go back to wrigleyville, fat kat

So - tonight, an impromptu trip to the newest mark of uptown's thus-far gradual, yet probably soon to be runaway, gentrification: Fat Kat.

Somewhere between a bar and a restaurant, this place is apparently hoping to survive on the fact that they're the only new, straight, bar ad grill in the area, and that they have a prime location on the corner of Broadway and Gunnison. Non-descript decor, boring music so loud I couldn't hear my friend across the table ,much less the server, flaky staff... should I go on? Decent beer list, but nothing special. Drink menu looks good, but I don't want to drink a fancy cocktail in that atmosphere. There was also too much open floor space and a LOT of those flat screen tvs that seem to be plaguing the city. So, I suppose they're waiting for the cubs to make the playoffs so that all of the overflow from Crew can stand at Fat Kat to watch the games.

Like my friend Julie said to me on the phone, we all WANT to like this place, but it's just not special enough. It looks like every new place that has opened in Wrigleyville in the last 5 years. The food was good for bar food, but they're trying a little too hard with the presentation. It's fried bar food, even if you put it on little sticks.