Bishop's Chili In Westmont

I will be lunching there tomorrow, for the second time. Their chili is excellent, and their prices are very reasonable. Don't expect brass and ferns, it's a neighborhood place, but its fans come from far and wide.

OK, I'm with you on the Chicken Basket, especially the chicken soup and the "salad bar" with all the old-fashioned stuff, but try as I might, I'm not a fan of Bishops.

The shacky little place is cool. A roadhouse tavern that pre-dates most of its surroundings. Nice place for a cheap beer and some conversation away from suburbia. But that bean-heavy, soupy chili isn't for me. Still, a nice West Suburban dive. Someone ought to catalog such places, as they are my favorite stops outside the city limits.

A few: the original Country House, Meier's, Belluomini's, Tracy's Tavern.

Charlie Ptacek wrote:I will be lunching there tomorrow, for the second time. Their chili is excellent, and their prices are very reasonable. Don't expect brass and ferns, it's a neighborhood place, but its fans come from far and wide.

I didn't know Bishop's was still in business there, what about the other locations? The Westmont location changed hands in the 80s to a guy who was more interested in the beer end of the business and the chili suffered as a result. I'm glad to hear that it's still around.

Filbert's at that location?

--trent

Well you either like it or you don't like it. If you request
"no beans" it's definitely more of a soup afair. Having
gone to their 18th & Damen location since I was a kid
I like it and feel that this is like indigenous to Chicago,
well OK now Westmont. I believe Filbert's is still
available.
The other stores are closed, eminent domain seizing
18th & Damen, apart lack of interest by public and
possible owners in-fighting closing the Roosevelt Road
locations.
The good thing is that the Westmont location preserves
the flavor of the 18th & Damen shop dispite it's location.

I grew up on the stuff so it has a place in my heart also. Some people are not fans of the style so I can respect that but I used to go down to 18th and Damen with my dad and he used to always bring some home for us if he was working nearby. They used to carry it in the Dominicks frozen food section but had to stop making it for retail when the health dept. required them to use a separate kichen for the grocery store batch. My late father retired to Alaska before he passed away two years ago and I would send him some whenever he was jonesing for it.

A related chili story.

I was between soccer games on a blustery day, driving along Montgomery road just west of Route 59 on the north side of the White Eagle (Aurora - 3450 Mongomery - here is the link for all their stores: http://www.lindyschili.com/stores.htm).

The place seems to be converting to a diner, and was a bit of a wreck, as was the waitress. Pretty decent chili, though, and I was surprised as somehow I though these places were closed. Seems I was wrong, looking at the web site.

I prefer to Lindy's to Bishop's by far (neither is great, but Lindy's is decent), though I do like the atmosphere in Bishop's more.

The bigger problem with Bishop's is all the competition in Westmont. Too many decent places to eat and explore.

Thanks for the west suburban posts, Charlie, but I admit that I hunger for more details.

During "Chili Season" I often have lunch at the Original Lindy's location (?) on Ogden near Western. I much prefer their chili to Bishop's...not to mention that you have your choice between beans or no beans. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly good bowl of chili by putting beans in it, but at least you have the choice at Lindy's. Besides the chili, that particular branch is also a Gertie's Ice Cream parlor (nothing special) and serves Filbert's soda including root beer on tap.

Lindy's Chili/Gertie's Ice Cream
3685 S. Archer
Chicago, IL
773-927-7807

In the late 70's I briefly worked for Standard Brands on pershing road and was turned on to Lindy's on Archer by the teamsters that worked for me in the warehouse. It became our twice a week lunch stop and had for decades been the after work stop for the working man. I would call the chili Ok, even good. It was certainly a good topping for burgers. I have nor been there for over 10 years though so I am no help as far as recent dining experience. I do cheerfully remember it as being THE place to go if you really wanted to see why we are called City of Big Shoulders. (north siders alert, dont try to discuss Da Mare or Da Cubs, we are way outnumbered here). There was also a coffee shop in this area that was known for its corned beef and was our lunch stop on non lindy days. Can anyone offer the name or even if it is still there?

I was then lucky enough to work in Forest Park in the 80's and found the Bishops on roosevelt. I thought that they only existed on damen and had gone out of business. I liked Bishops a lot more than Lindy's and most others I had tried. Yes it is a little soupy but I like oyster crackers and would dry it up with them. And then load it up with chili vinegar off the counter. The Filberts root beer made a great companion to my 2 bowls of chili. I was a customer until they closed. Then one day a few years ago I was on my way to Gene's & Judes I spotted the Bishops sign on a stand on River road just south of the tracks in Franklin Park. the owner told me he was a relative and lived locally and hoped the busienss would take off. They lasted about 6-8 months as I recall. but for that time I was in 7th heaven. I would get a bowl of Bishops to go and then trot down to genes & judes. Their I would make chili dogs and chili fries right on the counter. George would look over from behind the counter and just shake his head, they did not seem to be the least bit interested in expanding the menu to one more item.

Anyway, it was great while it lasted and this thread reminded me that I need to get to westmont one of these days.
bob

About 5 - 10 years ago, I walked into Poochies on Dempster for my usual fried salami sandwich and there was a big sign up saying "We Now Proudly Serve Bishop's Chili". I couldn't order a bowl fast enough to go with my sammy. I was in heaven. This was a dream combo of a lunch. I could now get one of my favorite chilies right in the neighborhood and didn't have to make that trek to Damen anymore.

Boy...was I wrong. The chili that they served was nothing at all like the chili you used to get on Damen. As soupy as Bishop's Chili is, this was even thinner. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it was evocative of chili. I never ordered it there again. Bishop's Chili stayed on the menu at Poochies for a scant month before it dissappeared into oblivion.