Chicago

On Saturday, the Chicago Fire opened their season with a match at Real Salt Lake. For various reasons, the Brown Line's Irving Park platform closure at the forefront, I took the bait and joined one of the official Chicago Fire viewing parties at Villains Bar and Grill at 649 S. Clark.

Always interested in good Loop pubs, I had high hopes for Villains, but was rather disappointed. There was 'free food' according to the Fire promotional emails, but the only free food I ended up seeing was half a basket of extremely salty fries that was placed on our table by a fan who announced that she would eat the whole thing if she didn't get rid of it.

The fries were good, but as I said salty. Which was clearly designed to drive the customers to drink more... but the service was fairly well atrocious, and so I managed two drinks the whole game hoping to catch the bar-girl's attention.

In terms of people, I was again disappointed. There were a few hardy Fire fans in attendance, (including a nice bloke named Russell who sat with me), but most of the fans appeared less concerned with the game than making sure their scarfs and jerseys went well together. Oh, and then there was the issue that Villains really isn't a soccer bar, so the normal clientele showed up and proceeded to stand between the soccer fans seated at tables and the televisions. Boo!

In terms of a watch-party, Villains didn't even come close to comparing with the Globe, but it wasn't too terrible. The good news is that they will be showing all of the Fire games this year, and I'm tempted to go back and see if the place is quality when it's not swamped with folks seeking out the free food and validation of being at the 'official' watch party.

Torben review: 2 stars out of 5.

I've been to the Dark Horse Tap & Grille in Wrigleyville (3443 N. Sheffield Ave, 1 block from Wrigley Field) three times now. I've had their burgers three times, and I don't plan on going back or having another burger from there again. (Why have I been there thrice? $1 burgers on Monday, and the bar is about one block from the Cubs.) The kitchen needs a lot of help... or at least their burgers do.

Aside from the less than tasty burgers (it's not that they're horrible per se, it's that there are about six pubs within a block of the Dark Horse with better food, including Bar Louie, Central, and Houndstooth), the Dark Horse is a pretty nice place.

The alcohol selection is pretty good, but I'm not the best qualified to evaluate that.

In terms of service, I haven't had any bad experiences. On warm summer nights, they open up the windows to make it an open air pub, and that's good stuff. However, in the evenings, there's also a blinding effect from the setting sun that can blind you if you're facing the window, and force you to eat in a black & white setting if your back is to the window.

The Dark Horse is also a Pittsburgh Steelers bar and a University of Michigan Wolverines bar.

Torben Review: Two stars out of Five