Entries Tagged as 'boiler room'

Wells Banana Bread Beer

April 15th, 2011 · 2 Comments

I first had Wells Banana Bread Beer at the Boiler Room and I’m kind of obsessed now. It tastes just like banana bread!

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Famous Last Words

January 30th, 2011 · No Comments

“…. I’ll just go for one drink, maybe two….”

It all started with these delicious drinks at Gilt Bar. They were called Le Bar St. Germain and were made from St. Germain (a French liqueur made with elder flowers), lemon and prosecco. Brett, Annie, Jess, Kristin and I were all drinking them. They were so delicious.


Brett, Annie, Dallas


Brett, Annie


Jessica, Rachelle, Killian


Killian, Brett, Annie, Dallas

The drinks were potent too. And as if that wasn’t enough to confuse you, try finding your way to the bathroom in this place.

I’d never been to Gilt before, even though it’s about a block from my office. My coworkers had raved about it, so it was about time I finally got there. In fact, I even ran into some of my coworkers there. ha. The inside decor is gorgeous. Fancy, lots of wood, but still rustic and with a kind of old-timey twist that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The drinks were great and eventually when we ordered food, that was really good too.

There’s a section of the Gilt food menu called “On Toast”. I thought these things were going to be wimpy and lame, but when we ordered the triple cream délice de bourgogne cheese with apricot preserve and herb salad, it was awesome. Good-sized slices of thickly cut grilled bread. The cheese was a generous serving, unlike some places where you only get a sliver. The cheese and apricot was a great pairing. I don’t know that I’d really consider a few leaves scattered upon the cutting board it was served on to be a salad, though.

Later on we ordered the bouchot mussels with white wine, shallots, herbs & smoked paprika. Very good. Dallas loooved the bread so much, we had to ask for more. It was great dipped in the mussels sauce. We also got an order of the kennebec fries. I asked our waitress Kat (who was awesome) what kennebec was and she said it was a kind of potato that is starchier and makes a better french fry. She was right. These fries were served with garlic aoili and disappeared so fast from our table that we had to order more STAT!

After a while some people left. Brett and Annie had late night dinner reservations but it was still kind of early. Jess and Dallas and I decided to go back with Annie and Brett to Brett’s apartment for a bit, since she lives not that far away at Cityfront Place. Brett just moved to Chicago about a month ago and is subletting this place. The view is great.

In Brett’s fridge there were about 30 of these bad boys:

Grapefruits. Brett got them from her grandma in Arizona. So Brett used her huge guns to make us Greyhounds (freshly squeezed grapefruit and vodka).

Delicious!

And a dance party may have broken out, but after a while, we knew we had to go. Dallas and I dropped Jess off in a cab and then went back to our house. We stopped at Boiler Room and each got a slice of pizza to bring home and eat. I went to the bathroom there and took this photo of the unique bathroom doors.

I know we were drunk last night, but we may have changed our minds about Boiler Room. We weren’t totally sold on it the first time we went and we never went back until last night. But last night’s pizza was SO good. I had just a plain slice and Dallas had a pepperoni slice.

I don’t know what happened after we left. Brett and Annie went back out and some of our other friends met up with them. I can’t imagine how late they were out (we were home by 11 or so) or how drunk they got. I’m so glad we went home when we did! I was feeling rough the next day and had so much to do!

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Boiler Room

September 2nd, 2010 · No Comments

Boiler Room, formerly known as Nice Slice at a preview I went to, opened a couple months ago very close to our condo. We didn’t attend the opening night party, but we did visit within the first week or so.

Since that time, several of my friends have also visited Boiler Room. I like the inside. It is very unique and reuses a lot of things that probably might have been thrown out. Some people think it’s a little overdone, but I think it’s interesting.

The bathrooms are made to look like the CTA and use doors and other things salvaged from the trains. There’s a recording that also plays and it sounds just like the recording that plays on the trains. “Next stop, Logan Square” or whatever..

Behind the bar there are some metal panels salvaged from a boiler… hence the name of the place. In the center area they were playing a Hitchcock movie.

This is “The Dirty Bird.” Dallas loves wings, so when he looked at the menu he asked the waitress, “are these the wings?” and she said yes so we ordered it. It’s more like a whole chicken with drumsticks and everything. It tasted good, but we didn’t really expect to be eating so much chicken before we ate our pizza.

For pizza we got a whole pie of The Purist ($18). This was fresh mozzarella, basil, and
balsamic. It was good, but I kept feeling like I wanted to put salt on it. Maybe it was a little underseasoned?

Overall, I think the Boiler Room is a good addition to our neighborhood. Our food wasn’t good enough to write home about, but it was fine. I want to go back and give them another try, but just haven’t had the time yet. From the friends we’ve talked to who have been to the Boiler Room, the reviews have been all over the place. I actually think the pizza creations at Revolution Brewing, are more interesting… but the pizzas there are on the small side. The Boiler Room would be good for bigger groups eating pizza. Also, they sell pizza by the slice so probably a good place to get a later-night slice. WIll have to test that out soon!

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Logan Square is on Fire! The Bike Lane, Barbara & Barbara, Boiler Room, Bucket ‘O Blood, Cafe Mustache, Letizia’s, Play, La Boulangerie, Jam, & Wasabi

July 17th, 2010 · 7 Comments

There have been so many new places that have opened since we moved to Logan Square just under two years ago – The Rocking Horse, Cole’s, Longman & Eagle, Dill Pickle Food Co-op, New Wave Coffee, Revolution Brewery, Logan Square Kitchen, Ciao Napoli Pizzeria, Sparrow, to name a few. It seems that every week I hear about even more new places opening here. It’s an exciting time to be in Logan Square. I love going to new places and I can’t help but think this will be good for the market value of our condo if we choose to sell it one day. Here are a list of even more new things I’ve been hearing about … and all within short walking distance from where I live!

The Bike Lane is a new bike shop in Logan Square on Milwaukee Avenue across the street from the Congress Theater. I noticed it one night while walking home a couple months ago and took a quick photo.

A few weeks ago Dallas and I needed to get a new bike pump so we walked over and bought one at The Bike Lane. The inside of the store had a just-moved-in feeling, but the guy that helped us out was very nice and they had a good selection of what we were looking for.

A few weeks ago we were at Summer Sessions on the Square. Afterwards, Stephanie and I were shopping around at Wolfbait and B-Girls. We noticed that something new opened right next door to the store. We were talking to someone who worked at Wolfbait and she mentioned that a new salon had opened that very day. It’s called Barbara and Barbara and their website says they do a shampoo, cut, blowdry and beer for $20. Perfect hipster combo at the perfect hipster price!

If you’ve been following along here on this fine website, you’ll remember a preview I attended for a new pizza place called Nice Slice. Well, Nice Slice changed its name to Boiler Room and opened last week. I know some of the people involved in this project and was invited to the opening, but I had other plans that night. I hope to visit really soon.

Bucket ‘O Blood Books and Records opened last month on Milwaukee Avenue near the intersection of California. I haven’t been inside yet, but their sign says they specialize in fiction, fantasy, horror, vinyl, and “awesome.” Awesome!

A couple months ago I wrote about Cafe Mustache opening on Milwaukee Avenue near the California Avenue intersection. I noticed this morning that on the Cafe Mustache Facebook page, they announced that they’re opening their doors on Monday, July 19 and having a preview on Sunday night. Yay!

In February I noticed that Letizia’s is opening on California Avenue, just south of Logan Boulevard. I thought it’d be open by now, but everyone’s still waiting eagerly for the work to be completed.

As I noticed last month, Play is a children’s toy and gift store that is slated to open this summer. That’s about all I know about it. Play will be located in the same building as New Wave.

One more that I mentioned previously, La Boulangerie is a bakery coming to Logan Square and will also be located in the same building as New Wave and Play.

Jam is a restaurant in Ukrainian Village that I’ve been hearing some very good things about their brunch. It has been in the back of my head forever that I should try it out and I never have. A couple weeks ago I heard they’re opening a second location in Logan Square on Milwaukee Avenue, nearby New Wave. I don’t know the exact location, but there’s a storefront just to the south of The Rocking Horse that is being renovated and it’s my #1 guess.

Finally, yesterday Grub Street reported that they were walking around Milwaukee Avenue trying to figure out exactly where Jam is going to be when they noticed a storefront with a new awning. Just to the north of The Rocking Horse is going to be Wasabi Japanese restaurant.

There is one new Logan Square business on Milwaukee Avenue at Richmond that I am not that excited for, though:

The new Cash America pawn shop! At least it looks nicer than 99% of the pawn shops I’ve seen.

But mostly, though, I’m so excited for these new developments. Logan Square is the place to be these days!!!

Update 06.19.10: I forgot, there’s also a new coffee shop called Nothin’ Less that opened a few months ago on Milwaukee Avenue just north of the Logan Square blue line stop.

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