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A Booze Bender Makes it Better
Monday Feb 18, 2008.
By Erin Brereton
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 photo: Erin Brereton
I'd slept in, made soup, pillaged my DVR—and I was still bored. It just didn't seem fair. Why should a foot of snow (a day) keep us from having fun?
Determined to not just deal with the winter weather but to DEFY it, I headed out to socialize, despite the wind, sleet, snow and rain.
And I enjoyed a variety of inexpensive activities. Friday, I hung out in the South Loop. Saturday night, I went dancing at Liar's Club, which is located somewhere between Bucktown, Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville, has free admission before 11 p.m. (score!), serves up inexpensive Miller Lite and plays unlimited tunes by the Pixies and Billy Idol.
Sunday, I met a friend in Lakeview at Big City Tap, continuing my thrifty Miller Lite tour of the city by downing a few $3 drafts, and then attended a concert.
Winter would not win! But since I was drinking roughly 90 gallons of water between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. the following mornings to recover, it was unclear if I would, either.
Yes, it's that time in Chicago when the weather is so cold and the ground so slushy that it becomes acceptable to drink heavily pretty much wherever you go (except your office, though that really depends on your boss). And yet, while zipping as much of my face as possible into my hood on Sunday, I begun to think that drinking four nights in a row might be a bit much. (I forgot to mention that I got drunk on Thursday to try to cure a bout of insomnia. Which worked, by the way.) Seriously. It's not the holidays.
So I vowed to take it easy starting Monday. But that's the night I have my Second City writing class, and dangit if someone didn't suggest grabbing a beer afterward. I weighed the cons (a liver of stone) and the pros (my classmates actually learning my name), and decided to trudge across the street to Corcoran's Grill & Pub.
And I was glad I did, because Corcoran's specials are better than many I've encountered, especially for Old Town. Every Monday, it offers $3.50 microbrew pints, like 312, Blue Moon and Fat Tire, as well as half-price appetizers. Since the bar doesn't dole out pitchers, the deals were much appreciated by our sizable group; they made tallying up the bill and sharing things easier.
I'm not a huge beer drinker (most weeks), but I really like 312, and yet, for some reason, ordered it like a tool by calling it three-12. Still, it tasted delicious. I applauded myself for, on my fifth night of drinking, at least having a different kind of beer. It was almost like starting anew.
Of course, I agreed to a second round—and a third. After about three, those half-priced appetizers started looking mighty tasty. So we ordered up some spinach and artichoke dip, served with both chips and bread for just $3.25 with the discount.
My classmates also ordered some potato skins and discussed splitting nachos, but alas, by the time the food came, we had all sucked down another round, and food had moved to the background of everyone's thoughts.
Truthfully, I was no longer hungry for bar snacks; I was hungry for my pillow. And so I took myself home and had me a serving, until about 8:30 a.m. the next morning, when I woke up hungover, in an oddly mismatched pajama pairing, and promised myself I'd stick to water—and my living room—for the next few days.
Curious about Corcoran's specials? Visit the bar at 1615 N. Wells or call (312) 440-0885 for more information.
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