Kelly the Culinarian: Chicago 'Burbs Yelp Elite Kickoff Party at Pinstripes

Friday, January 18, 2013

Chicago 'Burbs Yelp Elite Kickoff Party at Pinstripes

I love Yelp and review stuff all the time. For better or worse, I think feedback is important regardless of the business you're in. As a result of all my reviews, my Yelp Elite status was renewed again this year. Yay! This means I get invited to parties about once a month at different places around the suburbs. The last place I made it out to was the elite event at OMango, which was pretty awesome.

This week, MacKenna and I scored an invite to this month's event at Pinstripes, a bowling and bocce bar in Oak Brook. It's an upscale way to bowl, featuring a full menu of delicious food that's to blame for my .2-pound increase this week. First, we checked in and claimed a lane, where we bowled miserably.  I broke 100 in the first round, then sucked so bad in the second that we called it quits for the night.

That drove us into the food and drinks, which were fantastic. They created some themed drinks for the night and I enjoyed something they called the Bocce Breeze. It was rather delightful. The flatbreads were fine, but my favorite (obviously) was dessert. They had these slices of apple bread pudding that was really interesting because the outside was a bit crunchy and it wasn't overly sweet. I would go back just for dessert.

We also checked out the outdoor seating area, which had an open fire pit that I'm sure would be awesome if it was just a little bit warmer.

The swag was awesome - chapstick, pens, nail files, temporary tattoos, fingerless gloves, reusable shopping totes and more.  Additionally, Pinstripes gave us all bracelets that are good for one free glass of wine anytime we visit. I love wine and I love free!




They also had this great vendor taking photos with a stop-motion camera. The shots from Action Booth are so fun! I even made it my Facebook cover photo.

I'm looking forward to next month's event and I hope MacKenna can clear her calendar for it!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm kind of obsessed with your jumping picture and want one too!