In planning the “Date Challenge”, I wanted to do something I’ve been meaning to do since moving to Chicago. Something the local Chicagoans have told me is tons of fun and a “must do” if living in Chicago. So I decided I would plan the evening with dinner at Chicago’s original tapas bar, Café Babareeba, and ultimately make our way to The Green Mill Jazz Cocktail Lounge, which has a rich history; founded in 1907 it later became synonymous with names like Capone and Sinatra.
One of the first discoveries I have made here in Chicago is the Spanish tapas restaurants. Not that you can’t find tapas back in Los Angeles (my hometown), I just haven’t seemed to stumble upon a tapas joint in the West LA area. Tapas are small savory Spanish dishes. Originally I had first experienced Café Iberico, but since Café Iberico does not have a happy hour menu (at least that I know of), I decided to try Café Barbareeba.
Located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Café Babareeba has a happy hour Monday – Sunday from 4PM-6PM, and a late night happy hour on Fridays and Saturdays from 10PM-12AM. Since I don’t have a car in Chicago, getting to Café Babareeba is fairly easy using public transportation. Jump on either the Red Line or the Brown Line and get off at Fullerton off the Red or Armitage off the Brown. We took the Brown Line since the Armitage stop is only 3-4 blocks away from Babareeba.
Now on to the food! On their happy hour menu Babareeba offers $1 Pintxos (bite sized tapas) and $3 tapas dishes. Considering our budget for the night we ordered solely off of the happy hour menu. We ordered two goat cheese croquetas ($2), two short rib stuffed piquillo peppers ($2), bacon wrapped dates ($3), Spanish meatballs in a sherry tomato sauce ($3), chicken empanadas ($3), and the crispy spicy potatoes ($3). All of the food had so much flavor, but we particularly enjoyed the goat cheese croquetas, the spicy potatoes, and surprisingly, the bacon wrapped dates. The combination of sweet dates and salty bacon in a apple vinaigrette was actually delicious. Although we wanted to try Babareeba’s sangria, we opted for the $3 Budweiser and Bud Light bottles. In sum, we spent $22 dollars for the meal and two beers.
After dinner, we took the Brown Line to the Fullerton stop and transferred to the Red Line, where we got off at Lawrence. Just around the corner from the train stop, in Chicago’s Up Town, was The Green Mill Jazz Cocktail Lounge. I planned to go on a Sunday for the Mill’s poetry slam night (Sundays at 7). There was a $6 cover that night and my date had a Guinness for $6.
The Green Mill features live jazz everyday of the week and a poetry slam on Sundays. The poetry slam is hosted by Marc Kelly Smith, the “founder of the poetry slam movement.” Before going, I didn’t really know what a “poetry slam” was. A poetry slam is a competition where poets read or recite original work. The focus is not solely on the poetry itself, but also the performance by the poet. For the first part of the slam, there is an open mic, where “virgins” (those who have not performed at the Mill) and “virgin, virgins” (those who have never before performed at a poetry slam) can read or recite a poem. For the second part, two poets went head to head in a poetry slam competition. To go along with the poetry, at the request of the performer, the jazz band will play to match the tone/mood of the performance.
I would recommend going a 30-45 minutes before the start of the slam to get a booth (maybe even Al Copone’s usual booth). There are seats along the bar as well, but the booths were closer to the stage. On a side note, the word is that there is a trap door behind the bar that leads to a tunnel, which was once used to smuggle in alcohol during the prohibition era. Knowing its history, I’d guess and say the tunnel was used for other things as well.
All in all the poetry slam was a great, fun date idea. If you like poetry, live music, or both, The Green Mill is a great place to go. I will be back to The Green Mill, for the poetry slam and for the live jazz.
In total we spent exactly $40, $22 for dinner and $18 at The Green Mill. It was a fun fun night and I definitely recommend Café Babreeba for its flavor filled tapas and The Green Mill for its fun crowd, good poetry, and even better live jazz.
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