I had my 7th birthday party at The Ground Round in 1979 (still have lots of pictures from that day too), but wasn't there one on Lincoln Ave near/in Lincolnwood? I could swear that was the one we went to (if I am right on this, it was because I was pretty observant as a kid!).

Ram4 wrote:I had my 7th birthday party at The Ground Round in 1979 (still have lots of pictures from that day too), but wasn't there one on Lincoln Ave near/in Lincolnwood?

Yep - I think it was at the southwest corner of Crawford and Lincoln.

Dave148 wrote:

Ram4 wrote:I had my 7th birthday party at The Ground Round in 1979 (still have lots of pictures from that day too), but wasn't there one on Lincoln Ave near/in Lincolnwood?

Yep - I think it was at the southwest corner of Crawford and Lincoln.

It wa where the Grossinger Kia lot is now (just up Lincoln from JoJo's - my 24-hour all-niter study spot in high school (bottomless cup of coffee)).

Didn't the Ground Round later occupy the Old Orchard Road / Skokie Blvd corner? If not them, it was a similar restaurant (at least once if not more than that -- that spot's seen a fair amount of turnover)

JoelF wrote:Didn't the Ground Round later occupy the Old Orchard Road / Skokie Blvd corner? If not them, it was a similar restaurant (at least once if not more than that -- that spot's seen a fair amount of turnover)

Perhaps Chances R?

Dave148 wrote:

JoelF wrote:Didn't the Ground Round later occupy the Old Orchard Road / Skokie Blvd corner? If not them, it was a similar restaurant (at least once if not more than that -- that spot's seen a fair amount of turnover)

Perhaps Chances R?

Chances R was where EJ's is now (next to Donellan Funerals). Also formerly Great Godfrey Daniels.

spinynorman99 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

JoelF wrote:Didn't the Ground Round later occupy the Old Orchard Road / Skokie Blvd corner? If not them, it was a similar restaurant (at least once if not more than that -- that spot's seen a fair amount of turnover)

Perhaps Chances R?

Chances R was where EJ's is now (next to Donellan Funerals). Also formerly Great Godfrey Daniels.

That's the spot... I'm thinking pre-Great Godfrey Daniels.

stevez wrote:

Dave148 wrote:How about Desiree' at the northwest corner of Oakton & Lincoln?

Fond memories. I used to date a Desiree' waitress.

The building is (finally) in the process of being torn down. That corner will be redeveloped.

Speaking of being torn down, I was driving down Touhy near Lincoln a couple weeks ago and saw that The Purple Hotel--formerly Ray Foley's Hyatt House--was just about demolished. Probably is down to the dirt now. But in its heyday in the '60's, it's where my dad used to put up clients from out of town. And later on in the '80's, besides Tessy's coffee shop (where Teamsters Central States Pension Fund comptroller Allen Dorfman ate his last meal in 1983--hope it was good), T.J. Peppercorn's was a fine place with a great brunch. Guess things don't last forever.

Right in that area, for a VERY short time mid '60's-ish, Obie's was my first experience at an all-you-can-eat buffet style restaurant. Even though I was under 10 at the time, I remember seeing immense people hauling immense plates of food back to their table from the buffet and thinking, 'geez, how can this place stay in business?'. Either the concept was ahead of its time or too many immense people screwed up their profit matrix...

Finally, where L. Woods stands now was a place in the 1950's/1960's called The Kenilworth Inn, which was the out-of-town client one-two punch with Ray Foley's. The menu was probably similar to the nearby Elliott's Pine Log, or The Studio on Dempster in Morton Grove, with your typical steaks, chops, and cold, shaken martinis. Well after they closed, probably in the '70's, I heard scuttlebutt that the owners had some anti-Semitic tendencies, but being Gentile I never knew that at the time.

T.J. Peppercorns served an excellent version of roast duck. At one point, they had a rotating carousel of ducks right upfront when you walked into the restaurant. Peppercorns was a major contributor to my lifelong duck addiction.

stevez wrote:T.J. Peppercorns served an excellent version of roast duck. At one point, they had a rotating carousel of ducks right upfront when you walked into the restaurant. Peppercorns was a major contributor to my lifelong duck addiction.

I agree. Only went there a few times, but the duck was always stellar.

So many memories in this thread... Growing up in Wilmette, unless you wanted pancakes you pretty much crossed the border to go out for dinner.

My parents knew the owners of Chandelier from when they used to own the Big Top in Cicero at Austin and Roosevelt. Three brothers, and amusingly enough none of them lived particularly close to Skokie. They did well until the last couple of years. But don't feel bad for them, they owned the lot and sold the whole thing for the little strip mall, and all three brothers promptly retired.

Once in a while we'd go to the little place at Church and Crawford which changed owners and names relatively frequently, or to Great Godfrey Daniels. My dad was not a fan of Gold Coin/Barnum & Bagel. Oddly, we never went east of Wesley's (which I think closed in about 1978) except to go to the all-night pharmacy if somebody was sick. So I didn't find Poochie's until I had my own car in graduate school.

Our "special occasion" dining was Vosnos at first, then Fireside (with the motel in back) for many years, then Tower Garden until it closed. Fireside had a salad bar, which was still kind of novel at the time, and chilled faux-pewter salad plates which we all liked. We stopped going to Oscar's when i was little as my mom lost a necklace there and was certain that the hostess scooped it up off the floor and pocketed it. I thought that Tower Garden had the best food of the lot. The other place we all loved was Country Inn up at Dundee/Skokie, which had a British homestead feel and had stuff like prime rib with Yorkshire pudding. My dad, being in the diner business and having been a waiter at the Edgewater Beach before that, could be a little picky about higher-end places... he loved that place and was crushed when they failed.

What was the name of the place in the triangle across from the McDonald's at Dempster/Skokie/G-Point?

I still miss Peacock's sundaes. It's probably a matter of age, but they seemed enormous to me in what were probably pint containers.

threadkiller wrote:
What was the name of the place in the triangle across from the McDonald's at Dempster/Skokie/G-PointI?

Are you thinking of The Skokie Club?

stevez wrote:

threadkiller wrote:
What was the name of the place in the triangle across from the McDonald's at Dempster/Skokie/G-PointI?

Are you thinking of The Skokie Club?

FYI - Skokie Club is still alive just down the street. Still run by the Laris brothers.
http://skokieclub.com/
4741 Main St.
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 673-9393

stevez wrote:Are you thinking of The Skokie Club?

Yep, that was it.

OMG! I remember every one of these restaurants!! For some reason I was searching the internet for anything I could find on Wesley's Broasted Chicken restaurant on Dempster and Crawford. But I remember Kelly's. I lived on Main Street just a few block away. Great memories. And now living in Las Vegas we're missing these places even more!!

Grew up in Skokie in the 60s and 70s (near Middleton School). Just discovered this board today. Reading this thread definitely brings back a lot of memories.

I can't help the OP with a physical description of Kelly's Drive In, but definitely remember it well. We used to go there after every little league game.

One place I haven't seen mentioned at all is Jack's on Touhy....used to be open 24 hours, and they had almost anything you could think of on the menu.

I moved into Skokie in 1955 and remember all of these but no one has mentioned the "NOSH" on Main Street West of Crawford.

From the Wayback Machine, I present Piccolo Mondo on Dempster.

commish wrote:I moved into Skokie in 1955 and remember all of these but no one has mentioned the "NOSH" on Main Street West of Crawford.

See reply #49

Dave148 wrote:

commish wrote:I moved into Skokie in 1955 and remember all of these but no one has mentioned the "NOSH" on Main Street West of Crawford.

See reply #49

The 'Skokie Noshery' was a curious yet great place. A Yiddish name, a tiny storefront Greek-owned by the Douvris family. A grill, a counter, and about six tables. Wonderful people, they were so patient with us kids when we'd bolt from grade school on our Sting-Rays at noon (we'd say we were going home for lunch) and tear-ass for the 3 blocks to 'The Nosh', order and wolf down a hot dog, fries & a Coke, which probably cost 35 cents or so. Then we'd haul back to the playground just as the other kids were coming out of the cafeteria for recess. Nobody was the wiser, and Mr. Douvris knew but never said a word.

About 20 years later, I had the joy of taking my 2-year old daughter there for Saturday morning breakfasts, a rare chance to relive the past.

In Skokie, on Crawford Ave, north of Touhy and south of Howard (forget the side street, maybe Jarvis?) there was a brownstone building that was a "Mom and Pop" store with hot corned beef in a nesco. They would put a loaf of rye in the bread cutter, lay on the horseradish and mustard and build a stacked beauty. The would wrap it in foil and I would sit on their steps and ENJOY. Flat out enjoy. My first job out of college was just down the street so I would walk there. I drove by in the later 80's and it was a sewing machine type store. I figured because the proprietors were old.

Hi all, read all the posts. Hope this is still live. I enjoyed most of the restaurants mentioned. Wish I had an Alberti's pizza or a Big Herms hot dog right now.
I was discussing old places in Skokie with friends and one was trying to remember the name of a pizza place on Church St by Skokie Blvd. None of us can come up with a name. We were also discussing LaRosa's, another great pizza. Besides their Dempster location they had one on Golf Road. Does anyone recall if they had a LaRosa on Church by Crawford? Thanks

Slightly off-topic, there was a La Rosa's pizzeria on Main St. In Evanston, which morphed, through several iterations, into what is today Kabul House.

Gary123 wrote:Hi all, read all the posts. Hope this is still live. I enjoyed most of the restaurants mentioned. Wish I had an Alberti's pizza or a Big Herms hot dog right now.
I was discussing old places in Skokie with friends and one was trying to remember the name of a pizza place on Church St by Skokie Blvd. None of us can come up with a name. We were also discussing LaRosa's, another great pizza. Besides their Dempster location they had one on Golf Road. Does anyone recall if they had a LaRosa on Church by Crawford? Thanks

my family ate at the la rosa's on dempster, and also new china, a few doors down. but i lived and walked near church and crawford and there was no la rosa's there in the 60's or 70's. on the northwest corner was a deli that transformed itself several times- acres, then zweigs.... i ate there a lot as i could walk there as a kid.

thanks for the responses. I must have confused the LaRosa on Golf with Church St. Zweigs eventually moved to Niles on Golf.

Just skimmed entire thread and didn't see restaurant I was trying to remember.... I'm fairly sure it was in Skokie or Wilmette, circa 1966. It was a date-night type place, and I thought the name might have something to do with chalet.

tarte tatin wrote:Just skimmed entire thread and didn't see restaurant I was trying to remember.... I'm fairly sure it was in Skokie or Wilmette, circa 1966. It was a date-night type place, and I thought the name might have something to do with chalet.

Chalet Restaurant on Skokie Blvd south of Dundee Rd.

Yes, that must be it. Thanks, Dave. I was going to say Skokie Blvd., but I wasn't driving back in those days, so never really paid attention to directions.

Does anyone know of a place called "Bobby's Showbiz Deli"? Was probably more like Morton Grove, maybe near Dempster and Waukegan. There was a real Bobby who owned it and his brother was a professional athlete.

My uncle told me a story about being there when he was a pre-teenager in about 1973 and narrowly avoiding becoming one of John Wayne Gacy's victims.

But given his propensity for telling tall tales, it's possible it didn't really happen.