Showing posts with label Laschet's Inn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laschet's Inn. Show all posts

Monday, April 23, 2018

Record Store (CHEAT) Day

Good Afternoon my cheating friends, family, and random other reader swho are here to get gluttonous! My weight is in a dead heat with my efforts! I remain at 259.9 lbs. A TUB! A FAT LARD AM I!!! A POX on this old age I suddenly find myself in. A man roaring toward middle age with the look of a man who is far beyond such! It is a fate I battle with every now and then as I am sure many of my readers do...(the AGE thing more than the WEIGHT thing) but whatever, we're all not 100% on SOMETHING about ourselves!

"SHUT UP YOU SAD SACK AND TELL US ALL THAT YOU ATE!"

Hey, HEY! FUCK YOU! But okay! It was a fine Cheat Day. A Cheat Day of bouncing around from bad local spot to bad local spot. Again I awoke ill equipped for Cheat Day in my apartment. All I had in the house that was cheat worthy was about a half a bag of pretzels. So I cracked those open and I started dipping them into the hummus in the house. A fine snack to start the day TBH. Shortly after that Liz and I took off to meet with the rest of the Lovelies for a pre-Record Store Day practice.

Upon arriving to fellow Lovelies', Al and Mike's, apartment we were met with omelets. "OMELETS?! That ain't no CHEAT FOOD Mawfker!" OKAY OKAY, take it easy! You're right. But there was some dank ass mawfuggin' ' chee ALL up in that omelet sooooo...THAT COUNTS! Also, let me describe the rest of this thing for you: jalapeƱo stuffed olives, capers, and salmon! COME GET SOME! That MFer is almost non-cheat day worthy if it weren't for the cheese. BUT THAT'S WHY I ASKED FOR EXTRA CHEESE! AND it was delicious!


When we got to the venue, RPM Music on Irving Park, I grabbed a chocolate covered donut from the snack table. ALWAYS a good Cheat Day idea. I then walked to CVS for a few items and picked myself up a 32 ounce Corona to drink while we played. You KNOW you gotta have some beer on Cheat Day. I then stopped by what I had HOPED would be my review for the week but it ain't happening in full and here's why. STEINGOLD'S JEWISH DELI. I popped in to try and grab me a bagel and maybe even a Ruben, who knows? CHEAT DAY. But the line was long and we were about to go on so I turn my gaze from the overhead menu to the hot box on the counter. EUREKA! A quick to-go bite. I ask for one and the cashier says, "I'll give you that for free if that's what you want, it's been sitting in there a long time."

To which I reply with a blush and a titter, "REALLY?! You'd do that for me?! hehe!"

"Uuuh, Yeah, why not" He replies.

"Great THANKS! I've gotta run! I'm playing that record store across the street, I'll be back for a Reuben later BIG BOY!" But when we were done playing at like 3:15 the mother fucker was CLOSED! On a fucking SATURDAY. CHEAT DAY?!!! The fuq?! That's okay, I ate the bagel breakfast sandwich and the cashier was right to give it to me, it was sub par at best so I will not make my local review Steingold's this week.
Chorizo Tacos and Delicious Salsas
After dropping our gear off at home I headed back down to the record store area to try and catch my friends' band play, but I missed them. Instead I went to an old favorite, Fast Super Burrito! I have spoken of this place in the past. I used to live directly across from them. BUT, because I have not eaten there since my triumphant return to cheat day I will regale you with a tale of Fast Super Burrito here and now.

I bust in the door, ready to eat! The place is more dead than Barbara Bush (too soon? RIP) and the two working the joint recognize me immediately despite the fact I am essentially "Guy Incognito" with my handlebar mustache, slicked back hair, aviators and denim jacket. They say, "It's been a while, how have you been?"

And I say, "I'm alright. I'd be a lot better with 2 chicken quesadillas and 2 chorizo tacos in front of my face."

"You got it weirdo"

"Thanks! How've you guys been?"

"Not bad, we have Taco Tuesday and Taco Thursday now"

"Taco Tuesday AND Thursday?!" I scoff! I scoff because if you are desperate enough to have two taco days each week "Not bad" is a bold faced lie to the question "How've you been?" With that being said, do yourselves a favor and hit up Fast Super Burrito on Irving Park for some $1 tacos on Tuesday and Thursday. It is Fast. It IS Super. It's Burrito...or in this case taco.

Then I wanted more beer. But my buddy James Manny had another idea. PIZZA. "What did I do?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you what I didn't do, how about that. I DIDN'T say. "Nah, man I can't have pizza right now I just ate Fast Super Burrito." So to Tortorice's we went. A place I have only had delivered before and I have always liked alright. Upon entering the take out restaurant James has one very plain and simple question for the guy. "Can you cut this pizza into SLICES rather than squares?"

And the kid behind the counter say, "Sure, if you want."

"We do want." Says James who then orders a small pepperoni to split with me. We get the mother fuck and what do you know? SQUARES! Pieces of shit! James throws a fit all over the dumbass working the register while I eat more than my fair share of the pizza. Gotta LOVE IT! James is right though, slices are superior than squares. It allows for each piece of pizza the ability to run the gamut of pizza pie consistency: from soggy and droopy to first and dry, making each bite of the slice a new adventure!

Finally we get to Laschet's where we eventually end the night. You know it, you love it: Laschett's! It was packed but I finally got me a liter of Stiegl Gold and was loving every second of it from then on out. When we finally got a table I ordered a GIANT pretzel all to myself. Their German food is the best I've had by far and I highly recommend getting there to eat some time and not just drown yourself in liters of Stiegl, LIKE ME!

I feel like I'm back on track. I feel better again. I feel healthier and slimmer, regardless of what the scale tells me. I just can't allow myself to slip up during the week. I discovered that most lunch meat contains sugar, which was a major reality check to me, but fuck it! I'll find something else to eat during the week! Thank you everyone for having fun with me on Cheat Days and Non. Let's fucking do this! Take care of each other. Take care of yourselves. And eat like your life depended on it!

ELE,
Zach

Monday, April 16, 2018

New Taco Bell, Slim's Double Cheat Day Burger, BEER and Lots of It!

Slim's Double Chee
@brianmfartland
Greeting CHEATERS! and happy Monday to you all! It is I, his cheat-ness! I didn't lose any weight last week, but I'm still not back above 260 lbs so I feel good about everything! I want to tell you how my diet went last week. To start, I biked my fucking DICK off even HARDER last week, biking 30 miles in just one day last week and averaging about 20 miles every other day. Yes thank you, thank you, please hold your applause. That's all well and good, HOWEVER, my biggest accomplishment was when I went to a Cubs game and didn't drink a single beer or eat a single hot dog or nachos or NOTHING.

I want to point out the fact that avid "Cheat Day. Don't Care." reader, Alex Romero (Sup dude?!) saw me at the game and was under the impression that because I was at the game I was knockin' back $10 Budweisers which I assure you was NOT the case. Instead I snuck in 4 of those mini plastic red-wine bottles, Merlot to be exact, and I sucked those down throughout the course of the game. "ZACH! You drank red wine at the game?! You FREAK!"
Sutter Home

I KNOW I KNOW, SHUT UP! It was the best thing I did all week, so stick it up yer ASS!

@brianmfartland
And with this decision comes a PRO TIP! Buy yourself a four pack of mini plastic wines or a small glass flask of spirits to sneak into a ball game rather than pay those RIDICULOUS prices for booze! It'll be well worth it! Oh, also, my buddy Brian Gartland got himself a Ben Zobrist foul ball, so that's pretty cool.

So I made it the whole way through the week without any side cheating. (Slow Clap!) thank you thank you. And I made it to Cheat Day and was a bit disappointed in my weight in and SORELY unprepared for the Cheat Day ahead of me. I woke up Saturday morning to a cold and rainy and dreary day, it was miserable. So I slowly got up and snagged some cheese that Liz keeps in the fridge and ate a little of that. We also had some chips and pretzels left over in the cabinet so I snacked on them suckers for a little while too. I then put on a Simpsons DVD and fell back asleep like some fat nerd.

Taco Bell
Liz and I hung out a while, then I took off for an audition that I didn't end up getting (womp-womp) so I rewarded myself with, WHAT ELSE?!....Taco Bell! Woooo! I braved the weather and a Cubs game'd Wrigleyville to go to the Wrigleyville Taco Bell so I could try their latest $1 specialty creation, the Triple Melt Burrito. This was a fantastic item for only a dollar. YES it was Melty, YES it was Cheesy, and you're GOD DAMN MO'FUCKIN' COCK-SUCKIN RIGHT it was beefy. A CLASSIC bell menu item for only a buck. God Bless 'em!

I then went to hang with my BOY James Manny Manno and we watched Conan's special "Due Buffoni" where he and his associate producer, Jordan Schlansky, travel to Italy. It's hilarious and I recommend it to everyone. We also knocked out some podcast theme songs for Chooch Chat and The Poopcast. I am very excited and happy about them! "ZACH, shut up about stuff and talk about food you fuckin' dump truck."

Come on guys, be cool! I'm getting to it. Before watching TV James and I went to Mariano's where I bought myself a 6-pack of Miller High Life (Classic Cheat Day ITEM! and yes I drank them all!) and two small gelato's from their little Vero cafe. I got Cookies and Cream and Chocolate Pothole. Both of which were fucking delicious. I think at the end of the day this was James' and my way of wishing for warmer weather, ICE CREAM WEATHER god dammit!

Chocolate Pot Hole
At this point it's getting late in the day and I still haven't tried anything new and/or local, so I start racking my brain. After Liz gets out of rehearsal I go and meet her at home and we watch the Disney movie "Coco" which is a very good movie. I recommend it. Now, I thought I was up shits creek and I wasn't going to get to try any place new for the blog. I was warm and snuggly back home with my boo while it was wet rainy cold and all around shitty outside. But then! during "Coco", I turn to GrubHub! Now, GrubHub is something that I am not sure I have EVER referenced in this blog. It's basically a Cheat Day miracle app, alright? It ALWAYS comes through in a pinch.

Fancy Hot Pocket (Pizza Puff)
I got on there and what did I see immediately that would more than blow the lid off of this week's post? SLIM's ya'll! The classic Chicago-style grill right around the corner from me on Montrose and Damen. Slim's has a burger that is often on top 10 burgers in Chicago lists and of course that is what I had to go with. I got a double bacon cheeseburger, curly fries with cheese sauce, and a MOTHER FUCKING PIZZA PUFF TO BOOT! Now is the time to get hungry people! GET HUNGRY AND GO TO SLIMS! The burger did NOT disappoint, and there ain't NO fucking-up cheese fries and a pizza puff so of course those hit the spot. Slim's is HIGHLY recommended for any burger lover OR any Chicago staple (dog, italian beef, etc.) lover.

After "Coco" was over my friends Tony and Jackie were hitting up the best bar in Chicago, Laschet's Inn. And I don't get to drink beer any other day of the week so I HAD to meet them there. I drank SO MUCH beer you guys, you'd be VERY impressed. Stiegl is my beer of choice AND they just got a new keg of fancy Stiegl put in. I drank so much beer I didn't even have the late night beer munchies! Just ask Jackie how much beer I had. Tony had lots of beer too! I was proud of us, and it is exactly how I want to end every Cheat Day from NOW ON! WOOOOOO Beer! HOORAY STIEGL!
Litre Stiegl (Drink of Choice)
So, looking back it definitely sounds a lot more epic than I remembered. Part of that is most likely because of the beer at the end of the night. Thanks for reading and continuing to read! If you want me to try some cheat food let me know in the comments and I'll try to make it happen next Cheat Day. Take care of each other, take care of yourselves, and eat like your life depended on it!

ELE,
Zach