This is exciting news.

I found out some more info on the "gourmet hot dog" place opening at 2200 N. Milwaukee. It's called Daddy Cool's and will be serving "fancy fast-food":

Think gourmet hot dogs (including a vegan version), venison sausage and other snacks with international influences... Named after a free-spirited surfer Kewitz met years ago in California, the restaurant's mustard yellow, green and red interior is decorated with travel mementos and surfing gear... in summer, Daddy Cool's also plans to show movies on one of its outdoor patio walls.

Daddy Cool's
2200 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647

Does anyone know if Bananas Foster is closed? If so, what happened.

Ursiform wrote:Maria's Community Bar just posted on Facebook that Freddie's on 31st is now reopen. http://www.freddieson31st.com/locations.php

Yup! Apparently reopened last Tuesday or something like that. Stopped in... Shiny like a new penny and doing a brisk business. Grabbed a menu and that is all.

Talked with someone in charge and mentioned the now shuttered location on Harlem and something about bad traffic on Harlem. Dunno.

Eager to enjoy a breaded steak!

CG wrote:

It's Aubriot. He's a bad ass

I bet he does wonders, just like at the Alhambra Palace.

What's the over/under of him leaving ?

tem wrote:

CG wrote:

It's Aubriot. He's a bad ass

I bet he does wonders, just like at the Alhambra Palace.

What's the over/under of him leaving ?

if a chef moves to a restaurant, but no one goes to eat there, was he ever really there?

tem wrote:What's the over/under of him leaving ?

Six weeks.

MortonG wrote:Does anyone know if Bananas Foster is closed? If so, what happened.

Yes. Don't know exactly.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/news/close ... oster-cafe

Paul Lakopane Harnas Restaurant
2943 N. Milwaukee
Chicago,IL60618

Commonly called "Pauls Place" by insiders- sadly has closed his doors- and a For Sale sign
is up on the buildings facade.....
When I drove by yesterday - I later circled back to read the sign on the door more closely....
and when I took a photo of the sign- the flash stirred Paul from sitting inside w/ the lights turned off-
slowly amble towards the door, and sadly turn back to his spot at a table of paperwork.

Man- his "Mushroom Soup" was some of the best I've ever tasted-his breakfast specials were legendary.
Sad to see this "spot" close.

Panther in the Den wrote:Yup! Apparently reopened last Tuesday or something like that. Stopped in... Shiny like a new penny and doing a brisk business. Grabbed a menu and that is all.

Talked with someone in charge and mentioned the now shuttered location on Harlem and something about bad traffic on Harlem. Dunno.

A couple of months after the fire at the 31st street location and feening for some Freddie's my husband and I were in the Riverside area and we wanted a good place for lunch. I remember the website said that the location in Lyons on Pershing and Harlem was still open so we decided to go since we were not too far away. We got there and a bright neon orange notice sign greeted us. A couple of months after that around July I passed by again and there was a For Lease sign on the window.

I am in that area quite a bit (Even gone to eat at Villa Nova a few times since August) and I can't really understand the term bad traffic when it seems quite busy to me. That intersection is always mobbed. I think the problem may have been that they were wedged in that ugly strip mall and it was a bit hard to see them because the first time we tried going back in May we almost missed it.

Pie-love wrote:Opening in December 2011, Bread & Wine, 3732 W Irving Park Road, http://www.breadandwinechicago.com. Looks like a restaurant/market.
ampersand-- check!
"Farm-to-table", check!
I'm looking forward to trying this one-- trendiness factor notwithstanding.

Jen

This is walking distance to the AS family. And they have a kids menu. Please, please be good.

.Back Alley Burger is coming to Elmhurst. It's going in to the old KFC location on St. Charles Rd, just west of Route 83

City Island Restaurant is set to open on November 26th in Naperville at Rte 59 and Ogden. It's taken over the old Boston Blackie's location.

The menu indicates that they use natural, vegetarian-fed Angus beef and organic wines and ingredients.

tcdup wrote:City Island Restaurant is set to open on November 26th in Naperville at Rte 59 and Ogden. It's taken over the old Boston Blackie's location.

The menu indicates that they use natural, vegetarian-fed Angus beef and organic wines and ingredients.

Looks interesting! I hope the numbers next to the item are the suggested pairing and not the price!

The Four Seasons Hotel Chicago announced it will close its Seasons Restaurant, just days before the Michelin Guide releases its star designations. The hotel will shutter the seventh-floor restaurant after its last dinner on New Year's Eve and plans to reopen in February with a modern American restaurant. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... ur-seasons

Euphrates Cafe on Division and Wells is now open. No Gus or Chicken Cream Chop; the menu's a mix of basic Middle Eastern (with a few Turkish items like Iskender Kabob), panini, salads, and the usual cafe drinks. If I get around to it I'll post a brief review after a couple of visits.

Buffalo Wings & Rings, some type of chain, apparently, is "opening soon" in Naperville at Rickert & 75th, in the old Blockbuster Video store.

I haven't seen this one posted yet....Pompei in Schaumburg is closed.

1261 E Higgins Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60173

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I haven't seen this one posted yet....Pompei in Schaumburg is closed.

Is this the first shrinkage of the Pompei empire? I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. Our Lakeview one isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread or anything, but it serves a purpose, and we go there when we want that purpose served. I'd hate to see it go.

riddlemay wrote:

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I haven't seen this one posted yet....Pompei in Schaumburg is closed.

Is this the first shrinkage of the Pompei empire? I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. Our Lakeview one isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread or anything, but it serves a purpose, and we go there when we want that purpose served. I'd hate to see it go.

I always thought of Pompei as the Italian version of Panera or Corner Bakery, a few positives, generally reasonable and all around decent but nothing you need to drive out of your way for. But after once paying about 8 or 9 bucks for a plate of exactly five tortelinnis scattered throughout my not so full plate, I say "Bah! Good riddance. Is it a wonder why their business model is possibly failing?

I like Pompeii. I like their salads especially the asparagus and the one with blue cheese and walnuts. I like their pizza bread (sicilian style?). The one on Taylor seems to do a decent lunch business and it's very close to UIC and pretty close to Rush and Cook County and VA hospitals. I can't see it closing, but I don't know the restaurant business....

There are places close to home where I frequently dine or get carry-out/delivery. They're not necessarily the best of their kind or places I would drive out of my way for, but the food is decent and the convenient location makes them worth using. I would hate to see such places in my "regular location" close. I don't know if that's what riddlemay meant about Pompei, but I suspect the situation I describe is true of most of us, at least for some places.

riddlemay wrote:

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I haven't seen this one posted yet....Pompei in Schaumburg is closed.

Is this the first shrinkage of the Pompei empire? I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. Our Lakeview one isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread or anything, but it serves a purpose, and we go there when we want that purpose served. I'd hate to see it go.

Wasn't there one on Washington near Wells that closed a few years ago?

PortPkPaul wrote:Wasn't there one on Washington near Wells that closed a few years ago?

You're thinking of - Davino's Little Pompei - 218 W. Washington St.

riddlemay wrote:

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I haven't seen this one posted yet....Pompei in Schaumburg is closed.

Is this the first shrinkage of the Pompei empire?

The empire has been shrinking for a while. In 2008 Pompei had eight locations: Taylor Street, Lakeview, Streeterville, Oakbrook Terrace, River Forest, Schaumburg and two "Little Pompei" shops in the Loop (on W Madison and on S Dearborn; the Little Pompei on W Washington closed around 2005 and there was also a short-lived one on N Michigan). I think they're currently down to four: Taylor Street, Lakeview, Streeterville and Oakbrook Terrace.

KajmacJohnson wrote:I always thought of Pompei as the Italian version of Panera or Corner Bakery, a few positives, generally reasonable and all around decent but nothing you need to drive out of your way for.

That may be close to true now but Pompei has well over a century of Chicago history behind it. It used to be different (not to mention better) when it was a traditional bread bakery on Loomis that sold some pizza, not a restaurant that sells everything including pizza strudel. Pompei relocated from its longtime home to Taylor Street in the late 1980s and opened the first of its other locations in the mid 1990s.

Recently opened "Pompei Little Italy" / "Ralph and Rosemarie Davino's Restaurant" in Orland Park. They also list the location on Taylor St. but no mention of the other stores. Hmmmm possible family split?


http://www.pompeiusa.com/orland/

http://www.facebook.com/PompeiOrlandPark?sk=info

Phil wrote:Recently opened "Pompei Little Italy" / "Ralph and Rosemarie Davino's Restaurant" in Orland Park. They also list the location on Taylor St. but no mention of the other stores. Hmmmm possible family split?

Good to know about (and also good question). We recently moved my wife's aunt to a "senior living community" down in Palos Park, so we're always looking for places to take her to eat that are off the reservation. That might be lunch sometime.

A few observations while trekking around suburbia today:

Kalyva ( formerly some other short-lived Greek place ) on Milwaukee in Niles is now closed.
The food was quite respectable the one time we visited this summer, however we knew that the "writing was on the wall" because only one other table was occupied---at 7:00 o'clock on a Saturday.

Also, we saw new signage indicating that Cooper's Hawk will be opening in the former Pappadeaux space ( on Golf ) in Arlington Heights.

the location that was Smokey Bears on Harlem is now open as Chicago Sports Hub
Good Luck

http://chicagosportshub.com/uc/

Has anyone seen any updates about the opening of Goosefoot, the new restuarant by Chris Nugent (ex-Les Nomades)? I haven't been able to find a website or an opening date.