went to berutti's for lunch yesterday

excellent cream of broccolli soup and a very good reuben

taked to steve, this saturday will be the last day

so if you are going, you got this week to do it

i am going back wednesday to try the muffaletta sand

According to their website, Your Kitchen is closing as of March 1. Unfortunately, I never got around to trying them out.

Your Kitchen
4009 N. Albany
Chicago, IL 60618

According to yesterday's Dish, the Rosebud location in Highland Park isn't going away until mid- to late summer. “The community really came together and wanted us to stay,” is what Alex Dana is quoted as saying (the Baker's Square site in Deerfield where they plan on moving needs more work than they anticipated is my guess).

AlexG wrote:According to yesterday's Dish, the Rosebud location in Highland Park isn't going away until mid- to late summer. “The community really came together and wanted us to stay,” is what Alex Dana is quoted as saying

Yes, we all held hands around Rosebud and sang "Kum Ba Yah"

The windows at Angelo's Taverna on Sedgwick at North are papered up tonight. A note on the paper says "CLOSE Grand Opening St. Patrick's Day". Not sure if that means a new restaurant is going in or if Angelo is just taking a breather.

Saw this yesterday near Lawrence & Rockwell. Just next to the strip mall that hosts Paprika Indian restaurant and Azur Meat Market.

With the addition of an African place and Jibek Jolu, is there a more diverse food location than Lincoln Square / Albany Park in Chicago?

Gilt Bar soft opening today. In the old Aigre Doux space on Kinzie. Cocktails, martini's and very tasty sounding goodies. Looking forward to checking it out. Via Daily Candy:


http://www.dailycandy.com/chicago/artic ... rant-Opens

thepld wrote:Gilt Bar soft opening today. In the old Aigre Doux space on Kinzie. Cocktails, martini's and very tasty sounding goodies. Looking forward to checking it out. Via Daily Candy:


http://www.dailycandy.com/chicago/artic ... rant-Opens

Oh no, Gilt bar is at a Location of the Damned.

Ciao Napoli, long awaited in Logan Square, has "Now Hiring" signs in the windows. Pizza forthwith, one hopes.
(Visit earlier detailed by G Wiv:)
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=27356&p=304231&hilit=ciao+napoli#p304231

No Man's Land Pizza and Grill in Wilmette is open.
1515 Sheridan Rd - Plaza del Lago
Wilmette, IL 60091
(847) 251-5120
www.nomanslandpizza.com

AlexG wrote:According to yesterday's Dish, the Rosebud location in Highland Park isn't going away until mid- to late summer. “The community really came together and wanted us to stay,” is what Alex Dana is quoted as saying (the Baker's Square site in Deerfield where they plan on moving needs more work than they anticipated is my guess).

yes, praise be on high that mediocre italian food in a loud setting will still be available just outside the movie theatre in HP......people will lower their standards if it is cheap and/or convenient enough

Marco Polo Chinese restaurant in downtown Skokie (8014 Lincoln Ave.) is closed. I'm not sure about the attached Duffy's Tavern. Can't say I'm too sad about this one.

Those who have enjoyed the Pret a Manger sandwich shops in the U.K. and New York City will soon be able to enjoy them in Chicago. According to their website, they will be opening a shop at 211 W. Adams in the Loop on June 20.

ppezalla wrote:Opening around the first of Feb. at 1426 W Roosevelt in Broadview in former Uncle Remus Chicken joint that (thankfully) moved.

They did not make the Feb. 1 target for opening (or the Feb 15) but now they have a sign in the window for a Grand Opening on Mar 8. Looking forward to the muffins.

nsxtasy wrote:Those who have enjoyed the Pret a Manger sandwich shops in the U.K. and New York City will soon be able to enjoy them in Chicago. According to their website, they will be opening a shop at 211 W. Adams in the Loop on June 20.

They should give Cosi and Au Bon Pain a run for their money.

JeffB wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:Those who have enjoyed the Pret a Manger sandwich shops in the U.K. and New York City will soon be able to enjoy them in Chicago. According to their website, they will be opening a shop at 211 W. Adams in the Loop on June 20.

They should give Cosi and Au Bon Pain a run for their money.

They will, indeed. This is outstanding news. My wife and I discovered P.A.M. in London last summer and agreed, "Why can't we have fast food like this back home?!" Fresh, healthy, quick, easy to eat on the go or in a nearby park or plaza.

This will be a very welcome addition to downtown dining.

Sir Lox of Bagel wrote:

JeffB wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:Those who have enjoyed the Pret a Manger sandwich shops in the U.K. and New York City will soon be able to enjoy them in Chicago. According to their website, they will be opening a shop at 211 W. Adams in the Loop on June 20.

They should give Cosi and Au Bon Pain a run for their money.

They will, indeed. This is outstanding news. My wife and I discovered P.A.M. in London last summer and agreed, "Why can't we have fast food like this back home?!" Fresh, healthy, quick, easy to eat on the go or in a nearby park or plaza.

This will be a very welcome addition to downtown dining.

Wow, that is some of the most exciting restaurant news for us loop workers! I just emailed my close friend, as we've been to London together and LOVED that place and said the very same things.....plus, we're both really nearby that location.

SUPER NEWS!
miss ellen

Saw a sign in a small storefront on California just south of Logan Blvd for a new location of Letitizias and Enoteca Roma. Any info? I would LOVE it if there was a new locations of those restaurants near my house, even if it would be terrible for my budget

As predicted by your truly here, A Mano will be closing. Per The TOC Blog:

“In this economy, A Mano just didn’t develop a strong enough following for the large (10,000 sq/ft) space it occupied,” Sachs told us. ” It’s a shame. Instead, we have refocused on the BIN 36 restaurants. We have refurbished and developed completely new menus with a genuine focus on artisanal cheese.”

Yeah, that and the food kind of sucked.

Weren't they on Groupon just like a week ago or something?

Piatto, the little Italian joint at 5304 W. Devon, is all papered over. It was around longer than I thought though, about 2-1/2 years.

Piatto, the little Italian joint at 5304 W. Devon, is all papered over. It was around longer than I thought though, about 2-1/2 years.

For a couple months now. There was plenty good about it but it was better with the first chef. The original puttanesca was great but they took it off the menu and you had to beg them to make it - inconsistently - thereafter.

nsxtasy wrote:Those who have enjoyed the Pret a Manger sandwich shops in the U.K. and New York City will soon be able to enjoy them in Chicago. According to their website, they will be opening a shop at 211 W. Adams in the Loop on June 20.

I want to try Pret a Manger based solely on this letter they sent to Paul McCrudden who was billing restaurants for the time he spent at their establishments as a social experiment.

We popped into a Pret a Manger in London and found that it served a very useful purpose; we found ourselves wishing they would establish some outposts over here. (Then in NY last fall we discovered they had.) When you have only a short amount of time for lunch, and you want to go someplace clean and not "fast-foody," and eat a sandwich that won't fill you up too much, and contains interesting ingredients that are a bit out of the ordinary, and tastes fresh, and won't cost you a lot of money, and lets you get on with the more important things in your day (assuming lunch isn't the most important thing in your day that day), Pret a Manger fills a niche.

My comment above regarding Pret giving Cosi and Au Bon Pain a run was tongue-in-cheek. I find the semi-ubiquitous London chain's Manhattan locations to be the same bland commodity as the other office building mainstays. I'd much rather see Bombon come back or the resurrection of Pepper's or Harry's, as flawed as those places were. But the outpouring of love for PaM will probably get me in the door a couple of times. I won't blame anyone but myself when I drop a Jackson for a smoothy and a waifish sandwich containing cranberries and arugula, which I hope they call rocket.

I find the semi-ubiquitous London chain's Manhattan locations to be the same bland commodity as the other office building mainstays.

I think they produce a very good quality product for the price. Yes, it's a chain and yes, they cater to the middle-of-the-road consumer, but it's good. For the same price as Potbelly's or the crap they serve at Subway you get something far better.

spinynorman99 wrote:

I find the semi-ubiquitous London chain's Manhattan locations to be the same bland commodity as the other office building mainstays.

I think they produce a very good quality product for the price. Yes, it's a chain and yes, they cater to the middle-of-the-road consumer, but it's good. For the same price as Potbelly's or the crap they serve at Subway you get something far better.

Hey now. My main gripe was about getting more of what we generally don't need in the Loop (middle of the road corpoate sandwich concepts) as the little remaining character of the business district is ground down. I'd like the Baucis and Philemons* to have a place in the Loop too, but that's probably not possible. It also might be an argument confined to the head of an irrelevant pin, but I don't think Subway=Potbelly is apt, nor do I recall Pret's pricing to be in line with either. I'm ordering in Manny's. (Edit: on re-reading I recognize you didn't equate Potbelly to Subway, but simply said Pret is far better than either. My bad.)


*I.e., the original Mom & Pops

*I.e., the original Mom & Pops

Plenty of good one-offs (or two-offs) still around. There's Fontano's, Cafecito, Pastoral, Hannah's Bretzel. And that's just sandwiches. Manny's pretty much offends me. They coast on a reputation and affinity for kitsch but their food is sub-par. If they had any real competition (sadly Eleven City doesn't cut it) they'd be dead in the water.

Dave148 wrote:

sandman wrote:

Dave148 wrote:Greek Feast by Georgie V in Northbrook is open.

This is incorrect.

My bad. I saw lights on and people inside along with cars in the lot.

My wife stopped by here last week and an owner-looking-type told her that the opening is slated for March 15.

=R=

spinynorman99 wrote:

*I.e., the original Mom & Pops

Plenty of good one-offs (or two-offs) still around. There's Fontano's, Cafecito, Pastoral, Hannah's Bretzel. And that's just sandwiches. Manny's pretty much offends me. They coast on a reputation and affinity for kitsch but their food is sub-par. If they had any real competition (sadly Eleven City doesn't cut it) they'd be dead in the water.

My point was only that there once were many more local one-offs in the Loop; importing another order-lunch-for-the-conference-room-on-Seamless-Web place always feels like a move in the wrong direction to me. I'd certainly like to see more places like Cafecito around, to use your example. As for Manny's, I'm confounded by how polarizing the place is. I'm not one of its ardent defenders; it doesn't really need defenders and I can appreciate many of the criticisms. But, what's the kitsch? Faded newspapers and circa-1940's wood veneer paneling? I make a point of visiting Langer's, Katz's, Shapriro's and the other "greats". Maybe they all suffer in this regard and we should let them go in favor of great new places like Kenny & Zukes -- though I'd posit we should have all of them. Manny's could use a better rye and the meat isn't in the same stratosphere as Katz's and Langer's. But Manny's actually bests both in some other categories -- soups and chopped liver come to mind (though none of the mentioned classic delis has particularly good chopped liver).