1. Santa�s Village (East Dundee) - The first franchised theme park. No matter how hot it got, there was always a piece of the North Pole situated in front of Santa�s Workshop - that thermodynamic frozen slab of ice that never thawed even in the stickiest Chicago summer - to cool you off. 2. Hollywood Kiddieland (Devon & McCormick) - A great thrill for any child was a ride to a birthday party on the Kiddieland Firetruck. 3. Adventureland (Addison) - Bring this ad for one free box of popcorn. 4. Linn Burton for certain for Bert Weinman Ford! Blinding white hair and the fastest pronunciation of the words �full delivered price� on record. 5. Cellozzi-Ettleson, where you always save more money! 6. Ed Roberts for Beren�s Automotive and the Beren�s Bear Rocking Chairs. 7. Baby Huey�s Bar (Sheridan N. of Devon) - Huge likeness of the Harvey-Toons heavyweight perched in a nest atop the entrance-way. 8.Kroch�s and Brentano�s on Wabash - Spent days in their basement. 9. Oak Street Bookstore (Next to the Esquire Theater) - Owned by a classy old dame who chain smoked. 10. Chandler�s in Evanston - After Kroch�s folded, my literary catacombs of choice. 11. Michael Alan Clothes Store (Touhy W. of California) - Shopped here as a kid. Run by Mr. & Mrs. Silverman. He always had a butt dangling from his mouth when he took measurements. The store stocked the finest in �Husky� clothes. 12. Chernin�s Shoes on Roosevelt Road - Not that I�m a shoe hound, I just have fond memories of going there with my folks. It was an orthodox shoe store: women on the right, men on the left.
13. Red Goose Shoes - Loved when the anamatronic goose crapped out the Golden Egg full of cheap plastic trinkets. Also gave away incredibly gay Buster Brown Comics, but did reward me with a special edition Three Stooges comic book (which I still have!) 14. Neumode Hosiery and the way the drummer on the Bozo Band would hit the wood block three times when Mr. Ned said �no bind top.� 15. Shopper�s World later became Community (Devon & McCormick) - A place the neighbor kids could walk to when bored. 16.Winsberg�s (Clark & Granville) - Decent neighborhood clothing store that Bob Leff worked at! 17. Crawford�s - The only department store on Devon Ave. Great brown and yellow logo stretched across an outdorr marquee. 18. E. J. Korvette�s (Dempster & Waukegan) - Popular department store amed after 8 Jewish Korean Veterans.
19. Superdawg (Devon/Milwaukee/Nagel) From the bottom of its pure beef heart the best hot dog and crinkle-cut fries on the planet. 20. Beefy 19(Foster & Western) - Burger joint that had a revolving outdoor statue of a woman similar to the one on the cover of Myra Breckinridge. 21. Barnaby�s Pizza - Superb chain with an all wooden interior, beer steins hanging from beams and frosted beer mugs. 22. Mr. Donut - Legend has it that weatherman Harry Volkman was punched in a Mr. Donut parking lot and forced to wear shades on the air. 23. Al�s Fishery (Grand W. of LSD) Fried shrimp in a bag! While other kids were at the high school prom, I dined here with Alan Gore before walking over to McClurg Court to see Last Tango in Paris. 24. Terry�s Red Hots (Touhy E. of California) Tin hot dog shack that was hotter than Hitler�s inferno in the summer. Ice cold Nedlog on tap! 25.The Super Bowl Grill (Clark & Diversy) Diner next to the Parkway Theatre with great greasy hamburgers. 26. Yogi Bear Fried Chicken (Howard N. of Sheridan) Never ate there, but often admired the huge likeness of Yogi on the parking lot sign. 27. Charcoal Delights (Foster & Kedzie) - Every day is a backyard barbecue. 28. Carm�s Italian Beef - Located a block north of Taylor Street, an outstanding sangwich. 29. Salerno�s Pizzeria in Cicero - Sicilian style pan pizza unlike any I�ve ever tasted.
30. The Fish Keg (Howard & Ridge) - I�m dying for the Keg. 31. Pleazall Cookies - My dad worked their when I was a kid and brought home sublime oatmeal cookies. 32. Paul�s Umbrella (California & Touhy) Noted for placing a slab of white cheese in their hot dogs and chips, not fries. 33. Lockwood Castle (Devon & Central) No man could tackle the Giant Killer, something like 29 scoops of ice cream. If one person consumed it all in one sitting, it was on the house. 34. Dr. Jazz (Montrose W. of Ashland) Ice cream novelties and 16mm print of Charlie Chaplin shorts. The first restaurant that banned smoking. If someone lit up they were doused with seltzer. 35. Rainbo Cone - South side ice cream staple. Only hit it a couple of time, but it was delish. 36.The Milk Pail - Devon W. of McCormick. Kosher Jewish grocery store and deli. Orgasmic chopped liver and spicy hard salami sticks. 37. The Ritz�s � Neighborhood grocery store on California and Lunt run by Harry and Esther Ritz. (Prior to the Ritz�s it was run by Bernie Joseph.) Canned goods, produce and a deli. Salami sticks sold by the pound in a brown paper bag that absorbed more grease than Jerry Lewis� hair. 38. Cecil Treadway for Boushelle Carpeting (Hudson 3-2700) - Cachy phone jingle and the guy�s named Cecil. What�s to forget? 39. General Camera (Devon & Western) Owned by a cousin. Big, splashy sign of The General, a Cap�n Crunch-ish character, anchored the busy intersection. 40. Hobbymodels (Devon & Western) Located across the street of General Camera, it was the premier store for all your Aurora model kits. Bought The Munsters Living Room from them. Wish I still had it� 41. Hawthorne Melody Farms (Libertyville) Spent many a lazy afternoon there with Adventure Day Camp. 42. Milton & Mary�s Electrolysis(Touhy between California & Sacremento) Title tells all. Mary held you down while Milton ripped off the adhesive tape.
43. Maurice Lenell Cookies (Norridge) Still love their icebox pinwheels. 44.The House of Lewis - Never went there, don�t know where it was. All I remember is that they advertised on Svengoolie. 45. Marhoul�s - Clothing store in Oak Park run by Margaret Hamilton lookalike Marie Marhoul and her timid Reverend husband Paul. I became aware of Mrs. Marhoul on Isabelle Joseph Johnson�s Rock of Ages, a weekly gospel hour where once a month Marie would present a fashion show for black women. Lots of polyester and gold teeth! 46. The Duncan Yo-Yo Man � Saw him for the first time at Dave Berman�s drug store at Kenmore and Thorndale. 47. Sinclair Gasoline Stations - Great promotional tie-ins. Everything from dinosaur shaped soap to inflatable Dino�s. 48. Kaufman�s Bagel & Delicatessen (Dempster & Niles Center in Skokie) - Best pastrami sandwich in town. 49. Lazar�s Children�s Furniture (Devon E. of California) Great maroon, 1940�s storeferont that never changed throughout the years. 50. Theater Bowl (Pratt & Western) Huge neon bowling pin (when the sign worked). 51. Sunset Bowl (Touhy & Western) Bowl upstairs, schvitz below! Where I ate my first Slim Jim! 52.Roband�s Drug Store (Pratt & California) Momma�s boy owner Jerry Roband refused to sell a 13-year-old Scotty a copy of Myra Breckinridge. 53. A.R. Leak Funeral Home - Chicago�s premier African American burial spot hosted some outlandish funerals including a local thug who was buried in a car-shaped casket. Major advertiser on Rock of Ages, 54. Howard Miller for Durafab - Two young boys have a spaghetti fight on a sofa, but mom won�t beat them with a can of Bon Ami because according to Miller, �You can�t hurt this fabric - It�s Durafab!�
55. Canfield�s Soda (Mickey Rooney�s vile Mickey Melon) I tried it once. My gag reflex kicks in just thinking about it. Canfields bought the rights to one of my favorite beverages, Green River. Next time you drink a glass, check out green aura surrounding the next morning�s movement. 56. Mill Run (Golf & Milwaukee) Where no seat was more than fifty-feet from the stage! An intimate, funnel shaped venue that attracted a lot of big names. I saw Jerry, Don Rickles (with Vic Damone), Buddy Hackett (with Bob Goulet) and many others, but the standout night was Jim Croce opening for Woody Allen. Woody�s name was on the marquee at the north end of the lot whileEverything You Always Wanted� played at the south end in the big Golf Mill. 57. The Emerald City (Lower Wacker Drive) - A street that runs underneath downtown. Some time in the 70s, they replaced the iconic green street lights with conventional iridescent bulbs. I spent almost every Sunday of my childhood at my paternal grandparent�s home in Oak Park and couldn�t wait to drive home and pass through the green tunnel. 58. Ray Foley�s Hyatt House (Touhy and Lincoln) It was purple, for God�s sake. How can you not remember it? 59. Wax Trax (Lincoln north of Fullerton) Exceptional record store that housed a spectacular collection of vintage (and new) vinyl. Big punk rock hangout. 60. Kenmac Records (Devon W. of Western) The most expensive place in town to buy records, especially soundtracks. In order to prevent bad people from exchanging records they bought from a cheaper store, the owners used a letter �k� typewriter key that was glued to the end of an to an awl to stamp the upper right hand corner of every record they sold. 61. Arkansas Big Bill Hill - Radio legend and host of WCIU-TV�s Red Hot and Blues Program. How �bout that, huh? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-YEAH!
62.
Booby�s - Milwaukee N. of Oakton in Niles. Tender skirt steak sandwiches on a fresh roll, ribs and chicken. They used to have a salad bar that featured a bottomless vat of butterscotch pudding. Mrs. Booby is an �ith.� �A stheak to go! A bird in the housth.� (Still there, and I still have my Booby�s frisbee!) 63.
Moody�s Pub (Thorndale & Broadway � Still there!) So dark inside that it was impossible to read the menu, so I memorized it. Indoor fireplaces during winter and a patio in summer. Great burgers on black bread. 64.
Topp�s Big Boy (Dempster & Waukegan) - When they closed, some zany pranksters sawed the head off the Big Boy statue, put it in its hand, and drew a big penis on it.
Meeeeeeeemories, Meemories� 65.
Como Inn � Cavernous Italian restaurant on Milwaukee & Grand. A lasagna el pesto to die for! 66.
Paris Inn(Clark & Diversy) - Cantonese restaurant two doors north of the Parkway theater. Exceptional eggrolls, chop suey and fried rice. When consumed fresh on the premises, the eggrolls would make a little �pop� when stabbed by a fork. 67.
Ho Kow Caf� � Made famous by Eddie Schwartz for their eggrolls. 68.
Grassfied�s (Ridge north of Pratt) - Never was in there but loved their colorful street-side neon sign. 69.
Jimmy Wong�s � The main location was on Wabash in the Loop. (Hilarious photo on the wall of Jerry Lewis eating noodles.) There was another location at Peterson & Lincoln. 70.
Fannie�s Spaghetti � Located off Green Bay Road in Evanston. Wear a sport coat and you�d gain access to the prestigious downstairs dining room. Jeans got you booted upstairs with the pezzonovanti. Fannie�s sauce was sold frozen at the Dominick�s for years after the restaurant folded. 71.
Black Angus - Howard & Western. A semi-classy neighborhood steak & rib house. A staple every New Year�s Eve. 72.
Odo�s Village (Peterson east of California) - The most delicious thin crust pizza ever! Recently found a place in Eagle Rock, CA called Casa Bianca that duplicates the taste. 73.
Joe Spavones Italian - (Peterson & Richmond) Without an apostrophe, I never could figure out whether the sign referred to the restaurant�s name or was a statement of nationality. 74.
Victoria Station � Bad food served in a train car. 75.
Irv Kupcinet - Mr. Chicago. 76.
Jack Taylor - Bland WGN anchor who looked simply smashing in his yellow, Century 21 sport coat. 77.
Carl Grayson - WGN reported and host of
Nightbeat. �Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, on the beat at this hour�� This guy was a
real Chicagoan!
78.
Sig Sakowicz -
ALL RIGHT!!! Roly-poly celebrity sycophant who never (intentionally) asked a tough question in his life. When the conversation waned (as it frequently did), Sig would quickly shift gears by bringing up parental mortality. Thanks for taking the time. 79.
Ray Rayner - A morning staple. News, weather, Bugs Bunny cartoons, the gayest jumpsuit you ever saw and a live duck. Anything could happen! 80.
Bob Bell - Chicago�s one and only, original, Larry Harman approved, chain-smoking Bozo. 81.
Frazier Thomas - TV kid�s show host that had no patience for children. 82.
Isabelle Joseph Johnson - Beauty parlor owner and host of WCIU-TV�s
Rock of Ages.83.
The Pickle Barrel (Howard & Western and Old Townl � Or as we called it, The Schmeckle Barrel. All the pickles and popcorn you could eat. 84.
The Belden Deli (Clark & Belden) - Hot corned beef served fresh 24/7. 85.
Ashkenaz (by the Morse El stop) - Chicago�s definitive Jewish deli. Never has there been a more golden bowl of chicken soup. 86.
Bishop�s Chili (18th & Damen) - The neighborhood looked like a DMZ, but it was worth it to enjoy a bowl of beans and a bottle of Filbert�s Root Beer. 87.
My Place For (Howard S. of Clark) Had many memorable birthday parties at this joint. 88.
Miller�s Steak House � Another rib & steak joint on north Western Ave. 89.
Little Louie�s (California south of Touhy) - Didn�t every neighborhood have a greasy spoon named Little Louie�s? 90.
Barney�s Yes Sir Senator (Randolph W. of the Loop) - Favored politico hangout with good steaks and a
dupa at the door who greeted each patron with a hearty, �Yes Sir, Senator!� 91.
Braverman�s Cafeteria (The Loop) - 92.
Rolf�s Patisserie (Diversy E. of Clark) - Orgasmic chocolate truffles. 93.
The Great Gritzby�s (Rush St. area) - Rich Melman restaurant that featured an all you can eat cheese bar and terrific Monte Carlo sandwiches.
94. Wimpy�s (All over the Loop) - Hamburger chain that was one notch above White Castle. You sat at a counter and the drinks came in disposable cone-shaped paper cups clipped to a plastic base with a charge for refills. 95.The Bagel Nosh (Lincoln Village) - Decent deli located next to the theater. 96. The Red Balloon (I think it was on Dempster in Skokie) - Restaurant that had an outdoor lamppost with a life size replica of the little boy and his balloon from the classic French children�s film. The balloon�s string was a hunk of rope that flapped in the breeze. 97. La Rosa�s Pizzeria (Skokie) - Superb thin crust pizza. 98. Slicker Sam�s (Melrose Park) - The biggest autographed photo of Sinatra I�ve ever seen. It was a goddamned mural! Loved their fish! 99. The Mashed Potato (Clark S. of Irving) - Wasn�t there too long, but their brisket was as good as the ones mom made. 100. Chances R (Chain) - The Pickle Barrel with peanuts instead of popcorn. 100a. Redemack�s (SP?) on Lincoln N. of Fullerton - One of the tastiest burgers I ever devoured. Tasted like kosher beef. 101. Bargain Town (Lincoln Ave.) - Precursor to Toys R Us. 102. Sally�s Ribs (on Western S. of Devon) Legend has it that if you dipped a dirty penny in Sally�s sauce it would come out shiny. Imagine what it did to your colon! Initially Sally�s was located on Devon north of Western. They moved opposite the Nortown and I always wanted to sit in the front booth so I could gnaw bones while gazing at the marquee�s sequential lights.
See the entire Bargain Town catalog
here.
103.
Minky�s Bicycles (Devon west of Western) - The biggest goniff on the block. Read more about the Minkster
here. 104.
Hi-Low Supermarket(Devon west of Western) - Bargain supermarket that had a waist-high concrete wall to prevent carts from driving onto the sidewalk. On any given summer night, the quarter-block-long slab was filled with a colorful assortment of old Jews that didn�t have air conditioning. 105.
The Bagel(Devon & Sacremento) - The one in Old Orchard rocks, but this was where the action was. 106.
Lippy�s Red Hot Ranch (Devon & Whipple) - Just your average hot dog stand when owned by Lippy. He sold it to a Korean couple who didn�t change the name and treated each hot dog as if they were gold. They new owners barely spoke English and had a tendency of adding �y�s� to the end of words . Large became Largey (which caused us to refer to the place as Largey�s), fries were frenchy and the condiment of choice was relishy. Never saw finer diced onions than the ones Mrs. Largey chopped. 107.
Trampoline World (Devon between Kedzie and McCormick) - No one remembers this place. It was an outdoor playground that had around 20 5 x 5 trampolines built into the ground. 108.
Gigio�s Pizzaria (Devon & California) - Delicious greazy pizza. 109.
Ruby�s (on Rockwell N. of Devon) - Neighborhood diner know for making a milkshake that tasted like a Dreamsicle. As a kid, I couldn�t take my eyes off Mrs. Ruby�s sugar cone bra. 110.
Mlodinoff Studios (Devon and Rockwell) - Official photographer of the Mather High School yearbook. He looked like Ray Burr and hated kids. I�d kill for a picture of the enormous oil painting/testament to himself that adorned the outer office. 111.
Ku Moon Chinese Restaurant (Devon and Richmond) - Best Cantonese on the north side. The owner was a clean man, but he never washed his b.o.-infested work jacket. 112.
Manzelman�s (Devon W. of California) - Hardware store that also sold
chaloshes gifts. 113.
Bud Shabley�s Bowl (Devon next to Crawford�s) - Second story bowling house. The �B� in the neon sign was invariably broken and is read �Bud Shabley�s owl� 114.
Popcorn World (Devon W. of Western) - The took air-popped popcorn, sprayed it with some type of liquid, placed it in huge canisters and covered it with one of thirty powdered flavors. They placed the metal cylinder on a device that spun it like a cement mixer and out popped chemically enhanced corn! The flavors ranged from pizza and cherry to chocolate and bubble gum. Sickening in hindsight, but a lot of fun for a kid. 115.
Rose Records (Wabash Ave.) Best selection anywhere in town. Spent hours going through their soundtrack bins.
Finally, a place whose name escapes me, so I didn�t assign a number. It was a little mom and pop grocery store situated one door south of the Nortown Theatre. They sold penny candy and had a huge popcorn popper in the front window. Dangling in the center of the popper was a timeworn kettel loaded with a phosphorescent orange liquid that the owner would drizzle over the corn. It sure in hell wasn�t butter, but it tasted awful good! Believe it or don�t, the Nortown actually allowed you to bring the corn and candy into the theater with you. This was long before per capita and upselling became Chapter 1 in the exhibitors� handbook.
