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We've all seen it. The outdoor café with buff boys in tight tops sipping cocktails to beat the heat. It's inevitable that those tops will start to come off. Why is it, though, that the guy undressing is exactly the one who should be leaving his top on?
A cheeseburger and fries is the perfect menu item at Pontiac, a long-ago car repair shop that offers indoor dining in cold months in the tiny building where body work was once done. But when the weather is warm there's a large paved area for a big number of outdoor tables. Sure, they're mostly in direct sun (for lunch time and early evening diners), the el rattles almost overhead frequently, and the food isn't gourmet, but that's all sort of the point. The servers at
Pontiac are casual and pretty aware (usually) and the cold beers
are plentiful and reasonably priced for the neighborhood. And
those fried tidbits on the menu start to taste pretty damn good
as the afternoon progresses along with the number of drinks.
While Pontiac can be a ghost town in mid-winter, it's just the
opposite on any summer day and night - without rain. The
offer of prime people watching plus prime outdoor location (which
includes watching traffic jams and breathing in exhaust fumes,
but still...) equals big, big crowds.  Open for lunch,
weekend brunch, dinner, and late night dining, Pontiac is located
under the Damen el stop Wicker Park, just south of North Ave.,
and features Live Band Karaoke on Friday nights. 1531 N. Damen Ave. (b/w Pierce & Wicker Pk. Ave.) 773.252.7767 |
Yesterday,
hot sun, afternoon heat, outdoor tables at Pontiac Café
in Wicker Park, and off comes the shirt. No, not mine. I have
some sense left, but I would've offered a better sight than this
guy. Why couldn't his fellow diner have undressed instead?
And, really, unless you're tight and ripped, no one wants to
see you eating a cheeseburger and fries shirtless.