What is your favorite restaurant?

My favorite restaurant depends on my mood. For most of the time, Cheba Hut and Applebees top my list.

Cheba Hut in Madison is a glorious place. All sorts of radical stickers line the short wall between the sandwich line and the guests. The bartenders let us vape when there was fewer people around, and their back porch was a place where dreams manifested.

The first time I was there, a homeless woman handed me a joint and said, “Finish it.” I brought her many beers in the following months.

That first day at the Cheba Hut in Madison, my friend brought me a hashcan.

“Finish it!” he all but yelled at my face. I did.