If you’re like us, you’ve probably driven by Max’s Famous Italian Beef recently (5754 N. Western Ave.; 773-989-8200) and been tempted by their intriguing, if not at all politically correct sign beckoning diners to “Try our new ghetto fries.” On a recent afternoon, we gave in and plunked down $2.39 for a dish of hot, crisp, thick-cut fries topped with Merkt’s cheddar cheese spread, gravy, chopped onions, sweet barbecue sauce and spicy giardinara. Granted, we were pretty hungry but we found them delicious and fairly addictive.
Hats off or else
We’ve heard of men removing their hats in dining rooms, but we were surprised to hear that a female diner was recently told to remove her chic chapeau before entering Keefer’s (20 W. Kinzie St.; 312-467-9525) the other day. Was this some new super-formal rule?
“No hats at all is our dress policy,” says Peter de Castro, a partner at the restaurant. “As a matter of fact, it is right on our front door.”
Even for women?
“In today’s day and age it is hard to be gender specific for anything,” he says. “It is a matter of etiquette.”
We called certified etiquette consultant Patricia O’Brien, who is the director of Manners Please, a Chicago-based etiquette school. According to O’Brien, “A man may be asked to remove his hat, but a woman can wear a hat indoors or outdoors at any time unless it is an extremely formal occasion.”
Tapas trouble
Although we have encountered a few disappointments (stale bread with the queso de cabra and soggy fries with the octopus), we generally love the food and atmosphere at Cafe Iberico (739 N. La Salle St.; 312-573-1510). But according to one trustworthy source, this big bustling Spanish restaurant known for its petite tapas can dish out large portions of attitude.
“My girlfriend and I were there on a Saturday night and waiting in line,” he told us. “I am severely allergic to seafood and she has an ulcer-like condition that is aggravated by spicy foods and so I asked the host if I could look at the menu while we were waiting. He said that I couldn’t, even when I told him that I didn’t mean a take-out menu, I just wanted to see if there would be things we could eat and he refused again. When I told him that we would just have to leave then, he said `fine.’ We ended up leaving like we had done something wrong.”
We called Iberico to ask if this was standard practice. “No, that is absolutely not,” says Pedro Arcos, a manager at the restaurant. “If anyone wants to look at the menu, we are supposed to show them. It could have been that we have recently hired some new hosts and they don’t know how to handle these things yet.” So maybe this was just a case of breaking in a new host.
But another thing that has bugged us about Iberico is the deafening Euro-pop played in the dining room during lunch. When we asked our waitress if she could turn it down, she refused because “the owner says it has to be that loud.”
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“Unfortunately, we, the managers, have no control over the volume,” Arcos says. “If someone complains and the owner is here, we can ask and the server should know that, but otherwise it has to be that loud.” Say what?