Silver Cloud Bar & Grill

We finally got around to using a restaurant gift card that we picked up at a charity auction about 18 months ago. The package we won at the auction included gift cards for 3 eateries, 2 of which (the Gage and Sheffield's) we visited fairly quickly. For one reason or another, the 3rd one (Silver Cloud Bar & Grill, 1700 N. Damen) proved to be a little more elusive, located off in Wicker Park not particularly close to the ballpark or anywhere else that we typically frequent when we come to the city. A rare Saturday night tilt between the Cubs and Red Sox at Wrigley provided us the chance to stop in to Silver Cloud for an early dinner. Given the place's name and description on the website ("Chicago's best comfort food"), I was expecting a retro-diner all covered in chrome and stainless steel; instead, it was more of a kitschy dive bar, albeit one featuring Simpsons Trivia Night and great tunes on the stereo (like Weezer and White Stripes). Mrs. Hackknife and I both put the comfort food claim to the test, ordering a signature chicken pot pie and stuffed turkey sandwich, respectively, along with glasses of the beer of the month, Brooklyn Brewery's light and refreshing Summer Ale. The pot pie arrived from the kitchen looking like a puffy UFO, about the size of a hubcap in diameter (a bit of an optical illusion as the pie's contents were actually inside a smaller bowl below the giant dough cap - see top of photo above) and filled with delicious chicken chunks, carrots, peas, and the like. Mrs. Hackknife especially enjoyed the tidbits of slightly undercooked pastry crust folded under the rim of the bowl. My sandwich came on toasted white bread with slices of roasted turkey, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mayo, a perfect and portable Thanksgiving feast without having to endure the familial angst that usually accompanies these ingredients. My side of pickle and house mac & cheese (with Wisconsin cheddar, Monterey jack, and mozzarella) were also quite tasty and quite gone before I reached the bottom of my beer glass. Now that we've experienced Silver Cloud's kick-a&* comfort food, I'm not going to argue with their slogan...