From the Editor’s Desk: Rogers Park Needs a 24-Hour Diner

The area surrounding Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus and Rogers Park is filled to the brim with restaurants — ranging from local places to chains — for students to choose from. But, it’s sorely lacking in one department: 24-hour diners. 

Even in the downtown area, there are few locations to choose from. Many-a-time I have found myself searching for something — anything, really — open at 3 a.m.. It’s always shocking to learn how limited the late-night dining options are in the third largest city in America. When one leaves the loop, the options only dwindle and worsen in quality.

The point of a 24-hour diner isn’t the food being served, but the people you’re with and the situations which led you to their sticky table. Whether the location is a chain or local restaurant is irrelevant when you have a hunger only greasy all-American food can satiate. 

I was reminded of this feeling recently when a large group of students ended up at the Golden Apple Diner downtown, concluding the annual midnight bike ride hosted by the History Department. The feeling of a warm storefront glowing at 4 a.m. is incomparable.

Growing up in a rural area, the local Waffle House was a nighttime staple. The waitresses there — namely Miss Gabby and Miss Jan — watched me grow up from a five-year-old asking for extra whipped cream on my chocolate chip waffle to a college student visiting home — still asking for extra whipped cream on my chocolate chip waffle. 

From being a late-night stop after a homecoming dance to an early morning pitstop before a roadtrip with my dad, the Waffle House was the perfect place to go for good conversation over mediocre coffee. That sense of community I felt in my small Ohio hometown Waffle House was so special. The sacrality I felt under the fluorescent diner lights should still be accessible in Chicago’s expansive landscape. 

Considering our campus’ location in a broad-shouldered city that never sleeps — with the audience being a dense population of college students who have whack sleep schedules and little money to spend — a 24-hour diner seems like the perfect solution to a nightlife cuisine drought. 

We have a semi-decent variety of grocery stores, a silly amount of Starbucks’ to choose from, an obscene number of breakfast places and a few places open late, including Taco Bell and Canes. Although there are good, consistent options, they lack the college-town-community feel every undergraduate student craves. 

In the meantime, help build community by keeping up to date with Loyola and local news. In this edition, read about the school’s new service dog Sully, hear about the closing of Roman Susan Art Gallery, get the rundown on the impressive freshmen class of the women’s volleyball team and hear the pro’s and con’s of having a campus crush in the fall semester.