Andersonville

Andersonville is characterized by an incredible diversity of cultures and lifestyles, a neighborhood whose predominantly locally-owned boutiques are found amidst quaint brunch spots, Middle Eastern bakeries, hip bars and gastro-pubs, and a strong Scandinavian presence from the neighborhood’s Swedish founders. Andersonville is also home to a vibrant gay and lesbian community, catered to by the neighborhood’s many LGBT-friendly businesses, restaurants and bars.  

Andersonville: A Historically Swedish Neighborhood Becomes one of Chicago’s Most Diverse Communities

Written by Alan Solomon, with research assistance from the Chicago Neighborhood Tourism Project. 

This is one of Chicago's quintessential mosaic-type neighborhoods, neighborhoods that in some ways best exemplify what the city offers visitors away from Buckingham Fountain and Water Tower Place.

Here, in a neighborhood whose residents no longer have a dominant ethnic identity (the Swedes, who converted farms to city blocks, began scattering as early as the 1950s), Chicagoans from a variety of cultures and lifestyles have created an attitude that truly celebrates diversity.

Among the Clark Street restaurants: the Icosium Cafe ("Un Cafe Algerois"; great crepes) and Reza's (Persian; try the ghemieh bodemjan). In winter, sure, you can find a glass of glogg, a flaming refreshment enjoyed enthusiastically in Sweden -- at Andie's, which specializes in Grecian lamb and Lebanese salads.

Historically, however, back around 1910, when Chicago was the world's second largest Swedish city (Stockholm stubbornly refusing to cede leadership), the center of all that was Swedish in this town was here, in what is now called Andersonville. And its business district – Clark Street between Foster and Bryn Mawr Avenues – was full of Johannsens and Sandburgs and Nilssons.

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