Market

Description:

• Running a baseball team's hellishly time-consuming -- between figuring out who to draft, who to trade, and who's expendable enough to suspend after only their 2nd arrest with a prostitute, it's hard to imagine finding even a minute for anything else. Miraculously putting more on his plate, Kenny Williams, with Market. An upscale sports bar-staurant conceived by the White Sox GM and friend, Karl Spektor (Mod Construction), Market's a sleek multi-level operation centered around a leather-booth, birch-floored and -walled main bar, with 20 big-ass flatscreens and a 92" projection screen for taking in victories, and a two-way fireplace for taking you in after losses. The massive space also sports a 40-seat sidewalk café, a 2,500 sq. ft. flat-screened beer garden, and an elevator-accessible cedar rooftop deck with a 360-degree view and several semi-secluded, linen-draped cabanas inspired by that baseball classic "The Cabana Boys of Summer". The gourmet bar-food doesn't take itself too seriously, with parmesan/chive/truffle oil'd popcorn shrimp served in a movie theater popcorn bucket, grilled shrimp/steak/chicken skewers leaning against a metal mini goal post, and the "Idaho vs. Buffalo" plate: spiced wings & blue cheese potato skins, w/ dipping sauces served in basketball hoops despite Buffalo being a football town and Idaho not even having organized sports. Booze-wise, there are six gleaming taps (312, Guinness, Hoegaarden...), and around 25 specialty cocktails ranging from the Grey Goose Le Citron-abetted "K.W." to the vodka/orange liqueur/champagne "Berry Sexy" -- or, the magic words that led to that middle reliever getting caught with his pants in a very drafty position.
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