Walking tour

Greektown anchors and history walk

Greektown along Halsted Street is the longest-tenured sub-area of the West Loop, with Greek immigrant settlement dating to the late 1800s. The corridor was reshaped by UIC's 1965 expansion and the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway, but the surviving stretch on North and South Halsted still holds the institutions that anchor the neighborhood's Greek identity.

For: Anyone interested in Chicago's immigrant neighborhoods or Greek-American food.
Length: about 7 minutes of walking between stops — allow more if you linger
Start: UIC-Halsted CTA station (Blue Line). Walk north on Halsted from Van Buren.

Stops

1. 1 Whole Foods Market — Halsted

   The largest grocery store in the West Loop, at 1 N Halsted. Worth a stop for the Greek deli section that nods to the surrounding neighborhood.

   1 N Halsted St 1, Chicago, IL, 60661

2. ↓ 3-minute walk

   2 Aqua Food and Spirits

   Restaurant and bar at 114 N Halsted, on the surviving Greektown commercial strip.

   114 N Halsted St Ground, Chicago, IL, 60661

3. ↓ 4-minute walk

   3 Greektown sub-area overview

   The /streets/greektown page covers the neighborhood's history, the institutions still here, and the ones lost to the expressway and UIC expansion. Worth reading before the walk if you have time.

Frequently asked questions

What about the National Hellenic Museum?

The National Hellenic Museum at 333 S Halsted is the anchor cultural institution. It rotates exhibits on Greek-American history and Greek cultural heritage; admission is paid.

Which Greek restaurants are still here?

Greektown has lost several institutions over the past two decades but retains a core including Greek Islands, Pegasus, Athena, and Artopolis. The /streets/greektown page lists current operators.

Sources

• National Hellenic Museum
• Encyclopedia of Chicago — Greeks

See all walking tours or the themed itineraries hub for stop-by-stop visit sequences. Heritage context lives at /west-loop/heritage.