The Logan Theatre is our local movie theater. It’s old. Really old. And small. But movies are only $5 and they start exactly on time without any previews or advertisements. Not even a warning to shut off your cell phone.
Handsome Little Devils: This guy juggles a chainsaw, raw egg, and bowling ball at the same time.
Crazy kaleidoscope.
Beer socks! Playing urban horseshoes.
Art Bike
Rows and rows of bike racks!
After the Tour de Fat bike parade, Jess and I headed over to Palmer Square for the Tour de Fat festival. We watched the end of the Handsome Little Devils vaudville-like show. In the finale, a man juggled a chainsaw, a raw egg and a 12-pound bowling ball all at the same time! We also watched the slow ride competition. This is a bike race where the loser is the winner. The goal is to ride the slowest and cross the finish line last, which is harder than you think. It’s hard to balance a bike while riding slow, and if you tip over or touch the ground, you’re out.
By this time it was about 12:45 p.m. and Jess and I were getting hungry. We walked all around the festival grounds, but there were NO food tents, as there were previous years. Finally I spotted two food trucks on the north side of the park. Gaztro Wagon was selling naanwiches but they were running out fast. The other truck was 5411 Empanadas. Both trucks had most of their menu crossed out and had a very limited selection. We went to stand in the empanada line. We were about 30 deep. Gaztro Wagon sold out while we were in the empanada line. I was SO hoping the empanadas didn’t sell out because then we’d have to leave to find food. Luckily, we were able to get our empanadas. They were tasty, but we only got 1 each, so as not to hog the limited supply, and they were tiny. Like 3 bites big. The truck sold out just after we ate our tiny bites. That was it. The fest was out of food by 1 p.m. NUTS.
When we were in the line, we saw Dallas, Kristin and Adam, so they came over and hung out by us. They were all expecting to eat too, but did not. Adam left to get some grub shortly after that. Jess and I went in the bike coral to ride some bikes but she was a bit too small for most of them. When we came out Todd and Kelly had joined our group, but they’d come expecting to eat and there was no food, so everyone wanted to leave to go eat somewhere. Everyone gave their beer tokens away (no one could drink all that beer on an empty stomach). It was Alden’s lucky day because just then he walked up and he got some of our beer tokens. By the way, Alden said later on there were more trucks, but really poor planning. Food trucks are awesome in theory, but if they are not abundant and the ones that are there run out of food right away? No bueno. How do you have a fest with a ton of kids and people drinking and not have food? This was obviously my biggest issue with the fest this year.
Other than that the fest was fun. It was HOT and sweaty, but that was ok. The thing is, all the acts are all exactly the same every year, though. And this is the 3rd year. They need to get some different things, because as much as I like it, I can only watch the slow ride and the same acts so many times!
Anyway, we headed to Revolution Brewing and ate lunch there. Then Jess and Kristin and I went to Heavenly for gelato. Then Ed met us there and he and Kristin went off for the night. Jess and I hung around Heavenly for a bit longer, then went to the Logan Theatre to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Back home, played some Wii and went to bed.
The Logan Theatre in Logan Square shows movies for only $4. Sometimes the movies are a little older than the new releases at the fancy theaters, but not that much older. For example, right now they’re showing Planet 51, 2012, Twilight, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, and Old Dogs. I just checked and all of these movies are still playing at the big multiplex nearby, but probably at the tail-end of their run.
The Logan Theatre theater is pretty old school. Very small concession stand, no stadium seating, only a couple theaters. In the bathrooms there’s a weird sitting room. In the bathroom stalls the toilet paper is dispensed in tiny little sheets, stacked up like napkins, instead of having a roll. It’s a mix of charm and a run down feeling, but we’re not complaining. Having a theater we can walk to in the neighborhood that charges only half price is awesome.
Last weekend Jess and I got together for brunch and a movie. We ate at Rustik. Jess had been there for dinner and liked some of the stuff she had. I think the brunch menu is relatively new. There’s no menu online anywhere, but I took this crummy cell photo of the Rustik Brunch Menu. I had never been to Rustik before so I was excited to try it. I had the Crab Cakes Benedict (2 crab cakes, poached egg, grilled tomato, hollandaise, roasted sweet potatoes) and Jess had the Rustik Frittata (smoked gouda, chorizo, sofrito, homemade tomatillo salsa, toast, roasted sweet potatoes). The tomato in the Crab Cakes Benedict replaced the English muffin that usually comes with eggs Benedict. I thought it was a good swap because the crab cakes were a generous size and a thick piece of bread may have been a bit much. The flavor was good on this dish, but the eggs were over cooked. The yolks were not runny at all.
After brunch we had a little time to kill so we walked around and shopped around a bit even though it was a torrential downpour. Jess took me to Provenance Food & Wine, a cute little shop with lots of wine and specialty food items.
The movie we saw was Marley and Me. If that movie doesn’t get you emotional then you have a heart of stone. The movies at the Logan Theatre are only $3. All the time. $3. Crazy! It’s an old theater, without many updates. .. but $3???
So, basically Jess is my Logan Square ambassador. There are so many restaurants and stores to visit now that the weather is getting warmer. Looking forward to the spring and summer!