Big Chicks' interior decorater took the literal route

The recession sucks. In the midst of layoffs, it’s tempting to skip the bar and stay home with a bottle of three-buck Chuck. Fortunately Big Chicks in Uptown has the salve for your new (or not-so-new) poverty blues: food and drink specials all week beginning with $1 burger Mondays and ending with a bang on free buffet Sunday.

“There’s a gay bar near my apartment that has dollar burger nights on Mondays!” said friend Chris after he moved to town a few weeks ago. “We should go!” I was initially dubious as Sunday through Tuesday are my liver vacation days—when you go out as often as I do, you gotta give the old gal a break now and again. But dollar burgers are a pretty tempting proposition in the current economy, and I’m always up for a new gay bar. Over my three years in Chicago I’d somehow never made it to Big Chicks. Perhaps that’s because of its peculiar location: neither Boystown nor Andersonville, but at the lakeside end of a Vietnamese neighborhood better known for bahn mi than burgers.

I was also somewhat confused about what kind of bar Big Chicks is—for some reason I always assumed it was a biker bar (it’s not), and according to Chris’s friend Kandarpa, the former lesbian bar had turned into a “sausagefest,” but not in a bad way.  It’s definitely a different vibe than the places on Halstead and Clark—less cruisy, more cozy, like some alternate universe queer 1950’s diner full of kitschy pop art and photos of voluptuous nude ladies.

Not surprisingly, things get pretty crowded on Monday nights. The food comes from sister restaurant Tweet, which opens for brunch and breakfast next door, then serves food at Big Chicks after 5 p.m. You might have trouble finding a place to sit, but the $1 burgers are worth braving the crowd for, served with a side of crispy fries or organic salad greens, and additional toppings like bacon, avocado, and brie for a dollar extra. Big Chicks also sell some amazing-looking red velvet cakes and drink specials like $2 off pitchers of beer, and addictive $4 Mandarin Crush cocktails (Absolut Mandarin and cranberry).

Cheap burgers not your thing? There’s also free wifi, a bi-monthly literary night called “Homolatte” at Tweet, and a monthly trans-friendly dance party called “Formerly Known As.” And did I mention the free buffet at 4 p.m. on Sundays? Save money on groceries—eat free and buy beer instead!

Big Chicks, 5024 N. Sheridan Rd, 773-728-5511, 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-3 a.m. Sat., 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Sun. Want more from Behind the Bar? Follow Bianca James on Twitter!