Pie Lady wrote:

milz50 wrote:In other news, Urban Tandoor has opened in Long Grove. It is at the intersection of 22 and Old McHenry. I'll probably check it out this week.

Is it just me or does this sound incredibly uncharacteristic of Long Grove?

It's just you. I don't think it is uncharacteristic. When I drive out to my office in Lake Zurich, I pass 4 Indian restaurants and 2 Indian grocery stores. I only pass 3 McDonald's.

I believe the owner also owns Spicy Bites and the Indian grocery store next door.

Small Bar Fullerton has been sold and is closed. It will reopen as Beer Bistro North in approx. 2 weeks.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-small-bar-small-bar-fullerton-to-become-the-beer-bistro-north-20120430,0,7001547.story

Janson's Drive Inn on South Western in Beverly is closed. Sign on door says something about new owners. Hope they keep the sign. And wash the place out.

The Andersonville/Uptown outpost of Bongo Room opened 4/30, according to BR's Facebook page. Having one a mere five blocks away is going to up my consumption of red velvet pancakes exponentially...

Bongo Room
5022 N. Clark St.
(773) 728-7900
http://thebongoroom.com/

Bakersfield, located at the old Bailey's Restaurant site on Ogden Avenue has opened.

It's owned by the group who founded the high-line grocery, Standard Market, in Westmont which is located right across the street from Bakersfield.

Bakersfield Restaurant
330 E. Ogden Ave.
Westmont, IL 60559
(630)568-3615

Hours:
Sunday through Thursday, 11am to 10pm
Friday and Saturday, 11am to 11pm

http://www.bakersfieldrestaurant.com

http://www.facebook.com/BakersfieldRestaurant

.

Saw this one mentioned on EveryBlock, and then saw with my own eyes: Blue Ocean, a sushi place at the nexus of Uptown/Andersonville/Ravenswood (Clark and Leland), has been evicted. Big green eviction signs on the door and everything. It was dark and looked like all the equipment was still in the building. We'd been there a few times for dinner and had pleasant meals, but my husband wondered just a couple days ago if the space was too big to support the business.

Blue Ocean
4650 N Clark St
(773) 334-6288
http://www.blueoceanchicago.com

Where is the new Bongo Room? I drove by that stretch of Clark and must have missed it, what is it near? Thanks

LPython wrote:The Andersonville/Uptown outpost of Bongo Room opened 4/30, according to BR's Facebook page. Having one a mere five blocks away is going to up my consumption of red velvet pancakes exponentially...

Bongo Room
5022 N. Clark St.
(773) 728-7900
http://thebongoroom.com/

forzagto wrote:Where is the new Bongo Room? I drove by that stretch of Clark and must have missed it, what is it near?

It's near the corner of Clark and Winnemac. Basically across the street from T's Bar, if you know that place; and between a Sealy bedding store and a liquor store.

Famous Dave's in Vernon Hills has closed

Daddy Cool's Gourmet Hot Dogs has opened at 2200 N. Milwaukee

A new place is opening at 601 N. McClurg (between Ohio and Ontario in the old Tutto Pronto space) called Root & Vine.
They've been working on the build out for over a month, and a sign finally went up in the window.
No indication of actual opening date.

Website is: http://www.rootandvinechicago.com/#!home|mainPage

Looks really interesting. This is less than a block from my home. I'm looking forward to it, especially since Tutto Pronto was so horrible.

Also, if the food is as good as the menu seems to indicate, this may be the final nail for Fox and Obel's cafe.

When I went to the Long Grove Chocolate Fest to pick up some Apple Haus apple cider donuts, I noticed that M. Belle's Pie & Bake Shop took over the space where Apple Haus used to occupy (in Long Grove). Note: the Apple Haus donuts are sold in limited quantities at the Long Grove Chocolate Fest.

shorty wrote:When I went to the Long Grove Chocolate Fest to pick up some Apple Haus apple cider donuts, I noticed that Frank's Karma Cafe took over the space where Apple Haus used to occupy (in Long Grove). They sell sandwiches, pies, and cookies. They also have a location in Wauconda. Note: the Apple Haus donuts are only sold in limited quantities at the Chocolate Fest.

Not Apple Fest?

Pie Lady wrote:

shorty wrote:When I went to the Long Grove Chocolate Fest to pick up some Apple Haus apple cider donuts, I noticed that Frank's Karma Cafe took over the space where Apple Haus used to occupy (in Long Grove). They sell sandwiches, pies, and cookies. They also have a location in Wauconda. Note: the Apple Haus donuts are only sold in limited quantities at the Chocolate Fest.

Not Apple Fest?

What I meant to say was that at Chocolate Fest, the cinnamon sugar covered apple cider donuts are only available in limited quantities. The person behind the counter said that they will probably sell donuts at the other Long Grove fests, but did not know exactly what kind of donuts they would be selling. The parking at the Long Grove fest is not good. Now half of the main parking lot is reserved for VIP parking (with a parking fee of $10).

shorty wrote:When I went to the Long Grove Chocolate Fest to pick up some Apple Haus apple cider donuts, I noticed that Frank's Karma Cafe took over the space where Apple Haus used to occupy (in Long Grove). They sell sandwiches, pies, and cookies. They also have a location in Wauconda. Note: the Apple Haus donuts are only sold in limited quantities at the Chocolate Fest.

They make some great pies (lard pie crust). I have driven out to Wauconda just to get their pies for parties before.

Hi- As I posted somewhere else, Pat's Place on Oakton in downtown Skokie has lost their lease, and they are moving out of their current location the end of this month, with the new location yet TBD. Pat said that she is looking at locations both in and out of Skokie.

Ram4 wrote:The Highland House location is a pretty visable spot for any restaurant. I hope something better than a McDonald's goes there though. How about a Chick-Fil-A?

Won't happen.

That corner is owned by Pauly Acura.

Prost!, the German place at 2566 N. Lincoln which closed in mid-2009 appears to be re-opening soon. Ads for staff indicate that they hope to open the doors in the next few weeks.

sandman wrote:

Ram4 wrote:The Highland House location is a pretty visable spot for any restaurant. I hope something better than a McDonald's goes there though. How about a Chick-Fil-A?

Won't happen.

That corner is owned by Pauly Acura.

I was really kidding. That property is too small for a Chick-Fil-A. Is Pauly going to do anything with it?

Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali's Eataly may be coming to River North, at the now-shuttered ESPN Zone.


http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2012/05/e ... icago.html

A new hot dog stand, Happy Dogs, opened up in Des Plaines.

Cool location.

Happy Dogs Beef n Pizza
979 Lee Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016
(847) 635-0407

abe_froeman wrote:A new hot dog stand, Happy Dogs, opened up in Des Plaines.

Cool location.

Happy Dogs Beef n Pizza
979 Lee Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016
(847) 635-0407

I've been passing it under construction for a while... good to see somebody opening in this environment.
So... fresh-cut fries? natural casing? radioactive relish? organic free-range on-site-ground beef? (I'll settle for any two of the first three)

Coral Sushi & Thai on the corner of Madison and DesPlaines in Forest Park has closed and been replaced by Yilin Japanese & Chinese.

http://yilinsushi.com/index.html
7600 W. Madison Street
708 488 9100

The Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream in Skokie (4041 Dempster St.) is papered over. Across the street behind Slice of Life is a new pizza place, Jet's (4112 W. Dempster).

Pie Lady, that address on Dempster in Skokie used to house a GREAT carry-out back in the '80's called Chicago Salad Co. At least 12 different kinds of salads made fresh to go, and this was before the supermarkets made them available. I think I even asked the owners at one point whether they wanted to franchise--it was that good.

Come to think of it, there was ANOTHER place on Dempster around that time, just east of Crawford, called La Salade. It was like a cold & hot buffet, mostly vegetarian, with a cafeteria line-like deal, and your meal was weighed & priced up. I still dream of their brown rice with tofu, which one rarely would see around back in those days.

Salads don't get too much attention these days, and that's a shame.

jnm123 wrote:.... Come to think of it, there was ANOTHER place on Dempster around that time, just east of Crawford, called La Salade. It was like a cold & hot buffet, mostly vegetarian, with a cafeteria line-like deal, and your meal was weighed & priced up. I still dream of their brown rice with tofu, which one rarely would see around back in those days.

I remember Le Salade! That had to be in the late '80s or so. It was where the Grecian Kitchen is today--3938 West Dempster in Skokie.

TCK wrote:Coral Sushi & Thai on the corner of Madison and DesPlaines in Forest Park has closed and been replaced by Yilin Japanese & Chinese.

That's a cursed location if you ask me. So why someone would open the area's 417th Ambiguously Asian establishment there is beyond me. Now, a nice deli at that corner, with house cured meats and good bread would be the bees knees. Hmmm......

jnm123 wrote:Pie Lady, that address on Dempster in Skokie used to house a GREAT carry-out back in the '80's called Chicago Salad Co.

I'm fairly certain that the location formerly known as Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream was a Baskin Robbins/31 Flavors. Chicago Salad was next door.

I thought so, but that was a while ago, I think.