Devon-a-thon - Saturday June 23, 11:15 am - 4:30ish

In my four years following LTH, I don't think I've seen a Devon-a-thon. As an almost one-year resident of West Rogers Park, I thought I'd take on planning one.

I have two thoughts about how to do it, and am not sure which I'd prefer, so I would welcome your opinions:

Option 1 - Multi-ethnic Devon-a-thon
Rather than focus just on the Indian/Pakistani delights of Devon, get a taste of a broader range of offerings. I was thinking of starting at the Georgian Bakery (at California) late morning for a snack of hachapuri and fresh bread, heading east, hitting some of the Indian and Pakistani places, stopping at La Unica (east of Clark, I believe), back west for some more Indian and Pakistani and maybe ending at Hashalom in the late afternoon. This would be about a 3 1/2 mile route, I believe. A nice stroll for me, though I'm not sure how others feel about walking 3 1/2 miles. Or how long that might take.

Option 2 - Indian Pakistani Devon-a-thon
Focus just on the Indian and Pakistani places between roughly Ridge and California. This route would be a little closer to two miles, I believe.

I welcome your thoughts on these options. Also, I would welcome advice for any of you who have planned the other a-thons. How much time to allot? How many places can we realistically hit up? Do I give the owners a heads up to expect us? How big a group can we manage? Etc.

This would also be a good time to throw in your suggestions of where to visit. My quick list:

Georgian Bakery
Hashalom
La Unica
Khan
Sabri Nehari
Usmania
Sukahadia (or one of the other sweets and snacks shops)


What else would you suggest?

And how about Saturday June 23 starting at 11:00 am?

Thanks in advance for your advice and ideas.

Dimitra

Oh I am so in! And I vote for the longer, more comprehensive visit.

I'll vote for the longer walk, too. Put me down tentatively for 1.5 ± .5

Put me down for 2, and I also vote for the more comprehensive walk.

HI,

I will be glad to join you around 12:30 wherever you may be. (afterwards, can someone give me a lift to the train?)

Regards,

I'm in! Thanks for the fantastic idea. I'd be happy with either, but why not go for the whole shebang if we can.

asami

The stretch between Nawaz Ghareeb and La Unica is very long and very boring. While I love La Unica and was disappointed that it was excluded from the North-Clark-a-Thon for, well, not being on North Clark street, I am not sure that it is worth adding 1.5 miles roundtrip to your trek. I think you will find that there is more than enough worthy venues between Ridge and California. For instance, I would add either Mysore Woodlands or Udupi Palace for some dosas, idlis and other South Indian specialties.

I've written it on my calendar -- in ink!

And I think the multi-ethnic version sounds the more interesting of the two. There are a few places mentioned that I've seen discussed on the forum but haven't gotten to, and this would be a fun way to "catch up" with those who live in the city.

Count me in ... for one.

Personally, I don't care how far we walk . but four or five places is sufficient for me.

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I will be glad to join you around 12:30 wherever you may be. (afterwards, can someone give me a lift to the train?)

Regards,

I can drive you all the way home, if you'd like.

Sounds great, tentative for 2, depending on our schedule for parental visits. Whichever option is picked.

I'm in, how about Patel Bros. -- I need spices.

Sonja Foxe

i game for one, possibly 2.

sounds great. i'm interested. justjoan

I'm in, and the longer option sounds good to me. I'll need to walk that far to keep my appetite up!

I'm in for one (maybe two,have to check). I'd lean towards pan-ethnic.

Great idea! I'm in for 1.
I love the idea of exploring more than just the Indian and Pakistani options.

Jyoti

I'm definitely in for 1, since I don't live too far from the area (as a new ROPA resident myself!)

I'm in for one. Thanks for organizing!

I'm in, depending on the day of week and no other conflict - I live relatively close. Lots of food choices, from the Indo/Pak, to Georgian, Afghan, Chinese (I don't think Pekin House is very good anymore, though), pastry/bakeries and the fruit/specialty food stores (fresh coconut or mango street side). Doing this on a Sunday might give us the opportunity to sample some Kosher fare, as well. And, let's not forget the Halal Brown's Chicken! Moving from east to west, or the other way around, seems to make more sense than jumping from one end of the route to the other, and then back again . . . but, hey, with all that food . . . we will need an extra mile or two for things to settle!

Cynthia wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I will be glad to join you around 12:30 wherever you may be. (afterwards, can someone give me a lift to the train?)

Regards,

I can drive you all the way home, if you'd like.

Unless someone lives closer, then I will take your offer.

Regards,

My wife and I close on our Rogers Park bungalow the next weekend, so it seems like a great way to get oriented (so to speak). Cound me in for 2. - patrick & eliza

I can't predict my schedule that far ahead, but I would really like to be there. I'd be more likely to focus on Indo/Pak myself, but will cheerfully eat anything (and everything). I second Udupi Palace, and recommend Hema's, on Oakley, just north of Devon. Could we buy samosas at every place we see to finally determine the ultimate samosa??

Sounds great! I had recently mentioned the idea of a more snack-oriented Devon walk around here somewhere. I love the idea of anything, but I am not sure how to pace something the patronizes more than one or two sit down places. It may make sense to apply the GAF strategy. If you're lucky, maybe you can find a cricket game going on in Warren Park.

I would like to do this, if my schedule allows. If not, there are plenty of respondents there -- it may actually make sense to have more than one scheduled event. In any case, for the first NCAT we ended up with over a dozen people, and the park near the Rogers Park Library worked just fine -- although Warren Park will be nicer.

If you did that, it could also include someone bringing something from La Unica pretty easily, and perhaps refreshments from Devon Market, where they have lots of exotic wine and soft drinks.

If there were a group large enough - maybe split it into two, which would make the visits more manageable. One group could start from the West, the other from the east, etc. The park idea is a good one, but maybe there'd be a place along Devon Ave. itself that would serve the same purpose, rather than take people over to Pratt and Western. There are a couple of parking lots along Devon, if I'm remembering correctly: one somewhere mid-way between Western and California, and the one at the Croation center just E. of Hashalom. There are also several large areas where some of the N/S streets meet Devon, with a couple of benches. maybe someone could bring a folding table (if that would help).

I'll be there.

But I think that I want to argue against the GAF strateg - where we each bring food to a central location. On the second North-Clark-a-Thon, I felt that we missed out on gaining a sense of the restaurants and the street, only getting the food (not so bad, but missing out on the urban experience).

Bill wrote:The park idea is a good one, but maybe there'd be a place along Devon Ave. itself that would serve the same purpose, rather than take people over to Pratt and Western.

This Google Map view reveals a few green spots off of Devon in the residential areas. If weather and time allow, I'll try to ride by and do some scouting one weekend soon -- unless someone beats me to it.

I'm not so sure about the parking lots. It may actually be true that one of those corners could be a decent "parking" spot, although I wouldn't want to be too disruptive to the regular flow of the neighborhood.

I'm interested.

Given that Devon has a mix of interesting stores/nosh places AND sit-down places, I would suggest (or propose) that you schedule a few of the sit-down places, and then just work the day around them. For instance, Sabrin Nehari at noon; Hashalom at 3 PM (the times are hypothetical). This allows people to sample as well as have set meeting points.

Just my 2 cents, but anyways, I have a fair amount of experience mapping/sampling Devon and can help if needed.

Rob

Anything designated parking along Devon will be guaranteed to be packed with cars. I don't see any parks closer than Warren. I do know that some of the restaurants have rooms-- Viceroy I believe is one that has a big room on the second floor... or else just go restaurant to restaurant... I haven't been on an athon yet, so I have no opinion which is best.

Okay, am I blind.... is there a date for this? A few far west suburbs people are interested to make the trek.