North Side Cheap Eats: People Lounge

By Erin in Food on Jun 9, 2006 6:51PM

On People Lounge's Flickr page, there is a series of pictures featuring two bartenders taking turns at breathing fire, using what seems to be Captain Morgan as an accelerant.

This is a great trick, and really apropos of nothing, other than when Chicagoist visited People Lounge there actually were no eruptions of fire bursting from the bar, and while we have a hard time getting behind using Captain Morgan for anything other than, say, something with which to unclog our drains, we did like just about everything else about People Lounge.

Say what you will about Wicker Park, it really is a wonderful place - a little messy, a tad polished in places, tarnished in others and filled with people who are either so high on their own marvelousness that they suck your will to live or are lovely and understated and leave you and your Kool-Aid the hell alone with nary a second thought. Not many Chicago neighborhoods can boast such diametrically opposed characteristics so effortlessly. This pretty much encapsulates People Lounge - from it's decor to its staff, its menu to the crowd it attracts, this a perfect hodge podge of both good and bad in a neighborhood that is much the same.

Walking into People Lounge is underwhelming from a design and color perspective, save for the wrought-iron light fixtures and the imposing, massive wooden tables in the dining room that are so incredibly masculine Chicagoist half expected to see "XY" carved all over them. But it's a nice space and unfettered with clutter so common in tapas-themed restaurants. The minimalist approach, however, makes for a noisy space - don't expect to conduct discussions that don't include words such as "WHAT?" and "HUH?" punctuating every other topic – but a kinetic, loud room is somewhat indicative of the spirit of tapas.

What's brilliant about People Lounge is that it keeps an incredibly simple menu – making for traditional Spanish tapas that is done exceedingly well. When your menu includes only a handful of items, you'd best bring them out prepared to near perfection and in a timely fashion. Even under the congested conditions of the Saturday night dining room, People pulled off both. We were fans of the queso de cabra (goat cheese baked in tomato sauce with garlic crusted bread), patatas bravas (spicy potatoes with a roasted red pepper sauce), and the gambas a la plancha (shrimp skewer with a garlic and sherry glaze served on a bed of couscous, pictured). Nothing fancy, but just because Grant, Graham and Homaro have attempted to make serving frozen shavings of ox tail the norm here in Chicago doesn't mean everyone else has to follow suit.

No need to dress in your designer best, much as we think People Lounge wants to be a destination spot. We wouldn't recommend dining in ratty jeans and a t-shirt, but the crowd sported the typical night-out-of-drinking-and-nosh attire. Think business casual according to the denizens of Wicker Park and you'll have a good idea of what flies. The staff is incredibly accommodating, friendly and attentive – especially after we learned that three members of our party ditched us for the night, dramatically altering our reservation.

The prices were our favorite feature – the paella is the most expensive item on the menu at $15, and that's for two people. The average tapas plate goes for $7. While there was much consternation here in the Chicagoist office as to what constitutes a cheap evening of tapas, the bill for a night of three rounds of tapas, two pitchers of sangria split between five people was $30 a piece. We'll let you make the call for yourself.

People Lounge, 1560 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-227-9339, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday-Friday; 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday. Food is served until 1 a.m.