The April Issue Of Chicago Magazine Has Arrived!

I perused the April issue of Chicago Magazine the other day. I subscribe to Chicago to give me a broader understanding of what is happening back in my old hometown than just watching the WGN News at Nine on the internet. The cover story, as seen in the photograph above, features Best New Restaurants. I always ignore articles like this, since they usually spotlight upscale restaurants, mostly on the North Side, that feature food I would not eat if someone was pointing a gun at me and would cost a small fortune to boot. These kinds of places are rare on the South Side of Chicago, where I grew up in the Brainerd neighborhood. But happily, there were also several articles featuring the South Side, including one by a Beverly resident (Beverly is just west of Brainerd) recommending his four favorite spots in that neighborhood, including Top Notch Beefburgers on 95th Street, described as "an old-school diner" which feels like "a step back in time." Now that's my kind of place. There was also an article about the White Sox' plan for a new stadium in the South Loop, bordering Roosevelt Road and the Chicago River. Evidently owner Jerry Reinsdorf wants $1.1 billion in public subsidies for the ballpark itself and $900 million more for infrastructure. This is not going over well with Chicago and Illinois politicians, nor with the people who live around Bridgeport, where the current stadium is located, and who are worried about the effects on the neighborhood if the White Sox left. They, of course, want the team to stay where they are. The good thing about this idea is that it would save taxpayers 2 billion dollars, if Reinsdorf could actually persuade those politicians to build his dream ballpark. The title of the article, by the way, is "Stealing Home." Very appropriate.