Mhays wrote:

tarte tatin wrote:has been voted "Best Italian" in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

Well - without ever having eaten there, I'll make the general assumption that, in Cincinnati, this may well be true ...

Hmmm . . . voted by whom?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Mhays wrote:

tarte tatin wrote:has been voted "Best Italian" in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

Well - without ever having eaten there, I'll make the general assumption that, in Cincinnati, this may well be true ...

Hmmm . . . voted by whom?

=R=

The Board of Directors of BRAVO!, Inc.

Noticed a new awning today at 2207 W. Montrose (next to Apart).
A quick search found this website: http://www.drewseatery.com
Looks like it's opening mid-March

tarte tatin wrote:The Evanston Roundtable (2/20) reports that the Bravo chain of Italian restaurants may be opening a restaurant in the space vacated by Wolfgang Puck at Church and Maple in downtown Evanston.

Chain or not, I'm looking forward to trying _some_ new Italian food in Evanston. I know I've been disappointed by Dave's Italian Kitchen every time I've eaten there.

Too bad about Wolfgang Puck's. I ate at the one in Orlando right after they opened, and everything I had was perfectly good. The one here just seemed to take a nosedive very quickly, any my last time there made me fee like I would be just as well off at a TGI Friday's (ugh...).

tarte tatin wrote:In Evanston: The storefront on the southeast corner of Central and Lincolnwood (across from Hartigan's Ice Cream) has large signs announcing: Taylor Street--Coming Soon to You!

This place is now open. In fact, when I called to find out the hours, an extremely pleasant woman who identified herself as the owner's wife told me that they had been open since November, but had not yet had their "grand opening," as the owner had been hospitalized (but is now OK).

According to an article in the March 2008 issue of North Shore, the chef/owner is Mickey Carioscia, who ran Mama Sue's in the Taylor Street neighborhood "for decades." The menu includes thin crust pizza, pastas with their "signature secret sauce," sandwiches (including a pepper and egg sub), and tiramisu bread pudding. While they wait for their liquor license, it's BYOB with no corkage fee, she told me.

Taylor Street
2916 Central Street
Evanston
847/570-0188
Hours: Tu-Th 11:30 am - 8:00 pm
Fri 11:30 am -9:00 pm
Sat 4:00 - 10:00 pm
(closed Sunday and Monday)

PS. Here you go, KagaTakeshi, ANOTHER new Italian place to try!

rumor mill on another forum is that a trader joes might be opening at 170X w division (on the north side of st)... anyone got anything on that? this is the best news i've heard in a long, long time

dddane wrote:rumor mill on another forum is that a trader joes might be opening at 170X w division (on the north side of st)... anyone got anything on that? this is the best news i've heard in a long, long time

There is construction going on just west of Ashland but I'm pretty sure those are condos. Maybe it's wishful thinking as the grocery at Webster/Ashland seems to have fallen through.

Bom Bon in the Loop on Washington was closed today at lunch.
There was no signage posted.

Does anybody know if they are closed for good?

Tom

TomH wrote:Bom Bon in the Loop on Washington was closed today at lunch.
There was no signage posted.

Does anybody know if they are closed for good?

Tom

Tom-

The closing of the Loop location of Bom Bon (Bon Bon?) was documented here.

-Mary

Looks like Player's Grill in Highland Park has reopened or will be reopening in the next few days after their fire last fall...here's the latest from the website:

Monday, February 25

Well, we're celebrating our 19th Anniversary today by still not being open!! But that will change and very, very SOON. We have passed almost all our inspections and hope to pass the last one later today. The guys are starting to prep in the kitchen and Rosy and I set up the bar last night. If everything goes smoothly, we hope to be OPEN either Wednesday or Thursday Night. Check back here and we'll definitely post the info on when we're up and running!!

headcase wrote:
And while we are on a Bravo note, Bravo on Division is no more. Looks like another restaurnt will be opening in it's place. I believe it was called 50/Fifty (it might have been the other way around).

Bravo Tapas & Lounge (Closed)
2047 W Division St

SSDD

The spot taking over Bravo on Division is indeed The Fifty50, and the owner told me that they plan on opening March 19 - my birthday!

www.thefifty50.com

He said restaurant, lounge, sort of upscale-casual. Sounds like fun.

tem wrote:Maybe it's wishful thinking

apparently the wicker park/bucktown chamber of commerce is purporting this news...

there is construction in the old bank area right there.. that lot is HUGE though, it's possible a TJs could easily fit on the bottom floor, but parking is a big issue... west of there there's a few empty lots though... and there's a really big vacant warehouse building right there, but i doubt it'd be that since there's no parking... and i doubt they'd even consider putting in a TJ's without parking.

Afghan Restaurant on Devon is closed. I would be a lot sadder about this if I hadn't discovered that Kabul House in Skokie has better food, service, and atmosphere.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Afghan Restaurant on Devon is closed. I would be a lot sadder about this if I hadn't discovered that Kabul House in Skokie has better food, service, and atmosphere.

As someone who preferred the food and service at Afghan Restaurant, I am saddened indeed.

Hi,

There is a second alternative: Afghan Kabob on Montrose at Elston.

Regards,

That's very sad news to me about Afghan Restaurant...


Antonius

Nothing wrong with Kabul House but I really liked the folks who ran Afghan.

Received an email from White Linen Catering this morning saying that they had decided to close up shop. I'm not sure from the message whether they are just closing the retail shop on North Ave. in Oldtown or if they ending the catering business as well. It's too bad, I always found their sandwiches to be excellent.

Tony_Spilotro wrote:Looks like Player's Grill in Highland Park has reopened or will be reopening in the next few days after their fire last fall...here's the latest from the website:

Monday, February 25

Well, we're celebrating our 19th Anniversary today by still not being open!! But that will change and very, very SOON. We have passed almost all our inspections and hope to pass the last one later today. The guys are starting to prep in the kitchen and Rosy and I set up the bar last night. If everything goes smoothly, we hope to be OPEN either Wednesday or Thursday Night. Check back here and we'll definitely post the info on when we're up and running!!

They're open, after a few city and contractor-related delays. We carried out lunch from Player's today and it was like it ever was; great burgers and skirt steak sandwiches. The beef barley soup was tasty, too.

=R=

On the corner of Wrightwood and Milwaukee is a sign announcing, "Coming soon - Lets' Go Diner!" The misplaced apostrophe made me cringe a bit, but not as much as I did when I glanced up at the awning and saw that says "Lets Go Dinner Restaurant".

I would say I'm excited to see this place open (there's no concrete evidence of this, but I suspect it's the sort of place I could get a club sandwich or similar) but it's been in stasis for the better part of the year, so.

you mean Wood & Milwaukee, right ?

that place has been under construction for a looooong time. The sign is not encouraging.

Hearing there's a new Italian restaurant opening in the Ravinia section of Highland Park. no other details as of yet.

I heard from an ex hostess at Hilary's, that she is supposed to open up in that building behind the bank. Supposedly she owns that building. I keep hearing of the opening, but I never can get an answer. I miss Hilary's a lot. I bet the new one won't be BYOB however, since she spent all that time and money trying to get her liquor license in the old place.

Man-Jo-Vins appears poised to reopen at its original location on Damen just north of Belmont.

tem wrote:Man-Jo-Vins appears poised to reopen at its original location on Damen just north of Belmont.

Best.
News.
Ever.

Oh boy. I loved Man-Jo-Vins, with its tasty greasy food and "EAT" sign that was designed in such a way that it looked like it read "FAT". If I were still working at my soul-crushing corporate job near there, this would have been the spark of light needed to get me through, but thank God and all the angels I no longer do.

So now I can go to Man-Jo-Vins and not have to go to S-CCJ afterwards. Bliss!

The current exec chef at Coco Pazzo (who also happens to be my neighbor), Tony Priolo, is taking over the Thyme/Timo space at 464 N. Halsted.

According to the Tribune's food blog, it will be a casual Italian spot with a wood-burning oven and hopefully will be open by the summer.

Not sure if anyone has posted this one yet but there's a new Mexican Seafood Place on Lincoln just north of Irving. We had the Huachinango (Whole Snapper) the other day and it was quite tasty and reasonable at around $16. They are currently BYO but say they're hoping for spring liquor.

La Bahia Mariscos
4111 N Lincoln

Also on Lincoln, there's signs in the window of the old Calliopie Cafe (no idea if that's spelled right). It says coming soon Italian Food. Anyone know of what going in here?

La Bahia Mariscos
4111 N Lincoln

Was this the mexican place on the corner across from Sola?

I think you're thinking of jalepeno sabroso. Across from Sola and that sushi place right?