Brick and limestone storefronts along 18th Street, and the block HBO dressed as 1950s America for Lovecraft Country.
What Pilsen looks like
West 18th Street is Pilsen's commercial spine, three and four storey store and flat buildings built wall to wall from the 1880s to the 1920s, shops below and flats above. Blue Island Avenue crosses 18th Street and Loomis Street on the diagonal at , a six way corner rebuilt as a plaza with an eagle topped column at its center.
The buildings carry brick and stone fronts, carved limestone lintels over the windows and ornamental brickwork along the cornice lines. Some storefronts sit a step or two below the sidewalk, reached down a short flight of stairs to the door. Awnings and painted signs run in Spanish and English along the block, and parked cars line both kerbs most of the day.
's limestone corner rises three storeys over 18th Street at Allport Street, arched storefront bays under a corner turret. Farther west on the same street, the keeps an arched stone doorway and a hand lettered sign. Cafe Jumping Bean occupies a domed corner turret at Bishop Street.
The sits inside Harrison Park on 19th Street, a low brick building behind iron gates. The Pink Line's 18th Street stop is a few blocks north, and city buses run the length of 18th Street past the storefronts.
Shot in Pilsen
Two network series have used 18th Street as itself. The HBO series Lovecraft Country dressed the block between Ashland Avenue and Blue Island Avenue as 1950s America, and the NBC series Chicago Justice filmed along Throop Street and the block of 18th Street toward Blue Island Avenue.
Lovecraft Country, 2020
18th Street at Bishop Street
Played 18th Street storefronts, Chicago, 1950s
HBO dressed the block of 18th Street between Ashland Avenue and Blue Island Avenue as 1950s America for Lovecraft Country. Cafe Jumping Bean's domed corner turret at Bishop Street sits on that same block. Street View
Chicago Justice, 2017
18th Street at Allport Street
Played 18th Street and Throop Street, Chicago, present day
NBC's Chicago Justice filmed on South Throop Street between 16th and 18th Streets, and on West 18th Street between Blue Island Avenue and 1315 West 18th in September 2016. Thalia Hall's limestone corner at Allport Street sits inside that same 18th Street block. Dusek's, the restaurant that occupied its storefront in this photograph, closed at the end of 2023. The concert hall above it is still open. Street View
What Pilsen can double for
Historic Mitchell Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mitchell Street's cream city brick storefronts run three and four storeys over shops on a commercial strip built mostly in the same decades as 18th Street. Terra cotta trim and stone bank buildings sit among the brick blocks, matching the carved limestone on Pilsen's own storefronts. Milwaukee's cream city brick runs a warmer yellow than Chicago's red and buff, so a tight color grade or a black and white pass holds the match better than a wide color shot. Try searching cream city brick storefronts now.
Cherokee Street in St. Louis, Missouri
Two and three storey brick storefronts line Cherokee Street at the same scale, on a walkable grid now home to a large Latino owned business corridor much like 18th Street's own mix of restaurants and shops. The strongest blocks keep their original storefront bays and cornices. Cherokee Street's buildings run a notch lower than Pilsen's and its blocks are shorter, so staying close to the 1900 block holds the match best. Try searching Latino brick storefront corridor now.
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