By being out of at least 1/3rd of them at all times.

Love World Of Beers,we have one located near my job in Pompano Beach,FL..it's heaven on earth for hopheads. Basically the set up is a bunch of coolers behind the bar like you find at convenience stores filled with every funky beer you can think of. Plus a bunch more on tap. All served by hot looking bartenders.....

A new Naf Naf Grill outpost will be opening in the Point Plaza strip mall off Touhy in Niles. It will be next to Starbucks. No date was posted on the door.

Pie Lady wrote:A new Naf Naf Grill outpost will be opening in the Point Plaza strip mall off Touhy in Niles. It will be next to Starbucks. No date was posted on the door.

Lunch at Naf Naf followed by shopping at Fresh Farms. Life is good.

Dave148 wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:A new Naf Naf Grill outpost will be opening in the Point Plaza strip mall off Touhy in Niles. It will be next to Starbucks. No date was posted on the door.

Lunch at Naf Naf followed by shopping at Fresh Farms. Life is good.

Thanks, for the heads up. That couldn't be much closer to my office. If it's half as good as the original, Naperville location, it'll definitely find a regular place in our lunch rotation.

=R=

Wilde & Greene Restaurant + Natural Market located in the Old Orchard shopping mall is now open. Did a little walkthrough and it looks rather ambitious. 100 workers or so ushering all those who came in through the different food stations.

Whole Foods meets foodlife

Was told not to take any pictures inside, but here's the layout (click for larger):


what to expect:


Vettel's write up

is this a LEYE project?

elakin wrote:is this a LEYE project?

Nope.

There is a website listed on the back: Wilde & Greene

elakin wrote:is this a LEYE project?

It seems to be a group out of Canada that runs similar operations up there. It looks like a great addition to Old Orchard. I'm going to check it out soon!

incite wrote:Wilde & Greene Restaurant + Natural Market located in the Old Orchard shopping mall is now open. Did a little walkthrough and it looks rather ambitious. 100 workers or so ushering all those who came in through the different food stations.

Whole Foods meets foodlife

Was told not to take any pictures inside, but here's the layout (click for larger):


what to expect:


Vettel's write up

For those of you familiar with the Toronto dining scene circa 2000, this restaurant resembles the Movenpick (now Richtree?) that was located at BCE place, above the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The idea was to have a "ticket" that servers punch at each station, and you can traverse the stations and make yourself a pretty good varied meal, then just check out, and pay based on the ticket stamps. You could get some food, graze, get dessert and drinks, and pay just once.

I recall reading that Richtree management personnel were involved with the design of this restaurant, so it could be very similar. If it is, I recall that the grilled game birds, like quail and cornish hen, were really good in Toronto. So were the pastries, and the sushi was decent. Best of all, and apparently present here, based on the map, was the Rosti, a swiss potato dish, a crisp potato pancake laden with butter, that was reason alone to live.

When we'd vacation there, we'd visit the BCE place restaurant every other day, because the values were good, and the menu so diverse, we never repeated a main course... except for the Rosti, which we got every visit.

I intend to visit ASAP!

rfleisch1 wrote:I intend to visit ASAP!

I don't think I jumped the gun, but just so everyone knows:

Chicago Eater wrote:SKOKIE—Old Orchard's new restaurant and market, Wild + Greene, soft opened this week. The restaurant, with 18 food stations, opened with abbreviated hours (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) as did the rooftop dining area; the market will open soon. Grand opening on the 30,000 square-foot space is Sept. 8. [EaterWire]

Barn & Company taking over the old Grand Central bar @ Lincoln & Wrightwood. Gary Wivott to be BBQ Pitmaster.
Here's the story from EATER.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... master.php

Epic Burger is opening a spot in Old Orchard, northeast corner near Crate & Barrel. Opening in the fall.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:A new Naf Naf Grill outpost will be opening in the Point Plaza strip mall off Touhy in Niles. It will be next to Starbucks. No date was posted on the door.

Lunch at Naf Naf followed by shopping at Fresh Farms. Life is good.

Thanks, for the heads up. That couldn't be much closer to my office. If it's half as good as the original, Naperville location, it'll definitely find a regular place in our lunch rotation.

=R=

I'm not a big fan, but I wonder how this will impact Point Plaza Grill. I know next time I do my shopping and I forget lunch, I'll head over to Naf Naf before going back to work.

Pie Lady wrote:I'm not a big fan, but I wonder how this will impact Point Plaza Grill. I know next time I do my shopping and I forget lunch, I'll head over to Naf Naf before going back to work.

I have always only considered Pointe Plaza (in any of its incarnations) as an emergency last resort option. Now with Naf Naf going in, it won't even be that any more.

A couple of new openings:

Al Dente
3939 West Irving Park Road, Chicago, IL
(773) 942-7771
http://www.aldentechicago.com

Jin Thai
5458 N Broadway, Chicago, IL
(773) 681-0555
http://www.jinthaicuisine.com

stevez wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:I'm not a big fan, but I wonder how this will impact Point Plaza Grill. I know next time I do my shopping and I forget lunch, I'll head over to Naf Naf before going back to work.

I have always only considered Pointe Plaza (in any of its incarnations) as an emergency last resort option. Now with Naf Naf going in, it won't even be that any more.

I tried Pointe Plaza 2.0 a couple of weeks ago. Not even worth posting about.

A new place has opened in the old Crema space on the southeast corner of Lincoln & Foster. Jimmy's has NY-style pizza and BEIGNETS! Yum! My husband stopped by and they plan for a soft opening starting right about now. They gave him a free slice and two beignets and although they were both cold by the time I ate them (nice of him to wait for me) the pizza (sausage) was really good and the beignets were, well, cold, but I absolutely bet that hot they'll be dynamite. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the NY-style claim but the pizza was good even cold, and the neighborhood could use a good take-away/delivery pizza spot.

The Marianno's in the New East Side next to the Aqua building is readying to open, they're hiring people now...

Bun Mi Express mentioned in last thread has been open for a month or so now.. it gets pretty good reviews and the food is pretty reliable for the neighborhood

FÜL -- a new healthy food concept -- opened last week .

FÜL
3314 N Broadway
http://www.ful2live.com

on that same block, Mr. Taco looks about ready to open in the former Adesso space.

also in Lakeview, Elixir Lounge opened last month at halsted/cornelia. Features upscale cocktail atmosphere adjacent to Hydrate (same owner).
Taverna 750 opened at that corner as well (750 W Cornelia)

I'm sad to report that Panzano's in Mt. Prospect closed last week.

It was a great little Italian spot open for about a year.

At the long-empty, primo-location Lincoln Square corner storefront at Lincoln and Leland (4701 N. Lincoln) there have been recent signs of life and a permit posted on the door allowing renovation for a new (unnamed) restaurant. Finally, last week a modest sign in the window appeared stating that "Self Serve Frozen Yogurt" is coming soon. Not sure if it's a chain store or new enterprise -- either way I don't have a lot of familiarity with that concept, beyond what you might find in the stickiest corner of a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet place. But for now I'll do my best to reserve judgement and hope for the best.

Further discussion has already ensued at EveryBlock chicago...
http://chicago.everyblock.com/announcements/jul21-new-frozen-yogurt-place-lincoln-square-4123623/

PeteF wrote:..."Self Serve Frozen Yogurt" is coming soon. Not sure if it's a chain store or new enterprise -- either way I don't have a lot of familiarity with that concept...

Come to Lakeview, they're all the rage! Basically it's pay-by-the pound frozen yogurt. The two places I'm aware of in Lakeview (Yogurt Pier on Halsted near Cornelia and Forever Yogurt(?) on Belmont near the red line) offer about 8 rotating flavors of yogurt each day with a self-serve topping bar. You can take as much or as little of the offerings, they throw it on a scale & you're ready to eat.

I like tart yogurt (Asian-style a la Pinkberry, etc.) and I found Forever Yogurt's to be better than Yogurt Pier. YP's seemed a little watery. I have a friend who's hooked on the stuff and both of these places seem jammed whenever we go.

Beyond Thai is opening Aug 1 in the location previously occupied by Thai Pavilion II in Skokie (Church near Niles Center)

shotzy wrote:Barn & Company taking over the old Grand Central bar @ Lincoln & Wrightwood. Gary Wivott to be BBQ Pitmaster.
Here's the story from EATER.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... master.php

Cool!
http://www.barnandcompany.com/
Sounding good.

Stanley's On Racine
324 S Racine Ave
(right N of The Ike)

... has been closed and Edith's (or something) has meved in.

Always wanted to stop...

Cbot wrote:

shotzy wrote:Barn & Company taking over the old Grand Central bar @ Lincoln & Wrightwood. Gary Wivott to be BBQ Pitmaster.
Here's the story from EATER.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... master.php

Cool!
http://www.barnandcompany.com/
Sounding good.

They are open today with a limited menu. I had the sampler platter. 4 ribs, 2 pork sliders, fries, slaw.

Ribs had nice "pull" and a great rub crust. Pork also very good. Pretty moist, two sauces. Fresh cut fries and really good slaw. This could be dangerous for me living right around the corner.

GWiv was in the kitchen.

This is probably small news, but since I live on the street (literally 10 houses away) I'm hoping for the best. I saw activity at the corner of montrose and artesian. There is a new sign up for "sweet pea's bar and grill" where paddy o'splaines used to be. Paddy o'splaines was terrible, and even though the new place doesn't sound all that promising, it can't get much worse. The old place had a pretty big dining area and kitchen, It also had a very suburban sports bar feel which doesn't seem to do too well in this neighborhood. I'll probably try to stop by and try to talk to the owner (and talk him into getting a good tap beer list).

SE corner of Ohio and Noble: Nini's Deli



Still looks under construction, but the deli case is in place.

dondrake wrote:I'm sad to report that Panzano's in Mt. Prospect closed last week.

It was a great little Italian spot open for about a year.

That's too bad. My wife tried to eat there about 2 weeks ago but it was closed because their air conditioning had broken according to a note on the door. Drove by last night after getting ice cream at Cappanari's and noticed it was still closed.

I wonder why they shut down. The place was always packed and they had very good, reasonably priced food.

Word is that Ben Pao is closing on September 10th. Apparently will morph into another LEYE enterprise.