You've always looked back at the foods of your youth with nostalgia, mostly because hot dammmnn did Gerber make some bomb ass plums! Giving you comfort classics you can actually self-feed, Hearty.
Opening Thursday, Hearty's the latest project from noted Chi TV personalities the Hearty Boys, who're doing a contemporary take on American classics in their converted studio space, which they've transformed into a full-fledged dining room with a deep mahogany bar, sea glass subway tiles, and lime-accented walls that go with the 99 bottles of Miller Chill on them. Good-old-day inspired starters include a rabbit sausage corn dog with spicy apple slaw and Honker's Ale syrup, a trio of deviled eggs with curry, pesto, and beet filling, and salt cod fritters in a tartar sauce spiked with Old Bay, because New Bay has crabs. The entrees also invoke the past with Chicken a la King in a sherry cream served over grilled dill onion bread, Bacon & Blue Meatloaf that's kicked with housemade tater tots and creamed spinach, and a weekly Campfire Fish special that's cooked over hot coals with herbed butter and veggies wrapped in foil, so the aliens can't read their thoughts.
Drinks also have a nostalgic edge, with signature cocktails like the Smokey Mountain Rickey, a cranberry-lime-club combo made with Catdaddy Moonshine, and the Phillips Head Screwdriver with Ketel One, Campari, fresh lime, and Orange Crush, which lasted for awhile, but could never beat Plum Love.