Chinatown of the North

I love exploring Chicago, learning about it's neighborhoods on my own or through tours. So when I heard that there was a neighborhood nick named "Chinatown of the North" located on Argyle Street and Broadway, I was intrigued! I have self toured Chinatown a few times (which is South of the city), but never heard of a Chinese population in the Northern parts! I also heard that this is one of the most diverse neighborhoods of Chicago. It is a blend of Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai people.



The "gateway" or "El Station" to the "Chinatown of the North" varies greatly from Chinatown (which is located South and a definite local and tourist destination). The first step at the North location re-gentrification came in the form of a $250,000 grant to upgrade the El station into a pagoda and to make the ticket booth resemble a Chinese tea house in the early 7o's.

This is an interesting neighborhood, and not just because of it's diversity but because of it's conflicts. There has been much interest in "gentrifying" this neighborhood, but the resistance has come from it's business owners who fear high rents will replace the reasonable ones and perhaps displace them. Instead they retain their "authenticity" at the risk of crime and deterioration.

While there, I was fascinated with the Chinese grocery and fish market! My oldest daughter and I both love to cook but did not recognize much of what we saw. And she enjoyed buying tea at a faction of it's cost (.50 to $2 for a box of green tea!)
















While in the neighborhood we sampled many different kinds of food from appetizers to egg rolls to desserts such as traditional Chinese almond cookies. But our favorite place turned out to be Bale, a Vietnamese sandwich shop with a French influence! We loved the "Subway Eat Fresh" version of sandwiches served on a baguette even if we couldn't identify many of the ingredients! We also loved the fish sauce for the dumplings which was wonderful! Bale was bustling with customers and because of their fresh fare, I could see why it's was a favorite among the locals.