Chicago MMXII

The Blue Line bar is likely to be icy and fully A/C'd -- it's directly to the right when you exit at the Damen stop. (I've never been there myself and it's likely to be full of tools but you can truly crawl there from the el stop exit)

I'll probably wind up at the Chi Diner and Big Chicks tonight, but may enter that bar as soon as it opens tomorrow.

Blue Line is okay, another option is the Green Eye at Western. You might even se Chicago Kevin there.

much better idea

NC has hills. Chicago does not.

Hot guy at the consulate: baby-faced gringo meatwad with jeans up past his navel and giant Texas belt buckle who spoke Spanish with his wife and staff in a Deep South drawl and who had a lot to say about ignorant xenophobes. His Spanish consonants were dead on - impressive "r" and "rr" sounds - but he worked every vowel over like by damn bubble gum.

Violet Hour is also an option if you're into fancy cocktails.

Is Morbs still in town, or did I miss him completely?

I feel bad because I totally stood him up on the 4th. He called, and I didn't call back. But then again, I wanted to go to Big Chicks with him, but he declined because he didn't want to "straight up the place," so on second thought, fuck him.

something must be wrong with me, it's so hot out but i am craving pho or ramen

something must be wrong with me, it's so hot out that i am considering going to see magic mike

Nick, you're missing some salt, clearly.

Magic Mike is probably the movie currently in theaters that I am most interested in seeing. Kind of doubt I'll end up seeing it, though.

(Mostly b/c Kr's not interested, and I don't want to see it ~so bad~ that I'd go by myself.)

jesse and i saw it, it was decent

Nick, you're missing some salt, clearly.

That sounds very OTM.

I have lunch paralysis. I'm really hungry! I'm willing to *shudder* go outside! I don't want any food that I can think of!

me too. actually asian food sounds good but i can't decide where to go.

wow bao is really close but i always feel kind of cheated when i eat there. maybe siam rice, but it's further.

That's kooky because I was thinking of Wow Bao but I want something sturdier.

Sometimes when I get like this, I got to Chipotle because I find Chipotle to be really tasty and indulgent but kind of gross, so it's a thing I can usually talk myself into eating (and also a punishment for indecision).

Oh. Duh. I'll just go to Corner Bakery.

is there a tokyo lunchbox nearby?

i love their udon noodles a lot

At least you don't go to Subway, like I sometimes do. Chipotle sounds really good right now, actually.

there is a tokyo lunchbox very near me! should i eat there?

There's a TLB in my building, but disappointingly, it's not as good as the one over on Wells, which is delish. So yes, you should eat there.

I hate Subway with a fiery passion. Every time I have eaten at Subway in the past six years, it's made me feel really, really sad.

yes you should get the vegetable udon and have them add the spicy

As Pete Holmes said, "I ate at Subway today, because I gave up."

ok. thanks guys.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I remember the first time I ate a Subway sub! It was the summer of 1990 or 91 and I was kind of broke so my friend Jay and I split a foot long veggie sub and it was delicious! Like, it was amazing to me and I was so happy that there was this cheap food with lots of vegetables on it, and also black olives and cucumbers... what??!?! So weird and good!

I've never been able to replicate that happiness.

Oh, the halcyon days of Subway veggie subs, before we all became so jaded...

Haha. I actually remember the first time I ate Subway, too. It was in Providence, R.I., in the summer of 1989, and I don't think I liked it.

I remember the first time I ate a Subway sub because I had never eaten a cold cut sandwich from a restaurant before.

It was a BMT.

Bowel Movement and Tomato?

i used to get the veggie patty subs at subway, which are even grosser than the veggie subs, with little bland gardenburger things in the middle

When I want Asian food for lunch, I'll decide between

a) Tokyo Lunchbox (sushi, or a tofu teriyaki rice bowl)
b) Wow Bao (combo of veggie DUMPLINGS! and spicy peanut noodles)
c) Green Apple Grill (veggie bi bim bop)

(G.A.G. is in the food court at 201 N. Clark.)

G.A.G. is not the best acronym. For anything.

Way worse than BMT.

green apple sounds good. lots of condescending comments on their yelp page about people eating at mcdonalds and popeyes in the same food court.

It's on the second floor of the food court, so I never actually noticed it until I started using the Skyway this past winter to get to Wow Bao.

I remember my very first Subway visit too. Here in Salisbury NC in late August 1988. Turkey, I think. Had a summer cold.

The cat sitters are sendings lots of texts with pics of yr cats.

Did you go with Chicago Pet Sitters??? Because they do that! They also leave absolutely PRECIOUS little notes about your cats. I love them so much.

John, I've often wanted to go to G.A.G. (lol) but I think that whole food court smells weird so I was skeptical. I'm going to try it on your recommendation.

The last time we had the pet sitters come, the sitter sent us a series of story-like texts based on the conceit that the cats had been out partying late the previous night, which was why they were so sleepy when she came to visit. She also signed off her text messages with one of the following closings: Bye for Meow! Have a mewo-velous day! Hope you have a "mice" day!!!

That is twee as HELL but seriously, I love it. I want the person who checks on my cats to be exactly like this person.

Whoops, I meant "meow-velous" obviously. OBVIOUSLY.

Also I am pleased and probably not surprised that so many of you remember your first Subway experience.

Ha!

Hey you know what? It's 100 degrees and not done getting hot yet. We're supposed to hit 104 today, and I have no problem believing that at all.

I'm going to try it on your recommendation.

Keep in mind, the only thing I've had is the bi bim bap, so I can't vouch for the pho or anything else.

I'm going to go outside now. Because I've never been to Iraq in August before, and I want to simulate the experience. Hopefully without the IEDs.

I just went outside. I didn't go far, but it was okay.

Having read some Green Apple Grill yelp reviews, I feel I must say that my problem with the smell of the food court isn't that it smells like a food court. It's that the second floor smells a little bit like trash.

You can bring your laptops/tablets here since there's free WiFi! I mean, it's from the McDonald's downstairs but hey, it works.

I hope the McDonald's wifi makes this person fat.

tokyo lunchbox was good! even if my tofu udon had like four pieces of tofu and they didn't make it spicy even after confirming that i wanted it spicy. it was still really tasty and i will eat there again.

also what's up with them calling it u-dong when everyone else calls it udon? some kind of immature JOKE?

I am pleased and probably not surprised that so many of you remember your first Subway experience.

It's easier to remember since every time feels like the first time. In that it is exactly the same. It's some kind of holodeck of dining. You can call up the same program again and again, and it never changes. It's more true for Subway than it is for any other fast food restaurant, I would argue, even McDonald's. Burger King has a more varied menu, FFS.