People Lounge
- November 19, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Little Ayun from Cambridge, Massachusetts
The last of our party of three arrived at O'Hare well after the usual dinnertime window, when People morphs from a restaurant into a world music lounge and bar, but we decided to see if we could wrangle some tapas out of the all-but closed kitchen to go along with a generous pitcher of red sangria (around $20, easily split three ways, thick with tasty bits of green apple).
Anyone who's worked in restaurants knows that showing up when the kitchen's about to close will often get you the worst service any restaurant had to offer, but we were graciously accommodated by the waitstaff and the kitchen. Though we were given a somewhat truncated menu, there were plenty of both hot and cold tapas to choose from - we ordered Hongos Jerez, Spanish tortilla (which came with a fantastic aioli) and something involving steak which the meat eaters raved about.
When we arrived, a live three-piece jazz ensemble was playing a set - good music, but at a volume that effectively killed conversation. As the first pitcher of sangria gave way to the second, the live music ended, the music switched over to Radiohead, the tables emptied out (except for ours - we were allowed to linger in peace, even when our waiter's shift ended and he handed us over to his replacement) and the bar filled up. We could have easily gone for a third pitcher, but we were still hauling luggage along with us, and had a bit of a trek on the Blue Line before getting home. This shortened evening was our first in Chicago, and set the perfect tone for the rest of our trip.
From journal Chicago - Girls On The Town