Ronnie, I thought that too until I saw this kinda post under "shopping":

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=396232#p396232

Dave148 wrote:

HomeMade Pizza Co. appears to have ceased operations. Calls to the Chicago-based company's take-and-bake outlets in Winnetka, Glencoe and Evanston yielded no answer.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... -shuttered

The Evanston location--at Chicago and Dempster--is definitely closed, with a "Space for Lease" sign in the window.

The Evanston location--at Chicago and Dempster--is definitely closed, with a "Space for Lease" sign in the window.

There were two Evanston locations; the other was on Central St., between Prairie & Hartrey. And yes, they are both closed. Always seemed an odd business model to me, anyway.

Stopped by Butcher's Block on Cicero today. Hours on door said it should be open, but looking inside, it looked emptied out and trashed. Sign on inner door said something about no meat left, only groceries. Sad, with the cow out front, I had hoped they had good stuff.

madopal wrote:Stopped by Butcher's Block on Cicero today. Hours on door said it should be open, but looking inside, it looked emptied out and trashed. Sign on inner door said something about no meat left, only groceries. Sad, with the cow out front, I had hoped they had good stuff.

I got a $20 groupon for Butcher Block for $10 once.
Wasn't worth it.

zoid wrote:

madopal wrote:Stopped by Butcher's Block on Cicero today. Hours on door said it should be open, but looking inside, it looked emptied out and trashed. Sign on inner door said something about no meat left, only groceries. Sad, with the cow out front, I had hoped they had good stuff.

I got a $20 groupon for Butcher Block for $10 once.
Wasn't worth it.

Is this the place at 3021 N Cicero that used to be called Chicago Meat, across the street from Sol de Mexico?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

zoid wrote:

madopal wrote:Stopped by Butcher's Block on Cicero today. Hours on door said it should be open, but looking inside, it looked emptied out and trashed. Sign on inner door said something about no meat left, only groceries. Sad, with the cow out front, I had hoped they had good stuff.

I got a $20 groupon for Butcher Block for $10 once.
Wasn't worth it.

Is this the place at 3021 N Cicero that used to be called Chicago Meat, across the street from Sol de Mexico?

=R=

That's the one (at least the one I'm thinking of).

fropones wrote:Apparently Telegraph is closing 6/7 and reconcepting and reopening in July.

Source

This is super sad news for me. I've enjoyed this restaurant very much over the years. I hope to make it in one more time before it's over.

Philly's Best is opening a Sports Bar at 6800 N. Sheridan. I live on Pratt, just east of Sheridan, and have seen this massive project follow my (unfortunate) predictions twice now. First, Pillars Social Cafe opened in the space - beautiful space, really well designed, but HUGE! 4,000 sq ft, plus a fully buily out basement kitchen (prep and storage). All brand spankin' new, built from concrete floors and walls (less than "vanilla box"). From the looks of it, the guy (ex SYSCO executive) spent about $1 million building the place - and the rent (from what I heard) was $8,000 plus NNN monthly. Really nice owner (Bob), OK product - they didn't really specialize in anything, they just served a regular sandwich/burger menu after slingin' coffee and other bakeries' pastries in the am hours. People treated it like a library, buying a $2 coffee and sitting there studying all day. Closed within a year. You'll never pay those bills w/o booze, or at least a higher priced menu.

2nd round: another semi-retired FOOD INDUSTRY EXEC (this time from Hershey's) took the place over with the exact same concept!! They called it "Ciao Bella", but it wasn't really an Italian cafe. Still no booze, and nothing over $10/$11. That really made me scratch my head, cause this business model was clearly not going to work (high rent, low prices, no booze?). So, this is now the 3rd attempt at this massive space. Booze is involved - hurray (not for me, but just hooray that heads are working). Philly's best has an average product, we'll see if the sports bar thing flies in the neighborhood. Lots of college age kids, but most don't live / eat up this way, they stay towards Loyola. The Chipotle by campus is one of the highest grossing in the country, Bop N Grill does well too. Further north, Twisted Tapas place is killin' it - across the street from my house on Pratt - so East Rogers Park has some potential, you just need to work at it.
Rant/All Points Bulletin over. Signing off.

Philly's Best
6800 N Sheridan


Jared

PS - another fun fact I learned while investigating this, for you food industry historians: Philly's Best was started by the son of the original founder of Eastern Style Pizza on Touhy..

NeroW wrote:

fropones wrote:Apparently Telegraph is closing 6/7 and reconcepting and reopening in July.

Source

This is super sad news for me. I've enjoyed this restaurant very much over the years. I hope to make it in one more time before it's over.

I was a fan of Telegraph also. (I just looked, and I was the 7th person to post in the Telegraph thread, way back in 2012. Then a couple times after that.) But one can hope that even with a change in chef, if the original owners created a place so good, and the original owners are still the owners (which they are), another good place will rise on Telegraph's ashes. No?

riddlemay wrote:

NeroW wrote:

fropones wrote:Apparently Telegraph is closing 6/7 and reconcepting and reopening in July.

Source

This is super sad news for me. I've enjoyed this restaurant very much over the years. I hope to make it in one more time before it's over.

I was a fan of Telegraph also. (I just looked, and I was the 7th person to post in the Telegraph thread, way back in 2012. Then a couple times after that.) But one can hope that even with a change in chef, if the original owners created a place so good, and the original owners are still the owners (which they are), another good place will rise on Telegraph's ashes. No?

Speculation, but I would put money on Webster's Wine Bar 2.0 in the Telegraph space.

NeroW wrote:

riddlemay wrote:I was a fan of Telegraph also. (I just looked, and I was the 7th person to post in the Telegraph thread, way back in 2012. Then a couple times after that.) But one can hope that even with a change in chef, if the original owners created a place so good, and the original owners are still the owners (which they are), another good place will rise on Telegraph's ashes. No?

Speculation, but I would put money on Webster's Wine Bar 2.0 in the Telegraph space.

Aside from Webster's Wine Bar 1.0 being in (dreaded and loathed by some) Lincoln Park, is that a good or bad thing?

riddlemay wrote:

NeroW wrote:

riddlemay wrote:I was a fan of Telegraph also. (I just looked, and I was the 7th person to post in the Telegraph thread, way back in 2012. Then a couple times after that.) But one can hope that even with a change in chef, if the original owners created a place so good, and the original owners are still the owners (which they are), another good place will rise on Telegraph's ashes. No?

Speculation, but I would put money on Webster's Wine Bar 2.0 in the Telegraph space.

Aside from Webster's Wine Bar 1.0 being in (dreaded and loathed by some) Lincoln Park, is that a good or bad thing?

For me, other than that I'll miss Telegraph, it's neutral. Same somm.

A Taboun Grill has opened in Northbrook in the White Plains Shopping Center in the corner by the Ace Hardware.

Also saw that all the Homemade Pizza Company locations closed over the weekend.

marothisu wrote:Anybody know what's happening to the Subway at the Viagra Triangle (1110 N State)? The two outside signs were taken down last Friday and the windows are completely papered over now. So much that you can't even see through the tape to see what's going on. They really did a good job of making you not be able to see in there.

There's a building permit issued a few weeks ago for it to the tune of $575,000 in the name of a guy from Addison, TX. The address listed in the address of a Twin Peaks restaurant and the guy's name turned up a guy in the Dallas area who is the SVP of Development for Frontburner Restaurant Group (also based in Addison) that owns brands such as Melting Pot, GrillSmith, and Burger 21. Furthermore, the building permit mentions renovations to a 2 story restaurant whereas Subway is just 1 story. The second story is an Astrology shop.

This will be interesting to see what goes in there, but unfortunately it looks like a Chain, unless they will do something more concepty.

Looks like it will be a Velvet Taco location.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2014/ ... -coast.php

Coogles wrote:

marothisu wrote:Anybody know what's happening to the Subway at the Viagra Triangle (1110 N State)? The two outside signs were taken down last Friday and the windows are completely papered over now. So much that you can't even see through the tape to see what's going on. They really did a good job of making you not be able to see in there.

There's a building permit issued a few weeks ago for it to the tune of $575,000 in the name of a guy from Addison, TX. The address listed in the address of a Twin Peaks restaurant and the guy's name turned up a guy in the Dallas area who is the SVP of Development for Frontburner Restaurant Group (also based in Addison) that owns brands such as Melting Pot, GrillSmith, and Burger 21. Furthermore, the building permit mentions renovations to a 2 story restaurant whereas Subway is just 1 story. The second story is an Astrology shop.

This will be interesting to see what goes in there, but unfortunately it looks like a Chain, unless they will do something more concepty.

Looks like it will be a Velvet Taco location.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2014/ ... -coast.php

You beat me to it. Glad to know it's not something totally corny. Anybody ever been to a Velvet Taco? The menu actually looks pretty decent - who knows how they execute though. Apparently all their stuff is made in house including the tortillas and they'll serve alcohol which is cool.

Still sounds dirty.

cilantro wrote:Still sounds dirty.

It's a lot better than the Subway and Astrology shop that was there, and while it's not an amazing bistro or something, it's still a step up from what was there both food wise and visually.. The review for the one in Fort Worth is good:
http://www.dfw.com/2014/02/03/865073/re ... -taco.html

Hi- Does anybody know what is being built on the corner of McCormick and Oakton in Skokie. Is that the new Meijers they are building in Skokie?

BTW- Does anybody know when the Walmart on Touhy across from Lowe's is going to open up? My doctor who used to be in the professional building at St. Francis, joined a different practice about three years ago, across the street from Lincolnwood Produce, and when I go and see her, I have to drive past the new Walmart store, which has tied up traffic big time while it has been under construction. I just hope when they finally open the store, that traffic on Touhy will improve, but knowing how many people love Walmart, I am afraid that traffic is going to continue to be awful in that neighborhood. Thanks, Nancy

whether velvet taco is a step up or down from subway is a debate for the ages

free beer probably wouldn't get me through the door of either

AlekH wrote:whether velvet taco is a step up or down from subway is a debate for the ages

free beer probably wouldn't get me through the door of either

I'm 100% sure it's a step up from a Subway. I can't believe that's even up for debate. Subway or a place that makes all the ingrediants it can in house freshly that's been getting actual great reviews and has a cult following. When i think of trashy looking fast food places, that Subway immediately came to mind. It was a POS and just crap, and the food is just mediocre as hell - come on.

NFriday wrote:Hi- Does anybody know what is being built on the corner of McCormick and Oakton in Skokie. Is that the new Meijers they are building in Skokie?

BTW- Does anybody know when the Walmart on Touhy across from Lowe's is going to open up? My doctor who used to be in the professional building at St. Francis, joined a different practice about three years ago, across the street from Lincolnwood Produce, and when I go and see her, I have to drive past the new Walmart store, which has tied up traffic big time while it has been under construction. I just hope when they finally open the store, that traffic on Touhy will improve, but knowing how many people love Walmart, I am afraid that traffic is going to continue to be awful in that neighborhood. Thanks, Nancy

They mentioned "late 2014" when it was first announced, but Mariano's was also set for 2014 back then. Since the Dominick's buyouts, Mariano's has been cash-poor and has set the Touhy/McCormick opening for sometime in 2015, so even after the Wal-Mart is open construction will continue at that corner.

As for your doctor, do what I do and stick to Howard.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Is this the place at 3021 N Cicero that used to be called Chicago Meat, across the street from Sol de Mexico?

=R=

Yes it is. I stumbled across it after moving to the neighborhood and trying Sol de Mexico. With its size & cow, I figured it had to have something going for it. Apparently, whatever good it had, it lost at some point.

Why do you think Webster's 2.0, why not Bluebird 2.0? Or another true restaurant concept?

This might be old news, but in a blink of an eye, the place on Clybourn just south of Wrightwood that used to be Bivona (Italian place) has changed over to Crio Bar & Restaurant.

The GP wrote:Cosina Grill at 1706 W Foster, Chicago, appears to be closed. Went by last week and saw papered over windows.

Sorry if this is already mentioned but it looks like it's going to morph into one of those mexican/korean fusion places with a too cute name that I can't quite remember right now.

AlekH wrote:

The GP wrote:Cosina Grill at 1706 W Foster, Chicago, appears to be closed. Went by last week and saw papered over windows.

Sorry if this is already mentioned but it looks like it's going to morph into one of those mexican/korean fusion places with a too cute name that I can't quite remember right now.

Tacos Koreanos

Paul Virant (Vie, Perennial Virant) is opening a bistro-style restaurant in Hinsdale in late summer, Mr. Virant announced in a release today.

Vistro, which Mr. Virant is opening with business partner Glen Gardner, will focus on seasonal food and drinks. The menu will feature comfort foods such as fried chicken, wood-oven pizza and meatloaf. Desserts will focus on childhood favorites including a soft-serve ice cream machine.

Mr. Virant's team from Vie, including pastry chef Elissa Narow and bar manager Bill Anderson, will lead the pastry and beverage programs, respectively.

The 80-seat dining room is being designed by Mr. Virant's wife, Jennifer, and Jody Tate.

The family-friendly restaurant will be at 112 S. Washington.

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

Max's Wine Dive
http://www.maxswinedive.com/chicago/contact
1482 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-661-6581
By phone, supposedly open today.

More on the Roscoe Village taco joint mentioned upthread:

Si Fu Chino Latino Kitchen

I know I'm not supposed to knock it if I haven't tried it but "Chino Latino"???