Around 1960-1963, my father would take me and my friends to Lincoln Park Zoo. Afterwards, we would take a short drive to a place (still in LIncoln Park area, at least that's what we remember) that sold hot dogs and fries placed in a white cardboard box. None of us "children" can remember the name of the restaurant. Any one have a guess?

L. Woods still has some of the dishes they served at Bones - not only the ribs, but also some of Sima's recipes.

Tom wrote:In the late 1970's, early '80's, there was a terrific Italian restaurant called LaCapannina

I had several excellent meals there. Come to think of it, it was a lot like the Italian food I now enjoy in NYC.

Anyone remember Mama Lena's on Chicago east of State? In the seventies, it was a tiny place where the chef/owner cooked one meal per night. All diners had the same meal. My girlfriend at the time and I walked in late one evening just as she was closing. Having run out of the food she had prepared, but seeing we were hungry, she made us a delicious dinner virtually from scratch. I'll never forget that wonderful night.

Paul SL wrote:

Tom wrote:In the late 1970's, early '80's, there was a terrific Italian restaurant called LaCapannina

I had several excellent meals there. Come to think of it, it was a lot like the Italian food I now enjoy in NYC.

A friend just reminded me that LaCapannina used to serve their pastas in the little frying pans in which they were finished. He also seems to remember that Royko never gave away the name or location, it was the Tribune's Food Critic at the time (Paul A. Camp?) who outed him. Royko reportedly threatened the Food Critic with bodily harm for the admission in print. Don't know if this is true, but it makes a good story.

At that point in his life & career, Royko couldn't do much bodily harm to anybody 'cept himself. But isn't it interesting that the pasta served in a frying pan thing is de rigueur at a lot of Italian joints these days. Although I've had some very good pasta dishes served out of pans, give it a rest!

I do remember that before La Capannina was outed, there was scuttlebutt that Via Veneto, then on Peterson, was his mystery restaurant.

As an aside, many years ago my work habits had me driving by Diversey & Harlem a lot, and I'd keep passing the Sicily Restaurant in the 2700 block of Harlem. It piqued my interest, so finally I went there one snowy Monday night with my brother & had a really fine plate of linguine & calamari. What was interesting that we were the only people dining there except for a large table way back in the rear of the restaurant, at which about eight old guys were sitting. Didn't think much of it at the time, but a few years later the Feds raided Joey 'The Clown' Lombardo's house and they grabbed a framed picture of Lombardo, Accardo, Aiuppa, Solano, etc., sitting at an Italian restaurant. That picture was published not long afterwards, and when looking at it I noticed that the mural on the wall behind them was familiar. Sure enough, it was noted that the location was the Sicily Restaurant.

Guess it's a good thing I didn't complain about the food...

CIRAL'S HOUSE OF TIKI
1612 E. 53rd St.

This place was a great dive bar with barely acceptable food--it helped to have had a few drinks.
Back then my SO lived in Hyde Park and we would end up here on occasion--mostly because your late night options in HP were severely limited. One almost memorable evening a member of our party recognized Matt Dillon sitting in the booth behind us. My SO charmingly commented, "Oh, I remember him from 'Gunsmoke'. Isn't he dead?"

We probably bought him a beer.

In spite of all the tikiness, they had great homemade desserts.

Rene G wrote:

Da Beef wrote:Interesting. That's been a Mexican joint for a while. But also for a while the building still had the old neon advertising "chili" and "hamburgers" attached to it and I always said I should inquire about buying it. Then some time last year when driving down Chicago ave? (maybe North) around Hipsterville, USA I saw the same old school neon now attached to a building and eating establishment around there. I'm guessing they called about it like I said I should do. But that's cool that they didn't just throw it out, I wish I called before them, oh well.

Here's a shot of Dewey's old sign.



I think it disappeared a couple years ago but didn't realize it had reappeared elsewhere. I'll be looking for it.

Here's a shot of Delish Diner's new sign.



Delish Diner
2018 W Division St
Chicago
773-276-5200

What happened to Portuguese restaurants in Chicago? I remember in the 1980's there were at least two, but now there are none. One, Lisboa Antiga, was a nice upscale place on the west side of Wells Street near North Avenue, a bit north of Second City. The other, which name I've forgotten, was a storefront in Albany Park, on Kedzie and Sunnyside or Leland, near where Noon-O-Kabab is now. I remember the Albany Park restaurant was cheaper and seemed tastier than the Old Town place, but it's been a long time.

stevez wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

jnm123 wrote:Also in that same general area were Loree's, home of multi-colored whpped cream (also now a Starbucks) and George's, which was directly across the street from Loree's.

Loree's was another one I had totally forgotten to add to my list. George's only became familiar to me much later on in my life, when I began dating my husband. By then it was known as Cafe Victoria. It was our favorite place for a quick lunch and great service. The food wasn't that great (although they served very good breakfast and some yummy ice cream) but my husband and I loved to go there just to marvel at the old timey atmosphere and because it was quiet. Don't know what happened but I recall about five years, a friend and I were going to drop by for ice cream one early evening only to find them closed with a For Lease sign on the window.

Paul SL wrote:

Tom wrote:In the late 1970's, early '80's, there was a terrific Italian restaurant called LaCapannina

I had several excellent meals there. Come to think of it, it was a lot like the Italian food I now enjoy in NYC.

Anyone remember Mama Lena's on Chicago east of State? In the seventies, it was a tiny place where the chef/owner cooked one meal per night. All diners had the same meal. My girlfriend at the time and I walked in late one evening just as she was closing. Having run out of the food she had prepared, but seeing we were hungry, she made us a delicious dinner virtually from scratch. I'll never forget that wonderful night.

I have the cookbook!


I have a copy signed by Mama Lena's daughter in law, Margo, who compiled the recipes for the book after Mama passed away. Margo couldn't be nicer, a sweet sweet lady and her husband Salvino, Mama's son, is a real character!

Red's Drive-In on 111th and Artesian. Long torn down to make way for the Beverly Art Center.

Great "30s style" burgers, and milkshakes. Misspent much of my out eating and loitering around the mini arcade in the back.

Our Dogs make Friends. A lil truck stand on Harlem just north of Addison. It was there for a long time. Hot dogs and Tamales were all he sold As I recall. I do believe he had fries and canned pop. I heard he closed afdter putting all his kids thru college. The Mexican place across from there. Tres Amigos, was a really good place for Mexican in the late 80's.

Tom wrote:

Paul SL wrote:

Tom wrote:In the late 1970's, early '80's, there was a terrific Italian restaurant called LaCapannina

I had several excellent meals there. Come to think of it, it was a lot like the Italian food I now enjoy in NYC.

A friend just reminded me that LaCapannina used to serve their pastas in the little frying pans in which they were finished. He also seems to remember that Royko never gave away the name or location, it was the Tribune's Food Critic at the time (Paul A. Camp?) who outed him. Royko reportedly threatened the Food Critic with bodily harm for the admission in print. Don't know if this is true, but it makes a good story.

That story is mostly true as far as it goes but Royko failed to mention his "secret place" had been the subject of a lengthy Tribune article a year before his teaser column. I guess his memory wasn't what it once was.

Here's more of the story. In June 1983 Ron Grossman wrote about the marvelous kitchen in a small bar tucked away on Neva Avenue. This 1200 word article, complete with a large photograph of the owner in his kitchen, made La Capannina so popular it soon moved to a larger location on Grand Avenue in Elmwood Park. I really wonder if Royko was a regular at the old place before hearing about it from his Tribune colleague (La Capannina had been cooking for only three years before Grossman's article).

About a year later, in a May 1984 column on taxing suburbanites Mike Royko casually mentioned, "what may be the best Italian restaurant in the Chicago area." He refused to give its name and said, "restaurant critics haven't found it yet, so it is unsullied by yuppies." This was the new location of La Capannina, its identity revealed a week later by Tribune restaurant critic Paul Camp. It soon became sullied by yuppies.

FoodLover1 wrote:Someone mentioned Wimpy's which I thought were only in Britain and Australia. I went to a Wimpy's in Brisbane, Australia back in the spring (here) fall (there) of April or May, 1986.

I remember a Wimpy's in the north Loop (Randolph or Washington west of State Street) back in the early 1960's. It served hamburgers and fries on china dishes at an undulating counter that maximized the seating (all on fixed spinning-top stools). I also ate at Wimpy's in London in 1970, near Leicester Square. The quality of the food at the Chicago version was considerably better. I remember a London guidebook warning travellers off the London Wimpy's with the description of the burger as tasting something like "pounded kangaroo meat." The London versions were truly awful. And don't get me started on the poor quality of British ice cream before the 1980's....

If memory serves, "fast food" as we know it today--McDonald's, Wendy's and the like--didn't invade the Loop before the 1970's. They were a suburban and outlying city phenomenon that didn't exist in the inner city. Before that, cheap Loop dining was at something like Wimpy's--basically fast food but in a standard dining environment with china dishes and steel silverware, nothing disposable or take-away. The other options were in department stores, or the über cheap "steak" houses (Ronnie's) serving up broiled shoe leather, or the several old fashioned (from the 1930's-1940's) cafeterias that disappeared when modern mid-century fast food showed up.

Wimpys was on Washington... east of State.. and another on the N E Corner of Madison and Clark.

In the 1980's there was an attempt to bring the chain back, but it failed. There was a location on the S E corner of Roosevelt and Park in Glen Ellyn or Wheaton.. (just east of Shell). The building is still there and was being used as a book store several years ago.

Downtown... 1970's ... Lets not forget.... Hot Dogs at Woolworths....
Submarine Village..... and of course ... Burger Bar ---Home of the HY GUY... with TWO locations on State Street. There was one across from Goldblatts and another across the street from the Loop Theatre at Randolph.

I so remember going to one of the Cafeterias. Had to be in 69 or 70... and it was GOOD.

Ronnys Steak House was not all that bad either... and always a good place during the Anniversary specials.

Another place still holding on since I started going there in the 70's... Boni Vinos on Van Buren.

The first fast food location I remember opening downtown was Burger King at State and Congress.

Tom wrote:I remember a Wimpy's in the north Loop (Randolph or Washington west of State Street) back in the early 1960's.

The Loop had Wimpy Grills since the 1930s and at one time they numbered over ten. By 1965 they were down to four Loop locations: 17 E Washington, 159 N Wabash, 1 N Clark and 20 W Monroe. In addition to a few in the neighborhoods, there was a Wimpy's on Chicago just west of Michigan. That stretch of Chicago Avenue between Michigan & State would become a magnet for fast food chains when they were still somewhat unusual downtown. By 1977 Arby's, Jack-in-the-Box, Burger King and McDonald's could all be found in those few blocks.

Tom wrote:If memory serves, "fast food" as we know it today--McDonald's, Wendy's and the like--didn't invade the Loop before the 1970's. They were a suburban and outlying city phenomenon that didn't exist in the inner city.

Burger King, which opened at State & Congress in 1973, might have been the first of the nationally-known fast food chains to open near the Loop. But King Kastle (a White Castle imitator) was already at State & Randolph by that time and places like Burger City and Burgerbar* were on State Street in the '60s. Wendy's opened in 1975 at Clark & Madison and so might have been the first major burger chain in the Loop (I suppose one could argue whether it was a major chain back then).

* See jazzman's mention above. Burgerbar was at 156 N and 350 S State.

Almost forgot ..... The Dill Pickle on Vanburen --just west of State Street.


Franklin Park qustion... anyone remember DAVES Hamburgers at Grand and Mannheim

jazzman wrote:Almost forgot ..... THE PICKLE BARREL on Vanburen --just west of State Street.

I think you mean the Dill Pickle, 24 W Van Buren. The Pickle Barrel was in Old Town.

In response to Jazzman's above question: Indeed I do remember Dave's on Manheim Rd. A very young Dave started the place, serving great hand made burgers that were a bit larger and better than the average burger of the day. Everything else on the limited menu was very tasty as far as my aging mind recalls. What I remember as the real difference about the place was that Dave's was the first drive THROUGH that I ever went to. This was around the early 1960's. Dave's was so good that we stopped going to the legendary Skip's Drive In on North Avenue for burgers.

EvA wrote:... reminds me of a fast food place of the 1970s on the west side of Sheridan Road between Devon and Arthur, Sir Whoopee's... I believe that spot is now Loyola University's art studios.

EvA, thanks for remembering Sir Whoppee's. Alas, the funky, former Sir Whoopee's building is no more. It was torn down about 4 years ago when Loyola's Fine Arts program was relocated. After Sir Whooppee's and before Loyola, I think it was a Denny's restaurant. The site is now a Five Guys burger restaurant and a Red Mango yogurt shop on the ground floor of an apartment building.

mrsm wrote:Alas, the funky, former Sir Whoopee's building is no more. It was torn down about 4 years ago when Loyola's Fine Arts program was relocated. After Sir Whooppee's and before Loyola, I think it was a Denny's restaurant. The site is now a Five Guys burger restaurant and a Red Mango yogurt shop on the ground floor of an apartment building.

Wasn't it also a Wag's for a while (the attempt by Walgreen's to get into the quick service/diner restaurant business)?

nr706 wrote:Wasn't it also a Wag's for a while (the attempt by Walgreen's to get into the quick service/diner restaurant business)?

Yes.

This is not Chicago since I grew up in Rockford. But there was a place I always remember called 'Hollywood' which had something similar to a Big Mac called the 'Hi Boy'. It was a drive in and I loved going there in the sixties. There was a cartoon of a guy with a beret and a directors bullhorn carrying a 'Hi Boy'

And in Rockford we had (and there still is one) Maid-Rite, home of the 'Loose Meat sandwich' - one of the weirdest sandwiches ever invented.

On other place I remember as a kid was a place called 'Paul Bunyan' which had this faux raw wood decor with checked tablecloths.... There are still a couple of those in Wisconsin somewhere...

DKoblesky wrote:On other place I remember as a kid was a place called 'Paul Bunyan' which had this faux raw wood decor with checked tablecloths.... There are still a couple of those in Wisconsin somewhere...

Minocqua & Wisconsin Dells - http://www.paulbunyans.com/

I am forced to stop at Paul Bunyans every year when the scout troop goes up to the area for a week long campout.
I never thought that it was all that good, but the kids sure can chow down on the all you can eat after cooknig over a fire for a week.

On Wimpys - I remember that my father knew the owner/major shareholder in teh company. He was saying that the guy had a place built anywhere he liked to vacation so the trip would be covered by the business - he had one open on the cape (Hyannis I think just for that reason). I do remember him from when I was very little jumping over the counter and showing the employees how to properly cook the burgers because he was not pleased with an order at one of the downtown stores.

Anybody (else) remember Mikes? Quirky hot dog joint On Larabee between Lincoln and Shakespeare (no longer exissts). Big Hawaiian mural on the wall,non-vienna dog on a seedless bun piled high with celery seedy slaw great skinny fries. My fav as a kid.

How about Nicks Hot dog Stand. Nick and his wife ran a Small trailer located about 4940 W Belmont ave. ( One block east of Foreman HS.) I remember he used Slotkowski Hot Dogs.... and you could get one with fresh cut fries for 25 cents around 1964 - 1965. Date s/b about right because my dad who never had a car ...had finally just bought a 1964 Jetstar 88 Olds.

I remember one rainy night in the summer. There was a line a 1/2 block long with people standing under their umbrellas during a storm. I too was under one, while my folks roughed out inside the dry car LOL. I didn't mind... I was a kid.

Tom wrote:What happened to Portuguese restaurants in Chicago? I remember in the 1980's there were at least two, but now there are none. One, Lisboa Antiga, was a nice upscale place on the west side of Wells Street near North Avenue, a bit north of Second City. The other, which name I've forgotten, was a storefront in Albany Park, on Kedzie and Sunnyside or Leland, near where Noon-O-Kabab is now. I remember the Albany Park restaurant was cheaper and seemed tastier than the Old Town place, but it's been a long time.

Rio's Casa Iberica was on the east side of Kedzie, between Wilson and Eastwood.

Where we ate & drank, how many do you remember?
http://www.craigslostchicago.yolasite.com/lost-eats.php

Dave148 wrote:Where we ate & drank, how many do you remember?
http://www.craigslostchicago.yolasite.com/lost-eats.php

A nice walk down memory lane, but some of those places had no business being included with the greats.