paulette wrote:The new place being built on Dundee and Pfingston is owned by Georgie V of the same name restaurant in downtown Northbrook. My understanding is it will serve lunch and dinner whereas Georgie V's serves breakfast and lunch. Don't know if it will be a Greek restaurant or a Greek coffee shop.
Paulette

The name posted on the sign is "Greek Feast" so I'm assuming that gives it away.

Speaking of this location, I don't know if Georgie bothered to notice that in the suburbs people like to come to restaurants via automobiles. There is only room to park maybe 5 cars at this place.

There's a Five Guys going in on the corner of Arthur and Sheridan.

ETA: Well, it's better than Chipotle.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:There's a Five Guys going in on the corner of Arthur and Sheridan.

ETA: Well, it's better than Chipotle.

Yep, about a hundred feet from the Loyola CTA station. I went in this morning and asked what looked liked the lead guy overseeing the interior construction when they planned to open, and he said they're hoping for July 6th.

P.S. Having eaten many, many Five Guys burgers at their original location in Arlington, Virginia, let me offer my advice:

*"little"* burger/cheeseburger/bacon cheeseburger with "the works" (almost no one needs the regular size burger, and getting it with the works really does seem to result in the best possible Five Guys burger--and speeds up your ordering)

*regular* size fries (only get the "cajun style" fries when you're sick of the regular kind)

Pie Lady wrote:Opening "soon": Alcatraz Mexican in the same spot (could not find address of either one online, but it's about 6300 North)
Reopened: Sugar Bowl @ 1494 Miner St., Des Plaines—we'll be going next weekend so I'll keep you posted!

Alcatraz - most of the paper is off...chairs all in order and people working inside...looking forward to the grand opening!

Sugar Bowl - very attractive inside, huge portions, open only for breakfast and lunch now. I had a pretty tasty frittata that was baked with a lot of cheese.

In the home of the former Armitage Shrimp House, a new Panamanian restaurant:

Conoce Mi Panama

I caught a glimpse inside last night during a late night Tastee Freez run, but did not have my camera with me. It looks very close to opening; interior is decorated, tables in place, etc. Very excited for this one, it's a stone's throw from my house!

Conoce Mi Panama
3054 W. Armitage
Chicago, IL 60647

The article says August...


Iconic ice cream seller to open on State

(Crain’s) — Original Rainbow Cone Inc., a Beverly neighborhood institution known for its namesake ice cream treat, is coming to State Street.

auxen1 wrote:The article says August...


Iconic ice cream seller to open on State

(Crain’s) — Original Rainbow Cone Inc., a Beverly neighborhood institution known for its namesake ice cream treat, is coming to State Street.

HOORAY!!!

Right next door to the upcoming Original Rainbow Cone on State is a place called Halsted St. Deli (or somethin). Man that corner of State and Lake is really coming alive!

-M@

Actually, the Rainbow Cone will be sharing space with the Halsted Deli.

The article in the Trib noted how it is very difficult to bring an ice cream shop into the Loop year round. They really have trouble in the winter months. By sharing space/rents, this should hopefully work out well for both operations.

Growing up in Beverly, Rainbow Cone holds a special place in my heart, and it's been years since I've had one.

REB wrote:

REB wrote:

honus wrote:What's going on with Rustik in Logan Square - there are a couple posts on Yelp saying that they're closed.

I called their number and the recording says they're closed from Memorial Day thru June 2...

Anyone got the scoop?

The sign out front says they're on vacation until mid-June.

Ronna

The big sign out front still says they're on vacation until June 15th. No info on opening. Not promising.

Ronna

I called on Monday June 22 and the person who answered the phone said that they will be open in 4 - 5 weeks. We'll see.

honus wrote:What's going on with Rustik in Logan Square - there are a couple posts on Yelp saying that they're closed.

I called their number and the recording says they're closed from Memorial Day thru June 2...

Anyone got the scoop?

The sign out front says they're on vacation until mid-June.

The big sign out front still says they're on vacation until June 15th. No info on opening. Not promising.

Ronna

I called on Monday June 22 and the person who answered the phone said that they will be open in 4 - 5 weeks. We'll see.

The sign on the front door that says "reopening June 15" has scratched out June and written July...

For those who didn't catch it on the Mercat thread:

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Mercat is closed suddenly and unexpectedly for major "repairs." I just got a call cancelling our 7/3 reservation. Apparently the floors have always been slippery (I hadn't noticed) but the explanation I got suggested that someone was seriously injured very recently. So, starting at some date very shortly and running until mid-July, the restaurant is totally closed. There is, as of this moment, nothing on the website at all.

ORANGE is expanding it's universe.
In an old printing shop, next to The Funky Buddah Lounge is a sign in the window and lots of construction/facade repairs,
going on.
700 block of West Grand Ave. just b4 Halsted/Milwaukee.
Hopefully, they will commandeer the Parking Lot next door as well- because parking there is ....nonexistent!
(Plus that stretch of Grand Ave has more potholes than the side streets in Kabul!)

my friend alerted me to another interesting "coming soon" in Logan Square:

new signage posted for "Knew", with www.think-cafe.com underneath.
nothing on the website about it, though.

this is in the former Caliente space, on Fullerton near Rockwell.

miss ellen

Morton's Steakhouse in Westchester closed Saturday night according to a story in Tribune's Breaking News section. The story indicates a combination of economy and lease issues.

smellen wrote:my friend alerted me to another interesting "coming soon" in Logan Square:

new signage posted for "Knew", with http://www.think-cafe.com underneath.
nothing on the website about it, though.

this is in the former Caliente space, on Fullerton near Rockwell.

miss ellen

This is very interesting. Omar and Rivka have wanted to open another space and had an eye on a spot in Wicker Park but hadn't moved forward. The name they were throwing around at that time was "Knew". Sounds like they are going to do it this time.

There's signage and construction at 1935 Sheridan in Highland Park (down the street from Nortons). Jive at the 1935, cocktails, dessert and such. Been saying for a while that HP needs a place like this. I think it will open later this summer.

New pizza spot going in where Lavandaria Moran Laundry used to be, right across from the California Blue Line stop. The laundry sign came down about two - three weeks ago.

I'd heard rumors about it a couple months back, but had no real proof. The building permits that are on the door say it's for a restaurant / bar.

honus wrote:New pizza spot going in where Lavandaria Moran Laundry used to be, right across from the California Blue Line stop. The laundry sign came down about two - three weeks ago.

I'd heard rumors about it a couple months back, but had no real proof. The building permits that are on the door say it's for a restaurant / bar.

Isn't that the spot where the Sultan's Market people have been planning to open a tapas/hookah place?

Ursiform wrote:

honus wrote:New pizza spot going in where Lavandaria Moran Laundry used to be, right across from the California Blue Line stop. The laundry sign came down about two - three weeks ago.

I'd heard rumors about it a couple months back, but had no real proof. The building permits that are on the door say it's for a restaurant / bar.

Isn't that the spot where the Sultan's Market people have been planning to open a tapas/hookah place?

The Sultan's people are working on the building just south of there, the one that's all covered in plywood. Last time I was at Sultan's I asked how it was coming along and the only response I got was a laugh. Guess that means not so good...

just spied this new sign at Chicago Ave and Washtenaw slapped onto the side of the recently closed Cat's Meow, which replaced Nxxt before that.

"Cabalo: Coming Soon" (sorry I didn't have time to snap a photo)

Nxxt thread: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=17879&hilit=nxxt

Cat's Meow apparently wasn't around long enough to warrant its own thread...oh well. Hopefully this Cabalo place will have better luck. I'm not sure if they are going with Mexican (if so they need to check their spelling) or maybe Kabbalah?

2700 W Chicago Ave
(nothing else known at this time)

My coworkers and I headed to the uFood downtown for our weekly lunch trip and were surprised to see it had morphed into something else. Now it's just called The Grill and the menu appears to be more traditional grill food (hot dogs, burgers, fries, etc.)

This article indicates that the Chicago owner decided to drop the franchise license for all 3 Chicago uFood locations. An interesting choice, as the downtown one was usually pretty busy for lunch.

Mehanata Bulgarian Restaurant, on Lee/Manheim in Des Plaines (just south of where Graceland and L/M come together).

Apparently it's been there a bit (according to Yelp) but now with new, nearly impossible to read but bright and friendly signage:

Anybody been there? It's now on my short list of local places to try, but since I still haven't gotten to the Vietnamese place in Des Plaines, it could be a while.

Speaking of Vietnamese in Des Plaines, the place at River & Oakton that used to be Cesar's, then Lam's Inn (or whatever; not-that-great Chinese) now has a coming soon sign in the window and the sign out side says "Thai Viet: Pho and Pan-Asian"

Hopefully, it will be good.

In the old "Dodo" spot on Damen just south of Augusta, "Jam" appears to be ready to open. Still no air conditioning (so I've been told).

Saw a sign on the former Chinalite space at the corner of Southport and Cornelia that a Leo's Coney Island is coming soon, an outpost of the chain in Detroit. Being from the Detroit area, my husband and I were very excited to see this as we've always said that Chicago lacks coney islands. While not Lafayette or American, Leo's is closer to anything we have here!

SarahB wrote:Saw a sign on the former Chinalite space at the corner of Southport and Cornelia that a Leo's Coney Island is coming soon, an outpost of the chain in Detroit. Being from the Detroit area, my husband and I were very excited to see this as we've always said that Chicago lacks coney islands. While not Lafayette or American, Leo's is closer to anything we have here!

It ain't Flint-style, but it'll do. When, oh when will Angelo's open a Chicago outpost?

Seriously though, this could be pretty cool. Thanks for the heads up!

After 50+ years Armand's on Grand Ave in Elmwood Park closed on June 22.

Tambreet wrote:My coworkers and I headed to the uFood downtown for our weekly lunch trip and were surprised to see it had morphed into something else. Now it's just called The Grill and the menu appears to be more traditional grill food (hot dogs, burgers, fries, etc.)

We actually went inside. The menu still has a lot of the same items as when it was uFood (baked fries instead of UnFries, some of the wraps and rice bowls, the smoothies, and the burgers). They added some less healthy stuff like brisket and Italian beef. I think the prices are all the same.

I had one of wraps that was also at uFood. It seemed a little bigger, although the quality of the ingredients isn't as good (white rice instead of brown, and the chicken seems inferior). All in all a bit disappointing.

In the old "Dodo" spot on Damen just south of Augusta, "Jam" appears to be ready to open. Still no air conditioning (so I've been told).

We were at Chickpea on Chicago Ave. over the weekend, chattin with one of the co-owners "Eddie", who mention that Jam (at 935 N. Damen is planning on opening on the 9th of July, (in-shallah!). They will be serving a breakfast oriented menu.
The family of Palestinian immigrants - has quite an impressive Restaurant/nightclub/lounge background-including "Sugar", "Narcisse" and others....