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Totally Tanked Thursdays
Monday Jun 26, 2006.
By Erin Brereton
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 So when I found myself in the basement of Sears trying to figure out why even the cheaper dishwashers, with delivery, cost more than a pair of Manolos (which I will now never be able to buy because my shoe money will be outfitting my building with new drainage systems), I thought gee, maybe I should curb my going out. But WAIT. It's summer. And the last two weeks have been lovely. I refuse to punish myself because things around me keep breaking. The wine glasses I knock over, that's all me. But the dishwasher and the building problems? They may cost me some cash, but they ain't costing me my summer social life. With that in mind, I headed back to a favorite spot from last summer, Grotto on State, 1030 N. State St. Every Thursday night, Grotto's Mahogany Lounge serves up $3 deals. (Which of course feel like better deals if you don't give the cab the wrong address and have to pay for him to circle around for 10 minutes—whoops.) Grotto's bar area is cool—ambient lighting and not too loud—although its overall location is sort of odd, inside what appears to be a condo atrium that harkens back to days past when hot design included putting plants indoors. (Look! It's nature! In an office building! I think that's supposed to make us feel less urban, but it just makes me feel like spraying on some Off and cook up a s'more.) Grotto is a steakhouse, but I had no interest in that...nor did the steak appear to be $3, by the way. What I did order was a $3 cheese pizza (large enough to split!) and toasted ravioli (also large enough to split, though tasty enough to not want to). Both were delish and, for all intents and purposes, dinner. The appetizer menu is diverse; containing about 10 items, you can get shrimp, calamari, bruschetta and more. Perfect snacks for sipping. And unlike some bars that offer a nightly or weekly drink special on one brand or concoction, Grotto offers a choice: $3 beer and well and call drinks on Thursday. I kicked off the evening with a $3 glass of white house wine then followed that with roughly another nine. Therein lies the problem with Grotto. You've got to get there early—the bar fills up fast—but when you do, you tend to keep those $3 drinks flowing. We got a round. Then we got another round. Then we got some more. Then I lost count. I do remember that last round, which we hotly debated then caved in on. We had crossed that line and by the time 9 p.m. rolled around, we were lit. Which seemed perfectly fine, so much so that we went to another bar, sat down for about four seconds, decided we were all exhausted and went home. (It was, after all, a school night.) It's great to go Grotto. When it comes to Thursday night barcrawling, you'll never go back...and you'll never go to sleep sober. I woke up the next morning with one mean wine headache (and, quite possibly, chardonnay coursing through my veins in place of blood). But who am I kidding? I'll probably go back there in a week. A place you can get dinner and get drunk for $15? That's cheaper than staying in. I mean, really. You're practically making money on the deal. Wanna check out Grotto's Thursday night deals? Stop by Grotto at 1030 N. State, but make sure you hang at the bar.
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