Apparently That Little Mexican Cafe is going in where La Casa Del Gordo is/was in Highland Park. They have a paper sign over the exisiting signage. I guess their $5 lunch specials weren't going over well and Isaac's is doing a bit better than they thought.

In the coming and going category...Brown Cow ice cream parlor in Forest Park is moving a block west on Madison in May. So if you have affection for the current retro digs, get there soon.

Back a few months ago, I was told by someone at Julius Meinl that the new (Montrose and Lincoln) location would probably be opening in April. So I called a few days ago, and was told "we're aiming for late summer."

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:As a longtime kefir fan, I've been looking forward to this. Are they actually open or is it just taking shape?

they're open now

btw, you can get Julius Meinl at Pie downtown, a cute little flower shop that sells... pie and coffee too.

I stopped by Starfruit today, and I have to say, it's a good thing it was free. I'd have been much more annoyed had I paid for it.

I tried the plain with mochi, and while the taste was fine, the texture was very thin and icy. My husband said it tasted like a Slurpee made with sour milk, which is actually a pretty apt description.

David's Bistro in Des Plaines closed its doors March 31st. When I spoke to chef David in February he did mention his lease was up soon and was considering moving out of Des Plaines. Hopefully he'll re-open somewhere soon, because he had very good food, atmosphere, and a very entertaining cooking class. This was a wonderful place to take a date.

http://hungryz.com/davidsbistro

David's Bistro closing make the front page of the Daily Herald yesterday:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=172953&src=1

I know the restaurant business is hurthing, but I was surprised at the cited difference between December 2007 and December 2006, for that size restaurant. Makes me want to run out to Retro Bistro or one of the other suburban independents and throw them some business.

I know many restaurants are and will be doing badly due to the economy but sometimes I also think that's a cop out. There is a place in St. Charles that closed last week that cited economy for their closing but in looking at it there were many other reasons. The place never advertised, you wouldn't about and when you did drive by, it always looked dark. The other factor is that within a 4 block area there are 14 restaurants or pubs that serve food and parking is minimal. It's easy to blame the economy but that is going to be a factor for many places.

Yeah, I was tempted to wonder if the menu at David's Bistro was part of the problem. I went twice and then ran out of things to eat-- and this at a place we wanted to support as local boosters. On the other hand, in the past I always figured he had such a loyal following he probably knew not to change too much. Like friends of mine who bought a restaurant and took some of the worst clunkers off the menu-- and then had to bring them back because all the regulars complained. Now, I just don't know.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:I tried the plain with mochi,

do they have just mochi too? was that part good? ;p

bibi rose wrote:Yeah, I was tempted to wonder if the menu at David's Bistro was part of the problem.

Bibi -- I agree. I live only a few blocks from there and have been there at least three or four times over the last few years. I always thought a restaurant like that needs to tweak its menu frequently, at least quarterly. I don't think the menu ever changed -- either that or i was always there the same season.

dddane wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:I tried the plain with mochi,

do they have just mochi too? was that part good? ;p

No and no

LikestoEatout wrote:I know many restaurants are and will be doing badly due to the economy but sometimes I also think that's a cop out.

I have to agree with this being a cop-out. The fact is that the economy is not bad. Gas prices are high, but we still have full employment. There is a glut of restaurants and you have to be inventive to survive, otherwise people go elsewhere. I only ate at David's once and it didn't strike me as special, so I didn't return.

I know the restaurant business is hurthing, but I was surprised at the cited difference between December 2007 and December 2006, for that size restaurant.

I know many restaurants are and will be doing badly due to the economy but sometimes I also think that's a cop out.

I have to agree with this being a cop-out. The fact is that the economy is not bad. Gas prices are high, but we still have full employment. There is a glut of restaurants and you have to be inventive to survive, otherwise people go elsewhere. I only ate at David's once and it didn't strike me as special, so I didn't return.

I dunno. I have many friends who work in the restaurant business, from servers to cooks to owners, in a wide variety of restaurants, and almost all of them say that this December (and the 2007 holiday season in general) was absolutely atrocious compared to the previous year.

geli wrote:I dunno. I have many friends who work in the restaurant business, from servers to cooks to owners, in a wide variety of restaurants, and almost all of them say that this December (and the 2007 holiday season in general) was absolutely atrocious compared to the previous year.

Yes, but I think there's a lot of factors, including this being one of the worst winters in many years.

John Danza wrote:

LikestoEatout wrote:I know many restaurants are and will be doing badly due to the economy but sometimes I also think that's a cop out.

I have to agree with this being a cop-out. The fact is that the economy is not bad. Gas prices are high, but we still have full employment. There is a glut of restaurants and you have to be inventive to survive, otherwise people go elsewhere. I only ate at David's once and it didn't strike me as special, so I didn't return.

I have to say that "full employment" is NOT the case in the advertising industry. And the economy IS bad for many folks. Realtors taking second jobs, mortgage brokers taking roommates, workforce reductions, the list goes on. And all of those people are watching how they spend their money. So yes, the economy DOES affect restaurants, and NO, it's not a cop-out. IMHO.

YoYoPedro wrote:I have to say that "full employment" is NOT the case in the advertising industry. And the economy IS bad for many folks. Realtors taking second jobs, mortgage brokers taking roommates, workforce reductions, the list goes on. And all of those people are watching how they spend their money. So yes, the economy DOES affect restaurants, and NO, it's not a cop-out. IMHO.

Yeah, soup lines are everywhere, just like the '30s. Just ask the media. Anyway, I didn't want to turn this into an economic discussion. My primary point was to agree with a previous post that most retaurants that go out of business today need to look at their own operation first as the reason. I still run into plenty of full restaurants these days.

[/quote]
Yeah, soup lines are everywhere, just like the '30s. Just ask the media. Anyway, I didn't want to turn this into an economic discussion. My primary point was to agree with a previous post that most retaurants that go out of business today need to look at their own operation first as the reason. I still run into plenty of full restaurants these days.[/quote]

I agree, places I have been to recently are still just as full. My point was that this guy blaming economy when he didn't advertise, doesn't have parking, is directly next door to a place with a similiar menu and has 14 other restaurants nearby. You have to stand out or at least show off yourself and work to build a clientele. You can't expect to open the doors and they will come.

There's an interesting review in today's Tribune about a restaurant in Evanston called Life Vegan that points out the issue of why good places fail. It was noted that the food was excellent, but the service is horribly slow even if it was friendly. In the last paragraph it was stated that the restaurant said their business was pretty slow. If a Vegan place can't make it in a college town, they really need to look at their operation!

I agree with this general discussion. I have opened several restaurants and pubs as either hourly or salaried staff, and seen a few close (that's the theme of this thread, yay!). There are many factors (like the lease with GI) but if "the economy" is to blame then it most often the establishment's interpretation of not getting enough clientele. In my 20 years of experience, this is due to 1) service issues 2) food quality and/or price value 3) ambience/"uniqueness" factor and 4) is logistics i.e. ease of parking, finding the place, etc.

With that said, it sounds like David's Bistro had a mix of all of that...although I've never been there.

David's was an interesting situation, to me. All this time I've felt like he had a formula that I didn't understand, but it was working. I went to a cooking demo he did and was bemused by the fact that all three dishes had fruit in them. The menu was like that too, and it also had the problem, as Joel pointed out, that it never changed. But the demo was attended by a lot of people who were regulars and clearly worshipped David. I mentioned Retro Bistro to one of these regulars and they kind of sniffed. (I had recently been to a demo with a chef from there and thought the food was much better.) I'm sure some of David's enthusiastic following has to do with treating regulars well but most of the suburban independents go out of the way to treat people well.

You have to stand out or at least show off yourself and work to build a clientele. You can't expect to open the doors and they will come.

Restaurants, in general, have a notoriously high failure rate, altho certainly not the 80%-90% in first year occasionally bandied about. A down local economy can't help, but bad-economy, good-economy, about 60% won't be there after 3 years, according to one study:

"In a study in Columbus, Ohio, Professor H.G. Parsa of Ohio State University, tracked new restaurants from 1996-1999. In the first year, 26% closed. Another 19% closed the second year, and 14% the third. Collectively, 59% of new restaurants closed those three years. By the way, the "failure" rate wasn't very different between franchised restaurants – 57% — and independent restaurants – 61%." (from USA Today)

And here are the reasons Prof. Parsa gives:

"Professor Parsa found that reasons other than economic necessity made the owners decide to close. They cited divorce, poor health, and most importantly, an unwillingness to make the immense time commitment necessary as reasons for shutting their doors."

John Danza wrote:There's an interesting review in today's Tribune about a restaurant in Evanston called Life Vegan that points out the issue of why good places fail. It was noted that the food was excellent, but the service is horribly slow even if it was friendly. In the last paragraph it was stated that the restaurant said their business was pretty slow. If a Vegan place can't make it in a college town, they really need to look at their operation!

It's a difficult, out-of-the-way location, that's not particularly close to Northwestern. Eons ago, Fanny's was able to make it work, but no one else has since.

But it was the site of one of the most talked-about LTH dinners ever.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=7373

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 62179e52eb

Back a few months ago, I was told by someone at Julius Meinl that the new (Montrose and Lincoln) location would probably be opening in April. So I called a few days ago, and was told "we're aiming for late summer."

Julius Meinl has posted a Craigslist ad for all positions for the new location, so it seems a good bet that they'll open sooner.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fbh/646140719.html

The much anticipated " Super King" Submarine shop is open . Saw a Grand Opening Banner yesterday.

Super King
3223 N. Harlem Ave.
Chicago, IL.
(Directly across the street from Riviera Italian Imported Foods)

in the old Half & Half space at Damen & Milwaukee, there's a new place going in called Skewerz. They have gigantic, bamboo-ish chairs lining the window. It looks to have some sort of polynesian theme.

A sign says:

"Skewerz offers a healthy alternative to your 'fast food' cravings by offering gourmet cuisine flavors in a unique, portable design, that caters to life on the go. We start by using the freshest & healthiest ingredients, delivered by local farmers & vendors, daily. We only use the light & buttery, omega rich grape see oil for all dressings and frying. We use an exotic variety of nutrient rich herbs, spices & ingredients that are masterfully balanced. Our dishes will appeal to ven the simplest palate. Let the equatorial cuisine excite you as your taste buds blossom and 'Get Stuck on the Stick !' Aloha !"

errrrrr .... ok

I can't wait to get impaled !

Three words for anyone else considering opening an even remotely Polynesian / Hawaiian-themed restaurant in Chicago:

Puka. Dog. Franchise.

There is no other way.

http://www.pukadog.com/

Santander wrote:Three words for anyone else considering opening an even remotely Polynesian / Hawaiian-themed restaurant in Chicago:

Puka. Dog. Franchise.

There is no other way.

http://www.pukadog.com/

So please tell me that they're opening a Puka Dog here, they sound great!

And word yet on what restaurant will be replacing the old Wolfgang Pucks in Evanston?

EvanstonFoodGuy wrote:And word yet on what restaurant will be replacing the old Wolfgang Pucks in Evanston?

I heard that Bravo!, a chain of mid-range Italian restaurants was supposed to go in there. Their website does indicate that they will be opeing a location in Evanston in September of this year.