Places That Are Still Doing Wonderfully Well

In this scary day and age when there seem to be more closings than openings on the “Openings and Closings” thread and one walks into long-popular restaurants to find them 20% full, setting off sirens of doom (and when one hears about businesses of all types which have weathered everything, including the Great Depression, now giving up the ghost), I thought it might be nice to have a thread dedicated to places that are still, despite the odds, packing them in instead of packing it in. Last night we went to La Creperie after a movie at the indieplex, around 8:30 (we’ve become semi-regulars at the place, after going there frequently in the seventies and then taking a two-and-a-half decade hiatus), and both front and back rooms were filled to capacity, except for one table that happened to be a two-top, so luckily we could be seated right away. The restaurant remained full of happy wine-drinking, snail-eating patrons the whole time we were there, and when we left between 9:30 and 10, it was more crowded than before—now it was standing room only, with a crowd at the bar and small vestibule waiting for tables.

The snails were wonderful, fresh-tasting, flavorful, bathing in garlicky-buttery goodness.

I've been going to that place since it opened. Since I moved to the suburbs don't get to go often. Its still much as it was. A reassuring constancy. Long live La Creperie.

This week's Crain's has a similar article - http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/ ... leId=31569

Dave148 wrote:This week's Crain's has a similar article - http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/ ... leId=31569

Cool. There must be something in the zeitgeist.

Funny, I also went to La Creperie a few times in the 70's and then didn't return until the early 0's. La Creperie has a kind of niche (not that many places in Chicago serve crepes), and it's in a high traffic location, so it's continued success is understandable. It's also got a decent pricing structure, which in these times makes it an attractive option.

Dave148 wrote:This week's Crain's has a similar article - http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/ ... leId=31569

very good article. well thought out and well researched.
figures it's in Crain's. restaurants are businesses, after all.

Cafe Iberico at 8:45 PM on a Saturday night. Large groups of people packed in the bar, at the second service bar around the corner, in the vestibule and outside. We were grateful to have gotten there at 6:30.

739 N Lasalle St
Chicago
(312) 573-1510

I dined at Sabatino's a few weeks ago on a Tuesday night, and it was quite full. They seem to be managing the recession quite well with no loss of quality.

I am sitting at the bar at Sabatino's on a Sunday evening as I type this, and it's almost as busy as a Friday. Maybe the value is what keeps them coming back, plus the reliability of an old stand-by.

I was hoping the recession would have an effect on the business at the Hopleaf, but no such luck. We went there for drinks after having brunch at Mercat...got there before 4 pm on a Sunday and there was only one table left. This past Friday I was there at 3 pm and there were people waiting at the door to get in.