Chicago Food Stop, other pop-ups give downtown a jolt of neighborhood vibrancy

There’s no question the North Side has a monopoly on Chicago-based hype.

Residents from other parts of town can try their best to convince friends and tourists that their neighborhoods are worth visiting. But despite the countless historic sites and contemporary gems in other corners of the city, too many of the timid still refuse to budge south of Roosevelt Road.

Perhaps, if they are ready to venture outside their comfort zones, those stubborn North Side folks can be persuaded to catch a glimpse of the real South Side — and not just from their couches while they channel-surf and end up stumbling upon the popular hit TV series.

All jokes aside, most of the city, including downtown, could use more love and foot traffic to boost economic recovery from the pandemic.

So to bring a slice of the South Side to the crowd-attracting Michigan Avenue, a new pop-up shop is showcasing a handful of businesses from the often-overlooked area, along with treats from other local emerging brands and established food retailers.

The pop-up, at 875 N. Michigan Ave. in the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center, “provides opportunities for these food businesses to have exposure outside their neighborhoods,” Tamieka Hardy of the Greater Chatham Initiative told Sun-Times reporter Michael Loria.

Stop by the Greater Chatham Initiative’s booth at the Chicago Food Stop and you can grab goodies from Lem’s Bar-B-Q, Imani’s Original Bean Pies & Fine Foods, Moore Poppin and a variety of other South Side businesses.

Here Here Market and Choose Chicago have also curated local businesses for their respective kiosks at the pop-up, which is a collaborative effort of the city, World Business Chicago and the Mag Mile Association.

Not only does the pop-up “give us an opportunity to support local businesses, it also gives us an opportunity to support small-scale production,” said Teresa Córdova, director of the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute and an urban planning and policy professor at the school.

Exposing Chicagoans to new delicacies and new restaurateurs benefits the entrepreneurs, no doubt. But their participation in the Chicago Food Stop (funded by a grant from the city’s COVID-19 recovery program) also provides a much-needed boost to the still-rebounding downtown.

Tourists have come back since the height of the pandemic, but the impact is still noticeable. Water Tower Place, once a major magnet for shopping aficionados, lost its owner in April. Its retail anchor, Macy’s, has closed. Other big-name retailers have also disappeared.

Creative forces

Meanwhile, other pop-ups are also providing some neighborhood flair to downtown.

World Business Chicago and its partners introduced Argentine Connection and Nordic House in the Wrigley Building a few months back. Like Chicago Food Stop and Colores Mexicanos — a permanent fixture at 605 N. Michigan Ave. — the entities reflect our diverse city and the talents of its residents.

These pop-ups are examples of the creative forces put in play since the pandemic, as well as a mechanism that will ensure the vitality of Michigan Avenue, Córdova said. And as she noted, innovations in the food sector are burgeoning on the West and South sides, so we’ll keep hearing about businesses in neighborhoods that are finally getting a well-deserved chance to shine.

Our downtown shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter model that resembles those in other cities. Michigan Avenue doesn’t even have to look like what it did five years ago.

If transporting our neighborhoods downtown can motivate us to explore new places in the city, or get a taste for some new food we’ve never tried before, that’s a win for all of Chicago.

Want to write a letter or an op-ed for the Sun-Times? See our guidelines.