Danny's Cafe in Melrose Park has closed and will be re-opening in Elmwood Park as Vito's Old Italian.
From their Facebook page:
Thank you for these great reviews! We are officially closed as Danny's Cafe but we are excited about our New Location opening under our new name "Vito's Old Italian" restaurant. Our new location will be at 7308 W. North Ave. Elmwood Park. We will be offering full bar service and brick oven pizza. Our menu will be exactly the same and our great Chef Benito and his entire staff will be present as usual. We will now have the opportunity to begin a new tradition at "Vito's". We promise the great same food, same great service!

Linda & Vito Scavo

Michael's Beef House on North Ave in Oak Park has For Lease signs over the large sign on North

shakes wrote:Rumor has it Brgrbelly is moving to Clark St. in Andersonville or at least looking into it.

Move there, or open a third location there? If they're moving there, which location would be moving?

Entente looks to open October 14. It is at 3056 N Lincoln Ave, formerly Ani and before that Chizakaya Japanese Pub. An earlier press release touts "Chef Brian Fisher, formerly Chef de Cuisine of Michelin-starred Schwa, will be at the helm of the kitchen collaborating with Pastry Chef Mari Katsumura (formerly of Grace, Acadia)" and "Entente, being a 'friendly understanding', will highlight collaboration between the chefs. Ingredients will drive the dishes that live as staples on the a la carte menu. Seasonality of game, seafood, meat and vegetable will inspire the direction of the kitchen. Reinterpretations of dishes with cross-cultural influences will highlight the true diversity and talent of the chefs." Eater adds "beverage director Angie Silberberg (Cochon Volant, Soho House), will pair the food with craft cocktails, local craft brews, wines and sake." There is not much on their website but you can make a reservation.

entente
3056 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
info@ententechicago.com

Piggyback BBQ on Wells has packed it up and vacated.

FireFin Poke going in to the old Perry's is rapidly taking shape

Perry's is (supposedly) open in the basement of the Tradition Pub @ 160 N Franklin

Red Robin Burger Works 20 E. Chicago is closed.


Source - sign in the window saying "this location is closed"

[Edit/followup: in fact, per Eater and the Trib & other sources, Red Robin Burger Works has left Chicago entirely. Huh, a reduced-menu, reduced-service version of the real thing didn't go over well in Chicago. Hooda thunkit.]

stoutisgoodfood wrote:Perry's is (supposedly) open in the basement of the Tradition Pub @ 160 N Franklin

Walked past today & there were signs stating that Perry's is moving inside Bacci, which is next door to Tradition. I predict it will only last a few months. Quality had decreased and prices have increased over the years at Perry's

Wheeling location of Boston Fish Market expected to open by March. Opening in the old Pete Millers Steakhouse:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161004/business/161009613/

thetrob wrote:Wheeling location of Boston Fish Market expected to open by March. Opening in the old Pete Millers Steakhouse:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161004/business/161009613/

While well out of the way for me, I hope it eases some of the congestion in Des Plaines.

spinynorman99 wrote:

thetrob wrote:Wheeling location of Boston Fish Market expected to open by March. Opening in the old Pete Millers Steakhouse:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161004/business/161009613/

While well out of the way for me, I hope it eases some of the congestion in Des Plaines.

Supposedly the new location will seat 400.

Sweet Tomatoes closes all Illinois restaurants:

All of the suburban Sweet Tomatoes restaurants, known for all-you-can-eat buffets, closed suddenly Tuesday night or this morning.

The company confirmed that restaurants in Schaumburg, St. Charles, Waukegan, Lombard, Aurora and Glenview are no longer in business.

Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., the owner of Sweet Tomatoes, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, according to a company spokesman. The company said it plans to restructure, close locations and put itself up for sale. The company would not immediately release further details about the plan.

After the restructuring, the company will still have about 100 restaurants, some with the name Soup Plantation, which operate mainly in the western U.S. near where Garden Fresh is headquartered in San Diego, California.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2016 ... 161009370/

Taverna 750, which recently moved from Boystown to Andersonville, has closed.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/news/ander ... xton-space

polster wrote:Sweet Tomatoes closes all Illinois restaurants:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2016 ... 161009370/

I used to LOVE going to Sweet Tomatoes/Soup Plantation - that's too bad.

Former Mount Prospect Pancake House, former Sunrise, former Emma's, now has a Coming Soon sign "Tandoori House" with "Lunch Buffet" prominent. Can't find anything relevant on Google.

401 E Euclid Ave
Mount Prospect IL 60056

We could use some Indian on this end of town.

Bistro Dre es finis according to this Eater report.

leek wrote:

polster wrote:Sweet Tomatoes closes all Illinois restaurants:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2016 ... 161009370/

I used to LOVE going to Sweet Tomatoes/Soup Plantation - that's too bad.

Yeah -- this is a hard one to lose -- especially because it was one of the few places with which I absolutely knew my 90-year-old mom would always be delighted. Now I have to find a new "happy place" for mom (that's what she called it when she couldn't remember the name).

The worlds slowest/longest restaurant buildout at the Bermuda Triangle of Skokie will be coming to fruition as:

TBK Grill
7565 N. Lincoln Ave.

TBK = Taco Burrito King

Pequod's on Clybourn has expanded to the bar next door. They've changed the name to "Whale Tale" and according to their facebook page it will do double duty as their Pickup/Delivery hub as well as a different bar and grill concept. Not sure if they'll still be using the ovens next door or if this will be a completely independent operation.

2211 Clybourn Ave. Chicago, IL 60614.

There's a "coming soon" sign at 1009 Davis, Evanston for Yeero Revolution, described as offering Greek Street Food. No word on how soon "soon" is.

A new outpost of The Original Pancake House is going into the former Panera Cares on Diversey near Broadway.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016101 ... tom-tunney

The same DNA Info article noted above also says Panz has closed. I don't really know anything about them except that perhaps they are trying a different channel for their product...they're going to be a Fooda vendor at my workplace on Thursday.

Also posted in the (incorrectly named!) "Stein and Isaacson" thread:

End of an era--no word yet on whether they're moving or closing for good. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161012/west-loop/isaacson-stein-fish-market-sells-r2-companies-fulton-market

boudreaulicious wrote:Also posted in the (incorrectly named!) "Stein and Isaacson" thread:

End of an era--no word yet on whether they're moving or closing for good. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161012/west-loop/isaacson-stein-fish-market-sells-r2-companies-fulton-market

That place really needs to find some room in their budget for a copy editor or two. Or maybe just hire competent journalists in the first place.

9er's Grill in Montgomery finally opened on Tuesday. I still don't understand why a small chain in Texas decided to open a place out here, but they did.

midas wrote:9er's Grill in Montgomery finally opened on Tuesday. I still don't understand why a small chain in Texas decided to open a place out here, but they did.

350 U.S. 30
Montgomery, IL 60538
(630) 229-0333
http://www.9ersgrill.com/

It appears there's a new restaurant in the Bridie McKenna's Irish pub space in Highwood (254 Green Bay Road). The Tribune calls it "Ginger's Rich"; Yelp calls it "Ginger's Pub"; its own website just calls it "Ginger's".

There's really nothing on the menu that suggests (to me at least) that there's any effort to be an Irish pub foodwise --- fish and chips, corned beef sandwich, that's it; not a curry fry or shepherd's pie or lamb stew or smoked salmon or oyster or brown bread to be found -- just burgers and wings and fries --- on Yelp, Ashley from Lake Forest describes it as "Good hearty Irish food" --- I wonder what she thinks people eat in Ireland? --- but the existing space had good Irish pub architectural features. If it has Guinness on tap and some copies of the Irish American News by the door, I won't mind.

Most interesting thing on the menu to me, and possibly for others who grew up in the Highland Park/Highwood area, is what is described as "Famous Scornavacco Thin-Crust Pizza." That's enough to get me to go check it out.

Ginger's
254 Green Bay Road
Highwood
http://gingersofhighwood.com/

nr706 wrote:There's a "coming soon" sign at 1009 Davis, Evanston for Yeero Revolution, described as offering Greek Street Food. No word on how soon "soon" is.

Per the owners I ran into at the Evanston Oktoberfest, "soon" is about two weeks from now (i.e,, end of October/early November).

Katie wrote:It appears there's a new restaurant in the Bridie McKenna's Irish pub space in Highwood (254 Green Bay Road). The Tribune calls it "Ginger's Rich"; Yelp calls it "Ginger's Pub"; its own website just calls it "Ginger's".

There's really nothing on the menu that suggests (to me at least) that there's any effort to be an Irish pub foodwise --- fish and chips, corned beef sandwich, that's it; not a curry fry or shepherd's pie or lamb stew or smoked salmon or oyster or brown bread to be found -- just burgers and wings and fries --- on Yelp, Ashley from Lake Forest describes it as "Good hearty Irish food" --- I wonder what she thinks people eat in Ireland? --- but the existing space had good Irish pub architectural features. If it has Guinness on tap and some copies of the Irish American News by the door, I won't mind.

Most interesting thing on the menu to me, and possibly for others who grew up in the Highland Park/Highwood area, is what is described as "Famous Scornavacco Thin-Crust Pizza." That's enough to get me to go check it out.

Ginger's
254 Green Bay Road
Highwood
http://gingersofhighwood.com/

The owner of Alex's Washington Garden next door is the owner of Ginger's, which feature's the same thin-crust pizza.
http://jwcdaily.com/2016/06/27/bridie-m ... s-gingers/

Honey's Hot Chicken in Highland Park, from the owners of Real Urban BBQ, has closed after only a few months of operation.

From their Facebook page:
A Message from the Owners of Honey's Hot Chicken:
This location is now permanently closed.
Stay tuned for future updates about Honey's Hot Chicken.
We greatly value and appreciate your patronage!

http://www.honeyshotchicken.com/

There's a new Mongolian restaurant opened up just last week in Morton Grove called Mazalae Mongolian Restaurant. Spotted it while running errands. I was having a dumpling craving anyway, so I purchased an entree order of steamed beef dumplings.

I was pretty disappointed. They were steamed to order, dry, and torn in many places [so that whatever juiciness there should have been dripped away somewhere].

Still, it's an interesting addition to the area. I imagine I'll give them a try again. They don't have a web site, but do have a Facebook presence here that includes a menu.

I'm feeling a little iffy about the Khanburger. Couldn't they offer cheddar cheese, too?

Snark aside, I'm willing to investigate this one a little further. Company invited.

Giovanna

Mazalae Mongolian Restaurant
9216 Waukegan Rd
Morton Grove, IL 60053
(847) 983-0343