Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Manly ass slap – ½ star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
(First, an apology. I wrote this review a long, long time ago (right before I went to Europe), then forgot that I wrote it. It seems a tad dated (like the fact that May St Café has been on Check, Please! so it’s not “relatively unknown” anymore). But now I remembered, so here it is. My apologies.)
THE BATTLE OF MAY STREET
Undercard
The Roots vs. Jurassic 5
Main Event
May St. Café vs. May Street Market
Welcome to Mandalay Bay, where tonight we have THE heavyweight bout of the year. In one corner you have May St. Café – a small, relatively unknown restaurant that bills itself as serving the finest in “Nuevo Latino” dining. In the other corner you have May Street Market – a popular restaurant that serves American food with a twist and has been quickly climbing the rankings through stellar reviews from websites and magazines across Chicago. The crowd is buzzing with anticipation to see the two do battle to decide once and for all who is pound-for-pound the best May St. in Chicago.
But before we get to the main event, let’s take a quick look at tonight’s undercard – The Roots vs. Jurassic 5.
The two will touch gloves and fight to determine which group will hold the belt as the best live hip-hop performers. Let’s go ringside to Josh Kell for a call of tonight’s action.
Well, recently I got to take in a Roots show AND a J5 show on back-to-back nights. Each band has their distinct style that has gotten them to where they are today, and as the matchup proved, when it comes to watching these two do their thing, there are no losers.
Ding. Ding.
Round 1
Roots come out swinging, as I get to do a meet-and-greet with the band before they go on. Everyone seems really nice, but I gravitate towards Questlove. Probably because his afro has it’s own gravitational pull. I can’t figure out if he has a pick in his hair or if it’s just an orbiting moon. After a minute of small talk with me and another guy it’s obvious he doesn’t love being the center of attention. As he looks for the nearest exit, I mention that I love the new album (Game Theory, in stores now). Even though it’s only been out three days, I’ve listened to it seven times or so, and it really is great. He immediately lights up, tells me he really appreciates it, ‘cause they put a lot of themselves into the album, then he gives me a half handshake, half chest-bump hug. Needless to say I nearly passed out. Round 1 goes to The Roots.
Round 2
J5 is playing at the House of Blues, while The Roots are playing outside next to the lake at the South Shore Cultural Center. In Chicago there may not be a better place to watch a concert than the HOB. Great acoustics, but an intimate venue where you always feel like you’re sitting on stage no matter where you are in the theater. But there’s something about being at a concert while watching the waves crash on the shore with a beautiful South Shore Cultural Center lit up in the background. Too tough to call. Round 2 is a push.
Round 3
The crowds at both concerts are hype, but in different ways. When you walk into the J5 concert you look around, double-check your ticket, and then look around again. Then you ask someone to make sure you’re not at a Dave Matthews concert (which is probably why they actually did a song with Dave on the new album (Feedback, in stores now)). The second the music kicks in so does the crowd. Heads bob, shoulders start dipping, and hands start getting thrown in the air. For 90 straight minutes the entire crowd is dancing, rapping along, and screaming every chance they get. The crowd at The Roots concert has a lot more coordination, but less people are dancing. Round 3 goes to Jurassic 5.
Round 4
Both bands have a distinct sound they’re famous for. The Roots don’t have a DJ – the band plays their own instruments, with Black Thought as the only MC of the group. Lots of hip-hop groups have bands, or perform with bands when they play live, but The Roots were THE group to do it and make it popular. And not only that, but they can (and have) play as the “house band” for concerts where there are a lot of hip-hop acts (see: Dave Chappelle’s Block Party). But they don’t stop there. The first time I ever saw them (11 years ago) they started off by covering about five classic hip-hop songs (from Kurtis Blow to Wu-Tang) with just their instruments. But the thing is you couldn’t tell the difference between the band and if a DJ was there playing the record. Pretty impressive. Now, J5 brags that they take four MCs and make ‘em sound like one. And you know what, they do. And when you see it live, it’s even more impressive. Here’s the thing, most rappers or groups make the mistake of giving everyone on stage a mic, and everyone just ends up rapping/yelling over each other, and the whole thing sounds like a karaoke night with 8 girlfriends singing a song from “Grease”. Case in point: I was at the Tribe Called Quest concert this past weekend and Rhymefest (Chicago’s own) was an opening act. Now, I like Rhymefest, but it was maybe the worst live rap concert I’ve ever seen (and that’s saying something). Too many guys on stage trying to rap at the same time but making it impossible to understand or enjoy any of the songs. And the really annoying thing is that Rhymefest is supposed to be a solo rapper, yet I have to listen to three other guys perform his songs. It was painful. One of my friends started calling him Rhymetime. That’s how mad he was about the whole thing. My point is J5 has four MCs, and they don’t rap over each other or trip each other up or take away from one another. If you closed your eyes you might think it was one guy the whole time that just changed his voice throughout the song. And doing it on an album is one thing when you have an editing team who can put it together, but to do it live? That’s something special. Round 4 goes to Jurassic 5.
Round 5
Both groups recently dropped new albums, so both concerts featured a lot of new music. My favorite from Game Theory (in stores now) is the title track, Game Theory. Starts off a little slow like an R&B song, and then out of nowhere the beat just kicks you in the heart and you can’t help but want to take on the world when you hear it. My fav on Feedback (in stores now) is Radio. It’s got this hook/sample right from the beginning that makes you put your hand over your mouth and scream, “AWWW SNAP!” The song is great. However, live it was a little hard to hear the music over the crowd and the group, and the music is the part that gives me goose bumps. Game Theory rocked the crowd and had everybody standing up and dancing on the lawn. Plus, I think Game Theory is just a little better than Feedback. Round 5 goes to The Roots.
Let’s go to Harold Letterman to see how he has the fight so far. “OKAY, JOSH. THE ROOTS REALLY GOT THE CROWD GOING WITH ‘GAME THEORY’ IN THAT LAST ROUND. I’VE GOT THE FIFTH ROUND SCORED 10 TO 9. AFTER FIVE ROUNDS I HAVE IT 49 TO 47, THE ROOTS!”
Round 6
Jurassic 5 comes out of their corner, knowing they need to start taking some rounds to win this battle. After landing a couple of body shots and keeping The Roots on their toes with some jabs, they score the first knockdown of the night with one of my favorite moments of the show. The whole time J5 is on stage they have five tarps covering something up behind them. Finally the tarps are taken away, revealing five old-school school desks, each one with a different name stenciled on it. The members take their appropriate seats. I’m convinced that they’re going to perform “Concrete Schoolyard” while sitting in the desks. But I was wrong. DJ NU Mark cuts the music and takes his seat. After a quick moment of silence NU Mark starts up a beat with a turntable that is built into the desk. The crowd gets excited, but then Soup adds to the beat with another soundboard built into his desk. Then each member jumps in, one by one, adding their own sounds from their desk. Eventually the five work together to create one song. It’s unbelievable. The crowd can’t take it. It’s that good. The Roots go down. But after a standing eight count, they get back up. J5 continues delivering the big blows, putting The Roots on the old wobble skates with “Concrete Schoolyard”, probably my favorite song of all time. The crowd feels it, I’m feeling it, and now The Roots feel it, falling back into the ropes. But they don’t go down, and lure J5 in for the rope-a-dope. Out of nowhere The Roots deliver a chin-check with a 90-minute set that never stops. Now, some people might say, “What’s the big deal about 90-minutes? Most bands play that long.” But the show I’m at is a promotional event hosted by Miller Genuine Draft. So, there are only about 500 people or so, and by the time The Roots go on the older part of the crowd has slowly slipped away to head home and go to bed. So you’re left with about 200 people or so standing as close to the stage as possible. Now, since it’s not an official concert, and the crowd isn’t that big, most bands would be required to play for an hour (tops), and at the stroke of the 60-minute mark they’d take off. And on top of that they would probably half-ass it for those 60-minutes. For example, Common was at a similar event recently and played four songs. Four. But not The Roots. They just killed it for 90-minutes, almost having to be dragged off the stage. It was just a classy move. At the Tribe Called Quest concert I just saw they only played for 60 minutes, and this is TRIBE for god’s sake. They have like 1,000 hours worth of songs, and they only play for one hour. And they were playing to a packed house, haven’t played together in years, and are playing for a crowd who paid to see the show. That’s what was great about The Roots show. Playing for a small crowd, none of who are even paying to see the concert, and they go a full 90-minute set. It showed me what they were all about. As they continued to land punches and J5 continued to back down to the corner and cover up, the fight looked like it was in hand for The Roots. And then J5 delivered the knockout blow, A Day At The Races. Wow. Just one of those songs that gets the crowd jumping in unison and you never want it to end. And if that wasn’t enough, they stepped it up a notch. Halfway trough the song they flipped the beat to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and continued rapping A Day At The Races. It was insane. Right as the song was finished and they left the stage (they would come back out for an encore), my buddies Dave and Neuman both turned to me and told me it was the best concert they had ever been to. Ever. That meant something from two Dead Heads who had seen tons of Dead and Phish shows. The Roots were down for the count.
The belt goes to Jurassic 5.
What a fight. Just two great heavyweights going toe-to-toe. The Roots showed a lot of heart, but in the end Jurassic 5 was just a little too much to handle. Well, that brings us to tonight’s main event. Lets take a look at the tale of the tape (stats courtesy of Metromix.com).
Restaurant: May Street Market
Location: 1132 W. Grand
Hours:
Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday
Dinner: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; closed Sunday. The lounge is open one hour after the restaurant closes.
Avg. Dinner Entrée:
$15-$25, $25 and up
Cuisine:
American Contemporary
Parking:
Street parking possible, Valet (Evenings)
Payment Method:
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover
Reservations Accepted?
Yes
Seating Capacity:
90
Smoking:
No
Spirits:
Full bar
Restaurant: May Street Cafe
Location: 1146 W. Cermak
Hours:
Dinner: 5-10 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; Friday and Saturday 5-11 p.m.; 5-9 p.m. Sunday
Avg. Dinner Entrée:
$8-$15
Cuisine:
Cuban, Mexican/Tex-Mex, Nuevo Latino, Puerto Rican
Parking:
Free lot, Street parking possible
Payment Method:
Visa, MasterCard, American Express
Reservations Accepted?
Yes
Seating Capacity:
46
Smoking:
No
Spirits:
Bring your own (No fee)
Gentlemen, let’s have a good, clean fight. Keep all blows above the belt. When I tell you to break, break. Any questions? Touch gloves and head back to your corner.
LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!
Round 1
May St. Market comes out aggressive and throws the first flurry of punches, landing with the free bread and butter. May St. Café can’t counter punch, supplying only chips and salsa. But not just any chips and salsa. It’s the kind of chips and salsa that make you never want to try chips and salsa again. The chips are stale, and the salsa tastes like ketchup. Market has warm bread and soft butter. Café is lucky to get out of the round without a knockdown.
Round 2
Looking to change the momentum in round two, Café comes out with a southpaw stance, catching Market off guard and landing a series of jabs and a couple of haymakers with a variety of quesadillas. Market stumbles backwards, held up by the ropes. Café continues the pursuit, first with the quick jab of the bean and goat cheese quesadilla, then with the HUGE power punch of the brie and pear quesadilla. Most fighters would come out with your typical chicken or steak quesadilla, but not Café. The work in the gym pays off with quesadillas that have a ton of unique flavor. The brie and pear quesadilla might be one of the best things you’ll ever eat. As Market tries to get out of the corner, Café shoves them right back in with their portion size. Not only are the quesadillas amazing (and there are a bunch to choose from), but one order is enough to feed a large family (even if that family includes me). As the round comes to an end Market tries to land a couple of punches with the crab cakes, but Café isn’t fazed. The crab cakes are good, but nothing spectacular, and certainly not go-out-of-your-way good like the quesadillas. Round 2 goes to Café by a huge margin.
Round 3
Trying to recover from the beating of round 2, Market takes to the offensive and lands a couple of quick punches with its lemon grass and yellow tomato soup. Sound disgusting? That’s what I thought, but it was a great soup with an interesting taste I couldn’t get enough of. But Café quickly countered with its tortilla soup. Just a huge bowl of goodness. And it was hot. Not temperature hot, but spicy hot. The kind of hot that burns your mouth so bad you have no choice but to have another bite as quickly as possible because it’s the only thing that soothes the burn. The kind of hot that had me sweating like a Biggest Loser contestant in a spin class. I probably ruined three napkins wiping my brow. I couldn’t even finish the bowl. That’s how big it was. And how spicy. Tough to really compare the two soups. They were very different, but both great. Round 3 looks like a draw.
Round 4
Café seems to know they have Market on the ropes, and they’re looking to try and finish up the fight and send Market home early. The atmosphere in Café is perfect. It’s a small, charming place that feels both romantic and social. It’s not too loud or cold or warm or anything. It’s just perfect. A big uppercut to the gut of Market takes their breath away, forcing them to cover up. Café continues to throw punches as the chef comes out to check on every table, making sure the diverse dining crowd is satisfied. Market begins to stumble. The extremely loud dining area at Market makes it hard to carry on a conversation with the people at your table, and the crowd is older and feels a little too snooty for my tastes. Market goes down hard. Wow, this could be it. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Market gets to their feet. They’re not sure where they are, but tell the ref they’re OK to go on. Café smells blood, but Market counters with a lounge area that is much quieter, doesn’t take reservations, has a fireplace, and is a great place to sit (especially for 2) to enjoy dinner. Market gets saved by the bell.
Let’s go back to Harold Letterman to see how he has the fight so far. “OKAY. CAFÉ IS JUST DOMINATING THIS FIGHT, TAKING 3 OF THE FIRST 4 ROUNDS. I’VE GOT THE LAST ROUND SCORED 10 TO 9. AFTER FOUR ROUNDS I HAVE IT 39 TO 36, CAFÉ!”
Round 5
Market comes out in round 5 and is noticeably hurt, dancing around the ring and trying to avoid another big onslaught from Café. Unfortunately for Market, Café still has a lot in the tank, throwing its big BYOB haymaker, and then landing the deadly “affordable” uppercut. It’s just too much for Market’s high price tag as they stumble against the ropes and covers up again, waiting for the bell, which can’t come soon enough. Another round for Café.
Round 6
Market is cut bad, and it doesn’t look like the cut man can stop the bleeding. They’re going to have one last round to try and score their own knockout or they’re going to risk a stoppage by the ref. They come out swinging, and swinging hard. The pork chop brings it and lands a solid shot to Café’s jaw, followed by a body shot of fingerling potatoes that puts Café back on their heels. But Café quickly counters with their own pork chop. As Market looks to make one last run, Café lands a shot to the open cut with the chipotle mashed potatoes. It’s too much for Market, as the ref jumps in and calls the fight.
Winner, and May Street champion – May St. Café
So there you have it. May St. Café is your new heavyweight champion of the world.
Some final thoughts:
I order a lot of pork chops when I go out to eat. I think it’s because they’re pretty safe. When you order, you’re getting one of four things: 1) An out of this world pork chop that can’t be topped. I’ve only had one of these that I can remember. 2) A really, really good pork chop. Seems like this is where 80% of pork chops fall, it’s just that each place has their own spin on it (sweet, spicy, unique sauce, whatever). Both May Streets fall in this category. Both great in their own way. 3) A fine pork chop. Nothing special here. It gets the job done, but you forget about it by the end of the night. 4) A horrible pork chop. And this really only happens if something gets screwed up, like the chop gets burnt or it has mad pig disease or something.
I really enjoyed both places. My biggest complaint about May Street Market is the price. I just feel like for the money you pay you can have better meals elsewhere. When you’re paying over $25 for an entrée I feel like it should be really memorable, but I didn’t feel that way about May Street Market. I should add that everyone I went with LOVED it, and most people who go have that same sentiment. Except for my buddy Geoff, who agrees with me.
May Street Market – Fist bump with a manly ass slap.
World heavyweight champion May St. Café - Half handshake, half chest-bump hug.
Got a question? Send it to born2fork@yahoo.com.
Labels: 3.5 stars, 5 stars, American, BYOB, Mexican/Latino, Pilsen, West Town
