Far Northwest Side

Understand

The Far Northwest Side is, for many travelers, nothing more than a blur of drab buildings seen from the expressway or the Blue Line on their way to O'Hare. And only the most fervent of true believers could make an argument that it ought to be anywhere near the top of a first-time visitor's list. None of the city's most famous landmarks are located here; nothing in the best-known history or literature about Chicago happened here. In fact, most Chicagoans would find the Far Northwest Side as unfamiliar as someone right off a plane from the coast.

What is here, though, is a group of large, residential communities and a handful of treasures they've grown accustomed to keeping for themselves, unencumbered by style or pace. Sausage shops and old-style Italian restaurants carry on as if health food and celebrity chefs never happened. If you're serious about trying a Chicago-style hot dog at the peak of the form, you'll do well here. Two classic movie palaces awaken for special events, and there is a strong contender for the city's best original theater venue — the Prop Thtr.

Plenty of tourists and locals have tried "going Chinese" for a night in Chinatown, but an even more immersive (and less-traveled) experience is "going Polish." English slides to second on the signs, the food makes sweet love to your waist, and the beer flows cheap at your choice of fab discos straight out of Eastern Europe or laid-back dives with you and the regulars. Famously, Chicago has the largest population of Polish people of any city in the world save Warsaw. If you never make it to Poland, at least you can say you've been to Avondale.

So once you're sick of the screaming brats in Lakeview and Lincoln Park, the scuzz in Uptown, the tourist traps on the Mag Mile, the crowds in the Loop, the hipsters in Wicker Park, the confusion in Rogers Park, the pretension in Hyde Park, the cranks in Bridgeport — and you're in the mood to experience Chicago all over again, for the first time — then the Far Northwest Side may have something for you.

Get in

By train

The CTA Blue Line has stops throughout the northwest side of Chicago in Avondale (Belmont, Addison), Irving Park (Irving Park, Montrose), Jefferson Park (Jefferson Park), and Norwood Park (Harlem), before passing into the orbit of O'Hare Airport (Cumberland, Rosemont, O'Hare). You may need to connect with a bus, though, as these stops are quite far west, and there is a lot of ground between them and the Brown Line to the east.

The end of the CTA Brown Line is within reach of Irving Park (Kedzie, Kimball).

The Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line has stops in Irving Park, Jefferson Park, Norwood Park, and Edison Park, while the Metra Milwaukee District North line stops at Mayfair, Forest Glen and Edgebrook. The former ends at Ogilvie/Northwestern Station and the latter at Union Station, both in the West Loop.

By bus

This is a fairly large area, covered by a ton of bus routes. Most connect to the CTA Blue Line or the Metra, and a few spread out into the suburbs.

• 53 Pulaski runs all night through Irving Park and Avondale connecting with the Irving Park Blue Line & Metra Stations.
• 54 Cicero runs through the eastern half of the area, although it's not an all-night route.
• 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd runs between the Blue Line and Metra at Irving Park and heads up Cicero to Lincolnwood and Skokie ending at the Skokie courthouse. It also serves Old Orchard Mall in Skokie.
• 56 Milwaukee runs from downtown through Wicker Park, Logan Square, Avondale the heart of the Polish Village and most the Far Northwest Side ending at Jefferson Park Blue Line/Metra.
• 68 Northwest Highway runs from the Jefferson Park station to the Park Ridge Metra Station running parallel to the Metra. It also makes connections to the Gladstone, Norwood and Edison Park Metra stations.
• 77 Belmont connects with the self-named Blue Line station and runs all night. This is handy for trips in Avondale.
• 78 Montrose connects with the Blue Line at the Montrose station and the Mayfair Metra Station, handy for trips in Portage Park or Irving Park and the Harlem Irving Plaza.
• 80 Irving Park is, as you might expect, ideal for Irving Park and Old Irving. Connections can be made with the Irving Park Blue Line or Brown Line stops as well as the Irving Park Metra. This route serves the Harlem Irving Plaza.
• 81 Lawrence runs from Uptown to the Jefferson Park Blue Line/Metra Station, with a direct connection at the Kimball Brown Line stop providing service all night long.
• 81W West Lawrence operates in between the Blue Line stations at Jefferson Park and Cumberland.
• 82 Kimball/Homan connects with the Blue Line at Belmont and the Brown Line at Kimball, and can save you a bit of walking from the Blue Line to places like Abbey Pub.
• 84 Peterson runs between the CTA Red Line at Bryn Mawr and the northwest side at Central/Caldwell primarily along Peterson Avenue serving the Metra at Edgebrook. It runs through the North Park, Sauganash and Edgebrook neighborhoods.
• 85 Central runs along Central Avenue through most of the Northwest Side like Portage Park, and Jefferson Park.
• 85A North Central runs along Central Avenue from the Jefferson Park Station up to the Metra at Edgebrook before heading north via Caldwell-Touhy-Lehigh and back. It has a few scenic sections near or through the Forest Preserve.
• 86 Narragansett/Ridgeland runs primarily along Narragansett Avenue through of Northwest side ending at Devon and Milwaukee near Superdawg's.
• 88 Higgins runs primarily along Higgins Avenue between the Jefferson Park and Harlem Blue Line Stations before heading up into Norwood Park and Edison Park via Harlem-Talcott-Canfield-Devon-Avondale-Harlem and back to Higgins.
• 90 Harlem runs between the Green Line Terminal in Oak Park and the Blue Line in Norwood Park through most of the Northwest side. It provides front door access to the Harlem-Irving Plaza.
• 91 Austin runs along Austin Avenue through most of the Northwest Side like Portage Park, and Jefferson Park.
• 92 Foster starts at the Jefferson Park station heading east to the lakefront and the Red Line at Berwyn.
• 152 Addison runs through the Northwest side along Addison serving the Blue line.

Pace buses cover the regions that cross over into the suburbs:

• 209 Busse Highway operates between the Harlem Blue Line heading west on Higgins and up Canfield to Park Ridge ending at the Des Plaines Metra Station.
• 225 Central-Howard starts at the Jefferson Park station heading north along Central Avenue connecting with the Edgebrook Metra station. It then continues up to Skokie and Niles along Howard Street through an Industrial Area ending at Oakton/Harlem.
• 226 Oakton Street just like the 225 starts at the Jefferson Park station heading north along Central Avenue connecting with the Edgebrook Metra station. It then continues up to Skokie heading west on Oakton through Niles, Park Ridge, and Des Plaines to Mount Prospect.
• 240 Dee Road runs from the Cumberland CTA Station up through Park Ridge to Golf Mill Mall in Niles.
• 241 Greenwood-Talcott also runs from the Cumberland CTA Station up through Park Ridge to Golf Mill Mall in Niles.
• 270 Milwaukee Avenue goes up Milwaukee Avenue from the Jefferson Park Station through Norwood Park and continuing into the suburbs like Niles and Glenview. Ideal for reaching Superdawg's and Golf Mill Mall.
• 290 Touhy Avenue covers Edgebrook and Edison Park and ends at the Cumberland CTA Blue Line.
• 326 West Irving Park runs between the Blue Line in Rosemont and the Harlem Irving-Plaza.
• 423 Linden CTA/The Glen/Harlem Avenue starts at the Harlem Blue Line covering Norwood and Edison Park and continues up into the suburbs.

By car

I-90/94 (aka "The Kennedy") runs through the center of Chicago and then to the western parts of the city, where it joins I-190. I-90/190 go to O'Hare Airport, while I-94 splits off to reach the northern and northwest suburbs. The most useful exits are off the Kennedy at Lawrence Avenue and Ill-19/Irving Park Road.

Go next

• The Chicago Polish community flows over these district boundaries, with more to be found on Milwaukee Avenue to the north (in Niles) and to the south (in Logan Square, and Wicker Park, and Belmont-Cragin), and also notably on the Southwest Side.
• The Chicagoland suburb of Park Ridge, a couple of minutes down Touhy Avenue/Northwest Highway from Edison Park, has the amazing Pickwick, a giant classic movie theater that's still in regular use for second-run movies and occasional holiday revivals.