Berghoff closing

From a recent update in the online Tribune (registration may be required), Herman and Jan Berghoff are saying they will be closing on Feb. 28 of 2006.

I know there's some mixed feeling on the forum but the Berghoff has always been a special place for me (of course that may be due to way too many lost afternoons in the standup bar . . .) and I'm sad to see this news. I definitely will be making a visit or 3 before the closing and just might plan on jamming myself into the bar for the farewell.

Trib online blurb: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... i-news-hed

After spending several hours Christmas shopping and waiting in line for gift wrapping at Field's last Thursday, I checked my packages while retrieving my coat and walked over to The Berghoff. It was around 2:00 and there was quite a line outside for upstairs, but my destination was the Cafe. I had an excellent carved roast beef sandwich on a Kaiser with a side of German potato salad. To add to the experience I ordered a dry Beefeater Martini with a water back at the stand up. ( I haven't had a Martini at lunch in 25 years). The city of Chicago will surely miss this place along with Marshall Fields.

....wow.

I wonder how much money they're being offered to close out that location.

gleam wrote:....wow.

I wonder how much money they're being offered to close out that location.

I'm sure they are cashing in big time. They say that the O'hare Concession/Berghoff's will remain open FWIW.

So are there any Chicago institutions left? They think it's time to move on? *insert appropriate derision and foul language*

Christopher Gordon wrote:So are there any Chicago institutions left? They think it's time to move on? *insert appropriate derision and foul language*

Interesting comment.
With the closing of the place, it looks like Charlie Trotter's is as close to a "Chicago institution" as any that are left. Lou Mitchell's probably makes the list also.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

stevez wrote: They say that the O'hare Concession/Berghoff's will remain open FWIW.

Interestingly enough, I was going to post a recommendation for the O'Hare Berghoff's. They have a good breakfast menu, with real cooks cooking up real eggs for omelets, fajitas, and breakfast sandwiches. I had a very good western fajita and Bill had an ever better breakfast sandwich--egg (cooked in front of you after you order the sandwich) cheese (American is the default but you can get Swiss instead on request) and three pieces of crisp bacon on a bagel. Three bucks. And I picked up a half dozen bottles of their root beer as a last minute hostess gift and afterwards regretted that I hadn't picked up some of their Berghoff Dark as well.

It's at the far (south? east? right?) end of the C terminal, so it won't work for a lot of travelers, but if that's where you end up after the nice people at the skycap get you on a plane to Dulles from O'Hare after pointing out that the boarding pass you cleverly printed out the night before states right there that you're supposed to be at Midway, you'll be grateful.

Just to clarify, the O'Hare Berghoff cafe is down near the end of concourse C in Terminal 1 (United). That's good to hear about the breakfast there. I've only ever had the sandwiches and felt they suffered quite a bit from being pre-made, though of course they couldn't have compared to the fresh-carved versions downtown. The beer's still good though.

I know many have complained about the food at Berghoff, but I have always liked it very much . . . and loved the beer and root beer. But to me, much worse is losing an institution that traces its origin to the Midway Plaisance at the Columbian Exposition, something which I appreciate more after having read the book "Devil in the White City." I think this is a terrible loss to our city.

gleam wrote:....wow.

I wonder how much money they're being offered to close out that location.

My first thought exactly. It is interesting in the article and news reports there is absolutely no comment of what will be the subsequent use of that location.

Just this morning I caught a news account of the Maryland Inn, which has been opened since the 1780's closing in favor of a Starbuck's.

Regards,

Very sad to hear, Barry and I had a nice late lunch there a few weeks ago. I've always liked the room and the murals in particular.

Christopher Gordon wrote:So are there any Chicago institutions left?

DML wrote:it looks like Charlie Trotter's is as close to a "Chicago institution" as any that are left

The Berghoff opened in 1898, Charlie Trotter's in 1987. While Trotter's is a fine establishment and continues to excel at what it does, its 18 years in business are a bit shy when talking about Chicago institutions.

I'd say Italian Village, they have been open since 1927...

delk wrote:Very sad to hear, Barry and I had a nice late lunch there a few weeks ago. I've always liked the room and the murals in particular.

Christopher Gordon wrote:So are there any Chicago institutions left?

DML wrote:it looks like Charlie Trotter's is as close to a "Chicago institution" as any that are left

The Berghoff opened in 1898, Charlie Trotter's in 1987. While Trotter's is a fine establishment and continues to excel at what it does, its 18 years in business are a bit shy when talking about Chicago institutions.

I'd say Italian Village, they have been open since 1927...

That was my point.
I agree on Italian Village as an institution. Pizzeria Uno and Due don't really make the list, since they are under different ownership from the original and particularly Uno is not what it was inside.

I hate to sound like an old man, but it seems like all traditional places are going or gone. I am curious as to other people's views as to the list of remaining Chicago institutions.

Disposition of the space was noted at the end of the linked Tribune article in OP.

The following was on Crain's Chicago Business website: "After the restaurant at 17 W. Adams St. closes on February 28, the space will be occupied by the couple’s daughter, who runs a local catering business called Artistic Events by Carlyn Berghoff Catering Inc." Full story, which probably will be there for only a few days.

Note that the building is landmarked and was the only exclusion in a plan by the feds to occupy the rest of the block to maintain more control around the federal center as well as to build more federal office space. I wonder if this development will change the feds plans.

I believe that the number one and two reasons for closing German restaurants in Chicago have been (1) lack of successor owner/management and (2) sale to new owners who weren't up to the job.

I will be sad to see it go, but it came as a surprise to me to read that the Berghoff family still owned the place. My experiences over the last few years had caused me to think the place had been sold to Greeks a while ago. I don't mean anything derogatory about that in the slightest--just that all the waiters seemed Greek, and the food had begun to take on some of the characteristics of Greek coffee shop fare (which I happen to like just fine, but which isn't German). It struck me that the place was doing an excellent imitation of a German restaurant as run by Greeks, rather than actually being one, and I admired it for the skill with which that imitation was being brought off. To learn that it really was still a German restaurant is a shock!

I'll have to get back there one last time. As I'm sure a lot of people will be doing.

i haven't been this sad about a restaurant closing since printer's row, where i had as enjoyable a dining experience as i ever had, closed a few years back.

tho i'm a lifelong chicagoan i've only been to the berghoff twice, once for a carved sandwich and a root beer in the bar and once for a sit-down meal with a beer. the bar experience was during a weekday lunch hour, and the place oozed charisma (independent of the history of the restaurant). the sit-down experience made me feel exactly how i figured i'd feel -- like the staff had been doing what they were doing for eons. i always felt about the berghoff like i do about a few other great things in the city -- i don't go there much, but it's awfully nice to know it's there.

chicago matches up with any city when it comes to great food, but in terms of restaurant institutions, the berghoff is equaled, but not exceeded. fwiw, i'd add in the institution category the walnut room, manny's, and army & lou's.

dear riddlemay, no offence taken. ive worked my way through many a great restaurant in chicago such as jovans, le perroquet, escargot, cafe provencal and everytime i look at the old menus ive collected on these defunct places i get a little weepy.. you are correct that there was some speculation about a new greek owner, which in fairness to you is good on the buisness side of keeping the property, but you know kind of sucks the charm out of the germaness of the original history of the place.. iunderstand what your heart is saying, kind of feels like when harry carey died and the levy brothers or rich melman wanted to take over the place, it just not right.. cathy 2 has posted in the past about a few bohemian or slavic places out south west that were old joints with the same history, but sad to say were just getting hammered by the times. i say we should all pitch in and open up a stop and shop in that location!!

Regarding Chicago Institutions that remain, I can only think of Cape Cod Room - It's the only place left, other than the Walnut Room (and the now defunct or soon-to-be defunct), that I can remember my parents loving to take us to for special occasions.

Pump Room - altho not what it used to be

Ill miss Berghoffs but I doubt it will really close - just clever marketing - just watch!

I prefer to remember the restaurant when it was good, and not just a tourist attraction that doesn't stand for much anymore. Some places outlive their value, and I'll shed no tears over the closing of what I believe is a mediocre restaurant.

Maybe we could do a group dinner at The Berghoff to celebrate their legacy, and what their presence means to this great city.

ChefGEB wrote:Maybe we could do a group dinner at The Berghoff to celebrate their legacy, and what their presence means to this great city.

Set it up! Schedule a reservation date, post on the events board, give them the number. EC got 30 for a Dec. 24 dinner. You can't wait for someone else to do it.

A dissenting view: I went there with a group a couple weeks ago and had the most disgusting version of saurbraten & cold spaetzle I've ever had. It was basically just 3rd rate "roast beef"/shoe leather smothered in an almost inedible sauce. "Melt in your mouth" ... right. The syrupy root beer contained almost zero carbonation, either.

yuck.

tem wrote:A dissenting view: .

Tem,

I had an excellent meal at the Berghoff 3-4 weeks ago, a mix of game sausages that were very well done. My dining companions dishes were spot-on as well, the Wiener Schnitzel particularly nice.

I do, however, understand that in recent years the Berghoff's food can be spotty, my answer to that is ~shrug~ Contrary to my .sig line sometimes it not all about the food.

The bar at the Berghoff is one of the coolest places on the face of this earth, the restaurant is a true Chicago institution and I would be honored to accompany ChefGEB and a group of LTHer's in a last hurrah outing.

Enjoy,
Gary

A couple of interesting items in the article in today's Trib:

- The bar will remain in some form. What form though? This bar, this bar modeled on Heaven's saloon, how can it be changed/improved. Sadly, I gotta guess someone thinks it can--check back with me in a few months.

- It said the "adjacent cafe" will remain. Is that the new basement set-up? I've enjoyed several meals there since it came to be, and while not stellar food, it certainly is an improvement over other loop lunch options in that price range. Or is the cafe the sandwich line in the bar?

- The article hints that at least some of this move was prompted by daughter Carolyn's bounce from her space in the west loop.

Vital Information wrote:- The article hints that at least some of this move was prompted by daughter Carolyn's bounce from her space in the west loop.

Rob,

There is info about the pending changes on the Berghoff web site

Enjoy,
Gary

all they did was lease it to their daughter. instead of "Chicago legend is lost" headlines in paper should have been "Chicago legend is leased!"
they will knock down the wall tween bar and restaurant and make an upscale "cafe" called "17 west." changes, yes, but a lot different than closing! 14-yr bourbon is gone anyway ;}

and they will get a ton of biz next two months, which is usually a slow time.

Guess they learned from the Marshall Field's/Macy's playbook. I'll buy a round for everybody at the Berghoff on the day the Field's name is restored, somewhere around 2008.

Ill miss Berghoffs but I doubt it will really close - just clever marketing - just watch!

What I said yesterday...