White Palace Grill
If you live in the Loop, there aren’t many (good) places that are open late, or even 24 hours. Lately, more things have been opening and some places are staying open later, to cater to the mass influx of students living in the University Center.
But before that giant behemoth of a dorm was built, those living in the good ol’ fashioned 731 S Plymouth Ct. dorms had little variety when it came to late-night dining.
That was until my roommates and I discovered the jewel that is White Palace Grill. It’s located on the corner of Roosevelt and Canal. (1159 S Canal to be exact). If you’re coming from campus, it’s south to Roosevelt and then all the way over the bridge. It’s a bit of a walk, but so worth it. Even in freezing winds and snow, when the thought of going outside made me want to hide under the covers, the thought of White Palace was too good to pass up.
We used to make the trek at least once a week, so much that the waitresses knew who we were. One of my favorites was this older lady with a beehive-ish hairdo that would always call us “sweetheart.”
There’s nothing that extraordinary about White Palace, it’s just a regular old Chicago diner. But that’s exactly why we liked it. There were no trendy kids stumbling in drunk after a night at the bars (Clarkes on Belmont anyone? I love Clarkes, but admit it, it’s annoying if you’re not one of them), it was just a bunch of locals and cops drinking coffee and eating classic diner food.
There’s a big mural on one wall of different Chicago personalities, like Oprah and Michael Jordan, and my roommates and I used to love trying to guess who they were. We could always get all the obvious ones, but there are some people up there none of us could ever figure out.
Also, on the menu, they’d often mispell things, which just made it all the better. Like “Chicken Finger Dinne” and “Appertizers.”
I haven’t been to White Palace in while, since I moved to the North Side. But going there with my roommates will always be a fond memory for me. A huge shopping complex has edged it’s way in the lot next to White Palace, but I was glad to see that they didn’t sell to the developers. White Palace vs. the Man, and White Palace wins!