History in DePaul

In 1972, when the neighborhood was still seedy and the rent was dirt cheap, a 24 year-old Greek immigrant named Alex Polakis opened his Athenian Room restaurant at this location.  It was much smaller back then with just three tables and a counter, but has since expanded to include a spacious dining room and sidewalk seating.  Alex Polakis is still there today, seven days a week, serving up the same well-loved cuisine.  Though it probably didn't need it, the Athenian Room received a wonderful publicity boost in October 2011 when comedienne Tina Fey raved about it on national television.

The city designated this district in the depaul neighborhood a landmark on March 10, 2004.  "These row houses are among the earliest and largest-surviving groups of masonry construction built after the City of Chicago banned wood-frame construction," according to the city's official tourism website.