Brian "where is the 'Your-Review-Sucks' button" B.'s Profile

Why is this marked as closed?  The bars' name has changed,but it is certainly not closed.  

Oona P., who wrote:  "nope.  no longer korean owned.  last time i checked, it is a yuppy "dive" bar".  "this is the end" . . ."

1) Lighten up.
2) Sue, i.e. Sue of "Sue's Dragon Lady Lounge", is Sue the owner, and Sue is Korean, and she is awesome.

...oh, and order the dumplings here.

The new bar in the commercial blackhole of 1935 N. Damen is called:  6 Degrees.

It might take 6 other people you know to name every bar that USED to exist at 1935 N. Damen.  (It's been Chinaski's, Whiskey Road, and Darwin's before this new... er... evolution).

Each bar before it had some notable gimmick that failed...

+ Darwin's had deep-friend pumpkin slices with wasabi-mustard dipping sauce (It was on the Food Network y'all).  They also had a few Nintendos set up with a BUNCH of games.

+ Whiskey Road had Movie Night with unlimited bacon -- it's possible they have lost all their regulars to cardiac failure.

+ Chinaski's was the first Asian-Polish fusion restaurant* (*not true)

6 Degrees will feature classic pub fare plus "horseshoes": Texas-toast with meat, topped with french fries and cheese sauce. (Sounds like they might have the same problem Whiskey Road did).  

Meanwhile across the street Lemmings is still doing good business.. oh those fickle Yipsters.

Sorry Chundy's!  You almost made it as Golden Rise, and you almost made it again, but not quite.  Man.  Diversey & Sacramento is STRUGGLIN'.

FYI -- Golden Rise Bakery still exists in the form of awesome Farmers Market Stand (Check the Square on Sundays in the Summer), but the bakery/restaurant is now officially closed.

Sac & Div now consists of:  Chundy's/Golden Rise (closed), a Supermercado (closed since 2006), a car-parts store (which I've never seen anyone enter), and Marathon Gas (which is CRAZY cheap).

Is this the 100th Francesca in the Chicago Area?  Seriously.

Doesn't matter though -- the food is good.  They've re-vamped the fomer Via Bella space, opened it up, got rid of the drop ceilings to expose a nice arched vault ceiling space.

The food was good... I had lamb.  It was rich, very tender.   My other dining partners had  a sausage dish and a pesto & scallop... wonderful.  Service was efficient.  The only bummer was, for a chain restaurant in the suburbs I was surprised that the cost was higher than I expected.  Entrees ranged from 16 to 25 dollars unless you're going veggie, which should be a sin in a good Italian place.

Winds Cafe is temporarily closed for renovations.

Other Yelpers have pointed out that this place is family owned and operated and they'll have their loyal regulars despite anything we might comment on. Good for them for being around this long, I hope they're successful forever. That said...

Aside from structural changes, these renovations also need to apply to the waitstaff and menu as well. Service here is disappointing, the food is just okay (overpriced for what you're getting), and the beer is expensive (relatively speaking).

It IS cool that they have live music here often, but for me to consider this a go-to place, some of the above negatives will have to change.

After being here a few times, at different days at different times I've decided that what you're getting here is not worth what you're paying. Either quality goes up or the prices go down, otherwise count me out.

This place really, really sucks.  Beacuse it's close to me, I've been here multiple times.  I keep wanting to give it a chance, but it just is no good.

1) It's the mirror-image of the Northsider layout.  EXACTLY. Not that it matters, but WHY would you do that?  Take a mediocre Bucktown bar and plop the same one down in Logan Square?  It's an easy insult to call this place a "cookie cutter" bar, but for God sakes it LITERALLY is.

2) Like the Northsider, it has a suspiciously yuppish clientelle.  I feel the patrons are the condo owners in the area that are uncomfortable at Ronny's.  (Not that I blame them... Ronny's customers want them to feel uncomfortable).

3) It's understandable if bar fare is slightly overpriced (because of convenience) or slightly sub-par (because it's a bar, not a retaurant) but it should never EVER be both to the extremes that this place is.

4) The music is TERRIBLE.  In a twist of irony, Northsider's playlist is suprisingly deece, but not Logan.  It's like someone was taking "what's alternative" cues from Entertainment Weekly.  Not one but TWO other YELP reviewers mentioned they were playing Alien Ant Farm's "Beat It".  Sad.  Not suprised, but sad.

5) Service here is AWFUL.  I've sat down a few times and watched the waitstaff walk back-and-fourth infront of me for 15 minutes.  The first time I got impatient quickly and grabbed a busboy to ask if someone could take our orders.  The second time it happened again and I was curious how long it would take for someone to come over and give us menus.  We waited upwards of 20 minutes, watched the end of the Florida game on TV and then decided to eat and drink elsewhere.

Wait... how can this restaurant's rating DROP when it's not even open anymore?

FREE BURRITOS ON OPENING DAY!!! THURSDAY 1/8/09...

Forget Starbucks:   Logan Squar-ers, do you complain that your neighborhood is becoming gentrified?  Well quit it, because I KNOW you still get excited when you hear Target, Starbucks, Dunlay's, X-Sport Fitness, Panera, and now (drumroll!) Chipotle are moving in nearby.

Don't pretend you don't like it.  And don't pretend you care that it's owned by McDonalds.

I now leave you with a line by comedian Todd Barry:

"Everytime you mention Chipotle is delicious, someone goes, 'Can you believe they were started by McDonald's?'.   Uh, McDONALDS is delicious, so yes, I can believe that. It's not like Ben and Jerry's opened up a lingerie shop. It's the world's greatest restaurant chain taking a stab at another kind of food and hitting it out of the fucking park.'"

Perhaps the most over-rated brunch I've ever been to.  Reading up about it I thought it would be more of a contemporary brunch... it felt more like Shoney's.  

The space itself is very unremarkable, carpeted floor,  it has terrible art on the walls, including a few Anne Geddes photos... all decor is forgiven if the food is good, but it was meh.  

The orange coffee is good idea, but it all settled at the bottom so the first two glasses was coffee, and the third glass was super orang-ish.  

The menu looked interesting but I had two issues.  First, they make you feel bad about ordering JUST pancakes, or JUST eggs by calling them "boring" on the menu.  Yes, if you want to order something cheap and simple, you will have to call them boring.  Secondly, they don't allow you to choose your own ingredients for omlets, and they get all hoity-toity about it by telling you to go to Golden Nugget if you're not happy about it.  Actually, it's good advice... I will go the the 'Nug next time probably.

The omlets they offered looked good, but were just so-so.  The eggs could have been better, my dining partner said the veggies tasted canned, and they were very conservative with the cheese.  I thought they were serving "home fries" (herb-y cubed taters) but it was this brick of potatoes that were luke warm with minimal spice.

This is not a bad bruch spot, just very unwhelming.  I'll give it another shot, because I've heard such good things.  Still need to try the Frushi.

Could it be!?!?!  The long awaited answer to Filter?!  Maybe!

Space is bright,  vibrant, and yes, super 80s.  It's like I'm drinking tasty coffee while the crazy colors of the Saved By the Bell opening credits whiz by me.  

Although the opening of a New Wave themed coffee house right now seems to be riding on the back-end of the nostalgia train, the place is very fun.  Yes, they have a Nintendo set up.  Yes, you could do a remote broadcast of Yo! MTV Raps here.  

Just a thought -- maybe it's time to do a grunge throwback?  I see all the kids in W.P. are starting to raid their sibling's old flannel & thermals,  and in truth, I don't think Candlebox ever really got the respect they deserved.

Anyway, check the place out.  Prices are VERY reasonable, there is 0 attitude (unlike Filter), and it's generally a very peppy, nice, open-floor type coffee place.