Get Your Official Beer Bats at Jake Melnick's (The Only Place to Get Them Outside the Friendly Confines)

Well, it was a pretty good opening weekend for our beloved Cubbies. The weather was chilly, but sunny. They came sooo close to a sweep of the Pirates, but even though they lost to the Pirates today we have two  nice victories to reflect on, a killer catch from Ian Happ and a great performance by Shota in the opener on Friday and Matthew Boyd yesterday - and the Cubs are in first place in the National League Central. After a long, gray winter, it is so nice to start off the spring this way. 

I'll make my first trip to the Friendly Confines of 2025 this week and I just can't wait for that moment each season where I walk up from the concourse to get my first glimpse of the field for the year - and it takes my breath away. Every. Single. Time. 

Since I wan't at the ballpark or in Wrigleyville this weekend, I celebrated the new season in the next best place - Jake Melnick's. This cool sports bar in River North is the perfect place to catch a game and enjoy some of their award-winning wings. It's also the only place outside of the Wrigley Field where you can drink your beer out of an official beer bat.

My friend, Tara, and I stopped in to watch the game on Saturday. We noshed on some Bang Bang Cauliflower, a Buffalo Chicken Wedge Salad and a Smashburger - a great line-up of game day grub. And we each had a bat, which holds 24-ounces of your favorite beer. Just like a Wrigley Field you can bring home your souvenir cup (which costs $20).

At first we were wondering how we were going to eat our meal while holding our bats, but the server brought out a stand where we propped it up and stuffed our faces. We had a nice chat with some lads at the table beside us. The trio is from London and they were in town for the week to open the new Harry Potter Store on the Mag Mile (opening on April 10).

Each year it's tradition to get to an early April game. My preference has always been to attend weekday day games, so I decided to forego the madness of opening weekend and go later in the week. Even though we weren't there in person, there couldn't be a better place to hang on game day.