Hanging With the Hipsters

 Chicago, IL

Waiting to Bowl

Dinner and Half Price Bowling

Tonight we went to the main area of Logan Square to go to dinner and do some bowling.  We took a bus a little over a mile and got off in front of Staropolska Restaurant.  Donna found this place looking at the map around the bowling alley we were heading to and boy was it a find.  This place had great Polish Food for a great price.  We assumed everyone there was local by the conversations they were having.  

I don't know how old this place is but the vibe said 70s fern bar.

They brought us bread and gave us like $3 worth of butter

Donna and I split our dishes (splitsies).  I started with Veal Liver, Mashed Potatoes, and Cucumber Salad.  Donna got the Staropolska Hungarian Potato Pancake (not pictured because she ate it before I could get a photo).

Both meals were delicious and well under the cost of normal restaurants in the area.  It was a great stop.

After dinner we walked 2 blocks and went to Avondale Bowl.  There is quite a bit of bowling in the area but far less than there used to be according to local friends.  Avondale Bowl is a restored retro bowling alley that screams HIPSTER (which is good in my book).  There is plenty of vintage flare around and a great bar serving up such hipster classics as The KingPin Sour, Something & Tonic #175, White Russian (vegan of course), and what both Donna and I ended up with, The Chicago Handshake.  The Chicago Handshake can be found around the Chicago area.  I have seen them at Logan Arcade, one of the few other bars I have been to so far, and I am sure they are elsewhere.  It's a pour of Hellman's Old Style and a shot of Malört, Jeppson's Malört to be specific.  From the internet, "Malört is famously challenging to drink, with a flavor that includes notes of gasoline, grapefruit, sweat, wax, fire, mineral oil, and bitterness."

The subdued entrance to Avondale Bowl

The vintage entry landing

We got to the bar before League Play ended.  After league play it was slammed

The Chicago Handshake

Ya gotta when in Chicago

Bowling Patches from all over adorn the bar wall

Look at that 50 something hipster!

You had to keep your own score so I learned how to on the internet.

Mark it 8!

If I had known she was filming I would have thrown a strike.

Avondale was awesome.  We were, by far, the oldest people there but it was bowling and they were playing The Cramps, The Ramones, and other 80s punk so I told myself everyone else was out of place. We didn't feel out of place at all really.  The people around us were all really nice and one of them even tried to catch me and ask if I was okay when I slipped (a little) going from the wood floor to the carpet in my bowling shoes.  

It was a really fun evening and enforced to us how cool Chicago is.  Chicago has everything we need to entertain us as far as we can tell.  I suppose you can't tell how cold it is in the winter if you are in a bowling alley.

That was it for today.  If you missed Hanging With Locals in Chi-Town check it out.