Garrett Popcorn: Tourists' Delight, Office Nightmare

By Joanna Miller in Food on May 17, 2006 3:18PM

Chicagoist has a very acute olfactory sense. Trust us, we wish we didn’t. We use public transportation, and we would love to not smell your belches.

We appreciate good smells, but we also know that too much of a good thing can be gross. The people who work in the Oriental Theatre’s six floors of office space agree, which is why they’re not too happy about a plan to open a Garrett Popcorn Shop downstairs.

Sure, the smell of caramely, cheesy goodness is enough to make hungry tourists stand in the freezing cold for an hour for a few melt-in-your-mouth bites, but it’s not really what you want to smell all day as you sit at a computer and stare at spreadsheets. And really, after a couple handfuls, it’s enough to nauseate anyone.

A lawyer for the office tenants says the odor will be sucked up through a large, unobstructed stairwell and dispersed throughout office floors. They’re hoping a judge will agree and stop the store from opening. Wherever the store ends up, we're sure there will be people lined up, Grants in hand, ready for their fix.