who live in lincoln square so it's gonna be a ton of german food.

just bring nachos

when someone asks what it is, tell them it's nacho business

go get an order of curry fries from the globe and bring that

or http://germanfood.about.com/od/vegetarianrecipes/r/roggenkloesschn.htm

Hitler was a vegetarian you know.

just make whatever you want and call it a hitler surprise

I need an opinion:

Heisenberg http://6dollarshirts.com/product.php?productid=11702
or Saul http://6dollarshirts.com/product.php?productid=11706

?

Los Pollos Hermanos

My third choice. I'd get that one in orange.

The Saul one is great, though. It has the Statue of Liberty on it, and the Brush Script font, ffs!

I'd go for Saul then.

I wish I could find that Kenny Rogers t-shirt and a pair of white jeans.

R and I went to dinner at Laschet's inn tonight. Recommended if you like meat, beer. They did have mushroom goulash and a potato pancake entree as well as a couple of fish dishes. There were a few beers I had never heard of before, too. Better food than the Brauhaus by a bit, but less ambiance. Would go back.

My brother and I had dinner at Local Option. Nicely curated beer list, but boo to a chalkboard with no indication of ABV or price (and in some cases the style wasn't obvious, either). The server said, "That's what I'm for." Sorry, but I'd rather look at all of the data at once and make my decision. If I go back, I'm bringing a friend (or a wife) with a smartphone.

That's a valid complaint. I like to study the list, make a plan, weigh my options. If I relied on the server as much as I relied on a list, the server would want to strangle me after about five Minutes.

Dan, where is that place? I like meat and beer.

We had cocktails and apps at Barrelhouse on Lincoln last night (on the way to the surprisingly great and hilarious Klingon Chriatmas Carol) and I think it's better than (or at least more to my taste than) the Violet Hour. Much less pretentious, fancy cocktails $10 instead of $12, really nice staff (I wasn't drinking and asked the bartender if he could make me something interesting and nonalcoholic and he made m this complex and delicious drink with pineapple and almond and mint without even hesitating or grumbling), cats in Victorian clothes on the bathroom doors. The also had a good beer list and no "rules" and a more comfortable decor.

Laschet's is right by my house on Irving Park.

Jenny, Barrelhouse sounds amazing and the picture on Yelp makes it look really cool. I should go, especially as I think sara would love it.

Since I've had a smartphone (~3 months), I've become that ludicrous dude looking up the available beer on beer advocate when I'm at a bar or in binny's or wherever. More because I don't like to get burned than anything else, I guess.

That's not ludicrous.

I agree about the local option. Luckily they are good about keeping their beermenus.com list up to date. Which is easily smartphonable.

I need to go the local option. but we are often fairly lazy -- last night we went to Wolcott's solely because it is across the street.

Burger Bar, down at North/Clybourn, is good with both the beer and the grub.

That have a dinner coming up with half acre I believe.

I see that place

N'mind.

What's up with Clark and Division? It's a little island of crustiness in the sea of fanciness.

Clark And Division is mentioned in my longtime and still very favorite book, Museum of Love. The protagonist comes to there after being in a fugue state in Canada.

And it's never mentioned again.

I wish anyone else in this world liked that book. I've been reading it over and over and over since 1997. I read it all the way through several times a year.

Apart from books I had to read for school, I can think of only one book that I've ever read more than once: Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine (in 1993 and 2000).

Your approach to books is similar to your approach to music!

I've been in one of those strange meditative moods where I listen to the same song over and over for days and sat through Fata Morgana without falling asleep even once, even for a second. Maybe I am in a fugue state.

I meant that first comment as an xp to Jesse

Also I slept for NINE HOURS.

Your approach to books is similar to your approach to music!

Really? I think it's the same as my approach to movies or TV shows. But I'll get obsessive about a song or album often enough. Literally right before I read your post, I played Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting" for maybe the 5th or 6th time in the last week. (I guess maybe that's not quite "obsessive" to some people. But it's an itch I want to scratch.)