Rush & Division

Rush & Division continued...

"It's amazing," says Mickey O'Donnell, a longtime neighborhood guy who works at The Lodge, "how often someone will be in here and say, 'You know, I met my wife in here.' It happens a lot . . . "

But it's not all liquid refreshment and solid food and wishful socialization. There's history here.

Washington Square (1842), surrounded by Oak, Walton, Clark and Dearborn Streets, is Chicago's oldest park, though it wasn't taken over by the city's park district until 1959. By then, it was better known as Bughouse Square and was, among other things, famously a free-speech zone, with soap-box orators expressing themselves on subjects ranging from the revolutionary to the bizarre. Except for ceremonial reenactments, the orations have retreated to neighborhood saloons; the square has been returned to the genteel attitude it enjoyed when this was a community of elegant townhomes and mansions.

Speaking of mansions: Condo construction has had its impact on the neighborhood, but some of the grand old residences remain to provide a hint of what was. On the 900 block of Dearborn, Taylor House dates to 1895; even older, Thompson House (1888) at Dearborn and Delaware Place, was the work of the same designers who left us the Newberry Library across the street, and the family resemblance shows.

The Newberry (1893) is among the nation's finest independent research libraries. For writers seeking original documents and manuscripts on, say, America's westward expansion, or doing genealogical digging, the place is a dream. For the rest of us, public exhibitions (free) and speaker programs add to the pleasures of a neighborhood stroll.

Two more nearby mansions are worth a peek, both of which visitors can enter. The Biggs mansion, 1150 Dearborn St., went up in 1874, not long after the Great Chicago Fire. Today it's home of a branch of Il Mulino, the pricey (much less so at lunch) New York Italian restaurant; behind it is Table Fifty-Two, the creation of Art Smith, Oprah's former personal chef, who has managed to fuse risotto and pizza with down-home southern.

Just south, at 1012 N. Dearborn, is the Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts. A school, studios and gallery, the P&C dates to 1895; it's been in this Italianate building -- from the same era as the Biggs' place -- since 1921. The gallery is open most days and features the work of serious local artists.

Some of the work, but by no means all, features Chicago.

"People who come into Chicago to visit, they want to take home a piece of the city," says one of the exhibiting artists, native Chicagoan Leslie Outten. "So they're always looking for Chicago paintings."

There's dance, on weekends much of the year, right across the street at the Ruth Page Theatre, part of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts.

And there's shopping here, much of it an extension of the high-end shops just east of here on the part of Oak Street that's in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Prada straddles both districts, while Barneys New York is solidly Rush Street. With the right credit rating, you can even drive home a new Lamborghini (one list price: $484,045) from a Rush Street dealership -- or, at the same address, a Bentley, which are not only less expensive (around $200,000 will put you in a nice one) but easier to spell.

Nonetheless, most visitors are content to come here for a meal or a drink or both.

Two of the city's best-known steak houses, Gibson's and the original Morton's, are a block apart. Hugo's Frog Bar, a seafooder, is adjacent to Gibson's, a corporate sibling. Carmine's, part of the local Rosebud group, combines prime Italian with one of Rush Street's better sidewalk opportunities. Bistro Zinc is a favorite for French comfort food. And more.

If your credit card is nearing its limit (especially after buying that Lamborghini), Pizano's offers pizza and other Italian goodies at rational prices. The Tempo Cafe, open 24 hours, serves just about everything, though the oatmeal tends to go fast in the morning. Right below Morton's precious porterhouses can be found fajitas at the Blue Agave. Between Morton's and Gibson's, Dublin's Bar & Grill has burgers and entrees that won't make you run to the ATM. Feast Restaurant and Bar might sound expensive, but it's not; it shares a kitchen with the Goddess and Grocer, a deli (sandwiches, salads, soups) with tables inside and out. And more.

Before we hit the Division Street bars, there's one on Walton between Rush and State Streets that's easy to miss and deserves a look. Lonie Walker's Underground Wonder Bar (you step down to enter) has been offering live music of just about every genre nightly for about 20 years, some of it by her own band. Cover charges range from zero (especially weeknights) to token, depending on the night and your timing.

Now, to Division Street. On one block of Division between State (which merged with Rush Street near Honorary Frank Sinatra Place) and Dearborn are no fewer than 10 bars. Each is different, some more different than others.

"They're like brothers," says The Lodge's Mickey O'Donnell. "They have different personalities, but they have similarities as well. Shenanigan's is a little younger. The Lodge is more mature. Butch's [Butch McMuire's] is real Irish . . . "

But there's a hint of Irish in most of the places. How to choose? Depends what you're looking for, O'Donnell says.

"Are you looking for a place to dance? Are you looking for food? Do you want 'comfortable'? Are you looking for 'risky'? Are you looking for a fancy place?"

Are you looking for a cheap place to grab a beer?

"You're going to get pretty much the same price all around here."

For sure: Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues.

For more information about Rush & Division, please contact the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association (312.642.3570) or the Oak Street Council.