Fast Food, Chicago Style and other Chicago, IL Local Custom Tips

Be aware that in Chicago, if someone mentions fast food, they might not be talking about one of the famous chains. We have our own homegrown, almost chain free version of fast food. And pizza is NOT fast food here. Most places will specialize in one or two of the following foods, and serve the rest. Italian Beef, Gyros, Polish Sausage, Italian Sausage, Hot Dogs, Meatball Sandwiches, and a few other things. Generally speaking, its large, affordable (under $4), and tastes good, though the outside decor of some places will sometimes look so run down you'll want to cry.

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Chicagoans don't usually eat a lot of ketchup, at least not compared to other parts of the country. When I try to think of what we eat ketchup on, mostly I come up with hamburgers, and some people like it on french fries, but for the most part, you won't be seeing it served with eggs, sausages, or any of the other things folks in the rest of the country eat it on. This isn't 100% true, but its true enough to be a stereotype I've encountered outside Chicago.

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Chicago, in its formative years, was a very Catholic city. In some ways, it still is. One legacy of this is that, if you ask the location of a place, or where someone is from, especially if the person is older, they are likely to name the parish rather than the neighborhood.

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Chicago is famous for food, but having moved here after many years on the west coast, my wife and I both feel we've yet to find a good Asian restaurant of any stripe, not even in Chinatown! Depending on what his or her expectations might be, the asian food lover could be very disappointed here. If there is hope, it lies on chowhound.com. Generally speaking, your typical Chicagoan doesn't really know good Asian food from bad, so going on recommendations has been disappointing. Fortunately, the E European, Italian, Greek, Latin-American and other cuisines are for the most part excellent.

*update* We've managed to find some places that are passable. If you would like, I will share the names.

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Resurrection Mary is Chicago's most famous ghost. She is supposed to be the spirit of a young woman who was struck by a car along Archer Ave and along Archer Ave is usually where she is seen. The oldest stories tell of her jumping onto the running boards of cars as they drove along that street, tryign to get back to Resurrection Cemetery. Since cars no longer have running boards, the newer stories tell of her either hitchhiking or found wandering dazed along the road. Mary has been known to talk to the people she apprears to, often telling that she had a fight with boyfriend at the dance hall and decided to walk home, which is a retelling of the events which led to her death.

No one knows Mary's real name but no matter whom she appears to or what she says or does, Mary is always trying to get back to Resurrection Cemetery, and at least one attempt has been made to catch her. That event culminated with her grasping the bars at the gate and then disappearing into a bright flash of fire and light. For years after that, the bars appeared burned with a human grip on them, scars which resisted every attempt at removal until the Church finally removed the bars altogether.

So... if you should be wandering down Archer Ave and see a young woman in outdated clothes, possibly still wearing dancing shoes, give her a lift, especially in the cold weather when she normally appears. Mary usually appears to people in the coldest months of winter, not Halloween. Sightings of her have become fewer over the years, or maybe we just don't recognize her any more.

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