Tacos or Steak

Food has a lot of significance in my life because most foods have some sort of attachment to me. There are curtain places and foods I will eat based on my mood or whom I am with. The most memorable food is Taco Bell, some of the team and I would also go to taco bell after every hockey practice. My best friend, Tony and I would always go to Taco Bell to discuss how the team was looking and the events of our past weekend. The stories would always be very interesting, and sometimes stories that we would never speak of to other people. We were never very emotional people, but if we had to have a discussion about something Taco Bell was the first place to go. Most of my food connections are with Tony. Ironically, we hated each other sophomore year, and my hockey coach told me during practice one day, that he was going to make us best friends one day. After, two years of hockey we were always together on and off the ice. Every Friday morning Tony and I would get McDonald’s breakfast because Friday was always game day. Lastly, we would celebrate every win and dwell in every loss at Chili’s. It was the same thing, every time. Steak fajitas and a plain cheeseburger always were ready for us when we would get our regular waiter, Dan. Dan was saving up for college and working at Chili’s to get out of Libertyville, which everyone Libertyville resident wanted to. Libertyville was a very boring town. Nothing too crazy ever happened there, and there were very few fun things to do in Libertyville.

Other than going out with my friends, I would go out to dinner with my family. This was one of the few things that we could actually get the whole family together for because I am not home for most of the year, and my brother is at Loyola Medical School, which is one of the most competitive medical schools in Illinois. The normal places were Gino’s East and Bob Chinn’s. Gino’s East is one of the corner stones of Chicago. They hands down have the best deep-dish pizzas in Chicago. Many people will argue with this statement and every Chicagoan has their own opinion, but if he or she is a true Chicago native and was raised by good Chicago parents, Gino’s is the place to go for deep dish. The feeling of the store is very welcoming. The first thing one sees at this fine eating establishment is a wall covered in signatures of anyone who stepped into the historical restaurant. I have been to weddings with Gino’s East and everyone knows the name. When my family gets our act together to go there, we also order the same thing, a large spinach deep-dish pizza and a thin crust BBQ pizza. This is one of the few times we can share stories about school, work, and life in general. Even though these stories are not the same stories I share with Tony, they can be very deep discussions of very serious family topics or very stupid conversations on how the White Sox are better than the Cubs, or the chances of the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. Usually, I get very frustrated with these dumb conversations because the other members of my family do not know as much as I do about sports. Whether or not I get annoyed, it is very nice to see them and be able to talk to them when it is not via text message or email.

Bob Chinn’s is where my family likes to go when one of is leaving for a long time. Chinn’s has a very tropical feel, with some of the best seafood and steaks in Chicago. We never know what one other will order because of the massive amount of choices. My family can never even decide on an appetizer there; there are just so many options, like Ahi Seared Tuna or Oysters Rockefeller.

No matter what, when my family or friends, and sometimes both, can get together and discus our lives it is a great time. There are so many connections I make to food that it are huge part of my life. Also, leaving Chicago for a long period of time makes me miss the food and the people I enjoy it with, whether it is a Crunch Wrap Supreme with my best friends from the hockey team, or is it a $50 steak that my dad’s wallet takes the hit for. No matter what the food is meaningful and enjoyable.