By Ricky Rieckert
Welcome readers;
This week, we continue on South Lake Street in Aurora, where Arnold Avenue runs East and Jericho Road runs West.
A block away, on the west side of the street, I believe originally was a Gas Station.
It then became a hot dog and sandwich place.
George, a Greek opened up Papa ‘G’s, and ran it for many years, being famous, for his Cheezy Beef.
I think he sold it a few years ago, but someone still uses the name.
Across the street, to the South, was Ma’s Cafe.
She was an older, southern, woman who cooked homemade meals, from meat loaf to pork chops, and more. Every meal came with potatoes and a vegetable.
The lunch specials were out of this world, and very reasonable in price.
She made homemade desserts, the pies were excellent.
If you didn’t get there for lunch by noon, you might not get a table.
I miss that place.
Now we’re going to North Lake Street, north of West New York Street.
Just past Fannie Mae was Shakey’s pizza parlor. They made a delicious, thin, crust pizza.
When they closed, the Malo Brother’s opened up Malo’s Rock Studio.
It was a great place to watch local bands and older ones.
I became a regular and Sol Malo had me check cards for age eligibility on Friday and Saturday nights.
I would get my beers free, plus admission.
I saw a lot of bands and always enjoyed it.
It’s now Jalisco’s Tacos.
Moving north at West Park, on the southeast side was the second Aurora police station.
Across the street, on the northeast side was St Joseph Hospital.
That takes us to Illinois Avenue.
On the south side, was the Marmion Military academy prior to moving to northeast Aurora.
Now, it’s the Prisco Community Center of the Fox Valley Park District.
Have a great week.