Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa-thumpa.
"At what point did restaurateurs come to equate 'loud' with 'successful'?" asked my friend, although I could barely hear him. We were in the middle of a standing-room-only Friday evening at Primebar, and our ability to converse was being squeezed by an escalating chorus of human voices, struggling to be heard over the sound system's incessant beat.
Uptown, or at least this corner of it, never seems to age. I'm referring to the longtime home of Figlio -- and its short-lived, ill-conceived successor, Il Gatto -- which is now occupied by what Chicago-based Restaurants-America is touting as its "upscale gastropub."
Primebar looks the way Figlio probably would appear, had it survived to 2012. An enormous, roughly circular bar rests in its rightful place in the center of the room. Honey-tinted wood floors, walls of salvaged planks and roomy booths impart a warmly appealing mix of modern and traditional, and a string of communal tables are lined up along a prime stretch of people-watching sidewalk. Volume issues aside, it works, and when it's packed -- which is often.
Primebar's something-for-everyone menu occasionally tastes that way, too. If it's currently on trend, it has a berth on the Primebar menu. Pork belly? Check. Designer tacos? Uh-huh. Fries topped in everything but the kitchen sink? Sure.
Nothing wrong with any of that, especially when it's well executed. It's easy to love the deviled eggs, their creamy bite jazzed with a crumble of peppy chorizo. I can't imagine dropping in after a movie and not ordering the gloriously fatty bacon "roll," a spiral of slow-braised pork belly resting on a marvelous succotash of toothy white beans, sweet carrots and bits of fried mint, all bathed in a gently porky broth. Instead of some same-old bruschetta, there are golden, oven-warm pretzel sticks, paired with a sweet mustard sauce and a fondue-esque Cheddar dip.
Much of the menu's greatest hits are tailor-made to pair with the bar's exceptional beer list. Pulled pork, a house specialty, boasts tender and succulent meat teased with a bit of vinegar. It's stuffed into toasted slider-size buns and topped with crunchy slaw, or spooned into corn tortillas and topped with avocado and cilantro. Actually, the tacos are reason enough to visit.
Making a habit of duck confit taco, with its crunchy cabbage and creamy goat cheese, or the cool, pink tuna and its rich guacamole and tangy pickled vegetables, is easy enough. Ditto a number of plus-size sandwiches, particularly one that layers bacon and brie over a thick chicken breast. The first-rate burgers -- enormous, like just about every dish on the menu -- are done straight up or dressed with a harmonious, semi-luxurious blend of roasted tomatoes, sprightly butter lettuce, decadent brie and a smoky-salty bacon jam.
