The Greatest Walk in All of Chicago

I had written a piece a while back for a Freelance class in college talking about the very experience I had today, one I'm afraid I haven't partaken in quite as often ever since I graduated college and subsequently stopped being in the city as often. In that piece, I mentioned how I had learned to utilize my U-Pass (the college's public transportation pass that allowed a student to ride every CTA line for free) such that the color of every L line corresponded to a great food destination. The Red Line, for instance, led to Mister J's Dawg 'n Burger, just off the Chicago stop (Double cheeseburger with fries and shake for less than five bucks, but Dagwood and cheese fries with bigger shake on pay days). The Brown Line went right by Mr. Beef on Orleans, which if you could get past the multiple photos of Jay Leno also had other local celebrities but more importantly a massive turkey sub that was also less than five bucks and could often qualify as my lunch and dinner.

But my piece emphasized the romantic nature of every single visit to Bombon Cafe via the Green Line. It used to be a once-a-week treat to myself, as I'd easily spend $20 every time I went. Still, the trip in itself left me walking on air for the remainder of the day, if not the weekend.

Today I hopped on to the Green Line from the Clinton stop—only a few short incredibly windy blocks from Ogilvie Transportation Center, where by suburban train arrived from. It was only after I reached the platform that I realized I was on the wrong side of the tracks and had to race down the stairs, hustling up the opposite side and just squeezing in between the closing L doors. Clinton was not my typical point of arrival, but it worked out well today since the very next stop was the traditional point of departure: the Ashland stop at 1601 W. Lake St.


The Google Map version of the walk to 36 S. Ashland is pretty decent, but it's something you really have to experience for yourself. It makes me want to sing this.

After you come down the stairs and hear the children laughing from the playground off to the left in Union Park, you notice the city's skyline in the distance. And as you walk south down Ashland Avenue and notice how perfectly centered the SearsWillis Tower becomes, right as you cross Washington Boulevard, you begin to notice the United Center off to the right. Same building where stuff like this happened. And this. It appropriately comes into perspective at West Madison.

I remember how my friend and I drove up to the U.C. in high school to practice the commute for a Tom Petty concert we'd be attending later that month. The West Side of Chicago was spoken of in the suburbs as though it were non-stop gang warfare, a whirlwind of bullets and constant gunfire. My buddy and I noticed that bricks from the old Chicago Stadium were available on the sidewalk, and so we both ran from the car to gather a memento, hurrying before any residents spotted there were white kids from the suburbs in this new and unfamiliar territory. In the end, we failed to see what was so frightening about the city—although we did mistakenly think a kid was clicking the safety on a gun when in fact he was just crinkling a paper bag he was carrying.

But the city enchants me rather than frightens me now. Sure, those last couple intersections can be a little tricky there, and as a result there's at least one moment where you might have to run just a bit to get to the other side of the street. But it's all good because this menu is waiting for you when you get there. You get a soup of the day—whatever it is, they bring you one of their delectable tortas, and you leave with a tres leches that's to die for.

I think I've tried every torta they offer, and I actually try not to order tortas from any other place out of certainty that they cannot compare to those made at Bombon. We have a pretty good array of our own Mexican joints here in the Tri-Cities area I reside in out in the 'Burbs, and while they might have their own unique dishes or elements to their dining experiences that I enjoy they're all lacking that one thing that I love the most about going to Bombon: the walk.