An examination of how the West Loop went from a meatpacking district and food distribution center to Restaurant Row and the Fulton Market District. (a long read)
Wow, what a great and thoroughly researched history of the West Loop restaurant scene, congrats! We need more neighborhood histories like this. You say "The restaurants and offices came first..." — one might argue, well, I might argue, that art galleries came first (I see Todd Stein's astute comment about Kleiner and nod yes to him!). If you adhere to the Richard Florida school of urban development, it's often artists and art galleries (er, the Creative Class) that fuel urban regeneration. Chicago's contemporary art scene coalesced around Peoria and Washington in the early aughts and eventually surpassed the prior arts center, River North, around 2008-2010, until we (ahem, I am a gallery owner) started getting pushed out when Google moved in and a lot of landlords thought they were sitting on tech incubators. Most of us moved to West Town a year or three before Covid. Wish I had your energy and gumption to write up a Chicago art history from this era, one of these days....
This is fantastic. I would say all mentioned are vitally important to the history of the neighborhood, but KDK restaurant group were really the pioneers of that neighborhood. Yes VIVO started it, but the sheer success of Marche and Redlight are really in my opinion why the west loop started to become the neighborhood. If it were not for Jerry Kleiner, Chicago may have not gotten the DNC in 1996.
That’s the fun thing about this topic - everyone will have their own take, and no one is right or wrong. I struggled with where to start the story, but decided I want to go with restaurants that bridged the gap between the old west loop and the booming modern west loop.
You know what’s up, Sir. Specifically came to the comments to say, with full respect to the writer - there is no “restaurant row” without Kleiner - especially if Vivo is in the mix. His name is literally on an honorary sign of Randolph St. I also think a little wine bar on Lake St. was ahead of its time in that area too - but I might be a biased towards small, independents 😉
The big decision on writing this was deciding when to start the history. I could have kept going back further and further.
The United Center is an important part of West Loop history. Opened in 1994, it hosted the DNC in 1996. I think you could argue that the DNC was more pivotal than the United Center itself. The old skid row had been cleaned up in the 80s, but before the DNC the neighborhood got cleaned up in the form of new playgrounds, landscaping, cleaning up buildings, etc. But, today, the United Center feels a bit separate from the boom of the neighborhood. It's a nice perk to have a sports and concert venue close, but the restaurants, offices, and apartments being built aren't very close.
Harpo Studios came to the West Loop in 1988, and she brought a lot of people to the neighborhood thanks to her live studio audience. It definitely made that area safer and gave a boost to the restaurants over there. But, Harpo closing did more for the neighborhood by creating a space for the Google headquarters.
Of course, this is all opinion! There are many ways to look at how the West Loop evolved, which is why it's a fun topic to explore.
Thank you for your insight, Kit. This has been a very informative and interesting article. My husband and I moved from Chicago to California in 1995, and every time we return to Chicago for a visit we are so amazed and impressed with all the changes!
I have been meaning to look deeper into West Loop history—since going to Maxwells Trading and also walking in that western end of the neighborhood during Open House Chicago last year—so thanks for this.
Momotaro seems to be in the wrong spot here? It's definitely been around for much longer.
Wow, what a great and thoroughly researched history of the West Loop restaurant scene, congrats! We need more neighborhood histories like this. You say "The restaurants and offices came first..." — one might argue, well, I might argue, that art galleries came first (I see Todd Stein's astute comment about Kleiner and nod yes to him!). If you adhere to the Richard Florida school of urban development, it's often artists and art galleries (er, the Creative Class) that fuel urban regeneration. Chicago's contemporary art scene coalesced around Peoria and Washington in the early aughts and eventually surpassed the prior arts center, River North, around 2008-2010, until we (ahem, I am a gallery owner) started getting pushed out when Google moved in and a lot of landlords thought they were sitting on tech incubators. Most of us moved to West Town a year or three before Covid. Wish I had your energy and gumption to write up a Chicago art history from this era, one of these days....
This is also a great take!
This is fantastic. I would say all mentioned are vitally important to the history of the neighborhood, but KDK restaurant group were really the pioneers of that neighborhood. Yes VIVO started it, but the sheer success of Marche and Redlight are really in my opinion why the west loop started to become the neighborhood. If it were not for Jerry Kleiner, Chicago may have not gotten the DNC in 1996.
That’s the fun thing about this topic - everyone will have their own take, and no one is right or wrong. I struggled with where to start the story, but decided I want to go with restaurants that bridged the gap between the old west loop and the booming modern west loop.
You know what’s up, Sir. Specifically came to the comments to say, with full respect to the writer - there is no “restaurant row” without Kleiner - especially if Vivo is in the mix. His name is literally on an honorary sign of Randolph St. I also think a little wine bar on Lake St. was ahead of its time in that area too - but I might be a biased towards small, independents 😉
that little wine bar was still one of my all time favorites in the city!
🫶
I agree sir. Jerry Kleiner had a vision of the west loop before it was the west loop.
How do you think the once new United Center and Harpo Studios set the stage for West Loop development?
The big decision on writing this was deciding when to start the history. I could have kept going back further and further.
The United Center is an important part of West Loop history. Opened in 1994, it hosted the DNC in 1996. I think you could argue that the DNC was more pivotal than the United Center itself. The old skid row had been cleaned up in the 80s, but before the DNC the neighborhood got cleaned up in the form of new playgrounds, landscaping, cleaning up buildings, etc. But, today, the United Center feels a bit separate from the boom of the neighborhood. It's a nice perk to have a sports and concert venue close, but the restaurants, offices, and apartments being built aren't very close.
Harpo Studios came to the West Loop in 1988, and she brought a lot of people to the neighborhood thanks to her live studio audience. It definitely made that area safer and gave a boost to the restaurants over there. But, Harpo closing did more for the neighborhood by creating a space for the Google headquarters.
Of course, this is all opinion! There are many ways to look at how the West Loop evolved, which is why it's a fun topic to explore.
Thank you for your insight, Kit. This has been a very informative and interesting article. My husband and I moved from Chicago to California in 1995, and every time we return to Chicago for a visit we are so amazed and impressed with all the changes!
I have been meaning to look deeper into West Loop history—since going to Maxwells Trading and also walking in that western end of the neighborhood during Open House Chicago last year—so thanks for this.
Momotaro seems to be in the wrong spot here? It's definitely been around for much longer.
Thank you for catching that! Momotaro opened in 2014 - just updated.