A Non-Locals Guide to Walkable Streets
My map is a non-locals guide to walkable streets. When traveling, I often prefer to spend my time milling around a street versus visiting tourist destination because to understand a place one has to experience it’s sometimes looked over enjoyable everyday aspects. My map is a personal non-locals guide for anyone who feels like wandering into storefronts getting to know a block better. “Mapmakers proposition you with different realities.” (Krygier & Wood, Ce n’est pas le monde). My map propositions the viewer with my current reality of Chicago streets I find walkable and the stores there that are easy to pass the time in. However, city streets are under constant change whether it be immediate or over the years, so my map is only accurate to the current state of each street and of the preferences I hold over what qualifies a good store or restaurant. I have never know Chicago till this year, but over my explorations I have found streets that work well for slow travel, just milling around and enjoying oneself. So far when I’ve had family and friends visit me, I always take them to walkable streets to enjoy each others company and experience good food and stores.
The booklet has seven maps of West Argyle, West Belmont, North Broadway, West Armitage, North Milwaukee, River North, and West Randolph. For each map, I have a travel guide that points out quick stops, restaurants, and shops to kill time in on a few of Chicago’s walkable streets. Although I have seven maps laid out my guidebook is still developing as I get to know Chicago better. My guide is best used for when one is indecisive and doesn’t know what you want to do, but they want to wander around and explore an area.
My first map is of West Argyle. The strip of Argyle also known as Little Saigon is lined with an abundance of murals, Asian restaurants (from Vietnamese sandwich shops to Thai street food restaurants), pan-Asian grocery stores, and little stores that selling bonsais and knickknacks.
For a quick stop, I recommend First Sip Cafe. I got a large lavender latte, it was excellent, but next time I would get the smaller size because my body cannot handle caffeine. It is a very ‘trendy’ seeming cafe that has a sort of hipster environment with lots of 20-ish white people doing work or socializing while they drink their coffee. The cafe was neatly decorated with lots of plants and teacups hanging from the ceiling.
Argyle has a great selection of Asian restaurants to eat at; there was a Thai street food restaurant called Immm Rice & Beyond that looked quite good and received good reviews that I would try next time. However, I was in the mood for a Banh Mí (a Vietnamese sandwich), so I ate at Ba Le Sandwich Shop. Ba Le has an extensive banh mi menu and a market like set up with other products for purchase. I suggest the Special, it seems to be the most traditional banh mi that they sell, and it is very good.
There are so many knickknack shops on Argyle, I suggest stopping in at least one, but there are also little pan-Asian grocery stores that are amazing. I shopped at Hoa Nam Grocery; it is a small Asian market with many different affordable products. I found several drinks that I enjoy including a chrysanthemum tea, a can of Mr. Browns Coffee (that I’ve noticed many Asian markets sell), and a can of soursop juice. Soursop is a very delicious fruit that tastes like a combination of pineapple, banana, and apple (I first realized my liking for it in Florida where I got fresh soursop juice at a Cuban gas station). In addition to all my drinks, I bought a microwavable pho. All totaled to an affordable $4.12.
My second map is of Belmont. Belmont is a very easy street to get to, there are lots of restaurants and shops conveniently located off of the L. Belmont is a great place to go for breakfast, late night snacks, and to find funky resale garments.
Cheesie’s is perfect for a late night stop, being that it is open till 5 am, sells grilled cheeses and pizza, and is conveniently located right off the train stop. Although there is a lot of hype around the grilled cheeses, I would actually recommend getting the fried mac and cheese balls and fried peanut butter and jelly (uncrustable) appetizers. They are both amazing as they are unhealthy.
Ann Sather’s is a must go to restaurant. Ann Sather’s is a Scandinavian mini-chain that is regularly crowded for a good reason. The cinnamon rolls are a must-have, and I recommend the Swedish pancakes with lingonberries. It is a great family weekend brunch spot with a very hospitable atmosphere.
The Hollywood Mirror is a fantastic costume shop. One can find many odd and cool vintage pieces. I find it as an excellent place for splurging on clothing for everyday wear. There are millions of unnecessary trinkets and a lot of funky items.
Also on Belmont is the Catcade, located five blocks west from Cheesie’s; it is a ‘cat arcade’ opposed to a ‘cat cafe,’ and it is a great place to get a cat fix. You are not allowed to pick up the cats there, but you don’t need to, they will climb all over you as soon as you step foot in the room. I had six kittens on me at once. All of the cats there are up for adoption.
The strip of North Broadway below Boystown is very walkable with its local restaurants, places for quick bites, and little shops. North Broadway is a great street to start ones day with breakfast places such as Wheat’s End Cafe (a restaurant with an entirely gluten-free menu) and The Crepe Shop which serves excellent crepes. I recommend the matcha or a biscoff crepe and a lavender latte.
Bobtail Ice Cream is a great little quick stop for shakes, sundaes, and ice cream. It has a very hospitable local family-style environment that allows a quite pleasant ice cream experience.
On Broadway is also a fun gift shop called Foursided with many different entertaining/decorative items. Foursided sells mystery boxes which include little knickknacks and decorative items from the store. Foursided is a great place to find gifts for oneself and others.
Another map that I depicted is the strip of Armitage because it feels very walkable and integrated with the surrounding neighborhood. The street has lots of upscale boutiques and restaurants.
I believe Armitage’s best quick stops to be Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and La Colombe Coffee Roasters. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is very good but slightly pricey Ice Cream chain. La Colombe Coffee Roasters is also an overpriced chain. La Colombe began in Philadelphia, and they have several shops in Chicago. They have very good quality coffee; I recommend getting the honey oat latte, and depending on their pastry selection I also recommend a canelé.
A great restaurant on Halstead is the Blue Door Farmstand. They are a farm to table restaurant, and they have a great lunch special. I recommend getting the Armitage combo which is a half order of soup/salad and a sandwich; specifically, the shaved brussel sprout salad and the fig and arugula sandwich is quite good.
Armitage also has a number of boutiques that one can easily kill time in. Along with the boutiques are also are a few name brand stores, such as Warby Parker which is a very great and affordable glasses store. I’ve noticed that even if a person does not need glasses, it is still fun to waste time in Warby Parker, and they also have a growing collection of sunglasses.
Located in Wicker Park, Milwaukee street has an abundance of ways to keep one busy. It is a great street to wander around, grab a coffee, and go resale shopping at.
BRÜ is a coffee shop with a relaxed, comfortable environment. Its a mix of different furniture (both chairs and couches) adds to the pleasant environment. BRÜ not only serves coffee and tea, but they also make smoothies and have a decent sized food menu. I got the strawberry mango smoothie and a blueberry muffin; it was an odd combo, but both were good.
Milwaukee street has a numerous selection of stores including a used bookstore, shoe store, and a resale shop. Myopic Books is a used bookstore; with over thousands of books, it is filled to the brim with books and it is incredible. There is a Dr. Martins store with a lovely selection of shoes and nice staff. There is also a Buffalo Exchange, which is a curated resale shop. The Buffalo Exchange on Milwaukee has a lot of clothing and feels very packed with all the garments they are selling.
River North is a great place to go for entertainment, and one can also find a quick coffee at Caffe Umbria. Caffe Umbria is a coffee with a good selection of pastries; I recommend their chai tea. On North Dearborn street is the House of Blues, which is a great venue to see live music; I saw an Abba tribute band there, and it was a lot of fun.
The last map my booklet includes is that of Randolph Street. Randolph is an excellent place to go to get dinner, see murals on the street, and stop into chain shops such as Free People and Anthropologie. About every restaurant on Randolph has excellent reviews. It has some fantastic restaurants such as Au Cheval (possibly the best burger one will eat), Girl and the Goat, and Little Goat Diner. Au Cheval, perhaps the best burger, is almost always packed; when there one has to get a burger. If Au Cheval is too busy, there are also multiple Small Chevals that serve the same burgers and have an extensive cocktail menu in a smaller more casual venue; located in Old Town, Wicker Park, and the West Loop.
Currently, there is also a glossier pop-up shop located two blocks west of my map. Glossier is a very good skincare and makeup brand. The pop-up shop is lovely, and the staff all have stylish uniforms.
The seven maps I depicted are not all of the walkable streets in Chicago; the booklet only covers those I have visited and gotten to know so far. Through my explorations, I have experienced many punctuations, and focal points that Jane Jacobs would describe in Downtown is for People that make a street walkable. Through walking these streets I’ve taken an immense appreciation for little storefront punctuations that make a street more interesting, and some of the focal point restaurants that both food critics and I deem as must tries (like Au Cheval). “But here — the sun bursts a shower of little golden balloons from the high windows. The green of a park makes a cool salaam to the beetle-topped traffic of automobiles. Rubber tires roll down the wide avenue and make a sound like the drawn-out striking of a match. Marble columns, fountains, incompleted architectural elegancies, two sculptured lions and the baffling effulgence of a cinder-veiled museum offer themselves like pensively anonymous guests. And we walk like Pierrots and Pierrettes, like John Drews and Jack Barrymores and Leo Ditrichsteins; like Nazimovas, Patricia Collinges and Messalinas on parole.” (Hecht, Michigan Avenue). In his writing, Michigan Avenue, Hecht takes in all of the punctuations and focal points of the walkable street and allows the reader to imagine the block vividly. I have come quite to enjoy walking the city of neighborhoods, and I look forward to exploring more of Chicago whether it be eating at Medici on 57th in Hyde Park, wandering markets in ChinaTown, or trying Sol Cafe in Rogers Park.
