The History of Prince Castle Ice Cream Shops (1931-1954) and Cock Robin, (1954-2008).

Prince Castle

A boy points to a billboard touting the One In A Million milkshakes sold at the Price Castle ice cream shop in Naperville, which later became Cock Robin.

Quite a bit of ice cream was once produced in Naperville and enjoyed at the Prince Castle/Cock Robin shops found in Chicago-area communities.

Childhood friends Walter Fredenhagen and Earl Prince formed a partnership more than 90 years ago when they decided to try their hand at selling ice cream directly to customers rather than selling what they produced to other shops.

Each had experience in the business. Fredenhagen — a Downers Grove native with a law degree from Northwestern University — owned an ice cream plant called Frozen Gold in Naperville. Castle’s ice cream plant was in Rushville.

1931, the pair joined forces to open a Prince Castle ice cream store chain. Naperville was the first, followed by Downers Grove, LaGrange, Glen Ellyn, and Elmhurst locations.

Four employees of the first Prince Castle ice cream shop in Naperville, (Left to Right) Jo (Pickell) Weymouth, Elaine (Auner) Schum, Lois Johnson, “Vange” (Whitehead) Gieske, eating cones in front of the Washington Street business in 1931. The photo was provided to the Chicago Tribune in 1999 by Rita Harvard, daughter of Walter Fredenhagen, who co-founded the ice cream store chain.

As befitted the name, the design of the shops made them look like small castles, and with a nod to the changing modes of transportation, each had a parking lot.

The partners then formed two separate chains using the same name. Prince’s operations were south of Chicago, while Fredenhagen’s shops were north and west of the city.

Walter’s wife, Grace, oversaw the selection and training of managers and had supervisory responsibilities.

With ice cream being a seasonal food, they added hamburgers and fries to the menu in the 1940s.

Ice cream was produced at a factory at 38 W. Chicago Avenue in Naperville using cream delivered by tanker trucks from dairy farms in Wisconsin. The sauces for sundaes were made with fresh fruit and shipped from Washington state.

The meat processing plant making the company’s “Castleburgers” was located in Naperville at 36 East Fifth Avenue.

Innovations included ice cream cabinets, square ice cream containers, and square-shaped ice cream scoops. The partners invented and patented the Multi-Mixer device, the first used to make malted milkshakes, powered by a one-third horsepower motor.

The square-shaped ice cream scoops were used by Prince Castle and later Cock Robin. The top of the cones were square to snugly hold a scoop of square ice cream. The double scoop cone was a side-by-side square shape.

It produced the “One In A Million” malted milkshake, which they made with a patented formula so thick that its claim to fame was it nearly clogged the straw.

Ray Kroc, who would go on to found McDonald’s, once sold Multi-Mixers out of the Prince Castle’s sales division in Chicago. Fredenhagen and Prince trained Kroc in the business.

At its height, there were more than 20 Prince Castle ice cream shops around the Chicago area. The company sold more than one million gallons of ice cream each year, and there were recipes for 100 flavors.

For a while, the company was the second-largest employer in Naperville.

The partnership between Fredenhagen and Prince came to an end in 1954. Fredenhagen changed the name of his shops to Cock Robin in 1955, creating the motto: “Cock Robin: Where Memories are Made.”

Eventually, the castle style of Fredenhagen’s shops gave way to a more modern look. The makeover of the Naperville store on Washington Street took place in 1967.

In 1980, there was a shift in the Cock Robin business model. Store managers became dealers, leasing their stores and buying their products from the company.

Fredenhagen retired in 1985 after he sold the ice cream business to Petersen Ice Cream.

The last of three Naperville stores closed on Washington Street in 2000. Walter Fredenhagen’s children, Ted Fredenhagen and Rita Harvard sold the land on which it sat to the city for $10 with one proviso to be used as part of the Riverwalk. Fredenhagen Park was dedicated in May 2004.

As for Naperville’s signature Cock Robin sign — the one featuring a robin dressed in a top hat and tuxedo — it can be seen on a wall in the beer garden of Irish Times, 8869 Burlington Avenue , just west of the former Cock Robin location.

COCK ROBIN

Skokie Boulevard, a couple of blocks north of Oakton Street, Skokie, IL.
This was my local Cock Robin Store. 

For a long time mentioning Cock Robin ice cream brings back days when ice cream cones cost 12¢ and lines wound out the door and around the building on hot summer nights.

After a date at the movies, a couple would go to Prince Castle and buy a pint of ice cream with two spoons or the signature One in a Million, the first thick shake of its kind. “We would take our dates down to the theater and have a sundae or soda after that, and then walk up to the girls dorms before their 10 o’clock curfew,” said Jack Koten, 70, of Barrington, who was a student at Naperville’s North Central College in the late 1940s.

After nearly 70 years of serving square-dipped ice creams and malted milkshakes, Naperville’s Cock Robin, home of the original Prince Castle store and ice cream factory, closed its doors.

In a deal struck with the city, the land where the Cock Robin store and the original creamery stand were gifted to the City of Naperville in October 2000.

The store and creamery will be razed and replaced with Fredenhagen Park on the 1-acre site along Washington Street just north of the Riverwalk.

A visitors center, with an area recalling the history of Cock Robin, is proposed for the site.

Nearly everyone who grew up in Naperville, it seems, remembers going to Prince Castle and later Cock Robin.

“My cousin lived right next door on Ellsworth Street. In the summertime at night, we would walk down Washington Street to get ice cream,” said Ruth Hageman, 70, a life-long resident of Naperville who was a waitress at Prince Castle as a teenager and young adult.

“You had regular customers, and you almost knew what they were going to order,” Hageman said.

Koten said that three or four times a week, he walked down the hill from the college with his roommate to get a pint or quart of ice cream as a late-night study break.

“I had never gone to an ice cream place with so many different flavors,” Koten said. “A pint or quart was in a square box. It was just sort of a novelty. We could have a different flavor every night for a month.”

The ice cream was made from scratch in the brick creamery behind the store for years. In addition to the standards, there would be cinnamon- or pumpkin-flavored concoctions, depending on the season, said Rita Harvard, 70, daughter of the store’s founders, Walter and Grace Fredenhagen.

In the late 1920s, Walter Fredenhagen teamed with a boyhood friend, Earl Prince, with an idea to manufacture ice cream.

“It was rather innovative,” Harvard said. “In those days, no one manufactured the ice cream and then sold it.”

Both opened 25 stores in the Chicago area and shared the limestone castle design of the shops and the ice cream formulas. Fredenhagen’s first Prince Castle store opened in Naperville in 1931.

Everything was homemade. Fredenhagen opened a dairy nearby to pasteurize the milk for the ice cream. Chocolate was bought from Holland to make the hot fudge, and Harvard said that Fredenhagen’s daughter Jeanne Moen ran a strawberry farm in Seattle and shipped the fruit to Naperville for the ice cream and toppings.

Fredenhagen bought a factory in Downers Grove to efficiently construct square ice cream cans that fit snugly in the store’s display cases.

When the partnership with the Prince family split during the 1950s, Fredenhagen renamed his stores Cock Robin and his son Ted took over the business. Over time, the family stopped making their own ice cream.

The last Cock Robin store was in Brookfield and closed in 2008

After Fredenhagen died in 1993, the family left the ice cream business. The remaining Cock Robin stores–in Brookfield, Melrose Park, River Grove, and Wheaton–were sold over the last decade.

CLICK TO READ THE 1852 STORY.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Tiny Tap Bar, 112½ North Clinton Street, Chicago, Illinois. (1953-1985)

George and Bob DeLeonardis owned the Tiny Tap bar for years. There will be no more lewd laughter in the Tiny Tap, Chicago's smallest bar. on a Wednesday night, they drank all the booze. The next day they dismantled the bar. After 32 years, they've lost their lease. A three-story multi-use building was built in its place. 

The Tiny Tap bar was 10-by-20-foot (200 sq. ft.) a home to millionaires and skid row drinkers across the street from the Chicago & North Western Train Station. 

When the bar was two-deep, it was packed. They closed in April 1985.

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Brothers Anthony and Dominick Adreani own the Tiny Tap (1,000 sq. ft) at 7648 West North Avenue, Elmwood Park, which opened in January 2015. They also own the Berwyn Tap Room, 6330 16th Street, Berwyn.

"Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m married to George’s daughter Terry, and I can attest that George and the Tiny Tap was as colorful as you described!"

—Don Meyer via Facebook. 8/5/2023   

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Eli's The Place for Steak (1966-2005), and Eli's Famous Cheesecake Bakery, Chicagoland.

Eli Schulman was no ordinary man. A high school dropout, he gave lectures in finance at De Paul University and large amounts of money to such organizations as the Community Assistance for Secondary Education, which provides scholarships for Israeli students, and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. 

The man who proudly wore a watch given to him by Frank Sinatra and who could count such people as Jack Brickhouse, Irv Kupcinet, George Dunne, Ingrid Bergman, Joe DiMaggio and virtually every Chicago "big name" among his friends and admirers was born in Chicago in 1910.

His charitable ways began in earnest on Pearl Harbor Day when he put a pair of signs in his window: "25% discount for men in uniform" and "If you are hungry and don`t have any money, come in, and we`ll feed you free." 

Eli's Ogden Huddle, 3201 West Ogden, Chicago (1940-1966)

Eli's Stage Delicatessen, 3201 West Ogden, Chicago (1958-1984)

Eli Schulman was a successful businessman and restaurateur who had already founded two other successful restaurants (pictured above) before opening Eli's The Place for Steak.

Eli's The Place for Steak was located in a Chicago landmark building, the Galter Carriage House, which was built in 1926 as a five-story parking garage at 215 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, in the heart of Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.

In 1960, it was expanded to become a 27-story high-rise building that housed employees and patients of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The lower levels of the building were also used for retail and commercial purposes. 

Eli's The Place for Steak was located in the building from 1966 to 2005.

Eli Schulman

Eli's was known for its classic steakhouse fare, including aged filet mignon, ribeye, and porterhouse steaks, cut as thin or thick as you wished. The restaurant also had a wide selection of fresh seafood, pasta dishes, and chops. Eli's Chicago's Finest Cheesecake was a popular dessert that spawned its own company.

Over the years, Eli's became a popular destination for celebrity clientele. Some of the famous guests who dined at the restaurant included Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Bob Hope, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey.

During Bill Clinton's visit, Clinton helped to move some freshly baked cheesecakes from the oven to cooling trays. He also spoke with the bakery's employees and sampled some of the cheesecakes. Clinton was a big fan of Eli's cheesecake, and he had cheesecake delivered to the White House after he was elected president.

Bill Clinton and Marc Schulman.

Eli's Famous Cheesecake Bakery

Eli's Famous Cheesecake Bakery was founded in 1979 by Eli Schulman, the owner of the popular Chicago steakhouse Eli's the Place for Steak. Schulman developed the recipe for his signature cheesecake after years of experimentation, and it quickly became a hit with customers. The bakery was originally located in the basement of the restaurant.

The cheesecake became so popular that Schulman decided to open a separate bakery dedicated to cheesecake production and moved the bakery from the basement to a new location at 6701 West Forest Preserve Drive, Chicago, in 1984. 

Schulman's only son, Marc, took over the bakery in 1984. Marc continued to build on his father's legacy, and Eli's Famous Cheesecake Bakery became one of the most popular cheesecake brands in America. The bakery's cheesecakes are now sold in stores all over the United States, and they are also shipped worldwide.

Marc Schulman

Eli's Famous Cheesecake Bakery is known for its high-quality cheesecakes and its commitment to giving back to the community. 

Eli Schulman died of a heart attack on Saturday, May 7, 1988, at 78 years old. "To know this man is to love him," said Chicago Bears coach and restaurant owner Mike Ditka.

The bakery donates a portion of its profits to Eli's Cheesecake Cancer Center, which was founded in memory of Eli Schulman.

The bakery has been featured in several television shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America.

The bakery is also a popular spot for fundraising events. In 2001, Eli's Famous Cheesecake Bakery helped to raise over $1 million for the victims of the World Trade Center attacks. The bakery has also raised money for other causes, such as the Chicago Food Bank and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Eli's Cheesecake has won numerous awards, including the James Beard Award for Outstanding Baker in 2004.

Eli's Cheesecake Cancer Center

The Eli's Cheesecake Cancer Center, 676 North St. Clair Street, Chicago, opened in 1990 to honor Eli Schulman, who died of cancer. His family established the center in his memory.

Eli's Cheesecake Cancer Center, 676 North St. Clair Street, Chicago

Eli's Cheesecake Cancer Center is a cancer research, treatment, prevention, and education center located at the Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, IL. The center was founded in 2006 by Eli's Cheesecake Company in partnership with Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The center is also home to the Eli's Cheesecake Foundation, which provides financial support to cancer patients and their families. The center has raised over $10 million for cancer research, helped to develop new treatments for cancer, including a new type of immunotherapy, treated over 10,000 cancer patients, and has provided education and support to over 100,000 cancer patients and their families.

On July 30, 2005, Eli's closed its doors due to the demolition of the building it was located in. The site of the restaurant is now occupied by a parking garage.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Chicago Waiters Strike Food Poisoning Epidemic of 1918.

In the summer of 1918, police launched a major raid at the offices of Chicago's waiter's union. They rounded up over 100 servers working in the local restaurant industry on suspicion of food poisoning.

The waiter's strike of 1903 occured the same year that Mickey Finn was arrested.

The raid was unlike anything the city had seen before, and it came after the swanky Hotel Sherman hired an undercover detective to investigate an alarming amount of food poisoning among the hotel's well-to-do patrons.

The Sherman Hotel hired a detective to investigate after an alarming number of diners became ill.

What the detective discovered was astonishing: the city's waiters had been purchasing 20¢ packets of an illegal powdery substance that, if ingested, would cause violent gastronomical problems. The drug was later found to be "tartar emetic," a concoction produced by W. Stuart Wood, a pseudo-pharmacist who manufactured the drug with his wife.

Wood named the drug "Mickey Finn powder" as a tribute to the conniving saloon owner arrested just 15 years earlier. Many believe this was the origin of the saying "slip a Mickey" as a reference to being drugged or knocked unconscious by a spiked beverage or meal.

The drug bust at the waiters' union explained the cause behind countless reports of food poisoning across Chicago in previous weeks.

Customers at restaurants, clubs, and hotels in the city were getting sick, shaking and vomiting uncontrollably after consuming what authorities suspected was food laced with some sort of drug. Police confiscated envelopes filled with the Mickey Finn powder adorned with a written warning on them:

“One of these powders may be given in beer, tea, coffee, soup or other liquid. Never give more than one powder a day. These powders are to be used by adults only.”

Among those arrested in the raid were two men who worked the union headquarters' bar, along with the president of the subsidiary bartenders union, officials from the Waiters and Cooks unions, and Wood, the mastermind behind the powder drug.

According to a report by the Tribune, the customers that had fallen ill during the food poisoning epidemic were mostly "prominent Chicagoans" who hadn't tipped their waiters generously.

Even before Chicago waiters plotted against stingy tippers, another bout of mass food poisoning occurred during a swanky event at the University Club, where dozens of the city's elite, including the mayor and the governor, had gathered and become gravely ill two years prior in 1916.

More than 100 guests at the soiree, held in honor of Chicago's new archbishop George Mundelein, became sick after consuming chicken soup at the event. It turned out that the food had been spiked with arsenic by Nestor Dondoglio, an Italian anarchist who advocated for class revolt and had only meant to poison Mundelein himself.

Dondoglio had disguised himself as an assistant chef named Jean Crones and slipped in among the kitchen staff unnoticed before carrying out his revenge against the city's influential crowd.

After both of these food poisoning incidents, Chicago's food industry descended into fear and chaos.

Captain William O'Brien and Dr. John Robertson examine poison phial's in the room of Jean Crones, the anarchist who poisoned 300 elite guests.

The city's public was on high alert. Food tasters were hired for the city's St. Patrick's Day festivities as waiters across Chicago continued to strike and, in some cases, still poisoned stingy restaurant tippers.

Though separated by decades, Dondoglio's, the waiters, and Finn's stunts all sought to revolt against Chicago's wealthy. Later, drugs and poison would escalate from a means of punishment to a method of murder.

In 1923, Chicago storekeeper Tillie Klimek — nicknamed the "Poison Widow" — made headlines after being convicted of killing her third husband by poisoning his meals. Later, she was linked to the murders of at least 14 other people and animals.

Similarly, in 1931, a woman in Chicago's Rogers Park community was suspected of using flypaper to poison her husband's drinks when she believed he was having an affair. Then in 1942, a couple died of cyanide poisoning at the famed L'Aiglon Restaurant in River North, and later it came out that the woman in the couple was a mistress.

While this trend of mass poisoning bloomed in the 1920s and 30s Chicago, these days, pulling off such a crime would be virtually impossible.

"The truth is it's generally not easy now to poison on a wide scale," said food safety specialist Benjamin Chapman of the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University.

He added: "Cases of intentional poisoning tend to be small — and often a flavor or a taste will tip people off something's wrong. Using our food systems to poison is just not the most efficient, effective way to get at people."

Mickey Finns have since transformed into knock-out drugs made out of clonidine. The drug continues to be the go-to method for scammers and thieves.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Pullman Palace Dining Car, the Isabella, built 1893, Sandwich, Illinois.

The Pullman Palace Car Co. built the 75-foot rail car, number 4438, in 1893 for $25,000 ($843,000 today). It was a unique new design for rail dining cars and thus was featured at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

At the time it was built, the car was affectionately named Isabella by the Pullman Company. When visiting the rail car, you are taken back to a simpler time of railroad travel, when the journey was more important than the destination. With its original leaded glass windows and mahogany woodwork, this palace car was one of only 4 cars on the "Pride of the Burlington's Flyer" train.

The Flyer train was so successful that it was commissioned by the United States to serve our 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt. The Isabella escorted President Roosevelt from coast to coast from about 1903 through 1913. Upon campaigning for the 1912 presidential election, Teddy Roosevelt defected from the republican party and started the progressive party. While on the campaign trail, one day, while giving a speech from the train, Teddy was the victim of an assassination attempt and was severely wounded. Despite a bullet in his chest, he stood his ground and finished his speech. When taken to the hospital, he said: "I'm tough as a bull moose, and I will continue this campaign." This statement is the origin of the current name for the Bull Moose Bar and Grille.

As time passed, the Isabella was retired and sold to Henry Tattersol at a government auction in California in 1931 for $75. Tattersol had a vision of opening a diner using the train car. In 1934 the Isabella was moved to the southwest corner of Main and Church Streets in Sandwich, Illinois and opened as a small diner with its entrance on Route 34.

A year later, it was moved east across the street to its present location. It was known to the locals as "The Diner" for many years. Many famous people have hung their hats on the original brass hooks that once served the president of the United States.

Tattersall opened a small ice cream stand on the east end of The Diner in 1937 and held a naming contest. Charlotte Fields' name was chosen, and it was called The Humpty Dumpty.

The Bull Moose Bar & Grille, 202 South Main Street, Sandwich, Illinois.

In 1977 a full-service restaurant and bar were added, increasing the ability to serve more guests. Over the years, the train car's appearance changed, and the structure began to fall into disrepair. 

In 2010 a year-long major renovation was undertaken to restore the Isabella to its original glory and modernize the bar and dining room into the incredible structure you can enjoy today.

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Pullman Palace Car Company named the dining car the "Isabella." Restautant names were The Diner, Wright's Diner, Paul's Diner, Cucina Plata, Kelly's Pub, American Grill, and today, the Bull Moose Bar & Grille, 202 South Main Street, Sandwich, Illinois.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Chicago's West Ridge Community, List of Closed Restaurants.

Chicago's West Ridge Community is comprised of these five neighborhoods:

1) West Rogers Park, 2) West Ridge; 3) Nortown; 4) Peterson Park; 5) Rosehill

1929─1962 Devon Avenue Confectioneries in Chicago.

1960s & 70s Devon Avenue Bakeries in West Ridge & Rogers Park, Chicago.

Skokie, Illinois, List of Closed Restaurants.

9 Dragon Inn, 3146 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Afghan Restaurant, 2818 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Al Habib Grill, 2435 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Al Karim Restaurant, 2116 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Al Madina, 2319 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Alibis, 6422 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Alpha Jones, 3106 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Ameer Tandoori Kebab, 2307 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Andhra Bhavan Restaurant, 2509 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Angry Chicken, 2447 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Angry Taco, 7210 North California Avenue, Chicago

Angus, The, 7555 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Ann Lowe's Lunch Room, 7123 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Apollo Pizza and Bakery, 2311 West Howard Street, Chicago

Arby's, 2938 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Asian Family Restaurant, 2501 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Aslam Sweets, 6339 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Babil Kabob House, 6404 North California Avenue, Chicago

Bagel Restaurant, 3000 West Devon  Avenue, Chicago

Bagel and Tray, Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Bakers Square, 7131 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Barnaby's Pizza, 2832 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Beef 'N Stein Pub, 2741 West Howard Street, Chicago

Belden North Restaurant Delicatessen, 7574 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Bernie’s Diner, 2810 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Biryani Bistro, 2437 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Bismillah Restaurant, 2510 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Black Angus, 7555 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Blue Diamond Restaurant, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Blue Peacock Restaurant, 2340 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Bon Ton On Devon, 2801 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Bow Wow Hot Dogs, 2954 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Bowl-O-India, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Brown's Chicken, 3149 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Brown's Chicken, 7555 North California Avenue, Chicago

Buggy Whip, 6002 North California Avenue, Chicago

Burgers To Go!, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Café Bocacho, 3018 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Café California, 6226½ North California Avenue, Chicago

Café Dushong, 3106 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Café Laziza, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Café Montenegro, 6954 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Charlie Lui's, 2741 West Howard Street, Chicago

Chatkharay Karahi And Grill, 2319 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Charles Anderson Restaurant, 7543 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Charminar Grill, 6350 North Campbell Avenue, Chicago

Chicago Char Grill, 5731 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Chicken Koop, 3049 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Chicken Wing Co., 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

China Dragon, 6214 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Chuck Wagon, 6402 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Chung Hing Restaurant, 2334 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Companion Chow Mein Restaurant, 6950 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Dan-Dee's Red Hots, 2240 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Dandana Café, 2407 West Lunt Avenue, Chicago 

Daata Darbar, 2241 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Dave's, 5731 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Deasy's Club, 5697 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Delhi Darbar, 6403 North California Avenue, Chicago

Dehli Muslim Kali Restaurant, 6523 North Kedzie Avenue, Chicago

Devon Grill, 6351 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Devon Pizza, 2902 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

DLD Café and Grill, 6934 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Eddie Doucette's Pancake Plantation Restaurants, 2601 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Eisenberg Beef Hot Dogs (Home Depot), 6211 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

El Garcia Restaurant, 7515 North Western Avenue, Chicago

El Picante Mexican Grill, 2349 West Howard Street, Chicago

El Sol De Mexico, 6418 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Everfresh, 2331 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Family Restaurant, 2113 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Fin N Claw, 7225 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Fireplug Restaurant, The, 2200 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Fireside Chef, 2701 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Fluky's Hot Dogs, 6732 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Fluky's Hot Dogs, 6821 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Fondue Stube, 2717 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Food Corner, 2326 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Four Corners Restaurant, (SE Corner) 2758 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Frank's Barbecue, 2916½  West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Friedman's Delicatessen, 6334 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Gandhi India, 2601 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Gee N' Gee Snack Shop, 5748 North California Avenue, Chicago

Gene Nufer Oyster Bar, 6666 North Ridge Avenue, Chicago

Ghareeb Nawaz Restaurant, 2032 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Ghaseeta Khan Restaurant, 6334 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Gigio's Pizza Restaurant, Devon Avenue, west of California Avenue, Chicago.

Gilly's Snack Shop, 6403 North California Avenue, Chicago

Gin and Irv's Bar-B-Q, 3149 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Glenway Inn, 1401 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Gold Coast Dogs, 2349 West Howard Street, Chicago

Gold Coin Restaurant, 2359 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Golden Bear Restaurant, McCormick Boulevard, South of Devon Avenue, Chicago

Golden Hamburger Drive-In, 5825 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Good Earth Chop Suey Restaurant, 2334 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Grassfield's Restaurant, 6666 North Ridge Avenue, Chicago

Greenbriar Hut, 2755 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Gullivers Pizza and Pub, 2727 West Howard Street, Chicago

Hae Woon Dae Korean BBQ Restaurant, 6240 North California Avenue, Chicago

Halal Fried Chicken, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Hashalom, 2905 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Happy Day Chop Suey Restaurant, 6351 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Hava Nagila Restaurant, 2748 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Hema’s Kitchen, 2439 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Herman's Charcoal Broiler, 2748 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Hero's, NE corner Touhy and California Avenues, Chicago

Hoanh Long, 6150 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Holloway House Cafeteria, 7572 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Hollywood Barbecue, 6007 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Homer's Hut, 6446 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Hot Rod Grill, 6237 North Western Avenue, Chicago

House of Chicken, 7438 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Hyderabad House Restaurant, 2226 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Il Forno Pizzeria and Restaurant, 2842 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Imperial Grill, 2101 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

India Garden, 2548 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

India House Restaurant, 2546 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Indian Gourmet Restaurant, 2902 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Ing's Chop Suey, 5868 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Italian Express, 2307 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Jesse's Mexican Grill, 6950 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Jim Fong Chop Suey, 2931 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

JK Kabab House, 6412 North Rockwell Street, Chicago

Jodi's Drive-In, 3149 West Devon, Chicago

Joes Dawg Ranch, 6234 North California Avenue, Chicago

Jojo's, 3905 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Jumbo House Chinese Restaurant, 2927 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kababish of London, 2437 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kabob 2, 3104 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kashtan Delicatessen, 2740 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kay's Snack Bar, 2101 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Kessler's Kitchen, 2755 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

KFC SE corner (on a triangle) of Peterson and Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Khan Bar-B-Q, 2401 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kim Restaurant, 6034 North Washtenaw Avenue, Chicago

Kirshner's Kosher Cuisine, 2839 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Kirshner's Kosher Cuisine, 6320 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Kofield's, 2758 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant, 2548 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Kracker Box, 6364 North Rockwell Avenue, Chicago

Kumoon Cantonese Restaurant, 2927 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

La Cantina Italian Restaurant, 6975 North Western Avenue, Chicago

La Petite Restaurant, 2401 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

La Michoacana, 2349 West Howard Street, Chicago

La Rosa Restaurant, 2835 West Howard Avenue, Chicago

Land of Subs, NE corner Touhy and California Avenues, Chicago

Les Cel Bar-B-Q, 2823½ West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Lincolnwood Coffee Grill and Fountain Shop, NW corner Devon and Kedzie, Chicago

Little John's Restaurant, 2732 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Little Louis Restaurant, 6339 North California Avenue, Chicago

Lincolnwood Coffee Grill and Fountain Shop, NW corner of Devon and Kedzie, Chicago

Lippy's Red Hots, 3118 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Long John Silvers, 6732 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Louie's Noshery, 7210 North California Avenue, Chicago

Lunt Café, 6952 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Ma's Chop Suey Take Out, 2816 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Main Pizza Chalav (Main Grill), 2831 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Mark II Lounge, 7436 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Martin J. Flanagan Restaurant, 7557 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Masti Grill, 2948 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Maxwell Grill, 6339 North California Avenue, Chicago

McDonald's Townhouse, 2300 Block of Devon Avenue, Chicago

Mehrab Restaurant, 2437 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Mi Tsu Yun, 3010 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Mike's Ice Chicago, 5731 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Mike’s Place, 6977 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Miller's Steak House, 7011 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Mongolian House, 6345 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Moose Grill, The, 7210 N California Avenue , Chicago

Moscow at Night, 3058 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Mr. Beef, 2750 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Mr. Falafel, 6404 North California Avenue, Chicago

Mr. Submarine, Devon and Oakley Avenues, Chicago

Mysore Woodlands, 2548 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Nathan's Restaurant, 2401 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Nehari Palace, 2114 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

New China Buffet, 7566 North Western Avenue, Chicago

New Star Cantonese Foods, 2712 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

New Wok Restaurant, 2931 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Ohel Avraham's Pizza (IDA Crown Jewish Academy), 2828 West Pratt Boulevard, Chicago

Old Country Buffet, 6125 North Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

P & S Restaurant, 7201 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Pakistan House Restaurant, 2306 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Pantheon Greek Restaurant, Devon Avenue, Chicago

Papa Milano Restaurant, 6415 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Patrician Restaurant, 3058 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Paul's Umbrella, NE corner Touhy and California Avenues, Chicago

Pekin House Restaurant, 2311 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Peking Food Shop, 6217 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Pepe's Taco's, 2350 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Peter Pan Snack Shops, Devon and Western Avenues, Chicago

Petite Pantry, 2307 West Howard Avenue, Chicago

Pickle Barrel, 7574 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Pike's Pine Knot Hamburger Stand, 6343 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Pike's Williamsburg Kitchen, 6415 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Pinewood Lounge, 2310 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Pioneer Inn, Touhy Avenue, Chicago and California Avenue, Chicago

Poppin' Fresh Pies, 7131 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Puff-Fluff Donuts, NE corner Pratt Boulevard and Western Avenue, Chicago

Punjabi Dhabba Indian Restaurant, 2525 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Quiznos Classic Subs, 6067 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Raja Vegetarian Fast Foods, 2606 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Randl's Restaurant (aka "Devon-Randl's"), 2801 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Ravi Kabab House, 2447 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Relish Chicago - American Street Food, 7210 North California Avenue, Chicago

Red Hot Ranch, 3118 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Restaurant el Sol de Mexico, 6418 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Rib-N-Wing Take Out, 2816 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Ridge Inn, 6648 North Ridge Avenue, Chicago

Ridge Steak House, 6666 North Ridge Avenue, Chicago

Robert's Restaurant and Delicatessen, Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Ruby's Snack Shop, 6410 North Rockwell Avenue, Chicago

Ruthie’s, 7131 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sagar, 2520 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Sally's Original Bar-B-Q (1st on Western), 6445 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sally's Original Bar-B-Q (then moved here), 6335 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sally's Stage, 6335 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sammy and Lisa's What's Cooking, 6181 N Lincoln, Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Sangeet Palace Restaurant, 2136 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Scheffler's Restaurant, 7011 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Selma's Delicatessen, 2549 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Seven Hills Restaurant, 3001 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago Avenue, Chicago

Shalimar Kabab House, 2319 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Sheeba Mandi House of Devon, 2510 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Sheerman and Kabab House, 2104 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Shelly's Restaurant and Delicatessen, 2748 West Pratt Boulevard, Chicago

Sher-A-Punjab Indian Restaurant, 2510 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Shiraz Restaurant, 2624 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Showtime America, 6335 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sizzle India, 2509 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Small Fry Restaurant, 1555 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sonny-Boy Barbecue Hut, 7011 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Sub Cult, 2447 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Sukhadia's Fresh Kitchen and Bistro, 2559 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Sundance Café, 2407 West Lunt Avenue, Chicago 

Sunset Restaurant, 7304 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Taami, 2931 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

Taboun Inc., 6339 North California Avenue, Chicago

Tahoora, 2326 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Taj Restaurant and Catering, 6352 North Campbell Avenue, Chicago

Talbott's Restaurant, 7301 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Tapia's Pizza, 2049 West Howard Street, Chicago

Taqueria El Pueblo, 2212 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Terry's Drive-In, 2721 West Touhy Avenue, Chicago

The Diamond Steer, 6345 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Theatre Bowl Snack Shop, 6800 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Three Legged Tacos, 7210 North California Avenue, Chicago

Three Sisters Delicatessen, 2854 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Tic-Toc Restaurant, 3058 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Tiffin The Indian Kitchen, 2536 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Town Pump Restaurant, 6345 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Tropical Smoothie Café, 3451 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Umar, 6958 North Western Avenue, Chicago

Urban India, 2601 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Uru Swati, 2629 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Usmania Chinese Restaurant, 2253 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Usmania Indian Restaurant, 2244 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Viceroy of India, 2520 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Village Cart, 6181 North Lincoln Avenue , Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Village Grill, 6107 North Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Village Inn, 6181 North Lincoln Avenue Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Wah Lung Lo, Lunt and Western Avenues, Chicago 

Welcome Inn Pizzeria, 7517 North Western Avenue, Chicago

What The.. Wings, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

What's Cooking, 6181 North Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Wingman, 2321 West Howard Street, Chicago

Wok N Chop, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Wrapmatic, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Yallafan, 2820 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago

Z Halal Chicago Wraps, 2739 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Zahid Nihari, 2307 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Zaitoon House, 2437 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Zam Zam Sweets and Grill, 2500 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Zelda's, 6181 N Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln Village Shopping Center, Chicago

Zweig's Delicatessen, 2359 West Devon Avenue, Chicago

Skokie, Illinois, List of Closed Restaurants.

I've written over 150 Illinois and Chicagoland restaurants, restaurateurs, and food articles, plus present "verified" recipes from famous Chefs or restaurants.

VISIT OUR VINTAGE RESTAURANT SOUVENIR SHOP. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2023, Neil Gale, All rights Reserved.

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Chicago's West Ridge Community List of Closed Restaurants, West Rogers Park Neighborhood Closed Restaurants, Nortown Neighborhood Closed Restaurants, Peterson Park Neighborhood Closed Restaurants, Rosehill Neighborhood Closed Restaurants, Defunct West Ridge Restaurants, Defunct West Rogers Park Restaurants, Defunct West Nortown Restaurants, Defunct Peterson Park Restaurants, Defunct Rosehill Restaurants:

9 Dragon Inn, Afghan Restaurant, Al Habib Grill, Al Karim Restaurant, Al Madina, Alibis, Alpha Jones, Ameer Tandoori Kebab, Andhra Bhavan Restaurant, Angry Chicken, Angry Taco, The Angus, Ann Lowe's Lunch Room, Apollo Pizza and Bakery, Arby's, Asian Family Restaurant, Aslam Sweets, Babil Kabob House, Bagel Restaurant, Bagel and Tray, Bakers Square, Barnaby's Pizza, Beef 'N Stein Pub, Belden North Restaurant Delicatessen, Bernie’s Diner, Biryani Bistro, Bismillah Restaurant, Black Angus, Blue Diamond Restaurant, Blue Peacock Restaurant, Bon Ton On Devon, Bow Wow Hot Dogs, Bowl-O-India, Brown's Chicken, Brown's Chicken and Pasta, The Buggy Whip, Burgers To Go!, Café Bocacho, Café California, Café Dushong, Café Laziza, Café Montenegro, Charlie Lui's, Chatkharay Karahi and Grill, Charles Anderson Restaurant, Charminar Grill, Chicago Char Grill, The Chicken Koop, The Chicken Wing Company, China Dragon, China Ling, Chuck Wagon, Chung Hing Restaurant, Companion Chow Mein Restaurant, Dan-Dee's, Dan-Dee's Red Hots, Dandana Café, Daata Darbar, Dave's, Deasy's Club, Delhi Darbar, Dehli Muslim Kali Restaurant, Devon Grill, Devon Pizza, DLD Café and Grill, Eddie Doucette's Pancake Plantation Restaurants, Eddie Doucette's Pancake Plantation Restaurants, Eisenberg Beef Hot Dogs, El Carrito, El Garcia Restaurant, El Picante Mexican Grill, El Sol De Mexico, Everfresh, Family Restaurant, Fin N Claw, The Fireplug Restaurant, Fireside Chef, Fluky's, Fluky's Hot Dogs, Food Corner, Four Corners Restaurant, Frank's Barbecue, Friedman's Delicatessen, Gandhi India, Gee N' Gee Snack Shop, Gene Nufer Oyster Bar, Ghareeb Nawaz Restaurant, Ghaseeta Khan Restaurant, Gigio's Pizza Restaurant, Gilly's Snack Shop, Gin and Irv's Bar-B-Q, Glenway Inn, Gold Coast Dogs, Gold Coin Restaurant, Golden Bear Restaurant, Golden Hamburger Drive-In, Good Earth Chop Suey Restaurant, Grassfield's, Greenbriar Hut, Gullivers Pizza and Pub, Hae Woon Dae Korean BBQ Restaurant, Halal Fried Chicken, Hashalom, Happy Day Chop Suey Restaurant, Hava Nagila Restaurant, Hema’s Kitchen, Herman's Charcoal Broiler, Hero's, Hoanh Long, Holloway House Cafeteria, Hollywood Barbecue, Homer's Hut, Hot Rod Grill, House of Chicken, Hyderabad House Restaurant, Il Forno Pizzeria and Restaurant, Imperial Grill, India Garden, India House Restaurant, Indian Gourmet Restaurant, Ing's Chop Suey, Italian Express, Jesse's Mexican Grill, Jim Fong Chop Suey, JK Kabab House, Jodi's Drive-In, Joes Dawg Ranch, Jojo's, Jumbo House Chinese Restaurant, Kababish of London, Kabob 2, Kabob Two, Kashtan Delicatessen, Kay's Snack Bar, Kessler's Kitchen, KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Khan Bar-B-Q, Kim Restaurant, Kirshner's Kosher Cuisine, Kofield's, Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant, Kracker Box, Kumoon Cantonese Restaurant, La Cantina Italian Restaurant, La Petite Restaurant, La Michoacana, La Rosa Restaurant, Land of Subs, Les Cel Bar-B-Q, Lincolnwood Coffee Grill and Fountain Shop, Little John's Restaurant, Little Louis Restaurant, Lippy's Red Hots, Long John Silvers, Louie's Noshery, Lunt Café, Ma's Chop Suey Take Out, Main Pizza Chalav, Main Grill, Mark II Lounge, Martin J. Flanagan Restaurant, Masti Grill, Maxwell Grill, McDonald's Townhouse, Mehrab Restaurant, Mi Pueblo II Restaurant, Mi Tsu Yun, Mike's Ice Chicago, Mike’s Place, Miller's Steak House, Mongolian House, The Moose Grill, Moscow at Night, Mr. Beef, Mr. Falafel, Mr. Submarine, Mysore Woodlands, Nathan's Restaurant, Nehari Palace, New China Buffet, New Star Cantonese Foods, New Wok Restaurant, Ohel Avraham's Pizza, Old Country Buffet, P & S Restaurant, Pakistan House Restaurant, Pantheon Greek Restaurant, Papa Milano Restaurant, Patrician Restaurant, Paul's Umbrella, Pekin House Restaurant, Peking Food Shop, Pepe's Taco's, Peter Pan Snack Shops, Petite Pantry, Pickle Barrel, Pike's Pine Knot Hamburger Stand, Pike's Williamsburg Kitchen, Pinewood Lounge, Pioneer Inn, Poppin' Fresh Pies, Puff Fluff Donuts, Punjabi Dhabba Indian Restaurant, Quiznos Classic Subs, Raja Vegetarian Fast Foods, Randl's Restaurant, Devon-Randl's, Ravi Kabab House, Relish Chicago American Street Food, Red Hot Ranch, Restaurant el Sol de Mexico, Rib-N-Wing Take Out, Ridge Inn, Ridge Steak House, Robert's Restaurant and Delicatessen, Ruby's Snack Shop, Ruthie’s, Sagar, Sally's Original Bar-B-Q, Sally's Stage, Sammy and Lisa's What's Cooking, Sangeet Palace Restaurant, Scheffler's Restaurant, Selma's Delicatessen, Seven Hills Restaurant, Shalimar Kabab House, Sheeba Mandi House of Devon, Sheerman and Kabab House, Shelly's Restaurant and Delicatessen, Sher-A-Punjab Indian Restaurant, Shiraz Restaurant, Showtime America, Siam Pasta, Sizzle India, Slick Chick Drive-In, Small Fry Restaurant, Sonny-Boy Barbecue Hut, Sub Cult, Sukhadia's Fresh Kitchen and Bistro, Sundance Café, Sunset Restaurant, Taami, Taboun Inc, Tahoora, Taj Restaurant and Catering, Talbott's Restaurant, Tapia's Pizza, Taqueria El Pueblo, Terry's Drive-In, The Diamond Steer, Theatre Bowl Snack Shop, Three Legged Tacos, Three Sisters Delicatessen, Tic-Toc Restaurant, Tiffin The Indian Kitchen, Town Pump Restaurant, Tropical Smoothie Café, Umar, Urban India, Uru Swati, Usmania Chinese Restaurant, Usmania Indian Restaurant, Viceroy of India, Village Cart, Village Grill, Village Inn, Wah Lung Lo, Welcome Inn Pizzeria, What The Wings, What's Cooking, Wingman, Wok N Chop, Wrapmatic, Yallafan, Z Halal Chicago Wraps, Zahid Nihari, Zaitoon House, Zam Zam Sweets and Grill, Zelda's, Zweig's Delicatessen

Celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

Celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, I thought I'd share this interesting letter I saved as a text file years ago when I lived in West Rogers Park. I may have enough tidbits of Illinois history and stories to develop a Knowledgebase. 

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A Digital Hoarder, defined by researchers as a sub-type of hoarding disorder, is characterized by individuals collecting excessive digital files, material, and photos.

Kamran's family immigrated from Pakistan to Michigan when he was 3 years old in 1974, and he writes about his first visit to Chicago's "Little India Neighborhood," Devon Avenue.

Chicago's "Little India" in the far North Neighborhood of West Rogers Park.

My name is Kamran. I know it's probably normal for everyone who lives there (Chicago's Little India), but I almost cried just walking Devon Avenue (DEE Von) with my friend. It was also his first visit to Chicago. I was excited to see such a large community of Pakistanis.

I'm traveling for the first time in my life from Michigan, where the South Asian/Indian (Desi) population is super spread out. You only see big groups of people, like myself, at organized events or funerals. 

I grew up in Dearborn, so even though there's a decent size Muslim and Arab community here, there arn't many Desi in our community. Weddings and events are fun but not very traditional in several ways. There are many reasons why my family has never returned to visit Pakistan since we came to America. 

I have never been to such a big city like Chicago before. It was surreal.

For the first time in my life, I walked on a busy street, and I blended in! I realized that I had never felt so 'normal' before. I didn't receive a strange look or bad vibes.

The people I was walking past looked like my brother, mom, or dad, and where the food in the stores was what I was used to buying at home. We had trouble deciding which restaurant to eat lunch at.

It's kind of sad that I've never seen people like myself living an organic life. It felt strange to me.

I'm sure this was no big deal for many people, but for me, it meant EVERYTHING.

I have always struggled with my identity being an "in-betweener," never white or a Desi. The feeling of being 'insecure' just disappeared after a 10-minute stroll on Devon Avenue.                                                                     ——  Kamran  

 THANK YOU, CHICAGO! I'll be back.