AMK Kitchen Bar

 

I will admit, that when it first opened, I was a little turned off by AMK Kitchen Bar, because the name seemed a little jingoist, being a shorthand abbreviation of America.  This attitude was helped with reviews mentioning the paintings of the American Flag and Uncle Sam on the walls inside.  Considering the neighborhood, though, I am not sure if a place with an "America Right Or Wrong" attitude would really fly.  I later went to their sister restaurant, Nosh and Booze for brunch, and really liked it and I had heard that they operated as a scratch kitchen, making a comfort food menu from scratch, so I become interested and recently stopped there for dinner.  Located near a major intersection in Bucktown.  The front window/wall is a garage door which is opened when it's warm outside.  It was not warm when I went, so things were buttoned up tight.  The walls on which there are many murals are old brick, giving the murals the appearance of being weathered with age.  I was seated next to a mural of Uncle Sam which was very big, weathered, and kind of cool.  The flag, also very large and weathered. was on the wall behind me and to one side.  There was a painting of a woman on tile behind the bar between the bar shelves and beside one of the several TVs around the dining area.  The kitchen was open and a little small, sitting next to the bar and the lights are on wires hung in the unfinished ceiling.  It looks like they started the design of this place by stripping it to the bones before painting on the walls and putting in furniture.  The look was very rough, but it worked.

AMK has a nice cocktail list combining classics with originals.  They also have a good whiskey list of American Whiskeys primarily focusing on Kentucky Bourbon, but also including Rye and Tennessee and local varieties.  The beer list seems to be split pretty evenly between local and national craft beers, but it does have a macro representative, Miller High Life, the Champagne of Beers, whose ABV "Doesn't Matter" (from the beer list).  I started things off with a cocktail, actually the same cocktail I had at Nosh and Booze, although with a slightly different name.  Here it was called an IPA Mule (at Nosh and Booze it was called an IPA Jackass).  It started with Hophead Vodka, and included Ginger, Lime, Deschutes Freshly Squeezed IPA, and was garnished with Mint Leaves.  It was both hoppy and sweet, with a tart finish, and was very refreshing in it's copper mug.

The food served at AMK could both fall under bar food and comfort food, everything of which as made in house, so there were many things that looked of interest.  The menu was divided into Snacks, Salads, Sandwiches, and Mains.  While there were several snacks that interested me like the Cheese Curds and the Dorito Pie, I decided to start things with Fried Pickles with a Spicy Ranch Sauce.  The Pickles were sliced and coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  The exterior was crispy while the center was still juicy.  While I like pickles as they are, they lose little flavor in the frying and the spicy ranch dipping sauce went with it well.

 

There was an item in the snack list that was quite a bit more expensive than the other snacks, the Mac and Cheese.  I was told that it won the Mac and Cheese Fest this year, so it was a must try.  What I didn't expect was how big the serving was going to be.  It was served in a 6 inch cast iron pan and filled to overflowing.  In addition to the cheeses (I'm not sure how many or what cheeses were used) and the Cavatappi Pasta, it included Bacon, Jalapenos, Parmagiano-Reggiano, and Breadcrumbs (I think Brioche).  It was spicy, cheesy, and had plenty of bacon flavor.  As it was listed under snacks, I ordered a main course as well.  I saw as soon as it arrived that I was going to have to bring part of it home and at least half came home with me.

Under the mains they had a Chicken Pot Pie listed that I was very interested in.  I was told though that the Chicken Pot Pie would require a 30 to 40 minute wait (because they would have to make it).  I was interested in it, but I didn't really want to wait as long as it would take, so I decided to switch my order.  A burger would have been an easy order and they have been recognized for their burger, but I wasn't interested in a burger, so I went with Nashville Hot Chicken on a Biscuit.  This was a big piece of fried chicken covered in pepper sauce on a large biscuit with a dill pickle slice skewered on top and served with fries on the side.  There was also a small container of Ranch Sauce served on the side, I assume to temper the heat of the hot sauce, like it's done with Buffalo chicken, but I really didn't want to take the sandwich apart to add it.  The sandwich was very big and I had to stretch my mouth a lot to get a bite of it, but it was very good.  The Crust was crispy and crunchy and held in the juices of the tender chicken.  The biscuit was unusually square, but it did have the crispy exterior and crumbly interior of a good biscuit.  The hot sauce was very spicy, as might be expected, but it wasn't so hot as to make it inedible and did add to the flavor of the sandwich.  The fries that were served with it were done well, and were lightly salted, but with everything else that I had eaten, were kind of unnecessary.  

When it came time for dessert, I was starting to feel a little full, but I couldn't turn away dessert.  I asked about a dessert menu and was told that they only had one thing that they offered for dessert called a Brookie Sundae.  The waiter described it and after hearing Brownie, Cookie, and Ice Cream, I was interested, though still unsure what I was going to be getting.  What came out was ridiculous and something that I knew that there was going to be no way I would finish.  It was a Chocolate Chip Cookie baked in a Brownie in a Cast Iron Frying Pan, topped with Vanilla Ice Cream, Whipped Cream, and drizzled with Fudge Sauce. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to finish it, I wanted to at least try everything together and eat it in a way that I would be able to bring home what I couldn't eat.  The brownie and cookie were warm and were great with the vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  I only had a few bites of the brookie in the restaurant because I knew that would be transportable, I did eat the ice cream, and left very full.

While I really enjoyed the food here, I know now that the portions are very large, and I can plan next time to order less or plan to bring something home.