Petterino's

On Monday night, I went to Petterino's for the first time for a friend's birthday. One of my coworkers likes to go there, so I told her I was planning on going there, and she asked me if I was going to sing. I didn't know that on Monday nights Petterino's does "Monday Night Live", an open mic night hosted by Beckie Menzie and Denise McGowan. So, when I went home after work, I tentatively put some sheet music in my bag and went to meet my friends. 

Petterino's has a 40s lounge feel and the singers mostly sang jazz standards and musical theater hits. So you KNOW I was having a great time! A few staff members even got up and sang, and it was delightful! Then my friends volunteered me to sing. I was so nervous. The song I picked was a song I hadn't sang in about 6 years, and I was afraid I was going to forget the words, and since I had never been so unrehearsed before performing in front of a bunch of people, I was all kinds of nervous. But, Beckie Menzie is an amazing pianist, and the crowd was warm and inviting, and it only took me a few notes to get into my song, The Man That Got Away. Now, I majored in Musical Theater in college, so naturally, I totally picked apart my entire performance, every mistake that was made, but in the end, I was happy with it, and they said I could come back and sing again any time, so I must not have been that bad. I really hope to go back and do it again soon.

Now, on to the food! I ordered the Asparagus Milanese, the Baked Ravioli, and the Tiramisu, and seriously, it was all SO delicious! I'm an asparagus snob. My great grandfather used to pick the wild asparagus out of his backyard and cook it, and since he has passed away, no asparagus has ever tasted as good. But this stuff, oh this stuff was phenomenal! It was parmesan crusted and had just a little bit of a kick to it. I could have eaten just that alone and been satisfied, and then the Baked Ravioli came out. And, I'm not kidding you, it was the BEST ravioli I have ever had. It comes with the sauce on the side, so I tasted it before I put the sauce on, and it was perfection!

If you are a Lettuce Entertain You member, you earn triple points on Monday night. Also, sometimes cast members from the shows currently running at Broadway in Chicago come in and perform because Monday is their night off from the theater. So I'd say Monday is a pretty rockin' night to visit this restaurant. It's just an all around delightful evening out!