Nick Kindelsperger

Back in the early 20th century, Chicago's Loop was packed with sandwich shops serving hand-carved corned beef. Now it's mostly just Jimmy John's and Potbelly. Fortunately, there's still room for places like Fontano's, where you can find solid Italian and meatball subs.

@meathead @Ecnerwal23 I love this idea. That fresh crunch is crucial, but so is the grilled onions' savoriness. It might need a more potent mustard than regular yellow, though its acidity does help cut through everything.

@nickdk @Ecnerwal23 I like both raw onions and grilled onions, and I would love to have both on my hotdog dogs

Chicago style hot dogs would be better if they took out some/upgraded ingredients Pickle is unnecessary as there is already a superior version of the pickle on it, neon relish We don’t want ketchup on it but why is its flavorless father there? No tomato Grilled not raw onions

@meathead @Ecnerwal23 Interestingly, there is one place in Chicago where grilled onions became nearly standard on hot dogs. In the 1930s, vendors on Maxwell Street started grilling their onions. Jim's Original continues the tradition. There's a lot of evidence because the smell was so powerful.

Fairpoint on all of the above, although I do like the raw onions,. The reason all this stuff is on there is due to its origin during the Great Depression. Laborers who were building homes and streets and offices, needed a cheap lunch that was “well rounded“ so the vendors on Maxwell Street, created the hot dog that was “dragged through the garden“

There are zero residents living in this industrial area

@beegcookie Good shout out! Though my favorite dish there is the chicken teriyaki over rice. nickintheloop.substack.com/p/why-you-shou…

@nickdk Harry's Sandwich Shop o7

Back in the early 20th century, Chicago's Loop was packed with sandwich shops serving hand-carved corned beef. Now it's mostly just Jimmy John's and Potbelly. Fortunately, there's still room for places like Fontano's, where you can find solid Italian and meatball subs.

@DanielKayHertz I second this take.

One of the most physically perfect neighborhoods in the world imo

@Carlso1 Amazing. That sounds incredible. I have heard of King Arthur’s. Sounds like the owner was a character, too.

Oh my gosh! Nick, as a man I once worked for used to say, “you’re education is incomplete! Ups & Downs was this glorious place. Just a big room with a couple lines where guys were carving beef tenderloin and serving it on onion rolls. I think they also carved turkey, but obviously never ordered that. It was next door to the King Arthurs Pub where they served beer in the old yard glasses. The two my have been associated. Bar Double R was a subterranean joint just across from the Daley Center on Randoph street. You go down some stairs and enter into this big, darkish room and get in line to order. I always had their Italian Beef - the lady behind the register would yell out “‘Talian!!!” And pair it with fries and a Strohs. My buddy generally got the Olive Burger. The other thing about the Double R is that they had live music at night and one of the regular bands was The Sundowners featuring ABC 7’s news anchor, Joel Daly. Little known fact: Joel was an accomplished yodeler!

This is spot on. There's so much potential in the Loop.

@Carlso1 Oh, I don't even know those! I've done some research about places in the early 20th century, but not twenty years ago. Where were they?

@nickdk The loss of the independent restaurant in the Loop is one of the greatest tragedies of the last few decades. Anyone who regularly lunched at Bar Double R or Ups & Downs will happily regale you with stories from these wonderful places.

@meathead Yikes, I've never had a Potbelly sub that reached those kinds of lows. Mostly just unremarkable. But occasionally I'll get a turkey sub there and really like it.

@nickdk Worst meal I had in the last 12 months was potbelly on Jackson near Union Station. Terrible sandwich and they don’t sell coffee. How are you doing?

@thorntonmellon7 I really miss that place, too. That place had such a vibe.

@nickdk RIP Perry’s

"One of the greatest threats to public education in Chicago is the union itself and its wrongheaded insistence that CPS focus on political activism over academics. Regular working people have to show up as a condition of employment — so should the CTU." "Reading, writing and math skills are what we’re guessing most parents would prefer their kids’ teachers to emphasize." As any reasonable CPS parent would, I expect my child to be in school on May 1st, learning reading, writing, and math skills.

I’m proud to report that this list is not a comprehensive collection of Loop happy hours. Instead, here are three battle-tested happy hour deals where you can both drink well and comfortably.

Looks like I was correct. Upscale Mexican steakhouse and seafood restaurant, Espiritu, to open at now former McCormick & Schmick's in The Loop across from the river at 1 E Wacker. 9K+ sq ft Chicago Cut x Cerdito Muerto Image is my receipt from Saturday chicagobusiness.com/commercial-rea…

Because of its location on Michigan Ave. across the street from Millennium Park, I assumed @seoulspice was another "slop bowl" chain. But it manages to avoid that fate because it primarily trades in that endlessly flexible Korean dish, bibimbap.

There's a lot of deep dish in the Loop. But most of it is sold primarily to tourists who have time to kick back and relax, not locals in need of a quick lunch. The exception is the individual deep dish pies at Beatrix Market.