blue line club car

date: march 30, 2007
bet: was it dinero or liotta who twirled the ketchup in goodfellas? (see high dive entry for explanation)
stakes: dinner
winner: mason
loser: olive
location: blue line club car (1548 N. damon Ave.)
cost: $84.00

mason: olive's first mistake: thinking i would lose two bets in a row. olive's second mistake: daring to make a bet about a movie that i've seen about 39 times to her meager one time. i don't even think liotta looked at that ketchup bottle, let alone used it, let alone twirled it. i think his character was actually more of a catsup guy.

so as per (i decided to drop the 'usual' from that phrase, cause i think that by now it's implied), i rule, olive drools.

to celebrate my first o&m related victory since some time in '06, olive and i did what we've grown actually quite fond of doing on friday nights, which is hop on the blue line at lake and clark immediately after work and dismount at the good old six corners for some cavorting at several of our favorite places to drink in that neighborhood.

it actually makes a ton of sense to get off the blue line train and walk directly into the blue line restaurant, so that's what we did. it's actually a pretty cool place. i don't know why i thought it would be a place i would hate, but i did. i was sure of it, in fact. that's why i'd never even bothered to try it out until a couple weeks ago, and BOY WAS I SURPRISED. how surprised? surprised enough to use capital letters god damn it. that's how surprised.

the menu at this joint is really impressive, if you ask me, a humble bar food loving man of the night. dip plate? the name alone had me sold. it's actually become common practice for me to order meals based on what i'd be dipping them in. so we got the dip plate, which came with hummus, pico de gallo and spinach dip with tortilla chips and pita bread triangles. as is usually the case, the dipables far outnumbered the dips, and we were left with a good number of chips and pitas with nothing to dip them in except each other, but otherwise it was quite satisfying.

BUT WAIT! what am i a moron? we didn't talk about drinks yet. to start i had a vodka cran, which was damn strong and very tasty. then i had a beer. and then i had another vodka cran with a beer chaser. you see, sometimes i like having a drink and a beer at the same time. it's kind of like mixing over the counter pills but without the suicide risk. suffice (it) to say, i was a bit tipsy by the time my meal came, but that didn't mean it wouldn't have been as delicious were i stone cold steve austin sober. i believe steve austin, ironically, was on wgn morning news that very day talking about his new movie and burgeoning acting career. it was a pretty funny segment, as those of you who watch wgn morning news regularly can imagine. robin kept trying to feel his muscles and kept saying "you're a biiiiig maaaaaaaaan." which i guess is true. maybe it's funny cause it's true.

i chose to go equal parts traditional and safe by ordering a cheeseburger and some clam chowder (chowda) soup. and man was it good. the soup was great and the burger was perfectly cooked, hot, easy to manipulate and not messy at all. the fries were of the teensy weensy stringy type variety and were damn good as well. i even ate some of them with a fork. a FORK! and the pickle slices, well, you know how i feel about pickles, so all i'll say is that these did not disappoint.

the only negative thing i have to say about the blue line is that the service isn't really that great. in-between drink time was usually a minimum of five minutes, which, let's be honest, is about twice the amount of time it takes to sober up, and when we were ready for our check, the waiting lady was nowhere to be found. and i hate that. but it was a small price to pay for the deliciousness of the meal.

olive: sadly, the deliciousness of the dips, skinny frites and burger did not extend to the chicken pot pie i had ordered. now, as you may or may not know, i happen to be a true fan of the chicken pot pie. i will eat them year round, even on a hot summer day. and as crazy as that may seem, it also makes me somewhat of an expert on chicken pot pies, specifically what they should and should not include.

fact 1: pot pie should consist of two main parts: the crust and the filling.
fact 2: crust should be crispy and flakey on the outside, moist and chewey on the filling side.
fact 3: pot pie filling should be consistent (not clumpy) and should, by no means, have a strong brandy flavor
fact 4: the very best pot pie fillings include peas and pearl onions

Let's see how my blue line pot pie measure up to the facts. fact one? check. my pot pie did indeed consist of both crust and filling. fact two? check. the crust had all the necessary flakey and chewey properties, and it was quite robust as you might gather from the picture. hats off to the crust-maker. fact three? no check. or whatever one might say when you are supposed to say check but whatever you're talking about (in this case, a pot pie) hasn't earned a check. the pot pie filling was - brace yourself - clumpy. i'm talking thick clumps of filling swimming around in runnier versions of itself (major gross alert!). and it also had a strong brandy flavor, and unless julia child made that pot pie which is most unlikely, there is no excuse for brandy flavor in the filling. anyway, i made due by fishing out morsels of chicken and veggies and pairing them with the tasty crust. as for fact four? no check. i didn't exactly expect a pot pie with clumpy filling to house the crown jewels of chicken pot pies, but one can dream.

pot pie and service issues aside, the blue line is a pretty good joint. i especially like that you can converse with your dinner partner without having to shout, which is a rarity in many wicker park restaurants. i think i can say with relative certainty that we'll be back.