Yet with a hint of pride, Hyde Parkers observe that the South Side neighborhood hasn’t had a first-class restaurant in living memory. There is no movie theater. Night life is mostly limited to Jimmy’s, a 55th Street tavern whose existential grit survived a recent remodeling. A set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica long sat on a shelf so barstool arguments could be settled without fisticuffs. Jimmy’s debates are over the ontological proof of God; elsewhere, they might be about batting averages.

“Intensity is our byword,” said Richard Epstein, a U. of C. law professor.

– Chicago Tribune article on Hyde Park