CATAGORIES: GENERAL NONSENSE, JUGGFESTS — FloridaBill @ 8:03 am

I met Jigga for lunch on Sunday at the oldest restaurant, (not the oldest bar) Schaller’s Pump, in Chicago. It opened in 1881 and is run by the fourth generation family member, Mr. Jack Schaller and his son Jay. Daughters Jill, Betty, Sue and Kim are servers. The place is right across the street from the 11th Ward Democratic offices where Mayors Daley, Kennelly, Bilandic and Kelly have set policy for the City of Chicago for decades. There is a portrait of the current Mayor Daley and another of his father (both avid South Siders) above the bar. The place survived prohibition and gangster era turf wars.

Mr. Schaller (who is 83 years old and holds court with just about everyone who walks in the place) told Jigga and I that he was born upstairs from the brewery (The South Side Brewery) that used to be in what is now their parking lot. He was showing off pictures of himself and local celebrities (Steve Stone, the White Sox broadcaster was the only one we knew, but he also had pix of him and some fat guys from The Score, a local radio broadcast). I got there a little late due to the serious rain and remnants of Hurricane Ike in the greater Chicagoland area this weekend. We had a couple of pitchers and a nice butt steak sandwich. The ceiling was leaking in the men’s room.

Here is a pic of Jigga and Mr, Schaller:

and one of me and the old man:

It was a nice slice of Chicago, and even though we could have scored some free tickets (being given away by patrons as the Saturday game was rained out so the White Sox were playing a double header) to the game, we choose not to go. Besides, with that shirt Jigga was wearing, I didn’t want to get killed. Also, the weather was pretty lousy.

If you ever get to Schaller’s Pump, don’t miss the hash browns. Mr. Schaller asked if we had ordered any, and then went in the kitchen to make sure they were included for our meal.

We watched the good half of the Bears game and then I sent Jigga on his way to Glenview to his hotel and I went back home in a deluge that ended just about the time I got in the driveway. It was good to get together for a couple of hours. I wish the weather had been better, but then, those tickets would not have been available and the bar would have been dryer.

I hope Jigga made it safely to his destination and is having a good mediation this morning.