MLA Meet-up! Come have a drink with us Saturday.

The MLA Convention begins tomorrow in Downtown Chicago.  This means that many of you will be in town interviewing for jobs, schmoozing, going to panels, losing your hotel keycards, etc. In light of this happy situation, we have organized a get-together at the Hubbard Inn on Saturday from 4-6ish pm! Come have a drink on MAPH, see some old friends, and take a break from your conference-related woes! MAPHers in Chicago but who are not attending the conference should come along as well!

Preceptor Kerri Hunt has suggested a couple of links to help you for the conference:

• Surviving and Thriving at the MLA Convention
• How to Hack a Conference

For those of you coming back to the city after an absence, we’ve compiled some convention-convenient food and drink recommendations to make sure you don’t get too hungry or thirsty when you’re not hanging out with us or consuming knowledge:

• Gilt Bar: good for (slightly fancy) dinner and drinks.  Also be sure to follow The Doughnut Vault (attached to Gilt Bar) on Twitter so you can catch some hot, fresh, and truly delicious doughnuts in the morning!
• Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread, & Wine (Loop location): Great for picking up snacks, good wine, and tasty sandwiches for lunch.

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  Xoco/Frontera/Topolobampo: Rick Bayless’s trio of Mexican restaurants. Xoco is great for breakfast and a quick, hot lunch, Frontera does brunch, lunch, and dinner, and Topolo is, according to its website, Frontera’s “quiet, sleek, classy sister.”

• Three Dots and a Dash: Veteran cocktail master Paul McGee (formerly of The Whistler) created this serious Tiki bar.  McGee doesn’t mess around, so both the decor and drinks are sure to provide a mini vacation mirage for the weary conference attendee.  McGee is also behind the cocktail program at Bub City, which we also recommend for southern/western American food and drink.
• Clark Street Ale House:  This bar was one of the first in Chicago to serve craft beer and is still around/a favorite.
• Shamrock Club:  If you are looking for something that is close to the convention but more suited to a grad student budget/ you enjoy dive bars, this is one of your best bets.  It’s certainly not trendy (aka it doesn’t have a website), but, as someone on Yelp! said “If you’re a fan of America’s Classic Premium beer then this is the only place to be.”  Shamrock Club has food, too!

Hope to see you all on Saturday!  Local alumni, please feel free to leave other downtown/Loop food and drink suggestions in the comments!