Hot spots
Wok
Chinese restaurant - one on ul. piåsudskiego 5 silver screen building and one in manufaktura close to the main entry from ogrodowa st.. both open till late. a pot of nice green, black or jasmin tea 3 pln. chinese dishes 4-6 pln. portions are not big but cooks are chinese and the chain seems to have a good quality control so it's still value for money.
Montenegro
Balkan restaurant on ul. wã³lczaåska 51. phone: +48 42 6320094.
PWN Bookshop
On ul. wiäckowskiego 13 corner with zachodnia, just by teatr nowy. open 10:00 - 18:00. you won't get coffee here but the staff is very nice and the bookshop itself has a good choice of academic books not only. the building served a jewish school between 1945 and 1968.
Greenway
On ul. piotrkowska 80. open 10:00 - 22:00.
Manufaktura
Shopping mall on ul. ogrodowa 17, free access on main square and in most restaurants and pubs around.
Internet
There is a number of Internet cafes on Piotrkowska and nearby streets.
Internetowa Kawiarnia Spadochronowa
Skydiving internet cafe (http://www.skydive.pl/kaw...) on 41 narutowicza st. is 5 minutes walk away from åã³dåº fabryczna station and works 24/7. 1 pln / 15 minutes. there are a pub and a pizzeria (http://www.skydive.pl/pizza/) in the same place.
beggars
Åódź hasn't been developing as rapidly as some other more successful Polish cities recently and it has some of the poorest urban areas in Poland, but those issues are handled by the government and especially the NGOs.
Do not ever give any money to beggars. This applies worldwide.
They may be thieves who are just waiting for you to take out your wallet on your own so they could do the rest.
The beggars you see in the tourist areas could be "professionals", making up to $1-2k/month during the season which is quite a salary in Poland.
If you want to help consider donating to an accountable charity, like the Polish Red Cross (http://www.pck.pl) or Caritas Polska (http://www.caritas.pl/). If you still want to give something to a beggar, offer buying food for them and notice their reaction.