![]() ![]() This is one of the few places that still carries on their tradition of fine food and being a place to hang out. This was the first hangout for many of the neighborhood because they would go for pizza when dating and then, when in their twenties, head into the bar to meet up with friends. This place was a common denominator in a lot of responses from women due to the fact that it was off the Ave and very romantic due to its low lights. Now to “the” pizza place of the Kensington/Pullman neighborhood: Ken and Dick’s Cocktail Lounge and Pizza on 114th and Front Street. I remember a couple of dates there where I was lucky that my date only ate two pieces of pizza and I got to eat the rest of the medium cheese and sausage pizza with my pitcher of beer - I don’t know if that was a good enough reason - but I married that woman. Nino’s was the other favorite pizza place off the Ave for great pizza. I remember one of my sisters telling the story of John, who owned Giovanni’s telling a couple of woman customers who had requested knives and forks to eat their pizza that God would have given them knives and forks instead of fingers if you needed to use a knife and a fork to eat pizza - how things have changed. Giovanni’s provided many job opportunities for Roselandites including a couple of my sisters and brothers and a brother-in-law. There was plenty of mention made about Giovanni’s on 111th just west of Michigan Avenue (the Ave). ![]() While talking about chicken I guess I should mention Roseland’s Original Buckley’s Plantation at 119th and State Street which became Roseland’s first KFC.įrom chicken we can move on to the other Roseland favorite and that would be “Pizza” with a capital ‘P’ because pizza was a staple of the Roseland diet. ![]() Jolly Inn was just east of Cottage Grove on 115th Street and was well-known for their fried chicken which they sold in a bucket long before The Colonel came up with the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) bucket. For those people heading west of Michigan Avenue, Mundo’s Venice Inn was the go to spot. Of course, after mass on Sunday when Dads felt like treating the family there were other options.įried chicken was a specialty in Roseland and we had a number of choices primarily based on where you lived. These places had tablecloths that qualified them as “fine dining” in young Roseland eyes. Local fine dining seems to have centered around Pesavento’s on 115th and Parise’s on Kensington. Interestingly, the places named show a basic age progression up the ladder of dining offerings from dining with the family on to hanging with friends at late night snack shops and finally on to McDonald’s senior coffee morning groups. I heard from more than 100 respondents with numerous places being named as favorites from both types of Roseland dining. Once again, I’ve appealed to readers of my Fra Noi column and to Facebook followers of specific Roseland pages such as “Bumtown Memories” and, of course, my own Facebook page. ![]() The other type of dining out was the more casual “hanging out” with friends in a favorite local snack shop or restaurant. There was actually eating out in a restaurant, which was something generally done with the family, as in after mass on Sunday or on Dad’s payday or in celebration of a family event. Also, setting my life on a different path was the fact that I decided to give the seminary life a try for the first year and a half of high school.ĭining out in Roseland came under two headings. I noticed this because, being the youngest, I was often the only one left home. As a result, finding our way out of the family kitchen typically involved developing our own circle of friends and enjoying new experiences, including learning more about the many culinary offerings that were available in our neighborhood.Īs I got older, I saw that each of my brothers and sisters not only had their common neighborhood friends but, they had specific friends that they hung out with either due to being classmates or working together, those were friends within their age groups. As a matter of fact, if I try really hard I can only recall an occasional First Communion or Confirmation that led to some fine dining, Roseland style, at Pesavento’s. As a youngster in a first-generation Italian-American family in Roseland, eating out wasn’t something we did very often. ![]()
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