Late-Night Food Options for Hyde Park - University of Chicago

The McDonald's drive thru is the only 24-hour restaurant at Hyde Park. This is a tragedy. Hyde Park is a residential area teeming with middle to upper middle class locals and University of Chicago students. The late-night inconvenience conundrum arrives part in parcel to a conservative U. of C. institution, which dominates the commercial real estate of the neighborhood, and the decades of abject segregation that have left the South Side economically crippled and devoid of real development.

This guide will present the viable late - night food options applicable to Hyde Park and the University of Chicago, along with applicable commentary.

I do hope that you have a ride, because the CTA #6 bus stops running at 1 a.m. Do you really want to catch the 55 to duke it out with riff raff and street toughs that post up at Garfield Boulevard for some Lo Mein?

Hyde Park - University of Chicago Late - Night Food Options

Chant

1509 E. 53^rd Street

(773) 324 - 1999

Hours: Sun. - Mon. until 10 p.m., T - Th. until 12 a.m., and Fri. - Sat. until 1 a.m.

Chant's hours are not exactly "late-night." Also, the prices range from $8 to $18 per entrée. This is a sit-down restaurant with global Asian cuisine. Chant may be good for couples to pre-game on date night, but Nicky's at Woodlawn is better for the munchies on the cheap.

Nicky's Chinese Food

5231 S. Woodlawn Avenue

(773) 324 - 5340

Hours: 10:30 a.m. until Midnight Every Day

Again, closing time at midnight is not exactly "late-night."

This is cheap, greasy Chinese food, nothing more, and nothing less. Decor is limited to a picture of Barack Obama and some short guy cheesing that may be the owner. I still don't know who Nicky actually is. I have never seen the man in the picture at the restaurant, but I one time I did notice a Black man show up and order all of the hapless workers around out back.

Who and where is Nicky?

Bar Louie

5500 South Shore Drive

(773) 363-5300

Hours: 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. Everyday

Bar Louie is basic bar food that tries to be hip. The prices can be a tad high per satisfying a midnight snack. I mean, I think I dropped $7 for fries and one watered down coke, plus the tip. Wait times and service can also be spotty at times and the music is absolutely terrible.

Besides that, Bar Louie is a meat market.

This is a good place to eat decent food, check out the game, and people watch.

McDonald's

5220 S. Lake Park Avenue

(773) 288-2161

Hours: 24-hr. Drive Thru

This McDonald's is mocked as the worst Golden Arches in the entire Universe.

I would beg to differ. I once showed up to the McDonalds across from Morgan State University at Baltimore and was ignored for 15 minutes amidst an embarrassing spectacle of grandstanding, trash talk, and fisticuffs. I think that would qualify as worse than this place.

Still, the Hyde Park McDonald's is terribly slow.

These people realize that Mickey Dees is the only game in town. Expect to kill 45 minutes idling in queue for a Southern Style chicken sandwich. No, you cannot walk through the drive thru.

I know. This is totally pathetic, right?

Walgreens

1554 E. 55^th Street

(773) 667 - 1177

Dude, just get it over with, go to Walgreens, and buy some Doritos and 99-cents Arizona Sweet Tea.

Don't forget to purchase your Barack Obama book, tee shirt, hat, sweat pants, garbage pail, and safety pin, either. Again, I really hope that you own a car.

Cermak Road - Chinatown Late - Night Food Options from Hyde Park

Hyde Parkers thirsting for Chinese food will take 47^th, 51^st, or 55^th across the South Side to the I-90 / 94 Dan Ryan Expressway. The Ryan divides prior to downtown with exits to I-55 and 22^nd Street - Cermak Road. Follow the Cermak Rd. spur and cut a left at the traffic light. Buck a "U" at Archer Avenue and backtrack towards Wentworth to park. This is a 20-minute trip, with no traffic.

New Chinatown (Chop Suey) Restaurant

207 W. Cermak Road

(312) 326 - 6181

Hours: 6:30 p.m. - 5:30 a.m., Daily.

New Chinatown is the best late - night Chinese restaurant in Chicago. The food is tremendous for the price. However, only one clearly overworked waiter, in regards to the post nightclub crush, patrols the area. Expect lengthier wait times on the weekends from 2:30 - 5 a.m., and remember to bring cash.

The credit card machine has been "broken" for the past ten years!

South Loop - Roosevelt Road - Late Night Food Options from Hyde Park

Pick up U.S. 41 - Lake Shore Drive heading north at 47^th Street. Take Lake Shore Drive past Soldier Field and bear left onto Columbus Drive. Turn left from Columbus onto E. Roosevelt Road.

White Palace Grill

1159 S. Canal Street

(312) 939 - 7167

Hours: 24 Hours Every Day

This is a cheap, grease spoon diner. The food isn't always the best, and the service isn't always stellar. White Palace also degenerates into a straight up freak show after hours. Hyde Parkers should only consider White Palace Grill in a total pinch.

You really must be desperate for a ham and cheese omelet.

Jewel - Osco

1224 S. Wabash

(312) 663 - 0580

Hours: 24 Hours Every Day (Except Christmas)

You have already come this far, so you might as well learn how to cook.

Don't forget the sugar!

Late Night Food Options for Hyde Park - University of Chicago, Sources:

Kofi Bofah, Bar Louie - Hyde Park in Chicago: Review, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1707859/review_bar_louie_hyde_park_in_chicago.html?cat=8

The University of Chicago, http://www.uchicago.edu/

Hyde Park Late Night Dining, http://chicago.citysearch.com/listings/hyde-park/late_night_dining/4150_11282

Hyde Park - Kenwood Restaurants, http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/all-areas/hyde-park-kenwood/all-cuisines/