Construction Leads Logan Square Farmers Market to Move

Waking up to temperatures under 30 degrees might make Chicagoans wish they could be transported to the future for farmers market season, when they can roam community parks wearing summer gear and help support local vendors. Fortunately, the season isn’t too far away and three of the city’s biggest farmers markets have news.

The biggest change comes from Logan Square, which will hold farmers markets on Sundays starting on May 12. The market has been the subject of various traffic concerns in recent years, and now the whole operation is moving south.

The new site is on North Kedzie Boulevard between the Centennial Monument and Fullerton Avenue, and officials will throw a “dry run” at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 7 so patrons can get comfortable with it. This practice farmers market will allow regulars to walk through the new layout.

As Block Club Chicago clarifies, the catalyst for the move is construction on a traffic circle, which includes work at the Logan Square and Avondale parts of Milwaukee Avenue, starting at Kedzie and Logan. The work will displace the farmers market for two seasons with plans to eventually move in summer 2026 to a plaza that will be built as part of the construction project.

Meanwhile, Green City Market, the revered group that’s linked Chicago chefs and diners with farmers across the Midwest, has news about its Lincoln Park and West Loop markets. Green City, which is also behind Chicago Chefs Cook, the charitable effort that’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last few years, will start the farmers market season early. Lincoln Park will kick off on Saturday, April 6 with the West Loop starting on Saturday, May 4. A press release states Green City Markets hosted 445,000 visitors in 2023.

The Takeout is sold as G/O Media crumbles

Digital media has been volatile across the country with layoffs and the sale of various publications. The Takeout, a Chicago-based site that covers national food trends founded in 2016 by former Tribune food writer Kevin Pang, has been sold by G/O Media. Two weeks ago G/O sold its sports site, Deadspin. Pang left the site years ago and, at last check, the site had been reduced to three full-time workers. According to the NY Post, which reviewed a memo by G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller, “two of The Takeout’s three staffers will go to Static Media, with the third being kept by G/O.” G/O has also put The Onion up for sale. The G/O workers are represented by the Writers Guild of America, East. Static Media’s brands include Tasting Table and Chowhound. Per its website, they’re “a fast-paced startup with a team that’s passionate about creating quality content.”

Disclosure: Certain roles within Eater are unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.

Southsiders are tepid on Chick-fil-A

Many times, fast-food chains, especially ones that made it big outside of Chicago, are welcomed with open arms. Locals are tantalized with the prospect of trying something that they once couldn’t, and the chain (and real estate developers) celebrate a win. Not so fast! In Pullman, an area earmarked for the Obama Presidential Library, residents aren’t completely enthused about Chick-fil-A opening the chain’s first South Side location. Chick-fil-A’s fried chicken presents Southern charm, but on the corporate level — despite campaigns to makeover the company’s image — there’s still the stench of anti-LGBTQ policy. Block Club spoke with residents who object to the chain’s arrival.