Bridgid is a bartender in Boystown (more about her bar next week: I will be spending the evening there and it's gonna get pretty real) and has been for the past 12 years. So needless to say she doesn't get out to new places very often, especially if they are only open for dinner. So we went through a list of places she has been wanting to try. We decided on a place in Logan Square: as there are also some great bars in that area we could hit up post dinner.
Analogue opened in 2013, mostly to be a cocktail bar and dance party, from the articles I have found about it. It has a New Orleans-inspired menu in an open and airy space. We were the first ones there, it was a super rainy Sunday evening and also pretty early. Bridgid and I snagged a high top and settled in.
We decided to start with a little bubbly: and a basket of biscuits. I mean, who doesn't want a basket of biscuits? I know I have been on a tear when it come to southern food, and it is about to get even more epic since I am now sitting in Durham, North Carolina. But why not start off my second southern adventure of April with biscuits in Chicago?
This basket of biscuits comes with 3 lovely biscuits, creamy butter that is made with syrup, and hot pepper jelly. Bridgid took one bite and said, "I want to drink this every day". Sweet, hot, flaky, spicy. All of the things one would want in a biscuit experience. Paired quite well with our dry cava.
We then shared a green salad and the mushroom french fries debris po' boy. Bridgid is a vegetarian (I know, so many vegetarians in my life) and these were basically the only vegetarian items on the menu.
The salad was exactly what I wanted, fresh and bright, lots of dill with a creole mustard vinaigrette. A little feta really brought the whole salad together. The Po' Boy was good: not nearly enough mushroom debris. The bread was tasty, and the flavors were all good but I feel like the filling was just lacking. It probably didn't help that I was just in New Orleans eating the true stuff, but I think if they just stuff that sandwich more, it would be a world of difference.
In Summation: A cool joint! Probably I would be back for cocktails and snacks, not for a full meal. Not when there are so many other choices in Logan Square for amazing food.
Bridg and I decided to hit up another cocktail joint about a block and a half away, The Whistler. This is a super popular bar in Logan Square, and both of us had been here before. They make really inventive and delicious cocktails, and we wanted to see what they were up to this season. The bar that Bridg is a bartender at doesn't really allow her to flex her cocktail making skills: it's more a RUM AND COKE! BEER! JAG BOMB! kinda place. So she loves to see what other bars are doing, since there are so many interesting cocktail lounges around Chicago.
There were two cocktails I really wanted to try here, but I ended up with The Pastry War. I mean, how could I not get a drink called pastry war? It was tequila, cognac, apple, almond, cinnamon, beetroot and lime. WHOA. I was a little nervous, as that is a lot of crazy in one glass. It was pretty sweet, but very good. An ideal way to start our night off.
In summation: I will always go The Whistler. Better early when it is not wall to wall people, it does get completely insane in there.
We then moseyed down the block to a bar neither of us had been to but have always meant to: The Owl. I have always loved the sign for this place, it is super old school and the eyes have lights that blink. So great. We went in and found a HUGE bar, and we were the only people in there (again, it was early: like 8pm on a Sunday night). We bellied up to the bar and checked out the cocktail list.
Bridgid and I chose the same cocktail, not something that normally happens. It is called The Gem: sarsaparilla whiskey, rye, ginger beer, lemon juice and bitters. Welcome to my new favorite drink. This thing is perfection, warm and dark but with bright notes. We may or may not have had 3. Each. And a shot of four roses with the bartender for good measure.
In Summation: New favorite bar in Chicago, now that Bonny's 4 a.m. is no longer. The Owl is homey like the bars in Milwaukee with cocktails and staff that are excellent. Thanks The Owl!
See you in 5 days, Chicago! Off to The Triangle to Visit Jecca and Eli!
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