Logan Square represents in another “Best of Chicago 2009″
Earlier this year, Logan Square shone in some quirky classifications in the Chicago Reader’s “Best of Chicago 2009″ (see “Best of” in Logan Square), and now additional kudos! are due to some Logan Square notables recognized in some even quirkier categories in Newcity’s “Best of Chicago 2009.”
Like the quite specific “Best breakfast alternative to the wait at Cozy Corner” (on Milwaukee Avenue) accorded to the lesser known Cozy Corner at 4356 W. Diversey Avenue.
Same homestyle breakfast, same reasonable prices, but a bigger space and, best of all, no wait.
Cozy Corner Restaurant in Logan Square
And the “Best use of abandoned property” bestowed upon the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival (also see What did you think of the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival?).
Over the course of the weekend, shop windows once blackened like gap-tooth smiles were alight with colored canvases and big screen prints for sale.
Art Market at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival
Or the lengthy honor conferred upon New Wave Coffee for “Best new coffee shop to write a paper in while listening to good music.”
Music from Elliott Smith and Ween pumps through the speakers while baristas serve up kitschy sandwiches like “The MacGyver” and brew bottomless coffee for the red-eyed set.
New Wave Coffee on Milwaukee Avenue
And the clearcut ”Best Polish store” easily accorded to The Polish Store.
The Polish Store is a four-store emporium of everything, you guessed it, Polish.
The Polish Store on Milwaukee Avenue
And the more pointed “Best place to get a one-dollar mug of Old Style” bestowed upon the Two Way Lounge.
Monday nights. Frosted mugs. Beer for a buck.
Two Way Lounge on Milwaukee Avenue
But true two-way adulations go to The Whistler honored for both the more standard “Best new bar (opened in the last year or so)” (emphasis added as in a rare repeat/two-way! showing, it was accorded the same honor last year [minus the parenthetical]) and the more unique “Best bar to see a reading.” (Also see Sensory perception at the bottom of this post.)
Say what you will about The Whistler’s too-cool-for-school clientele. Say what you will about the intricate special drinks. But the bar’s atmosphere and ambiance–cemented with assortments of candles, mood lighting and small-space intimacy–create a wonderful environment for literary engagement.
The Whistler on Milwaukee Avenue
Fleur on Logan Boulevard and Urbanbelly on California Avenue were the audience choices for “Best flower shop” and “Best new restaurant (opened in the last year or so)”, while Hot Doug’s in nearby Avondale (by any generous definition, I can’t in good conscience place it in Logan Square even if Newcity does) was another audience choice for another quite specific honor of “Best foie gras, now that it’s legal again.”
Congratulations to all these fine Logan Square institutions!
Sensory perception:
Further south on Milwaukee Avenue, The Whistler window repurposes the explosive color of graphic commercial signs (compare with the photo and comments at Sign, sign, everywhere a sign).
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Congrats to 
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