Next to the O'Hare Blue Line stop, this is probably the busiest L destination in the least-explored part of the city. This is to be expected. As a general rule, airports are for coming and going, not for chilling, and the area around Midway is a very strange part of town. Although there is plenty more Chicago south of the airport, it has the feeling of being at the edge of the world. A tone of desperation collides with combustible glee as arriving jet airplanes nearly graze the rooftop of a tired-looking Giordano's.
Safety rating: Will you get mugged? Likely not, but airports aren't necessarily the safest of places in these Orwellian times.
Panhandler rating: Not a panhandling hotspot.
In-the-know spot
Continental Sales Superstore
Kin to an indoor flea market, the Continental Sales Superstore is a large warehouse filled with some of the strangest things ever made. It's a sort of consumerist dumping ground where failed niche products (like Nexcite, an herbal love-juice from Sweden) go to die quietly. Really makes you wonder where it all comes from. Here, you can also find new women's dress slacks for 99 cents, giant tapestries with lounging loins for $30, and as many horror-show ceramic clowns as you care to carry. Piling on more of the weird, the store sells canned goods, floor tiles, crossword-puzzle books, assorted sweaters, CDs by obscure DJs and mysterious Mustang brand batteries. It is fascinating for about 20 minutes. Then grab the love juice and run.
Cheap eats
Burrito Grill
6445 S. Cicero This small roadside restaurant is inexpensive and clean, arguably the two most important assets of a cheap eatery. The squat building is a bit isolated, as it sits alone on the east side of Cicero, facing the Midway Hotel Center, but its quiet defiance is inviting. Burrito Grill has a somewhat regal presence. The restaurant offers beloved Mexican staples like tacos, tortas and, uh, burritos, as well as fare for the more adventurous stomach, like Menudo. All the food falls under the $5 mark. There are a few places to sit inside, but why not take some of the portable dishes to the sidewalk and get lost watching two kinds of traffic, air and road, without dribbling hot sauce on your shirt.
Where to chill
Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
Opening this museum was the life-long dream of proprietor Stanley Balzekas, which is, in-and-of-itself, cuter than a sack of kittens. According to the museum's Web site, the dream was fulfilled in 1966 when he opened the museum next to his auto dealership on Archer Avenue. Eventually, the museum outgrew the original two-flat location and Balzekas moved it to its current location. Inside is his personal collection of Lithuanian art, as well as armor and rare maps that have been donated over the years. Joining the main exhibit, "Lithuania Through Out the Ages" are a language education department, collections of folk art and coins, tokens and medals, a state-of-the-art audio-visual center and a gift shop. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for seniors and students.
Arena for the a.m.
Top Flight Pancake House
Almost in spite of the planes that thunder over the rooftop of this quaint diner, Top Flight Pancake House is a very cozy place. The tile mosaic of Chicago's skyline on the west wall, for instance, is a pleasant reminder of the nearby horizon that also pays homage to industry. It is a very unique-looking diner that, using that tried-and-true diner magic, still manages to feel totally anonymous. A bottomless cup of coffee is $1.25 and just about every diner-standard meal waits on the menu. There might even be an employee named Flo. Lest you momentarily forget that you are sitting at the end of a runway, try the 747 skillet: hash browns, sauteed green peppers, mushrooms and onions with bacon or sausage your choice of cheese and two eggs.
Dinner-date destination
Dempsey's Irish-American Grill
Inform your date that you will be dining in a restaurant adjacent to a Holiday Inn Select near Midway Airport, and the rendezvous might end before it even begins. But if you can actually get someone out to Dempsey's, it will not be a wasted evening. The restaurant serves as a tribute to Irish-American boxer Jack Dempsey, bragging a pair of his gloves encased in glass near the entry way, an elevated dining area roped off to resemble a boxing ring and countless photos and newspaper clippings cluttering the walls.
The menu is reflective of the cause with Shepard's pie and a brothy chicken dish made with Irish whiskey, but it also branches out with a damn fine, and fancy, salmon dish. A generous basket of bread is served before you order, complete with two swirls of butter: one lightly sweetened, the other herbed. Two other points of notice: Dempsey's French onion soup is some of the most decadent in the Midwest (its fortitude helps fend off the much less robust Musak playing in the dining room); and on Saturday night there's a prime rib buffet for only $22. You might want to get a room.
For the artiste
Midway International Airport
International airports offer some of the best people-watching available to modern man. Midway doesn't actually have as many international flights as O'Hare, making for a more provincial crowd, but that doesn't mean there's a shortage of eye-catching folks either coming or going. The human wildlife here is generally of the American-traveler bent. Marvel at the T-shirts with zany graphics.
Should you run low on inspiration, Midway hosts a few pretty remarkable pieces of art (those entering the ticketing area from the L should take note of Chicago Imagist Karl Wirsum's work). "The Body of Lake Michigan" by Todd Slaughter is a large blue metal and fiberglass sculpture that hangs from the ceiling near the security checkpoint that depicts the Lake Michigan that hides beneath the surface, using topical data. Also lurking up above is Ralph Helmick's "Rara Avis," a giant red bird made up of 2,500 little metal airplanes on individual wires. You're not likely to garner much suspicion if sketching or writing in a notebook, but shooting excessive photos or video might earn you a cold tap on the shoulder.
Where to Sleep
Midway Hotel Center
While we may not have slept in every bed or checked out every room for ourselves, there is one particular "All-In-One" complex of hotels that has sprung up close to Midway. The Hotel Center consists of seven hotels: Courtyard By Marriott, Fairfield Inn By Marriott, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Express, our Holiday Inn Select and a Sleep Inn. Something for everyone and every budget.
For a detailed breakdown of what the Midway Hotel Center has to offer, visit www.Midwayhotelcenter.com or call 1-888-MID-INNS (1-888-642-4667).
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