Just get us to Thanksgiving

Around Bucktown:

Winter hibernation is close to setting in so here are a few of our places to hide out from the elements: They all happen to have beer…coincidentally.

The Map Room – A coffee shop / bar combo open from 630am every weekday (later on the weekends) with alcohol served starting at 11am.  Over 200 choices is always a sign of a good beer selection, AND they have FREE pretzel rods!…But no food.  Cash only, though there is an atm, and if you plan to hunker down for the afternoon they have almost every national geographic ever published.  Feel free to pretend you are reading and learning about far off lands and cultures when really you are just looking at big shiny pictures while sucking on your 15th free pretzel rod.  To top it all off?   It’s about a 5 minute walk from Ray’s

Floyd’s – “Come for the food, stay and get drunk”.  We have had guests discover Floyd’s on their own, make new best friends at the bar, and then discover at breakfast their new buddies are guests at Ray’s too!  Friendly vibe, and again, very close to Ray’s

Quenchers – Like the Map Room: this is a great bar for beer lovers.  Not like the Map Room: there is the added benefit of food service and either live music or comedy almost every night.  Like the Map Room: they have pretzels.  Not like the Map Room: they are big soft pretzels and you have to pay for them. Like the Map Room: cash only.  Not like the Map Room: not sure if they have an atm (but there is a gas station right across the street).  If you want a true “Chicago” experience, try their $1 shots of Malort – available everyday.  You will regret it.

Red  Door – We’ve mentioned this place before but it’s great: close, warm, good food, good cocktails, it’s a solid neighborhood spot if a mixed drink is perhaps more up your alley than a draft beer with a german name you can’t pronounce.

Around Chicago:

We are no strangers to winter weight, so why not start it off at the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show?
November 16-18th, general faqs and ticket information can be seen here.

 

It’s crazy, but Thanksgiving is only a week away, so we are all getting excited for the food, the football, and of course the parade (subtly named the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade...I wonder who sponsors it?).  If you want to catch a glimpse of Arthur, Mr. Potato Head, Curious George, the Gingerbread Man, Tom & Jerry, Mighty Mouse, and more then hop on the Blue Line straight from Ray’s – you can get there easily….and escape easily.  Starts at 8am Thanksgiving morning.

Around Ray’s:

So last year our plans for Halloween were foiled by poor planning, among other things, but this year we pulled through!  While Ray was dressing up as a nerdy tourist in Costa Rica his staff (from left to right) dressed up as:
-a person who forgot it was halloween
– Curious George
– Darlene Connor (from “Roseanne”)
-and agent Dana Scully from the X-Files.
We also had on hand mustached on a stick for those guests who wanted to get in the spirit.

Maggie’s Rant: As usual, everyone bugs me, so just leave me the hell alone.

(The World Revolves…) Around Ray:

Gracing us with his presence for about a week, Ray is spending his time at storage unit auctions, thrifting with a vengeance, and trying to keep his entire staff from having a quarter life crisis all at the same time.