First visit: Nov 2022 (Downtown)
Meetings are over and the Uber to Reagan Airport was smooth and uneventful. Flight was miraculously on time, and somehow I got put into a middle seat. Something had gone awry but not worth arguing about. While squished between two gentlemen, I typed out most of these entries. As is the case with most east coast destinations, one has to travel to a hub to and from Colorado Springs. And I'm back at Chicago O'Hare in the United terminal(s). My go-to here is Publican Tavern that I've covered in this blog. I didn't really have enough time for sit down service, but didn't want to settle on fast food either. As you can see below, we ate here last year at the downtown location. This is their airport outlet. It is a quick service setup, so no chance for a nice Weiner Schnitzel meal. They offer sandwiches, and guess what? They have a Cuban. Well then, let's try their version. And, as we learned last year, they also have their own brewery Adams Street - and they had four of those on tap. Perfect, I'll go for their hazy IPA. As for the sandwich, yea, that's coming in a distant third compared to Dogwood and ChurchKey. The bread is a soft onion roll, there's no mustard, and the pickle is on the side (along with the pepperoncini, which is a nice touch). This is a very porky Cuban, with the pulled pork dominating and a bit soft and wet. Not my favorite. The slice of ham and cheese were good but the whole thing needed to be hotter temperature. Ah well, next time I'll try something else, as this makes a nice alternative when my layover is less than two hours. And with that, this concludes the latest business trip. Back to the routine of exercise and eating at home.
---original 11/4/22 review
Now it's time for dinner, and we are back to our core 10 team members. Do we fend for ourselves or have another team dinner? I had planned on going to The Berghoff by myself, and sure enough, we decided let's all do that! Love it when the larger group thinks like me. That's rare actually. This group of ladies and men are exceptionally smart obviously (lol).
As noted about Luke's, The Berghoff is just now getting rolling again, and the restaurant is half empty on a major business weeknight. And they close early too due to a lack of business (7:30 - wow). I'm not going to pass on a classic German restaurant if I have a say in the matter. I used to go to Kenosha from Racine (Wisconsin) on a somewhat regular basis just to eat at House of Gerhard. These places are a dying breed, and I for one want to keep them alive.
What a wonderful place this is too. Large dining areas, and they even put a brewery inside called Adams Street. That's too perfect. I enjoyed all 3 beers I tried (noted in the Bier Reise). We ordered appetizers and the big hit was the giant pretzel. We had to get another! Fried cheese curds were also very good. For dinner I went with the Chicken Schnitzel which also comes with spatzel and creamed spinach. I substituted the spinach with mashed potatoes, and they gave me what one coworker called "a field" of potatoes. They were delicious but too much of it. The chicken cutlet was perfectly breaded and cooked. I added the Italian red sauce on top - not exactly traditional but still excellent. Others on the table seemed to enjoy their food, mostly complaining they ate too much. We're all older than we were in our younger consultant days that's for sure. I wanted to stay for one more beer, but as noted above, they close very early. So I went back to Miller's Pub for that last one before calling it a night.
The Berghoff first opened in 1898 primarily as a brewery, and is still privately owned by the same family. During Prohibition they expanded to German food. Apparently they were the first establishment in Chicago to obtain a liquor license after repeal. They also maintain a cafe at O'Hare airport. I stopped by but it was really crowded, and it's fast food order at the counter. Naa, doesn't go with the namesake.
11/4/22 (new entry); 12/6/23
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