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Friday, August 10, 2012

Good PR for 14th and Michigan Restaurant Intersection

Inside City Tavern - Image from Chicagoist
A week ago we posted about the blossoming restaurant intersection of 14th and Michigan given the recent openings of City Tavern (1416 S. Michigan), Square One (1400 S. Michigan) and Alain's (1355 S. Michigan).  Recently the Chicagoist blog had a post titled "14th and Michigan is Suddenly a Restaurant Hotspot":
We lived in the South Loop for years - trust us, it's never been a great restaurant destination. There are occasional exceptions like Acadia and solid standbys like South Coast Sushi, but for anyone living south of Roosevelt, interesting food is hard to come by. That has changed in less than a month. Not one, not two, but three restaurants have all opened at the intersection of 14th and Michigan.
While the post starts out with a little bit of a slap to the face, generally speaking it's still a positive PR piece for the neighborhood.

The PR game for Chicago neighborhoods is always a tricky one and perception is an ebb and flow of change.  Here in the Sloop it seems like there isn't much middle ground, it's either the neighborhood sucks or this place rocks!  We're constantly dealing with negatives (see story about Roosevelt CTA station) and positives like this one in the Chicagoist.  The reality is that it's an evolution...and hopefully a positive one.

It's not unique to our neighborhood, but it's always something to be aware of.

Anyway, it's good to see good news disseminated to the broader city!

5 comments:

  1. " ...for anyone living south of Roosevelt, interesting food is hard to come by." What about Opart Thai (a Michelin ranked spot, for whatever it is worth) and Cafe Bionda (Check Please featured). Forget the critical acclaims, go there on a Thur-Sat even, or even better, just try their food...geez, where did this guy live for "years".

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  2. Don't take it personally. My guess is unless the restaurant is in some reclaimed lava-lamp factory, this hipster with two first names would tear it apart regardless.

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  3. Really? You are bringing back the Tribune story; "Roosevelt CTA Station Has the Most Crime in the City"??? Really? I thought it was agreed that this story was heavily falsified because it did not include any stations in the loop... come on!

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  4. Does anyone know why there are no outdoor signs on either City Tavern or Square One (or the pet grooming shop for that matter)? Yes Square One has window stickers, but no Marquee. I was thinking the building wanted a consistent design and it was taking some time, but does anyone have the real story? Also, we live on this corner and find most of the choices in the 2 block radius from 14th & Michigan great options.

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  5. I was unimpressed by the food at City Tavern... I went there in it's second week and said I'd wait 3 months until the chef tweaked his/her menu. The mussels were bland, good import beer selection though.

    Cafe Bionda isn't what it used to be... after the ownership issues and exodus of the staff to Little Italy's Salatino's. I miss the old Cafe Bionda.

    Flo & Santos is still my favorite option for a quick bite out.

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