Valentine's Day 2011: Love and deep fryers - Chicago, IL

The weekend before Valentine's Day, while happy foodie couples supped on romantic prix fixe menus of oysters, lobster, dark chocolate and various aphrodisiacs, I piled into a car with two good girlfriends and trekked down to Bridgeport for a fat kid's teenage dream: a family-style fried chicken dinner.

Anything that can make this Northsider schlep to the 3200 block of South Halsted is pretty special. Sunday nights only, Nana's (3267 S Halsted St) opens its doors with true Southern hospitality and piles tables high with freshly fried chicken and all the trimmings.

But the restaurant all but vanishes into its surroundings — think coin-op laundry joints, thrift stores, ramshackle dumpling shops and too many neon signs to count. A small sign set off by simple white lights is all you get. Blink and you'll miss it!

So keep your eyes open.

The restaurant itself feels completely out of place in the sea of neon. The open layout, soft lighting, airy colors and exposed kitchen really made us feel like we were walking into a friend's home for a casual dinner instead of an urban dining establishment. Our evening started with drinks: The evening special featured Death's Door gin — made just up the road in Door County, WI — infused with a fruity tea. Next came heavily herbed deviled eggs, topped with a crispy piece of smoky bacon and served with a beautiful arugula salad in a tangy, light pink vinaigrette dressing.

But it was only a preview for the main event. The chicken — all legs and thighs, perfectly juicy and still dripping from its bath in the deep fryer — was doused in a spicy breading and topped with a house-made giardiniera, which is unconventional for a Southern dish, but it lent an unmistakably Chicagoan air to it!

On the side: homemade coleslaw with huge chunks of crunchy, fresh cabbage; cheddar biscuits with honey, collard greens cooked in bacon. But my true weakness of the meal was, as always, macaroni and cheese made with campanelle, a trumpet-shaped pasta that held a ton of the thick, rich sauce in every little bite.

We were already full when the servers took our empty plates away, but our prix-fixe family meal — did I mention it was only $22? — included dessert. So we found room in our "pie holes" for blueberry cobbler, chocolate bread pudding and sweet potato beignets. The consensus favorite was the beignets, which were airy and not too sweet, and served over fresh whipped cream and a touch of crème anglaise. Heaven!

At the end of the meal, we split the bill three ways, enjoyed a big group hug and made our way back to the North Side, full and happy we'd spent our Valentine's weekend doing things family-style.

Paige is a member of Mileage Plus Dining^SM