Four Shadows Tavern

Four Shadows Tavern
2758 N. Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(773)248-9160
www.fourshadows.net

I went to Chicago last Thursday to attend a recruiting conference with Career Agents Network and was looking forward to it for the culinary opportunities it represented. While I didn't get to make it to some of the places I had previously targeted in my mind, it turned out to be a wonderful experience in finding some great alternatives to my original plans.

The first surprise of my visit came after meeting my friend Kraig at Durkin's Tavern for drinks. We had some beers and watched the Penguins game and decided we needed some food to end the evening. Our original plan was to hit the Gino's East location down the street, but we got there about 10:45. The problem is they close at 11:00 and it takes 40 minutes to make one of their pies. Gino's East was actually one of my primary destinations for this trip as I resolved at the beginning of this year that I would visit at least three places featured on Man vs Food last year. This one would have to wait until later in my visit.

Kraig and I continued on down the street and found Four Shadows Tavern. I am glad that we did as it was cold and rainy during my visit last week. I was at the point that any place would do for me as long as they served food. Lucky for me, Four Shadows serves good food.

We roll in and take a spot at the bar. We were a little nervous as the kitchen closes at 11:00PM and thought we were pushing it. The bartender brought us our beers and told us we were fine to order some food. I cannot remember what Kraig ordered, but I got the four cheese burger and added bacon. The four cheese burger comes with cheddar, Swiss, pepper jack and Havarti. I noticed something about Chicago that I haven't experienced in Florida yet and that is you get the choice between fries or tater tots. Just to shake things up a bit, I went tater tots. I am glad that I did.

Kraig and I placed our orders and began to take in the scenery of Four Shadows. It is a true tavern with a great comfortable feel. It's a Marquette University focused tavern and many of the patrons seemed to be of the college student age even though Marquette is located in Wisconsin. My guess is our orders were the last orders placed that evening and came out very quickly. I was surprised to see that my burger was on a ciabatta roll instead of a regular hamburger bun. However, it actually worked well for me this time. The burger was perfectly cooked to the medium rare stage in which it was ordered and the tater tots were hot and crispy. The meat used in the burger was of high quality and had a great flavor. I was astounded that we had stumbled across Four Shadows after being shut down elsewhere. It has to be one of the greatest accidental finds I have ever made.

The Four Shadows menu has all of the staples you would expect to see in a tavern type menu. If everything is even close to the burger I had, you can't miss on whatever you decide to order. If you find yourself in Chicago and near the Four Shadows Tavern, I personally suggest you give them a try. This was really good food.

For my first and unexpected visit to Four Shadows Tavern, I give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry