Do you live in a Chicago neighborhood or suburb far from Andersonville? Do you mean to get to Women & Children First but never quite make it? Can we help motivate you with suggestions for a day in our neighborhood?

For breakfast or lunch, Ann Sathers is just steps south of us. The cinnamon rolls are huge, warm, & frostingy. Our staff does accept gifts of them. You can also head north about five blocks to M. Henry. It’s a newer breakfast/lunch place, & a staff favorite. It’s vegetarian-friendly, & the food is consistently fresh & surprising. While up there, check out the Mexican bakery across the street; & while strolling south stop off at woman-owned chocolate shop Bon Bon for some handmade chocolates with chai or curry.

To kill time before you’re hungry & can eat again, you can of course shop for hours at Women and Children First. You can also dart across the street for great thrifting at The Brown Elephant, the first resale store in the country designed to specifically raise funds for HIV care. You can visit the Swedish American Museum a block south of us. You should definitely visit the Middle Eastern Bakery & buy nuts, feta cheese, olives, dolma, spinach pies, and homemade nougat to take home with you. And you need to take a short drive or a little walk out of your way to get to another huge area draw for feminist shopping – Early to Bed! This beautiful (seriously – you’ll instantly want to repaint your apartment) sex toy shop has a super friendly staff, committed to making everyone who walks through the door feel welcome.

There are plenty of dinner options. T’s is just south of us, a gay-friendly neighborhood bar & restaurant with great outdoor dining in the summer. Tomboy is north of us a few blocks. It’s lesbian-owned, & has great food that’s pretty fancy (wasabi marinated yellow fin tuna steak.) If you’re looking to spend less, there is Sunshine! We have a bunch of Japanese restaurants in the area, but locals know to go to Sunshine Café for homestyle Japanese food & BYOB.

After dinner, have drinks at Star Gaze, one of the city’s few lesbian bars – Friday night is salsa night! Or have drinks at Simon’s - specials on Schlitz! Or have drinks at clubbier Atmosphere – Friday night is Chix Mix! Or have drinks at the Hop Leaf – one of the largest beer selections in Chicago, & Belgian food in the back room! Or duck around the corner to the Neo-Futurariam on Foster & Ashland and see some cutting edge performance. You can also hop in your car or take the Clark bus out of the neighborhood to the Music Box Theatre on Southport – it opened in 1929, & is like having a year-round film festival 10 minutes from Andersonville, with midnight movies and matinees on weekends. Of course, you should always check our event schedule – we’re very likely to have an author reading or discussion that we’d love to have you attend.

It’s easy to make a day and night of coming to our neighborhood. Travel here from the suburbs or from your neighborhood, with your best friends or by yourself, & you’ll find plenty to do & experience. We regularly have women walking in and telling us they’ve meant to come here for years, & are really happy they made the trip. This means a lot to us. We hope to see you soon!

Ann Sathers 5207 Clark
M Henry 5707 Clark
Bon Bon 5410 Clark
Brown Elephant 5228 Clark
Swedish American Museum 5211 Clark
Middle Eastern Bakery 1512 W Foster
Early to Bed 5232 N Sheridan
T’s 5025 Clark
Tomboy 5402 Clark
Sunshine Café 5449 Clark
Star Gaze 5419 Clark
Simon’s Tavern 5210 Clark
Hopleaf 5148 Clark
Neo-Futurarium 5153 Ashland
Music Box Theatre 3733 N Southport