By William Hageman, Tribune reporter
Chicago remains near and dear to author John McNally (“Troublemakers,” “The Book of Ralph,” “Ghosts of Chicago”), who spent his formative years kicking around the Southwest Side.
Now an associate professor of English at Wake Forest University, McNally was back in Chicago recently to do some readings from his new book, “After The Workshop.” Over sandwiches at Costello’s on West Roscoe, we asked him to choose five places every visitor to Chicago should experience. His answers:
1.The Green Mill (4802 N. Broadway Ave.): “The thing I like, it’s one of those places, you step into it and it’s like walking into 1930s Chicago. I have recommended that people go there. The (weekly) poetry slam is interesting. But I like going there sometimes in the afternoon, when there’s no music, just to soak up the atmosphere of the place. You pretend you’re a hit man.”
2.Duke’s Drive-In (8115 S. Harlem, Bridgeview): “I always end up sending people to food places. And the place I always end up sending people to is Duke’s. My impulse is to say that you must eat a pizza, but you can get pizza anywhere, albeit terrible pizza. But you can’t get an Italian beef sandwich anywhere, and almost no place outside of Chicago understands how it’s supposed to be made. I love that Duke’s isn’t a chain. There’s nothing fancy about it. People go there for the food. As for the beef, I get mine plain and soaked. Great Italian sausage sandwiches, by the way. At Duke’s, they don’t go for ambience. And they have toast there. My wife is a vegetarian. She has the toast.”
3. Broadway Avenue, from Clark to Addison: “It’s a nice stretch. Reckless Records is there. A good book store. There’s a chili place (Chili Mac’s Chicago Chili & Pizza). And the Chicken Hut. I lived in that place. I actually met someone for a date there once. The guys behind the counter were all excited for me. There’s a lot of good stuff along there.”
4. Get a room: “I would recommend staying in a hotel downtown. Any hotel. Just book a room. The last time I was in town, I stayed at the Hotel Indigo (1244 N. Dearborn), which is near all the clubs on Division, so it may be a better spot for someone who enjoys that scene. In one room, the walls may be floor-to-ceiling photos of blueberries. In another: a floor-to-ceiling photo of a cable-knit sweater. Odd but also oddly intriguing. But if you want to be closer to the theater district or the museums, stay in the Loop. The Palmer House is definitely worth a look. Chicago is a city for walking, so base yourself in a hotel but get outside and walk around.”
5. The ‘L’: “If they’re from out of town, they should take an ‘L’ ride from downtown to Evanston. Taking the ‘L’ is an antidote to surfing the Net. Stay off your iPhone when you’re on the train. Look out the window. Read the graffiti. Watch how close the train gets to some of the buildings and then imagine living in one of those buildings. Pay attention to the flourishes of the various buildings, those things we’ve seen so much we’ve quit noticing. . . . I lived by Wrigley a year and took that train to Northwestern. The thing I remember, one of the more memorable times, the train stopped just short of the platform. You could see it, but you couldn’t get off the train to get to it. We sat there an hour. And at the time I was reading a Kafka novel, “The Castle,” in which a character was trying to get to a castle. Here I am, 19 years later, and that’s one of my most cherished memories of riding the ‘L’.”
