Results tagged “pilsen”

More people are moving south to Pilsen and Bridgeport in search of cheap housing and rents, and that's led to a slow but steady increase in dining options for our part of town; we'll have a review of Nana Friday. 18th Street in Pilsen has even seen some diversity with the recent openings of Ristorante al Teatro and Ciao Amore, and Honky Tonk BBQ before that.

         

Chicagoist Flickr Pool contributor Curtis Locke (a.k.a. Find a City To Live In) captured and shared some great shots of street art in the city's Lower West Side.

       

This weekend was the annual Fiesta del Sol celebration in Pilsen and it was a fine weekend to get out and have fun. You can check out even more photos from this weekend's festivities at the festival's website.

Back in 1989 urban planners proposed a plan to develop the South Loop into an arts community that would provide fixed affordable housing for artists alongside studios, galleries, and performance spaces. At the time, a decline in manufacturing and warehousing business in the area north and west of the Chicago River had opened up an abundance of cheap loft space that seemed suited for working artists and galleries.

We firmly believe in the open door policy of art walks—the chance to spy on someone’s live/work space where the chaotic hocus pocus of creation happens. Whether it’s meticulously mounted Polaroids hung from floor to ceiling or ten cats eating Meow Mix from paper plates on a painter’s floor tarp (true story), the studio is a unique, inspiring detour through an artist’s mind.

         

News that Nightwood (2119 S. Halsted, 312-526-3385) opened last night spread like widlfire throughout twitter feeds and other blogs almost as soon as Jason Hammel announced it on his Facebook page. Since it's only a bridge over the south fork of the Chicago River away from home, we decided to check it out.

It’s evident from artist Justin Santora’s bio that he’s not a fan of the adult status quo—go to college, go to work, punch in, punch out, repeat. Sure, we all have to work, but sometimes putting on your pieces of flair blows. (Yea, we know. We’re thankful to be employed, too.) Regardless, said “rules” make us feel cagey as hell. And many of Santora’s illustrations and screen prints, which show humans performing mundane, routine tasks—photocopying, answering a phone in the cube farm, drying hands underneath the bathroom blow dryer—reinforce the notion that we truly are creatures of habit. Check out Santora’s upcoming opening, “Gestures in a Blender” at within(Reason) gallery on Friday, May 8. His screen prints, mixed media, and an installation will be presented—no TPS reports required for entry.

  

We're certain this is on Pasquale's short list. Opening Wednesday in Pilsen is Ristorante Al Teatro, an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood's legendary Thalia Hall. Thalia Hall was built by Pilsen's original Bohemian settlers in 1892 and incorporated retail space in order to support the hall's theatrical programming.

                         

Mexican food, culture and wrestling drew more than 500 people to Pilsen's first ever Mole de Mayo celebration Saturday afternoon. The event, which featured bouts of Mexican wrestling (lucha libre), and a variety of mariachi and dance troupes, was centered around mole, a traditional Mexican sauce.

We love a good mole here at Chicagoist, although not so much to follow Geno Bahena and his traveling freak show of moles from restaurant to restaurant. Seriously, does the man have a wanderlust or is his business acumen just not that good?

The alleged assault of a 16-year-old autistic teenager at his family’s fast-food restaurant in Pilsen Friday sheds light on the need for specialized police training on how to deal with special needs citizens in the city, family members said. Oscar Guzman, 16, suffered a gash to his head that required eight stitches, his family said. Police refused to provide details of the incident but the family shared their account of the confrontation, according to Chicago Breaking News. Guzman’s family worries the teen, who has the mental capacity of a 5th-grader, will be emotionally scarred from the incident, the news report said.

The University of Illinois-Chicago’s cites Illinois’ budget crisis and a lack of Medicare reimbursements for closing a Pilsen medical center this June.

More than 2,000 participants flanked the streets of Pilsen yesterday to re-enact the events leading up to the crucifixion of Christ. The predominantly Mexican community walks in the "Via Crucis" or "Way of the Cross" each year on Good Friday.

It's been said before around here: if you can't find anything good to eat in Pilsen, you aren't looking hard enough. On April 18, Adobo Grill Executive Chef Freddy Sanchez will lead a tour of some of the neighborhood's best and most popular places to nosh.

               

Hundreds turned up for yesterday's anti-war march to mark the sixth anniversary of the Iraq War. Demonstrators from more than 70 local organizations waved banners and flags calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq, opposing the deployment of more troops to Afghanistan, calling for peace in the West Bank and asking for an end to the "war" on immigrants at home.

Tens of thousands will kick off St. Patrick's Day celebrations early this weekend at the annual downtown parade today and South Side parade tomorrow -- but about 2,500 are expected to march in Pilsen today for a different reason: protesting the war in Iraq and advocating for immigrant rights.

Ah, Pilsen. We've lost count of how many of our friends have moved to the South Side neighborhood over the last six months and it's certainly had us curious to learn more about the intriguing neighborhood. We're not alone. In a new feature, our friends at Time Out Chicago have examined Pilsen front-to-back and come away with some interesting features.

It's barely 8:30 a.m. and already a report of a voting glitch down in Pilsen. Reader Lindsay sent us a tip, saying:

I was in line by 6:05 and at 6:30 I opted to vote with the electronic booth. Then I noticed something fishy, it was only asking me about Federal races. I had stayed up last night figuring which of the 100 judges was good and deciding how I felt about Con-Con and now I had no say? I asked the election judge who said, that's just the way it is. I know my rights and caused a fuss, saying something was wrong. In what world do you get a smaller ballot if you vote electronically? I then asked another election judge and there was major confusion before that realized that for me and everyone before me they had been using the wrong code. And now they did not know how to spoil my ballot. So in true Chicago style they let me cast my ballot and gave me a new card.

We love bikes. We love movies. So it stands to reason that combining the two is a win-win situation. And Bike-In Cinema has done just that. Every Wednesday night though the end of the month, they'll be showing double features at dusk (9 o'clockish) via DVD projection. Just bike (or walk or CTA-it) to Reba Rar Rar's Side Yard at 1441 W. Cullerton (near Blue Island/Cullerton in Pilsen).

Five people were injured while two Chicago Police officers are being hailed as heroes after a three-alarm fire consumed multiple buildings in the Pilsen neighborhood early this morning. The fire started at 1508 W. 18th St. and spread to both adjacent buildings: 1510 and 1504 W. 18th St. Five people were taken to area hospitals for smoke inhalation, but none of the cases were life-threatening. Chicago Police Officers Laura Agin and Michael Daliege saw the smoke and immediately entered the buildings to alert sleeping residents to the danger. A Monroe District lieutenant credited the officers' quick thinking with saving lives: “As soon as they saw it, they went right in...They started banging on the doors and getting people out." Both Agin and Daliege were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and a third responding officer who was injured breaking down a door to help residents was also treated at the scene. The fire displaced 30 residents from the three buildings, according to Fire Commissioner John Brooks. [Trib, S-T]

The city Health Department shut down El Paraiso Bakery (1158 W. 18th St.) today when inspectors discovered "mouse feces 'too numerous to count' throughout the premises." Our heart skipped a beat when we read the e-mail subject line "City Health Department Shuts Bakery in Pilsen;" the first one to pop in our mind was Bom Bon. Whew!

A visit to the East Coast isn't complete without lifting a pint or four of selections from the Boston and Vermont-based Harpoon Brewery. Harpoon's UFO hefeweisen is probably my favorite American weiss beer. But that's like saying that the girl you're dating is the best looking one at an all-girl college.

If you're more about verbal cues, though, check out this month's Interview Show at the Hideout. FotS Mark Bazer sits down with Jon Langford, author Rick Perlstein, WGN's John Williams, and last-minute guest traffic reporter Abby Ryan. The show starts at 6:30 and costs $5.

travel section focuses on our city's thriving Hispanic culture, Pilsen in particular, calling it "Chicago's fashionable Latino neighborhood." It's no secret that we here at Chicagoist are fans of the plentiful eats there. But, as the article points out, Pilsen is more than just food -- it is where the epicenter of Mexican culture and energy is in Chicago.

Five public enemies have been nabbed and one charged with unlawful use of a weapon in association with a drive-by shooting that took place near the set of Johnny Depp’s “Public Enemies” movie. The incident occurred about 12:30 a.m. Friday in the 1600 Block of South Blue Island in the Pilsen Neighborhood.

There are more places to eat on 18th Street besides carnitas shops and taquerias. Honky Tonk BBQ and Mundial have their fans and there are more than enough pizza joints and hot dog stands for the lunch pail crowd to feel sated during the week.

To say that it isn't hard to stumble into a taqueria in Pilsen is an understatement. Focus on the Blue Island corridor, however. and the question becomes trying to avoid one. We took advantage of yesterday's thaw to walk around, enjoy the weather buy some pirated movies (you should see our copy of "Untraceable"). Then, after we worked up an appetite, we headed into the first taqueria we saw for a quick bite, which wound up being an old favorite.