zippitydoodah

The Veggie Sandwiches and Portabello Mushroom Soup are fabulous!

Yes, just a soda machine, in the ghetto, in front of an apartment building. Often surrounded by various characters of the shady persuasion. We always joke about the machine being a front for some sort of drug dealing operation. But, in fact, it’s just soda. Located between 14th and 13th Streets on the south side of F Street in the Lincoln Ghetto. 50 cents gets you a Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, Welch’s Grape, A & W Root Beer…I think there may be a couple more. After 3 years of living within a block of the Cold Drinks machine, I finally got thirsty enough (and lazy enough, as I could have ventured less than a block further and gotten anything I wanted) to make my first visit to it this morning. Worth going if you want a can of soda, you’re already nearby, Casey’s is closed, and you only have 50%...Not worth visiting if you are trying to avoid crackheads and prostitutes. Unless you’re desperate for a drink, or, like me, are amused by such things as a soda machine lovingly nicknamed Crackhead Junction.

On the corner of 13th and F Streets. I’m not sure what time El Chaparro opens, but they are open pretty late (until 2:00 am Sun. – Thur., I believe, and until 3:00 am on Fridays and Saturdays). If I remember correctly, that is. You get a lot of food for not a lot of money, and the Grande Burritos (Chicken especially, as well as beef) are always pretty good – though the night cook seems to load them up better than the cooks in the daytime. For us (2 people), this usually ends up to be cheaper than eating at Runza across the street, and we get three times as much food. Goes well with beer…of course. What doesn’t?