What the what?
That’s shitty, but at least there’s this…
He faced two trials: in New York, where he was jailed for 23 years in 2020 for raping two women; and in California, where he was last year sentenced to 16 years for raping a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel.
The California conviction is not affected by the decision in New York.
emphasis mine
Thanks for this, I was wondering, but didn’t have time to look that part up.
Chicago is indeed a toddling town, because it appears to have an early bedtime.
Checking Google Maps, restaurants closing at 2PM is fairly common. Most places are closed by 5PM. And on the weekend? Chicago just doesn’t get out of bed.
There was only one place that was reliably open — Foxtrot Market. And now I have found they went out of business this week. This is just days before I have to blow through the windy city.
Chicago, the city that works — NOT!
I am utterly confused. What do you mean?
Oh, wait: do you mean you’re looking at restaurants that have a lunch service, close for an hour or two to prepare, and then have a dinner service?
But those would have nothing to do with a quickie place like Foxtrot, which is basically a fancy bodega.
Around here they close anywhere from 2pm to 9pm, but it’s an exponential dropoff, and a lot of them are only open about half the week. So you’re lucky to have 4 restaurants to choose from if you want food after 5 or 6pm, and 3 of those will probably be fast food. And on a Monday, forget it. Nobody goes out to eat Monday because every restaurant is closed, and every restaurant is closed because nobody goes out to eat that day.
We got used to it though. Microwaves are well-insulated, so food stays hot for hours, if you order before they close, and just store it in there until dinner time.
Exactly. It was basically the bottom of the barrel, and now the barrel is gone too.
I try to find some coffee and something to eat near the city center, and it’s like wandering through a post atomic wasteland. No one is there. Everything is closed.
Some examples:
- The Foyer Café. That’s all that I need. Closes Fridays at 2pm. Closed all weekend.
- Peet’s Coffee. They might be something, but I will never know. Closes Fridays at 2pm. Closed all weekend.
- Lou Mitchell’s. A world-famous restaurant. When it is open, it closes at 2pm.
Chicago was different before the pandemic.
Wait, you’re saying you couldn’t find a coffee shop in the Loop over the weekend?
OK, that’s not really fair.
There are exceptions, but basically people don’t live in the Loop. If you’re there over the weekend, you’re probably in a hotel, all of which have places for you to pick up a quick meal.
Lou Mitchell’s has always closed in the mid-afternoon. It’s a breakfast place.
If you wanted a quick dinner, why would you only look at places that are either for breakfast or else don’t carry much food?
I’m really baffled. Did you stay someplace different than what you’re used to? Did you not want to take the El or a bus to an actual neighborhood? The idea that you couldn’t find a place that was open for dinner just doesn’t seem possible. Where exactly in the downtown area were you looking?
I’m looking for someplace new Union Station I can get to easily with a suitcase in my hand. And I would not take the El to get a cup of coffee. It shouldn’t be that hard, and it didn’t used to be. There used to be a number of convenient places near the river.
I’m just saying that since the pandemic, Chicago is feeling more like St Paul, MN or Trenton, NJ. They roll-up the sidewalk at 5pm.
There is Meddle on West Jackson Boulevard, but they close at 5pm. So I can only get to them on my out-bound journey, not the way back. I would love to hear of other options.
I know nothing about Chicago, except that this place is good. I only know this from mail orders I’ve gotten from them. If I’m ever able to go to the Windy City, I’ll definitely find my way to this place. (yes they have coffee, else i’d’ve not shared it 
)
Looks fun.
Sounds like a unique situation. Within 2 blocks of the train station, in the evening, only coffee, but not for example McDs. The train station is a half-mile to a mile from various neighborhoods where you could have gotten anything you wanted. If you’d given me your specifics before you arrived (what time, how much time, what your maximum walking distance was, what exactly you were hoping to ingest) I could have offered help. Remember that for next time!
The same thing has happened here in northern Virginia. Places that used to be open 24/7, like supermarkets, drugstores, and diners now close overnight. Maybe not at 5pm, but…
I had need of a pharmacy at midnight recently, and while I certainly don’t lack for choices during the day, as there are at least 10 within a 5 mile radius, at midnight, the closest open one is more than half an hour drive away.
I don’t know if it’s a response to crime or if it’s difficult to find staff to work the night shift, but I’d been spoiled and miss the flexibility that I used to take for granted.
Tomorrow morning I should be alright. I will be arriving on the Capitol Limited. Once there, I will go to Meddle and have a croissant and Latte.
On my return trip next Friday I will probably have Amtrak food. 
It’s shocking how the pandemic permanently changed things.
So why will you be in Chicago? Or that’s just a stop, and you’re really just having a rail vacation?
Probably just plain inertia. Pre-pandemic, they had later hours and night shift because they had done that in the past and just kept on doing it. Then they cut schedules during pandemic and now they just keep doing that because that’s just how it is now.
Maybe they ran the numbers and decided it was more profitable this way, or maybe there are crime or employment issues. But after my years of work in many various businesses, my bet would be they just keep doing whatever they did last week. Businesses only take a risk on change when they have to. Once a new status quo is set, they default to it until something else instigates a change.
Twice per year, spring and fall, I visit my mother in the Twin Cities. She’s not happy there, but she’s not happy anywhere.
I go there ti do chores. This week I will be doing things like turning in the outside water, replacing the thermostat batteries and sharpening the lawn mower blade.
Meddle Coffee. Possibly the best latte anywhere.
