Pretending Bar Nachos Are Steak At The Ritz

logan_bar_and_grill
Logan Bar & Grill, Logan Square, Chicago

Last night Dallas and I got all decked out – new suit for him, new dress and heels for me – to go to his belated company holiday party at the Four Seasons Ritz-Carlton downtown. Cocktails began at 6 p.m. and dinner was to start at 7:30. We figured we’d arrive at about 6:30 or 7:00, in time for dinner, but not showing up right as it was starting.

At 6:00 we called for Yellow Cab. I was on hold forever, but when got through eventually. I got a call back about 10 minutes later saying that our cab would be there in 7 minutes. Great! I put my coat and scarf on and waited. 20 minutes later I was on the phone to the cab company complaining that the cab never showed up. I was put on hold forever and then told our cab was 3 minutes away. 20 minutes later the cab never arrived and I was on the phone with the cab company again. Long story short, we waited over an hour for any cab to come and get us and none did. By that time it was past 7:00 and even if a cab showed up that second we wouldn’t make it to the party in time for dinner. I called the cab company one last time so I could give them a piece of my mind and tell them how they ruined our night and how I was never going to use their service again. The dispatcher blamed the cab drivers for never showing up and the weather (it snowed for 2 days straight) for causing them to be so busy. She said that they had the orders logged and for some reason the cabs just never showed up at our place. Fine. I still yelled at her though, and I felt kind of bad because it wasn’t her fault, but she’s the face of the company and someone needed to be told.

The other part of this cab problem is that where we live now we can’t really just walk out on the street and get a cab like we used to in every other neighborhood we lived in. The times that we have tried have been futile so we are completely dependent on calling for a cab, which obviously doesn’t always work out, especially if the weather is bad. We were going to call two companies to make sure one showed up, but last time we got a cab we were talking to the cab driver and he told us how cab drivers will kind of blacklist you if you do it and they both show up, so now we’re hesitant to call multiple places for a pick up. Still, if the option is risk the ire of a driver or ruin your plans, I think we’ll take the risk.

In the end Dallas and I changed out of our fancy clothes and went to our neighborhood bar. We drank a couple beers, had a bean dip/nacho appetizer and ate dinner salads. We sat by the warm fireplace and watched the snow. It was cozy and warm. We talked a lot and watched the Cardinals upset the Panthers. A perfectly nice night, but not steak at the Ritz.

9 thoughts on “Pretending Bar Nachos Are Steak At The Ritz

  1. I think this happened to me about 8 billion times trying to leave friends’ houses in Logan Square. Only once I can recall a cab actually showing up. Last NYE the only way my friends and I got a cab back to Ukrainian Village was because we randomly saw one (who was trying to speed through the ‘hood to get back east) and ran through traffic and jumped out in front of him. This would not work in New York, but for some reason, the dude took pity on our drunk selves.

  2. It can be a pain getting a cab in your area,but why didn’t you just walk across the street and take the Blue Line either to Wicker Park — which is always swimming with cabs — or all the way downtown and then catch a cab there?

    Just something to keep in mind the next time!

  3. maybe next time. we’ve never had a problem calling a cab so far.. even on new years eve. when they told us they’d be here in 7 minutes we believed them. and even when they told us 3 more we believed them. now we know. next time we might be taking the el in. the other factor, though, was that we didn’t want to walk in the snow. people hadn’t all shovelled and it was still coming down. .. heels, dress shoes, etc. we wanted to be picked up.

  4. Mom, we didn’t take photos, but we’re wearing the same thing (probably) to a wedding at the end of the month. I’m sure there will be photos.

    Sarah, that’s funny. The last cab driver we had said he only stayed west of Western to pick people up. I wish there were more that did that!

  5. Oh, that’s just the joy of Logan Square – so glad I’m not there anymore. My friends that have lived there a while have taken to ordering the cab hours in advance for a specific time and that works much better than the random calling to get a cab as quick as possible – most of the time you will know you need to be somewhere ahead of time – so it works out much better.

  6. Lynn – Thanks for sending that link. Interesting read about the cab companies and how the cab drivers don’t have to respond to dispatches.

    Julene – I think we’ll be scheduling way ahead of time next time. Luckily the Blue Line is right there so we don’t need to worry about missing flights. We’ll be taking the train to the airport instead of relying on cabs.

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