Dave148 wrote:

jnm123 wrote:Lockwood Castle, at the NE corner of Devon & Central

Not to be picky - NW corner. My favorite part of LC - the sparklers.

I too miss LC...especially now that I live in the neighborhood. Even though I always enjoyed my visits there, I always considered it to be the second string compared to Buffalo on Pulaski and Irving (not that I ever turned down a visit to LC).

Also in that same general area were Loree's, home of multi-colored whpped cream (also now a Starbucks) and George's, which was directly across the street from Loree's.

jnm123 wrote:The 'Giant Killer' sundae had 24 scoops of ice cream, cost $6.95 (in 1972) and was free if one person ate the whole thing. I remember it had a great coffee shop-style menu with patty melts and griddled cheeseburgers.

Yep, that's the one. Did you ever conquer it? As for the menu, didn't everything have a medieval riffed name, like Sir Loin Burgers? I remember there was this special feast you could order that you had to eat sans silverware, like they did back in the day.

Einstein's burgers at the NW corner of Southport and Irving Park in the mid 80's. Their burgers had a very distinct flavor that was shared by one other place (I can't remember the name) which was on Lincoln ave. a few blocks south of Montrose. I have never tasted burgers with a similar flavor profile. Could not begin to describe it. Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about or shall I commit myself now.

Pie Lady wrote:I remember there was this special feast you could order that you had to eat sans silverware, like they did back in the day.

Sounds like this place, which is still around.

I also remember going to Potbelly when it was an antique store on Lincoln. We used to go there for the free Juke box and we would be the only people in the place.

Pie Lady wrote:

jnm123 wrote:The 'Giant Killer' sundae had 24 scoops of ice cream, cost $6.95 (in 1972) and was free if one person ate the whole thing. I remember it had a great coffee shop-style menu with patty melts and griddled cheeseburgers.

Yep, that's the one. Did you ever conquer it?

I tried it back around then. It wasn't even close. Giant Killer 1 Me 0. The 24 scoops didn't sound all that intimidating,but when you added in the syrup and whip cream it became insurmountable.

nsxtasy wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:I remember there was this special feast you could order that you had to eat sans silverware, like they did back in the day.

Sounds like this place, which is still around.

Yep, exactly like that.

Talk of the "medieval" menu at Lockwood Castle reminds me of a fast food place of the 1970s on the west side of Sheridan Road between Devon and Arthur, Sir Whoopee's. As far as I can remember, it was a basic fast food hut design with pseudo-crenelation and a knight-and-dragon theme inside. The garbage can, I remember, had a dragon's head that you threw your trash into. My then early teen-aged brother loved that. I believe that spot is now Loyola University's art studios.

EvA wrote:Talk of the "medieval" menu at Lockwood Castle reminds me of a fast food place of the 1970s on the west side of Sheridan Road between Devon and Arthur, Sir Whoopee's. As far as I can remember, it was a basic fast food hut design with pseudo-crenelation and a knight-and-dragon theme inside. The garbage can, I remember, had a dragon's head that you threw your trash into. My then early teen-aged brother loved that. I believe that spot is now Loyola University's art studios.

Yep, later became a Denny's.

There was also another place in the area (might have been more than one) called St. George and the Dragon. It was where Rogers hits Greenview and Howard. Decent little place.

A lot of these that I will be listing were around up until fairly recently.

Any of the Greek diners and/or family style restaurants in the area that have closed in the last decade or so including:
-Gold Mine (aka Gold Coin) (Howard and California)
-What's Cooking? (Recently deceased, Lincoln Village)
-Supercup (Lawrence and Central)
-Maxwell's (I believe somewhere on Dempster in Skokie or Niles)
-Belden (Western and Howard)
-LeSabre (Montrose and Damen)
-Blue Angels (Recently closed, Jefferson Park)
-The Melrose (Lincoln and Belden or Berteau, can't recall which and Toughy and Caldwell. There is still one location left on Broadway and Belmont)

There were others that I know I am forgetting. One where Elston meets Milwaukee. Don't recall the name at all. Some of them were good, others not as great but atmosphere was always at its vintage top notch and service was always friendly no matter where we went.

Any of the old school Italian joints that have closed. Some of these places had the best homemade (to me) pasta including:

-Rosario's Noodles (Higgins and Austin? Not sure. I think they had a fire but not sure if they ever re-opened)
-Roselli's (Also on Higgins)
-Manzo's (recently deceased, Irving Park and Kedzie)

Some hot dog/beef stands my dad would take me to where I appreciated good Italian beefs as Ohio transplants.

-A little stand on Western just a few blocks north of Addison on one of the northwest corners. Wish I knew what the cross street was. Don't recall the name at all but we went there a lot. The place closed long ago and is now condos.
-There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

KajmacJohnson wrote:-There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

That location near Senn, at one time, was a Jack-in-the-Box.

KajmacJohnson wrote:There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

Duk's started out as "Donald Duk's" which I considered to be a gutsy move at the time as did, apparently, the folks at Disney because it then became just plain "Duk's."

I'm not sure I ever posted about it, but I still have fond memories of Dewey's on Clark St. West side of the street, just north of Devon. The ultimate greasy spoon. One guy behind the counter and a couple of stools. Great hamburgers and chili. They were open 24 hours a day for a long time. I know they served breakfast too, but other than the burgers and chilli I have no idea what else they had there.

Truly a special place for me. The day I got married I got the call that my wife to-be was going to be about an hour late. So my father and I walked about 3 blocks down to Dewey's. There we sat, at this greasy spoon, in our suits and ties, eating greasy burgers and chilli. I then spent the next few hours suppressing the noxious emissions that the chilli normally invokes.

Sorry to say, I have no idea when they closed. But I will forever miss it.

midas wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:-There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

That location near Senn, at one time, was a Jack-in-the-Box.

Never knew that but I have a Googie architecture book with pictures of vintage Jack in the Box locations, now that I think about the way that particular's Duc's near Senn looked, I'd say that sounds about right. I know someone my husband worked with once mentioned there had been one in that area long ago, always tried to picture it. Now I know for sure where it was. Never crossed my mind. Mystery solved.

spinynorman99 wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

Duk's started out as "Donald Duk's" which I considered to be a gutsy move at the time as did, apparently, the folks at Disney because it then became just plain "Duk's."

Did all of the locations disappear or are there any left? I know there were more.

midas wrote:I'm not sure I ever posted about it, but I still have fond memories of Dewey's on Clark St. West side of the street, just north of Devon. The ultimate greasy spoon. One guy behind the counter and a couple of stools. Great hamburgers and chili. They were open 24 hours a day for a long time. I know they served breakfast too, but other than the burgers and chilli I have no idea what else they had there.

Truly a special place for me. The day I got married I got the call that my wife to-be was going to be about an hour late. So my father and I walked about 3 blocks down to Dewey's. There we sat, at this greasy spoon, in our suits and ties, eating greasy burgers and chilli. I then spent the next few hours suppressing the noxious emissions that the chilli normally invokes.

Sorry to say, I have no idea when they closed. But I will forever miss it.

Interesting. That's been a Mexican joint for a while. But also for a while the building still had the old neon advertising "chili" and "hamburgers" attached to it and I always said I should inquire about buying it. Then some time last year when driving down Chicago ave? (maybe North) around Hipsterville, USA I saw the same old school neon now attached to a building and eating establishment around there. I'm guessing they called about it like I said I should do. But that's cool that they didn't just throw it out, I wish I called before them, oh well.

Da Beef wrote:

midas wrote:I'm not sure I ever posted about it, but I still have fond memories of Dewey's on Clark St. West side of the street, just north of Devon. The ultimate greasy spoon. One guy behind the counter and a couple of stools. Great hamburgers and chili. They were open 24 hours a day for a long time. I know they served breakfast too, but other than the burgers and chilli I have no idea what else they had there.

Truly a special place for me. The day I got married I got the call that my wife to-be was going to be about an hour late. So my father and I walked about 3 blocks down to Dewey's. There we sat, at this greasy spoon, in our suits and ties, eating greasy burgers and chilli. I then spent the next few hours suppressing the noxious emissions that the chilli normally invokes.

Sorry to say, I have no idea when they closed. But I will forever miss it.

Interesting. That's been a Mexican joint for a while. But also for a while the building still had the old neon advertising "chili" and "hamburgers" attached to it and I always said I should inquire about buying it. Then some time last year when driving down Chicago ave? (maybe North) around Hipsterville, USA I saw the same old school neon now attached to a building and eating establishment around there. I'm guessing they called about it like I said I should do. But that's cool that they didn't just throw it out, I wish I called before them, oh well.

Here's a shot of Dewey's old sign.



I think it disappeared a couple years ago but didn't realize it had reappeared elsewhere. I'll be looking for it.

KajmacJohnson wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

Duk's started out as "Donald Duk's" which I considered to be a gutsy move at the time as did, apparently, the folks at Disney because it then became just plain "Duk's."

Did all of the locations disappear or are there any left? I know there were more.

Pretty sure there's still one on Ashland, about 600 north...

boudreaulicious wrote:Did all of the locations disappear or are there any left? I know there were more.

Pretty sure there's still one on Ashland, about 600 north...

Yes, you're right. I thought I had spotted that before but had no idea whether they were related to the old Duk's. Thanks.

midas wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:-There was a hot dog chain called Duc's I think. They had several locations. One in front of Senn high school and another at I believe Irving Park and Kimball. Truly awful but memorable in a funny way.

That location near Senn, at one time, was a Jack-in-the-Box.

At some point,probably in the early 60's,it was Mr Prime Burger a cafeteria like fast food place.

I seem to remember a scary Duk's half a block north of the Rainbo Club. Scary in the middle of the night, at least.

KajmacJohnson wrote:There were others that I know I am forgetting. One where Elston meets Milwaukee. Don't recall the name at all.

Was it something del Sol? I remember a Mexican place with a smiling sun for a logo. Now it's Tanzitaro, and if you haven't been, I urge you to go. It's deeee-licious!TM

KajmacJohnson wrote:Any of the old school Italian joints that have closed. Some of these places had the best homemade (to me) pasta including:
-Rosario's Noodles (Higgins and Austin?

Yes.

KajmacJohnson wrote:I think they had a fire but not sure if they ever re-opened

No.

What's Cooking?
LeSabre
Manzo's

Man, I guess I haven't been back to the northside in a while. Those were all classics of my youth. Fewer reasons to head up that all the time.

In the late 1970's, early '80's, there was a terrific Italian restaurant called LaCapannina on Fullerton (I think), a half block west of Harlem, just footsteps outside the Chicago city limits. Newspaperman Mike Royko wrote glowingly of the place, and it was a reputed hangout for local "wise guy" crews, so of course, my buddies and I were totally enamored of the place. Really good Bucatini all'Amatriciana: in the dozen or more times I ate there, I don't think I ever went any deeper into the menu, as I was completely happy ordering the all'Amatriciana over and over.

Some info here: "Luigi Bucaro stumbled into the restaurant business in 1978 when a well known Italian chef had just arrived to Chicago. Luigi asked him to cook up some authentic Italian cuisine for the patrons at his café, LaCapannina. His cooking proved to be an instant dining pleasure. He transformed his café into a restaurant. Mike Royko, a well respected columnist from the Chicago Tribune created such a sensation by writing several columns about his discovery of LaCapannina. In his first column, he only wrote about his amazing meal at a local restaurant and that he wouldn’t divulge the name, not wanting to ruin a great thing for local patrons and of course himself at the restaurant. His loyal followers demanded he reveal the name. It was with this second column that he unveiled the name and put LaCapannina Restaurant on the map of top dining spots in Chicago. Soon after well known celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Tommy LaSorda, Marilu Henner, and Bobby Knight, along with scores of patrons lined up hungering for true Italian cuisine. Looking back, LaCapannina was truly a pioneer with Chicago’s premier dining establishments."
http://www.perfectpastaonline.com/productcart/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=1

Dolce_Guevara wrote:I seem to remember a scary Duk's half a block north of the Rainbo Club. Scary in the middle of the night, at least.

My friends were only half-joking when they said the name came from all the drive-by shootings in the area way-back-when ("Duck!")

Pie Lady wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:There were others that I know I am forgetting. One where Elston meets Milwaukee. Don't recall the name at all.

Was it something del Sol? I remember a Mexican place with a smiling sun for a logo. Now it's Tanzitaro, and if you haven't been, I urge you to go. It's deeee-licious!

Yes, that's it. There used to be a diner there my father took us to probably in the mid 90s but I cannot for the life of me remember what it is called.

KajmacJohnson wrote:I think they had a fire but not sure if they ever re-opened

Pie Lady wrote:[No.

Too bad. The place was small and cramped but I loved the atmospehere (sort of reminded me of Gulliver's) and they had great homemade minestrone soup. Coming from someone who dislikes minestrone soup.

Dolce_Guevara wrote:I seem to remember a scary Duk's half a block north of the Rainbo Club. Scary in the middle of the night, at least.

Yep, I think they all evoked that feeling. I know we went there once or twice and trash heaped dump is too kind of a description. And the food was nothing special.

KajmacJohnson wrote:-Maxwell's (I believe somewhere on Dempster in Skokie or Niles)

It was on Dempster in Morton Grove. Jellybean heaven.

Dave148 wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:-Maxwell's (I believe somewhere on Dempster in Skokie or Niles)

It was on Dempster in Morton Grove. Jellybean heaven.

Dempster in Morton Grove, that's it. Thanks, Dave. I knew Skokie and Niles didn't sound quite right. But out of the ones I listed Maxwell's was one of the good ones. One of my favorites in the diner/family style restaurant category. Sad to see it long gone.

Commenting on the Carson's thread made me think of another place my family would go to at least once a year. A restaurant on Lincoln south of Toughy called Bones. I think this was a Let Us Entertain You enterprise and they specialized in ribs which were very good but I was a preteen so who knows how accurate my palate was. This was early to mid 90s.

KajmacJohnson wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

KajmacJohnson wrote:-Maxwell's (I believe somewhere on Dempster in Skokie or Niles)

It was on Dempster in Morton Grove. Jellybean heaven.

Commenting on the Carson's thread made me think of another place my family would go to at least once a year. A restaurant on Lincoln south of Toughy called Bones. I think this was a Let Us Entertain You enterprise and they specialized in ribs which were very good but I was a preteen so who knows how accurate my palate was. This was early to mid 90s.

Yep that was Bones. Good stuff indeed. Closed down due to a fire. Reincarnated as L. Woods - http://www.lwoodsrestaurant.com/ - also LEYE. Still good stuff.