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VENUE REVIEWS From Centerstage.net
Timothy O'Toole's is the kind of place where the average working stiff goes to get plastered at 5:05 on a Friday evening. It's a loud, crowded, basement bar where people come in happy and leave happier. As far as entertaining yourself while you're there, you can watch any one of 40 television screens. There's also pool and darts but be careful, you might take a dart in the forehead on the way to the john and not know it until Monday morning. O'Toole's also serves a variety of both domestic and imported beer as well as a few microbrews. If you need something solid to put in your stomach they serve your typical bar fare; Buffalo wings, burgers, fries, nachos, etc. This can be an intense bar experience for the less boisterous beer drinker and they're open late on weekends for those who do their hard days work at night. Buffalo Wild Wings In addition to their assortment of 17 beers on tap and 20 bottled choices, they've got 29 TVs for god's sake. And of course they have buffalo wings served in the traditional New York-style with celery and bleu cheese dressing and your choice of 12 different sauces ranging from blazin' to mild (with stops at teriyaki and honey mustard in between). But they don't just have the wings of the buffalo, they've got the legs and tenders as well, in addition to traditional sandwich fare. Burgers, turkey, chicken and fish sandwiches are all reasonably priced (30 cent wings every Tuesday!). Buffalo Wild Wings is a chain of sports bar/ restaurants that originated in Ohio but this Chicago location serves as the official home of The Colorado Buffalo (or at least their fans). Of course with almost 30 TVs in 3 rooms, fans of just about any team can catch a game, especially if one of the local favorites are playing. Every Friday night there's also a stand-up open mic. Margie's Candies Step into the wayback machine and set the dial for the 1930s, even the '20s, and you'd still be able to pop into Margie's Candies and get a decadent hot fudge sundae or a box of chocolates for your sweetheart. Margie's is a Chicago landmark that has served the Bucktown community since 1921 (in 80+ years of scooping, it's impossible not to mention the famed visit by the Beatles after their Comiskey Park show), Margie's Candies is a Chicago legend. The decor gives the impression that not a whole lot has changed in that time. It's still a cozy (cramped?) little shop with dolls, knickknacks, old newspaper clippings and other assorted mementos that have inhabited the shop for decades. In addition to the various deserts and candies, Margie's also serves a limited menu of soup and sandwiches and salads. The food is more along the lines of a dime-store cafeteria (egg salad sandwiches) than a real diner, but that can be forgiven: Desserts and hand-dipped candies are the focus and the specialty. The more than 50 sundaes on the menu encompass more than enough splits, as well as standard fudge and brownie sundaes, pie a la mode and belly busting bowls that go for $49.95. Margie's opens early and closes late (1 a.m. on weekend nights), so you can satisfy that sweet tooth at any time during the day or night. In the warmer weather you can also eat outside (although the scenery on Western Avenue is generally not very appetizing). Beat Kitchen Complain all you want about the Beat Kitchen (they charge a cover just to walk in the door on weekends, the service comes with an attitude, they book abysmal bands, etc.) and it may or may not be true, but the food is truly great. Their gourmet pizza makes the California Pizza Kitchen look like Pizza Hut (actually, Pizza Hut makes California Kitchen look like Pizza Hut—don't tell the tourists). Stand out menu items are the tangy Thai pizza, the multi-ingrendient Beat Salad and the cheap, blackened chicken sandwich. Some of the daily specials get pretty creative and change regularly. You should keep in mind, however, that the Beat Kitchen is a bar, so the service can be a little slow for food (just keep drinking), but it's a far cry from the greasy bar food one might expect, and it is well worth the wait. The kitchen is open late (until 1:00AM on Friday and Saturdays) and they're open for lunch if you want a less crowded dining experience. The Mutiny The Mutiny is a blue collar sports-type tavern that occasionally moonlights as a low rent punk rock dive, although their booking can be pretty inconsistent. You can never be quite sure on what night they may have a show and their band recruitment campaign seems to be limited to a "Bands Wanted" sign in the front window. If you're there on an average no-music night, there's a jukebox, pool table and darts to occupy yourself. They sell pitchers and half pitchers of cheap domestic beer and there's usually some sort of sporting event on the TV. It may not be the classiest place on the block (actually, it is the classiest place on the block), but if you're looking for the occasional free rock show or just a cheap place to drink, consider mutinying against the trendy clubs to the south in Wicker Park and set sail for the Mutiny instead.
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