Gloomy Day in E-Town

Gloomy wet day in Elgin...

It's Not as Scary as it Used to Be!

One of my favorite T-Shirts.  I bought it at the Art Space Gallery when it was located on Douglas Avenue. It references the fact that while at one time, Downtown Elgin was a major retail center, after the drain of business to area malls in the 1970s, much of Downtown was turned into in outdoor mall which ultimately became a deserted haven for criminals and the mentally ill who were dumped by the state from the nearby Elgin Mental Health Center.

It really isn't scary at all down there anymore,  but the perception lingers by a lot of the oldtimers that largely let their city go and then complained about it.

New Businesses

From the Courier-News, posted April 6 2012 1:44pm:

ELGIN — Less-expensive rent than Cook County, a neighborhood feel, ready infrastructure and an urban area with plenty of recreation opportunities were all some of the reasons several new businesses said they chose downtown Elgin.

Elgin’s Downtown Neighborhood Association celebrated the opening or relocation of eight businesses to the downtown area on Thursday evening with a progressive ribbon cutting — stopping at each location for a half-hour to welcome the new businesses, owners and employees to Elgin.

Of those eight, seven businesses are new to Elgin since January, said Tonya Hudson, director of the downtown association.

The new businesses recognized are A&R Global Logistics, Charles Fast Foods, Elgin Home Health Care, Elgin Knit Works, Fat Cat Custom Guitars and Music Shop, Prairie Rock Grill and Robert Mikulski & Co.

SpaceTaste Gallery, formerly on Douglas Avenue, moved over the weekend into a new location at 215 E. Chicago St. and also was recognized.

Read the whole article: http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/11731232-418/new-businesses-enjoy-feel-of-downtown-elgin.html

Downtown Madness 2012

In what has become an annual event, capitalizing on the NCAA tournament at the same time, The Downtown Neighborhood Association sets up the "Downtown Madness" competition  It allows customers to vote for their offerings from various restaurants. This year, it was opened up and made into a "crosstown" competition, and the voting was fierce.

Not to denigrate anyone, because it's all great food: a sausage and pepperoni pizza, especially from Danny's, is going to beat anything with avocado in it any time (my personal opinion). However, Elgin Public House is possibly my favorite restaurant and bar in the entire city.

The link to the Daily Herald article:  http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120405/business/704059737/

This year's champion, Danny's Pizza, located out on McLean Boulevard.

This year's runner-up, and last years champion, Elgin Public House.

The Importance of Coffee

My addiction is coffee.  I always loved it.  However, when my oldest daughter lived in Seattle, Birthplace of the Holy Grail of Coffee (Starbucks), where there are drive-thru coffee kiosks on virtually every corner, I became hooked.


There are Starbucks and Caribou outlets within the city, but there are two independent shops downtown:  Domani and Ravenheart.  Both are fantastic - excellent coffee, friendly service, great atmosphere.



Domani is a small shop.  Its owner, Leo, and his staff, are terrific people and dedicated to their clientele.  You could never ask for better and more personal service.  Their sandwiches are without question the best in town.

It provides cafe-style seating, and is very intimate.

The Italian sandwich is my favorite food in town.

http://www.facebook.com/DomaniCafe

Ravenheart is a larger place.  It is staffed by a great core of three people who always provide great service.  Any caffeine, any style, any way you want it, it's there.

After I retired, I started spending an inordinate amount of time here, largely due to the wifi (recently upgraded) and the more comfortable seating.  It's virtually become a part of my daily existence.

It was looking out the window of the place every day that really inspired me to start this blog. The changing weather, the people walking and driving by, the activity up and down the street, unavoidably overheard conversations, interesting customers, local news articles - they all played a role into this.  I started getting a sense of the pulse of Downtown Elgin in here, so a lot of my stuff here is going to be sown here.

http://www.facebook.com/RavenheartElgin