Fat Tuesday, Chicago Style

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 23, 2006 4:35PM

Here at the Chicagoist offices we’re counting down the days to Ash Wednesday and one of our favorite times of the year- pointing out all the hungover Catholics with dirty foreheads and shag carpeting for tongues eating pepper and egg sandwiches. This weekend finds a literal smorgasbord of events leading up to Fat Tuesday itself:

- Starting Friday Carnivale (702 W. Fulton) will feature a Mardi Gras–themed menu featuring dishes like Moqueqa --seafood stew with shrimp, mussels, scallops, fish and lobster, with tomato-coconut broth--and specialty drinks like hurricanes. Live music includes Professor John and the Chicago Swamp Band on Sunday and Monday (he’s gonna be busy this weekend) and the BS Brass Band on Tuesday. In addition, there will be costumed performers, stilt walkers, beads and masks.

- If you're looking to explore the south and west sides of the city but are afraid to travel in even a small group then do the Chicago Blues Tour. The $30 pass gets you admission and transportation to The Wabash Tap (1221 S. Wabash), Checkerboard Lounge (5201 S. Harper Ct.), Rosa's (3420 W. Armitage), Bossman's Blues Center (3500 W. Lake Street), East Of The Ryan (914 E. 79th Street), Lee's Unleaded Blues (7401 S. South Chicago Avenue), and Linda's Place (1044 W. 51st Place).

- The Mardi Gras Society of Chicago, a German American krewe dedicated to promoting "karneval"-themed parties in the city, will be hosting its Rosenmontag Monday at the D.A.N.K. Haus (4740 N. Western). $10 gets you as close to New Orleans- and Germany- as you're going to get on such short notice.

- Saturday Night at Subterranean Professor John will headline a benefit for the Emergency Fund Associate Council (is this like the Bluth Family Foundation's fundraiser to fight "TBA"?) with opening act the Lowdown Brass Band.