Adventure Time: Chicago Brauhaus Edition

Happy day-after-Valentine's-Day, everyone! Today's post is brought to you by the letters W-A-Y A-F-T-E-R T-H-E and F-A-C-T. I'm running about a week behind on tales of my Adventures in Chicago Restaurants, but there are just too many things to write about each week. Jeff and I continue to make progress through our list, though. About a week and a half ago, we decided it was time to load up on meat and potatoes, so we headed up to Chicago Brauhaus in Lincoln Square.

Even though everyone is telling me that this has been a mild winter, I'm still VERY ready for spring, so I dressed in seasonally-inappropriate pastels and gingham. 

I do what I want!!

It took about an hour to get there, during which time I pored over the menu online, told Jeff how excited I was over and over, and reveled in the city skyline.

Look, it's the Art Institvte of Chicago!

It was impossible to get a good photo of this archway without standing in the middle of the road, so here is a mediocre photo.

It may be Febraury, but this little promenade outside the restaurant still had lovely lights on their trees!

I'm a sucker for Tudor-style architectural details and brick buildings. Oddly specific, but true.

The inside of the restaurant was just as cute as the exterior, with red chandeliers and rainbow stained-glass windows out in front. We ordered more food than was wise, strictly speaking: a giant Bavarian pretzel and potato pancakes to share, beef Rouladen for me, and the Brauhaus special for Jeff.

Carbs for the win!

Beef Rouladen with Spätzle.

All the meat for Jeff.

Everything was super delicious! The potato pancakes had an herb that I couldn't quite place in them, and it made them stand out from all the latkes we've had at various delis. The smoked pork loin that Jeff got with his meal was approximately a zillion times better than normal pork loin/any pork loin I've ever made, and the gravy on mine was very good and made a nice sauce for the spätzle. On a side note, I'm so proud that I still remember how to do the keyboard shortcut for an umlaut.

We also got boots full of beer, because I'm a total sucker for novelty packaging, including novelty food presentation.

Jeff's reaction to our beer boots was classic Homer: "well, it's pretty big… I guess…"

When we were about halfway through our dinner, something very exciting happened: live music auf Deutsch! I didn't expect this at all, but apparently the regulars there did, because some of them had  rather emphatic requests for the band. They played "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, which is probably the best part of the entire movie, and I was utterly charmed.

Was I ready to explode by the time I finished eating? Yes. Are we planning to go back? Yes. I highly recommend this place if you want to 1) eat delicious things and 2) be serenaded in German.

I'm very glad I wore this dress, as it's a bit loose in the waist. I got this dress during the Black Friday  sales for a song, but it's quite well made, with a lovely full skirt, a fully lined bodice, and adjustable straps (!!!). Ordinarily, I'd've thrown on a black cardigan and called it a day, but I've been making a concerted effort to wear more colors, so I paired it with my mint cropped cardigan, blush pink petticoat, and pink sparkly heart brooch. The most exciting thing about this brooch (other than the fact that it's a pink sparkly heart, which is exciting in itself) is that it perfectly matches a pair of heart earrings I got in Japan in 2005. What are the odds?

Dress: Lucky Thirteen from Pinup Girl Clothing (currently sold out in most sizes)

Petticoat: Malco Modes Jennifer in Dusty Rose

Sweater: Le Bomb Shop

Boots: Rieker (oldies but goodies!)

Brooch: Medium sparkle heart from the Sparkle Bakery

What's your favorite type of food to pig out on?