Royal Lichter wrote:Alinea
Hot Doug's (looks like I'm SOL on this one)
Pita Inn
Barnaby's Pizza in Niles
Hackney's on Lake
Meier's Tavern on Lake
Grace

Anyone can make a list. Choose one. That's tough.

=R=

Royal Lichter wrote:Barnaby's Pizza in Niles

Just curious if you've been to the one in Northbrook because while I'll tolerate the other locations, none are close to the Northbrook store for me.

And thanks for the reminder--that would be my local spot if I'm allowed to have one for my hometown and one for my home.

Miller's Pub. I don't go there all that often, but every time I do it's with good friends to shoot the bull after work over (stiff) martinis or (an ever-growing variety of decent) beers. The food is secondary to the boisterous atmosphere but a bowl of their avgolemono and an open-face prime rib sandwich with fries is a holy thing for me.

Second place would be Moody's Pub for similar reasons.

Santander wrote:Many are justifiably thinking distinction or nostalgia. I'm thinking, putting food on my family. That brings the Freddy's Pizza Cicero vs. Yum Thai Forest Park bracket up, and the beloved aunt / John Brown that emerges is Yum Thai.

I had a Jonah-mourns-the-withered-vine moment over the weekend when I saw that the Oak Park outpost of Falafill had closed.

I'd have to second Al's on Taylor.

boudreaulicious wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:Barnaby's Pizza in Niles

Just curious if you've been to the one in Northbrook because while I'll tolerate the other locations, none are close to the Northbrook store for me.

And thanks for the reminder--that would be my local spot if I'm allowed to have one for my hometown and one for my home.

I have. I think this one comes down to personal preference and where I grew up. Proximity is a factor. I remember the pizza being fairly similar, though. This one is just a childhood memory for me. The pizza, thankfully, has pretty much stayed the same.

Club Lago.

This is a tough one: I've already lost some irreplaceables near me of the sort I won't drive out of my way for (The Loft's patty melt, Taqueria Morelos' Tacos al Pastor with that weird creamy cream-free light-green salsa). A lot of the places people have mentioned I haven't had a chance to go to, and there are lots of places that are habitual favorites but I could find substitutes (LSC, Sun Wah perhaps a little less so, Dave's Italian Kitchen, Mug's pizza)

...so probably #1 of what I would miss would be Aroy: that Tom Yum Meatball, the Sai Oa... I've never had anything else like it anywhere.

Oh, and just to add a thought to this discussion... Whatever restaurant(s) you feel this way about, you should be thinking to yourself, "If this restaurant closes, would I regret that I didn't go there more often?" If so, then there's something you ought to be doing (i.e. eating there more often, not just thinking that to yourself).

At one time, there was a widely-acclaimed restaurant around here that I loved going to. And while I wasn't expecting its demise to be imminent, I also appreciated just how good it was. So I intentionally ate there more than I otherwise would have, just so I wouldn't have any such regrets if it was sold and/or closed (which it eventually did).

Don Pedro Carnitas
1113 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608

Pork Heaven!

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:Alinea
Hot Doug's (looks like I'm SOL on this one)
Pita Inn
Barnaby's Pizza in Niles
Hackney's on Lake
Meier's Tavern on Lake
Grace

Anyone can make a list. Choose one. That's tough.

=R=

Not sure I want to say publicly

Sabatino's, without a doubt. The Brauhaus, too. Something about places seemingly stuck in 1977 must really appeal to me.

Royal Lichter wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Royal Lichter wrote:Alinea
Hot Doug's (looks like I'm SOL on this one)
Pita Inn
Barnaby's Pizza in Niles
Hackney's on Lake
Meier's Tavern on Lake
Grace

Anyone can make a list. Choose one. That's tough.

=R=

Not sure I want to say publicly

LMAO! Now you have to to tell us.

=R=

Noon Hour Grill for bi bim bop served by Susie, the Korean grandmother I wish I had.

For me, that restaurant was called CND Gyros (http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=177013) and it is already closed. I remember stumbling into that place on a scorching summer day while I was downtown getting my visa to study in China. The contrast between the hot sun and the cool, dark interior likely made my gyros melt taste even better. Loved the old school blue collar Chicago tavern atmosphere. During 3 years in China, CND Gyros became that place in my memories that reminded me of Chicago and made me homesick for the US. I felt terrible when I came back to find that it had shut down.

As far as restaurants still open, I would definitely miss Taqueria Mazamitla the most if it shut down. Chicago is full of incredible Mexican eateries which sometimes makes it easy to overlook the ones which are merely very good. Mazamitla is one of those very good places which I happen to live by. Solid roasted tomato salsa, picadillo, and al pastor. The corn tortillas are always fresh and griddled with just enough grease. Even the pollo tacos are good here; usually a dried-out afterthought at most places, at Mazamitla the chicken is dark meat stewed with onions and mild chiles, juicy and delicious.

Taqueria Mazamitla
3610 Belmont Ave

I've given this some more thought, and I must amend my answer. Salam is gone. I was simply mourning its loss. The present incarnation is not the same restaurant, even if the food is still good. In my heart of hearts, the restaurant I would most mourn, a restaurant that is very much like the old Salam was in spirit, is Cho Sun Ok on Lincoln. I've winced before at the thought of losing it, and thinking about it now is likewise painful.

Johnnie's

Naha.

No question.

Although I am still mourning the losses of Trio and Melange, to this day...

rfleisch1 wrote:Although I am still mourning the losses of Trio and Melange, to this day...

Good thought for parallel thread: Restaurants We're Still Mourning. For me, Horwath's.

This is going to sound cliché but honestly, LTH.
It's the first place I brought my parents in Chinatown and the one place my Mother and Sister still ask to go when I offer to take them out. It's got a lot of great memories.

At my house, we are still mourning the loss of HaShalom, which has been closed over 4 years. There are still evenings when we want to go there. Today, I think I would deeply miss and mourn Sun Wah, if, heaven forfend, it were to close.

Hi,

I have been round the block with disappointment in favored places closing a few times. I don't get that emotionally invested any longer. I also don't go on their final days when too often it feels like they are cleaning the back of the cupboard. Or pissy about all the customers arriving on their doorstep, which an earlier expression of interest would have helped keep the place operating.

I get why people feel this way, I really do.

Regards,

Dancen.

It's a relative newcomer into my life, but I've been completely taken. I can share a pitcher of Hite and a bowl of soup with my husband and catch up after a long week or bring a group of visitors to show off Chicago's propensity for hidden gems. The gratis cheese omlette. The obscure ordering rules (only one order of pork skin per table per night). The fact that I was carded there for the first time the other day despite being a regular for over two years.

Dancen has such a distinctive sense of place. It is the perfect way to start or end any night.

Floriole.

Still miss Great Lake. Floriole's pizza comes closest to Great Lake.

Sun Wah. No, Rainbow Thai. No wait, Sun Wah. I changed my mind - Rainbow Thai.
Yes, Definitely Rainbow Thai!

So many options. Al's Deli and Mythos come immediately to mind.

Publican.

Renga-Tei.

Seems that Japanese restaurants in the area are very high-end (Katsu) or American-morphed, non-Japanese-staffed, mondo-roll type joints that have little similarity--in any way, shape or form--to traditional fare at Renga or maybe the Sunshine Café.

I have been going to this establishment since its inception (1990-ish?) and long before, when different owners had Koto in the same spot since at least 1980. To me, it's as necessary as Manny's Deli or Bruna's--authentic ethnic cuisine, comfort food of the highest order.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I have been round the block with disappointment in favored places closing a few times. I don't get that emotionally invested any longer. I also don't go on their final days when too often it feels like they are cleaning the back of the cupboard. Or pissy about all the customers arriving on their doorstep, which an earlier expression of interest would have helped keep the place operating.

I get why people feel this way, I really do.

Regards,

I'm kinda with you. On one hand, the whole nature of the restaurant business is one of limited life. Think of the various places Melman has pulled the plug while we see them still as viable. On the other hand, I (maybe others?) was so grossly twisted by the closing and then re-birth of Berghoff. It was like Hugh Hefner finally succumbing and then some new whippersnapper in a satin robe and pipe arising, claiming to be him. We won't be fooled by him, and we cannot get fooled into thinking any restaurant will stick around.

I am also cynical because my mourned restaurant happened years ago, and to this day, I still think fondly of Winkelstein's Deli.

If I had to say one for now, it would be Gene n' Judes. There the other day, it possesses that aroma of my youth that is wonderfully nostalgic each time.

EvA wrote:At my house, we are still mourning the loss of HaShalom, which has been closed over 4 years. There are still evenings when we want to go there.

Seconded - I have a lot of memories at HaShalom.