ronnie_suburban wrote:Don't know if it's coincidental or a function of the continued crumbling of 'the Boston Blackie's empire' but our last couple meals from the Deerfield store have been noticeably lower in quality than they used to be. First, the cole slaw is no longer Carson's slaw, which is a big negative. This I've noticed over the past several visits. It's changed a few times over that period -- probably as they try to come up with something edible -- but it's been a while since it was Carson's and everything they've come up with since getting rid of the Carson's slaw has sucked. American cheese on my son's burger had a noticeably bizzare and 'rancid' aroma to it. I thought this was especially odd since American cheese normally has the shelf life of rubbing alcohol. Also, wings, which used to be reliably good, have been positively awful the past few meals. No longer are they crispy or covered with a generous amount of traditional 'buffalo' sauce. Now, they are flappy, as if they've been cooked a la microwave and are almost completely devoid of sauce.

And yes, in spite of all these changes for the negative, prices have continued to creep upward. Hey, someone's got to cover that $1.9M.

Seeing that this has been one of our few decent delivery options, it's a big bummer to see it decline in this manner. I hope it's just a rough patch but I fear it's reflective of the overall state of things with Blackie's and therefore, not likely to improve.

=R=

I went over to the Deerfield Blackies at the beginning of September to have dinner with my friend at the bar and watch the Monday Night Football game. First off, it was dead. One other guy at the bar and the restaurant was literally empty. Sure it was a Monday, but still... I got a classic burger and their cottage fries. My friend ordered a huge plate of nachos. My burger arrived without fries. I had to ask THREE times for my fries in an empty restaurant at the bar no less. MY burger was awful. The bun was stale, the meat was not like the old Blackies I remembered and it had a horrible fake butter taste to it. This was mediocre compared to a burger I had in the hospital! The fries finally came, nice and fresh, presented in a mini fryer basket which was a nice touch and they were excellent - just as I had remembered. The pop I had was good too. My friend didn't like his nachos either, but the exchange that followed between him and the server was priceless:

Server: Do you like the nachos?
Friend: They're ok.
Server: Have you had better nachos elsewhere?
Friend: Yes I have, at Denny's. Ever have them there?
Server: No. Are they any good?
Friend: No.

So if you want a beer/pop and some great cottage fries for a snack, then Blackies is your place!

Just saw this update from Crain's this afternoon.
quoted from writer Hailey Lee:

Former Boston Blackie's restaurant chain owner Chris Giannis, 41, was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday on a felony theft charge. His father, Nick Giannis, 61, pleaded guilty to theft charges and was sentenced to 48 months' probation earlier this year.

The father-son duo defrauded nearly $2 million from Charter One and Washington Mutual banks from 2008 to 2009, according to the office of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.

The two were ordered to pay restitution of $1.7 million.

By using check-kiting methods – check fraud that takes advantage of the time it takes banks to clear checks – the Giannises obtained illegal interest-free loans.

After an investigation by the state's attorney's Public Corruption and Financial Crimes Unit and Chicago police, the two men were charged with felony theft in 2010.

Well, it took a while but what seemed inevitable finally happened: Boston Blackie's in Deerfield appears to have closed. Their phone has been disconnected and it's also being reported as closed on Yelp. We last ordered in March of this year and it appears that as recently as June of 2017 they were still open. However, tonight when we called, we got a message that the number had been disconnected.

Once upon a time, before the shenanigans described upthread transpired, they turned out a pretty good burger (especially for the area). I won't miss it too much but I do hope the folks who worked there landed on their feet. They were always remarkably friendly.

=R=

I thought that this location had also closed (a drive by a month or so ago and Yelp)...

Blackie's
755 S Clark St, Chicago

Online it seems that some links are still active.

We had visited a couple of years ago and while we had visited during a traditionally busy time we were the only diners.

Panther in the Den wrote:Online it seems that some links are still active.

Links to the Deerfield store are still active, too so it may not be indicative of it actually being open. A call to the Clark St. location just rang and rang, with no answer.

=R=

Panther in the Den wrote:I thought that this location had also closed (a drive by a month or so ago and Yelp)...

Blackie's
755 S Clark St, Chicago

Online it seems that some links are still active.

Blackie's, on the corner of Clark and Polk since 1939, was never associated with the Boston Blackie's chain, which started in the mid-1980s. Although the original Blackie's closed recently (according to Yelp), their website is still operating, and there you can read a Sun-Times article about the confusion between the two.

Signs on the door for the Clark St location say they are undergoing renovations and will reopen. I've been by there a handfull of times over the last 4 months and it doesn't appear to be an active work site.

stoutisgoodfood wrote:Signs on the door for the Clark St location say they are undergoing renovations and will reopen. I've been by there a handfull of times over the last 4 months and it doesn't appear to be an active work site.

And, as posted just a wee bit upthread, it's not Boston Blackie's -- just Blackie's -- and is not affiliated with Boston Blackie's at all.

=R=

We were at the Deerfield location with friends in early October. Based on food, service and atmosphere (too noisy to talk at dinner time) we saw no need to return.

If they had only closed a couple of months sooner it would have improved our experience.

George R wrote:We were at the Deerfield location with friends in early October. Based on food, service and atmosphere (too noisy to talk at dinner time) we saw no need to return.

If they had only closed a couple of months sooner it would have improved our experience.

LOL - but hey, at least it indicates they were busy!

=R=

"No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded." - Yogi Berra (1925-2015)

Thanks for posting.
Just want to share my thoughts in memoriam, as it was one of my favorites.
In its day- an excellent excellent burger. Potato skins to die for. BBQ chicken, cole slaw, steak potatoes served in their classic form. We frequented the location in the hotel at Skokie Blvd and Golf regularly where the service and food were first-rate. We learned their carry-out service was among the best: hot, plentiful and as tasty as eating in.
When my kids were little, we would often crowd many of us into a table at the location on Green Bay in Hubbard Woods.
What I thought of as a true "Chicago" restaurant experience. Not many of those places to frequent anymore.

I'm just happy to see this space available for something else after all these years (and after Blackie's went downhill). It seems like the Deerbrook area is going to have a bunch of new options soon.