WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

-Will

Oh Man!! I'm a happy camper.

LSC website is also showing another location coming soon at:
1220 W, Valley Lake, Schaumburg, IL 60195

Kalinowski Sausage & Deli in Mt. Prospect has closed - but there is a note on the door that says they will open up a new location elsewhere. However, no info on that was posted.

https://kalinowskideli.com/

https://www.yelp.com/biz/kalinowski-eur ... =date_desc

Reviews on Yelp say there was a sign saying they were moving to a new location. Their site is still up with current specials. I would bet money that their landlord raised the rent due to all the new construction with Buona Beef and Texas Roadhouse coming in. They left 9/30 so that makes sense, end of the month.

^^ this is speculation by me. Great polish food, excellent pierogies

WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

Aw, that's too bad. Not about Lao Sze Chuan, but that was the northernmost outpost of Sushi Mike's, aka Tanoshii Sushi (unless it changed hands since the last time I was there).

Katie wrote:

WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

Aw, that's too bad. Not about Lao Sze Chuan, but that was the northernmost outpost of Sushi Mike's, aka Tanoshii Sushi (unless it changed hands since the last time I was there).

It was Tanoshii Sushi Mike's

Chitown B wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:

shakes wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:Hahaha. Yeah it's overpriced for sure but beats any other burger option in the area. That includes five guys and Kumas which just opened in that same shopping center

Did you really just say that Shake Shack has better burgers than Kuma's?

I take back what I said about people having different tastes, turns out some people just have bad taste

Hahaha i know I'm in the minority here. But Kumas is vastly overrated imo. I hate burgers that are unnecessarily large and throw a whole bunch of stuff on them.

And more importantly, they use pretzel buns probably to hold all the ingredients together. Pretzel buns have no business being a vehicle for a burger. I hate them so much.

I'm sure now it's trendy to hate on Kuma's. But those same people were probably standing in line for an hour in 2005. I still love it. And their pretezel buns are perfect for their type of burgers - because they hold up to the massive amount of toppings. A brioche would just fall apart.

Do people hate on Kumas now? Continues to be pretty well regarded from my perspective. Just not my personal preference

Dave148 wrote:

WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

-Will

Oh Man!! I'm a happy camper.

LSC website is also showing another location coming soon at:
1220 W, Valley Lake, Schaumburg, IL 60195

If I were you, I'd follow this man's example . . .



and curb your enthusiasm. If these new places end up anything like the current locations, there's very little about which to get excited.

=R=

Is Jaipur returning? There was a business license issued for 738 W Randolph a few weeks ago, former home of Ronero, for a place called Jaipur. Not sure if it's the same owners but...interesting.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

-Will

Oh Man!! I'm a happy camper.

LSC website is also showing another location coming soon at:
1220 W, Valley Lake, Schaumburg, IL 60195

If I were you, I'd follow this man's example . . .



and curb your enthusiasm. If these new places end up anything like the current locations, there's very little about which to get excited.

=R=

Considering the Chinese food options in HP, the bar is set pretty low for me.

Dave148 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

-Will

Oh Man!! I'm a happy camper.

LSC website is also showing another location coming soon at:
1220 W, Valley Lake, Schaumburg, IL 60195

If I were you, I'd follow this man's example . . .



and curb your enthusiasm. If these new places end up anything like the current locations, there's very little about which to get excited.

=R=

Considering the Chinese food options in HP, the bar is set pretty low for me.

Ah, yes. It will most likely be an improvement over anything that's currently available in the vicinity. I'm just bitter because Skokie and the Flagship went from being top-of-the-heap to being laughable.

=R=

A new restaurant opened in Chinatown called Tanlu. According to their Facebook page, it's the first store in the US. They exist in 30 cities in China as a chain and looks like they're based in Guangdong.

They specialize in grilled fish (like restaurants Hotspace or Grillmaster in China/NYC). The menu shows different styles like Chongqing, Chengdu, Hainan, and Guangzhou styles. A few different types of fish including crawfish option. Usually you pick your type of fish and then some sides (vegetables) - fish is usually grilled and then put into liquid where it's boiled at your table with the sides. Not cheap usually ($50+ for fish) but you usually get a lot. Will feed a few people usually.

Looks like they also have Chinese BBQ and some other dishes, as well as teas, slushies, and juices.

Tan Lu
https://tanluusa.com
https://www.facebook.com/TanLuUSA
2101 S China Pl - ground floor next to Chatime across from Cai
312-964-5066
Sunday - Thursday: 12pm - 11pm
Friday - Saturday: 12pm - 12am

Also, another Chinese place I wrote about a month or so ago for Lakeview. Chengdu Aroma opened up at 3227 N Clark St in Lakeview near the Belmont train station (across from Target basically). As the name implies, it looks like they specialize in Sichuan cuisine. They do have hot pot there as well.

Chengdu Aroma
https://www.chengduaroma.com
3227 N Clark St
(773) 698-8822
Sunday - Thursday: 11am - 10pm
Friday - Saturday: 11am - 10:30pm


Also don't forget that a bubble tea place opened not far from this called Tea Ninja at 3139 N Broadway open from 11am - 10pm everyday.

WhyBeeSea wrote:

Chitown B wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:

shakes wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:Hahaha. Yeah it's overpriced for sure but beats any other burger option in the area. That includes five guys and Kumas which just opened in that same shopping center

Did you really just say that Shake Shack has better burgers than Kuma's?

I take back what I said about people having different tastes, turns out some people just have bad taste

Hahaha i know I'm in the minority here. But Kumas is vastly overrated imo. I hate burgers that are unnecessarily large and throw a whole bunch of stuff on them.

And more importantly, they use pretzel buns probably to hold all the ingredients together. Pretzel buns have no business being a vehicle for a burger. I hate them so much.

I'm sure now it's trendy to hate on Kuma's. But those same people were probably standing in line for an hour in 2005. I still love it. And their pretezel buns are perfect for their type of burgers - because they hold up to the massive amount of toppings. A brioche would just fall apart.

Do people hate on Kumas now? Continues to be pretty well regarded from my perspective. Just not my personal preference

I mean exhibit A in this thread. But yes they definitely do, mostly for "selling out" and going to the burbs or even Kuma's II which was much more laid back. Even OG Kuma's is less hardcore these days. But that's OK with me. I just like the food. (Would like the waffle fries back though)

Hi all,

At this point, it'll be too difficult to efficiently carve out the OT drift Kuma's discussion from this thread. However, if you ever want anyone to be able to reference your astute observations down the road, this junk drawer of a thread is the wrong thread for them. For best results, post here, in the dedicated Kuma's thread.

Thanks,

=R=
for the Moderators

Dave148 wrote:

WillG wrote:Looks like an outpost of Lao Sze Chuan will be opening in Highland Park at the corner of Sheridan and Park where a sushi place used to be. Doesnt have any timeline but looks like just getting started on the buildout.

-Will

Oh Man!! I'm a happy camper.

LSC website is also showing another location coming soon at:
1220 W, Valley Lake, Schaumburg, IL 60195

They also opened a location in Aurora. I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned it before.

4309 E New York St, Aurora, IL 60504

Drover wrote:Also, it looks like there is a new place going in at 5007 West Irving Park [ETA: former Nite Cap spot] called The Foundation Tavern and Grill. Window and building signage is up, façade looks good, but windows still papered over.

Finally opened a couple months ago.

Foundation Tavern and Grille
5007 W. Irving Park Rd.
(773) 282-5884
http://www.foundationtavernchicago.com

PF Chang's with a building permit for a 2000+ sq ft restaurant at 213 W Hubbard Street (near Wells). Not sure if this is them moving in the near future from their Wabash location or something new.

Drove past, noticed, swung around and snapped a pic. Mirch, new IndoPak on Lincoln Ave. Opens 2pm seven days a week. There is also Pancho's, a new Mexican restaurant across the street, where Bite of Szechuan once resided.


Mirch
5664 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-942-7459
https://mirchinc.com/

Smokey Bones has closed at Randhurst Village shopping center. It was by no means destination barbecue, but it was a decent spot for dinner before or after a movie across the street.

JoelF wrote:Smokey Bones has closed at Randhurst Village shopping center. It was by no means destination barbecue, but it was a decent spot for dinner before or after a movie across the street.

The entire time I was in the area it never strongly entered my radar enough for a visit.

I was actually directed to a spot further away...

JD's Q & Brew
286 W Rand Rd, Arlington Heights

... for my BBQ fix.

JoelF wrote:Smokey Bones has closed at Randhurst Village shopping center. It was by no means destination barbecue, but it was a decent spot for dinner before or after a movie across the street.

It looks like that this was the last Smokey Bones in the Chicago area. The closest one now is in Rockford.

According to their Facebook page, there was a "sudden" closing of the Aurelio's Wrigleyville location by the franchisee.

https://m.facebook.com/AureliosPizzaWrigleyville/

This was the only Aurelio's I ever sampled, so i don't have much of a comparison, but I liked it for the most part. I will say that we learned not to order the extra large pizzas. They got way too greasy and sloppy towards the center. The smaller sized thin crust pizzas maintained their structural integrity much better (and were tastier).

This was also a decent fit for that corner. So many of the ballpark adjacent restaurants are overpriced and bad to mediocre.

I'll miss it.

Edit: the comments to the Facebook post say there's a sign that the restaurant is closed for a plumbing issue. However, the Facebook post seems to come from the parent company and indicates that it's permanent (i.e. they'll honor gift cards at all other locations). So take that for what it's worth and call ahead?

The phone message at Aurelio’s says they were temporarily closed as of the 8th and expected to reopen at 4PM today.

jellob1976 wrote:According to their Facebook page, there was a "sudden" closing of the Aurelio's Wrigleyville location by the franchisee.

scottsol wrote:The phone message at Aurelio’s says they were temporarily closed as of the 8th and expected to reopen at 4PM today.

Eater reconciled the information. Phone message was misdirection. Closed for good based on the decision of the franchisee.
https://chicago.eater.com/2019/10/14/20913648/mike-ditkas-chicago-restaurant-could-close-game-of-thrones-cast-visit-alinea-intel

marothisu wrote:Is Jaipur returning? There was a business license issued for 738 W Randolph a few weeks ago, former home of Ronero, for a place called Jaipur. Not sure if it's the same owners but...interesting.

Confirmed. Took it 9 days after my post to reach the media

https://chicago.eater.com/2019/10/16/20 ... sale-intel

Jaipur, which garnered Michelin Bib Gourmand status during its 11 years on Randolph Restaurant Row in the West Loop before closing in July 2018, plans to soon reopen on the strip in the former home of Ronero at 738 W. Randolph Street, ownership announced on social media. The new location — which is interestingly right next to Rooh, perhaps the hottest new South Asian option in the city — will serve the “same recipes” including garlic cheese naan, paneer burji, and kerala chicken, but without a liquor license in the beginning.

Brendan Sodikoff planning Wicker Park restaurant

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/restaur ... restaurant

Former site of Treasure Island...
Trader Joe’s In Hyde Park Is Now Open, Delighting South Side Fans Of The Grocery Chain Who Used To Travel Miles To Shop There

HYDE PARK — Spending an hour grocery shopping isn’t most people’s idea of a good time; it probably means you couldn’t find what you needed, or you have a major case of the munchies.

But on Friday morning, some South Siders were willing to wait that long in line just to get inside the new Hyde Park Trader Joe’s, which opened for business at 1526 E. 55th St.

There is a new eatery on Morse in Rogers Park specializing in Turkish Tost (basically panini like sandwiches). The menu looks like they have a few sandwiches like a sujuk and cheese, kofte and potato, etc. They also have some soup and gelato, as well as pogaca and baklava, coffee, tea, etc.

Tostini
1622 W Morse Ave
Mon - Fri: 9am - 7pm
Sat: 10am - 7pm
Sun: 10am - 6pm

OJ Breakfast Lunch & Brunch has opened on Irving Park. It's where the old Super Fast Burrito (I think that's right) was between Brown Line stop and Damen. Looked busy on a Saturday morning. Will try soon.

1924 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60613

For dumpling fans and/or fans of QXY in Chinatown - their new store is in soft opening mode starting today at 18 South Wabash in the Loop according to their Instagram account. I would assume they'll be open everyday. There aren't as many dumplings in their Loop location, but also they'll be expanding their tea offerings into the world of milk tea including options with the milk foam on it

https://www.instagram.com/p/B33LBx5l39L/

Also for anybody wondering - my in-laws, while in town from China, talked with the owners. If this location goes well, then they'll possibly be expanding into other cities in a few years.

Jiao
18 South Wabash
Open everyday from 11am to 8pm
https://heyjiao.com

Also:

An African restaurant opened a few months ago in the South Loop on State next to Reggie's called The PowerHouse Restaurant. The owners are from Cameroon and so I believe they're serving Cameroonian cuisine.

The Powerhouse Restaurant
2113 South State Street
Closed Mondays
Tuesday - Thursday: 9am - 10:45pm
Friday: 12am - 5am, and 9am - 11:15am
Saturday: 10am - 5am
Sunday: 9am - 10pm

https://www.facebook.com/pg/juliaAfriCuiZine