“A michelada is… a cocktail with longevity.” -Greg

Lauren and Greg kick off this mid-summer round up with Lauren’s recent visit to the Logan Square Farmers Market, Greg waxing poetic about the Green City Market in Lincoln Square, a 4th of July rooftop Cubs game (of which Lauren saw very little because she was too busy socializing, snacking and drinking gluten free hard cider provided by Angry Orchard), and Greg’s firm “no” to the summer shandys of last summer and enthusiastic “yes” to the coffee-infused lagers of this summer.

Lauren was thrilled to catch Mayer Hawthorne, who she describes as “soul with a sassy twist” at the Taste of Randolph street festival in Chicago, where she had a chance to fall in love with the rope viejo taco with goat cheese at nearby Bar Takito.

Once Greg was done complaining about the influx of traffic jams that the West Loop/ Randolph Restaurant District is currently suffering from with the influx of the companies like Google and the new McDonald’s HQ, which features a smattering of items from their “international” menus, we begin a tour of Mexican bar/restaurant concepts around Chicago including Federales (owned and operated by renowned Parlor Pizza Bar). Here the main attraction is an ice tequila shot glass you can throw once you’re done to ring a bell.

We continue to family owned La Josie on Halsted and Randolph, where Greg recommends the flank steak with a smoky michelada, his go-to Sunday drink.

We visit Rick Bayless’s Leña Brava, wood-fired and Baja-inspired, sharing a building with Cruz Blanca, a beer and bites bar and brewery. Lauren loves on the soup from Xoco, also a Bayless spot. Greg recommends anyone flying out of O’Hare Airport to allow extra time to grab food and a margarita to go from Frontera inside Terminals 1, 3 and 5.

In Houston, Lauren recommends her favorite tex-mex, Lupe Tortillas, and back in Chicago, they try to describe the unique fusion concept of Cafe Tola, featured in an earlier episode of the podcast.

After the break, Lauren shares an epic story about driving the artist transport golf cart up and down Lake Shore Drive for last year’s Lollapalooza, her goof up with the managers for the popular hip-hop band Migos (hint: she said,  “Oh I don’t know them!” even though they were headliners), and a torrential downpour resulting in festival evacuation. This year’s festival is August 2-5, 2018 and Lauren and Greg earnestly recommend the VIP pass.

Speaking of VIP passes, gives us the 411 on VIP experiences at Six Flags Great America and we round out the summer recommended experiences with free concerts in Millennium Park (featuring artists like Louie Vega and Robyn!) and extravagant picnic options at Ravinia Music Festival.

 

Food & drinks mentioned in this episode:

Chicago:

Logan Square Farmers Market

Green City Farmer’s Market

McDonalds New HQ

Takito Kitchen - http://takitokitchen.com/

Bar Takito - http://bartakito.com/

Federales - http://federaleschicago.com/

La Josie - https://www.lajosie.com/

Leña Brava - http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/lena-brava/

Cruz Blanca - http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/cerveceria-cruz-blanca/

Xoco - http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco/

Frontera Grill (including the O’Hare Airport location) - http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/frontera-grill/

Cafe Tola - https://www.cafetola.com/

 

Houston:

Lupe Tortilla Houston - https://tex-mex.com/

 

Music mentioned in this episode:

Mayer Hawthorne - http://www.mayerhawthorne.com/

Migos - http://migosonline.com/

Louie Vega - http://www.vegarecords.net/

Robyn - http://robyn.com/

Visit Lauren Ignited:

http://www.laurenignited.com/

 

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