LabRat wrote:

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.

Okay thanks. I've eaten at the Bravo! Glenview location, it was okay, but nothing great if you like chain Italian restaurants.
A step up from Macaroni Grill and even a bigger step up from Olive Garden, but I guess that isn't saying much.

Sorry if this has been posted previously, but as we left the Evanston Lunch Group at the Pupuseria, I noticed this near Clark and Touhy...



Fulton's Chicken didn't appear to be opening soon - looked like they were still undergoing major construction. Signs mention ribs as well as chicken.

The Tiki Terrace has apparently reopened in its new Des Plaines location with a new chef, according to Chicagoist, which still can't find its way around the suburbs. (They report that the new site is "more accessible" to city dwellers, being "a short cab ride from the Rosemont stop on the Blue Line." The old location shared a parking lot with the Prospect Heights Metra station.)

www.thetikiterrace.com

I looked back about 5 months in this thread and didn't see anything but ... O Famé at Webster & Halsted is gone. No idea when it happened.

Went to Maiz for dinner last night and asked the owner about Tamalli - he said that they encountered some electrical problems in the space that delayed the opening for several months, but that he hopes to open in another few weeks. Said that it would be a late-night place, opening around 5P.M. and serving until 4A.M. or so.

Went to Maiz for dinner last night and asked the owner about Tamalli - he said that they encountered some electrical problems in the space that delayed the opening for several months, but that he hopes to open in another few weeks. Said that it would be a late-night place, opening around 5P.M. and serving until 4A.M. or so.

So, where is it? And who greenlighted that name?

Tamalli is (or it will be??) at 2459 W. Armitage, right in that area where Western, Milwaukee and Armitage all come together.

tem wrote:I looked back about 5 months in this thread and didn't see anything but ... O Famé at Webster & Halsted is gone. No idea when it happened.

There's a new thread about their new take out place on Western & Berteau (4200 N.)

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

I just noticed that the old Tacos del Lago space at 822 Clark St (Clark & Benson) in Evanston has a coming soon sign in the window for "Hawaiian BBQ Grill."

happy_stomach wrote:I just noticed that the old Tacos del Lago space at 822 Clark St (Clark & Benson) in Evanston has a coming soon sign in the window for "Hawaiian BBQ Grill."

If it's Aloha Eats or something just as good, I'll be thrilled...

happy_stomach wrote:I just noticed that the old Tacos del Lago space at 822 Clark St (Clark & Benson) in Evanston has a coming soon sign in the window for "Hawaiian BBQ Grill."

Could the sign have just been streetside spam?

This was discussed several pages back, but finally confirmation that Tiny Lounge is taking over the Charlie's on Leavitt space. From this week's Dish:

Tiny Lounge, the beloved martini bar that ruled 1814 West Addison Street for seven years before a CTA Brown Line renovation shuttered it in 2006, will reopen in Lincoln Square’s old Charlie’s on Leavitt space (4352 N. Leavitt St.; 773-463-0396) early this summer with a small-plate menu plus expanded draught beer and wine selection.

Manee Thai at Pulaski & Addison was recently destroyed by a fire.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 5399.story

The Sun Times story noted that the roof collapsed, requiring the fire department to fight the fire from outside. Destroyed is putting it gently.

We will miss Manee Thai as a place where my spice-wimp wife could get something she could eat while I could get something quite hot or use their chili paste to goose the heat if we were sharing the dish.

Speaking of new restaurants, has anyone gone to Big Jones yet? It appears to be a Southern/Cajun restaurant, from their menu(and was the restaurant that replaced Augie's).

Sorry I can't think of its exact address number, but its located right next to Calo on the 5300 block(east side) of Clark St. Also very sad to hear of the fire that occurred to Manee Thai recently, as I hadn't had heard about that till now.

dumpstermcnuggets wrote:Speaking of new restaurants, has anyone gone to Big Jones yet? It appears to be a Southern/Cajun restaurant, from their menu(and was the restaurant that replaced Augie's).

Sorry I can't think of its exact address number, but its located right next to Calo on the 5300 block(east side) of Clark St. Also very sad to hear of the fire that occurred to Manee Thai recently, as I hadn't had heard about that till now.

A quick search yielded this thread.

Coming in June from the group at Fuego (description from the Chicagonorthwest.com website)

The Grand Station Restaurant & Cocktails
101 West Campbell St. | Arlington Heights, IL 60005 | 847-255-5050 |
Opening Spring 2008! A Grand gathering place located in the heart of downtown Arlington Heights, The Grand Station Restaurant and Cocktails dishes up classic American comfort food. Slow roasted chicken, fat and juicy burgers, salads prepared with crisp garden greens, fresh seafood, and tender steaks made to your liking. A Grand selection of desserts complements the classic menu. The Grand Station, where comfort abounds in Grand proportions.

The GP wrote:

dumpstermcnuggets wrote:Speaking of new restaurants, has anyone gone to Big Jones yet? It appears to be a Southern/Cajun restaurant, from their menu(and was the restaurant that replaced Augie's).

Sorry I can't think of its exact address number, but its located right next to Calo on the 5300 block(east side) of Clark St. Also very sad to hear of the fire that occurred to Manee Thai recently, as I hadn't had heard about that till now.

A quick search yielded this thread.

Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to find!

edgewater;"Bunz Bakery" is coming to thorndale near broadway,offering asian style buns with a variety of fillings as well as other baked goods.

also in edgewater.......and finally "Sweet Occasions" is "reportedly" opening by the end of this month on 1036 bryn mawr across from francesca's.

dug wrote:edgewater;"Bunz Bakery" is coming to thorndale near broadway,offering asian style buns with a variety of fillings as well as other baked goods.

I'm intrigued. Is there an estimated date for opening?

Bunz Bakery is still undergoing construction at this time[looks like a mid-summer opening],i was told the family is doing it themselves as time and budget permits.i also learned they have a sister resturant in chinatown[the noodle?].

New restaurant opening soon in The Dana Hotel & Spa in Chicago. Scheduled in the first weekend of June. Japanese Themed steakhouse with a Sushi Bar.

The space that was until recently Fixture at 2706 N. Ashland is now a bar called Purple Otter, I believe owned by someone connected to the former Yak-Zies.

happy_stomach wrote:I just noticed that the old Tacos del Lago space at 822 Clark St (Clark & Benson) in Evanston has a coming soon sign in the window for "Hawaiian BBQ Grill."

According to a man who answered the phone this evening, this place plans to open in the next week or so. And the name pretty much sounded like it would be Hawaiian BBQ Grill.... I neglected to ask what the specialties might be.

tem wrote: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.

I ate at Skewerz last night. When we got off the train, we passed it, and were laughing at "Get Stuck on the Stick." That's some lousy slogan.

After we got finished shopping at Myopic (where I got a copy of Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts--yippee!), we were hungry, but a lot of the restaurants were closed/closing. This was about 10 pm. One of us had a headache, and didn't want to go to a noisy bar. So, Skewerz it was. We were pleasantly surprised by our meal.

The theme is sorta quasi-Polynesian/pan-Asian--lots of tropical fruits are involved. Food is, as you expect, served on skewers. You can get skewers of chicken, beef, fish, tofu or veg a la carte, or as a meal, as we did. The meal includes 4 skewers, a small container of rice (jasmine, brown or fried) and your choice of sauce/sambal. The meals range in price from $7 to $12 (for shrimp) as I recall. There are also combos of a couple of meat or tofu skewers and a couple of veg.

I had the red curry charred tofu with jasmine rice and coconut sambal. I received not just the sambal, but also a little container of toasted coconut flakes. I mixed both into the rice, and it was yummy. The tofu was firm/dry on the outside and creamy inside.

My dining companions had the five-spice filet mignon skewer with a mango sauce and the "house chicken" with jalapeno sambal. They both opted for the fried rice, which was prepared with scallions and raisins. They both said the meat was tender and flavorful, and they liked the rice as well.

The skewers come in a kind of "boat" made of a length of real or faux bamboo, split lengthwise--so a kind of half cylinder. The rice is on one of those paper "chinese-takeout" containers. I ended up dumping the rice into the clamshell from the fires after we finished them. I think a little rice bowl would be more appropriate for eating in. Other than that, the presentation was attractive, especially for a tray in a fast food type place.

We also shared an order of yucca fries served with banana ketchup. Man, do I love yucca, so I enjoyed these.

We each had a fruit smoothies, which are available in various combos of tropical fruits. For me this was the most disappointing thing. They were tasty, but extremely thick and required a lot of effort to drink through a straw. Of course, I'm not mad for frozen drinks anyway, so YMMV.

There were other things on the menu we didn't try. Various appetizers--I remember grilled romaine, edamame, salad of baby greens with a fruit dressing. There were also a couple of desserts. I believe one was a fried sweet potato ball. The also have several tropical/asian iced teas. I think one has passion fruit in it, and another was green tea.

The countermen and the cook were very polite and friendly, and a gentleman I assume was the owner or manager came out from the back and asked us what we'd eaten how everything was. He plans to start delivering soon, probably down to Grand and up to Diversey (sorry, don't recall what he said about east/west boundaries).

I enjoyed my meal. The food was tasty and a decent value for the money. The place was very clean, and the vibe was pleasant. Also, they are open late--until 1 am, I think

Sorry about the fuzziness on the menu items--I think we brought a menu home, but I'm the only one awake, so I am working from memory. I will scan it later if I find it.

The Mexican place next to the Biograph is becoming Mee Wong: Chop Suey, Steaks, Chops. From the look of the new hanging neon sign that looks old (and from the "steaks, chops"), I'm getting a self-awarely faux ironic retro feel from the place.

Here's a funny one. That new Mee Wong place I wrote about? Today I drove by and the street was crowded with movie trucks. Turns out it's a fake sign, a prop to create an exterior for a movie location! (I knew there was something faux and a little too perfect about that sign, but I thought it was a genuine faux little-too-perfect sign--for a genuine faux-retro ironic modern-day little-too-perfect Orange Garden.) I don't know whether the movie itself is a period piece, or set in the current day in which a faux-retro ironic Chinese restaurant figures in the plot.

Could it be for the Johnny Depp Dillinger movie? (Given that it's next door to the Biograph?)

Looking through the spaces between the movie trucks, you can see a temporary banner in the window that says "La Mexicana Still Open."

riddlemay wrote:Could it be for the Johnny Depp Dillinger movie? (Given that it's next door to the Biograph?)

Looking through the spaces between the movie trucks, you can see a temporary banner in the window that says "La Mexicana Still Open."

Thats what it was. I live right near there and they were filming on Saturday.

Ye Olde Town Inn in Mount Prospect, otherwise known as YOTI, has reopened, sort of.

This sounds to me like an other episode of YOTI's skirmishes with the village, which has a plan to redevelop that part of town without a heavy-metal bar.

YOTI Ready To Re-Open With Temporary Kitchen

Fox and Obel & Flat Top Grill moving into Carson's building

I wish F&O would open a store outside the downtown area, but at least I will be able to get to this on after work or during lunch (in 2009-2010, at least).