If you haven't seen or heard yet, Thai Pastry moved to Argyle (taking over the Hong Ngu spot). Same great food and people, new location.
The old Thai Pastry location at 4925 N. Broadway now has a recently opened and VERY hot newcomer in the space named YooYee. [Warning: food pics at the link so don't open while hungry.]
YooYee features Sichuan cuisine, and from reviews on Yelp, Google and Reddit, the kitchen is knocking it out of the park. It's on our shortlist to try soon.
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| Future home of Foremost Liquors, 1025-27 W. Argyle (Google) |
A public notice sign in the window of 1025-27 W. Argyle confirms our story.
Thanks to reader J, the public notice sign mentions establishing a liquor store.
We wish Foremost the best when they reopen in their new space and hope their sign is preserved (or moved).
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| Public notice to establish a liquor store |
Now that Foremost is moving, we are excited to see what's next for the current location (1040 W. Argyle), the former "Argmore Theatre." We would love a bar, restaurant or even a theater!
¡Uptown! Júntate con miembros del Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ y La Voz en Everybody's Coffee (935 W Wilson Ave, Chicago) el Martes, 8 de abril a las 5:00 p.m. y tengamos una plática personal para que nos digas qué sientes sobre nuestra cobertura en tu comunidad. Haznos tus preguntas, danos tus sugerencias para que podamos mejorar, comparte tu opinión o simplemente ven a charlar sobre los temas que más te preocupan en la comunidad. Habrá aperitivos y refrescos gratuitos. ¡Confirma tu lugar aquí! SUNTIMES.COM/WEHEARYOU
In news less well received by residents and local businesses than the Soviet-style copy here lets on, the City is going forward with removing all parking from one side of Clark Street from Montrose to Winnemac in favor of an extension of bike lanes.
Why Winnemac and not Foster or Bryn Mawr? Who knows!?! [Eds: We suspect it's likely because the change won't affect Andersonville and powerful businesses along the corridor. As a result, Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth won't have to hear from constituents.]
But in Uptown through Winnemac? All good!
Readers will recall that the Clark Street Corridor planning process started back in 2021 when the City, sitting on more than $10 million in TIF funds from the Clark-Montrose TIF, decided that a formal study was necessary to determine best uses for the funds.
Various public meetings ensued, and Chicago's very loud biking advocates swamped the meetings and online to advocate for ... BIKE LANES! Surprise!
We heard some scathing things from readers about the plan and process, as well as complaints about the tenor of bike advocacy at meetings and in online voting, but we (and our readers) were pooh-poohed as dinosaurs who just didn't care about safety.
With this new announcement, we hear businesses and residents along the strip are not at all happy about the change and feel they will suffer as a result of the elimination of parking. This stretch is in the midst of a rebirth as a functioning commercial district, and losing parking will inevitably stifle growth and dissuade entrepreneurs.
Now of course the large chunk of money that was earmarked for the TIF is supposedly gone, disappeared into City coffers, but money for bike lanes must be there somewhere in the City's pockets. And the stretch affected includes the new Black Ensemble Theater development, which will also be looking for TIF soon... Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We return to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday (at 2am, to be exact), so set your clocks to spring forward an hour on Saturday night.
La Mexicana's owner JJ Romo, who has done almost all the interior work to the former Thai on Clark space himself, is the proud owner of La Mexicana Grill Wrigleyville and now La Mexicana Grill Uptown.
We wish La Mexicana Grill much success!
This event will be held Monday April 7, Tuesday April 8, Wednesday April 9, and Thursday April 10 from 4:15-5:15. Spanish translation will be available.
From the hosts:
Explore Brennemann's high-quality program options, get a feel for the school culture, meet some of the staff, and get help completing your child’s Chicago Early Learning PreK Application at the Open House for our Half and Full Day preschool programs!
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| 4006 N. Sheridan (Catapult Real Estate) |
The upcoming 7 story building will feature a mix of studio, one, and two bedroom units as well as 3,100 square feet of retail on the ground floor.
Unfortunately, readers tell us that attempts to get the developer to save the beautiful terra cotta clad Holiday Club building were rejected by the developer in favor of the modern design. We hear the plan is for Holiday Club to move back into the new retail space at the base.
We are very sad to see the building go. We do look forward to the density added by the new building, including new residents and (hopefully) new businesses!
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| The ZBA's approval list for 4006 N. Sheridan |
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| The future home of Chicago Market at 4600 N. Broadway (Google) |
Sources say a $4.8 million dollar building permit was just issued to Chicago Market, allowing buildout to begin on their much anticipated new home at Broadway & Wilson!
Chicago Market is slated to occupy the beautiful building on the corner, the historic Gerber Building.
The permit includes interior and exterior alterations of the basement and first floor of the historic building. Chicago Market will span the entire building, which runs from 4600 to 4626 N. Broadway.
More updates as they become available.
If you're in the market for some sandwiches (or groceries) towards the southern portion of Uptown, New York Food Mart & Deli opened last week at 4136 N. Broadway, in the strip mall that houses Siam Noodle & Rice.
We haven't tried it yet but a perusal of the sandwiches posted in the window looks promising, and there's a suggestion there might be some Yemeni specialties to discover inside!
Let us know how it is!
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| Foremost Liquors current location at 1040 W. Argyle (Bryan Krefft & Cinema Treasures) |
Longtime community staple (and sometimes problem business) Foremost Liquors is one step closer to moving from their longtime home on Argyle. The new location is still under wraps, but it's supposedly "across the street."
The City Council Committee on Licenses and Consumer Protection met yesterday to consider Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth's proposal to lift the longtime package goods liquor moratorium on Argyle to allow the move.
After hearing testimony from longtime owner Jim Hotza about hardships he is experiencing with raised rent, the Committee voted in favor of the proposed modification to the ordinance. This will allow Foremost to make the move to the new location.
We have been following this story since last fall, when a sign went up advertising the Foremost space as "for rent." We were assured by Foremost employees that the business had no intention to close, and it sounds like continued negotiations on rent failed, leading to the current change.
The request to modify the existing ordinance goes in front of the entire City Council for a vote on February 19. With the approval of the BLCP committee, the change is expected to pass the Council.
Interestingly, the current Foremost location was once a movie theater, the Argmore, which operated on Argyle from 1913 until the 1950s. The theater space is still intact and currently serves as a warehouse.
No word yet on the future location although readers tipped us off to potential movement on the long vacant 4500 sq. ft space at 1027-1029 W. Argyle over the winter. Of note, this is next door to the Northmere SRO Hotel at 4943 N. Kenmore. Based on the owner's statement that he plans to move "right across the street," it's either that location or Viet Hoa, which we believe has no plans to close.
And finally, although we're not experts on government or city ordinances, it would seem that the removal of the ban on liquor sales on "Argyle from Sheridan to Racine" would apply to all of the local businesses and empty spaces along the way.
We think it would be a good thing if some additional restaurants and bars came to the strip, along with adding liquor sales at some of our favorites, including Milly's Pizza in the Pan, El Rincon de Fabio, Nha Hang Vietnam, Afro Taste, Danang Kitchen, Hai Yen, Cafe Hoang, and Gusto's
What are your thoughts, dear readers?
