Chicago

Wandered into the joint for the first time on a Thursday night when we happened to be in the neighborhood and were trolling for a mellow music scene. Everything for blocks and blocks was either packed-out or way too loud for the mood.

Then a ray of light - we glimpsed a couple of people drumming in the window of the Ethio and entered into their open-mic night. The drummers were incredible, as was the guy on the piano, and people were jumping up from their plates of doro wat and ye'atakilt alich'a to bust out a little spoken word. It kicked ass.

Turns out one of the drummers and the piano player are regulars so it's a pretty safe bet the music's gonna be as good as the food.