Talk:Chicago/Loop

Lead photo

This article sorely needs a lead photo - surprised to say, I don't have one. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 16:20, 15 June 2007 (EDT)

I'm sorry to say I never owned a camera while living in Chicago and won't be back until around October; so I don't have any either. I poked around [commons.wikipedia.org commons] and some other free image resource sites, but didn't see anything I felt was quite worthy of the lead spot. I'd really like to see a picture that manages to squeeze in a street scene, the L overhead, and some worthy architecture... --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 02:43, 16 June 2007 (EDT)

Push for Adequacy

This ain't ever likely to be a star - there's too much to cover - but the state of it seems to bring Peter considerable pain. So what do we need to make it, well, adequate? (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 23:34, 5 November 2007 (EST)

Source

Hmm... I've been taught to source facts and I just can't help it. The 9 million contracts worth over $4.2 trillion bit is from this Economist article. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 22:15, 12 December 2007 (EST)

The University of Chicago would be proud. (After they'd had a talk with you about priorities between travel guides and theses, that is.) (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 23:00, 12 December 2007 (EST)

Cellars Cafe

Description moved from article:

• Cellars Market, 141 W Jackson Blvd (Chicago Board of Trade building, lower level), ☏ +1 312 427-7440. M-F 7AM-2PM (approx.). A hidden gem serving breakfast and lunch only, this cafeteria closes soon after the trading floors upstairs do. Made-to-order deli sandwiches, homemade soups, a large salad bar, and daily specials prepared on-site. The turkey club sandwich is enormous, especially if you're polite and cheerful toward the person making it. $4-12. 

I'm a bit on the fence, but inclined to move this out of the article. I purposefully avoided listing restaurants that don't serve food on weekends, because most visitors will not be able to eat there, and because there are a ton of such restaurants in the Loop—we need to draw some lines to keep the length of the list down and to keep the map readable. Moreover, we already plug Ceres Cafe here, which is at the exact same location and owned by the same folks. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 15:45, 18 February 2008 (EST)

Ceres is nothing special, but Cellars is a Chicago experience. I would switch. 99.141.36.65 01:01, 6 April 2009 (EDT)

Fair enough, taking the recommendation and getting off the fence. For the record, here is the Ceres entry:

• Ceres Cafe, 141 W Jackson Blvd (inside the Chicago Board of Trade building), ☏ +1 312 427-3443. M-F 6AM-8:30PM. Whatever else it is known for, the Loop's principal importance to humanity today is its preeminence in the world of derivatives trading. The Ceres Cafe is where the world of derivatives comes to eat, complete with tables full of suits and constant quote updates over the bar. Make a reservation if you plan to go there for lunch. The culinary focus is on healthy pastas and fresh fish. $10-16. 

--(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 01:55, 6 April 2009 (EDT)

Sears Tower crowds

The Sears Tower Skydeck entry says: "Avoid the worst of the crowds after 4PM." This is ambiguous; does it mean "the worst crowds are after 4PM" or "avoid the worst crowds by going after 4PM"? (WT-en) LtPowers 10:56, 22 July 2008 (EDT)

Oh, and I see they've got glass floors on the 103rd floor now. =) [1]. (WT-en) LtPowers 11:51, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

Yep, I think it's time to brave the hordes once more ;) --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 14:04, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

But the question is, do the hordes show up after 4PM or before 4PM? (WT-en) LtPowers 18:39, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

Good question, and one that I can't confidently answer. *Dangles banana* --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 21:00, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

Wasn't either of us — looks like that line dates back to early 2005. I'd guess it means "the worst crowds are after 4PM", but I don't really know. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 23:48, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

map

Maybe add in some of the shopping areas, like outline 'em on the map like Mag. Mile, etc. on the Loop Map. It adds more familiarity and to me it looks more complete than just listings of stores. I dunno. You? Keep smiling, (WT-en) ee ^talk 19:33, 5 November 2008 (EST).

Mag Mile is here ;) --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 13:24, 8 November 2008 (EST)

Jeweler's Center

I removed the following listing, since I don't think it's necessary to list the individual stores within the Jeweler's Center, so long as we point visitors to the building itself.

• La Ron Jewelers, 5 S Wabash Ave (Washington Red Line), ☏ +1 312 263-3898, fax: +1 312 263-3878, info@laronjewelers.com. M-Sa 9AM-5PM, Su closed except four weeks prior to Christmas. La Ron Jewelers was founded in 1946 by Sidney Shtulman, trained at the Art Students League in New York City. La Ron Jewelers manufactures most of their 14k, 18k, and platinum jewelry on the premises. 

--(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 00:46, 27 December 2008 (EST)

Closed listings

• Cocina Barro, 73 E Lake St, ☏ +1 312 346-8457. M 11AM-9PM, Tu-Th 11AM-10PM, F 11AM-11PM, Sa-Su 12-10PM. Very good food with dishes from all over Latin America and a liquor license, close to Millennium Park. The Spanish tile floors are lovely, but watch out for the scorpions in the decor! $11-20. 

Belly up at the end of last year after 25 years at this location. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 20:46, 3 February 2009 (EST)

Argh...supposedly in talks with a buyer, but they're closed for now. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 15:18, 5 September 2009 (EDT)

• Prairie Avenue Bookshop, 418 S Wabash Ave (Library Brown/Purple/Green/Orange/Pink Line), ☏ +1 312 922-8311, +1 800-474-2724, fax: +1 312 922-5184, info@pabook.com. M-F 10AM-6PM, Sa 10AM-4PM. A short, squat bookshop that houses a glorious selection of books on architecture, one of the largest in the world. It's right behind the Auditorium Theatre. 

Ouch. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 17:00, 19 September 2010 (EDT)

• Old Timer's Restaurant and Lounge, 75 E Lake St, ☏ +1 312 332-3561. M-F 6:30AM-2AM, Sa 7AM-1AM. The classic diner is worth a visit for breakfast, but the real gem is the divey bar that waits through the front door. You wouldn't expect a low-key, "regulars" atmosphere a block from Millennium Park, but here it is, with clientèle from all walks of life mingling over beer. 

Star nomination

This is the downtown commercial district and the center of Chicago. For a long time it was a weak link, but it's now well filled out & supported by two walking itineraries. It's also got one of my favorite maps. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 17:25, 18 February 2008 (EST)

Support. I spend a fair amount of time here and the article feels comprehensive to me. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 18:42, 18 February 2008 (EST)

• Support. After a very thorough scan of the article, I could only find one teeny, tiny thing: the Russian Tea Time restaurant is not covered in the map. Other than that, flawless. (WT-en) PerryPlanet 01:42, 19 February 2008 (EST)

Whoops—that's a personal favorite of mine too (if the touty description didn't already give that away)! Fixed. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 02:32, 19 February 2008 (EST)

The Tower formerly known as Sears

Time to update the listing? [2] --(WT-en) Jtesla16 19:21, 22 July 2009 (EDT)

The part that tourists would visit seems to be strenuously avoiding the name change, now simply referring to itself as "The Skydeck". I've updated accordingly. Between this, Comiskey/U.S. Cellular, and a few others, it may be worth writing a brief infobox for the main article that explains the difference between how various things are referred to differently by the diseased minds of finance executives and by actual Chicagoans. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 19:32, 22 July 2009 (EDT)

Unless we're being derisive, I'd prefer we don't even acknowledge this attempted name change. Sears Tower definitely remains the most common name for one of the world's most famous buildings. I at least hear people refer to Comiskey as US Cellular (not in my neighborhood though!). --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 05:06, 23 July 2009 (EDT)

I don't think the words "Sears Tower" should disappear from the article, but in virtue of being up-to-date I think it would be informative to mention the controversy. Probably the infobox is the best approach. --(WT-en) Jtesla16 07:06, 23 July 2009 (EDT)

It should at least be mentioned, the official website also calls it Willis Tower (and Willis Tower now gets more responses than Sears Tower on Google). --(WT-en) globe-trotter 17:56, 12 March 2010 (EST)

Huh, Google shows them getting roughly the same number of hits now. We already address the naming issue in the main article, so I don't think we need to go over the name change on every sub-article. Sears Tower still passes our rule of thumb test—what would you say to your taxi driver. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 20:09, 12 March 2010 (EST)

Hotels

Hotel Blake at 500 S Dearborn is now a Wyndham and doesn't have the restaurant it did when I visited. So I've removed it for now. Gorilla Jones (talk) 21:41, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

New hotel sounds nice. Gorilla Jones (talk) 19:07, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Maggie Daley Ice Skating Ribbon

Hi All, do you think that we should add something about the ice skating ribbon that is open each winter? In summer the path serves as a sort of skate path, I guess you could consider it that. There is a wikipedia article about it, with very little information. SewChicago (talk) 23:21, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Sure, go ahead. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:31, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

You might start with a listing for w:Maggie Daley Park, which surprisingly isn't mentioned in the article. AlasdairW (talk) 23:46, 7 January 2021 (UTC)