Culinary oasis slated for 51st Street
Culinary oasis slated for 51st Street
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Culinary oasis slated for 51st Street
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Post #1 - November 28th, 2009, 3:08 pmCulinary oasis slated for 51st Street: Local activist says ethnic cuisine will bring 51st Street a taste of successIn developer Bernard Loyd's dreams, a desolate 51st Street in Bronzeville will be transformed by an ethnic food district that acts as a magnet for other businesses and people tired of eating unhealthy food on the run.
His $8.6 million project, called Bronzeville Cookin', moved a step closer to fruition this month when the Chicago Community Development Commission recommended it receive $3 million in tax-increment financing and that the city sell Loyd two vacant lots for parking next to the century-old building he plans to renovate.
The building, in the 300 block of 51st Street, next to the Green Line station, would house four restaurants in 17,000 square feet. Three restaurants would be full-service and one carry-out. There also would be a produce market.
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Loyd, 47, a Bronzeville resident and community activist, said the culinary incubator will turn a food desert into an oasis, offering healthier dining options, jobs and a reason to come to the area. Now, residents have more access to fast food than to a grocery store, he said.
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"Chinatown is a great example. It's a huge economic engine for that community. Thousands are employed, and there are all these other businesses that feed off of that flow of people, such as grocery or specialty food outlets. Most go to Chinatown to dine, but the locals can get what they need in that community."
...Cathy2
"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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Post #2 - November 11th, 2012, 7:52 pmThe culinary oasis may have been a mirage. I hope things are still proceeding but little seems to have changed at that location for at least a couple years.
Northeast Corner of 51st & Prairie, August 2012
Meanwhile diagonally across the intersection, Nu Mecca (235 E 51st), a porkless restaurant, opened and closed in the space of about a year. Better news a block east: Barbara's Soul Food (353 E 51st) reopened at the end of August after suffering a fire over four years earlier.
In contrast, half a mile straight south, a fine old terra cotta building is actively being renovated.
Southeast Corner of Garfield & Prairie, October 2012
It will house the Washington Park Arts Incubator, an institution run by Theaster Gates, and one worth watching.
In neighborhood food news, Ms Lee's Good Food (203 E Garfield) seems to be doing well but Harold's Chicken Shack #40 (307 E Garfield; at left of photo) has given the dancing chicken his pink slip and shut down the fryers.
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Post #3 - November 11th, 2012, 10:12 pmRene G wrote:dancing chicken
The best thing I've seen in some time."Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
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Post #4 - November 21st, 2012, 10:43 am
Yeah, #40 was a good one, sorry to hear it closed. That is one scary looking chicken head. I love that every Harold's is unique. Here is another video of the dancing Chicken rockin with Usher in the middle of Garfield Boulevard, and finally part 3 of the Chicken trilogy.
