On the hunt for cajun-style fun
Fat Tuesday specials celebrating Mardi Gras are rife at area bars and restaurants. So if you prefer American zydeco and jazz to Brazilian samba, here are just a few ways to celebrate a New Orleans-inspired Mardi Gras:
Zydeco rhythms: Local band MOJO & the Bayou Gypsies marks a quarter-century of playing zydeco music with a show celebrating its new two-CD album “25 Years of Inducing Wild Behavior” at 8 p.m. Friday, March 4, at the Montrose Room at the InterContinental O'Hare Hotel, 5300 N. River Road, Rosemont. General admission is $20, while a VIP pass is $99. Call (847) 544-5300 or visit montroseroom.com for more information.
Bourbon Street, St. Charles: Pheasant Run Resort has long celebrated New Orleans with its faux Bourbon Street built in the middle of the esteemed St. Charles vacation getaway. The New Orleans atmosphere was expanded with the addition of the Jambalaya restaurant, plus weekend Mardi Gras-themed hotel packages for some time.
But only in the past couple of years has the resort offered a celebration on the official Mardi Gras date. Pheasant Run Resort's 3rd Annual Fat Tuesday Party runs from 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, and is open to the general public with no admission charge.
Families are invited to dress up in fanciful masks and take in entertainers including jugglers, stilt walkers, magicians and music from the Chi-Town Dixie Stompers. The zydeco band Steamin' Barracudas is also set to perform at Jambalaya from 7 to 11 p.m. Call (630) 584-6300 or visit pheasantrun.com for more information.
Division Street diversions: A decidedly less family-friendly Mardi Gras celebration is slated Tuesday night on March 8 along Division Street.
The bars Bootleggers (13 W. Division), The Original Mother's (26 W. Division) and She-nannigans House of Beer (16 W. Division) are teaming up to turn Division Street into New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street with their own dance and drink specials while entertainment is provided outside by the Big Shoulders Brass Band, costumed partygoers and stilt walkers.
But there's a charitable side to all this revelry, since a portion of the night's proceeds will go to the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, a cause devoted to preserving American music and aiding New Orleans musicians in need. For more information, visit rushanddivision.com or contact each respective bar at (312) 266-0944, (312) 642-7251 or (312) 642-2344.
Crawfish for charity: Cactus Bar and Grill holds a crawfish eating contest for charity at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at 404 S. Wells St., Chicago. Competitors will race to consume three pounds of crawfish (donated by Supreme Lobster) for prizes to benefit the cancer-research charity St. Baldrick's Foundation. Call (312) 922-3830 or visit dontdrinkandtrade.com.