Rush & Division

Packed into a small area around the corner of Rush and Division Streets is the most unbelievable assortment of dining, drinking, nightlife and entertainment options; the Newberry Library, Washington Square Park and other historical landmarks that date back to Chicago’s rebirth after the Great Fire of 1871; chic boutiques featuring the latest trend-setting fashions; and much more. This pocket of the famous Gold Coast neighborhood has something for every mood and budget.

Rush & Division: Classic Near North Side Neighborhood is a Celebration of Good Fortune and Good Times 

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

The Rush Street-Division Street area is where Chicago comes to celebrate good fortune and good times and generous expense accounts.

Visitors flock here, too. And no wonder.

It has stayed forever fresh. Venerated Rush Street restaurants and clubs of decades past -- the Singapore, Doro's, Mister Kelly's, Chef Alberto's, Punchinello's -- simply recycle into favorite restaurants and clubs of today -- Le Colonial, Carmine's, Gibson's, the Underground Wonder Bar, Pizano's, tweaked (sometimes) just a little to respect current preferences.

The Division Street bar action can be traced at least as far back as the Eisenhower years -- The Lodge Tavern opened in 1957 -- but that scene really boomed as boomers came of age in the 1960s and '70s, and while some bar names have changed, not much else has.

Continued below the map...