Rogers Park

Rogers Park continued...

The arts? Leave the 'L' at the Morse Avenue Station, take a few steps west (In Chicago, Lake Michigan is always east) and just past the viaduct, looking very much like a clean alleyway, is Glenwood Avenue and the Glenwood Avenue Arts District. For several blocks between Lunt and Farwell Avenues, Glenwood is lined with taverns, galleries (on both sides of the 'L' tracks), cafes (the Heartland is a fixture) and live theaters (Lifeline, Boho, Theo Ubique).

On summer Sundays, a farmer's market spills over onto Morse Avenue. The district's annual Arts Fest (held the third weekend in August) is a big deal.

If you're into ethnic eats, Howard Street, right off the 'L' station of the same name, would be a place start. Howard itself is going through the latest in a series of transitions, but the strip, at one time known as a destination for Caribbean food, still offers two favorites: Tickie's Belizean Restaurant (just off Howard on Paulina Avenue) and Jamaica Jerk, on Howard a block east of the 'L.'

Once you find Jamaica Jerk (instead of the usual jerk chicken, this time try the saltfish and bammy), take a few steps east and step back. The first thing you see is the P.J. Footwear store -- but look up: That big arch, and the frames on the sides of the store, are what's left of the Howard Theatre, a classic movie house remembered by Rogers Park veterans as the theater with a round interior. All that's left is the facade. (Other Rogers Park movie palaces, the Norshore, down the street on Howard, and the magnificent Granada on Sheridan Road near Devon Avenue, are gone, without a trace.)

The food tour continues down Clark Street, on the other side of the 'L' station. Four blocks south, where Clark meets Touhy Avenue, is Romanian Kosher Sausage Company. It's mainly a store -- but have a sandwich and take home a salami.

Now, in the mile from Touhy to Devon are no fewer than 10 Mexican restaurants, from simple taquerias to seafood places (Las Islas Marias, Clark at Wallen Avenue) to neighborhood institutions like La Choza (7022 N. Clark St.), which relocated here after decades near Paulina and Howard.

And for variety but still with Latin flair, there's El Cuscatleco (Salvadoran; Clark near Estes Avenue) and Taste of Peru (Peruvian, of course, with music on weekends; Clark near Arthur Ave.)

Architecture is a bit more scattered. The star is the Emil Bach House (1915), a Frank Lloyd Wright design at 7415 N. Sheridan Road that looks exactly like a Frank Lloyd Wright design. But if you meander the residential streets west of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District, you'll see (among the apartment buildings) fine old homes, many in Prairie Style.

Historic churches abound as well. St. Jerome Catholic Church, on Lunt west of Ashland Avenue, dates to 1894. Even older, the cornerstone for nearby St. Paul's by the Lake (Episcopal-Anglican, at 7100 N. Ashland Ave.) was laid in 1886. Both can be viewed during services; at other times, call ahead.

For the collegiates among you, there's the campus of Loyola University, on Devon near Sheridan Road. The nation's largest Jesuit Catholic university (enrollment: about 16,000 on three Chicago campuses and a fourth in Rome), the Lake Shore Campus was founded in 1909, and much new construction hasn't quite overwhelmed the traditional ones.

Though a significant number of students are commuters (the Loyola 'L' station is, obviously, right there), the area has its share of burger, pizza and low-cost Asian restaurants, along with some post-study hangouts (notably Hamilton's, on Sheridan just south of Devon in the Edgewater neighborhood) typical of the breed. And there is Uncommon Ground, the new Devon Avenue sibling of the Wrigleyville original, which is either a bar with coffee or a coffee place with liquor -- and a full menu, plus live music.

Finally, the beaches.

Beginning at North Shore Avenue (and north), several east-west streets that intersect with Sheridan Road dead-end on Lake Michigan's sandy beaches. Access is no problem, and Red Line 'L' stops at Loyola, Morse and Jarvis drop visitors off a short walk away.

Which beaches are "best"? For locals, that depends on where parents first took them as kids or where they hung out in high school -- but in an area where parking can be an issue (be alert for signs designating time restrictions), Loyola Beach, with a sizable parking lot, is a good option for drivers.

Fair warning: Lake Michigan beaches open each year on Memorial Day, but the water doesn't really feel warm before late July.

One more warning: After too much time at the beach, you risk forgetting you're in a big, great city. With so much to do at night in Rogers Park -- all that theater and those good eats -- that's something you just don't want to do . . .

For more information about Rogers Park, please contact the Rogers Park Business Alliance at 773.508.5885.