Chicago: Flossmoor Station Restaurant and Brewery

#75 in the Nation

Ever since Bob saw that this brewery was rated 75th in the world, he knew he had to try it. Nan, Bob, and Jess drove to Flossmoor, IL to check out this brewery. Flossmoor is a lovely, quiet southern suburb with a few shops and restaurants. You would never guess that it would be home to such a highly-rated brew pub.

Floosmoor Station was offering two dollar 12 ounce beers. Bob tried two different kinds and said both were good (although not THE best he's ever had). Nan tried a light ale and enjoyed it as well. For lunch Nan and J had yummy (HUGE) salads with fruit, cheese and chicken. Bob ordered a sausage patty, which he said was also very good. The waitress was friendly and helpful and the prices were good.

After we left FS, we stopped at Jewel on the way home to pick up ingredients for dinner. Since it was J's last night in Chicago for the summer, she requested Nan's homemade pizza. If Floosmoor Station is ranked #75 in the world for beer, Nan's homemade pizza is ranked #1 in South Loop.

It tasted as good as it looks!

Chicago: The Purple Pig

Perfect late afternoon snack

After a few hours of shopping and walking around the city Bob and Jess stopped by The Purple Pig (cheese, swine, and wine!). Jess had wanted to try it ever since Nan pointed it out to her the day before. It is located on Michigan Ave. but luckily the outdoor seating is on a side street and not on the touristy Mag Mile.

The weather was absolutely perfect to eat outside. The outside area had big communal tables but Bob and J decided to sit at a table for two out of the sun. The inside reminded J of a Spanish tapas bar.

We started off the meal with a 'quartino' of Vino Verde (from Portugal) which totally hit the spot. We had a hard time deciding what to order because everything looked so good. We finally settled on: Salt-Roasted Beets with Whipped Goat Cheese & Pistachio Vinaigrette (J's favorite), Fried Manchego with Membrillo Vinaigrette, Greek sausage with grapes, and fried olives stuffed with Chorizo.

Since Bob was going out to dinner just four hours later, we decided four shared tapas would be best. If we were eating the meal as a dinner, I would suggest getting 5-6 tapas to share.

This place would be fun to come with a group after work.

NYC: The Landmark Tavern

Landmark Tavern has been on Bob’s NYC great bar list for years, but he’s never been there.

In a fortunate coincidence, Landmark happens to be located about 4 blocks from Pier 83, where our boat tour disembarked. Since it was 100 degrees outside, we would have gone anywhere for cold beer, and it just so happened that Landmark was the closest watering hole. So, with a very brief stop at the H & H Bagel Shop, we braved the elements and walked the 4 blocks, which seemed like 4 miles (even to Bob the marathoner) so that we could enjoy the cool taste of Brooklyn Lager at one of NYC’s finer drinking establishments.