August 30, 2013 Labor Day Friday

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues, and on this great Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of new people.  I'm going to be doing some work with a new friend, Brad, and we had lunch at the wonderful McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks restaurant in Rosemont, IL.  It's one of my favorite places to eat, albeit the downtown NYC and Chicago locations are preferred (not because of quality - it's extremely high in all locations - but because I love the downtown).
 

The chain has an interesting history; and according to one of my favorite information sources,

"The company dates its roots back to the 1970s, with Bill McCormick's purchase of Jake's Famous Crawfish, a 100-plus year-old restaurant in Portland, Oregon.  McCormick hired Douglas Schmick for management, and the two formed Traditional Concepts in 1974, the precursor to the McCormick & Schmick's restaurants.

The original McCormick & Schmick's restaurant was opened in 1979 in Portland. This 9,400-square-foot (870 m²) location in downtown was located in the Henry Failing Building. In 2004, the company became a publicly traded company after an initial public offering. As of 2009, there are almost 100 restaurants and catering locations in the United States and Canada. In June 2009, the company closed the original location in Portland. The chain is famous for its generous happy hour, and its landmark $1.95 half-pound cheeseburger. The price was changed to $2.95 in the spring of 2009."

They hire pleasant wait staff, and today was no exception.  The lovely and gracious Ana helped Brad and I navigate the menu, and she offered a special appetizer.  Guess what?  It featured BACON.

You can see from the picture how scrumptious the bacon-wrapped jumbo shrimp were.  What you can't see is how they tasted.  The taste certainly rivaled the picture - outstanding.  For a business lunch or dinner, you can't go wrong at M&S.  Highly recommended.  I am an unpaid non-spokesperson with no "dog in the hunt," so to speak.