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

Well, we know that Korean and Puerto Rican works, so why not?

The dumb term "Chino Latino" has been in use to describe the generally downscale and mostly now gone Cuban-Chinese in South Florida and NY for quite a long time. I've seen it applied to the equally common South American-Chinese exemplified by Peruvian/Ecuadorian "chaufan." Never seen it applied to tacos, but OK.

Darren72 wrote:

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

You guys need "like" buttons. This comment made me laugh and deserves to be "liked."

marceretto wrote:You guys need "like" buttons. This comment made me laugh and deserves to be "liked."

Actually, that's the name of the restaurant, if I recall correctly.

The current home of Tom Thumb Hobby & Crafts (which is moving to Niles), 1026 Davis Evanston, is being proposed as a site for two restaurants, pending city approvals. One would be the new location for Tacos Diablo (whose building burned down in January); the other is unidentified at this point.

Separately, two restaurants are going into the space formerly occupied by The Keg, 820 Grove St. Evanston. One will be an outpost of Chicago's Bangers and Lace, the other is so far unidentified.

Hi- I live a block away from Tom Thumb. I thought that some sort of concert venue was going to go up in that building? I remember getting something about that from the city a few years ago in the mail, because they were holding a hearing about it. Does anybody know anything about that? As I remember it was going to be on two floors. That is too bad that Tom Thumb is relocating. There are too many empty storefronts on Davis, that Taco Diablo could move into.

Does anybody know the status of the BBQ place that was going to open up where Oak Street Market used to be? It appears that they are nowhere near ready to open. I am sure that it did not help though, that they are only a few feet away from where that fire took place at the Pineyard and Taco Diablo.. Thanks, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Hi- I live a block away from Tom Thumb. I thought that some sort of concert venue was going to go up in that building?

The developer got the city permits, but then his financing fell through.

NFriday wrote:Does anybody know the status of the BBQ place that was going to open up where Oak Street Market used to be?

That's going to be Smylie Bros. Brewpub, not necessarily a BBQ joint. The renovation is taking longer than expected, but opening will probably be summer or fall.

Smylie will have a Southern Pride smoker, but will be serving a lot of non-smoked items.

nr706 wrote:The current home of Tom Thumb Hobby & Crafts (which is moving to Niles), 1026 Davis Evanston, is being proposed as a site for two restaurants, pending city approvals. One would be the new location for Tacos Diablo (whose building burned down in January); the other is unidentified at this point.

Separately, two restaurants are going into the space formerly occupied by The Keg, 820 Grove St. Evanston. One will be an outpost of Chicago's Bangers and Lace, the other is so far unidentified.

Any update on the Pine Yard? I miss that place.

JoeChicago wrote:Any update on the Pine Yard? I miss that place.

I've heard that they would like to reopen on the same site, and that it is expected to take 18 months for the property owner to rebuild.

nr706 wrote:

NFriday wrote:Hi- I live a block away from Tom Thumb. I thought that some sort of concert venue was going to go up in that building?

The developer got the city permits, but then his financing fell through.

Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

riddlemay wrote:Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

Audio Consultants is not next door. The building with several storefronts, including Cozy Noodles, is in between their building and the one with Tom Thumb. And I'm pretty sure that Cozy Noodles isn't going anywhere. (Each of these is a separate building, as is the recording studio on the corner just west of Tom Thumb.)

nsxtasy wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

Audio Consultants is not next door. Cozy Noodles is in between. And I'm pretty sure that Cozy Noodles isn't going anywhere. (Each of these is in a separate building, as is the recording studio on the corner just west of Tom Thumb.)

Phew.

I'm seeing reports on Yelp and Zagat that the Kedzie/Ainslie location of Dawali Mediterranean has been closed -- as well as comments on Dawali's facebook page -- and my wife thought they looked closed one evening recently, but I haven't been by to confirm. However, when driving by the building I noticed a new sign at the top advertising "Pita Puff II" (I'm guessing a second location for the Elgin spot?)

If Dawali is gone from there, I'll be sad. Living in extreme NW Albany Park, it's been my favorite place to go on Kedzie.

We did recently walk down Pulaski to the newly-opened Rotana Grill (an outgrowth of the hookah joint just to the south) for lunch. It was extremely meh.

Rotana Grill
4825 N Pulaski Rd
Chicago IL 60630
https://www.facebook.com/RotanaChicago

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

Phil Rosenthal posted some interesting thoughts about this at the Trib's website . . .

at ChicagoTribune.com, Phil Rosenthal wrote:Make no mistake: HomeMade pizza was good. But there's no shortage of available pizza ranging from adequate to very good, delivered hot to your doorstep and ready to eat. HomeMade wasn't cheaper. It wasn't easier. Once we commit to firing up our oven, the world of menu options opens up.

HomeMade Pizza burned by supermarket meal growth

=R=

nr706 wrote:

NFriday wrote:Hi- I live a block away from Tom Thumb. I thought that some sort of concert venue was going to go up in that building?

The developer got the city permits, but then his financing fell through.

Wasn't there another concert place, on the N. side of the street, a really good Blues place that closed up maybe 5 years ago? It was music only, with rather lame alcohol and food options. I think if they had better food and drink that they might have made it, but that might just have been my preference - I'd see it as a revenue stream and good mark-up option, but they might see it as overhead costs, storage, inventory, etc.

leek wrote:Wasn't there another concert place, on the N. side of the street

Yes. Bill's Blues. It closed in 2009, although a reincarnation, called Bill's Blues Revisited, was operating last year in the nearby Globe Café in the Orrington Hotel. After the 2009 closure, Taco Diablo opened in that space. It was part of the building which also housed the Pine Yard and which burned down some months ago.

riddlemay wrote:
Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

Don't worry. We have no plans of moving and we own the building.

scottsol wrote:

riddlemay wrote:
Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

Don't worry. We have no plans of moving and we own the building.

Small world! Very cool!
Do you also own the one in Hinsdale? I got some great speaker there ages ago that I still use to this day.

The city of Evanston was forced to close down Bill's Blues because they were way behind in paying their liquor tax, and the city finally had to intercede.

The gentleman who owned the Pineyard only had possession of it for seven months when the fire happened. The previous owners had owned the business for I believe 30 years, in two different locations. It is strange because the Pineyard website is still up, but if they are planning on rebuilding on that site, maybe that makes more sense.

When the fire happened at 2:00am on December 29, I somehow slept through the whole thing, and did not realize that it happened until I saw it on the news. Supposedly there were 5 fire departments involved with fighting the fire, and a million gallons of water were used. The Evanston fire department said that they were just lucky that the fire did not spread any further.

Darren72 wrote:

marceretto wrote:You guys need "like" buttons. This comment made me laugh and deserves to be "liked."

Actually, that's the name of the restaurant, if I recall correctly.

zoid wrote:

scottsol wrote:

riddlemay wrote:
Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

Don't worry. We have no plans of moving and we own the building.

Small world! Very cool!
Do you also own the one in Hinsdale? I got some great speaker there ages ago that I still use to this day.

Scott! I didn't you know were on here. Fantastic!

Darren72 wrote:

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

I stand corrected: it's actually Takos Koreanos

NFriday wrote:The gentleman who owned the Pineyard only had possession of it for seven months when the fire happened. The previous owners had owned the business for I believe 30 years, in two different locations. It is strange because the Pineyard website is still up, but if they are planning on rebuilding on that site, maybe that makes more sense.

My understanding is that the Pine Yard would like to re-open on the same site, but that they do not own the building. So presumably it is the landlord (building owner) that plans to rebuild, with the owners of the Pine Yard (business owner) wishing to re-lease the space.

riddlemay wrote:

scottsol wrote:

riddlemay wrote:
Way off topic, but if next-door Audio Consultants goes away, that's going to hit me hard. My history with them goes back to 1973.

Don't worry. We have no plans of moving and we own the building.

Scott! I didn't you know were on here. Fantastic!

Most people could tell just by looking at me.

The team behind Troquet, Brasserie by LM and Bistronomic is hoping a cafe can succeed where a steak restaurant, Grass Fed, did not.

Grass Fed closed after a year and a half, having changed chefs twice. LM Restaurant Group will open Cafe Creme in the shuttered Grass Fed spot on Damen Avenue in Bucktown next week.

The approximately 60-seat restaurant will include a 20-seat patio out back.

The French-inspired cafe will keep much of the general layout of Grass Fed. It will have a few large communal tables and the rest individual white-topped wood tables. The back bar, which housed spirits, will now showcase the cafe's bread and pastry program.

The cafe will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week with a menu crafted by former El Ideas chef de cuisine Matt DuBois, offering brunch dishes, composed plates, salads, sandwiches, soups, sides and more. The bakery will continue to operate until 7 p.m. so patrons can pop in for a coffee or take away a loaf of house-made bread.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... s-fed-spot

Dave148 wrote:

The team behind Troquet, Brasserie by LM and Bistronomic is hoping a cafe can succeed where a steak restaurant, Grass Fed, did not.

Grass Fed closed after a year and a half, having changed chefs twice. LM Restaurant Group will open Cafe Creme in the shuttered Grass Fed spot on Damen Avenue in Bucktown next week.

Well, there was what seemed to be a successful cafe in there before Grass Fed, Da Luca. I don't recall ever knowing why they closed up.

Vinny wrote:I'm seeing reports on Yelp and Zagat that the Kedzie/Ainslie location of Dawali Mediterranean has been closed -- as well as comments on Dawali's facebook page -- and my wife thought they looked closed one evening recently, but I haven't been by to confirm. However, when driving by the building I noticed a new sign at the top advertising "Pita Puff II" (I'm guessing a second location for the Elgin spot?)

Confirmed with a call to the Lincoln Park (Ashland) Dawali location. The Kedzie location is closed
There are signs that say "closed for renovations" but it will reopen as Pita Puff II.

There is a sign in the window of the former flower shop at 4610 North Western saying Baker Miller bakery & millhouse.

In April there were several reports in Restaurant Guru, DNA Info and Zagat that Dave and Megan Miller had sold their interest in Bang Bang Pie and were planning to open a shop in Lincoln Square. These reports were a bit vague except that they would be milling flour onsite and produce bread and both sweet and savory pies.

The windows are not totally papered over so I was able to get a glimpse inside on my way home from from the Thursday Lincoln Square Farmers' Market. There is a lot of work to do and no building permit posted. The building is just north of Spoon Thai.

Baker Miller
bakery and millhouse
4610 North Western Avenue
Chicago 60625
http://www.bakermillerpie.com/

Seems Chicago Burgerwurks in Brookfield is either closed or taking a break. Been by there 5 or 6 times in the last month and, despite the signs saying OPEN, there is no joy to be found. Yelp post by the owner (?) 3 weeks ago says they are having 'staffing/lease' issues and are NOT closed....I guess we'll see if they resurface.