Grocery Bistro

Tonight my girlfriend and I went and tried a place that just opened in the West Loop, The Bistro Grocery. It opened about 3 weeks ago and was full to capacity by 7:00 tonight. The building looks unassuming from the outside, complete with a faux grocery including baskets of onions and potatoes. The inside looked completely different with exposed brick and dark woods, very welcoming. The focus of the room was a long communal table with room for 20 reminiscent of Avec.

From 5-7 Monday through Friday they have a 25$ prix fix menu that includes any appetizer, entree and desert on the menu. It seemed like a great deal so we both ordered 3 courses.

To start we had a special, escargot, artichokes, corn and lemon burre blanc. It was intense flavored but rich and delicious, the lemon cutting nicely through the sauce. Next was a chopped BLT salad with a poached egg. I really enjoy chop salads and this was probably the best Ive had, the chunks of cucumber tasted great with the beautifully poached egg.

Entrees were also solid. The seared bacon and herb crusted white fish with lemon butter sauce was cooked perfectly, served with crisp asparagus. The roasted chili crusted lamb chops were also cooked to a perfect medium rare, served alongside a slightly bland curried couscous.

One desert really stood out, the peanut butter mouse and jelly club sandwich was like PBJ heaven. Complete with a made to order peanut butter mouse and house made raspberry jam that was pan seared/fried to perfection. It was even served with a table side martini shaker chilled shot of ice cold milk.

Overall the meal was filled with fresh ingredients, expertly prepare in simple yet creative fashion. The service was friendly and unhurried, even with a packed room. We will definitely go back maybe just to try an entree (all between 12-17) and that PBJ again.

The Grocery Bistro
804 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 850-9291
thegrocerybistro.com

Went to the Grocery Bistro tonight. It's a cute, small space. To maximize seating, they have a large, long communal table. I felt bad for the folks sitting there, though, because the room was so loud, I'd think it would be hard to have a conversation without yelling. If you have hearing issues, don't go during dinner. It's loud. The restaurant was packed tonight. My step mom and I sat at the bar, which was welcome because of the ease of conversation and because of the free peanuts, kettle chips, pretzels, and whole grain mustard. The only problem with the bar was the large flat screen. Why it's there is beyond me. I'd guess it's rarely quiet enough to watch tv, and this ain't no sports bar, with only a half dozen bar seats.

As we were enjoying the snacks, our server arrived with bread - - a slightly stale roll, sitting in olive oil. That's right - - the plate was filled with oil and the bread was smack dab in the middle. Not worth eating. The free snacks were tastier.

Step Mom and I went with the three course $25 meal - - any small plate, entree, and dessert. I went with the chopped BLT salad with poached egg. Alas, it sounded far better than it was. Egg was small and slightly overcooked. The bacon was nice, but the tomatoes were cold and mealy, and the dressing was really flat (could've used a healthy dose of acid). Step Mom's steak tartare was much better, but not as good as other versions I've had in recent months. The winner, judging from the plates streaming by, was likely the salmon sashimi dish. Huge pieces of really good looking sashimi.

Entrees were a bit better. Step Mom loved her whitefish. I went with the lamb chops. They were a bit more done than the requested medium rare, but still tasty. Yogurt spinach was pleasant. Couscous a nice accompaniment, but a bit boring.

For me, my dessert was the highlight of the evening - - a chocolate monte crisco with a raspberry dip. The dip was unnecessary. The monte crisco reminded me of chocolate beignets I had at Herbsaint in New Orleans many moons ago. Hot, sweet, chocolately, and simply wonderful. I was too enamored with my dessert to pay much attention to my Step Mom's. She was happy, though.

The best deal, though, seems to be lunch. $15 gets you soup or salad, a sandwich, a small dessert, and a drink. While I wasn't in love with my dinner, I'd like to go back and try the lunch.

Luckily for Perman Wines next door, Grocery Bistro is BYOB. If Perman were struggling before, he isn't now. We enjoyed a decent Chilean cab priced at a fair $17 a bottle.

Ronna

Made the maiden voyage here last week and overall a nice experience with only a couple hiccups.

Arrived and had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated for a party of two which gave us a perfect amount of time to grab a bottle of wine next door. Perman wine cellars is a great little spot and he offered up a fantastic Northern Portugese for around $13 that went very well with our dinner.

Started out with a special that was the beet salad served with some ricotta and some sauce that I cannot recall what it was (although it was good). Very nice. We both agreed we would get this again.

For entrees we had the whitefish and the lamb chops. Whitefish as described above was the big winner. Lot of flavor and cooked very well. The lamb chops were cooked a perfect medium-rarish but to me seemed a tad bland. Maybe not seasoned enough? Wasn't anything too memorable. They came served over creamed spinach and couscous. I agree with the above assessment of the couscous being just fine, but the creamed spinach on the other hand was awesome. I couldn't put a finger on what it was, but I would get this as a separate side when I return. It did come out looking like it had been cooked beyond anything, but the flavor was in fact awesometown.

Had the pBJ for dessert. We thought we were ordering something different so when this came we were a tad disappointed. We had them throw a scoop of the carmel gelato on the "side" as it sounded good. Ended up coming on top of the PBJ which we both agreed made the whole thing delicious.

Overall the service was fair to could be better. We sat at the bar and had to ask for the wine (although it is BYO so I can't complain too much) and one or two other items along the way. It is a casual place, but it seemed that they could be a tad more attentive.

Overall a nice fun spot with fair prices and good food. I will return.

I'll be going to Grocery Bistro this Saturday night with my wife and another couple. For those that have been there, can you tell me about their wine glassware? Is it decent, meaning a good size for swirling? This probably sounds like a dumb question, but I've been to too many BYOBs that have little glasses that really don't do justice to the wine poured in them. If I know a restaurant has lousy glassware, I'll just bring my own.

Thanks!
John

John Danza wrote:I'll be going to Grocery Bistro this Saturday night with my wife and another couple. For those that have been there, can you tell me about their wine glassware? Is it decent, meaning a good size for swirling? This probably sounds like a dumb question, but I've been to too many BYOBs that have little glasses that really don't do justice to the wine poured in them. If I know a restaurant has lousy glassware, I'll just bring my own.

Thanks!
John

Not a dumb question. Last time we visited Mado, we brought our own glasses. It's a shame to drink great wine out of a juice glass.

Grocery's glassware was respectable. I wouldn't bother to take my own glasses. The only thing that irked me was when the server topped the glasses off with too much wine. I prefer my large red glasses to be less than half full.

Ronna

REB wrote:Not a dumb question. Last time we visited Mado, we brought our own glasses. It's a shame to drink great wine out of a juice glass.

Grocery's glassware was respectable. I wouldn't bother to take my own glasses. The only thing that irked me was when the server topped the glasses off with too much wine. I prefer my large red glasses to be less than half full.

Ronna

Thanks very much Ronna. I hear what you're saying on wine pours. I won't let servers touch the bottles. I tell them that I prefer to serve it to myself. They should especially keep their hands off at a BYOB, because it's not like they're trying to get you to drink more so they can sell you another bottle!

John Danza wrote:

REB wrote:Not a dumb question. Last time we visited Mado, we brought our own glasses. It's a shame to drink great wine out of a juice glass.

Grocery's glassware was respectable. I wouldn't bother to take my own glasses. The only thing that irked me was when the server topped the glasses off with too much wine. I prefer my large red glasses to be less than half full.

Ronna

Thanks very much Ronna. I hear what you're saying on wine pours. I won't let servers touch the bottles. I tell them that I prefer to serve it to myself. They should especially keep their hands off at a BYOB, because it's not like they're trying to get you to drink more so they can sell you another bottle!

I thought exactly that - - why are they trying to empty this bottle? Not like I can buy one from them. Maybe he thought we'd drink and leave faster? I would've stopped the server, but it was too late by the time I'd noticed.

Ronna

My wife and I went to Grocery Bistro last night with another couple. I thought I would take some detailed notes and photos, since the place is new. I'll apologize in advance for the lousy photos, as I was taking them quickly so as to not be obtrusive.

The Starters

We ordered three appetizers to share, two of which were specials last night. The first special was the white anchovy bruschetta which was very nice, a bit salty and spicy. We liked the dish.



The second special was seared foie gras with chocolate sauce and strawberries. It's an unusual combination that actually worked quite well, although I ate the strawberries separately.



The third appetizer is from the menu, a steak tartare with a lightly prepared quail egg on top. This was also excellent, although I bit into a couple of whole pepper corns which gave me a blast of heat that isn't otherwise in the dish. A touch of salt would have helped, but there's none on the table.



The Main Courses

The good experiences with the starters didn't quite continue to the main course.

My wife and I both had the grilled ribeye "filet cut", which is served with baked potato mashed potatoes and green beens. The steak was tasty but about the leanest ribeye I've ever encountered. The potatoes tasted pretty average, and were purposely left with chunks in them to add texture. The green beans were cooked perfectly, but plain.



My friend Craig ordered the chili crusted lamb chops with curried couscous. He had them substitute green beans for the spinach as he hates spinach. Craig reported that the couscous was very good. The lamb was slightly undercooked for the medium rare that he ordered, but it was in the neighborhood. However, the lamb chops themselves had problems. While the bones were frenched, the chops themselves had clearly not been trimmed. There were large slabs of white fat on them. The chops also had sinew or a thick layer of silverskin on them that couldn't be cut through. Proper trimming of a lamb rack should be chef school 101.



Craig's wife Lynn ordered seared skate. Wow, was this dish a miss! Skate is a thin, delicate white fish that should be prepared somewhat simply. This preparation had a heavy, spicy crust on it that made the fish completely invisible. There could have been anything under that breading and you wouldn't have known it because all you tasted was crust and spice. Served with the dish were pickled sweet potatoes, which were also strongly flavored due to the pickling liquid. It was really a poor dish but Lynn didn't send it back because she's not that kind of restaurant customer. We did give them some thoughts on it afterwards however.



The Desserts

We ordered two desserts to share. Both were really good. The first, which I don't have a photo of, was the chocolate chip cookie dough risotto. It was very good, with little bits of what tasted like crunchy cookie in the mix. The flavor reminded me of old fashioned rice pudding.

The second dessert was the PB & J sandwich others have commented on. It too was really nice, served with an orange based sauce that really isn't necessary. This is a must order if you go.



Wine policy and service

As has been noted by others, Grocery Bistro is BYOB, which is what drew me to them. As Ronna mentioned, you have to be careful to not let them pour your wine however. The waiter got ahold of our first bottle, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, before I noticed because I was getting settled in and he managed to empty the bottle into the four glasses. Holy cow! I kept the rest of the bottles against the wall on the other end of the table so he couldn't get near them.

One of the first things the waiter announced to us was their corkage policy, which is $5 for the first bottle and $10 for every bottle after that. Craig and I looked at each other with looks on our face that said "WTF?" Corkage absolutely makes sense at a BYOB, but what sense does the extra corkage for the extra bottles make except to just increase profits? I think I might have another answer, which I'll mention below in my wrap-up.

The rest and wrap-up

As noted by Ronna, the place is loud. Actually, it's not just loud, it's REALLY LOUD. We were at a table in the back corner, which I think was better than being in the middle of the room, but we still had to yell at each other to be heard. I don't know what restaurants are thinking these days with this kind of design. They should try putting some fabric on the walls and ceiling and get the decibels below 100.

Another early announcement by the waiter was that they want to take the entire order at one time, including dessert. When questioned why, the response was that it allowed the kitchen to "time the service". Well, it turned out that the timing was to the benefit of the restaurant, not the pace the diners wanted to eat at. The restuarant clearly wants you to eat and leave so they can turn the table. The busboys were constantly on top of us, wanting to take plates if we stopped eating for 10 seconds. The waiter was next to them once when we told them we weren't done with one of the starters and he interjected that the main courses were imminent. We are definitely not people who dawdle while eating, but on a Saturday night we do like to eat at a relaxed pace. We had a 7pm reservation and were back on the street heading home by 9pm, which is not dawdling.

I think this "eat it and beat it" mentality is also behind the heavy pours of your own wine and the increasing corkage fee. If your wine is gone sooner, and you're dissuaded from bringing bottles due to the increased corkage, then you'll leave sooner. I don't know this as a fact, but it's consistent with their actions.

I'll probably wait for 6 months before returning, so that the newness wears off and the crowds subside. At that point, it might be an enjoyable restaurant to visit. However, at this sound level, I won't be back since I like to actually interact with the people I'm sitting with.

John Danza wrote:One of the first things the waiter announced to us was their corkage policy, which is $5 for the first bottle and $10 for every bottle after that. Craig and I looked at each other with looks on our face that said "WTF?" Corkage absolutely makes sense at a BYOB, but what sense does the extra corkage for the extra bottles make except to just increase profits? I think I might have another answer, which I'll mention below in my wrap-up.

I'm reminded of Mixteco's recent run-in with corkage fees and while I'm perfectly willing to pay a reasonable corkage fee, Grocery Bistro's policy doesn't lend itself to the same generosity.

Some friends and I tried to stop by Wednesday evening last week but it was absolutely packed and we headed to Avec instead. I can't say we made a bad decision based on these posts.

danimalarkey wrote:Some friends and I tried to stop by Wednesday evening last week but it was absolutely packed and we headed to Avec instead. I can't say we made a bad decision based on these posts.

Never been to Grocery Bistro but when Avec is the less-crowded option under any circumstances, it's undoubtedly the right choice.

=R=

Had a surprisingly enjoyable dinner Friday night -- surprising, in part, because I arrived pre-annoyed at the way-too-steep corkage fees I'd been hearing about. But the restaurant seems to have reconsidered its policy. We were charged a flat $5 -- total -- for the five or so bottles my table of seven tore through.

Nor were we rushed through dinner. Our waiter let us set the pace (which was glacial) and we weren't asked for our dessert choices early, as another poster here reported.

The food was solid. I can't do a review as much justice as earlier posters have done, but I can report the standouts at my table: the onion tart appetizer (tender crust, nice carmelization) as well as an off-menu app of biscuits and gravy, reportedly made by the chef's mother, who was sitting at the table next to ours; the white fish entree (tilapia, with a panko-and-bacon crust, had a nice contrast between smokey pork and mild fish), and the side of frites & aioli (the fries pleasantly hot, the aioli good and garlicky).

And yes, it's a loud room. Very loud.

A friend and I ate at grocery bistro last night, and had a much better experience than some others. We had to wait about 5 minutes past our 7:00 reservation time, but were seated in a great table in front by the window. Maybe because of the location, I didn't find it to be too loud at all. Our waitress was friendly and quickly explained the specials, then took our appetizer order and left us to consider the rest of the menu - no pressuring to order at once.

We started with the Salmon Sashimi appetizer - cubes of raw salmon marinated in mirin, topped with tempura crumbs, scallions, dill, egg, capers, and a soy-chili vinaigrette. Wow, was this dish ever good. The salmon was fresh and buttery, enhanced by the strong flavors of the topping but not overwhelmed. I would go back for this appetizer alone - or, perhaps what I should have done, order another for dessert. Seriously, on the best of list, IMHO.

My friend got the NZ mussels with basil pesto, which were nice and tender and light - no overly rubbery or fishy shellfish to be found in the bowl. I loved my bacon-breadcrumb crusted whitefish with herb butter sauce - a huge piece of fish, drinkable sauce, and a few green beans on the plate fooled me into thinking I'm eating healthy (a thought the "bacon" and "butter" in the entree's description should have erased entirely).

The only part that got on my notoriously irritable nerve was at the end of the night as we were paying our bill (probably around 8:30- we'd only been there 1.5 hrs), somebody who I'm assuming is the FOH manager came up to our table asking us how everything was. Good, we said, and then he starts in a spiel about how the couple by the door is waiting for this table, and he promised them a good table because the guy is about to propose to the girl. Now, I'm not being a grinch - we were more than happy to cede our table to the happy couple - but we had pens in hand and were signing our credit card bills with empty wine glasses - was the "please hurry up and leave" (albeit for a pretty good reason) really necessary? We were literally 2 minutes from leaving anyway, and this just seemed a little off-putting. Not enough to prevent me from returning, though.

I went to brunch today at Grocery Bistro, which is apparently very new for them. I like it better for brunch than dinner at this point. The dinner service is way too loud for me. Today at 12:30, there were probably 10 people in the restaurant and it was very pleasant. I had the frittata and my wife had the veggie omelette, both of which were excellent. The olive oil poached tomatoes we ordered on the side were excellent. All was topped off with a bottle of 2005 Deboeuf Morgon "Domaine du Mont Chavy" Beaujolais, which is drinking beautifully.

This place has great food but they are operating against city ordinance. It is unlawful to charge a corkage charge unless you have a liquor license, which they do not. This is wrong. A few dollars is one thing but $10 !?!?!

Complaints to the city WILL cause action, and I suspect that the action will be to have the illegal corkage charge removed from their menu.

Link: The corkage fee you just got charged? Totally illegal
Link: Chicago city website citing rule
Link: Complaint form to fill out

If enough people complain, then their illegal practice of charging corkage for BYOB can be stopped.

Although you're right that it's illegal for them to charge corkage, I doubt you'll find many people here wanting to join you in ratting them out. But, more power to you.

gleam wrote:Although you're right that it's illegal for them to charge corkage, I doubt you'll find many people here wanting to join you in ratting them out. But, more power to you.

I guess the issue is that there are many law-abiding BYOB restaurants in Chicago, and The Grocery has an unfair advantage over these other restaurants by not following the rules of their city restaurant license. If restaurants violate the law like this without repurcussions, then we might see "no corkage fee" become a thing of the past in the many restaurants that follow the law.

If The Grocery wants to charge a corkage fee, they should get a liquor license or get the city law changed.

Again, I have eaten here and I thought the food was great!

StanleyCup wrote:

gleam wrote:Although you're right that it's illegal for them to charge corkage, I doubt you'll find many people here wanting to join you in ratting them out. But, more power to you.

I guess the issue is that there are many law-abiding BYOB restaurants in Chicago, and The Grocery has an unfair advantage over these other restaurants by not following the rules of their city restaurant license. If restaurants violate the law like this without repurcussions, then we might see "no corkage fee" become a thing of the past in the many restaurants that follow the law.

If The Grocery wants to charge a corkage fee, they should get a liquor license or get the city law changed.

Again, I have eaten here and I thought the food was great!

Sounds like you own a restaurant that has a liquor license and you want to stamp out BYOB. Otherwise, I'm not sure where you're going with this.

BYOB restaurants have a right to charge for the cost of providing the glassware, IMHO, regardless of what the law states. Your claim of "there are many law-abiding BYOB restaurants in Chicago" rings hollow, because in your definition that means they don't charge a corkage. The only BYOB restaurants that don't charge corkage are typically junk fast food type places, again IMHO.

While you are stating your concern is that "we might see "no corkage fee" become a thing of the past in the many restaurants that follow the law", I suspect your real motive is to stamp out BYOB in Chicago. That's exactly what will happen if restaurants can't charge a fee for providing glassware for customer supplied wine, because no one in their right mind will do that for free. Since these are your only 2 posts on LTH, I suspect less-than-honorable intentions towards restaurants like Grocery Bistro.

John Danza wrote:Sounds like you own a restaurant that has a liquor license and you want to stamp out BYOB. Otherwise, I'm not sure where you're going with this.

BYOB restaurants have a right to charge for the cost of providing the glassware, IMHO, regardless of what the law states. Your claim of "there are many law-abiding BYOB restaurants in Chicago" rings hollow, because in your definition that means they don't charge a corkage.

First of all, I don't own a restaurant. And secondly, I love BYOB places.

You say they have the right to charge for providing the glassware "regardless of what the law states". You opinion. OK. But their restaurant license do not permit them to charge corkage, it''s that simple.

And your statement "The only BYOB restaurants that don't charge corkage are typically junk fast food type places, again IMHO." ... I think you would find many people here who have eaten at BYOB places that are not junk food. I've been to many throughout the city. In the last 2 weeks, I have been to Gio's in Bridgeport, Terragusto in Roscoe Village and Tango Sur on Southport. Not "junk fast food" and they do a great business and follow the law. You said "no one in their right mind will do that". The owners of the places I listed above would certainly disagree.

You can doubt my intentions if you like, maybe new poster here have done that in the past (I don't know). I am new here (although I have posted a number of reviews on Yelp under the same handle). But I like the food and service at the Grocery (other than they are charging a corkage fee, which is against city ordinance.) When I ate there, I asked the waiter if they had a liquor license and they said "no". I pointed out to the manager that charging corkage was in violation of city ordinance, but he just said "I'm sorry but we still charge if you bring a bottle here". If people want to complain to the city, fine. If they want to eat there and pay the $10/bottle corkage, fine too. It is up to them.

StanleyCup wrote: I've been to many throughout the city. In the last 2 weeks, I have been to Gio's in Bridgeport, Terragusto in Roscoe Village and Tango Sur on Southport. Not "junk fast food" and they do a great business and follow the law. You said "no one in their right mind will do that". The owners of the places I listed above would certainly disagree.

Fair enough. Terragusto and Tango Sur are both excellent restaurants that don't charge a corkage fee. They also have lousy glassware and have little invested in it, so they don't need to. That can't be said about many others.

StanleyCup wrote:But their restaurant license do not permit them to charge corkage, it''s that simple.

Also easily cured. If I were the owner of a BYOB, I would call it a "glassware fee", which wouldn't run afoul of the law. No charge for drinking your wine in my place, as long as it's in your glasses. If you want to use one of my glasses, it's $5 a glass.

Sorry to take us off of the subject of Grocery Bistro. This whole thing about corkage being illegal makes me nuts and is just another way for government to screw things up.

I had business today in an office right next door to Grocery Bistro, and so we bought some sandwiches from them for lunch. I cannot say I was terribly impressed by the smoked salmon club sandwich I chose. The salmon itself was quite good, but more's the pity, because the fish was overwhelmed by the piling on of boiled egg, tomato, and other ingredients, as well as the bread itself, all of which was just a bland mish-mosh of flavors and textures (mainly "soft"). And that's the heart of it; I just don't think smoked salmon presents well on a big layer of soft, doughy bread (in this case, three layers -- it was a club sandwich). I wish I'd asked for some crackers and deconstructed the thing; might have been more enjoyable that way. Just sort of a waste of good ingredients, as presented.

As mentioned upthread, the corkage fee was reduced to $5/bottle. Now, if StanleyCup went in since then and it was $10/bottle, the legality aside, I don't think it's too much to ask for a consistent policy.

That being said, per the 312 Dining Diva, Grocery Bistro has more to worry about than an illegal corkage fee.

Friends of mine ate there just last night and were seriously underwhelmed. Their orders were taken -- including dessert -- shortly before 7pm and they didn't see an appetizer until 8. One friend singled out the rib-eye entree as wildly mediocre. Served with a colossal amount of garlic mashed potatoes and drowning in a tasteless red wine reduction, he claimed that he had eaten that same dish at the Outback (where it was more enjoyable). Despite bringing 3 bottles of wine, they were charged only $5 for in corkage fees.

danimalarkey wrote:That being said, per the 312 Dining Diva, Grocery Bistro has more to worry about than an illegal corkage fee.

Holy cow, that's amazing! The one time I was there for dinner, and the other evenings I've driven by there, the place as been packed with people waiting outside. With this kind of revenue stream, how could they be stiffing the chef?

As you saw from my initial post, the food does need improvement. Sounds like that hasn't happened yet.

And, apparently, the Chef Christopher has left and is working on a new project:

http://blogs.menupages.com/chicago/2009 ... ama_a.html

Ronna.

Per a 312 Dining Diva tip, Grocery Bistro might have been served an eviction notice.

ETA: ... or maybe not, as I just posted at GSChi:

Update: Grocery Bistro owner Marcel Somfelean called us to clarify: "The grocery bistro was not served for eviction or anything like that. I think whoever said that, they're working with our former chef and posting false allegations about us. This is not the first time this happened. Business is great. Last weekend — Friday and Saturday — it was our busiest nights ever, both by the number of customers and the sales."

helenr wrote:Per a 312 Dining Diva tip, Grocery Bistro might have been served an eviction notice.

ETA: ... or maybe not, as I just posted at GSChi:

Update: Grocery Bistro owner Marcel Somfelean called us to clarify: "The grocery bistro was not served for eviction or anything like that. I think whoever said that, they're working with our former chef and posting false allegations about us. This is not the first time this happened. Business is great. Last weekend — Friday and Saturday — it was our busiest nights ever, both by the number of customers and the sales."

I personally don't come to LTH for dish / scoop / scuttlebutt and, while the correction was warranted once the original story had been posted here, would prefer that the published journalists among us wait a little while before sharing 'breaking news' with the community.

Santander wrote:

helenr wrote:Per a 312 Dining Diva tip, Grocery Bistro might have been served an eviction notice.

ETA: ... or maybe not, as I just posted at GSChi:

Update: Grocery Bistro owner Marcel Somfelean called us to clarify: "The grocery bistro was not served for eviction or anything like that. I think whoever said that, they're working with our former chef and posting false allegations about us. This is not the first time this happened. Business is great. Last weekend — Friday and Saturday — it was our busiest nights ever, both by the number of customers and the sales."

I personally don't come to LTH for dish / scoop / scuttlebutt and, while the correction was warranted once the original story had been posted here, would prefer that the published journalists among us wait a little while before sharing 'breaking news' with the community.

Agree. I'd prefer that they wait before publishing this irresponsible stuff on their own sites too. This is not the first time such 2nd and 3rd hand menupages blog hearsay has made its way to LTHForum. I find the National Enquirer reporting style more than a little disturbing.

I also agree. This is similar to those who post here to drive traffic to their blog - not proper etiquette.

312 Dining Diva, quoting an "Ultimate Insider," published what seems to be incorrect and potentially damaging information about Grocery Bistro. helenr corrected that information. When false rumors are floating, I don't think it's out of place for an LTH poster to fact-check and offer a different perspective on information, and the sooner that corrected information can get out there, the sooner the rumor will die -- and if the rumor is false, then the sooner it dies, the better.

No doubt, helenr would like readers of LTH to stop by Grub Street Chicago, but she is providing useful information here in the process of suggesting further reading at her site, so by me, that's okay.

David Hammond wrote:When false rumors are floating...

Floated by helenr, that is.

Sorry guys. Both from a LTH-noob perspective (I didn't really intend this to be traffic-directing so much as info-furthering), and from a misunderstood purpose perspective (I certainly at no point intended to discredit 312DD, who I think is an invaluable info source. And despite Somfelean's protests, she was right, and posted legal proof earlier today.)