Where the Boys Are '07

By Tim State in Food on Jun 3, 2007 6:58PM

One of the things we like the most about Chicago is that when the weather agrees, this city behaves much like a resort town. You can walk, jog, ride a bike, rollerblade, or skateboard along a massive lakefront to any number of beaches. And when you arrive at the beach of your choice, you can hang out for the afternoon, drinking, eating, and more drinking like there isn’t a care in the world.

We stopped at Castaways Bar & Grill at the North Avenue Boathouse, which is run by successful Chicago restaurateur Phil Stefani. Stefani has eighteen restaurants, which range from high-end fine dining to fast food and seasonal locations like Castaways. While the food was far from fine dining, it was good with a nice selection of healthy options and not your typical fried corn dog mess one would expect at a beach. Plus, you can’t beat the view whether looking north over the beach, or south toward the Gold Coast skyline. Weekend days feature a live band, and we think there is nothing better than sun, food, a cool drink, and live music. Is this vacation?

One of the most curious observations we made, though, was the ratio of men to women. In the name of getting a little sun, there is no shortage of men looking to show off what they’ve got. On the afternoon we were there, there were seriously four men for every woman. That’s some pretty serious hunting ground for single women in their 30s, or gay guys looking to gawk at straight boys.