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With a tasty bloody mary in hand, Dana finds brunch at Tweet is worth the wait.

Tuesday Feb 05, 2008.     By Dana Kavan

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Drink of the week: A bloody mary at Big Chicks, 5024 N. Sheridan, or Tweet, 5020 N. Sheridan.

The damage: $7.50

Thousands of bars in Chicago, why this one? I love the social factor of Sunday brunch—a time to gather with friends and piece together the drunken antics of the night before. But there's nothing that squashes my appetite like waiting over an hour for eggs, especially when I'm slightly hungover and famished enough to consider nibbling on my paper coffee cup. While it's practically impossible to find a quality brunch spot that isn't packed, I've discovered the one thing that makes an hour-plus wait tolerable: an adjoining bar. While most breakfast nooks pack the waiting masses into an entryway, Tweet's neighboring bar Big Chicks serves as a veritable playground for the hungry, complete with retro board games, free Intelligentsia coffee and a fully stocked bar slinging out the best bloody marys around.

How it went down: Mimosas are generally my breakfast cocktail of choice, but seeing nearly every patron in the bar sipping on bright-red bowls of bloodies convinced me to go the other way. And I clearly made the right choice. No sooner had I taken down the celery stick that trimmed the drink (along with a carrot, lime, lemon and the requisite green olives) did I strike up a conversation with bartender Greg Tripp about the brilliant elixir.

Turns out, Tripp was just the man to talk to: He makes the bloody brew for the entire Tweet-Big Chicks operation. The secret, he says, beyond adding the perfect mix of ingredients, like sour, Worcestershire Sauce, horseradish, bitters and tomato juice, is letting the custom-made blend ferment overnight. He also adds sriracha, a Southeast Asian hot sauce—the one with the rooster on the bottle and a green cap—for a kick, and, for people who like even more spice, Tripp makes the drink with Absolut Pepper vodka and throws in some pepper flakes. The mix has the perfect balance of saltiness and smooth, tomato-y goodness, with an aftertaste that reminded me of munching on green olives.

Would I want to become a regular? By the time we had drained our drinks halfway, our table at Tweet was ready. The rest of the bloody helped me wash down my enormous burrito, stuffed with fluffy scrambled eggs, steak, cilantro, potatoes and onion. I contemplated ordering another drink, with Tweet's environs—dotted with local art and interesting woodwork—being so darn cozy and all, but you hate to linger and hold up your fellow brunch-goers. Still, you can't feel too sorry for them. And, when Tripp unleashes his wasabi bloody mary soon (he's working on perfecting it), patrons will likely beg for a longer wait time.

Dana Kavan scours the city for drink deals so good you'll offer to buy a round and creative libations that outshine your average on-the-rocks concoctions. Want to give Dana tips on where to rack up a bar tab? Share your finds before her next night out.