Pie Lady wrote:

teatpuller wrote:Cupcake Counter just opened. Near southeast corner of Madison and Franklin. They have cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and Intelligentsia coffee. A mother/daughter team. I wish them luck.

They should merge with The Counter and serve burgers between cupcakes.

Meatloaf Bakery's meatloaf cupcakes

Nana, a new brunch place in Bridgeport, is opening up Monday at 6:00 a.m.

Nana
3267 S. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60608
312.929.2486

Walking down Wells in Old Town, I noticed Delightful Pastries is opening soon in the old Breadsmith space.

Consider me delighted.

~M@

The Hot Spot at 2824 W Armitage Ave has been closed for a few weeks now. There is a handwritten sign in the window for Snouts Inc. Brand BBQ Market.

Panther in the Den wrote:My Bride and I had a hankering for a different kind of pizza last week and decided to call...

Pizza Palazzo
314 Madison St, Oak Park
(708) 848-6600

And we were dismayed to have our calls answered by a fax machine.

Happened to be strolling by today and there was a sign in the window stating...

Closed for Repairs
Open April 23rd

Over a month overdue.

Not great pizza but they have been there forever and used to be the king of offbeat pizza's. Hawaiian, chicken with ranch, BBQ and a whole menu of nonstandard ingredients. This was way before some of these pizzas became the norm.

Recently they simplified the menu but still held on to the most popular ones.

I wish them luck!

On vacation now with no return date stated. Phone has been temporarily disconnected.

Not looking good...

sassafrass wrote:A Baladoche cafe has appeared on Devon just west Broadway. The Lakeview location, and the merits of its so-called zucker waffles, drew some chatter here a couple years ago.

Anyone know what's up with this new Rogers Park site? Doesn't appear to be open yet.

Went by today after a late lunch early dinner at Glenn's and this location is no longer there.

sundevilpeg wrote:

Up Wilmette way, I noticed that the space that was formerly the World's Smallest Starbucks (albeit with a million-dollar lake view) at Plaza del Lago is becoming a tiny resto, doing burgers and pizza. The name whizzed by pretty quick - No Man's Land Grill, maybe? Wonder where the heck the kitchen will be? That whole space would literally fit into my living room. Intriguing!

Will investigate the foregoing further ASAP.

Yes, it's No Man's Land. Stuck my nose in the window today. Construction looks like it's not going to be completed for a while.

I believe that the area across from Plaza del Lago (on the lake where there are condos now) used to be called No Man's Land and that there was a burger stand there for years. This must have been in the early 1960's.

Josephine wrote:I believe that the area across from Plaza del Lago (on the lake where there are condos now) used to be called No Man's Land and that there was a burger stand there for years. This must have been in the early 1960's.

Wasn't there a Peacock's ice cream place in that area at one point? I'm thinking circa 1966....

No-Man’s-Land included the triangular area from Tenth Street to the lake and from the Kenilworth border to Westerfield Drive. It was so-named because it was an unincorporated area that belonged neither to Kenilworth nor Wilmette and was populated with commercial entities that included Peacock’s Ice Cream parlor, a gas station, a swim club, a movie theater, several other stores and a somewhat shady roadhouse the was fronted in the fifties by a terrific thin-crust pizza place called The Pink Cottage.

It survived as a fairly scruffy area until a fire broke out at the Miralago Ballroom and the Wilmette, Evanston and Kenilworth departments refused to fight the fire because the Kenilworth police shut off the water. An interesting history of the area can be found in Robert Shea’s book “From No Man’s Land To Plaza Del Lago”.

Rumor has it that the old Starbucks location will indeed become a burgers/pizza joint, with unrealistically high prices. That is the recent scuttlebutt gathered by the guys I worked with at the big condo building across from the plaza.

Couple of items:
1) The Wheeling Superdawg is making significant progress. They've got all the structure up (including all the wall studs) and looks ready for sheathing.

2) A new restaurant has opened in a 'death spot' in Mt Prospect Plaza (Rand and Central, between Garden Fresh and WalMart). It's previously hosted a succession of Chinese buffets, and now it's "Edith's". Labeled as a dance hall and piano bar, it's Philipino food. Buffet at lunch time. I'll have to check it out.

Couple of more items...
1) The Chicago Chicken and Waffles in Oak Park was making some signifigant progress with a dumpster a day demoliton going during the last week or so. Construction on the new interior must be starting soon (I should of stopped by to ask).

2) Petersons Ice Cream in Oak Park has put the tables and chairs back into the single storefront shop. Perhaps the removal last week for end of the season floor waxing/repair? Good to see it still going somewhat strong. Nothing new in the closed restaurant portion other than the 'demo to bare walls' reported previously.

New(ish) in Oak Park...

Ms Lucille's Soul Food Kitchen & Deli
108 E Madison (across from the police station)
(708) 524-1915
Open from 7 am to 9 pm and closed Mondays

A cozy little place that is serving breakfast and has daily dinner and side specials. Haven't been there yet but will be giving it a try soon.

Meca Café recently opened in the space was was the un-lamented Reverence, about a block north of the Evanston Farmers' Market. It's a small franchised chain. My roast beef panini was lightly pressed, with vestigial evidence of grill marks on the bread, lukewarm roast beef, and cold portobello mushroom with caramelized onions. As for the signature lobster bisque, well, it might have been near someone who saw a lobster one time, years ago. If I were to be told it came from a red and white can, I'd wonder how they could have prepared it to so thoroughly suck out the flavor.

We went there so you don't have to.

Meca
1840 Oak Ave
(between Emerson St & University Pl)
Evanston, IL 60201

Panther in the Den wrote:New(ish) in Oak Park...

Ms Lucille's Soul Food Kitchen & Deli
108 E Madison (across from the police station)
(708) 524-1915
Open from 7 am to 9 pm and closed Mondays

A cozy little place that is serving breakfast and has daily dinner and side specials. Haven't been there yet but will be giving it a try soon.

3469 posts ago (read: last year), Cathy2 posted about Laury's just down the street, and I asked if she had ducked in to Sheena's Soul Food Kitchen & Deli. I tried to go there about ten times and it was never open. Then I went one time and the door was open and the one gentleman in the back said they were "out of food." Now it apparently has changed hands from Sheena to Ms. Lucille. Hopefully they'll actually keep to their hours (and keep the larder stocked) so we can get some actual food-based conversation going.

JoelF wrote:Couple of items:
1) The Wheeling Superdawg is making significant progress. They've got all the structure up (including all the wall studs) and looks ready for sheathing.

Do you know if they too will have giant flirty weiners on the roof?

Pie Lady wrote:Do you know if they too will have giant flirty weiners on the roof?

Nominating for masthead quote ^

While driving by at 35MPH it's impossible to say. There's no obvious hardpoints for mounting the famous tubesteak sculptures, but there's time for that.

Pie Lady wrote:

JoelF wrote:Couple of items:
1) The Wheeling Superdawg is making significant progress. They've got all the structure up (including all the wall studs) and looks ready for sheathing.

Do you know if they too will have giant flirty weiners on the roof?

God, I hope so. They were pouring some cement this weekend. Don't think it was all the cement, though.

Oddly enough, Abe, your post reminded me that Abe Frohman's Neighborhood Joint appears to be closed. I drove by on Saturday and the windows are papered over.

The Ranalli's on Montrose by Ashland has closed, I just drove by it today. When I lived in Ravenswood fifteen years ago it was one of the few places that delivered.

Rumor has it that the old Starbucks location will indeed become a burgers/pizza joint, with unrealistically high prices. That is the recent scuttlebutt gathered by the guys I worked with at the big condo building across from the plaza.

Well, it's not a rumor - it's posted in the windows.

Also, I don't think that the obvious target audience, the kids from nearby New Trier HS, have any earthly idea of what an 'unrealistically high price' is.

And. . . .

The Ranalli's on Montrose by Ashland has closed, I just drove by it today. When I lived in Ravenswood fifteen years ago it was one of the few places that delivered.

Good news. No pizza at all was better than pizza from there, seriously! Dreadful.

At the site of the former Davis St. Fishmarket in Schaumburg (corner of Meacham & McConner Parkway) Westwood Tavern & Tap along with a Wildberry Cafe (http://wildberrycafe.com/index.html) are under construction.

It looks like Shallots Bistro will be moving to the space formerly known as Don's Fishmarket in Skokie.

I hear that Bill Kim (UrbanBelly) is opening a new place with a new concept this fall.

Pie Lady wrote:

JoelF wrote:Couple of items:
1) The Wheeling Superdawg is making significant progress. They've got all the structure up (including all the wall studs) and looks ready for sheathing.

Do you know if they too will have giant flirty wieners on the roof?

Yep!



From the old newspaper article

Dave148 wrote:It looks like Shallots Bistro will be moving to the space formerly known as Don's Fishmarket in Skokie.

One of my friends in Skokie said they were opening up some sort of deli as well. I wonder if this location is in adition to, or is replacing the French/Mediterranean concept for the restaurant they have on Main?

sdrucker wrote:

Dave148 wrote:It looks like Shallots Bistro will be moving to the space formerly known as Don's Fishmarket in Skokie.

One of my friends in Skokie said they were opening up some sort of deli as well. I wonder if this location is in adition to, or is replacing the French/Mediterranean concept for the restaurant they have on Main?

I'm not sure. I was zipping down Skokie Blvd dodging the manhole covers when I caught a glimpse of the sign.

I hear that Bill Kim (UrbanBelly) is opening a new place with a new concept this fall.

ChefGEB, too, according to GrubStreetCHI. I think it's to be called 'Grahamwich,' or something close to that. Won't be open for a while, though - he's getting married, among other things, so I'm sure the ol' plate is pretty full!

Cafe Biondi on Milwaukee in Liquor Park is 'closed for remodeling'

I hear that Bill Kim (UrbanBelly) is opening a new place with a new concept this fall.

Wasn't there previous postings (also confirmed by a chat w/ the Landlord on Western) that Vella's (Western and Milwaukee) old space was being taken over by Urban Bellys Bill Kim?