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Bronzeville Dominated by Fast Food

By Ted Cox | March 9, 2015 5:37am
 The White Castle at Cermak and Wabash has enjoyed a boost with the opening of the new CTA Green Line stop seen here in the background.
The White Castle at Cermak and Wabash has enjoyed a boost with the opening of the new CTA Green Line stop seen here in the background.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

BRONZEVILLE —The city is covered with fast food restaurants, but in Bronzeville there are more than usual. 

A new DNAinfo Chicago food map based on Yelp data shows that fast food is the dominant cuisine in Bronzeville, with almost six times more fast-food outlets than the average across the city's 77 neighborhoods.

The White Castle on the Bronzeville boundary with the South Loop at 2140 S. Wabash Ave. has enjoyed a boost with the opening of the new CTA Green Line stop at Cermak Road.

Store General Manager Richard Ealy said the White Castle has been there since 1993, and that sales have been on a steady increase since last summer.

Ealy said the opening of the L stop has made a difference, "but with the weather being the way it is, we haven't seen a big increase."

 White Castle General Manager Richard Ealy says the Cermak location might expand if business continues to increase.
White Castle General Manager Richard Ealy says the Cermak location might expand if business continues to increase.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

The exception to that has been with the annual Auto Show at McCormick Place.

"We have noticed a lot of foot traffic when the Auto Show was going on," Ealy said. "There was a lot of foot traffic off the Green Line, so that helped." He expects the same with other major conventions at McCormick Place.

The reason weather plays a role with store business is because this White Castle doesn't have a dining room. Open 24 hours a day, it's primarily a drive-through location. Yet Ealy said a substantial increase in business could prompt the company to expand.

"With all the new development and everything that's going on, we're looking forward to seeing people more, which would help to get us a larger building," Ealy added.

It could become a destination for what the company calls "Craver Nation," diners desiring sliders. Although there are a handful of White Castle outlets throughout the city, including at 35th Street and Martin Luther King Drive farther south in Bronzeville, the location at Cermak and Wabash is the only one directly on a major CTA line, and it's the most convenient to the Loop.

Harold's Chicken Shack launched in nearby Kenwood on 47th Street decades ago, and it has a few locations in Bronzeville, including one right around the corner from the Cermak White Castle at 2109 S. Wabash Ave.

The neighborhood also boasts of H-Dogs, which claims it "brings delicious gourmet fast food to Bronzeville" at 4655 S. King Drive. In the grand tradition of the beloved-but-closed Hot Doug's, it offers a duck sausage (the "Frenchie") and a smoked andouille (the "Big Easy").

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