Don Roth’s Blackhawk

As noted in the openings/closing discussion topic Don Roth’s Blackhawk in Wheeling will be closing 12/31. I decided for nostalgic reasons to go last night. When I worked in the Loop, we would quite often go to the one on Wabash. It was always a good meal. (I found out last night the Wabash location closed in 1984, so it had been a long time.)

When I heard that the Wheeling location was closing, I had to go. I just needed to watch the spinning salad bowl one more time. We had the prime rib. It is $20 (regularly $25) for a 10oz portion with a vegetable and the salad; through the end of November. I wasn’t sure it would be enough food, but it was.

It had a decent crowd, so if you are a fan I would recommend you get one last prime rib and spinning salad in before it is gone.

D.

61 N. Milwaukee
Wheeling
(847) 537-5800

I tried to set up a party for 15 people last week. We have a few young children in our party and requested their private room to not disturb the other patrons. They wanted to charge a $40 room charge. I pleaded with them to make an exception since we had a good size party that likes to eat and drink well. They refused, so I book the private room at Morton's. Morton's could not be more accommodating for our situation.

So long Don Roth's.

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I tried to set up a party for 15 people last week. We have a few young children in our party and requested their private room to not disturb the other patrons. They wanted to charge a $40 room charge. I pleaded with them to make an exception since we had a good size party that likes to eat and drink well. They refused, so I book the private room at Morton's. Morton's could not be more accommodating for our situation.

So long Don Roth's.

That seems to be a pretty fair room charge -- maybe $4 per adult?

How was your dinner at Morton's?

The dinner is Friday. When we made the request to Morton's for a private room they did not hesitate to offer us a room at no charge. I can understand a room charge in the city but I don't expect a fee in the suburbs.

Morton's has a lot of restaurants and a lot of rooms.

Don Roth's will be extremely busy from now till the end; they're filling all their tables.

I had a wonderful meal there tonight and they had a full house. The guy at the next table had driven in from Dallas to take two of his high-school girlfriends to the Blackhawk for one final "spin." They were about 60 and having a marvelous time.

IMHO, the Blackhawk has been riding on the reputation it built decades ago. I've been there a few times over the past 10 years, mostly because my in-laws live in Northbrook and like to go there, mostly because they remember "back in the day". I've always found the food to be at best average, the prices to be too high, and the service to be sub-standard. I'm glad they've been able to fill the tables with folks who want one last blast-from-the-past, but I think that the ship sailed a lot of years ago as far as this being a place living up to its history.

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I tried to set up a party for 15 people last week. We have a few young children in our party and requested their private room to not disturb the other patrons. They wanted to charge a $40 room charge. I pleaded with them to make an exception since we had a good size party that likes to eat and drink well. They refused, so I book the private room at Morton's. Morton's could not be more accommodating for our situation.

So long Don Roth's.

Instead of sticking it to them by choosing Mortons, you should have let the kids run free in the dining room

For those who are fans, the Spinning Bowl Salad Dressing will continue to be manufactured after the restaurant closes, so you can spin your own. (Salad recipe at the link.)

A new exhibit at the University of Illinois at Chicago will explore the history of the Blackhawk Restaurant, which pioneered a slew of dining and entertainment trends in Chicago. The Roth family, which operated the Loop restaurant for more than six decades, donated 60 linear feet of memorabilia to the university's archives, including celebrity contracts, photos, scrapbooks, recipes and menus, according to UIC.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017042 ... n-roth-uic