Results tagged “bridgeport”

   

To say that Bridgeport is lacking a sports bar is an understatement (Jimbo's does not qualify). There's a handful of criteria to build a successful sports bar: lots of dark wood, lots of widescreen tvs for watching the game, food that won't make you sick, a bar and waitstaff oozing The Hotness and a music playlist that would be at home on Eric and Kathy in the morning. Rocky's aims to change all that. This sports bar is located on the northwest corner of 31st and Wells and named after one of the owner's dogs — not Balboa, Marciano, Graziano or Wirtz — in a space that was long known to Bridgeport residents as Punchinello's. That bar had a clientele of spiked hair, club gear, chin halos and machismo so thick that it earned the derogatory nickname "Punch-a-d@g0'$."

         

Odds were solid that the bustle of a restaurant kitchen would be music to the ears of Christian and Omar. Their father Jose owns and operates Bridgeport mainstay Tacos Erendira and makes one of our favorite al pastor tacos in the city. Mother Maria is the sugar behind the spice of North Center's Café 28 as its longtime pastry chef. Now the sons enter the cutthroat world of restaurants with a concept that's downright bold in a neighborhood whose idea of brunch is eating a Polish sausage and fries from Maxwell Street Depot and drinking a Mickey's Big mouth on the hood of your car.

We've been looking forward to seeing Nana (3267 S. Halsted St., 312 929 2486), an organic breakfast/brunch spot in Bridgeport by Omar and Christian Solis, whose father Jose owns nearby Tacos Erendira, open for months. Chicago Brunch Blog reports that they're finally taking the paper off the windows and are slated to open 6 a.m. Monday with a menu including buckwheat pancakes with banana and mulled hemp seeds, liege (a leavened batter with beads of pearl sugar that burst and caramelize in the waffle iron) and the "Nanadict:" a pupusa topped with crumbled chorizo, poached eggs and poblano sauce. Coupled with the packed houses at HAN 202 nightly and Nightwood, my backyard could be on the cusp of destination dining. [via Grub Street Chicago]

       

On a recent trip to Bridgeport's Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicagoist encountered the following scenes of daredevil graffiti and industrial dilapidation. We're pretty sure the silo tableau is referred to as "the Building" by local bombers, but being a height-fearing homebody artist we're not quite sure. Does anyone have any stories about this building, or know more about the tags displayed there? Let us know in the comments section.

        

605 W. 31st St. in the wunnerful Bridgeport area has been home to a succession of mediocre to downright awful Italian restaurant concepts over the years, most recently Trattoria 31, which came out of the gate like gangbusters only to be lapped by the field. So when we saw that a Chinese restaurant was opening in the space we thought, "It can't be any worse than what's been there before"

Leave it to a connected alderman to punish someone else for his mistake. With the controversy over Ald. Balcer's painting over of a mural on private property still simmering, the Dept. of Streets and Sanitation may have been directed to fall on the sword in response to backlash from the public. WBEZ has the statement released by Streets & San, which states, "The removal of the mural was a miscommunication between the Alderman’s office and the Department of Streets and Sanitation. The owner of the building should have been notified," and ends with, "The representative of the Department of Streets and Sanitation received disciplinary action."

Art kids, brace yourselves. Version Fest 09 Immodest Proposals is upon us. Organized by Ed Marszewski & Co. (Public Media Institute), this year's events list comes close to sensory overload. From April 23 - May 2, progressive art, politics, and music will saturate the streets, galleries, and music venues of Bridgeport and the West Loop with programs galore to inspire and engage you. We’re also stoked about Friday’s Korean-Polish BBQ.

High school art teacher Edra Soto worked with her students to create a cardboard city of skyscrapers that reflects both the students' personalities as well as the styles and forms created by the world's leading architects.

A City Water Department official who is currently the subject of a probe has some ties to the mayor. Deputy Commissioner Tommie Talley is being investigated for allegedly using Chicago Water Management equipment and employees "to fix or improve sewer and water pipes" for private citizens, not public improvements. One of the locations under investigation is the Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church in Bridgeport, though Rev. Daniel Brandt, the church's pastor, denies any illegal activity:

I’d open up my books to them and open up my doors to them to let them know the work on the property was fully paid for. I’m sure there was a day and a time when the city would do things, but that’s just suicide now, especially in the high-profile parish that this is.

Mr. Talley is active in the 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization, which is run by Cook County Commissioner John Daley, the mayor’s brother. Mr. Talley also once was part of an affiliated political group headed by former First Deputy Water Commissioner Donald Tomczak, who was convicted in the Hired Truck scandal.

Schuba's, 3159 N. Southport, 12/27, Doors at 7:30 pm, show at 8 p.m., $20

After two years of legal battling, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld a ruling by Cook County Court Judge Sheldon Garber ordering the owners of Jimbo's Lounge (3258 S. Princeton) to vacate the premises. The battle began when building owners Ray and Donna DeGrazia opted not to renew the lease with bar owners Jimbo and Joyce Levato. The Levatos claimed they had a verbal agreement on a new lease on which the DeGrazias reneged.

         

Quite often the décor of a restaurant can be as important as the food and service of the staff in contributing to the overall quality of a visit. From the highest rated Zagat restaurants to Ricobene's and the late, lamented Demon Dogs, how a dining room is accentuated can be the difference between eating in and takeout.

        

Every year the rag tag group of homebrewing enthusiasts known as the Homebrewers Pride of the Southside (aka HOPs! gathers at a VFW hall in Bridgeport for their annual Oktoberfest celebration. The group ranges in experience from novice beer makers to notable brewmasters like Mat Van Wyk of Flossmoor Station and Wil Turner of Goose Island's Clybourn brewpub. This year HOPs! members created 56 different beers, sodas, wines and liqueurs for those attending to taste. The constant "light rain" that fell Saturday turned the VFW's beer garden into a scale model of Woodstock '99, but didn't dampen the enthusiasm of those in attendance to sample the wares. Here are some favorites.

       

With Bridgeport and Chinatown bordering each other, there's no loss for good Chinese food near our home. Matter of fact, we live only a two block walk from LTHForum favorite Ed's Potsticker House.

The fight between longtime Bridgeport staple Jimbo's lounge and landlords Ray and Donna DeGrazia took an unexpected twist when recent court filings indicated that the DeGrazias had reached an oral agreement to replace Jimbo's with a John Barleycorn. Barleycorn owner Sam Sanchez eventually backed out of the deal due to the continuing court battles and twists involving Jimbo's protracted eviction, which even owners Jimbo and Joyce Levato admitted is ultimately an academic conclusion.

Keating approached the man outside, who first said he was a cop, then said he needed the gun for protection, and then said he also had a 12-gauge shotgun in his truck. Kucia has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. [S-T, S-T]

There are sixty bridges spanning the Chicago River throughout the city, as we found out last month at the annual B News neighborhood pub quiz. We know about the larger bridges downtown, and we stop to stare at them when the spans are raised to allow boats to pass. However, the majority of bridges spanning the river are smaller ones allowing traffic to pass between neighborhoods. We tend to overlook those bridges. This is one of them.

So yesterday in our "One Bottle of Wine" post we alluded to some gnocchi we had Saturday night. We felt the need for something to really stick to our ribs with the sleet and frozen rain falling all night, but we didn't want to go through the process of actually making these popular Italian dumplings from scratch. Lucky for us, the produce store by our house (Egg Store, 3008 S. Halsted, 773-284-8704) often carries pre-made...

Bridgeport's treated us well. As we've written numerous times both here and elsewhere, the neighborhood grew on us. When we first moved out south eight years ago we never would have thought that we'd have lived here as long as we have; we just thought of Bridgeport as a stop-gap to moving back to the north side. Now it seems like others are clued in to what we knew long ago: this neighborhood rocks....