The November Issue Of Chicago Magazine

I just finished reading the November issue of Chicago Magazine - the online edition, of course, since only people still living in the Chicago area can get an actual physical copy - and have come to a startling conclusion: Chicago Magazine and its readers are obsessed with food. Four of the last eight issues have had cover stories about food, with the latest, the November issue, being "Breakfast." Besides this article, which goes on for many pages, there are also articles on "Table Settings," "Why do Chicagoans despise Ketchup?" and "Tableside Carts Making a Comeback." There is also a review of a Puerto Rican restaurant called Culebra, and another review for Muhajir, which serves south and southeast Asian cuisine (dinner for two averages $250, a real bargain!), with a suggestion by the author to request the waiter to secure you a seat at Bobo, the adjacent speakeasy, for afterwards. Regular Chicago Magazine readers must spend their entire lives doing nothing but eating and drinking.

Personally, I would recommend the Beacon Pub, located just down the block from my first apartment, a studio in west suburban Forest Park. I used to walk past this place all the time on my way to the "L." I never ate there, but since it appears to have survived the 50 years since I last lived in the neighborhood, has an online rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, and costs an average of $10-$20 per person, how can you go wrong? I took the photograph on the right of the place in 2010, the last time I went back to Chicago. But I digress. This month there is also an article titled "Bike Lane Backlash," about the controversy of eliminating car lanes and parking along Chicago's streets to put in bike lanes. Besides the traffic and parking problems this causes, it appears that conservatives feel bike lanes are another form of DEI and strongly oppose them. Is there anything that isn't political anymore? However, I do have sympathy for the anti-bike lane people. All the parking spaces on the block where my condo building in Denver is located were eliminated for bike lanes, and now there is nowhere for guests to park, as well as for me when some idiot parks in my spot. Finally, there is a feature article titled "American Pope," which is an excerpt from a new biography recounting Pope Leo's early years in South Suburban Dolton, Illinois and how the Catholic community there shaped him. Basically, Pope Leo grew up in a very religious Catholic family, went to mass twice a week at St. Mary of the Assumption in Riverdale and soon became very involved with the church. No surprises there. The most interesting part was reading about all the places in the South Suburbs of Chicago I am so familiar with - Dolton, Riverdale, Glenwood, Chicago Heights - from when I lived in nearby Country Club Hills for 10 years, before finally making an escape. All in all, an interesting issue. Be sure to pick up a copy if you are lucky enough to have access to one. Of course, there is always the online edition as a last resort. Just deal with it, as have I. Kind of.