Panther in the Den wrote:Just noticed a sign in the windows announcing the opening for Chicago's Home of Chicken & Waffles‎ on Madison just east of East Ave.

Sign said Fall 2009. Why so long? Peeked inside and there is nothing going on other than the signs.

There is another location at 3947 S Dr Martin L King Jr Dr. that used to be infamously named Rosscoe's Chicken and Waffle's.

PitD, I walked by yesterday and there is now construction taking place. It seems, in fact, that there may actually be two levels of dining planned, which is ambitious, to say the least.

Yamamoto Sushi on Skokie Blvd. in Northbook just south of Charlie Beinlich's has closed.

LikestoEatout wrote:

abe_froeman wrote:

abe_froeman wrote:The little Italian deli, Via Napoli, down the street from where I work closed. They closed over the summer because they had taken over the storefront next to them and were going to remodel and expand. They never reopened and yesterday I noticed the big sign was down off the front of the building and it looked very, very closed. I don't know if they just ran out of money or what. It's too bad. They were very close to where I work and had good, fresh food with generous portions and were very friendly. Probably one of the best meatball sandwiches I've ever had.

RIP Via Napoli, formerly located at 583 N Rand Rd in Lake Zurich

Drove past today and there and there was a neon "OPEN" sign and a banner that said "SEAFOOD"- not sure if it's a store or restaurant or what. I'll do some more research this week.

This may be Diamond Seafood Company which has a store in St Charles that I go to. They presently have a place in Lake Barrington but said they were moving to Lake Zurich along Rand. They sell excellant fresh seafood at a reasonable price. The St Charles store now serves lunch and dinner on a limited schedule and the few times we have tried it for lunch, the food has been excellant. Just simple things like fish tacos, crabcakes, po'boys and such. The St Charles store will remain open.

Good to know, thanks for the information. So are they just a restaurant, or can you buy fish (not prepared) there, as well?

Looks like the Rand Road location will have a cafe too! This is a copy of the email I got from them today! If you geton their emai list, they will keep you curent with their specials. Their lobster bisque soup and crabcakes are great!



Here are your retail specials for this week!
Chilean Sea Bass $21.95 lb
Jumbo Shell-On Shrimp $11.95 lb

Here are your Cafe Specials for this week!
"SOUPER FRIDAY"
All refrigerated Homemade 32 oz. soups. While supplies last.
$9.95
.



LIVE LOBSTERS
AVAILABLE
$15.95 lb.
DIAMOND TRIVIA: How long is the Alaskan Halibut season?

Answer below.

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

PARMESAN FISH (A.K.A. CHEESY FISH)
6 - 8 oz portions of your favorite fish
(Grouper is our favorite for this recipe)
2 to 3 cups of shredded parmesan cheese
1 large container of plain yogurt
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
6-8 Fresh Basil leaves, julieanne

Rub the surface of an oven safe baking dish with olive oil. In a shallow dish add yogurt and season with salt & pepper. In another shallow dish add cheese. Dip fish portions in yogurt and then cheese. Place fish in baking dish. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove fish from oven and top with basil. Serves 6.

Serve with a crusty bread and a simple salad for a complete meal! ENJOY!


TRIVIA ANSWER: The Halibut season generally runs from March 15 through mid-November.
As with most fresh seafood, weather plays a big part in the week to week availability of
Halibut. We look forward to seeing you. Have a great day!
Sincerely,

Carol & Patrick Hannagan
Diamond Fresh Seafood & Cafe

ucjames wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:You're never going to believe this, but it looks like iCream closed. The interior is being gutted.

Actually I don't know if it can be called closed if it never really opened to begin with....

This link with an update written yesterday claims a mid-February re-opening for iCream.

It actually opened this month, and I just had to go in and try it. iCream has performed a miracle: taking wholesome and delicious ingredients like cream and sugar and transforming them into a cup of ass.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:It actually opened this month, and I just had to go in and try it. iCream has performed a miracle: taking wholesome and delicious ingredients like cream and sugar and transforming them into a cup of ass.

That sounds about right, except I'm not completely convinced that they use cream.. it tasted like ice milk. Bad, bland, not-sweet-enough ice milk.

gleam wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:It actually opened this month, and I just had to go in and try it. iCream has performed a miracle: taking wholesome and delicious ingredients like cream and sugar and transforming them into a cup of ass.

That sounds about right, except I'm not completely convinced that they use cream.. it tasted like ice milk. Bad, bland, not-sweet-enough ice milk.

OK, since you've tasted it, perhaps you can offer some insight into what that horrible flavor was? I took several more bites than I wanted to, just trying to determine the source of the taste. Sort of chemically, sort of...something else. Words fail me.

Mine didn't have an unpleasant off flavor, it just was underflavored in general (I got cinnamon, and it tasted like cinnamon, but just barely). What flavor did you have?

They do shake some guar gum into the base to help emulsify/thicken/reduce ice crystals and make up for their too-low-in-fat base, and guar gum can have a beany flavor and a slimy texture if they overdo it. I didn't experience that, but maybe the person who made yours put too much in.

Yes, beany and slimy, that's definitely part of it. I had caramel or burnt sugar, can't recall which.

Two items of note:

Cy's Steak and Chophouse at 4138 N. Lincoln is "closed for remodeling."

Probably not relevant, but open now is Happy Hookah Lounge at 4118 N. Western. I'm assuming that since they're a tobacconist they do not serve food, but since it's within walking distance I thought I would include it with the Cy's info. If I poke my head inside I'll confirm, but that probably won't happen.

gus wrote:Probably not relevant, but open now is Happy Hookah Lounge at 4118 N. Western.

I wonder if they are related to Ugly Hookah on Bryn Mawr.

makemedinner wrote:I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I just passed what looks like another Goddess and Grocer set to open on Elston a few blocks north of Webster.

The Elston Av Goddess and Grocer opened Mar 25. It is their kitchen for other locations and catering but there is seating for 20 at this location and pickup service is available.

Goddess and Grocer
2222 N. Elston
Chicago, IL

The reasonably-priced, tasty Big Bite Gyros at 2901 N. Kedzie is sadly gone. It was at a difficult location, several blocks from the El, with little foot traffic.

The incoming restaurant, Capirucha, is "coming soon." They've already painted the outside of the store, promising smoothies, tacos, tortas, burritos, gorditas, and huaraches. 'Cause what Avondale/Logan really needs is another Mexican restaurant.

Ronna

The KFC at Halsted and Diversey is temporarily closed--apparently because a car drove into it!

I was surprised to see the sign down on Portofino's in Vernon Hills when I drove by today. Their website says it'll be reopening as "Fiamma Pizzeria and Pasta" in April.

riddlemay wrote:The KFC at Halsted and Diversey is temporarily closed--apparently because a car drove into it!

Well, their sign did say "Drive Thru."

Harry's Hot Dogs, at Randolph and Franklin, will be closing in two weeks.

DML wrote:Harry's Hot Dogs, at Randolph and Franklin, will be closing in two weeks.

I was there a few months ago, when working nearby. The little old man, whom I've presumed to be Harry, was still there, although not at the cash register this past time, as he always was twenty-odd years ago when I ate there regularly. He came around to wipe the tables.

Was always intrigued by the "Showman's League" device on the building corner above Harry's. Some sort of circus performer's union? Because he seemed to me kind of dwarfish, although he may merely be small, I wondered back then whether there might be a connection.

Harry just turned 100 a few weeks ago. I guess he figured it was time to retire.

teatpuller wrote:Harry just turned 100 a few weeks ago. I guess he figured it was time to retire.

I've heard the building is being demolished for green space.

DML wrote:

teatpuller wrote:Harry just turned 100 a few weeks ago. I guess he figured it was time to retire.

I've heard the building is being demolished for green space.

I believe several buildings on that block (300 block of W. Randolph) are being demolished for a new office building, and I recall having read in the Sun Times that the Harry's building/corner is going to be some sort of plaza fronting the new building. I have seen it referred to elsewhere as "green space," though, so who knows.

Cabbagehead wrote:Was always intrigued by the "Showman's League" device on the building corner above Harry's. Some sort of circus performer's union? Because he seemed to me kind of dwarfish, although he may merely be small, I wondered back then whether there might be a connection.

Carnival workers
http://www.showmensleague.org/

Thanks, Artie.

This part of President Jean Clair's 2009 message, on the website link you provided, tells the story:

What a wonderful, challenging year we have ahead.! The building on 300 West
Randolph Street has been sold under the leadership of Graham Putnam. The money
is secure and our special building committee is searching for a new building. Thank
you Graham.

We will move our temporary office to a Walgreen’s building across the street by
April 30th.

Before we move, the League is planning a birthday party for Harry Heftman, who
will turn 100 years old on March 13th and a going away party for the building. {T.B.A.}.

Just ran to the Ogilvie Station (Citibank building) food court for some fake Chinese, and noticed that the Salad Creations there closed today.

The gate was down, two guys were cleaning & dismantling stuff, and a big banner thanked past customers for their patronage & advised them to take their loyalty cards to some other location (didn't see which one, but I'm assuming it's the one at Clinton & Monroe).

I wonder if high rents got the better of them...this location never seemed very busy, considering it was in such a high-traffic area.

I decided to take the long bus ride home yesterday up Clark and Broadway. I rode past a couple of big surprises, one I got excited about, and another not so much.

The new location of Orange I had heard about finally has unveiled its windows and shown itself to the world. Looks like they are on the verge of opening on Clark, just north of Fullerton. They all ready have their signature menus in the window. Though it's not nearby whatsoever, I am still giddy to see a replacement Orange for the one sacrificed in Printer's Row.

Then a little further up, on Broadway just south of Roscoe, I saw some new signage in what was once (and very shortlived) Homeboy housewares, etc. The signs plastered on the windows said: "Coming Soon: Phoebe's Cupcakes." First reaction: large sigh and a serious eye roll. Not ANOTHER cupcake place! At this point, I am starting to get a little annoyed. Why couldn't "Phoebe" venture into donuts or whoopie pies?!

-M@

Phoebe's a little late to the game, apparently. Maybe she'll make her cupcakes out of baba ghanoush or collard greens or something.

If she was smart, she'd switch to whoopie pies, as per your suggestion. That's cutting edge stuff.

Taylor Street, a small Italian place on Central St. in Evanston (between McDaniel and Crawford), has evidently closed up shop - the tables are gone, and strangely, all of the plants have been shoved together into a small grove in front of the door. This does not surprise me in the slightest, in that whenever I (or we, after a movie at the Evanston Googolplex) had the notion to try it, it was closed. ALWAYS. And every other time I ever drove by, no more than one table was filled.

I'll always wonder if it was any good, but it just seemed like the owners/operators weren't into it enough to go all out. I'm going to assume that it wasn't, though, as the north side of Evanston and Wilmette aren't exactly awash in good red-sauce Italian restaurants - hell, there isn't even a decent thin-crust pizza place up there. Done properly and open at more sensible hours - and Sunday, maybe? - this place could have seriously cleaned up.

Lou Malnati's opened a carry-out and delivery store
9501 W. 171st St. in Tinley Park.
(708) 403-9700

Looks like Suzi's Tea cafe and Chaos Theory Cakes (wow that didn't last long) both closed. They were right next door to one another, so that block of Lincoln ave. Really took a hit.
In other news, Starfruit is coming to Lincoln Park! They have a sign up on Halsted just south of Webster.
With all the openings of Red Mango, Berry Chill, Yogen Fruz, and Starfruit, it looks like frozen yogurt will be HUGE this summer!

-M@

Uncle Harry's Ice Cream on Lake St. in Addison is closed. I noticed it this past Friday. They had flavors such as Blue Moon. Not sure when they closed or if they moved, but they aren't where they were.