Gigi's.

Last night I suckered my friend Danya into going to Gigi's with me.

I was STARVING after a looooong day of lawyering and needed some noodles. I actually need some noodles tonight as well, so it remains to be seen whether I'll call and order from Kim's on Alton and Lincoln. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's deliciously terrible Chinese food.

But Gigi's.

I will be back.

If for no other reason, than to sit at the bar and get tanked on $2.00 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. If I wanted to upgrade to a 10 oz glass of Stella, it would be a paltry dollar more.

I really like this place. Like a lot.

The food solid - not orgasmically good, but it was decent.

But the place has excellent energy, and a bright, smiley, and friendly waitstaff.

And apparently, the guy behind the restaurant, who I gather was on Top Chef, was cooking that night, so he was rattling around the kitchen.

The inside gives me a "Fratelli Lyon" vibe - open, industrial, and bright - but this place has an open kitchen, and it's sort of mesmerizing to watch the fire come off the cooktop as things are stir fried.

I got (besides two $2.00 beers) the steamed pork buns (tasty, but everything these days has five-spice powder in it, and I'm not a gigantic fan - nevertheless, they're better than Sakaya's....) roasted corn with tofu schmear (this was the "eh-iest" dish we ordered) and pork ramen.

Danya shared the pork buns and the corn with me (and incidentally took me out for my 30th. Thanks, D!) She got curried duck leg with coconut risotto. Hers was tasty as well, but I couldn't imagine eating a whole plateful of it.

My ramen needed... salt. But there's soy sauce, Siracha, and some sort of oil in front of every two place settings, so in the end I was able to season the generous bowl of noodles, braised pork and snap-peas to my liking.

I think the best part about the restaurant is the service - we had a team of about three girls helping us, who had gigantic smiles plastered on their faces.

For dessert we had their non-dairy soft serve -- last night's flavors were coconut and chocolate fudge. The coconut soft serve was really good.

Gigi's is cheap. Crazy cheap. And the food is pretty and feels wholesome when you eat it. And the waitstaff is friendly and chipper. And the place has good energy, and an upbeat vibe. And the kitchen (which is open for everyone's inspection) is clean.

You should go to Gigi's. But you should sit at a table. So I can sit at the bar.