They had been tinkering around with their hours since the holidays, sometimes not opening with no notice. Now they state on their FB page that they are "temporarily" closed to put the finishing touches on their re-vamped menu and train their new staff. That was 17 days ago and they still haven't announced a re-opening date. These of course are often signs of a restaurant's last gasp. It's hard to imagine that being the case here because it appeared to remain quite popular, but I'm still worried about the future prospects of this place.

This Twitter conversation from Tuesday may be of some comfort.


Jeanelle Hayner Olson
Jeanelle Hayner Olson Rooting for you dudes!!
Like · Reply · 3 · January 31 at 8:20pm
smalls.
smalls. thank you! we're currently testing out some new stuff...so far...so good.
Like · Reply · 1 · January 31 at 8:28pm

On instagram, they made sure to clarify that they were not going away permanently when closing temporarily and they've also kept up the catering side of the business, so I'm confident that they will be back.

From Chicago Magazine,

Owner Joaquin Soler aims to reopen in two weeks with a new but still compact menu that showcases the food of his native Philippines while incorporating the smoked meats he’s known for.

I will really miss the ribs, which had been outstanding of late.

I really enjoyed his original menu, but am greatly looking forward to this new concept. I work in the area and I'm always looking for new and different dinner options to make my coworkers gawk in envy.

Buddy

As long as the chicken stays, all will be right with the world.

gnarchief wrote:As long as the chicken stays, all will be right with the world.

Agreed. It is a bit ironic, though, that while the pivot here is towards food that will be fast(er) than the previous menu the one item I was most concerned about losing is the one that will still take 20-ish minutes.
So long as Lizard Lounge remains open, though, the waiting is no problem.

Kman wrote:

gnarchief wrote:So long as Lizard Lounge remains open, though, the waiting is no problem.

They should figure out how to make a pass-through between them.

Lampia, one of the new items coming to Smalls II.

Kman wrote:

gnarchief wrote:As long as the chicken stays, all will be right with the world.

Agreed. It is a bit ironic, though, that while the pivot here is towards food that will be fast(er) than the previous menu the one item I was most concerned about losing is the one that will still take 20-ish minutes.
So long as Lizard Lounge remains open, though, the waiting is no problem.

Of course, the timing problem with the BBQ was not the prep time after an order came in, but the many hours needed to cook the stuff. In addition to resulting in too many 86 situations, it is hard to hold the stuff for long periods without losing quality.

scottsol wrote:In addition to resulting in too many 86 situations

I had to look that one up, and found:

Wikipedia wrote:When used as a verb in American English, eighty-six, eighty-sixed, 86, 86ed, or 86'd, is slang for getting rid of something, ejecting someone, or refusing service.

Those of a certain age may still think of this guy when they hear that number:

I would have much prefered a pic of 99

scottsol wrote:I would have much prefered a pic of 99

Here you go.

scottsol wrote:Lampia, one of the new items coming to Smalls II

Smalls II: Bibimbap Boogaloo

Per Lizards' Lounges' FB, Smalls will reopen tonight at 5pm.

nsxtasy wrote:

scottsol wrote:In addition to resulting in too many 86 situations

I had to look that one up, and found:

Wikipedia wrote:When used as a verb in American English, eighty-six, eighty-sixed, 86, 86ed, or 86'd, is slang for getting rid of something, ejecting someone, or refusing service.

Those of a certain age may still think of this guy when they hear that number:

Once I learned what "86'ed" meant, I always assumed that Maxwell Smart's agent number was no accident.

Today's Menu

Finally got a chance to hit up the revamped Small's on Saturday and I'm happy to report that things are still great. Got a quarter chicken dark, pancit, fried beets, and garlic rice. My wife opted for a quarter dark, brisket, and coconut braised sweet potatoes. A two meat, one veg meal is $14. Considering that you get two more items than the old chicken meal, and one of them can be the excellent brisket, the prices still seem remarkably fair.

Small's has closed for brief times because of technical issues, a little longer for a break and for two months when they were changing their format.

This time they have been closed since May 16. At first the facebook page cited equipment problems, then a week later it was simply closed with the promise of an update soon. Now, two weeks later, no information is forthcoming.

Anyone have any idea what's up?

scottsol wrote:Small's has closed for brief times because of technical issues, a little longer for a break and for two months when they were changing their format.

This time they have been closed since May 16. At first the facebook page cited equipment problems, then a week later it was simply closed with the promise of an update soon. Now, two weeks later, no information is forthcoming.

Anyone have any idea what's up?

Yelp says they're re-opening on June 20th. I'm not sure where they get that information since neither small's website or FB page gives any such date, so take it for what it's worth.

I can't remember what they were called before...how are the ribs since the change?

Pie Lady wrote:I can't remember what they were called before...how are the ribs since the change?

Brown Bag Lunch Truck?

Pie Lady wrote:I can't remember what they were called before...how are the ribs since the change?

When they were available- great. Of course, things could be very different when they re-reopen.

The restaurant has always been Smalls. Before opening the spot Joaquin ran the Brown Bag Lunch truck. He opened Smalls with a partner, but that didn't last very long.

Per instagram, they are done indefinitely until they find a new space. I'm crushed. Especially hurts because I have like $70 left on a gift card.

Here's the facebook post.

We apologize for having been incommunicado! We've been busy with some new projects which we'll be announcing in the future. We love our space, our neighbors, our neighborhood, and the community that's supported us over the years. However, we want to continue to push that envelope, and we want to do it right. We want to be more than a take out joint, and actually have room for our guests to sit down and enjoy our offerings. That said, we've decided to shut down until we can do put the "more" into "smalls. smoke shack & more..."
We have so many people to thank for our success: our entire team that made it all happen day in and day out; our team's families for putting up with the long hours it takes to work in this business; Liz, the Lizard Lounge, and the awesome family there that's supported us and gave our guests a fun place to enjoy our food; the various food bloggers that gave us shout-outs; the food journalists that always found out about our new dishes for their readers and viewers to learn about; our social media followers that always kept us in the conversation; our regular customers that kept coming for the same thing every time, or to try whatever new item we had cooked up; the hip hop heads that would come in and recognize the superiority of our playlists. Together, all of you gave us the confidence to keep things rolling in a little shack in Irving Park, and challenged us keep trying new things. We're looking forward to doing it again very soon. So stay tuned!
Until then, don't ever forget, smalls loves you.

a nice post from smalls: let's hope they're back soon- i love their food.

justjoan wrote:a nice post from smalls: let's hope they're back soon- i love their food.

Actually I think they've been pretty dicky about leaving their customers hanging on and off for the better half of a year now what with their constantly closing without any prior notice, sometimes even in the middle of posted business hours, and only sporadically following through on their promises to re-open within the implied or specified time frame -- especially in this instance when they seem to have known for a while now that this space was not going to re-open.