Museum Campus in NEED of more places to EAT!

Does anyone else live in the South Loop/Museum Campus area? I live past soldier field on indiana and the area is STARVING for some decent places to eat. Really makes me wish I bought into the west loop instead of here, our food options are SAD. With all the new construction in this area you would assume there would be more places to eat but obviously not so. Here are my biased and quick reviews.





Asian

Triad
1933 S. Indiana Ave.
312-225-8833

I live in this building and have been here about 10 times, decent sushi but for the price there are obviously other places better (sushi wabi, bob san, murai) but their entries are pretty creative and well done. Nice owners and dead on the weekdays, the bar is usually somewhat packed daily which exemplfies the real need for more bars/restaurants in this area.


Opart Thai House
1906 S. State St.
Chicago

Good thai food, nice interior, horrible portions. And don't even think about doing carry out bc their portions get even smaller. Why would I go here when I can now go to Ma and I several blocks nearby north.


Ma & I
1234 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago

Pretty good Thai food, creative appitizers, decent prices, no parking nearby which sucks, the intersection of roosevelt/michigan is too busy to find parking but at least they deliver.


Yang Restaurant
28 E. Roosevelt St.
Chicago

Some of their entries are laughable but imo they have the best fried rice ever, their chicken fried rice never dissapoints, it's relatively dry (I dont like my fried rice greasy) with small and tasty bits of chicken with a nice dark brown color, not too salty, perfect. As far as commercialized/americanized chinese carryout/delivery go, hard to beat out Yang's.


American

Kroll's South Loop
1736 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago

Great space, a good place to grab a beer and watch sports, tons of flat screens, the interior is huge, spacious and clean, but the food is really forgettable. It's really too bad because this area could really use a great sportsbar with decent food, Kroll's food is so average that I wouldn't be surprised to see this place close down in the future if anyone else opens up a decent sportsbar to compete with this joke of a restaurant.



Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
1401 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago

Been here 3 times, severely dissapointed each time. How does a place like this compete with all the top notch chicago steakhouses/seafood establishments? I guess it has to do with the location (no competition within walking distance) and the fact that it's the old historic chicago firehouse. Overpriced and surprisingly bland food. If this is fine dining I'd rather be at cheesecake factory and save my $$$.

Cafe Society
(312) 842-4210
1801 S Indiana Ave
Chicago, Illinois 60616

This place is a joke, only reason they are doing well is because this area is so barren. Food is cheap yet still overpriced if that makes any sense. If anything opens up with similar items this place will go under asap.




Anyhow, to summerize, the museum park/near south area is set to explode, so much new construction and yet such a need for decent retail/food establishments it makes me sad. At this point I was estatic that a Jimmy John's opened up on Roosevelt/Michigan, at least now I have a choice besides the nearby Subway on S State. If someone opened up a Ann Sathers or similar type breakfast joint in this area it would go bonkers. Until then the ppl that reside here will have to continue to drive out further north for any decent offerings.

If you live in the building where Triad is, Chinatown is closer to you than Yang that you apparently are pretty happy about(as well as JJ), which more than sufficiently fullfills your Chinese takeout needs. Opera/Zapastista/Gioco should fullfill your neighborhood fine dinning needs. Bongo Room/White Palace/Yolk should fullfill your brunch needs. Grace Omelley is a good option for you to change it up w/ Kroll, or Wabash Tab if watching sports is the theme of the day while food isn't. Eleven City Diner (Jewish diner?), Mulan (fine Chinese dinning in Chinatown) and Cuatro (Nuevo Latino) are in their own league in terms of the niche it fills (long threads about them on LTH). Sushi is indeed regretable in the area, you may already have tried Oysy. Little Italy is 5 minute drive from Roosvelt/Wabash, although Cafe Bionda (3 blocks from you) should more than suffice. Personally, I like Opart a hell a lot more than Ma&I where food is simply not Thai enough (flavors are way too bland, dare I say, too American Thai?). Portion is actually what I enjoy at Opart where I don't have to be forced into eating "americanized" portion of food that I'm just not too crazy about (again, no pun intended, brought it up purely for the sake of my waistline).

Going a little OP, go a little far towards the UIC side of Kennedy, you have the slew of places you can try in terms of Brunch (Hashbrown), Korean-Japanese (Kohan), Junior's (Sport bar), and how can one miss, Jim's Original or Express Grill.

I've lived in the area now for 3 years now, and restaurants scene has come a long way in this area, and I am extremely optimistic for the very near future.

FWIW, I agree about Firehouse and Cafe Society's food (the owner there though is always nice and friendly to have a 5 min conversation with about the neighborhood on a Sunday morning/afternoon ).

Hey thanks for the suggestions, haha I feel better now. As far as best value's go it's hard to beat Opera's tuesday 25$ (any app/main/dessert) deal.

Also, yeah I feel bad about ripping on cafe society, the owner is a great guy but I wish another breafast joint would open up within walking disance to me, but then again I can walk to the hilton at mccormick for sunday brunch at networks.

Of course, if you are including places as far away from the museum campus as White Palace, there GNR Award winner Mannys.

. . . and don't forget, a little further to the north you've got a Harold's on Wabash (about 700S) and a Hackney's on Printer's Row. Neither necessarily worth a detour, but ports in the storm.

Personally, I've also been spending a lot of time on the Red Line, heading south to Chinatown and north to Argyle.

speaking of cuatro:

http://www.cuatro-chicago.com/

if it interests you, this will interest you more:
http://wlup.chicagoemmisdeals.com/details.php?pid=13093

I've lived a block from the Glessner House for almost ten years to the day, I feel your pain!

Triad
1933 S. Indiana Ave.
312-225-8833

Opart Thai House
1906 S. State St.
Chicago

Ma & I
1234 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago

Yang Restaurant
28 E. Roosevelt St.
Chicago

Kroll's South Loop
1736 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago

I'd give a big shrug of the shoulders and a resounding "eh" to each of those. Might as well add Grace O'Malley's, La Cantina and Weathermark to the "eh" list. Firehouse I have a profound dislike for bordering on the visceral. Cafe Society - I'll eat there once a year, and always ask myself the same question afterwards, "Why?"

Gioco used to be outstanding, if pricey, but they've been going through head chefs at an amazing clip and consistency has suffered. Front of the house has turned over too. Opera's good but I prefer Chinatown.

Cafe Bionda is very good, and they sincerely want you to be a regular. I'd say it's my favorite place in the neighborhood right now. Plus free parking, which is nice in the winter:

Cafe Bionda
1924 S. State St.
312-326-9800

Zapatista's not bad. It sound's like a Chili's cliche' or something, but the guacamole and the fajitas (chicken or steak) are really good. House margaritas are good. I haven't found anything else to get excited about on the menu:

1307 South Wabash
Chicago , IL
(312) 435-13071307

I'll second Cuatro, although I'm not a huge fan of nuevo latino.

I'm still waiting for a bistro and a tapas place. A decent breakfast place within 4 blocks would be nice. A place to buy a Sunday NY Times too. Or a bottle of wine, or the odd bulb of garlic or a lemon. Maybe by the time the Olympics get here, keep my fingers crossed.

My first reaction to your complaints was "What whiners! You're a lot closer to Chinatown and the West Loop than I am."

But, as I thought about it, I think the point you all are making is that you live in a pricey, dense, urban neighborhood and given that, you should have lots of options available on foot, not requiring a drive or cab ride. And I completely agree with you. I point this out in the hope that some expert LTHer can comment on this. After all, Da Mayor talks about livability all the time, but there are few/any good walking distance options in the neighborhood he lives in? What's going on? Is it some zoning problem? Is it incompetent aldermen? Is it a massive market failure? Cause man, South Loop denizens these days HAVE to have more than a couple of nickles to rub together. The place should be well on its way to Rush/Division status, right? (OK, that's not a desirable outcome by any means).

Well, I suppose it's probably moving that way as fast as any other transitional neighborhood. Roscoe Village when I moved into it was like Hegewisch (which is not, incidentally, a slam at either one; RV's sleepy old Germanness was kind of cool, for the five minutes remaining before that vanished). Anyway, point is, I think residents precede commercial activity 99% of the time.

it's what you get... fer thinking the southside is something like the northside.

relax... once those condos fill up, the restauranters will come.

excuse me, while i expound abit further...

having been familiar with the area for about fifteen years now - due some urban pioneering friends and later, due to job involvement - i've witnessed this area,, come up a long way with regards to the culinary scene.

hang in there... you'll be overly satiated, in short time.

Lord knows I've been patient, I've been waiting ten years.

The problem with this neighborhood is that you DO need to get in the car to get anything. I consider a reasonable walk for a quick bite or a quick run to the store to be a couple blocks - maybe 4 max. The only thing within a couple blocks of anything in the South Loop are dry cleaners.

What really sticks in my craw is comparing South Loop to University Village. They had every storefront down Halsted & Maxwell filled with useful shops within a year of the first people moving in. I'm assuming that will change here with highrises sprouting on every vacant lot, but it still ain't happening YET. There's only one lousy 7-11 for the entire hood for chrissakes.

My guess is that developers were forced to subsidize those University Village shops with below market rents to get those retailers in there. The city could easily have done that in the South Loop, but they're letting these developers squeeze every drop out of this cow.

They had every storefront down Halsted & Maxwell filled with useful shops within a year of the first people moving in.

But is there any newer place you'd really want to eat in that stretch? This is directed as a question not a criticism, but it has been my impression as I drive past on my way to the seemingly more fruitful chow territories of Pilsen and Bridgeport, that these are primarily chains of varying sorts. (A similar phenomenon seems to be occurring in the retail spaces of the South Loop nearer the Depaul/Roosevelt/Morris/Columbia complexes, where one Subway/DD/KFC after another is popping up to serve the large resident/transient student population that is now helping to populate the turf.)

jbw wrote:But is there any newer place you'd really want to eat in that stretch?

I don't envy the chain food places on Halsted. What I like up there is the Barbara's Bookstore, Lush Wines, a barber shop, that kind of stuff. That kind of retail is fiber in the urban fabric.

If I'd grown up in the burbs I wouldn't know what I was missing, but having grown up in Chicago and spending early adulthood in Lakeview, Ravenswood and Old Town you really miss having all that right outside your door.

rdb66 I live in the South Loop as well, and think that our alderwoman (Madeline Haithcock) is in fact incompetent. In fact, I believe that much of the progress that has taken place in the South and West Loop has almost happened in spite of her. It's true that we just don't have the kind of development that other similarly gentrified areas have, such as retail establishments and casual eateries, and that just defies common sense. The powers that be at University Village were very aggressive in getting businesses to come into the area and set up shop there, but Haitcock is neither aggressive nor imaginative when it comes to these things and it shows.

As far as the chow discussion on this thread is concerned I think most of the eating establishments in the area have already been touched on pretty well. The neighborhood does have some solid upscale and breakfast options, but we desperately need more casual and ethnic places, and a couple of decent pizza options wouldn't hurt either.

And for Pete's sake why hasn't anyone snatched up that prime spot on the NE corner of Wabash and Roosevelt??? Pure incompetence, I tell you.

Well I just heard from two reliable sources (including one of the aldermanic candidates) that Sunflower Market is trying to secure most of the space at Roosevelt and Wabash. Whether we really need four grocery stores within a two mile radius is of course questionable, but at least it isn't a crap store. Word is that the current alderwoman has not vetted Sunflower moving into the space, but that they are looking at that location as part of their goal to aggressively challenge Whole Foods' share of the organic retail market.

I sent an email to the alderman's website and this is the email response I recieved today.




Thank you for your interest in the city and in your community.

The primary cause of the lack of retail stores in your neighborhood is that current physical structures are not designed to provide retail space. Most of the older structures in the Near South were (and many still are) light industrial or warehouse buildings which have no storefronts. Of course, many of these have now been converted to residential loft buildings, which fostered the redevelopment of the Near South as a residential community. Much of the new construction that followed the loft conversions, before the area really took off, were designed with townhomes along the street frontage - again, none of these provided storefronts. Only now, with the high-rise condo buildings starting to go up, are new retail spaces being provided. The City has required ground floor retail space in all of the larger planned developments that will be built on the major arterial streets in the Near South, such as Michigan, State St., Wabash Ave., and even parts of Indiana Ave. Some of these have already been built, others are under construction, and still others have been approved and should be built soon. Once they're built, it will be up to the property owners and the marketplace to fill those new retail spaces.

There are also large-scale plans for retail and entertainment uses along Cermak Rd. and Michigan Ave., especially in Motor Row. The City envisions Motor Row as the future Main St. of the Near South, and we have been doing all we can to preserve ground floor retail/commercial spaces in buildings that will be renovated, or will be constructed in the near future. In addition to the renewed development interest in Motor Row that we've seen during the past year, there are also large development sites on the north side of Cermak, between Prairie Ave. and Michigan Ave., which the owners are actively marketing for retail uses.

The retail market generally follows the residential market, which explains the lag that you have experienced, but the residential market has been so strong in the Near South lately, that retailers are starting to take interest. You should definitely start to see a significant increase in neighborhood retail space in the coming years that will be within walking distance from your home.

A bit further north and west, a short drive from your home, the Roosevelt Rd. corridor will be the major retail hub for larger scale developments. We've approved over 1.5 million square feet of retail space in the area. I'm sure you are aware of the Jewel that opened several years ago at Wabash and Roosevelt, followed more recently by the Target at Roosevelt and Clark. Just last month, Southgate Market opened on the west side of the river. It includes over 300,000 sq. ft. of retail space, and includes a Whole Foods. The next expected large-scale retail development, to be known as the "Roosevelt Collection", is planned for area between the Target store and the river. You may have read about this in the newspaper. Construction should start within the next year or so.

All-in-all, we're doing a lot to address the retail shortage in the Near South, using the tools available to us - such as tax incentives and site assembly - when appropriate. However, the retail and real estate markets will both be important factors in how quickly we'll see the results from our efforts.

Bob McKenna, Assistant Commissioner
Department of Planning - Central Region

That's actually pretty cool, to get an intelligent, thoughtful answer from the guy actually doing the stuff.

Well thanks to the intelligent thoughtful complaints on this board I basically did an outline of everyone's comments and sent them an email, didn't think I would get a response since I sent the email out almost 2 weeks ago, however he responded today.

My wife and I have recently bought a condo in the area (still under construction) so we've been exploring the dining scene in anticipation. I have to agree with the comments here that the area has disproportionatly few (good) restaurants.

I think Fast Eddie was being generous to La Cantina when he gave it an "eh". I thought the food was bland, the prices were high (considering the blandness) and the service was slow and careless (though not outright rude).

On the other hand, I think Grace O'Malley's deserves more than an "eh". I think the prices on their menu are very reasonable for the neighborhood and the quality of the food isn't sacrificed for the reasonable prices.

I agree with the comments about Kroll's food being forgettable, but it bears mentioning that their beer selection is above average and merits a visit if you're in the neighborhood.

I'll post more of my impressions as we continue to explore the neighborhood. And actually move into it.

Did Whole Foods open yet?

white_tea wrote:Did Whole Foods open yet?

Not as of yesterday.

Whole foods on roosevelt opening soon! I think the sign said the 16th?

The Whole Foods on Roosevelt is scheduled to open on Wednesday, August 8th.

Edited to add a link to the recent discussion about Panozzo's in the South Loop, IMO one of the best food additions to the neighborhood in quite a while:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=14647

SMT wrote:The Whole Foods on Roosevelt is scheduled to open on Wednesday, August 8th.

The Whole Foods is officially open, went there yesterday - very impressive! This is the biggest one in the city, you can actually get past other people in the aisles believe it or not. I'd say the square footage is at least 50% greater than the other stores. They have the same departments, but a broader selection within each department - outstanding!

On top of that Binny's just announced they're building a megastore across the street from Manny's:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu_binny_0809aug09,0,1446468.story

Fast Eddie wrote:On top of that Binny's just announced they're building a megastore across the street from Manny's:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu_binny_0809aug09,0,1446468.story

Ouch. That's bad news for Lush Wine and Spirits, just around the corner on Halsted.

I think Lush will be alright, they've got an unusual selection that you won't find at a Binny's so they're not competing toe to toe. They've put a lot of thought into where they want to fit into the market so they don't get crushed by the giants.

Hi there,

Just wanted to alert folks of the presence of a new coffee shop in the South Loop area. On the bottom floor of one of the Museum Towers buildings is Little Branch Cafe that has been open for about two weeks. They use Metropolis Coffee that is quite good, and have an assortment of breakfast foods, gelato, and look to be adding sandwiches to the selection soon. I haven't eaten the food there, but do like stopping there for the coffee.

Little Branch Cafe
1235 S. Prairie Avenue

This might be a bit North for Museum campus but there is a nice little tea shop on 11th street between State and Wabash.

They serve over 200 kinds of tea, hot or cold and have a limited snack and sandwich menu. The food is fresh and pretty good. The serve a tasty Jicama citrus slaw with their sandwiches.

Hi Tea
www.hiteachicago.com
14 East 11 Street.
312-880-0832

So now we have a potbelly's, and a sam's right on Wabash/Roosevelt. Further north on Roosevelt we have tamarind, (ok but nothing noteworthy), and a thai place (forgot what it was called but they have sushi and it was just average) There's a new bistro on Mich/Roosevelt, along with a decent italian deli, and further south we have South Coast, which didn't impress me much either, (but better than triad sushi).

The south loop still blows chunks in terms of food/retail, I'm constantly driving out to Lincoln Park and the West loop for some quality eats! Don't even get me started on La Cantina Grill, on 18th and Michigan, or Krolls, haha. For such a resident and condo heavy (almost congested) area, it's a shame that there are no decent places to grab a quick bite except for the obvious (opera gioco zapastia) and the 3 decent breakfast options that are always packed to the max. (yolk, bongo room, orange). As much as I dislike LP, I'm always jealous of the multitude of shops/food establishments on Clark, (Aloha, Lito's, Cafe Luigi, etc) that give that neighborhood a distinct soul!