Burgers for a $1.50? Don't mind if I do...

Burgers for a $1.50?! That Twitter-headline making news is how I started off my Friday. And you know me... a sucker for pretty much any deal under the sun. I didn't really have an appetite for a burger but hey, for a $1.50 at RJ Grunts (a bar/restaurant which I had yet to try), I can MAKE an appetite.

At first, I was a little put off. I mean, burgers for a $1.50? Alarm bells quickly went off in my head... especially with all those recent unknown E. Coli strains hurry scurrying about the world. What can I say? Health and safety is my middle name.

But of course, thanks to the tweet by good old @nbcchicago (GOD, I love Twitter!), a link was included which thoroughly detailed that this was Lettuce Entertain You's 40th anniversary. Lettuce Entertain You is a company that owns a ton of seriously legit restaurants primarily in Chicago (RJ Grunts is one of them), and in honor of their 40th anniversary, they were rolling back the prices of burgers to the prices of 40 years ago...

Well, in honor of this whole attempt at daily blogging bit, I knew I had my entry for the day all ready and set. The thought of any sort of wait was the only reason I was still half-minded about going to RJ Grunts...

But it CERTAINLY didn't hurt that Lettuce Entertain You TOTALLY RETWEETED ME!

They clearly know the way into my heart. Who are we kidding here?

I figured I might as well just stop by RJ Grunts (it's literally less than half a mile from my place) at an "off hour" so I could avoid any waits.

Wrong-o. Even at the off hour of 3:30 PM, there was a wait! Not to mention a BUMPIN' live DJ already in FULL swing... who would've thought? Sigh. I decided to settle down at the bar for my 40th anniversary burger experience.

I totally felt like a food critic... I never usually go out to eat on my own, but hey, I needed a liberating experience (or something like that) and hello, some serious blog research was at hand here, people! Hahah.

YUM-O! Check out RJ Grunts' MENU!! So many OPTIONS! I was delighted!

And ALL for a $1.50?? Yowza burger it is (sans the bacon... I mean, I didn't want to keel over from an ACTUAL coronary right in the bar)! You better believe the thought of saving NINE whole dollars put an actual smile on my face. It was all rather ridiculous. But WOWZA (no pun intended... hahah)! Check out this YOWZA of a burger!


Juicy, delicious, ketchupy... all kinds of heaven wrapped up in one burger, if you will. Ironically, my appetite quickly developed upon my first bite. And it was totally worth it... every. last. bite.


And all for...


Weeeee!!! A $1.50 (plus tax)!!!!! Best anniversary celebration EVER!!!

As I was savoring each and every bite of my Wowza of a Yowza (like that one? Just thought of it all on my own. Hahaha), I also ended up chatting with one of the other guys at the bar who was eating on his own. You know me, Chicago ambassador, that I am. But this is exactly what I mean about my love for Chicago... you can TOTALLY chat with the stranger sitting next to you and feel like you've made a new friend. Midwestern charm and all that.

Well... okay, so seven hours later (yeah, yeah, I know- the Chicago ambassador can get carried away at some points), my new male twin/self-designated BFF Reggie and I were STILL seated at our barstools at RJ Grunts, chatting away. I think they should dedicate those barstools to us, really. A little plaque wouldn't hurt. Just a thought!

I mean, neither of us really knows what happened. It's one thing to be able to chat with a random stranger, but this dude was like my new MALE TWIN! I mean, come ON. When the dude said he loved Christmas... UMM! It was at this conversational juncture that I knew the BFFness was totally signed, sealed and DELIVERED.

Granted... I proceeded to then introduce him to the ridiculousness that can only be ChristIEmas, but whatever. I've never really had a filter, WHY would one suddenly magically develop at this point?

All in all, SUCH a FESTIVE NIGHT! RJ Grunts was alive and HOPPING the ENTIRE time... only getting busier (and thus more festive!) as the night progressed. At one point, I turned to my right and seated at the bar was this little old lady (she had to be in her 70s/80s), and... well, you know me and old people. Pitter patter SO GOES MY HEART! I nearly swooned (and wish I'd shamelessly snapped a picture, of course)...

And then there were these two men (mid-60s, I would guess) totally rockin' out to some of the DJ's blasts from the past...

And THEN we met a couple of the Lettuce Entertain You folks... whom I totally thanked for retweeting me. Appreciation meets shamelessness, if you will. Haha.

At the end of the day, I guess who can really say no to $1.50 burgers, a live DJ or a seriously festive anniversary celebration, for that matter?

Happy 40th Anniversary, Lettuce Entertain You! Cheers!