George Kabob just opened up in what was very briefly Nablus Sweets on Kedzie. I wonder if they'll get business by being mistaken for well known George's Kabob just around the corner on Lawrence.

It doesn't look well put together and have yet to see one customer, so we'll see. A sign in the window advertises fallafal, schawarma , hummus, and kabobs. I honestly believe that we could have done without yet another kabob place in this 3 block radius.

Oh well, guess we'll just have to see how their fallafal compares to Dawali, their schwarma compares to Semiramis, the kabob compare to the Original George's, and the hummus compares to Noon-O right across the street.

George Kabob
4714 N Kedzie Ave
Chicago 60625

bella54330 wrote:George Kabob just opened up in what was very briefly Nablus Sweets on Kedzie. I wonder if they'll get business by being mistaken for well known George's Kabob just around the corner on Lawrence.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/12/15/whos-the-real-george

According to the link, the owner of the "new" George Kabob says he's the brother of the owner of the "old" George's Kabob.

This raises the possibility that the five sons of George Foreman, the boxer, could open five restaurants (probably barbecue joints); if all five were named after their owners, all would have the same name.

it seems strange to me that someone would open up a competitive store directly down the street from their "brother"...
Very interesting indeed, but I'll still head over and try it out!

it seems strange to me that someone would open up a competitive store directly down the street from their "brother"...

I get the concept of a Chinatown where there are regional distinctions and specialty items that differentiate one restaurant from another (same with Devon). As for this strip of Kedzie, there has to be some saturation point. Maybe he knows something we don't but yet another kebab/falafel/hummus joint seems like a folly.

Luna Caprese is papered over and something is coming soon.

Too bad but not unexpected. Never crowded.

DMChicago wrote:Luna Caprese is papered over and something is coming soon.

Too bad but not unexpected. Never crowded.

This is what's taking Luna Caprese's place (:

Macku Sushi
Category: Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: DePaul
2239 N. Clybourn Ave.
(between Webster Ave & Greenview Ave)
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 880-8012
mackusushi.com

Dave148 wrote:The cleverly named Luigi's Pizzeria is opening in the former spot of YumBus:
4010 Main Street
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 673-1200

This place is now open.

Breadsmith in Skokie is closed. Would be nice if they got rid of their website.

d4v3 wrote:Taami, the short lived kosher café on Touhy has gone full circle. The building has now been re-labeled a "Chinese-'American Take Out" restaurant once more. As I drove past today, they were just putting up the signage, so I didn't catch the new name. The largest sign I saw simply said "Chop Suey" in 30 inch high letters, so I assume the emphasis is on "American". It does look like they re-used the really cool sign left over from when the building housed Jimmy Fong's (before it became the New Wok).

Well, now that the signage is all up, I realized the Chop Suey sign I saw actually says "Chop Touhy", the name of the restaurant. Cute name (-2 points). In Chinese "suey" is actually pronounced like "sway" and means odds and ends or leftovers. I suppose If I wanted to be a true LTH SPD (snooty pants dilettante), I could call the new place Chop Tway. Jimmy Fong's used to have fairly decent Jewish-Chinese-American (or is it Jewish-American-Chinese) food, which has been absent from that neighborhood since its demise. Maybe Chop Touhy will fill the gap.

Breadsmith in Skokie is closed. Would be nice if they got rid of their website.

Nope; just relocated to the strip mall a few blocks down, next to the Sara Lee Outlet.

Here's the link to the new location:

http://www.breadsmith.com/locations/skokie.html

Huzzah! All is not lost! Thanks for posting this.

re: Macku Sushi

Kaze fans, rejoice! Macku is the former chef and has brought his skills to his own new venture! Opening soon, as my friend used to bartend at Kaze and they have contacted her about picking up shifts within the next few weeks.

Awesome news.

It was too bad Kaze had to close, it wasn't for the economy but issues behind the scenes with ownership problems.

Didn't realize the space, but I've seen pics of the new place on Facebook, for those who liked it, Macku Sushi is a page you can become a fan of to keep tabs.

miss ellen

Gulliver's is opening a location on Milwaukee and Lake in Glenview. Orange is also opening in Glenview near Waukegan and Glenview Road!

New sushi in Des Plaines (!)- drove past it today at the corner of Miner & Pearson, called Dotomburi.

I have no other details, other that it looked nice from the outside, but they did have a Miller Lite neon sign in the window, which makes me a little leery.

Bluprint, in the Merchandise Mart, has closed.

New massive all you can eat Sushi place slated to open in Naperville in January according to the Dish:
Nagoya Japanese Seafood Buffet (804 S. Route 59, Naperville; 630-637-8881), a massive all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant slated to open in January, is part of an upstart franchise whose only current location is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The reason for advancing into the Chicago market? “It is still growing, and you have a president from Chicago,” says John Peters, the restaurant’s coordinator. “When you have a president from a state, that state will grow. He will put money into his city.” Peters describes Nagoya’s concept as “one long table, about a mile long, and you take whatever you want. We have steaks, scallops, sashimi, snow crab legs, fresh oysters, 40 to 50 kinds of sushi. Fresh fish every day. For someone who loves sushi, you cannot beat this deal.” Three more suburban locations are on the way.

http://www.nagoyausa.com/ Pricing ranges from $11.99 to $18.99 depending on lunch or Sunday seafood buffet.

Looks like one of those places like Woodfield mall has. They serve alcohol. Should be interesting to see what it's like. Only one other location in LA. currently.

redhdbest wrote:The reason for advancing into the Chicago market? “It is still growing, and you have a president from Chicago,” says John Peters, the restaurant’s coordinator. "When you have a president from a state, that state will grow. He will put money into his city."

Even without context, that's the battiest reason for opening a restaurant, or any business, that I've ever heard. When you realize that's his reason for opening a restaurant in Naperville ...

If this guy is getting a bank loan, I think we can proclaim the credit crunch over. Obviously we're back to no lending standards at all. It's 2006 again!

I know! I laughed when I read that. One could just imagine the supposed great increase of restaurants (or any business for that matter) in Chicago if one were to reason that due to the fact a President came from here more money will be given to the city or state! If you want to reason that way, you could then say that we would lose money due to all of the ridiculous Govenors we seem to have!

abe_froeman wrote:Speaking of Vietnamese in Des Plaines, the place at River & Oakton that used to be Cesar's, then Lam's Inn (or whatever; not-that-great Chinese) now has a coming soon sign in the window and the sign out side says "Thai Viet: Pho and Pan-Asian"

Hopefully, it will be good.

And I'm pretty sure it bit the dust. It's been closed the last few times I've driven past at times when restaurants are normally open.

Wonder what's next for that space!

For us NW suburbanites:
Although there's no indication on the sign in the window as to exactly when it will open, Diora will give Buffalo Grove its second Uzbeki restaurant (the other being Chaihanna).

Diora will be at 1034 Weiland Road, SW corner of Weiland and Deerfield, in the space formerly occupied by a long-shuttered Chinese/Thai restaurant that just never worked.

From the Wednesday Journal Web Extra!:

Pompei, the Italian restaurant at the corner of Harlem Avenue and Lake Street, closed its doors Sunday without prior notice.

A letter on the regional chain's corporate letterhead, addressed to "Dear guest" and signed "The Pompei Family," is taped inside the rear glass door at 7215 Lake in River Forest.

"We regret to inform you that we closed this location on Sunday, Dec. 20, due to our inability to secure a long-term lease. We sincerely appreciate all the support you have given over the years, and hope to see you again at one of our six other locations throughout Chicagoland," the letter reads.

The River Forest location has already been removed from Pompei's Web site, as has its S. Dearborn location in Chicago. A call seeking comment from the corporate office was answered with a wish for a good day and then a hang-up.

smellen wrote:Logan Square update:

The former Winds Cafe/Las Brisas on Kedzie/Schubert was purchased by a couple of guys that are affiliated (owners/managers, not exactly sure) with the Empty Bottle. The bought the entire building, including 2nd floor space.

Look for a lower-key bar/pub for the neighborhood; possibly DJs on the weekend, but no true live music at this point.

Work has started, they pulled down the old signage, but can't see inside. The former owner gave me the scoop, I hope this is a weight lifted for his family. Noted a potential opening in January, which seems uber-fast, but I will keep on the lookout.

Timeout posted some additional details about Longman & Eagle, including the menu and end-of-January targeted opening date.

While I'm quite happy to learn that a gastropub is opening a mere two blocks from my home, I was a bit sad to read in the article that their chef hails from Quinn's Pub in Seattle. After reading many rave reviews about Quinn's in advance of our trip, RAB and I had a disappointing meal there in October. The burger was solid, but everything else needed work. We didn't order the marrow after seeing the adjoining table order it - - no color at all. We tried a beef tongue philly with onions and gruyere, as well as housemade potato chips over brandade. Neither were memorable and both were underseasoned.

Longman & Eagle's menu, like Quinn's, sounds great and I will certainly try Longman & Eagle. But, my expectations aren't super high.

Ronna

Jasubar wrote:For us NW suburbanites:
Although there's no indication on the sign in the window as to exactly when it will open, Diora will give Buffalo Grove its second Uzbeki restaurant (the other being Chaihanna).

Diora will be at 1034 Weiland Road, SW corner of Weiland and Deerfield, in the space formerly occupied by a long-shuttered Chinese/Thai restaurant that just never worked.

I think that place was formerly Mongolian House, which was a Korean-Chinese place for many years (I had been eating there since the early 90s when my family first moved to the area). They then sold the business and the new owners changed it to the Chinese-Thai concept from which things went downhill. In that same strip mall, there is a place called Sushi Thai, which is a no-brainer on the cuisine they serve

Sharona wrote:

Jasubar wrote:For us NW suburbanites:
Although there's no indication on the sign in the window as to exactly when it will open, Diora will give Buffalo Grove its second Uzbeki restaurant (the other being Chaihanna).

Diora will be at 1034 Weiland Road, SW corner of Weiland and Deerfield, in the space formerly occupied by a long-shuttered Chinese/Thai restaurant that just never worked.

I think that place was formerly Mongolian House, which was a Korean-Chinese place for many years (I had been eating there since the early 90s when my family first moved to the area). They then sold the business and the new owners changed it to the Chinese-Thai concept from which things went downhill. In that same strip mall, there is a place called Sushi Thai, which is a no-brainer on the cuisine they serve

Sharona, you're right about that being the former Mongolian House. We also moved nearby in the early 90s. We enjoyed many a meal there. It wasn't the best Chinese food ever, but it was good enough and we could walk there from home.

When the new owners took over, I went once and never went back.

Sushi Thai, on the other hand, has proven to be pretty good, at least on the 3 or 4 visits we've made.

Am I the only one who got an email from Kabul House this morning announcing that they've re-opened at 1600 Oakton St. in Elk Grove Village? I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but I sure am glad I did- best Christmas present yet!

If you mention the email when dining in, you get 15% off until January 15th!

Phone # is 847-758-2079.

Not really and Opening, Coming, or a Going, but it looks like Jerry's on Division is expanding next door into the old Coco Rouge space.

SSDD

Pucca wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:Any update on this? I've been spending a lot of time in this area (though only as far west as Leavitt/Bell off Grand), and I would love to see new food options, especially open after 8pm. There seems to be a significant number of new tenants moving into the area, and, yes, the 65 Grand bus is horrible. In fact, it may just be what I dread most about this winter.

It's called Grand Coffee Shop and Grand Sandwich Place. I knew it was something generic and vague. There has been a sign for Opening Soon for months now. Since I am only at the train station in the morning & evening, it's hard to know if there has been any progress on the inside.

I took this train into work this morning, and the place finally had their OPEN sign lit up. We didn't get a chance to check it out yet. Hope to report back soon.

Just found out that my go-to favorite for bulk items, The Home Economist in Skokie (Gross Pt. Road near Church St.), is closing. They are still open but the store is nearly emptied out and I figure they will be down to selling the fixtures and bins pretty soon. I did not have time to go in to find out the story. I was there only about 3 weeks ago and while the story seemed empty and somewhat shuffled around, that was typical, so I didn't think much about it.

Very bummed about this.

abe_froeman wrote:New sushi in Des Plaines (!)- drove past it today at the corner of Miner & Pearson, called Dotomburi.

I have no other details, other that it looked nice from the outside, but they did have a Miller Lite neon sign in the window, which makes me a little leery.

Mr. Maki and I went to Dotomburi for lunch today and I'm happy to report that it was pretty good. We got salmon nigiri and avocado nigiri, spicy tuna rolls, rainbow rolls, don katsu and takoyaki (the fried octopus balls). I hadn't had takoyaki since I was little, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was good. All of that, plus tea, miso soup and salad was about $31 before tip. The interior is quite nice, the fish was fresh and well-prepared.

Definitely better than Sushi Box, on Milwaukee, north of Euclid/Lake, that Mr. Maki's brother recommended to us. That place was just not good.

Two items from the Mt Prospect Journal, December 30 (not yet online, so far as I can tell):

Wheeling Superdawg - Now targeted for February 1 opening. I drove past this week, and it's getting closer. There's a small Maurie and Flaurie on the street-side sign, but not on the rooftop yet.

Boston Blackie's - Filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. No stores expected to close, and they are optimistic about coming out of bankruptcy