urban landscapes • CITY SCAPE
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The longtime home of the Chicago Cubs finally has a backyard and a patio. Outside the new west gate of Wrigley Field, The Park at Wrigley beckons with a lush lawn and fountain-filled park where fans gather on game days.
When there’s no game, the park hosts yoga, outdoor movies, farmers markets and concerts. It’s all part of a quest by the Ricketts family, owners of the Cubs, to develop a town square for the Wrigleyville neighborhood near the bright red Wrigley Field Marquee at the corner of Clark and Addison streets.
The Swedish American Museum anchors Andersonville, organizing events designed to celebrate the neighborhood’s heritage. From its perch on Clark Street, the museum is surrounded by eclectic places to enjoy a beverage. Across the street, the old Swedish speakeasy of Simon’s Tavern serves up glögg slushies (made from mulled wine) in the summer beneath the sounds of an impressively stocked jukebox. South of Foster Avenue, the Belgian-inspired Hopleaf Bar serves a friendly neighborhood crowd a bevy of beer options. Here, even the mussels are steamed in a Belgian white ale, served alongside a pile of frites. Andersonville also boasts a large LGBTQ population.
European influence runs deep in this neighborhood founded by German immigrants in the 1840s and still filled with Bavarian-flavored restaurants, music and charm. Once predominantly a neighborhood of working-class people, Lincoln Square has become an oasis for artists. Writers read from their works and lead discussions of them at The Book Cellar, while musicians host concerts at the Old Town School of Folk Music, where many folk performers of the 1960s launched their careers.
In this overlooked treasure on the Northwest Side, locals are torn between bragging about Logan Square and guarding their secret.
“You can come here and have the Michelin Star experience, or you can drink PBR and listen to punk rock,” says bartender Nathan Case-McDonald as he mixes cocktails at Longman & Eagle. The whiskey-focused bar and restaurant with a six-room inn is named for the 70-foot-tall monument that stands at the center of Logan Square. And with the addition of a 2.7-mile stretch of abandoned elevated train tracks that the city converted into the pedestrian-friendly path called The 606, the area has become a top spot for runners.
If foodies could carve out their own slice of heaven, it would look a lot like the area around Randolph Street and Fulton Market. In the West Loop, James Beard Award-winners brush elbows with Top Chef champ Stephanie Izard in a friendly culinary competition that packs the neighborhood with palate-pleasing options. Whether it’s the roasted pig face at Girl and the Goat, the tear-jerking Kanabo Spice at High Five Ramen or the duck liver tart on the tasting menu at Elske, the dishes here defy categories and comparisons.
Touting a motto of “Live and laugh,”
this neighborhood echoes with the mirth produced by world-class comedy. The stretch of Wells Street between North Avenue and Division Street is the heart of Old Town, with a slew of restaurants framing The Second City, the famed theater where comedians like Tina Fey, Bill Murray and Stephen Colbert started out. With nightly shows at The Second City, stand-up routines at Zanies and classes offered on the art of improvisation, this is
a place where established comedians come to live and jokesters come to train.
This neighborhood might boast the chillest vibe in Chicago, as it serves craft cocktails to connoisseurs and food to famous chefs. “That doesn’t mean you have to have a refined palate to eat in this neighborhood,” says LeQoinne Rice, co-owner and operator of Rhyme or Reason, a restaurant designed with the intention of bringing funky back to the neighborhood. Vintage shops nudge up against cozy live-music venues, and Prohibition-Era speakeasies like the Violet Hour are perfect for a nightcap. Here you can buy and sell vinyl at Reckless Records or browse used titles at the vast Myopic Books, a three-story bookstore.
Murals covering nearly every available space make a stroll through Pilsen feel like a tour of an urban Latin art museum. Art colors the CTA station, overpasses and fronts of buildings. These public works of art don’t all appear spontaneously. The neighborhood recruits world-renowned street artists to add their works to the people’s gallery. Street artist Gaia created one of the most famous pieces, Quetzalcoatl and the Stork, which adorns 16th Street. More examples of culturally rich art fill the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Known as the Polish Village, Avondale salutes its roots with an array of Eastern European restaurants, delis and grocers. At Kurowski’s Sausage Shop on Milwaukee Avenue, an astonishing array of sausages hangs behind the vast meat counter, where the signs are in both Polish and English. As more young professionals move to Avondale, the fabric of the neighborhood is changing and the residents are cheerfully making room for restaurants like Parachute, a Korean-American hot spot that has been a Michelin Star restaurant since 2015.
Dubbed the Black Metropolis in the early 20th century, this South Side neighborhood filled with Victorian-Era mansions, music and art is where African-Americans settled during the Great Migration, establishing a legacy of blues music and civil rights activism. Today, professionals and entrepreneurs are leading a revitalization effort that shows in the number of shops and restaurants opened by neighborhood residents.
fall in love with these
10 chicago neighborhoods
Wrigleyville
10
Andersonville
09
Lincoln Square
08
Logan Square
07
West Loop
06
Old Town
05
Wicker Park & Bucktown
04
Pilsen
03
Avondale
02
Bronzeville
01
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Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods are like colorful little pieces of a big, beautiful mosaic. Take a tour of 10 communities to learn why locals love their part of town.
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