This was my favorite to go til today , they dont even bother to mention price changes and online dont update their menu either until I picked up my order and realized everything was $5 extra each entree then before i would have order …More
Food is good but they keep changing prices and charge for every little thing or change. If a meal comes with shrimp fried rice and you want beef fried rice $$$$$$$. Their is a lady there that takes orders over the phone, she is rude!!!! I do like the food but I don't order as often as I would like too because of these reasons.
View the online menu of First Chop Suey and other restaurants in Cicero, Illinois. ... 2325 S Cicero Ave, Cicero, IL 60804. Hours. Mon. 11:00am-9:00pm.
I am a massive Chinese/Cantonese food fanatic & I have been to many places across IL, I can say confidently that First Chop Suey is by… read more.
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About Cicero, Illinois
Cicero: An American Town
–by John S. Kociolko
The Town of Cicero is one of the oldest and largest municipalities in the State of Illinois and the only incorporated town in Cook County. It bears the name of the great Roman statesman of the First Century B.C., Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Cicero was one of the greatest statesmen of Rome and an advocate of constitutional government. He died in the political turmoil which followed the assassination of Julius Caesar, but his writings and beliefs survived. Centuries later, the principles Cicero espoused would flourish again in a young republic with a new constitution, capitol and senate, the United States of America.
Illinois, part of the old Northwest Territory which the United States had acquired from Great Britain in 1783, joined the Union as the 21st state in 1818. Most of the early Illinoisans were from the South, where counties were the basis of local government and so the new state was divided into counties. Cook County was established in 1831, comprising what is today Cook, DuPage, Iroquois, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties.
Later settlers from the Northeast preferred their traditional township government and a new state constitution in 1848 authorized the creation of townships. In the following year, Cook County voters approved the new jurisdictions.
Among the townships created by the County Board in 1849 was a 36 square mile tract bounded by what are today Western, North and Harlem Avenues and Pershing Road. On June 23, 1857, 14 electors met to organize a local government for the district, which they named “The Town of Cicero.” Railroads, immigration and the Civil War contributed to economic growth in the new township, which by 1867 numbered 3,000 residents. In that year the state legislature incorporated the Town of Cicero as a municipality with a special charter, which was revised in 1869. Township and municipal functions have subsequently been discharged by a single board of elected officials.
Cicero’s rapid development in these early years now collided with the expanding political power of its neighbor, the City of Chicago. By 1889, Chicago had annexed more than half of the original Town. An 1899 referendum ceded the Austin neighborhood to the city and in the following year land containing a race track was transferred to Stickney Township.
On July 21, 1899, Ernest Hemingway, winner of both the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes, was born within the Town of Cicero, in what is today the Village of Oak Park. In 1901, the three remaining components of the Town- today’s Oak Park, Berwyn and Cicero-voted to separate. The surviving Town of Cicero retained less than six of the 36 square miles carved out in 1849. Immigrants and their families swelled the Town’s population, however, and housing construction boomed within its diminished territory.
In 1901, the three remaining components of the old township – today’s Oak Park, Berwyn and Cicero – voted to separate. The surviving Town of Cicero retained less than six of the 36 square miles carved out in 1849. Immigrants and their families swelled the Town’s population, however, and housing construction boomed within its diminished territory.
Served by the Burlington, Illinois Central, Belt Line, and other railroads, Cicero attracted many industries in the Twentieth Century and became the largest manufacturing center in the state after Chicago. It was also the site of an early airfield in 1911. W. Edwards Deming began his pioneering work on management techniques in the 1920’s at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works, an industrial colossus which employed more than 40,000 people during World War II and was the dominant business in Town for eight decades.
From the early townsmen who fought in the Union Army during the Civil War, Ciceronians have proudly served in the armed forces. Their bravery is exemplified by Boatswain’s Mate Joseph P. Steffan, who died abroad the USS Arizona in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Capt. Edward C. Krzyzowski, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Korea.
Cicero is composed of eight neighborhoods, with their own district names and characteristics. Two were named for businesses-Grant Works after an 1890 locomotive factory and Hawthorne for an 1850’s quarry, the first Cicero industry. Two bear the family names of local landowners, Warren Park and Drezel, while two more were christened by prominent residents, Clyde, recalling a river in Scotland and Morton Park honoring Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraskan who served as Agriculture Secretary to President Cleveland. Morton also gave his name to the local high school and college, yet he never lived in the town. Boulevard Manor derives its name from Austin Boulevard. The origin of the title of Parkholme is unknown.
The Town of Cicero has a colorful history, which forms a part of the larger stories of the county, state and nation. Three Presidents-Eisenhower, Reagan, and Bush- visited Cicero on their roads to the White House. We can better understand the present and plan for the future, if we know the achievements of the past.
Originally,Cicero Townshipoccupied an area six times the size of its current territory. Weak political leadership and town services resulted in cities such asOak ParkandBerwynvoting to split off from Cicero, and other portions, such asAustin, were annexed into the city ofChicago.[8]
By 1911, anaerodromecalled theCicero Flying Fieldhad been established as the town's first aircraft facility of any type,[9]located on a roughly square plot of land about 800 meters (1/2-mile) per side, on then-open ground at41°51′19.03″N87°44′56.5″Wby the Aero Club of Illinois, founded on February 10, 1910.[10]Famous pilots likeHans-Joachim Buddecke,Lincoln Beachey,Chance M. Voughtand others flew from there at various times during the"pioneer era" of aviationin the United States shortly before the nation's involvement inWorld War I, before the field closed in mid-April 1916.[11]
Al Caponebuilt his criminal empire in Chicago before moving to Cicero to escape the reach of Chicago police.[12]The1924 Cicero municipal electionswere particularly violent due to gang-related efforts to secure a favorable election result.
On July 11–12, 1951, arace riot erupted in Cicerowhen a white mob of around 4,000 attacked and burned an apartment building at 6139 W. 19th Street that housed theAfrican-Americanfamily of Harvey Clark Jr., aChicago Transit Authoritybus driver who had relocated to the all-white city. GovernorAdlai E. Stevensonwas forced to call out theIllinois National Guard. The Clarks moved away and the building had to be boarded up.[13]The Cicero riot received worldwide condemnation.[14]
Cicero was taken up and abandoned several times as site for acivil rightsmarch in the mid-1960s. Cicero had asundown townpolicy prohibiting African Americans from living in the city.[15]TheAmerican Friends Service Committee,Martin Luther King Jr., and many affiliated organizations, including churches, were conducting marches against housing and schoolde factosegregation and inequality in Chicago and several suburbs, but the leaders feared too violent a response inChicago Lawnand Cicero.[16]Eventually, a substantial march (met by catcalls, flying bottles and bricks) was conducted in Chicago Lawn, but only a splinter group, led byJesse Jackson, marched in Cicero.[17]The marches in the Chicago suburbs helped galvanize support for the passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1968, extending federal prohibitions against discrimination to private housing. The act also created theUnited States Department of Housing and Urban Development'sOffice of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which enforces the law.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a heavy influx ofHispanic(mostlyMexicanandCentral American) residents to Cicero. Once considered mainly aCzechorBohemiantown, most of the European-style restaurants and shops on 22nd Street (nowCermak Road) have been replaced by Spanish-titled businesses. In addition, Cicero has a small black community.
Cicero has seen a revival in its commercial sector, with many new mini-malls and large retail stores. New condominiums are also being built in the city.
Cicero has long had a reputation of government scandal. By 2002, Republican Town PresidentBetty Loren-Maltesewas sent tofederal prisonin California, for misappropriating $12 million in funds.[18][19]
According to the 2010 census, Cicero has a total area of 5.86 square miles (15.18 km2), all land.[20]Cicero formerly ran from Harlem Avenue to Western Avenue and Pershing Road to North Avenue; however, much of this area was annexed by Chicago.
J. Sterling Morton High School, East Campus, also known as Morton East High School, was built in 1894. The original school was destroyed by fire in 1924, and the current building was constructed. Located at 2423 S. Austin Blvd, Morton East serves residents of Cicero.
Chodl Auditorium, located inside Morton East High School, was built in 1924 (completed 1927) to replace the 1,200-seat auditorium which was destroyed by fire. The auditorium was originally a dual-purpose room, serving as a gymnasium for students, and was originally built for this purpose. In 1967 the school stopped using the auditorium as a gymnasium. Chodl Auditorium is among the largest non-commercialprosceniumtheatres in the Chicago Metropolitan Area and is listed with theNational Register of Historic Places.
Hawthorne WorksTower, one of the original towers of the enormousWestern Electricmanufacturing plant that once stood east of Cicero Avenue, is still located behind the Hawthorne Works Shopping Center near the corner of Cermak Road (22nd Street) and Cicero Avenue.
On the south side of Cicero, there were two racetracks.Hawthorne Race Course, located in Cicero andStickney, is ahorse racingtrack still in operation. Just north of it wasChicago Motor Speedway at Sportsman's Park, which was formerly Sportsman's Park Racetrack (for horse racing) for many years. This Sportsman's Park facility is now closed, acquired by the Town of Cicero, and has since been demolished. Facilities of theWirtz Beverage Grouphave been built on the west half and aWalmartbuilt on the east half.
As of the 2010 census, 83,891 people, 22,101 households, and 17,752 families resided in the town. Thepopulation densitywas 14,315.9 people per square mile (5,527.4/km2). There were 24,329 housing units at an average density of 4,151.7 per square mile (1,600.6/km2). Theracial makeupof the town was 51.9%White(9.2% Non-Hispanic white), 3.8%African American, 0.8%Native American, 0.6%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander American, 39.3% some other race, and 3.5% from two or more races. 89.6% of the population wereHispanicorLatinoof any race, with 80.2% ofMexicandescent.[6]
There were 22,101 households, out of which 57.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were headed bymarried couplesliving together, 17.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.79, and the average family size was 4.19.[6]
The age distribution at the 2010 census was 33.8% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males. Of the total population, 50.9% are male and 49.1% are female.[6]
As of the 2011 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the town was $39,557, and the median income for a family was $42,235. Male full-time workers had a median income of $31,603 versus $31,117 for females. Theper capita incomefor the town was $14,339. About 15.6% of families and 18.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.[23]
As of 2011, 52.5% of occupied housing units were owned properties, and 47.5% were rentals. There were 4,667 vacant housing units. The average age of home properties was greater than 66 years.[24]
The top five non-Hispanic ancestries reported in Cicero as of the 2000 census werePolish(4.7%),Irish(3.7%),German(3.7%),Italian(3.0%) andCzech(2.3%).[25]
Cicero is a factory town. As of 1999, about a quarter of the city contained one of the greatest industrial concentrations in the world. There were more than 150 factories in 1.7 mi (2.8 km), producing communications and electronic equipment, sugar, printing presses, steel castings, tool and die makers' supplies, forging and rubber goods.[citation needed]
Cicero is served byCicero Elementary School District 99and comprises 16 schools, making it one of the largest public school districts outside of Chicago. Elementary students attend the following schools, depending on residency: Burnham (K-6), Cicero East (4-6), Cicero West (PK-4), Columbus East (4-6), Columbus West (PK-4), Drexel (K-6), Early Childhood Center (PK), Goodwin (PK-6), Liberty (K-3), Lincoln (PK-6), Roosevelt (5-6), Sherlock (PK-6), Warren Park (PK-6), Wilson (K-6), and Unity Junior High (7-8), which is separated into East/West sections. East side being held for eighth graders & seventh graders on the West side. Unity is the second largest middle school in the country. High school students entering their freshman year attend the Freshman Center and then continue high school atMorton Eastof theJ. Sterling Morton High School District 201. The McKinley Educational Center serves as an alternative school for 5th-8th graders and the Morton Alternative School serves as an alternative school for 9th-12th graders
Cicero is served by the Cicero Fire Department (CFD), with a staff of 68 professional firefighters and 24 paramedics. The CFD operates out of three fire stations.[30]
In the musicalChicagoVelma Kelly mentions Cicero in the number "Cell Block Tango" as the location of the hotel where she murdered her husband Charlie and sister Veronica.
InWalker Percy'snovelLove in the Ruins, the schismatic American Catholic church establishes Cicero, Illinois as its "new Rome."
InGuys and Dolls, the Chicago-area gangster "Big Julie" claims to be from "East Cicero, Illinois" (and pronounces the final "s" on Illinois).
In the 1948 film noirSorry, Wrong Number, the story takes place in New York City but in flash-backs recounted by several characters we learn that the story actually begins in Chicago and Cicero. The female character Leona Cotterel (Barbara Stanwyck) is the rich, spoiled daughter of the owner of a pharmaceutical company located in Cicero. She lives with her father in a Chicago mansion. A few years later, after she marries, the story moves to Bayonne, New Jersey, and ends in Manhattan and Staten Island.
Al Bundy from the show Married with Children mentions that he gets his hair cut in Cicero.
^"Cicero (town), Illinois".State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. 8 July 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 25 July 2012. Retrieved17 September2014.
^Gray, Carroll (2005)."CICERO FLYING FIELD - Origin, Operation, Obscurity and Legacy - 1891 to 1916 - OPERATION, 1911 - THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CICERO FLYING FIELD".lincolnbeachey.com. Carroll F. Gray. RetrievedSeptember 7,2017.The second great aeronautical event of 1911 around Chicago was the establishment by the A.C.I. of a top-notch flying field named "Cicero Flying Field" (or simply "Cicero") within the township limits of Cicero (bounded by 16th St., 52nd Ave., 22nd St. and 48th Avenue..At some point during May, the A.C.I. was given a five year lease on the Cicero property by the Grant Land Association, Harold F. McCormick's property holding company. At the conclusion of the 1911 Aviation Meet, the hangars in Grant Park were moved to the southern edge of the 2-1/2 sq. mi. lot in Cicero.
^Gray, Carroll (2005)."CICERO FLYING FIELD - Origin, Operation, Obscurity and Legacy - 1891 to 1916 - 1909 & 1910 - GLENN H. CURTISS & THE AERO CLUB OF ILLINOIS".lincolnbeachey.com. Carroll F. Gray. RetrievedSeptember 7,2017.The day before his two-day exhibition flights at theHawthorne Race Trackin Cicero, Illinois, on October 16 and 17, 1909,Glenn Curtissspoke to the Chicago Automobile Club and suggested that an aero club be formed in Chicago. In response to his remarks, the Aero Club of Illinois ("A.C.I.") was incorporated on February 10, 1910, withOctave Chanuteas its first president - a perfect choice, to be sure...The second great aeronautical event of 1911 around Chicago was the establishment by the A.C.I. of a top-notch flying field named "Cicero Flying Field" (or simply "Cicero") within the township limits of Cicero (bounded by [West] 16th St., 52nd Ave [S. Laramie Avenue]., 22nd St [West Cermak Road]. and48th Ave.), conveniently located adjacent to interurban rail service - just a 15 min. 5¢ trip on theDouglas Park "L"from downtown Chicago, and also was served by two streetcar lines.
^Gray, Carroll (2005)."CICERO FLYING FIELD - Origin, Operation, Obscurity and Legacy - 1891 to 1916 - 1916 - THE FINAL FLIGHT & A NEW FIELD".lincolnbeachey.com. Carroll F. Gray. RetrievedSeptember 7,2017.On April 16, 1916, when "Matty" Laird took off from Cicero Flying Field, at the controls of his self-designed and self-built Boneshaker biplane and flew to the new Partridge & Keller aviation field at 87th St. and Pulaski Road, in Chicago, Cicero Flying Field ceased to be. The next day, the Aero Club of Illinois (A.C.I.) officially opened its new 640 acreAshburn Fieldon land purchased by A.C.I. President "Pop" Dickinson for the A.C.I.. Ashburn was located at 83rd St. and Cicero Avenue, about 7-1/2 miles almost due south of Cicero. All of the hangars and buildings at Cicero had been moved to Ashburn Field some months earlier.
^Wilkerson, Isabel (2020).The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. New York: Random House. p. 375.ISBN978-0-679-44432-9.
^Nolte, Robert (September 8, 1966)."'Victory' Means Little to Cicero".Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.Although he says the Cicero march was a victory, residents of Cicero probably feel no different about Negroes than they did one week ago. (Negroes are not allowed to live in Cicero, but ironically, 15,000 of them work in the suburb's factories and stores five days a week.)
Named after the famous Roman consul, this western suburb of Chicago is a blue collar town long associated with manufacturing.
In the 1920s Cicero was where Al Capone relocated to escape the attention of the Chicago police, and there are a couple of landmarks around town harking back to his time.
A manufacturer at the height of its power in Capone’s time was Western Electric at Hawthorne Works, and the last remaining vestige of this vast complex survives in the form of a Medieval-style tower along West Cermak Road.
This factory, manufacturing phone components and electrical products, essentially gave birth to Cicero and is remembered for its progressive employment ideals and its well-paid and content workforce.
A masterpiece in the Prairie Style, this park just northeast of Cicero was designed entirely by the feted landscape architect Jens Jensen (1860-1951).
Jensen was given free rein to implement his ideas at Columbus Park, and these 144 acres were laid out between 1915 and 1920.
Complementing the natural beauty of the pre-existing landscape, the park features a meandering lagoon designed to evoke a prairie river, endowed with charming little cascades and waterfalls made from stratified stone.
Native plants grow throughout Columbus Park, and there’s a tangle of stone paths that converge on the “Council Ring”, a circular stone bench for storytelling.
Incorporated into the fabric of the park is the nine-hole, links-style Columbus Park Golf Course.
Both a remarkable piece of local heritage and a botanical wonder, this conservatory is on a small plot a couple of minutes from Cicero.
The structure, dating to 1929, has a stately Edwardian design and contains a wide array of plant life. Many of the plants growing in Oak Park’s public spaces are cultivated in this facility.
In the collections are desert species, including several groups of cactus and succulents, as well as bay, figs, date palm and olive trees.
You can also see a variety of orchids, rainforest plants and ferns, and exotic fruits, from fig to banana, lemon and papaya.
The conservatory has a bustling events program, including Uncorked, a monthly wine festival, with local food and live music.
One monument that will capture your attention on your way around Cicero is an historic church, completed in 1918.
This opulent neo-Gothic building is a classic example of the Polish Cathedral style that is specific to the Great Lakes region.
These Catholic churches, mostly from the 19th and early 20th century are renowned for their grandeur and theatrical ornamentation, and St. Mary of Częstochowa is no different.
Visible for miles around, the two towers framing the main portal are 200 feet tall and are crowned with crocketed pinnacles.
Inside, the communion rail, pulpit and altars are all fashioned from Carrara marble, and the main altar is capped with a replica of the venerated Polish icon, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
On the sidewalk in front is a sculpture of Christ the King, by Czesław Dźwigaj, famed for the monumental bronze doors on St Hyacinth’s Basilica in Chicago.
An interesting piece of trivia about the church is that Al Capone’s sister Mafalda was married here in 1930.
Up to 1983 Cicero was dominated by an immense factory complex that opened in 1905 and manufactured telephone equipment and household appliances.
At its peak the Hawthorne Works employed 45,000 people and became the focus for influential academic industrial studies in the 1920s.
Around that time the trailblazing engineers and statisticians Walter A. Shewhart and W. Edwards Dennin were employed at the works.
After the factory shut down the land was redeveloped as a shopping center, but the works’ famous castle-like tower, complete with decorative arrow loops and machicolations continues to rise over the former site.
To see artifacts and accounts from Hawthorne Works, check out the excellent Hawthorne Museum at Morton College.
5. Freddy’s Pizza
Source: Peter de Kievith / shutterstock
Dried Sausage
This family-run Italian deli, market and restaurant at 1600 61st Ave is a neighborhood go-to, in business since 1968.
Freddy’s Pizza is completely without pretence, so it’s appropriate that you’ll find such a place in Cicero.
What you get are delicious Italian specialties, from Neapolitan and Chicago-style pizza to ravioli, stuffed gnocchi in vodka sauce and chicken vesuvio.
At the deli counter you can pick from a vast range of imported fine meats and sausages, cheeses, seasonings, olive oils, homemade marinara sauce and freshly prepared salads and pasta dishes to take home.
Always popular are the frozen lemonade and gelato and in a range of homemade flavors.
This spotless neighborhood park is the main gathering place for Cicero. The centerpiece at Cicero Community Park is a little plaza couched in formal flower beds and traced by a pergola.
During the summer there’s a calendar of festivals, games and programs happening here, while carnivals are set up in the parking lot on the southwest corner.
A lovely time to come is around the holiday season for the Christmas lights. The park also has a few permanent amenities, like an open skate park, while the network of paths have a steady stream of joggers, families with buggies, cyclists and dog walkers.
This artery passes through Cicero and runs as far east as McCormick Place south of downtown Chicago.
In Cicero, West Cermak Road is where most of the local businesses are located. And given Cicero’s Hispanic population there’s no shortage of authentic taquerias and Mexican restaurants, bakeries, ice cream shops and markets.
Some picks are La Lupita (6539), Indio (6037), La Central (6034), Paleteria Las Delicias De Michoacán (5737), Taqueria La Guadalupana (5517).
For a bit of local history, 4833 W. 22nd Street is the site of Al Capone’s Cicero headquarters in 1924.
There’s plenty of early 20th century architecture to admire on West Cermak Road, and this goes especially for the Olympic Theatre (6134), dating to 1927.
8. Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink
Source: begalphoto / shutterstock
Ice Rink
Named for one of the greatest Chicago Blackhawks of all time, this open-air skating rink in Cicero opened for its inaugural season in 2011.
Weather permitting, the Bobby Hull Community Ice Rink is open seven days a week, all season long.
Open skate entry fees and skate rentals are $3 and $5 respectively for non-residents and just $1 each if you live in Cicero.
Most days are broken down between stick and puck sessions (normally 10 am til 3 pm), and lighted open skate, which continues into the evening.
9. Hawthorne Park District
Source: M.Volkova / shutterstock
Picnic In The Park
Cicero proper doesn’t have a ton of other public open space, but the Hawthorne Park District building backs onto a large sweep of greenery.
This offers a few amenities, like a basketball court in great condition and tennis and volleyball courts, along with a small swing set for children.
You’ll find a large open field for casual sports, picnics and walks, bordered by tall mature trees and with a pair of baseball diamonds on the south side.
There’s ample free parking by the park district building and you can rent a hall here for private events.
10. Portillo’s Hot Dogs
Source: jamie.sue.photography / shutterstock
Portillo’s
If you’re in the Chicago area and craving some quick indulgent food, this Second City icon is a good bet.
Portillo’s was founded in Villa Park in 1963, and despite its high reputation has only recently started to branch out beyond Illinois’ borders.
Almost all of the chain’s 60 locations are within this state, and there’s a spot a few minutes west of Cicero on Roosevelt Road in Forest Park.
Best known for its Chicago-style hot dogs, with chopped onions, tomatoes, pickle and everything else piled onto a poppy seed bun, Portillo’s also has a menu packed with other Chicago favorites like Italian beef sandwiches and baked mostaccioli pasta.
As soon as the snow settles in winter, families flock to this neighborhood park, which has one of the best sledding hills around.
The slope is well cared for throughout the season, while the park, a few minutes north of Cicero, also has a small playground for wee ones, a soccer field and a baseball diamond.
Barrie Park has an interesting past, as the site of a manufactured gas plant at the turn of the 20th century.
In the late 1990s hazardous chemicals were found in the soil, which triggered a three-year clean-up operation before the park bounced back better than ever in 2005.
12. Cicero Marketplace
Source: VGstockstudio / shutterstock
Shopping
On the east side of Cicero, this enormous shopping center has a ton of big box stores and chain restaurants.
Cicero Marketplace has been around since 1995 and has a Target, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, GameStop and Five Below, to name a few.
Sprinkled around the place are branches of IHOP, Sonic, McDonalds, KFC, Panda Express and Starbucks.
A little further north, in the shadow of the Hawthorne Works tower is another strip mall with a Foot Locker, Menards, a 14-screen AMC multiplex and a few more eateries like Taco Bell, Popeye’s and Subway.
13. North Riverside Park Mall
Source: Grand Warszawski / shutterstock
Sephora
Keep going along West Cermak Road and in a few minutes you’ll come to this large mall in North Riverside.
There are close to 100 stores and services at the North Riverside Park Mall, including familiar brands like Old Navy, Sephora, H&M, Forever 21, Foot Locker, Victoria’s Secret, Hot Topic, Claire’s and Kay Jewelers.
The main anchor on the south side is JCPenney, and here and there you’ll find some food court favorites like Cinnabon, Dunkin’, Baskin Robbins and Auntie Anne’s.
If you’re on the hunt for family activities, this center is in North Riverside, right next to the mall.
There’s a lot going on inside Urban Air, and the range of attractions extends far beyond a typical trampoline park.
You’ve got go-karts, virtual reality games, a climbing wall, a “Sky Rider” zip line, a ropes course, kid-friendly “Adventure Hub” playground and bumper cars.
Added to that are all of the side activities you would normally find at a trampoline park, like a Wipeout area, battle beam, dodgeball court, tumble track and slam dunk zone.
You can also purchase flexible passes giving you access to as many or as few attractions as you please.
15. Hawthorne Race Course
Source: Sportlibrary / shutterstock
Horse Racing
In the south of Cicero, the Hawthorne Race Course first opened in 1891, making it the oldest family-run racetrack in North America.
When horse racing was banned in Chicago in the early 20th century the field became a testing ground for the aviation pioneers Victory Allan Lockheed.
A noteworthy detail about the main track here is the home stretch, which at 1,320 feet is one of the longest in the United States.
Three events to mark in the diary are the thoroughbred graded stakes races, the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (October), the Illinois Derby (April) and the Sixty Sails Handicap (April).
When we wrote this article the course was in the process of a $400 million redevelopment, which will turn the track into a casino and entertainment destination, to go with its historic track.
