On March 18, 2010 Amata wrote:Joe's Taylor Street Sub Shop, 2325 W Taylor, is "closed until further notice" due to the passing of the owner, Joseph Cancilla, on March 15.

Joe's has re-opened this week as "Joe's Breakfast and Lunch", with a spiffy new exterior. They told me they'll have a few new items for breakfast, otherwise everything is the same as before.

For the nosy - Cosi closi.

Santander wrote:For the nosy - Cosi closi.

The Oak Park one, that is.

Since we are on the topic of The Kingdom of Oak Park...

Opening on The Avenue in the old Wolf Camera space next to Oberweiss...

Eyrie
128 N Oak Park Ave

An eatery run by the students of Robert Morris Institute of Culinary Arts.

Should be interesting!

Article

And just for bookkeeping, Kabul House, at Oakton and Niles Ave. in Skokie, has opened!

Necessity Baking Company in Highland Park has closed.

Cathy2 wrote:Necessity Baking Company in Highland Park has closed.

Hmm. Their wares must not have been a necessity then.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Drover wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Necessity Baking Company in Highland Park has closed.

Hmm. Their wares must not have been a necessity then.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Based on my one and only visit there, I'm not surprised.

A place called Oak Park Dogs just opened at 108 Madison. Apparently it's $1 hot dogs from 11/15 - 11/18. In addition to beef hot dogs, they also have turkey hot dogs. Haven't been yet.

rehorn wrote:A place called Oak Park Dogs just opened at 108 Madison. Apparently it's $1 hot dogs from 11/15 - 11/18. In addition to beef hot dogs, they also have turkey hot dogs. Haven't been yet.

Hey! Beat me to it.

I just spotted that on the way home tonight not 15 minutes ago.

My Bride is a big fan of hot dogs and we did not know about the $1 Grand Opening Special.

Thanks for the heads up!

According to the Fox News ticker, the Harry Caray's by Wrigley is closing in order to move to another location.

Pie Lady wrote:According to the Fox News ticker, the Harry Caray's by Wrigley is closing in order to move to another location.

Listening to the news last night, they said the move was prompted by bad relations with the building's owner. They likened it to a "bad marriage." They are looking for a new location in the same area.

Regards,

Ted's Montana Grill closed several "underperforming" locations on Monday, including the one in Schaumburg. . .

Cathy2 wrote: They are looking for a new location in the same area.

Most likely, they will eventually move to the Rickert's new Disneyplex that they hope to build on the SE corner of Clark/Addison.

Bluette, a French-ish restaurant in Wilmette, from the team at GNR Sweets and Savories, is doing a soft friends and family opening now, and will begin accepting reservations Friday.

bluette
1162 wilmette ave,
wilmette
847 853 8988
http://bluettecafe.com/

And there's a $20 Groupon worth $40 available today. http://www.groupon.com/deals/bluette-ca ... t=standard

nr706 wrote:Bluette, a French-ish restaurant in Wilmette, from the team at GNR Sweets and Savories, is doing a soft friends and family opening now, and will begin accepting reservations Friday.

bluette
1162 wilmette ave,
wilmette
847 853 8988
http://bluettecafe.com/

I'm excited to try Bluette-it's literally 1 1/2 blocks from my house! French food in Wilmette-never thought I'd see the day

nr706 wrote:Bluette, a French-ish restaurant in Wilmette, from the team at GNR Sweets and Savories, is doing a soft friends and family opening now, and will begin accepting reservations Friday.

bluette
1162 wilmette ave,
wilmette
847 853 8988
http://bluettecafe.com/

Will they be BYOB like S&S?

Pie Lady wrote:And there's a $20 Groupon worth $40 available today. http://www.groupon.com/deals/bluette-ca ... t=standard

I've read all of the articles about how Groupons end up being bad for a business unless they drive repeat visits down the road, but this seems to be a great way to use them. Use Groupon to advertise your new restaurant, and give a people a reason to to a new restaurant early in it's life. If they are doing things they way that should, I would think it is a decent way to grow early on.

SSDD

Enough with the burger joints already! Yet another chain, Denver-based Smashburger, opens its first Chicago area location at at 842 N. Randall Road, Batavia, on Dec. 7.

I would really like to see some new ideas on the fast/casual front. Why doesn't somebody start a national chain of bahn mi spots? How about some fast-food Mexican chains that aren't terrible? Kebabs?

headcase wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:And there's a $20 Groupon worth $40 available today. http://www.groupon.com/deals/bluette-ca ... t=standard

I've read all of the articles about how Groupons end up being bad for a business unless they drive repeat visits down the road, but this seems to be a great way to use them. Use Groupon to advertise your new restaurant, and give a people a reason to to a new restaurant early in it's life. If they are doing things they way that should, I would think it is a decent way to grow early on.

SSDD

I've done Groupons and the average customer spent $10 - $20 after the $20 discount. I read a bunch of on-line articles and I think Groupon has now put many safety features in for businesses and some of those people just weren't set up mentally or financially for a discounted offer.

Marble in logan Square
Owned by the former owners of Cleo's. So The food is yummy in a very chill spot.
http://marblelogansquare.com/

From the sign glimpsed as we drove by:
Moose Grill is opening in the Louie's Diner (RIP) space at 7210 N. California, Chicago.

Fujisan wrote:

je_suis_ici wrote:My friend reports that there's a sign in front of Cy's Crab House at Ashland and Grace that indicates it will be flipped into a Mexican restaurant called Lola's. Never went to Cy's myself, but I only heard dismal things from friends.

Do you mean Lalo's, the regional Mexican chain?

No, the banner really does say "Lola's." Or at least it did until it got taken down. See link for a picture from Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/-rGTYazZ ... 7WF_KljFMg

The banner also said the grand opening was this past Wednesday but the "lighted" sign still says Cy's. Supposedly they had a soft opening and there are very non-specific write-ups about it on Metromix and UrbanDaddy, but no solid info yet about whether it's really open or not.

Panther in the Den wrote:Mr Shrimp
7157 W 63rd St, Chicago
(773) 586-9000


Image thanks to Rene G on the above linked thread

Closed

Fond memories of going to this place when I was a kid.

According to a sign in the window, Bob San now delivers.

Saw a banner hanging on the fence post of the strip mall where Jerk Grill is in Oak Park, and it read "Cake Bros Bakery." Also googled like the dickens and couldn't find any info online about it. Just drove by today and saw a bright and shiny sign on what appears to be its actual space a couple of doors down from Jerk Grill.

I would welcome a bakery in this part of town, particularly one that specializes in layer cakes. I love Oak Park Bakery but feel that danish and coffee cakes are their forte--birthday cakes, not so much. I've tried other bakeries in the area and am not moved by their cakes, either -- so this could be a good addition. Fingers crossed.

The post that began this thread was about the PizzaFusion that closed in Naperville. I drove by today, and apparently Armand's Pizzeria is taking over the space. No word on when it will open.

LAZ wrote: I would really like to see some new ideas on the fast/casual front. Why doesn't somebody start a national chain of bahn mi spots? How about some fast-food Mexican chains that aren't terrible? Kebabs?

While not in the Chicagoland area and with a Chain of only 2 in Iowa, the Red Rossa concept doesn't suck. I had one of their pizzas, it was pretty good but not blow my socks off. It did blow away any other pizza joint at the same price point: http://www.redrossa.com/

But... like anything else within 5 years, people will probably be lamenting the overabundance of Napoli style pizza places.

LAZ wrote:I would really like to see some new ideas on the fast/casual front. Why doesn't somebody start a national chain of bahn mi spots? How about some fast-food Mexican chains that aren't terrible? Kebabs?

Wouldn't we all? But fast food necessarily requires "dumbing down" for mass appeal. When running out for a quick lunch with co-workers it always amazes me how restrictive people can be in food choices. So any idealized version of fast-food that may exist in your head will get diluted by the time it gets to brick-and-mortar. There is some positive news on the fast food front, Chipotle is working on an Asian concept and Wagamama is making a push into the US market.

Say what you will about Chipotle but they are the least-processed fast food concept out there (it bores me personally but I think they're doing a good job*).

*And they've inspired the imitator knock-offs Chutney Joe's and I Dream of Falafel.