September 23, 2015 | Best of the South Side

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SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY The South Side Weekly is a nonprofit newsprint magazine written for and about neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. We publish in-depth coverage of the arts and issues of public interest alongside oral histories, poetry, fiction, interviews, and artwork from local photographers and illustrators. Started as a student paper at the University of Chicago, the South Side Weekly is now an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting cultural and civic engagement on the South Side, and to providing educational opportunities for developing journalists, writers, and artists.

Executive Editor Managing Editor

Bess Cohen Jake Bittle

Contributing Editors Lucia Ahrensdorf, Christian Belanger, Osita Nwanevu, Emeline Posner, Olivia Stovicek Social Media Editor Sam Stecklow Web Editor Andrew Koski Webmaster Sofia Wyetzner Visuals Editor Ellie Mejia Layout Editors Alex Harrell, Bea Malsky, Adam Thorp, Sofia Wyetzner Neighborhood Captains: Maha Ahmed, Maria Alvarez, Jake Bittle, Austin Brown, Emiliano Burr di Mauro, Mari Cohen, Amelia Dmowska, Juliet Eldred, Alex Harrell, Maira Khwaja, Michal Kranz, Yana Kunichoff, Emily Lipstein, Patricia McInnis, Leah Menzer, Kiran Misra, Hannah Shea, Zach Taylor, Sam Stecklow, Peter Xu Photographers: Juliet Eldred, Eric Kirkes, Emeline Posner, Luke White Business Manager

Harry Backlund

Printing supported in part by the University of Chicago Student Government The paper is produced by an all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We distribute each Wednesday in the fall, winter, and spring, with breaks during April and December. Over the summer we publish monthly.

Send submissions, story ideas, comments, or questions to editor@southsideweekly.com or mail to: South Side Weekly 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 For advertising inquiries, contact: (773)234-5388 or advertising@southsideweekly Read our stories online at southsideweekly.com

We all have a favorite

cup of coffee, a go-to late-night snack, a building that makes us stop and wonder every time we pass it. With this, our biggest Best of the South Side issue ever, we invite you to go further afield for the sandwich you can’t live without, the bookstore you could spend all day in, the secluded spot you go to for some peace and quiet.

Behind all of the “bests” in this issue are longer narratives, stories of restaurants that moved from home kitchens to storefronts; of people who created spaces to share favorite recipes or celebrate single ingredients, like sweet potatoes or masa harina; of neighbors that joined together to make their block a destination; of institutions working to stay relevant or leading the way for change.

The Weekly is comprised of a team of South Siders who are committed to telling true stories about the place we call home. The months we spend putting the Best of the South Side issue together are our favorite. We relish the opportunity to talk to the people whose hard work puts their neighborhood on the map, people who love what they do and love where they’re doing it.

We know that these pages don’t include all of the bests of the South Side. Share your favorites with us by emailing editor@southsideweekly.com or by tweeting @SouthSideWeekly with the hashtag #BoSS2015.

Cover by Thumy Phan.

EMELINE POSNER

Auburn Gresham COMPILED BY MARI COHEN

BEST PLACE TO THROW A BIRTHDAY BASH THAT MAKES THE OTHER KIDS (OR ADULTS) JEALOUS

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park & Family Entertainment Center Upon entering the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park & Family Entertainment Center, I immediately wished I were seven years old and planning my next birthday party. All the components were there: a roller skating rink lit purple, a spacious bowling alley, a concession stand hawking pizza and ICEEs, and arcade games coughing up tickets that kids could redeem for prizes like whoopee cushions. The center seems aware of its appeal—a sign above the tables on the skating side reads “Home of the World’s Greatest Birthday Parties.” Thirteen parties on the skating side were in progress on the Saturday afternoon I toured, translating to a hectic room packed with energetic visitors weaving through tables and arcade games on skates. On the rink, a mix of competent adults and little kids clutching rolling bars for support cruised around to catchy songs ranging from “Uptown Funk” to “Jump on It.” By contrast, the sparsely populated bowling side felt quieter and more adult. The Center, a collaboration with the Park District, also hosts public skate and bowl times for all ages, including an adult skate on Tuesday nights, as well as skate lessons and birthday party packages for teens and adults who don’t want to miss out.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park & Family Entertainment Center, 1219 W. 76th Street Check website for weekly schedule and party prices. Skating admission $1-$6; bowling $1-$2 per game; skate and shoe rental $3. (312) 747-2602. unitedskates.com/public/chicago (Mari Cohen) 6 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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I

’ve lived in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on and off for about twenty years.

Originally, I moved into the westernmost part while going through a divorce. It is a neighborhood of large courtyard apartment buildings and single-family homes.

The shops along West 79th Street and along Ashland Avenue guaranteed I had no need to leave my community for anything. Public transportation is a 24/7 convenience, so not having a car wasn’t a problem.

After my son was born, I continued to live in that area. Fortunately I was able to find good, reliable daycare in my area so I could go back to work without worry. We have relatives who live in the area so there were get-togethers throughout the year. We often spent summer days splashing in the water playgrounds of Dawes and O’Halloran Parks.

My neighborhood, annexed to Chicago in 1889, is snuggled between the more well-known neighborhoods of Englewood to the north and Chatham to the east. The original settlers of the neighborhood were German and Dutch immigrant farmers who drained the low, swampy area and developed the land, followed by Irish settlers. The neighborhood consisted, as it remains today, of single family bungalows, and two-and three-flat and apartment buildings.

The majority of residents back then were Roman Catholic. Today, although many of the Catholic churches have shuttered their doors, St. Sabina, nationally recognized under the leadership of trailblazing senior pastor Reverend Michael Pfleger, remains to shepherd its congregation, though the congregants are predominantly black. In fact, it was one of the first churches to open its doors to the blacks moving into the area.

During the latter part of the 1950s, blacks began moving into the neighborhoods surrounding Auburn Gresham. For several years, the Organization of Southwest Communities, formed by local community and church leaders, was successful in helping residents maintain peace and keep property values from declining. But as the area grew more rapidly, crime also increased. The racial violence of the 1960s, culminating in the violence that met Dr. King’s march in nearby Marquette Park, convinced white residents to flee.

Since the turbulent sixties, the neighborhood has ebbed and flowed. Although hit hard by white flight and businesses who either left the neighborhood or went bankrupt, Auburn Gresham and its residents have continued to rally. The area has seen a steady economic increase largely due to the creation of mini malls, and new businesses like Aldi and Walmart. This summer, Spike Lee employed residents and utilized several locations filming his latest cinematic effort, the controversially titled Chiraq.

After eighteen months in the early 2000s living in New York, my son and I moved back and were lucky to return to Auburn Gresham, this time along the hustle and bustle of 87th Street. Living along a major thoroughfare is very different from living in the middle of the community. It’s certainly noisier with sirens in the background nightly.

Traffic is always heavy and people often leave trash in our front yard. Yet the hubbub is what makes this city vibrant. It is this mixture of small businesses like Harold’s Chicken Shack, churches like St. Sabina, schools like Joplin Elementary and block clubs like the one on 80th and Aberdeen that make this neighborhood the living, breathing, thriving, locality that it is. Noisy, chaotic, hectic, messy, friendly, sociable, caring—everything a big city community should be, Auburn Gresham is that and more. I wouldn’t love it any other way.

Auburn Gresham resident Karen Ford is a freelance writer and Treasurer of the Chicago Chapter of the National Writers Union. Her recent book Thoughts of a Fried Chicken Watermelon Woman featured essays and commentary on various topics from the social to the political, including the importance of amplifying black female voices.

Best Banquet Hall with a Comeback Story

AUBURN GRESHAM

Mr. G’s Supper Club and Entertainment Center

H

undredth birthday party? Motorcycle party? Party bus? Wedding, fundraiser, reception? There’s a good chance that Mr. G’s can host it, and has proven so several times over. And there’s a good chance that residents of the mid- and far-South Sides know it.

“It’s a big place around here,” says Dee Moore, as she and her husband Phil head inside for a wedding. “Big in the neighborhood, that is.”

Located at the busy corner of 87th and Ashland, Mr. G’s, open since 1990, is simple from the outside—long, windowless, and beige. When asked why customers keep coming back, Geron Linton, manager of Mr. G’s and son of its owner, says simply: “Good business: Good service. Good food. Good facilities.” Indeed, in contrast to its exterior, Mr. G’s interior veritably simmers with light and linens. An electric guitarist warms up across the hall. “And great music,” Geron adds.

The younger Linton looks like he is in his twenties and speaks softly. But for the last fifteen years, he has been immersed in all it takes to keep up that good work. He started in custodial, and today has risen to general manager.

Not halfway through his tenure, on February 15, 2006, he met his business’s biggest challenge yet. Early in the morning, the Englewood Fire Alarm Office was alerted to light smoke from the rear of his facilities. Within hours, a three-alarm fire had destroyed Mr. G’s. Details bedeviled recovery. Customers had to be refunded; insurance was limited. “But God was good,” Linton stresses. “We were able to rebuild and everything.”

And of course, the public has kept up business, so much that Linton would like to expand to meet demand—currently, there isn’t enough space to accommodate everyone. He already has three rooms, with capacities between fifty and 250; and unlike a nightclub, he hosts events up to seven days a week. Plus, even when business cools, he offers community benefits—most recently, a block party. But he would still like to be able to serve even more South Siders. “We have our slower months, you know, up and down. But God is good.”

Mr. G’s Supper Club and Entertainment Center, 1547 W. 87th Street. Events close: Sunday–Friday, 1:30am; Saturday, 2:30am. Office open: Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–2pm; Sunday and Monday, closed. (773) 445-2020. mrgssupperclub.net (Dominic Surya)

BEST BLINK-AND-YOU’LL-MISSIT VETERANS GARDEN

St. Leo Campus for Veterans Developed by the Chicago Archdiocese of Catholic Charities in 2005, the small, sheltered grounds of St. Leo Campus for Veterans consists of a residence for homeless veterans, apartment housing for persons with physical disabilities, an Auburn Gresham community-based outpatient clinic and resource center, and, of course, a veterans memorial garden.

Pass through the large stone gates to find a square half-acre of lush tranquility: well-manicured cedar, blue spruce, and pine trees bear dedicatory plaques to those who died in service. Represented and remembered are folks from all five branches of the armed forces, as well as former CPD officers and an astronaut from the Challenger spacecraft. If you find yourself on 80th and Halsted and you’re itching for a quiet place to read or think, look no further than the garden at St. Leo. St. Leo Campus for Veterans, 7750 S. Emerald Ave. (773) 651-9950. catholicharities.net (Louis Clark) EMELINE POSNER

BEST BAR WHERE 25 IS THE NEW 21

BEST (ONLY) NATION OF ISLAM NATIONAL NEWSPAPER

Reese’s Lounge

The Final Call

As you round the corner on 87th on a Saturday night, you can’t miss the hustle and bustle that is Reese’s Lounge. The blues and pinks of the venue, the smooth tunes sashaying with every swing of the door, and the locals gathering outside to go in with their nearest and dearest all promise a good time. And they’re not wrong—Reese’s is an Auburn Gresham mainstay not to miss, whether it’s for a casual (very decently priced) Friday afternoon drink, tasty fried chicken wings that attract visitors in their own right, or for a classy night on the town. Leave the younger folks home, though—this trendy spot is 25+ only, to preserve the more sophisticated atmosphere that Reese’s is known for.

Reese’s Lounge, 1827 W. 87th Street. Sunday–Friday, 10am–2am; Saturday 10am–3am. 25+ (773) 238-1993. (Anna Tropnikova)

Sitting in an imposing building in Auburn Gresham (somewhat out of place above a strip of low-flung storefronts) is the home of the Nation of Islam’s newspaper, The Final Call. Though the newspaper itself is not open to the public, across the street is Respect For Life Bookstore #1, the Nation of Islam bookstore, where you will find The Final Call, along with innumerable books and DVDs plastered with movement leader Louis Farrakhan’s face. Flipping through The Final Call, civil rights issues, past and present, dominate the paper. If not for frequent references to the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan, it could be another (radical, Afrocentric) newspaper. Other than the quietly attentive clerk, the only sign of life comes from the TV, blaring a Farrakhan speech, with his rising and falling cadence interrupting the calm of the store.

The Final Call, 734 W. 79th St. (773) 602-1230. finalcall.com (Kyle Bardman)

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Back of the Yards COMPILED BY ZACH TAYLOR

LUKE WHITE

I

’m sixty-eight years old, but I really feel like I’m nineteen. I really try to stay busy.

I love what I do, and the reason why I love what I do is because that’s what God wants me to do. Here, 139 years old, the church is. Really, we’re well-known for all the years we’ve been here. St. Gabriel’s is the same.

Actually, I even got married here. Been here a long time, you know. I had a youth center, ran it for twenty-six years. Started with nine kids and then I wound up with four hundred kids involved. Five and a half years ago we had to close ‘cause we lost all our funding, but we averaged about eighty kids a day. We started with the shorties, then middle schoolers and high schoolers at nighttime. I hate using these words, but it was a good program and we kept kids off the streets. It’s just amazing how many kids came through this place in twenty-six years.

I’ve always worked with, you know, tough kids, mean kids. One of the reasons is ‘cause I was one of ‘em. I know what it was here, out in these streets. It’s hard! Came up from a broken family, my ma raised six of us, coming up on public aid. I know what it was to have the gas shut off, the lights shut off, to not have any food.

Growin’ up around here, Canaryville was always Irish Catholic. On the other side, east of us, the Germans lived there. West of us was Polish, and then mixed to the south.

Back of the Yards has always been mixed, bringing a lot of jobs within the stockyards, and now it’s industrial. I remember we used to go over and watch them slaughter the cattle over in the stockyards. They had cowboys on horseback who’d move the cattle from pen to pen until they got to the slaughterhouses. People living around here, they used to just walk over and go to work. You know, the Stockyards, everybody knows that’s where all the slaughtering happened. Then they would put the meat in refrigerated 8 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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cars and ship the meat out, and as the years went on the yards closed ‘cause of it, ‘cause of other packing houses in different towns shipping out there. So people working over there in the Stockyards, they left.

Really, this brings back a ton of memories for me. The amphitheater was right there on Halsted. The Beatles played there, they had the Democratic Convention there—I was there. Along Halsted it was all bars back in the day. It was like a strip, but really we had everything. The car show, the rodeo, wrestling, even the Chicago Bulls started in the Stockyards before they moved. They started in the amphitheater, the International Amphitheatre. We used to sneak in and watch ‘em! Right here, west of us on Halsted.

Not much has changed. Now I been here forty-four years, been twenty-one years on the local school council over at Graham. My wife works there, my daughter worked there. Just like the church, the school’s been in trouble. Staff ’s been cut, sixth and seventh graders are split in one room, just ‘cause we’re trying to keep the budget goin’. We’ve really come into some trouble, but you know…Canaryville, Back of the Yards…we’re different from any other neighborhood in the city. ‘Cause we care about everybody.

With our food pantry, the community really needs us right now. We reach out to the community—if anything happens we’re here to help.

I could have left years ago, but we’re all like family. We know everybody, and we try our best. That’s the good thing about this area.

Ray Carey is sixty-eight years old and was born and raised in Canaryville/Back of the Yards. He has been a member of the historic Union Avenue United Methodist Church for forty-four years.

BACK OF THE YARDS

Best Place to Find Absolutely Anything Swap-O-Rama

You could spend an eternity searching through the stalls of Swap-o-Rama flea market. Brand new ovens line one of the narrow avenues created by the tents, side by side with treadmills and mattresses. Some tents are like mini-storefronts full of new-age oils and medicines. Other stands are filled with dried peppers and candies. One man had a collection of power tools, mini army figurines, and a 102-year-old cream separator he found on an old farm. “You can put plants in it,” he said assuredly.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Swap-O-Rama opens up its doors and doubles its size with both indoor and outdoor sections. The indoor part is a giant, haphazard mall, set up in the same grid as the outside, but since everything is closer together the market becomes more like a maze. It is filled with, more than anything else, boots. So many boots. But in between these boot vendors, one finds a variety of other things for sale, from food to jewelry to haircuts.

The vendors at Swap-O-Rama find their wares from a variety of places—some of them make what they sell, some gather overstock items from stores, and others collect piles and piles of junk from abandoned storage lockers. The flea market is largely Spanish-speaking, so, while you can get by without it, knowing the language helps with haggling.

Back of the Yards, the neighborhood Swap-O-Rama calls home, was once the site of the Union Stock Yards, which closed over forty years ago. The Stock Yards served as the inspiration for Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and it was rumored that Henry Ford designed his assembly line after seeing the “disassembly” line of meatpackers in the stockyards. By the mid-1920s, production had peaked and would slow over the next half-century. After 106 years of business, the declining stockyard could no longer compete with growing technologies and global markets. The closing of the stockyard left a hole in the city’s economy, which significantly affected the neighborhood. Over the last forty years, that hole has been filled with convenience retail shops, furniture stores, Mexican grocers, and, most notably, Swap-O-Rama.

“What’s beautiful here is you have everything,” said one vendor, Alejandro, who was selling trinkets from his world travels that he hadn’t been able to sell to stores around Chicago. He noted the way that single items seem to show up at every stall in waves. “Bootleg pornography, organic vegetables…Twinkies! There were no Twinkies here yesterday, now they’re everywhere.”

The market attracts mostly Latino people from the neighborhood and surrounding areas to pick up deals on their necessities. So the closing of the stockyards brought around a new kind of Back of the Yards, in which incomes were no longer generated by outside corporations, but by residents themselves, as exemplified by Swap-O-Rama. Through its rows of cowboy boots, antique farm equipment, and candy stands, residents are helping to recreate and redefine their neighborhood.

Swap-O-Rama Flea Market, 4200 S. Ashland Ave. Tuesday, 7am–3pm (April through November only); Thursday, 7am–3pm; Saturday–Sunday, 7am–4pm. Entry $1, $2 on weekends, children and seniors half off. swap-o-rama. com (Ryn Seidewitz)

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JULIE XU

BEST LAST PLACE TO BUY LAMB AND VEAL

Chiapetti Meat Co. Fiore Chiappetti was an Italian immigrant to Chicago in the early twentieth century who founded one of the last remaining slaughterhouses in Chicago, and the only slaughterhouse to provide specifically lamb and veal. During the Great Depression he lost his savings and was compensated by the banks with a farm, which sparked the beginnings of his family’s long history in the butchering business.

He later opened Chiappetti Meats Co. on Halsted, bordering Back of the Yards and Bridgeport, in the 1940s and passed along his craft to the next four generations, including the current Chiappetti-in-charge, Franco Chiappetti. Chiappetti’s Meats is one of the only plants to continue operating in the area after the closing of the Stockyards in 1971, in the hopes of staying local and loyal to their customers.

According to Chiappetti, this quality is what helped the company survive after the closings—focusing on kosher and halal products has been serving “local needs,” ever since Barkaat Foods certified halal lamb products for the store. The big families like Swift and Armour may have left the Stockyards, but Chiappetti Meats is still in business.

Chiappetti Meat Co., 3810 S. Halsted Street. (773)733-7110. chiappettimeats. com (Zach Taylor)

BACK OF THE YARDS

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR BALLADEERS

Goodwin and O’Connor BEST ALL-IN-ONE TAQUERÍA, TEQUILA BAR, AND MEXICAN GROCERY STORE

Super Mercado y Taqueria La Barca Don’t let the auto repair shops that surround it fool you: visiting La Barca (“The Boat”) is an outing pleasant enough to last all day (and some of the night). Within this no-frills, family-run establishment, there is a taquería, a fully stocked tequila bar, and a compact grocery complete with Mexican pastries, fresh produce, and a large meat counter. The little cordoned-off restaurant is definitely the main attraction here. Prices are low, the waitstaff is warm and quick, portions are large and do not disappoint. The kitchen offers an assortment of Mexican and MexicanAmerican staples, with options for conventional and intrepid palettes alike. Order the mariscos and fajitas. Drink the spicy michelada (Corona, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, and peppers). Come for the food, stay for the drinks, and leave with your grocery shopping already done. Menus and services in Spanish.

La Barca, 1221 W. 47th Street. Average entrée $5-$7. (773) 523-6443. (Lauren Gurley)

In the 1920s composer Walter Goodwin collaborated with local barroom crooner Joseph “Sambo” O’Connor on a ballad devoted to their beloved Back of the Yards.

Naturally it became a hit in the area’s bars, granted that by 1910 there were fortysix drinking establishments lining Ashland from 42nd to 45th Streets, decorating the blocks behind the stockyards with neon signs. Since the meat-packers failed to provide dining facilities, workers could find shelter from the elements, eat hot food, and relax, all for the price of a beer.

“Back o’ the yards—back o’ the yards,

In old Chicago town,

Where each fellow and gal is a regular pal,

They never turn you down.

Where an ace is an ace any time, any place;

They’re bound to win your kind regards,

They’re a wonderful crowd and I feel mighty proud

When I shout I’m from back o’ the yards!”

Goodwin and O’Connor dedicated the song not only to the pubs and packing facilities, but also to several men of the neighborhood who’d climbed the ladder to public office, such as Alderman Thomas Byrne and P.J. “Paddy” Carr. It’s said that most of the Irish who lived around the stockyards knew the tune by heart and that it could be heard in almost every bar on Ashland. (Zach Taylor)

BEST CORN TORTILLAS AND JUGOS DE FRUTAS

Tortillería Atotonilco Walk a few blocks west of Ashland on 43rd and you’ll find a joint tortillería and taquería under the name Atotonilco, amongst several supermarkets that also stock Atotonilco’s countless locally-supplied corn, flour, and dairy products. Known mostly for their milkshakes and tacos, Atotonilco also delivers with equal (if not better) quality tortas, chicharrones, and vegetarian options, as well as just-the-rightsize fresh fruit juices prepared in the corner of the taquería. Regardless of entrée choice, the highlight of the experience is the corn tortilla. Somehow Atotonilco manages to make them soft and tasty while preserving what they call their “no-tear construction” in a satisfyingly huge size. While finishing up your hefty tacos and a refreshing juice, you can rest assured that everything is locally grown—Atotonilco boasts that growing their corn locally leaves a smaller carbon footprint and secures food safety.

Tortillería Atotonilco, 1707 W. 47th Street. Open 24 hours. Average entrée $5-$7.

(773) 523-0800. tortilleriaatotonilco.com (Zach Taylor)

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BEST PIPE ORGAN

Union Avenue United Methodist Church On February 18, 1877, when Union Avenue was still Winter Street, the Winter Street Methodist Episcopal Church (the name changed with the street) was officially established. According to Ray Carey, a congregation member for forty-four years and counting, the church was built around the stockyards to serve its laborers, including the well-known Swift family of Chicago’s meatpacking industry. In 1890 the Johnson & Son firm built the now-historic 1,299 pipe organ for the church.

In the pipe organ’s 125 years of use it has seen little alteration, which is apparent from its worn keys and façade pipes that used to be stenciled with a decorative pattern. Unfortunately, this is probably due to the fact that the church, like many local institutions, suffered from the closing of the Stockyards in 1971, and in recent years the church has run into quite a bit of financial trouble. Luckily the community is strong: one of the church’s most avid supporters is the Canaryville Veterans Riders Association, which has held many benefits to raise funds for the church. “It’s unbelievable the way God works,” says Carey. “We’re gonna make it.”

Despite needing about $11,000 of work, this gorgeous organ is one of the oldest that remains in Chicago.

Union Avenue United Methodist Church, 4350 S. Union Avenue. (773) 373-0577. unionaveunitedmethodist.com (Zach Taylor)

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Beverly & Morgan Park COMPILED BY HANNAH SHEA

T

o those who grew up here, Beverly means idyllic streets for learning to ride bikes, summer outings to Rainbow Cone and Sunday mornings at their local churches. To those from the surrounding areas, Beverly is the hub of the Southwest Side. They celebrate their 21st birthdays in the bars on Western Avenue, go out for a special dinner at Pizzeria Deepo or Franconello, or take in a show at the Beverly Arts Center. It has much to offer outsiders, yet is also known to have a tenuous relationship with the communities that border it.

To those who live elsewhere in Chicago, Beverly is an apparition carrying none of the cool cachet of Logan Square, Wicker Park, or Lakeview. It’s the place with the South Side Irish Parade and where all the cops and firefighters live. Is it even part of Chicago?

Doesn’t it have hills?

In truth, Beverly is all of these things. It’s a place where the reality of vacant storefronts and often-empty sidewalks is at odds with the rosy image in people’s minds of a picturesque “village in the city.” But it’s also a place that has layers of history that extend deep beneath the impressions on the surface.

It is these contradictions that suggest Beverly is at a crossroads. As other Chicago communities benefit from development catering to people of a variety of demographics who live a variety of lifestyles, we of Beverly live in a place that still very much works the same way it did in the 1950s.

The Beverly in people’s minds, the “village in the city,” can actually serve as a model for the neighborhood’s future. A true village is a complex environment where people live in close proximity to businesses and daily errands can be accomplished on foot.

It’s a place where everyone from toddlers to seniors can linger or stroll in safe, pleasant public spaces.

But being a village in the city requires an embrace of the urban characteristics Beverly is built around––public transportation options, well-gridded streets, and diverse populations are all assets that should work to make Beverly an attractive urban neighborhood as opposed to another sleepy bedroom suburb.

Beverly is more than just nostalgia and vague impressions and with the right vision, it can be a place both loved by longtime residents and flocked to by newcomers seeking that elusive and timeless quality: livability.

Jeff Dana is a former journalist and ardent urbanist living in Beverly and writing at mainstreetbeverly. wordpress.com.

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HANNAH SHEA

BEST MEADERY

Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery The fact that Wild Blossom Meadery is the only meadery in Chicago (and the first winery in the city limits, to boot) doesn’t diminish its title. In fact, the meads produced by owner Greg Fischer and sold at beverage stores and a handful of restaurants around the city have already proven their worth in gold: the Gold Medal at the annual Mazer Cup Mead Competition in Colorado, of course. Fischer’s Chocolate Honey Buzz won that particular honor in 2013, and his Blueberry Mead took second. But in the tasting room at the back of a wine and beer making equipment store on Western Avenue in Beverly, award speeches and laurels seem leagues away. Half weird uncle’s basement and half wine-aficionado’s lair, Wild Blossom is top-of-the-class brilliance undercut with a dose of Midwestern humility. Five dollars will get you a tasting and a nifty mead glass emblazoned with the meadery’s logo. From dry and semi-dry meads to sweeter, more dessert-worthy libations, Wild Blossom turns out mead in a variety of different flavor profiles, fermenting the sweet honey wine with cranberries, blueberries, pomegranates, west coast hops, and even chocolate. Their Sweet Desire, fermented and aged for a year in a Kentucky bourbon barrel, and Pirates Blood, a mead bottled with hot chilies, are for the adventurous only. Wild Blossom is set to move into a 9,000 square foot building at 91st and Hermitage, with ample room for tastings and classes.

Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery, 10033 S Western Avenue. Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm; Saturday, 9am–6pm; Sunday, 10am–4pm. (773) 233-7579. wildblossommeadery.com (Robert Sorrell)

Best More-Than-a-Florist The Blossom Boys BEVERLY & MORGAN PARK

“There’s so much to do. And running a business.” Partners Steve English and Ryan Steinbach opened The Blossom Boys in 2008. Since then, they’ve done far more than run a flower shop––they’ve brought awareness of issues like domestic abuse, sexual trafficking, and LGBQT rights to Beverly.

They also keep sixteen chickens in their backyard.

I worked on the North Side where we had a studio. So, if you had a daughter who was getting married in the North Shore or downtown, you came to us. It was a very stressful situation with brides like that sometimes. And then we both decided we didn’t like what we were doing and Ryan happened to see an ad for this store.

So we came down here. For me the South Side was past Roosevelt Road. Which is true, I think, for a lot of North Siders. I will tell you that our friends on the North Side, especially our gay friends, said, “Are you out of your minds? They will kill you on the South Side.”

I’ll never forget–we came down here on a Sunday just to drive around, and there was nothing open. I said to Ryan, “We are in a time warp.” But it was so bizarre, because there’d be all these churches, all these little businesses, and then these mansions, these beautiful mansions. And I saw a lot of preschools and schools. This tells you right away that people are into their families, and they’re in church or pretending they’re in church. I thought, “This is probably a group of people that’s somewhat isolated.” To me, it was like raw material. I got the sense that there’s a really great group of people doing this, and an artist doing this, or a healing person doing this, and I just got the

feeling that they weren’t connected.

I would say from day one, once we took over the store, people have been great.

You know, it’s interesting having a flower shop; maybe it’s like a hairdresser, because women will just come in and tell you things. And I think a lot of people just come in here because they want to talk, which can be good or bad for business. But, people started talking about bullying.

We asked kids to write stories about bullying and send them to us. I was horrified.

I think there’s a lot of secrets in Beverly. You don’t talk about certain things. We had a great kid who worked for us for a while who was in high school, who was openly gay, and he would say to us, “You don’t get it. People have no idea how many athletes, how many kids in Catholic school, are gay, and they could never talk about it.” This was 2013, 2014, and we should be talking about it.

We got the Arts Center to host a woman who’s one of the leaders and pioneers in bullying prevention. We invited every single school, every single church. We put her on Facebook; we put her everywhere. We had thirty-five people show up and everyone said, “Isn’t that great?” and I said, “No, it’s pathetic.” But at least we brought her down here so maybe people would start talking about it.

I feel like sometimes the attitude in Beverly is “come to us.” No, you have to go out and get people, you have to go out and get literature, you have to go out and bring artists in. If you think you’ve got a gold mine, you’ve got to show people you’ve got a gold mine. We do these things because it’s important to do, and it all comes back.

The Blossom Boys, 9911 S. Walden Parkway. Tuesday–Friday, 10am–6pm; Saturday, 10am– 4pm. (773) 779-4400. theblossomboys.com (Steve English, as told to Hannah Shea)

HANNAH SHEA

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BEVERLY & MORGAN PARK

BEST BOOKSTORE NOT IN HYDE PARK

The Bookie’s Paperbacks & More The high stacks and full shelves at The Bookie’s speak for themselves––people are still reading. The classics here are as well worn as the ones at the Seminary, and there’s a sign on the front door asking that customers drop off only one bag of used books per day (the stacks of overstock behind the counter plead the same.)

The hefty discount in exchange for trade-ins isn’t slowing the piling, but special deals for teachers keep books moving out of the store and into classrooms. I stopped in on a summer afternoon to roam the shelves, moving from discounted new releases to the huge fiction section to the curated display of Chicago authors and titles. It started to rain and I happily took cover on a stool in the back with a novel, one ear to the page and one to the regular banter between book-seekers and booksellers––a sound just as natural as the rain.

The Bookie’s Paperbacks & More, 2419 W. 103rd Street. Open daily, 10am–7pm.

(773) 239-1110. bookiespaperbacks.com (Hannah Shea)

BEST THEMED RESTAURANT

Jimmy Jamm’s Sweet Potato Bakery & Cafe What Willy Wonka’s factory is to chocolate, Jimmy Jamm’s is to sweet potatoes.

You thought sweet potato casserole was peak sweet potato form? How about cookies, cobbler, or a wedding cake? Jimmy Jamm’s boasts an unrivaled menu of over fifty sweet potato creations that stretch the imagination. At the center of it all are the sweet potato pies. Jimmy’s father developed the pie recipe working as a chef for railroads and hotels in Chicago. He kept the recipe a secret, waiting until his old age to pass the recipe onto his daughter. The rest is history. Jimmy Jamm’s takes orders and caters all varieties of events. But stop by if you can and, under the painted gaze of a revolutionarily clad President Obama with bicorn at tilt and glinting saber drawn, raise a fork of sweet potato pie to your mouth and enjoy a slice of paradise.

Jimmy Jamm’s Sweet Potato Bakery & Café, 1844 W. 95th Street. Monday–Saturday, 10am– 7pm. (773) 779-9105. jimmyjammpies.com (Jared Simon)

BEST HISTORIC HOME WALK

Longwood Drive If you get off the Metra at any of its five Beverly Hills stops, you only have to walk a short block west to see the eponymous hill. The hill is actually a ridge left behind by a glacier that made a nice perch for the mansions of wealthy Chicagoans fleeing to more rural areas after the Fire. Sprawled along the ridge at the top of deep lawns are landmark homes designed by architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Edward Dart, Howard Van Doren Shaw, George Maher, and Walter Burley Griffin. The styles of architecture range from Carpenter Gothic to Prairie School to Renaissance Revival. The area, called the Ridge Historic District, is also on the National Register of Historic places and boasts five Chicago landmarks. You’ll run into large parks and playgrounds along its Beverly/Morgan Park stretch from 95th to 123rd, as well as friendly dog walkers, joggers, strollers, and bikers. Be sure to say hi back––that’s part of the history. (Hannah Shea) 14 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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HANNAH SHEA

BEST SMALL TOWN CAFÉ

Ellie’s Café Sitting by the front windows, I can see all the way past the counter and pastry case into the small kitchen where two cooks make my loaded sweet potato hash. People eat comfortably alone, inside or out at the umbrella-ed tables, grandparents and grandchildren meet for a late Saturday breakfast, and customers call out to waiters by name for their checks. It seems like nothing changes here; one hopes it doesn’t.

The atmosphere here is more relaxed, charming, and authentic than Beverly Bakery, another favorite over on Western. The small bunch of daisies at each table, the red-painted woodwork and framed stained glass hanging in the windows feel like they were placed, painted, and hung by Ellie herself, rather than added to achieve a certain small-town look. The house-made breads are just as crusty and far more generous; the coffee is roasted locally at Hardboiled Coffee Co. and the refills are frequent. All of this ease and familiarity makes sense when head chef and owner Cathy Stacey walks through the space under a halo nest of gray hair, giving regulars a hard time for not saying hello sooner, then going outside to check the flowers and plants. Chef Stacey named Ellie’s for her mother, her first culinary teacher before years of training in France and Italy.

Ellie’s Café, 10701 S. Hale Ave. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 6am–4pm; Thursday, 6am–9pm; Sunday, 8am–4pm. (773) 941-4401. elliescafe.com (Hannah Shea)

Bridgeport

COMPILED BY SAM STECKLOW AND LEAH MENZER

A

stone’s throw away from Chicago’s downtown area, one might find oneself in this nondescript, inconspicuous neighborhood called Bridgeport. With its post-industrial sheen, one would never guess the historic significance it holds: thousands and thousands of immigrants started up their American dream right here. It was a start-up for throngs arriving from throughout Europe. Word spread that boundless opportunities and streets paved with gold would welcome you. Bridgeport was booted up to the thriving union stockyards and the central manufacturing district.

Abundant back-breaking work was available for everyone hardy or foolish enough to partake in this new American way of life. Saloons on every corner took the edge off the drudgery. Newly built churches and schools catered to your ethnic origin, gave you community.

My ex-wife’s dad was very young at the end of World War II, in Europe, and came here with his mom to look for a better life in America. She had met a serviceman from Bridgeport and was promised, “Yeah…come on down and I’ll be here waiting for you… come on down to Bridgeport and I’ll take care of you.”

He thought the streets were gonna be paved with gold, that they were gonna make tons of money, and everything was gonna be beautiful and well and life would be easy and leisurely. They came here and he was appalled. He was maybe a young teenager.

The streets were not paved with gold; it was sooty, and smoke was billowing, you had

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ERIC KIRKES

the stockyards that smelled like you-know-what, you had Bubbly Creek. It was a tough neighborhood with cold-water flats, but he got a job in the Stockyards, became a butcher.

Eventually he did live his American dream, and moved to Hillside to open up a grocery store, and dry cleaner; this new successful way of life he was looking for, he actually achieved it. By the way, the service guy that was supposed to meet his mom stiffed ‘em and never showed up. Just sounds like a typical Bridgeport asshole.

The start-up continues. One hundred-fifty years later, the beacon of hope and optimism still shines, and the young, adventurous, and industrious still arrive in this improbable part of town to start up their lives.

Most of the large corporate industrial monsters have long moved out, leaving affordable warehouses to build to reuse. Dreamers and creators have again arrived, attracted by low rents and affordable workspaces, they continue that “tough it out hard work” ethic to carry out a well-earned quality of life. Today you will find carpenters, metal workers, beekeepers, artists ready to leave their mark, brewers, cyberspace men, and cultivators of the urban landscape, all here in the community of the future: Bridgeport.

Mike Pocius was a member of the C*nts, the first punk rock band on the South Side of Chicago, is a noted photographer, and runs Bridgeport’s Birdhouse Museum. He is a lifelong Bridgeport resident.

Transcribed by Leah Menzer.

BRIDGEPORT

God’s Closet

G

od’s Closet, the free community closet that opens up twice a week, and sometimes for an hour after Sunday morning services, is really just one small, slightly disorderly room in the community center at First Trinity Lutheran Church on 31st and Lowe, filled to the brim with donated clothes, belts, shoes, and toys. About sixty-five people, many homeless and from the Bridgeport area, come through each week to peruse. “Since it’s a church, you know, people figure, ‘Ooh, we’re gettin’ something. Must be God giving to me,’” Associate Pastor Rich Albrecht says of the charity’s name.

The all-volunteer staff sorts through bags of donated clothing, and also provides a free meal to anyone who comes through, regardless of how many.

“No matter what we’re serving, even if it’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and if we had a thousand people, there always seems to be enough food to eat,” volunteer Roseann Mostacchio told me. “It’s just amazing to me, no matter how many people are here.”

Jesus, feeding the multitude with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Betty Naporo, the ninety-four-year-old cofounder of God’s Closet, tells me over the phone, “I am still in the area, but ten years ago I had open-heart surgery and couldn’t lift the boxes. I’d still be over there. I miss it. When you do something like that, you get more out of it than you’re putting into it, because most of those people were so appreciative of what they received. I would meet them on the street in their

coat and they’d say, ‘Betty, doesn’t it look nice?’”

The church that houses God’s Closet, First Trinity, has a particular presence in Bridgeport.

The oldest operating Christian congregation in the neighborhood, since 1970, it has seen its fair share of ups and downs. Following an abuse scandal, the church’s members mostly migrated away. The church went without a pastor for twelve years until hiring Pastor Tom Gaulke in 2009, which local blogger (and First Trinity member) Kristin Ostberg describes as a “significant step forward from survival mode.” The community center that houses God’s Closet also houses the Orphanage, a venue that languished until First Trinity member Dave Medina and music teacher Bob Leone revitalized it under Pastor Tom in summer 2011. It now hosts punk shows, queer punk shows, open mics, and events, as detailed by Jamie Keiles in the Weekly.

In Bridgeport, not a neighborhood historically known for the best relations between religious and ethnic groups, God’s Closet is an exception. “We all come from different churches and backgrounds, except we’re all here for one common good, so it doesn’t matter.” Mostacchio says. “We have all these faiths that come together for one purpose. That’s the beauty of it.”

God’s Closet, 643 W. 31st Street. Tuesdays, 5pm–7pm; Fridays, 10am–noon. (312) 842-7390. firsttrinitychicago.com (Sam Stecklow)

BEST TRIPLE CHEESEBURGER

Johnny O’s Johnny O’s Hot Dogs has the best possible burger available at 3:26am on a Monday in the middle of the summer. That same burger is also served at 10:12am, which is around the time I crave my second triple cheeseburger of the day. I will go on to purchase two more triple cheeseburgers, never truly satisfying the craving for more. Don’t talk to me about the hot dogs when the burger is present. Sure, you can have something on the side, but it has to be a side for your burger. (You can get a vast sea of chicken nuggets, great to share, for just $4.99.) I want to invite this burger over to play video games. I think about this burger when I’m eating other food and feel guilty. I’ve had the breaded steak and the mother-in-law, but the reason I go back to Johnny O’s sixty-three times a week is that hero of a burger.

Johnny O’s Hot Dogs, 3456 S. 35th Street. Open twentyfour hours. Triple cheeseburger: $4.99. (773) 927-1011. johnnyoshotdogs.com (Zach Barba)

Best Closet

ERIC KIRKES

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BRIDGEPORT

ERIC KIRKES

BEST STINGO

Bernice’s Tavern Stingo is every Wednesday night at Bernice’s Tavern. “We’ll be here every night until you are dead,” says Steve. It begins at approximately 9:30pm but has started as late as 10:15, depending on who has been drinking what. Stingo is a combination of the words “Bingo” and “Steve,” and it is entirely free. Steve is the heir to Bernice’s tavern, a place named after his mother, open for the past fifty years. Steve is one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. When I first moved to Bridgeport and didn’t know anyone except my soon to be ex-boyfriend, going to Stingo was one of the things that made me feel less alone. Steve always had a kind word or a moment to spend with me. And with everyone. At Stingo you might win a hug from Steve, or a rack of steaks. If I need to describe to people why I love Bridgeport, or if I want to lure them to visit, I talk about Stingo.

Bernice’s Tavern, 3238 S. Halsted Street. Monday, 3pm–midnight; Wednesday–Friday, 3pm2am; Saturday, 11am–3am; Sunday, noon–midnight. Closed Tuesdays. (312) 813-3215.

(Maya Goldberg-Safir)

BEST BODY OF WATER

Bubbly Creek

BEST BAKERY

Impallaria Bakery Bridgeport is not lacking in Italian establishments. The neighborhood has been home to many ethnicities, but the Italian restaurants and shops have had the most sticking power.

Perhaps the most established and authentic of the Italian businesses is Impallaria Bakery.

Opened in 1950 by the Impallaria family, the business is truly a neighborhood institution.

Located a half-mile from Halsted on Wallace Street, Impallaria is where you can find police officers grabbing a dozen donuts before heading in for a shift at District 9 or where oldcountry Italians congregate early in the morning. They keep coming back to Impallaria for the simple, old-fashioned donuts, desserts and pastries. But Impallaria stands out because of its variety and hard-to-find items. Standard bakery fare, like cookies and coffee cakes, are the staples of the bakery, but Impallaria is known for its specialty items: Italian breads, cannolis and zeppole (essentially an Italian cream puff). The success of their bakery afforded Paul Impallaria and his family the opportunity to expand their food business.

Impallaria now has a deli and pizza menu. They opened an Italian fast food joint, Mangia Fresca, in 2009, and also own the ice cream shop Scoops, both in Bridgeport. But for the most authentic neighborhood experience, visit the original.

Impallaria Bakery & Deli, 2952 S. Wallace Street. Monday, 6am–1pm; Tuesday-Saturday, 5am–5pm; Sunday, 7am–1pm. (312) 842-2146. impallaria.com (Joe Ward)

In Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, Lithuanian patriarch Jurgis Rudkus flees the death and despair he has experienced at the hands of the city and the life he attempted to make for himself in Bridgeport. He catches a train and finds himself in the countryside, bathes in a stream and stretches out in a sun, realizing that he has not experienced the simple pleasures of nature for many years. If you find yourself in a similar situation but don’t have time to flee the city, there is a semisecret path along the banks of Bubbly Creek you should explore. Bubbly Creek is a fork of the Chicago River, named for its ebullient nature. Hundreds of years of chemicals dumped in the creek cause it to, quite literally, bubble. A red brick path along the river can be accessed anywhere from 32nd Place to 33rd Place if you head west from Racine Avenue. The path is as beautiful as its sister paths that dot the North Side, albeit much shorter. Leaping carp-goldfish hybrids and the occasional heron may grace you with its presence. If you are bold, climb over the large stones blocking the path at its northern terminus, and enter a large abandoned lot so overgrown with trees and natural brush, and incidental water features, that it resembles a planned park. Finding solace in the city is not impossible.

Bubbly Creek Path, along the Chicago River from the Bridgeport Art Center Parking to 32nd Place. (Leah Menzer) ERIC KIRKES

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BRIDGEPORT

BEST HACKERS

South Side Hackerspace On the second floor of a shuttered Bridgeport paint factory, a new kind of creation is taking place. At odd hours of the day, you can catch people tinkering with 3D printers, soldering circuitry, or taking apart children’s toys and putting them together in a different manner, or throwing cryptoparties. Different mediums, but they all fall under the umbrella term of “hacking.” SSH moved to the factory (now the Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center) in June of this year; their neighbors include printers, artists, metalworkers, and a custom bike maker. Thirty-five dollars a month gets anyone unlimited access to tools including 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, soldering irons, and bandsaws. That said, SSH doesn’t tightly control access. “If you’re interested in hacking and your friend has a key, we’re not opposed to you coming in,” said organization treasurer Chris Agocs. (They’re also open to exchanging membership for tools.) Vice president Dmitriy Vysotskiy emphasized that the culture isn’t transaction-based: “SSH isn’t a fab-lab, where you make a piece, leave, and never come back,” he said. “We’d like it to be a community, for people to join long-term, and be excited about making things.”

South Side Hackerspace, 1048 W. 37th Street, #105. sshchicago.org (Julie Wu)

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Bronzeville COMPILED BY PETER XU

LUKE WHITE

“M

illions of African-American migrants came to Chicago and their descendants carry the pride of Bronzeville. There is no other place in the world like Bronzeville. Within a fivemile radius you can find historical sites of interest that chronicle the explosion of gospel, blues, jazz, abolitionism and grassroots civil rights activism. Bronzeville’s history spans from the late 1880s to present day as the most documented landscape of political, economic, art, and cultural influence. Blacks who lived in the early days of Bronzeville survived the 1919 Chicago race riots. The generations that followed withstood restrictive covenants, the dismantling of public housing, and the closing of more than forty schools. The tenacity of the families and stakeholders who call Bronzeville home is unmatched. In spite of every conceivable tactic to eradicate Bronzeville’s rich legacy and its people, Bronzeville lives on as the testament of what champions can do.”

–Sherry Williams, Bronzeville Historical Society Founder

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Bronzeville, perhaps even more than other neighborhoods in South Chicago, is enveloped in its own history. Banners commemorating the “Historic Black Metropolis” flutter from streetlights, and signs proclaiming historic sites litter its blocks. These trace their origins to the metropolis’s heyday in the mid-twentieth century, when the children of the Great Migration built a commercial and artistic world of their own, centered on the corridor of State Street that stretches from 47th Street up to the modern-day South Loop. Today, some of the buildings are gone, but the people are still familiar: Margaret Burroughs, Ida B. Wells, Gwendolyn Brooks all lived and worked here; Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington were regulars at the theaters and clubs.

Bronzeville’s name dates back to the 1930s, from a description of the skin tone of local beauty pageant participants (“Bronze beauties of Bronze-ville”, as the saying went) by an appreciative editor of the Chicago Bee, but only gradually became popular––any old-timer will testify that nobody called the black metropolis Bronzeville. And the neighborhood itself has expanded beyond its historic borders; modern Bronzeville is an

enormous and diverse area, whose boundaries vary depending on whom you ask. Tree-shaded rows of beautiful old greystone houses on Michigan Avenue give way to vacant lots where the Robert Taylor Homes once stood on State Street, then to the glassy campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. On 47th Street, rows of shops bustle during the day just as they did in the 1950s, but swathes of land further north lie silent and empty.

Continuing north, encroaching on the South Loop, the Prairie Shores apartments form an enclave of their own.

Despite the variety within its boundaries, Bronzeville has a strong community identity, perhaps due in part to its past. Local organizations like the Bronzeville Retail Initiative have taken a lead in attracting commerce back to once-deserted corridors like 43rd Street. Over the summer, over a dozen restaurants, art galleries, and

other businesses banded together to participate in the third annual Bronzeville Summer Nights, showcasing the many attractions the neighborhood has to offer–with a free trolley ride to boot. (Peter Xu)

Best Resurrection Yassa

LUKE WHITE

I

n November of 2014, a roof fire destroyed Senegalese restaurant Yassa’s 79th Street building. “It was a dream come true,” recalls Madieye Gueye, who founded the establishment with his wife Awa. “We had been wanting to move for a long time,” Madieye says. “But it is so expensive to move a restaurant.”

When Yassa opened in Chatham in 2004, it was the only Senegalese restaurant in Chicago, and it remains the only one on the South Side. It would have been easier to establish a spot up north, where African restaurants dot trendier areas, but Madieye and Awa wanted to set up shop on 79th to remain close to African-American communities. Yassa experienced some success in its original iteration, even appearing on WTTW’s Check Please!, but business was tough.

The fire opened up an opportunity. When Yassa reopened in January at their current Bronzeville location, they were welcomed into the neighborhood. “There weren’t very many sit-down restaurants in the area, so people were very happy to have us,” notes Madieye.

The restaurant’s arrival was also well-timed. “They call us part of the Bronzeville

revival,” Madieye says, referring to the efforts by organizations like the Bronzeville Retail Initiative and Urban Juncture to spark commerce and development in recent years. “Now all kinds of people come to us from north, south, east, west. They come and see what Bronzeville has to offer. It’s a very historic place for African-Americans.”

Yassa’s draw comes in part due to its comfortable atmosphere. Madieye and Awa, Senegalese immigrants from the Wolof ethnic group, take pride in their culture’s hospitality. To them, this aspect is as important as the food. “Creating the right feeling in the restaurant again was the hardest part of the move,” admits Madieye. “We want customers to feel like they’re at home.”

To this end, the dining room is decorated with Senegalese and other African art painted in vivid earth tones, including an expansive map of Africa on one wall. The tablecloths are printed with colorful designs, and Senegalese dance music thumps cheerfully in the background. The hominess is palpable; it is hard to imagine the place empty.

A major highlight of the menu is nem, a fried egg roll-like appetizer influenced by Vietnamese cuisine, denser and more brightly flavored, than any you would find at a typical Chinese-American restaurant. Of their entrees, the standouts are the accents eponymous yassa dishes, marinated meat or fish prepared with onions and a sharp array of spices served over aromatic white rice. The fish, a tilapia cooked whole, is particularly flavorful. Be warned, however: the bones are served intact, so the dish is not for the faint of heart.

Yassa, 3511 S. King Dr. Sunday–Thursday, 11am–10pm; Friday–Saturday, 11am–11pm.

(773) 488-5599. yassaafricanrestaurant.com (Peter Xu)

BEST DIASPORIC DISPLAY

Faie Afrikan Art Faie Afrikan Art is a labor of love by owner Faye Edwards, and its interior shows every drop of that affection. Vibrant works are hung, draped, and propped against every surface in the room. All of them are by African-American or diasporic African artists, including recent work by some on the continent. A low ceiling and brown brick walls create a cozy interior, and visitors freely browse the art at their leisure. The collection is constantly cycling, with new exhibits coming in as some older pieces remain behind. The basement, holding even more color, is also open to the public. While the pieces are for sale, the gallery is primarily for the neighborhood, with frequent open events in which artists chat about their work over tea. At all other times, Faie’s curators offer their own friendly guidance. The current exhibit is “Stained, Blown, Fused: The Artistry of Glass in the Diaspora,” featuring works by Sebron Grant and Ted Feaster.

Faie Afrikan Art, 1005 E. 43rd Street. Wednesday–Friday, 12:30pm–6:30pm; Saturday, 12pm–6:30pm. (773) 268-2889. faieafrikanart.com (Peter Xu)

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BEST HOMEMADE MILKSHAKE

Tony’s Carryouts Of all the advertisements papered and scrawled over every inch of Tony’s Carryouts, there is one most important: “ICE CREAM HOMEMADE SHAKES,” it announces, and ignore it at your own peril. Tony’s is an oasis in an otherwise conspicuously milkshake-bare stretch of 47th Street, and the shakes are fantastic: homemade and full-bodied, available in chocolate, strawberry, pineapple, and vanilla, and the perfect mixture of thick enough to be satisfying and milky enough to come easily through the straw. Of the other offerings on the menu, all of it is cheap, and much of it is good: the fries and burgers are warm and filling, though the tacos ought to be avoided. Tony himself is often around to chat with customers.

Tony’s Carryouts, 101 E. 47th Street. Monday–Sunday, 10am–9pm. (773) 285-5235 (Peter Xu)

BEST LASTING ART CENTER

BRONZEVILLE

South Side Community Art Center

LUKE WHITE

BEST ONCE AND FUTURE CHURCH

Pilgrim Baptist Church

Many glossy private art galleries have appeared in Bronzeville recently, including Blanc Gallery and Gallery Guichard—the latter even gained some notoriety in the media for a recent exhibit on racist police brutality, with a piece depicting Michael Brown’s body that was criticized as sensationalist and exploitative. But the prominence of art in the community has more venerable roots: the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) was created in 1940, the first museum for Black art in the country. Margaret Burroughs was among the founding artists, and over the years the SSCAC hosted luminaries such as Archibald Motley and Gwendolyn Brooks to collaborate and display their works. The center also hosts art programs for children in the neighborhood as well as a famous and long-running annual art auction; the fiftieth took place this past August. SSCAC’s primary display gallery has a historic feel to it with its dark wood paneling and Bauhaus design, but its displays are unmistakably modern, reflecting the center’s mission to “infuse history into the future of art.” The current exhibit, typically eclectic, is “Black Comic Book Heroes and Villains.” An artist’s talk will be hosted on September 26.

South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan Ave. Wednesday–Friday, 12p–5pm; Saturday, 9am–5pm; Sunday, 1pm–5pm. (773) 373-1026. sscartcenter.org (Peter Xu)

In January 2006, a worker’s blowtorch lit the Pilgrim Baptist Church building ablaze, incinerating everything save the stone walls facing north, south, and west.

Any other ruin would have been torn down, but the church is historic; designed

by Louis Sullivan, the glory days of the longstanding structure came as the cradle of gospel music under music director Thomas Dorsey in the mid-nineteenth century. The congregation, which meets in a small building across the street, has ambitious dreams to restore it, including, eventually, an expanded wing to serve as a community center. The visualizations hang in the hall of their temporary building, on hold as they await civic planning and funding of the project. For now, the remnants are eerily beautiful, steel girders holding together the shell of an edifice.

From the east, one can look into the ravaged interior and see vegetation reclaiming the lost ground.

Pilgrim Baptist Church, 3300 S. Indiana Ave. (312) 842-4417 (Peter Xu)

BEST APPLE FRITTER

Abundance Bakery Each method of turning dough, sugar, and hot oil into pure joy has its own charms, even strange marvels of modernity like three-dollar baked vegan doughnuts or the cronut. But for all our lore, there’s still nothing like a doughnut for less than a dollar, made first thing in the morning, and definitely fried. At Abundance Bakery on 47th Street, the doughnuts fill all of these qualifications. Their moist, dense old-fashioned doughnut has a cragginess and slight oiliness that leaves no mystery as to how it was cooked, and their glazed yeast doughnut is fluffy, airy, and just sweet enough. They are both overshadowed, however, by their cousin the apple fritter. It weighs about as much as a very young kitten and is absolutely chock-full of cinnamon, walnuts, and huge chunks of apple. This is one doughnut that more than justifies its three-dollar price tag and the logy feeling eating even just half of one produces.

Abundance Bakery, 105 E. 47th Street. Monday–Saturday, 6am–6pm. (773)373-1971. abundancebakery.net (Nora Dolliver) LUKE WHITE

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Chatham COMPILED BY AUSTIN BROWN

T

& Greater Grand Crossing

LUKE WHITE

he first thing you might notice is the lawns: carefully manicured, they bring to mind a preserved vision of the ideal American suburb of the 1950s. It’s not an accident. Block clubs in Chatham maintain a genial atmosphere and preserve a long-standing community within the neighborhood.

It’s a feel that neighborhood citizens work hard to preserve in a time when the families of Chatham have begun greeting newcomers, renters, and unaffiliated buyers who nevertheless want to be a part of what is one of the most tight-knit communities in the South Side.

“Most of the homes had been passed from one generation to the next,” says Claire Addams, a community leader and former board member of the Greater Chatham Alliance. Addams, who has been in the neighborhood for more than fifty years now, has the advantage of both perspective and attention: she knows where the neighborhood was ten or twenty years ago, and, moreover, she knows where it’s going. Addams is well-connected too, even if she doesn’t let it show: a brief but friendly interaction with a man who turned out to be a former alderman was nonchalantly passed over. “I know people, and I guess some of them know me,” she said.

For Addams, that’s how being a Chatham native feels at its best; you’re not just a part of a neighborhood, you’re part of a family, with all of the support and watchfulness that comes along with that. These are people who have been 23 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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in contact sometimes for decades, and it shows: seeming strangers will turn to each other after sitting down in the same restaurant and turn out to be old friends.

However, the community here has felt an upset in recent years. “You start to see people living in Chatham who aren’t stakeholders,” says Addams, referring to recent transplants, “and one of the things was that younger generations left Chatham and didn’t come back.” Addams doesn’t fault them for that—“they feel successful,” she says, but at the same time, the newcomers don’t have the roots that made their predecessors so tight-knit.

“The grammar school now, they bus people in. This is a school where people would walk to school, came home for lunch, and then went back to school for the rest of the day—like a small town, almost. Now the kids at the same school… we don’t have many young families anymore.”

The “best” part of Chatham, then, is more than just the most delicious food or well-attended events, although those are of course important. What’s really essential are the spaces that offer the greatest chance to bring people together and establish the sense of a community. Organizations like Addams’s affiliates, the Greater Chatham Alliance, have been focusing on how to contribute to Chatham’s brand and solidify a map of the neighborhood, but the eateries and community spaces are also doing that same work, from the bottom up.

CHATHAM & GREATER GRAND CROSSING

Best Slice of Home

Five Loaves Eatery

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EMELINE POSNER

BEST CINEMA-RELATED ARM OF THEASTER GATES’ REDEVELOPMENT-THROUGH-THEARTS OCTOPUS

Black Cinema House One of the manifold South Side projects tied to artistentrepreneur-icon Theaster Gates, the Black Cinema House, which previously occupied a repurposed two-story flat on the corner of 69th and Dorchester, moved to a repurposed distribution facility a few blocks over at 72nd and Kimbark last fall. Gates’ own Rebuild Foundation, responsible for the BCH’s construction and curation, is solely devoted to the facilitation of community engagement and redevelopment through the arts. The Black Cinema House acts as a space for artists from Chicago and elsewhere to present and screen their work and the work of others, under the broad but relevant theme of South Side and African-American culture and history. With a series of screenings in partnership with the Experimental Sound Studio, and regular video and installation art workshops with UofC Arts Incubator artists in residence, not to mention the tasteful, welcoming interior decor of recycled and found materials, it’s easy to see Gates’s influence on the space. Keep an eye on the BCH’s events calendar— they have something for everyone.

Black Cinema House, 7200 S. Kimbark Ave. Check website for events. rebuild-foundation.squarespace.com/black-cinema-house (Louis Clark) 24 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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ive Loaves Eatery tastes like home. Actually. At first I thought it was because of the cutesy signs and tchotchkes found throughout, all offering some variation on the same slogan: “Everything is okay here. Whatever your troubles are, they no longer exist from the time you enter our door.” The decorations may not be permanent, but they are certainly endearing.

But the homey feeling is only augmented when one tastes the food. There’s a care for the dishes, which don’t have many bells and whistles, but which nevertheless carry a taste that sets them apart from simple “comfort food.” The breakfast offerings are the highlights, with bacon that manages to approach crispy without losing tenderness and eggs that make the word “fluffy” feel inadequate.

Still, the real stars of the show are the servers and cooks of Five Loaves, the ones who tie it all together.

Five Loaves is, in fact, a family business, and every interaction with an employee feels like you’re temporarily joining that family. Even simple gestures, like a signed “Thanks” with a heart on the check, all build on the same feeling of a safe space.

A quick chat with the owner of the restaurant, Constance Simms-Kincaid, reveals how deep this feeling goes. “We want people to be able to talk about the issues that affect them,” she says, making it clear that for many of the people who come to Five Loaves, the comfort offered isn’t actually temporary. Many of the people who were at the restaurant when I came were regular attendees, on a first name basis with the entire staff. In a neighborhood that’s long been defined by the bonds between its residents, Five Loaves is just as much a town hall as it is a restaurant.

Much recent press has been dedicated to Five Loaves’s recent recovery from theft and fire, but the management prefers to focus on the present. “We just want this to be a place where you break bread with us,” Simms-Kincaid says. When you’re eating at Five Loaves, it’s hard not to feel that solidarity.

Five Loaves Eatery, 405 E. 75th Street. Tuesday-Thursday, 8am-3pm; Friday-Saturday, 8am-5pm; Sunday 9am-5pm.

Closed Mondays. Average entrée $8, à la carte $3. (773) 8912889. 5loaveschicago.com (Austin Brown)

BEST TROPICAL ESCAPE

Tropical Island Jerk Chicken The most revelatory part of my trip to Tropic Island Jerk Chicken wasn’t the food (amazing) or the service (hugely accommodating), but rather an aside from one of the people I went with: “I love how they have pictures of the food, but they’re not edited or anything. It’s like they just put the camera above the food and took the picture.”

While the sentiment was somewhat ironic, the feeling—of honesty in the presentation of food—was anything but.

Popular both as a dinner restaurant and a catering service, all of the food in Tropic Jerk is worth a try (check out the plantains), but it’s tied together by something indescribable beyond “attitude.” The taste hits hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s one note: these dishes can be subtle.

Tropic Island Jerk Chicken, 553 E. 79th Street. Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-10pm; Friday–Saturday, 10am–11pm; Sunday, 11am– 10pm. Closed Mondays. Average entrée $8.25. (773) 224-7766. tropicislandjerkchicken.com (Austin Brown)

BEST BOUQUETS

Full Blossom Florist This flower boutique, founded in 2013 on Greater Grand Crossing’s commercial boulevard on 75th, is notable for the free casket displays it offers to neighborhood victims of gun violence. The service has temporarily stopped, the owners say, but will resume at the start of next year after a very successful six-month trial run. The store also offers bouquets for banquets, weddings, and other events, as well as large rose displays that feature hundreds of red or white flowers arranged in the shapes of crosses or hearts.

Full Blossom Florist, 316 E. 75th Street. Monday–Saturday, 10am–6pm. (773) 891-5291. More info available on Facebook. (Jake Bittle)

COMPILED BY KIRAN MISRA

T

Chinatown

he Goldilocks of American Chinatowns, Chicago’s Chinatown is not the biggest in the country, nor is it the smallest. Here, new and old blend together—old village dialects aren’t heard quite as frequently as Cantonese and Mandarin, but survive nonetheless.

Historic buildings like the Pui Tak center stand shoulder to shoulder with new restaurants and bustling souvenir stores.

Most of the commercial activity in Chinatown is concentrated on two main streets, Cermak and Wentworth. Within a few close blocks are bookstores, banks, tutoring centers, bakeries, restaurants, and a number of other services that cater to Chicago’s Chinese population.

Although Chinatown is a popular stop for visitors hoping to grab some bubble tea or dim sum, the neighborhood is three-quarters first-generation AsianAmerican immigrants and seniors. Much of it consists of quiet, residential streets 25 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

KIRAN MISRA

BEST MARRIAGE OF FORM AND CONTENT

where generations of Chinese families have made their homes and livelihoods.

“We’re a tight-knit community; people know each other,” says Bernarda (Bernie) Wong, president and co-founder of the Chinese American Service League, and an influential figure in Chicago’s Chinese community. “There are generations of families who have grown up here. When there is any problem or emergency, like the China earthquake [a few years ago], all it takes is a phone call and the community leadership comes together.”

Chinatown’s diversity in language, food, schools, and civic engagement is attracting a growing number of visitors and new residents. In the last fifteen years, the neighborhood’s population has grown almost fifteen percent, according to U.S. Census data. “We have a new library, a new boathouse, a new field house, a dragon boat festival, and so much more,” says Wong. “Chinatown is very much alive.”

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Heritage Museum of Asian Art Just visible off of Wentworth, the Heritage Museum of Asian Art offers an experience unlike those provided by the Art Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Here, there are no spacious galleries with works placed sparingly along the walls. Instead, the museum houses rows of glass display cases, each brimming with unique artifacts, some dating from as far back as the Neolithic Age. In many respects, this museum is a shrine to the minute and intricate, featuring a variety of small art including delicately carved pocketsize snuff bottles from the Qing Dynasty and a remarkable assortment of netsuke, Japanese miniature sculptures originally worn with kimonos and other traditional garments. Even the collection’s paintings and vases display miniscule, controlled brushwork, offering a beauty best appreciated from up close. Most impressive, though, is the staff ’s dedication to sharing their knowledge with visitors. As founder Jeffrey Moy put it, the museum was created “to help bring Chinese culture back to the Chinatown community.”

The museum will move to a new, larger location down the street next year, where it will undoubtedly continue to put dizzying intricacy on display.

Heritage Museum of Asian Art, 211 W. 23rd Street. Tuesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm. $5 adults, $3 children and students. (312) 842-8884. heritageasianart.org (Peter Gao)

KIRAN MISRA

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hirty-seven years ago, Bernie Wong and nine of her friends sat down for a potluck dinner to talk about the needs of their Chinatown community. They set out with one goal: teach English as a second language to Chinese immigrants.

A couple of decades later, English classes are just one of the dozens of services the Chinese American Service League (CASL) and its staff of 450 provide to over 17,000 clients.

CASL is a hub in the Chinatown community. “And not just Chinatown,” adds Wong. “People come from further north than the loop and from as far south as the University of Chicago to [connect] with this community. We are a connector of families and resources.”

CASL has five main divisions: child education and development, elderly services, employment and training, family and community services, and housing and financial education. “We started as a mom and pop shop, trying to solve problems,” recounts Wong. “We saw that needs were great, so we expanded from English classes to counseling, then just kept adding programs. Back then, the Chinese community had no social services, no benefits. Now we help them help themselves.”

CASL sees their community members through all phases of their lives, with adolescent education and senior services as two of the league’s largest divisions. “A lot of times, former clients are the people who join our staff,” says Wong. “We want them to feel like this is their community. Many of the people on our executive council used to be in our daycare when they were kids.”

While providing a place to learn useful skills like culinary arts, English, and personal finance, CASL also focuses on providing Chicago’s Chinese and ChineseAmerican populations with opportunities for cultural retention—the seniors teach each other dance, kung fu, and art, and also organize trips together to places like Yellowstone and Montreal. “We’re sort of a self-help group,” explains Wong. “All of our services are connected.” This dedication to her community is apparent even in the decor of Wong’s office. Her walls and desk are lined with pieces of artwork CASL’s clients have gifted to her, and dozens of trophies and certificates crowd the walls and shelves. In the corner of Wong’s office hangs a banner, dedicated to her by a client, that reads: “In appreciation of her devotion to the wellbeing of my family and the Chinese community.”

As I stepped outside to leave CASL after my interview with Wong, we encountered a busload of elderly Chinese men and women departing the center. Wong greeted many of them by name and stopped to chat with a staff member helping people board the bus. “This is my home, these people are my family,” the staff member said, smiling. The work CASL does provides a space for thousands of Chicagoans to feel the same way.

Chinese American Service League, 2141 S. Tan Ct. (312) 791-0418. caslservice.org ((Kiran Misra)

BEST DEPICTION OF MAO ZEDONG IN THE WEST

Lao Hunan With the motto “WE SERVE PEOPLE” emblazoned on the restaurant’s walls, the eccentric Chairman Mao theme of this Chinatown restaurant is nothing if not thorough.

The menu boasts offerings such as “Chairman Mao’s Favorite Pork Belly,” and portraits of the famous leader and other influential Hunan figures line the walls. The theme doesn’t stop with the decor or the menu, as friendly waiters in Red Guard uniforms serve authentic northern Chinese cuisine described by TimeOut Chicago as, “intense, spicy, oily and delicious.”

“Chef Tony,” as he is called by those familiar with Chinatown’s many “Lao” restaurants, has built something of an empire in the Chicago Chinese restaurant industry.

His Hunanese contribution is perhaps the crown jewel of his many restaurants—cheap, fast, and delicious. Every meal at Lao Hunan starts with a hot cup of green tea. The palate-cleansing tea comes in handy when sampling any of the dishes, most of which are heaped with crunchy red chili peppers. Popular menu items include the Dry Chili String Beans Hunan Style, Crispy Eggplant, and Jade Tofu, all prepared simply with chili oil, fresh ingredients, and a spicy kick. With dozens of veggie and meat options, Lao Hunan is the perfect spot for vegetarians and carnivores alike looking to try some “real Hunan food,” as it’s described by many of its patrons. Though the bright red awning reads, “Chef Bao’s Chinese Restaurant,” don’t be fooled. Even under new management, Lao Hunan’s spicy specialties haven’t gone anywhere.

Lao Hunan, 2230 S. Wentworth Ave. Sunday–Thursday, 11am–9:30pm; Friday and Saturday, 11am–10pm. Average entrée $11.50. (312) 842-7888. laohunanchicago.com (Kiran Misra)

Best Multifaceted Cultural Center Chinese American Service League (CASL)

KIRAN MISRA

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CHINATOWN

BEST EGG TART

Saint Anna’s Bakery Being in Saint Anna’s Bakery feels like being in your Chinese aunt’s kitchen, if your Chinese aunt’s kitchen was filled with hungry customers crowding around glass cases filled with a broad selection of sweet and savory Asian and Western desserts. Serving everything from egg tarts to chocolate mousse cakes to mochi, the pastry chefs speak to each other in rapid Chinese while quickly grabbing sweets from behind the display case with tongs and piling lunchroom-style trays high with arrays of buns and rolls.

Most of the buns, rolls, and tarts are less than a dollar (which is a plus, because the bakery is cash only).

The egg tart is Saint Anna’s specialty. For eighty cents, you get a sweet, pale yellow custard that’s definitively but not overpoweringly eggy, firmly encased in a delicious crumbly, oval-shaped, shortbread crust. Don’t forget to ask for a couple more egg tarts—after all, they’re only eighty cents. Then try the jin deui (also eighty cents) which are hollow, deep-fried sesame balls with rich and sweet red bean paste at their centers.

Don’t leave without sampling the bakery’s pineapple custard bun, which doesn’t contain any pineapple at all. The name actually describes the crunchy topping on the buns, which resembles a pineapple’s rough exterior. Inside, there’s a thick, satisfyingly sweet coconut custard that will leave your stomach satisfied and your pockets even more so.

Saint Anna’s Bakery, 2158 S. Archer Ave. Monday–Sunday, 8am–8pm. (312) 225-3168.

(Kiran Misra)

BEST SUGAR RUSH

KIRAN MISRA

Aji Ichiban If being a kid in a candy store is fun, being an adult in a candy store is even better, especially if that candy store is Chinatown’s Aji Ichiban, an international chain originating in Hong Kong, with only one location in the Midwest. In addition to carrying Western sweets, Aji Ichiban also stocks popular Chinese favorites, like Pocky, hot dog and hamburger shaped gummy candies, Yan Yan, and green tea Kit Kats.

It’s possible to spend hours perusing the overflowing Lucite bins, filled with bright, individually wrapped candies in flavors like...well it’s hard to be sure, as most of the candies aren’t labeled with any flavors. However, with depictions of fruit, cute cartoon characters, and bright colors on the crinkly wrappers, there’s no harm in judging the sweets by their pastel-colored covers. And unlike most candy stores, at Aji Ichiban you can buy pieces of candy individually, so there’s every incentive to experiment a bit and take a sweet of every color to the checkout. Additionally, the store is packed with clear bins of dried fruit, which you can sample before purchasing. From dried plums to dried mangoes to dried strawberries, the variety covers an entire wall. There are also more non-Western offerings, like mushrooms, spicy dried fish, chili olives, fried and shredded squid, and vacuum-fried green beans. In the fridge, you can find Japanese fizzy drinks, canned milk tea, and all the typical American sodas next to bins of cooked duck necks and other delicacies.

Aji Ichiban, 2117 S. China Pl. Monday-Thursday, 11am-8pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am-9pm; Sunday 10:30am-8pm. (312) 328-9998. (Kiran Misra)

KIRAN MISRA

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Englewood COMPILED BY JAKE BITTLE

EMELINE POSNER

M

y family was the third African-American family that moved into the community. I did experience the change, I did experience some of the racism that I endured as I was brought up in Englewood. I graduated from Henderson School in 1979, and I went to Gage Park High School, and you’ve probably heard about the racism, the riots there. Then I had my kids, then I went to Chicago State, where I obtained my Bachelor’s. So I’ve been working in Englewood a long time.

I work with all the representatives, the state senator, the alderman...I interact with my elected officials, host various events in the community. We [Voices of West Englewood] work alongside Residents Association of Greater Englewood—Aisha Butler, Sonya Harper, those of us in the community doing the work, in the trenches, doing the foot work in the community—and we talk about social issues, the economic issues that we’re facing in Englewood. I also work with Teamwork Englewood, it’s the same thing, I let them know when we’ve got something going on with Voices, they let us know when they’ve got something going on.

The biggest thing in Englewood now is healthy eating, so I work with Grow Greater Englewood, and we educate the community on healthy food. I am on the committee for the Whole Foods that’s moving into the neighborhood now, and my biggest thing is to focus on their policies, so they allow people, if they go and apply for a job at Whole Foods and they have a criminal background—which, a lot of people in Englewood have criminal backgrounds—that doesn’t hold them back from getting a job. Growing Homes on 58th and Wood, too, they have a program for ex-offenders.

They give them job readiness training, but they also educate them on how to plant, how

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to grow your own vegetables, just giving them an education on how to grow your own food. In the process of them growing the food, they have an event where the community comes in and purchases the products that the individuals grow. A lot of individuals come to the Grow Greater Englewood meetings too, because they have land they’d like to start farming on.

What I miss most from growing up in the neighborhood is that a lot of residents that move in now are renters, not owners.

Maybe because they rent, they don’t know the bond of “I’m your neighbor: you go to work, I see your son out there getting out of control, I’m able to discipline your child. Same if I’m at work and you see my child out there.” It was the closeness of the community, how we looked out for each other. Now a lot of residents, their parents died off—I’ll be truthful here—left their home to the kids, kids refinanced their homes, lost it. Now you see an abundance of abandoned homes. On top of that, when they allowed predatory lending into the community, even more vacancies. Personally, I believe they should let the community, and these are still homes— brick homes—purchase the buildings. Some of these houses, they got twenty units, they could end homelessness if they choose to.

They choose not to. We still have block clubs, though. The Southwest Block Club Federation runs block clubs in West Englewood, they keep residents on a block informed and connected, and then the CAPS officer knows that this is a block where people know each other, there might be vacancies, vacant lots, but people know each other, and they’re going to look out for each other.

If an incident happens in Englewood, someone gets shot, the media’s gonna blow it out. There’s so much good stuff that goes on in Englewood that’s not highlighted. The media just wants to focus on the negative. And, this is me, not talking about anyone else, if they pump up the fear factor of “you can’t move to Englewood,” why would anyone bring their business here? I can walk in Englewood and not feel bad about it. Maybe that’s cause I grew up here, but truth be told, I feel safer here than anywhere else, because I know my community. We just did something last Tuesday, we celebrated the two oldest residents in Englewood. Mr. Henry Jenkins was 106, and Mrs. Rosa Atkinson was 104. We did a big celebration in Hermitage Park, and it was awesome. We had the Englewood fortyyear reunion, people were flying back from all over the country for it, because they remembered growing up here. That’s what’s missing now, now that the situation with the renting is different, but the community is still there. Good things happen in Englewood every day, and we find the good, and we highlight the good.

Gloria Williams has lived in Englewood since 1970. She is

an advocate with Voices of West Englewood, a community organization that works to keep Englewood residents informed.

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EMELINE POSNER

BEST NANNERS

Reese’s Gourmet Mana The “1/2” in this tiny sweet shop’s address is probably the best indicator of just how small it is.

Sandwiched between two other units and advertised only by a sign on the far side of the building, the door leading into the home of the “original” dessert known as “mana” (a smooth, creamy mix between yogurt and ice cream) is easy to mistake for, well, just a door. Inside, though, is the best (and perhaps the only) damn mana you’re likely to find in city limits. Every flavor comes with wafers and a garnish of crumble or caramel, but the undisputed champ (ask anyone) is the banana mana, with chunks of banana at the bottom of the cup that almost outdo the sweetness of the ice cream on top.

Reese’s Gourmet Mana, 1022 1/2 W. 63rd Street. Monday–Saturday, 11am–7pm. (773) 418-0790. cupsofmana.com (Jake Bittle)

ENGLEWOOD

BEST GUILT-FREE EGGROLLS

Dream Cafe and Grille The Weekly first wrote about Russell Moore’s Dream Cafe when it opened this past March in a plaza just off Englewood’s central intersection of 63rd and Halsted, but now it’s settled in for good. In its five months of operation, the restaurant has become a favorite neighborhood eatery for those who want typical comfort food, but without the bodily discomfort that typically follows.

The ingredients are still locally sourced and as fresh as can be, making even the unbelievable peach cobbler feel like it might be good for you. While the egg roll sampler still has the same three flavors it did in March (jerk-applesauce, collardgreens-Sriracha, and mac-and-cheese-ranch), those flavors haven’t gotten any less bizarre or any less delicious. The jury is also still out on which is the best (though this humble reviewer maintains that nothing beats the jerk), so go try them all.

Dream Cafe and Grille, 748 W. 61st Street. Monday–Saturday, 11am–8pm. Closed Sunday. (773) 891-5334. dreamcafeandgrille.com (Jake Bittle)

BEST VEGGIE BOXES

Goddess Greeness Robert “Bob” Scaman Jr., president of Goodness Greeness, jokes that the building is no food museum. The office is unassuming; most of the space is for keeping organic produce fresh before shipment. Goodness Greeness distributes to 300+ locations in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Chicago, so chances are if you buy organic, you’re buying produce that has sat in the Englewood warehouse for no longer than thirty-six hours. In an effort to support organic farmers, especially those with small- to medium-sized local farms, Goodness Greeness handles the logistics so that organic produce remains beautifully fresh from field to fork. Items are stored in different parts of the warehouse based on metrics such as weight and temperature needs. Seasonality and weather are the biggest drivers of operations: if a summer night is unusually cold, buyers in the office will be speaking on the phone with farmers the next morning about how the zucchini is doing. Goodness Greeness also makes an impact via community outreach programs and strategic partnerships. One current project is to revamp the “recession buster,” boxes of fresh, affordable organic produce that they first sold in 2007. They’ve also partnered with Artizone, an online grocery delivery service, to sell a variety of boxes to Internet-based consumers around the city.

Goodness Greeness, 5959 S. Lowe Ave. Monday–Friday, 6am–3pm; Saturday–Sunday, 6am–1pm. (773) 224-4411. goodnessgreeness.com (Jennifer Hwang)

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LUKE WHITE

BEST SCENTS

Culture Connection 360 If you really want to impress a first date or a houseguest, the smells of roses or lavender just won’t cut it. You need to smell presidential. Luckily, the Culture Connection 360 outlet on 71st has you covered: among dozens of other scented lotions and potions, this Afrocentric boutique carries a perfume that (allegedly) smells like First Lady Michelle Obama and an incense that (again, not confirmed) smells like Barack himself. Those with more retro tastes are will be delighted to find soaps like “Flower Child” or even “Egyptian Musk.” Even if you think you smell just fine the way you are, at least stop by to pick up a bean pie, a framed poster of Ernie Barnes’s “Sugar Shack”, an “I <3 HOUSE MUSIC” t-shirt, or just sit for a while in the low-lit front room and chat with the owners, who are usually around to swap stories and offer scent advice.

Culture Connection 360, 400 W. 71st Street. Open daily, 10am–7pm. (773) 527-6015. cultureconnection360.com (Jake Bittle)

BEST EXTERIORS

Englewood churches The way a church feels on the inside, at the height of a Sunday sermon, is not the kind of thing one can understand just by dropping by. Even if it were that easy, there are simply way, way too many churches—over three hundred in Englewood alone, by DNAInfo’s count—to visit. The “best church” blurb, then, is not coming any time soon. But there’s no denying that some church buildings are more interesting, more historical, or just plain prettier than others. The most notable of these is the Chicago Embassy Church at 5848 S. Princeton, whose enormous spire is visible from across the neighborhood. Three lesser-known but equally eye-catching churches are Antioch Baptist at 6953 S. Stewart, a lowlying, red-brick building with maroon-trimmed windows and a cobblestone facade; Lebanon Baptist on 1501 W. Marquette, a wood building whose orangeand-white paint job almost makes it resemble a farmhouse; and New Friendship Baptist at 848 W. 71st, an enormous classical building with a beautiful window facade and two huge towers rising in the rear. Whether the preaching on the inside matches up isn’t for us to judge, but at the very least these buildings are worth a second (and third) glance. (Jake Bittle)

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Far Southeast Side & South Chicago

JULIET ELDRED

COMPILED BY MAIRA KHWAJA

I

m et Susan Garza, 10th Ward alderwoman, in her office on 106th and Ewing, an expansive space where staff answered emails and calls and walked in and out of a strategy meeting in a large improvised conference room in the back. Garza stood proudly over it all in the front, and every resident who walked by waved through the windows. Her comfort in this new office (she was elected only months ago) comes from having known the Far Southeast Side—loosely bounded by Indiana on the east and the Calumet River on the west and north, but described as nearly all of the 10th Ward by Garza—since birth. She left only for college, returning to raise her kids and carry on her father’s union striking tradition as a part of the Chicago Teacher’s Union. Her father’s campaign poster, “Ed Sadlowski: Steel Workers Strike Back,” hangs proudly at the entrance to her office, which she pointed out before telling me about the community she lives and works in.

This was a true blue collar community, and the steel mills just drove everything.

We used to have nine steel mills just in this area, just in the 10th Ward, and with those mills came restaurants and stores, and there was a tavern on every corner that ran continually. It was constant, it was vibrant, it was exploding with life, and when the mills started to close, the community just lost hope.

I grew up in a very traditional union home, where my life was spent in union halls and gate pass outs and Christmas parties at Local 65 headquarters because it always seemed like my dad was campaigning for something. My dad [Ed Sadlowski] was the face of [the Steel Workers Fight Back] movement. People still to this day come to me and say, “Oh, your dad changed our lives here.” They tell me that all the

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time. He always told us to honk when you go past the picket line, and then stop at the donut shop and go back and bring the guys a donut.

Right after high school I went to work in the mill, at Chicago Steel and Wire Mill. I was eighteen and I lasted six weeks. I was like, oh hell no, I can’t do this shift work. I was inside the walls of Jane Addams for forty-six years as a student, a parent, and as an employee. When I went to school there, there were like 300 kids and when I left, there were 894. I was a counselor, but I was a counselor with 894 kids. I get choked up thinking about [leaving Jane Addams]. You know what I miss the most? I miss the kids. You know, and the kids that were on my caseload, I worry about them.

One of the things people don’t know is that we have a state park in our ward: Wolf Lake State Park, which no other ward has, I believe. Growing up, every teenager hung out at the rocks in the summertime. You’d get up at 9:30, go to the rocks, and there would be hundreds of teenagers on the rocks. Kids used to run and dive off the top rock into the water. That was one of my favorite spots. We have wetlands, and we have natural habitats in the big marsh. We have the international port. We have rivers and lakes and tons of rail. But we have some of the most beautiful natural habitats; we have eagles that live on the river that nobody knows about, and it’s kept a secret, so nobody messes with them, and turtles, and herons, and deer. It blows you away. Six hundred acres of undeveloped lakefront. Who has that? With beautiful views of downtown, and nobody’s there! If 600 acres were on the North Side, that wouldn’t be vacant anymore. (Transcribed by Maira Khwaja)

FAR SOUTHEAST SIDE & SOUTH CHICAGO

BEST HORCHATA

Cocula Restaurant Cocula Restaurant, with its own parking lot and wraparound awning, is reminiscent of a suburban family restaurant, complete with a gumball machine greeting you at the door. The clean booths, dark decor, and laminated menu—a book of combo family platters of tortas, tacos, and fajitas—are just a satisfying substrate for why you really came: the gallon of horchata. The expected, if not standard, food offerings fill your stomach, letting you fully indulge in the sweetest, nuttiest, creamiest horchata available in the city. This is the rare stuff: made in-house, there’s no watering down the crisp lingering of rice and almond. Bring a group to fill your booth, stay for the friendly restaurant vibes, and buy a rich big cup for yourself.

Cocula Restaurant, 8847 S. Commercial Ave. Sunday–Thursday, 8am–12am; Friday– Saturday, 8am–2am. (773) 374-3214. cocularestaurant.com (Maira Khwaja)

BEST NO-BULLSHIT TACOS

BEST CREAM CHEESE DELICACY

Panaderia Marzeya As a panadería fanatic, I’ve dedicated myself to exploring the family-owned bakeries that dot Latino communities around the city. Like most panaderías I’ve been fortunate enough to frequent, Panaderia Marzeya has the requisite silver tray and tongs, along with racks filled with traditional pan dulces, elotes, cacahuates, and orejas, as well as loaves of sandwich rolls and bread to bring home to the family. Try the pineapple beso or one of the more Americanized cookies, fresher and tastier than any found in a commercial supermarket. The customer fills a silver tray from the racks that line the room, and usually ends up paying a few dollars (cash only!) for a couple pounds of delicious baked goods. If your eye is caught by the sign advertising the “cream cheese and hot pepper roll,” suppress any notion of self-control you may have thought you possessed before entering the bakery: buy the cream cheese and hot pepper roll and bite into it as you leisurely stroll down Commercial Avenue.

Panaderia Marzeya, 8909 S. Commercial Ave. Monday–Friday, 6am–7pm. Closed Saturday– Sunday. (773) 374-7855. (Julianna St. Onge)

Tacos Nietos On the outside, Tacos Nietos isn’t all too flashy, but what the restaurant lacks in immediate showmanship it makes up for in delicious and fresh cooked food. The spotless interior isn’t quite a harbor for foodies across Chicago, unlike many of Pilsen’s popular venues. Instead, the staff is focused on providing a simple, tasty, and inexpensive meal. Of course, the asada and carnitas make great classic eats, but the beef tongue serves as a serious alternative for the more adventurous. Aside from the tacos, both the freshly cooked gorditas and the sopes are fantastic: thick, warm, cheesy, and perfectly cooked. Tacos Nietos is the perfect place for those looking for some simple, clean, and filling tacos.

Tacos Nietos, 335 E. 106th Street. Monday–Thursday, 8am–midnight; Friday–Saturday, 8am–2am. (773) 221-5000. (Clyde Schwab)

BEST EASY RETREAT FROM URBAN LIVING

Wolf Lake Despite the environmental damage caused by the factories that decorate the IllinoisIndiana border, Wolf Lake remains one of the most important and beautiful biological sites on the Southeast side. While there are as many routes to Wolf Lake as there are ways to skin a rabbit, one of the best methods of getting there is by bike. A bike lets you appreciate the juxtaposition of the busier, surrounding urban area and the scenic serenity that the lake has to offer. Approaching Wolf Lake from the northwest brings you along the Illiana Marina Trail, where only the power lines that hum gently above break the silence. Continue onto Wolf Lake Trail to round the southern end of the lake and make your way up the lake’s eastern shore. You’ll pass the Wolf Lake Trail pavilion, a popular site for fishing, kayak rentals, musical performances, and yoga classes. On the last stretch of the path before it turns back into 112th Street, the soapy smells that belch forth from the Unilever factory might make it difficult to breathe and serve as a reminder of the encroaching urbanindustrial sprawl. While the ride around the lake is a short one, its proximity and beauty make it a must-see for anybody that wants to get lost in the peace of nature and escape from the hustle of everyday life. (John Rudnik) JULIET ELDRED

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Hyde Park & Kenwood COMPILED BY JULIET ELDRED AND MICHAL KRANZ

S

tart with the University. You must, because its gravitational force–money, prestige, vision–is what constitutes Hyde-Park-as-such in the first place, gives it its distinctive topography and limits.Without the UofC, Hyde Park would long ago have dissolved into the surrounding South Side.

And yet the University’s directive force only sculpts the neighborhood-scape to a certain extent. Into its crevices and blind spots, the South Side languidly but ineluctably flows, filling in available space, moving over when diverted, then back again.

I grew up here in the seventies and eighties, left in the nineties, then came back near the end of the last century. In the first years of my return, the block of 53rd Street

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between Kenwood and Dorchester captured be found. my imagination. On the corner was Ribs The commercialism and trendiness that ‘N’ Bibs, the scent of burnt hickory wood have marred numerous once-interesting and barbecue sauce rising from its metal parts of the North Side are perpetually chimneys. A few doors down, Scholars’ chewing away at the edges of all this, more Books offered computer manuals and seriously than ever these days. But the sheer Chinese literature, along with tapes of Mao- presence of the South Side has always era operas and a shelf of left-wing books in hitherto protected the UofC from itself–that English. Next door to that, Second Hand is, from fully unleashing economic forces Tunes featured record bins full of seventies that would destroy Hyde Park’s unique sense soul and eighties New Wave. They’re all gone of aloofness, of contemplation, of peculiar now, (though Hyde Park Records continues private pursuits. May it continue to do so. the location and mission of Second Hand Tunes), but their spiky idiosyncrasy, their Mike O’Flaherty is a graduate of the UofC Lab casual jumbling up among one another in School, a writer, a novelist, and a veteran DJ at a milieu of open sky and looseness of space WHPK. remain a hallmark of Hyde Park as it can still

JULIET ELDRED

The Hyde Park Historical Society

Best Out-of-the-Way Historical Relic

W

e first encountered the Hyde Park Historical Society while wandering around the back end of the ComEd substation on 56th and Harper. It’s easy to miss the small structure nestled behind the Metra tracks across the street from Maravillas. The old railway station’s shingled roof slopes down toward arched windows surrounded by red-brick walls, giving way to a vintage wooden interior, where antique bookshelves, clocks, and various Hyde Park trinkets like street signs and portraits line the walls. The society’s modest exterior gives only a hint of its rich past or the vast trove of historical knowledge inside, offering exhibit viewings for only two hours every Saturday and Sunday.

Initially constructed in 1893 or 1894 (the exact year is unknown) by the Chicago City Street Railway, it was a waiting room/rest area on the cable car line that once ferried Hyde Parkers downtown and served as a major mode of transportation during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. After the cable car and subsequent trolley systems were abandoned by the early 1900s, the building was repurposed several times over the following decades, serving as a short-order restaurant, a Greek diner, and a storage shed for newspaper delivery carts. By the mid-seventies, however, the building was in disuse, and probably would have been abandoned or torn down had it not been for several organizers who claimed the building in 1975. The Hyde Park Historical Society was thus officially chartered in 1977, and its chairman brought in architect John Vinci to help reconstruct the interior of the building and restore it to its original railway car station look. Because no records of the initial design remained, Vinci had to rely on other Chicago area railroad stations from the period as well as details of the building’s renovations to recreate the railway building.

Today, the Historical Society acts as more than a museum and has extensive archives from

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Hyde Park dating to the Nineteenth century, all of which are housed in the Special Collection Research Center at the UofC’s Regenstein Library. These collections run the gamut from building records to personal correspondences and audio recordings, and offer visitors a look into Hyde Park’s surprisingly eventful past. The wealth of information in these archives truly is astounding: nearly every important event in Hyde Park’s history is represented, including records like the one that lists every Hyde Park resident who joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, a three-thousand-soldier American army unit that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Unlike the formidable library in which these files are stored, the Hyde Park Historical Society maintains a humble attitude despite its important role in the neighborhood. Plenty of locals frequent Maravillas across the street yet never notice the red railway station sitting nearby, which has since been replaced in its original function by the Metra just overhead. While isolated from the rest of Hyde Park, the Historical Society has played a vital role in preserving the neighborhood’s heritage over the years, and will no doubt continue to do so, documenting life from a vantage point on the outskirts.

Hyde Park Historical Society, 5529 S. Lake Park Ave. Saturday and Sunday, 2-4 pm. (773) 4931893, hydeparkhistory.org ( Juliet Eldred and Michal Kranz)

JULIET ELDRED

HYDE PARK & KENWOOD

BEST LOCAL RUINS

St. Stephen’s Church Described as a “fat toad” by a neighborhood writer, the imposing yet derelict St. Stephen’s Church stands out among residential buildings on the quiet 5600 block of S. Blackstone Ave. Built in the 1910s during a period of rapid growth for Chicago’s Christian Science community, St. Stephen’s (then called the Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist) was constructed by Coolidge and Hodgdon, the firm that designed Bond Chapel and Ida Noyes on the UofC campus. When many Christian Science Churches in the city shut their doors in the sixties, this church was acquired by a small, predominantly black congregation and renamed St. Stephen’s. The local parish remained there until the late nineties, when developer Konstantinos Antoniou bought the property. Antoniou hoped to build a condominium behind the original neoclassical façade of the church, but a prolonged battle ensued between him and nearby residents concerning height, historic preservation, and parking. Foreclosure proceedings followed in 2007, and Sergio & Banks briefly put the property on the market for $1.5 million in 2011. St. Stephen’s now rests in the hands of Heartland Bank & Trust, but the fate of the church is unclear. For now, with its crumbling stone, broken glass, and graffiti, it remains a local haunt for photographers of urban decay.

St. Stephen’s Church, 5640 S. Blackstone Ave. (Chloe Hadavas)

JULIET ELDRED

BEST PUBLIC LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE

Blackstone Library Six or seven blocks north from St. Stephen’s Church on Blackstone lies the Blackstone Library, the second neoclassical rotunda on this list of “bests.” Designed by Solon S. Beman, an architect famous for his Christian Science church designs that probably inspired the design of St. Stephen’s, the Blackstone Library has stood on Lake Park and 49th since 1904, when it became the first dedicated library in the Chicago Public Library system.

While the grand staircase and Doric columns that adorn the entrance make a powerful first impression, by no means does the interior disappoint, with marble columns, gold-laced banisters, bronze doors, mosaic floor tiles, beautiful murals, and stained glass windows along the dome of the rotunda. A bronze relief of the library’s namesake, Timothy B. Blackstone, hangs above a row of bookshelves. All of this decoration makes the inside of the library feel like a temple of sorts, its every crevice cramped with books and various knickknacks. Although reportedly its selection of actual books is limited and its study rooms do not stay quiet enough for some, the Blackstone Library remains one of the most unique buildings in the Hyde Park–Kenwood area, and the design alone remains reason enough to visit.

Chicago Public Library–Blackstone Branch, 4904 S. Lake Park Ave. Monday and Wednesday, noon-8pm; Tuesday and Thursday, 10am6pm; Friday and Saturday, 9am-5pm. (312) 747-0511. chipublib. org (Michal Kranz)

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BEST ANY TIME OF THE WEEK TREAT

The Promontory Follow the Longman & Eagle team south from Dusek’s Board & Beer, Punch House, and Thalia Hall to their newest venture in Hyde Park. Like their Pilsen outposts, the Promontory is a multipurpose, multisensory, yet cohesively beautiful space. Come for brunch on Saturday, salsa dancing on Wednesday, yoga and mimosas (“YoMosas”) on Sunday, and dinner and a concert on almost every day of the week.

Or just treat yourself and a couple friends to a drink any night of the week that calls for something a little special––drinks range from a two dollar can of High Life to an artful menu of ten dollar cocktails.

The food concept is built around the hearth featured in the kitchen and on the patio, and the warmth extends upstairs to the music venue and second bar that hosts the soulful and jazzy sounds of the South Side. Come to savor, spectate, and maybe to spot a local celebrity.

The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Dinner Sunday–Thursday, 5pm–11pm; Friday–Saturday, 5pm– 1am; weekend brunch 9am–3pm; weekday lunch 11am-3pm. Average entrée $14–$20. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com (Hannah Shea)

BEST NON-HAROLD’S CHICKEN

Uncle Joe’s Jerk Chicken This criminally under-appreciated restaurant across the street from Kenwood Academy (and conveniently located off the 2, 6, and 15 bus stops to make for easy after-commute access) serves up the sauce-soaked chicken meals common to South Side jerk restaurants, including the excessive side orders (mac and cheese, beans and rice, plantains, and better-than-Harold’s bread). It also maintains a delightful reggae playlist and, even more delightfully, has a lot of seating. The half-jerk is probably the best value, but the higher price and longer wait for the barbecue jerk are worth it. With either order the sauce is the same: rich but not too spicy, and so popular that the management has started selling it by the bottle.

Uncle Joe’s Jerk Chicken, 1461 E. Hyde Park Blvd. Monday-Saturday, 11am–10pm; Sunday, 11am–7pm. $4-$17 (773) 241-5550 ( Jake Bittle)

HYDE PARK & KENWOOD

BEST KID-FRIENDLY ART CENTER

BEST RE-USE OF AN ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSTORE

Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center

South Side Hub of Production

Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center plays a pivotal role in developing and nurturing the artistic talents of local youth. The community center’s whitewashed, 47th Street façade stands in stark contrast to the imposing, modern glass panes on its Greenwood Avenue entrance; this contrast testifies to both the center’s humble beginnings and its more recent success. Little Black Pearl was founded in 1994 by Monica Haslip after she purchased an unkempt space in North Kenwood. When the workshop first opened, classes and workshops were held in the building’s basement. Twenty-one years and $10 million later, Haslip has moved Little Black Pearl to its current location, where it boasts a twenty-eight-person staff, 40,000 square feet, and cuttingedge technology for the workshop’s students. Not only does the community workshop format allow students to express themselves through visual art, but also offers courses in furniture building, the business of art, and lectures with prominent artists, musicians, and activists like Angela Davis. Perhaps most importantly however, LBP empowers young people in the community by allowing them to present themselves and their art as professional at the center’s “gallery peeks,” which have attracted patrons from across Chicago. Kenwood residents with kids: don’t pass this place up.

Little Black Pearl Workshop, 1060 E. 47th Street. 10am–6pm Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. (773) 285-1211. blackpearl.org (Michal Kranz)

Best Re-use of a Former Antiquarian Bookstore: South Side Hub of Production The former site of O’Gara & Wilson Antiquarian Bookstore is now home to SHoP, an independent cultural center and experimental studio. Since 2011 SHoP has, in many different forms, provided Hyde Park and its surrounding South Side neighborhoods with a unique perspective and an experience of the arts grounded on the motto, “Minimal Bureaucracy: Maximal Diversity.” Early in the summer, SHoP hosted a series of community and artist-led events and exhibits such as The Barack Obama Presidential Library, the Indie City Book Fair, and the 24-Hour One Act Festival. Ongoing programs have included writing, bookbinding workshops, open mics, film screenings, concerts, performances, and upcoming programs will include weekday afterschool camps for children as well as weekend arts events. SHoP is currently running an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds due to the sudden withdraw of financial support from its former benefactor. Whenever the doors are open, visitors and passersby are welcome to come inside and share their ideas for programming and participate in events.

Southside Hub of Production (SHoP), 1448 E. 57th Street. Open Saturday 1pm–5pm and during schedules events. Free writers’ workshop Tuesdays, 7pm–9pm. Contact Laura Shaeffer for appointments. southsidehub.wordpress.com. To donate, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-shop-an-experimental-project-space#/story.

(Candice Ralph, Volunteer and Artist with SHoP)

JULIET ELDRED

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Little Village & Lawndale

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ittle Village, bordering Pilsen, North Lawndale, and Cicero, is a neighborhood that comes with many a mythology, from the first port of call for many immigrants from Mexico and Central America to the oft-mentioned economic powerhouse that is 26th Street, with its blocks and blocks of quinceañera dress stores and botanicos. We interviewed some Chicagoans who call Little Village home about what makes the neighborhood tick.

I’ve lived there since 1969, forty-seven years, and it’s been my community of choice over that length of time, most of my life. It’s a hard-working class community, it’s got a lot of grit, people go to and from work twenty-four hours a day. In 1995, during the terrible heat wave, no one died in Little Village, which means that we have a strong social network where people look out for each other. There’s a lot of interaction on the street continuously. I’m proud of the community’s history fighting for its schools.

We had a really bad overcrowding problem during the eighties and nineties that was addressed with the construction of five new schools in Little Village. The fight for the high school that culminated in a hunger strike is a test of the community’s resolve to improve educational outcomes. The neighborhood continues to be the microcosm of Chicago’s Latino immigrant community. The neighborhood certainly has many challenges, but knowing there are hard-working people with lots of integrity has made my time there well worth the experience.

–Chuy Garcia, Cook County commissioner When I was four, we moved to 23rd and Marshall Boulevard in Little Village. What I remember was that the boulevards were kind of a dust bowl. When you drive down now they are very beautiful, but at that point the city wasn’t doing much to maintain those green spaces. My parents were organizers, they started a block club, and little by little people began to take better care of the green space…My parents are still there on the boulevard. That’s always going to be home.

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ERIC KIRKES

COMPILED BY YANA KUNICHOFF

I remember spending a lot of time playing with my cousins in the street, having a block party on our block every summer. At that time there was this different generation of young people that weren’t listening to the same music as others. We kind of started to become, I guess, more of the alternative kids…Now I work in Little Village, and I think it’s changed in a few ways. My friends used to just skate in the plaza wherever they could, but now there’s skater parks. Young people are feeling it’s okay to grow up the way you want to grow up.

–Vanessa Sanchez, director of Yollocalli I spent thirty-five years on Avers, and I still live in the neighborhood. I describe Little Village as sort of a throwback neighborhood, where you can walk to your corner store and buy a gallon of milk and the neighbors know each other. You’ve got a big commercial strip—you can get pretty much anything on 26th Street. There are some issues that weigh on people, like gang violence. There is a real strong sense of pride.

I know people from the North Side who say, “You guys in Little Village are really all about your hood,” and I say, “Yeah, we kind of are.” I understand some people from my generation being like, “I want to raise my kid somewhere safer.” But we grew up here, and we turned out okay.

–Jaime DeLeon, comedian

LITTLE VILLAGE & LAWNDALE

BEST LAST-MINUTE PRAYER

Courtside Ministries Just before you walk up the stairs to the revolving door that brings you into the main foyer of Cook County Court, look to your left and you’ll notice a table. It’s a simple set-up—two people standing behind the table, draped with blue cloth and several photo-copied booklets being handed out—but its plans are grand. You’re looking at the Courtside Ministries, a group maade up of members from churches all over the state who volunteer to pray with people before they go in for their court date. You can find them on select days in front of courthouses in Illinois and as far out as Indiana.

As the reaches of the Criminal System leave people “facing financial, relational, and spiritual ruin,” Courtside hopes to do its part to battle the ills, first of all by putting in a good word.

Courtside Ministries, 2650 S. Calfiornia Avenue, Wednesday–Friday at Cook County Jail, 8:30am–noon. courtsideministries.org (Yana Kunichoff )

Best Activist Schoolhouse

ERIC KIRKES

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he white columns and delicate filigree decorations of Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy, on Little Village’s eastern edge, stretch across an entire city block in the dense immigrant neighborhood. It’s an imposing sight, even more so when the elementary school’s more than 1300 students spill out of its doors to cover Marshall Boulevard’s expanse of lawn with their pounding feet and dragging school bags.

From the outside, it’s a typical, if uncharacteristically beautiful, schoolhouse. But what you won’t be able to tell from the building’s exterior is the school’s recent history spearheading the movement against standardized testing on the Southwest Side.

The furor began in the spring of 2014, when Chicago Public Schools announced that as part of its move towards the Common Core educational standards mandated by the Department of Education, CPS would be phasing out a test called the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT). Though the test would soon be obsolete, and none of the scores would be used in evaluations that year, CPS wanted students to take the test.

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ERIC KIRKES

Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy

What CPS came up against was a wave of city-wide opposition, with its home in a few key groups and schools. The call for a boycott of the test was led by More Than a Score, a community organizing group that encouraged parents to opt their children out of taking the test. And with an opposition to over-testing a long-standing position of the Chicago Teachers Union, teachers at a few schools jumped in as well.

On the North Side, teachers at Drummond Thomas Montessori School announced in February 2014 that they would be boycotting the test.

And on the South Side, teachers at Saucedo voted unanimously only days later that they wouldn’t give their students the ISAT. That same day they held a press conference on the steps of the school.

Sarah Chambers, a special education teacher at Saucedo, was one of the more vocal voices in the boycott. “Over the years the amount of testing has increased tenfold. The average elementary school student takes eighteen or nineteen tests a year,” said Chambers, who was one of the original members of the Caucus of Rank and File Educators in the CTU, the caucus that now leads the union.

Working in a majority Latino, low-income school, Chambers noted, meant that her students were particularly susceptible to the ills caused by testing. Lower school scores could mean fewer resources at a school already ailing from its low tax base.

“Tests are being used to rank and sort our schools and teachers,” Chambers said.

Not to mention that they up valuable teaching time, she noted.

This past spring, CPS announced they would only be testing a small proportion of students on the PARCC, another test being phased out because of changing national education standards. Chambers sees it as a win—“we’ve started seeing movement.”

She also notes that the Little Village neighborhood isn’t a stranger to social justice movements around education—a group of parents held a nineteen-day hunger strike in 2001 to push for the opening of a high school to relieve their children from overcrowding in the neighborhood schools. The result, the Little Village Social Justice High School, sits on the other side of the neighborhood.

“Little Village is a very strong Latino neighborhood,” said Chambers, “and a lot of parents really speak up for the needs of the black and brown children in the community.”

Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy, 2850 W. 24th Blvd. Monday–Friday, 8am–4pm, September–June. saucedo.cps.k12.il.us (Yana Kunichoff )

LITTLE VILLAGE & LAWNDALE

BEST STOREFRONT TAQUERIA IN LITTLE VILLAGE

La Chaparrita

What can be said about La Chaparrita that hasn’t already been said by Serious Eats, the Reader or even Chicago Magazine? Quite a lot, actually. La Chaparrita is simply one of the best taco places in Chicago.

Many people like the crispy tripe taco, but even better is their taco tripa suave— soft and chewy, with more prominent beefy, tripe-y flavor. If you haven’t had La Chaparrita’s tripe tacos, you really have to make a trip.

La Chaparrita makes their own longaniza, a crumbly, spicy sausage similar to chorizo, which fills what is probably my second favorite taco. Their cecina is exactly what you want: beefy, salty and chewy, but still tender. They also have pot-roast tacos that glisten with fat. I recently saw sweet meats at the now-shuttered Nightwood for $15—La Chaparrita has them in taco form for $2.50.

And if you’re (somehow) tired of tacos, they also have tamales and huaraches, hongos and flor de calabasa. At La Chaparrita, the delights never end.

La Chaparrita Taqueria. 2500 S. Whipple Street. Open daily, 11am–10pm. (773) 2471402. (Glenn Allen)

ERIC KIRKES

BEST REASON TO CLOSE A STREET

96 Acres August 15 was Chicago-hot, but at the western border of Cook County Jail, the fifty cars parked on Sacramento had their windows down. The same Vocalo broadcast flowed from every radio, fading in and out as you walked past: a two-hour set that cut B.B. King’s 1970 jailhouse performance with modern interviews. The cars—most of them black, some brown, a handful white—mirrored the jail’s demographic makeup.

“PARK” was an art installation from 96 Acres, a series of artistic interventions around the jail that SAIC professor Maria Gaspar started in 2012; the “PARK” intervention was conceived by artist Landon Brown. Fall will bring a Hull House exhibit, zines, and educational programming, and an animated short projected on the walls of the jail building. “It’s a jail that houses 100,000 people in a year, and somehow it’s normalized,” says Gaspar. “How do we disrupt the master narrative?”

Cook County Jail, 2700 S. California Ave. Maria Gaspar, ometsol@gmail.com. 96acres. org (Hannah Nyhart) ERIC KIRKES

BEST PALETA TO EAT UNDER THE ARCH

La MichoaKana Golden Heading west on 26th Street under the arch, it’s easy to get distracted by the razzle-dazzle lights beaming off the furniture stores and podiatrist signs. If you’re not looking, you’ll miss La MichoaKana Golden, which sits just one block west of the neighborhood’s quintessential public symbol. You may think you’ve been to La MichoaKana, but chances are you’ve actually been to La Michoacana, one of the more than eight thousand chain stores that span across the border and are loosely overseen by one family. La MichoaKana is the only one of its kind, but you’ll find all the paleteria staples here: paletas of strawberries and cream, mango with chili, and, my personal favorite, an electric blue bubblegum flavor. Work up an appetite by looking at the eclectic combinations of food (Oreo with a cherry on top, anyone?) rendered in giant stickers all along the walls.

La MichoaKana Golden, 3125 W. 26th Street. Open daily, 10am–9pm. (773) 823-9037 (Yana Kunichoff ) 44 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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ERIC KIRKES

Pilsen

COMPILED BY MARIA ALVAREZ

LUKE WHITE

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live right up here, on top of the bakery. I have been living here since 1973…well, since I opened the shop. I remember that I bought the bakery back in the seventies. In those days they were giving money away. That is to say, when I came to Pilsen back in the day from Mexico I met a man who talked to me about opening up my very own bakery. He said, “Come with us. You open the business, and we’ll provide the money.” It was hard to believe, having just come from Mexico, where at the time things like this were just not happening, but in Pilsen it was so easy. This neighborhood welcomed countrymen like me and gave us opportunities.

I remember seeing the “For Sale” sign in front of the store on 18th Street and the owner asking me if I wanted to buy the place. The man that was selling it to me, his name was Mr. Vega from Monterrey, and he asked me what I was opening up and I told him a Mexican bakery. He then asked me how many bakeries were in Pilsen and I told him that there were about seven, six Hispanic bakeries and one American bakery. He was worried about

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the competition, telling me that maybe it would be better to open my business up in a place where there was no competition, but I knew that competition was good. Competition meant that there was a customer and I wanted to be where everybody else was, and you know what? It worked. When I opened up there was definitely a smaller Mexican community but we were here. Think about it this way: there were more white people back then and less Mexicans, and now there are a lot of Mexicans and fewer white people.

Through the years this city and my business have changed for the better. There have been many positive changes. When the new governor was chosen he came to eat bread here. This place filled itself with people; there were radio, press, and TV people. It was one of those moments where someone had to pinch me. It was something that I could not imagine for myself even in my wildest dreams.

Pilsen, it’s a vibrant area...yes, it’s full of art all along 18th and you have the new galleries opening

up and we are near the Mexican Museum of Art. All this has really brought about business, and not only locally. Now I’ll see people from different states, even different countries, and they will come here to eat at my bakery. I think that is one of the advantages that I have, that I am in the middle of it all. People who come to see the art will stop by. There is this restaurant up the street also called Nuevo Leon, and when people ask for recommendations on where to eat I will recommend them over to the restaurant and the owner does the same for me. The owner and I are countrymen; we’re good friends who have come to know each other well. It’s not just him but the business owners in the community.

We know each other, we’re a close-knit community.

(Translated and edited by Maria Alvarez) Abel Sauceda moved to Pilsen from Mexico in 1973.

He is the owner of Nuevo Leon Panadería on 18th Street.

Best P For-CommunityProfit Bookstore Pilsen Community Books

BEST ALL-IN-ONE

Thalia Hall If Bruce Finkelman (of Empty Bottle, Longman & Eagle, The Promontory, and Beauty Bar fame) builds it, they will come. In the case of Thalia Hall, the initial build was done by Bohemian John Dusek back in 1892. But in the two years since a cadre of Chicago leisure lords bought and restored the Pilsen landmark, the block-dominating complex has drawn a steady crowd from across the city. A person could spend the better part of a weekend without leaving the building. Anchoring restaurant Dusek’s offers dollar oysters Mondays, but the rest of their luxe-American dinner menu is in play all week long, as is their robust beer list, which curates heavily from the local craft scene. Behind it, the music hall is a marvel, its concerts routinely sold out (this fall’s shows range from Waxahatchee to Drive By Truckers). For a drink after, basement bar Punch House has a changing slate of their title beverage alongside fine-tuned, classic cocktails. Between the low lights and glowing fish tanks, it feels like a place to lose time, and it doesn’t hurt that you can buy the punch by the bowl.

If you’re still there after midnight, leave for some late night tacos, a couple blocks away in any given direction. Or don’t—the frites are good, and maybe they’ll let you hide out somewhere ‘til brunch.

Thalia Hall. 1807 S. Allport Street. (312)526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com Dusek’s. 1227 W. 18th Street. Monday–Friday, 11am–3pm, 5pm–2am; Saturday, 9am– 3pm, 5pm–3am; Sunday, 9am–3pm, 5pm–2am. (312) 526-3851. dusekschicago.com Punch House, 1227 W. 18th Street. Sunday–Friday, 6pm–2am; Saturday, 6pm–3am.

(312) 526-3851. punchhousechicago.com (Hannah Nyhart)

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ilsen Community Books is not your typical for-profit bookstore. It may reject the legal nonprofit title to prevent reliance on outside funding sources, but the store’s model is more of a for-community-profit venture than anything else: their main focus beyond book-selling is “Pilsen Reads!”, their book giveaway program for students in Pilsen schools. There is a counter on their website that tallies the number of books given to students to date—495 at press time—yet all of this has been done by the Pilsen Community Books’ creative forces, Mary Gibbons and Aaron Lippelt, without a physical storefront. Instead, Pilsen Community Books has been able to generate awareness and support for their unique community-oriented model with their considerable social media following.

“It seemed old fashioned to open up a business that was only about raking in the profits,” said Lippelt.

Platforms like Instagram in particular have not only served as a way to promote their business, but as a gathering space for consumers to see what their charitable programs are all about. They launched their website in the spring and since then they have been able to give away books to five Pilsen schools.

Both Gibbons and Lippelt have experience in nonprofit organizations that focus on literacy issues: almost five years ago, they opened a retail store in the Open Books warehouse, located across the street from their current offices on 18th Street. They were blown away by the LUKE WHITE response that this first store received from the community.

Gibbons and Lippelt continue to feel this support today as they gear up to open their new storefront on 18th Street, and they say they couldn’t imagine their first store being anywhere else. It’s easy to see why: the relationship that they have developed with the Pilsen community is one that approaches ideal.

The pair has greatly benefited from the creative community in Pilsen, but they also realize that there are people beyond the creative scene to whom they strive to give back.

They hope that with the return of the school year and the opening of their storefront, they will be able to increase the number of schools they are able to help. Given their current demand for books, they have not yet set up a screening process for those on the receiving end of donations—instead, they give books away to all the schools that ask for them.

For Gibbons and Lippelt, it’s about starting simple and making a difference with the resources that they have. Their focus is on curating the books that they give away to schools, which they hope will get students excited to read. It is not about the profit, but about the people. This new age bookstore ultimately aims to “give books to every student in Pilsen,” leaving behind for-profit practices of the past and opting instead to set a new literary precedent for the neighborhood.

Pilsen Community Books, 1102 W. 18th Street. pilsencommunitybooks.org (Maria Alvarez and Maha Ahmed)

PILSEN

BEST LOCAL ARTIST SHOWCASE

BEST VEGAN TAMALES

Pilsen Outpost

Yvolina’s Tamales

Pilsen Outpost is a gallery and retail hybrid curated by Diana Solís, Pablo Ramírez, and Teresa Magaña. The three have catered to a community of artists—many of whom have not had few opportunities to present their work in a formal setting— by giving them a place to showcase and sell their artwork, books, toys, and other retail products. For this trio, it’s less about the up-and-coming and more about the underrepresented. The art they curate ranges from silk-screened shirts and prints to greeting cards and handmade craft products. Not only are they one of the many hosts of Pilsen’s Second Fridays, but they also occasionally act as a venue space for local bands. Walking into Pilsen Outpost, it becomes clear that Solís, Ramírez, and Magaña have chosen their fellow artists’ pieces thoughtfully: each one feels like it flows into the next, creating a cohesive aesthetic. Pilsen Outpost serves as both an oasis and blank canvas for a creative community—and it’s the perfect space to get a taste of an almost-grassroots version of Pilsen’s artistic scene.

Pilsen Outpost, 1958 W. 21st Street. Wednesday–Sunday, 10am–8pm. Closed Monday– Tuesday. (773) 492-2412. squareup.com/market/pilsen-outpost (Maria Alvarez)

It’s nearly impossible to find a good tamale unless you know the right people (i.e. my grandmother). Trying to find a good vegan tamale? Might as well give up now. Enter Yvolina’s Tamales, which serves up twenty-seven different types of tamales, be it at her stand at Pilsen Community Market or in her new storefront. Out of all twenty-seven, which range from savory to sweet, the real stars of the operation are the vegan tamales.

They are served Oaxacan style, as large square tamales wrapped in banana leaves and filled with anything from spinach and mushroom to kale. However, for the non-vegans out there, Yvolina’s makes tamales to suit any palate; just be sure to get to her stand early, because Yvolina, sells out quickly, especially on Sunday mornings.

Yvolina’s Tamales, 814 W. 18th Street. Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. Also sold at Pilsen Community Market, 1800 S. Halsted Street, Sunday 9am-2pm. (312) 731-3167. yvolinas.com (Maria Alvarez)

BEST CHE GUEVARA BABY ONESIES

Revolutionary Lemonade Stand

LUKE WHITE

BEST SPOT TO GRAB A CUP OF JOE

Bow Truss Coffee Roasters Bow Truss’s small window-front café is narrow, steeped in warm colors, and infused with an overwhelming smell of strong coffee from the moment you enter the door. But what’s less obvious about this Chicago roaster company is its excellent taste and growth, even only nine months after the opening of its Pilsen location. Will Anderson, Head of Wholesale and Events Coordinator, tells me that less than a year later, Bow Truss not only fits in, but has grown with Pilsen’s strong sense of community. The café’s employees live in the neighborhood, the regulars are “fiercely regular”, and most of all, everyone “gets it.” When I ask if he can put a finger on what exactly “it” is, Anderson says that Bow Truss feels organic, fueled by the community and their local artists, many of whom showcase their work during live music nights. They rarely hire self-proclaimed “coffee snobs” and want the booming café industry to be more inclusive than its pretentious stigma dictates. Anderson believes that the only thing Bow Truss is fixing up within the neighborhood is a solid cup of coffee, no snobbery added.

Bow Truss, 1641 W. 18th Street. Monday–Saturday, 7am–6pm; Sunday, 8am–6pm. (312) 243-2983. bowtruss.com (Sammie Spector) 47 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY

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Revolutionary Lemonade Stand has been outfitting the whole family with revolutionary apparel since Stephanie Weiner first opened her DIY storefront on Leavitt Street in 2012. Walking into the shop, one is greeted with an abierto (“open”) sign, letting you know that Weiner has embraced the roots of the neighborhood that the store calls home.

The “Lemonade Stand” remains in the store’s name, despite a conspicuous lack of all things lemon-flavored, because of its dedication to “whatever is fresh and in season.” But Revolutionary Lemonade Stand more than makes it up to disappointed thirsty store-goers with a wide variety of protest apparel, for comrades both human and canine, as well as an ever popular Che Guevara baby onesie for all of your radical baby-shower-going needs.

Stop by for a “Si Se Puede” t-shirt, and pick up a copy of the film Viva La Causa when you’re in the revolutionary spirit. It is obvious that Weiner does not shy away from being political: she has built a whole business around it and what’s more, turned it into a family affair.

Revolutionary Lemonade Stand, 2315 S. Leavitt Street. (773) 368-6254. revolutionarylemonadestand.com (Maria Alvarez)

BEST TORTILLA FACTORY

El Milagro With a bright pink exterior and, above the door, the famous El Milagro logo found in grocery stores across the Midwest, this wondrous place welcomes you before you even step inside. El Milagro produces a wide variety of tortilla products; from corn to flour, soft to crunchy to the chip variety, the company’s products have been gracing the stomachs of Chicagoans since 1950, when Raul Lopez opened the then-humble operation. In addition to its most obvious and popular products, El Milagro offers up authentic Mexican food in its Blue Island taquería. Some of the items are served up cafeteria style; with a long line of food ahead of you and the menu hanging above your head, it can seem overwhelming. Just remember that you can’t go wrong with rice, beans, and a side of freshly made tortillas, because that is what El Milagro has been doing best for more than six decades.

El Milagro , 1927 S. Blue Island Avenue. Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm; Saturday 7am-8pm. $2-$10.

(312)421-7443. el-milagro.com. (Maria Alvarez)

Pullman & Roseland

LUKE WHITE

COMPILED BY AMELIA DMOWSKA

F

rom their arrival in 1849 until George M. Pullman began to build his utopian Town of Pullman in 1880, the Dutch settled the Lake Calumet Region. To this day, these early settlers have left their impression on the area, and vice versa: an exhibit on Roseland is currently on display at the Eenigenburg Museum in the Netherlands commemorating those early settlement years.

In 1880, George Pullman acquired a little more than four thousand acres as the site for the fulfillment of his visionary plan for a utopian factory town. Thus began what, for all intents and purposes, was the world’s most perfect worker’s town for a period of about fifteen years. Scandinavian and Germanic immigrants were the first to benefit from the Town of Pullman’s wide landscaped streets, indoor plumbing, manicured lawns, daily garbage pick-up and company-maintained houses. Despite these benefits, they dealt with a rent that required a six percent return for Mr. Pullman’s investors, and increased cost of water and gas utilities. Once economic troubles hit, George Pullman refused to lower rents despite lowering worker’s wages and work hours, causing an unforgiveable rift between workers and company officials.

Pullman has been on a road to restoration, revision, and reconstruction since the early 1970s, when an ill-begotten plan was formulated to bulldoze Pullman in order to create a “cash-cow” industrial park. Since those early days, Pullman has become a beacon of hope for the surrounding communities of Roseland and Kensington.

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The three areas suffered from white flight and realtor redlining, but many of Roseland’s current residents are looking toward a new horizon for Roseland where standards are maintained willingly, with neighbors respecting and supporting each other. In addition, these residents are part of the larger picture of the Pullman National Monument. Almost six hundred residents from the Pullman, Roseland, and Kensington neighborhoods showed up in support of Pullman’s designation as a part of the National Park Service, a number that National Parks Director Jonathan Jarvis noted during his speech and promised to take back to Washington.

Times and people may have changed, but some things do return to their origins.

In an 1880s photo of the interior of the Arcade Shopping Center that George Pullman provided for his residents, a banner can be seen hanging above shoppers: “To the people of Pullman Roseland Kensington – save time & car fare – by buying your goods at the Arcade Mercantile Company.” To this day, the three communities continue to form a common bond for their future well-being.

CJ Martello is a Pullman resident who lives on Saint Lawrence Avenue. He writes a regular column for FraNoi.com entitled “Petals from Roseland” and is the director/actor of a one-man-show on George Pullman.

PULLMAN & ROSELAND

Best Doors and Alleyways Doors of Pullman

O

nce dubbed “The World’s Most Perfect Town,” today’s Pullman still exudes an otherworldly, fairytale aura. As if transplanted from a storybook, the neighborhood’s streets are the paths of a labyrinth whose every turn unveils a new marvel; an abandoned clock tower, a garage-door mural, crumbling architectural relics. Tall, thin doors mark the nineteenth-century façades in a variety of colors and styles. Green staircases spill out from deep oak double doors, ivy wraps around a rusty red entryway, and diamond cutouts stud the window panels of an emerald door. When renovating their homes, residents are required to abide by specific requirements so that these doors, staircases, and windows continue to resemble the original model town of Pullman. The alleyways and backyards, however, are completely unregulated; a stroll between Saint Lawrence and Langley reveals that, as a result, they serve as blank canvases for residents’ and local artists’ creative output. Weathered and slightly skewed, a collection of oil paintings embellish the brick wall of one alleyway on 112th Street closer to Saint Lawrence. A miniature Zen garden complete with sand, pebbles, and a rake sits underneath the paintings, accompanied by a sign that invites passers-by to “Zen at your own risk.”

In addition to these, long stretches of gray back alley are interspersed with lively garage door murals. Originally from Los Angeles, artist Ian Lantz now resides in Pullman and has painted a number of his neighbors’ doors with vibrant designs inspired by folk art. “We all put up posters and stickers in the back alleys and on the telephone poles,” says one Pullman resident. “It’s just a Pullman thing.”

“Alleyway art parties” often organically spring up when residents congregate to look at the murals and paintings. Art is steadily sneaking onto every corner of the town; in 2014, Mathew Hoffman, of the “You are Beautiful” campaign , mounted a massive, twelve-foot-tall installation of the words “Go For It” amidst the skeleton of Pullman’s historic Market Hall at the intersection of 112th Street and Champlain. Although the installation was slated to stand for only three months, the words have been encouraging locals for over a year now. In order to draw in more artists like Lantz and Hoffman, PullmanArts is currently partnering with ArtSpace, Inc. and the Chicago Neighborhood Initiative to develop a large-scale project to convert historic structures into working and living spaces for artists.

Due to increased artist interest in relocating to Pullman, the organization hopes to create forty artist rental units as well as additional communal flex spaces for exhibitions and gatherings. The ever-changing alleys, murals, and arts spaces of Pullman prove that the neighborhood is not wedged permanently in the past; rather, the community is building from its rich architectural history to catalyze creative development.

For more information on PullmanArts, visit pullmanarts.org (Amelia Dmowska)

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LUKE WHITE

BEST FRIED HOOPS OF DOUGH

Old Fashioned Donuts Two ceiling fans spin lazily over the stark interior of Old Fashioned Donuts, sending a light breeze over the dozen or so people waiting patiently in line. The store is warm and smells comfortingly like sugar and yeast. Donuts aren’t all the place serves, but few people seem to be buying anything else. There are over a dozen varieties at any given time, but none resemble the perhaps overly creative (and certainly overpriced) options at trendier donut establishments. Though they range from cake to yeast, buttermilk to devil’s food, pineapple coconut to Bavarian, Old Fashioned Donuts, as its name suggests, is a donut purist’s dream.

If for some reason delicious fried hoops of dough aren’t your thing, give the apple fritters a shot. With a crisp, perfectly glazed exterior, large chunks of apple, and a footprint the size of a dinner plate, the apple fritters are truly fantastic, and you can even tell yourself that you got a serving of fruit in while you were at it.

Old Fashioned Donuts, 11248 S. Michigan Ave. Monday–Saturday, 6am–6pm.

(773) 995-7420 (Emma Herman)

PULLMAN & ROSELAND

BEST BOAT-GROWN VEGGIES

Cooperation Operation With vegetables growing in ski-boats and a terradome made out of bicycle wheels, the Cooperation Operation (Coop Op) may at first look more like a carnival than a vegetable garden. Colorful tires and sunflowers line the main entryway, and a vibrant bus covered entirely in scribbles greets visitors at the front. The large abandoned lot—a former SherwinWilliams paint waste processing center—now houses this fantastical community garden, which has sprung up through the efforts of community organizers. Although the soil is still laced with toxins, volunteers have built raised vegetable beds from a variety of repurposed materials, including boats slated for demolition and dock wood from Calumet fisheries.

The Coop Op-ers are hoping to heal the soil using natural mushroom remediation treatment so that they can eventually plant food on the entirety of the lot. For now, cucumbers, raspberries, grapes, beets, kale, cabbages, asparagus and more thrive in the raised beds. “Our largest focus is education,” says Liz Nerat, one of the garden’s lead organizers. “We want to provide food and knowledge to locals in an area that is still a food desert.” Schools from all over the city bring students here to learn about sustainability and gardening, and anyone who helps out with garden tasks is allowed to take some fresh veggies back home.

The Cooperation Operation, 652 E. 114th Street. Volunteer open hours Monday–Friday, 10am–3pm. (773) 609-3389. coopop.org (Amelia Dmowska)

BEST FRIED CRUSTACEANS

Hienie’s Shrimp House A comfort food staple of the South Side since 1947, Hienie’s Shrimp House still emanates a mom-andpop feel. Furnished with three four-person diner-style booths, Hienie’s is staffed minimally, with two cooks in the kitchen and one person at the counter. Hienie’s menu features fried fare that extends far beyond shrimp to fish (perch), chicken, and pizza (cheesy), all of which deserve equal attention in the restaurant’s name. Most items are priced between six and twelve dollars; many come with fries and a particularly delicious coleslaw. The shrimp works well drizzled with many toppings, including Hienie’s signature tangy hot sauce. The fish is proportionately sliced and breaded to offer a good crunch with tender texture. The fried chicken is a popular choice among those ordering, and Hienie’s storied old-style fried chicken, which takes almost half an hour to prepare, certainly calls for a return trip.

Hienie’s Shrimp House, 10359 S. Torrence Ave. Sunday–Thursday, 10am–11:30pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am– 12:30am. Average entrée $6-$12. (773) 734-8400 (Brian Choo)

BEST BACKYARD BEE HIVES

Pullman Apiary Other than an inconspicuous sign proclaiming “Local Honey” nestled in the corner of a window, Marc Korton’s house blends into the string of other historic row houses on Champlain Avenue. His backyard, however, is like none other in Pullman. Amidst soaring bushes and flowers, about two dozen bee hives adorn the perimeter of the back gate. Stacked on top of one another like colorful shoe boxes, the hives attract swarms of bees which form a thick cloud that gradually dissipates with distance. What started as two hives twenty-four years ago has turned into the Pullman Apiary of today: thirty bee hives and 1,500– 2,000 pounds of honey produced per year. According to Korton, the bees survive fairly well in the city, and his neighbors in Pullman have seemed to accept them. Even though regulations control the exterior of the houses, the backyard “isn’t anyone’s business.” With goldenrods blooming in the neighborhood, Marc expects the honey’s taste to turn stronger and more pungent as summer dwindles down. Through their local pollination, Korton’s honey truly absorbs the varied and distinctive wildflowers, scents, and flavors of Pullman.

Pullman Apiary, 11117 S. Champlain Ave. Local wildflower honey from $4/bottle. (773) 660-9541 (Amelia Dmowska)

LUKE WHITE

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South Loop COMPILED BY ALEX HARRELL AND PATRICIA MCINNIS

I

t’s a bright Saturday morning in the South Loop. The men in suits who rush off during the weekdays to Chicago’s bustling Loop have retired their formal wear and turned to the comfort of colorful Hawaiian shirts. Couples, both young and old, are out strolling through the neighborhood before the humidity settles on the city. The gentle rustle of trees mixed with chirping birds and the occasional passing car creates a serene, urban lullaby. For residents of the South Loop, the neighborhood can feel like the city’s best-kept secret.

But twenty years ago, the South Loop was little more than vacant lots. There were no towering condominiums, no trendy cafés, Soldier Field, and the museum campus.

Twenty years ago, Guy McCloskey guided members of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) to a plot of land on 14th and Wabash and said, “Well, what do you think?”

McCloskey, former vice president of SGI, was key in bringing this Nichiren Buddhism center to the South Loop.

The spot was originally the location of the third Chicago Coliseum, built in 1899 by candy manufacturer Charles F. Gunther. The coliseum hosted everything from Louis Armstrong concerts to summits for the Republican National Convention. In 1971, the coliseum was shut down for violating the city’s fire code. A decade later, it was demolished.

In 1994 McCloskey decided to move the SGI center to the former coliseum site to make the center more accessible for the many members traveling from opposite ends of the city. It would be a fair meeting point for all Chicagoans, as compared to the center’s former location on North Foster Avenue.

One year later, the construction for the center was complete. McCloskey says that the stigma associated with anything south of the Loop was a difficult barrier to get past. “When we first moved here, some people said they wouldn’t ever come again,” McCloskey said. “But they do now.”

SGI members were not the only people for whom the South Loop became a destination. Condo buildings have sprung up on nearly every block. Old business buildings, like Chess Records, have since been rehabbed into vintage loft-style apartments. The new Fred Anderson dog park and other playgrounds provide outdoor fun. Jones College Prep High School and Columbia College Chicago bring a diverse mix of young people to the community.

McCloskey stepped down as vice president of SGI in 2009. McCloskey and his wife live on 18th and Michigan, where they have breathtaking views of the neighborhood and Chicago’s scenic skyline.

“During the summertime,” McCloskey said with a smile, “the Navy Pier fireworks are set off right at our eye level. We love it.” (Patricia McInnis)

ALEX HARRELL

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SOUTH LOOP

Best Born-again Brewery Baderbräu Brewing Company ALEX HARRELL

BEST BIKE SHOP

On The Route Bicycles Fun fact: On the Route is perfectly positioned on Printers Row’s nationally ranked number one bike lane, Dearborn Avenue. They’re on the route! (Get it?) Fittingly, the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) named the Sloop branch of the local chain America’s Best Bike Shop in 2014. With the kickass slogan “pump pedals not gas” and a female owner who organizes weekly women-only rides, it’s no surprise the shop is always packed. But don’t worry, their top-notch mechanics guarantee to tune up any type of bicycle within forty-eight hours. Even mopeds!

Don’t forget to try and sneak a peek at the covert chain brow Sprockometer. Can’t get enough of ‘em? Also Check out their donation to the historic installation “The Art of the Bicycle” at the Museum of Science and Industry.

On the Route Bicycles, 728 S. Dearborn Street. Monday–Thursday, 11am–8pm; Friday, 11am–7pm; Saturday–Sunday, 11am–5pm.

(312) 588-1050. ontheroute.com (Alex Harrell)

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T

he beer you’re drinking isn’t very good, and you could do a lot better. At least, that’s what Rob Sama thinks. In recent years, fond memories of drinking Baderbräu during his undergrad days at the University of Chicago and a nostalgia for home brewing have led Sama to revive Baderbräu, Chicago’s original craft beer.

The original Baderbräu (Bay-der-brow) was brewed in 1989 when former Chicago cop Ken Pavichevich launched Pavichevich Brewing Company in Elmhurst, IL with Baderbräu as the flagship beer. “He had named the beer after his best friend in childhood, Franz Baderbräu, presumably because his own name was too long,” Sama said.

Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt in 1997. Goose Island took over the Czechstyle Pilsner, winning it the silver medal at the American Beer Festival in 1998 before ditching the brew in the early 2000s.

In 2010, after ruminating on what ever happened to his old drink of choice, Sama looked into restoring Baderbräu. After digging around online, he was able to secure the trademark and domain name for his beloved beer. “I didn’t know the name of the brew-master who would have the recipe,” he said. “I just Googled until I found a condolence page for Michael Jackson— the beer critic, not the singer,” he joked. The original brewmaster, Douglas Babcook, had signed the deceased’s guestbook with a contact email address.

Sama eagerly emailed Babcook, inquiring if he was affiliated with Baderbräu, and if he happened to still have the original formula. Babcook responded with a one-word email: Yes. “The brand had a special place in his heart, so he got me the recipe and knew someone who had a copy of the yeast strain they used and we put it all back together,” he said.

Although the Motor Row brewery doesn’t look like much just yet, the 25,000 square foot space will include a large taproom on the second floor and is set to open in late fall 2015. Instead of having a kitchen like Revolution or Lagunitas, Baderbräu will have an array of handpicked food trucks waiting out in front of the establishment.

Four new beers will be available when the brewery opens: the Naked Selfie, a Black India Pale Ale dry hopped with Australian Ella hops; Oktoberfest, the 2013 Lisle Ale Fest People’s Choice Winner; Red Velvet, a deliciously dark malt bomb; and the Lawnmower Lager, a citrus India Pale Lager. Oh, and the brewery’s namesake Baderbräu will be available, too.

“Baderbräu was the beer we used to drink in college; it had a larger than life impact on us,” Sama said. “I still have to pinch myself: I own Baderbräu.”

Baderbräu, 2515 S. Wabash Ave. Set to open fall 2015. (815) 263-1309. baderbrau.com (Alex Harrell)

SOUTH LOOP

ALEX HARRELL

BEST BEACH TO HIDE FROM TOURISTS BEST MUSEUM DATE DESTINATION

Museum of Contemporary Photography What’s more romantic than strolling down Michigan Avenue before being bombarded with politically charged photography depicting isolated North Korea? Let the “Hermit Kingdom” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography captivate you for an hour or two before grabbing a bite at Little Branch Café. “North Korean Perspectives” will be on exhibit through October 4th. The other painstakingly curated collections—with motifs such as growing up poor and evangelical, the gentrification of Chicago, and what people all over America hoard—will give you two plenty of fodder for pillow talk. If you really want to impress your date, make an appointment on the museum’s website to see the permanent collection featuring works by legendary artists such as Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, and Barbara Crane. Oh, did I mention it’s free?

Museum of Contemporary Photography, 600 S. Michigan Ave. Monday–Saturday, 10am–5pm; Sunday, 12pm–5pm. (312) 663-5554. mocp.org (Alex Harrell)

BEST CAFÉ IN A DRY CLEANER

Little Branch Café It’s not every day you walk through a dry cleaner to get your morning coffee. Located on 13th Street in the base of Tower Residences, Little Branch Café is not obviously marked on the outside and easy to miss. This counter-order coffee spot and restaurant has a menu that ranges from breakfast and smoothies to dinner fare, complimented by a bar with painted logs for stools. Located within walking distance of Museum Campus, Little Branch Café offers a strategic brunch spot to fuel up for a day of exploring. Those needing a sugar rush to start their day will find that the mascarpone-stuffed French toast fits the bill. The cheese is trapped between slices of brioche weighed down with blueberry compote, then encircled by a moat of vanilla bean cream. Brunch is served until 3pm on weekends, so there’s plenty of time to get your fix.

Little Branch Café, 1251 S. Prairie Ave. Monday–Tuesday, 7am–8pm; Wednesday–Friday, 7am–9pm; Saturday, 8am–8pm; Sunday, 8am–6pm. (312) 360-0101 (Caitlin Phillips)

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12th Street Beach Looking to beat the heat and the suburbanites for a truly relaxing day at the beach? Bike over to Museum Campus and catch the best views of Chicago before finding the secluded 12th Street Beach behind Northerly Island. Curved around thick cement stairs, it’s a peculiar place for a beach but a beautiful reminder of Chicago’s classic City vs. Nature dichotomy.

Cannonball into Lake Michigan behind the Adler Planetarium after a revitalizing rainstorm when the water is wavy and deep. Listen to performers sound-check at the FirstMerit Bank Pavilion while snacking on Chicago-style hot dogs from the Mexican beach house, Del Campo. Come early enough on warmer days to catch the sunrise seemingly burst out of the water. Bundle up on chilly winter evenings to watch ice caps build and break.

12th Street Beach, 1200 S. Linn White Dr. Monday–Sunday, 11am–7pm.

(773) 363-2225. cpdbeaches.com/beaches/12th-street-beach (Alex Harrell)

BEST BRUNCH + BEER FOR YOUR BUCK

The Spoke & Bird The Prairie District hides the Sloop’s best-kept secret, The Spoke and Bird: A quiet, astonishingly affordable café filled with perfectly portioned meals and a serene beer garden. With South Loop Brewing’s Lavender Saison on tap, matcha shots, and an enticing array of organic ales and juices, you can’t go wrong. The steampunk, minimalistic décor will give you that extra boost to finish your term paper, head off to work with a smile, or at least make the daily to-do list. (If it doesn’t, go for the cortado.) Munch on bacon cheddar biscuits and citrus bread pudding ethically sourced from one of thirty different farm partners around the Midwest. Sneak off to 18th and Indiana to escape the hustle and bustle of your 9-5 downtown office job for a relaxing lunch break. Whether you’re grabbing some farm-to-table roasted pork, an Out of the Loop draft, or an iced macchiato, you’ll soak in the soothing sounds of a quieter city.

The Spoke & Bird, 205 E. 18th Street. Monday–Sunday, 7am–8pm. Average entrée $7-$13. (929) 263-2473. spokeandbird.com (Alex Harrell)

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South Shore COMPILED BY MAHA AHMED

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hen Benyamin Macabee, owner of the only Black-owned art space in Chicago between Hyde Park and the Indiana state line, talks of South Shore, there is a pride in his eyes that doesn’t falter, a steadfastness that mirrors South Shore’s own spirit. “The work I’m doing, the work we’re all doing here, is the work of the universe.” Here, between 67th and 83rd Street, the road to community development is music-, art-, food-, and soul-filled, as evidenced by its unusual smorgasbord of claims to fame: the largest group of Black sailors in the country, a comic book collective called Team Visual X, soulful vegan, vegetarian, Chinese, Mexican joints, a huge public golf course, public and private beaches, weekly jazz concerts and musical jam sessions, are all located in the neighborhood.

JULIET ELDRED

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South Shore, says Macabee, cannot be talked about without mentioning its past, and by extension its present and future: “It’s always changing, but always staying the same.” In light of South Shore’s cheap lakeside real estate, public murals, and several locally-owned stores, many residents see the ongoing Lakeside Development as a signifier that the rest of the city is starting to notice what the neighborhood’s residents have known and worked for as long as they’ve lived here: that South Shore is a robust hub away from the hubbub of the Loop, with all of the same amenities and for a reasonable price.

But this did not come about and does not continue to exist without its share of tumult. An example, The South Shore Cultural Center, with its large expanse of golf course and looming stucco walls, has a history of racism and exclusion—from its opening in 1905 until 1967, the country-like getaway, and the area as an implicit extension, was whites-only. Yet despite the white flight that ensued post-integration, the Cultural Center’s foundational spirit of escape from city life has stayed with the community even now. And it is the people of South Shore, the individuals who know what it is to rebuild and to replenish, the Chef Saras and Chief Nomos, the Black sailors and comic book artists and community center volunteers that make the neighborhood into what Macabee calls “a cocoon”—getting ready to transform into the best its ever been.

Macabee says, “My art gallery is less about me than it is about me.” This is what he meant with the “work of the universe” that South Shore residents are doing: putting work into the community, into the neighborhood kids, into their art, into their health, into their safety, and not expecting any personal payoff. Highlighted here are places, some weird, some old, some fairly young, doing just that. (Maha Ahmed)

BEST MYSTERY MEAT

Carl’s Red Hots Carl’s Red Hots isn’t about flashy details. It isn’t about a new chef, it isn’t a twelve dollar sandwich, and it isn’t a salad. This is the working man’s food. Since 1955, the fast food joint has provided simple fare— hot dogs, polishs, burgers, tamales, and soda, and it’s exactly what you want out of fast food: cheap, fast, and riding the line between rich and more grease than food. While it’s difficult to go wrong with anything on the menu, the polish, and gyros are particularly good (fries on the side, of course). These are filling and hearty, and don’t leave too much grease on your hands afterwards (“too much” here is defined loosely).

Chances are you’ll find yourself next to either a construction worker or parents bringing kids for an after school snack.

Carl’s Red Hots, 1957 E. 83rd Street. Daily, 11am–10pm. Average entrée $6–$7. (773) 721-8300. (Clyde Schwab)

LUKE WHITE

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Best FeedbackDriven Dining Experience Chef Sara’s Café

“I

don’t like turning my back on my food,” says Sara Phillips, owner of Chef Sara’s Café. Right off of South Shore’s Metra rail stop, on one of the area’s commercial arteries, the café uses the same bright blue awning that holds the signage of every business on the 7200 block of Exchange Avenue. Entirely on hotplates, grills, and Panini makers—no pots, no ovens, microwave status unclear— Phillips and her small but passionate crew cook salmon burgers and veggie paninis from a menu that was solidified barely a month ago.

Opened in 2012, the food offerings of Chef Sara’s have shifted almost daily based off of customer feedback and requests, but one thing has remained the same: Phillips strives to provide the freshest food possible everyday, what she calls an alternative to the many “grease spoons” around the neighborhood. This emphasis on fresh food stems from her 1950s childhood. “As a little girl, my mother put a food pyramid on the refrigerator,” says Phillips. “She told us that if we didn’t make our plates look like that food pyramid, we had to go back and make it look like it.”

Yet unlike most people opening and working at these fresh food coffee joints, who we think of as young first-timers, Phillips opened Chef Sara’s post-retirement, after thirty-two years of traveling around Europe as an airline attendant. But first, Philips went to culinary school at the Art Institute, where she gained the skills to sell the same foods in a one-person delivery and catering service.

“I was selling out of my car, out of my truck,” says Phillips of the time after she retired from the airline industry and before she opened the café. “I realized that the only way to get clients is to go out and knock on people’s doors.”

It is this same sense of direct customer engagement that has carried over to her business model for the café, a philosophy immediately apparent when one enters its tiny premises. I was asked to move from my table beneath the counter to one closer to the window by a staff member so that he could see my reaction to the food: “People will lie when you just ask how the food is, but if I see your face, I’ll know.”

The experience of eating at Chef Sara’s is almost like that of eating at a newly opened café; Phillips herself keeps her eyes glued to every process of food production, the group of younger cooks checks in with her along the way, and chefs clarify with customers sitting at tables from behind the counter about the specifics of their orders. I later learned that this keen control exists because Phillips takes interns from the culinary arts school Le Cordeon Bleu, but also because of her own attachment to her food. “I have to see my product going across the counter,” she says. “I take a lot of pride in my food. People eat with their eyes, I know I eat with my eyes, and I want the plate to look good.”

This almost garish but obviously genuine one-on-one-ness is ultimately what makes Chef Sara’s completely worth the visit. The salmon burger, the muffins, the coffee that comes in several different “flavors” make the trip to this self-described “internet café” worth it, but the charm driven by Phillip’s passion for food and food education has cultivated an atmosphere that owner, community, and customers alike cherish.

Chef Sara’s Cafe, 7201 S. Exchange Avenue. Tuesday-Friday, 7am-4pm; Saturday, 10am-3pm; Closed Sunday and Monday. Average entrée $7.99. (773)359-4637. chefsarascafe.com (Maha Ahmed)

SOUTH SHORE

BEST DEEP DIG

The Quarry Some buildings announce themselves powerfully and brightly, making clear their importance to the community with a commanding exterior.

“You can’t miss it” is the phrase often associated with these centers.

The Quarry is not this type of place. True to its name, one can only really find The Quarry after a little digging. However, that understated ambience hasn’t stopped wife-husband duo Suzanne and Ernest Armstrong from turning the area into a vibrant cultural center for the South Shore community, offering reliably high-quality entertainment and chances to mingle with neighbors. While Mo Better is the most wellknown event, with its virtuoso performers often drawing an audience far beyond South Shore, the venue’s offerings remain varied: a farmer’s market fills the hall on Saturday afternoons, church is held in the same space on Sundays, and even the odd yoga class and community play find their way to The Quarry. Of course, with success like this after only a year in business, The Quarry is well en route to becoming a neighborhood essential, and the Armstrongs’ ambitions for its potential have only grown, with plans to start a rooftop garden over the next year.

The Quarry, 2423 E. 75th Street. (312) 259-1143. (Austin Brown)

LUKE WHITE

BEST MORINGA BEST MULTI-SPECIES FASHION

Divas-N-Dogs Dogs don’t seem to mind walking around naked all the time, but who knows? They may be jealous of the world of human fashion. We’ll probably never know for sure one way or the other, but until then, South Shore resident Lona Reiling thinks puppies should get to express themselves too. Her fashion boutique, which has been open since 2013, caters to fashionistas of both species, with plenty of outfits that allow owners and their pets to match. Human divas will find lots to love in shoes and purses; dogs of all sizes will find the trendiest leashes available. Lily, a rescue Chihuahua who co-owns the store with Lona, is often in-house to barter with customers.

Divas-N-Dogs, 7142 S. Exchange Ave. Wednesday, 12:30pm–6pm; Thursday– Saturday, 12pm–7pm; Closed Sunday–Tuesday; Other times available by appointment. (773) 349-2334. divasndogs.com (Jake Bittle)

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Chief Nomo’s Oasis Walking into Chief Nomo’s Oasis is, quite literally, walking into a stockyard of West African furniture, lawn decor, and clothing. A hidden hub of West African cultures on 83rd Street, the building, owned by Chief Nomo himself since 2002, houses three businesses: Angborki Doe Designs (the official source and name of the aforementioned stockyard), a public accounting firm, and an alkaline water and moringa service, in which he provides healing and health services using the super-tree’s various parts. Nomo and his wife had been operating these different businesses out of a downtown office space for anywhere from twenty-five years in the case of the design store, to forty years prior in the case of the accounting firm. The Oasis also serves as a gathering place for much of the West African and Black community in South Shore, hosting events such as Afro-Feast, Afro-centric weddings, and even a seasonal city-run South Shore farmer’s market. A visit to the Oasis also comes with free petting and play with resident store-dog Kenya. Come for the moringa seeds and West African retail, stay for the transliteration of your name in Ashanti Twi, leave with a full heart, fuller mind, and alkaline-filled body.

Chief Nomo’s Oasis, 2650 E. 83rd Street. Monday–Saturday, 10am–7pm. (773) 340-8421.

(Maha Ahmed)

SOUTH SHORE

Jackson Park Highlands

T

he Jackson Park Highlands district, located just south of the Jackson Park golf course and bounded by Jeffery Boulevard to the east, Cregier Avenue to the west, and 71st Street to the south, contains some of the most beautiful homes in Chicago. Commissioned at the turn of the century and declared a Historic District in 1989, the neighborhood’s grandiose and stately mansions (some over one hundred years old) lie along tree-lined boulevards, which contain what were considered to be groundbreaking architectural innovations at the time of construction—large front yard setbacks, fifty-foot lot widths, underground utilities, and no alleys. Called home by notable residents as diverse as nuclear scientist Enrico Fermi, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and musician Bo Diddley, the Jackson Park Highlands is a wonderful district to visit on a sunny afternoon, and for marvelling at gorgeous architecture.

Jackson Park Highlands, 67th Street to 71st Street, Cregier Ave to Jeffery Blvd.

(Juliet Eldred)

Best Manmade Bike Ride Destination

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIET ELDRED

University Village/ Little Italy

COMPILED BY EMILY LIPSTEIN

LUKE WHITE

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o matter what part of the city you’re coming from, getting to University Village/Little Italy isn’t difficult. Aside from the Pink and Blue line stops at UIC and the Medical District, more than eight bus routes snake through the neighborhood. While taking the 8 north up Halsted is the easiest way to bisect the neighborhood, you get an impromptu lesson in Chicago history if you take an east-west route. Driving west brings passengers near the Jane Addams Hull House, the site of the former ABLA homes, and the Original Al’s Italian Beef.

When the University of Illinois at Chicago was built in the 1960s, home and business owners in Little Italy were pushed out of the neighborhood to make way for UIC’s 100-acre campus. Many residents and community activists opposed the construction of the university, forming a rift between the two halves of the neighborhood once the university was completed. The “new” neighborhood’s community organization—the University Village/Little Italy Association—wasn’t established until 1981, over twenty years after the plans for constructing UIC were finalized.

In recent years, the community has struck a balance between its past and present. Stores and restaurants that you’d be hard pressed to find here twenty years ago—like a Mexican street food joint and a street-art-inspired clothing store—are thriving. The city’s oldest firehouse on Roosevelt Road has been repurposed as a community art space. Residents who remember the old

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days are resilient: they adapt their traditions to the needs of a neighborhood that bustles with students and residents from diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds. But none of these changes—even the addition of a Papa John’s on Taylor—take away from the authenticity of Little Italy.

This August, the ninth annual Chicago Festa Italiana was held on Taylor Street between Ashland and Racine. Restaurants and other neighborhood vendors set up booths, performance stages showcased local talent, and Joey Chestnut wannabes competed in meatball eating contests. For those three days, both lifelong residents and newcomers danced, ate, and sang together, just a few weeks before the Class of 2019 was set to arrive on campus at UIC. The absence of an Italian grocery on every corner does not mean that the spirit of community of the old Little Italy is gone. Together, as University Village and Little Italy, that spirit and drive continues, stronger than ever before. (Emily Lipstein)

Sweet Maple Cafe

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Best Breakfast With Heart and Soul

hen you live in an urban center like Chicago, where gastropub-loving foodies thrive, it sometimes seems easier to find food from of a chemist’s lab than from a kitchen.

If you’re looking for food with a little more heart and soul, look no further than Sweet Maple Cafe.

Walking inside whisks you back in time to a 1970s Southern kitchen, with paint peeling off the mustard colored walls, rust covering the iron sconces, and brick red tablecloths, topped by a slim vase of fresh lilies. Canvas prints of old-time photographs hang around the room.

Included among the classic breakfast options like the Sweet Maple Special—two eggs any style, with a side of bacon or country sausage, home fries or grits, and your choice of biscuit or toast— are items with a little more flair, like Chorrisimo Tacos or Fish-NEggs. The specials board screams “Catfish!” without any other details, implying that it is so regularly served and well loved that it needs no further explanation.

Amidst hollers from the kitchen, the servers hustle to bring plates of food to the dining area. No one waits more than a minute for a refill, and food arrives within ten minutes of placing your order.

From the food, to the feel, to the look, Sweet Maple Café is a home away from home for every Chicagoan.

Sweet Maple Cafe, 1339 W. Taylor Street. Open every day, 7am–2pm.

Breakfast all day, lunch 11:30am–2pm. (312) 243-8908. sweetmaplecafe.com (Megan Koehnen)

BEST COMEBACK

Scafuri Bakery Scafuri Bakery has been open since 2013 or 1904, depending on whom you ask. While the business hasn’t been in the same building the whole time (it moved to this spot on Taylor Street in the 1930s), there are over a hundred years of history within its walls and in every cookie, doughnut, and cannoli it sells. Opened in 1904 by Luigi Scafuri and run by his daughter Annette after his death in 1955, the bakery closed when Annette turned 90 in 2007. It reopened in 2013, driven by Annette’s great-grandniece Michelle and great-granddaughter Kelly. Photos of the family adorn the walls of the bakery, which now features a café menu and espresso bar. Some of the old recipes are still used, but nobody sings Italian opera to the dough as Kelly’s great-great-grandfather did. “I really wanted to play up the tradition and cater to it, while, at the same time, also focus on the current neighborhood,” Kelly explained. This summer, as part of Kelly’s goal to create a neighborhood space, the bakery held an after-hours art event with music, poetry, and performances. She believes that it’s the “marriage of the old and the new” that makes Scafuri work. She considers the new recipes they’ve added to the menu successful, but she admits, “It’s always the best compliment when someone says, ‘Oh, this tastes like my grandma’s cookie.’ It’s like ‘All right, we’re doing it right!’ ” Scafuri Bakery, 1337 W. Taylor Street, Tuesday-Sunday, 7am–4pm. Free Wi-Fi. (312) 773-8881. scafuribakery.com (Emily Lipstein)

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LUKE WHITE

BEST ICE

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE & LITTLE ITALY

Mario’s Italian Ice Now in its sixty-first consecutive summer of operation on Taylor Street, Mario’s Italian Ice (named for its founder Mario DiPaolo) is a child’s wildest business dreams come true: a successful walk-up lemonade stand. Tourists, locals, and students from nearby St. Ignatius hang around the stand at all hours of the day, scarfing down Italian ice in flavors that range from pomegranate (undeniably a standout) to chocolate (more of an acquired taste). Most flavors come with slices of real lemon, too, which help to temper the artificial sweetener. Come for the orders shouted in unbelievable accents, stay for the across-the-street view of “Honorary Original Al’s #1 Italian Beef Boulevard,” which by all appearances is a parking lot for said Al’s, where, coincidentally, you can buy huge bags of real ice for only a dollar.

Mario’s Italian Ice, 1068 W. Taylor Street. Open every day 10am–12pm, May–September.

More info available on Facebook and Yelp. (Jake Bittle) LUKE WHITE

BEST PRICE PER POUND

Market Fresh Books Market Fresh Books is a relatively new addition to the neighborhood. This used bookstore operates on an unusual pricing model, selling books for a little more than five dollars per pound. Buy backs supply the store’s selection, which explains its eclectic and nostalgic overtones; you can find anything that’s ever been on Oprah’s Book Club list in (at least) triplicate. There are nearly three shelves dedicated to the “For Dummies” series and even more for the once popular Twilight Saga. Textbooks and review guides for every subject are stacked on shelves almost as high as the ceiling, allowing the students of University Village and the nearby Medical District to purchase their course materials at a steep discount. There’s nearly every edition of a Shakespeare play one could hope for, and an entirely separate back room for all of the books you’d forgotten you read as a child. But the magic of the store does not stop with its collection of books: used DVDs are three dollars per disc, CDs of every genre (including one by forgotten American Idol Season Two winner Ruben Studdard) are stacked on low shelves by the front, and there’s enough sheet music to turn anyone into a virtuoso. While the collection of books at Market Fresh is not immense, adequate time should be devoted to running your fingers along the spines of long-forgotten favorites.

Market Fresh Books, 1076 W. Taylor Street. Open every day, noon–6pm. marketfreshbooks.com (Emily Lipstein)

BEST SANDWICH (EVER)

LUKE WHITE

Conte Di Savoia Have you ever fallen in love with a sandwich? Conte di Savoia is the perfect place to do just that. Since 1948, it has served the neighborhood well as an all-in-one Italian food wonderland: part lunch spot, part caterer, part specialty grocer. Though the vast selection of Italian meats, wines, and frozen foods (try the pesto gnocchi) is more than enough to satisfy, the real star of Conte di Savoia is the good old classic Italian sandwich. You’ve got your salami, capicola, and ham with provolone, lettuce, tomato, and oil and vinegar on Italian bread. There’s nothing missing from this sandwich; the bread-to-meat ratio is perfect. And best of all, it only costs five dollars.

Conte di Savoia sells other classic sandwiches and salads, too, but if you could only order one type of sandwich for the rest of your life, you’d better make it the Italian.

Conte di Savoia, 1438 W. Taylor Street. Monday–Friday, 9am–7pm; Saturday, 9am–6pm; Sunday 9am–4pm. (312) 666-3471. contedisavoia.com (Emily Lipstein)

LUKE WHITE

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Woodlawn & Washington Park COMPILED BY EMILIANO BURR DI MAURO

JULIET ELDRED

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t is no secret that Washington Park and Woodlawn have seen better days. Economic depression and consistently declining populations since the 1970s have led to collective downturn. Currently, the neighborhoods are caught in the crossroads of the lingering memory of a thriving local culture and middle class and the issue of how exactly revival can be effectively stoked. Two newly fashioned courses point to answers: one fostered by communal organizations of both neighborhoods, and the other led by the University of Chicago.

For Naomi Davis, founder of the West Woodlawn organization Blacks in Green (BIG), the key to revival is a systematic restructuring, one headed by principles of self-sustainability. Davis started BIG back in 2007, after having arrived at “a state of inconsolable despair about the condition of the community,” she said. Her realization that stable middle-class black communities had virtually disappeared from Chicago fueled her research, eventually leading to her understanding that there was a deeply rooted connection between healthy economic states and the climate crisis.

Since then, Davis has created eight principles of green community building and begun to make them reality with her work on the West Woodlawn Botanic Gardens and Village Farm Initiative as well as a number of other ongoing projects. “It’s designed as an opportunity for neighbors to engage together as stewards of the land, collaborating on how gorgeous and green the infrastructure of our walkable village can be,” she said. Creating community gardens, growing food, and planting trees: all this is just a small portion of what Davis envisions as an entirely self-sustaining ecological economy where households can be fed, people can be trained, and jobs and businesses can be created.

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Hoping communal acknowledgment can turn into accountability on the part of every resident, Davis thinks her principles of sustainability can be used as a template for any community in the country. “Only a whole-system solution can transform a whole-system problem,” she said.

This past spring, it was announced that the Obama Presidential Center would be constructed at one of the two sites proposed by the UofC, in either Washington Park or Jackson Park. Many residents have criticized the center as another opportunity for big business investors to snatch up property and profit greatly, making the center largely useless to its future neighbors. While Davis acknowledges that this wariness is warranted, she maintains that it all depends how this opportunity is used and is hopeful that the Center can serve residents first. “We have the opportunity to not only avoid displacing the black middle class from these communities, but shine a beacon for other cities about how the redevelopment of the black community can be brilliant, innovative, vibrant, and wealth-building.”

Davis gives a compelling case for what an individual is capable of accomplishing in one community, block by block, with the help of community organizers and everyday neighbors alike. Motivated by the urgency of a human-made global crisis and loyalty to one’s place in history and the natural world, BIG helps each individual become an agent of change and sustainability—giving the opportunity for a higher standard of living for all those who may seek it and are willing to work to attain it.

(Emiliano Burr di Mauro)

Best Home Cooking Away From Home Ms. Lee’s Good Food

J

ust two blocks from the Green Line stop sits a small, quiet canteen of colossal comfort-food proportions. Ms. Lee’s Good Food, marked only by a tricolor neon sign, has supplied Washington Park with home cooking for the past seventeen years. Lee Hogan’s food, and Hogan herself, are forces well known in and outside the neighborhood. On any given day, the Mississippi native and thirty-year Chicagoan can be found stirring, chopping, and cooking while saying hello to any new or familiar face that comes through the door. She also always leaves time to tell you that her herbal chicken with dressing and bread pudding is the best around.

Whether patrons eat her food at work, at home, or just sitting on the stoop, Ms. Lee’s undeniably brings people back to their childhood kitchen and gives their grandmas a run for their money. Her food may fall under many categories of cuisine, but Ms. Lee resists the term “soul food,” preferring “comfort food” because, she says, it’s not about what kind of food it is or what flavors are involved, but what the food can do for those who consume it. And whether it’s providing an unlikely tinge of nostalgia or the quick satisfaction of intense hunger, her food can do quite a bit.

That being said, the flavors and aromas are of the upmost importance, and Hogan has perfected her concoctions for the past two decades after learning a majority of them from her mother and grandmother. Cooking has been far more than a profession for Ms. Lee, who says that it has always been a standard in her life, and something therapeutic for her. Through her food, she passes on that restorative feeling to each customer who walks through her doors.

Whatever time or space Hogan brings you back to, her restaurant is rooted in 2015, in Washington Park. Ms. Lee has seen her neighborhood slowly transform, and she believes that relief for the depressed landscape of businesses and residents in the neighborhood can only be achieved through community interconnectedness of all groups in the surrounding area. She is also a big proponent of the UofC-led Obama Presidential Center project, and believes it could bring positive change to both Woodlawn and Washington Park. As for how else positive change might be achieved, bringing people together with food and a dependable, friendly face is a good way to start.

Ms. Lee’s Good Food, 203 E. Garfield Blvd. Tuesday–Sunday, 11–8pm; closed Mondays. Entrées $11-$15. (773) 752-5253 (Emiliano Burr di Mauro)

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BEST JAM SESSION

Coltrane Conservatory for the Arts You may hear drumbeats—or, if you’re lucky, the smooth riffs of an improvising pianist or saxophonist—slip out from under the glass-paneled door of Coltrane Conservatory of the Arts and onto the 6300 block of Cottage Grove. Situated under the historic Woodlawn Ballroom, where some of the jazz greats of the twentieth century came to play, Coltrane Conservatory has offered lessons for the last two years both to those whose experience is limited to the air guitar and those who can explain the difference between a D-flat minor chord and a D major seventh in their sleep. The man behind the Conservatory is Joe Pace III, former Navy sailor, later CPS teacher, and avid jazz musician. He’s quick to remind visitors that the other instructors, volunteers, are the backbone of the Conservatory, but Pace himself, calm and attentive, can be found in the studio around the clock. If he’s not teaching a percussion student, he’s brainstorming how he can expand the Conservatory’s tutoring program and its in-the-works recording studio, as well as what sort of community events the Conservatory might host (in the past, these have included jazz jam sessions, poetry readings, and events for Black History Month). Don’t be discouraged by Coltrane Conservatory’s sparse online presence: stop by and pull up one of the many folding chairs. Whether it’s an evening jam session or an early afternoon drum lesson, you’re bound to hear something pleasing to the ears.

Coltrane Conservatory for the Arts, 6353 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Monday-Friday, 9-5pm; Saturday, 10am–4pm; closed Sundays. $15/hr for saxophone and guitar, $12.50/hr otherwise. Free drum program on Sundays with enrollment fee (negotiable). (773) 891-1875. coltraneconservatoryeducation.org (Emeline Posner)

BEST PLACE TO GET YOUR GROOVE ON

Stepping Lessons at the Grand Ballroom If you have been meaning to learn some smooth dance moves and are down to get down on a Tuesday for just three dollars, check out the Chicago-style Steppin’ Lessons at the Grand Ballroom. Although the start time is advertised as 7pm, plan to get there a little before then to be sure not to miss a moment of instruction.

Showing up a bit early to chat can’t hurt either: any case of nerves you might have will be eased, as you’re sure to make a few new friends. Bobby, one of “The Real Groove Masters,” instructs the weekly lessons for the group of newcomers or “newnew”; the dance organizers decline to use the term “beginners” because they believe everyone is, or can be, on the same level of expertise—some just happened to start stepping earlier than others. Within an hour, Bobby will make sure you’re doing an eight count and spinning around while offering gems of advice like, “If you’re watching your feet, you’re telling yourself you can’t do it.” Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can advance from learning with the “new” group to dancing with the vets. Come for the lessons, but make sure to stay for the cash bar and free dancing. While the event can feel like a family affair (one attendee whom I met had two aunties and her parents present), you’re bound to feel at home by the end. As another stepper said to me, “It’s like family here, baby.”

The Grand Ballroom, 6351 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Tuesdays, 7–8:30 pm. $3 entry fee, free dancing afterwards. (888) 498-0884. grandballroomchicago.com (Jennifer Hwang)

WOODLAWN & WASHINGTON PARK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIET ELDRED

Best Really Big Park Jackson Park

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panning over five hundred acres and stretching from Stony Island to the lakefront, Jackson Park was once the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Since then, the park has evolved into its present day collection of harbors, trails, forests, beaches, and lagoons.

Perhaps its sheer size is the reason why most of the area is curiously unknown to many, even those from the surrounding community. This unassuming landscape combines a number of unexpected opportunities for recreation, leisure, and above all else, exploration—for anybody willing to travel by foot, bike, or perhaps even boat!

Jackson Park, 6401 S. Stony Island Ave. Park hours: Monday–Sunday, 6am–11pm; fieldhouse hours: Monday– Saturday, 9am–10pm, closed Sunday. (773) 256-0903. chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/jackson-park (Emiliano Burr di Mauro)

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WOODLAWN & WASHINGTON PARK

BEST ISLAND CUISINE AND MORE BEST SEMI-FAMOUS CHURCH CHOIR

Life Center Church of God in Christ In both Woodlawn and Washington Park, many neighborhood churches serve as fixtures of faith and neighborhood involvement while preserving their lengthy histories. Nestled in the widespread system of these close-knit congregations is the Life Center Church of God in Christ, where the voice of Pastor T. L. Barrett Jr. contributes to the conscience of the community. Barrett has been a pastor for over forty years, and in those four decades he has been a champion of the need for social responsibility and economic development, particularly within Washington Park. He bolsters his church’s philosophies through his sermons and the heavenly voices of his choir: in 1971, Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir self-released an album that went on to commercial success. Whether for the sights, the celestial sounds, the history of the church, or the sermon, the Life Center Church is certainly worth a visit.

Life Center Church of God in Christ, 5500 S. Indiana Ave. Sunday Service at 10:30am. Free and open to the public. (773) 288-1700. lifecentercogic.org (Emiliano Burr di Mauro)

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Jamaican Jerk Spice At Jamaican Jerk Spice—where the name itself acts as a pretty promising checklist for the cuisine—there are no unnecessary gimmicks, but definitely a few surprises.

Upon entering the small dining area, it is evident that there is far more in store than the basic associations with those three little words. One is confronted with large menu boards covered with items familiar and beyond: the offerings, which include everything from jerk chicken and catfish to curry goat and ox tail, are (for the most part) recognizable to Caribbean cuisine veterans and enticing to newcomers to island fare. The food doesn’t concern itself with any sort of unnecessary devices, and the humble atmosphere does not rely on hackneyed decor. You may have to wait a bit, but relax, man: relish the fact that you’re about to enjoy a meal that was made using every minute you waited.

Jamaican Jerk Spice, 6500 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Monday–Thursday, 11am-9pm; Friday– Saturday, 11am–10pm; Sunday, 12pm-8:30pm. Entrées $10-$15. (773) 955-4333. jamaicanjerkspicechicago.net (Emiliano Burr di Mauro)

BULLETIN

STAGE AND SCREEN MUSIC

REV Up: Professional Development for Supporting Youth Activism University of Illinois Chicago ETMSW Building, 1040 W. Harrison Street, room 3427. September 25–27, 9am–5pm. $15–$300. chicagofreedomschool.org/rev-up One of the nation’s only weekends of networking and training for youth workers, REV Up is the Chicago Freedom School’s institute created to support and develop youth activism. REV Up participants attend workshops on topics like Understanding Harm Reduction and Working with LGBTQ Youth. (Zach Taylor)

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus on Global Poverty Charles M. Harper Center, 5807 S. Woodlawn Ave., room 104. Friday, September 25, 11:45am–1pm. Free. (773) 8344671 politics.uchicago.edu In 2006, economist Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in microfinance, helping to provide loans for poor entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Now, he comes to Chicago to discuss solutions to poverty across the globe. (Hafsa Razi)

Englewood Seniors Empowerment Summit US Bank, 815 W. 63rd Street, fourth floor. Saturday, September 26, 9am–1pm. Free. (773) 316-5738.

In this second annual summit, the Southwest Federation Block Clubs of Greater Englewood shines the spotlight on area seniors and invites them to learn more about decision-making on housing, health, and technology, and about becoming more active in the community. (Mari Cohen)

Systemic Injustice: The Crushing Impact of America’s Criminal Justice System University of Chicago Institute of Politics, 5707 S. Woodlawn Ave. Wednesday, October 6: The Criminal Justice System; October 13: Unjust Incarceration; October 20: America’s New Mental Health Wards. 12:10pm. Free. politics.uchicago.edu As Sheriff of Cook County, Tom Dart oversaw the second largest sheriff ’s department in the United States.

In this series at the UofC’s Institute of Politics, he will explore the idea that the criminal justice system he represents is dysfunctional. (Adam Thorp)

Ibeyi Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport Street. Wednesday, September 23, doors 7pm. $21 in advance, $24 at the door. (312) 5263851. thaliahallchicago.com The rhythmic and melodic variety that this expert French-Cuban sister duo brings to the table is a mix of Yoruba and R&B culture. On top of that, are the harmonies that at times transcend language—and it helps when you have someone to sing with. (Austin Brown) p-hop in the political sphere. ( Jake Bittle)

Avant The Shrine, 2109 S. Wabash Ave. Friday, September 25, doors 8pm, show 10pm. $25 in advance, $32 at the door. 21+.

(312) 753-5681. theshrinechicago.com Local artist L’Renee will open this release concert for R&B singer-songwriter Avant’s new album The VIII. Avant is best-known for his sensitive, romantic debut album My Thoughts (2000). Check out “My First Love” featuring KeKe Wyatt, his best work. ( Jake Bittle)

Kool Keith, ShowYouSuck, Sharkula The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Saturday, September 26, 9pm. $10 general admission, $20 VIP meetand-greet. 18+. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com Bronx vocal and spiritual precursor to Young Thug, Kool Keith; local skateboarding oddball ShowYouSuck; and old-school, free-associative rapper Sharkula are hitting Hyde Park “conceptual” eatery The Promontory in what is sure to be the most interesting show of the month. And, with $10 admission, it’s almost a crime to miss it. (Sam Stecklow)

Blocktoberfest Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport Street. Sunday, September 27, 2pm-10pm. Free. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com Dusek’s Board & Beer is celebrating its two-year anniversary Oktoberfest-style, but with a family-friendly, Chicagoan touch: Blocktoberfest. Pilsen’s historic Thalia Hall will host these festivities, which will include sausages, beer, German-inspired food, and a full lineup of DJs all day, with free admission for all block partygoers.

(Zach Taylor)

Jimmy Whispers

The Future of Politics and Media in the Digital Age

The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Monday, September 28, 7pm. $5 at the door or online. 21+. (312) 8012100. promontorychicago.com

Chicago Innovation Exchange, 1432 E. 53rd Street.

Wednesday, October 22, 6pm. Free.

Hot off a recent performance at Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago’s Jimmy Whispers brings his own brand of indie pop to Hyde Park this month. Whispers’ raspy vocals float over a distinctive soft organ whine, the centerpiece of his mellow lo-fi instrumental tracks. If Mac Demarco is the sound of summer, then Jimmy Whispers heralds its melancholy end. (Addie Barron)

This gathering of media professionals has the sort of none-too-narrow remit—The Future of Media and Politics in the Digital Age—that makes any satisfactory conclusion both unlikely and newsworthy. If attendees take one away from the panel, they should be sure to pass it along. (Adam Thorp)

“Ditch the Weight & Guns” Englewood 5K Walk & Run Ogden Park, 6500 S. Racine Ave. Sunday, November 1, 8:30am–12pm. $20-$25. englewood5k.com Killing two birds with one walkathon, this community initiative addresses the link between poverty, violence, and health issues. Proceeds will go to Englewood’s William R. Harper High School, to fund fruit and vegetable options for the cafeteria. (Hafsa Razi)

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Young Thug Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport Street. Wednesday, September 30, 8pm. $35 in advance, $40 at the door. 17+. (312) 5263851. thaliahallchicago.com The yelping, howling, Rugrat-sounding Thugger hits Pilsen this month for his Hy!£UN35 (read: HiTunes) Tour, bringing some balls-out Atlanta trap weirdness to Chicago. Hy!£UN35 is set to be his debut album, and based on lead single “Pacifier,” it feels like we’ll be bumping it all autumn long. (Sam Stecklow)

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Saul Williams The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Wednesday, September 30, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $20-$50. (312) 8012100. promontorychicago.com Saul Williams’s blend of alternative hip-hop and poetry has graced villages, prisons, and community centers around the world, as well as the Louvre and White House. More of a “multimedia project” than album, his latest MartyrLoserKing highlights the “digital dialogues” between the first and third worlds. (Maha Ahmed)

Kamilah Furqaan Jazz Quartet Mo Better Jazz at The Quarry, 2423 E. 75th Street. Friday, October 2, 7pm. 21+. (312) 259-1143. mobetterjazzchicago.us Kamilah Furqaan is a veteran jazz flutist, music teacher, and lifelong Chicagoan whose dedication to the arts has shaped the city’s music scene. One of South Shore’s weekly jazz programs, Mo Better brings her quartet to the stage this fall, so be sure to catch the freeform mastery of Furqaan’s flute stylings. (Addie Barron)

Mr. Vegas The Shrine, 2109 S. Wabash Ave. Sunday, October 4, 10pm. $20 early bird, $30 general admission. 21+. (312) 753-5700. theshrinechicago.com The spectacularly-named Jamaican dancehall artist Mr. Vegas, named for his high soccer kicks (like a Vegas dancer) by schoolyard friends, is coming to The Shrine for an already-standing room only show. Vegas, who semi-retired in 2008, announced his U.S. tour in a blog post titled “Mr. Vegas To Bring Reggae Euphoria To U.S.” Indeed. (Sam Stecklow)

Tele-novela at ACRE

ACRE Projects, 1913 W. 17th St. Through October 31.

11am- 5pm except Sundays. Free. (847) 778-9546. acretv.org ACRE TV, a project of the well-known Pilsen-based gallery, has put together a collaborative gallery featuring over a dozen artists’ reflections on the telenovela, a popular genre of drama series on Spanish-language television. These works “simultaneously explore and avoid the notion of formal narrative on screen.” ( Jake Bittle)

Gem of the Ocean Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. September 10 through October 11. $35-$65. Discounts available for seniors and students. (773) 753-4472. http://www.courttheatre.org/ plays/gem-of-the-ocean Set in early twentieth century Pittsburgh, Gem of the Ocean centers on Ester Tyler, a 285-year year-old healing woman, and the relationship she builds with a murderer who arrives at her house seeking guidance. In a time in Pittsburgh’s history when slavery was an all-too recent memory, Tyler represents spiritual freedom through her access to the fantastical City of Bones. (Lucia Ahrensdorf )

In Search of the Black Knight Black Cinema House, 7200 S. Kimbark Ave. Friday, September 25, 7pm. Free. RSVP in advance. (312) 8575561. rebuild-foundation.squarespace.comblackcinemahouse.org In this humorous documentary, film director Tamarat Makonnen embarks on a quest to find the truth about a popular topic among professional black women, the low number of eligible black men. With sketch comedy, street

interviews, and professional input, the film provokes thought as well as laughter. (Lucia Ahrensdorf )

Black Age of Comics Convention with Onli Studios

Anne and Emmett

South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan Ave. Through November 8. Free. (773) 373-1026. http://www. sscartcenter.org

DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Pl. September 25-27, 7pm. $25. (773) 947-0600. dusablemuseum.org Janet Langhart Cohen’s play collapses races, borders, and times to bring together two teenagers known for lives cut short by racism: Anne Frank and Emmett Till. Their conversation, set in a dimension called Memory, urges audience members to retain just that. ( Julia Aizuss)

The Great Chicago Fire Festival Closing Ceremony Northerly Island. Saturday, September 26, 5pm. Free. chicago- firefestival.com Redmoon’s Great Chicago Fire Festival has joined together local artists and citywide partners to support Chicago’s youth while celebrating Chicago’s rebirth after the Great Fire of 1871. Throughout August and September, the festi- val has used arts engagement activities and events to ignite community and spark creativity in city neighborhoods. On September 6, the festival with go out with a bang, closing with various arts events, including the ceremonial, and a (very literal) burning down of the house. (Sammie Spector and Olivia Stovicek)

Ayotzinapa, un año después: ¡Ni perdón, ni olvido!

Cultura in Pilsen, 1900 S. Carpenter Street. Saturday, September 26, 7pm. http:// semillasautonomas.orgheyevent. com/event/prtsi5t72lacea/ayotzinapa-un-ano-despues-niperdon-ni-olvido Nearly one year ago, on September 26, 2014, fortythree students disappeared in Guerrero, Mexico. To commemorate the innocent victims, Cultura in Pilsen is inviting the community to gather together to ensure that this tragedy is not forgotten. A film about the crime will be screened and live music will be performed by local band Hurakan. (Lucia Ahrensdorf )

Ruth Lopez at mosnart site in Pullman mosnart site, 11319 S St. Lawrence Ave. Week of September 20. tallskinny.com/mosnart Not many details are offered about “Artifact of Place,” the site-specific interdisciplinary exhibition by local artist-jour- nalist Ruth Lopez, except that it will involve a transom and a week-long exhibition and will take place in the shadow of the Pullman Factory. Lopez’s career in Chicago arts journalism, however, already speaks for itself. ( Jake Bittle)

Christopher Ottinger, Andy Kincaid & Dominique Haller ACRE Projects, 1913 West 17th St. Through October 5.

Sundays and Mondays, 12pm–4pm. (847) 778-5946. acreresidency.org Volunteer-run non-profit ACRE (Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions) was created to support and offer space and resources to emerging artists. The ACRE Residency program’s artists Andy Kincaid, Dominique Haller, and Chicago-based Christopher Ottinger will be presenting their work in upcoming exhibits. (Zach Taylor)

IGF (IT’S GREAT FUN) (IN GOOD FAITH) (I GOT FIRED) 4th Ward Project Space, 5338 S. Kimbark Ave. Through October 11. Saturdays, 1pm–5pm. (773) 203.2991. 4wps.org

In the Game Kelly High School Auditorium, 4136 S. California Ave. Thursday, October 1, 11am and 6pm screenings. Free. kartemquin. com This Kartemquin-produced documentary, already slated to premiere at some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, follows the hardships and challenges of low-income students on a South Side girls’ soccer team.

The Kelly High School girls confront barriers to pursuing higher education with Coach Stan, their mentor, by their side. (Lucia Ahrensdorf )

VISUAL ARTS Warm Kitty, Soft Kitty Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Sunday, September 6 through Sunday, December 13. Monday– Thursday, 9am–8pm; Friday–Saturday, 9am–5pm; Sunday, 12pm–5pm. (773) 324-5520. hydeparkart.org Never trust a title—there will (probably) be no kittens in this group exhibition curated by UofC arts administrator Camille Morgan, but the photography, performance, video, and sculpture on display will interrogate another important subject: physical touch, as phenomenology, aesthetic, and social practice. ( Julia Aizuss)

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Get lost in New Afrika with superhero Malcolm 10, fighting crime and racial stereotypes. The Black Age of Comics returns home to Bronzeville for the exhibition “Heroes & Villians,” featuring Malcolm 10 and more. As Onli Studios founder Turtel Onli, says, “Come get your Black On!” (Alex Harrell)

Interpret the title how you wish, as this exhibit relies on the unique comprehension of the layers, representations, and emotions embedded in the playful style of Dan Rizzo-Orr’s work. Zeroing in on the fluidity of common language, standard and invented, IGF is great fun, in good faith, and I got fired. (Zach Taylor)

Creatures from the Concrete Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Through Sunday, December 13. Monday–Thursday, 9am–8pm; Friday–Sat- urday, 9am–5pm; Sunday, 12pm–5pm. (773) 324-5520. hydeparkart.org Graffiti is moving indoors with this multimedia mural, but its spirit will remain as free and sprawling as ever; the com- bined work of seven female street artists, the exhibit will focus on social justice issues that loom large in the world outdoors. ( Julia Aizuss)

De vuelta

National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. Through March 13. (312) 738-1503. nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org After a five-decade-long career, Errol Ortiz presents his first solo museum exhibit, De Vuelta. A member of the Chicago Imagists, a group of artists prominent in the 1960s, Ortiz now revisits his work over the years. (Hafsa Razi)

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