Two Sad Developments

I was looking at the Preservation Chicago website, and I was surprised to see that, under their "Lost" listings was the following entry:

As many of my readers will recognize, this is the Artful Dodger building at Wabansia and Hermitage.  Back in the mid-90s, I frequented the Artful Dodger on many a Saturday night, somewhere during the latter part of its slow transformation from hip hangout to the favored haunt for desperate Lincoln Parkers.   I remember that once, even my dad (author of the Reformation Letters) tipped one back at the Artful Dodger when he was visiting town.  Sadly, now it's been torn down and replaced with two McMansions.

This news started me wondering about what has happened to some of my other favorite Chicago haunts in the two and half years since I left town.  My mind immediately went to the Brighton Restaurant.  Back in my first year of college, my brother Matt (author of the Midlothian Campaign) was visiting.  Because he brought a car along with him, we decided to escape Hyde Park and explore the South Side, along with Sei (author of many comments on various blogs).  It was a snowy night, and we ended up on a desolate, industrial stretch of Pulaski Road, looking for a place to eat.  We pulled into the first diner we saw, which was the Brighton.  I remember we had a "first year of college" conversation about the meaning of being hungry, amusing the couple in the booth next to us.  We were also pleased by the taste of the chicken soup, because they added some lemon to the broth. Over the next decade, we went back to the Brighton hundreds of times, in groups of varying sizes, so much that the owners recognized us whenever we walked in.  

Using Google, I looked at the stretch of Pulaski where the Brighton is located, and this is what I saw:

I hope #2 Mambo Seafood carries on the little noted tradition of excellence that we discovered at the Brighton one snowy night.