It's not clear from what I wrote that Becks quoted but open-to-all means lurkers definitely welcome!

Well I'm still certainly open to things, and Kosko is in the Lincoln Square area, right?

2: Yes he is, and m. leblanc in Andersonville.

I'm definitely interested (though up to my ears in a summary judgment opposition). I live in Lincoln Park.

Harold's is the only reasonable choice.

And we eat on the hood of my car? I'm game, but I'd like to drink too.

I'd push for Clark Street but the bars here kind of suck. There is a Mexican place with okay food & really good margaritas on Clark and Wrightwood (you can upgrade to better tequila for not much more & it is so worth it).

Sounds interesting, although I'll probably stick to beer. I like close to the el so I can ride my bike home from Loyola (or Western on the Brown) in whatever state I get myself into.

Last year we were at Red Lion on Lincoln, across from the Biograph, on Adam's suggestion.

"The Bostonians have had 2 of those, and the second was more fun, which is a good sign."

They were both fun!

Have you all talked times for your meetup, yet? You should do it on the weekend of May 19th.

5: If m. leblanc's in Andersonville, you misspelled Simon's.

I'd prefer a neighborhood slightly off the beaten path so as to avoid big and annoying crowds, but those are hard to find on the el lines. Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Westtown/Ukranian Village?

Doesn't need to be right on, so long as I can get to the el reasonably. And that's only one consideration, and a trivial one at that.

I should probably not try to influence the location until I know the date.

9: Why's that?

There's more than one Harold's, you know.

There's more than one Harold's, you know

You probably only knew Kimbark Plaza, and don't remember Kenwood & 53rd. Either way, I don't remember you could sit down. If you could, we might brown-bag the liquor.

9 is correct.

Bostonian lurkers and those who didn't make the last meetup should know that we Bostonians are planning to have meetups more regularly than once every 6 months.

You can sit down now. I also frequented one of the branches downtown (not as good).

13 -- because if you were to have it that weekend, I would crash it. A kid can dream...

If it's Mother's Day weekend, I might crash, but probably not, because I'll be hanging out with my mom. But maybe you could pick me up some Lou Malnadi's?

Malnadi's

My neighborhood has gone Middle Eastern, but not that far. Malnati's

18: As good a reason as any. That's a weekend when I'm pretty free and in town, too.

You know, I'm out of town on the weekends of the 12th, 19th, and probably memorial day too. I guess I'll come to the next one.

20: what neighborhood? Is there any place to get decent middle eastern food around here?

There's a respectable felafel stand near me, but the sit down places close by have been mediocre.

Do we feel weekends are best? Might be easier to find a quite table on a weeknight.

23: Seriously? Even in Lincoln Park, you should have Maza nearby. There's a fairly large Middle Eastern community around Andersonville and further north, but I haven't tried any of the Mediterranean restaurants there yet (although I have heard good things about Reza's).

My notion is that everybody interested at all should say so, before dates times and places are nailed down.

I'm interested, but I live out in the boondocks so I don't think I should try to influence the location or schedule.

Katherine, Reza's is good Iranian food, and so is Noon o Kabab (usually). In the suburbs there are a few branches of the Pita Inn, which has, in my opinion, fantastic and cheap arabic food. There are other good ones, but I haven't lived there in a while, and can't remember them.

Oh, and Reza's has three locations now.

Hey, y'all. My weighing in as to dates: everything between now and, like, May 21st is bad for me. I'm trying to finish school, then graduating and having like a million people visiting me (including my dad! First-time visit to Chicago! I'm so excited!), then headed out to the woods for a few days.

Simon's is a great bar, as JAC points out. I also like the Grafton in Lincoln Square, Goose Island Brew Pub is decent for Clark St/Wrigleyville-ish area, the Map Room in Bucktown (although too crowded on weekend nights), the Village Tap in Roscoe Village (some of the best wings in Chicago, in my opinion, plus they serve Shiner Bock now, plus great burgers, plus outdoor beer garden, also pretty crowded weekends). Those are my favorite bars. I used to love the Hopleaf but now it's fucking impenetrable.

For Middle Eastern food in Andersonville, Reza's is good, but Taste of Lebanon is cheaper and better and everyone I know thinks their lentil soup is some of the best soup on the planet. But for Persian food I like Noon O Kebab in Albany Park better than Reza's (thanks, ogged).

As for other that-region-of-the-world type food, I like A La Turka for Turkish food at Belmont and Lincoln, they have hookah pipes and a sweet bar upstairs. I've heard Turqoise in Roscoe Village is the best Turkish food in the city but I haven't been there yet.

While I'm talking about food, if you like barbecue go to Lem's way down on 79th to eat the best ribs on the planet. Car-hood eatin'. The first time I went there we're eating on the hood of my friend's car and this dude comes up to us and says "Y'all need anything?" He seemed shocked that we hadn't come down to the South Side to purchase drugs, merely to eat ribs and hot links.

Pwned by ogged with his own recommendation. Pita Inn is hella tasty; I only went there once, but it was memorable. Also , for downtown I like Sayat Nova at Ohio and St. Clair, "Armenian" food (it's your standards kebabs-and-mezze-and-shit) which has a pretty good Moroccan-style couscous and a tasty red lentil soup.

I went to Old Jerusalem in Old Town once, for my 23rd birthday, and I was not that impressed, but it got written up in the Reader's Cheap Eats special of a few weeks ago, so I guess it's supposed to be pretty good.

You should have a meetup at the Matchbox or the Long Room.

Oh yeah, A La Turka is good (if you like meat). I'm pretty sure I've been to Old Jerusalem and found it ok.

This is what I get for staying in Lincoln Park--the two places closest to me (besides the sandwich place that just opened) are so mediocre that it shook my faith in the whole city's Middle Eastern cuisine that they stayed in business.

After memorial day is honestly better for me too but that seems like a long time to hold off.

Remember, there's no special occasion and I'd hate to leave out either one of you. It's only a few weeks now.

Well, Katherine, if you live in Lincoln Park, let me recommend a delicious restaurant I visited the other night; Stanley's Kitchen @ Armitage+Lincoln. Their fried chicken was really good, and the rest of the home-cooking/soul-food menu looked great.

I should really just start a food blog.

My wife would read it, and probably comment, if you did.

M. Leblanc, have you tried Wings Around the World down on 35th Street yet? I keep meaning to, since I've heard only raves about their variety and quality, I just haven't had an eating companion with the unstoppable buffalo wing craving for a while.

Also, I agree heavily on The Map Room. I'd definitely push it for a weeknight meetup if we can pull one together.

The Map Room??

I would not recommend that for the Pittsburgh meetup.

Or the Boston meetup. Too small, and the video is a bit loud.

No! I don't even know about this Wings Around the World place! I have to admit, I'm only a recent Buffalo wing enthusiast (like, in the last year or so), so I'm still learning.

Is it like, international wings? That's awesome.

I've had very good bbq on the South Side, and I'm not usually given to follow the hype, but Smoque up at Irving Park/Western is damn good (and I don't even eat pork).

Hey. I've been lurking for a while now, but I live in Chicago and this seems as good an occasion as any to come out of hiding. A meet-up sounds great. During the week works best for me, but I'll do my best if it's a weekend.

A lurker named "Matt"? Welcome, brother. You might want to post as something a bit more distinctive.