New Restaurant opens south of Cermak

Today at 10 a.m. marks the debut of FleetWood restaurant, 2333 S. Michigan Ave. with brunch. According to their Web site, normal business hours will be 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. Thursday to Saturday; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Thursdays feature “Acoustic Nights” with two sets, which require reservations.

Fast-Food Landmark at Wabash and Cermak

Many people across Chicago grew up eating White Castle hamburgers, affectionately called sliders. One of the earliest fast-food restaurants in America, the structure at E. Cermak Rd. was built in 1930 as the first White Castle in Chicago. The iconic fast-food building is now home to Chef Luciano and Gourmet Chicken, landmarks in their own right since they've occupied the space at 43 and 49 E. Cermak Rd. since 1982.

Preserving a Landmark
Co-owner Rocky Gupta, of Chef Luciano and Gourmet Chicken, worked with the city's commission on historic preservation to restore the building to its 1930s glory. This included rebuilding the tower on top of the building.

Roadside Architecture
While not a historic structure designed by Louis Sullivan or Daniel Burnham, the architecture of the original White Castle restaurant is significant according to Brian Goeken, Deputy Commissioner Chicago Historic Preservation. According to Goeken, the original White Castle represents what is called "roadside architecture," which is part of American culture and history and that makes it significant and important.


Making Hamburgers Safe to Eat
The hamburger chain was founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1921. After the publication of Upton Sinclair's 1906 landmark bestseller The Jungle, Americans were reluctant to eat ground beef. In a effort to convince customers that their beef was safe to eat, the founders established small restaurants that emphasized cleanliness at every stage of hamburger preparation. The public embraced the small, square burgers with onions and they've been with us ever since. Today you can find White Castle sliders in frozen food section of most supermarkets.

Are you a White Castle fan? Do you think its history is worth preserving? Share your thoughts here.

Paramount on Prairie: "Transformers 3" Filming in the South Loop

Paramount truck parked on Prairie Ave.

The Paramount production crew for Transformers 3 is currently parked along Cermak Rd. and South Prairie Ave. So far all is pretty quiet. Not sure they'll be filming tonight, but there are signs posted pointing the crew to parking garages, breakfast, lunch, and so on.

Signs posted in front of the McCormick Place Convention Center on Cermak

Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson Slept (and worked) Here
Before the sound era, Chicago housed Midwest corporate offices for Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, and the Samuel Goldwyn studios. Most of the offices were in Chicago's South Loop along Washash Ave. Other film offices were located one block east on Michigan Ave. During this period, major silent movie productions starring screen legends Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson were made in Chicago.

Pretty self-explanatory

Distribution Hub

Some evidence of this history still exists. The Film Exchange Lofts at 1307 S. Wabash Ave. was once owned by the Warner Bros. studio. They had corporate offices at that location, but its most important use was for storing film for distribution. With Chicago's location and access to train travel, it was the ideal distribution point for Chicago and Illinois theatres.

Trucks parked along Cermak by S. Prairie Ave.

Ruins From Past Glories

Universal International logo

The famous terra cotta archway entrance to the Jesse Lasky Famous-Players (a forerunner of Paramount) building on Wabash near 13th Street was rescued from destruction by Columbia College. It now stands in their Media Production Center at 1600 S. State St.