This was my most recent mission (late-August) and in my opinion, one of the more epic ones. I had planned a dinner with Josh, because uhh… we love to eat? I was talking to him online day-of, and he told me to “..get ready for heaven.” The only response I could come up with was, “Show me the way.” And yes, we both realized that it was the gayest thing I could’ve said. He couldn’t stop laughing. Our destination: Crisp, a casual American-Korean Fusion restaurant on Broadway in Lincoln Park.

Josh warned me about the large portions so after not eating all day sans a cliff bar, we were on our way. As we walked into the brightly colored and very cheery spot, Doug, one of the owners, greeted us firmly. I like his style, direct & no hemming and hawing allowed. If you do, he’ll make his recommendation and convince you pretty quickly on what to get. We put in our order: 10 wings which were not what you would expect. It was a real chicken wing, meaning, 10 times larger than your standard bar wing. We got half and half, BBQ and Seoul which was like teriyaki on steroids. Along with our wings we also ordered a whole chicken and a buddha bowl, composed of marinated veggies, rice, and your choice of meat. In our case, beef. “That’s a lot of food, boys.” Josh and I looked at one another and chuckled.

Shortly after our food had arrived. It was the most amazing fried chicken I have eaten to date. A beautiful mix of spices and other Asian ingredients fried to perfection. Anything that’s Asian + Deep Fried = money in my book. Demolition then ensued. What made this situation even better was our pick of the seating right beside the register. Everyone that came in just looked at us with either disgust or awe, and Doug was monitoring our progress, throwing out a comment every so often. Finishing all this food off was enough reason for the owner to ‘reward’ us with some amazing honey-dew melon flavored popsicles. On the house of course. As we were leaving, I told Josh that I had to shake the owners hand. “20 wings, 4 large fries, and I’ll name the next chicken dish after you guys,” said Doug. Josh and I looked at each other, smiled and replied, “deal.” On my way to completing a life goal: ingraining my name into a piece of history. Or a menu.

Even managed to get our story in Chicago Mag’s online ‘Dish’ section:
http://www.chicagomag.com/Radar/Dish/September-2008/Sugar-Power/
You’ll find it under Who You Callin’ Chicken? Thanks D!