“Hipster Gentrification” in Roscoe Village bound to crash and burn
westbarry, a new little restaurant-y lounge place in Roscoe Village, really piqued my interest when it first opened. Only about 100 yards from my house, with an unfortunate location at Clybourn and Oakley (which is NOT Barry, and it should rightfully be called westoakley), its pretty little awning was almost enough to draw me in and check it out. How could you go wrong with robin’s egg blue and Century Gothic?
Then my sister got a menu dropped off at her house, which could be the worse marketing backlash in the history of time. She told me, laughing, that it looked absolutely ridiculous and overpriced. Every single menu item is ready and raring to go for Old Country Buffet, but seems absolutely lame for such a “hip” (is that what the kids are saying these days?) place.
Brianne: “Name some lame ass desserts”
Lauren: “Pie?”
Brianne: “Yes.”
Lauren: “Chocolate Cake?”
Brianne: “Yes.”
Lauren: “Cheesecake?”
Brianne: “Yes.”
…and on and on. One of my personal favorites was “Wedge with French” which is just a fancy way of saying a quarter of a head of iceberg with french dressing. For serious. We were laughing so hard I almost peed. Just a little bit.
Then I caught this condescending review on Metromix: “New bar in town westbarry is poised to yank West Lakeview into the world of hipster gentrification. But can a lounge more suited to Lincoln Park fit in with the locals?” Issues I take with this…
1. Yanked into the world of hipster gentrification? Are they serious? I mean, I know everyone in Roscoe Village still pegs their acid washed jeans, but that is just below the belt. Ass.
2. fit in with the locals? Oh, that’s right. Because we are all the redheaded stepchild to Lincoln Park. Just because Lincoln Park is captain of the cheerleading squad and has geeks to write all her papers doesn’t mean that being in the chess club is something be ashamed of.
If “hipster gentrification” is paying 5 times as much for food you can get just as good down the street at the Golden Nugget, then you can take your hipster gentrification and shove it up your ass.
Well, fuck that, I’m not going there for sure now. I saw a sign for them on my way to work this morning and was wondering what the hell they were all about. Now that I know, I have no interest in checking it out further. There’s a zillion places to eat and drink in Chicago, why choose mediocrity?
i’ve chosen mediocrity all my life. why stop now?
by the way, what’s wrong with pie? i like pie. there’s always room for pie.
Wait, Lincoln Park is hipsters? I thought Wicker Park was hipsters.
Go Chess Club!
wicker park = hipsters
lincoln park = yuppies
however i’m beginning to realize hipsters and yuppies are very similar to each other once you remove money from the equation…
I think I need a little more deliniation between the two terms besides physical location. AS a southsider I could probably just say “bah northsiders.” but people tend to look askance at the sort of view. Are you saying that yuppies are what hipsters grow up to be?
Tom, I like pie too, I just don’t want to pay $7.00 for it.
and yet, to bastardize the immortal words of john travolta in pulp fiction, “i’ve gotta find out what a $7 pie tastes like.” (only in pulp fiction it was a $5 shake)
Roscoe village has been taken over by wanna-be hipsters and far flung yuppies for awhile now!
FlowFeel.com
As if that wasn’t bad enough, I saw an abomination that was as unreal as it gets – the opposite of the Flight Sim motto. I was driving a nondescript car on Milwaukee Avenue, a nondescript street by Schurz High School, when outside the car I saw a sign for single family homes. Starting for a million bucks a pop. The drive home could have been a Twilight Zone episode.
Sounds like a chance to do a Michael Moore. Take a camcorder around to film the condos everywhere and the ionospheric prices and visit an occasional office to ask some questions a la Roger and Me. I’m a hard person to surprise, but the Twilight Zone -esque nature of this sighting has even taken me aback. Damn.