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The dirty side of gentrification finally raises its head in East Pilsen. Residents and business owners in the neighborhood (aka "The Podmajersky area") are incensed that the owners of longtime polish sausage stand mainstay Express Grill are building a second location at 18th and Halsted. Business owners are touting the double parking and other traffic congestion, noise, overflowing dumpsters, drunkenness of its customers in the wee small hours and alleged illicit and criminal behavior going on around the stands. But their main points of contention against having Express Grill set up shop seem to be the smell of grilled onions and the eyesore that is a polish sausage stand.
In defense of Express Grill, UIC police told the Sun-Times that they don't respond to as many calls for disturbances there (and the neighboring Jim's Original) than one would assume. Aside from minor infractions, Express Grill passed its most recent health inspection. Still, the East Pilsen residents are bringing in some heavy hitters. 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis has ordered his staff to investigate ways to block the opening of Express Grill. "This is a threat, not an opportunity for our neighborhood," Carlos Chavarria, owner of Kristoffer's Café and Bakery, told the S-T.
Pilsen residents can weigh in on the matter 6:30 p.m. Monday night at Providence of God Church (717 W. 18th St.). The church is located across the street from a bar, by the way, which never has drunken people leaving at 2 a.m., waking up residents with their noise and traffic congestion, or dump trash on the street, or get into fights and commit crimes. [Sun-Times]
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I like express grill. It does attract a seriously shady clientele being right off the highway and all.
No it doesn't, matty. It attracts the same clientele that Wiener Circle attracts, only nowhere near as white and with no one asking for a "chocolate milkshake."
The Alderman should have his staff "investigate" how to use some of that lovely TIF piggy bank money on rehabbing or building elementary schools and on finding ways to generate jobs in Pilsen, instead of focusing on a legit business. "East" Pilsen needs some color anyway, isn't that what the Arts Dirstrict is all about.
"No it doesn't, matty. It attracts the same clientele that Wiener Circle attracts, only nowhere near as white and with no one asking for a "chocolate milkshake.""
Yeah, well, fuck the wieners circle.
Anyway I lived in Pilsen in 2001 so I don't know what it's like now.
As someone who actually lives in the area, I can tell you that this is NOT a "gentrification rearing its ugly head" issue and more of a "We have enough bizarre crap going on and we don't need anything else that will attract even MORE crazy here" issue. It's not just the artists bitching about it, it's EVERYONE. This isn't going to bring more opportunities to our community. Just more bullshit.
Haven't heard the "We don't want the smell of onions cooking here" yarn yet. That must be those crazy folks in the building on 16th and Halsted acting up again. Time to bring the tranq gun out...
The Alderman is "investigating" blocking a successful business opening another location in his ward?
Your government at work.
Fuck Danny Solis. It's a waste of time, money and resources being undertaken at the behest of new condo owners with sensitive noses.
It's a hot-dog stand. Anyone getting their tights in a twist about that should move to the 'burbs and suck up the bland.
Albany: It's not just the condo owners bitching. It's pretty much everyone. Solis is no angel, but at least he actually LISTENS most of the time to what the people in his ward actually want (which is more than I can say for most aldermen). Otherwise, we would be ass-deep in "luxury condos" and the khaki crowd by now.
People in other neighborhoods block projects in their areas all the time and no one talks about "what a waste of time" it is. Or is that a privilege reserved only for the well off?
I was living there around the same time Matty was,
I remember seeing lesbians beat the crap out of each other at that bar that chuck mentioned, can't remember the name but that bar sucked anyway. I hung out two blocks over with the delightful (once you won her over) Eleanor. No Skylark back then, and I would have been happy to have this place even closer than when they were actually on Halsted. "Kristoffer's" sounds like a gay bar. Maybe they should change the name of the stand from "Express Grill" to something like "Geoffrey's" hehehe...
Kaonashi: East Pilsen is the well-off portion of the neighborhood.
Kaonashi: Don't you know? Yuppies are the only people it is ok to hate anymore.
Replace "khaki crowd" with "baggy pants crowd" and people would go apeshit. "Die yuppie scum" is cool but "die welfare scum" isn't.
Get with the program.
Chuck: My neighbors are pretty much a mixed bunch over here. Maybe it's a case of "the grass is always greener" but there's more homeowners and multi-units buildings with owners living in them west of Halsted.
That bar across from the church is full of crazy, and it's never something "normal crazy" that you would expect out of a bar; it's always something fantastically bizarre that you have to rub your eyes a couple of times to make sure you're actually seeing what you are seeing. If I'm out late and walk down 18th, I just mind my own business and cross the street.
This will bring more opportunities to the neighborhood. Specifically, opportunities for me to eat hot dogs, polish sausages, french fries, hamburgers, etc.
I live a few hundred feet from this corner. Seems to me like the Pods don't want a hotdog stand to ruin their 'soho in chicago' fantasyland. I've listened to people try to explain to me what is wrong about the hotdog stand moving in, but it seems bogus to me. I let Carlos try and convince me but for the life of me I just don't see what this is beyond classist B.S.
I could sort of see the traffic angle. I'll go to the meeting on Monday and see if I'm wrong.
I believe unnamable hit the nail on the head.
What would these ***wipes say if they saw Maxwell St. when it was a slum? They should be glad they can stay in touch with the "roots" of their 'hood. Danny Solis should look on 18th St. on any day or night if he's worried about people double parking; that's business as usual in Pilsen. Oops...are we talking about University Village here? That would explain all the concern.
Unnamable: I'm going to that meeting if only to see if there's really people who are going to bitch about the fine scent of onions cookin' in the wee hours!
It's a hot-dog stand. Anyone getting their tights in a twist about that should move to the 'burbs and suck up the bland.
Spot on, ye olde defenders of edgy living. Anytime anyone ever complains about anything about this city, just say NAPERVILLE. 'Tis a winning "argument" everytime, right, almost as effective as pulling out the Jesus card.
No, I don't care one way or another about the hot dog stand. I just get a cheap thrill from love-it-or-leave-it arguments, the same way I get a thrill from dwarf tossing, I guess.
I'm deleting some of the comments that violate our TOS. Let's keep it civil, please.
Chicagoans at each others throats over a Polish sausage emporium - I believe there's a Second City sketch in that.
Curmudgeon: The tailors on Roosevelt are probably going to disappear next. It's really makes me sad if I think about it for too long; nothing lasts forever but it's like huge chunks of my childhood are just slipping away.
Hey Lyons, We demand to see deleted comments before they are deleted! Especially when it arises out of a hot dog stand! Who's wit ah spook on this!
But to the matter at hand F*ck it, bring that bad boy hot dog stand to Logan Square (right across from Lula's cause I'm getting a bit tired of that snobbery any way, son!
And help a spook out, cause yall know I be semi-literate If'n that, but I always thought that the correct spelling for the 25th Ward Alderinsect is " Ald. Danny Soslimesleazy"?
Kaonashi: Me too. It is very sad. It's worse than gentrification; it's homogenization. (Is that a word?)
Here's some hot dog trivia for you: In upstate (western) New York, when you order a hot dog, the first thing they will ask you is: "Red or White?"
I also heard that if I were to order a hot dog, here in Chicago, with mustard that I'd get kicked out of the place. Is this true? I have always preferred my hot dogs with mustard.
I too live a stone's throw from this establishment and I think it's a bad idea. But not for all of the rabble-rousing that was presented by these groups. They are very vague, and although I'd prefer that the smell of larded onions waft in another direction, that is the least of my concerns.
1.)Traffic. This area of Halsted is a nightmare as it is. It bottlenecks into one lane at 18th St, there's a bus stop, and a confusing series of lights, all merging into the bike lane. Even turning off of 18th, many people get very confused, and until the two empty plots of land where Centro 18 was supposed to be.
2.)Gangs. Spare me the crap about stereotyping. I grew up on the South Side. I don't need for some moron from the North Side, particularly one who arrived here from out-of-state, to tell me the difference between a wannabee and a real one. Go to 13th and Union any night of the week, and I say NIGHT, and tell me what you see. Now, plop that into Pilsen, a place with a history of problems with some eight gangs, all changing from block-to-block, and tell me what can happen. And before you say "they're just going to get something to eat," go f-ck yourself. These gang-banging goofs will fight with one another at the drop of a hat over colors, (SDs, Ambrose, Bishops, LKs, LR, et al), narcotics not withstanding. Couple that with the amount of thugs who use Halsted to get back to Back of the Yards and Englewood, and you have a recipe for disaster (white idiots touched upon below).
3.) Trash. Have you seen the amount of trash that the Union Street Chop Stands generate? Drive down Union sometime and you'll see: greasy bags and Nehi cans strewn all about (good feeding for pigeons, rats, et al).
4.)Drunken white idiots. Some might call them a gang, and perhaps they are. (I am white, by the way). But when you get these morons mixing with gangbangers and other urchins of the street, well, we might have some more shootings of white people (see: Romberg, Mueller) at odd hours of the morning. Some of these white kids just don't know how to shut their mouths. Remove the stand, and there won't be this problem.
5.) Smell. I love a good bone-in chop as much as the next guy. The mustard and onions are fantastic (I prefer Jim's, if you must ask), but the smell isn't something I necessarily want wafting into my house at all hours of the day. At least with the Union St shops, they're somewhat isolated, at least by a block on all sides, from residents. I too cried with the passing of the Original Maxwell Street, the one my daddy took me to a couple...Two, Tree times as a yout. But cry me a river that it's gone. University Village is an absolute abomination, but it's gone and it's never coming back. Don't like it? Don't go there. The University of Illinois at Chicago doesn't need you (or me).
6.)Duplicity. If they have a successful location at 13th and Union, why add another one within a mile? Why not open a different kind of restaurant with hours that are just a wee bit more friendly to the residents? How about a sit-down restaurant? I don't give a damn about Kristoffers. I'll go there once in a while, I don't think it's anything special, particularly for the price. So I highly doubt he's afraid of any competition. It's one of those apples and oranges scenarios. Plus, when one restaurant opens, it usually draws other people into the neighborhood to look around. It might be good for old Kristoffer, and I would bet he realizes this. (Lone and desolate restaurants rarely do very well on their own, without any real community).
And, before any of you bash me, realize that I was born and raised on the South Side. My ancestors dug the ditches half of you sons of bitches like to dock your boats in. Even if I don't match the complexion of many of this area's denizens, I have just as much right to bitch about something that may affect my quality of life. And if that owner gave two sh-ts, he wouldn't have let that lot sit vacant with weeds growing and trash collecting for the last five plus years.
Hey Spook,
The irony being that they're supposed to be a Lula opening (sometime) in Pilsen just a couple blocks South of where this hotdog stand would be. haha.
Are people going to boycott if a taqueria goes up in the neighborhood?
Vise has this thread on lockdown.
Question:
Is it the hotdog stand that's the problem or the location of the hotdog stand?
@Ingrid:
Mustard is fine. Ketchup is the argument starter.
Vise,
If it makes you feel better I'll ask my limousine liberal friends to pour out a little sumpin' sumpin' into the drink tonight for your ancestors as we have our wine tasting tonight aboard the S.S. Carpetbagger.
Srsly though,
I can see some good points you've got there. Personally I love and miss that smell. Also I went to the Union (and orig. Halsted) locations for years at all hours of night and morning and never had any problems, except with agressive panhandlers which was indeed annoying.
I am grateful that we have some small players that go against the fast food giants of the US.
Those condo owners should be careful or they will only have McDonalds, etc., for a quick meal.
Matty: It's both, and the fact that the place will be open for 24 hours and is basically a "stand around and hang out" joint as opposed to a "come in, sit down, eat and leave" joint. I tto would like more food options over here where you can have eats for somewhat cheep, but opening an Express Grill over here is completely stupid, especially since people who have a craving for the Polish either walk (or drive over if very late) to Jim's anyway!
Vise77: From one native to another, much
love for plainly stating the issues that most of us are concerned about. The people who seem to be the most concerned aren't the condo owners either; it's everyone from multigenerational Pilsen families to artists who have lived here 15+ years, community activists, etc.
I have lived in the Pilsen neighborhood for 8 years no, before "University Village" existed and was called Jew Town. I was angry when the hot dogs stands had to move...twice...just to get to the locations there at now. That's what the neighborhood is known for, idiots! If you don't like it, then move. These yuppies have transformed Halsted St. into a row of chain resturants and annoying sports bars. The UIC students are twice as annoying as the gangbangers and the traffic is worse that it ever has been on Halsted.
Damn, this makes me angry, Whenever these yuppies moved into their brand new condo with inflated prices, they think it gives them a reason to complain about everything. Danny Solis is no better...Daley's right hand man. It figures. Pretty son this city will have no character at all.
Libby nailed it for me. If I moved to Wrigleyville (shudder) and started raising hell about all those damn sports bars I'd be deservedly and rightfully mocked. This is a neighborhood business, in good standing, that's looking to expand. I don't see how that should be up to a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies who want to craft a new narrative for the neighborhood to suit them.
Vice77 raises some actual concerns with Gangs, Trash and congestion. Document them and make a case. But when the main thrust of the argument is calling it a smelly eyesore, that loses the moral high-ground.
@Matilda: I'm a lifelong Chicagoan. The homogeneity of the suburbs is something some folks absolutely pine for, scrimping and saving to move to Lake-in-the-hills-forest-oak-glen-river-ville.
I'd rather drink bleach than live in the great beige expanse.
As Jack told us "Decent people shouldn't live here, they'd be happier somewhere else." Like Naperville.
Libby:
What makes these Yuppies any different than the brown faces to the west who have organization set up to preserve the "Mexican Culture" of Pilsen? Personally, I think they both suck. But that is life in the big city. But the difference is that people in those condos happen to own their property and I hope, exercise their right to vote. Though Pilsen has undergone quite a bit of change in the last 10 years, there's a lot that hasn't changed. Specifically, fragments of certain groups of people, none of whom were here from the beginning (like my ancestors who dug these f-cking canals). But I digress.
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle on all of this. I am a property owner, a registered voter, an artist who happens to have a dayjob. I think the Podmajerskys suck (they are slumlords, which is why half of their properties are empty, and those residents that fled are in other parts of Pilsen and Bridgeport now and at least three of their properties have been razed in the last year alone). As a former resident of a certain neighborhood on the northwest side, I protested the arrival of a certain show on a certain cable music channel, but that is neither here, nor there.
Like it or not, there are two ways to have a say in your neighborhood: 1.) register to and actually vote 2.) own property. And that is the problem with Pilsen on two fronts. A good portion of the neighborhood is transient, from the increasing amount of white renters to the dwindling number of illegal immigrants. But before you jump on me, realize that I am what many would consider a liberal, actually believe that Barak Obama is the change we need (though I sometimes worry about his lack of experience and dislike his recent move toward the middle).
As for the building at 18th and Halsted, here are some other problems. The building faces Halsted, meaning, the windows will be on Halsted. This will lead to people and cars lining up on Halsted on a very small section of sidewalk and perhaps, spilling onto the street. If the windows were on 18th Street, it might create less of a commotion, and give the corner less of a window-less prison kind of a feel, which leads to this: the building doesn't conform to many of the neighborhood structures, most of which predate the Chicago fire. I hate cinder blocked condos as much as the next person, but this thing is as offensive as little Northbrook, I mean University Village.
What's a wonder to me is Ald. Daniel Solis. What gets a go in this neighborhood and what doesn't. There are two giant blocks of land that could have been habitable right now if he hadn't stalled the project some five years ago because of Pilsen's "special interest" (err, racist) groups. But then other things are rumored to be ok'd, such as the Black Beetle/Northside restaurant/bar owners opening the 18th Street Cafe two blocks down. I welcome these things more than one can know. But I would venture to guess that when these things actually come to light, the Pilsen crazies will be coming out of the woodwork to protest the "caucasian invasion." And what will Solis do then, flip-flop again? I kind of think we should be careful in what we choose to battle.
And all the while, four buildings and three businesses were wiped out down on the 1500 block of West 18th Street. In case anybody missed it, the CFD has ruled it arson. Anybody care to guess who started the fire? Pilsen's "revival" took a big blow on Monday as BonBom and Take Me Out were shuttered indefinitely.
Whatever the case in all of these matters, one thing is for certain: this is the most f-cked-up neighborhood in the city and I wouldn't have it any other way. Makes for more interesting living than say, Naperville.
Kaonishi:
Big shout back to you.
Asta Lama Laka my sister.
(I'm not familiar with the proper spelling of Black Islam, but it doesn't change my sentiments).
"Pilsen's "revival" took a big blow on Monday as BonBom and Take Me Out were shuttered indefinitely."
Vise77, BomBon was in the process of moving down to 1238 W 18th under a different name since May. The location you are talking about was still operational but they planned to close it down by the end of August. The fire just made it sooner. BomBon also still has their location in Little Village.
There seems to be speculation that the fire may have been set by the owners of BomBon since they were going into bankruptcy. I hope they get caught. What a shame for all the people that lost their homes and all their possessions.
"This is a neighborhood business"
no it's from Lincolnwood, Illinois
"in good standing"
in the opinion of customers or nearby residents?
"I don't see how that should be up to a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies"
old people enjoy more rights than younger ones? property owners are better than renters? the hot dog stand is the intrusive new arrival, at both 18th & Halsted and at 12th & Roosevelt, forcing pre-existing locals to put up with it
"who want to craft a new narrative for the neighborhood to suit them"
versus the profit-narrative of a suburban-based, non-local business? do you favor eternal, unalterable `narratives' for cities? for your block? or for mine? what `narrative' plays out nightly at 12th & Roosevelt? doubt anyone moved to area around 18th & Halsted wishing, waiting for this business like this to come; 1730 S. Halsted was a nice vacant lot for years, and a nice decrepit, closed bar before that when this owner bought it: a nice narrative would be it going back to a vacant lot
(by the way, in the pre-University Village '70s and '80s, the artists and filmmakers who once rented lofts and apartments in buildings along South Halsted, a few blocks north and south of Maxwell Street, were the only ones who knowingly moved near the two stands in their original locations)
Tamale chic:
I am well aware of the deal with BonBom, I just threw it out there for you people to discuss. It seems kind of fishy, is all.
Halsted:
What is your point? I can't tell? On what side of the axe do you fall?
Wait s sec...it was BOMBON's building that caught on fire? WTF?
I was just in there a couple of weeks ago for the first time. They mentioned they were going to move and gave me this cute business card that was shaped like a cupcake. It had their new address on it and according to the card they are still going to be called Bombon, so I don't know what's going on regarding a name change.
They seemed like really nice people. I REALLY hope they didn't have anything to do with fire fuckery. :/
What a meeting. For the people who actually had points, thank you, specifically, the woman who read the crimes since May at 13th and Union. A lot of valid points from all the residents of Pilsen (glad to see the oldtimers come out and show they are still a part of this yupdom).
But this guy who owns the place won't stop. He is a slimeball who simply does not care.
Kaonashi Wrote: "That must be those crazy folks in the building on 16th and Halsted acting up again. Time to bring the tranq gun out..."
I don't get that comment?
Because the people in the two buildings at 16th and Halsted have a tendency to be crazy NIMBYs.
Vise, that still doesn't make any sense. What has happened to support your post?
I live in one of the two buildings and the only thing I see is a few people making acusations about people they don't even know.
I understand what a Nimby is, but because there are people in the 2 buildings objecting to a hotdog stand they are crazy?
Reading posts on the internet, about the hotdog stand, there seems to be a lot of built up frustration for the 2 buildings that were built past the tracks and the residents that live in them.
Maybe the people complaining about us should have protested the development of these 2 buildings instead of standing pat and having daily bitch sessions on the internet.
Just walk your lazy ass up 5 blocks on Halsted, make a right at the monstrosity that is the UIC Forum, and there ya go. All the hot dogs and onions one could dream of.
Oh shit, the neighborhood's changing, but it's not, but it's not the same, but the artists, but the yuppies, but the people that lived here, but the people that live here. Oh shit. But it's better, but it's not, I liked how it was, I wish that place (that I never went in to) was still open, we're gonna protest 'cause we don't want it, it'll be nice when it's open.
Oh the corruption, oh the gangs, oh the mexicans, oh the whiteys, oh the everyone who is not ME ME ME!!!
Let's just keep it all the same. No one can move in, no one can move out, no progress, no trying (so no failure!).
I think that this will work out. No I don't.