Explore Chicago: Eat. Play. Love. Our Neighborhoods.

eat
Play
EXPLORE
CHICAGO
LOVE
OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
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eat Play LOVE
OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
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EXPLORE
CHICAGO
eat Play LOVE
OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
by alan solomon introduction by lois weisberg
Eat. Play. Love. Our Neighborhoods. ©2010 by Alan Solomon. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the Chicago Department
of Cultural Affairs.
Visit our website at http://www.explorechicago.org for more information about Chicago’s great neighborhoods.
City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
78 East Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Special Thanks
Brian Schilling
Kendall Karmanian
Jullian Woods
Kate Gross
Acknowledgements
Anonymous
The Boeing Company
The Chicago Community Trust
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Joyce Foundation
McCormick Foundation
Polk Bros. Foundation
Wieboldt Foundation
This book has been published in the United States of America, by the City of Chicago Department
of Cultural Affairs in conjunction with the 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods.
Compiled and edited by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Chicago Office of Tourism
Cover design concept by JinJa Davis-Birkenbeuel, Birkdesign Inc. (http://www.birkdesign.com)
Book design, production and typesetting by JinJa Davis-Birkenbeuel, Birkdesign Inc. (http://www.birkdesign.com)
eBook by JinJa Davis-Birkenbeuel, Birkdesign Inc. (http://www.birkdesign.com)
Previous pages: Durango
Western Wear / Little
Village
Contents
Logan Square
133
Loop
138
Magnificent Mile
141
Marquette Park/
Ga
ge
Par
k
11
144
City Map
McKinley Park/
13
Richard M. Daley
Brighton Park
15
147
Lois Weisberg
Millennium Park
150
Author’s Note
Mo
ntc
lar
e/G
alewood 153
17
Alan Solomon
Morgan Park/Mount
Greenwood
158
NEIGHBORHOODS
Museum Campus
20
161
Andersonville
North Center/
Archer Heights/
Roscoe Village
23
164
West Elsdon
North Lawndale
26
167
Ashburn
North Park/
29
Auburn Gresham
Albany Park
34
170
tin
Aus
Norwood Park
173
k/
Avalon Par
Old
Town
176
Calumet Heights 37
Pilsen/Heart
Avondale/Irving Park 40
of Chicago
43
179
Back of the Yards
Portage Park
184
gin/
Cra
Belmont
Pri
nters Row
46
187
Hermosa
Pullman
49
190
Beverly
River North
52
193
Boystown
Rogers Park
55
196
Bridgeport
Ro
seland/Washington
58
Bronzeville
Heights
61
199
Bucktown
Rush-Division
202
Chatham/Burnside 66
Sauganash/
Chinatown/
Forest Glen
68
205
Armour Square
Sheffield-Depaul
71
210
Dunning
South Loop
74
213
Edgewater
South Shore/Greater
77
k
Edison Par
Grand Crossing
79
216
Englewood
Southeast Side
81
219
Garfield Park
Streeterville
224
Garfield Ridge/
Ukrainian Village/
84
g
Clearin
East Village
87
227
Gold Coast
United Center
92
230
Grant Park
Uptown
95
233
Greektown
West Lawn
97
238
k
Par
t
Humbold
We
st Loop
100
241
Hyde Park
West Pullman/
103
Jackson Park
Riverdale
106
244
Jefferson Park
West Ridge/
109
nd
akla
d/O
Kenwoo
Devon Avenue
114
247
Lakefront
Wicker Park/
118
Lakeview
West Town
121
252
Lincoln Park
Woodlawn/
124
are
Squ
Lincoln
Wa
shington Park 255
127
Little Italy
Wrigleyville
258
Little Village/
South Lawndale 130
E TO
CHICAGO IS HOM
An estimated 2,896,016 residents Over 50 cultural
institutions, historical sites and museums More than 200
theaters Nearly 225 art galleries More than 7,300
restaurants 77 neighborhoods 26 miles of lakefront 33
beaches, 15 miles of which are along the lake 35 annual
parades 19 miles of lakefront bicycle paths 552 parks
e miles
m
covering more than 11 square
10
EXPLORE CHICAGO
Rogers
Park
Edison
Park
West Ridge
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Edgewater
Norwood Park
North Park
Andersonville
Jefferson
Park
Chicago O’Hare
International Airport
Lincoln
Square
Albany Park
Uptown
Portage Park
Irving Park
Wrigleyville
North
Center
Dunning
Boystown
Avondale
Hermosa
Belmont Cragin
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Logan Square
Montclare,
Galewood
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
Austin
United
Center
Garfield Park
GreekTown
Loop
West Loop
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Printers
Row
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Museum
Campus
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
CHICAGO
MIDWAY AIRPORT
West
Elsdon
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Clearing
nd
Gage Park
Garfield Ridge
Grand
Boulevard
Kenwood
Washington
Park
New City
kla
BACK OF
THE YARDS
Oa
Fuller Park
Brighton
Park
Archer
Heights
Douglas
BRONZEVILLE
McKinley
Park
Chinatown
Bridgeport
Little Village
South
Loop
Hyde Park
Jackson
Park
Woodlawn
Englewood
Chicago Lawn
West Lawn
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Ashburn
South Chicago
Avalon
Park
Auburn Gresham
Chatham
sid
rn
Bu
Calumet
Heights
e
Washington
Heights
Pullman
Beverly
East
Side
Roseland
Mount
Greenwood
South Deering
Morgan Park
SOUTHEAST SIDE
West Pullman
Riverdale
Hegewisch
DEAR FRIENDS,
The single thing that most clearly defines Chicago is our neighborhoods.
With 77 distinct communities, there is no limit to what you can discover
about the rich history, traditions and people of this great city.
Whether you are a first-time visitor or a long time resident, you can find
the world literally at your doorstep with a wealth of diverse communities
appealing equally to families, shoppers and diners looking for some of
the best authentic ethnic cuisine the city has to offer.
Make exploring Chicago a real adventure by going off the beaten
path and into the heart of our neighborhoods. Be inspired by artist
communities, uncover the history of local landmarks or savor the
sights and tastes of multicultural celebrations. Unique attractions,
festivals, parks and parades are just minutes away on easy-to-use public
transportation.
We welcome and invite everyone from around the world to come and
experience the incredible treasures that are waiting to be discovered in
every one of Chicago’s dynamic neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
Richard M. Daley
Mayor
Facing page: Austin
Town Hall Park
Murals; detail / Austin
13
DEAR FRIEND,
On behalf of the City of Chicago, I invite you to Eat, Play, Love Our
Neighborhoods!
It’s no wonder that Chicago often has been called “The City of
Neighborhoods.” From Rogers Park to Beverly to South Shore, from
Austin to Little Village to the Loop (and every place in between), there is
something truly magical to be discovered in every part of the city.
This book was born in the summer of 2009 with a grant from the 2016
Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods, a consortium of funders that was
created to ensure all of the city’s neighborhoods would benefit if Chicago
was awarded the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The
legacy of Chicago’s bid lives on in this project and many others.
Throughout the fall and winter of 2009-10, a team of dedicated field
researchers canvassed every single neighborhood of the city (77 in total)
to identify tourism assets including restaurants, attractions, historical
sites, shops, landmarks and more.
As a result, there are now more than 2,000 new sites and attractions listed
on the city’s official tourism website, http://www.ExploreChicago.org, along
with detailed interactive maps of each neighborhood and the essays that
you will read in this book.
The essays were written by the wonderful writer—and lifelong Chicagoan—
Alan Solomon, along with research assistance from the team of field
researchers. Alan, a former travel writer for the Chicago Tribune, explored
the city from top to bottom, and together he and the researchers have
uncovered some very special places.
We hope that you will use this book as your guide to discovering all of the
unique places and people in Chicago’s vibrant neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
Lois Weisberg
Commissioner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Facing page: Austin
Town Hall Park
Murals; detail / Austin
15
AUTHOR’S NOTE: ALAN SOLOMON
I was born in North Lawndale to a Logan
Square mother and a Wicker Park father.
I grew up loving the Cubs and hating the White
Sox. My first mitt was a Hank Sauer model,
and I still have it. I saw Dinah Shore onstage
at the Chicago Theatre, adored the Olson Rug
Company waterfall, told Uncle Ned my Cub
Scout Pack number (3799) on “Lunchtime Little
Theater,” rode the Bobs at Riverview and fished
for crayfish in the Humboldt Park lagoon.
My folks bought my first suit on Maxwell Street
while my cousin sold socks for a dollar a bundle
on the corner. My dad and I always got to Montrose Harbor at least once during the smelt run.
I can’t do the proper Boy Scout salute because
my right thumb was displaced too many times
playing 16-inch softball. I order my hot dogs
with everything (no ketchup!), my Italian
beef with sweet peppers (dipped) and ignore
the “h” in Throop Street.
I’m a Chicagoan and proud to be one.
But until a couple of months ago, I’d never
set foot in Hegewisch or Gresham. I’d never
seen Leo High School or Marshall High
School or Altgeld Gardens or been inside a
Chicago basilica.
I’d eaten cheese grits in Georgia and collards in
Mississippi and catfish in Louisiana and sipped
sweet tea in Texas, but I’d never set foot in a
soul food restaurant in the city I loved.
Now I’ve eaten in seven of them, and I feel like
an idiot for having waited all this time.
What you’re about to read, brought to you by
the Chicago Office of Tourism, is intended to
keep you—visitors to this great city and my
fellow Chicagoans—from feeling like an idiot.
Here’s what we did:
A team of researchers did its research, I
followed up with visits to all the neighborhoods,
grabbed a bite (or two, or three) in just about
every one, and talked to folks to get a real
sense of things on the ground.
Then I wrote. Carefully. Then what I wrote was
very carefully reviewed, and on the advice of
editors who understood sensitivities better
than I did, I tweaked.
Do these essays contain everything I know, or
learned, about the 77 neighborhoods featured
here? No. There are no lies or deliberate
misrepresentations—every neighborhood
isn’t touted as The Greatest Neighborhood in
America—but together, the researchers, editors
and me, we were able to find reasons to visit
each of them.
Yes, some things are deliberately downplayed
or omitted. Eliot Ness gets a mention, but not
his nemesis. The Biograph is in here, but not
the man who made it famous. Other stuff. Why?
I don’t have to answer that, do I?
And with rare exceptions, rather than dwell on
population shifts and clashes and their impact,
we chose to concentrate on neighborhoods as
they are—what’s here, right now, today.
Look, it’s not 1955. The waterfall is gone, and
the Bobs, and we’ve lost Dinah and Uncle Ned
and Hank Sauer, and Andersonville isn’t all that
Swedish anymore.
But I still love this city—after this project, more
than ever. I even like the White Sox now.
So explore with us. I’ll tell you where to find
a great taco, or goulash wrapped in a potato
pancake, or a church that will humble you.
And let me tell you about Hegewisch. It’s
pronounced. . .
Urban Art Retreat /
North Lawndale
— A.S.
17
Classic
ANDERSONVILLE
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A HISTORICALLY SWEDISH NEIGHBORHOOD BECOMES ONE OF
CHICAGO’S MOST DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
Finally, not a
museum but a
living experience:
Ebenezer Lutheran
Church, founded
by those Swedish
immigrants in 1892
when much of the
area was pickle
farms. The present
sanctuary was
completed in 1912,
is still very active
and “as long as
someone’s around”
is open most days
for peeking inside.
Do it—and don’t
miss the model
immigrant ship
at the doorway
near the Swedishstyle altar.
This is one of Chicago’s quintessential mosaic-type neighborhoods,
neighborhoods that in some ways best exemplify what the city offers
visitors away from Buckingham Fountain and Water Tower Place.
Here, in a neighborhood whose residents no longer have a dominant
ethnic identity (the Swedes, who converted farms to city blocks, began
scattering as early as the 1950s), Chicagoans from a variety of cultures
and lifestyles have created an attitude that truly celebrates diversity.
Among the Clark Street restaurants: the Icosium Cafe (“Un Cafe
Algerois”; great crepes) and Reza’s (Persian; try the ghemieh bodemjan). In winter, sure, you can find a glass of glogg, a flaming refreshment
enjoyed enthusiastically in Sweden—at Andie’s, which specializes in
Grecian lamb and Lebanese salads.
Historically, however, back around 1910, when Chicago was the world’s
second largest Swedish city (Stockholm stubbornly refusing to cede
leadership), the center of all that was Swedish in this town was here, in
what is now called Andersonville. And its business district—Clark Street
between Foster and Bryn Mawr Avenues—was full of Johanssons and
Sandbergs and Nilssons.
(The namesake Anderson, whose name was on an early school and
eventually attached to the neighborhood, might actually have been
Norwegian. Undeniably Norwegian was explorer Roald Amundsen, whose
name is on a neighborhood high school, home of the neighborhood
Vikings. But leave us not quibble.)
In the new millennium, Andersonville, while still flying the motherland’s
flag here and there, is classic Chicago.
Modest of style and price, its restaurants reflect that ethnic mix: Turkish,
Japanese, Italian, pub-style, Mexican, the aforementioned Persian and
Algerian, the inevitable tastes of Sweden (more about that later). Small
one-of-a-kind shops (City Olive for all things “olive,” Women & Children
First book shop, bon bon for chocolates, many others) offer what the
chains can’t.
Previous pages:
Burnside Park /
Burnside
Facing page: Swedish
American Museum
Three of the neighborhood’s more popular bars couldn’t differ more:
Hopleaf is pure European and features Belgium’s finest brews, plus
food including perfect mussels and frites. Up the street, Simon’s—the
founding Simon was Swedish, of course—began as a basement speakeasy during prohibition (upstairs was a grocery), went legit in 1934 and,
aside from its obligatory glogg, is quintessentially American down to its
Northwoods murals. A bar called Atmosphere, just north, is a favorite
gay dance club.
The Swedes? A few representatives of that earlier era remain.
21
Erickson’s Delicatessen has been supplying
Swedish cheeses, herring and meatballs to
pilgrims’ smorgasbords since 1925. “It’s one
of the last in the neighborhood,” says Ann
Nilsson, whose mother, Ann Mari Nilsson, owns
the place. Lines at Christmastime—some locals,
some from distant states—are out the door.
Though the city’s one true Swedish restaurant—
Tre Kronor—is two miles west in the North Park
neighborhood (near Swedish Covenant Hospital
and North Park University, also with Swedish
roots), two Andersonville restaurants feature
some Swedishness: Svea, essentially a breakfast-lunch diner, and Ann Sather, a full-service
restaurant (one of a small chain) that long ago
replaced the still-missed Villa Sweden, feature a
few Swedish items (lingonberries!) to match the
decor. The Swedish Bakery can supply a toska
torte—or a cannoli.
And during key festivals—notably the
mid-summer Midsommarfest—appropriate food
and appropriate costumes can be seen.
An essential stop, year round: the Swedish
American Museum, which affectionately
chronicles the immigrant experience—universal
but here, specifically, from Sweden—and the
adjustment to a new world, specifically Chicago.
Finally, not a museum but a living experience:
Ebenezer Lutheran Church, founded by those
Swedish immigrants in 1892 when much of the
area was pickle farms. The present sanctuary
was completed in 1912, is still very active and
“as long as someone’s around” is open most
days for peeking inside. Do it—and don’t miss
the model immigrant ship at the doorway near
the Swedish-style altar.
“We still have the Swedish heritage here,” says
the church’s Swedish American office clerk
Nathan Tolzmann, with pride.
And on Christmas morning: services in Swedish.
All—even Norwegians, and especially you—are
welcome. Inclusion is what Andersonville is
all about.
22
Rogers
Park
West Ridge
Edgewater
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Irving Park
North
Center
Avondale
Wrigleyville
Boystown
Lakeview
flavor
ARCHER HEIGHTS | WEST ELSDON
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WITAMY MEETS BIENVENIDOS
What does Zaragoza
say to a potential
customer who goes,
“Goat. . . eww!”?
“What do you
think about hot
dogs?” And then:
“I tell them it’s
an aphrodisiac.”
There’s a laugh.
“Then I tell them to
sit down and try it.
It’s all we can do.”
At first glance, Archer Heights and West Elsdon are just quiet residential
neighborhoods.
The houses are mostly familiar 1950s Chicago bungalows, with some
pre-World War II classics and, here and there, a few two-flats. The
main business street, Pulaski Road—shared by both neighborhoods—is
dominated by strip malls with chains that could be anywhere in America.
But take a closer look. Along with Target and Staples is a subtle mix of
witamy (Polish for “welcome”) and bienvenidos (Spanish for the same).
Both of these communities, close to Midway Airport (a proximity that
quickly becomes audibly apparent), were slow to develop as residential areas. As with some other neighborhoods toward the edges of the
city limits, it took World War II veterans’ return to a post-Depression
economy to put homebuilders to work; improved transportation—
the Southwest Expressway (I-55), renamed the Stevenson, opened
in 1964—provided another boost. (The CTA’s Orange Line, with trains
connecting the neighborhoods with Midway and the Loop, began operating in 1993.)
A wave of immigration from other neighborhoods and other lands—
Poland and Mexico prominent among the other lands—created the
cultural mix we have today.
West Elsdon is essentially residential, though Cafe Zazzo, a coffee shop
on 55th Street near Lawndale Avenue, is good for a light meal.
In busier Archer Heights, drive down Pulaski from the Stevenson and
before long you see the occasional taqueria and panaderia among the
franchises. Look closely to your right as you pass 48th Street—past
Pastel, a newish cafe-bakery of no particular ethnic persuasion (though
customers rave about its cakes)—and on the west side of Pulaski there
will be a sign for Birrieria Zaragoza.
Birria is a meat dish native to the Mexican state of Jalisco. (Vendors in
Guadalajara, the state capital, sell bowls of the stuff over counters in the
city’s bustling market. Delicious.) A variety of meats can be used—beef
and lamb work well enough—but goat is the classic, it’s the version owner
John Zaragoza remembers from his youth in La Barca, Jalisco, and it’s
what he’s brought to this small storefront in Archer Heights.
“From start to finish, it’s a 12-hour process,” says Zaragoza, his
wife Norma working the register by his side. “And it doesn’t give
you heartburn.”
Previous page: Polish
Highlanders Alliance in
America and Banquet
24
The meat, marinated in a red mole sauce, is steamed, roasted, then
served in a flavorful broth, garnished with onions, cilantro and limes.
House-made hot sauce (“it’s a 100-year-old recipe”) is optional. With
warm tortillas, of course.
What does Zaragoza say to a potential customer who goes, “Goat. . . eww!”?
North Lawndale
“What do you think about hot dogs?” And then:
“I tell them it’s an aphrodisiac.” There’s a laugh.
“Then I tell them to sit down and try it. It’s all
we can do.”
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Continue down Pulaski, turn right on Archer
Avenue, and you spot a tavern sign that,
instead of touting something like Budweiser,
touts “Okocim.”
And if you don’t think Polish (as well as Spanish
and English) is spoken in Archer Heights and
West Elsdon, try eavesdropping at Szalas
Restaurant.
There are other Polish restaurants in Chicago,
and good ones—in fact, the restaurant of the
Polish Highlanders National Alliance is a few
doors north on Archer—but there’s nothing
quite like Szalas.
Archer
Heights
Brighton
Park
Gage Park
Garfield Ridge
CHICAGO
MIDWAY AIRPORT
West
Elsdon
Clearing
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Chicago Lawn
West Lawn
It’s built to resemble a mountain hunting lodge,
complete with a standing stuffed bear and a
mounted bison head (though bison are rarely
seen in the Polish highlands). For a neighborhood restaurant, it is huge: two large dining
rooms and a separate bar.
The waitstaff, and the menu, may be bilingual,
but the preferred language is clearly Polish.
The piped-in music is Polish. On weekend
nights, a band takes the stage in the second
dining room, and there’s dancing. The songs,
presumably, will be Polish.
If you tell your server it’s your birthday, the
entire crew will serenade you—in Polish.
So that’s the visitors’ Archer Heights and West
Elsdon, two neighborhoods with a little flavor
all their own.
25
frontier
ASHBURN
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HOMEGROWN FAVORITES ADD FLAVOR TO THIS DIVERSE
SOUTH SIDE COMMUNITY
Facing the street
is the animated
neon sign that
helped make it a
local legend: pigs
jumping into a
grinder and coming
out sausage.
Ashburn got its name in 1908. In the days of coal-fired furnaces, the
city’s ashes had to go somewhere—and because there wasn’t much else
happening around this edge of the urban frontier, the stuff went here,
in piles.
“We get a little bit
of hate mail once
in a while,” says
Kathy Salus, whose
parents began the
business selling
sausage out of their
kitchen. “But most
people like it.”
There’s no sign of (or about) Ashburn Flying Field near 79th Street and
Cicero Avenue anymore. Scottsdale Mall is here now.
With acreage and ashes in the neighborhood and not much else, the
city’s first airport landed here in 1916. Among the curious who a few
years later were drawn to this primitive airfield was a college dropout
named Charles Lindbergh, eager to learn about this “aviation” thing. . .
No ash piles around, either. Toward the middle of the last century, coal
use was fading, veterans home from World War II needed housing,
and there was all this land with not much on it. By the mid-1950s, the
airfield (superseded long before by Midway Airport, two miles north in
the Garfield Ridge and Clearing communities) was history—and this was
becoming a neighborhood with actual neighbors.
Today’s Ashburn is a racially diverse middle-class community almost
entirely of neat single-family homes. As in postwar suburbs, development was powered in part by transportation (two Metra stations serve
the community along Columbus Avenue, which bisects it); and as in
those suburbs, the traditional commercial strips have been largely
supplanted by malls, especially Scottsdale and, just north in West Lawn,
Ford City.
But like most Chicago neighborhoods, it has its homegrown institutions.
Vito & Nick’s Pizzeria has been dishing out its thin-crust pies since 1949,
and at this location on Pulaski Road and 84th Street since 1965. Its pie
may or may not be what it insists is “the best pizza anywhere,” but the
crowds, especially on weekend nights, tell you something interesting
is happening here.
Two blocks south on Pulaski is Rosario’s Italian Foods. It opened just
weeks after Vito & Nick’s and, like the pizzeria, is owned and run by the
founding family.
Facing the street is the animated neon sign that helped make it a local
legend: pigs jumping into a grinder and coming out sausage.
Facing page: The
Cake Walk
“We get a little bit of hate mail once in a while,” says Kathy Salus, whose
parents (Roy Repole—“Rosario” looked better on the door—was her
dad) began the business selling sausage out of their kitchen. “But most
people like it.”
27
Most people also seem to like their meats,
cheeses and sauces for take-home. Their hot
sandwiches (try the Italian beef, with sweet
peppers) and subs (load ‘em up) are neighborhood favorites as well, but Rosario’s is most
identified with its Italian sausage.
“The product we made 50 years ago is the
product we make today,” she says, standing not
far from a flying pig suspended near the register. “It’s absolutely the same product.”
Halfway between Rosario’s and Vito & Nick’s on
Pulaski is the Cake Walk, a bakery especially
known for its butter cookies. Another option
for something sugary is Cupid Candies, two
miles east on Western Avenue, which has been
producing high-quality chocolate candies—in
that store—since 1936 and now makes that longtime Chicago favorite Frango Mints for Macy’s.
The open space didn’t entirely disappear with
development. Three parks—Scottsdale, Rainey
and Hayes—have ball fields and other facilities.
The meadows, woods and picnic areas of Dan
Ryan Woods, a county forest preserve, extend
from Ashburn into the Beverly neighborhood
to the south.
There, you may see ashes. From the
charcoal grills.
28
Gage Park
Garfield Ridge
West
Elsdon
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Clearing
Englewood
Chicago Lawn
West Lawn
Ashburn
Auburn
Gresham
Beverly
Mount
Greenwood
dream
AUBURN GRESHAM
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AN URBANOLOGIST’S DREAM
And the music
at the 11:15 a.m.
Sunday mass,
to which all are
welcome. . .
“Uplifting,”
says Delores
Wedgeworth, a
member of the
church staff. “Music
that touches the
inner core. A blend
of old and new
gospel songs–which
is unusual for a
Catholic church.”
This is an urbanologist’s dream.
Let’s begin with Auburn Park. It is at once a natural oasis, a string
of small lagoons meandering beneath picturesque bridges, lined by
greenery and naturalistic grasses—and a symbol of a historic city neighborhood in slow yet positive transition.
“It’s only 200 feet away from 79th Street,” says Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation.
“Millions of people drive by over the years and never even know that
it’s there.”
Throughout the neighborhood is a concentration of classic Chicago
bungalows and two-flats in great shape. Drive the blocks from Halsted
to Morgan Streets between 79th and 83rd Streets, behind Leo High
School, and you’ll see them—evidence of a solid middle-class AfricanAmerican community.
More good things: Old St. Leo’s Catholic Church is gone, but its 1904
bell tower was preserved as a focal point of what today is the St. Leo
Campus for Veterans, with residences, an outpatient clinic and a garden.
It’s just north of 79th Street on Emerald Avenue.
There’s the AFC Center at 79th and Ashland Avenue, the beautifully
restored 2,000-seat former Highland Theatre (1926), used for shows and
conferences. If you can’t catch a performance here, try a door and ask
for a look inside.
Hamilton Park, on 72nd Street east of Halsted, was designed in 1904
by firms linked to the Olmsted Brothers (Atlanta’s Piedmont Park)
and Daniel Burnham. On 76th Street, the Martin Luther King Family
Entertainment Center, opened in 2003, includes bowling, a roller rink
and other facilities—it’s less a visitor attraction than more evidence of
a neighborhood looking ahead, not back.
Which brings us to St. Sabina.
The current church was dedicated in 1933. As the parish’s racial and
cultural makeup changed rapidly in the 1970s—and as other institutions
deserted—this church changed with it, that change accelerated when
Michael Pfleger, at age 31, became pastor in 1981. He’s still here, and he’s
a force.
Previous page:
St. Sabina
30
If you visit the sanctuary—and by all means do, during services or
not—you will see a church transformed physically and spiritually from
the familiar European Gothic to a place where African and Roman
Catholic traditions merge. A stunning “Black Christ” mural dominates
the interiors.
And the music at the 11:15 a.m. Sunday mass,
to which all are welcome. . .
“Uplifting,” says Delores Wedgeworth, a
member of the church staff. “Music that
touches the inner core. A blend of old and new
gospel songs—which is unusual for a Catholic
church.”
Steps from St. Sabina is Renaissance Park, an
English-style garden. Within it is a monument
to prominent African Americans, many with
Chicago links: Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson,
Gwendolyn Brooks, Dinah Washington and
more.
For dining options, Lagniappe is a much praised
New Orleans-style restaurant on 79th Street at
Justine opened in 2004 by Mary Madison, and
now offering jazz nights (there’s an upstairs
show room) with plans to add blues nights.
Gage Park
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Englewood
Chicago Lawn
Grand Crossing
Ashburn
Auburn Gresham
Chatham
Washington
Heights
Beverly
Roseland
Morgan Park
Other restaurants have opened: BJ’s Market
and Bakery and Perfect Peace Bakery and Cafe,
both on 79th Street, added their flavors to Soul
Food Unlimited, which has expanded its operation. Morrison’s “Southern Cuisine” Restaurant,
around the corner on Ashland Avenue, has
become a neighborhood favorite since its
2001 debut.
And we come back to Auburn Park, because
there’s nothing in the city quite like it.
“That,” says Nelson, “is an area where you
can park and picnic and really enjoy a part of
nature that takes you far away from inner-city
Chicago.”
Some of the housing along the lagoons dates to
the 1880s, when this was a private park. Nelson
says his organization is looking for funds to
revitalize the old frame houses, some of which
are not in great shape.
Meanwhile, they have been joined by new ones,
built by people who believe.
An urbanologist’s dream.
31
Splendor
AUSTIN
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ARCHITECTURAL SPLENDOR ON THE WEST SIDE
The neighborhood’s
churches rival
the residences
as architectural
attractions. St.
Martin de Porres
Catholic Church
was St. Thomas
Aquinas when its
cornerstone was
set in place on
Washington Street
in 1923; by any
name, this English
Gothic church with
Austin’s tallest bell
tower is a beauty
(especially from
the inside).
Its signature park is a masterpiece by a master. Some of its churches, if
churches were ranked, would be among the city’s most impressive.
Leading architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright (who worked in a studio
a few blocks west of here), created homes for this neighborhood that a
century later still amaze and inspire.
And its “town hall”—a nearly full-size replica of Philadelphia’s
Independence Hall—has a swimming pool inside. More about this later.
This is Austin, sometimes troubled but nonetheless one of the city’s
more interesting community areas for visitors, particularly visitors
interested in architecture.
Renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen’s designs can be appreciated in many of Chicago’s grandest parks—Jensen put the babble in the
Garfield Park Conservatory’s brooks, and he tweaked existing designs
in Humboldt and Douglas Parks, among others—but Columbus Park, in
Austin, was his baby, and it shows.
This, a National Historic Landmark, is a park with berms and brooks and
Prairie Style character throughout, along with a 9-hole links-style golf
course (also Jensen’s design) and the requisite ball fields.
Midway Park is not a park but a parkway—a calm residential street (calm
despite being just a block north of the CTA Green Line ‘L’ tracks) with
a grassy median. It also happens to be the heart of the Austin Historic
District, listed on the National Register, and with reason.
On this street, and on Race Avenue a block north, is a collection of
homes that represent the vision of top architects of the late 1890s and
early 1900s, including John Chubb, Robert Hyde, Holabird & Roche, John
Krall and four houses by Frederick R. Schock.
One of the Schock homes (at the northwest corner of Midway Park
and Menard Avenue) was the architect’s own residence and a mustsee. He threw everything into it—rock, shingles, leaded glass and other
elements—while somehow retaining the Queen Anne essentials.
Out of the district but just a few blocks away, on Central Avenue near
Madison Street, is Walser House (1903), a Frank Lloyd Wright design
that’s unmistakably a Frank Lloyd Wright design. That it’s on this busy
street surrounded by apartments and across from a schoolyard makes it
a wonder that it’s survived all these years, but here it is.
A bonus: A short walk from Walser House, on Madison Street, is
MacArthur’s Restaurant, a soul-food cafeteria that, though relatively
Previous page: Roeser’s new (established 1997 across the street, moved here a few years later to
Bakery / Humboldt Park
accommodate the crowds), has established itself as an Austin destination. While waiting in line—especially long after church services and
Facing page: Thomas J.
funerals—it’s fun trying to identify the celebrity-customers in the gallery
Langford House
35
of 8-by-10s along the wall. (Hint: Shaquille
O’Neal is the tall guy. Another hint: Try the
ham hocks.)
Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, on Central
Avenue near the south end of Columbus Park,
is a splendid example of the Byzantine style.
Avondale
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
The neighborhood’s churches rival the
residences as architectural attractions. St.
Martin de Porres Catholic Church was St.
Thomas Aquinas when its cornerstone was set
in place on Washington Street in 1923; by any
name, this English Gothic church with Austin’s
tallest bell tower is a beauty (especially from
the inside). Though smaller, the interior of Our
Lady of Frechou, home church of Fraternite
Notre Dame (502 N. Central Ave.), is no less
ornate.
Dunning
Logan Square
Montclare,
Galewood
Humboldt Park
Austin
Garfield Park
North Lawndale
Little Village
And finally, about the Austin Town Hall: It was
built in 1929, 30 years after Austin was annexed
by Chicago, on land that was home in 1870 to
the seat of the government of Cicero Township.
How all this resulted in what today is essentially
a park field house that looks like it belongs
in Philadelphia may be of little interest to
visitors; more interesting is that the architects
who designed it, Michaelsen and Rognstad,
also designed the Pui Tak Center (formerly
the On Leong Chinese Merchant’s Association
Building) in the Chinatown neighborhood.
In a city as diverse as Chicago, versatility
always has paid off.
36
fun
AVALON PARK | CALUMET HEIGHTS
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HIDDEN GEMS ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE
What Marynook has
all its own:
a skating rink.
The rink—called,
of all things, The
Rink—is more than
a roller-skating
venue. It’s an
experience. Interior
decor is highlighted
by neon; banners
featuring President
Obama and Dr.
Martin Luther King
are suspended from
the ceiling.
Avalon Park and Calumet Heights are middle-class neighborhoods,
neighborhoods of bungalows—the classic pre-World War II Chicago-style
models and plenty of newer ones—with a couple of residential pockets
that rise above.
In one case, that rise is literal.
Pill Hill, in Calumet Heights, got that nickname decades ago because of a
concentration of medical professionals living there, many then affiliated
with South Chicago Community Hospital (now Advocate Trinity Hospital)
in the next neighborhood east.
It is set on a bulge (“hill” may be a bit of an overstatement, but it
inspired an earlier name for the area, “Stony Island”) between 90th and
93rd Streets that includes Cregier, Constance and Bennett Avenues. It’s
a district mainly of ranch and bi-level homes, many of them extraordinary and most with landscaping to match.
In Avalon Park, the pocket is Marynook, a subdivision between 83rd and
87th Streets framed by Avalon and Dorchester Avenues. Like Pill Hill,
Marynook’s upscale homes date primarily from the 1950s and 1960s;
unlike Pill Hill, some streets here wind gently through the community,
giving it a distinctively suburban feel.
What Marynook has all its own: a skating rink.
The rink—called, of all things, The Rink—is more than a roller-skating
venue. It’s an experience. Interior decor is highlighted by neon; banners
featuring President Obama and Dr. Martin Luther King are suspended
from the ceiling. Sessions are split according to age group and music
preference—and when the system is cranked, especially on weekend date
nights, the bass can be felt.
Scenes from the 1997 movie “Soul Food” (Vanessa Williams starred)
were filmed at The Rink, which has been at this location just east of the
Chatham neighborhood since 1985. Even if you can’t skate counterclockwise, it’s still worth the (variable, but always modest) admission price
just to watch—but call ahead for availability; private parties happen here.
The Bronzeville Children’s Museum is just west of Pill Hill, and it’s special.
Designed by founder/president Peggy Montes for children 3-9, the
museum—the only African-American children’s museum in the country—
provides an opportunity for young people to examine and, in a hands-on
way, experience the history and culture of a people from the African
homeland to the Americas through exhibits, films and hands-on fun.
Previous page:
Bronzeville Children’s
Museum
38
“The whole idea is to take the visitors through a journey,” says Montes, a
former teacher who in 2008 moved the museum from a suburban mall
to this space 10 times larger than the original and in its own building.
There’s no direct connection to the Bronzeville
neighborhood five miles north, aside from a
cute but tiny version of the old Grand Terrace
Cafe jazz club (which was on 35th Street and
is now a hardware store), complete with an
open mic.
To Montes, however, “Bronzeville” extends
beyond traditional borders.
“It’s for all children,” she says. “Even though
we’re talking about the contributions of
African-Americans, we’re doing it in terms of
wanting everybody to know.”
For visitors who would rather browse and buy
than skate or learn about Daniel Hale Williams,
the black doctor who performed the world’s
first open-heart surgery, there’s shopping.
Mister Kay’s, on 87th Street east of Stony
Island, is where well-heeled local celebrities
including Steve Harvey and Snoop Dogg come
for well-tailored clothes and shoes to match.
Across the street is Essential Elements, a
women’s boutique with more modest prices.
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Chatham
South Chicago
Avalon
Park
Calumet
Heights
e
And the museum, she says, is not just for
African-American kids.
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
sid
rn
Bu
“Bronzeville was a city within a city where our
people had their existence,” Montes says. “My
definition is it’s still ‘Bronzeville,’ even though
we’re located at 93rd Street and Stony Island
Avenue.”
Jackson
Park
Woodlawn
Pullman
Roseland
East
Side
South Deering
SOUTHEAST SIDE
Side dining rooms are named the 8th Ward
Room and the Pill Hill Room; large photographs
of South Side scenes—including an iconic
Russell Lee photo of boys in their Sunday best
from 1941—are on the walls. Facsimile Frank
Lloyd Wright stained glass hangs near the
entrance. In other words, here you get a sense
of where you are.
But without the roller skates.
Still on 87th Street but went of Stony Island,
Brims, a hat shop, caters to the same crowd
that favors Mister Kay’s. Nearby is A Step
Above, another store, this one featuring
exotic skins (snake, eel, ostrich) as well as the
standard leathers.
Neighborhood dining is limited mainly to
franchises, but one of those is worth a special
mention. Leona’s restaurants—mostly pizza—are
found all over Chicagoland these days, but this
outlet, on Stony Island near 92nd Street, is a
little different.
39
TRI-LINGUAL
AVONDALE | IRVING PARK
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WELCOMING NORTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOODS
“What’s good?”
asks a customer,
in English. The
woman he asks
responds with
panicked silence
and calls for help.
Help comes swiftly.
“What’s good?” the
customer asks the
second woman.
“You like garlic?”
The customer nods.
“The wiejska.”
It is, in fact, a
good lesson: In a
Polish shop with a
dizzying array of
sausage options,
you can trust a
woman who speaks
a little English.
Midtown Produce, a corner grocery on Milwaukee Avenue, has this
inscribed on its front window: “owoce, makarony, warzywa.” Alongside
those words, same window, are these: “carne y pastas, vegetales.”
Today’s Avondale is a little more complicated than that—“tri-lingual,”
adding English, doesn’t cover all the options in a neighborhood where
nearly half the population is foreign-born—but those six words, in a
community that was once almost solidly Polish, are an indicator.
Changing as it is, Avondale’s western precincts along Milwaukee Avenue
nonetheless retain a Polish identity that dates back to at least 1894,
when records show 40 families from the old country settled right here.
As often happened back then in Chicago, the immigrants almost immediately established a church. St. Hyacinth parish dates to that beginning.
The present church building was completed in 1921—and if visitors need
a reason to come to Avondale more noble than hunger for pierogi and
kielbasa, this certainly is one of them. Elevated by Pope John Paul II to
basilica status in 2003, St. Hyacinth (open to the public most days; check
the side doors), on the 3600 block of Wolfram Avenue, is a Baroque
masterwork, from its three spires to the interior painting and mosaics to
the stained-glass dome that, together, truly deliver a sense of awe.
In a neighborhood that increasingly speaks with a Spanish accent, this
remains a Polish church: Four of its seven Sunday masses are in Polish;
the other three are in English.
Street signs still call this parish “Polish Village”—and on Milwaukee
Avenue, the storefronts along the four blocks from Central Park to
Hamlin add their confirmation: Kurowski Sausage Shop, Pasieka Bakery,
Staropolska Restaurant and Deli, Eva Polish Bookstore (author Dan
Brown’s bestseller “Deception Point” here becomes “Zwodniczy Punkt”)
and Czerwone Jabluszko (Red Apple) Restaurant.
Festooned in the red and white colors of the Polish flag is Polski
Sklep—the Polish Store, where a big seller is a red T-shirt reading
“Polska. Est. 966.”
Across from Midtown Produce is Endy’s, a sausage shop. Four women
behind the counter take orders for a dizzying array of sausage options,
all the women speaking Polish.
“What’s good?” asks a customer, in English. The woman he asks
responds with panicked silence and calls for help. Help comes swiftly.
“What’s good?” the customer asks the second woman.
“You like garlic?” The customer nods. “The wiejska.”
Facing page: Kuma’s
Corner
It is, in fact, a good lesson: In a Polish shop with a dizzying array of
sausage options, you can trust a woman who speaks a little English.
41
But Avondale isn’t just a few Polish blocks
of Milwaukee Avenue and one Polish church.
Avondale is also live theaters—the Galaxie and
Prop Thtr. It’s Guanajuato #3, a mile east of
Polish Village on California Avenue and one
of several Mexican restaurants. Avondale is
Hot Doug’s, just north of Guanajuato #3 on
California, where folks line up—literally waiting
in long lines—for such wiener exotica as lutefisk
and pork sausage, or cognac-infused lamb
sausage, or foie gras and sauternes duck
sausage—or just a classic Chicago hot dog with
everything but ketchup.
Irving Park—much of it subtitled Old Irving
Park—is Avondale’s neighbor to the north. It’s
primarily a quiet neighborhood of attractive
older homes in various architectural styles,
interrupted by two-flat apartments and larger
multifamily buildings.
Most of the residences aren’t this old, but the
John Gray Home, at the corner of Grace Street
and Kostner Avenue, dates to 1856 (ancient
for Chicago), and several others are from the
1870s and 1880s. The Villa District, a residential
wedge that extends from the corner of Pulaski
Road and Addison Street north to the Kennedy
Expressway (Interstate Highway 90-94), is
listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
The neighborhood is also home to popular
restaurants in a variety of ethnic flavors.
There’s nothing else in the city—and possibly
nothing in Bangkok—quite like much celebrated
Arun’s (Kedzie north of Irving Park Road),
where the cost of a Thai dinner can easily
exceed $100 per person. Less costly (as well
42
Edgewater
North Park
Jefferson
Park
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
North
Center
Lakeview
Avondale
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
And Avondale is La Humita, on Pulaski Road,
Ecuadoran. Kuma’s Corner, on Belmont Avenue,
with its addictive burgers. Or Chief O’Neill’s, on
Elston Avenue, Irish, which is a couple of blocks
south of the Abbey Pub, also on Elston, also
Irish—but the Abby is in the Irving Park neighborhood, a world of its own.
West Ridge
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Logan Square
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
as less spicy) is Mirabell, a convivial AustrianGerman restaurant on Addison Street just east
of the Kennedy. Romanian is the theme at Little
Bucharest, on Elston, not far from the Irish pair
of the Abbey and Chief O’Neill’s, both of which
are also music venues. Strolling musicians liven
up the Italian fare at Sabatino’s on Irving Park
at Kenneth Avenue, a longtime neighborhood
favorite.
Two welcoming neighborhoods. Come visit.
Dziçkujç. Gracias. Thanks.
tradition
BACK OF THE YARDS
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CHICAGO’S HISTORY LIVES ON IN THIS ONE-TIME HOME OF
THE CITY’S STOCKYARDS
The fascination for
visitors resides in
that history. There
are traces.
Foremost is the
Union Stock Yard
Gate, on Exchange
Avenue west of
Halsted, built of
limestone for the
yards’ opening in
1865. The cattle
pens are long
gone; only the
gate remains.
That impressive
Independence
Hall-like edifice
at the ExchangeHalsted corner
was the Live Stock
National Bank.
“Hog Butcher for the World? Not any more, Carl. Not for some time. The
song is ended, though for a visitor from far off the melody lingers on.
Vere are the shtockyards?” —Studs Terkel, “Chicago”
The short answer is, they belong to history. And Jurgis Rudkus, the
immigrant slaughterhouse worker from Lithuania created by Upton
Sinclair for “The Jungle,” has left the neighborhood.
Back of the Yards takes its name from its location south and west of the
old Union Stock Yards, which made Chicago the nation’s meatpacking
capital before fading in the 1950s and closing forever in 1971.
Here, in plants built by men whose names would resonate in this city for
a century and more, generations of men and women, many thousands
of them immigrants, earned their livings. They lived in modest houses
and drank in corner saloons and married and died in what came to be
known as Packingtown, and they prayed in churches that retained and
reinforced traditions brought to this country from Ireland and Germany
and, later, from Poland and Lithuania and Czechoslovakia and Ukraine.
Like the yards themselves—now an industrial park—the neighborhood
has become a very different place.
There is a vibrancy here, to be sure. The stretch of 47th Street between
Damen and Ashland Avenues is an especially active commercial district
that well serves its largely Hispanic community. There are shops:
This is one of the areas in the city where, though the surroundings
are humble, Western-wear stores sell high-end Stetsons and alligator
boots. And there are restaurants: La Cecina, one of those restaurants,
is justly respected for its namesake specialty, thin slices of steak
grilled and served with guacamole, pico de gallo and freshly made,
hot corn tortillas.
But the fascination for visitors resides in that history. There are traces.
Foremost is the Union Stock Yard Gate, on Exchange Avenue west of
Halsted, built of limestone for the yards’ opening in 1865. The cattle pens
are long gone; only the gate remains. That impressive Independence
Hall-like edifice at the Exchange-Halsted corner was the Live Stock
National Bank.
Previous page: Union
Stock Yard Gate
44
South of the bank, demolished in 1999, was the International
Amphitheatre, once home to an annual livestock show and rodeo, NBA
basketball, concerts—Elvis, the Beatles, Sinatra and many more—and five
national political conventions. The last, the 1968 Democratic convention that nominated Hubert Humphrey, was marked by demonstrations
outside the hall and, most memorably, in Grant Park.
New City
Gage Park
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
nd
BACK OF
THE YARDS
kla
Brighton
Park
Oa
The neighborhood is also home to Sherman
Park, opened in 1905, named for John B.
Sherman, who not only founded the Union
Stock Yards but also was son-in-law of Daniel
Burnham, the visionary architect and city
planner. At 60 acres, it is a relatively large and
certainly a lovely green space, designed by the
Olmsted Brothers; Burnham’s firm designed the
field house.
McKinley
Park
Douglas
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
Among the others: the former Ukrainian
church (1919) at Paulina and 50th Streets with
its multiple rusting onion domes, now the
Apostolic House of Prayer; across 50th Street
a onetime Catholic church with “SS Cyrilli and
Methodii” on its cornerstone, now New Life
Seventh-Day Adventist Church. (Both are best
viewed from the outside.)
Bridgeport
South
Loop
BRONZEVILLE
Holy Cross Catholic Church (1915), nearby at
Wood and 45th Streets, was the Lithuanian
church; today, its Sunday masses are in
Spanish—no Lithuanian—and parishioners and
visitors can buy freshly made tamales from
stands near its steps. The interior, like the
interior at St. Joseph’s, is a fine example
of the Baroque style brought over from
Eastern Europe.
Little Village
Fuller Park
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, at Hermitage
and 48th Streets, was built for the neighborhood’s Polish community and remains active.
Dedicated in 1914, with a restoration completed
in 2000, its masses—and church bulletins—are
in Polish, Spanish and English; its altar and
stained glass are very fine.
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Chinatown
And there are the churches. Two shouldn’t
be missed.
Little Italy, UIC
North Lawndale
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
Farther south and west, the simple frame
homes and cottages that were home to the
packing-house workers are still around, most
in decent shape, some not.
Englewood
Chicago Lawn
(The Olmsted-Burnham combination also
was responsible for Cornell Square and Davis
Square, both in the area and important in
what would become the city’s “neighborhood
park” tradition.)
And another park, a newer one, a green speck
on the corner of 49th and Laflin Streets, was
dedicated in 1998: It is called Packingtown Park,
after an earlier name for Back of the Yards—
named 27 years after the stockyards were
no more.
History. The cattle and hogs are gone, but the
history lives on.
45
pierogi
BELMONT CRAGIN | HERMOSA
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WALT DISNEY’S BIRTHPLACE, COACH K. WAY AND MORE
So here it sits, the
wooden front steps
built by Elias Disney
now concrete, the
wooden siding now
aluminum, and
a satellite dish—
unimaginable
even by this child
whose name and
“imagination”
would become
synonymous—on
its roof.
The Disneys left
for a Kansas
farm in 1906.
Walt would return
briefly as a teen,
studying art and
attending McKinley
High School, but
that’s another
neighborhood.
Belmont Cragin and Hermosa are Chicago neighborhoods, largely
residential, with little in common except proximity—they’re side-by-side—
and a manufacturing base lured by the rail lines that help determine
their borders.
Belmont Cragin is much larger. But Hermosa has Walt Disney’s
birthplace.
He was born here in 1901, in a second-floor bedroom of a house at the
corner of Tripp and Palmer Avenues built eight years earlier by his
carpenter father, who had come to Chicago to work at the 1893 World’s
Columbian Exposition (Jackson Park neighborhood).
It is a simple two-story frame house, split now into upstairs and
downstairs rental apartments. There is no marker.
“We do get tourists who come and take pictures, from Denmark, Poland,
Japan,” says owner Radoje Popovic.
“A crew came with a filmmaker from near Madrid. They claimed Walt
Disney was an orphan and that he grew up here but he was Spanish.”
So here it sits, the wooden front steps built by Elias Disney now concrete,
the wooden siding now aluminum, and a satellite dish—unimaginable
even by this child whose name and “imagination” would become
synonymous—on its roof.
The Disneys left for a Kansas farm in 1906. Walt would return briefly
as a teen, studying art and attending McKinley High School, but that’s
another neighborhood.
Elsewhere in this compact community, Marathon Sports, on Fullerton
Avenue, offers a large assortment of international soccer jerseys for
sale; Kelvyn Park (across from the high school of the same name)
features a two-story Georgian field house, unusual in this city. (Riis Park,
in Belmont Cragin, also has one; both are the work of architect Walter
Alschlager.)
Belmont Cragin is best known for its concentration of Polish restaurants,
stores, delis and taverns, most near the intersection of Belmont (its
border with the Portage Park neighborhood) and Central Avenues.
Facing page: Belmont
and Central Avenues
Notable among the restaurants is the Barbakan, on Central, named
for fortresses still standing in Warsaw and Krakow. (A large painting
of the Krakow version decorates a restaurant wall; the opposite wall
is dominated by a painting of that city’s charming Florianska Street.)
Notable within this city’s Barbakan are its cheese and potato pierogi and
its brizol, a pork cutlet topped with sauteed fresh mushrooms.
47
But within a block of Barbakan on Central
are reminders that this is a city of diversity: a
Greek restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, a pizza
place, a Chinese restaurant and a nightspot—the
Martini Club—that features a sushi bar.
North Park
Jefferson
Park
Albany Park
Portage Park
Why here?
“I didn’t think of it as an ‘Irish’ neighborhood,”
says O’Looney. “I just thought it was a nice
place to be.”
The shop features Irish woolens, dolls, books,
jewelry and all the essentials of an Irish breakfast (including white and black puddings) along
with silly buttons and shamrock earrings—
and something special: its own Wall of Fame
covered with photos of herself with mayors,
governors, clergy, Ted Kennedy and one more
you won’t find anywhere else.
It is a 1969 photo of Chicago’s John Cardinal
Cody, the first Mayor Richard Daley and
a youthful priest from Krakow who would
someday become Pope John Paul II. O’Looney
is not in that picture.
“I took it,” she says.
The neighborhood also is home to Riis Park,
a beauty unusual not only for the aforementioned Georgian-style field house but also
because it’s on two levels, thanks to a glacial
ridge that runs through it and that once made
it a natural for a long-vanished ski jump.
48
Irving Park
Dunning
Avondale
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
And on Laramie Avenue just south of
Belmont, in this largely Polish and Hispanic
community, is, naturally, Shamrock Imports—
an Irish specialty shop operated for more than
40 years by a neighborhood legend, Maureen
O’Looney of County Mayo.
Logan Square
Montclare,
Galewood
Humboldt Park
Austin
Garfield Park
And fans of college basketball may want to
seek out the corner of Palmer and Latrobe
Avenues. What is now Norwood Middle School
was once Weber Catholic High School, home
of the Red Horde. In the 1960s, the basketball
team had a wiry kid playing guard.
Palmer Avenue, at that intersection, is
“Honorary Coach K Way,” honoring the kid
who has made coaching history at Duke—
Mike Krzyzewski.
castles
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SOUTH SIDE SURPRISE: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, IRISH
HERITAGE AND MORE
“On an architectural
level, it’s astounding,” says Corrigan,
who greets visitors
at the Beverly Arts
Center. “We have so
many Frank Lloyd
Wright houses, it’s
freakish.
“And we have a
castle! What other
neighborhood has
a castle?”
Mary Ann Corrigan almost giggles when she talks about Beverly.
“On an architectural level, it’s astounding,” says Corrigan, who greets
visitors at the Beverly Arts Center. “We have so many Frank Lloyd Wright
houses, it’s freakish.
“And we have a castle! What other neighborhood has a castle?”
Beverly—full name, Beverly Hills, which almost no one uses—is many
things. Historic, for sure. Suburban-looking, certainly. Irish, undeniably.
Surprising, always.
It’s the houses that dazzle visitors and are the pride of the community.
Most are atop or on either side of the Ridge, a glacial leftover that was
once an island (on a long-gone lake) and is now a six-mile-long wooded
hill. Four were designed by Wright, three of them Chicago landmarks
(and there’s another Wright not far south, in West Pullman’s Beverly-like
Stewart Ridge district); seven more houses are the work of Walter Burley
Griffin, a onetime Wright colleague also influenced by the Prairie School.
All are within the Ridge Historic District, listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. Within that district are three more Chicago landmark
districts: one named for Griffin, plus the Beverly/Morgan Park Railroad
Stations and Longwood Drive—all of which, except the Griffin, overlap
into Morgan Park community, Beverly’s neighbor to the south.
And there’s The Castle, built in 1886 for real estate developer Robert
Givins. Modest in size as castles go, it nonetheless certainly has the
look of an impregnable Irish country stronghold as it sits royally above
Longwood Drive.
“We have a very strong Irish Catholic population, and the [unknown]
designer supposedly came from Ireland,” says Linda Lamberty, historian
for the Ridge Historical Society. “So it has kind of gelled into something
that stands for the community.”
The Beverly Arts Center, which is actually in Morgan Park (a reality that
matters little to anyone), is home to live performances, film series and
classes in visual and performing arts, and occasional exhibits of oils,
watercolors and photographs.
And there’s this little hidden jewel. . .
In the Ridge Park Field house on Longwood Drive is something few
Chicagoans have ever heard of: the Vanderpoel Art Collection.
Previous page: Beverly
Unitarian ChurchRobert C. Gibins House
50
“You’d be surprised,” says Sidney Hamper, who shows folks around the
free gallery, “the number of people in the neighborhood who don’t know
about it.”
Here, covering almost every inch of available
wall space, are selected works by the likes of
Maxfield Parrish, Mary Cassatt and Martha
Susan Baker, as well as John H. Vanderpoel,
a distinguished late 19th- and early 20thcentury artist and teacher who lived in the
community. Among his students: Georgia
O’Keefe, who called him “one of the few real
teachers I have known.”
Also on display (the gallery is open Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays) are etchings by
Grant Wood, sculptures by Daniel Chester
French and Lorado Taft, and intriguing works
like a 1936 painting of nightlife in Chicago’s
Pilsen neighborhood by Joseph Tomanek, a
local artist better known for his nudes.
Beverly has its fine dining, notably Koda Bistro
and Cafe 103; the Top Notch Restaurant, a
popular diner, has been satisfying locals with its
beefburgers since 1954. The Original Rainbow
Cone—its five-flavor cone is its signature
delight—began here on Western Avenue in 1929
and is still scooping away.
But in Chicago, it’s impossible to think of
Beverly without its Irish pubs. From 103rd to
(and even a wee tad across) 111th Street along
the west side of Western Avenue, a city mile,
resides a succession of establishments capable
of quenching the most stubborn of thirsts, pubs
with names like O’Rourke, Keegan, McNally
and O’Leary.
Some, like the Beverly Arts Center, are
actually within the Morgan Park neighborhood—
but again, such distinctions matter little to
anyone here.
Grand
Crossing
Ashburn
Auburn Gresham
Chatham
Washington
Heights
Beverly
Roseland
Mount
Greenwood
Morgan Park
West Pullman
news and kept in touch with everybody else,
and to rally for the cause, whatever the cause
might be. The Irish were always into some kind
of cause.”
Today, she concedes, it’s not quite the same—
“the young people now, they’re all so integrated
into everything else”—but the pubs here thrive
nonetheless and, especially on St. Patrick’s Day,
draw customers from the bordering Morgan
Park and Mount Greenwood neighborhoods as
well as nearby suburbs.
Your pint is waiting. Remember to toast
Mr. Wright.
“For the Irish, the pub was more than just a
place to drink,” says Carol Flynn of the Ridge
Historical Society, whose siblings include a
Catholic priest and a policeman. “The church
and the pub were where they got together, got
51
pride
BOYSTOWN
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CHICAGO PRIDE
In Edgewater,
Rogers Park,
Andersonville and
other Chicago
neighborhoods,
there are gathering
places and comfort
levels that not long
ago didn’t exist—or
existed furtively.
Boystown, since its
emergence in the
1970s, has never
done furtive. Never
felt the need.
On Broadway
and especially on
Halsted, this is
where the rainbow
colors declare both
pride of identity
and pride of place.
And it is a mishmash, which adds to
the fascination.
It’s still Chicago’s gayest neighborhood, this triangle created by
Broadway and Belmont Avenues and Halsted Street in the Lakeview
community.
But Boystown is no longer quite as gay as it was.
“It’s now very mixed, culturally,” says Ed Gargano, longtime manager
of Gaymart, a nostalgia shop on Halsted.
And that, he says, is mostly good.
“Good in that people are more comfortable being around each other,” he
says. “We were so segregated before. We’re able to live anywhere now.”
“It’s all a mishmash of a bunch of different people,” says Joya Salustro,
assistant manager of Beatnix, another Halsted Street shop. “We’re all
kind of mixed in together, which is nice.”
In Edgewater, Rogers Park, Andersonville and other Chicago neighborhoods, there are gathering places and comfort levels that not long ago
didn’t exist—or existed furtively. Boystown, since its emergence in the
1970s, has never done furtive. Never felt the need.
On Broadway and especially on Halsted, this is where the rainbow colors
declare both pride of identity and pride of place.
And it is a mishmash, which adds to the fascination. On Halsted, Yoshi’s
Cafe, where chef Yoshi Katsumura has been fusing Asian and French
(and other) flavors since 1982, serves a clientele that’s as difficult to
define as its menus. The Chicago Diner opened a year later and continues to take “vegetarian” to unexplored worlds. (The meatless country
fried “steak” actually works.)
The entire length of Broadway within the neighborhood’s borders (and
south of Belmont to Diversey) is a succession of restaurants. The range
is amazing, from Turkish (Istanbul) to Italian (Angelina, Adesso) to lots of
East Asian to the 24-hour Melrose Diner, always good for an omelet.
There is live theater in the neighborhood. “Blue Man Group” has been
throwing marshmallows at the Briar Street Theatre, on Halsted just
south of Belmont, for more than a decade. In a marshmallow-free zone
on Broadway, Strawdog Theatre Company and Oracle Productions take
a very different approach in studies of the human condition. Center on
Halsted, which offers educational, social and recreational programs for
the LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) community, also hosts
theatrical performances.
Facing page: 44th Ward
Dinner Party
Shops, too, have a range. Unabridged Bookstore, on Broadway, is a
longtime favorite. Wigglyville Pet Boutique, a block north, is just what
it sounds like.
53
Gaymart, curiously, isn’t. Yes, there are rainbow
kites and billfolds, and greeting cards you
won’t find at Walgreens—but this may also be
Chicago’s most complete store for pop-culture
action figures. From Batman and Superman
and Star Trek characters to Snap, Crackle and
Pop, it seems they’re all for sale in this (yes)
kid-friendly shop.
“We’ve got Marilyn, we’ve got the Beatles, Betty
Boop,” says Gargano. “John Wayne.”
Edgewater
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
North
Center
Wrigleyville
Boystown
Lakeview
Beatnix is more the kind of shop visitors might
expect to find on Halsted Street in Boystown.
The leather chaps are here, and wigs and
masks and feather boas and body-length
rhinestone accessories perfect for unleashing
anyone’s inner Cher.
The neighborhood is also home to a variety
of bars and nightclubs. On weekend nights
(especially) and during celebrations and events
of special meaning to the community—including
the annual Pride Parade in late June—the
action is here.
The question, as in any nightlife district but
especially here, is how to know where to find
what you’re looking for—or not.
“There’s really great free magazines, like Gay
Chicago,” says Salustro. “We have them in the
store. I just tell them to grab a Gay Chicago and
walk up and down the [Halsted street] strip and
it tells you everything you need to know.”
And for those who aren’t into the bar scene
and who simply want to experience a unique
Chicago neighborhood and, perhaps, enjoy a
nice brunch and a beverage, there’s always
Sunday.
54
Logan
Square
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Wicker Park,
West Town
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Old
Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Streeterville
Rush & Division
It’s when the neighborhood recovers and
becomes—a neighborhood.
“After a full week of work and a night out
dancing or out with friends, to go out for
brunch or a picnic by the lake, you really
get to see the community,” Galloway says.
“Everyone’s just relaxing.
“There’s something awfully traditional
about that.”
RENEWAL
BRIDGEPORT
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ONE OF CHICAGO’S OLDEST NEIGHBORHOODS BECOMES
NEW AGAIN
What visitors won’t
find anywhere in
the city is anything
quite like Stearns
Quarry, 27th Street
at Halsted. It was
Chicago’s first
stone quarry—its
1833 beginnings
beat the city’s
birthday by a year,
and it continued to
supply limestone
into the 1960s. In
2009 it became
27 acres of park.
Within the old
quarry walls is a
fishing pond. A
native wetland has
been created. Kites
soar from its open
meadow.
Bridgeport is a neighborhood that for generations has been defined by
the White Sox (who, as will surprise even lifelong Chicagoans, actually
play their baseball in Armour Square, the next neighborhood over) and
mayors (five came from here—including two Daleys—but 40 didn’t).
At its heart, it has long been a working-class area of modest brick
cottages and two-flats, and of ethnic enclaves, enclaves centered around
churches built to reinforce that sense of community.
That sense remains, though the ethnicities—once largely Irish, Italian and
eastern European—have expanded to include Hispanics and, increasingly,
Chinese, as well as a new group of immigrants: young people from
all over.
For sure, no longer does Bridgeport resemble its original name,
Hardscrabble.
This neighborhood is experiencing a true, broadly based renewal.
Young singles and couples, and artists of any age, are moving in, taking
advantage of relatively low rents, interesting and decent housing stock,
and for the artists, available exhibition space. Young lawyers and other
professionals—drawn in part by good transportation (the CTA’s Red and
Orange Lines border the community)—are rehabbing older units and
building new ones.
For sure, it’s the artists that truly shake the prevailing image of what has
long been perceived as a shot-and-a-beer neighborhood while adding to
its appeal for visitors and for investors.
“The developer always follows where the artists go, because the artists
make the neighborhood interesting,” says Michael Chou, manager of
Zhou B Art Center on the 1000 block of 35th Street. “They used to be in
Pilsen, but the rents there got higher, so they emigrated to Bridgeport.”
The Zhou Center alone, created by renowned Chicago-based ChineseAmerican artists Shan Zuo and Da Huang Zhou, has more than
30 resident artists, whose studios and galleries are open to the public
every third Friday; a main floor gallery, showcasing the Zhou brothers’
work and that of other local and world artists, is open daily, as is an
on-site cafe.
Of the neighborhood’s churches, St. Mary of Perpetual Help (1903), built
on 32nd Street near Morgan for what then was a largely Polish parish,
is a dazzler, with its great dome and an interior resplendent in white
and gold.
Previous page: St. Mary
of Perpetual Help
56
All Saints St. Anthony’s Church (1913), 28th Place at Wallace Street, is
notable for the fine mosaic over its entrance, best appreciated when
illuminated by the afternoon sun. St. Barbara (1914), Throop Street south
of Archer Avenue, built when St. Mary of Perpetual Help couldn’t handle
Printers
Row
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
North
Lawndale
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Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Little
Village
Bridgeport
New City
Gage Park
nd
BACK OF
THE YARDS
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Brighton
Park
Douglas
Oa
McKinley
Park
South
Loop
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
And while U.S. Cellular Field is on the Armour
Square side of the viaduct, the White Sox
certainly are a presence in this proud South
Side neighborhood. You may be able to find a
Cubs hat at the Grandstand (600 W. 35th St.)
if you look closely, but shoppers will find every
variation of Sox cap—plus Sox jerseys, T-shirts
and bobbleheads—at this quintessential
baseball store.
GreekTown
BRONZEVILLE
A relative newcomer (since 1985—in Bridgeport,
that’s a newcomer), the Polo Cafe, on the 3300
block of Morgan Street, has come a long way
from its “nuts and candy” beginnings to fullpleasure restaurant. Even newer (since 2001),
Gio’s Cafe/Deli, on Lowe Avenue near 27th
Street, looks like an ordinary little grocery store
with a few tables until you order one of
its extraordinary pastas.
West Loop
Fuller Park
Bridgeport’s sudden lurch toward trendiness
hasn’t disrupted most of its older traditions.
You can still buy a Lithuanian beer at Bernice’s
Tavern, a classic, cozy neighborhood bar on
Halsted Street near 32nd Street. The Ramova
Grill, three blocks south, has been proud of its
chili since 1929, and aside from a certain patina
(and the prices) it hasn’t changed much since
then. Schaller’s Pump, two blocks further south
on Halsted, has been a watering hole nonstop
since 1881; White Sox fans crowd the place
before games for its signature butt steaks and
easy conviviality.
United
Center
Chinatown
In this neighborhood of transition, a former
Presbyterian church becomes a Buddhist
temple (Ling Shen Ching Tze, on 31st Street
near Morgan) and a former monastery becomes
a B&B (Benedictine Bed & Breakfast, Aberdeen
Street just south of 31st), and it’s just another
piece of change. . .
Garfield
Park
Loop
the crowds, is a startling Renaissance-style
octagonal building whose interior and stained
glass rival those of its mother church.
J
What visitors won’t find anywhere in the city is
anything quite like Stearns Quarry, 27th Street
at Halsted. It was Chicago’s first stone quarry—
its 1833 beginnings beat the city’s birthday by a
year, and it continued to supply limestone into
the 1960s. In 2009 it became 27 acres of park.
Within the old quarry walls is a fishing pond.
A native wetland has been created. Kites soar
from its open meadow.
A quarry that yielded fossils in one of Chicago’s
oldest neighborhoods has become one its
newest parks in a neighborhood that, in many
ways, is becoming new all over again.
Perfect.
57
legacy
BRONZEVILLE
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A CITY WITHIN A CITY
The Marx Brothers
also lived for a time
on this boulevard,
before the Great
Migration, in a notso-grand apartment
building that’s still
around. Groucho
would insert a
funny line here.
Nat “King” Cole
was Nathaniel Coles
when he lived on
the 4000 block of
South Vincennes
and began making
the rounds as a
jazz pianist;
Richard Wright
wasn’t in love with
the city—“Whenever
I leave that town I
feel as though I had
been in a three-day
nightmare,” he
once wrote. . .
This is more than a neighborhood. When the Great Migration brought
African Americans from the South to jobs in the North early in the last
century, many found their way to Bronzeville.
In this South Side community were the entrepreneurs and the musicians
and the novelists and playwrights and poets who defined the black
urban existence, not only in Chicago but also in much of America, rivaled
only by New York’s Harlem.
The names are familiar: Richard Wright, Louis Armstrong, Lorraine
Hansberry, the bluesmen—Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and
more—publisher John Johnson. . . all lived here or worked here, often
both, in what we call Bronzeville. All left a legacy.
And even though what scholars called the Black Metropolis has expanded beyond Bronzeville’s boundaries, exploring the neighborhood as it
is today reminds us of its contributions.
Coincidentally, one of the neighborhood’s landmarks honors a man who
opposed Abraham Lincoln. Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln’s Democratic
rival in state and national politics, owned much property here; a
monument, similar to the one at Lincoln’s resting place in downstate
Springfield, marks his tomb at the east end of 35th Street.
The 1928 Victory Monument, on Martin Luther King Drive (formerly
South Park Way) at 35th Street, both salutes an African-American
regiment in the First World War and signals a sense of inclusion that
prevailed despite postwar race riots and continued discrimination in
housing and jobs. Here, too, is the Walk of Fame, sidewalk plaques that
commemorate influential African Americans—among them, Vivian Harsh,
the first black librarian in the Chicago Public Library system; her extensive collection, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American
History and Literature, fills its own wing of the Carter G. Woodson
Regional Library, at 95th and Halsted Streets in the Washington Heights
neighborhood.
Also on King Drive: more public art, including the poignant but understated Monument to the Great Northern Migration. Ahead on this
historic street: fine greystones and redstones, including the homes of
civil rights pioneer Ida B. Wells, publisher Robert S. Abbott and congressman Oscar Stanton de Priest. Hansberry (“A Raisin in the Sun”), as an
adult, lived a little more than a mile south of Abbott and de Priest. (A
childhood home, a three-flat at 6140 S. Rhodes Ave. in the Woodlawn
neighborhood, was granted landmark status by the city in 2010.)
Facing page: Stephen A.
Douglas Tomb
The Marx Brothers also lived for a time on this boulevard, before the
Great Migration, in a not-so-grand apartment building that’s still around.
Groucho would insert a funny line here.
59
60
Englewood
nd
“It’s the story of a city within a city—that still
exists today.”
New City
kla
In Bronzeville, heritage is a living thing. Says
Harold Lucas, president of the Black Metropolis
Convention and Tourism Council:
BACK OF
THE YARDS
Oa
Linger at “The Wall of Daydreaming and Man’s
Inhumanity to Man,” a startling mural at King
Drive at 47th Street dating to 1975, restored in
2003 and, through all those years, untarnished.
You’ll understand why.
McKinley
Park
Douglas
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
Enjoy smothered pork chops with collards and
mac-and-cheese at Pearl’s Place, on 39th Street
at Michigan Avenue. See the Faie African Art
Gallery on Cottage Avenue near 43rd Street,
then stroll down Cottage Grove for a bite at the
Ain’t She Sweet Cafe. Try the namesake combo
at Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles.
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South
Loop
BRONZEVILLE
But it isn’t what it was—it’s just a hardware
store—and neither is Bronzeville. This is a
community of today, looking toward tomorrow.
Housing is rising; businesses are opening.
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Fuller Park
It’s been said if you walk into Meyer’s Ace
Hardware on 35th Street near Calumet
Avenue, you can feel the presence of jazzmen
(Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman,
many more) who played there when it was the
Sunset Cafe (1921-1937) and, later, the Grand
Terrace Cafe (until 1950). Photos of what it was
are just inside the door.
Printers
Row
Little Italy, UIC
Chinatown
Armstrong and his wife, Lil Hardin, owned a
house on 44th Street. Nat “King” Cole was
Nathaniel Coles when he lived on the 4000
block of South Vincennes and began making
the rounds as a jazz pianist; Richard Wright
wasn’t in love with the city—“Whenever I leave
that town I feel as though I had been in a threeday nightmare,” he once wrote—but live here he
did, in Bronzeville, on Indiana Avenue near 38th
Street.
Kenwood
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
Jackson
Park
wonders
BUCKTOWN
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A VIBRANT COLLECTION OF BOUTIQUES, GALLERIES AND
RESTAURANTS, PLUS CLASSIC RESIDENTIAL STREETS
In fact, the whole
neighborhood kind
of sneaks up on
you, especially
when approached
on Damen from
its northern entry
point, the awardwinning Damen
Avenue Arch
Bridge (2000).
The Bucktown area is relatively small, an eastern wedge of the Logan
Square neighborhood defined in part by the Chicago River and interrupted down its length by the Kennedy Expressway (Interstate Highway
90-94).
That wouldn’t sound all that promising—except visionaries have done
wonders here.
As in nearby DePaul-Sheffield and Lincoln Park, nearly everything old
in Bucktown has been made new again through thoughtful restoration,
augmented by fresh residential construction kept carefully in scale.
Its commercial heart, Damen Avenue, maintains the same values. Its
shops and restaurants rarely exceed one storefront in width; an exception—Coast Sushi Bar—combines three storefronts, but its minimalist
signage and exterior decor do nothing to overwhelm its neighbors.
No oppressive neon anywhere.
In fact, the whole neighborhood kind of sneaks up on you, especially
when approached on Damen from its northern entry point, the awardwinning Damen Avenue Arch Bridge (2000).
First greeting comes from the Vienna Beef factory—home of what the
company calls Chicago’s Hot Dog®. Yes, if you really want to know what
goes into a hot dog, there are tours on Wednesday mornings; if you
don’t, there’s still an on-site cafe selling sandwiches (hot dogs, corned
beef, salami and other beefy things) and a factory store.
But it’s a factory—and that’s not what Bucktown is about.
Continuing south on Damen, visitors drive beneath the expressway
overpass and emerge unexpectedly into a world of chic boutiques,
galleries, interior designers, flower shops and (mostly) small but (mostly)
sophisticated eating places.
That’s Bucktown.
In fact, Le Bouchon may be the quintessential Bucktown restaurant.
Launched in 1993, it’s very small, it’s not terribly expensive for what it is
(French) and there’s a good chance its rognons de veau à la moutarde
would not have done well in this formerly working-class neighborhood
30 years ago.
Just south, much praised Chef Takashi Ygihashi fuses Mediterranean and
Asian elements at Takashi. A little farther south, Duchamp merges the
familiar and flavorful skirt steak with less familiar “parmesan-smoked
bacon quiche & roasted shallot sauce.”
Previous page:
Bucktown Pub
62
Back up north on Damen just this side of that expressway overpass is
The Bristol. (Roasted bone marrow anyone? Goat sausage?)
Uptown
Irving Park
Wrigleyville
North
Center
Boystown
Avondale
Logan Square
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
Garfield Park
Nor is it all about Damen Avenue. Cafe Matou
does nice French on Milwaukee Avenue. Cafe
Laguardia (a popular spot for Cuban goodies)
is a minor stretch of the legs west of Damen
on Armitage.
Lincoln
Square
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy, UIC
Loop
And it’s not all fancy or esoteric grub: There’s
George’s Hot Dogs, here more than 60 years,
with all the Chicago sandwich essentials and
more; and Nick’s Pit Stop, the ultimate in
simplicity, with char-broiled chickens (whole,
half, quarter, all good) and not much else.
Albany Park
Hermosa
It’s not all tight seating here. There’s the
aforementioned, relatively sprawling Coast.
Even more emphatically bucking the smalleris-sweeter trend, the Perez family—which has
been cooking Peruvian goodies elsewhere in
the neighborhood for 30 years—went big a
couple of years ago, pouring $2.4 million into
the dazzling, bi-level Rios d’Sudamerica. It’s on
Armitage just west of Damen and the place to
go for cau cau de conchas.
Printers
Row
Grant
Park
And it’s not all restaurants and shops. Do
take the time to appreciate the neighborhood’s residential streets. Walk or drive along
Charleston Street or Dickens Avenue or any
of the others and appreciate the work that’s
been done converting workers’ cottages and
larger brick homes from marginally acceptable
to near-showplace status. Appreciate, too, how
well buildings of different ages and styles can
work together aesthetically.
In fact—at least in terms of aesthetic integrity—
it can be difficult to tell where the boutiques
and cool restaurants end and the rest of the
neighborhood, where people actually live,
begins.
It’s a neighborhood that works. Hot dog.
63
64
vibrant
CHATHAM | BURNSIDE
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OMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL
VIBRANCY
It’s fitting that Chatham, one of Chicago’s
more pleasant residential neighborhoods,
would also have one of its most vibrant
commercial streets.
What makes 79th Street most interesting is not
that almost every storefront is occupied, but
that they are occupied by local entrepreneurs.
Yassa, the Senegalese restaurant, transports
diners to West Africa with not only its cuisine
but also its decor and the music it has for sale.
Walk two blocks west to Izola’s Restaurant. It
looks like any other diner until you peek into
the formal dining room on the right. There,
bigger than life, are huge photos of late
Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, two other
local pols and one of respected TV reporter
Russ Ewing. A framed life-size Barack Obama
nearly covers a south wall.
Back in the diner, you realize those walls are
covered by photos of dozens of uniformed
policemen, a signed letter from the late mayor,
plus photos of people known in the neighborhood and beyond, and you realize this is not
just any diner.
Izola’s has been here more than a half-century.
The mayor ate here often. The president,
Congressmen and other important people have
eaten here too. And if they had the short ribs,
deep fried breaded pork chops, chicken and
dumplings, chitterlings or just about anything
else on the menu, they ate well. (Be warned:
The ham hocks and greens sell out early.)
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Auburn
Gresham
Chatham
Avalon
Park
South
Chicago
Calumet
Heights
e
True, visitors might not be drawn to the
barbershops or dentists or grocery stores on
79th Street between the Dan Ryan Expressway
(Interstate Highway 94) and Cottage Grove
Avenue. But if you like Caribbean jerk chicken;
American fried chicken; succulent, smoky
barbecue; soul food done right or delicacies
that make mouths water in Senegal. . .
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
sid
rn
Bu
Chatham is a solid middle-class neighborhood,
almost entirely African American, of mostly
bungalows and two-flats.
Jackson
Park
Woodlawn
Englewood
Washington
Heights
Pullman
Roseland
Morgan
Park
South Deering
Not all the good eats are on 79th. Look past
the regular donuts at Dat Donuts on Cottage
Grove Avenue for something a little unusual.
You won’t miss it—and you probably won’t finish
it—the Big Dat, a frosted donut big as a Frisbee.
But people do.
People also roller skate in this area, which, if
you knock off a Big Dat, might be a good plan.
A rink called The Rink is just past the viaduct
that divides Chatham and Avalon Park, and
folks have been going in circles here for over
25 years. They also roll in from Burnside, a
community to the southwest that’s home to
Harold Washington Elementary School, named
after Chicago’s first African-American mayor.
Until 1992, it was the Oliver H. Perry
Elementary School, but in Chicago, local history
always takes precedence over the War of 1812.
Previous pages:
Music Box Theatre /
Wrigleyville
Facing page: The Rink
67
dim sum
CHINATOWN | ARMOUR SQUARE
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HOME TO CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN AND THE CHICAGO
WHITE SOX
The new ballpark,
after an uncertain
beginning, has won
over fans. Some
tweaks to its upper
deck—10 rows
were lopped off its
top—went a long
way; a World Series
Championship in
2005 clinched it.
And yet. . .
Walk onto the
parking lot north
of 35th Street
along Shields
Avenue toward
the Gate 5 sign.
Look down. There,
imbedded between
lines representing
batter’s boxes, is a
home plate—on the
exact spot of the
home plate where
Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb,
Appling, Aparicio,
Fisk and so many
others measured
their swings.
Facing page: Wentworth
Avenue between 22nd
Street and 25th Street
Chicago’s Chinatown, a neighborhood within the Armour Square
community, is home to nearly 15,000 ethnic Chinese and almost as
many restaurants—not all of them Chinese.
Armour Square is also home of the Chicago White Sox.
Interestingly, the Chinese and the White Sox arrived in Armour Square
around the same time.
Chicago’s original Chinatown was established in the late 1870s in
the area of Van Buren and Clark Streets in the Loop, populated by
immigrants who helped build railroads and mine gold. Around 1905,
there was a shift southward to what would become today’s Chinatown,
near Wentworth Avenue and 22nd Street (now Cermak Road).
In 1905, the White Sox were in their fifth season as a member of the new
American League. Right field at South Side Park was along Wentworth,
about two miles due south of Chinatown.
Some things have changed—though not that much. It’s left field at U.S.
Cellular Field, current home of the White Sox (which replaced 80-yearold Comiskey Park in 1990), that parallels Wentworth now. Chinatown?
Still where it’s been for more than a century now, and still one of
Chicago’s favorite spots for a night of dining and escapism.
A walk down Wentworth from Cermak to 24th Place—four short blocks—
sends visitors past (at last count) 19 restaurants and bakeries, the
latter offering snacks and light meals along with baked goods and tea.
On Wentworth, too, are grocery markets (some selling fish live from
tanks), gift shops, book shops and stores selling ginseng and traditional
medicines.
More restaurants can be found on side streets west of Wentworth. More
are right on Cermak. Still more are on Archer Avenue, just north of
Cermak. Still more—of everything—is in Chinatown Square, an outdoor
mall across Archer.
Listing restaurants in an area that boasts dozens risks leaving out
someone’s favorites. On Wentworth, Won Kow deserves a mention for
longevity; it’s been in business since 1927. Toward the street’s far end,
Evergreen Restaurant adds Szechuan favorites to the familiar Cantonese
standards. In between, Emperor’s Choice features fresh seafood. On
Archer, the dim sum at the Phoenix Restaurant has earned praise from
lovers of those little dumplings and bits.
Across from Phoenix, in Chinatown Square, chef Tony Hu’s three restaurants—Lao Sze Chuan, Lao Beijing and Lao Shanghai—have forced diners
to break away from the familiar.
69
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
Bridgeport
McKinley
Park
BACK OF
THE YARDS
New City
South
Loop
Douglas
Grand
Boulevard
nd
70
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
kla
Nah. Not even Frank Thomas or Ron Kittle
could’ve done that. But either, probably, could’ve
told you where to find a perfect egg roll.
Museum
Campus
Oa
The trees down the mythical left-field line in
Armour Square Park are the trees that were
visible through the old park’s archways. A
monster drive over where the upper deck stood
in left-center would have landed on the roof at
Won Kow.
Little Italy, UIC
Washington
Park
Walk onto the parking lot north of 35th Street
along Shields Avenue toward the Gate 5 sign.
Look down. There, imbedded between lines
representing batter’s boxes, is a home plate—on
the exact spot of the home plate where Ruth,
Gehrig, Cobb, Appling, Aparicio, Fisk and so
many others measured their swings.
Printers
Row
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
BRONZEVILLE
And yet. . .
GreekTown
Fuller Park
The new ballpark, after an uncertain beginning,
has won over fans. Some tweaks to its upper
deck—10 rows were lopped off its top—went a
long way; a World Series Championship in
2005 clinched it.
West Loop
Chinatown
Nonetheless, it’s the Chinatown Gate, which
greets visitors to the Wentworth strip near
Cermak, that defines the northern regions
of Armour Square, just as U.S. Cellular Field
dominates its southern area.
United
Center
Loop
It’s only right that even Chinatown should be
international. St. Therese Chinese Catholic
Church, on Alexander Street just west of
Wentworth, was born in 1904 as Santa Maria
Incoronata, serving what then was a significant
Italian community. Reminders of that early
heritage remain, in the form—naturally—of
restaurants: Bertucci’s Corner, on 24th Street
west of Wentworth, is an institution that dates
to 1935; newer but no less Italian, Connie’s Pizza
(1963) and Ricobene’s (1946), with its signature breaded steaks, were launched from, and
remain in, this neighborhood.
Kenwood
Hyde Park
twist
DUNNING
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HISTORICALLY POLISH AND ITALIAN NEIGHBORHOOD
WITH A TWIST
But here, in just
that first block
of Belmont, it’s
possible to get
a Szwedizki
massage—Swedish—
at the Blue Island
Spa, which, of
course, is nowhere
near Blue Island.
Across the street
and a few doors
down is Kyokushin
Karate Club Kanku.
The name of the
sensei (instructor),
according to the
club’s sign, is
Leslaw Samitowski.
Samitowski is
a name clearly
un-Asian.
What’s most interesting about the Dunning neighborhood, aside from
the place its name holds in local history, is its distinctly split ItalianPolish personality.
Well, maybe it’s not all that distinct.
Belmont Avenue is one of its primary commercial thoroughfares. From
Austin Avenue, where it’s an extension of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, to Dunning’s western edge near Cumberland Avenue, the stores
and services are almost universally Polish—though sometimes with
a twist.
Stefan’s Deli is Polish. Richard’s Polish Bakery is Polish.
But here, in just that first block of Belmont, it’s possible to get a
Szwedizki massage—Swedish—at the Blue Island Spa, which, of course,
is nowhere near Blue Island. Across the street and a few doors down
is Kyokushin Karate Club Kanku. The name of the sensei (instructor),
according to the club’s sign, is Leslaw Samitowski. Samitowski is a
name clearly un-Asian.
The New England Inn, a bar-restaurant, does not feature chowders and
lobsters. It’s called the New England Inn because it’s on the corner of
New England Avenue and Irving Park Road. Its menu is written in Czech,
Polish and English; its cuisine leans toward Czech—roast duck, sauerkraut and dumplings is an entree—but also on the menu, in the three
languages, is kung pao chicken, clearly un-Bohemian.
Now is as good a time as any to mention that the Dunning neighborhood
was named for the mental health facility built here before the Civil War, a
time before enlightenment eliminated much of the horror then associated with care and treatment. The home hasn’t been “Dunning” for more
than a century—it was Chicago State Hospital for a time, and it’s now
Chicago-Read Mental Health Center—but informally the name lingers,
no doubt because the neighborhood’s name keeps it alive.
Back to today.
Previous page: Pasta
Fresh
72
Harlem Avenue, from Irving Park south to Belmont, is another main
commercial street. Harlem, as it is south of Dunning in the Montclare
neighborhood, is dotted with storefronts offering espresso, gelato and
other good things Italian. Mr. Beef, whose original location downtown
near the Merchandise Mart is a celebrity favorite for its Italian beef
sandwiches, has its only branch in Dunning, on Harlem just south of
Irving Park Road.
That Italianness peaks at Harlem and Roscoe
Avenue. Here, we have Pasta Fresh, Anthony
Bartucci’s storefront justly famed for its
freshly made take-home pastas (try the rotolo),
meatballs and sauces. Fiorenza Ristorante is
next door. Palermo’s Bakery is just south on
Harlem, right across from Caponie’s Trattoria
and an easy stroll to La Bomboniera, a gift shop
and source for Giuseppe Armani figurines and
sculptures, steps away from Quo Vadis, one of
Chicago’s most complete Polish bookstores. . .
A final stop is back on Belmont, the Polish
street that isn’t necessarily Polish. Near the
corner of Belmont and Overhill Avenue toward
the neighborhood’s western border is Nottoli
& Son, an Italian sausage shop and deli that’s
been grinding away since 1947, and at this
location since 1971. Its prepared foods and subs
(particularly the meatball sub, best topped
with a slice of mozzarella) have been widely
applauded. There are a few tables.
Norwood Park
Jefferson
Park
Portage Park
Dunning
Belmont Cragin
Montclare,
Galewood
Austin
The “& Son,” George Nottoli II, for a time was
better known as Vito “Two Fingers” Fontaine, a
professional wrestler. Curiously enough, according to a wrestling Web site, the sausage-maker
not only had a ringside conflict with another
wrestler known professionally as “Butcher”
but also—this is good—was guilty of “hitting
the ‘Polish Crippler’ over the head with the
kitchen sink.”
Which would have been the perfect Dunning
neighborhood squabble.
73
stroll
EDGEWATER
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A WATERFRONT NEIGHBORHOOD OF THEATERS, RESTAURANTS
AND ARCHITECTURAL LEGACY
And when visitors
have their fill of
food and culture—
or before they
partake—this is,
after all, Edgewater.
It’s called that for
a reason. It may
not always be easy
to reach the beach,
but it beckons.
Not sure where it
is? Here’s an insideChicago tip: It’s
always east.
Edgewater is one of the city’s more interesting neighborhoods—yet
few people, even in Chicago, think of it as a neighborhood at all.
Once considered part of the Uptown neighborhood to its south,
Edgewater, for a variety of reasons, spun off on its own in the 1970s.
By that time, its single best-known attraction, the once glamorous
Edgewater Beach Hotel (at Sheridan Road and Berwyn Avenue), had
been demolished, and the view of the Lake Michigan waterfront was
on its way to being barricaded behind a succession of high-rise
apartment buildings.
When visitors came to enjoy the area, they went to Andersonville, which,
though technically within Edgewater’s boundaries along Clark Street,
had (and continues to have) its own identity, or directly to the Lake
Michigan beaches at Hollywood or Foster Avenue without giving the
neighborhood another thought.
Even with the beaches and Andersonville still drawing crowds, Edgewater
is slowly establishing its own reputation as a community of theaters,
restaurants, pleasing residential areas and an architectural legacy.
It’s home to two architecture-based historic districts, both on the
National Register.
The Bryn Mawr Historic District (Bryn Mawr Avenue from Sheridan to
Broadway Avenue) comprises commercial and residential buildings
including the castle-like Manor House (1908) and the flamingo-pink
Edgewater Beach Apartments (1928). The latter’s architectural style
mimics the namesake hotel that stood next door, a favorite stop
for celebrities and the powerful (Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and
Eisenhower were among its guests) before it was torn down in the
late 1960s.
A short walk west, the Lakewood Balmoral Historic District (Bryn Mawr
Avenue to the north, Broadway to the east, Foster Avenue to the south
and Glenwood Avenue to the west) is primarily a concentration of
residences, many dating to the 1890s, that make this one of Chicago’s
more timeless communities and a lovely place for a leisurely stroll.
Facing page: Bryn Mawr
Historic District
Within easy strolling distance is a diversity of restaurants that’s boggling
even for a diverse Chicago neighborhood. To Andersonville’s famously
eclectic stretch of Clark Street (Algerian, Italian, Swedish, Persian and
more), add Broadway and its feeder streets. It’s home to the city’s only
Laotian restaurant, Sabai-Dee (Broadway at Balmoral Avenue), whose
featured dishes sound Thai but aren’t quite. A few blocks north in the
Bryn Mawr Historic District are two interesting “little” restaurants—
The Little India and That Little Mexican Cafe. Another “little”—a diner,
the Little Corner Restaurant—is further north, on Broadway. Also on
75
Broadway are several Ethiopian restaurants
whose food (try the yebeg tibs be berbere)
isn’t as mysterious as it may sound (the menu
translates yebeg tibs be berbere as “spicy
stewed lamb”).
“Just go for it,” says Maritu Tqkala, whose
mother owns Ras Dashen (5846 N. Broadway
Ave.) and does most of the cooking. “Just try it.
Never be afraid to try new things.”
Add to that a few pubs on Broadway—Moody’s,
the Double Bubble (aka “The Bubble”) and
Hamilton’s—beloved by students from nearby
Loyola University and less nearby Northwestern
for their conviviality and burgers, and hunger is
not an option in this neighborhood.
Rogers
Park
West Ridge
Edgewater
North
Park
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Albany
Park
Uptown
Irving Park
Neither is boredom. Raven Theatre (Clark and
Granville Avenues) has been staging challenging stuff since 1983 and in its present home
since 2002. Something improvisational and,
therefore, unpredictable is usually on the bill at
Neo-Futurists, on Ashland Avenue near Foster.
Redtwist Theatre does big things in a compact
space in the Bryn Mawr Historic District.
Dancers learn and develop their art at Joel Hall
Dancers & Center, on Clark Street a couple of
blocks south of Raven Theatre, and perform
at various venues around the city; the Writers
Workshop, Broadway at Berwyn, nurtures
artists who sculpt with words.
And when visitors have their fill of food and
culture—or before they partake—this is, after all,
Edgewater. It’s called that for a reason. It may
not always be easy to reach the beach, but
it beckons.
Not sure where it is? Here’s an inside-Chicago
tip: It’s always east.
76
North
Center
Avondale
Wrigleyville
Lakeview
Boystown
quaint
EDISON PARK
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G
OOD RESTAURANTS, LIVELY BARS AND
STRONG COMMUNITY
The Edison Park neighborhood, named in 1910
for the inventor, has long been perceived as a
cute little village by a train station. “It used to
be a very quaint community, like Mayberry,”
remembers Mike Kaage, whose family has
operated Kaage’s Newsstand at Oliphant
Avenue and Northwest Highway since his
grandfather bought it in 1943.
It remains a residential community of bungalows, split-levels, Georgians and other styles,
with newer development getting a boost when
nearby O’Hare became the city’s dominant
airport in the 1960s. There are ample parks—
one, Monument Park, has a nice World War I
memorial set in a small plaza surrounded by
benches—and tree-lined streets.
What replaced the “Mayberry” commercial
district, and what makes coming here worthwhile for visitors, is a concentration of good
restaurants and lively bars steps from what
today is the Metra train station.
It’s not just the number but the range of
restaurants that makes this stretch of
Northwest Highway—which, incidentally, is a
narrow two-lane commercial street here, not
a highway—especially delicious.
The Mecca Supper Club is a log-interior take on
the Wisconsin-style tavern-restaurant combo,
complete with mounted game fish and fried
walleye and, some nights, music. Zia’s Trattoria
and Nonno Pino’s satisfy any craving for pasta.
Bouillabaisse and entrecote are on the menu
nightly at the tres French Cafe Touche.
The veteran Don Juan’s mixes familiar Mexican
dishes with entrees that challenge tradition
(venison fajitas anyone?). Elliott’s Seafood
Grille and Chop House—a relative newcomer
and offspring of Elliott’s Pine Log, a favorite
of yore—is just what it sounds like. Throw in a
couple of Irish pubs to round out the mix.
All this is within a two-block area of one street,
a block from that Metra station. And directly
across from that station, on Olmsted Avenue,
are still more places, one of which, the Edison
78
Edison
Park
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Norwood Park
Jefferson
Park
Portage Park
Park Inn, offers pizza and other bar food, eight
beers on draft—and eight lanes of bowling.
It’s not all restaurants. A pastry shop, Conca
d’Oro, is especially proud of its cannoli; Le Flour
Bakery features croissants like mere used to
make (plus sandwiches). Grazie Cafe serves
high-octane coffee, and Tony’s is a deli with a
few tables.
After enjoying the culinary samplings, visitors
can expand their minds with a newspaper
purchased from whichever Kaage happens
to be on duty at a family business that has
employed four generations of Kaages—including
four Irvins. Irvin Jr., Mike’s dad, is in his 80s and
still works the stand. Mike’s brother, Irvin III,
and nephew, Irvin IV, have also done it.
“For 67 years, we’ve never missed a day,” says
Mike. Irvin V hasn’t worked there yet, but he’s 2.
Some things don’t change so easily…
Previous page: Charles
Turzak House
COMEBACK
ENGLEWOOD
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K
ENNEDY KING COLLEGE AND A
NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE COMEBACK
nd
80
There has been change. New housing lines
63rd Street between the college and the Dan
Ryan Expressway. A shopping center, anchored
by a Walgreens, opened across from the
campus in 2007—same year as the school. It is
Englewood’s first retail construction in decades.
A coordinated activism by business and civic
leaders under the Teamwork Englewood
umbrella—a new concept for a community
that, historically, has been factionalized—was
launched in 2003. There are plans for parks,
housing, retail and entertainment. . .
kla
The restaurant and the sparkling community college campus of which it is a part are
enough to make one think anything is possible
in Englewood. “A lot of people, when you say
‘Englewood,’ they say ‘Oh,’” says Danielle
Clemons, a former Kennedy-King student who
manages the restaurant, essentially a working
lab for the school’s Washburne Culinary
Institute. “Those people haven’t been in this
area in years. It’s changed.”
Oa
Let’s move quickly to one of the “ups”—and it’s
one of today. Two blocks from that post office,
on the corner of 63rd and Halsted Streets,
all candlelight and white tablecloths, is Sikia
Restaurant. From the restaurant’s south-facing
windows can be seen another positive—the stillnew campus of Kennedy-King College.
BACK OF
THE YARDS
New City
Gage Park
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
The devil in “The Devil in the White City”—Erik
Larson’s truth-based tale of Chicago’s first
serial killer and the 1893 World’s Fair held not
far away in Jackson Park—was one Dr. Henry
H. Holmes. His mansion of terror stood at
63rd and Wallace Streets, in Englewood. The
mansion burned more than a century ago; a
post office is on the site now.
Brighton
Park
Fuller Park
Englewood has been many things since its
beginnings as a bog-side railroad village in the
1850s: haven for refugees of the 1871 Great
Chicago Fire, destination for emigrants from all
countries, successful retail hub, focus of openhousing advocates and foes, unsuccessful retail
hub. This is a neighborhood that has had its
ups and downs, one of those long-ago “downs”
featured in a best-seller.
Englewood
Chicago Lawn
Grand Crossing
Ashburn
Auburn Gresham
Chatham
Englewood’s future depends on forces that
can’t be predicted. Today’s reality is KennedyKing College—and part of that reality is Sikia.
Opened in 2008, the mood is refined African
and the dinner menu celebrates the world:
pan-roasted salmon Chermoula, seasonings
courtesy of North Africa; jerk chicken from the
Caribbean; shrimp and grits from the South
Carolina low country; West African goat stew;
Senegalese peanut soup—all prepared and
served by students. There’s brunch on Sundays,
jazz on Friday nights and monthly student
jam sessions.
With Sikia, the college, plus some new retail and
new housing, today’s Englewood offers visitors
a chance to see a neighborhood in the midst
of a comeback. And for visitors who believe in
ghosts, it offers a chance to mail a postcard
from a very interesting post office. . .
Previous page:
Hamilton Park-Sammy
Dyer School of Theatre
LAGOONS
GARFIELD PARK
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A DAZZLING CONSERVATORY AND MORE
Jens, in his genius,
created living
habitats that
delight multiple
senses: brooks
babble; small
waterfalls make
their soothing
sounds. A bird
sneaks in, adapts
and makes its
presence known.
Pools host goldfish,
provided by the
Conservatory—and
the odd turtle
provided by visitors.
The neighborhood might have been called Central Park.
Whatever changes the Garfield Park community has experienced, the
constants have been the park itself and the Conservatory within it.
Conceived in 1869 by the Illinois legislature, the park was meant to be
a sister to Humboldt (north of here) and Douglas (south) Parks, all to
be connected by boulevards.
This one was to be called Central.
Well, Humboldt is still Humboldt and Douglas remains Douglas—but
the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881 brought a name
change here. Only trace of the old one: The roadway that cuts through
the greenery, and extends for miles in either direction, is still called—
Central Park.
Like its siblings, this 184-acre park has play fields, lagoons and an
expansive field house, the Gold Dome Building.
What this park has today that the others can’t match is the Conservatory.
The work of Danish immigrant Jens Jensen, the landscape architect
whose influence is seen in all three parks, the Conservatory (1908), at
4.5 acres, is one the nation’s largest. It is open to the public—admission
is free—and within it is a dizzying array of plants, arranged in rooms
by climate and type (palms in the moist Palm House, cacti in the arid
Desert House, etc.).
But this is more than a huge indoor hothouse.
Jens, in his genius, created living habitats that delight multiple senses:
brooks babble; small waterfalls make their soothing sounds. A bird
sneaks in, adapts and makes its presence known. Pools host goldfish,
provided by the Conservatory—and the odd turtle provided by visitors.
“Sometimes people ask to see if they can drop them off,” explains a
member of the staff. “Sometimes, they just drop them off.”
People come here expecting to speed through in a few minutes and
stay for an hour or more. The Conservatory, and the park, are the main
reasons for visitors to come to this part of the city.
There are others.
Previous page: Garfield
Park Bandstand
82
Construction of Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, on Jackson Boulevard at
Albany Avenue, began in 1890 but wasn’t completed until 1902. It has
survived fire and time and Hollywood (a scene in “The Untouchables”
featuring Sean Connery was filmed here in 1987).
As for food, on Madison near Kedzie avenue
there is Edna’s Restaurant, which has been
serving “the finest soul food on earth” for more
than 40 years (excellent fried chicken, but don’t
miss the yams). Four blocks east on Madison,
Wallace’s Catfish Corner features all kinds of
fried fish (catfish, perch, buffalo and more), plus
barbecue and soulful specialties.
And there’s food for the artistic soul as well:
Peek into Legler Library, on Pulaski Road
near Monroe Street, and check out the 1934
WPA-funded mural depicting scenes of earliest Chicago; hardcore Frank Lloyd Wright fans
can add his 1895 Waller Apartments (2842
W. Walton Ave.) to their checklists; and then
there’s the Murphy Hill Art Gallery.
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
Its barrel-vaulted ceiling, its murals and,
especially, its white marble altar are things of
exceptional beauty. There’s a full-size replica
of Michelangelo’s “La Pieta” in the former
baptistry; one of its side chapels—devoted to
St. Peregrine, patron saint of cancer patients—
draws visitors from throughout the city
and beyond.
Logan Square
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Austin
Garfield Park
United
Center
Little Italy, UIC
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Little Village
McKinley
Park
The gallery is on the third floor of the massive,
old (1905) Sears, Roebuck & Co. headquarters building at 3333 W. Arthington St. (The
original, 14-story “Sears Tower” is next door.)
The gallery’s heart—and soul?—may be in
North Lawndale, which is just south and is the
theme of one of its permanent displays, but its
address is within the Garfield Park neighborhood. The free gallery features rotating exhibits
of world art, plus works by local artists, plus
receptions and classes.
One entire room is devoted to “hand-balanced”
sculptures by Sidney Murphy (the “Murphy”
of Murphy Hill), which must be seen to be
fully appreciated.
Visitors are urged to consider the creative mind
of Mr. Murphy—and recover their own balance
back at the Conservatory.
83
kolackys
GARFIELD RIDGE | CLEARING
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CLASSIC CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS ON THE SOUTHWEST SIDE
“What is now
Ford City [a mall
in the West Lawn
neighborhood, next
door] was the Dodge
Chicago division
of Chrysler,” she
says. She worked
there. “We built
the B-29 engine
that went into the
Enola Gay, which
dropped the bomb
on Hiroshima.”
After the war, the
plant was taken
over by Preston
Thomas Tucker, who
built his “dream”
cars there in 1948.
“They came by
here,” she says.
“Did you see the
movie?” (In case
you haven’t, it’s
“Tucker: The
Man and His
Dream,” directed
by Francis Ford
Coppola, starring
Jeff Bridges and
nominated for three
Academy Awards
in 1988.)
Facing page: Lindy’s
Chili
Garfield Ridge and Clearing are neighborhoods with an uncommonly
strong sense of. . . neighborhood.
Pticek & Son is an institution treasured in the Garfield Ridge and
Clearing neighborhoods, which is what happens when a place has been
around for more than 40 years and makes kolackys as buttery good as
it does.
Joe & Frank’s Market has been making and selling sausage for more
than 30 years; it’s only been on Archer and Harlem Avenues in Garfield
Ridge since 1997, which makes it a newbie in this part of Chicagoland.
But tell that to dozens of shoppers, numbers in hand, who regularly
crowd the deli and wait—in Polish and English—to bring home some of the
kielbasas and smoked butts and slabs of ribs that hang on hooks behind
the counter.
Michael Weber’s grandfather, fresh from Germany, opened that family’s
bakery in the Brighton Park neighborhood in 1930 and moved it to
Marquette Park seven years later. Michael’s father moved it to Garfield
Ridge in 1979, and today’s Weber’s Bakery belongs to Michael. Before
just about any holiday, it’s not unusual for a line of customers to wind
out of the store and into the parking lot.
Midway International Airport, once known as Chicago Municipal Airport,
occupies areas of both Clearing and Garfield Ridge. The airport and the
businesses on its fringe have provided a living here for generations.
The airport is, obviously, the main destination for visitors to this part of
the city. The neighborhood around O’Hare also has convention space,
corporate headquarters and big hotels. Garfield Ridge-Clearing doesn’t.
It has Julie Wertelka.
She was 2 years old when the airport opened in 1927. She was born in
Clearing, the neighborhood that borders Garfield Ridge to the south—on
63rd Street and Mason Avenue.
“I was born upstairs, in the back bedroom,” Wertelka she says. “My
mother had a midwife. She didn’t have a doctor.
“I have lived in this building all my life.”
Her birthday was May 26, 1925. In 1933, after the end of Prohibition, the
building would become her father’s saloon.
“I call it my father’s place,” she begins, then pauses as a Midway-bound
jet roars overhead—the way she has probably paused, by reflex, several
zillion times in her life. Then she finishes. “People like that.”
85
The working-class neighborhood around
Midway has block after block of modest
single-family homes, plus churches, a few nice
parks—and places like Pticek & Son and Weber’s
and Joe & Frank’s and Soukal Floral (since 1916)
and Chester’s Polish Sausage (20-plus years on
Archer) and Vince’s Pizza (since 1956). . .
. . . and Julie Wertelka’s Tavern on 63rd Street
(which, here, is “Honorary Julie Wertelka
Street”). The attraction at Wertelka’s Tavern,
along with reasonably priced beverages and
the mix of neighborhood folks who frequent the
joint, is Wertelka.
A World War II story:
“What is now Ford City [a mall in the West
Lawn neighborhood, next door] was the Dodge
Chicago division of Chrysler,” she says. She
worked there. “We built the B-29 engine that
went into the Enola Gay, which dropped the
bomb on Hiroshima.”
After the war, the plant was taken over by
Preston Thomas Tucker, who built his “dream”
cars there in 1948.
“They came by here,” she says. “Did you see
the movie?” (In case you haven’t, it’s “Tucker:
The Man and His Dream,” directed by Francis
Ford Coppola, starring Jeff Bridges and
nominated for three Academy Awards in 1988.)
There are other bars on and around 63rd
Street in Clearing. The Karolinka Club, on
Central Avenue, deserves a mention here.
Parisi’s Drive-In, on 63rd Street near Hale Park,
has been a Clearing choice for Italian beef (a
Chicago favorite) for more half a century.
Archer Avenue, which forms the geographical
and commercial spine of Garfield Ridge, also
has its places to grab a bite and a refreshment,
including outlets of Home Run Inn (pizza),
Bobak’s (Polish) and Lindy’s Chili, all venerable
Chicago originals—and all neighborhood places.
86
Little Village
Archer
Heights
Garfield Ridge
CHICAGO
MIDWAY AIRPORT
West
Elsdon
Clearing
West Lawn
Ashburn
grace
GOLD COAST
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GLAMOUR MEETS HISTORY ON THE NEAR NORTH SIDE
Like some of the
attractive streets
in the Hyde Park
neighborhood on
the South Side,
State and Dearborn
Parkways, Astor
Street and their
connectors are
streets lined
with Victorian
townhomes and
mansions, their
sidewalks shaded
by trees and
brightened by
gardens, all light
of traffic and
heavy with a
sense of grace.
The lovely reality about the Gold Coast neighborhood, part of the
Near North Side community area, is that although it is Chicago’s
wealthiest area and its shops largely cater to Chicago’s wealthiest
residents, nothing prevents the rest of us from appreciating their good
fortune and good taste.
Besides, window shopping is free.
This is quite the community. The Palmer House Palmers lived here, along
with various McCormicks. The archbishop of Chicago’s residence is here;
Pope John Paul II was John Cardinal Cody’s houseguest in 1979.
Not only is it home to the cutting-edge International Museum of Surgical
Science, but also two whole blocks of Astor Street, from Schiller Street
to North Avenue, are listed on the National Register of Historical Places.
Landmarked properties—most from the 1890s and the first decade of the
20th century—are everywhere.
The vision of architects Frank Lloyd Wright (who lived here for a time)
and Louis Sullivan is represented in one house whose design they
shared—the Charnley-Persky House.
When Playboy founder Hugh Hefner needed a mansion, he found it here,
on State Parkway. And when he needed to buy a bauble, he didn’t have
far to go.
Oak Street, from Michigan Avenue to Rush Street, is one of those
shopping streets. It is Chicago’s Rodeo Drive. This is the world of Harry
Winston, for those in need of just the right tiara for brunch. Lester
Lampert and Trabert & Hoeffer are local jewelers with a big reputation.
David Yurman is here.
Tessuti, the upscale men’s clothier, has been an Oak Street fixture for 30
years. Women’s clothing, women’s shoes, women’s accessories. Hermes,
of course. Prada, of course. Yves Saint Laurent, of course.
And there are places in categories all their own—like the Daisy Shop,
which features pre-driven couture garments that are either very old
(and therefore fashionable) or very new (and therefore fashionable).
We’ll Keep You in Stitches has been providing Chicagoans with designer
knitting yarns for as long as Tessuti has put them in silk.
Previous page:
Patterson-McCormick
Mansion
88
Moving from designer cuts to designer lunches is just a matter of steps.
The Rush Street district, with its upscale meal offerings, is right there.
But for those who insist that the integrity of the neighborhood is more
important than a steak at Gibson’s, there’s the 3rd Coast Cafe and Wine
Bar, especially popular for its weekend brunches; outlets of Big Bowl and
the Original House of Pancakes; and Ashkenaz, a Jewish deli long ago
associated with the Rogers Park neighborhood.
Within the classic Ambassador East Hotel,
in the heart of the Gold Coast (scenes from
Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” were filmed
in the hotel), there’s the venerable Pump Room,
which from time to time changes concepts—so
check first to see if the concept of the moment
fits and that it isn’t undergoing renovation.
Famous restaurants, residents and shopping
aside, this is a neighborhood that provides
some of the city’s best walking.
Here and there, newer construction—including
outsized apartment and condo buildings—
interrupts the flow, but not for long.
The fun is in observing the details.
Notice the carved faces in the red doors at 1515
N. Dearborn Pkwy. (Former Illinois governor
and senator Adlai Stevenson III and family once
called this place, built in 1891, their home.)
Or the statues on the east wall of the former
Three Arts Club (1914), built as a women’s
residence. Not far away, below the cardinal’s
house between State and Astor, is a wooden
alley (1909), made of cedar blocks—unusual
enough to be listed on the National Register of
Historic Places.
Wrigleyville
Boystown
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
River
North
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy, UIC
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Loop
Like some of the attractive streets in the Hyde
Park neighborhood on the South Side, State
and Dearborn Parkways, Astor Street and their
connectors are streets lined with Victorian
townhomes and mansions, their sidewalks
shaded by trees and brightened by gardens, all
light of traffic and heavy with a sense of grace.
North
Center
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Museum
Campus
Ponder what architect Stanford White was
thinking when he designed the monster
mansion at 1500 N. Astor for Elinor “Cissy”
Patterson in 1893. (Cyrus McCormick bought
it later.) But before you do, read a quick bio
of Stanford White. And keep walking north to
1525, onetime home of Robert Todd Lincoln,
the president’s son—steps away from the start
of Lincoln Park.
Then finish off your tour with a true Gold Coast
experience: Grab a corned beef sandwich at
Ashkenaz and try on a tiara.
There’s nothing quite like the stained-glass
trimmings at 1325 N. Dearborn (1887).
Compare the mix of Sullivanesque ornamentation and Prairie Style cleanliness of the
Madlener House (1902) at 4 W. Burton Place to
what the Sullivan-Wright partnership actually
generated nearby at the Charnley-Persky
House (1892), 1365 N. Astor St. Compare
both with the c. 1893 house at 1436 N. Astor,
because there are similar elements—and
because you can.
89
ICONIC
GRANT PARK
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CHICAGO’S FRONT YARD
Then comes
Buckingham
Fountain—a true
Chicago icon.
Enjoy not only the
fountain—day or
night, it’s special—
but also the gardens
around it. Have
a coffee or an ice
cream from one of
the concessionaires.
Look across Lake
Shore Drive—or just
cross it (with the
light, of course)—and
dream of sailing one
of the boats bobbing
in Monroe Harbor.
In 1836, a year before Chicago’s official incorporation as a city, someone
scribbled a note on a subdivision map that specified an area along the
Lake Michigan lakefront was to be “Public Ground—A Common to Remain
Forever Open, Clear and Free of any Buildings, or Other Obstruction
whatever.”
In 1844, the city council added its official endorsement—and Chicago
had its Lake Park. In 1901, much expanded by landfill (some of it waste
created by the 1871 Great Chicago Fire), this territory east of Michigan
Avenue from Randolph Street to Roosevelt Road became Grant Park.
Today’s Grant Park, an integral element of planner Daniel Burnham’s
vision for the city—“The lakefront by right belongs to the people,” he
wrote in 1909—is, indeed, gorgeous. Overwhelmingly open and clear
(and free), it’s the envy of cities all over North America that don’t have
anything like it on their waterfronts.
The Art Institute, located in the park since 1893, is one of the city’s
treasures, from the quiet garden on Michigan Avenue and Monroe
Streets to “American Gothic,” “Nighthawks” and “A Sunday on La
Grande Jatte” within.
Here’s a bonus: Go to the new Modern Wing and find Gallery 395.
There are some Max Ernst paintings in there, but never mind that now.
Look out the window. Before you, in all its glory, is a composition of
Millennium Park’s Lurie Garden, Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion and,
beyond that, some of Chicago’s finest tall buildings. Art, in Chicago,
is everywhere. . .
The Pavilion supplanted the Petrillo Music Shell—east of the Art
Institute—as the city’s main summer home of classical concerts, but the
older facility and grounds remain the venue for Taste of Chicago and
other city festivals.
Then comes Buckingham Fountain—a true Chicago icon. Enjoy not only
the fountain—day or night, it’s special—but also the gardens around it.
Have a coffee or an ice cream from one of the concessionaires. Look
across Lake Shore Drive—or just cross it (with the light, of course)—and
dream of sailing one of the boats bobbing in Monroe Harbor.
Cross Balbo Drive south of the fountain and its plaza, time it right (early
evening after work is usually good), and you can enjoy watching The
Chicago Game—16-inch softball, no gloves, bizarre pitching rules—being
played on one of the park’s 12 diamonds.
Previous pages: Historic
homes / Wicker Park
Facing page: Michigan
Avenue, looking north
At some point along this exploration, be sure to look west, toward
Michigan Avenue. You’ll see a sampling of vintage buildings whose grace
complements the park they face, among them Burnham’s Orchestra Hall
(1904, part of Symphony Center), the gallery-filled Fine Arts Building
93
Back in the park, near its south end, a bronze
Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, Civil War hero
and, later, an Illinois senator, sits astride his
bronze horse. The statue (1897) has long
been a focal point of demonstrations, notably
anti-war rallies during the Vietnam War
era—famously during the 1968 Democratic
National Convention (held in the International
Amphitheatre in the Back of the Yards/New
City neighborhood).
Grant, curiously, has no statue in his own park.
He’s got a good one, though, in Lincoln Park.
There’s no Logan statue in the Logan Square
neighborhood, either.
But there is, not far from Gen. Logan, a fitting
tribute to another man.
94
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Streeterville
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy, UIC
Printers
Row
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Bridgeport
McKinley
Park
Chinatown
There are restaurants and clubs in the Michigan
Avenue buildings and behind them. The Artist’s
Cafe, in the Fine Arts Building, is a longtime
favorite for casual meals and snacks. Eleven
City Diner follows the New York deli tradition of
naming sandwiches for celebrities. On Wabash
Avenue, Miller’s Pub—a restaurant and long
bar—is a Chicago classic; down the street (and
speaking of classics), Buddy Guy’s Legends, in
new digs, helps keep the blues alive as it has
for more than 20 years.
Sheffield
& DePaul
Loop
Also here, the Spertus Institute of Jewish
Studies is home to a fascinating collection of
artifacts and rotating exhibitions. The Chicago
Architecture Foundation has exhibits, offers
tours and provides one of the area’s better
souvenir shops. The Museum of Contemporary
Photography has showings by skilled artists.
The Auditorium Building reminds us of Louis
Sullivan’s genius.
Bu
ck
to
w
n
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
(1885), the Blackstone Hotel (1910) and the
Hilton Chicago, which, when it opened (as the
Stevens Hotel) in 1927, was at 3,000 rooms the
world’s largest.
South
Loop
Douglas
The Aaron Montgomery Ward Gardens, named
for the catalog-retail magnate who was a
passionate advocate for keeping the park
“clear and free,” have been near Grant Park’s
southern edge since 2005. Beneath a bust of
the man is this:
“Grant Park is his legacy to the city he loved. . .
his gift to the future.”
The future is now. Enjoy the legacy.
energy
GREEKTOWN
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OPA!
This strip of Halsted Street, and the area south
and west of here, was home to thousands of
ethnic Greeks until the 1950s and 1960s, when
construction of the Eisenhower Expressway
(Interstate Highway 290) and the University of
Illinois-Chicago forced most residents to scatter.
The remaining residential blocks have become,
like much of the adjoining West Loop neighborhood, gentrified and multicultural. Yet this
stretch of Halsted Street retains the old identity.
The university opened in 1965, and college
students supported places like Diana Grocery
and Restaurant, a cozy deli with a few tables
in back. In 1968, the Parthenon Restaurant
opened and quickly introduced a new flourish
to the world: flaming saganaki, accompanied
by a waiter’s shout of “Opa!” (The fried cheese
dish was nothing new—only the flames and
the shout.)
Also in the 1960s, gyros—long established in
one form or another overseas—made their way
into the United States via Chicago and quickly
became a Greektown staple and another
Chicago (sort of) original.
Diana’s is gone. But the Parthenon is still going
Previous page:
9 Muses
96
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
Humboldt
Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
River
North
Rush & Division
Garfield
Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
North
Lawndale
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Little
Village
Bridgeport
McKinley
Park
Chinatown
What’s no longer plentiful in the neighborhood,
despite the Greek restaurants, Greek candle
shop and Greek museum, are actual Greeks.
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Loop
Grecian-style gateways designate the neighborhood’s borders. Amid the restaurants is
the Athenian Candle Company, which sells not
only candles but also Greek books, religious
items and souvenirs. The Hellenic Museum and
Cultural Center, above Greek Islands Restaurant
at Halsted and Adams Streets, provides historical context. Taste of Greece, held in late August,
is an annual event.
Logan
Square
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
To most residents and visitors, today’s
Greektown refers to a string of restaurants—
mostly Greek, naturally—on Halsted between
Monroe and Van Buren Streets.
South
Loop
Douglas
strong at its original location. Greek Islands
opened on Jackson Street in 1971, quickly
became a favorite, moved to its larger Halsted
Street location about 10 years later and has
thrived. Roditys has been welcoming diners
since 1972.
Santorini, specializing in seafood, and Pegasus,
with its rooftop veranda and skyline view,
arrived around 20 years ago and have loyal
followings—but new places bring new flavors
as well. Open since 2005, Venus Greek-Cypriot
Cuisine has drawn praise for a menu that goes
beyond the familiar. And there’s more, Greek
and otherwise—including a sushi restaurant
(Sushi Loop) and an Irish pub (Dugan’s).
There’s an unmistakable, contagious energy to
Greektown. On weekend nights especially, when
reservations are advisable, that energy—along
with its near-Loop location and still low prices
and the saganaki and gyros and lamb and
Grecian-style whole sea bass and moussaka
and pastitsio and other good things—continues
to make it one of the city’s most popular
destinations for locals as well as visitors.
fiesta
HUMBOLDT PARK
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CHICAGO’S PUERTO RICAN CENTER
“There’s a lot of
little carts selling
Puerto Rican food
in the park,” says
Arocho. Among the
traditional goodies:
codfish fritters and
alcapurrias, a fried
meat dumpling—
“typical food you’d
find back home.”
Puerto Rico is celebrated here, more than anywhere else in the city.
True. But. . .
The first two restaurants inside the Western Avenue gateway to Paseo
Boricua—four blocks of Division Street lovingly devoted to Puerto Rican
culture—are El Paisano Tacos (Mexican) and the New China Restaurant
(not Puerto Rican).
On North Avenue just west of Kedzie, John Roeser III and John Roeser
IV—not Puerto Rican—still operate the bakery opened in 1911 by the first
John Roeser. A few blocks farther west, Cemitas Puebla serves up those
namesake cemitas, wonderful sandwiches (try the milanesa or the carne
asada) once unique to central Mexico.
This is, after all, Chicago, where diversity rules.
That said, for the last half-century the Humboldt Park neighborhood
along with several blocks of West Town east of the park have been the
Midwestern center of all things Puerto Rican. And since the mid-1990s,
the center of that center has been Paseo Boricua. (“Paseo” is a passageway; “Boricua,” a word linked to the pre-Columbian Taino islanders, is
another term for Puerto Rican.)
Set off by two 59-foot-high steel Puerto Rican flags, this is a street of
cafes and restaurants, of social services, of shops, of a Walk of Fame and
not a few political-action agencies. Of the 50 or so murals in the general
neighborhood, 10 are along this paseo, three of those on corner buildings at Division and Campbell Avenue (don’t miss, especially, “Sea of
Flags,” on the northwest corner).
The eight Puerto Rican restaurants in the district range from the snazzy
Coco (“modern Puerto Rican cuisine”) to La Bruquena (mofongo like
mama does it) to the humble La Plena (jibaritos!—a sandwich using
plantains instead of bread and a Chicago original).
There are festivals and parades year round. Two especially popular ones:
Fiestas Patronales (June) is a weeklong event, with food, music and
cultural events; Fiesta Boricua averages 250,000 visitors on Labor Day
weekend.
Eduardo Arocho is executive director of the Division Street Business
Development Association. He was born in Chicago, grew up here and
lives two blocks away from his Division Street office.
The Paseo, he concedes, is an attempt to keep the neighborhood
Puerto Rican.
Previous page: Café
Colao
98
“We’ve already experienced gentrification in other parts of the city,
and we want this to be our home long term,” says Arocho. Part of that
is developing and maintaining the Paseo as a permanent part of the
community “so everyone can come here and enjoy the rich culture of
Puerto Rico—the food, et cetera—and add it to
the many ethnic enclaves that Chicago has that
are welcoming to people who come to Chicago.”
Irving Park
Portage Park
Avondale
About the park.
The Prairie School boathouse, recently renovated, was a Jensen inspiration. Humboldt is also
the only Chicago park away from the lakefront
with a sand beach.
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
Humboldt Park is another of the city’s great,
sprawling (207 acres) parks established more
than a century ago to provide ample green
space in an increasingly urban environment.
Like sister parks Garfield and Douglas, all
much influenced by Danish-born designer
Jens Jensen, Humboldt Park has lagoons,
a historic field house, ball fields—including
a “mini-Wrigley Field” funded in part by the
Cubs—and walking trails.
Logan Square
North
Center
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Austin
Garfield Park
United
Center
Little Italy, UIC
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
“There’s a lot of little carts selling Puerto
Rican food in the park,” says Arocho. Among
the traditional goodies: codfish fritters and
alcapurrias, a fried meat dumpling—“typical
food you’d find back home.”
And across Division Street, the Humboldt Park
Stable and Receptory (1895), still looking like
a giant German-style hotel, has been fully
restored and repurposed into the Institute of
Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.
More attractions unique to this unique neighborhood: the Chicago School of Guitar Making
(weekend seminars available, if you’re going to
be in town a while), an adjunct to the Specimen
Guitar Shop; Chicago Hot Glass, the city’s only
public access glassblowing studio (classes
offered, if you’re going to be here a while); and
on the Paseo, the Dance Academy of Salsa
(drop-ins welcome, if you’re not going to be
here a while).
You’ll want to stay for dinner.
99
gothic
HYDE PARK
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CAMPUS AND MUCH,
MUCH MORE
Using Hyde Park
for orientation,
there’s the Kenwood
neighborhood
immediately north,
site of President
Obama’s Chicago
home (you may be
able to get a distant
peek; Secret Service
personnel won’t
let you get too
close) and yet more
amazing houses,
one a former home
of Muhammad
Ali and two early
Frank Lloyd Wright
designs.
For most Chicago neighborhoods, there is no checklist, no long roster
of must-see attractions.
Hyde Park is one of the exceptions. And not only are there myriad sites
that should be experienced firsthand within this community, but Hyde
Park can also launch visitors toward remarkable things in neighboring
communities, things they otherwise might miss.
Barack Obama’s house in Kenwood, for one—but we’ll get to that later.
This is Hyde Park, or rather, a quick sampler:
Begin at the corner of 55th Street and Woodlawn Avenue. Now or later,
you can grab a cool beer at Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap, where serious
and not-so-serious conversations have taken place over beverages for
60-plus years.
Walking south on Woodlawn—Hyde Park is a wonderful walking neighborhood of shaded sidewalks and grand residences—apartments soon
give way to houses, many built around 1900. At the northeast corner
of 58th Street is one unlike the others.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed this house for the Robie family. Completed
in 1910, Robie House is considered by many to be Wright’s quintessential
Prairie Style residence. There are tales here, beginning with the Robies
moving out in 1911; guided and self-guided tours tell some of them, all
irresistible to anyone who cares at all about architecture or stained
glass or uncomfortable chairs.
Stroll south to the end of the 5800 block, and we get a first look at the
Midway Plaisance—a parkway, with its own history, that connects Jackson
Park with Washington Park. Jackson Park is home to the Museum of
Science and Industry and was the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian
Exposition. The Midway was. . . “the midway,” with all the freak shows
and distractions of the time. Washington Park is home to the DuSable
Museum of African American History and Lorado Taft’s massive sculpture, “Fountain of Time.”
Looking right from the Midway, you see the University’s Rockefeller
Memorial Chapel, a spiritual center, performance venue and architectural
jewel. Walk west to the end of the block, take a right onto University
Avenue—and soon the University’s quadrangles open to you, on your
left, in all their Oxfordian splendor.
Facing page: University
Theater at University of
Chicago Reynolds Club
House
Across from the Quad, at the southeast corner of University and 58th
Street, is the Oriental Institute. A research institution linked to, among
others, the fictional archeologist “Indiana” Jones, its museum is in some
ways a junior version of London’s British Museum. Its rooms are filled
with artifacts of ancient civilizations, including a huge sculpture of
King Tut.
101
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Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
The University of Chicago dominates the
community economically and culturally.
The resident college community brings an
interest in the arts. The Smart Museum and
Renaissance Society are home to world-class
paintings, drawings and sculpture; Court
Theatre is home to first-rate productions of all
kinds, from Shakespeare to musicals.
Oa
Fuller Park
All this—and we’ve only just tickled Hyde Park.
Douglas
BRONZEVILLE
Chinatown
Continue north on University and, a few
yards up the next block, look left and see the
Regenstein Library. Here sat Stagg Field; in
1942, almost exactly a year after Pearl Harbor,
scientists created the world’s first nuclear chain
reaction. A Henry Moore statue near the spot
commemorates the event that launched the
atomic age. . .
Englewood
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
And this, not surprisingly, is a community of
independent bookstores, new and used, including Frontline Books & Craft, on Harper Avenue,
one of only two African-American bookstores in
the city, and on 57th Street, O’Gara and Wilson
Ltd., a used book store and Hyde Park gem
that’s been here seemingly since Gutenberg
was a boy.
Using Hyde Park for orientation, there’s
Kenwood immediately north, site of President
Obama’s Chicago home (you may be able to get
a distant peek; Secret Service personnel won’t
let you get too close) and yet more amazing
houses, one a former home of Muhammad Ali
and two early Frank Lloyd Wright designs.
102
Jackson
Park
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Chatham
Restaurants range from La Petite Folie (classic
French) to jazz-inspired eclectic (Park 52)
to Middle Eastern comfort food (The Nile) to
Caribbean-Cajun (Calypso Cafe, with some
menu items from the departed Dixie Kitchen)
to down-home cafeteria (Valois, a Hyde Park
institution and an Obama breakfast choice) and
an art cafe (Medici on 57th, another Obama
favorite).
Kenwood
Avalon
Park
South Chicago
Washington Park, directly west, contains not
only the DuSable Museum and “Fountain
of Time” but also some of the best work of
famed park designer Frederick Law Olmsted
and Chicago architect and planner Daniel
Burnham. Woodlawn’s churches and redevelopment are a gateway to Grand Crossing’s Oak
Woods Cemetery, final resting place of Olympic
legend Jesse Owens, Chicago mayor Harold
Washington and thousands of Confederate
soldiers who died at Camp Douglas, a Union
prisoner of war camp. That camp was not far
north of Kenwood near the present Bronzeville
neighborhood, Chicago’s former Black
Metropolis, a onetime jazz and blues mecca
enjoying a rebirth.
So it’s Hyde Park, and the rest. Don’t miss
any of it.
gleaming
JACKSON PARK
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CELEBRATING THE WHITE CITY
The amusements
along the Midway
Plaisance—now a
parkway connecting
Jackson and
Washington Parks—
included a young
magician named
Harry Houdini, a
scandalous dancer
named Little Egypt
and the debut of
the Ferris Wheel,
at the Midway and
Woodlawn Avenue.
Jackson Park, in 1893, was home to what may be history’s most
celebrated World’s Fair. Today, it is home to the Museum of Science and
Industry—which, in a way, was part of it.
Houdini and Little
Egypt (who, at 62
would also dance
at the 1933-34
Chicago World’s
Fair) are gone, of
course; the giant
Ferris Wheel (250
feet tall and capable
of carrying 2,160
riders), after a brief
stop at Clark Street
and Wrightwood
Avenue in the
Lincoln Park
neighborhood,
was junked.
Its gleaming, ornate buildings—some designed by architects Daniel
Burnham and Louis Sullivan—created a “White City” to remember.
Visitors and critics debated which of its buildings was grandest. Noted
French-Irish sculptor August Saint-Gaudens, creator of the fair’s
commemorative medal, called the Palace of Fine Arts “as divinely
proportioned an edifice as ever filled and satisfied the eye of man.”
Previous page: Statue
of the Republic
104
The fair is history, of course. Literally. But even without most of what
was called the White City, the park today remains a wonder.
Jackson Park’s 600 acres of greenery, trails and lagoons sprawl along
the eastern edges of the Hyde Park, Woodlawn and South Shore neighborhoods. Conceived in 1869 and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted,
the park—which initially included the present Washington Park—began as
South Park, then was Lake Park after the two were split, and finally and
forever, in 1880, was named for Andrew Jackson.
In 1890, Jackson Park was selected as home for the World’s Columbian
Exposition, originally intended to celebrate the 400th anniversary of
Christopher Columbus’ maiden voyage in 1892; the official opening came
the next year, but the delay didn’t much matter.
The amusements along the Midway Plaisance—now a parkway connecting Jackson and Washington Parks—included a young magician named
Harry Houdini, a scandalous dancer named Little Egypt and the debut of
the Ferris Wheel, at the Midway and Woodlawn Avenue.
Houdini and Little Egypt (who, at 62 would also dance at the 1933-34
Chicago World’s Fair) are gone, of course; the giant Ferris Wheel
(250 feet tall and capable of carrying 2,160 riders), after a brief stop
at Clark Street and Wrightwood Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, was junked.
This White City, a lot of it illusion (painted plaster, intended to be
temporary), was mostly burned by vandals or demolished. Two buildings survived on-site: a replica of the Convent of La Rabida, which was
converted to a children’s hospital but burned in 1922 (and now occupies
a lakefront building nearby); and the Palace of Fine Arts, its plaster
replaced by sturdier stuff in the 1920s and today beloved as the Museum
of Science and Industry.
(A third building, a replica of a Norwegian church, today is part of Little
Norway, a museum-village in Blue Mound, Wis.; a fourth, the Maine
Building—one of several state-sponsored exhibition spaces—is back in
Maine as a museum in Poland Spring.)
d
And right outside, in Jackson Park, are lagoons,
walking trails, ball fields, an 18-hole golf course
and golf driving range, a marina, a popular
beach featuring a Chicago Landmark beach
house (1919)—plus two more reminders of 1893.
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All here—within this building that, itself, is
a wonder.
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
And new for 2010: a walk-through tornado,
part of a weather-simulator exhibit that also
includes lightning, avalanches and other
phenomena. “The grandest thing we have ever
done,” says museum president David Mosena.
Fuller Park
Flight simulators. An Omnimax theater. Two
full-size locomotives and the ultimate model
railroad. A miniature circus and fairy castle.
The Apollo 8 spacecraft that carried astronauts
Borman, Lovell and Anders in moon orbit.
Oa
Generations of Chicago children and their
parents have been thrilled by the exhibits and
attractions within the Museum of Science
and Industry. Here, countless city kids have
seen chicks hatch before their very eyes. Its
signature simulation of a working coal mine is
virtually unchanged since its 1933 debut. The
U-505, a captured World War II German sub,
had been sitting outside and slowly dissolving
since 1954; restored and, in 2005, installed in
its own building, it’s now a centerpiece of a
dazzling multimedia experience.
Kenwood
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
Jackson
Park
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
South Shore
Grand Crossing
m
Chatham
Avalon
Park
South Chicago
Calumet
Heights
All this is within range of the attractions of
surrounding neighborhoods—more museums,
architecture, the University of Chicago, and
the shopping and restaurants—that make Hyde
Park, Washington Park/Woodlawn and South
Shore/Grand Crossing worth exploring and
enjoying.
It’s not a World’s Fair—that was long ago—but
it’s all world-class.
Osaka Garden sits on Wooded Island in a
Jackson Park lagoon. Created for the fair’s
Japanese Pavilion, several restorations—the last
major one in 2002—have helped to bring back
much of its original grace and beauty. And the
gleaming, golden statue of “The Republic” is a
one-third scale (but nonetheless a monumental 24-foot-high) replica of the Daniel Chester
French original that stood in the fair’s Grand
Basin; this Chicago Landmark rules over a
roundabout near the park’s center, facing
Lake Michigan.
105
JUNCTION
JEFFERSON PARK
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HERE PIEROGIS, IRISH HISTORY AND AMPLE
TRANSPORTATION MEET
And there’s the
handheld electronic
fly zapper.
To many Chicagoans, the Jefferson Park neighborhood means Taste
of Polonia, an annual September celebration of the joys of pierogi and
kielbasa. To many, it means a taste of Ireland.
“When there’s flies
around you, you
can zap them with
it,” explains sales
associate Mike
Marecki. “Well, it
actually doesn’t
work too well for
flies, because they
can feel the draft
before you get to
them—but it works
really well on
mosquitoes.
To others, it’s a key transportation junction, where the CTA’s Blue Line
‘L’ trains (Loop to O’Hare) meet suburban Metra trains, with CTA buses
waiting just up the escalator.
“And it’s good for
shocking your
buddies.”
Some, but not all, of the good stuff happens to be near the intersection
of Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenues, steps from the train station and
the Copernicus Center.
The cultural center is named for the Polish astronomer/scholar
(sometimes also claimed by Germans, but not in this neighborhood)
who, among other contributions, popularized the notion that the sun,
not Earth, is the center of things. It sponsors the Polonia food, craft and
polka fest from a building that once was the Gateway Theater (1930), the
first of the city’s movie palaces built specifically for talking pictures. Its
exterior has been handsomely refashioned to resemble Warsaw’s Royal
Castle, complete with characteristic clock tower, and it remains a venue
for film and other cultural programs.
Signage on shops, restaurants and taverns, and conversations within
them, reinforce the reality that this neighborhood has retained much
of its Polishness even as diversity adds different flavors to the mix.
Which makes it interesting that its best-known restaurant has long been
a barbecue joint, the Gale Street Inn. The restaurant-tavern, across
Milwaukee Avenue from the trains, has been serving up racks of baby
back ribs to enthusiastic fans since the early 1960s.
(Quick note on Chicago barbecue: Unlike hot dogs and pizza, there is no
distinctive “Chicago barbecue” style, though there’s plenty of it all over
town. Gale Street is among the restaurants favoring a cooking method
that generates super-tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs; others prefer firmer
meat that clings to the bone. The constant, however, is a civic preference
for baby back ribs and their less expensive cousins, rib tips—as opposed
to the spare ribs beloved in, say, Kansas City, or the brisket worshipped
in Texas.)
Facing page: Copernicus
Foundation
Not far from the inn and the Milwaukee-Lawrence intersection is
Jefferson Park, the park, a seven-acre green space listed on the National
Register with two ball fields (popular, combined, as a soccer venue on
Sundays), a playground, pool, tennis and a bit of history—a century-old
farmhouse, now a machine shop, that dates to the park’s origin as the
Esdohr family farm.
107
Back to food: Those hungering for Polish
goodies between fests might consider
Smak-Tak. A cozy Elston Avenue storefront
decorated with French (!) artwork, it features
the standards (bigos, kielbasa, golabki, pierogi
and more) and adds items like Hungarian
goulash wrapped in a generous potato pancake,
recommended for the truly famished.
As for non-ethnic shopping, nothing in this
neighborhood, or in most of the city’s neighborhoods, is quite like American Science & Surplus.
This supermarket-size emporium in a strip mall
on Milwaukee north of Foster Avenue (“established about 1937”) sells what most would
expect to find at any military surplus store: gas
masks, for example. It also sells Dutch military
underpants ($5.75, presumably unused), mine
detectors ($179), a pickled perch specimen
($6.95; the pickled python alongside the perch
isn’t for sale) and an item labeled “some kind
of black case thingie” (irresistible at a mere
$4.89).
The serious science part includes scopes
(tele- and micro-), laboratory equipment and
science-oriented toys, but when you can buy a
genuine British riot helmet complete with
a face shield for a $29.50. . .
108
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Norwood Park
North Park
Jefferson
Park
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
Dunning
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
And there’s the Irish component in Jefferson
Park, including delis (Harrington’s, in a new
Milwaukee Avenue location; and Gaelic Imports,
around more than 50 years, which sells gift
items along with its jams and soda bread) and
a pub, the atmospheric Galvin’s, that along with
the obligatory Guinness and Harp and familiar
pub grub offers an RLT—a sandwich of rashers,
lettuce and tomato. Mayo, of course.
Edison
Park
Avondale
And there’s the handheld electronic fly zapper.
“When there’s flies around you, you can zap
them with it,” explains sales associate Mike
Marecki. “Well, it actually doesn’t work too well
for flies, because they can feel the draft before
you get to them—but it works really well on
mosquitoes.
“And it’s good for shocking your buddies.”
At $7.95, it’s the perfect Chicago take-home
complement to the Jefferson Park baby backs,
kielbasa and soda bread. . .
mystique
KENWOOD | OAKLAND
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PRESIDENT OBAMA’S HOME NEIGHBORHOOD
Muhammad Ali
lived nearby for a
time, in a handsome
Tudor mansion at
4944 S. Woodlawn
Ave. (The splendid
Masjid Al-Faatir
mosque, on 47th
Street, is Ali’s
Kenwood legacy.)
Across from the
Obama home–visible
behind the Hyde
Park Boulevard
barricades–is KAM
Isaiah Israel (1924),
a Byzantine-style
synagogue housing
the Midwest’s
oldest reform
congregation.
A news reporter on a Chicago TV station—a Chicago TV station—told us
this shortly after Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration:
“Right now, Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood is preparing for
President Barack Obama’s homecoming,” said the enthusiastic reporter,
who was interviewing a woman “who lives just four doors from President
Obama’s Hyde Park home.”
If she lives four doors from Obama, the woman—like the president—lives
in Kenwood.
Kenwood-Hyde Park is, to be fair, a geographic distinction, not an intellectual one. Kenwood’s southern border is Hyde Park Boulevard, but
the boulevard is not so broad or so busy as to cut itself off from that
University of Chicago mystique.
North, at 43rd Street, Kenwood ends and Oakland begins. Both, whether
by design or by the flow of economics and time, today are overwhelmingly residential areas with pockets of unique retail worth visiting. On
47th Street, the Zaleski&Horvath MarketCafe is a popular deli (lots of
sandwiches and artisanal cheeses) and a good spot for a spot of coffee;
the Afro-centric Goree Shop is browse-worthy; the gallery at the Little
Black Pearl Art & Design Center is interesting—but its programs, for
adults as well as young people, are the focus of its mission of economic
empowerment.
On Cottage Grove Avenue, the window sign at Ain’t She Sweet Cafe
suggests its soups are sweet as she is.
South Kenwood, like Hyde Park, is a land of mostly quiet streets shaded
by great trees, of century-old mansions built and preserved with love
and serious dollars. President Obama’s home, at 5046 S. Greenwood
Ave., is one of them, a Georgian built in 1910. Don’t expect to drive past;
access is made challenging by concrete and steel barriers, and by men
with no sense of humor in black vehicles.
Julius Rosenwald, philanthropist and an early part-owner of Sears,
Roebuck & Co., lived nearby on 49th Street and Ellis Avenue in a house
(1903) that still exists, handsomely. So did meatpacker Gustavus Swift, in
a house (1898) standing just up the block on Ellis.
Muhammad Ali lived nearby for a time, in a handsome Tudor mansion
at 4944 S. Woodlawn Ave. (The splendid Masjid Al-Faatir mosque, on
47th Street, is Ali’s Kenwood legacy.) Across from the Obama home—
visible behind the Hyde Park Boulevard barricades—is KAM Isaiah
Israel (1924), a Byzantine-style synagogue housing the Midwest’s oldest
reform congregation.
Previous page:
Muhammad Ali’s former
home
110
Two early (1892) Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes are in South
Kenwood. The McArthur House and Blossom House are both near 49th
Street and Kenwood Avenue, with exteriors that
at best only hint at his later style; for stronger
hints, check out the garage built later (1907)
beside the Blossom House.
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Englewood
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
New City
Douglas
Oa
BACK OF
THE YARDS
South
Loop
BRONZEVILLE
Architect John Root, onetime partner of
Daniel Burnham, designed the William E. Hale
home (1886) in North Kenwood at 4545 S.
Drexel Blvd., an impressive pile that, like the
close-by McGill, has found new life as condos.
More conventionally sized greystones survive
nicely on the 4500 blocks of both Ellis and
Greenwood Avenues; the 4400 block of
Berkeley has fine examples of redstone and
greystone structures.
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Fuller Park
South Kenwood is a neighborhood for walking.
The interesting parts of North Kenwood, a
community undergoing an exciting but still
spotty revival, are more scattered, which makes
car or bus touring a better option.
Bridgeport
Chinatown
And don’t miss a pair of important structures
on Drexel Boulevard: McGill Mansion (1893),
4938 S. Drexel Blvd., now a condo building with
all the features of a castle but a drawbridge
and moat; and Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Operation
Push headquarters, in a former synagogue at
50th Street.
Museum
Campus
Kenwood
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
Jackson
Park
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
And up in Oakland, new homes and condominiums—and new parks and playgrounds
and hope. Still here: more Drexel Boulevard
greystones; Northeastern Illinois University’s
Center for Inner City Studies, 700 E. Oakwood
Blvd., whose modern exterior hides (without
a trace visible from the street) another Frank
Lloyd Wright design; a knockout mural on
Drexel and 41st Street; and some fine church
buildings, including Monumental Baptist
Church, 729 E. Oakwood Blvd.
So Hyde Park will have to do without being
Obama’s home base. It will have to settle for
being the home of the world’s first nuclear
chain reaction, and other things.
This is Kenwood’s moment.
111
beaches
LAKEFRONT
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26 MILES OF MAGIC
Chicago has
emerged as a
truly beautiful
city. And while
its architecture
and public art and
gardens are major
contributors, it’s
the Lake Michigan
Lakefront—26
miles of it—that
lifts Chicago to its
higher level.
It takes only a
short walk along
any of its walkways
or beaches to feel
the magic. A fuller
exploration, with an
occasional detour,
brings an even
greater, deeper
appreciation.
“Eventually,” Frank Lloyd Wright once told an audience, “I think that
Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the world.”
That curious prediction—“left in the world”?—is much quoted by boosters
who forget , or conveniently omit, the context. (He said it in London in
1939 as a second world war loomed.)
But in the positive sense, Wright was onto something. Chicago has
emerged as a truly beautiful city. And while its architecture and
public art and gardens are major contributors, it’s the Lake Michigan
Lakefront—26 miles of it—that lifts Chicago to its higher level.
It takes only a short walk along any of its walkways or beaches to feel
the magic. A fuller exploration, with an occasional detour, brings an even
greater, deeper appreciation.
We’ll start at the south end of the Lakefront, at Calumet Park. It’s one
of the city’s largest parks—200 acres, with expansion planned—and its
beach view of Indiana’s steelworks is a reminder of an industry that once
dominated South Chicago and adjoining neighborhoods.
On 95th Street—this is a first detour, and a quick one—is the drawbridge
over the Calumet River that had a featured role in “The Blues Brothers.”
(The lads’ car cleared the gap.) More relevant, at the bridge is Calumet
Fisheries, a classic shack and smokehouse that can provide smoked Lake
Michigan fish—or less local other things—for your lakeside picnic.
Continuing northward, the road that follows the lake changes its name
from time to time. We follow the U.S. 41 signs, even when the lake
vanishes for a stretch; getting lost is impossible.
When the road passes Russell Square Park and meets 83rd Street,
there is a church.
St. Michael the Archangel was completed in 1909 to serve this once
Polish community. If the right side-door is open (or if someone is home
in the office and can help), walk in and check out the monumental
stained-glass windows on either side of the altar. The other windows
are merely magnificent.
Past the church, U.S. 41 becomes South Shore Drive. For several blocks
the Lakefront isn’t visible from the street—but it’s here. Cross-streets
dead-end at Rainbow Park, a pleasant park and beach, but except for
a small lot at 75th Street, parking (street) ranges from limited to
nonexistent. We keep moving.
Previous pages: Windy
City Hot Dogs / West
Lawn
Facing page: Bike path,
looking south
The South Shore Cultural Center, at 71st Street, is the former South
Shore Country Club. There’s a beach here, and parking. We can’t
ignore the clubhouse (part of it dates to 1906). The center is home
to one of the two public, full-scale 9-hole golf courses right on the
Lakefront; the other, at Addison Street, is the more challenging Sydney
R. Marovitz course.
115
Right there,
Chicago’s skyline
emerges in all its
glory to the west
of the Drive; to
the east, we see
Burnham and
Monroe Harbors,
bobbing pleasure
boats adding
their own colors
to the deep blues
of Lake Michigan.
Grant Park, with
its gardens and
softball fields (16inch softball, the
Chicago game),
frames the tall hotel
and office buildings;
Buckingham
Fountain erupts
in all its glory, its
waters floodlit after
dark in a symphony
of changing color;
Millennium Park,
with its own
symphony, is just
north.
South Shore Drive continues along the South Shore Golf Course. We
won’t see the lake, just fairways—but can console ourselves with another
quick detour, to enjoy the houses within the Jackson Park Highlands, a
Chicago Landmark District near the Jackson Park Golf Course.
At South Shore and 67th Street, the Lakefront re-emerges briefly and
visitors get an early preview of the city skyline; at 6600 North—that’s
Marquette Drive here—our road, U.S. 41, becomes Lake Shore Drive. And
here we go. . .
For all but a very few miles, from now until near the city’s northern limit,
the lake—or parks adjoining the lake, or both—is our constant companion. For much of the way (from 71st Street to Hollywood Avenue), the
roadway is paralleled by the paved Lakefront Trail, with its joggers,
skaters, walkers and bicyclists.
At 63rd Street (see the historic 1919 beach house) and at 57th Street
(opposite the Museum of Science and Industry—perhaps the consummate detour) are excellent sand beaches. At 55th Street, just west of
Lake Shore Drive, is a parking lot; we use it, follow the pedestrian underpass and emerge at the beginning of a circular walkway to Promontory
Point.
Chicagoans debate preferred skyline viewpoints the way they debate
favorite pizza and baseball teams. Promontory Point is a contender. So is
Burnham Park at 47th Street, reachable by pedestrian bridge over Lake
Shore Drive—and the view of the Drive and the skyline from the bridge
is another great spot for a photo.
If the trees aren’t too thick, the monument marking Stephen A. Douglas’
tomb is visible on the left at 35th Street.
McCormick Place, the convention center, cuts off the lake view around
23rd Street; just ahead, Soldier Field and the Museum Campus (the Field
Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium—all
of which will be covered in the Museum Campus entry) also put distance
and masonry between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.
But right there, Chicago’s skyline emerges in all its glory to the west
of the Drive; to the east, we see Burnham and Monroe Harbors,
bobbing pleasure boats adding their own colors to the deep blues of
Lake Michigan. Grant Park, with its gardens and softball fields (16-inch
softball, the Chicago game), frames the tall hotel and office buildings;
Buckingham Fountain erupts in all its glory, its waters floodlit after
dark in a symphony of changing color; Millennium Park, with its own
symphony, is just north.
Traffic lights and volume slow the flow of cars here, for which
Chicagoans—here, and not in many other places—tend to be grateful,
given the scenery and serenity.
116
Ahead is Navy Pier, another stopping point—
though a mile north is one more temptation,
Oak Street Beach, the beach of the elite Gold
Coast neighborhood guarded by the elegant
Drake Hotel and refreshed by the Oak Street
Beachstro, right on the sand.
Two more popular beaches come in succession:
North Avenue Beach, with its volleyball games
and its ocean-liner boathouse and, within an
easy walk, the Chicago History Museum and
International Museum of Surgical Science (we
may take home a souvenir skeleton keychain);
and Fullerton Avenue Beach, right across from
the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory and
the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.
LAKEFRONT
Still more picturesque harbors follow quickly—
Diversey and Belmont Harbors—then the
Marovitz golf course, and a final harbor, at
Montrose Avenue. Leave the Drive at Montrose,
follow the harbor road past the bait shack, and
enjoy yet another, yet very different, look at
the skyline. . .
The lake and park views continue to Hollywood.
There, Lake Shore Drive ends and Sheridan
Road continues northward. The Lakefront is
still here, but condos and apartment buildings
and Loyola University limit visual access to the
sand and water.
The last sizeable strand within the city limits
is Loyola Beach, at Touhy Avenue. Two blocks
north on Sheridan Road, less than a mile before
Chicago ends, is the Emil Bach House. It was
built in 1915.
It was designed, in the Prairie Style, by Frank
Lloyd Wright.
This journey would have given him a most
satisfied smile. . .
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retro
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ORTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD OFFERS ENDLESS APPEAL
FOR VISITORS
Example: No other
community’s
section of Lincoln
Park and the
lakefront has a
totem pole. It’s on
the east (lake) side
of Lake Shore Drive
at Addison Street,
and yes, it’s a real
one, imported from
western Canada.
It’s near the Sydney
R. Marovitz Golf
Course, a 9-hole
challenge along
Lake Michigan, up
the shoreline from
lovely Belmont
Harbor and across
the Drive from
Temple Sholom
(1928), the largest
Reform Jewish
congregation
in Illinois.
Many of Chicago’s neighborhoods have one or two commercial zones,
which makes it relatively easy to zero in on what makes them potentially
attractive for visitors.
Lakeview, even spinning off two of its essential areas—Wrigleyville and
Boystown—has all kinds of zones, commercial and otherwise, each with
its own appeal.
That makes seeing it all something of a logistical challenge. The most
efficient way to enjoy the neighborhood, then, is to pick a specific attraction and check out what’s within rational walking distance.
Example: No other community’s section of Lincoln Park and the
lakefront has a totem pole. It’s on the east (lake) side of Lake Shore
Drive at Addison Street, and yes, it’s a real one, imported from western
Canada. It’s near the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course, a 9-hole challenge
along Lake Michigan, up the shoreline from lovely Belmont Harbor and
across the Drive from Temple Sholom (1928), the largest Reform Jewish
congregation in Illinois.
And everything there is only a few blocks east of Wrigley Field
(Wrigleyville neighborhood).
So enjoy that part of the neighborhood and don’t worry about, say,
rushing over to take in the masterwork that is St. Alphonsus Church. Not
right away. (No one said these choices would be easy.)
Completed in 1896 by and for its then German parish at Southport and
Wellington Avenues just off Lincoln Avenue, masses are still celebrated
in German, as well as in Spanish and English. The church’s interior is
notable for its exquisite white-marble altar, its mosaics and its stained
glass, imported from Germany.
Next door is the Athenaeum Theater (1911), formerly a school and
community center complete with bowling alleys and now host to a
variety of live performances. Nearby along Lincoln Avenue is A La
Turka (kebabs and, on weekends, belly dancers) and other ethnic eats.
For refreshment, Lincoln Tap Room is an old bar that—like much of this
neighborhood—manages to be retro (a giant Hamm’s bear above the bar)
and trendy (DJs, open mic nights) at the same time.
Not so nearby but still on Lincoln and walkable (with the right shoes)
are a couple of longtime Chicago Lincoln Avenue institutions, Dinkel’s
Bakery (owned by the same family since 1922); and Paulina Meat Market
(1949), just off Lincoln, which is worth visiting just to inhale the intoxicating aroma of its sausages, made in more varieties than you knew
existed.
Facing page: Surf-Pine
Grove District
Heading east—and yes, this would be a serious hike from those wursts—
the block and a half of Belmont Avenue between Sheffield Avenue and
Clark Street, still Lakeview, is a different world representing different
119
worlds. Downstairs from the Belmont ‘L’ station
that serves the Red, Brown and Purple Lines
are the following: two Thai restaurants, a
Swedish diner, a 24-hour diner, a pizza place,
a Mexican place, an Indian place, a Middle
Eastern place, a Philly place and a Japanese
notions store.
Also right there is Berlin, an interesting nightspot for lovers of interesting nightspots, and
around the corner on Sheffield, the Vic Theater
(1912), a concert venue and sometime movie
house. West of Sheffield and an easy walk away
are still more restaurants and the Theatre
Building, a multistage complex that’s been
home to live theater for more than 30 years.
South of Belmont on Broadway are more
restaurants, including Oscar Wilde, which
doubles as a pub; the Bagel, a Jewish-style
deli with walls covered with posters from
Broadway (the New York Broadway) musicals;
plus Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai,
Middle Eastern, Greek, Mexican, pizza—and
three Chicago originals, the first Intelligentsia
Coffee, Pastoral (artisan cheeses and breads)
and Bobtail, the ice cream store.
South of Belmont on Clark Street to Diversey
are still more restaurants, few of them
conventional. La Creperie has been making its
Breton-style filled egg-skins since 1972. The
Duke of Perth lists more than 70 single-malt
whiskies on its card, plus pub standards from
the kitchen.
If the Duke isn’t Celtic enough for you, head to
Ginger’s Ale House, back on Ashland, and hoist
a pint of Murphy’s while cursing whoever is
beating your soccer team on one of the tellies.
North of Ginger’s is more variety: Machu Picchu
(Peruvian) and Cy’s Crab House (crabs, of
course—and other seafood).
120
Edgewater
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Irving Park
North
Center
Boystown
Avondale
Logan Square
Wrigleyville
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt
Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Old
Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Streeterville
Rush & Division
Which brings us to a symbol of this neighborhood even mightier than the totem pole.
Parts of castle-like Lake View High School,
on Ashland Avenue at Irving Park Road, date
to 1886. (A fire leveled the original building
in 1884.) Its alumni include film star Gloria
Swanson, who made early silents at Chicago’s
Essanay Studios (Uptown neighborhood), and
ventriloquist Edgar Bergen—and by extension, his carved co-stars Charlie McCarthy
and Mortimer Snerd, who would’ve flopped in
movies if it weren’t for talkies.
Considering the neighborhood, all were very
likely Cubs fans, including the dummies. White
Sox fans are free to provide a punchline here.
historic
LINCOLN PARK
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AN ABUNDANCE OF OPPORTUNITIES AND PLEASURES
Much of the neighborhood, like most
of the city’s North
Side, was lost in the
1871 Great Chicago
Fire. What rose from
those ashes was
a Lincoln Park of
stone and brick—and
walking the residential streets today
it’s easy to imagine
yourself in the 19th
century, only with
better restaurants.
The Lincoln Park neighborhood enjoys an abundance of historic, cultural,
architectural, recreational, culinary and scenic pleasures.
Much of the neighborhood, like most of the city’s North Side, was
lost in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. What rose from those ashes was
a Lincoln Park of stone and brick—and walking the residential streets
today it’s easy to imagine yourself in the 19th century, only with better
restaurants.
In all, eight historic districts are either entirely within the Lincoln Park
community or overlap into it.
In short, the Lincoln Park neighborhood, as much as any in the city,
epitomizes why folks like living in Chicago.
The question for visitors, of course, is how to visit. With so much to offer,
it’s probably best to break Lincoln Park down into geographic areas or
areas of specific interest:
The lake, the park and other things. The neighborhood’s eastern side,
from North Avenue to Diversey Parkway, is all park and Lake Michigan
shoreline. Some of the city’s best beaches, including Fullerton and North
Avenue, are along here, filled with Chicagoans enjoying the sand and
socialization all summer long. Bike paths and jogging/walking paths
make it a breeze for everyone to experience not only the lakefront but
also gardens and public art between the lake and Clark Street. Lincoln
Park Zoo and, near Fullerton, the Conservatory are not only glorious but
gloriously free. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is also here as is
the Chicago History Museum, which will fascinate even non-locals.
Around Halsted and Armitage. Boutique-type shops abound, especially
on Armitage Avenue west of Halsted, mostly for women. For all genders,
there are plenty of places to grab a bite or a refreshment on both streets
(and on Webster Avenue as well). The Old Town School of Folk Music,
on Armitage, will sell you a ukulele and teach you to play it. If you find
yourself at Webster and Halsted, walk east on Webster and soon you’ll
spot Dorothy (and Toto, too). That’s Oz Park; author L. Frank Baum lived
in the neighborhood.
Previous page: North
Pond
122
For serious foodies. Alinea, on Halsted, opened in 2005, and the glow
from its reviews then and since (one credible magazine called it North
America’s finest restaurant) could power a mid-size country. Very
Expensive. Charlie Trotters, on Armitage, has won too many honors to
list. Twenty-plus years of excellence. Very Expensive. L20, on Lincoln
Park West, is relatively new, super-sleek (seafood, mostly) and, of
course, Very Expensive. North Pond, right in the park near Deming
Place, features seasonal specials in a gorgeous setting. Not quite Very
Expensive but close.
For serious foodies on a tighter budget. Mon
Ami Gabi, French bistro, shares the same
ownership and location (in the Belden Stratford
Hotel) as L20. Cafe Bernard offers country
French at a good price, on Halsted. Riccardo
Trattoria, on Clark near the park, is as close to
true Italian as you’ll find in town.
Ethnics, ethnics, ethnics. Every major street
has something—but to eat your way around
the world within a few blocks, hit Clark Street
from Fullerton to Diversey, nibbling along the
way. We’re talking Indian, Japanese, Mexican,
Austrian, Chinese, Argentine, Italian, Algerian,
Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Celtic, kosher-style,
pan-Asian noodles, Middle Eastern, New York
pizza, and we’re probably forgetting something.
Uptown
Wrigleyville
North
Center
Boystown
Lakeview
Logan
Square
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy, UIC
Loop
Chicago specials. Frances Deli, on Clark Street,
has been serving matzo balls and corned beef
since 1938, while the Chicago Pizza & Oven
Grinder Co., has dished out its “pot pie” pizzas
since 1972. Wiener’s Circle, also on Clark,
offers the standard Chicago hot dogs with, at
night, a side order of R-rated invective. Goose
Island Brewery, on Clybourn Avenue, is known
throughout the city for specialty brews tested
by time—and tasting tours so you can test
on your own. Tom and Wendee’s Italian Ice,
on Armitage, provides a taste of Italy among
the boutiques. Robinson’s, east of Halsted on
Armitage, treats diners to prize-winning ribs
and tips and other sloppy things.
Lincoln
Square
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
nights, quite the scene. Also good, and not
quite so collegiate: Halsted Street, from
Willow north to Belden; and Clark Street,
between the restaurants, from Fullerton to
Schubert Avenue. And if you somehow can’t
find what you’re looking for here, check out
the chapters on DePaul-Sheffield and Old
Town; this is a party that doesn’t recognize
neighborhood boundaries.
So that’s Lincoln Park, with enough there
to keep you busy for a couple of hours—or
Theater. Greenhouse Theater, with four stages
a lifetime.
and five resident companies, performs highoctane material on Lincoln Avenue. The New
Leaf offers premieres and the occasional
classic in an intimate space within the historic
Lincoln Park Cultural Center near Clark and
Armitage. And Theater on the Lake, at Fullerton
Beach, presents a summertime series of crowdpleasers launched in 1942.
Party. Especially Lincoln Avenue from Webster
to Belden. Old bars, new bars, some with music,
most with food, and, especially on Saturday
123
mosaic
LINCOLN SQUARE | RAVENSWOOD
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CHICAGO’S GERMAN HERITAGE COMES ALIVE
There’s much
here in Lincoln
Square. Rosehill
Cemetery, the
largest in Chicago,
takes up the far
northeastern chunk
of it. Permanent
residents include
11 Chicago mayors,
Oscar Mayer,
Richard Sears of
Sears and Aaron
Montgomery Ward
of Ward’s, the
Hinkley of Hinkley
& Schmidt and
the Hertz of Hertz
Rent-a-Car. The
limestone gate off
Ravenswood Avenue
is on the National
Register.
The neighborhood, familiar to Chicagoans as the heart of the city’s
German culture, was called “Lincoln Square” even before they put a
statue of the president here in 1956.
There’s much here in Lincoln Square. Rosehill Cemetery, the largest in
Chicago, takes up the far northeastern chunk of it. Permanent residents
include 11 Chicago mayors, Oscar Mayer, Richard Sears of Sears and
Aaron Montgomery Ward of Ward’s, the Hinkley of Hinkley & Schmidt
and the Hertz of Hertz Rent-a-Car. The limestone gate off Ravenswood
Avenue is on the National Register.
Most of the neighborhood’s major streets—Damen, Lawrence, Western,
Montrose, Foster, Lincoln—are dotted with restaurants. Los Nopales,
on Western near Wilson Avenue, is a popular choice for Mexican food;
Mythos Taverna, on Montrose near Damen, draws crowds for its Greek
specialties; the Lutz Cafe & Pastry Shop has been tempting Chicagoans
with its cakes and tortes on Montrose for more than 60 years. The
Lawrence Avenue ethnic mosaic that’s so remarkable in the Albany Park
neighborhood continues east into this one, with Restaurant Sarajevo
(Bosnian) and Nhu Lan Bakery (Vietnamese), among others; north on
Lincoln can be found Jibek Jolu, the city’s lone Kyrgyzstani restaurant;
and it seems you’re never far from quality Korean or Thai favorites.
And residential areas range from pre-war frame cottages and bungalows
to the east to 1950s and 1960s homes—some especially fine—in Budlong
Woods, the neighborhood’s northwest corner.
But for locals looking for a good time and for visitors as well, Lincoln
Square often means that concentration of restaurants, bars and shops
along Lincoln Avenue from 4400 to 4800 North, from Montrose Avenue
to Lawrence.
This once was the commercial heart of Chicago’s sizable German
community, and there are reminders here and there. The DANK-Haus,
on Western just south of Lawrence, is a combination museum-cultural
center that both instructs—language lessons are offered, among others—
and celebrates.
In the Brown Line ‘L’ station on Leland Avenue and Western stands a
section of the Berlin Wall, a gift, with gratitude, to the people of Chicago
from the people of Berlin. (The station never closes.)
Most of the German restaurants are gone, but the Chicago Brauhaus
carries on the oom-pah tradition with its beers, bands and schnitzels.
And here, in the limited-traffic area of Lincoln between Leland and
Lawrence, the annual German American Fest is held each September
Facing page: Chicago
Brauhaus
Other veteran establishments, with new owners, have been tweaked
but maintain old-world traditions. In 2009, two Polish brothers opened
Gene’s Sausage Shop in a space held for generations by the very
125
German Meyer’s Delicatessen (the neon
“Meyer’s” sign glows in tribute inside the
two-level deli), and the store lost little if
anything in the transition. Lincoln Quality Meat
Market, at Lincoln and Leland, was German
from 1928 to 1985. It was sold that year to
Croatians, and it seems only the sausages
changed: The thuringer has been bumped for
cevapcici (Croatian) and mititel (Romanian).
The European Import Center, near Gene’s,
features fine gift items, most from Germany.
Huettenbar, across the street, not only looks
and sounds German but also has 10 German
beers on tap.
Walking south on Lincoln, beyond the main
square, visitors will spot the Davis Theater
(1918), which showed German-language films
into the 1960s and is now a four-screen miniplex, and a succession of restaurants, shops
and more restaurants and bistros.
West Ridge
Edgewater
North Park
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Albany Park
Uptown
k
Irving Park
North
Center
Wrigleyville
Boystown
Avondale
Hermosa
Joining the Brauhaus and the rest on that
once-German block are the likes of Trattoria
Trullo (Italian, from the Puglia region), Baba
Yianni (Greek) and Garcia’s (Mexican). This is
today’s Chicago.
Rogers
Park
Logan Square
Lakeview
Sheffield
& DePaul
north to Rosehill Cemetery. Here can be found
Pauline’s, a brunchtime favorite; Spacca Napoli,
whose wood-oven-fired pizzas have become a
hot item; Lillstreet Art Center, a gallery-studio
complex that moved here in 2003 after nearly
Near Montrose, in a building that once was the
30 years on Lill Street in Lincoln Park; and, in
Hild Branch of the Chicago Public Library, is the October, the Ravenswood Art Walk, a two-day
Lincoln Square location of the Old Town School event in which Lillstreet and dozens more
of Folk Music. Larger than its mother ship in the artists participate.
Lincoln Park neighborhood, it’s a performance
President Lincoln probably would’ve liked
venue, teaching facility and retail store, where
all of it.
folkies and bluesies can find that guitar or
harmonica of their dreams.
Finally, just in time after a long, refreshing and
filling walk, comes Welles Park. Here, in good
weather, visitors may find musicians, softball
(16-inch, the Chicago game), laughing children,
lots of green space—and peace.
We can’t forget the goodies in Ravenswood, the
wedge of the Lincoln Square neighborhood that
extends from Foster Avenue west of the Metra
train tracks along Ravenswood Avenue and
126
Benvenuti
LITTLE ITALY | UIC
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BENVENUTI!
“Blues Brothers”
fans will remember
Aretha Franklin
singing “Think”
in Nate’s Deli on
Maxwell Street.
Although certain
facades were
preserved, and the
fully gentrified
district has
some statues
and markers, the
original market is
now gone. Jim’s
Original sandwich
stand (hot dogs
and pork chop
sandwiches since
1939) was relocated
a block east of its
Halsted-Maxwell
moorings.
They emigrated around the turn of the 20th century from Southern
Italy—from cities and villages, from Naples and Catanzaro and Vizzini—
first to Ellis Island, and then to New York.
If they continued on to our city, they knew this neighborhood.
“The history of Italian immigration to Chicago started right here on
Taylor Street,” says George Randazzo, founder of the Italian American
Sports Hall of Fame.
Chicago’s Little Italy—this neighborhood around Taylor Street between
Morgan Street and Ashland Avenue—is smaller than it was. Expressways,
starting in the 1950s, took a chunk. When the University of IllinoisChicago moved its campus from Navy Pier to the Near West Side in the
1960s, more was lost.
To some people, today’s Little Italy may be only a restaurant pocket
within a redevelopment zone that’s come to be called University Village.
They’re wrong.
“There’s still a lot of Italian Americans in this neighborhood,” Randazzo
says. Several of them are named Fontano.
Fontano’s began in the early 1960s as a grocery store tucked back in
the neighborhood, away from the Taylor Street traffic, on Polk and
Carpenter Streets. After UIC opened a couple of blocks east of the store,
occasionally students would come in and ask for sandwiches.
“My dad would send them to other stores,” says Mary Fontano. “Then my
dad started thinking, ‘Why am I sending them somewhere else?’ That’s
when he started the sub shop.”
Her parents, Aniello and Gilda, still work in the combination grocery
store-sub shop, still turning mortadella, cotta salami, provolone, giardiniera and other good things into legendary sandwiches.
There’s been change, but change doesn’t mean it’s gone.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii (1924), on Lexington and Lytle
Streets, was the neighborhood’s first Italian Catholic church, built for a
parish formed in 1910. Its statuary and, especially, its stained glass are
remarkable. (Visitors are welcome.) It remains an active church, with
Italian used in masses.
A Christopher Columbus statue, commissioned for the 1893 World’s
Columbian Exposition, shares a plaza with a bubbly fountain at Arrigo
Park on Loomis Street.
Previous page: Piazza
DiMaggio
128
Randazzo, founder of the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, moved
his collection to Taylor Street in 2000 after a 23-year suburban sojourn.
It’s a beauty, filled with memorabilia (championship belts owned by
Rocky Marciano and Rocky Graziano, Alan Ameche’s Heisman Trophy,
baseball and football uniforms, Olympic medals
and more). “One of the reasons we came here
was to be an anchor in the community, to keep
the heritage of Taylor Street,” he says. “I think
we’ve done that.”
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Humboldt Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
Garfield Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
And, yes, there are the restaurants.
That Taylor Street now has an Irish pub and
Japanese, Thai, Indian and Mexican restaurants—and one restaurant, Chez Joel, that’s
French with a hint of Morocco—doesn’t matter.
Diversity happens in Chicago, especially when
there’s a major university in play.
Today, UIC boasts 25,000 students, sports
teams that compete at the highest intercollegiate level and the nation’s largest
medical school.
It also has a firm commitment to addressing
the realities of city life, fitting for a school that
has, on its campus, the original Hull House, a
settlement house founded by Jane Addams
in 1889 that, for decades, served waves
of immigrants (including Italians) through
language and vocational classes as well as
providing day-to-day help. The house is a
museum now, open to the public; at other Hull
House locations in the city the work goes on.
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
North Lawndale
Bridgeport
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Brighton
Park
South
Loop
Douglas
BRONZEVILLE
Al’s No. 1 Italian Beef is always rated among the
city’s best spots for that Chicago original, while
across Taylor Street, the venerable Mario’s
Italian Lemonade, open only in the warmer
months, continues to provide the perfect
antidote for garlic overload.
Printers
Row
Chinatown
A newer generation of Italian restaurants—
Tuscany, RoSal’s, The Rosebud, Francesca’s on
Taylor and others, all post-1970s—has joined
such old-timers as Pompei (founded in 1909
as a simple pizzeria) and Tufano’s Vernon Park
Tap, which began as a bakery in 1930 and even
40 years ago was still basically a neighborhood
bar with a few tables in the back.
Loop
A Joe DiMaggio statue has its own piazza
facing the museum, just up the block from
Conte Di Savoia, which provides the deli basics.
Lincoln Park
Logan Square
The university brought with it large-scale
residential and economic redevelopment. Little
Italy was most affected, but it wasn’t alone.
A notable casualty was the original Maxwell
Street Market.
“Blues Brothers” fans will remember Aretha
Franklin singing “Think” in Nate’s Deli on
Maxwell Street. Although certain facades were
preserved, and the fully gentrified district has
some statues and markers, the original market
is now gone. Jim’s Original sandwich stand
(hot dogs and pork chop sandwiches since
1939) was relocated a block east of its HalstedMaxwell moorings.
But, a “Maxwell Street Market” continues as a
Sunday flea market on Desplaines Street near
Roosevelt Road, a few blocks from the original.
And Little Italy hangs on.
For all that: Grazie.
129
churros
LITTLE VILLAGE
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A FIESTA FOR THE SENSES
According to the
2000 census,
Chicago has more
than 500,000
residents of
Mexican descent.
Of the communities
where the concentration is strong
(and there are several throughout the
city), none feels as
thoroughly Mexican
as this one.
It begins west of
California Avenue at
26th Street. Within
a couple of blocks,
Mexican flags fly. Or
droop, depending on
the Chicago winds.
The terra cotta gateway at 26th Street, the one with the tiled roof, says
“Bienvenidos”—and suddenly it’s as if you’re not in Chicago anymore.
This is Little Village, the kinder, gentler name given the community once
known as (and still officially listed as) South Lawndale. Park the car and
walk, and listen, and sniff, and taste. . . and enjoy.
According to the 2000 census, Chicago has more than 500,000
residents of Mexican descent. Of the communities where the concentration is strong (and there are several throughout the city), none feels as
thoroughly Mexican as this one.
It begins west of California Avenue at 26th Street. Within a couple of
blocks, Mexican flags fly. Or droop, depending on the Chicago winds.
The mural on the wall of El Milagro Tortilleria, unlike many murals
in these communities, doesn’t portray the myths and legends of
pre-Columbian Mexico or popular post-revolutionary themes; this mural,
with its contemporary faces, celebrates this Chicago neighborhood.
Adjacent to the tortilla factory is El Milagro’s taqueria. Here, locals and
visitors—one family with roots in Nuevo Laredo and Tijuana makes a
monthly pilgrimage from northwest Indiana just for this—take their
places along the cafeteria line for made-to-order tacos (try the carne
asada), for guisados (stews. . . sample the lengua), for any of seven different kinds of tamales (eight on Fridays, with the addition of tamales de
camarones—shrimp tamales).
And this is just El Milagro (literally, “the miracle”). An easy stroll past the
“bienvenidos” (welcome) sign on 26th Street is Los Comales, another
taqueria—and after that, a succession of taquerias and restaurants (El
Fandango, Mi Tierra, La Justicia and more, some with music, especially
on weekends) that invite anyone with a need to satisfy their south-ofthe-border cravings.
And that’s besides the carts and stands that offer elotes, fresh corn
served as it’s found through much of Mexico, or tamales, or sugary
churros or fruit or crunchy snacks.
Stop at one the panaderías (bakeries) and try something. Anything. Or
risk entering the shop at 26th and Spaulding Avenue called Dulcelandia
(Candyland) and test your ability to resist the zillions of wrapped sweets
ready for stuffing into any of the riot of colorful piñatas also on sale.
(One favorite sweet: Glorias, a chewy candy from the state of Nuevo
Leon made of goat milk and pecans and, certainly, other good things.)
Facing page: Manuel
Perez Jr. Plaza (26th
Street and Kolin
Avenue)
Supermercados. Jewelry stores. Rocio’s Children’s Wear, with its window
display of little communion dresses.
Look for the Western-wear stores and poke around for surprises, like
the Stetsons at Durango Western Wear, on 26th Street a block west of
131
Pulaski Road that sell for $1,600—a price
that amazes even the people who work there.
Asks salesman Jose Soto: “How good can you
make beaver?” Then he’ll explain who buys
$3,200 Stetsons. . .
Austin
Garfield Park
Little Italy, UIC
Little Village is more than Little Mexico. Troha’s
Fish and Shrimp House, a takeout joint on
26th near Keeler Avenue, has been doing brisk
business out of the same compact storefront
since 1920. Chicagoans argue pizza the way
Texans debate barbecue—and the unique,
medium-thick pies at Home Run Inn (31st Street
at Kildare Avenue) have been celebrated since
1923, two decades before the invention of internationally promoted “Chicago-style” pizza.
Still, it’s the Mexico vibe that draws the big
crowds, especially during the three-day Cinco
de Mayo Festival and, in October, the Little
Village Arts Festival.
But any time, Little Village is a fiesta for
the senses.
132
United
Center
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Archer
Heights
Brighton
Park
BACK OF
THE YARDS
New City
Garfield Ridge
Gage Park
West
Elsdon
boulevards
LOGAN SQUARE
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HISTORIC BOULEVARDS HOME TO DIVERSE
(AND DELICIOUS) DINING
Mansions, most
built in the first
years of the
20th century by
immigrants who hit
it big (among them
Ignaz Schwinn, the
bicycle maker),
coexist with more
modest houses of
the time and with
apartment buildings
and churches.
On side streets are
humbler houses,
many in great
shape, some not,
and more churches,
some Norwegian,
some not.
Dominating all
is the Illinois
Centennial
Monument, on
Logan Square,
designed by Henry
Bacon, the same
man who did
the Washington
Monument.
In a city renowned for its boulevards, Logan Square is a neighborhood
with four of them in its own National Historic District.
More on those later. First, the food.
At the corner of Western and Armitage Avenues near the eastern border
of Logan Square is a time capsule called Margie’s Candies. It’s been
here since 1921, selling chocolates and malteds and devilishly seductive
banana splits. Booths still have those little tabletop jukeboxes. They
haven’t worked in years, but it’s still fun to flip through the options and
find “Muskrat Love” by Captain and Tennille.
Less than a block east is Sam’s Red Hots. Compared to Margie’s, it’s
a newcomer. One of a vanishing breed (the no-frills Chicago hot dog
stand), it’s been here a mere 70 years, owned during all that time by just
two families.
“Ain’t many of us left,” says employee Julia Rempala as she assembles,
with perfection, the quintessential Chicago hot dog: Vienna all-beef
frank with yellow mustard, bright green relish, chopped onions and
two—always two—potent sport peppers.
And now, something completely different.
On Kedzie Boulevard, near where it meets Logan Boulevard to form the
actual Logan Square, is the Lula Cafe. It hasn’t been here nearly as long
as Margie’s or Sam’s. On its modest menu are elements of the following cuisines: Moroccan, Italian, Mexican, Indonesian, Japanese, Jewish,
Greek and German.
Across Kedzie Boulevard from the Lula Cafe—back to boulevards—is
Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church (1912), familiarly known as
Minnekirken, still conducting services in Norwegian. Down Kedzie
Boulevard are many other attractions—the same for Palmer Boulevard,
Humboldt Boulevard and Logan Boulevard—attractions that have nothing
at all to do with eating.
To drive today along Humboldt, Palmer and Kedzie Boulevards, and
especially Logan Boulevard, is to see the architectural equivalent of
Margie’s Candies—a sweet preservation of something very special from
another time.
Logan Square was strongly Norwegian in the early 1900s—Notre Dame
coach Knute Rockne, a Norwegian immigrant, lived here as a boy—but it
has always been diverse culturally and economically. Five years before
the Norwegians built their church, the Irish built St. Sylvester’s on
Humboldt Boulevard. A few blocks south, on Fullerton just east of
Kedzie Boulevard, stood the grand Logan Square Congregation Shaare
Zedek (1922).
Previous page: Illinois
Centennial Monument
134
Mansions, most built in the first years of the 20th century by immigrants
who hit it big (among them Ignaz Schwinn, the bicycle maker), coexist
with more modest houses of the time and with
apartment buildings and churches.
On side streets are humbler houses, many in
great shape, some not, and more churches,
some Norwegian, some not.
So intact were these 2.5 miles of tree-lined
boulevards that the system was designated
a National Historic District in 1985; the city
followed 20 years later by designating the
district a Chicago Landmark, further
protecting it.
There has been change, of course. The
synagogue is gone, demolished in the 1970s; St.
Sylvester’s now conducts some of its masses
in Spanish. But the neighborhood remains one
of first- and second-generation immigrants—65
percent are Hispanic, from all over—and that,
plus pockets of gentrification, has generated an
unusually eclectic mix of restaurants.
Locals and visitors find all the Cuban classics
(ropa vieja, cerdo estofado, the familiar
sandwiches) at Siboney on Western Avenue
and at Cafe Laguardia on Armitage Avenue.
Mexican offerings range from common taquerias to the uncommon moles at Fuego and at
Real Tenochtitlan, both on Milwaukee Avenue.
Mofongo, the Puerto Rican favorite, can be
found at cozy Cocina Boricua on Fullerton
Avenue. Go Peruvian for the cau caus at Rosa
de Lima on Ashland or, around the corner on
Armitage, at Rio’s d’Sudamerica.
But there’s also Italian—Buona Terra does
sophisticated Northern Italian goodies on
California Avenue at rational prices—and barbecue (ribs and rib tips at Fat Willie’s, on Schubert
Avenue, are favorites), and coffee shops,
and more.
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Irving Park
Portage
Park
North
Center
Avondale
Belmont
Cragin
Hermosa
Dominating all is the Illinois Centennial
Monument, on Logan Square, designed by
Henry Bacon, the same man who did the
Washington Monument. Erected in 1918, the
70-foot column topped by an eagle has been
the Logan Square landmark.
Albany Park
Logan Square
Wrigleyville
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Austin
Garfield Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
For shoppers, Wolfbait & B-girls, on Logan
Boulevard, draws the boutique crowd, and
there are a few other specialty stores. Music
happens here, at larger venues (the Congress
Theater, Logan Square Auditorium) and at clubs
scattered about the neighborhood.
Add a throwback: The Logan Theater, on
Milwaukee Avenue near the Centennial
Monument, dates to 1915, and though it’s gone
from a single-screen to a four-screen minimultiplex, it nonetheless represents one of
Chicago’s few remaining stand-alone neighborhood movie houses.
Kind of like Sam’s Red Hots being one of a
vanishing breed.
“Everything is steamed—your hot dogs, your
polish, the tamales, the buns,” says Julia
Rempala. “We do it the original way.”
135
marquee
THE LOOP
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CENTER OF CHICAGO
First, there are the
great old movie palaces on Randolph
Street, restored to
their original brilliance—the Cadillac
Palace and the
Oriental (aka the
Ford Center for the
Performing Arts).
On Dearborn, the
Goodman Theatre
has retained the
facades of the
Selwyn and Harris
Theatres. Finally,
there is the queen
of theaters, the
Chicago (1921),
with its iconic marquee, its exterior
designed to resemble Paris’ Arc de
Triomphe and its
interior the stuff of
dreams. If you can’t
catch a show there,
take a tour.
Previous pages: New
Regal Theater / South
Shore
Facing page: The
Chicago Theatre
There’s so much here in the heart of Chicago’s downtown, even after
spinning off the Printers Row neighborhood, Millennium Park and Grant
Park to their own chapters, that appreciating everything in The Loop,
even in a week, can be a challenge to any visitor.
First, there’s the issue of actually defining The Loop. For the purposes
of this discussion, we’ll call it everything within the ‘L’ (elevated train)
tracks that loop much of the neighborhood, plus a couple of blocks
north, south and west.
Let’s get to the essentials.
Public art: Walk along Dearborn Street from Jackson to Washington
Street and enjoy Calder’s “Flamingo,” flanked by government buildings
designed by Mies Van Der Rohe; Chagall’s “The Four Seasons,” near the
base of Chase Tower; and the Chicago Picasso—call it what you will—
in the Daley Center. Joan Miro’s sculpture, “Chicago,” is in a plaza on
Washington west of Dearborn, right across from the Picasso.
The Theater District: First, there are the great old movie palaces on
Randolph Street, restored to their original brilliance—the Cadillac Palace
and the Oriental (aka the Ford Center for the Performing Arts). On
Dearborn, the Goodman Theatre has retained the facades of the Selwyn
and Harris Theatres. Finally, there is the queen of theaters, the Chicago
(1921), with its iconic marquee, its exterior designed to resemble Paris’
Arc de Triomphe and its interior the stuff of dreams. If you can’t catch
a show there, take a tour.
Architecture—a mere sampling: The Monadnock Building (1893) and
the Marquette Building (1895), both on Dearborn, were forerunners
of the modern office building. Don’t miss the bas relief interpretation
of Chicago’s early history over the Marquette Building’s entrance. The
Auditorium Building (1889) is a masterwork by Dankmar Adler and Louis
Sullivan, and its theater is a marvel; tours are available. Willis Tower (the
former Sears Tower), at 1,450 feet, is the tallest building in the Western
Hemisphere, and its Skydeck offers incomparable views—but you already
know that. Macy’s took over Marshall Field’s stores, but the State Street
location still has the famous clocks at Randolph and Washington, and
the inside is as marvelous as ever. Also on State, the landmark Carson’s
department store is the Sullivan Center now—after designer Louis
Sullivan—and the architect’s famed exterior ornamentation has been
freshened for its next era. And you don’t have to check in to check out
the lobby of the Palmer House Hilton.
Restaurants—the old favorites: The city’s oldest restaurant, the Berghoff
(1898), a German classic on Adams Street, was closed briefly by the
family in 2006, then after a change of heart reopened, still owned by
the Berghoffs and only slightly tweaked. On Monroe Street, the Italian
Village, Chicago’s oldest Italian restaurant, opened in 1927, and its three
139
Great music from Chicago: Two special
venues help make Chicago Chicago: the Civic
Opera House, on Wacker Drive, home of the
much celebrated Lyric Opera of Chicago; and
Symphony Center, on Michigan Avenue, home
of the Chicago Symphony, for decades among
the world’s elite orchestras.
And can’t forget: The ‘L’—as much as the Lyric
and the CSO, the sound of the city. Listen to it.
Wave at it as cars go by. Ride it. Treasure it.
We do.
140
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
River
North
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Bridgeport
Chinatown
Restaurants—the newer classics: To many,
Everest—Jean Joho’s signature French restaurant atop a LaSalle Street office building—is
among the best in the city. Trattoria No. 10,
on Dearborn near the theaters, has drawn
raves for its authentic Italian fare since it
opened more than 20 years ago. On Adams
near Symphony Hall, Russian Tea Time and
Rhapsody couldn’t be more different, but both
make beautiful music. Seafood lovers have
made Catch 35, on Wacker Drive, a solid choice.
The original Heaven on Seven, on Wabash,
has been around for 30 years now, retaining
its format (mostly lunch, rare dinner hours)
and a following for its cajun-creole specialties.
The Rosebud empire, born in the Little Italy
neighborhood, is up to four Loop locations. And
Petterino’s shares space with the Goodman,
which is good news for theatergoers—if they
made reservations.
Lakeview
Loop
dining rooms remain favorites. Under the ‘L’
tracks on Wabash Avenue, Miller’s Pub dates to
1935, and its moderately priced meals and lively
bar have lured sports figures and celebrities for
decades. Poag Mahome’s, on Jackson, has been
a saloon with food since 1911, with a reluctant
break for prohibition. When it opened in 1963,
Ronny’s Steakhouse sold steaks for $1.09;
prices are still reasonable, and the place—at
Lake and Clark Streets—is nothing fancy, but
its fans swear by it.
South
Loop
Douglas
delight
MAGNIFICENT MILE
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SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT
Old photographs
taken after the 1871
Great Chicago Fire
show a ruined landscape. The historic
Water Tower was
one of just a handful of survivors of
that fire. Though
dwarfed now on
three sides by more
massive structures,
it has been a symbol of resilience and
resolve ever since.
There may be no
more beloved building in all of the city.
It could begin with high tea at the elegant Drake Hotel and end with a
humble cheezborger at the subterranean Billy Goat.
This is Michigan Avenue, Boul Mich, the Magnificent Mile. It is everything
and anything a shopping street could and should be: It is great department stores and small galleries and boutiques, singular restaurants and
everyman food courts. It is grand hotels. It is a signature skyscraper with
an observation deck, and another, gothic this time and deckless, with
chunks of a Great Pyramid and the Alamo imbedded in its limestone.
The “Mag Mile” is, and has been for decades, a magnet for visitors worldwide and a workplace for thousands of Chicagoans who are energized
daily by the looks of delight on the faces of strangers.
And among the shops and restaurants and hotels, there is history here.
Old photographs taken after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire show a ruined
landscape. The historic Water Tower was one of just a handful of survivors of that fire. Though dwarfed now on three sides by more massive
structures, it has been a symbol of resilience and resolve ever since.
There may be no more beloved building in all of the city.
The Fourth Presbyterian Church was born just months before the Great
Fire—and lost to the flames. What stands today, two blocks north of the
Water Tower, is its third building, completed in 1914. It’s open to all for
prayer, reflection or just a break from the Magnificent frenzy.
Opened in 1920, the elegant Drake Hotel—with its incomparable view
of Oak Street Beach—was the first hotel in the city with air-conditioned
rooms. Its guests have included royalty and film crews; scenes from
“Risky Business” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and other movies
were shot here.
The 94th-floor observation deck (and bar and restaurant on the 95th
and 96th floors) at the John Hancock Center (1970) isn’t as high as the
one atop the Willis Tower—but if you want a high-elevation photo that
includes the Willis Tower, this is the place.
At the south end of the mile is Tribune Tower, completed in 1925. The
architect’s touches—gargoyles and other mysterious and whimsical
add-ons—would take a detective (or really good tour guide) to decode.
But the 100-plus stones stuck into the exterior walls from the Great Wall,
the Taj Mahal, Lincoln’s Tomb, the White House, etc., are all labeled and,
if you can reach them, touchable.
Previous page: John
Hancock Center Plaza
142
Finally (though we’ve skipped a few), across from Tribune Tower there’s
the Wrigley Building (1921). Gleaming white and floodlit after dark, it
remains one of Chicago’s favorite landmarks.
Restaurants? Some have earned national
and even international recognition. Across
from the Drake, Spiaggia—and its lower-cost
option down the hall, Spiaggia Cafe—is a much
honored Italian. NoMI, in the Park Hyatt, mixes
French with Asian and adds sensational views
of the Water Tower. Tru, a block east on St.
Clair Street, ranks among the city’s elite. A
newcomer, The Purple Pig, has won raves for its
small plates of meats and cheeses (and wines,
of course).
Among the more casual options is Heaven on
Seven, which satisfies cravings for gumbos,
jambalayas and other things Creole and Cajun.
Sayat Nova has an exotic name, but its menu of
Armenian and Middle Eastern specialties is as
easy to handle as its prices. Bistro 110, near the
Water Tower, is comfortable French with fairly
comfortable tabs, especially at lunch.
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
River
North
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Streeterville
Magnificent Mile
Loop
Galleries abound and a list of them would go on
and on—as would a list of shops (furs, accessories, shoes, cashmere, men’s wear, handbags)
you won’t find in your hometown mall—but why
spoil the pleasure of the search?
Boystown
Lakeview
Printers
Row
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
But the business of Michigan Avenue is mainly
retail. The big anchor-stores and their malls
are easy to find—Nordstroms/The Shops at
North Bridge, Macy’s/Water Tower Place,
Bloomingdale’s/The 900 Shops and more. The
art is finding the hidden treasures—including
the ones selling art.
Bridgeport
South
Loop
Douglas
grillmen will happily spew a few “cheezborgercheezborger”s on request while cooking
the same to order. Its walls are covered with
pictures of celebrities who have eaten there
and of newspaperpeople, many of whom
have been known to close the joint from
time to time.
The Goat is a long way from the Drake—but
a short walk. Less than a mile.
Magnificent.
But no list of Mag Mile eateries, incomplete
as this one must be, can ignore the Billy Goat
Tavern. This brightly lit bar-with-food (the
flagship location; there are others), located on
lower Michigan (you’ll find the steps just north
of the Wrigley Building), is the inspiration for
the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd “cheezborgercheezborger, no fries, chips” sketches from
those old “Saturday Night Live” shows. The
143
green
MARQUETTE PARK | GAGE PARK
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ONE OF CHICAGO’S MOST DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
Marquette Park–
the actual park–is
the largest of the
Southwest Side
parks. It’s a 600acre sprawl of green
real estate, beautifully maintained,
that includes soccer
and baseball fields,
a 9-hole golf course,
and a bridge and
lagoon that made a
splash: Remember
when Jake and
Elwood forced Nazi
demonstrators off a
bridge into a lagoon
in “The Blues
Brothers” movie?
That lagoon was in
Marquette Park.
The park is particularly inviting
on warm-weather
Sundays, filled with
soccer games and
adjacent family
picnics.
For generations, this was a neighborhood where, in many homes, English
was a second language. First language: Lithuanian. It remains a neighborhood where, in many homes, English is a second language. First
language: Spanish.
In restaurant kitchens, though, the languages are all over the world map.
Marquette Park is today among the city’s most diverse neighborhoods.
And, while it takes some exploration to fully appreciate that diversity,
it takes no work at all to discover the landmass that dominates this
community.
Marquette Park—the actual park—is the largest of the Southwest Side
parks. It’s a 600-acre sprawl of green real estate, beautifully maintained,
that includes soccer and baseball fields, a 9-hole golf course, and a
bridge and lagoon that made a splash: Remember when Jake and
Elwood forced Nazi demonstrators off a bridge into a lagoon in “The
Blues Brothers” movie? That lagoon was in Marquette Park.
The park is particularly inviting on warm-weather Sundays, filled with
soccer games and adjacent family picnics.
While Marquette Park/Gage Park has been a neighborhood in transition
for 40-plus years, its commercial streets—63rd Street and Kedzie and
Western Avenues—have retained vitality. The food-oriented businesses
largely reflect the area’s large Mexican community. No shortage of
taquerias, carnicerias, panaderias and paleterias here—and don’t miss
the Kedzie Avenue tamale stands (Manolo’s and Tamales Rosa).
But then there are surprises.
The Nile Restaurant, on 63rd Street near Central Park Avenue, is a small,
tidy diner specializing in Middle Eastern appetizers and salads and a
variety of kebabs.
Fat Johnnies, on Western, has been handing hot dogs through the
window of this nondescript shack since 1972. Its “mother-in-law
sandwich”—a tamale on a hot dog, all covered with chili and cheese—is
mainly for the brave of stomach, but its Chicago dogs are up to standard.
There’s Garifuna Flava, just west of Western on 63rd. This restaurant
serves the cuisine of the Garifuna tribe, descendants of escaped West
African slaves who mixed with the locals when they eventually settled
in Honduras and Belize. The food—strong on seafood and plantains and
more esoteric ingredients—merges elements of the Caribbean and Africa.
This is special.
Facing page: Marquette
Park
And on 71st Street: Seklycia, a small restaurant, a remnant of a time
when this neighborhood was the Midwest center of all things LithuanianAmerican. Another: the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, on Lithuanian Plaza Court (69th Street) just steps from the park.
145
Completed in 1957, from the outside it looks
like a modernist’s version of a church in Vilnius;
inside, it is a wonder.
Twelve blocks west of the church, on Pulaski
Road in the West Lawn neighborhood, is the
Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture.
Brighton
Park
Archer
Heights
BACK OF
THE YARDS
New City
Gage Park
And now, a little history.
In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose
movement since the 1950s had targeted
segregation in the South, turned his attention northward. Chicago’s Marquette Park was
where King brought his marchers.
On Aug. 5, King’s motorcade arrived in the
neighborhood, greeted by jeering counterdemonstrators. A stone hit his head and he
dropped to one knee. More bottles and rocks
followed; there would be 30 injuries reported
and 40 arrests.
There is no plaque where Dr. King fell. And this
is a very different community today than it was
in 1966.
Not far from that spot, on 63rd Street, new
owners took over a place now called Restaurant
Carnitas y Birrieria Jalisco, and on a Saturday
afternoon a large family nearly filled it.
There was laughter and celebration, digital
cameras flashed, the jukebox blared, and
children giggled as children have been
giggling in Marquette Park since the neighborhood’s beginning.
What the restaurant had been before, 40-plus
years ago, didn’t matter. What mattered: The
puerco en salsa roja was wonderful. . .
146
West
Elsdon
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Englewood
Chicago Lawn
West Lawn
Ashburn
Auburn Gresham
lovely
MCKINLEY PARK | BRIGHTON PARK
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PLEASANT CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS ALONG ARCHER AVENUE
Archer Avenue
is the common
artery that keeps
both McKinley
Park and Brighton
Park pumping
commercially.
McKinley Park and Brighton Park share much.
These are pleasant,
working-class
communities.
While neither has a
commercial district
with the fiestalike atmosphere
of nearby Pilsen’s
18th Street or
Little Village’s 26th
Street, both have
points of interest
for visitors.
And Archer Avenue is the common artery that keeps both McKinley Park
and Brighton Park pumping commercially.
Both have parks, though McKinley’s is a large, lovely green space with
ball fields, a lagoon, a swimming pool and some of the tallest trees in the
city—and Brighton’s is a mere playlot. But the original Brighton Park was
a racetrack that sat on what, in 1902, became McKinley Park’s park.
Both neighborhoods’ residents are predominantly Hispanic, mainly
Mexican.
These are pleasant, working-class communities. While neither has a
commercial district with the fiesta-like atmosphere of nearby Pilsen’s
18th Street or Little Village’s 26th Street, both have points of interest
for visitors.
McKinley Park, the park, is one of the points. It’s not only a beauty; it
also was an experiment that became forerunner to a series of inner-city
parks that attempted, with success, to establish permanent recreational
green spaces in the increasingly industrialized Chicago of the early
1900s. Ten of the South Side parks were dedicated in 1905 alone, and all
remain treasures today.
As testimony to its value, McKinley Park (the park) is bordered on its
Pershing Road side by some of the Central Manufacturing District, an
impressive concentration of large-scale brick warehouses—some still in
use, some not—whose massiveness is at once handsome and overwhelming. Names carved above entryways are reminders of that “Big
Shoulders” era: Westinghouse Electric, Goodyear Tire, Standard Brands
and more.
Previous page: La
Palapa
148
In the Brighton Park neighborhood is Five Holy Martyrs Roman Catholic
Church, where in 1979 Pope John Paul II held an open-air mass for
17,500 people in its parking lot along 44th Street between Richmond and
Francisco Avenues. Though the surrounding community is overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking, weekday and Sunday masses are split evenly
between Polish and English; 43rd Street, where it borders the church,
has been renamed Pope John Paul II Drive.
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Bridgeport
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Archer
Heights
Brighton
Park
BACK OF
THE YARDS
Fuller Park
Despite the rooftop shark, it’s easy to miss
little La Palapa, on Damen Avenue near Archer
(just south of the Stevenson Expressway/I-55),
but the Mexican-style seafood served in this
onetime hot-dog joint is for real. Ignore the
plastic fish and seagulls on the walls and dig
into the house mussels. The restaurant is in
the shadow of venerable Huck Finn, a 24-hour
diner that has another outlet in the West Lawn
neighborhood (and a third in the ‘burbs).
Printers
Row
Little Italy, UIC
Chinatown
There are plenty of taco opportunities, most
on or just off Archer Avenue. Two favorites are
Tio Luis Tacos, near Lindy’s, whose steak tacos
have a nice bite supplied by a subtle sprinkling
of pepper bits; and El Rey Del Taco & Burritos,
on California Avenue at 42nd Street (across
from Kelly High School), whose marinade gives
the steak in their tacos some extra flavor.
Garfield Park
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And in both neighborhoods, there are
dining opportunities. The original Lindy’s
Chili, launched in 1924 and now with several
locations, is here on 37th Street and Archer
Avenue, paired with Gertie’s Ice Cream.
New City
Gage Park
West
Elsdon
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Englewood
Here’s one last sight to see:
On 36th Place near Albany Avenue in a
Brighton Park factory district is Crawford Steel
Co. The artwork on its exterior walls is a cultural cross between graffiti and mural—expertly
executed, with the company’s permission—and
it is a wow.
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magical
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A MAGICAL DESTINATION
Jo Hayes is a
volunteer at the
Lurie Garden.
There is magic at Millennium Park, but the level depends on how willing
visitors are to interact with it.
“I don’t think
there’s anything
funnier,” she says,
“than watching the
kids in the [Crown]
fountain. They’re
hilarious.
The attractions within this unique 24.5-acre parcel of Chicago greenery
are easily listed and impossible to miss: There’s the Jay Pritzker Pavilion,
where the music happens outside. The Harris Theater for Dance and
Music is the indoor theater.
“If you’re having
a bad day at the
office. . .“
But just to snap a photo, check a site off the list and move to the Art
Institute just south of here is missing the point—and the joy.
The Crown Fountain,
an expression of
Spanish artist
Jaume Plensa’s
genius, mixes
video (large-screen
images of Chicago
faces) and water
(it spouts from the
mouths of those
Chicago faces!) to
the delight of all
who watch it, and
play in it.
This should not be a passive experience. Not this place.
The Lurie Garden. Nice. The Crown Fountain. Nice. The Ice Rink in winter.
Nice. Millennium Monument (Peristyle). Classic.
There’s Cloud Gate—“The Bean.”
Jo Hayes is a volunteer at the Lurie Garden.
“I don’t think there’s anything funnier,” she says, “than watching the kids
in the [Crown] fountain. They’re hilarious.
“If you’re having a bad day at the office. . .“
The Crown Fountain, an expression of Spanish artist Jaume Plensa’s
genius, mixes video (large-screen images of Chicago faces) and water
(it spouts from the mouths of those Chicago faces!) to the delight of all
who watch it, and play in it.
At the Lurie Garden—which is stunning—trails let you walk among the
plants and admire their beauty up close, sample their aromas and appreciate their diversity, then stop and relax. Dangle your feet in the pools.
Look around you and get a sense of this literal garden in a city—hortus in
urbe—whose official motto is urbs in horto (City in a Garden).
There’s something going on every summer day at the Pritzker—and it’s
free—but no concert for the moment? Look at what Frank Gehry hath
wrought. Even in silence, there’s music in the shapes that flow in this
140-foot-high pavilion. Go with it. Walk along it. Photograph it, video it,
in context with the city that built it. Even in the trellis of pipes over the
lawn that supports the speaker system—functional art—there is sound
when there is no sound at all. . .
Cloud Gate. OK, no one but the artist (Anish Kapoor) and the brochures
call it that. Call it The Bean. We do. It’s 66 feet wide, 33 feet high, and it
would be easy to stand back, fill the frame with a snapshot and figure
you’ve done The Bean.
Facing page: Jay
Pritzker Pavilion and
Great Lawn, looking
north
But it begs you to do more, so you walk around it, move closer, move
back, watch how its mirror finish plays with you and the sky and the
architecture that surrounds it.
151
On Michigan Avenue, there’s Sweetwater
Grille and The Gage, the latter amid a cluster
of historic buildings that includes (at 18 S.
Michigan Ave.) a Louis Sullivan facade. There
are extremes in Chinese restaurants—the stylish
China Grill versus Sixty-Five, basic but a good
value. Tavern at the Park, in One Prudential
Plaza, offers park views and comfort food
at prices that edge toward upscale, and on
Wabash Street, Elephant & Castle (a national
chain) provides pub grub and Brit ambience.
There are fast-food options as well—but if
the weather is nice, a picnic lunch or supper
from Pastoral, a Lake Street cheese and
wine shop (there’s another in the Lakeview
neighborhood), might be just the thing for
Millennium Park.
152
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Streeterville
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Bridgeport
Chinatown
They’re a reminder not only of Chicago’s architectural heritage but also of the reality that
this is a working city, a business city. So while
the park has good eats—the Park Grill and The
Cafe are right below Cloud Gate—other nearby
restaurants beckon.
Sheffield
& DePaul
Loop
Take a moment and look closer at the city
reflected so beautifully in its polished steel. It’s
there, all that marvelous architecture, inviting visitors to turn around for an undistorted
look: There’s the bold Cultural Center (formerly
the city’s central library, with its Tiffany glass
dome), the Carbide and Carbon Building, the
gleaming white Aon Building, One Prudential
Plaza (once the city’s tallest building), the
Smurfit-Stone Building with its diamond top
and so many more.
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Watch how creative individuals and giggling
groups maneuver—even to its underside—to
create the perfectly imperfect portrait. (Is The
Bean giggling, too?)
South
Loop
Douglas
Which—barely 10 years ago—was primarily
parking lots and railroad tracks. As long ago
as 1977, visionaries proposed a variation of
what we see today, but the funding and will
weren’t there.
Led by the current Mayor Daley, that began to
change in the late 1990s.
Today, those parking lots and railroad tracks
are still there, but on top of them is Millennium
Park—the world’s largest “green roof.”
And magic? Listen to the children.
pure
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PURE CHICAGO
“When I was
younger,” says
owner Enzo
Ventrella, whose
parents opened
the bakery more
than 25 years
ago, “it was much
more of an Italian
neighborhood. Now
it’s much more of a
Hispanic and Polish
neighborhood—but
we stuck to our
Italian roots.”
Montclare and Galewood have this in common: Both are predominantly
residential neighborhoods on Chicago’s northwest edge that, in their
way, represent the city in which we live today.
With a couple of
adjustments.
Montclare-Galewood is not known as a restaurant destination, though
one—Ristorante Agostino, on Harlem Avenue just north of Diversey in
Montclare, has built a loyal following in a neighborhood that once was
heavily Italian. It’s also the only restaurant in the two neighborhoods
that approaches the “upscale” category.
“We make kolacky
Nutella,” he says.
“Nobody makes
those. And we’ve
started doing more
marzapan. It’s an
Italian thing, but
more Hispanics buy
the marzapan.”
Galewood, which technically is part of the Austin neighborhood but has
its own distinct identity and charm, is home to a Mars candy company
plant, on Oak Park Avenue. The street is “Honorary Milky Way” for the
few hundred yards that front the factory. The company has its own
Metra train station, called simply “Mars,” which is by far the neighborhood’s best photo opportunity.
Montclare is home to the Chicago Shriners Hospital for Children. The
hospital, which is just north of Galewood and its candy factory, specializes in children’s orthopedic care, spinal cord injury rehabilitation and
cleft lip and palate correction, all provided without charge.
Visitors should be interested in this noble institution, and no doubt are,
but this being a hospital, scheduled tours aren’t offered.
There are other places to grab a bite. On North Avenue, which separates
Galewood and the suburb of Oak Park, are Amarind’s Thai restaurant
and, next door, Cafe Laguardia West, featuring Cuban specialties. (The
original Cafe Laguardia is in the Bucktown neighborhood.) El Taconazo,
a taqueria on Diversey Avenue just east of Harlem (near Agostino) in
Montclare, can satisfy that craving.
Also on Harlem are a couple of espresso bars (the inviting I Due Monde
Cafe among them) and, a little south but still on Harlem, Kolatek’s
Bakery & Deli, which serves the Montclare neighborhood’s growing
Polish population.
Previous page: Dog Day
Afternoon
154
Add two more places on Harlem that have been around long enough
to quality as local institutions: Geo’s Pizza, offering carry-out and
delivery only (and with pictures of both Mayor Daleys and both White
Sox ballparks on the wall); and steps away, Il Giardino del Dolce, an
extraordinary Italian bakery.
“When I was younger,” says owner Enzo
Ventrella, whose parents opened the bakery
more than 25 years ago, “it was much more of
an Italian neighborhood. Now it’s much more
of a Hispanic and Polish neighborhood—but we
stuck to our Italian roots.”
With a couple of adjustments.
“We make kolacky Nutella,” he says. “Nobody
makes those. And we’ve started doing more
marzapan. It’s an Italian thing, but more
Hispanics buy the marzapan.”
There are some nice parks, notably the
Rutherford-Sayre Park. It’s right across the
street from the Shriners Hospital and features
a World War I monument in front of its field
house. Listed on the plaque are the names of
124 men from the neighborhood who served in
1914-1918.
Jefferson
Park
Portage Park
Dunning
Belmont Cragin
Montclare,
Galewood
Austin
The names are an indicator that MontclareGalewood’s ethnic makeup hasn’t always
been what it is now or what it was when Enzo
Ventrella was growing up here.
But they’re all names of neighborhood guys.
And they all would’ve loved Enzo’s sfogliatelles
and Amarind’s pad kee mao and El Taconazo’s
tacos al pastor and Laguardia’s shredded beef
and that Polish rye at Kolatek’s. . . and, probably,
16-inch softball in one of the nice parks.
Pure Chicago.
155
landmark
MORGAN PARK | MOUNT GREENWOOD
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HOME OF THE SOUTH SIDE IRISH
The Ridge, spared
by advancing and
retreating glaciers,
was once an island
in an ancient lake.
When its lake
receded, it became a
six-mile-long, milewide elevation—a
long hill, or ridge—
averaging about 60
feet higher than the
surrounding plain.
Not only is it
Chicago’s only
significant hill, but
it also turned out to
be a terrific place to
put stately houses.
There’s no missing the Irishness here.
There are the Irish pubs in Morgan Park and Irish pubs next door in
Mount Greenwood and shamrocks on shop signs all over 111th Street, the
main drag.
It isn’t all about pubs and Irishmen here. In fact, Morgan Park is about
two-thirds African American.
But when Chicagoans go on about the South Side Irish, and they do,
they’re largely talking about folks of that persuasion from Beverly and
these communities, a proportion of whom are known to gather from
time to time to celebrate in a refreshing manner.
And what’s the difference between South Side Irish and North Side Irish?
“We’re White Sox fans,” says Carol Flynn, staffer at the Ridge Historical
Society in Beverly.
Separating the three neighborhoods can be tricky. That Beverly eases
seamlessly into Morgan Park and Morgan Park glides imperceptibly into
Mount Greenwood makes it difficult to distinguish one from the other,
even if official boundaries try.
Ask a knowledgeable local whether a Western Avenue pub is in Morgan
Park or Beverly, for example, and you get an answer like this one from
Grace Kuikman of the Beverly Area Planning Association: “It just
doesn’t matter.”
Nonetheless, to clarify as best we can, let’s consider what two of the
three neighborhoods offer visitors.
Morgan Park (like Beverly) has a staggering number of historic homes,
including one—the Iglehart House (1857)—that is one of the oldest
standing structures in the city. Some are very large. Several of them are
within the Longwood Drive Landmark District (which, of course, extends
into Beverly), while others are elsewhere in the Ridge Historic District.
Part of Morgan Park is also within the Chicago landmark Beverly/Morgan
Railroad District, with its restored train stations.
In fact, about the only significant features Morgan Park doesn’t share
with its cousin to the north are Morgan Park Academy, a respected
private school that got its start in 1873, and, ironically, the Beverly Arts
Center, a busy venue—in Morgan Park—that hosts live shows, film series
and art classes for people of all ages.
Previous pages: Ping
Tom Park / Chinatown
Armour Square
Facing page: Mount
Greenwood Park
For visitors, the joy of exploring Morgan Park is in driving, or walking,
along Longwood Drive, or Hoyne Avenue, or Prospect Avenue, and
savoring the Prairie Style, Victorian, Queen Anne, Italianate, Colonial
Revival and sometimes indefinable architecture along these shaded,
winding streets. Most of the houses are on or just off this mound called
the Ridge.
159
The Ridge, spared by advancing and retreating glaciers, was once an island in an ancient
lake. When its lake receded, it became a
six-mile-long, mile-wide elevation—a long hill, or
ridge—averaging about 60 feet higher than the
surrounding plain.
Ashburn
Washington
Heights
Not only is it Chicago’s only significant hill, but
it also turned out to be a terrific place to put
stately houses.
Beverly
So there are the houses, and there are the
pubs on Western Avenue, a happy concentration of facilities with names that conjure
memories of similar drinking establishments
across the pond.
Turn west on 111th Street and, before very
long, you’re in Mount Greenwood, which may
not have the splendid architecture or Ridge
or rail stations of its neighbors but does have
much of character to offer, including McDuffy’s
and Hinky Dinks Pub and, across from
O’Shaughnessy Realtors, an emporium called
South Side Irish Imports.
Here you can find “South Side Irish” T-shirts—
and Waterford and Galway crystal, Belleek
china and, for those truly in need of a whiff of
the auld sod, Irish peat incense (with burner)
for $14.99.
Down the street is Mt. Olivet Cemetery, with
links to two famous Chicagoans. Al Capone was
briefly buried here, then moved when gawkers
proved too much for everybody, and Mrs.
Catherine O’Leary, whose cow didn’t start the
Great Chicago Fire in 1871, was buried here in
1895 and never left.
On Kedzie Avenue just north of 111 Street is
Grant’s Wonderburger, a little restaurant whose
founding family has been serving burgers with
its special relish-laced red sauce in Mount
Greenwood since 1954. It vies with Beverly’s
Top Notch burger (since 1942) as the area’s
favorite retro-burger. There’s also a DAT Donuts
on 111th Street, for those who like the idea of
160
Auburn Gresham
Mount
Greenwood
Morgan Park
West Pullman
buying a single donut big enough to feed an
entire band of bagpipers.
Back on Western, two record shops—Beverly
Records (at 116th Street) and Mr. Peabody
Records (at 118th), with new, old and common
and uncommonly rare discs—satisfy collectors
and the merely musically curious. In between
the two stores, there’s Let’s Get Poppin, which
is not about finger-noises but about corn,
popped and buttered, cheesed, carameled and
(among other exotics) jalapenoed.
And a mile west is about the last thing anyone
would expect to see in the Windy City: the
Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences,
set on what was the city’s last farm.
There are hoofed mammals living there. On
good days, they can be seen behind the school
building. In Chicago.
No blarney.
dramatic
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T
HE FIELD MUSEUM, SHEDD AQUARIUM, ADLER PLANETARIUM
AND MORE
In addition to all the
attractions inside
the museums, there
is much to see
and do outdoors,
including public
art—statues, a
totem pole, a Henry
Moore sculpture
titled “Man Enters
the Cosmos” (a
working sundial)
and more. Northerly
Island adds nature
walks (or jogs or
bike rides) and
a small beach.
Soldier Field, even
from the outside,
combines a sense of
history (the outer
structure is little
changed from the
1924 original that
held 100,000 and
more for title fights,
football games and
other events) with
an architecturally
interesting
approach to the
needs of, primarily,
one pro football
team and its fans.
The Museum Campus is a kind of museum buffet but with a better view.
They’re right here, set on 57 acres of park: the Field Museum, the John
G. Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium, plus a nature preserve
on Northerly Island, plus Soldier Field, home of the National Football
League’s Chicago Bears, international soccer and major concerts.
Try one, try them all. Aside from Soldier Field—which requires tickets
that, if you can get one, generally cost considerably more than the
museum admissions—it’s easy.
It wasn’t always this easy.
Until 1998, Lake Shore Drive wrapped around the Field Museum, southbound lanes to the west, northbound to the east. The northbound lanes
provided a view of the lake and Burnham Harbor but cut off the museum
from the aquarium and the planetarium. Today, with both lanes of traffic
west of the museum, what we have is everything within one pedestrian
zone, with lots of lawn.
Until 2003, a small-plane airport—Meigs Field—extended from the
planetarium into the lake, adding a buzz all its own. Now, the buzz
comes from the occasional honeybee. Northerly Island, intended by city
planner Daniel Burnham in 1909 to be one of four recreational islands
but an airport since 1948, has replaced its runways with pathways—and a
summertime concert venue.
The museums are pretty wonderful.
The Field is home to many cool things. Visitors have been greeted since
the building’s 1921 opening by the same pair of African elephants. These
are elephants that were in the museum’s original home—the present
Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park (itself the former
Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition).
For years, the Field’s top attraction was Bushman, a gorilla that thrilled
visitors to Lincoln Park Zoo for more than 20 years and was first exhibited behind glass here in 1952. Two man-eating lions—the famous “lions of
Tsavo”—have been on display since the 1920s after being reconstituted a
bit (they had been reduced to rugs).
The unquestioned star today is Sue, the most complete Tyrannosaurus
rex yet discovered, here since 2000. The skeleton is on the main level in
Stanley Field Hall, not far from the elephants; the real skull is upstairs.
When you visit, you’ll learn why.
Previous page: 12th
Street Beach
162
There’s more of course—naturalistic dioramas, mummies, stuffed birds
and mammals and reptiles and amphibians, and thousands of artifacts
that tell where we’ve been and how we got this far. Temporary exhibitions happen as well, and like any world-class museum these days,
there’s a theater showing 3D movies.
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy,
UIC
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
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Park
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BACK OF
THE YARDS
South
Loop
Oa
And here, the 3D theater becomes a 4D
theater—which means seats rumble and squirt.
Rush & Division
BRONZEVILLE
“Fantasea” is more than the standard dolphinwhale show. This is a multimedia experience
that mixes elements of “Cirque du Soleil” with
childhood dreams—while adding to our appreciation of sea mammals.
Gold Coast
River
North
Chinatown
The Shedd Aquarium (opened, like the planetarium, in 1930) is in every sense a showplace.
Its collection of live marine life is as remarkable
as it is accessible. “Wild Reef” replicates the
world’s delicate coral reefs; “Amazon Rising”
shows the seasonal variations of one of the
globe’s essential habitats; the “Shark Reef”
allows children and grownups to go nose-tonose with one of nature’s most fearsome—and
misunderstood—creatures.
Old
Town
Loop
Speaking of stars—they’ve been speaking of
stars at the Adler Planetarium since 1930.
Budding astronomers and would-be astronauts
love this place. The Sky Theater is the heart
of the museum, the home to the classic star
shows that have been the stuff of school field
trips for generations. There are two more
theaters, one—naturally—featuring 3D films,
plus a meteorite, moon rock and much authentic astronaut gear provided by James Lovell,
commander of the dramatic Apollo 13 space
mission.
Kenwood
But topping everything is this: Even if you don’t
know Pluto from Goofy, make your way down
Solidarity Drive to the Adler Planetarium. Bring
your camera.
Nowhere is the view of Chicago’s skyline
more dramatic than right here. And there’s no
charge—except the one you’ll get when you
experience it for the first time. Or the 50th.
In addition to all the attractions inside the
museums, there is much to see and do
outdoors, including public art—statues, a totem
pole, a Henry Moore sculpture titled “Man
Enters the Cosmos” (a working sundial) and
more. Northerly Island adds nature walks (or
jogs or bike rides) and a small beach. Soldier
Field, even from the outside, combines a sense
of history (the outer structure is little changed
from the 1924 original that held 100,000 and
more for title fights, football games and other
events) with an architecturally interesting
approach to the needs of, primarily, one pro
football team and its fans.
163
dizzying
NORTH CENTER | ROSCOE VILLAGE
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DINING AND ENTERTAINMENT OPTIONS ABOUND IN TWO
UNIQUE NORTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOODS
And on Ravenswood
Avenue near
Montrose (just
south of Lill Street
Art Center’s
galleries and
workshops, which
are officially in the
Lincoln Square
neighborhood)
is Architectural
Artifacts.
Here can be found
chunks of Lost
Chicago, from
statues salvaged
from the city’s
historic movie
palaces to Frank
Lloyd Wright
stained-glass
windows to terracotta faces once
part of the nowgone Lyric Theater,
all for sale. Along
with juggling clubs,
Argentine seltzer
bottles and wagon
wheels.
North Center is a neighborhood that, through no fault of its own, is
defined by its proximity to its neighbors.
Lakeview, with the Cubs and Wrigleyville, is east. The Lincoln Square
neighborhood is directly north. South is ever-trendy Lincoln Park.
Chicago people tend to know those three.
Ask most Chicagoans where to find “North Center”—large as it is—and
the response likely would be, “Um. . . is it. . . north center?”
But in a quiet way and in two strong neighborhoods with clear identities—North Center and, with its own vibe, Roscoe Village—North Center
offers a variety of dining and entertainment options, most of them in
clusters that make enjoying them easy.
Here’s what we’re talking about:
North Center’s signature intersection is where Damen and Lincoln
Avenues meet Irving Park Road. Within two blocks of that junction, in
any direction, is an almost dizzying variety of eating and drinking places.
On Lincoln just south of Irving Park—in a former mortuary—is a pub
(Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro) anchored by a massive U-shaped bar
imported from Ireland and home to an impressive selection of singlemalt whiskies. Steps away up toward Irving Park is El Llano, a Colombian
restaurant that serves platter-size steaks at comfortable prices.
On Irving Park—we’re still at this one intersection, remember—are the
following: two longtime neighborhood German favorites, Laschet’s Inn
and Resi’s Bierstube; the Orange Garden Restaurant (20 varieties of
chop suey!), a North Center standby for about 80 years; and The Globe,
a pub with 223 brands of bottled beers on its menu and, presumably,
in its cooler.
The Globe, incidentally, is a pub especially favored by ex-pat Brits; it
opens as early as 6:45 a.m. on Saturdays during soccer season.
“It’s always soccer season,” notes bartender Erin Batchelder, who also
helps monitor the many tellies in the pub’s two rooms.
(Rugby types, on the other hand, tend to congregate at Black Rock, a
North Center drinking establishment four blocks south of Irving Park on
Damen, near Addison Street. Consider yourselves warned.)
Same area: Martyrs Restaurant and Pub, on Lincoln near Mrs. Murphy’s,
has music most nights and food and drink every night. The Lincoln
Restaurant, on Lincoln just north of Irving Park, manages to be a fairly
standard diner during standard-diner hours and, on Thursday and Friday
nights, a comedy-variety club.
Facing page: Glunz
Bavarian Haus
Same area: South of Irving Park, the American Theater Company (Byron
Street just off Lincoln), a fixture for more than 25 years, is big on Mamet
165
(a Chicagoan) but a showcase for fresh talent
as well. North of Irving Park and right on
Lincoln, “Cornservatory” comedy theater is
all about fun, much of it improvisational.
West Ridge
Edgewater
North Park
Point made?
A couple of North Center attractions take us
to the edge of the neighborhood. National as
well as local publications have raved about
the burgers at Jury’s (a self-described “classy
neighborhood restaurant and bar,” with white
tablecloths and moderate prices) on Lincoln
just south of Montrose Avenue. Check out the
Chicago-centric wall art, which includes watercolors by popular local artist Tom Lynch and
fine black-and-white photos as well.
And on Ravenswood Avenue near Montrose
(just south of Lill Street Art Center’s galleries and workshops, which are officially in the
Lincoln Square neighborhood) is Architectural
Artifacts.
166
Albany Park
Uptown
Irving Park
North
Center
Logan Square
Wrigleyville
Boystown
Avondale
Hermosa
Roscoe Village concentrates much of its
good stuff on four pleasant blocks of Roscoe
Street—six blocks south of Irving Park—between
Damen and Western Avenues. For the most
part, we’re talking restaurants, neighborhood drinking places and small shops here.
One stop that could be of particular interest
to visitors is Riverview Tavern, at Damen and
Roscoe, themed after the amusement park that
stood for 63 years four blocks straight west,
right across Western. Riverview Park closed
in 1967—but ask any Chicagoan old enough to
have been there and prepare to be bludgeoned
with stories of the Bobs (the park’s top rollercoaster), the Pair-O-Chutes (terrifying) and the
finishing burst of air at Aladdin’s Castle.
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
River
North
Here can be found chunks of Lost Chicago,
from statues salvaged from the city’s historic
movie palaces to Frank Lloyd Wright stainedglass windows to terra-cotta faces once part of
the now-gone Lyric Theater, all for sale. Along
with juggling clubs, Argentine seltzer bottles
and wagon wheels.
No wonder tourists, as well as locals, have
found their way here for nearly 25 years.
“They want to see the [Louis] Sullivan and
Wright stuff,” says owner Stuart Grannen.
“There’s things here they can’t see anyplace
else in the world.”
Neither, anyplace else, are you likely to find a
pub in a mortuary. That’s North Center.
blues
NORTH LAWNDALE
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Musical history was
made here. From
1956 through 1959,
Cobra Records
(Buddy Guy,
Otis Rush, Willie
Dixon, Ike Turner)
produced enduring
blues recordings
in the building at
2854 W. Roosevelt
Rd. One of its hits:
Rush’s “I Can’t Quit
You, Baby.” The
building now doesn’t
look like much of
anything, but the
music lives on.
Singer Dinah
Washington lived in
the neighborhood,
at 1508 S. Trumbull
Ave. The building
stands. As an
established star,
she would come
home to perform
in a 1958 benefit
at the Lawndale
Theatre, another
Roosevelt Road
movie palace four
blocks west of the
Central Park.
Previous page:
Former home of Dinah
Washington
168
CHICAGO’S JEWISH AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORIES
MEET ALONG ROUTE 66
Old Route 66 went right through North Lawndale on the way to Santa
Monica. But aside from the small, brown “Historic Route 66” sign on
Ogden Avenue and what’s left of a castle-shaped car wash at Ogden and
Independence Avenue, it’s hard to tell the Mother Road was here.
By the late 1920s, when the Illinois section of Route 66 was completed,
nearly 50,000 Jews lived in North Lawndale, Chicago’s largest Jewish
community.
That community has long scattered, but even 80-plus years later, it’s
easy to tell they were here.
That’s not to say that North Lawndale is a neighborhood of the past.
Douglas Park is here, one of Chicago’s handsomest green spaces. Whole
blocks are composed of classic greystones, while pockets of new housing
are cause for optimism.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived here—briefly, but he was here, at an
important time. Cobra Records may be forgotten, but it was here—again,
briefly—but the music made in that studio helped make “Chicago” and
“blues” inseparable to the world.
And there’s more. . .
“Benny Goodman made his debut at the Central Park Theater,” says
John Ross, director at the Murphy Hill Art Gallery, which is in the
Garfield Park neighborhood but is spiritually (being steps north of the
dividing line) in North Lawndale. Goodman is one of the locals celebrated
in the gallery’s exhibit honoring North Lawndale. “This was a Jewish
neighborhood.”
The Central Park, an early movie palace, was at 3535 W. Roosevelt Rd. It
opened in 1917, and it’s still here, in North Lawndale; it’s been the House
of Prayer, Church of God in Christ since 1971.
Goodman could have walked to the theater with his clarinet. He lived
less than a mile away. The house, at 1125 S. Francisco Ave., is gone; the
city has erected a marker at the spot. Across the street: a church that
once was a small synagogue.
Golda Meir, who worked at a neighborhood library and would later
become prime minister of Israel, lived at 1306 S. Lawndale Ave. Her
apartment, though the building is vacant, is there. Across 13th Street and
likely visible from Meir’s front window is a church that was also once a
small synagogue.
Douglas Park, one of a trio of grand parks
created in the 19th Century (Garfield and
Humboldt Parks the others), is at the community’s eastern gateway. Landscape architect Jens
Jensen, the Danish immigrant and proponent
of the Prairie Style popularized by Frank Lloyd
Wright, left his signature on all three parks—
nowhere more clearly than with this park’s
Flower Hall, which is pure Prairie down to its
exterior light fixtures.
Greystones are everywhere. A concentration
of well-maintained beauties can be seen on the
1500 block of South Central Park Avenue.
Musical history was made here. From 1956
through 1959, Cobra Records (Buddy Guy, Otis
Rush, Willie Dixon, Ike Turner) produced enduring blues recordings in the building at 2854 W.
Roosevelt Rd. One of its hits: Rush’s “I Can’t
Quit You, Baby.” The building now doesn’t look
like much of anything, but the music lives on.
Singer Dinah Washington lived in the neighborhood, at 1508 S. Trumbull Ave. The building
stands. As an established star, she would come
home to perform in a 1958 benefit at the
Lawndale Theatre, another Roosevelt Road
movie palace four blocks west of the Central
Park Theater.
The Lawndale. For a time, it was the Rena—but
it was the Lawndale when opened in 1927.
Among those who performed in this 2,200-seat
theater before it went strictly to movies were
the biggest names in Yiddish theater—Aaron
Lebedeff, Molly Picon and more. It’s still here,
in North Lawndale, though even the church it
became has checked out.
In 1966, Dr. King lived in the neighborhood, in
an apartment at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave., when he
was in the city to campaign for open housing.
n
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Austin
Garfield Park
United
Center
Little Italy, UIC
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Archer
Heights
Brighton
Park
BACK OF
THE YARDS
That building is gone—but the church on whose
steps he spoke during that turbulent time in
1966 is still here, at 3413 W. Douglas Blvd.
When Dr. King was here, it was Shepards
Temple Baptist Church. It is shuttered.
Years earlier, it was Anshe Kanesses Israel
Synagogue—the “Russiche Shul”—longtime
home of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Ephraim
Epstein. But the synagogue long ago moved
north with its congregation, to Touhy Avenue
in West Rogers Park/West Ridge.
Once there were an estimated 60 synagogues
in North Lawndale. Of those standing, none is
a synagogue anymore.
It’s something to see. . .
169
gateway
NORTH PARK | ALBANY PARK
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YOUR TABLE IS WAITING
Swedish, Serbian,
Lebanese, Mexican,
Japanese,
Vietnamese,
Italian, Persian—
Chicagoans all.
In sum: North Park
gets the Swedish
restaurant. Albany
Park gets the
smorgasbord.
And in both, your
table’s waiting.
North Park and Albany Park are two neighborhoods that are similar in
a couple of respects.
Both are primarily residential, a mix of single-family dwellings (many of
them, especially in west Albany Park, the familiar Chicago bungalows)
and small to mid-size apartment buildings.
And each, in terms of its appeal to visitors, largely can be appreciated by
what’s on a single street in its community.
In North Park, that street is Foster Avenue.
North Park University was founded as North Park College in 1891 by
the Evangelical Covenant Church, a denomination created six years
earlier by Swedish immigrants. Its first campus, such as it was, was in
Minneapolis. In 1894, the college moved to its present site and Old Main
became its first building—it’s still there, facing Foster Avenue and looking
every bit like the quintessential 1894 college building.
North Park’s school colors are Swedish blue and gold. Its team nickname
is, of course, the Vikings. Across Foster Avenue is the Sweden Shop,
which sprawls over a couple of storefronts and sells everything from fine
Swedish crystal and tableware to “Got glogg?” T-shirts.
Also across Foster is Tre Kronor, a Swedish diner that feels as if it’s been
there since long before 1992 but hasn’t.
Despite the mural of rural Sweden on its largest wall, the restaurant
doesn’t smother its customers with Swedishness. Featured are Danish
pastries, Norwegian meatball sandwiches, Belgian waffles and that
Stockholm favorite, quiche—along with the obligatory Swedish pancakes,
two varieties of Swedish sausage (potato sausage, grilled here, being a
favorite) and, of course, herring.
“We like to branch out,” explains a Swedish-looking waitress. “But we use
a lot of dill, and dill is very Swedish.”
What makes all this—the university, the shop, the restaurant—so unique
isn’t as much the Sweden link (there’s some of that in Andersonville, just
two miles east) but that there’s no other pocket in the city that feels
quite like this.
Facing page: Bohemian
National Cemetery
Despite the inevitable addition of modern facilities on its fringes, the
core campus at North Park University has maintained the feel of, say,
small-college Iowa. The school proudly banners its refusal to set itself
apart from the city that surrounds it; “intentionally urban” is a slogan.
But to stroll among its buildings in this park-like setting is, nonetheless,
to be transported to quieter, less urban existence.
171
The civility of Tre Kronor (there is no bar;
neither is there a corkage fee if you bring you
own) and the gentleness of the Sweden Shop
complement that feeling.
Rogers
Park
Of course, if you need something lively to
cut the taste of that herring and dill, Beijo de
Chocolat, a block west, offers Brazilian-style
sweets found nowhere else in town.
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
North Park
Jefferson
Park
Lincoln
Square
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
North
Center
Avondale
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
Other neighborhood possibilities: Peterson
Park, a woods-trimmed expanse along Peterson
Avenue and Pulaski Road; and Bohemian
National Cemetery, resting place of Anton
Cermak, the Chicago mayor assassinated
during an attempt on Franklin Roosevelt’s life
in 1933. Also buried here: the man who rented a
certain house to Mrs. O’Leary, whose backyard
cow may nor may not have kicked off the 1871
Great Chicago Fire. (Both Katie O’Leary and the
cow were later cleared, but the legend, like so
many legends, endures.)
West Ridge
Logan Square
In Albany Park, that street is Lawrence Avenue.
Neighborhood boosters call the community
“Gateway to the World.” It may very well be,
as has been written, the city’s most ethnically
diverse neighborhood.
Predominantly Jewish into the 1950s, today’s
Albany Park mixes East Asians (mainly Koreans,
though fewer than were here just a few years
ago), Hispanics (from all over), Middle Eastern
immigrants (again, from all over) and a smattering of others into a beautiful mosaic, much of it
on display along this remarkable avenue.
Here’s Albany Park:
In the space of about two blocks of Lawrence
Avenue straddling Pulaski, there’s the Lalich
Deli (Serbian; packaged foods from the old
country and sausages made on the premises);
Ssyal Ginseng House (Korean; specialty is a
ginseng chicken soup that may or may not cure
impotence, stress, cancer, liver disease and
hangovers—“True!” insists a server, who then
laughs heartily); Marie’s Pizza & Lounge (Italian;
172
strolling musicians on weekend evenings); Ali
Baba Cafe (Middle Eastern; a hookah bar with
food, but mainly a hookah bar); Babil Kabob
House (Middle Eastern; kabobs without the
hookahs); and Taqueria Morelia (Mexican;
Morelia is in Michoacan state, original home of
many Albany Park residents).
Keep going toward the lake. Two blocks east of
Pulaski, there’s Chiyo (Japanese; shabu shabu
done right—and expensively); and Big Pho
(Vietnamese; soup with fresh add-ons). Keep
going: more Mexican, more Middle Eastern.
Take a right on Kedzie: Noon O Kebab (Persian;
not just kebabs); and Semiramis (Lebanese;
not just kebabs here, either).
Swedish, Serbian, Lebanese, Mexican, Japanese,
Vietnamese, Italian, Persian—Chicagoans all.
In sum: North Park gets the Swedish restaurant.
Albany Park gets the smorgasbord. And in both,
your table’s waiting.
weenies
NORWOOD PARK
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S
UPERDAWG, THE NOBLE-SEYMOUR-CRIPPEN HOUSE
AND MORE
The catch is, much
of Norwood Park’s
central area is
on the National
Register of Historic
Places, and the
entire district is
worth a look. This
is a concentration
of older homes,
some from the 19th
Century and all in
very good shape,
and even the newer
construction has
stayed nicely
in scale.
But the streets
create a curvaceous
maze, and designing
an efficient
yet satisfying
architectural walk
from the station
that includes the
oldest house can be
a challenge to nonNorwoodians.
Norwood Park is a neighborhood a few minutes’ drive from O’Hare
International Airport with one essential historic site and one iconic
restaurant.
And more.
The community’s single “destination” restaurant—at least, the one most
known by folks who live outside the neighborhood—is the Superdawg
Drive-In.
Does it serve the city’s best hot dog? Let’s just say it likely would be
a nominee. For sure, no other restaurant in Chicago—and it’s been in
business here since 1948—sports two curiously dressed, 12-foot winking
weenies on its roof, provides car-hop service and offers, among other
items, something called a Whoopskidawg.
It’s at the intersection of Milwaukee, Devon and Nagle Avenues, across
from a forest preserve and in the northeast corner of the Northwest
Side neighborhood.
The one truly historic site—if we dismiss the historic reality of a 60-yearold hot-dog joint—is one of Chicago’s two oldest residences. (The other is
the Clarke House, in the South Loop neighborhood.)
The Noble-Seymour-Crippen house dates to 1833. It was a farmhouse,
built atop a ridge by Mark and Margaret Noble. Ownership changed over
the last 175-plus years and so did the neighborhood: Not much farming
is done in town these days, and the merry chirping of the birds gets
some competition from the hum of the nearby Kennedy Expressway
(Interstate Highway 190)—but the ridge is still in place, and the house
(expanded in 1868 and much restored since) looks terrific.
It’s now a modest but sweet little museum, a community center and
home of the Norwood Park Historical Society. The interior of the house
is open to visitors on Saturday afternoons or by appointment.
The Superdawg Drive-In is beyond walking distance from the Norwood
Park Metra train station—and anyway, being a drive-in it’s best appreciated by driving in. The Noble-Seymour-Crippen house is about a half-mile
walk from the station, which is do-able.
The catch is, much of Norwood Park’s central area is on the National
Register of Historic Places, and the entire district is worth a look. This
is a concentration of older homes, some from the 19th Century and all
in very good shape, and even the newer construction has stayed nicely
in scale.
Previous page:
Superdawg
174
But the streets create a curvaceous maze, and designing an efficient yet
satisfying architectural walk from the station that includes the oldest
house can be a challenge to non-Norwoodians.
Any walking tour should begin at the Metra
station (1907), originally a Chicago and North
Western station and now listed on the National
Register. Appreciate the craftsmanship of the
1999 restoration and enjoy a cup of coffee or a
bowl of soup in the station’s Northwest Cafe.
Then cross the tracks, look left and (if it’s open)
check out the Calico Cat, an antiques store.
Close by, same street, is another antiques
store, A Niche in Time (same caveat). Continue
walking; you’ll be on Nina Avenue. If you’re a
knitter, stop at the Wooly Lamb Yarn Studio and
buy the makings for a shawl—or keep walking to
Corens Rod & Reel and have someone customtie a fly or two for you.
And here’s where the Norwood Park Adventure
begins. Corens’ corner is the intersection
of Nina, East Circle Avenue and West Circle
Avenue. It’s decision time. There are fine old
houses in either direction, and attractive
streets spin off the circles (Nickerson Avenue,
off West Circle, leaps to mind).
Will either Circle Avenue get you close to the
Noble-Seymour-Crippen house unbroken?
Well, East Circle will get you closer before East
meets West—the circle is unbroken—but here’s
what you do:
When you get your coffee at the station or go
antiquing or fondle the yarn or talk trout at
Corens, ask someone in one of those businesses to suggest a route. Have them draw a map
for you, no matter how crude. Don’t lose that
map.
Edison
Park
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Norwood Park
Jefferson
Park
Portage Park
Dunning
If there’s time, hop in the car and check out the
collection of antique playthings and collectibles
at Gigi’s Dolls & Sherry’s Teddy Bears; indulge
your inner medievalness at the Knight’s Edge
store (“A full knight armor set would look
great in any entrance!”); or savor the coffees
and light meals at Kouk’s Vintage Cafe, all on
Northwest Highway.
Or head for Milwaukee Avenue and scan the
collectible police stuff—from hats to handcuffs—
at ZJ Sales. . . then look north.
There it is: home of the Whoopskidawg.
The house is on Newark Avenue. If you find it,
you have your victory. Now, to get back to the
starting point—this part is easy—walk on Newark
in the direction away from the expressway
(you’ll know), and eventually you’ll come to the
Metra tracks. The station will be a couple of
blocks to the left, and you’ll be able to celebrate
your successful trek with another cup of coffee
or bowl of soup at the station.
175
laughs
OLD TOWN
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ONE OF CHICAGO’S GREAT DESTINATION NEIGHBORHOODS
There was the
artist era when
rents were cheap,
then the folkies
took over Wells
Street and then the
hippies and then
the gentrifiers. For
a time, Ripley’s
Believe It or
Not provided a
certain. . . presence.
There were burger
places and bars
with peanut shells
on the floor, and
across the street
an adult club next
to a French
restaurant and
down the street
a steak joint next
to Second City.
Old Town is—and always has been—one of Chicago’s great destination
neighborhoods. It’s that simple.
Yet locals find it irresistible to regale visitors with tales of what it was,
not because it was necessarily better back then but because Old Town
for a time seemed to reinvent itself every 10 or 15 years, and that makes
for individualized sets of memories.
There was the artist era when rents were cheap, then the folkies took
over Wells Street and then the hippies and then the gentrifiers. For a
time, Ripley’s Believe It or Not provided a certain. . . presence. There
were burger places and bars with peanut shells on the floor, and across
the street an adult club next to a French restaurant and down the street
a steak joint next to Second City.
And on North Avenue journalists (Ebert, Royko, others) would drink
beneath giant images of Behan and Shaw, joined late by Second City
unknowns until closing time at the 2 o’clock bar forced them to the
4 o’clock bar, the one with Billie Holiday on the jukebox. . .
See?
Here’s what Old Town is today: It’s Wells Street, mainly, with its restaurants—some of them among Chicago’s best—and places that make you
laugh and some that make you think, just enough bars, plus shops. It’s
the Old Town Art Fair and its semi-sibling, the Wells Street Art Fair, every
June. Among the fancy boutiques and the galleries, along with the fudge
shop and the cigar store (complete with Indian), there’s a supermarket
and a drugstore, a dry cleaner and a couple of places to buy flowers, a
shop to buy fish food, another to get a bicycle fixed and a barber shop.
Taken together, they keep Old Town a living neighborhood, not a theme
park. Enjoy its food and drink and entertainment, but walk a block or
two along the side streets west of Wells and you’ll discover why this
place is Old Town.
Facing page: Wells
Street, looking north
Most of the original buildings burned to the ground in the 1871 Great
Chicago Fire; St. Michael Church, built on Cleveland Avenue in 1869
of brick in what was a wooden city, was a partial survivor (and quickly
restored). What you see on those side streets, along with the landmark
church, are some of the brick Victorians and working-class cottages that
literally rose from the ashes. Much of it is within the Old Town Triangle
Historic District, which is on the National Register.
Sometimes the history isn’t so obvious. The Second City, the legendary
177
incubator of comedy talent on Wells just north
of North, has its own history; its roots are in
the Hyde Park neighborhood, but it moved to
Old Town in 1959 and into its present building in
1967. Performers launched on its stages include
both Belushis, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Bill
Murray, Chris Farley, Harold Ramis, Tina Fey and
so many more—and the revues keep coming.
That’s the obvious history. For the subtle,
look at the ornamental work that frames the
entrance. It was salvaged from the Loop’s
Garrick Theater, an Adler-Sullivan masterwork
flattened by wreckers in 1960.
So many restaurants on Wells: Salpicón is
cutting-edge Mexican; Orso’s is neighborhood
Italian; Kamehachi introduced the sushi bar
to the neighborhood (and the city) in 1967;
the Fireplace Inn is neighborhood ribs. Old
Jerusalem is a longtime favorite for Middle
Eastern fare. Topo Gigio, also Italian, is named
after a puppet but is serious about its pastas
and veals. Bistrot Margot, French; O’Brien’s,
steaks; Adobo Grill, its own signature Mexican.
The visitor’s Old Town isn’t just on Wells. Twin
Anchors, a bar-restaurant whose ribs have been
praised by Frank Sinatra, anchors Sedgwick
Street as it has since 1932. Halsted Street, a few
blocks west, is home to Steppenwolf Theater,
whose Tony Award-winning ensemble includes
Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, John Mahoney,
Joan Allen, William L. Petersen, Tracy Letts,
Laurie Metcalf and many other performers and
writers. Across Halsted is the Royal George,
178
Wrigleyville
North
Center
Boystown
e
Lakeview
Logan
Square
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Loop
Laughs also can be found most nights at
Zanies, a Wells Street stand-up venue for more
than 30 years. Across the street, A Red Orchid
Theatre—Oscar nominee Michael Shannon is
a founding member—has been challenging
audiences since 1993.
Uptown
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Museum
Campus
il
t
whose productions have delighted audiences
for years.
In Chicago, where there’s theater, there are
restaurants—and the Halsted theater district
has more than half a dozen, including Alinea,
ranked by critics among the world’s elite.
But if all you want is a drink and some Billie
Holiday, that’s still here. The jukebox may be
digital now, but the Old Town Ale House, on
North Avenue a block west of Wells, is still
the Ale House. Just like St. Michael’s is still
St. Michael’s.
Some institutions, even in Old Town, defy
reinvention.
murals
PILSEN | HEART OF CHICAGO
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A NEIGHBORHOOD FOR ALL SENSES
This is no
manufactured
district; this is a
living neighborhood
that has evolved
over generations,
from Irish and
German to Czech
and Polish to
predominantly
Mexican, alongside
a pocket—called
Heart of Chicago—
that clings
deliciously to its
Italian roots.
It begs to be
explored, for its
surprises are
everywhere, from
galleries and shops
to carts selling
tamales to exterior
wall murals that
can be beautiful, or
challenging, or both.
It’s all here, in Pilsen: architecture, ethnic restaurants, art (street and
gallery), churches and its own vibe, all in a compact district easily
reached by CTA ‘L’ train.
This neighborhood, which takes up most of Chicago’s Lower West Side
neighborhood, almost seems to have been created just for you.
But this is no manufactured district; this is a living neighborhood that
has evolved over generations, from Irish and German to Czech and
Polish to predominantly Mexican, alongside a pocket—called Heart of
Chicago—that clings deliciously to its Italian roots.
It begs to be explored, for its surprises are everywhere, from galleries
and shops to carts selling tamales to exterior wall murals that can be
beautiful, or challenging, or both.
The essential stop is the National Museum of Mexican Art, set in
Harrison Park on 19th Street east of Damen Avenue. Its permanent
collection traces the creative skills of the people of Mexico from
pre-Columbian carvings and pottery to the best that the country’s
contemporary artists can produce.
Then step outside, walk up to 18th Street and head east, and with the
colors of storefronts (be sure to look up) and murals, and the vibrancy of
the people, the museum and neighborhood seem as one.
Ely Loza, who with her husband operates Artesanias D’Mexico, a shop on
18th Street that sells examples of Mexican crafts from throughout the
country, has been in Pilsen for 46 years.
“My parents never wanted to move out,” she says. Her mother is still
here. “This is a very cultural area. Plenty of restaurants, a lot of art
galleries and different events all year round.”
Many galleries are concentrated on Halsted Street at, and south of, 18th
Street in the Chicago Arts District. Hours are irregular and often by
appointment only; the best option may be to take advantage of monthly
2nd Fridays, when most are open to all.
Previous page:
“Sirvales” by Jeff
Zimmerman, 2005
180
Unlike the galleries, the murals—some small, some large and some
more polished than others—are everywhere. On 19th Street west of
Ashland Avenue, the murals of a master, Jeff Zimmerman, are huge, yet
somehow intimate as they capture real-life moments. Less sophisticated,
the paintings on a former church at 18th Place and Paulina Avenue have
an appealing sincerity. Visitors are urged to meander and discover their
own favorites while marveling at the dedication and talent that made
them possible.
Humboldt Park
River
North Streeterville
Rush & Division
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Garfield Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
And there are the restaurants.
St. Pius V, on Ashland at 19th Street, was
completed in 1893 for its then Irish parish,
an origin reflected in the donor names on its
fine stained glass. Especially interesting here
is the Shrine of St. Jude (1929), which flanks
an exquisite statue of St. Jude with seven
smaller statues, most depicting folks dressed
in 1920s clothing.
Little Italy, UIC
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Bridgeport
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Brighton
Park
Gage Park
BACK OF
THE YARDS
South
Loop
Douglas
BRONZEVILLE
There’s no shortage of fascinating churches
in Pilsen (all are open to the public during
services and at other times as well). St.
Procopius, at 18th and Allport Streets, was
dedicated in 1883 to serve its then largely
Czech parish. St. Adalbert Church (1914),
17th Street at Paulina, maintains most of
the elements of its Polish heritage (Sunday
masses include one in Polish), while its marble
elements—the altar, its pulpit—are among the
city’s most splendid.
Grant
Park
North Lawndale
Fuller Park
On 18th Street but closer to the ‘L’ station is
Mundial Cocina Mestiza, a little more upscale
and a little less standard Mexican, unless paella
with clams and alligator sausage is your idea
of standard Mexican. No one’s idea of standard
Mexican are Ristorante al Teatro (Italian), Take
Me Out (Asian chicken wings, some wickedfiery) and Honky Tonk BBQ (guess)—but they’re
here, too, all of them along 18th Street.
Printers
Row
Chinatown
Nuevo Leon (no relation to the bakery), on 18th
Street east of Ashland, which opened in 1962,
is an acclaimed neighborhood fixture. Casa del
Pueblo Taqueria, on Blue Island south of 18th
Street, is especially popular with local families.
Carnitas is simmered pork chunks, and the
carnitas at Carnitas Don Pedro, still on 18th
Street, are as good as any.
Loop
Step into a panaderia—say, Nuevo Leon, near
the 18th Street ‘L’ station, or El Nopal on Blue
Island Avenue, in business since 1954—and let
your eyes choose from an enticing array of
baked goods.
Grand
Boulevard
New City
St. Paul’s is at Hoyne Avenue and 22nd Place,
in the Lower West Side community called Heart
of Chicago—or sometimes, Heart of Italy.
What attracts locals and visitors alike to this
area is, primarily, an enchanting stretch of
Oakley Avenue south of 24th Street—a blocklong concentration of ethnic urbanness that
includes four Italian restaurants that look
and sound and smell like something out of a
Scorcese movie.
Bruna’s, La Fontinella and Bacchanalia have
been here seemingly forever; Ignotz Ristorante,
the fourth, opened in 1999. (A block away, on
Western Avenue, is a fifth dinner option: Il
Vicinato.)
This, Pilsen and Heart of Chicago, is truly a
neighborhood for all senses.
181
surprises
PORTAGE PARK
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SIX CORNERS AND COUNTLESS POSSIBILITIES
On Central Avenue,
if you can even
identify Panciteria
Mabuhay as a
Filipino restaurant
(it’s a storefront
that looks like. . .
a storefront), you
can treat yourself
to a steaming bowl
of bopis.
Portage Park is a neighborhood usually defined by the namesake park
and by a three-street intersection called Six Corners.
“It’s real good,”
promises chefowner Lemi
Maglonzo. “It’s
made with pork
heart, stomach and
snout [and other
good things].” And
it is good, best
enjoyed with puto,
steamed rice cakes.
Or if that’s a little
too exotic, you can
always fall back on
the old kalderetang
kambing—though
you might want a
translation before
you order.
That outdoor pool, when the weather is right, is open to the public. Only
the water has been changed.
Six Corners, where Cicero Avenue and the diagonal Milwaukee Avenue
meet Irving Park Road, was once a major retail hub anchored by a Sears
department store. Sears is still here; however, the rest is in transition,
which means that for now, this intersection is of interest mainly to
visitors intrigued by possibilities.
Portage Park, the park, is as lovely as ever, one of the city’s more attractive green spaces. It’s home to an Olympic-size pool with an Olympic-size
legacy: Here, Mark Spitz, during the 1972 Olympic trials, set world
records; that August, he would win seven gold medals in Munich.
The rest of the neighborhood is what we come to expect of a Chicago
Neighborhood—plenty of Chicago-style bungalows, a variety of churches,
a couple of smaller parks, enough grocery stores and hot dog places
and, here and there, surprises.
The Portage Theatre is one of them. It was the Portage Park Theatre
when it opened in 1920, and by the 1970s it appeared doomed to suffer
the fate of so many of the city’s neighborhood movie houses. Dividing
it into two auditoriums wasn’t the answer, and it was shuttered in
2001—but the Portage reopened in 2006, and today the restored theater
is used for live performances as well as film programs best described
as “creative.” (One linked Lon Chaney’s silent classic “Phantom of the
Opera” with Don Knotts’ “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”)
Another surprise, across Milwaukee Avenue from the Portage, is Fantasy
Costumes. This isn’t your corner costume store. We’re talking masks,
makeup and, well, the stuff of fantasies, most of them wholesome. Rent
or buy. The store takes up a full city block—so if you’ve got a fantasy,
it’s probably in stock.
Dining places in the Portage Park neighborhood tend to appear almost
anywhere—and their offerings can be just as unexpected.
Previous pages: Osaka
Garden / Jackson Park
Facing page: Portage
Park
The Lucky Grill, in a nondescript strip mall on the 4400 block of
Milwaukee Avenue, looks from the outside like a nondescript diner until
you spot menu items like the Irish Breakfast, complete with two Irishstyle bangers, rashers, black pudding and white pudding.
On Central Avenue, if you can even identify Panciteria Mabuhay as a
Filipino restaurant (it’s a storefront that looks like. . . a storefront), you
can treat yourself to a steaming bowl of bopis.
185
“It’s real good,” promises chef-owner Lemi
Maglonzo. “It’s made with pork heart, stomach
and snout [and other good things].” And it
is good, best enjoyed with puto, steamed
rice cakes. Or if that’s a little too exotic, you
can always fall back on the old kalderetang
kambing—though you might want a translation
before you order. Or just stick with the oxtails.
“It depends on the flavor and on the thickness
of the dough,” says Celina Hernandez, a young
woman behind the counter, switching effortlessly from speaking Polish to customers to
speaking English to an inquisitor.
What makes a bad pierogi?
“One that falls apart,” she says.
Las Tablas, on Irving Park west of Cicero, is
a Colombian steakhouse. La Peña, back on
Milwaukee midway between the Lucky Grill and
the Portage Theater, is Ecuadoran.
Trattoria Porretta, back on Central at
Waveland Avenue, is a classic neighborhood
Italian restaurant in a neighborhood not known
as classic Italian—and that’s the charm of
Portage Park:
It may be defined by an intersection and a park,
but it defies category.
And like a good pierogi, it refuses to fall apart.
186
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Norwood Park
North Park
Jefferson
Park
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
Dunning
Avondale
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
A few blocks south, still on Central, is the factory store for Alexandra’s Pierogi. The surprise
here is the variety: a choice of 15 fillings, from
kraut to cherries—and that’s not counting the
blintzes, uszka, pyzy or a couple of kinds of
dumplings. Polish is the prevailing language on
both sides of the counter, but English works,
too. Ask, and you discover that simple as
pierogi seem to be, quality varies.
Edison
Park
Logan
Square
Montclare,
Galewood
Humboldt Park
books
PRINTERS ROW
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ONETIME PRINTING DISTRICT BECOMES A POPULAR
RESIDENTIAL AREA
The Printing House
Row District (the
core of Printers
Row) is a Chicago
Landmark district
containing several
architecturally
significant buildings
once used for
printing books,
catalogs, brochures
and whatever else
needed printing.
The names of the
architects will mean
little to anyone
but serious buffs;
no Frank Lloyd
Wrights or Louis
Sullivans here
(though Sullivan’s
Auditorium Building
is just a couple of
blocks away, on
Congress Street).
For the rest of
us, the buildings
themselves—the
mass, the balance,
the ornamentation,
the age—make
enough of a
statement.
Previous page:
Dearborn Station
188
The story of Printers Row, a southern slice of the Loop community, can
be found at the Franklin Company Building, on Dearborn Street.
A bronze plate near the entrance identifies the builder’s name
(The Franklin Company) and its function: “Designing. Engraving.
Electrotyping.”
Above the entrance is a full-color terra cotta illustration (“The First
Impression”) showing the Gutenberg print shop and the people within
it: a typesetter setting wooden type, businessmen making some sort of
deal, an onlooker reviewing a newly printed page and, near the actual
press, an idle worker in full yawn.
The building, completed in 1916 and without a printing press in it since
1983, is now loft condos.
There you have it.
The Printing House Row District (the core of Printers Row) is a Chicago
Landmark district containing several architecturally significant buildings
once used for printing books, catalogs, brochures and whatever else
needed printing.
The names of the architects will mean little to anyone but serious
buffs; no Frank Lloyd Wrights or Louis Sullivans here (though Sullivan’s
Auditorium Building is just a couple of blocks away, on Congress Street).
For the rest of us, the buildings themselves—the mass, the balance, the
ornamentation, the age—make enough of a statement.
By the time Dearborn Street Station (1885) closed in 1971—proximity
to the rails was a reason for this concentration of printing houses—the
presses had stopped rolling and the area had become largely forgotten.
In 1979, the Donahue Building (1883) became the first in Chicago to be
converted from factory space to residential condo lofts. Nearby buildings
followed, and Printers Row was reborn as a neighborhood.
Dearborn Street Station, saved from demolition, is now home to a
restaurant, a few stores and lots of offices and is the most recent
location of the Jazz Showcase, the venerable (since 1947) but nomadic
venue for some of the best jazz artists around.
The neighborhood, within walking distance of dozens of quality Loop
restaurants, has some of its own. Blackie’s, a bar-restaurant that’s been
in the same family since 1939 (and was a star-magnet in the days when
Santa Fe trains rolled into Dearborn Station from California), serves
a good half-pound burger and other things. Amarit, in the landmark
Transportation Building (1911, onetime home of the office of crime-fighter
Eliot Ness), is respected for its Thai offerings. The Custom House Tavern
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
United
Center
As for a printing legacy, there’s not much left
in Printers Row.
West Loop
GreekTown
Loop
provides sustenance in sync with its host, the
comfortable Hotel Blake. Hackney’s burgers and
fried onions made it a longtime favorite in the
northern ‘burbs, and now it’s here, too. Kasey’s
Tavern, in the Donahue Building, doesn’t have a
kitchen but will order something in from nearby
restaurants while you watch one or all of the
seven TVs strung along the top of the bar.
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
Museum
Campus
Bridgeport
South
Loop
Douglas
nd
kla
Oa
McKinley
Park
Chinatown
The Printers Row Lit Fest is a mega-book fair
and street party that fills the neighborhood’s
streets with thousands of folks every June. But
when that’s cleaned up, what remains are two
bookstores, both independents: Sandmeyer’s,
a general-interest shop opened in 1982, in
the Rowe Building (1892); and in the Donahue
Building across the street, Printers Row Fine &
Rare Books, specializing in first editions—and
first-class prices for the ones everyone wants.
“Not in the hundreds,” says bookseller Martin
Billheimer. Then he provided a specific: a first
edition of “Lord of the Flies,” signed by author
William Golding—$17,000.
“And it’s like anything else,” Billheimer says.
“It goes all the way up.”
Or you can buy a loft.
189
train car
PULLMAN
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HISTORIC COMPANY TOWN IS A NEIGHBORHOOD LIKE
NO OTHER
For sure, it’s like
no other Chicago
neighborhood. Here,
in the heart of what
remains a largely
industrial area, is
this time capsule,
a residential pocket
built more than
120 years ago for
workers, craftsmen
and executives. It
was a community
then boasting a
deluxe hotel, plus
a Market Hall for
meats and produce,
an Arcade that was
a precursor to the
modern shopping
mall, plus a church
and hospital and
park and other
good things.
Pullman was a company town. That’s what George Pullman had in mind
when he built it in the 1880s to house the employees of his railroad-car
company.
Today, it’s the Pullman Historic District—a National Historic Landmark
District—but it’s more than that.
“Yes, we are a historic area, but we are also a small town in a big city,”
says DeeDee Fabris, a lifelong resident who helps coordinate tours out of
Pullman’s visitor center.
For sure, it’s like no other Chicago neighborhood. Here, in the heart of
what remains a largely industrial area, is this time capsule, a residential
pocket built more than 120 years ago for workers, craftsmen and executives. It was a community then boasting a deluxe hotel, plus a Market
Hall for meats and produce, an Arcade that was a precursor to the
modern shopping mall, plus a church and hospital and park and other
good things.
All this was within walking distance of a factory that built railroad
passenger cars, some basic and some opulent, some sleepers and some
not, for the world.
Among the amenities in the housing built by George Pullman for his
people (who, it must be added, paid rent out of their wages): water,
indoor plumbing and gas light, none a given in 1880s Chicago, especially
in housing affordable to laborers.
“The housing was much nicer than what people were used to at the
time,” Fabris says. “Some people thought the housing was quite grandiose, but he figured a happy worker was a more productive worker.
“These homes were built between 1880 and 1885. Ninety-five percent of
the housing is still here.”
And they almost weren’t.
“In the 1960s, the city of Chicago wanted to tear down all of Pullman and
make it an industrial park,” she says. “The people in the neighborhood
said, ‘Wait a minute. Don’t think you realize what you have here.’ “
A vigorous campaign led by residents and preservationists saved it. The
homes are privately owned and are occupied. Some factory buildings
remain, including the Administration Building with its signature clock
tower, restored after a 1998 fire.
The Florence Hotel accepted guests until 1975, was a restaurant for a
time, functions today as an event venue and looks terrific. (It, and the
Facing page: Greenstone factory buildings, are now state property—and all tend to be closed for
remodeling and restoration projects.) The Greenstone Church is still a
United Methodist
Church
church and looks great. So does much of George Pullman’s experiment.
191
South Chicago
Calumet
Heights
e
George Pullman, his benevolent relationship with his workers shattered, would be
dead three years later and rests in Graceland
Cemetery, in the Lakeview neighborhood on
the North Side, far from his dream. In 1898, the
courts ordered the company (then headed by
Robert Todd Lincoln, the late president’s son)
to sell its residential properties; by 1907, all
were in private hands—and remain so.
Avalon
Park
Chatham
sid
The utopian company-town era was brief. In
1893—the same year as the Chicago World’s
Fair, during which Pullman’s village was a
tourist attraction—the country fell into economic depression and Pullman cut workers’ wages
without trimming the rents. In 1894, a walkout
disrupted rail and mail service, federal troops
were sent in by President Grover Cleveland,
the strike was broken and union leader Eugene
Debs jailed.
Auburn
Gresham
rn
There are no food facilities in Historic Pullman.
The only full-service restaurant nearby is the
Cal-Harbor, a diner on 115th Street just south of
town best enjoyed for its breakfasts. There’s a
better selection west in Roseland, including Old
Fashioned Donuts (and burgers and hot dogs)
on Michigan Avenue, and still more farther west
in the Beverly neighborhood.
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Bu
Today, visitors are welcome to stroll through
the compact town, either with organized tours
or on their own. There is no charge. Home
interiors are open for viewing only on the
second weekend in October, during Pullman’s
annual House Tour, but seeing the exteriors is
satisfying enough.
Washington
Heights
Pullman
Roseland
Morgan
Park
South Deering
SOUTHEAST SIDE
West Pullman
Riverdale
Hegewisch
In the Pullman of today, the exteriors of the
houses generally remain largely unchanged
while interiors have been updated to varying
degrees. Inevitably, electricity replaced the gas
light; some owners added pleasantries such
as air-conditioning. A series of fires eventually doomed the Market Hall, leaving only its
skeletal remains; the former stable is now a
car-repair shop—though the carved horses’
heads are still there on the facade. The visitor
center, in a modern building, stands where the
Arcade once did.
Within the visitor center are furniture from the
Florence Hotel, carpeted ladders used to access
Meanwhile, West Pullman was already drawing
workers away from the company tracts, and the sleeping cards’ upper berths, artifacts belongfortunate moneyed class was building mansions ing to George Pullman and plenty of old photos.
on West Pullman’s Stewart Ridge, where they
Visitors will see something very, very special.
still impress a century later.
An era, albeit a short one, was over.
192
galleries
RIVER NORTH
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GALLERIES, NIGHTLIFE, RESTAURANTS AND HISTORY
194
Walk over to
Hubbard Street
and stroll a few
doors east. That
big stone building,
now home to
condos and offices,
was the Cook
County Criminal
Courthouse from
its completion in
1893 until 1928.
The building, on the
National Register
of Historic Places,
served other
purposes as a
government building
later, but during
its courthouse
years, it was home
to the trial of the
1919 White Sox,
accused of throwing
that year’s World
Series; it was here
that, according
to a reporter, a
kid looked up at
Shoeless Joe
Jackson and
pleaded “Say it
ain’t so, Joe!”
Once a factory zone, then a forgotten zone, then a low-rent haven for
hungry artists, River North has settled in as a district boasting many
of Chicago’s finest restaurants, most cutting-edge galleries and hottest
dance clubs.
Previous page: Kinzie
Street Bridge
But you’ll find those, and others we left out but are prominent in tourist
literature, and the dance clubs and the bars on your own.
But sometimes, to really appreciate what we have here, you have to look
a little closer. . .
Two of the city’s most honored restaurants belong to celebrity chef Rick
Bayless. Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, and later Bayless’ books and
TV shows, introduced Chicago and America to regional Mexican cuisine
beyond the taco, enchilada and burrito.
If you do decide to check out the restaurants, take a moment before or
after your meal and step back far enough—cross the street if you must—
and look above the awnings.
That block on the east side of Clark between Illinois and Hubbard Streets
containing Bayless’ restaurants (and other tenants) is actually five
buildings, with no space between them. All date to 1872, a year after the
Great Chicago Fire leveled just about everything in the area. The ornate
red brick building across from those buildings also dates to 1872.
Walk over to Hubbard Street and stroll a few doors east. That big stone
building, now home to condos and offices, was the Cook County Criminal
Courthouse from its completion in 1893 until 1928. The building, on the
National Register of Historic Places, served other purposes as a government building later, but during its courthouse years, it was home to the
trial of the 1919 White Sox, accused of throwing that year’s World Series;
it was here that, according to a reporter, a kid looked up at Shoeless Joe
Jackson and pleaded “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”
Practically across the street from the old courthouse is Jean Joho’s
Brasserie Jo, authentically Alsatian/French—and that introduces a
problem: There are, quite simply, too many notable restaurants in River
North to attempt a complete listing in this narrative without running
long or leaving someone out.
Some that, for various reasons, must be mentioned would include Harry
Caray’s Italian Steakhouse; Graham Elliott; Naha; Coco Pazzo; Gene &
Georgetti (steaks since 1941); Shaw’s Crab House; mk; Crofton on Wells;
Kiki’s Bistro; Club Lago (1952); Mr. Beef (for its Italian beef sandwiches);
Carson’s (for its ribs); Cafe Iberico (for its tapas); Ed Debevic’s (for its
sass); the original Pizzeria Uno (1943) and sibling Due; and the Green
Door Tavern (since 1921, despite prohibition).
“This is the area that has the greatest
concentration of art galleries in Chicago,” says
Andrew Bae, whose showroom on Franklin
Street near Superior, the heart of the gallery
zone, specializes in Asian works. “There are
75 art galleries here.”
How to find stuff that interests you?
As always in a city like Chicago, there are
surprises. Here are three neighborhood
bookstores that couldn’t differ more: Europa
Books, on State Street near Pearson, specializes in foreign books and periodicals, for
when you just must have the latest issue of
Le Monde; Open Books, a huge nonprofit used
book store on Institute Place near Wells Street;
and one that needs a little explanation.
The Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, on Chicago
Avenue near Orleans, is a Lincoln bookstore
and it isn’t.
“If you’re looking just for reading and good
historical books,” says Dan Weinberg, owner
of the 70-year-old business, “we have that—all
the way to the true collectible, and everything
in between.
Boystown
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Loop
“Every gallery knows every gallery, at least
around here,” says Steven Slater, an assistant
at Bae’s. “Just talk to a gallery. They’ll tell you.
If Andrew Bae doesn’t have what you want, he
can tell you other galleries within three blocks.
You don’t have to go far.”
Wrigleyville
North
Center
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
A
Sq rm
ua ou
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Choosing from among the galleries may not
be as easy.
South
Loop
l
price. Others are, well. . .
Visit Appomattox Court House, where Grant
and Lee signed the papers ending the Civil War,
and guides will explain the table in the room is
a replica of the one used for the signing.
The guides are correct. The actual table is in
the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop. It’s for sale.
You probably can’t afford it.
So that’s River North: the restaurants, galleries
and dance clubs everyone expects—and maybe
a bit of the unexpected to take home.
“It looks like a museum—except you can walk
away with the exhibits.”
Exhibits like a handout inviting folks in the
neighborhood to hear what Lincoln had to say
at a cemetery dedication—in Gettysburg. Turned
out he said something memorable. Price:
$15,500. “They’re very scarce,” he says.
Some artifacts are just a few hundred dollars in
195
the arts
ROGERS PARK
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SOMETHING FOR EVERY VISITOR
Which beaches are
“best”? For locals,
that depends on
where parents first
took them as kids
or where they hung
out in high school—
but in an area where
parking can be an
issue (be alert for
signs designating
time restrictions),
Loyola Beach, with
a sizable parking
lot, is a good option
for drivers.
Fair warning: After
too much time at
the beach, you risk
forgetting you’re
in a big, great city.
With so much to do
at night in Rogers
Park—all that
theater and those
good eats—that’s
something you just
don’t want to do.
Looking for a college town? Rogers Park. Live theater? Rogers Park.
Frank Lloyd Wright? Ethnic eats? A day at the beach? A night at the
bars? Those, too, are here in Rogers Park.
This is a neighborhood, Chicago’s northernmost, that defies generalization because it can be so many things. Its accessibility only adds to its
attractiveness for visitors.
But where to begin? The best way to plan a Rogers Park experience is
to break the neighborhood down into themes—and even that won’t be
all that easy. Overlap happens.
The arts? Leave the ‘L’ at the Morse Avenue Station, take a few steps
west and just past the viaduct, looking very much like a clean alleyway, is Glenwood Avenue and the Glenwood Avenue Arts District. For
several blocks between Lunt and Farwell Avenues, Glenwood is lined
with taverns, galleries, cafes (the Heartland is a fixture) and live theaters
(Lifeline, Boho, Theo Ubique).
On summer Sundays, a farmer’s market spills over onto Morse Avenue.
The district’s annual Arts Fest (held the third weekend in August) is
a big deal.
If you’re into ethnic eats, Howard Street, right off the ‘L’ station of the
same name, would be a place to start. It offers two Caribbean favorites:
Tickie’s Belizean Restaurant (just off Howard on Paulina Avenue) and
Jamaica Jerk, on Howard a block east of the ‘L.’
Once you find Jamaica Jerk (instead of the usual jerk chicken, this time
try the saltfish and bammy), take a few steps east and step back. The
first thing you see is the P.J. Footwear store—but look up: That big arch,
and the frames on the sides of the store, are what’s left of the Howard
Theatre, a classic movie house remembered by Rogers Park veterans
as the theater with a round interior. All that’s left is the facade.
The food tour continues down Clark Street, on the other side of the
‘L’ station. Four blocks south, where Clark meets Touhy Avenue, is
Romanian Kosher Sausage Company. It’s mainly a store—but have a
sandwich and take home a salami.
Now, in the mile from Touhy to Devon are no fewer than 10 Mexican
restaurants, from simple taquerias to seafood places (Las Islas Marias,
Clark at Wallen Avenue) to neighborhood institutions like La Choza
(7022 N. Clark St.), which relocated here after decades near Paulina
and Howard.
Facing page: Heartland
Cafe
And for variety but still with Latin flair, there’s El Cuscatleco (Salvadoran;
Clark near Estes Avenue) and Taste of Peru (Peruvian, of course, with
music on weekends; Clark near Arthur Ave.)
197
Architecture is a bit more scattered. The star
is the Emil Bach House (1915), a Frank Lloyd
Wright design at 7415 N. Sheridan Road that
looks exactly like a Frank Lloyd Wright design.
But if you meander the residential streets west
of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District, you’ll see
fine old homes, many in Prairie Style.
Historic churches abound as well. St. Jerome
Catholic Church, on Lunt west of Ashland
Avenue, dates to 1894. Even older, the
cornerstone for nearby St. Paul’s by the Lake
(Episcopal-Anglican, at 7100 N. Ashland Ave.)
was laid in 1886. Both can be viewed during
services; at other times, call ahead.
For the collegians, there’s the campus of Loyola
University, on Devon near Sheridan Road.
The nation’s largest Jesuit Catholic university
(enrollment: about 16,000 on three Chicago
campuses and a fourth in Rome), the Lake
Shore Campus was founded in 1909, and much
new construction hasn’t quite overwhelmed
the traditional.
Though a significant number of students are
commuters (the Loyola ‘L’ station is, obviously,
right there), the area has its share of burger,
pizza and low-cost Asian restaurants, along
with some post-study hangouts (notably
Hamilton’s, on Sheridan just south of Devon
in the Edgewater neighborhood) typical of the
breed. And there is Uncommon Ground, the
new Devon Avenue sibling of the Wrigleyville
original, which is either a bar with coffee or a
coffee place with liquor—and a full menu, plus
live music.
Finally, the beaches.
Beginning at North Shore Avenue (and north),
several east-west streets that intersect with
Sheridan Road dead-end on Lake Michigan’s
sandy beaches. Access is no problem, and Red
Line ‘L’ stops at Loyola, Morse and Jarvis drop
visitors off a short walk away.
198
Rogers
Park
West Ridge
Edgewater
North Park
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Albany Park
Uptown
Irving Park
Which beaches are “best”? For locals, that
depends on where parents first took them as
kids or where they hung out in high school—but
in an area where parking can be an issue (be
alert for signs designating time restrictions),
Loyola Beach, with a sizable parking lot, is a
good option for drivers.
Fair warning: After too much time at the beach,
you risk forgetting you’re in a big, great city.
With so much to do at night in Rogers Park—all
that theater and those good eats—that’s
something you just don’t want to do.
curious
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R
ESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS WITH A “LITTLE
SOMETHING EXTRA”
The main draw in
Roseland, whose
Michigan Avenue
retail district once
rivaled the more
famous one on the
Near North Side, is
a mural.
In 1988, Chicago
artist Olivia Gude,
now a professor at
the University of
Illinois-Chicago, and
friends fashioned
a mural at 113th
Street and Cottage
Grove Avenue that
covered the walls
on both sides of
113th and spanned
the railroad viaduct
that symbolically
and literally split
mostly white
Pullman with
mostly AfricanAmerican Roseland.
It’s good that Roseland and Washington Heights—which are side-by-side—
are conveniently sandwiched between the historic town of Pullman on
the east and architecturally fascinating Beverly on the west.
Pullman and Beverly provide the reasons to visit this area. Roseland and
Washington Heights each add a little something extra.
For Washington Heights, primarily a successful middle-class residential
community, the something extra is the Vivian Harsh Collection, located
in its own wing of the Chicago Public Library’s Woodson branch at 95th
and Halsted Streets.
Vivian Harsh, who died in 1960, in 1924 became the first AfricanAmerican librarian in the Chicago Public Library system. Over her long
career she amassed a collection of books, documents, journals and
manuscripts related to African- American history and literature that
today represents the second largest of its kind in the Midwest—possibly
the largest—and it is here, now, in this building.
“We have a fantastic collection,” says Beverly Cook, a collection librarian. “With the computer setup we have, for people from out of town all
they need is a driver’s license and we will give them guest passes.”
It’s ideal for scholars, or the merely intellectually curious, who wish
to study the works of such luminaries as Richard Wright, Langston
Hughes and Arna Bontemps, all of whom have original manuscripts in
the collection. Genealogical records are also available for folks seeking
information on their family history.
In addition, the library is a venue for a variety of exhibits related to
African-American life, all open to the public seven days a week at
no charge.
“There’s always something going on,” Cook says. “But for things dealing
with Bronzeville, early migration, World War II soldiers, this is the place
to be.”
The main draw in Roseland, whose Michigan Avenue retail district once
rivaled the more famous one on the Near North Side, is a mural.
In 1988, Chicago artist Olivia Gude, now a professor at the University
of Illinois-Chicago, and friends fashioned a mural at 113th Street and
Cottage Grove Avenue that covered the walls on both sides of 113th and
spanned the railroad viaduct that symbolically and literally split mostly
white Pullman with mostly African-American Roseland.
The theme was an excerpt from a poem by Walter Ward, whom Gude
taught as a high school student: “I welcome myself to a new place where
all the people can join on in.”
Previous page: Chicago
Public Library Pullman
Branch
200
The mural, though frayed by time and the elements, retains much of
its power.
Grand Crossing
Avalon
Park
Auburn Gresham
Chatham
Bu
rn
sid
Although dining options are limited in Roseland,
Old Fashioned Donuts is a spare storefront on
Michigan Avenue where the namesake treats
are freshly made and the ladies behind the
counter happily guide you through the choices.
Sandwiches are also available, but donuts are
the thing here.
e
There’s another possibility, an outpost of a
Chicago classic.
Jim’s got its start at Maxwell and Halsted
Streets in 1939, when the Near West Side
corner was in the heart of the city’s most
bustling pushcart market. Though what’s left
of the market is elsewhere and Jim’s original
operation has moved a block east, there’s
a near-twin Jim’s here on the west edge of
Roseland on 95th Street just east of the Dan
Ryan Expressway/Interstate Highway 90.
Washington
Heights
Pullman
Beverly
Roseland
Morgan Park
West Pullman
Riverdale
The place has the standard hot dogs and
burgers, but the true Jim’s experience is
the Polish sausage or the bone-in pork chop
sandwich, both grilled, with mustard and—this is
important—smothered with greasy fried onions.
It should be eaten standing up, and carefully.
This is not date food.
But for dining options beyond donuts, dogs and
the familiar franchises, Beverly Cook, the librarian, suggests the cooking to the west, in the
Beverly neighborhood.
201
fortune
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A CELEBRATION OF GOOD FORTUNE AND GOOD TIMES
Washington Square
(1842) is Chicago’s
oldest park. It
used to be better
known as Bughouse
Square and was,
among other
things, famously a
free-speech zone,
with soap-box
orators expressing
themselves
on subjects
ranging from the
revolutionary to
the bizarre. Except
for ceremonial
reenactments,
the orations
have retreated
to neighborhood
saloons; the square
has been returned
to the genteel
attitude it enjoyed
when this was
a community of
elegant townhomes
and mansions.
The Rush-Division Street area is where Chicago comes to celebrate good
fortune and good times.
Visitors flock here, too. And no wonder.
It has stayed forever fresh. Venerated Rush Street restaurants and clubs
of decades past recycle into favorite restaurants and clubs of today,
tweaked (sometimes) just a little to respect current preferences.
The Division Street bar action can be traced at least as far back as the
Eisenhower years—The Lodge Tavern opened in 1957—but that scene
really boomed as boomers came of age in the 1960s and ‘70s. While
some bar names have changed, not much else has.
But it’s not all liquid refreshment and solid food and wishful socialization. There’s history here.
Washington Square (1842) is Chicago’s oldest park. It used to be better
known as Bughouse Square and was, among other things, famously
a free-speech zone, with soap-box orators expressing themselves on
subjects ranging from the revolutionary to the bizarre. Except for
ceremonial reenactments, the orations have retreated to neighborhood
saloons; the square has been returned to the genteel attitude it enjoyed
when this was a community of elegant townhomes and mansions.
Speaking of mansions, condo construction has had its impact on the
neighborhood, but some of the grand old residences remain to provide
a hint of what was. On the 900 block of Dearborn, Taylor House dates
to 1895; even older, Thompson House (1888), at Dearborn and Delaware
Place, was the work of the same designers who left us the Newberry
Library across the street, and the family resemblance shows.
The Newberry (1893) is among the nation’s finest independent research
libraries. For writers seeking original documents and manuscripts or
doing genealogical digging, the place is a dream. For the rest of us,
public exhibitions (free) and speaker programs add to the pleasures of
a neighborhood stroll.
Two more nearby mansions are worth a peek, both of which visitors can
enter. The Biggs mansion, 1150 Dearborn St., went up in 1874, not long
after the Great Chicago Fire. Today it’s home of a branch of Il Mulino,
the pricey New York Italian restaurant; behind it is Table Fifty-Two, the
creation of Art Smith, Oprah’s former personal chef, who has managed
to fuse risotto and pizza with down-home southern.
Facing page: Dining on
Rush Street
Just south, at 1012 N. Dearborn, is the Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine
Arts. A school, studios and gallery, the P&C dates to 1895; it’s been in
this Italianate building since 1921. The gallery is open most days and
features the work of serious local artists.
203
Two of the city’s best-known steak houses,
Gibson’s and the original Morton’s, are a block
apart. Hugo’s Frog Bar, a seafooder, is adjacent
to Gibson’s. Carmine’s combines prime Italian
with one of Rush Street’s better sidewalk
opportunities. Bistro Zinc is a favorite for
French comfort food. And more.
Bu
ck
to
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Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
River
North
Rush & Division
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
South
Loop
If your credit card is nearing its limit (especially
after buying that Lamborghini), Pizano’s offers
pizza at rational prices. The Tempo Cafe, open
24 hours, serves just about everything, though
the oatmeal tends to go fast in the morning.
Between Morton’s and Gibson’s, Dublin’s Bar &
Grill has burgers and entrees that won’t make
you run to the ATM.
“They’re like brothers,” says Mickey O’Donnell,
a longtime neighborhood guy who works at
The Lodge. “They have different personalities,
but they have similarities as well. Shenanigan’s
is a little younger. The Lodge is more mature.
Butch’s [Butch McMuire’s] is real Irish. . . “
Before we hit the Division Street bars, there’s
one on Walton between Rush and State Streets
that’s easy to miss and deserves a look. Lonie
Walker’s Underground Wonder Bar has been
offering live music of just about every genre
nightly for about 20 years, some of it by her
own band.
“Are you looking for a place to dance? Are you
looking for food? Do you want ‘comfortable’?
Are you looking for ‘risky’? Are you looking for
a fancy place?”
Now, to Division Street. On one block of
Division between State (which merged with
Rush Street near Honorary Frank Sinatra Place)
and Dearborn are no fewer than 10 bars. Each
is different, some more than others.
204
Boystown
Lakeview
Loop
Nonetheless, most visitors are content to come
here for a meal or a drink or both.
North
Center
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And there’s shopping here, much of it an extension of the high-end shops just east of here on
the part of Oak Street that’s in the Gold Coast
neighborhood. Prada straddles both districts,
while Barneys New York is solidly Rush Street.
With the right credit rating, you can even
drive home a new Lamborghini (one list price:
$484,045) from a Rush Street dealership—or, at
the same address, a Bentley, which are not only
less expensive (around $200,000 will put you
in a nice one) but also easier to spell.
How to choose? Depends what you’re looking
for, O’Donnell says.
Whatever your choice, one thing’s for sure: Bet
your bottom dollar you’ll lose the blues.
shrines
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RESTAURANTS, GOLF COURSES AND ONE AMAZING CHURCH
Billy Caldwell,
incidentally, was
the Anglo name
of the son of a
British officer and
Mohawk woman.
Local tribes called
him “Sauganash”—
“The Englishman.”
Though accounts
differ, Caldwell/
Sauganash
evidently was
connected somehow
to the 1812 Fort
Dearborn Massacre
[a seminal event
in Chicago history
near the present
Michigan Avenue
Bridge] and
negotiation of the
1833 Treaty of
Chicago—signed on
the site of Queen
of All Saints—
which banished
the Potawatomi,
last of the Illinois
Indians, west of the
Mississippi.
Previous page: Queen of
All Saints Basilica
206
Though there is no more suburban-feeling community in all Chicago
than overwhelmingly residential Forest Glen—and the Sauganash and
Edgebrook neighborhoods within it—that doesn’t mean it’s of interest
solely to realtors.
There are a few restaurants of note here, two public golf courses, one
historic district. . . and one pretty amazing church.
Chicago has three Roman Catholic basilicas. Our Lady of Sorrows (1902)
is in the Garfield Park neighborhood on the city’s West Side. St. Hyacinth
(1921) is in the Northwest Side Avondale neighborhood. Those two, each
marvelous in its way, reflect in their ornate interiors the Europeanimmigrant sensibilities of the parishes that built them (Italian and Irish
in the first basilica, Polish in the second).
The third, Queen of All Saints, is in Sauganash. Completed in 1960 and
elevated to basilica status by Pope John XXIII two years later, it is—while
respecting the traditions of the Church and clearly gothic in its architectural style—a modern church, an American church.
Though the parish was, and remains, heavily Irish, its stained-glass
windows celebrate eight shrines to the Virgin Mary from eight different
locations worldwide (Guadalupe from Mexico, Czéstochowa from Poland,
Knock from Ireland, etc.), an inclusivity intended to suggest the reach
of Roman Catholicism but that also reflects the diversity—whatever the
faith—within the city of Chicago.
Symbolism aside, this is one gorgeous building.
The golf courses, under the auspices of the Cook County Forest Preserve
District, are Edgebrook (18 holes) and Billy Caldwell (9). Thousands of
Chicago young people, particularly from the North Side, had their first
taste of what Mark Twain called “a good walk spoiled” on these low-cost,
beginner-friendly courses, and they remain especially popular among
the budget-minded of all ages.
(Billy Caldwell, incidentally, was the Anglo name of the son of a British
officer and Mohawk woman. Local tribes called him “Sauganash”—“The
Englishman.” Though accounts differ, Caldwell/Sauganash evidently
was connected somehow to the 1812 Fort Dearborn Massacre [a seminal
event in Chicago history near the present Michigan Avenue Bridge] and
negotiation of the 1833 Treaty of Chicago—signed on the site of Queen
of All Saints—which banished the Potawatomi, last of the Illinois Indians,
west of the Mississippi.)
Edgebrook Golf Course, off Central Avenue
south of Devon Avenue and the Metra rail
tracks, borders the Old Edgebrook Historic
District. This former railroad community,
established in 1894, is largely sequestered from
the rest of the world by surrounding woods.
It contains houses that reflect that railroad
link (some were built specifically for Chicago,
Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railway management) along with others constructed at various
periods in various architectural styles.
Here, too, is one of the smallest of Chicago
Park District parks (and possibly the smallest
without a playground). The Mary Burkemeier
Quinn Park of Trees is a corner patch of trees
and shrubs (many of them flowering) willed to
the city by Mary’s husband. Their house, demolished after the death of Edward Quinn, once
stood on the lot.
West
Ridge
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Norwood Park
North Park
Lincoln
Square
Jefferson
Park
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
Dunning
Avondale
Restaurants don’t quite abound in the neighborhood (unlike the nearby Edison Park
and Albany Park neighborhoods); most are
within walking distance of the Metra station,
near Central and Devon. The Elephant Thai
Restaurant has won praise for its version of
classic dishes. Moher (as in the “Cliffs of”) Pub
captures the feel of Ireland and offers a nice
mix of Irish and U.S. pub standards. Al Primo
Canto traces its roots to chicken preparations
introduced to Brazil by Italian immigrants, and
this mainly all-you-can-eat restaurant (opened
in 2007; there’s another in the River North
neighborhood) offers hints of both cultures.
Nearly two miles east, much older (since 1962)
and more traditional is Monastero’s, virtually
all-Italian, and, on weekend nights, featuring
opera singers (not necessarily all Italian).
But Queen of All Saints (you’ll need a car)
is reason enough to visit this neighborhood.
And while you’re there, give a thought to
the Potawatomi.
207
attractive
SHEFFIELD-DEPAUL
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COLLEGE CAMPUS AT THE HEART OF AN ACCESSIBLE AND
ATTRACTIVE CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD
Here, on its walls,
can be found photos
of Ray Meyer, who
coached the Blue
Demons basketball
team for more than
40 years. But also
on its walls can be
found other things,
including tributes to
Maguire University,
a mythical “school”
populated by a
klatch of oldtimers that’s
headquartered here
and has little to
do with the actual
university that
sits practically
next door.
Few of Chicago’s neighborhoods are more accessible, walkable and
attractive than DePaul-Sheffield.
The centerpiece is, of course, the DePaul University campus, 36 acres of
classrooms, dormitories and student life integrated into a community of
century-old red brick and greystone residences on leafy streets.
The school, with more than 25,000 students (triple the enrollment
at Notre Dame), is the nation’s largest Catholic university. There are
campuses scattered about the Chicago area, but most students
come here.
And yet, to classify the neighborhood as a kind of “college town” within
the city doesn’t quite work.
The classic DePaul bar—DePaul neighborhood and college—is Kelly’s Pub,
set beneath the ‘L’ tracks on Webster Avenue. Frank Kelly opened the
place in 1933 right after the end of prohibition; son John took it over in
1957, and it’s still his.
Here, on its walls, can be found photos of Ray Meyer, who coached the
Blue Demons basketball team for more than 40 years. But also on its
walls can be found other things, including tributes to Maguire University,
a mythical “school” populated by a klatch of old-timers that’s headquartered here and has little to do with the actual university that sits
practically next door.
It’s essentially a neighborhood bar that happens to be. . . here, in a neighborhood described by DePaul graduate and Kelly’s bartender Tamra
Tompkins as “young families. Either that, or really, really old people who
have lived here forever.”
Students?
“Most of the students here are commuter students,” she says. Only
about 3,000 live on campus in school housing—so away from the
classrooms, students are a presence, but just a presence and
sometimes fleeting.
Previous pages:
Michigan Avenue and
Millennium Park’s
Crown Fountain
Facing page: McCormick
Row House District—
Chalmers Place
Those with a thirst for beer and/or conversation who don’t have distant
homes to go to, or after-school jobs, seldom take over the neighborhood’s bars but simply join locals of all legal ages at Kelly’s and (mostly)
young people from everywhere at McGee’s right across Webster, or
at State a few steps east, or at Glascott’s Groggery a couple of blocks
further east at Halsted Street, or up on Diversey Avenue at Durkin’s, or
at the many watering holes along Lincoln Avenue that make that street
one extended non-exclusive party, especially on weekends.
211
A byproduct of all this—DePaul students, young
people, bars—is a happy concentration of cheap
eats, most of them non-chains and many open
late. On Fullerton between Sheffield and Racine
Avenues, and on most of Lincoln, can be found
a delightful array of noodle shops, sandwich
places and taquerias, plus the odd sushi shop
and, inevitably, pizza—including Pat’s (in the
area since 1950) and Lou Malnati’s, a popular
suburban import.
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Irving
Park
North
Center
Boystown
Avondale
Lakeview
Logan Square
Chicago’s tradition as a home of the blues is
kept alive in DePaul-Sheffield at Kingston
Mines (more than 40 years old) and B.L.U.E.S.
(more than 30), both on Halsted just north
of Fullerton.
But there are quiet pleasures as well, including
somewhat more upscale restaurants (Merlo’s
on Lincoln for Italian and, on Halsted, Jia’s
for sushi and Chinese), boutiques on Webster
and, for prayer, contemplation or just a few
minutes of peace, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic
Church (1897).
212
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt
Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Old
Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Rush & Division
Garfield
Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Loop
And even if students aren’t necessarily the
target audience, the performing arts do well
here. Victory Gardens, a much honored live
theater company (among the honors: a Tony),
not long ago took over the fabled Biograph
Theater. Thoughtfully, the company preserved
the original marquee. Across from that Lincoln
Avenue landmark, entrepreneurs converted the
former Three Penny (another movie house) into
a live music venue, Lincoln Hall.
Wrigleyville
Streeterville
Millennium
Grant Park
Park
The church is about a block from De Paul’s
park-like Quad, tucked between Belden Avenue
and historic McCormick Row Houses on
Fullerton, so subtly isolated that it’s likely some
longtime residents of the neighborhood don’t
even know it’s there.
And if you don’t believe that, ask those
longtime residents yourself. You’ll find them
beside Ray Meyer’s pictures, reminiscing about
the imaginary Maguire U. at Kelly’s.
style
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HISTORIC PRAIRIE AVENUE DISTRICT ANCHORS A MODERN
CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD
Now, about the
houses: Eleven
houses and
townhouses built
between 1870 and
1894 stand within
the Prairie Avenue
Historic District
or on adjacent
streets. A 12th,
Clarke House (1836,
much restored)—
considered
Chicago’s oldest—
was moved into
the district and is
a museum, open
for tours. The John
Glessner House
(1887), at 18th
Street and Prairie,
can be toured
as well.
The South Loop neighborhood is many things—among them, one of the
city’s more successful examples of large-scale redevelopment.
But it’s the history that sets this neighborhood apart.
When much of the city burned in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, this area
south of the central business district was spared. Already a preferred
place to live, businessmen who prospered during the city’s recovery chose Prairie Avenue and nearby streets south of 18th Street
to celebrate their good fortune by building elegant mansions and
townhomes.
From the 1870s until 1904, the day’s great architects did what great
architects do when given great amounts of compensation and
creative latitude.
And then it ended. By the 1940s—for various reasons—most of the
residences in this no-longer fashionable district had been converted to
boarding houses, industrial use or, simply, razed.
Fast-forward to the 1960s. The threat of further demolitions brought
howls from preservationists. That was followed over the next decades
by visionaries who saw the potential in integrating the surviving buildings with new structures compatible in style and scale to the early
masterworks.
So what we have today is the Prairie Avenue District, anchoring a South
Loop neighborhood covered with townhomes, lofts and condominiums
and served by restaurants and social gathering places—and by two
churches that rank among the city’s essential stops.
The first, Quinn Chapel (1892), on Wabash Avenue and 24th Street,
traces its existence to Chicago’s first African-American congregation,
formed in 1844 and recognized by the African Methodist Episcopal
Church in 1847.
“The city of Chicago was only incorporated in 1837,” notes the Rev.
James M. Moody Sr., the church’s senior pastor. “So the people who were
part of that congregation were part of the city from the time the city
became a city.”
The original building became a center for Illinois abolitionists, and later
a station on the Underground Railroad. After the current church (which
can be visited) was completed on the eve of the opening of the World’s
Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park, orators came here.
“In 1893, a woman came to Chicago to make an address for women’s
voting rights at the Great White City [the main fairground], and she
was blocked at the door,” says Moody. “Her mentor brought her to
Quinn Chapel. The woman was Susan B. Anthony. And her mentor was
Previous page: Prairie
Avenue Historic District Frederick Douglass.
214
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy, UIC
Printers
Row
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Bridgeport
McKinley
Park
Grand
Boulevard
nd
New City
Douglas
kla
BACK OF
THE YARDS
South
Loop
Oa
There’s no shortage of dining spots. On
Wabash, Gioco (Italian) and Opera (Pan-Asian)
share ownership, while Zapatista (Mexican) is
another welcome addition to the neighborhood.
Nearby, Chef Luciano, on Cermak Road, saves
United
Center
Streeterville
BRONZEVILLE
Also of historic interest in the South Loop are
Motor Row, a series of architecturally interesting buildings (most on Michigan Avenue);
the former Chess Records building, also on
Michigan, which offers tours of the studio that
produced music by artists like Chuck Berry,
Muddy Waters and B.B. King (the building is
currently home of Willie Dixon’s Blue Heaven
Foundation); and Coliseum Park, a tribute to the
Chicago Coliseum, which stood across Wabash
Street from 1899 to 1982 and was home to
political conventions (including the Bull Moose
convention that nominated Teddy Roosevelt),
the Chicago Blackhawks, Roller Derby, the NBA
Chicago Zephyrs and rock concerts.
Rush & Division
Fuller Park
Now, about the houses: Eleven houses and
townhouses built between 1870 and 1894 stand
within the Prairie Avenue Historic District or on
adjacent streets. A 12th, Clarke House (1836,
much restored)—considered Chicago’s oldest—
was moved into the district and is a museum,
open for tours. The John Glessner House
(1887), at 18th Street and Prairie, can be toured
as well.
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Chinatown
It still looks and feels like a church that
would’ve been attended by families who
lived on Prairie Avenue. (Tours are offered.)
The enormous stained-glass windows are by
Louis Comfort Tiffany. The murals, the altar,
the chandeliers—all suggest the tastes of the
church’s membership.
Gold Coast
River
North
Loop
The other church is Second Presbyterian, on
Michigan Avenue and 20th Street, renamed
Cullerton Street. The Gothic church was
completed in 1874, gutted by fire in 1900,
restored and rededicated in 1904.
Wicker Park,
West Town
A
Sq rm
ua ou
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“That’s what Quinn Chapel has always
been about.”
Kenwood
on rent by offering five cuisines—Cajun, Italian,
Jamaican, African and Indian—in one restaurant. Add two on State Street: Cafe Bionda,
another Italian option; and Opart Thai House.
Here, too, in the South Loop, is one of the city’s
more emotionally jarring art galleries.
In 1996, the National Vietnam Veterans Art
Museum opened a permanent exhibit at 18th
Street and Indiana; more wars with more veterans brought a name change.
The art on display, all by veterans, can be at
once beautiful and horrible.
“Most of the artists here didn’t paint these
to hang over the sofa,” says Jerry Kykisz, a
Vietnam vet and one of the founders. “They did
it because they had to do it.
“This is what this museum is about—war veterans having their say about the subject of war.
We don’t try to sanitize it or censor it.”
215
treasure
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LAKESIDE ELEGANCE AND MORE
The White City
amusement
park—for a time
a contemporary
of Riverview, in
the North Center
neighborhood—
inspired by and
named for the fair,
was here (around
67th Street and
Calumet Avenue)
until the Depression
and competition
from a second
World’s Fair doomed
it in 1933.
There is an everyman elegance about the South Shore neighborhood,
from its park-view apartment buildings to the restored sophistication
of the former South Shore Country Club to the architectural haven that
is the Jackson Park Highlands to the neat bungalows that, ultimately,
define this neighborhood.
South Shore, and the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood to its west,
are predominantly middle-class African-American communities served
especially well by public transportation.
In fact, Metra’s South Shore stop is mere steps from the entryway to the
South Shore Cultural Center, the Chicago Landmark at 71st and Lake
Michigan founded in 1905 as South Shore Country Club.
Designed by the firm that created Michigan Avenue’s luxurious Drake
Hotel, the center’s clubhouse—on the National Register of Historic
Places—projects that same grand-hotel feel. Three crystal chandeliers,
thick carpets and potted palms greet visitors in its main hall. There’s
a beach and tennis courts, while a 9-hole golf course with tree-lined
fairways extends into Lake Michigan.
But its function as a cultural center is what truly binds it to its community, offering dance programs, classes in painting, ceramics and cooking,
and a variety of productions in its 600-seat Paul Robeson Theatre. Also
here is the fine-dining Parrot Cage, one of two teaching restaurants affiliated with the Washburne Culinary Institute and Kennedy-King College.
Jackson Park Highlands, a residential pocket within the South Shore
neighborhood, is all the more astonishing because it’s so unexpected. A
Chicago Landmark District since 1988, it includes four streets—Euclid,
Bennett, Constance and Cregier Avenues—beginning at 71st Street
(where those Metra tracks run) and ending at the Jackson Park golf
course on 67th. It is mostly single-family homes, homes that range from
merely really, really nice to true mansions. They are seemingly of every
architectural style from Tudor to Prairie Style and make these blocks
ideal for a leisurely walk.
One more essential South Shore stop:
Facing page: Jackson
Park Highlands
The New Regal Theater began life in 1927 as the Avalon. Of Moorish
design, the 2,300-seat former movie palace, on the 1600 block of 79th
Street, has had its financial issues in its second life as a live performance
venue—but open or closed it is a treasure. Check out the wonderful
mural that covers its vast western exterior wall and try to identify the
performers, all of whom played this city, many at the original Regal (now
gone) on 47th Street in the Bronzeville neighborhood: Louis Armstrong,
Billie Holiday, Ella, Miles, more. . .
217
218
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Avalon
Park
Chatham
South Chicago
Calumet
Heights
e
Also on 75th is the New Apartment Lounge, a
popular jazz club where sax man Von Freeman
and his band entertain on Tuesday nights. If
Jackson
Park
Woodlawn
sid
Of the shops on 75th Street, especially intriguing is the Woodshop Art Gallery, just east of
Army & Lou’s. From the street-side windows,
it looks like a standard frame shop—but step
inside and discover a world of African and
African-American crafts and artwork on display.
Hyde Park
rn
One of those restaurants, Army & Lou’s, has
been serving up quality soul food at 75th Street
and Vernon Avenue for more than 65 years.
Among its customers: Dr. King, and Mayor
Harold Washington. A couple of blocks farther
east, the significantly newer Cafe Trinidad
specializes in the cuisine of that island (roti
wraps, curries). 5 Loaves Eatery, open for
breakfast and lunch, moved to 75th Street
from its South Shore location on 71st Street
and, happily for its patrons, didn’t mess with its
chicken salad.
Kenwood
Bu
Today, it is an attractive residential area with
interesting restaurants and shopping. Some of
both are clustered on a stretch of 75th Street
just east of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
called Renaissance Row.
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
The White City amusement park—for a time a
contemporary of Riverview, in the North Center
neighborhood—inspired by and named for the
fair, was here (around 67th Street and Calumet
Avenue) until the Depression and competition
from a second World’s Fair doomed it in 1933.
Fuller Park
Greater Grand Crossing, the neighborhood just
west of South Shore, got its name from an early
railroad crossing and, like South Shore, got its
big boost as a developing neighborhood from
the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held just
a mile north in Jackson Park.
Pullman
blues is more your thing—Chicago loves both,
of course—Lee’s Unleaded Blues, on South
Chicago Avenue at 74th Street, provides what
you’re looking for on weekend nights, for sure,
and other nights sometimes. Better call ahead
there, too.
And finally: On 71st Street just east of the
Chicago Skyway, where Grand Crossing meets
the Woodlawn neighborhood, is Oak Woods
Cemetery, one of the city’s more interesting.
At rest here, among many others famous and
not, are Mayor Harold Washington, Olympic
star Jesse Owens, Cubs Hall of Fame player and
manager Adrian “Cap” Anson and, with their
own hill, thousands of prisoners of war—the
North’s largest Confederate burial ground.
History lives here.
streetcar
SOUTHEAST SIDE
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SOUTH CHICAGO, EAST SIDE, SOUTH DEERING AND HEGEWISCH
Well, in South
Chicago, there’s the
95th Street Bridge.
In “The Blues
Brothers,” Jake
and Elwood jumped
the Bluesmobile
over the bridge
and the Calumet
River. Don’t try it.
Not far from the
bridge, on Indiana
Avenue, a second
“Blues Brothers”
location: Pilgrim
Baptist Church,
where James Brown
and a gospel choir
inspired the lads.
South Chicago, East Side, South Deering, Hegewisch. Four communities
on the city’s Southeast Side with much in common, all virtually created
for and literally nurtured by heavy industry—steel, railroads, refiners.
What’s here for visitors?
Well, in South Chicago, there’s the 95th Street Bridge. In “The Blues
Brothers,” Jake and Elwood jumped the Bluesmobile over the bridge
and the Calumet River. Don’t try it. Not far from the bridge, on Indiana
Avenue, a second “Blues Brothers” location: Pilgrim Baptist Church,
where James Brown and a gospel choir inspired the lads.
St. Michael the Archangel church, for another. It wasn’t in a movie,
but it’s a monumental church, on 83rd Street and South Shore Drive,
completed in 1909 for the then overwhelmingly Polish community, most
of whose men worked at U.S. Steel’s now shuttered South Works. (The
plant employed as many as 20,000 workers before finally shutting
down in 1992.) Within it: Polish composer Ignace Jan Paderewski’s grand
piano—and the two largest stained-glass windows in any of Chicago’s
Catholic churches.
In 1892, Chicago hotelier John B. Drake celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ most notable discovery by giving the city a statue of
the explorer atop a fountain. Originally downtown, in 1909 it was moved
to the intersection of 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue—and here it
remains, even if the fountain, which once provided ice water to thirsty
passersby, no longer squirts.
Commercial Avenue on either side of 91st Street is a lively retail district
whose offerings reflect the community’s diversity. The street’s restaurants are mostly Mexican, but the shops go beyond. Check out La
Fruiteria, just south of 89th Street, an “African-Caribbean-Mexican”
grocery store where, along with the usual milk and eggs, you can buy
such interesting items as pork tails, smoked cow skin and cow feet, dry
salted pig feet, smoked turkey tails and more brands of hot sauce than
you knew existed. The easiest way to explore Commercial is Steel Milly, a
yellow streetcar that, for a quarter (including on-off privileges), carries
shoppers and the merely curious up and down the avenue.
And just east of Commercial, there is this:
Across from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (1928), 91st and Brandon
Avenue, home of Chicago’s oldest Mexican Catholic parish, is a mural
honoring 12 men from the neighborhood killed in the Vietnam War. No
other parish in the United States lost more.
“One of them,” said a parishioner, “would’ve been my father-in-law.”
Previous page: East
Side Community
Memorial
220
Each of the 12 is remembered with a portrait; below them, a mural
continues to bring the horror of war home to South Chicago. . .
South Shore
rn
e
sid
It is a small jewel.
“My grandfather built this,” said church president Milosav Obradovic. “My dad was the first
one married here. I used to live two blocks
from here.”
Now he lives in Indiana. Doesn’t matter, not to
guys from the neighborhood.
“Some of us live as far away as Arizona,
California, Florida,” Obradovic says. “They find
a way to come back here once a year.”
Still further south and smack against Indiana
is Hegewisch. It is pronounced Heg-wish, a
fact little known outside Hegewisch (where
Hegewisch, itself, is little-known). The William
W. Powers State Fish and Wildlife Area is here,
with Wolf Lake—half in Illinois, half in Indiana—
its major source of happiness. Fishing (mainly
bass and panfish, but also the occasional
salmon, walleye and northern) can be excellent;
Calumet
Heights
Pullman
East
Side
Calumet Park is here, one of several in the city
(including the smaller Bessemer Park in South
Chicago) designed by the Olmsted Brothers.
Once planned as a 40-acre green space, today
it covers nearly 200 acres, including its own
Lake Michigan beach.
North-south streets on the East Side (at least
some of them) are letter streets: Avenue B,
Avenue C, etc. Where H Avenue meets 114th
Street is St. Simeon Serbian Orthodox Church.
It is a relatively new church, built in 1968 when
the neighborhood was heavily Serbian and
Croatian (it is more mixed now).
South Chicago
Avalon
Park
Chatham
Bu
The East Side—due south of South Chicago—
also has a war memorial, a tank sitting on a
plot at Ewing Avenue and Indianapolis Avenue,
beneath the Skyway. Look around and you’ll
see a mural featuring, among other things,
those Blues Brothers. Aside from the tank,
this is a largely residential area of neat
Chicago-style bungalows and newer, suburbanlooking houses.
South Deering
SOUTHEAST SIDE
Riverdale
Hegewisch
there are also bike and hiking trails and, in
season, it’s the only place in the city that allows
hunting.
And there is something of a downtown
Hegewisch, complete with venerable bar
(Steve’s) and a choice of pizza joints.
Finally, South Deering, largely industrial, once a
steel town (Wisconsin Steel Works, which shut
down in 1980, idling 3,000 workers) and now
home to Harborside International Golf Center,
two quality 18-hole courses designed by legendary designer Dick Nugent, plus a first-rate
Italian restaurant.
221
bricks
STREETERVILLE
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N
AVY PIER, CONTEMPORARY ART AND MORE ON THE NEAR
NORTH SIDE
The story about
how this community
came to be called
Streeterville
involves a scam
artist named George
“Cap” Streeter, a
schooner that ran
aground on a Lake
Michigan sandbar in
the 1880s, a shack
that replaced the
schooner, a castle
that replaced the
shack, landfill
(both natural
and unnatural),
dubious claims
and real estate
deals, shootings,
alleged bigamy and,
ultimately,
the eviction of
Mr. Streeter.
The story about how this community came to be called Streeterville
involves a scam artist named George “Cap” Streeter, a schooner that ran
aground on a Lake Michigan sandbar in the 1880s, a shack that replaced
the schooner, a castle that replaced the shack, landfill (both natural
and unnatural), dubious claims and real estate deals, shootings, alleged
bigamy and, ultimately, the eviction of Mr. Streeter.
It’s a long, complicated story—a classic Chicago story, in its way, and not
all the versions necessarily agree—but it doesn’t much matter anymore.
What does matter is that in this story, the Streeterville area is defined as
everything from the Chicago River to Oak Street, east to Lake Michigan
and west almost to Michigan Avenue’s “Magnificent Mile.” The Mag Mile
is in a class by itself, and therefore gets a chapter by itself.
Our Streeterville includes Navy Pier, the Ferris wheel and the water. The
Pier, with its skyline views, boat rides, shows, restaurants and refreshments—and the Shakespeare Theatre—is one of Chicago’s prime visitor
attractions. It’s the Ferris wheel that especially resonates, not only as
a revolving, twinkling billboard of sorts but also as a link to the city’s
history: The first one in the world, recycled long ago, rose in Hyde Park
for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition.
The Streeterville territory between Lake Michigan and street addresses
that begin at 200 East is dominated by large buildings—vintage and
newer condominiums and apartments, and health-care and research
facilities associated with Northwestern University and its Hospital.
There are also points of interest for visitors and locals alike.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, behind Water Tower Place (which
belongs to the Mag Mile), combines its own collection of post-1945
artwork with changing exhibitions. Some of the artists in its own collection are familiar—works by Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte, Claes Oldenberg,
Ed Paschke and more. Others are there to be discovered and debated.
Mies Van Der Rohe, the modernist architect and designer, lived at 200
E. Pearson St. He’s not represented in the museum and didn’t live to see
it, but his flat is just north of the museum’s entrance. . . which faces Mies
Van Der Rohe Way.
Previous pages:
Superdawg / Norwood
Park
Facing page: River East
Art Center
Want to see Van Der Rohe’s “less is more” in the neighborhood? Walk
toward the lake along Oak Street east of Michigan—Oak Street becomes
East Lake Shore Drive here—pass the Drake Hotel (Mag Mile again),
admire the row of exquisite apartment buildings along the way, continue
to the end of the block, turn right and you’ll see a pair of tall, mostly
glass buildings framed by a grid of black steel.
225
For an idea of what the neighborhood looked
like before things got big here, find 222 E.
Ontario St., a half-block east of St. Clair.
This is Les Nomades, one of Streeterville’s
finest restaurants.
At 610 N. Fairbanks Court, and easily bypassed,
is the Pritzker Military Library. Students of
war—particularly wars involving the U.S. but
all wars dating to the Punic ones (Rome vs.
Carthage, of course)—will find priceless resources here; more casual observers might find
its poster collection and rotating exhibitions
of interest.
Streeterville does have, along with Les
Nomades, other restaurants of note. Critics
have swooned over Pelago Ristorante (Italian),
on Delaware Place in the Raffaello Hotel,
unrecognizable from its days as a piano bar and
Harry Caray hangout. The Saloon Steakhouse,
on Chestnut Street in the Seneca Hotel, has
devotees among local carnivores. Emilio’s Sol
y Nieve, on Ohio Street, offers mostly tapas.
And on Grand Avenue at St. Clair Street, in the
afternoon shadow of Tribune Tower, is Volare,
another well-rated Italian restaurant.
226
Boystown
Lakeview
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Rush & Division
West Loop
GreekTown
Little Italy, UIC
Loop
On Illinois Street near Navy Pier, warehouses
have become the River East Art Center. The
open loft/glass setting of the galleries is almost
as interesting as the artwork featured inside.
r
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
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The buildings are 860-880 Lake Shore Drive
(1949-51). Considered by architecture buffs
to be the quintessential minimalist Mies, the
concept has been much emulated, even by Van
Der Rohe. (See the 1959 Dirksen and Kluczynski
Federal Buildings in the Loop.)
Bridgeport
South
Loop
Douglas
And speaking of food and drink: Show business
fans will be interested to know that the third
floor at 610 Fairbanks—one level above the
Pritzker library—from 1932 until 1960 was
home to the Chez Paree nightclub, Chicago’s
Copacabana.
Modern offices have replaced the stage where
Sinatra sang and the Chez Paree Adorables
kicked, but if those bricks could talk. . . or sing. . .
streets
UKRAINIAN VILLAGE | EAST VILLAGE
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FIND CHICAGO’S LITERARY HISTORY IN A MODERN
NEIGHBORHOOD
Royko’s Division
Street was sausagemakers, casually
corrupt politicians
and shot-and-a-beer
saloons frequented
by men who enjoyed
them frequently.
“Neither God, war, nor the ward super work any deep change on West
Division Street,” the novelist Nelson Algren wrote in “The Man with the
Golden Arm.”
“There are still
Division Street
bars,” he wrote in
1966, “that tap a
full barrel every
time another
customer walks in.”
Adamcio’s church is in Ukrainian Village. His neighborhood and East
Village next door, both part of the West Town community, share
Division Street.
That was 1949. More than 60 years later, it’s clear deep change has
worked its way to West Division Street.
“It really has taken off with all the different shops and restaurants and
everything that has moved in,” says Rev. John Adamcio, dean of Holy
Trinity Orthodox Cathedral. “This whole area has really built up.”
Algren, who grew up in Chicago and lived around here for a time,
wrote about it often—and not gently. He died on Long Island in 1981 and
wouldn’t believe what’s here now. Mike Royko, the acerbic, often hilarious Pulitzer Prize columnist for three Chicago newspapers who grew up
here and spiritually never left the old neighborhood until he died in 1997,
would probably be aghast.
Royko’s Division Street was sausage-makers, casually corrupt politicians
and shot-and-a-beer saloons frequented by men who enjoyed them
frequently.
“There are still Division Street bars,” he wrote in 1966, “that tap a full
barrel every time another customer walks in.”
There still are bars on Division Street—plenty of them—but at, say, the
Milk & Honey Cafe, the customer probably would be satisfied with a glass
of pinot grigio with his, or her, ham and caraway havarti sandwich.
That “little petit-larceny punk from Division and Damen” Algren wrote
about? Gone. Division and Damen now means Jazz Sundays at Jerry’s.
If there is a constant, a link to that other time, it’s the churches.
St. George Orthodox Church, on Wood Street in East Village, still
serves Russian immigrants, even if most don’t live so close anymore. In
Ukrainian Village, three Orthodox churches—St. Volodymyr, St. Nicholas
(which has 13 onion domes) and the oldest, Holy Trinity Orthodox
Cathedral—offer comfort to what remains a largely Ukrainian-Slavic
community, even if the ratio of Ukrainians and Russians to Poles has
tilted a bit toward Warsaw.
Previous page: Alcala’s
Western Wear
228
“You can still hear Ukrainian spoken on the streets,” says
Father Adamcio.
Logan Square
Humboldt Park
A few Ukrainian restaurants remain in
Ukrainian Village. Old Lviv, a buffet-style diner
on Chicago Avenue west of Leavitt, is one. If
borscht isn’t on your must-try list, more familiar cuisine—like the best bars and the best little
shops—is mostly along Division Street, much
of that in East Village (that’s east of Damen),
where on summer nights the food and fun spill
into a succession of outdoor patios. Of the
old-timey bars, the Rainbo Club, on Damen just
south of Division, is sufficiently divey that it
might be refreshingly tolerable to Algren
or Royko.
Bu
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& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
“He was a genius,” says Adamcio, “and he knew
exactly how the light would shine.”
And if you do stop by, don’t ignore the houses.
Much of Ukrainian Village has been designated
a Chicago Landmark for its residential architecture; if you see Holy Trinity, explore the
surrounding blocks as well—especially Haddon
Avenue and Thomas and Cortez Streets from
Leavitt to Damen.
Lakeview
Wicker Park,
West Town
Garfield Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Little Italy, UIC
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
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Sullivan also donated the fine chandelier,
believed to be the work of the renowned
stained-glass artist Louis Millet. Visitors are
welcome; call ahead, or check at the rectory
next door.
Boystown
Avondale
Loop
The exterior, inspired by a small Siberian
church, is splendid. The interior, lit with sunlight
softened by Sullivan-design stained glass yet
capable of making the royal doors explode in
golden brilliance, is something to behold.
North
Center
Hermosa
Holy Trinity, by far smallest of the three, was
designed in 1902 by the great Louis Sullivan
and dedicated a year later. The church, on
Leavitt Street just south of Division, is the only
church he designed alone and that conformed
to his specifications. (St. Paul’s Church in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, a later design, didn’t.)
Bridgeport
The more trendy might be drawn to Jerry’s,
The Boundary or Division Ale House, all on
Division near Damen—or they might be content
to just patio-hop down Division.
Restaurants tend toward burgers and bar
snacks, though Via Carducci La Sorella, back
around Jerry’s and The Boundary, takes its
Italian cooking seriously. The tailored slickness stops at Ashland, but Mariscos El Veneno,
on Ashland near Augusta Boulevard, and El
Barco, across the street on Ashland, can satisfy
cravings for Mexican seafood.
The real pleasures of East Village and Ukrainian
Village, however, aren’t necessarily culinary.
Saul Bellow, winner of the Nobel Prize for
Literature—he was Division Street, too, and like
Algren and Royko he wrote about it. Read them
all. Visitors, if they look and listen closely, might
discover that the street hasn’t made any deep
changes after all. . .
229
games
UNITED CENTER
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HOME OF THE BULLS, BLACKHAWKS AND MORE
Ashland Avenue,
four blocks east
of the arena, is
home to Union
Park and several
buildings belonging
to labor unions
(see especially
the union-related
murals on Ashland
and Carroll Avenue
and another at
Ashland and Monroe
Street). A nearby
mural at 340 S.
Paulina Street
celebrates the
Teamsters.
The park’s name
actually pre-dates
the labor unions’
arrival. It was
named in 1853 in
honor of the Federal
Union, and for a
time after the end
of the Civil War it
became a lure for
wealthy merchants
who built grand
homes on a widened
Ashland Avenue.
Facing page: First
Baptist Congregational
Church
The centerpiece of the United Center neighborhood is, well, the United
Center (along with a whole lot of adjacent parking areas).
Privately financed by Chicago Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and
Chicago Blackhawks owner William Wirtz, the United Center—the largest
arena (960,000 square feet) in the United States—opened in 1994. Along
with hosting games involving the Bulls and Blackhawks, it has been
home to college sporting events, circuses, ice shows, concerts and the
1996 Democratic National Convention.
It also has 48 public restrooms.
Unlike the restrooms, the Michael Jordan Statue—outside the building’s
east end—can be seen on event days without buying a ticket. Jordan,
of course, led the Bulls to three of their six NBA championships (199698) in this building after they’d won three (1991-93) in the old Chicago
Stadium (1929) that stood next door.
On the base of the 12-foot statue (17, including that base) is this inscription: “The best there ever was. The best there ever will be.” It was
unveiled in 1994.
Ashland Avenue, four blocks east of the arena, is home to Union Park
and several buildings belonging to labor unions (see especially the
union-related murals on Ashland and Carroll Avenue and another at
Ashland and Monroe Street). A nearby mural at 340 S. Paulina Street
celebrates the Teamsters.
The park’s name actually pre-dates the labor unions’ arrival. It was
named in 1853 in honor of the Federal Union, and for a time after the
end of the Civil War it became a lure for wealthy merchants who built
grand homes on a widened Ashland Avenue. Some of the homes are
labor union headquarters today, and two extraordinary churches remain
from that era: First Baptist Congregational (1869) and Church of the
Epiphany (1885). In the modern era, the park has been a gathering point
for activist rallies and a venue for music performers; it’s home of the
annual Pitchfork Music Festival, held in July.
Here’s another nugget. Ogden Avenue, which cuts through the southwest corner of the neighborhood, was part of the historic Route 66
highway—“The Mother Road”—that originally stretched from Chicago to
Los Angeles. There are markers.
A few restaurants are within the neighborhood’s boundaries. Moretti’s,
231
Renovations just west of United Center parking
lots, notably along Adams and Monroe Streets,
are breathing life into those areas as well.
So this is a neighborhood experiencing a
second transition: The first was from the old
Stadium to a new United Center, which was
relatively easy; the second is in progress.
232
Bu
ck
to
w
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Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Gold
Coast
Rush & Division
Garfield Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
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North Lawndale
Bridgeport
Little Village
McKinley
Park
Chinatown
More restaurants are several blocks east in
the Greektown and Little Italy neighborhoods
and, increasingly, in the West Loop neighborhood, whose loft apartments and restoration of
classic residences is creating a bridge to what
was once an isolated Near West Side.
Logan Square
Loop
On Western Avenue are a couple of sandwich
options. Moon’s Sandwich Shop, a half-mile
directly west of the United Center, has been
here since 1933; other locations came and
went, but this one won’t go away. Only a couple
of years old, Felony Franks, at Western and
Jackson, features the usual Chicago sandwiches but not the usual names. An Italian sausage
is a “Solitary Sausage”; Italian beef is “Burglar
Beef”; combine them, and you have a Court
Ordered Combo.
Hermosa
a local pizza chain, has a location on Jackson
Boulevard a couple of blocks southwest of the
arena; not far, the Billy Goat Inn, which has
roots near here but relocated years ago to its
main location in the Magnificent Mile neighborhood, is back—at last count, one of six “Goats.”
Angel’s, a Mexican restaurant on Ashland
Avenue, has a pleasant patio when the weather
cooperates; just north is Bombon Cafe, for
lighter Mexican fare and pastries.
South
Loop
time warp
UPTOWN
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AN INTRIGUING BLEND OF OLD AND NEW
Ric Addy has lived
or worked in this
neighborhood
since 1971.
“I’ve seen a lot of
changes,” he says.
“It’s really a diverse
neighborhood. The
people at the post
office tell me there’s
60 different languages spoken in
Uptown. Sixty.”
On his block
are Indian and
Mexican restaurants; across the
street, Ethiopian
and Chinese. Just
north, some on
Broadway but
mainly on Argyle
Street below the
Argyle Red Line ‘L’
station, is a succession of Vietnamese,
Chinese and Thai
eateries.
Leave the Red Line ‘L’ at the Lawrence Avenue stop, look around, see
the “Aragon” sign, and you immediately understand what makes the
Uptown neighborhood unlike any other in Chicago.
Uptown is a community emerging from a time warp, fitfully and at times
grudgingly. But here old and new find a way to coexist, and the result
is a delight for visitors.
It’s home to the city’s largest concentration of East Asian restaurants
outside of Chinatown, a film studio that gave Charlie Chaplin a career
boost, the resting place of heavyweight boxing champs Jack Johnson
and Bob Fitzsimmons and what may be the best ground-level view
of Chicago’s glorious skyline.
The neighborhood’s two iconic symbols, however, are undeniably the
Aragon, a 1926 repurposed ballroom, and the Uptown Theatre, a 1925
movie palace at Lawrence and Broadway just down the street.
The Aragon, after some decline, was revived in the 1970s as a concert
venue. These days, along with frequent shows by Hispanic artists, which
helped power that revival, it’s often jammed with youthful music fans
who adore Spoon and Weezer and have never heard of Tommy Dorsey.
The 4,000-seat Uptown Theatre, on the other hand, is a shuttered
landmark, essentially unused since 1981, the theater’s current owner
keeping its deteriorating but still splendid interior intact while seeking
financing for a restoration.
Remarkably, on either side of the closed theater are lively, contemporary
restaurants and bars—including the Green Mill, a onetime speakeasy
carefully restored and thriving as a jazz club—as well as Annoyance
Theatre, which somehow balances drama, improv and martinis.
And right next door to the Uptown—seemingly oblivious to its hulking
gloom—is a used book and music store.
Shake Rattle and Read has been owned by the same family for more
than 40 years. Ric Addy has lived or worked in this neighborhood
since 1971.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” he says. “It’s really a diverse neighborhood.
The people at the post office tell me there’s 60 different languages
spoken in Uptown. Sixty.”
On his block are Indian and Mexican restaurants; across the street,
Ethiopian and Chinese. Just north, some on Broadway but mainly on
Argyle Street below the Argyle Red Line ‘L’ station, is a succession
of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai eateries.
Previous page: Uptown
Theatre
234
A mere sampling: Pho Xe Tang—familiarly Tank Noodles (with a tank on
the sign)—gets raves for its Vietnamese noodle soups and accompaniments. Sun Wah Bar-B-Q is especially known for its Beijing duck. Chilled
Vietnamese spring rolls with their spicy peanut
dipping sauce delight at upscale Hai-Yen. Thai
Pastry and Restaurant has a loyal following
while, across Broadway, the dim sum at Furama
packs them in, especially on weekends.
Rogers
Park
West Ridge
Edgewater
Take some time to wander through the
pan-Asian supermarkets on Argyle—and don’t
miss La Patisserie P, home to baked goods
ranging from Asian chicken-sausage buns to
delicate chocolate banana mousse cake.
More languages can be heard on Wilson Avenue
east of Clark Street, where Fontana Grill and
Wine Bar—with its romantic front courtyard—is
neighbor to the Palace Gate Ghanaian restaurant and the Nigerian Kitchen. This is one of
Uptown’s more intriguing districts, where apartment buildings and handsome greystones share
streets with century-old mansions, many fully
restored and some awaiting a little tender care.
Graceland Cemetery, along Clark between
Montrose Avenue and Irving Park Road, is a
favorite of those who find fascination in historic
burial grounds. This one contains the remains
not only of celebrity boxers but also of women
and men who literally defined Chicago. Daniel
Burnham, the great city planner, is here; the
“Palmer House” Palmers are here; the first
Marshall Field is here; reaper inventor Cyrus
McCormick is here; so is fellow industrialist
George Pullman. Adler & Sullivan, the architects, are here. The list goes on—and visitors
are welcome.
Lincoln Park, the park, extends into Uptown.
Drive east on Montrose beneath Lake Shore
Drive, past the soccer fields, take a right at
the bait shop onto Montrose Harbor Drive and
continue just past the Montrose Point Bird
Sanctuary, then park. Walk toward the lake and
get out the camera.
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Irving
Park
North
Center
Wrigleyville
Boystown
Avondale
Logan Square
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Chicagoans, there is no better place to capture
the beauty of Chicago’s skyline.
Speaking of cameras—you won’t get into the
former Essanay Studio buildings. They’re now
St. Augustine College, on Argyle just west of
the Asian restaurants, and there’s not much
to see inside anyway except students—but an
archway is clearly marked “Essanay.” In the
silent era and before Hollywood took over,
Chaplin worked on its stages, and so did Gloria
Swanson. Broncho Billy was an Essanay star.
The names may not resonate now, but serious
buffs will see that studio insignia and trademark Indians and tingle.
For many Chicagoans, that concrete promenade (“the rocks”) provides the city’s best spot
to fish for perch, salmon, bass or whatever
else is biting in Lake Michigan. For many more
235
lively
WEST LAWN
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CLASSIC CHICAGO INSTITUTIONS STILL CALL THIS
SOUTHWEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD HOME
Tony Caprio has
been selling shoes
for more than
60 years. “I sold
shoes to [nuclear
physicist] Enrico
Fermi,” he says.
“$5.99. That was
a lot of money in
those days.” For
the last 40 years
he has sold them
out his corner
store, Caprio’s
Shoes, at Pulaski
and 63rd—once
the heart of West
Lawn’s then lively
retail district.
The Indian was
already in place
when he got there.
The West Lawn neighborhood is largely a residential community of
single-family homes whose most intriguing attractions are things you
don’t see much anymore.
On Pulaski Road south of 63rd Street is J&R Variety, the kind of independent one-stop store that anchored neighborhood commercial streets for
generations. Magic shops may be disappearing in some places, but Izzy
Rizzy’s House of Tricks is still right here on Pulaski, too.
Down the street is Lawn Lanes, a 16-lane bowling center with attached
lounge (or, depending on the crowd, a lounge with a 16 bowling lanes
attached), once common throughout the city but increasingly rare.
“We just recently had our 50-year anniversary,” says Mona Brall, who
was working the bar while, on lanes 15 and 16, balloons and laughter
signaled a birthday party was under way. “We have so many parties, and
everybody’s welcome.”
Tony Caprio has been selling shoes for more than 60 years. “I sold shoes
to [nuclear physicist] Enrico Fermi,” he says. “$5.99. That was a lot of
money in those days.” For the last 40 years he has sold them out his
corner store, Caprio’s Shoes, at Pulaski and 63rd—once the heart of West
Lawn’s then lively retail district.
The Indian was already in place when he got there.
The store across the street was the Capitol Cigar Store. If West Lawn has
a landmark, this giant fiberglass representation of a Native American on
a store roof is it.
“It was a good advertising thing, the Indian,” Caprio says. “For years and
years, it was a gold mine.”
Now, it’s an eye clinic. The figure, which had a bit part in the movie
“Wayne’s World,” wears glasses. There are lots of stories relating to it,
but you won’t read them here.
And for decades, 63rd and Pulaski was something besides a place to
do business.
“A lot of people who came from Europe over here, they used the corner
for a meeting place,” says Caprio.
Previous pages: Erie
Park / River North
Facing page: Windy City
Hot Dogs
The neighborhood remains home for Europeans, primarily Eastern
Europeans—and they have been joined by Hispanics, mostly from Mexico.
Much of the retail sector has shifted west to the Ford City Shopping
Center and Cicero Avenue, home to a mass of national chains—which, in
a special way, adds to the appeal of West Lawn’s steadfast independents.
That includes the restaurants.
239
Pulaski Road is a haven for Mexican food of
all kinds. Zacatacos, with two locations on
the street, draws crowds hungry for its steak
tacos. The roasted goat is a lure at Birrieria de
la Torre, but if the waitress steers you toward
carne en su jugo (sliced beef, bacon, white
beans and other good things in a hearty broth,
with hot tortillas on the side), listen to her. Indio
2, just east of Pulaski on 63rd Street, adds a
few vegetarian goodies (torta de soya estilo
pollo anyone?) to the standard taqueria mix,
while other places are particularly proud of
their seafood.
Park
Archer
Heights
Brighton
Park
Gage Park
Garfield Ridge
CHICAGO
MIDWAY AIRPORT
West
Elsdon
Clearing
MARQUETTE
PARK,
GAGE PARK
Chicago Lawn
West Lawn
It’s not just Mexican food. Windy City Hot Dogs,
Ashburn
west on 63rd Street, does the Chicago classics
(hot dogs, Italian beef, gyros) just right. Huck
Finn Donuts—it’s a family restaurant at 67th
Street and Pulaski, one of a pair in the city,
open 24 hours—is an institution. So is Palermo’s,
born in 1961, at 63rd and Hamlin since 1975
and, for many, the quintessential neighborhood
Serious scholars of American history will be
pizza/Italian place.
drawn to the Chicago center of the National
Two research facilities deserve mention. The
Archives, at 74th Street and Pulaski. The buildBalzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture mainly
ing contains all sorts of records and original
celebrates Lithuania in its “welcome” traveldocuments on topics ranging from Lincoln to
ogue and collections of coins, costumes and
Prohibition to Indian Affairs available for review
displays of native amber. But for the genealo(reservations required; www.archives.gov).
gists among the children of immigrants who
It may even have more information than
once made the Southwest Side (especially
anyone needs to know about the gentleman
the Marquette Park neighborhood just to the
east) Chicago’s Lithuanian center, its reference atop the former cigar store up the street.
materials and assistance are invaluable.
240
swank
WEST LOOP
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TRENDY RESTAURANTS AND CONDOS MIX WITH FACTORIES
AND MARKETS
For nearly a
century, the West
Loop was a mix of
factories, meat and
produce markets,
and wholesale
outlets. All those
still exist here. But
what’s happened in
the last 20 years
or so is that those
factories—many
of which were
closed—have been
converted to loft
condominiums.
Meanwhile,
boutiques and
swank art galleries
took their place
among Fulton
Market’s meat
packers and
egg sellers.
The West Loop neighborhood is so many things. To many, this neighborhood within the Near West Side community is all about restaurants. We’ll
get to those, but first. . .
Haymarket Square was on Desplaines and Randolph Streets in the West
Loop. On May 4, 1886, what began there as a demonstration in support
of striking workers turned violent, resulting in the death of eight policemen and an unknown number of civilians. The incident in the square—it
would come to be called the Haymarket Riot—and the subsequent trial
shook the nation. Today, a monument artfully represents the wagon
that served as a speaker’s platform, a monument that is a symbol “for a
diverse cross-section of people, ideals and movements.”
Two blocks south on Desplaines and just to the east, on Madison Street,
Claes Oldenberg’s 100-feet-tall “Batcolumn”—a kind of steel-mesh
baseball bat, a prime example of the city’s tradition of unconventional
public art—makes its whimsical statement.
Two blocks farther south on Desplaines, at Adams Street—still in the
West Loop—is Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church—Old St. Pat’s—Chicago’s
oldest public building (1856) and one of the few surviving structures that
were in the path of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. Down to four members
in 1983, the church, with its beautifully restored interior, now has more
than 3,000.
A few more blocks down Desplaines and a short block east, at Jefferson,
is DeKoven Street. A training facility for firefighters, the Chicago Fire
Academy, stands at the West Loop corner. Within it is a marker. On that
spot, in a barn behind Catherine O’Leary’s house on the night of October
8, 1871, something (a cow? ashes from a pipe? gravity’s pull on an
unstable lantern?) started the fire that changed Chicago forever.
And just south of where the O’Leary’s barn stood, on Jefferson a few
yards past Grenshaw Street, is Manny’s—and now we can start talking
restaurants.
For nearly a century, the West Loop was a mix of factories, meat and
produce markets, and wholesale outlets. All those still exist here. But
what’s happened in the last 20 years or so is that those factories—many
of which were closed—have been converted to loft condominiums.
Meanwhile, boutiques and swank art galleries took their place among
Fulton Market’s meat packers and egg sellers. Kevin Lucero Less is
assistant director of the chic Anne Loucks Gallery on Fulton Market near
Racine Avenue.
Previous page: Chicago
Fire Academy
242
“During the week,” he says, “men are out there in their white coats and
gloves hauling out big pieces of beef, lamb, all kinds of stuff. . .“
And restaurants happened.
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Gold Coast
River
North
Humboldt
Park
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
Garfield
Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Printers
Row
Streeterville
Millennium Park
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
North
Lawndale
Museum
Campus
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
Little
Village
Bridgeport
Chinatown
It’s not just on Randolph Street. Pork is king
(washed down with any of dozens of craft
beers) at the Publican, on Fulton Market.
Wishbone, on Washington near Harpo Studio
(did we mention Oprah works in the West
Loop?), does Southern and Cajun right—
especially at breakfast. Cheerful owner George
Lemperis makes the Palace Grill on Madison
Street more than the first-rate diner it is.
Logan
Square
Loop
Restaurants have long been part of the
Randolph Market scene. But now on Randolph
there’s Red Light, where chef Jackie Shen adds
imagination and sophistication to Pan-Asian
cuisine. Blackbird is stylish in every way, from
decor to what it does in the kitchen. Alhambra
Palace blends Morocco with Hollywood. De
Cero isn’t your Little Village or Pilsen neighborhood taqueria—and Sushi Wabi goes beyond
the standard California rolls. The Tasting Room
takes its wines seriously—and what a view. . .
y
Lakeview
A
Sq rm
ua ou
re r
At Randolph Street Market a couple of blocks
south, the docks with trucks loaded with boxes
of lettuce and broccoli share space with restaurants whose cool sophistication makes for a
sometimes startling contrast.
South
Loop
Douglas
Which brings us in a roundabout way back to
humble, zero-pretense Manny’s.
It’s a cafeteria-style deli restaurant, opened
in 1942 to serve the wholesalers on Roosevelt
Road and the storekeepers and stall-keepers
who did business on Maxwell Street a couple of
blocks south. Maxwell Street’s market has been
moved, in a way, to Desplaines Street, between
Old St. Pat’s and Mrs. O’Leary’s barn—and the
hustlers who peddled socks by the bundle and
factory seconds are, for most part, departed
as well.
But Manny’s is still selling its overstuffed
corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, matzo
balls and latkes and kishke, and meat loaf and
short ribs and cheesecake.
243
stories
WEST PULLMAN | RIVERDALE
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LIVING HISTORY
People live here
and have since the
community was
established around
a railroad junction
in the mid-1800s.
It grew as workers
needed housing
near the places
they worked—
International
Harvester, paint
companies, even
employees of
George Pullman’s
railroad car factory
who didn’t want
to live in George
Pullman’s pretty
little company town
just north and east
of here.
Today, most of the
factories are gone.
The houses remain,
however—a mix
of bungalows and
frame houses—and,
if they could speak,
they would tell their
own stories.
Facing page: Stewart
Ridge neighborhood
For a neighborhood whose history is largely industrial, West Pullman,
for visitors, is much more than a factory zone.
People live here and have since the community was established around
a railroad junction in the mid-1800s. It grew as workers needed housing
near the places they worked—International Harvester, paint companies,
even employees of George Pullman’s railroad car factory who didn’t want
to live in George Pullman’s pretty little company town just north and
east of here.
Today, most of the factories are gone. The houses remain, however—a
mix of bungalows and frame houses—and, if they could speak, they would
tell their own stories.
Foremost of the districts was Stewart Ridge, the bosses’ neighborhood
where the fancy homes were, primarily on streets named for Harvard,
Yale and Princeton and on a few blocks either side of 120th Street. Some
of these homes, dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s and a few
needing a little work, resemble the grand houses in the Beverly neighborhood’s landmark Ridge Historic District. One resembles nothing else
in either community.
The Foster House and Stable (1900) at 121st Street and Harvard Avenue,
is a Frank Lloyd Wright design that reflects the beginnings of his fascination with Japanese architectural elements. It’s also a reminder that the
neighborhood, back then, was on the edge of the city and surrounded by
prairie suitable for taking the family horse out for a gallop. (Alert visitors
will enjoy the somewhat humbler house at 123rd Street and Princeton
Avenue painted to resemble the Wright.)
Not far from Stewart Ridge is West Pullman Park, which, along with the
usual ball fields, tennis courts and picnic areas, boasts a restored oak
savannah, integrating the long-established oak trees with replanted
native species to re-create what was here before we were.
The ecological theme of a visit to this community can extend to a
39-acre parcel around the 1000 block of 120th Street. Formerly the
home of International Harvester’s West Pullman Works and a paint
factory, it recently was cleared of remaining factory structures—some
of which left a residue of contamination—and is being redeveloped as a
solar energy facility by Chicago-based Exelon and SunPower, a California
energy company. The pilot project, when complete, will be the largest
solar power plant in the country, capable of providing electricity for
as many as 1,500 homes.
Just a couple of blocks east of this ambitious project, in the West
Pullman Branch of the Chicago Public Library on 119th Street, is a display
of more human proportions: a permanent (if modest) exhibit on labor
and civil rights leader A. Phillip Randolph. One of his early triumphs was
245
organizing Pullman’s sleeping-car porters; later,
he was a key organizer of the 1963 March on
Washington that featured Dr. Martin Luther
King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
“Most young kids are familiar with Martin
Luther King and the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,”
says Dewana Dorsey, the branch’s manager.
“For young people to realize, ‘Oh, there was
somebody before him?’. . .“
Washington
Heights
Pullman
Beverly
Roseland
South Deering
Morgan Park
SOUTHEAST SIDE
West Pullman
Some artifacts are on loan from the A. Phillip
Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, north of the
Pullman Historic District in Pullman.
Riverdale
Dining within the community is limited. There
are some franchise restaurants (including a
Chili’s) clustered in the Marshfield Plaza mall
on 119th Street, on the Morgan Park side of
Interstate Highway 57 west of West Pullman.
And Olivia’s Sea of Soul Food offers a range of
mains and sides at 12746 S. Halsted St. But the
Morgan Park/Beverly neighborhoods, straight
west, offer plenty of options.
Riverdale, like neighboring West Pullman, was
industrial. Most of that is gone. Today’s prime
features are a well-camouflaged sewage treatment plant, Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve
and, more than anything, the sprawling
Altgeld Gardens.
On land that once was a stop on the
Underground Railroad, this public housing
development covering 190 acres was built
in 1945 specifically for returning AfricanAmerican veterans of World War II and their
families, with schools, stores and parks.
246
Hegewisch
When whole, its 1,500 low-rise units can house
a population of 3,500. Restoration is ongoing.
President Barack Obama was a community
organizer in Altgeld Gardens.
“Most children,” the future president wrote
in his autobiography “Dreams of My Father,”
“grew up without ever having seen a garden.”
Among the children who grew up here are
three former NBA all-stars—Terry Cummings,
Tim Hardaway and Cazzie Russell.
Russell, who, as a New York Knick, would star
in a different kind of garden called Madison
Square. He comes back, to Altgeld.
ENTICING
WEST RIDGE
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TODAY’S CHICAGO
What you will see
is people of every
color that exists in
the human mosaic
that is today’s
Chicago. Every one.
Here’s all you have to do to get a sense of the West Ridge neighborhood:
On Devon up until
California, you
will pass non-stop
Indian and Pakistani
businesses—
restaurants,
groceries, sari
shops, music stores,
book stores, video
stores, electronics
stores, butcher
shops and jewelers.
Then drive north on California from Mather to the city’s northern border
on Howard Street. What you will see is a succession of synagogues, most
of them Orthodox, and the yeshivas and other schools that serve this
overwhelmingly Jewish neighborhood within the neighborhood.
Watch the kids leave Mather High School, near Peterson and California
Avenues, at the end of the school day. Most of the elementary schools in
the community feed into Mather.
What you will see is people of every color that exists in the human
mosaic that is today’s Chicago. Every one.
Then find a place to park and walk along Devon Avenue from Western
to Sacramento Avenue.
On Devon up until California, you will pass non-stop Indian and Pakistani
businesses—restaurants, groceries, sari shops, music stores, book stores,
video stores, electronics stores, butcher shops and jewelers.
Most notable exceptions: Casey’s Corner, a convivial tavern on Devon
and Fairfield Avenue that’s the street’s oldest business; and here and
there a cart selling Mexican snacks.
Past California, it’s like Mather—it’s everything.
There are other commercial streets in West Ridge (known almost universally by the people who live there—certainly those west of Western—as
West Rogers Park). They have their personalities as well. Lincoln Avenue
slices through West Ridge’s southwest corner and brings with it Asian
restaurants—Japanese and, mainly, Korean—as does Peterson Avenue.
Devon east of Western remains generally Indian and Pakistani but not
exclusively so. Western Avenue, in a previous era known for its automobile dealerships and steakhouses, still has its restaurants and businesses.
And there are more reasons than dining and shopping to come here.
Warren Park, largest of the neighborhood’s green spaces, includes
batting cages and the 9-hole Robert Black Golf Course in warm weather
(much of the park was Edgewater Country Club into the 1960s), and an
ice rink in winter. The zoo within Indian Boundary Park (Lunt Avenue
and Rockwell Street) no longer has bears (you may see goats or other
smaller farm animals in the cages still in use), but it’s a lovely park, and
its landmark field house gets use as a performance venue.
St. Henry Church, at Devon and Ridge Avenue at the neighborhood’s
eastern edge, is site of the city’s only churchyard cemetery, consecrated
in 1863; the parish dates to 1851.
Previous page: Devon
Avenue
248
But for most, the draw is Devon’s Little India area and the rest of this
ethnic mix.
Walk into one the groceries and inhale the
aroma of curries and other spices. Enjoy
regional flavors—from northern India at India
Garden, from the south at Udupi Palace; from
Pakistan at Sabri Nihari or Kahn BBQ. Hema’s
Kitchen, whose Indian dishes drew raves for
years at its nearby Oakley location, is on Devon
now, in larger quarters, where the adoration
continues—and this is just a sampling of the
street’s dining options.
Cross California, and more possibilities entice.
Stop at Argo Bakery and discover the pleasure
of a hachapuri—a flaky turnover, beloved in
Georgia (the former Soviet state), filled with
three kinds of cheeses—fresh from a traditional
oven. A couple of doors west, Uncle’s Kabab
can provide a variety of kababs or a simple
falafel sandwich.
“Anybody is welcome here. Anybody,” says
manager David Oshana, who emigrated as a
child with his family from Iraq. “All nationalities come here—Afghanis, Americans, Jewish,
Indians, Pakistanis, Greek—everybody.”
Just west is Three Sisters Deli. It is a Russian
deli that sells smoked fish and cold cuts,
along with packaged delicacies primarily
from Russia and the Baltic states (Lithuania,
Estonia, Latvia).
A little farther west is Anmol Barbecue
Restaurant, owned by Mohammed Ashraf Patel,
a Pakistani immigrant. On the next corner is
Moshe’s New York Kosher, a grocery with a few
tables in back. Moshe, the owner, emigrated
in 1976 from Iran.
Along with Rosenblum’s Book Store (since 1941,
here since 1973), Kol Tov Kosher Foods, Tel-Aviv
Kosher Bakery and a few others, it represents
a diminishing Jewish commercial presence
in the neighborhood.
Rogers
Park
West Ridge
Sauganash,
Forest Glen
Edgewater
North Park
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Albany Park
Irving Park
Uptown
North
Center
Wrigleyville
immigrant from Massachusetts who has owned
the store for 25 years, just expanded next
door, adding Morgan Harbor Grill, a kosher
fish restaurant that offers, among other items,
kosher sushi.
As in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, where
community leaders—concerned about the
effects of gentrification—established the Paseo
Boricua along Division Street to reinforce a
Puerto Rican identity, Morgan hopes to keep
this part of Devon identifiably Jewish.
“There is a big Orthodox community in this
area,” Morgan says. “Heavily Jewish. The whole
thing is to get people back here—and it’s not
only happening, it’s attracting non-Jews.
“The mix we were hoping to happen is starting
to happen.”
Mix—that’s West Ridge.
Among the few others is Good Morgan,
a kosher fish market. Aharon Morgan, an
249
cool
WICKER PARK | WEST TOWN
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ARTISTIC ENCLAVE
Wicker Park, the
park—especially
pleasant during
garden season—
once again is
bordered by fine
homes, including
lovingly restored
mansions.
And the artists
are still here.
One of its signature restaurants is named Earwax.
On a wall hangs a banner, liberated long ago from a circus midway,
touting The King of Blades and Whip. Another features Ostrich Boy—who
eats glass.
It’s a vegetarian restaurant that serves bison burgers.
Is Earwax Cafe all you need to know about the Wicker Park neighborhood? Well, no. As in any Chicago neighborhood, it’s never that easy. But
Wicker Park, the northeastern slice of the West Town community, has
never been less than intriguing. And Earwax has been there a long time.
The Ukrainian Village and East Village neighborhoods are also part of
West Town and have their own chapters. So does the Humboldt Park
neighborhood. (The part of West Town that’s west of Western Avenue,
because it’s culturally as well as physically linked to the rest of Humboldt
Park, has been included there.)
The rest of West Town is here.
The southeast corner of the community is all but overwhelmed by the
Kennedy Expressway (Interstate Highway 90-94). Two of the city’s
historic and historically Polish churches—St. Stanislaus Kostka (1881) on
Noble Street north of Division, and Holy Trinity Church (1906) on Noble
south of Division—survive despite the displacement of worshippers by
the road-building. Both interiors are exquisite.
Also in this part of town is Chopin Theatre. On Division just east of
Ashland Avenue, the theatre—a former nickelodeon built in 1918—specializes in international performers and productions, but director David
Cromer’s re-think of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” began here in 2009,
won raves, then moved to New York to more rapturous notices and a
long run Off-Broadway. Podhalanka Restaurant, with its classic and
reasonably priced Polish goodies, is next door.
What this area has in common these days with the Wicker Park neighborhood is, mainly, Milwaukee Avenue. But a few blocks north of Division
Street, the stores selling functional furniture end and the boutiques
kick in.
They’re on Milwaukee (Futurgarb and Eskell and others) and on North
Avenue (three Akira stores, and others), and they’re on Damen, there
a continuation of the stylish shops and design centers of the Bucktown
neighborhood immediately north.
Previous spread: Mars
Gallery / West Loop
Facing page: Milwaukee
Avenue
But Wicker Park isn’t Bucktown. In Wicker Park, the shops selling
trendsetter clothing and cool shoes share blocks with tattoo parlors
and smoke shops and stores selling recycled music and clothing and
even games.
253
One of the mainstays is a used book store.
Myopic Books has been around this neighborhood for 20 years. Its 80,000 books live on
three floors of tightly spaced shelves in what
was a jewelry store; floor-to-ceiling iron bars
on the main floor provide one hint, and there’s
another. “The mystery section,” explains clerk
Chelsea Senibaldi, “is in the vault downstairs.”
Inevitably—as in those other neighborhoods—
real estate visionaries followed the artists. A
walk or drive through Wicker Park’s residential
streets brings visitors to blocks of restored
buildings dating to the 1880s interspersed
with newer housing, some in scale with the old
places and some dwarfing them.
Wicker Park, the park—especially pleasant
during garden season—once again is bordered
by fine homes, including lovingly restored
mansions.
And the artists are still here.
The Flat Iron Arts Building, at the NorthDamen-Milwaukee junction, has more than 50
studios and galleries. Most are open only on
Fridays and Saturdays or during special events,
such as smARTshows held four times annually;
some welcome visitors and buyers only by
appointment.
“It’s a really unique building,” says Liz Tuckwell,
whose work in oils—she calls it abstract expressionism, is startling in its use of color. On her
blog she wrote: “I love that each studio in our
building is like walking into an entirely different
world.”
One of the worlds belongs to Adam Siegel,
who has had exhibitions at Chicago’s Spertus
Museum on south Michigan Avenue and a
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Wrigleyville
North
Center
Boystown
Avondale
Logan Square
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Wicker Park,
West Town
Humboldt Park
Gold
Coast
River
North
Ukrainian Village
& East Village
Rush & Division
Garfield Park
United
Center
West Loop
GreekTown
Loop
The neighborhood, once noted for the 1890s
mansions that circled Wicker Park’s cozy
namesake park, had by the 1960s become a
hardscrabble area of Chicago’s Northwest Side.
Over the next couple of decades, artists priced
out of the Old Town and Lincoln Park neighborhoods found low-cost refuge here.
Irving Park
Printers
Row
Grant
Park
Little Italy, UIC
North Lawndale
Pilsen, Heart
of Chicago
South
Loop
major installation at the city’s Museum of
Contemporary Art. And there’s the world of
JoJo Baby, who is many things artistic, including a maker of dolls that, it’s safe to say, most
people would consider. . . unusual.
Restaurants, like everything else near the
North/Milwaukee/Damen axis, are an eclectic mix. While entree prices at popular Cafe
Absinthe average $25, Earwax Cafe—just
around the corner—continues to offer its mostly
vegetarian standards for less than $10. People
Lounge takes both its tapas and its lounge
seriously, and Salud’s tacos and tortas compete
for attention with more than 75 tequila
options—but if you just want to knock down a
few beers or listen to some live music or both,
Wicker Park has that, too. Then cleanse the
palate with flavor-it-yourself ice cream
from iCream.
So that’s Wicker Park/West Town: rack of Lamb,
pieczen wieprzowa or Ostrich Boy. No dress
code. Tattoos optional but welcome.
spirit
WOODLAWN | WASHINGTON PARK
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STRONG SOUTH SIDE COMMUNITIES
Chicago is a great
cemetery town, and
Woodlawn’s Oak
Woods Cemetery
(entrance on 67th
Street near Cottage
Grove Avenue,
open daily, visitors
welcome) may be
the neighborhood’s
most fascinating
tourist site.
Jesse Owens, the
great star of the
1936 Olympics, is
at rest here, as is
Capone-era Mayor
William Hale “Big
Bill” Thompson
and the Rueckheim
brothers, who
brought Cracker
Jack to the world.
Enrico Fermi.
Ida B. Wells.
Woodlawn, immediately south of the University of Chicago, has long
been a community with a strong sense of itself. As some other inner-city
areas deteriorated in the 1960s, Woodlawn fought back.
The Woodlawn Organization emerged as an advocate for the neighborhood as it dealt with urban challenges. It’s still here, is increasingly into
community development, and it’s still a force.
Organization co-founder Bishop Arthur Brazier, meanwhile, built his
Apostolic Church of God into a 20,000-member megachurch at 63rd
Street and Dorchester Avenue. Now led by his son Byron, the church—on
most days open to visitors—combines religion and community service
and, through a related agency, also is involved with development.
That hands-on spirit of Woodlawn also lives at Experimental Station, a
mix of for-profit and nonprofit enterprises (cafe, bike-repair business and
farmer’s market) on Blackstone Avenue and 61st Street. The cafe, strong
on breakfasts and sandwiches, emphasizes organics and recycling: The
front counter, in a previous life, was a bowling alley.
So Woodlawn remains strong of spirit.
“We are an organized community,” says Ingrid Silmon, director of the
Woodlawn Organization’s Family Life Center. “We get things done.”
Including much new mid-price housing, particularly along 63rd Street.
That street, once the commercial heart of the neighborhood, has lost
much of its retail, but west of those new houses, under the ‘L’ tracks
near the corner of 63rd Street and Cottage Grove, is Daley’s Restaurant.
It began life as Daley’s Lunch Room back in 1892—no relation to the
mayors—and these days its whole catfish, ribs and perfect waffles
draw crowds.
Two handsome Woodlawn churches, back-to-back off 64th Street,
deserve a look. First Presbyterian Church, on Kimbark Avenue, was
Chicago’s first chartered church, tracing its existence to 1833, the year
the city became a city. The present building dates to 1928; urbanologists will be interested in the church’s historic relationship with the
Blackstone Rangers, a 1960s street gang whose role in Woodlawn is too
complicated to get into here but shouldn’t be ignored.
The other church: Shrine of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, on
Woodlawn Avenue, which opened in 1923 as St. Gelasius Catholic
Church. It’s a functioning church (traditional Latin liturgy) undergoing an
ambitious interior restoration.
Previous page: 61st
Street Community
Garden
256
The Washington Park neighborhood, to visitors, is important for the
namesake park (named for George, not late mayor Harold) and, more so,
for the museum within it.
nd
kla
Englewood
Grand
Boulevard
Washington
Park
New City
Oa
BACK OF
THE YARDS
BRONZEVILLE
The museum’s permanent galleries feature
displays related to African culture, the civil
rights movement and the role of African
Americans in America’s armed forces from the
Revolution onward; temporary and traveling
exhibits make repeat visits a must.
Bridgeport
Fuller Park
The park’s conception belongs to Frederick Law
Olmsted and his partner, and despite changes
(the original blueprints were lost in the 1871
Great Chicago Fire) resembles other Olmsted
projects, with lagoons and boulevards along
with playing fields. Daniel Burnham’s architectural firm designed the Refectory (used mainly
for private events), stables (under renovation)
and the administration building—now home
of the DuSable Museum of African American
History.
Kenwood
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
Jackson
Park
SOUTH SHORE,
GRAND CROSSING
South Shore
Grand Crossing
Auburn
Gresham
Chatham
Avalon
Park
South
Chicago
Also here: a life-size, robotic Harold Washington
that addresses visitors from his re-created
office and introduces a video showing
highlights of his election and tenure as mayor.
At Washington Park’s eastern gateway is
“Fountain of Time,” Loredo Taft’s 127-footlong concrete sculpture featuring Father Time
watching over 100 other figures, in various
situations, presumably heading toward a
common fate. It is an important, in some ways
startling work, much restored (time hasn’t been
kind) and a major factor in the park’s designation as a United States Registered Historic
District.
The sculpture was dedicated in 1922—which
gives it a link to Harold Washington and a
Hall of Fame ballplayer, and brings us back to
Woodlawn.
Chicago is a great cemetery town, and
Woodlawn’s Oak Woods Cemetery (entrance on
67th Street near Cottage Grove Avenue, open
daily, visitors welcome) may be the neighborhood’s most fascinating tourist site.
Jesse Owens, the great star of the 1936
Olympics, is at rest here, as is Capone-era
Mayor William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson and
the Rueckheim brothers, who brought Cracker
Jack to the world. Enrico Fermi. Ida B. Wells.
More, famous and not. Also here: an estimated
6,000 Confederate soldiers who perished,
mostly from disease, at Camp Douglas, a
Union prisoner of war camp near the east end
of 35th Street (Bronzeville neighborhood). A
monument at Confederate Mound is guarded
by cannons.
Now the link: From 1876 to 1897, Adrian “Cap”
Anson played brilliantly for and eventually
managed the team that would become the
Chicago Cubs.
Anson, a notorious racist and blamed by some
for keeping the Major Leagues all-white until
1947, is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery. He died
in 1922.
Buried not far from Anson: Harold Washington.
Chicago’s first African-American mayor was
born in—1922.
Time, sometimes, sculpts interesting things. . .
257
vines
WRIGLEYVILLE
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WRIGLEY FIELD AND MORE
The ballpark needs
little introduction.
It dates to 1914, the
Cubs have played
there since 1916,
and it’s one of the
two surviving bigleague parks (the
other is Boston’s
Fenway) built before
the Cubs’ last World
Series appearance
(1945). It’s
especially beautiful
once the vines
kick in sometime
in May, and tickets
can be hard to
get, especially on
summer weekends.
The Wrigleyville neighborhood is sometimes thought of as a ballpark
and bars.
There is a reason for that. Wrigleyville is a ballpark and bars. Of course,
people also live here and have other businesses here and take in a movie
or a live show here—but that’s just details.
On Clark Street alone, from Racine Avenue a couple of blocks north of
Wrigley Field to the neighborhood’s informally acknowledged southern
boundary (Roscoe Street), are more than 35 establishments known to
serve beverages of the brewed and distilled persuasion—and we’re not
talking tea and bottled water.
This is a distance of, by the numbers, about four city blocks. Four.
They’re somewhat longer than the average city block because Clark runs
on an angle, but even so. . .
The ballpark needs little introduction. It dates to 1914, the Cubs have
played there since 1916, and it’s one of the two surviving big-league
parks (the other is Boston’s Fenway) built before the Cubs’ last World
Series appearance (1945). It’s especially beautiful once the vines
kick in sometime in May, and tickets can be hard to get, especially
on summer weekends.
If you can’t get in for a game, the Cubs are on the road, you can’t make
a scheduled tour or it’s December, you can look into the ballpark from a
sidewalk viewing area on Sheffield Avenue behind the right-field corner.
(Tours are offered frequently but irregularly in June, July and August,
less frequently in other months and not at all in winter; see http://www.
cubs.com for schedule and prices.)
Back to the bars.
Some have a baseball theme, at least in terms of name. That includes
Sluggers, of course, and Merkle’s (he of the boneheaded base-running
play that helped give the Cubs the 1908 pennant) and Stretch. The
Cubby Bear name dates to the days when the Cubs and Bears both
played home games in Wrigley.
Many claim Irish pub lineage, including Casey Moran’s, Irish Oak,
Mullen’s and the Blarney Stone. A few are Mexican. Two—Exedus II
and Wild Hare—are reggae clubs. Only one, in what historically was a
German neighborhood, is German (Uberstein). Some bars just opened;
Bernie’s Tap & Grill tweaks the name every couple of years, but it’s been
“Bernie’s”-something, under the same family’s ownership, since 1954.
And most have food, usually bar noshes and burgers, sometimes more.
Facing page: Wrigley
Field
Chen’s is a serious, even elegant Asian restaurant (with a stylish small
bar) surrounded by saloons. They coexist with each other, and with
baseball crowds that spill out onto the street.
259
Just west of the
ballpark on Addison
is Yesterday. Tom
Boyle has been
selling old baseball
cards, newspapers,
campaign buttons
and movie posters
out of this centuryold shack for
more than 30
years. He pulls a
magazine out from
a pile. “Here’s a
1938 Saturday
Evening Post, and
look who’s on the
back endorsing
Wheaties? Gabby
Hartnett!”
“Have lunch here first, then go to the game,” advises manager Lisa Hsu.
“Or just come after the game. Enjoy the crowds, see the scenery—crazy
Cubbie fans.”
The Wrigleyville scene, truly amazing after Cub home games and on
weekends most of the time—think “Bourbon Street” in pinstripes—isn’t
limited to Clark Street.
In 1980, Jim Murphy bought a divey but beloved baseball bar called
Ray’s Bleachers on the magical corner of Waveland and Sheffield
Avenues (the confluence of left and right fields), renamed it Murphy’s
Bleachers, added burgers and a patio and now, before and long after
games (and during, when tickets can’t be found), it’s a jam-packed party.
The Sports Corner, on Sheffield and Addison (in a recently rebuilt home),
has been a longtime staple. The Harry Caray’s restaurant people took
over a bar on Sheffield south of Addison within sight of Harry’s statue.
And it’s not just bars. Metro, on Clark Street north of the park, is a
popular venue for today’s music. Closer to the park is iO, a comedy club.
South on Clark near Sheffield is a store called Strange Cargo that defies
category. It sells clothing, custom T-shirts (some very silly), casual shoes,
decals, buttons, patches and nail polish. “We have kind of a little bit of
everything,” says owner Sheldon Schwartz. “People walk out smiling.”
Some take their smiles into Bookworks, a used book emporium next
door.
Just west of the ballpark on Addison is Yesterday. Tom Boyle has been
selling old baseball cards, newspapers, campaign buttons and movie
posters out of this century-old shack for more than 30 years. He pulls
a magazine out from a pile. “Here’s a 1938 Saturday Evening Post, and
look who’s on the back endorsing Wheaties? Gabby Hartnett!”
(Hartnett’s historic homer late in the day—“the homer in the gloaming”—
near the end of the 1938 season, right down the street, launched the
Cubs to a National League pennant. The Cubs then got swept by the
Yankees in the World Series, but never mind that.)
260
Wrigleyville’s boundaries extend west to
Southport Avenue. Less Cub-centric, Southport
is still within walking distance of the ballpark,
making its watering holes and restaurants
an option for pre- and postgame gatherings.
Here, too, is the Music Box Theatre (1929), a
gem of a movie house that features art films
and revivals; lots of boutiques; and Southport
Lanes, home of the city’s last non-automatic
pinsetters.
We must mention two more places of interest,
both of which have absolutely nothing to do
with bowling or baseball or booze.
Alta Vista Terrace is a block-long landmark
district of townhomes (1900-04) due north of
left field. Walk down this hidden treasure and
look, especially, at the stained glass above the
doors and other ornamental details.
Rogers
Park
West Ridge
Edgewater
Andersonville
Lincoln
Square
Uptown
Irving Park
North
Center
Boystown
Avondale
Logan Square
Humboldt Park
Wrigleyville
Lakeview
Bu
ck
to
w
n
Wicker Park,
West Town
Sheffield
& DePaul
Lincoln Park
Old
Town
Gold Coast
River
North
And finally, where Southport meets Irving
Park Road is a post office that, from the
outside, looks just like—well, like a post office.
But inside, above the clerks’ windows, is a
stunning Depression-era mural by Harry
Sternberg that touches on the history of
Chicago while capturing its 1937 reality: the
steel mills, toolmakers, the stockyards and
slaughterhouses, Fort Dearborn, the Great
Chicago Fire, the skyscrapers and streamliners.
If Sternberg had waited a year, Gabby Hartnett
might have been there, too.
Next page: Szalas
Restaurant / Archer
Heights
261
264
City of Chicago
Richard M. Daley, Mayor
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Lois Weisberg, Commissioner