Dragonlady Lounge | Logan Square, Chicago

When the Chaser invites you for a drink, you ask what time. You do not decline. The Chaser wanted to check out Dragonlady Lounge, and I couldn’t resist.

So, there’s some residual Stadium West decor (including the sign out front), and the place is definitely a dive, but it was a lot of fun. There’s something invigorating about being the only ones in a bar — like you’re somehow breaking a rule and doing something you shouldn’t — like skinny dipping with the dean’s daughter. It’s fun. You think: why don’t more people do this. But, of course, if more people did it, it wouldn’t be as fun.

Get the Kimchi dumplings — they’re fantastic. Spicy, though, so watch out. Beer’s cheap. Shots are cheaper if Sue pours them for you while spewing a narrative about how hamburgers are poison. Very interesting, if you can understand it. With Wheel-of-Fortune rocking in the background it was tough to follow given all the buying-of-vowels.

Thursday is all you can eat veg … maybe. Sue said we should check on Yelp. It was kind of refreshing to hear that she relied on the Yelp community to determine her cooking schedule. Even the pricing was in flux — I swear the cost dropped from $9 to $7 over the course of the night. Why not trust your business to the wisdom of the crowds? They’re the ones buying the dumplings.