One of the best things about being a regular somewhere is getting to know the people at your local haunt. You learn that X bartender or barista is a bit of a nerd or Y server is an actor or Z cashier is also from your home state and would kill for some green chile¹.

Yes, I’ve learned all of those things and more about various people who work at assorted places I am or have been a regular.

One of the other wonderful things about being a regular is that these same people get to know you a bit. They geek out with you over a Neil Gaiman book or swap recipes with you. Or, in the case of the junior brewers at Goose Island Clybourn (GIC), they slip you a sample of a then-soon-to-be-released coffee beer (Resolutions), and send you home with a bag of the coffee they made into that beer for your coffee-nerd husband.… Continue reading →