Chicago

Could Aurora, Illinois create one of the largest Asian lifestyle centers in North America? That's the aim of  Pacifica Square developers, the Windfall Group who've lured an impressive array of businesses to the suburb over the last two years. 

Why it matters: Aurora has long been known for things like "Wayne's World" and good Mexican cuisine. But Asian food? Not so much. So Monica took a 1-hour trip west to check it out.  

First look: From the parking lot, the "square" looks like a bunch of new Asian businesses landed in the old Yorkshire Plaza mall.

Outposts of Lao Sze Chuan, Strings Ramen, Levee Karaoke & BBQ and Hyderabad House surround the parking lot.

Anchoring the whole thing is a huge Asian grocery store next to a 10-stall food court.  

The food court at Pacifica Square in Aurora offers a pan-Asian cornucopia of eats. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

The Asian food court is the biggest we've seen in Illinois with offerings like Southeast Asian Cajun seafood, Chinese noodles, Hong Kong bbq, Japanese bento boxes, Korean chicken, East Asian baked goods, boba tea and Taiwanese night market food. 

Five Taiwanese dishes in boxes on a tray. 

Monica and her daughter tried (clockwise) the fried taro bites, soup dumplings, oyster omelet, chicken cutlets and tofu sliders at Lisa's Bistro.  Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

Best bites: Juicy soup dumplings ($8) and mashed taro fritters on a stick called taro bites ($4), both from the Lisa's Bistro Night Market stall.

Biggest disappointment: Soggy chicken cutlets ($9) and a goopy oyster omelet ($15) also from Lisa's. Tofu sliders (also available with pork belly) tasted like, well, fried tofu on bread. Monica's daughter ordered them. Sorry.

Meat floss square cakes are a sweet savory treat from Sweet General bakery. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios.

Most intriguing bite: The meat floss square cakes from Sweet General bakery feature coconut and taro paste between sponge cakes, cloaked in salty pork floss. Like Twinkies rolled in pork flavored poodle hair, they're Monica's new sweet-salty addiction. 

The anchor store: An enormous location of the Midwest Asian grocery chain Park to Shop. The selection leans Chinese-centric, but features Asian food from all over the continent and rivals the area's biggest Asian stores in size and selection.

The verdict: The Chinese-American Windfall Group may not have built the biggest Asian center in North America yet, but with 15 restaurants and at least one huge grocery store, they've created a great day trip for Chicagoans who dig Asian food. 

And for the growing Asian population in DuPage County — especially in Oak Brook, Glendale Heights and nearby Naperville — they've created a much more convenient shopping and eating experience than going to the city. 

What's next: The Windfall Group predicts, on its website, that with "future phases [of the development], Pacifica Square will become one of the biggest Lifestyle Centers in North America, and an ASIAN COOL cultural destination for its customers and visitors."

Aurora mall lures Asian foodies to Wayne's World burb

The suburb that brought you Wayne's World now has an Asian foodie world, too.

A welcome sign above an entrance to a grocery store. 

Entrance to the huge Park to Shop grocery store in the Pacifica Square shopping center. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

Food

The huge Asian food court at the Pacifica Square mall in Aurora has Taiwanese specialties and more. 

Business

Despite a decade of municipal efforts to build up Chicago as a Midwest Silicon Valley, local tech salaries lag behind many of the top cities in the nation.

Local takeaways: Of the 12 cities examined by job marketplace Hired, Chicago ranks 10th, with only Dallas and Toronto trailing in average salary. 

Yes but: When salaries are adjusted for local cost of living, Chicago ties for 7th.

And Chicago is part of a group of cities where tech salaries dipped in 2020 but rose in 2021. 

What they're saying: Scott Kitun, co-founder of Songfinch and host of Technori, admits the city used to lose a lot of newly minted tech grads to the coasts, but that's changing.  

"With more early stage founders with liquidity to self-fund and pay competitive comp, the lure of a lower cost of living has enabled Chicago startups to better compete," he tells Axios. 

"Then, add the billions of venture dollars that were invested in Chicago startups the past 18 months, Chicago not only can now keep its graduates but also recruit away from SF/NYC/MIA."

And one more thing: Chicago tech workers enjoy another important perk. They get to live in the Best Big City in the nation — at least according to Justin, Monica and the readers of Condé Nast Traveler. 

Chicago tech salaries are lowish but rising

Jobs

Chicago tech salaries lag behind other cities. 