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Oh, Mr. Lincoln

Got $5? Then you've got dinner, my friend.

Monday Aug 21, 2006.     By Erin Brereton

Lifestyle Feed

Sometimes in life there's a pause in which you can reflect upon where the past year—or years—has taken you. Sometimes it's a new job. Sometimes it's a new relationship. Hell, sometimes it's an old one (which I happen to call a Deja You.) And sometimes, it's a thrifty dinner.

That's what I was thinking, anyhow, when I trekked back to my old L stop in my old neighborhood last Monday to check out Take Five, 3747 N. Southport Ave., the recently (re)opened home of the $5 deal.

I spent the majority of my twenties living on Southport and in the surrounding area, first with my sister in a variety of three-flats coated in Victorian charm and, on occasion, discarded hair from our angry sister fights, then alone in a one-bedroom that sported an accordion door but a lovely large porch and tasty proximity to the Southport bar scene. (Take me drunk, I am home!)

A year ago, I moved south to Printer's Row, which I've grown to love (and call home). It's different—less youngsters! more angry homeless!—but I like it. And each time I've been back to Southport, it's like a decade has passed. New stores crop up. New faces dot the scene. And there are more boutiques than you can shake a stick at. (Anyone remember the soap store? Or the Australian candy shop? Probably not, unless you owned one of the two.).

So when I heard the former nice-Italian-date-spot Strega Nona had morphed into the apps- and drinks-heavy Take Five, where all offerings are $5, I knew I had to check it out—partially because it was cheap, partially because it was the latest transformation in a neighborhood that seems to have ADD.

The deals are solid. Food comes in large portions and drinks are decent quality. For $20, my friend Matt and I split a bottle of decent white wine; for $5, we snacked on crusty brie (double yum) with bread. Two more fivers got us a huge plate of grilled vegetables (for me) and a turkey drumstick (for Matt) that would have made Henry the VIII think twice about beheading Anne Boleyn.

The food isn't quite as good as Strega Nona's, but with the same layout (bonus: booths now offer individual TVs) and ample outdoor seating, who cares? The service was super friendly and the menu is huge—artichoke dip mingles with lobster bisque, fish tacos and Italian sausage and peppers. The dessert offerings are just the opposite—sparse, with only the kitschy five-layer cake in the house—but after drinking and dining your way through a few Lincolns, no one is likely to complain.

We ate, we laughed, we took in one of the last warm nights of summer and watched people scuffle back and forth to the Dairy Queen down the street. And as we left, I paused at the L station platform, looking out on the neighborhood: the Park District building where I'd taken yoga, the restaurant where I'd enjoyed many a $5 sangria pitcher, the store where I'd bought my mom earrings for Mother's Day. Southport had looked almost magical in the twilight—why hadn't I ever noticed that before?

But then I remembered: I was probably drunk. It was, after all, my twenties.

Want to check out Take Five? It's located at 3747 N. Southport Ave. and the specials are good every night o' the week. Call (773) 244-0990 for more information.