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Dana samples a lackluster buffet for the sake of building her own spiked coffee.

Monday Mar 10, 2008.     By Dana Kavan

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Drink of the week: Build Your Own Coffee Drink at R.J. Grunts, 2056 N. Lincoln Park West.

The damage: $8.

Thousands of bars in Chicago, why this one? My first run-in with a salad bar involved a sneeze guard-covered spread at a Sizzler in a strip mall. This seemingly scarring experience aside, my love for buffets of greens and goodies runs deeper than the vats of soup that typically sit next to them. And after stopping into R.J. Grunts for Sunday brunch, I learned that my attraction to this build-your-own meal is as strong in the a.m. as it is during my lunch hour. Shoveling down a pile of spinach topped with chick peas, bell peppers, corn, carrots and creamy globs of blue cheese did my slightly hung-over body far more good than my usual cure-all: coffee and bacon—though, to be fair, they also made an appearance.

How it went down: In keeping with the democratic theme that seemed to be defining my morning, I skipped the easy-to-order bloody mary or mimosa and set off to design my own liquor-coffee combo. R.J. Grunt's BYOCD (Build Your Own Coffee Drink) is really just a clever way of marketing the various liquors and liqueurs that pair well with a cup of joe, like Baileys, Licor 43, Frangelico, Kahlua, Disaronno and a handful more, including Sauza Gold Tequila, which I can only imagine would immediately reverse the salad’s positive effects.

I could’ve run away with this kind of freedom, asking for a concoction to rival the Suicides I mixed together at junior-high slumber parties. (Friends should never let friends drink a blend of ketchup and Coke.) But, the thing is, I'm not the best decision-maker before noon on weekends, so I went with the boring but reliable Irish coffee, with a splash of Jameson and a good pour of Baileys. Despite playing it safe, I was pleasantly surprised with the drink's tastiness: Grunt's brews Intelligentsia coffee, and its creamy richness paired well with the perfect proportion of whiskey and Irish cream.

Would I want to become a regular? At first, the restaurant's '70s throwback decor was totally lost on me: I thought it was just a coincidence that the stereo was pumping out a nonstop string of easy-listening tunes from the Disco Decade. But then I noticed the oodles of framed photos of women doing their best Farrah Fawcet impersonations. My friendly waiter later explained that these were former bartenders and waitresses, which seemed slightly creepy. I couldn’t help but stare at them in between bites of crispy but greasy potatoes and average eggs.

By far, the highlight of the meal was the salad bar—though the pecan roll French toast, a spongy, cinnamon-y mass about 5-inches thick, tasted pretty amazing. And, another bonus: By the time I had sopped up the last bit of Green Goddess dressing with a crouton, I had already made so many decisions that I felt like I could take the rest of the day off.

Dana Kavan scours the city for drink deals so good you'll offer to buy a round and creative libations that outshine your average on-the-rocks concoctions. Want to give Dana tips on where to rack up a bar tab? Share your finds before her next night out.