Illustration by Ellis Calvin

Since 2004, the retailer has tried to open within city limits, with limited success. In 2006, the Council passed a “living wage” ordinance that would have required retailers with stores larger than 90,000 square feet and annual profits greater than $1 billion—namely, Walmart—to pay employees $13 in hourly wages and benefits. It would have scuttled the chain’s plans in Chicago proper had it stood, but Mayor Daley exercised his veto power, for the first time in 17 years in office, and several aldermen defected to him. A 142,000-square-foot store opened in the West Side neighborhood of Austin weeks later, but it’s the only one within city limits, and aldermanic opposition has remained staunch.

To the eponymous organization providing T-shirts to the protesters, such opposition is perverse. As Jobs or Else spokesman and Grammy-winning “Jesus Walks” co-writer Rhymefest explains in a video, “In the black community, there’s not a recession, there’s a depression…This Walmart is going to facilitate three to five hundred new jobs for the community.” In a television interview the night before the thwarted vote, Brookins echoed that sentiment, stating, “With unemployment in the black community looking at 20 percent and higher…it’s time to say yes.” If Chatham is anything like Austin, interest in the positions should be outsize. Within weeks of opening, the Austin Walmart had received more than 25,000 applications for approximately 450 openings.

Walmart backers have also billed the store as a source for fresh groceries in Chatham. Independent scholar Mari Gallagher deemed the area a “food desert” for its lack of grocery stores, and in June, five years after Walmart first attempted to enter Chicago, the Illinois Assembly approved $10 million for a Fresh Food Fund to encourage grocers to invest in underserved communities. But supermarkets aren’t the only ones who may be avoiding Chatham. In the same July interview, Brookins lamented, “We’ve asked every major corporation out there to locate in our ward…and they said no. We’ve asked Costco, we’ve asked Dominick’s, we’ve asked Sears, we’ve asked Kmart. You name it, any box of any size that would bring other traffic to that mall, they’ve all said no.” The proposed site, a former steel mill, is currently home to a Lowe’s home improvement store, and not much else.

But is the Walmart plan actually popular? The retailer says so, and funded a massive one-question survey to prove it. The day before the July 29 council meeting, it dialed 1.2 million Chicagoans (every listing in the white pages, supplemented by voter registration rolls), telling them that “advocates of the [proposed store] cite the four hundred-plus jobs that will be created and the wider availability of fresh groceries and other goods. Opponents to building the Walmart say the jobs are not good enough,” before asking poll respondents if they thought the Council should approve construction. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the phrasing, more than 74 percent of the 75,437 respondents citywide were in favor. Support was strongest in the 21st Ward, but across nearly the entire South Side it surpassed 80 percent. Even in the North Side wards coolest to the survey, around 60 percent were in favor.

In late August, the Chicago Tribune conducted its own Walmart poll, and found 68 percent of those surveyed favored construction, while 72 percent agreed that it would be good for the community. Among African-Americans, the percentages were 72 percent and 81 percent, respectively. Those numbers seem reasonable to Jobs or Else leader and Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church pastor Leon Finney, who says that the store is “absolutely” desired. “I don’t think there’s any question Chicagoans want Walmart in,” he says, “[but] labor has a way of circumventing the will of the people.” In his Jobs or Else video, Rhymefest says as much: “Politicians have been persuaded…by money or whatever the case…to vote against this Walmart because of certain unions.”

Walmart’s aldermanic opponents are open about their union sympathies. Back in July, 14th Ward Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Edward Burke told the Chicago Sun-Times that “Chicago is a strong union town…if Walmart can come into Chicago and operate on a non-union basis, then how can Jewel and Dominick’s and the other food chains continue to have union men and women?” If that loyalty puts him at risk of seeming out of touch with his other constituents, it’s one that Burke, first elected in 1969 and the city’s longest-serving alderman, seems unperturbed by.

To Finney, though, it’s unfair to conflate support for Walmart with opposition to unions. He speaks admiringly of Congress of Industrial Organizations organizer Saul Alinsky and “Rules for Radicals,” Alinsky’s seminal manual of community organizing. Finney also mentions his own career as a labor organizer and his consistent support for minimum wage increases. But in his eyes, lack of economic development is the biggest problem facing the South Side, and placing onerous conditions on Walmart’s proposed investment is a mistake. Looking at the history of the site itself, he points out that first, “the [steel] plants opened up. Then the unions organized and negotiated.”

However, most of Walmart’s opponents contest the idea that the store would benefit Chicago economically. Alderman Freddrenna Lyle, who represents the 6th Ward, directly east of the 21st, told the Sun-Times a Walmart would create a “two-mile radioactive zone” of shuttered businesses. Bloggers, including Kevin Robinson at Chicagoist, have claimed that the presence of a (unionized) Jewel at 87th and Lafayette belies the idea that Chatham is a “food desert.” And Southsiders Organizing for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) complain that the retailer’s wages are unconscionably low, that its profits leave the community, and that the products it stocks are acquired too cheaply. For SOUL, which counts Reverend Otis Moss at Trinity United Church of Christ and Father Michael Pfleger at St. Sabina Catholic Church among its allies, opposing Walmart “is part of a larger effort to ensure that large corporations do not exploit our communities.”

University of Chicago economics professor Allen Sanderson disagrees emphatically. A Walmart would be good for the South Side, he wrote in an email interview, “and on the north side and west side (but not on the east side – a problem because of Lake Michigan).” Why? “Its low prices are a boon to the poor, and its wages are at industry-standard levels,” while its presence would strengthen the city’s tax base “because Chicagoans would shop there – and pay sales taxes – and the city would collect business taxes.” Meanwhile, “its labor force would be employed instead of unemployed and also pay taxes on those earnings and their spending.” But, Sanderson says, “unions would rather have poor people stare at vacant lots than a Walmart store.” Other Walmart defenders have pointed out that the retailer doesn’t close local businesses—local consumers do, when they prefer Walmart to the competition.

Whether the October 7th meeting will have ended with a definitive vote is hard to predict. Jobs or Else met this weekend to pre­­pare their appeal, and SOUL announced a protest of their own at City Hall. But many speculated that the July delay was largely intended to buy peace from union leaders as the Olympics decision approached. With the bid resolved, it’s entirely possible that resolution awaits Walmart, too.

best vegan soul food
Soul Veg
What do you do if your religion’s strict vegan diet renders most restaurant food off-limits and you’re tired of cooking for yourself? If you’re the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, founded more than 40 years ago by a West Side steelworker named Ben Carter, you start your own restaurant and cook up the South Side’s best vegan soul food. Soul Vegetarian East, or Soul Veg for short, is the only Midwestern outpost of a worldwide chain of Soul Vegetarian restaurants. You may think you’re familiar with its output from the frozen versions found in student-run coffee shops on the University of Chicago campus, but there’s really no comparison between those and the hot, fresh dishes at the 75th Street location. Many believe that the real highlights of the menu are the little things: the battered tofu bits appetizer, the sweet and garlicky barbecue sauce that comes with many side dishes, the Prince salad dressing that improves anything it touches, and the soy ice cream flavors that change by the day and, on a recent visit, included a silky, creamy carob-peanut blend. Among the main courses, the jerkfu wrap and the veggie gyro are standouts. 205 E. 75th St. Monday-Thursday, 8am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 8am-11pm. (773)224-0104 (Sam Feldman)

best barbecue
Uncle John’s Barbecue
Chicago may be the unquestioned capital of pizza, hot dogs, and Italian beef, but it’s a barbecue backwater, and the places that rise above mediocrity or worse can be counted on one hand. Foremost among them is Uncle John’s Barbecue, a cash-only takeout stand at 69th and Calumet. Behind an anti-robbery window, owner and former commercial meat dealer Mack Sevier smokes up a terrific and supremely affordable rib tip and hot link combo. The coarsely ground and distinctively seasoned links are made in-house, and it shows in every bite. Tips are delicious, studded with gristle but smoky and flavorful enough to justify the mess. On top of it all, the sauce is first rate: dense, tangy, and sweet but not cloying; follow the regulars and ask for a mix of hot and mild. A single $9 order spills out of a Styrofoam tray and feeds two easily. The only downsides are the total absence of seating and the tense surroundings. Fortunately, Uncle John’s is only a short bike ride from Promontory Point and the lakefront beaches. Grab a grape drink from the vending machine, pack up your order, and you’re ready for a perfect late summer picnic. 337 E. 69th St. Monday-Thursday, 11am-11pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-1am. (773)892-1233 (Michael Joyce)

best theater
eta Creative Arts Foundation
At its core a theater performing African-American-centric plays, eta is also an incubator for talent. Founded in 1971 seeking the “preservation, perpetuation and promulgation of the African-American aesthetic in the City of Chicago” and beyond, eta runs five major plays each year, mainly new works. In addition, eta also offers a wide range of performing arts for children and families as well as two art galleries, a library, and a variety of educational programs. Running until mid-November, this fall’s first major performances is “Resurrection,” Daniel Beaty’s study of the emotional complexities faced by black men. 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. (773)752-3955. etacreativearts.org (Michael Joyce)

best place to buy reptile meat
Market Fisheries
Your prizewinning gumbo recipe calls for turtle meat, but in Chicago that’s being quoted at $20-plus a pound, and you’re told you can buy no fewer than ten. What are you going to do? Visit Market Fisheries, where you’ll pay half that, and can satisfy your alligator needs to boot. If you’re looking for cheap crawfish, crabs, or frog legs, along with actual fish, you’ll find that too. A no-frills but full-service fishmonger, it offers extraordinarily low prices and great service in a slightly frenetic atmosphere. Bonus: the hairnet-clad counterperson will clean your picks, and cut them as requested. 7129 S. State St. Open daily by 10am; closes 6:15pm except on Wednesday, 7:15, and weekends, 3:45pm. (773)483-3233 (Michael Joyce)

Barbara Ann's Bar-B-Que; photos by Ellis Calvin

Like any obsession, barbecue can be categorized extensively and analyzed exhaustively. Common in North America since long before the Revolution (George Washington’s diary notes a Virginian “barbicue” in 1769), the process of slowly cooking meat indirectly over a wood fire spread across the South and West, by the late ‘90s fueling at least one phenomenological investigation (Holley and Wright, 1998) along with plenty of less scholarly literature on the subject. That said, barbecue in the U.S. tends to fall into a few broad regional categories. Thousands of towns vie for the title of barbecue capital, but Memphis and Kansas City are clear favorites. In both cases, thick, sweet, tomato-based sauces coat tender meat, but that’s not the only way of doing barbecue. In the Carolinas, mustard- and vinegar-based sauces on pulled whole hog predominate, while the diversity of Texan approaches defy easy description, from sauceless Eastern European-influenced hot-smoked meats to Mexican-style barbacoa, originally made from a leaf-covered cattle head.

But back to Chicago, specifically the original Leon’s at 82nd and Cottage Grove. A once-proud establishment with several South Side locations, in its time Leon’s has earned praise from the Woodlawn-raised rapper Common as well as the usual TV and newspaper reviewers. My party orders slabs and links, which arrive quickly. Perhaps too quickly, since the fries are underdone. More importantly, everything is covered in a sickly, corn-syrupy sheen. The sauce tastes as bad as it looks—some horrible cross between ketchup and Karo. Whether sauce even belongs on barbecue is a matter of no small debate. Plenty of established barbecue traditions rely on dry rubs and no sauce at all, and even in the sauce camp plenty of connoisseurs ask for it on the side, certainly not slathered. For my part, I haven’t met any smoked flesh so sublime that no sauce could improve it, but Leon’s paltry offering is too awful to even qualify as depressing. The ribs, on the other hand, grasp towards redemption. Smoky and reasonably succulent, they’re a good effort. Unfortunately, the hot links are a dull, finely ground hash. We don’t finish our meal, but we do stop at Dat Donuts next door. It’s a travesty that any breakfast should trump barbecue, but for the moment it’s apparent why Chicago ‘cue is so easily dismissed.

Our earlier trip to Barbara Ann’s proves that it doesn’t have to be this way. A few blocks north of Leon’s on Cottage Grove, it was founded by Mississippi veteran, lawyer, developer, and restaurateur Delars Bracy in 1967 and named after his daughter—the current owner—who now supervises an all-female pit crew. Attached to an identically named motel, the place sets a high bar. Over an oak, charcoal, and hickory fire, a variety of pork meats slowly cook in the hot smoke. The low heat allows sugars and amino acids to react, browning the surface in a reaction that biochemists don’t understand well. Underneath, carbon monoxide from the smoke reacts with myosin fibers to turn the inner edge of the meat bright red. If there’s such a thing as Chicago-style barbecue, we’re near the epicenter.

That question has been hotly debated, but the answer seems to be a clear yes. For starters, there’s the meat. Chicago’s claims to fame (again, we’re a city that can’t settle for doing just one thing right) are hot links and rib tips. At their best, links are coarsely ground, with melt-in-your mouth chunks of fat and hogflesh dense with sage and red pepper. Barbara Ann serves particularly good ones. Tips are more of an acquired taste. Gristly, flavorful rectangles of flesh a bit bigger than your finger but stuck on a knob of cartilage, they’re cheap, tasty, and not entirely edible. An impressive fraction of a Styrofoam tray full of tips ends up discarded, and nothing quite brings you down from a barbecue reverie like hitting a knob of gross. But what reveries tips inspire. After hours in a glass and steel “aquarium-style” smoker, they’re distinctly crisper and meatier than their Southern counterparts. Add some mixed sauce (equal parts hot and mild sauce, perfectly smoky and sweet) to complement the succulence and the smell alone dissuades us from looking for tables or chairs. Barbara Ann’s has neither, but the parking lot does us fine.

Fortunately, the best is yet to come. A week later, we’re at Uncle John’s at Calumet and 69th. Founded in 2006 by Barbara Ann’s former pitmaster Mack Sevier, the restaurant is cash and carry only. That doesn’t deter the link-and-tip combo-seeking crowds. After moving to Chicago in 1962, the Arkansas-born Sevier worked for a poultry company before opening his own meat business in 1973, with stints at several barbecue places until he joined Barbara Ann’s in 1994. Behind another aquarium-style smoker for hours every day, he regulates the oak, elm, hickory, and mulberry fire, controlling its temperature and smokiness.

Sevier’s pedigree ought to impress—Barbara Ann’s has been a South Side favorite for decades, and his tenure as pitmaster there earned rave reviews. In fact, one of them is posted above the bullet-resistant counter at Uncle John’s, with his name highlighted and Barbara Ann’s crossed out. We follow the advice of one prominently posted review and order the link-and-tip combo again. Even the excellence of Barbara Ann’s doesn’t compare to what we get a few minutes later. For $9.50 and tax, we’re presented with two slices of white bread and a cupful of coleslaw atop a sheet of wax paper. The real bounty is underneath that: two peerless coarse-ground links and a mess of rib tips on top of a pile of fries, all doused in Uncle John’s excellent homemade barbecue sauce. There’s too much of it all to fit in the Styrofoam box, and after his first bite even my friend from Kansas City is impressed. We go back two days later.

Alas, South Side barbecue has long been critically underappreciated. When the popular Tribune columnist Mike Royko challenged the city to best his rib recipe in a 1982 open competition, he was blown away by what the South Side had been cooking up for decades. Even today, Chicago’s best-known BBQ restaurants—the ones in Slow Food books or on “Check Please!”—tend to be north of Wacker. Fortunately, the tide is changing. The increasingly-influential “Chicago culinary chat site” LTHforum.com has been a vocal proponent of Barbara Ann’s and Uncle John’s for several years now, awarding both places “Great Neighborhood Restaurant” awards. The Trib is in on the act now, calling Uncle John’s the best tips in the city in a 2007 article. National respect may be closer than any pitmaster realizes.

There are any number of guides to Chicago’s culinary wonders. From the North Side’s Alinea to the North Side’s Charlie Trotter’s, Chicago is littered with four-star wonderlands. But these gourmet eateries share one weakness: they all close. And once they do, the South Side may have the upper hand. Some of the city’s tastiest—and greasiest—food can be found at its 24-hour cult spots, where night owls and frazzled waitstaffs burn the midnight oil in sleepless solidarity. To help wake you up to the nocturnal bounty around you, the Weekly presents our guide to food after dark on the South Side.

Dox Grill
600 W. Pershing Rd.
A strip of little but empty lots and warehouses, Pershing Avenue at the southern end of Bridgeport is home to three old, dark, and dingy 24-hour grills. Driving past at night, one might be understandably shocked to see open businesses and, were they raised on suburban Olive Gardens and Buffalo Wild Wings, further shocked that anyone might actually patronize them. Dox Grill, the westernmost of the grills, claims to specialize in “homestyle breakfast anytime.” Homestyle is right—Dox is barely better equipped than your own kitchen. A tiny room whose furnishings and off-white surfaces suggest the 1970s or earlier, it contains little more than a dozen stools around a counter, two employees, a soda fountain, a coffee maker, and a deep fryer and a griddle where the magic happens. The menu, written on the wall behind the counter in a wide variety of media in various states of legibility, is made up exclusively of the kind of greasy, triple-fried fare that hurts so good on the way down and takes years off of your life. My Polish sausage was gigantic, deep fried, and delicious. The coffee is no-bullshit, hard-as-nails. It’s a real Chicago kind of place. Avoid the bathroom if you can, unless you are going in there for a heroin overdose. (Dave McQuown)

New Archview
3480 S. Archer Ave.
The queen mother of diners, New Archview should be your home. Boasting three large parking lots, New Archview is hopping at all hours of the night with a colorful cross section of humanity. Whites, blacks, Asians, yuppies, truckers, potheads, and lots and lots of cops put aside their differences to partake in diner food of the finest quality. New Archview’s Greek-style menu is the size of a small magazine and covers a wide range of foods, from stir fry to pot roast—anything so long as there’s meat in it. Food and booze are both fairly inexpensive, though the menu does contain a few more upscale items like roast lamb for the sophisticates. Whatever you get, it is going to be way, way too much food. The veal cutlet gravy sandwich is highly recommended. Come during the holiday season to see some seriously wicked window decorations. (Dave McQuown)

Kevin’s Hamburger Heaven
554 W. Pershing Rd.
“NO OUTSIDE FOOD, WATER, ALCOHOL, RED BULL, ETC.”: these words in somber Sharpie I beheld, Scotch taped to the entrance of Kevin’s Hamburger Heaven. From the barstool, my bloodshot eyes weave between the virtuoso at the griddle and the menu’s many riddles: typos more remarkable for their systematicity than their excess—”special Seasoning” in the singular must always be capitalized s/S, while “Special seasonings” must invert the fraction; peremptory disclaimers that introduce objections only to dismiss them—”Tenderness NOT guaranteed on ‘Medium Well or Well Done’ Steaks Positively NO Refunds”; fare so American that I’ve never seen it before. The griddle is an apparatus of capture. It exercises a pornographic fascination, laying bare exotic tools and movements I’d never dreamt of. A lure, a sinister dance; under its spell I forget my appetite. The sudden arrival of my vanilla malt ($3.99) breaks my trance. Not malty enough but substantial; I double-fist the two Styrofoam cups. The patty melt ($3.99) and “The One and Only” ($3.69) are recommended; these patties are not the kind that queue up in plastic bags, kept at polite distance by wax-paper, marching forth frozen and Spartan. No, these came to be through the griddler’s wizardry. Although, intensively and extensively, the pickles overwhelm, the grilled onions are hot and sweet. Upon payment, the waitress counts my change twice, muttering, “What the fuck am I doing?”, and promptly undercharges me $1. Kevin’s no longer offers karaoke. (Austin Gross)

Izola’s
522 E. 79th St.
Legend has it that, back in the early ’80s, Harold Washington made his decision to run for mayor right here in Izola’s. Today a friendly portrait of the late and much beloved politician beams down from the wall of the dining room, which bustles with laughter and conversation late into the night. The soul food restaurant, open 24 hours every day but Wednesday, feels comfortable with a touch of faded class. The walls are lined with numerous other photos in addition to Washington’s, as well as paintings, plants, trophies, and a jukebox. The menu has a few unusual items, like a “Head lettuce” ($2) and a surprisingly good Denver sandwich ($4), which proved to be an omelet hidden in bread. The real treat, though, is the crisp, juicy fried chicken, accompanied by toasted white bread and exquisite French fries. It’s not exactly a typical late-night joint—be prepared to wait for your food for upwards of fifteen minutes—but for a sit-down good time, head to 79th Street. Cash only. (Sam Feldman)

Huck Finn Donuts & Snack Shop
3414 S. Archer Ave.
The website for the three Huck Finn locations announces that “the Huck Finn operation consists of three basic groups of products: Food, Donuts and Ice Cream.” Finally, a nutritional pyramid America can get behind. I can’t speak for the Food or Ice Cream groups, but Huck Finn’s donuts are really something. If donuts big enough to swallow your arm ($2 each) sound intimidating, never fear; normal-sized fried toroids ($1) are also available, as well as muffins and other pastries. The fried glazed crullers are particularly good, but everything’s a number of steps up from Dunkin’ Donuts’ stale fare. The atmosphere is also a lot more welcoming, not to mention amusing. “Restaurant,” declares the awning out front. “Donuts.” Just inside the door, a vending machine promises “Huge sticky stuff.” “Other items included,” it clarifies. Another vending machine offers alien projector rings (as well as the elusive “other items”). Festive pumpkin paper cutouts complete the mood inside, while a “Carry Outs” sign spins slowly in the wind out front. (Sam Feldman)

Express Grill/Jim’s Original Hot Dogs
1250 and 1260 S. Union Ave.
Luxurious they’re not, but the two hot dog stands in the shadow of the Dan Ryan Expressway are pieces of history. In 1939, Jimmy Stefanovic combined an all-beef sausage with mountains of grilled onions, mustard, and peppers, put it on a bun, and served it with fries. Thus was created the original Maxwell Street Polish, a tradition that has been passed down in the family. Jim’s Original Hot Dogs is still owned by Stefanovices, while next door the Express Grill is owned by descendants of Tom Lazarevski, Jimmy’s cousin, who quit Jim’s to try and make it on his own. At all hours of the day and night, those in the know can be seen exiting the highway at Roosevelt Road and circling back for a steaming hot no-frills Polish. Be warned, though: “no-frills” means no chairs, no tables, and no inside, just a slim counter on the outside wall to rest your sausage on between gulps. (Sam Feldman)

Maxwell Street Depot
411 W. 31st St.
No piece on 24-hour joints could omit Depot. The legendary Polish place where even the fries come with fries is never empty. Whether it be tipsy Illinois Institute of Technology students, Bridgeport artists, or just sausage connoisseurs from anywhere within driving distance, there’s always someone waiting in line for simple but filling fare at highly reasonable prices. The pork chop sandwich, a specialty, often comes with bones inside; careful not to choke on the authenticity. (Sam Feldman)

Photos by Ellis Calvin

Best Glazed Torus
Dat’s Donuts
Dat’s Donuts, located on South Cottage Grove Avenue and East 82nd Street, serves up a big one. The “Big Dat,” a local culinary fable, remains the centerpiece pastry at this modest 24-hour doughnut shop on the South Side. Measuring eight inches across and serving at least four people, this colossal glazed doughnut makes every trip to Dat’s more than worthwhile. And “Big Dat” is just one member of this yeasty family; its equally delicious siblings make up an assembly of sweet wonder. Pick up an extra coconut doughnut, Devil’s Food doughnut, or popular buttermilk doughnut to complete your sugary meal. Doughnuts not enough? Order up a plate of nachos, an ice slushie, or a cone of hand-packed ice cream. 8249 S. Cottage Grove Ave. 24 hours Monday-Saturday. (773) 723-1002. (Yennie Lee)

Best Theater
eta Creative Arts Foundation
Chicago has always been one of the vanguards of African-American culture, and the eta Creative Arts Foundation has contributed to that status. The basis of the Foundation is a professional theater, which commissions original works for its stage featuring nationally renowned talent. The plays all depict the African-American experience, but that’s about all they have in common. The Foundation also boasts two art galleries and classrooms for children, which provide art and theater instruction. The theater classes are especially successful, producing graduates such as the current artistic director for the Foundation and Hollywood stars like Kel Mitchell. In a departure from the previous thirty-seven seasons, this year eta will focus on classics by established black playwrights, with only one new work. 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. (773)752-3955. www.etacreativearts.org (Ben Oren)

Best Vegan Alternative
Soul Vegetarian East
The image that comes to mind with soul food is hot, crispy fried chicken (or catfish) thrown straight from the kitchen onto a plate next to a bed of secondary vegetables. Soul Vegetarian turns the tables around with its purely vegan soul food menu. How can soul food exist without meat, butter, or milk? Actually, astonishingly well. Managed by African Hebrew Israelites, this iconic Grand Crossing institution decorated with vivid African art focuses on the “divine diet” consisting of nuts, fruits, and—naturally—vegetables. Soul Veg is perhaps most renowned for its textured mock meat derived from well-seasoned wheat gluten. Specialties include tofu lasagna, BBQ roast sandwich, and the Garvey Burger. The price for an average meal ranges from $5-10. 205 E 75th St. Monday-Thursday, 7am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 8am-11pm; Sunday, 8am-9pm. (773)224-0104. www.soulvegetarian.com (Justyna Nytko)

Measuring eight inches in diameter, and weighing at least as much as four regular-sized donuts combined, the Big Dat resembles a small cake round in every dimension—width, length and volume—it’s a large geometric model of culinary proportions. Even more precisely, the Big Dat looks like a round couch pillow, and is almost as heavy. Yes, it’s really dat big.

The taste of the Big Dat itself warrants attention. The dough is not too sweet, accented with a nice flavor of yeasty leavening. The texture is just chewy enough to let your teeth sink into it at the first bite. And the crunchy sugar glaze falls off in pieces with every munch. The enormity of the Big Dat is unforgettable, and its taste is just as memorable.

Big Dats are prepared in small batches, a few times daily. On average, the shop sells close to eighty of them before eight o’clock in the evening. Even at $2.15 a donut, a steal for such a pastry, customers only buy one each visit. Placed on large commercial baking sheets and tucked away on the bottom shelf of the shop’s display case, the Big Dat is difficult to overlook. Glimmers of fluorescent light make the Big Dat’s smooth coat of sugar glaze glisten among the other donuts. The smaller version of the Big Dat stands no chance against the massive original. Perhaps this is why the classic glazed donuts and Big Dats sit at either end of the display case in a spatially sensitive arrangement.

Unlike other notorious “first times,” your initial experience with the Big Dat will not disappoint; it’s a striking experience, with little risk of fruitless vigor. The Big Dat’s size alone makes up for any possible displeasure.

Don’t let the size overwhelm you; just remember to swallow.

Best Soul Food
Army and Lou’s
For all your soul food lovin’ needs, the Chatham institution Army and Lou’s has been serving chitterling and sweet-potato pie from Martin Luther King to Muhammed Ali. With elegant starched white tablecloths and tasteful paintings adoring the walls, this isn’t your average soul food joint. One of the oldest black restaurants in the Midwest, this South Side fixture, started back in 1945, offers a warm, friendly ambiance as the waiters dressed in tuxedo shirts and bow ties serve you crunchy fried catfish and mustard greens. Make sure to top off your meal with a piece of apple, peach, or blackberry cobbler. The price for an average meal ranges from $8-25. 422 E. 75th St. Wednesday-Monday, 9am-10pm. (773)483-3100. www.armyandlous.com. (Justyna Nytko)

Best Ice Cream
Shawn Michelle’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream
Self-proclaimed “the best ice cream in the whole world,” Shawn Michelle’s features gourmet homemade ice cream from owner and chef Ya Ya Muhammad. The confections shop is home to creative all-natural flavors including Melanin Magic (a combination of chocolate, mint, and cookies-n-cream), Carribean Sunbeam Supreme (mango and other tropical fruits), and Jamaican Rum Raisin (self-explanatory). Having experimented with ice cream for the past fourteen years, Western Illinois University grad Muhammad professes that his secret lies in using the freshest ingredients to produce supreme bursts of flavor. Expect a wait: Crowds storm into the tiny shop regardless of the season. 332 E. 95th St. Monday-Friday 1pm-8pm, Sunday 12:30pm-4pm. (773)785-1232. www.shawnmichelles.com (Justyna Nytko)

Best Hole in the Wall
New Apartment Lounge
If you don’t know about the legendary south side jazz scene, then chances are you don’t know too much about Chicago. Known as one of the last legendary jazz clubs, New Apartment Lounge can remedy this with the sounds of the howling sax. Alongside its music, the 1950s-style lounge can warm up any visit with its orange, blue and red rooms decorated with vinyl-padded mirrors on its ceilings. With a cover-free entrance, the curvy water-blue bar invites you to sip on a beer under the radiance of neon Christmas lights as the notes engulf your body. On any Tuesday, renowned musician and octogenarian Von Freeman, accompanied by a drummer and guitarist, plays multiple sets of mad sax to a crowd of keenly dressed regulars, North Siders, UofC students and professors. 504 E. 75th St. Monday-Friday, 1 pm-4 am; Saturday, 1pm-5am; Sunday, 12pm-4am. For more information, call (773)483-7728. (Justyna Nytko)

Best Vegan Alternative
Soul Vegetarian
The image that comes to mind with soul food is hot, crispy fried chicken (or catfish) thrown straight from the kitchen onto a plate next to a bed of secondary vegetables. Soul Vegetarian turns the tables around with its purely vegan soul food menu. How can soul food exist without meat, butter, or milk? Actually, astonishingly well. Managed by African Hebrew Israelites, this iconic Chatham institution decorated with vivid African art focuses on the “divine diet” consisting of nuts, fruits, and—naturally—vegetables. Soul Veg is perhaps most renowned for its textured mock meat derived from well-seasoned wheat gluten. Specialties include tofu lasagna, BBQ roast sandwich, and the Garvey Burger. The price for an average meal ranges from $5-10. 205 E 75th St. Monday-Thursday, 7am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 8am-11pm; Sunday, 8am-9pm. (773)224-0104. www.soulvegetarian.com (Justyna Nytko)

Best Dressed
Maxine’s Beauty Magic Boutique
It is perhaps unfortunately common sense that for distinct, well-made clothes, the North Side is the place to shop. Few would suspect a small, thriving boutique scene on the South Side, but nonetheless, it exists unbeknownst to the average shopper. Maxine’s Beauty Magic Boutique provides stylish apparel for a wedding or a girls’ night on the town. Abiding by their tagline “The Difference Between Dressed and Well Dressed,” Maxine’s carries a variety of unique dresses and skirts as well as beautifully crafted bags and shoes. As a Chatham mainstay for nearly the past forty years, Maxine’s has fostered a strong relationship with its young to middle-aged clientele. 1613-15 E. 87th St. Monday-Saturday, 10am-7pm. (773)221-8308. www.maxinesapparelinc.com (Justyna Nytko)

Best Island Getaway
Café Trinidad
To excite your taste buds, go for a unique Caribbean flavor at Café Trinidad. Huddled in its small corner location, this restaurant hosts a laid-back, tropical atmosphere with Trinidadian flags hanging proudly alongside prints of palm trees. However, don’t expect any jerk chicken at this establishment. Trinidadian cuisine eclectically mixes together Indian, African, European, and Chinese staples as well as indigenous fare. Unlike other Caribbean cooking, the entrées have subtle tastes with spicy seasonings that eventually sneak up midway through the meal. The most common dish—roti sandwiches—are basically made of Indian bread wrapped around fillings like goat meat, shrimp or vegetables. Other notables on the menu include curried goat meat, red snapper, and homemade ginger beer. The average price of a meal ranges from $5-$15. 557 E 75th St. Monday-Thursday, 11am-8pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-9pm; Sunday, 12:30pm-7pm. (773)846-8081. www.cafetrinidad.com (Justyna Nytko)