CHIGuide
Where To Eat With A Third-Tier Friend
You’ve been pushing this dinner off for a while. And after several text exchanges involving increasingly fake-sounding excuses, it’s finally happening—you’re meeting up with a third-tier friend. Legally, you don’t have to hang out with this person. But socially, you’re obligated. So whether you accidentally talked your way into meeting up with a college acquaintance when you ran into each other on the street, or someone you had jury duty with seemed really nice at the time and now is maybe weirder in hindsight, use this list of places for a dinner that won’t cost too much or take too long.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Sandy Noto
Eventually, you run out of excuses and have to schedule a meal with someone who needs to “pick your brain” or an old roommate who wants to rope you into their protein powder MLM. You need someplace relatively fast (but not insultingly so) that has good food and an enjoyable atmosphere. Enter Middle Brow Bungalow, a cute brewpub in Logan Square with a short menu of pizza and toasts. You won’t need much time deciding what to order (pizza...or toast) and it’s open during the day, so you don’t have to give up one of your precious free evenings being polite.
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
There’s a reason your third-tier friend isn’t a second-tier friend, and that reason might be because they like to talk about downer things like the Blackhawks or the polar bear population. If that’s the case, go to Dr Bird’s. Between great food and contagiously friendly service, this Jamaican counter-service spot always makes us happy. And we’ve never had to wait for a table, either. The specialty here is Jamaican patties, but the menu also has juicy jerk chicken and outstanding sides—including must-order coco rice that’s sweet and savory, fluffy coco bread that’s perfect for enfolding your patty, and festivals that complement the smoky jerk seasoning. Dr. Bird’s also has a long list of fresh juices and rum cocktails, and both are valid antidotes to finding out that polar bears will be extinct by the time you get home.
Not only is the Mexican food here delicious, but the Dave’s in Humboldt Park is also a low-key bar where you can easily avoid eye contact and watch a game while murmuring noncommittal responses like “totally” and “one hundred percent”. The menu is mainly tacos, burritos, and tortas, with a variety of filling options. Our favorite dishes are the spicy guajillo shrimp taco, carne asada burrito (perfectly constructed with an ideal ratio of meat to beans to cheese) and the mole de pollo dinner—which is rich, sweet, and comes with creamy refried black beans, rice, and tortillas so you can make your own tacos.
The original Pippins opened almost 50 years ago on Rush, and has since reopened in a much larger space in the Gold Coast. And while Pippin's 2.0 is very much still a bar, it now has a food menu filled with dishes that are surprisingly interesting and also very good. For example, you can order a tasty corn dog filled with tender veal sweetbreads, or a fried chicken sandwich that comes with tater tot fries that remind us of McDonald’s hash browns in the best way possible. Almost everything costs between $10-$20, and the food is creative enough to distract you from the boring details about your dining companion’s sister’s wedding photographer’s roommate who almost dated someone from Love Is Blind.
Nothing says “quick get together” like agreeing to meet at a cafe. And one of our favorite cafes to do that is Good Ambler in the West Loop. This place has outstanding sweet and savory pastries, and lunch food like BLTs and salads. It’s also open seven days a week, but closes at 4pm, so you can agree to meet someone for an hour on a Monday and hang out with a first-tier friend later that night.
It’s not often we can enthusiastically recommend a restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But Roux, a counter-service New Orleans-inspired spot in Hyde Park, is a great choice for all three meals. The restaurant is large, bright, and ideal for politely listening to that person you recently ran into from your undergrad study abroad program explain their UIC research over beignets, fluffy biscuits and gravy, or shrimp and creamy grits. The entire menu is available all day, and there’s a pastry case up front full of great baked goods, like a gigantic cinnamon roll where each bite somehow tastes like the gooey center—which everyone knows is the best part.
photo credit: Jack Li
The Lardon is a salumeria, so the menu is full of lots of salumi, cheese, and various meats they cure in-house. Come here with someone you really don’t know and order a meat and cheese spread. Their elaborate boards come with housemade accoutrements like onion jam, crackers, and smoked almonds, and playing with these like some version of an adult Lego set is a perfect way to entertain yourself while you figure out how the person across from you got your contact info.
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Whether it’s a coworker or a particularly self-involved friend, some people will just talk at you the whole time you’re together. It’s kind of like being with a TV, so you might as well go somewhere casual with actual TVs to entertain you while your dinner companion goes on about their last performance review or new workout routine. Daisy's in Hyde Park has excellent po' boys and sides (like seafood gumbo) and a large dining room with strategically placed screens for your eyes to wander to.
L’Patron is a BYOB Mexican spot in Logan Square that has great tacos. There’s a long menu of options including carne asada, lengua, shrimp, and crispy fish. But for something more substantial, order the Gringa taco. It’s al pastor with a lot of melted chihuahua cheese served on thick handmade tortillas, and it will give you all the sustenance necessary to explain to your former acupuncturist that you need to get home to your dog. You know, because it’s the “dog” who has separation anxiety.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Joe’s is a good choice when you’re interested in potentially moving this person into first or second-tier territory. It’s a nice wine bar in the West Loop, and the Italian small plates are really good—plus, you’re probably going to be sharing things. If you need to wait for seats, do a little team-building activity and strategize about what to order. We like the fried artichoke, parmesan puffs, and ricotta gnudi with confit pork cheek.
The Delta is a casual Southern bar and restaurant in Wicker Park that’s great for drinks and light bites. There’s a long cocktail menu, and you can also get snacks like hoecakes, tamales, fried shrimp, and smoked catfish dip. They have a secluded back patio, so you can grab a seat back there, then head to the bathroom and just dip out. You shouldn’t, but you could.
photo credit: Sandy Noto
This Logan Square spot has both a sidewalk and rooftop patio, and great Tex-Mex dishes that are easy to share. Get an order of the chili con queso (order extra tortilla chips—they’re excellent), the fish tacos, and any of their cocktails. And then, after you’ve had enough vitamin D and queso, utilize the excuse to leave that you've been formulating for the last 72 hours.
photo credit: Sandy Noto
Momo World is a casual counter-service spot in University Village, and they have fantastic dumplings. There are a lot of different preparations, including the classic steamed jhol (served in a spicy soup), and options like the momo chaat or tandoori, which are steamed, fried, and then grilled. They’re all delicious, each order is under $10, and you’ll be in and out in less than an hour.
This is a diner (complete with laminated menus and spinny stools) from the Girl & the Goat team. And while this place can be busy on weekends, it’s great for a relaxed meetup in the West Loop during the week. You can order things like nachos, patty melts, pancakes (they serve breakfast all day), along with cocktails. And a lot of the dishes are interesting enough (like bullseye french toast covered in syrup, chicken tenders, and strawberries) to entertain you through any personal anecdote about home renovation.
