Barnum & Bagel - RIP

Driving down Dempster today I noticed that long-time deli stalwart Barnum & Bagel has been shuttered with the building up for sale/rent. RIP B&B.

as an occasional (tho almost always satisfied) patron for about 25 years, i'm getting a bit misty, but i'll try to manage. the closing is no surprise to me as that place has been death's waiting room for at least 10 or 15 years. i swear that in that time i was the only person under the age of about 80 and the only one not wearing a pacemaker or carrying an oxygen tank.

Having been a customer of B & B for many years, (I used to meet my cousin there every Saturday for tuna and challah) I suggested to Evil Ronnie one Sunday about 3 months ago that we take a ride. I can't remember a more depressing meal...the tuna was inedible, the bread stale and the soup even worse. Evil R and I were only amongst a couple of tables of patrons. I remember the days of people waiting out the door for a coveted table. It should have been closed a long time ago.

From Aunt Jemima's to The Gold Coin (or the Cold Groin, as we called it in high school) to Barnum's. Quite a legacy, all of it.

In high school, on a weekend night, it was either Gold Coin or Jack's (Touhy & the Edens) for the late night coffee and ?. To catch up with your guy friends after dropping off your dates. Great sweet & sour flanken-in-a-pot. Man, how did I eat that at 1AM? I guess they hadn't invented acid reflux then...

The Lovely Donna wrote:I can't remember a more depressing meal...the tuna was inedible, the bread stale and the soup even worse.

Ever since the original owners (the Oshers) sold the place, it's been a steady ride downhill. Still, B&B was an institution. At one point, my office was at Dempster & Crawford and I probably ate lunch there 3 days/week (with the other days devoted to Poochie's). It made me sad to see it empty, even though I had stopped going there due to the downhill nature of the food some years ago.

I'll add my voice to this chorus. I too remember the glory days of lines literally out the door almost every nite, and with some reason too... Pizza bagels (?invented here), Golda's fish, great soups (Dempster was quite a food street in those days) lots of good late nite memories there for me.. . Sorry to see it go, but it seems like a mercy killing given the decline in recent years . Did you know this place was originally an Aunt Jemimah's pancake house?

stevez wrote:Ever since the original owners (the Oshers) sold the place, it's been a steady ride downhill. Still, B&B was an institution. At one point, my office was at Dempster & Crawford and I probably ate lunch there 3 days/week (with the other days devoted to Poochie's). It made me sad to see it empty, even though I had stopped going there due to the downhill nature of the food some years ago.

I agree. It's very sad, even though its better days were clearly in the rear-view mirror. And you're right about the Oshers. Once they sold it, the place declined steadily.

=R=

kuhdo wrote:Did you know this place was originally an Aunt Jemimah's pancake house?

Growing up in next door Morton Grove, we used to go there almost every Sunday when I was a small child in the very early 60s. They actually had an African-American woman dressed as Aunt Jemima greeting customers as they arrived! My parents tell me she loved me and used to hold me in her arms as she walked us to our table. Traditional order at AJ's? Silver Dollar Pancakes, of course!

Didn't this building also house a steak joint for a very short while called "The Bum Steer"? I think it was prior to The Gold Coin.

Buddy

P.S. Also, I'll bet there aren't many on this site who remember the original establishment that sat on the Dempster Street property further west, where Maxwell's used to be. If you remember "Parfait's" you're still a youngster! Before Parfait's it was part of a short lived chain named after the comic strip character "L'il Abner"! There was a giant fiberglass(?) figure of Abner out front in the parking lot. If my foggy memory serves me right he was holding a big platter of hamburgers.

B.

Lil' Abner's was one of my favorites as a kid - we went there a lot. I believe it's now a hole in the ground.

Yup.

Maxwell's and The Studio; both gone.

About to become more condos as part of the TIF district.

Oh boy, just what we need.

Buddy

There were quite a few places on Dempster from McKormick to Harlem that were part of my teenage days in Lincolnwood: Sam & Hy's, The Cork, Buffalo's, Dale's, and Big Boy's. All of my Lincolnwood childhood eateries are long gone: Jalin's, Howard Johnson's, Brady's, Elliott's Pine Log, Henry's Drive-In, Pie Pan, Chicken-in-the-Rough, Frankel's, Kenilworth Inn, Rubin's, Richard's Twin Drive-In, Algauaer's Fireside(which was torched), Garry Hartnett's, Lockwood Castle(home of the Giantkiller), and King Kole. The best hot dog in that area before Poochie's was the Ranch on Devon, followed by Superdawg.

As long as we're on this Dempster nostalgia kick, does anyone remember "The Chandelier Restaurant"--on the northeast corner of Dempster and Keeler(possibly Kedvale) ??

It was a free standing building,which literally had a giant chandelier as its gimmick hanging in its lobby that was visible for "miles"

I remember the food being a notch above Gold Coin/Jack's/Parfait's----It must have closed in the late 70's/early 80's to make way for the present strip mall.

I recall Lill' Abners tho only vaguely (am I confusing his fiberglass persona with Big Boy?). The list of now defunct Dempster eateries (good ones) would need to include...The Cork (burgers and stone crab)/Wesleys (still the best broasted chicken and onion rings ever)/LaRosa...(maybe because I grew up with it, but my all time favorite thin crust...and great beef sandwiches on garlic bread/New China ("featuring chef Henry Jew"!?)...one of the greatest american/jewish chinese places of all time...only Kow-Kow had egg rolls that could compare...much better than Nankin down the street (which wasn't too bad either). Mediterranian Hut (now Pita Inn) and of course, Sam&Hy's probably the best north side deli for many years. All this, and original Herm's, Poochies, N.Y. Bagel&Bialy, and lots of others...all within a few blocks. Remarkable indeed.

Alberti's Pizza in downtown Skokie was a major high school hangout after basketball games. Totally forgot about Wesley's. Cork had great baby backers and the best creamy garlic dressing. Once and a while, we'd go to Evanston to Fanny's for that never ending plate of the spaghetti or The Inferno for a pizza. My uncle Jack was the deli man at Sam & Hy's in Skokie. I grew up on Roosevelt & Keeler, across the street from the original Sam & Hy's and down the street from Joe Stein's, one of the finest Chicago steak houses in the 40's & 50's.

A few more defunct Dempster restaurants that have popped into my head:

Doc Weed's------Where Portillo's is now, across from Lutheran General Hospital.

Stan's----NE corner of Dempster and Harlem.

Big Boy----NW corner of Dempster and Harlem.

Vosnos / October 5----NW corner of Dempster and Waukegan ( where Produce World is )

La Salade----Where Grecian Kitchen Delights is now.

Piccolo Mondo---Where Gino's East was.

cito wrote:La Salade----Where Grecian Kitchen Delights is now.

And previous to La Salade it was the only Chicago outpost of NYC's Carvel Ice Cream. I used to own that building. Both Carvel and La Salade were my tennants. Eventually, we sold the building to the La Salade people.

Another long gone Dempster stalwart is Tommy's which was at the NE corner of Dempster and Milwaukee (your old front yard CSD!). Also, I suppose we can include the outpost of Gulliver's which actually was on Milwaukee just north of Dempster. Now, does anyone remember the name of the location before it was Doc Weeds??? I proposed to my wife there, but for some reason we have both blocked it from our memories (insert laughter here...).

L2E, great memory! Gulliver's, Tommy's, Tasty Pup, and Tommy Tucker's were just a short walk from the house. We drove to Booby's, who was my next door neighbor. One of my businesses was in Talisman Village(your old back yard). I watched the Works open in 1976(still there) and Hot Dog Island arrive in 1978, departing 25 years later. Hope all is going well. Take care.

CSD

LuvstoEat wrote: Now, does anyone remember the name of the location before it was Doc Weeds??? I proposed to my wife there, but for some reason we have both blocked it from our memories (insert laughter here...).

Does George and the Dragon, or St. George and the Dragon ring a bell?

Let's not forget La Maisonette...my first French restaurant experience...or the Mark III (with the cool Green Hornet car under the awning in front)...or Eastern style Pizza or "toy's Inn" chop suey...The list is long.

I recall the Roosevelt and Keeler street sign in front of Sam&Hy's .I also recall the counter guys , many of whom could get pretty 'colorful' ( as could Hy himself!).

We were alyays North siders tho. I started out near Lawrence and Kedzie so the S&L deli was the neighborhood place. My uncle Sid owned Rocky's deli on Morse av. across from Ashkenaz ("A tasket, a tisket, a lean and tender brisket was his motto....displayed in the window and on the menus). He sold to a Korean fellow in the 80's and for a while this was the only place where you could get a bul gogi and latke special (actually pretty good).

cito wrote:

LuvstoEat wrote: Now, does anyone remember the name of the location before it was Doc Weeds??? I proposed to my wife there, but for some reason we have both blocked it from our memories (insert laughter here...).

Does George and the Dragon, or St. George and the Dragon ring a bell?

Let us not forget The Great Gritsby's Flying Food Show.

chicagostyledog wrote:Let us not forget The Great Gritsby's Flying Food Show.

On a related note, poster art for Fritz That's It hangs in the men's room at R.J. Grunts for anyone wanting a refresher trip down memory lane who happens to be a guy. Or is it poster art for Gritzbee's? I'm not sure. I think it's Fritz, though.

cito wrote:As long as we're on this Dempster nostalgia kick, does anyone remember "The Chandelier Restaurant"--on the northeast corner of Dempster and Keeler(possibly Kedvale) ??

Yes, we were in there every couple of weeks. We knew the three brothers who owned the place back in the day. They grew up working in their uncle's place, the original incarnation of the Big Top at Roosevelt and Austin (my mom grew up at 59th/14th), and they bought the property for the Chandelier outright. Nothing overly creative, but solid stuff until the last 2-3 years before they sold the property, when they couldn't keep up with rising food costs and a declining(/moving/dying) customer base.

We really didn't like Barnum and Bagel at all. "Despised" would be a better term. We felt it was a quantity over quality place, where the main draw was that there was a lot of cheap but bad food.

Maxwell's had a good run in the late 80s. It was a longer drive from Wilmette but we'd go there 6-7x/year. And I still kind of miss the old pre-banquet-hall Fireside, which is where we went for most birthday and similar dinners when I was a pre-teen.

Does anybody still go to Seven Brothers? Is it still there? I always liked to get a seat near the window of the original building so I could watch the comings and goings at the Admiral Oasis across the street.

threadkiller wrote:Does anybody still go to Seven Brothers? Is it still there? I always liked to get a seat near the window of the original building so I could watch the comings and goings at the Admiral Oasis across the street.

You are refering to Manda's, the Seven Brothers' first restaurant; a typical Greek owned, 24 hour coffee shop a few doors north on Waukegan Road.

We used to go there back in the 70s and early 80s after getting off work from Burt's previous pizza joint, Pequod's. After having had pizza earlier in the evening, we would go in at 1am for "breakfast"; anything from pancakes and hashbrowns to cheeseburgers or a fresh, sliced from the bird turkey dinner. Ah, to have the metabolism of a teenager once again (sigh).

We were a bunch of teenagers and young twenties (in those later years), living the high life, late at night, without parental supervision. It would be myself, at least one of the kitchen staff, another waiter or busboy, and an assortment of friends, groupies, and hangers-on. On rare occasions, Burt himself would join us and pick up the tab.

Our regular waitress, Kay, knew us for most of those years and took good care of us, treating us like grownups. In return, we made a point of always sitting at her station and acting like grownups; not making a mess and tipping her well. A couple years before Burt sold Pequod's, Kay died very suddenly of lymphatic cancer.

It wasn't quite the same after that. People grew up and moved on; the group drifted apart. I got married and had a kid, and the breakfasts at Manda's were gradually replaced by breakfast at Maxwell's.

They closed Manda's not long after they opened Seven Brothers. There was a computer shop in that location for a while, but I'm not sure what's there currently. Seven Brother's keeps on going at least for the moment, and the Admiral Oasis (otherwise known as The Morton Grove Riding Academy) fell victim to the TIF district a couple of years ago.

Buddy

Buddy, remember those cracker thin pizzas at Esposito's?

Buddy...I also was a late evening worker during summers while home from college. Getting off my job at 11:30pm, I would swing by and pick up my friend who worked until midnight at Musket and Henricksen pharmacy in Skokie. Even tho we were "city boys" (Peterson/Hollywood Park), we always ended up at Jakes's in NIles. Jakes was a clone of Touhy Ave Jacks, but was located on Milwaukee Ave south of Oakton almost across from Jerry's Fruit Market. I believe a strip mall now sits there (next to Minelli's). Everyone in the place either had either just gotten off of work or was trying to sober up before heading home after a night at "SOP's". You could also count on a handful of either Niles police or county sheriff's being there, so the bad behavior was kept to a minimum. And yes, hot turkey sandwiches, reubens, split pea soup and gallons of coffee at 3:00am was the norm....ah to be young(er) again.

Randy

chicagostyledog wrote:Buddy, remember those cracker thin pizzas at Esposito's?

Sorry CSD, being a loyal employee at Burt's, I never dined at Esposito's although I knew many who did and enjoyed it. In fact, I have never developed a craving for thin pizza anywhere. I know that makes me a freak of nature, but I'll just have to live with that.

Randy, how you doin'? Haven't heard much from you since the GCIBT with CSD and the Roadfood.com gang. I have to declare ignorance on the Jake's front. I know exactly where you're talking about; just south of the Oak-Mill Mall, but I have no recollection of Jake's or any other restaurant being in that spot.

Musket and Hendricksen was a regular Saturday night stop for my Dad; picking up the Sunday paper before he finally got a subscription. You probably rang him up more than once over the years.

Much empathy on the loss of youth and the ability to pack away an extra thousand or so calories in the wee hours and not feel it or show it the next day. Ah, the glory days.

See you guys soon,

Buddy

P.S. SOP's??? Holy mackerel what a throwback that is. How the hell old are you anyway?

B.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:

threadkiller wrote:Does anybody still go to Seven Brothers? Is it still there? I always liked to get a seat near the window of the original building so I could watch the comings and goings at the Admiral Oasis across the street.

They closed Manda's not long after they opened Seven Brothers. There was a computer shop in that location for a while, but I'm not sure what's there currently. Seven Brother's keeps on going at least for the moment, and the Admiral Oasis (otherwise known as The Morton Grove Riding Academy) fell victim to the TIF district a couple of years ago.

Yeah, it's coming back to me now. They bought the property next door and built a fancier place where Seven Brothers is now, and tried running both of them for a while. Then if I recall correctly, the landlord of the Manda's building tried to jack up their rent, and they decided to close the fancy place and move the coffee shop in there instead.

Sounds about right.

Buddy

Randy, SOP's was so close, yet so far. At the time of it's opening, I was already a married dad, living in Niles. Our first apartment was in Peterson Park on Spaulding & Hollywood. There were two restaurants within walking distance. One on Kimball and Bryn Mawr and the other on Spaulding and Bryn Mawr(good corned beef and skirt steaks). We'd shop at a little food store on Bryn Mawr owned by a man named "Buddy." As a teen, I hung around the Tower Cabana, where I'd go ice skating or sneak in through a hole in the fence to go swimming, til the day I got stuck and was captured. Back then, I was the only Lincolnwood kid, hanging out at Debroah Boys Club with buddies in the Top Hats and Majestics from Von. I Spent many hot summer nights on the corner of Devon & Cal with my friends from Mather, when I wasn't working at Henry's Drive-In on Lincoln or Mal's Pharmacy on Devon & Crawford.