The Scout
If you haven’t scored tickets on the fifty-yard-line and are willing to forgo the comfort of your La-Z-Boy and your sixty-inch plasma on Sundays, then you want a level of excitement that compensates for the loss of comfort if you venture out to watch a game. The Scout which, to our chagrin frankly, replaced the dynamic designs of Jerry Kleiner’s Opera restaurant with, yawn, another sports bar, knows how to go big. It’s a colossal space with colossal TVs everywhere. On game day, show up without a Bears jersey on and you’ll be counted on a single hand in what seems like a roaring crowd of a thousand. This is not a place for gentle souls, but for F-A-N-S looking to shout along with a congregation of true believers like Tiffany, a friendly sort we encountered one Sunday whose custom made Bears bustier barely contained her own pair of, um, footballs. And if this doesn’t sound feverish enough, it’s just a few blocks from Soldier Field, affording easy passage to and from Tailgate Nation, as well as a surge of patrons making their way from the stands after the game ends.
The Scout, 1301 South Wabash, (312)705-0595, thescoutchicago.com
Best of Chicago 2012