No music tonight, but husband and I grabbed a bite at The Abbey. Creatures of habit that we are, we have a tendency to rotate through a small roster of bar/grilles within a reasonable distance from our home. The short list - Abbey, Chief O'Neil's, Kumas, McNamera's, Galvin's. Yes, there is a bit of an Irish theme going on here (w/ the Kuma's exception.) And we occasionally hit Vaughn's on Elston. On a week night, we're usually just looking for a beer, a decent sandwich, and some friendly service. The Abbey had been removed from our rotation a couple months ago after a particularlly distressing evening involving a "regular" who ordered a glass of White Zinfandel and got the bartender to turn off the music and turn the TV volume WAY up so she could watch American Idol. I was not amused. Anyway, enough time had passed for me to be willing to give it another go and I was glad we did. If you haven't been in a long time, they have re-done their menu within the last year or so. It's been fleshed out and updated quite a bit. In addition to the "Irish" stand-by's you can find things like a an OK hummus plate. My veggie burger ordered w/ Pepper Jack cheese and grilled onions and sweet potato fries was above average. But what really stood out tonight was our server. I didn't get her name, but she was very efficient, friendly and on top of things - more than I'd expected for the venue. By no means am I suggesting this place as a food destination, but it is a convenient neighborhood spot and a decent place to grab some food if you are seeing a show there. It can get a little crazy on nights when there is music (we saw The Specials there several months ago and the kitchen did get a little backed up before the show - so give yourself plenty of time.) However, their outdoor seating is usually pretty mellow and they are open late. Just beware if you see a red-headed girl drinking white zin at the bar on an "American Idol" night. Unless, of course, you like that sort of thing.