Podhalanka owner retires, future of legendary Polish restaurant Wicker Park uncertain

WICKER PARK – When Helena Madej took over Podhalanka in 1986, the surrounding neighborhood was still home to numerous Polish-run businesses.

There were Polish delicatessens and other restaurants. Polish-owned taverns lined Division Street, once known as “Polish Broadway.”

At that time, Wicker Park was on the verge of being transformed into a gentrified enclave for artists and musicians, followed by luxury real estate and corporate chains.

But by the mid-1980s, Podhalanka’s clientele was almost exclusively Polish, with people crowding the restaurant’s counter to try Madej’s homemade pierogi, potato pancakes, borscht, stuffed cabbage and other specialties.

Decades later, the area bears little resemblance to the “Polish downtown” it once was. Podhalanka is now the last Polish restaurant in the Polish Triangle, the intersection and plaza between Division Street and Milwaukee and Ashland Avenue.

Neighbors have come and gone, and Podhalanka has fallen on hard times, especially during the pandemic. But the unassuming restaurant at 1549 W. Division St. has persevered.

But now, after nearly 40 years in business, Madej is preparing to serve her last plates of pierogi and bowls of borscht.

Next Sunday, she will board a plane to Krakow, Poland, where she will spend her retirement. Podhalanka will remain open through Friday, said Madej’s nephew Greg Jamka, who also works at the restaurant. After that, the future is uncertain and it could close for good.

In an interview last week, Madej, who switched between Polish and English, expressed deep regret about leaving Chicago.

But after serving thousands of grateful customers – often giving them barely any time to order before bringing soup and other dishes – “it’s time,” she said.

“I have never met a bad person in my life. People are not bad,” said Madej. “If you are open to other people, they will be open to you.”

“Very few Americans came here”

Madej grew up as one of eight siblings in Gdów, a town about 20 miles outside of Krakow. Her father was a carpenter and made all kinds of shelves, doors, “everything,” Madej said.

As a child, her passion for food was not immediately apparent.

“I never ate too much. Grandma always called out to me: ‘Hey, where are you? Come and eat,'” Madej said, laughing.

But when she was 12, Madej’s grandmother began teaching her to cook. Some of the recipes still used in Podhalanka today, including the one for Madej’s white borscht, are the same ones her grandmother used generations ago.

Like many Poles, Madej had a lot of family in Chicago. She lived in the city for several years in the 1970s before returning to Poland.

But in 1985 she returned for good and the following year took over her brother’s restaurant on Division Street, which she renamed Podhalanka.

The name comes from the southern Polish region of Podhale, which means “among the mountain meadows”. Podhalanka is also a colloquial name for a “village girl” from the Podhale hills, whom Madej visited during her childhood, as she previously told Block Club.

During its first few years in business, Madej served almost exclusively Polish and Polish-American customers and used a menu quite similar to the one it serves today.

“Very few Americans came here,” Madej said. “They had no idea about this place.”

But in the 1990s, many of her Polish friends and neighbors began selling their homes and moving away from the neighborhood, Madej says.

Although business suffered as a result, new customers slowly began to find their way to Podhalanka, thanks in large part to a dedicated neighbor who brought his friends for dinner and parties.

“People started coming here (again),” she said. “Sometimes they would have birthday parties here, which really helped a lot.”

Surviving in a changing neighborhood – and a pandemic

Over the past two decades, Madej has welcomed a new generation of customers into the cramped, cozy dining room in Podhalanka.

On a typical day at the restaurant, everyone from next-door neighbors to Polish expats and tourists visiting Chicago stop by to eat—and to talk to Madej. Podhalanka doesn’t serve alcohol, but customers often bring their own.

“Young people come here and feel comfortable here,” said Madej.

Even though the clientele has changed over the years, the interior of Podhalanka remains something of a time capsule.

The restaurant’s walls are lined with paintings of rural Poland, as well as trinkets, ceramics and postcards that Madej has received over the years. There are also portraits of Princess Diana and Pope John Paul II.

And above the counter, a memorial brochure for Polish-American Congressman Dan Rostenkowski is proudly displayed – exactly where Rostenkowski, a regular at Podhalanka, usually sat.

Like many small restaurants, Podhalanka struggled to survive when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the city in March 2020. By the summer of that year, Madej wasn’t sure if she would be able to stay open.

“I used to have very good business, tourists from downtown … the Polish Museum, the Chopin Theater, young people working downtown,” she told the Block Club at the time. “And now it’s not so nice.”

After a Block Club article about Madej’s challenges was published in July of this year, longtime clients launched two GoFundMe campaigns to support Podhalanka, ultimately raising more than $14,000.

Madej said she also received support from former neighbors whom she served for free in the 1980s when they could not afford a meal.

“I always tried to help everyone. If someone was hungry, I never turned them away,” she said.

More than 30 years later, when Madej was the one who needed help, some of those customers sent her checks to keep the business going.

“There is a saying in Poland: The heart builds a heart,” she said.

The Polish grandma “you always wanted”

Madej is struggling with health problems and has been considering retiring and returning to Poland for some time.

But the decision was difficult and when asked how she felt about leaving, she replied in Polish: “It’s so hard.”

It’s unclear whether Podhalanka will continue after Madej leaves. Her nephew Greg will not stay – and Madej has not heard anything from the building’s owner about anyone taking over the premises.

Dan Pogorzelski, a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and longtime community activist, said her customers and neighbors will sorely miss Madej and her cooking skills.

Madej is “the Polish grandmother of Wicker Park that you always wanted,” said Pogorzelski, who helped translate her interview into English on Friday.

Although she struggles with the idea of ​​moving away from Chicago, Madej feels nothing but gratitude for the customers she has met over the decades – some of whom came here as children and now return to eat with us as adults.

“I want to thank my customers so much. They have supported me so much over the years,” Madej said in Polish. “Of all the people I have met over the years, I have never met a bad soul. Each of them has been so kind.”

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