In these tough economic times, good food and drink specials always catch my eye. The Rack in Hyde Park (situated across from the Hyde Park Café) has a pretty good Monday night deal; all you can eat wings and slider burgers with seasoned fries for $10. I’m not the biggest wing and burger eater, but that price is too good to pass up if you want to hang with some friends, watch the game, and just eat.
The Rack is a decent sized place with three rooms to chill, drink/eat, play billiards and watch sports. The drink prices are pretty typical for the neighborhood (which means kinda high. You’ll never find anything for under $3), but they have a good line up of beers and the Blue Moon special is completely acceptable to me (One pint for $6).
The wings are good and meaty, served five or six at a time. I usually go through about three orders and with the fries as a side. I think I get my money’s worth. The sliders are ok, almost bite sized, and served three at a time. If you’d prefer something other than wings and burgers, I'd recommend the sushi. It’s quite good, but it’s not part of any kind of Monday night special. Good sushi at a sports bar? Yeah, believe it.
Hyde Park on a Monday night is pretty bare, but The Rack was bustling. Monday Night Football at a sports bar will always draw and adding a good food special will definitely bring the people in. But, I was surprised by the variety of people there on a Monday night (by which I mean women). When I go to sports bars, especially on a football night I’m usually prepared for the sausage fest atmosphere, but The Rack was different. It was honestly about 50/50 guys/girls, and for this past Monday I appreciated it as the football game was a bit of a bore to watch.
The pool room has six pool tables, but good luck getting time on one on a Monday Night. Come early, I guess. But if you’re looking for something a little different than your standard sports bar, visit The Rack. I will go back probably only on Mondays to take advantage of the food specials, but I imagine this place is a pretty good place to hang with friends on any night of the week.
