Remembering a Night of Drinks with Anthony Bourdain

For ten years, I lived above an establishment known as the L&L Tavern (3207 N Clark Street Chicago). To be honest, the L&L Tavern was less like an establishment and more like an institution...a total institution!

Located on the corner of Belmont and Clark—across the street from what was once known as the Punkin’ Donuts—this intersection served as a mecca for offbeat characters embracing nonconformity and a variety of alternative lifestyles.

It’s no wonder why I was drawn to this bizarre crossroads of idiosyncrasy, as was Anthony Bourdain when he visited the L&L Tavern for a segment of his Travel Channel series, The Layover. In memory of the program’s host, bar owner Ken Frandsen tells me what it was like drinking with Anthony Bourdain.

“We drank extensively,” says Ken, describing how he welcomed the film crew to partake in the madness of this institution in August of 2012, “[Bourdain] came in specifically to try Malort. We were known as a Malort bar.”

Malort is the name of an alcoholic beverage that’s only found in Chicago, where it’s infamous for having an absolutely wretched flavor. If my memories from my own hijinks at the L&L Tavern serve me correctly (and most of them don’t), I’d say Malort tastes like black licorice combined with bitter tears of regret that’s been hastily distilled in the toilet of a bus station on a hot summer’s day.

Decades before Malort showed up on the scene at the L&L Tavern, along with creative patrons such as myself and Anthony Bourdain, this dive bar’s roster included a more twisted level of eccentrics. Two of the Chicago area’s most notorious serial killers were known to have been regulars, as well. Jeffrey Dahmer used the bar like a repository for new victims, while John Wayne Gacy was known for showing up in full clown costume.

That’s why the L&L Tavern has been coined the “Creepiest Bar in America”. In acceptance of its dark history, someone took a magic marker and scribbled this title across a sheet of white paper, which Ken has left adhered to the L&L Tavern’s front window for years. Indeed, Ken has a flair for the absurd when it comes to décor, for which he recalls Anthony Bourdain expressed great amusement.

“He thought this was super funny,” remarks Ken, pointing to the word ‘gullible’, which is literally written on the bar’s ceiling, “and he thought that this installation entitled 'Jesus Christ, That’s Good Beer' was great!”

Ken is referring to a nativity scene, which portrays Mary and Joseph gazing upon baby Jesus while holding cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Ken also recalls how Bourdain complimented his collection of PBR memorabilia, deeming it as “impressive”.

“We drank some Malort, he did a shot, [and then] he was drinking Schlitzer. We’re the same age, so we actually got along pretty well,” Ken recalls, “He was quite delightful with a tremendous haircut.”

As was the case for everyone who revered Anthony Bourdain—whether it was on a personal, professional, or public figure level—the news of his passing came as a surprise to the L&L Tavern’s owner.

“I didn’t want to believe it, I thought it was a big joke,” comments Ken as he relates the sadness he’s experienced for the loss of this celebrated culinary travel writer and television personality, “He was beyond nice and went out of his way to tell me he was the luckiest man in the world."

“In the last couple days, I’ve drank an enormous amount of Malort with the people coming by to salute him,” says Ken as he closes the bar and steps outside to Belmont and Clark, where a lot has changed since Bourdain’s visit six years ago, “I think most people who come by and admire the bar actually [do so] because they admired Anthony Bourdain.”