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Dunning

Dunning is a residential community situated on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side. The neighborhood is characterized by two of Chicago’s best-represented ethnic groups: Polish and Italian, with each situated along the area’s main commercial avenues, Belmont and Harlem, respectively. Dunning is home to the campus of Wilbur Wright College and Chicago-Read Mental Health Center, a facility that used to be called Dunning in pre-Civil War times and the source of the neighborhood’s name today.

Dunning: Historically Polish and Italian Neighborhood with a Twist

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

What's most interesting about the Dunning neighborhood, aside from the place its name holds in local history, is its distinctly split Italian-Polish personality.

Well, maybe it's not all that distinct.

Belmont Avenue is one of its primary commercial thoroughfares. From Austin Avenue, where it's an extension of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, to Dunning's western edge near Cumberland Avenue, the stores and services are almost universally Polish -- though sometimes with a twist.

Stefan's Deli is Polish. Richard's Polish Bakery is Polish.

But here, in just that first block of Belmont, it's possible to get a Szwedizki massage -- Swedish -- at the Blue Island Spa, which, of course, is nowhere near Blue Island. Across the street and a few doors down is Kyokushin Karate Club Kanku. The name of the sensei (instructor), according to the club's sign is Leslaw Samitowski. Samitowski is a name clearly un-Asian.

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Dunning continued...

The New England Inn, a bar-restaurant, does not feature chowders and lobsters. It's called the New England Inn because it's on the corner of New England Avenue and Irving Park Road. Its menu is written in Czech, Polish and English; its cuisine leans toward Czech -- roast duck, sauerkraut and dumplings is an entree -- but also on the menu, in the three languages, is kung pao chicken, clearly un-Bohemian.

Now is as good a time as any to mention that the Dunning neighborhood was named for the mental health facility built here before the Civil War, a time before enlightenment eliminated much of the horror associated with the care and treatment. The home hasn't been "Dunning" for more than a century -- it was Chicago State Hospital for a time, and it's now Chicago-Read Mental Health Center -- but informally the name lingers, no doubt because the neighborhood's name keeps it alive.

Back to today.

Harlem Avenue, from Irving Park south to Belmont, is another main commercial street. Harlem, as it is south of Dunning in the Montclare neighborhood, is dotted with storefronts offering espresso, gelato and other good things Italian. Mr. Beef, whose original location downtown near the Merchandise Mart is a celebrity favorite for its Italian beef sandwiches, has its only branch in Dunning, on Harlem just south of Irving Park Road.

That Italianness peaks at Harlem and Roscoe Avenue. Here, we have Pasta Fresh, Anthony Bartucci's storefront justly famed for its freshly made take-home pastas (try the rotolo), meatballs and sauces. Fiorenza Ristorante is next door. Palermo's Bakery is just south on Harlem, right across from Caponie's Trattoria and a easy stroll to La Bomboniera, a gift shop and source for Giuseppe Armani figurines and sculptures, steps away from Quo Vadis, one of Chicago's most complete Polish bookstores . . .

A final stop is back on Belmont, the Polish street that isn't necessarily Polish. Near the corner of Belmont and Overhill Avenue toward the neighborhood's western border is Nottoli & Son, an Italian sausage shop and deli that's been grinding away since 1947, and at this location since 1971. Its prepared foods and subs (particularly the meatball sub, best topped with a slice of mozzarella) have been widely applauded. There are a few tables.

The Son, George Nottoli II, for a time was better known as Vito "Two Fingers" Fontaine, a professional wrestler. Curiously enough, according to a wrestling Web site, the sausage-maker not only had a ringside conflict with another wrestler known professionally as "Butcher" but -- this is good -- was guilty of "hitting the 'Polish Crippler' over the head with the kitchen sink."

Which would have been the perfect Dunning neighborhood squabble.

For more information about Dunning, please contact the 36th Ward Office at 773.622.3232.