Near West Side: January 2009 Archives

We'll spare you the annoying - if clever - song, but Daily Candy does have a good tip on one sixtyblue's five-course "Dinner with Michael" tasting menu, available for $75 at any time. That's five courses of chef Michael McDonald's really, really good contemporary American fare (you'll request the pork belly if you know what's good for you), complete with table visits from the chef himself. We've done this, and can definitely recommend it.

If the menu seems a little high-falutin' for your wallet, though, we were equally intrigued by another promotion noted on the onesixtyblue Web site. $4 signature burgers (with hand-cut fries and fried pickle (!)) and $4 craft beers (selection changes weekly) in the bar every Thursday, with a DJ starting at 6 p.m.

Every day, we'll be alerting you to five great food and drink deals around town, courtesy of Centerstage Chicago's comprehensive database. In this economy, you need all the help you can get, right?

Paddy Long's, 1028 W. Diversey
$3.50 bottles of Corona or Pacifico, $5 jumbo Smirnoffs, $3 Jager shots

Beachwood Inn, 1415 N. Wood
$2.50 Leinenkugel

WestEnd Bar & Grill, 1326 W. Madison
$10 pizza with unlimited toppings, $15 buckets of Goose Island

Joe E's Unforgettable Lounge, 4206 W. Irving Park
$3 32-ounce Miller High Life

Nacional 27, 325 W. Huron
$8.95 tacos, tostadas, and quesadillas, $7.95 champagne, cocktails, and wine

Abigail Czajka, 10 (left), and Zoe Samila, 9, rock out during Girls Rock Chicago camp last summer. (Sun-Times file)

Last summer we wrote a series about the Girls Rock! camp in Chicago, empowering young gals through the power of rawk. The camp doesn't run itself, you know, so throw your bucks to its nonprofit sweetness during a fund-raising bill of local bands Friday night at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western. The bands are White Mystery, Radar Eyes, and Tyler Jon Tyler. It's $8 at the door, with music at 10 p.m.

1. Knowing which of the three La Pasadita locations on Ashland to go to for which food — and knowing when to skip all of them for some tacos al pastor at Carniceria Leon a few blocks north.

2. The top-notch indie movie selection at Brainstorm — and the nerdy-but-cool membership cards they hand out there.

3. The cross-section of cultures that congregates on summer weekends in the actual park. Nelson Algren — whose former home sits just a block away — still would find plenty to document here.

What are your favorite three things about Wicker Park?