The One Where Joe and I Find Ourselves in a Gay Bar

Yeah. I thought that would get your attention.

Funny Story. Joe and I went to have breakfast Sunday morning. I had heard that there is this place called Tweet that has the best biscuits and gravy in Chicago. I haven't had really good biscuits and gravy in this city, so I thought it might be worth a trip.

We drive over in the Big Green Machine and it's right next to a bar called Big Chicks. Funny. We're a little north of Boystown, so between that and its name, I assumed it was a lesbian bar. Not that we need labels like that. I'd just call it a bar, but that would lessen the story possibilities, I feel. So we went in to Tweet and were told there was a 25 minute wait, and we could wait next door. Next door is Big Chicks. There is quite an extensive art collection on the walls of Big Chicks, mostly depicting women. That further contributed to the lesbian bar feeling. But I just looked it up online, and it's considered a gay bar. Which marks my first visit to one. It sounds like the owner of the place would rather it just be considered a bar. I 'm sure anyone is welcome. We certainly didn't feel that people were looking at us strangely. Although we were a pair of guys. Sunday morning, kind of early. For breakfast.... Anyway, onto the food.

We were seated after about 7 minutes. There were a lot of larger groups, so I think the fact that we were a pair helped us get seated faster. There was some sort of breakfast pastry on the table with a strussel sort of topping. I didn't try it, but Joe said it was good. They also had an entire array of Tabasco brand sauces on the table, along with Whole Foods Organic hot sauce. We both ordered biscuits and gravy. I ordered mine with scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. I also got a big fresh-squeezed orange juice. All breakfasts came with a fruit cup or fruit compote. The rest of the breakfast menu looks pretty good. Emphasis on fresh and organic ingredients where possible, and it shows in the final product.

While we were waiting for the food, I did some looking around. Lots of art on the walls in here, like the bar. But the art here is a little tamer as far as subject matter goes. The clientèle for breakfast was all over the place. Lots of couples, lots of families. A few couples with newborns, a few groups of couples. It was a good, busy Sunday breakfast atmosphere.

OK. The food. Definitely the best biscuits and gravy I've had in the city. Joe declared that the biscuits were the best he'd ever had anywhere. I would agree. The gravy was really good, too. It had a richness to it that went past even normal sausage gravies. The sausage was obviously high quality, and I think they use some cream or at least half-and-half instead of just milk. The eggs were perfectly scrambled. I think scrambled eggs can be deceptively difficult to get right, and I'm not great at it. Whoever was cooking the eggs here did a great job. The hashbrowns were definitely good, as well.

Joe claims that my sausage gravy is better. Well, that's awfully nice of him to say. I'm not so sure. They're a little different. The best sausage gravy I've ever had comes from my grandma. But her family moved to Idaho from Arkansas. She really knows how to make it. When she is making breakfast, she pulls out four ancient perfectly seasoned cast-iron skillets. And then it takes off from there. Believe me, not a speck of bacon or sausage drippings gets wasted. So she makes the best sausage gravy that I've ever had. But this place will do when I get a craving for it in Chicago and don't want to make it myself. But I think I do need to focus a bit more on the biscuits now.

Here's a picture of my biscuits and gravy. I forgot my real digital camera, and only had my phone, which has a crappy camera with no flash. So, it's blurry, but you can at least see the food somewhat. Those are the hashbrowns on the left.



I would definitely recommend checking this place out. Friendly waitstaff, great food, nice atmosphere. We also had no problems parking. Check it out.

Tweet
5020 N. Sheridan Rd.
Chicago, IL