B&B Restaurant and Lounge

Come to Homer's BBBQ. The Extra B is for BYOBB.
Bart: What's that extra B for?
Homer: That's a typo.

I got the feeling of being on set at McDowell's
from Coming to America

There were plenty of extra B's to go around this week when The LLC met for their penultimate lunch at B&B Restaurant at 127 S State.  Short for Beef and Brandy, B&B is a long-standing loop fixture, serving up diner style meals since 1967. For 44 years B&B has provided quality food and service to Chicago's downtown workforce, and in that 44 years they still haven't settled on an interior decorator nor hung a single picture on the walls. The diner's entrance was a halloween shrine that nearly spooked Dan Spira out the door, however, beyond the frightening false front the dining area was a drab, somber place with ceilings that would prove problematic for the taller members of The LLC.

The LLC, for the first time in fifteen weeks, had perfect attendance at B&B. We were all set to finally use our magical LLC rings to summon the secret powers of Captain Lunch but felt it would be inappropriate to do so in front of guests Sam Ruderman and Andrew Holzman. "I'm a former fat person," Ruderman appealed to the group in the hope of being respected as a food expert.  It seems he failed to recognize the correlation between girth and food expertise is a direct one, which is why you should always pick the largest contestant to win on Chopped.

The LLC, In order of height and job satisfaction-
From left, Nick Nikitas, Crisis Hartemayer, Rob Anderson,
Dan Spira, Dan Ofman, and Sam Ofman

What B&B lacked in ambiance it made up for in enthusiasm. Our waiter Dave was as animated as a Pixar film and equally delightful, providing service that kids and parents could enjoy again and again. Diet Cokes, a staple of an LLC meal, were served with lemon and lime wedges on each glass and Dave was quick to set down pitchers of cola and water for refills. Sandwiches were called "slammin" and each of us, "pal". The brightness of Dave's smile reflected off the barren walls like the winter sun bouncing off a meadow following the first December snow. Gratuity may been included on the check for 18%, but my personal gratitude includes 100% of my heart.

I took advantage of the all day breakfast and ordered the Gipsy Skillet. Where I come from we spell Gypsy with two Y's, but for accuracy's sake I'll stick with the menu spelling. Normally I regret skillets because they're usually far too greasy and I feel ill before I feel full.  This one didn't have a puddle of grease beneath the food and the balance between the eggs, potatoes and other fixings made each bite flavorful.  Most of The LLC opted for lunch, which I attribute to their having day jobs and thus eating breakfast well before 1 PM.

I wish I were eating it right now

"I love ketchup," said Crisis Chris Hartemayer. Poor cell phone reception played a key role in the lack of work related crises for Chris this week. "These are schizophrenic fries," he continued, "they're a weird hybrid of steak fries and McDonald's fries." Dedicated blog readers (I know you exist, we're almost at 1000 views) may recall Chris is a strong advocate of the McDonald's French fry.

I can almost smell that cool,
salty pacific breeze.

"I have low fry standards," said an agreeable Dan Spira who by this point had finally caught his breath after the initial horror he experienced when he saw the black and orange streamers by the front register.  The california style burger (left) was a popular order and several LLCers vouched for Dave's choice of the word "slammin" to describe the sandwich.  Only one small crisis detracted from Chris's experience with his lunch: a wayward bun bag twisty tie fastener had found its way to the back of his bottom bun. "I never would have found it if I didn't reorganize my fries," Chris said, further strengthening my growing sense that there is an unnatural relationship between Crisis Chris and French fries.

"I see a lot of clean plates today," observed Dan Ofman, pleased with his third diner selection. He would later tell me he planned on returning to Pittsfield Cafe in the near future, further strengthening my growing sense that there is an unnatural relationship between Dan "Big Baby" Ofman and all day breakfasts.

B&B Notes:

• Turns out I didn't use the word Gipsy again.
• The Downstairs bar and game room sounded more fun than it looked.
• No basket of bread was provided, but 2 varieties of hot sauce were.
• Slight credit crisis from Rob resulted in some flustered un-crumpling of the "Merchant's Copy".