Canady, our South Loop chocolatier, is now unfortunately closed. Hopefully, he'll be opening at another location nearby soon.

jbw wrote:Canady, our South Loop chocolatier, is now unfortunately closed. Hopefully, he'll be opening at another location nearby soon.

I liked their stuff. His website is still up, but unfortunately that doesn't mean anything. I assume their booth in the French Market is closed also, since they made their product in the South Loop shop.

nsxtasy wrote:

jbw wrote:Canady, our South Loop chocolatier, is now unfortunately closed. Hopefully, he'll be opening at another location nearby soon.

I liked their stuff. His website is still up, but unfortunately that doesn't mean anything. I assume their booth in the French Market is closed also, since they made their product in the South Loop shop.

I was there about a month ago, and found that their booth was indeed gone.

I was bummed, as it was my first time back to French Market in almost two years (since I changed jobs & no longer work 2 buildings down from there) and I was looking forward to marveling at his amazing little chocolate works of art.

La Fournette Bakery has opened at 1547 North Wells Street in Old Town. The gang at the French Pastry School is involved, so this should be one of the best bakeries in the city. The actual owner, Pierre Zimmermann (along with his wife) is a fourth generation baker who won the World Cup of Baking as a member of France’s gold medal team at the 1996 Coupe du Monde de laBoulangerie and coached France’s 2008 World Cup of Baking championship team. They serve all sorts of wonderful soups, sandwiches and salads as well.

The Real Urban BBQ Vernon Hills location officially opened today

https://www.facebook.com/RealUrbanBBQVernonHills

http://realurbanbbq.com/

OK, everyone can stop panicking now, Morrie O'Malley's is back open. Turns out it was just a vacation. Why they'd take a vacation when they're only open a few months each year, I cannot say.

I was very sad to find out when I went there for my weekly lunch at TIEN GIANG 4925 N. Broadway, in the Argyle-Broadway Vietnamese hub, that it was closed. A neighbor told me that they had sold the business abruptly, for lack of business as he said.
Reopened in 2010 in that new space after a long hiatus from their original location on Argyle that had burned in 2008, it had become my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the area. I always felt welcomed there and the quality of the ingredients and cooking was very consistent.

According to today's Dish from Chicago Mag, "the North Shore Italian-French restaurant Gabriel’s will shutter on Saturday."

Given their business, I cannot imagine why they'd close, unless Chef Gabriel has become bored with the entire operation.

rfleisch1 wrote:According to today's Dish from Chicago Mag, "the North Shore Italian-French restaurant Gabriel’s will shutter on Saturday."

Given their business, I cannot imagine why they'd close, unless Chef Gabriel has become bored with the entire operation.

He's closing it to concentrate on Miramar across the street.

http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2012/07/g ... close.html

I was sad to see that Matto Fornaio in Lakeview East is closed...there was a "Thank you for your patronage" sign on the door, and a "Restaurant for lease" sign in the window.

It's a shame, it was a great, friendly locally-owned business that cranked out some excellent pastries & baked goods.

There is a new middle eastern place 'Wild Pita Mediterranean Grill' which is similar to naf naf and pita inn located on Waukegan Rd in Glenview. Wild Pita Mediterranean Grill had there opening this weekend and I tried the chicken shawarma wrap which i thought was better than pita inn and on par with Naf NAF grill.

Wild Pita Mediterranean Grill
1938 Waukegan Rd,
Glenview, IL 60025

http://www.wildpitagrill.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/wild-pita-medit ... l-glenview

McGovern's Public House appears to be more sports bar than pub. Open less than a week, the menu is currently limited, but should expand after they've been open a few weeks - they're still rough around the edges right now.

McGovern's Public House
1945 Willow
Northbrook, IL

Pointe Plaza Grill inside Fresh Farms has officially closed. No surprise, with Naf Naf there. According to a cashier, the owner moved his place "somewhere down Lincoln".

Sadly, Capone's Hideout is no longer. It has returned to the Village Cafe & Pub, which it hasn't been since 2009. Just last week, the awning was covered, the place appeared to be dark, and there have been no FB posts since 6/30. But a sandwich board said Capone's Hideout with an arrow pointing towards the door. The awning is back with the "new" name and no sandwich board, but there is no FB page and no info on Capone's page. Weird. I hope they kept the decor. I'll have to stop in to see what the cafe menu consists of.

polster wrote:There is a new middle eastern place 'Wild Pita Mediterranean Grill' which is similar to naf naf and pita inn located on Waukegan Rd in Glenview. Wild Pita Mediterranean Grill had there opening this weekend and I tried the chicken shawarma wrap which i thought was better than pita inn and on par with Naf NAF grill.

Wild Pita Mediterranean Grill
1938 Waukegan Rd,
Glenview, IL 60025

http://www.wildpitagrill.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/wild-pita-medit ... l-glenview

With chicken cream chop, kubbeh, and catfish, it sounds like it has a vaguely Assyrian orientation, compared to the Israeli one that Naf Naf has.

sundevilpeg wrote:Sam's Chicken & Ribs, in the ominous strip mall at the corner of Howard & Hoyne in West Rogers Park, on the Evanston border, has closed.

This morning I noticed a sign on the original Sam's Chicken & Ribs on Granville & Winthrop that said "Indian Food Coming Soon". That location was open almost 19 years, it opened not too long after I moved to Chicago and lived around the corner.

Coogan's at 180 N Wacker was on my once or twice a year lunch rotation as it was a good half way point for meeting friends working in Near West, River West, whatever that area is called now.

Hadn't been there in about a year, so no idea if they closed up long ago, but the place is deserted. No tables, bar is removed, window signage gone, etc.

Didnt go enough to miss it, but it was a nice change of pace that couple times a year

There's a sign on the side of Bacchus Nibbles that they're moving soon to Rand (Rt. 12) and Rt. 22- I'm guessing the former location of Omega? Looks like the for sale sign that was in front of it has been taken down.


Bacchus Nibbles
20817 N Quentin Rd
Lake Zurich IL 60047
(847) 438-3212

[Former] Omega Restaurant & Pancake House
449 S Rand Rd
Lake Zurich, IL 60047

M. Belle's Pie & Bake Shop in Long Grove is no longer operating as a restaurant/store.

Sorry to hear that Coogan's closed. When I worked downtown it was a regular stop. I always thought that they made the best damn chili around: thick, meaty, fresh pepper heavy and spicy enough that cold beer was required.

abe_froeman wrote:There's a sign on the side of Bacchus Nibbles that they're moving soon to Rand (Rt. 12) and Rt. 22- I'm guessing the former location of Omega? Looks like the for sale sign that was in front of it has been taken down.


Bacchus Nibbles
20817 N Quentin Rd
Lake Zurich IL 60047
(847) 438-3212

[Former] Omega Restaurant & Pancake House
449 S Rand Rd
Lake Zurich, IL 60047

Never eat there... drive by it all the time and did stop in back in 2004 but the place just scared me away from ordering any food.

mhill95149 wrote:

abe_froeman wrote:There's a sign on the side of Bacchus Nibbles that they're moving soon to Rand (Rt. 12) and Rt. 22- I'm guessing the former location of Omega? Looks like the for sale sign that was in front of it has been taken down.


Bacchus Nibbles
20817 N Quentin Rd
Lake Zurich IL 60047
(847) 438-3212

[Former] Omega Restaurant & Pancake House
449 S Rand Rd
Lake Zurich, IL 60047

Never eat there... drive by it all the time and did stop in back in 2004 but the place just scared me away from ordering any food.

I haven't, actually. I also drive by all the time but have never gone in.

Would talking about why you didn't eat their violate LTH rules?

Pretty much rumor and innuendo.... So, Yes it would...

Duff's Dogs, 6132 N. Northwest Highway, has closed.

The Bleeding Heart Bakery is closing all their locations on 8/5...per their Facebook update "We have been given opportunities to progress our career beyond the bakery in an environment that is better for our family."

Here's the facebook post, and Ari Bendersky's interesting effort on behalf of Eater.com to get information on Bleeding Heart's closure. There are some very entertaining links in the story and in follow-up remarks; it's tempting to stop by and check out the fire sale on Spice House spices in bulk, half-sheet pans, and organic desiccated coconut, as long as direct contact with Michelle Garcia can be avoided.

mhill95149 wrote:Pretty much rumor and innuendo.... So, Yes it would...

So just to be clear, your expressed concerns are based on nothing? Does that seem fair to you?

David Hammond wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:Pretty much rumor and innuendo.... So, Yes it would...

So just to be clear, your expressed concerns are based on nothing? Does that seem fair to you?

No it does not, but I'm not in the habit of reviewing places that I would not eat at based on the layer of grime I noticed when I walked in.

I have eaten at Bacchus Nibbles several times over the years, and while I can understand that someone might have qualms about the place when first walking in, it is actually a pretty decent restaurant. They do a good (though somewhat hit or miss) job with classic French bistro food. I remember years ago they used to serve excellent escargot at 50 cents a shot. They have a retail wine area that is not particularly clean or organized, but you can pick out a bottle and just pay a small corkage to drink it there. they used to have a lot of very old, very reasonably priced bottles (some very high end stuff for about half what they were selling for at auction), but they seemed to be gone last time I was there. When they move to a more updated location, I will definitely go there again.

-Will

Drover wrote:Seen at 3159 N. California Ave, corner of California/Belmont/Elston in the storefront adjacent to Pork Shoppe: Banners proclaiming a forthcoming second location of Jai-Yen Sushi and Noodle of East Lakeview, dubbed "Jai-Yen II . . ."

. . . now open.

Hi- Thanks for the info on Bleeding Heart Bakery. I clicked on the grub street link that was posted in the eater link you posted, and after reading what one of the employees said to grub street, I can understand why they had to close suddenly. I noticed that the garage sale is going to take place this weekend, but they are closing on the 5th, which seems kind of strange, unless they need some money immediately.