Artie wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:

JoelF wrote:The site of the former Burger King in Prospect Heights near Milwaukee and River that I'd previously reported closed now has a banner out front "Coming Soon Hardees" -- I know I passed at least one other such banners recently, but I don't remember exactly where.

I have heard rumors of other Hardees moving into the Chicago area.

One has recently opened in Bolingbrook.

Somebody mentioned in last quarter's OCC&G that a Hardee's was opening in Winfield soon.

Jim-Bob wrote:Somebody mentioned in last quarter's OCC&G that a Hardee's was opening in Winfield soon.

I mentioned that it was going to be opening on Winfield Road in Warrenville in a former Arby's.

Also, apparently the board maxes out at three nested quotes.

lodasi wrote:

Jim-Bob wrote:Somebody mentioned in last quarter's OCC&G that a Hardee's was opening in Winfield soon.

I mentioned that it was going to be opening on Winfield Road in Warrenville in a former Arby's.

Also, apparently the board maxes out at three nested quotes.

There is a Hardee's opening in Elk Grove Village on Busse. It is in a spot that was previously an Arby's, which prior to that it was actually a Hardee's when first built.

Hardee's just opened on Tuesday in Midlothian

Ok--here's an article on Hardee's opening stores in this area. Can we, perhaps, move on to reporting something else. I dread the day that this thread is completely gunked up with reports of the opening of every bad fast food spot in Chi. Thank you.

http://m.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2 ... tml?r=full

Nouveau Tavern, the new New Orleans style Cajun/Creole restaurant and bar/lounge opened in River North last night at 358 W Ontario (Ontario & Orleans-ish).

The place on the 2900 block of N. Halsted that once housed Erwin, and then Macku Chan's French-Vietnamese place called Va Sua, is now identified on its awning as Macku. (There was a word under Macku which I didn't have time to register.) Don't know whether this signifies a change in cuisine or merely nomenclature.

Don't know whether this signifies a change in cuisine or merely nomenclature.

It's now a sushi place, with some Frenchified Japanese entrees. Example:

"COD panko black cod, shrimp, slivered almonds, baby bok choy, seasonal berries, chocolate miso 15"

According to an exchange I had with them on Facebook they're going to now have the same menu as the Clybourn Macku location.

Al Dente, 3939 W. Irving Park, is closed.
https://www.facebook.com/aldentechicago

Hoping someone can help me figure this one out - this sign just went up in the window at the corner of Diversey and Wolcott (the former home of Sweet Bean)

https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1385171_10102538636029927_63338274_n.jpg

Not sure why I cant post the pic - it says there's too many pixels.

It looks incredibly familiar but I just can't place it...

Permit on Branch 27's front window to do renovation and add another bar to the east side of the building. Owner is Jay Runnfeldt

Commbrkdwn wrote:Hoping someone can help me figure this one out - this sign just went up in the window at the corner of Diversey and Wolcott (the former home of Sweet Bean)

https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1385171_10102538636029927_63338274_n.jpg

Not sure why I cant post the pic - it says there's too many pixels.

It looks incredibly familiar but I just can't place it...

It's derivative of RA Sushi's sign. (WARNING: Loud, obnoxious music alert.)

Benjamin Tapas in Highland Park, closed.

Hoppin' Hots, in the old Great Lake Pizza space, opens today.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/news/hoppi ... ts-hopping

$10 is the baseline price for a dog + fries, even for a Chicago dog. I hope they're really good.

Saks Fifth Avenue confirmed in a press release Wednesday that the store will open its first restaurant on the seventh floor of the Magnificent Mile department store at the beginning of the new year. Crain's noted the news when the store submitted a licensing application to the city prior to the press release.

The restaurant is named Sophie's, after veteran fashion designer Sophie Gimbel who worked for Saks for nearly 40 years. Saks plans to open another Sophie's at its flagship store in New York City, with two more locations to come in Sarasota, Fla. and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... restaurant

I was in the mood for dim sum today, and headed to The Phoenix, only to find a sign posted on the front door, "Closed for Renovations." We ended up going to Triple Crown, where we had a mix of hits and misses.

Saw a sign in the window for the second location Salam @ 1524 W Fullerton.

There is a sign on the Marigold Andersonville former location on Clark saying that Bull & Horn Taco Bar would be opening soon -- the date looked like October something, but I was running so didn't catch it. Anyone know anything about this place?

shotzy wrote:Saw a sign in the window for the second location Salam @ 1524 W Fullerton.

YES

jbrady3324 wrote:Permit on Branch 27's front window to do renovation and add another bar to the east side of the building. Owner is Jay Runnfeldt

This will be Bow & Stern Oyster Bar

http://chicago.eater.com/tags/bow-stern-oyster-bar

In their earnings release, Safeway announced that they would be exiting the Chicago market. They did not give a lot of details, but it sounds like most Dominicks stores will be closed. Presumable some will be bought by competitors.

-Will

Why not just sell the Dominick's chain?

Drover wrote:Why not just sell the Dominick's chain?

Are you going to make them an offer? I suspect if there's value there they'd sell, but given the state of Dominick's these days it's better to take the write-off.

spinynorman99 wrote:

Drover wrote:Why not just sell the Dominick's chain?

Are you going to make them an offer?

Sure, I have the means to buy a frickin' grocery chain.

spinynorman99 wrote:I suspect if there's value there they'd sell, but given the state of Dominick's these days it's better to take the write-off.

You don't think there's value in having an existing large network of stores for any grocer looking to enter or consolidate their share of a major market like Chicago?

I'm sure a number of low-performing stores will be closed. But the idea that Safeway is just going to walk away from a chain of 70-some-odd stores without at least trying to find a buyer first is, frankly, ludicrous.

Drover wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

Drover wrote:Why not just sell the Dominick's chain?

Are you going to make them an offer?

Sure, I have the means to buy a frickin' grocery chain.

spinynorman99 wrote:I suspect if there's value there they'd sell, but given the state of Dominick's these days it's better to take the write-off.

You don't think there's value in having an existing large network of stores for any grocer looking to enter or consolidate their share of a major market like Chicago?

I'm sure a number of low-performing stores will be closed. But the idea that Safeway is just going to walk away from a chain of 70-some-odd stores without at least trying to find a buyer first is, frankly, ludicrous.

They have announced that they will be closing 71 Chicago stores.

Evil Ronnie wrote:I was in the mood for dim sum today, and headed to The Phoenix, only to find a sign posted on the front door, "Closed for Renovations." We ended up going to Triple Crown, where we had a mix of hits and misses.

Surely it will rise again.

Did they have a pyre?

imsscott wrote:

Drover wrote:I'm sure a number of low-performing stores will be closed. But the idea that Safeway is just going to walk away from a chain of 70-some-odd stores without at least trying to find a buyer first is, frankly, ludicrous.

They have announced that they will be closing 71 Chicago stores.

Unless something has changed in the last 5 hours, no they haven't. They have said they will try to find a buyer or buyers and that 4 of the stores have already been sold.

Drover wrote:

imsscott wrote:

Drover wrote:I'm sure a number of low-performing stores will be closed. But the idea that Safeway is just going to walk away from a chain of 70-some-odd stores without at least trying to find a buyer first is, frankly, ludicrous.

They have announced that they will be closing 71 Chicago stores.

Unless something has changed in the last 5 hours, no they haven't. They have said they will try to find a buyer or buyers and that 4 of the stores have already been sold.

It's semantics. "Dominick's" will cease to exist. All "Dominick's" stores will either be sold or will close.

"It's not clear when all of the Chicago stores will close. Safeway said it wants to exit the market by early 2014"

Boyd said he spoke with Dominick’s head of labor relations, who told him the company would close the stores it cannot sell