Bark Out Loud

Not only are the staff friendly and courteous at Bark Out Loud, but they are experts at their job, economical and quick. My dog had her bath, nail trimming and grooming and was still ready to go in less than two hours. Even better, they could handle a notoriously difficult animal - my dog is not kind to strangers - with absolutely no problems. She actually wags her tail in greeting when we go back! Finally, a dog groomer that is fairly priced and well worth it!

PROS: Good pricing, fast, friendly, good service
CONS: None!

Portage Park Animal Hospital & Dental Clinic

Portage Park Animal Hospital is clean, nicely located and provides quality care. They take injured animals in without appointment, and their staff is courteous and friendly. The only real problem here is the cost; their pricing for a simple neuter surgery is nearly twice that which can be found in other animal hospitals of similar quality, and their emergency care is expensive enough to warrant a trek to an actual animal emergency vet, because the cost is the same and the emergency vet will take the animal in sooner.

Good if you're in a bind but shop around for routine check-ups and basic surgeries.

PROS: Good location, quality care
CONS: Overpriced

Mt Olive Cemetery & Mausoleum

What is really sad is that it is obvious that this was once a well-cared for resting place. Mount Olive has all the hallmarks of a classic Chicago cemetery, right down to the tree-shaped memorials. But in recent years, the place has fallen into disrepair. Many tombstones are broken or knocked over, and have remained that way -- the management has made no move to restore them. On top of this, there is an overabundance of animal life; there are actual CATS living there, along with the usual squirrels, possums and racoons. If choosing a resting place for a love one in the city, I would quickly pass this place by.

PROS: Nice location, many available plots
CONS: Not very well cared for

Lincoln Park Zoo

You get what you pay for, and Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free to enter, is a prime example of this. It is decent, but just decent, as far as zoos go. The animals don't seem particularly abused, but neither do they seem particularly settled within their enclosures -- or even happy. It is large, usually crowded and not really worth the trouble. Parking is always a problem, and the place seems dirty and in need of repair (graffitti, litter, etc). Not worth the trip!

PROS: Free
CONS: No parking, crowded, dirty

American Science & Surplus

This store is great! Along with the requisite science project goodies are a mass of strange, unique and just plain bizarre items. A trip to this store is like a small adventure! Last time I was there, I picked up a rubber dinosaur, military buttons and police tape! You never know what you will find; you could spend hours browsing the wide selection of the weird and the wacky.

PROS: Lots of fun, cool and plain weird items at affordable prices
CONS: Cluttered

Village Discount Store

This place is disgusting. It's filthy and a mess. It seems as though they put clothes on the rack straight from their own purchase - without bothering to wash them first! Once I saw, I kid you not, a used band-aid stuck to the inner sleeve of a child's dress. True, you can wash what you buy [and would anyway], but it is still disgusting. On top of that, they have a strict policy regarding clothing that has lost its tag -- they won't sell it. So you search the racks for something and find it, only to be told it will be priced and displayed the next day, first come first serve, because their inadequate method of STAPLING on price tags doesn't do any good.

PROS: Cheap
CONS: Dirty, messy, unfair sales system

Graceland Cemetery

There are few places in Chicago as beautiful as Graceland Cemetery, which I realize must sound very strange, since it is after all, a cemetery. The lawns are beautifully manicured, and the graves are well-tended, even if they have been in place for better than a century. Here you can find many prominent Chicagoans at their last rest, including Marshall Field and Oscar Meyer. Be sure to visit the Burnham plot, set aside on a small island of its own. Serene and peaceful, Graceland is both a lovely resting place and an interesting tourist spot.

PROS: Famous graves, beautiful setting
CONS: Tourist attraction!

Patel Mehroo M Md

For years I went to this doctor for help with my asthma, and she did absolutely nothing for me. She kept me heavily medicated and doing useless exercises that did nothing but exacerbate the condition. Her office was small and not very nice, and she took other patients before you if they arrived before you did, even if YOU had the first appointment. She was discourteous and rather fond of blaming symptoms on outside influences, rather than her own failure to address the problem. AVOID.

Starsiak Mary A Dds

Avoid, avoid, avoid! This woman should not be licensed to flip burgers for a living, let alone play at dentistry! The fillings she gave me actually FELL OUT! She ignored both me and my mother when we told her we were experiencing pain during her 'work' - to the point that she had her assistant holding me in the chair. All of the work she did, I had to have redone by a much more competent dentist and she has the nerve to keep me on her patient mailing list. This woman should have her license taken away!

PROS: NONE
CONS: Incompetent

Video Games Etc

FINALLY, a gaming store that sells more than your standard next-gen console gaming equipment! This store is great for old school gamers -- they have everything: Nintendo, Atari, Sega Genesis, even older consoles, and they REPAIR systems! When Funcoland / GameStop stopped selling older generation games, gamers were at a loss, turning only to eBay if they wanted, say, Super Marioland for SNES or Harvest Moon: Back to Nature for their Playstation. And then there was Video Games Etc, where you can buy these games and much, much more - even back issues of Nintendo Power magazine. For video games, video game consoles, accessories and everything game related, Video Games Etc is THE place to go!

PROS: Old games, new games, and everything in between
CONS: Awkward location