Connie's Beef North & Narragansett

Anyone remember this place?


From the Elm Leaves paper


Lovers of the old Connie's Beef in Chicago may take heart.

The Elmwood Park Village Board has accepted the recommendation of the Plan, Zoning and Development Commission to approve a special use permit for a drive-through restaurant on the old Brown's Chicken property, 7505 Grand Ave.

John Scalzitti, whose father made the sausage for the original owner of Connie's Beef at North and Narragansett avenues, applied for the permit. The restaurant could open as soon as February.

"We took over Connie's in the late '70s and ran it for about 15 years," Scalzitti said. "Now 10 years later, we're opening another. We have all the same recipes."

I remember the place. Pretty good. Although in the day there were a few Italian delis in the neighborhood that were my goto places for a good beef.

I seem to remember there were a block and a half east of Narragansett on the Chicago side. The Merrimac Inn (a tavern) used to be on the corner.

I look forward to them opening in their new location.

heck yea..a proper rival for Johnnies..I think I ate at Connies more as it was a bit closer

Used to go to Connie's when I came home late from work and had missed dinner in the early 70's. It was the best beef.

I also liked Amato's Restaurant which was on North Ave. just west of Austin. Always busy, friendly and huge Italian menu. We go to lots of Italian restaurants, but none are like Amato's. Is there anything place like it around today?

OK -
YOU ppl might be the ones to ask -
Do any of you remember Albano's Bake Shop on North Ave? It was on the North side of the street, a few blocks E of Thatcher which puts it within a few blocks of Johnnies. I'm wondering if they moved, or just closed up shop. If you DO remember the place, then you'll know why I'm asking. If you do remember the place, do you know of any other bakery that comes anywhere close to their stuff? I have NEVER, EVER, had anything even REMOTELY as good as their stuff was as far as donuts, and danishes. Those things were just SICK good. Dripping with some kind of fat, each danish seemed to weigh like 3/4 lb.

Anyone?

Seebee, Albano bakery was on my corner. My parents still live there. They closed years ago. Every day in the summer, my girl friends and I would walk over there, knock on the screen side door (on the 78th court side) and Grandma Albano used to give us a cookie. How great was that. Nothing like my mother saying - OK, pasta's ready, run to the corner and get the bread, we treated it like it was our pantry.

Years ago, the FBI used to sit in front of our house while they monitored who was going in and out of the card games there. My mother used to bring them coffee and let them know that we know who they are.


TOPIC: Don't forget that after Connies left the North and Narraganset location, they moved to 1700 of Harlem. I love Connies, and every day when I drive by, I get more and more excited.

Marshall K wrote:Anyone remember this place?

From the Elm Leaves paper

Lovers of the old Connie's Beef in Chicago may take heart.

The Elmwood Park Village Board has accepted the recommendation of the Plan, Zoning and Development Commission to approve a special use permit for a drive-through restaurant on the old Brown's Chicken property, 7505 Grand Ave.

John Scalzitti, whose father made the sausage for the original owner of Connie's Beef at North and Narragansett avenues, applied for the permit. The restaurant could open as soon as February.

"We took over Connie's in the late '70s and ran it for about 15 years," Scalzitti said. "Now 10 years later, we're opening another. We have all the same recipes."

Stopped by today and talked to the painter. Scheduled to open next week on Wednesday (3-18-09)









Looks like they might be on schedule!

PITD, what corner is that place? There's a Dunkin Donuts on the NE corner, right? And a strip mall on the south side of N Ave. Is it in the strip mall?

Cogito wrote:PITD, what corner is that place? There's a Dunkin Donuts on the NE corner, right? And a strip mall on the south side of N Ave. Is it in the strip mall?

Stand alone building on the southwest corner of 75th Ave and Grand Ave.

Google Streets

Panther in the Den wrote:

Cogito wrote:PITD, what corner is that place? There's a Dunkin Donuts on the NE corner, right? And a strip mall on the south side of N Ave. Is it in the strip mall?

Stand alone building on the southwest corner of 75th Ave and Grand Ave.

Google Streets

OK, I thought it was on North and Narragansett.

Quote added to post. Oops!

Stopped by yesterday to sample their wares and an electrician mentioned that the opening has been pushed back to next Monday.

Not a total loss though.

Cogito wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:

Cogito wrote:PITD, what corner is that place? There's a Dunkin Donuts on the NE corner, right? And a strip mall on the south side of N Ave. Is it in the strip mall?

Stand alone building on the southwest corner of 75th Ave and Grand Ave.

Google Streets

OK, I thought it was on North and Narragansett.

The original used to be on North and Narragansett. My friend stopped in today to visit and I'm not too sure about the Monday opening though. But I sure do hope so.

My Bride and I stopped by last week (they had been open about a week) and the sandwich was about the size of Johnnie's and was woefully lacking in seasoning. Maybe things will improve after their pans get seasoned?

While I was there I met a friend (he is kinda kooky) who had been there every day since they opened. I figured it was mostly out of nostalgia as he remembered (and loved) the old location well.

Johnnie's title is safe so far...

I had pretty much forgot about this thread and this place, maybe Panther's last post did it to me, but not that long ago I was driving along Grand, and, well, it put it back in my mind.

I pretty much live at North and Narragansett, but we moved here after the departure of Connie's. I do remember the short lived incarnation on Harlem. More importantly, I remember the long ago Hot Dog Chicago book, which picked Connie's as about the best, if not the best of the area beef stands then. So...

Today, my wife needed some red meat. We were on a our way to Johnnies when Connie's crossed my mind. I found it a very, very good rival to our long time nearby standby. It's a bigger sandwich, which is not bad in its own right. Pretty different in taste too from Johnnies. A little more like Al's actually, with that same red chili, celery style giardinara, although this one also had a green pepper tilt. The giardinara, as displayed on the wall was Local Beet proud, self-canned. My only quibble with the lunch would have been a bit more of the giardinara on the sammy.

I'm always game for a beefathon, and my guess is that this new(ish) Connie's would fare quite well against its competitors near and not so near.

Very interesting indeed. Let's say a(nother) beef-athon were to suddenly coagulate round them parts. What would be included? Johnnies is obvious. Michaels Beef House is right there (though I haven't been in so long, I have no idea if it's a worthy contender. I do recall they used to have world class fries, and it was my dad's choice for ib back in the day.) I'm sure there's gotta be a few spots up north on Harlem not very far at all...That Mickeys on Harlem in OP is a grease joint. I recall having one IB from there eons ago, and it was that thick cut chewy stuff. I was definitely not a fan. There's another grease joint on fifth ave just north of North ave right by Triton College. I'd assume it's horrendous, but ya never know. Then up the road on River Rd is that Frannies place that was included in one of the past thons, if I'm not mistaken...and I'm rarely mistaken about IB...sorry, had to through that in there.

seebee wrote:Very interesting indeed. Let's say a(nother) beef-athon were to suddenly coagulate round them parts. What would be included? Johnnies is obvious. Michaels Beef House is right there (though I haven't been in so long, I have no idea if it's a worthy contender. I do recall they used to have world class fries, and it was my dad's choice for ib back in the day.) I'm sure there's gotta be a few spots up north on Harlem not very far at all...That Mickeys on Harlem in OP is a grease joint. I recall having one IB from there eons ago, and it was that thick cut chewy stuff. I was definitely not a fan. There's another grease joint on fifth ave just north of North ave right by Triton College. I'd assume it's horrendous, but ya never know. Then up the road on River Rd is that Frannies place that was included in one of the past thons, if I'm not mistaken...and I'm rarely mistaken about IB...sorry, had to through that in there.

About once a year I give Michael's a try. It looks so good, but (and I believe I've probably said this before) it is proof that you cannot always tell taste from apperances. I've pretty much never enjoyed anything there. I mean the fries look better than good and they have not been that good either. On the other hand, I had Frannie's not that long ago, after returning from O'Hare. I like both their IB and their fries. Buena is reserved for those times we do not have any cash on us or give in to the kids who want something other than a hot dog, as they do not eat beef (I know where have we failed as parents).

There are enough places around, including Danny's in Melrose and such that an area beefathon would make sense. I'd sign up (assuming I could make the date).

Michael's is horrible. I gather it was good at one time before being sold to somebody incompetent. Buona is OK, but not really worth further investigation.

The new place in Berwyn isn't too far away (Brando's?).

I'd throw Bob-O's into the mix. They never made it on any of the Beefathon's. I'd say they are at least as good at Frannie's. Also, The original locationof Jay's is well worth checking out. The Jay's on Irving Park around the corner from Frannie's was part of one Beefathon, but it didn't fare well. The Narragansit location is much better.

Bob-O's
8258 W. Irving Park
Chicago, IL 60634
(773) 625-9840

Jay's Beef
4418 N Narragansett Ave
Harwood Heights, IL 60706
(708) 867-6733

I dunno what the problem is at Michael's. I used to live about 2 blocks from them, and wanted so bad for them to have a decent beef sandwich. BUT NO....

My Bride and I would be up for a crawl since this is my hood.

Make sure you post a note here as I do not see all the Events that are posted in that thread.