If the weekend starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday night, then I can say I got down on two pub burgers over the weekend.

After a workout and a sauna on Thursday night, I met my sister Meg and our softball teammate Zotti at Floyd’s on Armitage.  I was ravenous after burning some calories. I slugged down a Short’s Local Ale, which they’ve got on tap.  It hit the spot.  Along with my second beer, I put in an order for the Landmark Burger. Often times I’ll order the meatloaf at Floyd’s.  It’s really the only place I order meatloaf.  Pretty good food.  I’m likely to switch full time to burgers after a reminder of how well they make ’em. Fresh pretzel bun and a juicy burger with pickles and onions.  The plate arrives with a little cup of garlic aioli.  I was unsure if the sauce was for my burger or if it’s a ketchup alternative for the fries.  I dipped a fry in there first, but decided that wasn’t for me.  So I spread the aioli on the burger as a special sauce.  Combined with a circle of ketchup – it made for a messy delight.  Short’s are very light beers, ideal for pairing with a heavy bar burger.  I had enough room to finish four pints before we finally wrapped up our softball lineup and Cubs season previews and called it a night.

Sunday evening, I took my college basketball-superfan Mom to Timothy O’Toole’s to catch the Iowa @ Illinois game.  She’s a die-hard Marquette fan – still reeling from a Saturday loss to St. John’s – but will pretty much get into any televised game. She rooted for the Illini as I pulled for my Hawkeyes.  Luka Garza got fouled by Kofi Cockburn on that final shot attempt, in my totally unbiased opinion. Illinois won the game by 2.  See you again in the Big Ten tournament, Illini?

O’Toole’s is one of the better spots east of Michigan Avenue.  Used to frequent the tavern on Friday nights with my NBC Tower co-workers. The place is huge and the bar food is solid.  After considering the steak sandwich, I ultimately decided on the cheeseburger.  Very good french fries, quality bar burger.

Paired nicely with my Harp on tap.  Believe I finished off 4 of those before the game finished.  Not a bad average pint intake to begin and end the weekend.