Neighborhood: West Town

Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile my healthy eating plans with my endless appetite for frozen sweets. I love ice cream, sorbet, gelato, and frozen custard. Milkshakes bring me to the yard. Luckily, I discovered a delicious new frozen snack at Starfruit. Located on Division Street in West Town, just south of Wicker Park, Starfruit is a great place to meet your friends for frozen kefir.

Starfruit opened early in 2008 with a new approach to cold confections. They serve organic kefir, a dairy product similar to frozen yogurt with cultures that aid digestion and help the body process calcium. Kefir is usually found in liquid form in grocery stores, much like a smoothie. The drink originated in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia, and as its popularity spread west, flavors were added. After enjoying the sweet/tart flavor of kefir drinks, I moved on to Starfuit, the only Chicago shop that sells the soft-serve, frozen form.

If your friends know and love frozen yogurt, they will appreciate kefir even more. Starfruit serves Lifeways frozen kefir, with vanilla and different fruit flavors like peach, strawberry banana and pomegranate. Cappuccino is my all-time favorite, combining creamy chocolate and coffee flavors. Like the frozen yogurt shops I miss from the 1980s, Starfruit has plenty of toppings to mix with the kefir. You can have a healthy parfait with California green grapes and walnuts or go totally hedonistic with Butterfinger bits and mini chocolate chip cookies. The peach kefir goes very well with mochi balls, for a peaches and cream type parfait. Smoothies here provide plenty of calcium, protein and Vitamin C, with the option of seasonal fruit like Washington cherries or exotics like Brazilian goji berries. Your health nut friend and your chocoholic friend will both appreciate Starfruit. The cappuccino smoothie with Butterfinger bits is my favorite summer treat, and I can still tell people it’s a health food.

All the organic kefir cups, parfaits and smoothies cost between $4 and $7, so you can afford to treat your friends. This is also a good spot for parents to bring their kids for a dessert or after-school snack. You can tell them it’s healthy after they try it and like it. Best of all, Starfruit’s friendly servers will let you sample the flavors and help you pick out tasty combinations of toppings and kefir. Every time I visit, the service is excellent and unhurried. The cool white restaurant interior and its outdoor metal tables and chairs are always spotless.

Frozen yogurt is back in fashion and kefir is the next delicious step. Treat your friends to something new today at Starfruit. Be sure to ask for a punch card, so your tenth frozen dessert will be free.

Since it opened in 2006, the Mercury Cafe has hosted many poetry, art and music events. Located in West Town at Chicago and Greenview in an old brick house, the Mercury offers great coffee, food and a fun meeting spot for you and your friends.

Come for lunch, dinner, coffee or one of the open mics. Mercury’s Italian style menu features coffee, sandwiches, salads and yummy pastries. Well-roasted coffee comes in espresso, macchiato and lattes ($2.85) or mochas ($3.35) with iced coffee in summer. Most sandwiches include chewy ciabatta rolls. My favorites are the Veggie Medici with pesto, provolone, artichoke hearts, lettuce and tomato and the Sorta Italian with salty, savory prosciutto, salami, pesto, basil and sun-dried tomato. The Caprese salad is the classic trio of tomato, mozzarella, and basil ($5.45) and the roast beef salad is a meal in itself. The inexpensive prices remain the same for lunch or dinner; you and your friends can have half a sandwich and soup $6.10 or half a sandwich and a salad or $6.35. Splurge and split a lamington, chocolate and coconut-covered yellow cake with raspberry jam or try a scone, brownie or cupcake. Loose-leaf tea flavors include rosehips, ginger and Chinese gunpowder green. Chocolate, Tahitian vanilla and hazelnut gelato complete the menu. Tahitian vanilla, with flecks of vanilla bean, is my favorite

The Mercury’s large, open layout with tables and couches and chairs lends itself to hanging out for hours. Groups and clubs sometimes meet up at the tables behind the library shelf in the back. You can take or leave library books from paperback fiction to revolutionary history and social commentaries. Each month new local art is for sale on the walls.

There are three regular open mics at Mercury Café. Poets meet here on the third and last Fridays of the month and an open mic for music, poetry, comedy and all types of performers takes place on the first Wednesday of each month. All open mics begin at 7pm and end at 9pm. Look for art openings and music acts on Mercury’s calendar. Many clubs meet here, including language groups and political meet-ups. The Mercury’s groups are good places to meet friends with similar musical and cultural interests.

You can also bring laptops and take advantage of Marcury Café’s free wireless Internet. If you and your coworkers want to order from the Mercury, call 312-455-9924 for bike delivery to any location between Damen, Lake, Halsted and North Avenue between 11am and 3pm.

Now here’s a place that all coffee shops should take a few notes from. Folks who are otherwise turned off by that overall corporate, sterile, yuppie Starbucks mentality can come to Mercury Café and claim it as their second home.

Upon entering, the first thing people will realize just how HUGE this place is! It’s well spread out, with comfy couches and overstuffed chairs scattered throughout. There are actual vintage desks and chairs for those looking for a place to work and utilize the free WiFi, including plenty of sockets to plug into, which drops the worry about the batteries don’t dying out. The walls are decorated with rotating art guests can purchase by local up and comers, which adds to the overall coziness and charm, instead of the standard, uninspired wall hangings most cafes hang to merely fill up space. A decently stocked library is also available, as are classic board games and vintage clothing.

The coffee and teas brewed here are fair trade and organic and at very fair prices. Friendly staff actually bring out their orders to their customers, instead of making them wait by the register or keeping their ears perked for their names. What a novel idea! And, unlike many small independent cafes, these folks accept major credit cards, with only a $3 minimum, which saves the hassle of stopping at the ATM ahead of time.

Ample, made to order sandwiches are also available, again fairly priced and prepared with organic ingredients, featuring bread from a local independent baker, including vegan choices. Desserts also come from a local bakery, many of which are completely vegan and absolutely delicious! Dropping a $10 here truly goes a long way, and allows guests to linger as long as they wish, without ever feeling the pressure of the shop “needing the space”.

Since this establishment is so truly inviting, many social gatherings are held here, from chess players to those who have a penchant for all things Goth. Even so, the decibel level never seems to rise beyond a whisper for those seated away from the groups, combined with music filtered through the air that is just as eclectic and genuine as the regulars.

Whether folks need a place to mull over what they did the night before over pancakes and coffee or a quick bite of good old American fare, The Hollywood Grill is the place hipsters and locals hit anytime of the year, day or night. This vintage 50's roadside diner is decked out in pink and teal vinyl, with the walls nearly covered with classic black and white glossies of popular celebrities like Marilyn and Humphrey. is located just up the street from all the hottest bars and night clubs in the Bucktown / Wicker Park scene.

No matter what time it is, and no matter how crowded the after hours people make it, some way, some how, everyone gets seated relatively quick. And no matter what size the group is, the food comes out just as fast as it was ordered - the cooks must be clairvoyant! Also, the wait staff must have been sent there by God Himself, because they are so saintly when it comes to handling the after hours people. Quick, prompt, polite and able to tackle any attitude with none of their own. These are lifers and not the Trixie twenty somethings that always screw up the orders. Big thumbs up for the service alone!

Stick with the breakfast specials like the 2222 or the pancakes or omelets, which have just enough carbs and grease to coat any ornery tummy. The coffee is average diner blend but always fresh and hot. Burgers are decent, and they side them with crinkle cut fries! Just be sure to steer away from the Mexican stuff and anything that sounds out of place. Not good.

Of course, since its location is perfect for the party goers, Hollywood makes that pending hangover worth it with all the people watching that comes with the territory. Sure the place is a bit on the load side and perhaps a little too bright, but it's just so much fun to check out everyone there! It's definitely a place to be seen at 3am!

You know what they say: if a place is always busy, there's got to be a reason for it. Just remember they only take cash, and be sure to tip your waitress. She earned it.

While some people may never venture inside because they think it's a dirty, brawly biker bar, there will be twice as many folks who wander in for a beer and a burger… and get a whole lot more! The line of bikes outside the Twisted Spoke sure can look intimidating, and that skeleton perched overhead on a revolving chopper can be downright frightening! But hey - that just means the tourists are held back at bay, along with the screaming babies who tend to tag along. And, mom will probably never want to go here once she finds out what they do on Saturday nights!

Just as one would expect, the decor is full of chrome and chopper imagery - pure Hog Heaven this side of Sturgis! In the summer, folks can climb on upstairs and hang out with their mascot, catching an eyeful of the neighborhood below. Since the staff work at their own pace and the food is made to order, folks in the know go there anticipating it will be a fun night out.

Beer and drink specials run consistently, and they serve what is probably the best tasting burgers in town, seasoned perfectly. Seriously. The Fat Boy is a 1/4 pounder, and the Double Fatty is another patty for a few bucks more! All of their items are organic, and many items on the menu are vegetarian and even vegan. (Hey! Bikers can get away with sporting pleather these days, y'know!) Another favorite is All You Can Eat meatloaf Mondays, while others would recommend the Pot Roast.

Oh, and just what exactly is Smut N' Eggs? On Saturdays at midnight, they pull the shades and run pornos on the walls while patrons dine off the brunch menu. Seriously, once mom finds out about that, she will probably never want to go there. Or Aunt Maggie. Or Nanna. Or maybe even the better half, since it really is Smut, and not the foux foux "erotic" stuff on Skinemax.

Where can S&M -minded folks watch and even participate in a public, bondage -themed event while perched atop an indoor motorcycle drinking a good import? The Exit.

Where can punk rockers go to jam out on the classics while slamming $2 PBRs? The Exit.

Where can goths go to show off their latest vintage corsets and stacks and be the best dressed in the room, instead of the freakiest? The Exit.

Where can metal heads go to party with the DJ who lets people flip through his thousands of CDs while playing Guitar Hero alongside popular underground bands (who just so happen to be passing through)? The Exit.

And where exactly can anyone else go who aren't intimidated by the regulars, want to have a good time and drink until dawn? The Fuggin Exit, Dammit!

Located on the opposite side of the North Avenue bridge, where all the tourists “flock” to a popular micro brewery, lies the seediest of all the bars, and they like it that way! The Exit is deservedly the most infamous bar in the Tri State area and has remained pretty much the same since its opening back in the 80s. Back then, the only significant difference is the location, since many of the regulars then are regulars now, just a little older, at least according to their driver’s licenses.

Of course, a whole new breed of unique individuals make their appearances as well, as some things like rebellion just don’t ever seem to die. They gather together in their denim and leather, their pleather and lace, their whips and paddles, their tattoos and piercings and even their artfully designed and yes, intentional, brandings. The theme changes every night, with different music spun by DJs who actually prefer to leave the dance tracks at the store. It’s a centralized bastion for sin in the Midwest, and they like it that way!

The thing it though, The Exit really is a gentle giant, just another place to go chill out and socialize, in spite of its rough image. The decor is suiting for any run down biker bar, complete with cult flicks, videos and vintage porn on the tube, and the upstairs is a great place to party with drunken strangers. In a nut shell, it’s the place to be when everyplace else doesn’t seem to take kindly to those types, even though those types take rather kindly to everybody else. Oh and yeah - they’re open pretty late, too!