Talk:Chicago/Near West Side

Closed

Had mixed reviews anyway - I wasn't sure if we should be recommending it. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 21:04, 16 October 2007 (EDT)

• Butter, 130 South Green St (Free valet parking), ☏ +1 312-666-9813. M-W 5:30-10PM, Th-Sa 5:30-11PM. Beautiful views of the Loop. Unlike an actual stick of butter, the food here is delicately flavored, elegantly presented, and quite expensive — among Chicago's most pricey restaurants. Entrees $28-36; five course tasting menu $85 per person, $130 with wine. 

Push for Star

I don't think this article is terribly far from being a star, should we chose to so push. In any rate it would be good to do the following:

• Add "understand" and "get around" sections (with neighborhood descriptions)
• My MoS trigger finger is itching to reorganize those eat listings by price category 1st, neighborhood grouping 2nd
• Pictures, of course
• I also might take a quick internet spin to look for any additional buy listings

And that's it! --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 05:03, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

I'm confident in the comprehensiveness of the listings, although if I missed anything, it's probably in 'Buy'. (Surely there's a decent record store around there somewhere.) Agreed on the pictures and Understand/neighborhood descriptions, and the map will make it easy to fine-tune the Get in, but what do you see happening with Get around?

I like having the Eat listings split by area, though, since food is the main attraction of this article - it's like separating Do into "Theaters" and "Parks". I think it's of the most use to a traveler that way...plus, the non Italian/Greek listings will get swamped. (If everything were to be combined, I think Budget goes to 14 or so, Mid-range gets up near 20.) (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 14:19, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

The Get Around sections are a little silly for the smaller districts, but it still is useful for readers who lack a good sense of scale to hear "you can easily cover the district on foot." And it couldn't hurt to list the 2-3 useful bus routes in getting from Greektown to Little Italy to United Center.

I definitely understand your point about the eat listings, and I had a problem with the way we force breakdowns by price in the past, but I've sort of come around now on that point. If we MoS them, they will look like Chicago/Bridgeport-Chinatown#Eat—they are still broken out by neighborhood, so that should keep Greektown from swamping the reader. I've become convinced that the (dis)advantages either way are marginal, and I think it would be good for consistency's sake to match the Bridgeport-Chinatown breakdown. We could change Chinatown to match this formatting style, but it's technically not MoS, so I don't know if that would be fair to do to a starred-article. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 14:46, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

Seems clumsy to me, but I don't want to bother lobbying for an MoS change. The New York Times Book Review is going to nail us for this, though, I'm telling you. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 20:01, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

Wait a second, forget the bit about the get around section--we haven't really been doing that, and it's not required for districts per MoS. I might just move existing get around content in the few articles that have the section back into "get in." --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 04:24, 4 November 2007 (EST)

Moved in

They're not sure if they're going to hold regular shows - they've only done a one-off so far. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 15:09, 6 December 2007 (EST)

• Polite Gallery, 14 N Peoria St, ☏ +1 773 699-4595. A contemporary art gallery housed in a converted warehouse with a very warm, personal atmosphere — definitely no whitewashed walls here. 

No response yet, and I'm not too optimistic. Shame though, I liked the sounds of the courtyard arts "festival." --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 04:05, 8 December 2007 (EST)

• Landmark Arts Gallery, 841 W Randolph St, ☏ +1 312 491-1900. M-T,F-Sa 4PM-9PM, W-Th 5PM-9PM. An established gallery of contemporary painting and sculpture that often rents its facilities (including a brick courtyard) for private events, so call ahead. The courtyard also plays host to the West Loop Art Market, a small arts festival featuring all sorts of live music to entertain the browsers on the second Sunday of every month. 

Phone disconnected. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 21:00, 8 December 2007 (EST)

• Viceroy Hotel, 1519 W Warren Blvd, ☏ +1 312 421-411. A big transient hotel, probably the cheapest digs on the Near West Side short of befriending a UIC student and borrowing their dorm room. 

Opening soon

Opening September 11, 2009 — a former Pilsen gallery, so I've copied and updated the listing from there, to add when the date is closer. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 13:16, 15 August 2009 (EDT)

• Dubhe Carreño Gallery, 118 N Peoria St, 2nd floor, ☏ +1 773 931-6584. Tu-Sa 10:30AM-5:30PM. Exhibitions of highly evocative modern ceramic art: whimsical, disturbing, and consistently memorable. Free. 

Fire in Greektown

Costa's was completely destroyed; the other two were damaged, but stand a better chance of re-opening soon. All are worthy entries, so let's keep an eye out for them. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 19:42, 1 February 2010 (EST)

• Greektown Gift & Music Shop, 330 S Halsted St, ☏ +1 312 263-6342. M-Sa 10AM-8PM, Su noon-4PM. One stop shop for everything Greek, from kitsch to language instruction to a big collection of CDs. 

• Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop, 322 S Halsted St, ☏ +1 312 454-1886. M-Th 9AM-8PM, F-Sa 9AM-9PM, Su 12-6PM. Confront, if you dare, the incredible power of fresh baklava. This is a true family institution in Greektown. 

• Costa's, 340 S Halsted St, ☏ +1 312 263-9700. M-Th 11AM-11PM, F-Sa 11AM-midnight, Su closed. Casual, welcoming Greektown restaurant. Note the coupons on their website. 

Closed

• F2 Lab, 840 W Washington Blvd (2nd floor, above GARDENfresh), ☏ +1 312 371-1391, f2@f2.cc. Sa noon-5PM, or by appointment. A contemporary art gallery focused (refreshingly) on mouth-blown glass sculpture in the service of quirky concept art. 

• GARDENfresh, 840 W Washington Blvd, ☏ +1 312 235-2246. Th-Sa noon-6PM, or by appointment. An artists' collective featuring contemporary art with a heavier-than-usual focus on concept art. 

• La Vita, 1349 W Taylor St, ☏ +1 312 491–1414. M-Th 11AM-10PM, F 11AM-11PM, Sa 5-11PM, Su 4-10PM. Colorful, modern Italian restaurant celebrating "The Life." The decor suggests they'd like patrons to dress nicely, but a look around the dining area will reveal plenty of hooded sweatshirts. $14-26. 

I'm going to double-check tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it's closed (sigh). (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 23:53, 13 September 2010 (EDT)

• Museum of Holography, 1134 W Washington Ave (20 Madison bus), ☏ +1 312 226-1007. W-Su 12:30-5PM. "America's only museum of holography," at least according to the curator. It'll only take you 20 minutes to visit, but it's kind of interesting. (It's more like 25 minutes if you pet the cat.) Make sure to check out the holographic projection of a three-foot-long, crawling tarantula. Officially, it's $4 for adults, and $3 for children, but the cat has a habit of appearing at the donation box, so you might find yourself giving more than you counted on. 

Another:

• Pivot, 1101 W Fulton Market, ☏ +1 312 243-4754. M noon-6, Tu-F 11AM-7PM, Sa 10AM-6PM, Su noon-5PM. Perhaps the world's first purveyor of hemp clothing that can honestly claim the title of stylish, Pivot's mission is to introduce the word eco-smart to the world of high fashion, be it in the form of bamboo skirts or sweaters made of cashmere bought straight from Mongolian nomadic herders. (CLOSED) 

--(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 21:50, 25 February 2012 (EST)

Closed: (WT-en) Eco84 16:42, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

• one sixtyblue, 1400 W Randolph/160 N Loomis St (Ashland/Lake Green/Pink Line), ☏ +1 312 850-0303. M-Th 5:30-10PM, 5:30-11PM. Elegant surroundings with experienced French chefs, and highly acclaimed in Chicago; gentlemen are asked to leave their capital letters at the door, though. Cheese fans will delight in the cheese menu. Entrees $29-38. 

Oprah has left. There's still some production there, but I think the tourist interest is gone. Gorilla Jones (talk) 20:48, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

• Harpo Studios, 1058 W Washington Ave (20 Madison bus), ☏ +1 312 633-0808. Morning taping 7AM-11AM, Afternoon taping 11AM-3PM. 'Harpo' is backward for the first name of she who tapes her shows here, Oprah Winfrey. The only way to enter the court of Her Majesty is to be in an audience; reservations are necessary and tickets are hot, so call well in advance of your visit, ideally more than a month before, and be prepared to be flexible. Audience members must be over the age of 18. Programs are taped on weekdays from August through November and then January through May, generally two shows a day. Last-minute reservations may be possible; check the website [1]. The 2010-11 season is her last in Chicago, though, so your time is short. 

Bombon

I liked this place in Pilsen. It has apparently re-opened at 36 S. Ashland, but I haven't been to the new location yet. (WT-en) Gorilla Jones 12:46, 2 October 2010 (EDT)

• Bombon, 1508 W 18th St, ☏ +1 312 733-7788. M-Sa 8AM-8PM, Su 10AM-7PM. Deluxe Mexican bakery with colorful cakes and other creations beyond the ordinary, should dessert at the restaurant not catch your fancy. It's run by a pair of expert chefs. Everything comes in a "mini" size for easy sampling. $3-5 mini-size, $25 full-size cake.