Taken for a (South) Loop
The downtown Chicago farmers markets all have their signature touches. The Daley Plaza City Market in the Loop has the ginormous Picasso modernist sculpture. SOAR Farmers Market in the Streeterville neighborhood has its proximity to landmarks such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Water Tower and the Hancock building.
And the South Loop Thursday Market, in its new location at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road, has one of heck of a skyline backdrop.
I enjoyed my first visit yesterday evening — the market is open Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. — with one little bone to pick. The market’s website says it is located in the corner of Grant Park, which sounded like a very cool location. When I got there, I saw green grass and the public art work Agora, which depicts a gathering of people but only from the waist down. But no market.
OK, my bad for not reading more closely, because the site did say “S.E. Corner of Michigan Ave. and Roosevelt Rd.” I was on the northeast corner and when I turned around, I saw the tops of the vendors’ tents.
When I got to the right place, there was a good-sized crowd and at least a couple of dozen vendors. They even had a band of seasoned musicians playing jazz and Dixieland. Add some adult beverages and you could as easily call it a street fair as a farmers market.
Here are some more photos to help set the scene. And below the reminder listing of this weekend’s farmers markets, there are some very cute dogs of the South Loop.
Star Farm Chicago is located in the city’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Jacobson Family Farms of Antioch, Illinois.
My haul from South Loop Farmers Market. Lookit all those greens! From left, red leaf lettuce from Star Farm Chicago; carrots with their greens from Los Rodriguez Farm (Eau Claire, Michigan); kale from Otter Oaks (a Chicago urban farm established this year); red turnips with lots and lots of greens from Jacobson Family Farms (yes, I was surprised those were turnips and not radishes); and bagels from Zeitlin’s Delicatessen (Chicago).
The Weekend Regional Market Schedule
(* = season opener)
Am I wrong or do you have as many farmers' markets as you do people in Chicago?