C You Around: Ms. James and a pair of C&S regulars

C&S Pub is an unassuming bar from the outside: a purple awning adorned with comedy and tragedy masks, an Old Style banner, and a sign on the door offering $7 Eastside pizzas. My BFF Samantha and I stumbled upon this place during a mission to find a nearby place to drink — I live near North Park University’s dry campus, which means local bars are virtually nonexistent in my neighborhood. C&S is a little bit further than stumbling distance from my house, but it’s come to feel like home to me, thanks to bartender Colleen and her wonderful regulars.

After we introduced ourselves with the customary “Pleased to meet you,” Colleen cackled “You won’t be later!” It can be daunting to drink at a bar as beloved by its regulars as C&S (which is named after owners Chuck and Sharon, whose names hang on placards above the bar), but Colleen took care to introduce us newcomers to her regulars. My favorite regular is Mr. Larry, who acquired the “Mr.” in order to distinguish himself from the three or four Larrys who used to frequent the bar. Mr. Larry kissed my hand when we met, asked me to sign the birthday card of an absent regular I didn’t know, and gave me a bag of tomatoes he’d grown in his own garden a few weeks later. The last time I went to C&S I befriended a pair of badass bikers from out of town, an interesting change of pace from C&S’s typically mild-mannered clientele. You couldn’t ask for a friendlier group of regulars than the clan at C&S.

Colleen can mix up a mean batch of Mai Tais using her secret ingredient (SunnyD), and is the queen of the ice cream cocktail — bring a pint and she’ll break out her blender and make you a round of Dreamsicles with orange juice, amaretto and crème de cacao. One time Samantha and I brought Viet Bistro’s master mixologist Rashed Islam to C&S to meet Colleen, and they collaborated on a cocktail using Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia that was one of the best girly drinks I’ve ever had. Now Sam refuses to go to the bar without a pint of ice cream (despite her lactose intolerance). Colleen can always concoct a cocktail to suit your palette, with or without ice cream, served up with a side of sass. And I’d suggest one of those Eastside pizzas, too.

C&S Pub, 5053 N. Lincoln Ave., Mon.-Fri., 3 p.m.-2 a.m., Sat., 3 p.m.-3 a.m., closed Sunday. Want more from Behind the Bar? Visit Bianca James on Twitter!