Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Bryn Mawr update

I took a walk around the Bryn Mawr Historic District today for the first time in quite a while. This past July I had heard, straight from the owner, that a new Sweet Occasions location was within weeks opening up at 1038 W. Bryn Mawr, Now, if by "weeks" he meant 30 weeks, then okay -- he still has a chance to make good on that. But as of today, it is still not open for business.

A bit farther west on the same block is the notorious Nookie's property. Still boarded up. I first heard about plans to open a Nookie's restaurant on this site more than five years ago. Because the previous occupant, a dry cleaner, had left behind toxic chemicals, years of environmental remediation ensued. Early this year I heard that the project was on the verge of moving forward, but there is still no visible sign of it.

I also thought I'd see if Habeebi's, of which I gave a lukewarm review at the beginning of this year, had managed to stay in business. It came as no surprise that they did not. Already, there is a new Japanese restaurant named Shinobu occupying that location. (It might be a good idea for them to take the old Habeebi's awning down.) Shinobu is not open for lunch; otherwise I would have taken a peek inside.

After finally getting a tuna sandwich at the reliable Flourish, I headed back east. I stopped to take a look at the bricolage mural at the Bryn Mawr underpass beneath Lake Shore Drive. The bricolage was completed this past summer by Edgewater community members and the Chicago Public Art Group. Composed of brightly colored fragments of tile, glass, and other materials, it is a striking work, well worth seeing. But there is no getting around the fact that it is in a highway underpass. Pedestrians will only see it if they are on their way to or from the lakefront via Bryn Mawr, though precious few will want to take a stroll along the lakefront this time of year. And I think the unadorned Berwyn pedestrian viaduct, three blocks south, is still more appealing, since there you don't have to contend with the on and off ramps.

3 Comments:

Blogger Kit said...

Sounds like the Edgewater neighborhood had changed drastically since I left it in 1993. The last time I was there the Walgreens on Bryn Mawr hadn't been open too long. Is that restaurant still at the corner of Broadway & Bryn Mawr (the NW corner)? I lived at 5532 N. Broadway.

1/17/2008 09:37:00 PM  
Blogger Mark M said...

Kit:

If the restaurant you are talking about is El Norte, then yes, it is still there. It's my favorite taqueria in Edgwater Beach.

By the way, 5532 N. Broadway is a very interesting property. I mentioned it briefly in an earlier blog posting, but I didn't really note its significance as one of the few residential buildings on that stretch of Broadway. It's still there.

1/19/2008 05:58:00 PM  
Blogger Kit said...

Mark -- no, I meant the Golden Nugget (I think)? Been there 4-ever. Is Moody's still there? There was also a fabulous restaurant on Clark -- they opened another one right next door to it on a corner (really neat looking) and it always seemed to be busy. I think it was Armenian or something. Had an incredible rice salad served with grilled chicken.

And what happened to that rather trendy restaurant that opened around 5535 N Broadway? It had outdoor seating and I heard a lot of celebrities liked to frequent it. This would have been in the late '90's I think.

My sister and I both used to live at 5532 on the 2nd and third floors, respectively,(my parents own the building) and their business was on the first floor. It was built in 1898 I think and my dad bought it in the early 1980's for under $200K. Is it a single family residence now?

1/19/2008 11:22:00 PM  

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