iahawk89 wrote:The Glencoe location closed last night.

According to one of the lawyers involved in the bankruptcy case as cited in the Tribune, its closing was already in the works (for "underperformance") prior to yesterday's events.

Went to the Grand location several weeks ago and while at the bar waiting there were dozens of fruit flies buzzing all around the bar area. That tells me the place isn't clean. Needless to say, we left. They're finished in my book. The previous couple of times there, I never thought their burger was that great.

stormcat701 wrote: I never thought their burger was that great.

I feel he same way, Ive been to the Naperville location and have never been impressed, I really dont get the appeal of this place. Lots of other places doing a better burger out there.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010 ... cheme.html

Went to the Arlington Heights location on Thursday night and was surprised at how expensive it had become. I spoke with a manager who advised that every single item on the menu went up as of December between 20% - 40%. The burgers only went up a buck, but everything else was crazy, especially the salads. $4.99 for a side salad, $5.99 for a side caesar, and I couldn't believe that they wanted $8.99 for a garbage salad plus $4.59 if you wanted chicken in it. It's funny how a place that opened to be a lower priced alternative to Carson's is now more expensive with (imho) much lower quality.

The owner of Boston Blackie's was booked in Chicago yesterday and charged in a $1.9 million check-kiting scheme. Keep an eye on this story, it promises to get messier than a burger smothered in BBQ sauce.

janeyb wrote:The owner of Boston Blackie's was booked in Chicago yesterday and charged in a $1.9 million check-kiting scheme.

Repost. See the post above from jdymeats 11 days ago.

Added messiness. Greg Hinz blog on Crain's Chicago Business indicated yesterday that Boston Blackie's is being evicted from their offices and warehouse at 1245 West Fulton Street.

janeyb wrote:
The owner of Boston Blackie's was booked in Chicago yesterday and charged in a $1.9 million check-kiting scheme.

Repost. See the post above from jdymeats 11 days ago.

Hi Nsxtasy, I did read jdymeats previous post. Just wanted to add that owner was booked yesterday and the story is going to get juicy.

Quote:
janeyb wrote:
The owner of Boston Blackie's was booked in Chicago yesterday and charged in a $1.9 million check-kiting scheme.

Repost. See the post above from jdymeats 11 days ago.


Hi Nsxtasy, I did read jdymeats previous post. Just wanted to add that owner was booked yesterday and the story is going to get juicy.

Ha! Certainly juicier than a Blackie's hamburger....

earthlydesire wrote:Ha! Certainly juicier than a Blackie's hamburger....

The Boston Blackie's on Grand serves one of the juiciest, tastiest, and flat out best hamburgers in the city. I always get it unadorned - just the hand-formed, ground-on-site, beefy burger with a good dose of salt and char. Somestimes I slather a light coating of mayo. It's a mouth-wateringly good burger that makes the Kuma's kitchen look amateurish. Cooked perfect nearly every time.

The lighting at BB does not lend itself to good photos, and neither to my skills. So this is all you get...

Boston Blackie's Med-Rare Burger

I often eat burgers with just salt & pepper and maybe a thin slice of some good cheese, quality ground burger really needs nothing else. My Grandma owned an old school bar in Wisconsin and I grew up eating her fresh hand formed flat top burgers. The only condiments you could get were fried onions, Wisconsin cheese, ketchup/mustard, you also got a bag of chips and great dill pickle. The trend nowadays of course is to pile everything including the kitchen sink on a burger (my wife loves her burgers that way), I’m probably in the minority preferring simple burger.

Kennyz wrote:The Boston Blackie's on Grand serves one of the juiciest, tastiest, and flat out best hamburgers in the city.

I've had drinks at Boston Blackie's on Grand a few times, liked it, heard the burgers were tasty, yours certainly looks so.

Note to self, go to BB for a burger

EvanstonFoodGuy wrote:I’m probably in the minority preferring simple burger.

Probably, but I'm right there with you in the simple burger dept. Why on earth would I want to put a million toppings on a burger? I want the meat to stand out. I'm also done with lettuce on burgers. I don't know why or how that got started, but it's a drawback to me.

EvanstonFoodGuy wrote:I often eat burgers with just salt & pepper and maybe a thin slice of some good cheese, quality ground burger really needs nothing else. My Grandma owned an old school bar in Wisconsin and I grew up eating her fresh hand formed flat top burgers. The only condiments you could get were fried onions, Wisconsin cheese, ketchup/mustard, you also got a bag of chips and great dill pickle. The trend nowadays of course is to pile everything including the kitchen sink on a burger (my wife loves her burgers that way), I’m probably in the minority preferring simple burger.

I'm with you on that. I don't even want cheese, I want taste the beef. Maybe a little raw onion, a tomato slice, mustard/ketchup, schmear of mayo if I'm in a San Francisco mood. That's it. No cheese, bacon, avocado, fried egg, jalapenos, kim chee, cole slaw, peppers, garlic, chipotle, onion rings, bbq sauce, etc.

Boston Blackie’s closing some locations - http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010 ... tions.html

Dave148 wrote:Boston Blackie’s closing some locations - http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010 ... tions.html

Can't say I'm surprised. The place has been dead the last few times I was in, and the bill went up every visit. The last time, I was charged $1 for a small dish of BBQ sauce to dip my fries. Was probably the best bet in the neighborhood for a reliable, quick bite at the bar after CND closed...sad to see it go.

Don't know if it's coincidental or a function of the continued crumbling of 'the Boston Blackie's empire' but our last couple meals from the Deerfield store have been noticeably lower in quality than they used to be. First, the cole slaw is no longer Carson's slaw, which is a big negative. This I've noticed over the past several visits. It's changed a few times over that period -- probably as they try to come up with something edible -- but it's been a while since it was Carson's and everything they've come up with since getting rid of the Carson's slaw has sucked. American cheese on my son's burger had a noticeably bizzare and 'rancid' aroma to it. I thought this was especially odd since American cheese normally has the shelf life of rubbing alcohol. Also, wings, which used to be reliably good, have been positively awful the past few meals. No longer are they crispy or covered with a generous amount of traditional 'buffalo' sauce. Now, they are flappy, as if they've been cooked a la microwave and are almost completely devoid of sauce.

And yes, in spite of all these changes for the negative, prices have continued to creep upward. Hey, someone's got to cover that $1.9M.

Seeing that this has been one of our few decent delivery options, it's a big bummer to see it decline in this manner. I hope it's just a rough patch but I fear it's reflective of the overall state of things with Blackie's and therefore, not likely to improve.

=R=

I will say that the burger I had a couple of weeks ago was among the best tavern style burgers I've had in years. As for the slaw - don't think I've ever had Carson's, but I do agree that BB's slaw was inedible. Finely chopped miracle whip crunch with extra sugar added. I'll sorely miss the BB in River North/ East.

Ah hell, Blackie's in River East was where my boss always took us when he felt like a burger, and it was a good one too. Guess I'll have to remind him about the Capital Grille.

I was in the River East neighborhood on Sunday, and the Blackies there had a big, new-looking "Under New Management" banner on the outside. That evidently didn't last long. (Had mediocre sushi at Niu)

A bit off topic, but when did Michgan/Grand become "River East"? It was always Streeterville (bordered by Michigan Ave., the river, and the lake). Do I need to update my bio info?

DML wrote:A bit off topic, but when did Michgan/Grand become "River East"? It was always Streeterville (bordered by Michigan Ave., the river, and the lake). Do I need to update my bio info?

There's that "River East Art Center" (the building Fox & Obel is in the corner of), formerly known as North Pier. Maybe the neighborhood is going through a nomenclature facelift. I can remember when East Lakeview was known as "New Town."

And the AMC theater is the "River East 21." There definitely is a difference in Streeterville with Ontario roughly as the north/south border. I've just never heard of stuff a block off Michigan referred to River East. Doesn't really matter. Just found it interesting.

Onto the topic -- I don't think BB wil be missed much. I didn't see much of a niche for it. Not really fast food, the place was sort of dark and depressing, and the food was OK at best. The place never seemed clean (not that I'm suggesting any violations -- just an overall perception). I'm actually more "upset" [as much as the term fits the loss of lunch place) that the Nordstrom mall's food court is turning into more of a conventional food court than a place to get a good meal, as it was a few years ago.

JoelF wrote:I was in the River East neighborhood on Sunday, and the Blackies there had a big, new-looking "Under New Management" banner on the outside. That evidently didn't last long. (Had mediocre sushi at Niu)

I'm becoming the master of digression. Again, to digress from the BB topic, oel's point about Niu is interesting. No matter what you call the neighborhood, there aren't that many options. Kamahachi is pretty good (on Ontario), some people like Volare, and there is Coco Pazzo. D4 is a good pub. People ask me where to go for a meal in the area, and I usually send them west of Michigan.

DML wrote:No matter what you call the neighborhood, there aren't that many options. Kamahachi is pretty good (on Ontario), some people like Volare, and there is Coco Pazzo.

Also Emilio's Sol y Nieve for tapas, and Sayat Nova for Armenian. The cafe at Fox & Obel is good for ultra-casual, and the Sheraton has LB Bistro for breakfast/lunch and Shula's for steaks.

Anybody know anything about the burgers at Chicago Burger Company, also in the Sheraton?

nsxtasy wrote:Anybody know anything about the burgers at Chicago Burger Company, also in the Sheraton?

It's pretty good.

nsxtasy wrote:Also Emilio's Sol y Nieve for tapas

Emilio's (my favorite restaurant when I was a college student new to the big city) is a shadow of its former self. Had an absolutely terrible $50/pp meal there a few months ago. The menu used to be 4-5 pages long and is now 1-2. They advertise dishes on their patio signage that they no longer even serve (Caracoles Emilio). There used to always be at least one outstanding special on every visit, and I don't even recall if there were any specials offered. I think it has sadly become a sangria delivery vehicle for tourists who venture off the mag mile.

nsxtasy wrote:

DML wrote:No matter what you call the neighborhood, there aren't that many options. Kamahachi is pretty good (on Ontario), some people like Volare, and there is Coco Pazzo.

Also Emilio's Sol y Nieve for tapas, and Sayat Nova for Armenian. The cafe at Fox & Obel is good for ultra-casual, and the Sheraton has LB Bistro for breakfast/lunch and Shula's for steaks.

Anybody know anything about the burgers at Chicago Burger Company, also in the Sheraton?

I'm a bit torn about Fox and Obel. Great for breakfast, but it seems to take forever (20 minutes or more, which is pretty long particularly for a cafe). I was in Emilios about a year ago. It seemed OK (tough to judge, since I had my two year olds with me, and they were a challenge that day). Haven't been to Sayat Nova in a while. I need to try it again.
Chicago Burger is a place that I have not been to, but the outdoor tables by the river are very nice.
Next door is Lizzie McNeils, which also has some nice outdoor tables. The food at Lizzie McNeil's is OK. For pub food, D4 is better, but the views are way better at Lizzie McNeils.

No matter what you call the neighborhood, there aren't that many options. Kamahachi is pretty good (on Ontario), some people like Volare, and there is Coco Pazzo. D4 is a good pub. People ask me where to go for a meal in the area, and I usually send them west of Michigan.

Don't forget, too, that, for special occasions, Les Nomades is in the 'hood. It's been a couple of years since I've been (and at that time I found it to be one of the better examples of traditional and atmospheric French haute cuisine around), and some people (Bruno, Vettel for two) still seem to still like it very much.