Recently in Dining Category
I haven't really been blogging lately, but that doesn't mean Tammy and I haven't been eating out. Check out our latest review of Cyrano's, a cozy little bistrot that I find surprisingly wheelchair friendly. And I have many entries in the works, so stay tuned for updates. Hope you're having a happy 2008!
In this podcast, Tammy and I talk about Thalia Spice. The staff there was very accommodating of my wheelchair… a little too accommodating in fact. Our waitress showed me where the restroom was, held the restroom door for me, then proceeded to hold open the stall door for me too! So weird. Listen in to hear more about our “special night out.”
Be sure to let the folks at Vermilion know you have a wheelchair in your party before going there. A separate entrance leads to a wheelchair lift where the restaurant keeps its cleaning supplies. Once the cleaning supplies are removed from the lift, it’s onward to happy dining!
Originally uploaded by Zesmerelda
This week Tammy and I discuss Art Smith's Table 52 on our podcast. If you use an electric chair this tiny space in a no go, but if you don't mind dealing with a stair or two, and asking folks to scoot in their chairs, it's a worthy stop. The staff is very accommodating, and outdoor dining is an option during summer months.
In episode #84 (Good Lord! 84? Can that be right? Do I really eat out that often?) of our Chicago Bites podcast, Tammy and I discover that there's more to Devon Seafood Grill than the cramped bar area on the main floor. Simply take the elevator downstairs, and you'll find a surprising expanse of space that lends itself to comfortable dining. Hear all about it.
Ulterior Epicure (UE) sent me this New York Times article by Frank Bruni that discusses how accessibility can alter dining experiences for people with disabilities in New York restaurants. Bruni convincingly argues that sometimes accessibility solutions, like lifts with keys and accessible restrooms in a building next door, are so inconvenient they are discriminating. He concludes that even though accessibility is there, customers with disabilities aren’t treated as well as able-bodied customers because something as simple as getting into the restaurant to eat isn’t as easy as it should be.
The challenges mentioned in the article are common and translate nationwide. I’ve faced similar situations in Chicago. The funny thing is, I never think of my dining experiences as being different from anyone else’s. I took the freight elevator to the second floor of Dragonfly the other night, and as I navigated through the kitchen and around the cleaning supplies, I didn’t think about how I was missing out on the look and feel of the restaurant. I didn’t feel like I was being discriminated against. I was just pleased that there was an elevator.
When I explained this to UE he said: “Of course you don’t think about it like that. But aren’t you glad other people do?”
