Openings, Closings, Comings & Goings - Jan thru March 2013

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Openings, Closings, Comings & Goings - Oct thru Dec 2012

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Perhaps Zebda lives? There are new posts about it on Yelp, and when I walked by it the other day, the lights were on and the cases had food in them. Plus they have what I think is a new website.

Zebda
4344 N Elston Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 545-7000
http://www.zebdachicago.com/

A sign in the window of the former Alps East in Northcenter indicates that a new place called Egg Head Diner is going to open in January 2013. Address is 2012 W. Irving Park.

ews wrote:A sign in the window of the former Alps East in Northcenter indicates that a new place called Egg Head Diner is going to open in January 2013. Address is 2012 W. Irving Park.

Apparently, breakfast places whose names are not puns on breakfast foods are doomed.

riddlemay wrote:

ews wrote:A sign in the window of the former Alps East in Northcenter indicates that a new place called Egg Head Diner is going to open in January 2013. Address is 2012 W. Irving Park.

Apparently, breakfast places whose names are not puns on breakfast foods are doomed.

Eggs-actly!!! No yolk!

I didn't know there were that many restaurants with punny names.

tarte tatin wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Apparently, breakfast places whose names are not puns on breakfast foods are doomed.

Eggs-actly!!! No yolk!

Many of the names of breakfast places aren't puns (or, more inclusively, plays on words). They're just named after breakfast foods or concepts: Yolk, Jam, Marmalade, Toast, Waffles, Orange, Brunch, Milk and Honey Cafe, Eggshell Cafe, Over Easy, and Batter & Berries.

The only ones around here that I can think of with a pun or play on words in their names, besides Egg Head Diner, are Eggsperience, Kitsch'n, and Bakin' and Eggs. Am I missing others?

My favorites elsewhere (for their names) are Cock a Doodle Cafe in Oakland, Rooster in St. Louis, and Snooze in Denver.

Breakfast restaurants aren't unique when it comes to clever business names. Heck, they can't hold a candle to hair salons. But I digress.

nsxtasy wrote:
Breakfast restaurants aren't unique when it comes to clever business names. Heck, they can't hold a candle to hair salons. But I digress.

On a totally unrelated note, my husband and I noticed the Good Head Salon on Algonquin and rte 53 when we were visiting family last week.

From http://www.pompeiusa.com/orland

To all our loyal Pompei Customers,

You may have already heard that Pompei on Sheffield and Pompei in Oak Brook have closed their doors without notice effective Christmas Eve. Those locations were owned and operated by a separate management company. They were not owned or operated by Ralph Davino.

We were saddened to learn that they did this to their customers and most importantly employees right at the holidays. We appreciate your concern and hope that you will continue to visit us at our original location on Taylor Street or our newer location in Orland Park. Further information will be available.

Thank you for your support.
Ralph Davino
Pompei Restaurants

Food Nut wrote:From http://www.pompeiusa.com/orland

To all our loyal Pompei Customers,

You may have already heard that Pompei on Sheffield and Pompei in Oak Brook have closed their doors without notice effective Christmas Eve. Those locations were owned and operated by a separate management company. They were not owned or operated by Ralph Davino.

We were saddened to learn that they did this to their customers and most importantly employees right at the holidays. We appreciate your concern and hope that you will continue to visit us at our original location on Taylor Street or our newer location in Orland Park. Further information will be available.

Thank you for your support.
Ralph Davino
Pompei Restaurants

Thanks for forwarding this, Food Nut.

I can imagine worse fates for the shuttered location at Sheffield and Wellington than for it to be reopened again as Pompei, but this time under the Davino Family's ownership. I hope they're considering that.

Mr. Spankys Farm Fresh Artisan Foods should be opening today in Bridgeport. Looks like they'll have house made bacon/sausage and assorted goods from local producers. It appears that they'll have a variety of sandwiches and other daily specials as well at some point. Another interesting addition to Bridgeport, in any case.

335 W. 31st
Chicago, IL 60616
312-450-3069

www.mrspankys.com

Awnings went up today for the breakfast-lunch-dinner restaurant that will replace The Grove at Diversey and Pine Grove. It is called Isabel. I can say with authority that they have a nice font.

Awnings went up today for the breakfast-lunch-dinner restaurant that will replace The Grove at Diversey and Pine Grove. It is called Isabel. I can say with authority that they have a nice font.

I don't wish anything bad on any other restaurant, ever - but I'm happy to see The Grove close....WORST dining experience in my life. We stopped there just before we had our first child - it's right next to St. Joe's and my wife wanted one last meal prior to checking in, this place was open and close by...When we walked in, we were pointed to a table, and slid menus across the counter from a guy that refused to remove his hand from his chin and his elbow from his knee....when I told the waitress it was our last meal before heading to the hospital to have our first baby, she said "that sucks". I actually started laughing, not sure how to react to her statement. We ordered regular stuff that is hard to screw up: sandwiches, chicken tenders, etc. All of our food was cold, bland, weird, and the waitress and entire staff was terrible. Our waitress left in the middle of our meal, no one brought the check...when I asked the elbow-on-knee-chin-in-hand guy about it, he said , "she's smoking". I left enough on the table to cover and we headed to St. Joe's.
I thought I was on a hidden camera show it was so bad.....good news is, we left - gave birth to our lovely daughter, and I honestly never thought about it again until I read that post. Good riddens!

Agreed. The Grove had gotten really bad. I had an omelette there this summer that was just about inedible. Hopefully this new place will be better.

Another GoogleMaps location with beer trucks blocking the view. Could it be a curse of some kind?

Hot off the twitter feed...Great Lakes Pizza closing...something about their landlord not wanting to fix things--my money's on the damn door that wouldn't close...

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130106/BLOGS09/130109883/great-lake-pizzeria-closing-end-of-january

nsxtasy wrote:Breakfast restaurants aren't unique when it comes to clever business names. Heck, they can't hold a candle to hair salons.

I still think hot dog stands are in a class by themselves.

ursiform wrote:Mr. Spankys Farm Fresh Artisan Foods . . .
Another interesting addition to Bridgeport, in any case.

335 W. 31st

Mr Spanky's definitely sounds interesting; I look forward to visiting. That location has a history of great little places (but unfortunately they don't seem to last long). I have my fingers crossed for Mr S.

At 335 W 31st, Dino Boy's (see here and here) was one of my all-time favorite Chicago sandwich shops. After DB's closed it became Southside Shrimp House, one of my favorite Chicago shrimp slingers (at least in their early days). Most recently I think it was home to a caterer I know nothing about.

Speaking of punny names, I keep wanting some enterprising and irreverent soul to open a place specializing in Vietnamese soups with barbecued meats called "Pho 'Cue" (could also be a Vietnamese restsurant-slash-pool hall). Or maybe the more minimalist "Pho Q."

Matt wrote:Speaking of punny names, I keep wanting some enterprising and irreverent soul to open a place specializing in Vietnamese soups with barbecued meats called "Pho 'Cue" (could also be a Vietnamese restsurant-slash-pool hall). Or maybe the more minimalist "Pho Q."

It has already happened. Here is a small list.

Story heard on Fox "news" last night.... The woman anchor opined that these were for the ladies, while the men could have the McRib.

From zap2it: "In the beginning there were Chicken McNuggets and they were good. Now McDonald's is looking for their next great chicken idea and it comes in the form of deep fried wings. After a successful run in Atlanta, McDonald's is expanding the test run of their "Mighty Wings" to Chicago-area stores this week.
The wings come in serving sizes of three, five, or 10 pieces and start out at $3.... there is no new dipping sauce for the wings, but they will be served with creamy ranch by default. Whether this becomes a regular menu addition remains to be seen. Over the past year chicken wing prices have continued to climb due to demand, surpassing the price of boneless, skinless chicken breasts...."

blog.zap2it.com/.../mcdonalds-chicken-wings-mighty-wings-test-expands-to- chicago.html

Steve's Deli at 350 West Hubbard has closed/gone out of business.

At the end of the year (2012), they had a sign that they would be closed for the holidays and would open after January 1st.

As of yesterday, the sign was changed and now indicates that they plan to open a restaurant in the same space in the Spring of 2013 under new management and with a new concept....

Deli's are not a growth industry in Chicago!

And- if one can't prosper NEXT TO The East Bank Club-
OY-VEY.....Vat's dis Voild coming to?

Hombre de Acero wrote:Deli's are not a growth industry in Chicago!

And- if one can't prosper NEXT TO The East Bank Club-
OY-VEY.....Vat's dis Voild coming to?

Why is that?!

Deli is so good and so lacking in Chicago. I find it hard to believe Chicagoans can't be talked into enjoying good deli.

Hombre de Acero wrote:Deli's are not a growth industry in Chicago!

And- if one can't prosper NEXT TO The East Bank Club-
OY-VEY.....Vat's dis Voild coming to?

Not true -

Brendan Sodikoff opening Dillman's, a Jewish deli (probably)

http://timeoutchicago.com/restaurants-b ... i-probably

Dave148 wrote:

Brendan Sodikoff opening Dillman's, a Jewish deli (probably)

It would be ironic if the "undisclosed address" in River North turned out to be the former home of Steve's Deli...

The short lived new Belden Deli at Clark & Belden is going to become a second Eleven City Diner.

Brad Rubin will open a second Eleven City Diner, a clone of his popular South Loop restaurant, in Lincoln Park in April. The new location will be at 2301 N. Clark St., in the Belden Centre.

A little deli history here: This address was once home to the original Belden Deli back in the 70s; the building was torn down to make room for the Belden Centre, a condo and retail project. In May, Leon Greenberg and Paul Leff opened a Belden Deli in the Centre, but the venture closed in October after Leff's untimely death.

The new Eleven City Diner will be in the Belden's ground-floor space.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-eleven-city-diner-heading-to-lincoln-park-20130108,0,2949866.story

Lillie's Q Opening Location in French Market

Over the past few years the Chicago French Market has quietly built up an array of vendors, both those unique to the market, and others that are offshoots of stand alone restaurants throughout the city. Well, now you can add one more to the list as Lillie's Q will bring its barbeque to the French Market at the end of the month. The location will be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.; Saturday until 4 p.m.

Chef Charlie McKenna will serve about half of the menu currently found at the Bucktown location with a handful of BBQ options, sides, salad and stew. This location will also feature a French Market exclusive item, made-from-scratch kettle chips dusted with Lillie's Q Carolina Dirt rub or pimento cheese powder.

zoid wrote:Deli is so good and so lacking in Chicago. I find it hard to believe Chicagoans can't be talked into enjoying good deli.

I've generally found that outside of NY, Jewish delis are pretty rare. One in greater Hartford, one in greater Boston (no less than Alan Dershowitz tried and failed).

Duffy's is now closed (the bar upstairs of Marco Polo) in Skokie.

But a brand new Duffy's is coming soon!

StevenHB wrote:I've generally found that outside of NY, Jewish delis are pretty rare. One in greater Hartford, one in greater Boston (no less than Alan Dershowitz tried and failed).

Jewish delis have declined in number all across the country. And that includes the greater NYC area.

One city that still has quite a few really great ones is suburban Detroit.