Food Digest

Nothing says “romantic Valentine’s Day dinner” like picking up an animal bone, stripping the meat with your teeth, then licking your fingers clean when you’re done.

That’s right: Cannibalism. What, what? No! Ribs. (Non-human ones!)

Took the Missus to Twin Anchors, which I consider the best ribs in the city. Now she thinks so, too.

We’re not the only ones, either. Word on the street is that Conan O’Brien eats here every time he comes to Chicago. I asked our waitress, and she said she’d waited on Conan and his wife several times. Turns out, Conan and I have quite a few things in common. We’re both extremely, very, incredibly, extremely funny. Also, we’re both good tippers. (But I paid the waitress to say that…) And, according to her, we both order our ribs with Twin Anchors’ zesty sauce and a side of onion rings.

I’ve only been here a couple times in the dozen years I’ve lived in Chicago. I need to make it a more frequent occurrence. Meat absolutely falls off the bone, the ambiance is old-school Chicago and it’s worth every modest penny.

Look at that cheeseburger and weep.

Strange story behind this one. After a morning up in the north ‘burbs, I hustled back to the house to work from home so I could hopefully avoid missing the UPS man — I’ve had a bad run of lost/misdelivered mail recently. I drove up to the house just as that big brown truck was driving away. Curses! I decided to tail it and, in the most non-threatening way possible, corner the driver at his next destination and see if I could get my stuff.

I followed him for several blocks before he stopped. I parked up the street, ran back, told him my situation, and he went back into the truck and got me my boxes.

Walking back to my car, I decided I needed to celebrate this small victory over delivery-tyranny by grabbing a cheeseburger. Since I was now right near Mic Duck’s Drive-In, I figured now was as good a time to try it as any.

Bought the cheeseburger with everything on it, plus pickles. No, at Mic Duck’s, pickles are not included in “everything.” Good burger. GREAT cheese sauce for the fries. Including a drink it came to $6.18. Cheap and fulfilling, just like a good Valentine’s Day should be.

My mom sent the Missus and me some Hershey’s Kisses in a heart-shaped container in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. Very sweet.