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E.W. Rieck's — The Loop's Beloved Beanery, 1896-1957

E.W. Rieck's — The Loop's Beloved Beanery, 1896-1957
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  • E.W. Rieck's — The Loop's Beloved Beanery, 1896-1957

    Post #1 - September 29th, 2013, 7:20 pm
    Post #1 - September 29th, 2013, 7:20 pm Post #1 - September 29th, 2013, 7:20 pm
    Last Sunday at the picnic I was asked about an old beanery once located near State & Randolph. Though it was before my time, I'd heard about the place from several older gentlemen with whom I would occasionally share a beer. Here's some of what I learned more recently.

    Emil W Rieck opened his first restaurant in 1896, on Harrison west of State. Eventually he expanded to more than half a dozen locations in and around the Loop, and in the 1950s marketed a frozen version of Rieck's Boston Baked Beans. The restaurants' menu was simple: little more than baked beans served with brown bread and butter, vegetable soup, pie and coffee. A chili sauce I know little about accompanied the beans.

    I was asked if I could find a recipe for the famous beans. Though I couldn't locate an actual recipe, a fair amount of information is available. Rieck's started with dried beans (of unknown variety) from nearby Michigan, freshness being important. After a seven-hour soak in cold water, the legumes were scalded for half an hour (never with sodium bicarbonate), then packed into aluminum cooking vessels with water and seasonings—ginger, salt, mustard, red pepper and sugar. A perforated plate was used to submerge the beans and pieces of pork belly were placed above the plate. Domed covers to trap and condense the steam sealed the pots. Huge soapstone ovens cooked the beans for 17 hours, with the temperature gradually diminishing throughout the bake. Although quite incomplete, that seems like enough information to allow experimentation to begin.

    I'd always been intrigued by stories of the beanery but now after reading a few bits about Rieck's I'm even sorrier I missed out on this piece of Loop history.
  • Post #2 - September 29th, 2013, 11:53 pm
    Post #2 - September 29th, 2013, 11:53 pm Post #2 - September 29th, 2013, 11:53 pm
    Wow! This brings back memories. As a child, a Saturday shopping trip to the Loop, if proper deportment prevailed, would mean a stop at Rieck's for lunch. A pot of beans would be served to you, along with your sides of choice (breads, franks, etc.). The beans were truly wonderful, unlike anything out of a can and super filling. It was on the west side of State, just south of the State-Lake Theatre. Whenever I am in the area, I always think of the late, great Reick's.
  • Post #3 - September 30th, 2013, 7:54 am
    Post #3 - September 30th, 2013, 7:54 am Post #3 - September 30th, 2013, 7:54 am
    Great bit of sleuthing, Rene G! And thanks, thick, for chiming in with your early memory. It sounds as though Rieck's may be the Chicago equivalent of London's F. Cooke eel pie with "liquor" and mash: a restaurant meal simple, filling, and affordable enough that adults remember it (with great nostalgia) as their first restaurant experience.

    I'd be interested to learn about the interior and accoutrements of the restaurant. Counter? Booths? Tile floor?
    Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
    T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.
  • Post #4 - September 30th, 2013, 4:47 pm
    Post #4 - September 30th, 2013, 4:47 pm Post #4 - September 30th, 2013, 4:47 pm
    It has been a while, Josephine, but as I recall, a lunch counter with stools ran along the north side of the area , with tables and or booths towards the south side. The floors were the obligatory black and white tile as I remember. The big memory, and the reason that I liked a counter seat, was the large heated display case/food warmer that held the hot crocks full of Rieck's beans. It sat behind the counter and beckoned to all who entered. That display, the accompanying aromas and the sight of everyone eating beans makes me smile even after all of these years.
  • Post #5 - September 30th, 2013, 8:36 pm
    Post #5 - September 30th, 2013, 8:36 pm Post #5 - September 30th, 2013, 8:36 pm
    thick wrote:It has been a while, Josephine, but as I recall, a lunch counter with stools ran along the north side of the area , with tables and or booths towards the south side. The floors were the obligatory black and white tile as I remember. The big memory, and the reason that I liked a counter seat, was the large heated display case/food warmer that held the hot crocks full of Rieck's beans. It sat behind the counter and beckoned to all who entered. That display, the accompanying aromas and the sight of everyone eating beans makes me smile even after all of these years.


    Thank you, thick. I can see it in my mind's eye. I envy you that memory!!!
    Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
    T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.
  • Post #6 - September 30th, 2013, 9:49 pm
    Post #6 - September 30th, 2013, 9:49 pm Post #6 - September 30th, 2013, 9:49 pm
    691_goc77.jpg How people took pictures of their food there.
  • Post #7 - October 1st, 2013, 3:43 pm
    Post #7 - October 1st, 2013, 3:43 pm Post #7 - October 1st, 2013, 3:43 pm
    Thank you for the information.
    I ate there as a kid with my father and on occasion when his brother was in town from Portland, Oregon.
    My memories about the restaurant, individual servings of beans were cooked in either small or larger crock pots, depending on you appetite. Each crock pot had a strip of salt pork on top.
    The pots were served on a 8" plate. you poured your beans on to the plate.
    On the table was a basket of Boston Brown Bread and a bowl of home made chili sauce for the beans.
    Didn't get much better.
    Fond, fond memory.

    Wally Wade
  • Post #8 - October 1st, 2013, 9:30 pm
    Post #8 - October 1st, 2013, 9:30 pm Post #8 - October 1st, 2013, 9:30 pm
    This is fascinating stuff. I'm interested in the idea that a one dish "concept" place could do so well for so long in what was at the time something like the center of the universe serving a regional poor man's Sunday supper from a town that historically hates the bean connotation. Something to do with the New Englanders that helped build Chicago in the 1800s maybe?
  • Post #9 - October 1st, 2013, 10:25 pm
    Post #9 - October 1st, 2013, 10:25 pm Post #9 - October 1st, 2013, 10:25 pm
    Hi,

    At this link, there is the bottom of a Rieck's Boston Baked Bean pot as well a link to a match cover advertisement plus some comments from Rieck family members.

    I just inherited a Boston bean pot. I may attempt to make this recipe.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #10 - October 2nd, 2013, 7:45 am
    Post #10 - October 2nd, 2013, 7:45 am Post #10 - October 2nd, 2013, 7:45 am
    JeffB wrote:This is fascinating stuff. I'm interested in the idea that a one dish "concept" place could do so well for so long in what was at the time something like the center of the universe serving a regional poor man's Sunday supper from a town that historically hates the bean connotation. Something to do with the New Englanders that helped build Chicago in the 1800s maybe?

    The people who built the Erie Canal and the railroads in the East moved west to continue building canals and railroads in Michigan and Illinois. Their ranks swelled with veterans after the Civil War with the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Aren't beans Army food? Cheap to buy, durable to store, transportable dry, extendable wet? Just came back from Xi'an, where the food of Silk Road caravans continues to be served.

    But I like your "Sunday supper" idea the best. What could be more comforting than Sunday supper? I still have a fondness for the frozen chicken pot pies we ate for those meals.

    Also, as I discovered in the London eel thread, the romance of a democratic restaurant cannot be underestimated. (Just ask McDonald's). The rise of "eating out" from food cart to lunchroom must have been a wonderful thing to experience. There is an old collection of Cafeteria Monthly at U of C that does not yet seem to be on the database that documents this era.
    Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
    T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.
  • Post #11 - October 2nd, 2013, 5:06 pm
    Post #11 - October 2nd, 2013, 5:06 pm Post #11 - October 2nd, 2013, 5:06 pm
    Hi,

    The website LostRecipesFound.com posted just today recipes on Boston Baked Beans and Brown Bread baked in a tin can. There is an addition of baking soda for the scalding (using terms in the OP) of the beans before being packed in a pot for cooking.

    I think the baking soda is a more modern addition for those who understand food chemistry.

    Meanwhile, Saveur offers a recipe for those leftover beans: Boston Baked Bean Sandwiches. " During the days afterward, leftover beans are mashed with sweet applesauce, spread on buttered brown bread, and covered with piccalilli (a vegetable relish), cold cuts, and sliced cheese to make a scrumptious snack."

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #12 - October 21st, 2013, 3:23 pm
    Post #12 - October 21st, 2013, 3:23 pm Post #12 - October 21st, 2013, 3:23 pm
    thick wrote:The beans were truly wonderful, unlike anything out of a can and super filling. It was on the west side of State, just south of the State-Lake Theatre. Whenever I am in the area, I always think of the late, great Reick's.

    Over the years Rieck's had a series of locations on State near Randolph—first 170, then 167, finally 160 N State. You're remembering 160 N State, a couple doors south of where the Gene Siskel Theater is now.

    thick wrote:The big memory, and the reason that I liked a counter seat, was the large heated display case/food warmer that held the hot crocks full of Rieck's beans. It sat behind the counter and beckoned to all who entered. That display, the accompanying aromas and the sight of everyone eating beans makes me smile even after all of these years.

    walter wade wrote:Didn't get much better.
    Fond, fond memory.

    Thanks for sharing your memories. It seems everyone loves the Beanery. I, too, would have fought for a counter seat near the bean cabinet. I haven't been able to find any photographs yet. I guess it's time to get off my butt (and away from the computer) and do some real research. Has anyone found pictures of the establishment itself?

    JeffB wrote:This is fascinating stuff. I'm interested in the idea that a one dish "concept" place could do so well for so long in what was at the time something like the center of the universe serving a regional poor man's Sunday supper from a town that historically hates the bean connotation. Something to do with the New Englanders that helped build Chicago in the 1800s maybe?

    The more I look into it the more interesting it becomes. It seems that Boston-style baked beans were a big deal in early-20th-century Chicago. Besides Rieck's, there was Pixley & Ehlers—another small chain of lunch counters centered in the Loop—who also specialized in baked beans. Incidentally, brothers George and Albert Pixley started off working for Emil Rieck. Compared to Rieck's tightly focused menu, Pixley & Ehlers' offerings were somewhat more extensive but beans were always a favorite. I learned that the beans for both chains were baked at the same establishment opened by Emil Rieck in 1912. It still stands on the near west side (the tan brick facing is more recent, I suspect).

    Image

    The building housed four great ovens with revolving soapstone racks, each of which could cook over two tons of beans at a time. Did lunchers in the Loop really pack away 10,000 pounds of baked beans each day? That's a lot of beans.

    I'm sure plenty of baked beans are consumed in New England for Sunday supper, but I thought more traditionally it's Saturday evening fare. The Yankee Cook Book, sort of the bible of classic New England cookery, devotes a full four pages to baked beans.

    Imogene Wolcott wrote:Of all the Puritan influences which fastened themselves on New England, the Saturday night baked bean supper is one of the most lasting and widespread in its effect on other parts of the country. Beans are still eaten every Saturday night and Sunday morning by thousands of New Englanders. All religious significance has been lost many years ago, but the baked bean holds popular favor in its own right.

    Imogene Wolcott, The Yankee Cook Book, Coward-McCann, New York, 1939 (reprinted many times).


    Cathy2 wrote:I think the baking soda is a more modern addition for those who understand food chemistry.

    I think you may not be giving old Emil enough credit. Emil Rieck looked into the question of sodium bicarbonate over a century ago and concluded it was unnecessary and even undesirable for preparing a delicious and digestible pot of beans. An article from 1932, "Chicagoan Gives 32 Years' Study to Baking Beans," outlines some of his investigations. At the time, it was thought that sodium bicarbonate removed "resins"—probably what we'd now call hemicellulose (On Food and Cooking, p 489)—from the surface of the beans, allowing water to penetrate more easily, thus speeding cooking. Mr Rieck determined that water enters the bean mainly through the hilum—the little scar of attachment—whether or not baking soda is added (he did presoak and scald the beans before they were baked). Furthermore, he thought the soda's alkalinity interferes with digestion by neutralizing digestive juices. Whether or not all this is true, he clearly thought about the process and was able to produce delicious baked beans that are fondly spoken of even to this day.

    Edited to correct spelling of Pixley & Ehlers (removed apostrophe).
    Last edited by Rene G on October 22nd, 2013, 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
  • Post #13 - October 21st, 2013, 3:44 pm
    Post #13 - October 21st, 2013, 3:44 pm Post #13 - October 21st, 2013, 3:44 pm
    Although I have no memory of Rieck's, I did do quite a bit of eating at Pixley & Ehler's.
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #14 - October 21st, 2013, 4:21 pm
    Post #14 - October 21st, 2013, 4:21 pm Post #14 - October 21st, 2013, 4:21 pm
    My nephew, a "FOODIE", spent 4 yrs. in dental school in Boston. He just finished in 2013.
    Could never find any restaurants, delis etc. that in any way, shape or form made "Boston Baked Beans".
    Maybe like the Edsel, just went out of style.
    BUT, they were GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Wally Wade
  • Post #15 - October 21st, 2013, 4:52 pm
    Post #15 - October 21st, 2013, 4:52 pm Post #15 - October 21st, 2013, 4:52 pm
    Places specializing in beans must have been common at one time - they gave rise to the obsolescent* term "beanery" for a cheap eating place.

    * Or obsolete? I don't know that I've ever heard it spoken, I just know the word from sources like old Mutt & Jeff strips or reprints of Black Mask stories. The context indicates that the word wasn't restricted to Rieck's-type bean specialists, could be any old place you might stop in for a hunk of pie & a cuppa java - think "You get no bread with one fish ball".
    Last edited by Roger Ramjet on October 21st, 2013, 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
    fine words butter no parsnips
  • Post #16 - October 21st, 2013, 5:00 pm
    Post #16 - October 21st, 2013, 5:00 pm Post #16 - October 21st, 2013, 5:00 pm
    I have fond memories of A-1 Border Beanery when I moved to Chicago and had never really experience Mexican food beyond the chains (Chi Chis, etc.). Not sure that was a throwback use or something different but I remember thinking it was way cool at the time :)
    "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington
  • Post #17 - October 21st, 2013, 6:13 pm
    Post #17 - October 21st, 2013, 6:13 pm Post #17 - October 21st, 2013, 6:13 pm
    Two Ton Baker sung " No Bread with one meat ball"
    Enjoy.

    Wally Wade
  • Post #18 - October 22nd, 2013, 9:51 am
    Post #18 - October 22nd, 2013, 9:51 am Post #18 - October 22nd, 2013, 9:51 am
    stevez wrote:Although I have no memory of Rieck's, I did do quite a bit of eating at Pixley & Ehler's.

    Many more chances to visit Pixley & Ehlers than Rieck's: P&E had more locations and survived 20 years longer. Most mornings I start my day with coffee from a mug "on extended loan" from the Pixley & Ehlers on Randolph.

    Image Image

    Roger Ramjet wrote:Places specializing in beans must have been common at one time… The context indicates that the word wasn't restricted to Rieck's-type bean specialists, could be any old place you might stop in for a hunk of pie & a cuppa java…

    In addition to beans, pie was hugely popular in the early 20th century. According to a 1902 newspaper article, Chicago's four largest bakeries together produced about 50,000 pies every day. If each was cut into eight pieces, that would be about enough for a slice for one in four Chicagoans each day (1.7 million lived in Chicago in 1900). I'm sure the smaller bakeries and home bakers added substantially to that 50,000 figure. People used to eat a lot of pie. It seems like Chicago was once fueled mostly by beans, pie and coffee.
  • Post #19 - October 22nd, 2013, 12:59 pm
    Post #19 - October 22nd, 2013, 12:59 pm Post #19 - October 22nd, 2013, 12:59 pm
    Hi,

    My parents are watching a documentary on the Columbian World's Fair. They saw an offering for 25 cents for a meal of pork and beans plus a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert. By contrast a Vienna hot dog was five cents. When I watch it later, I will try to get a screenshot of this sign.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #20 - May 17th, 2014, 5:59 pm
    Post #20 - May 17th, 2014, 5:59 pm Post #20 - May 17th, 2014, 5:59 pm
    I'm reading Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March, set in Chicago and remembered this thread when I came to this passage about a relative of Augie's in the newspaper delivery business (it's about 1924 here):

    "For lunch he went to a good restaurant, or to Reicke's [sic] for Boston beans and brown bread. Then to the meeting, where the circulation manager gave his talk. Afterward, pie à la mode and coffee at the south end of the Loop, followed by a burlesque show. . . ."

    Rieck's baked beans, check. Pie, check. Coffee, check.

    This food was in contrast to the meals he received at home from his wife, Augie's mother's cousin Anna. I can't resist quoting this description:

    "The meals were of amazing character altogether and of huge quantity--Anna was a strong believer in eating. Bowls of macaroni without salt or pepper or butter or sauce, brain stews and lung stews, calves'-foot jelly with bits of calves' hair and sliced egg, cold pickled fish, crumb-stuffed tripes, canned corn chowder, and big bottles of orange pop."

    I'd want some beans, pie, and coffee too.
  • Post #21 - December 6th, 2017, 8:51 pm
    Post #21 - December 6th, 2017, 8:51 pm Post #21 - December 6th, 2017, 8:51 pm
    Rene G wrote:Emil W Rieck opened his first restaurant in 1896, on Harrison west of State.

    That's not quite correct. According to Emil's great-great niece, the Rieck beanery empire began with a stand at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. His first place in downtown Chicago opened in 1896.

    Cathy2 wrote:My parents are watching a documentary on the Columbian World's Fair. They saw an offering for 25 cents for a meal of pork and beans plus a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert. By contrast a Vienna hot dog was five cents. When I watch it later, I will try to get a screenshot of this sign.

    I watched Expo: Magic of the White City, presumably the same documentary. Unfortunately no pictures of the place serving beans and pie were shown, though the Vienna sausage stand made an appearance. Incidentally, the price of beans and pie was 50 cents and Vienna sausages were 10 cents, notably high for the time. Price gouging was common at the fair. Food is discussed starting around the 1:32 mark.

    Quite possibly that bean and pie stand at the World's Columbian Exposition was Emil Rieck's first place. A number of notable Chicago restaurants got their start at the Exposition, including DeJonghe's and The Berghoff (neither is mentioned in Expo).

    EvA wrote:I'm reading Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March … Rieck's baked beans, check. Pie, check. Coffee, check.

    Loved this post, thanks! I need to try reading Augie March again.

    A matchcover from my collection, probably from the 1940s.

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