[quote="JimTheBeerGuy"]Never stepped into Grand Central but I used to hang out at Club 950 in that space back in the 90s.

Early early 80's hang out for me.

d4v3 wrote: Speaking of BBQ, the former Fulton's Chicken on Touhy and Clark is still empty with a brand spanking new Aquarium Smoker. Any takers? The hood could really use a decent barbecue joint. GWiv, time for a mid-life crisis?

*Cbot likes this*

Never stepped into Grand Central but I used to hang out at Club 950 in that space back in the 90s.

Holy crap, did you just evoke some memories.

As was just mentioned in the Kith & Kin thread, they are now closed for business.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... oblems.php

rmtraut wrote:

Never stepped into Grand Central but I used to hang out at Club 950 in that space back in the 90s.

Holy crap, did you just evoke some memories.

Ditto. No idea what Grand Central is, but now I'll never go there knowing it shoved out the old hangout. I feel old all of the sudden.

aschie30 wrote:

rmtraut wrote:

Never stepped into Grand Central but I used to hang out at Club 950 in that space back in the 90s.

Holy crap, did you just evoke some memories.

Ditto. No idea what Grand Central is, but now I'll never go there knowing it shoved out the old hangout. I feel old all of the sudden.

I believe Club 950 closed well before Grand Central moved in, but I'm not entirely sure.

I believe Club 950 closed well before Grand Central moved in, but I'm not entirely sure.

I believe Club 950 closed in the early aughts.

Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville closed over the weekend. It now has newspaper covering the windows.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/2011/05/pa ... -22nd.html

Roots Handmade Pizza will open to the public at 4pm on Tuesday, May 31. The full press release is posted in the professional forum here

Roots Handmade Pizza
1924 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
773.645.4949
http://www.rootspizza.com

(I am the publicist for Roots Handmade Pizza)

Central Street Cafe in Evanston has an "Opening Soon" sign. Says it will feature cheeses, wines, and craft beers.

Central Street Cafe in Evanston has an "Opening Soon" sign. Says it will feature cheeses, wines, and craft beers.

Good info. Just saw this re-purposing of a long-vacant video store on my way home today. Sounds promising.

Opening this coming Monday (May 30) in Andersonville/Edgewater, Burger Philosophy - meat ground and fries hand cut in-house, shakes (flavors seem to copy my favorite Edzo's a bit). In any event, intriguing and I'll probably check it out.

The Burger Philosophy
1541 W. Bryn Mawr
Chicago
773.944.0373

Hours:
Mon. - Thurs. 11am-10pm
Fri. - Sat. 11am-11pm
Sun 10am-9pm

A new Latin-American restaurant is opening in June at 7931 N. Lincoln, Skokie. Chef Gonzalez is previously from MK, Bin 36 and Mas. Looking forward to it! Too bad it's not open for lunch.

http://www.libertad7931.com/location/
http://www.facebook.com/libertad7931?v=info

Fasano's Hot Dogs at Kedzie and Byron has closed. There are signs in the windows: "COMING SOON: Garibay Tamales"

Garibay Tamales
3859 N Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60618

The Melting Pot location in Buffalo Grove is closing July 27th.

duppie wrote:Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville closed over the weekend. It now has newspaper covering the windows.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/2011/05/pa ... -22nd.html

I love this story from the comments to that article:

I went there once before Easter, I was making notes what pastries they had so I could try to put together a good selection of desserts that I had been 'assigned' for a family dinner. The husband demanded I stop immediately, I thought they were joking, but then it got surreal. They told me that spies from other bakeries would come in and 'steal' their ideas and the next week a variation of what they were serving would be found somewhere else. I was flummoxed, and mortified, so I put my pen and pad away and left completely embarrassed. Only later did it occur to me that I could've just bought their pastries, if I were a spy, and then copied them. I have never been treated so rudely in a store in all my life. So as much as I hate to see another small shop close on Clark street, I have to say there was nothing they could sell that would make up for their ridiculous attitude. Look at me, I'm a Pastry Spy!!! Honestly, what the ?!?!?!?

gleam wrote:Fasano's Hot Dogs at Kedzie and Byron has closed. There are signs in the windows: "COMING SOON: Garibay Tamales"

Garibay Tamales
3859 N Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60618

Hi. First post, been lurking for a few months.

I live a couple blocks from Fasano's and its no surprise that the place went belly up after 8 months. It was a family run place with just about everyone in the family working there. I think they may even live in the building. I went there a week after it opened and got a hot dog and fries. The hot dog bun was stale which I found somewhat surprising since the place had been open a week. The fries were hand cut and served tartar style, almost completely raw. If you're gonna hand cut fries and serve them thick you better make sure they are cooked all the way through before serving them. These weren't even close.

I was about to give up on the place forever, but then I noticed they had a special meatball sandwich on the menu. I asked about it and they said it was the family recipe and only available on weekends. So a few weeks later I gave it a try and low and behold the meatball sandwich was amazing. The fries were still undercooked and disgusting.

I couldn't understand why this apparently tight knit Italian family would open a hot dog stand when they clearly have a grasp on italian food. And then to only offer up the one thing on the menu that was good only a few days a week was beyond stupid.

I was going to go back there and stick my nose in their biz and suggest that they get rid of the dogs and go to strictly Italian sandwich type place, but I didnb't really care enough to go back nr did I thgink they would give a crap what I thought.

Last week i was talking to my drycleaner about the place since his biz is right across the street and he said that the place was run like crap in that every day they would open at a different time, often AFTER lunch.

So, bad food, bad concept, bad management = doors shut in less than a year.

The aptly named Everyday Thai is either closing or getting a makeover, it's unclear which. Anyway, a sign for Cilantro Thai Kitchen was going up today. Hope it's more interesting than its previous incarnation!

Cilantro Thai Kitchen
1509 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60660
(773) 262-7797

Solstice wrote:

duppie wrote:Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville closed over the weekend. It now has newspaper covering the windows.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/2011/05/pa ... -22nd.html

I love this story from the comments to that article:

I went there once before Easter, I was making notes what pastries they had so I could try to put together a good selection of desserts that I had been 'assigned' for a family dinner. The husband demanded I stop immediately, I thought they were joking, but then it got surreal. They told me that spies from other bakeries would come in and 'steal' their ideas and the next week a variation of what they were serving would be found somewhere else. I was flummoxed, and mortified, so I put my pen and pad away and left completely embarrassed. Only later did it occur to me that I could've just bought their pastries, if I were a spy, and then copied them. I have never been treated so rudely in a store in all my life. So as much as I hate to see another small shop close on Clark street, I have to say there was nothing they could sell that would make up for their ridiculous attitude. Look at me, I'm a Pastry Spy!!! Honestly, what the ?!?!?!?

My wife went to high school with the owner. No one is surprised the place closed because of her mouth/attitude. She also said she is 99% sure the story of her and her husband having sex in the bathroom was told for pure shock value, as Natalie was prone to do all the time.

Panther in the Den wrote:Pasta Shoppe & Cafe
116 N Oak Park Ave, Oak Park
(708) 763-0600

Closed

Il Vicolo on the signs and work is going on inside.

From a previously posted link...

Victor Tufano bought the business from the owners in January, and plans to renovate and reopen it as Vicolo Trattoria in April, according to village records.

At the site of the former Adesso (3332 N. Broadway) is a banner that reads:
Mr. Taco
Grand Opening
Coming Soon

Since the banner looked a bit worn, I can only assume it's related to this place. I'm not particularly excited by a place that I've never heard of which claims, "We also have been recognized in newspapers and magazines, as one of the best traditional Mexican food in Chicago," but has a menu that includes chimichangas, hamburgers and fried rice.

Oh, and I'm going to have to submit this Yelp write-up of the place to that Yelp Elite website:

"I confess that my opinion of this place is somewhat biased by the fact that when you walk by their door from the north, you have to pass the alley behind a live chicken store, so you get a huge whiff of chicken offal. On the other hand, my roommates and I did a thorough review of area taco/burrito joints upon moving here, and this just wasn't up to snuff. We wanted to love it, because the name is fantastic and it's so close. Unfortunately, the food is authentic but average, the price is average, and there just isn't any real reason to go. My twenty-something male roommate who needs to consume at least 3,000 calories per day to remain mobile will walk blocks out of his way to get other burritos when he's right next to Mr. Taco."

TCK wrote:

Solstice wrote:

duppie wrote:Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville closed over the weekend. It now has newspaper covering the windows.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/2011/05/pa ... -22nd.html

I love this story from the comments to that article:

I went there once before Easter, I was making notes what pastries they had so I could try to put together a good selection of desserts that I had been 'assigned' for a family dinner. The husband demanded I stop immediately, I thought they were joking, but then it got surreal. They told me that spies from other bakeries would come in and 'steal' their ideas and the next week a variation of what they were serving would be found somewhere else. I was flummoxed, and mortified, so I put my pen and pad away and left completely embarrassed. Only later did it occur to me that I could've just bought their pastries, if I were a spy, and then copied them. I have never been treated so rudely in a store in all my life. So as much as I hate to see another small shop close on Clark street, I have to say there was nothing they could sell that would make up for their ridiculous attitude. Look at me, I'm a Pastry Spy!!! Honestly, what the ?!?!?!?

My wife went to high school with the owner. No one is surprised the place closed because of her mouth/attitude. She also said she is 99% sure the story of her and her husband having sex in the bathroom was told for pure shock value, as Natalie was prone to do all the time.

Haven't you ever done it in a less than usual place? Or at work? Or-well, never mind. Maybe old folks are more adventurous.

Protein Bar opened a new location on Clark in River North today.

M-F 7am-8pm AND Sat 9am-4pm
352 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60654

Looks like the place at 3310 N Broadway (in Chicago) is going to be called FüL and is either "a healthy and nutritious Chicago restaurant for great tasting food and smoothies with a focus on the mind body and spirit," according to their FB page or just a smoothie shop, according to their building permit info from Everyblock.com.

Just read this on Chicagoist:

Bistro 110, the Michigan Avenue French mainstay, is shutting down on August 4th. According to Chicago Magazine, Tony Mantuano, the Italian food impresario behind Spiaggia and Terzo Piano, will be revamping the property into an Italian bar, with "good espresso, homemade pastries, gelato to go, a mozzarella bar" and small plates.

daruma wrote:Just read this on Chicagoist:

Bistro 110, the Michigan Avenue French mainstay, is shutting down on August 4th.

Sad news. I'll miss it. I hope Dominique Tougne lands somewhere good.

LAZ wrote:

JoelF wrote:The latest to sign a lease at the reimagined Randhurst is Tony Sacco's Coal Oven Pizza. It'll be across from the new (smaller and fewer, but better apportioned theaters - now with controversial bar!) AMC movie barn.

Source: Mount Prospect Journal

According to the Tony Sacco's website, they have other locations in Florida, Michigan and Indiana. Not exactly a convincing pizza pedigree.

The new Randhurst is distinctly disappointing. Not that the old Randhurst was so exciting, foodwise....[/qu

Disappointing in what way, new places create more revenue hence more jobs. It gives people a second chance to try something new if anything. The Old Randhurst was a disappointment.

agoblah4 wrote:Disappointing in what way, new places create more revenue hence more jobs. It gives people a second chance to try something new if anything. The Old Randhurst was a disappointment.

Disappointing because none of the new places are the least bit exciting or unique.

On Diversey near Orchard, roughly (or maybe even precisely) across the street from the new Trader Joe's, a new "Irish" "gastro" "pub" named, get this, Michael Diversey.

(I'm imagining they didn't make up the name entirely, i.e., Diversey Parkway is named for some actual guy named Michael Diversey, but I don't have my Chicago Street Names book handy.)

Went by the Flash Taco/Underdog space on Damen, and it looked like the Underdog space has changed? I think it said "Heat"?

SSDD