Pilsen, Heart of Chicago

Pilsen continued...

The essential stop is the National Museum of Mexican Art, set in Harrison Park on 19th Street east of Damen Avenue. Its permanent collection traces the creative skills of the people of Mexico from pre-Columbian carvings and pottery to the best that the country's contemporary artists can produce.

Then step outside, walk up to 18th Street and head east, and with the colors of storefronts (be sure to look up) and murals, and the vibrancy of the people, the museum and neighborhood seem as one.

Ely Loza, who with her husband operates Artesanias D'Mexico, a shop on 18th Street that sells examples of Mexican crafts from throughout the country, has been in Pilsen for 46 years.

"My parents never wanted to move out," she says. Her mother is still here. "This is a very cultural area. Plenty of restaurants, a lot of art galleries and different events all year round."

Many galleries are concentrated on Halsted Street at, and south of, 18th Street in the Chicago Arts District. Hours are irregular and often by appointment only; the best option may be to take advantage of monthly 2nd Fridays, when most are open to all. Pilsen Open Studios does its annual Art Walk in October, when as many as 60 artists put their work on display on and around 18th Street.

Unlike the galleries, the murals -- some small, some large and some more polished than others -- are everywhere. On 19th Street west of Ashland Avenue, the murals of a master, Jeff Zimmerman, [CQ] are huge, yet somehow intimate as they capture real-life moments. Less sophisticated, the paintings on a former church at 18th Place and Paulina Avenue have an appealing sincerity. Visitors are urged to meander and discover their own favorites while marveling at the dedication and talent that made them possible.

Step into a panaderia -- say, Nuevo Leon, near the 18th Street 'L' station, or El Nopal on Blue Island Avenue, in business since 1954 -- and let your eyes choose from an enticing array of baked goods.

And there are the restaurants.

Nuevo Leon (no relation to the bakery), on 18th Street east of Ashland, which opened in 1962, is an acclaimed neighborhood fixture. Casa del Pueblo Taqueria, on Blue Island south of 18th Street, is especially popular with local families. Carnitas is simmered pork chunks, and the carnitas at Carnitas Don Pedro, still on 18th Street, are as good as any -- or for something you might rarely enjoy at home, try their brain tacos.

On 18th Street but closer to the 'L' station is Mundial Cocina Mestiza, a little more upscale and a little less standard Mexican, unless paella with clams and alligator sausage is your idea of standard Mexican. No one's idea of standard Mexican are Ristorante al Teatro (Italian), Take Me Out (Asian chicken wings, some wicked-fiery) and Honky Tonk BBQ (guess) -- but they're here, too, all of them along 18th Street.

There's no shortage of fascinating churches in Pilsen (all are open to the public during services and at other times as well; if all doors are locked, check at the rectories or church offices). St. Procopius, at 18th and Allport Streets, was dedicated in 1883 to serve its then-largely Czech parish. St. Adalbert Church (1914), 17th Street at Paulina, maintains most of the elements of its Polish heritage (Sunday masses include one in Polish), while its marble elements -- the altar, its pulpit -- are among the city's most splendid.

St. Pius V, on Ashland at 19th Street, was completed in 1893 for its then-Irish parish, an origin reflected in the donor names on its fine stained glass. Especially interesting here is the Shrine of St. Jude (1929), which flanks an exquisite statue of St. Jude with seven smaller statues, most depicting folks dressed in 1920s clothing.

The statuary found throughout St. Paul 's (1899) -- built for what was a German parish, is only part of what makes this church remarkable. The structure is built almost entirely of brick, inside and out (and notably, without a nail), and its mosaics are startling in their detail and beauty.

St. Paul's is at Hoyne Avenue and 22nd Place, in the Lower West Side community called Heart of Chicago -- or sometimes, Heart of Italy.

What attracts locals and visitors alike is, primarily, an enchanting stretch of Oakley Avenue south of 24th Street -- a block-long concentration of ethnic urbanness that includes a deli/sandwich shop (Miceli's), an alderman's office, a dentist's office, the Anzilotti-Bacigalupo Funeral Home and four Italian restaurants that look and sound and smell like something out of a Scorcese movie.

Bruna's, La Fontinella and Bacchanalia have been here seemingly forever; Ignotz Ristorante, the fourth, opened in 1999. (A block away, on Western Avenue, is a fifth dinner option: Il Vicinato.)

This, Pilsen and Heart of Chicago, is truly a neighborhood for all senses.

For more information about Pilsen, please contact the 18th Street Development Corporation (312.772.2283) or The Resurrection Project (312.666.1323).