Flo

1434 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622

I had been meaning to get to Flo for a while. After corralling (is that how you spell it?) my friend, we made our way to West Town.

Because I am a masochist, I take the CTA, Chicago Public Transit. I was able to get to the restaurant from my place in Lakeview with relative ease. That's a plus. The Chicago bus drops off right by the restaurant. I arrived before my friend and a little dread settled in because I saw the wait. I went inside to speak to the hostess. Mistake. She bared her fangs and hissed at me. Hissed! I thought I was in a really bad science fiction movie and had made a mistake in coming to Flo. I took out my Hiss-to-English decoder and discovered that the hosssstessss proclaimed I would never get a seat and that legions upon legions of people were before me on the list. Dejected, I bellied up to the bar, contemplated a smoothie, texted my friend (who was 10 - read: 20 - minutes away) and nervously smiled at the bartender/barista.

About 8 minutes later, a two top opened up. I glanced at it and wanted to sit, but was scared to move because I didn't know whether the hosssstessss was a constrictor or venomous. The superawesome barista/bartender looked at the spot, asked me how many were in my party (2!) and when they (she!) were coming (any minute!). Noddingly, she leapt into action, took me by the arm and sat me down. I felt victorious. I tried to thank her and she just told me to "tip your waiter." The hossstesss glanced over and scowled. I cringed. And then my friend walked in. And like that, we were good.

The food was awesome (mmm, pancakes and eggs with salsa). The atmosphere was homey. The waiter was attentive and pleasant and the experience (once seated) was great. But you knew all those things already. I just wanted to post and thank that wonderful woman who went out of her way to make my day a good one. You can get food all over this city. Kindness, sadly, is a little harder to come by.