Alpana Singh is headed to Evanston. The award-winning sommelier and owner of Boarding House and Seven Lions restaurants will open an Italian-Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Evanston sometime this year.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct ... story.html

Looks like Chicago is trying to catch that potential fast-casual poke wave early:

http://chicago.eater.com/2016/2/18/1104 ... ot-chicago

Feh. Just another bar.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016021 ... s-as-m-pub

C-Manny's (3641 W Irving Park Rd.) is closed for good according to their FB page, despite the "closed for renovations" sign in the window. Too bad, Mr. Pie loved their nachos.

Pie Lady wrote:C-Manny's (3641 W Irving Park Rd.) is closed for good according to their FB page, despite the "closed for renovations" sign in the window. Too bad, Mr. Pie loved their nachos.

C. Manny's has been our regular go to spot for enchaladas since the days when they were located in a shack on Elston a few blocks north of their current location. I noticed a drop off in quality along with the disappearance of long time staffers on our last couple of visits. We were debating whether there was a change in ownership. I'll be sad to see them go.

stevez wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:C-Manny's (3641 W Irving Park Rd.) is closed for good according to their FB page, despite the "closed for renovations" sign in the window. Too bad, Mr. Pie loved their nachos.

C. Manny's has been our regular go to spot for enchaladas since the days when they were located in a shack on Elston a few blocks north of their current location. I noticed a drop off in quality along with the disappearance of long time staffers on our last couple of visits. We were debating whether there was a change in ownership. I'll be sad to see them go.

Yeah, it was a regular spot for the wife and me. She's very picky about her fajitas and this place was among her favorites. But service over the last few years completely fell off a cliff like they just didn't care anymore. And that was even with the old-timers working there before they apparently left. We stopped going before the old-timers left because the service had become that abysmal. Oh yeah, and their margaritas tasted like jet fuel.

I missed C.Manny's before they even closed. Sad but not surprised to see it happen.

Pie Lady wrote:Feh. Just another bar.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016021 ... s-as-m-pub

At least you can still order the more popular Mirabell menu items. But let's face it, it's getting harder and harder to make a go with German cuisine these days. They had to do something to try to make it more attractive to prospective buyers/

Drover wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:Feh. Just another bar.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016021 ... s-as-m-pub

At least you can still order the more popular Mirabell menu items. But let's face it, it's getting harder and harder to make a go with German cuisine these days. They had to do something to try to make it more attractive to prospective buyers/

Do you know why this is? There used to be so many Germans in Chicago, and now we have what, two restaurants left? Sad. I for one will definitely order off the secret menu, although I don't even see spätzele on there! That's a quality side. And they took off the duck sandwich.

There's a new Nigerian restaurant in West Rogers Park that opened February 5. We're hoping to check it out soon. It's "an approachable spin on West African cuisine," according to DNAinfo.

Simi's
6310 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 856-0407
http://simisrestaurant.com/

Pie Lady wrote:There used to be so many Germans in Chicago, and now we have what, two restaurants left?

Metromix lists 26 German restaurants in the Chicago area. Granted, you can debate exactly how German some of them are, but in any case, there are way more than two. (Perhaps you were being facetious?)

A little bit. I was talking about restaurants in Chicago proper. From this list, at least three places are closed, and most are in the 'burbs.

So yes, though there are more than two, there aren't many. German food is tasty and accessible (flavor-wise), so I don't get why that is.

Pie Lady wrote:A little bit. I was talking about restaurants in Chicago proper. From this list, at least three places are closed, and most are in the 'burbs.

So yes, though there are more than two, there aren't many. German food is tasty and accessible (flavor-wise), so I don't get why that is.

Tastes change. There were lots more Bohemian spots in town and some Hungarian as well. Bohemian is getting trendy, but you won't see many new spots. I suspect a lot of people associate the cuisines with heavy potato/starch-laden plates with slabs of meat (and not salad-friendly). Hofbrauhaus seems to pull in crowds with some consistency, maybe it'll spark a revival.

spinynorman99 wrote:Hofbrauhaus seems to pull in crowds with some consistency, maybe it'll spark a revival.

Unfortunately, Hofbrauhaus is a sad reflection of the originals in Munich. I haven't been, but SueF was very disappointed.

Only a week ago I was having a conversation about what I saw as a mini-resurgence of German(-ish) restaurants in Chicago. Certainly the numbers are way down from 30 (or 130) years ago, but in addition to warhorses like Berghoff, Brauhaus, Laschet's and Resi's, the last few years have seen the opening of The Radler, Prost!, Gene's Rooftop, Himmel's, Glunz Tavern, Bohemian House and Table, Donkey and Stick. Granted, some stretch the definition of German restaurant, but it seems like something of a trend to me. I guess you can also include M Pub (though I'm tempted to exclude them simply for offering Jägermeister molasses mustard).

JoelF wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:Hofbrauhaus seems to pull in crowds with some consistency, maybe it'll spark a revival.

Unfortunately, Hofbrauhaus is a sad reflection of the originals in Munich. I haven't been, but SueF was very disappointed.

I've only been once for lunch and I enjoyed it. Authentic or not, it's sparking a taste for German food.

Rene G wrote:...a mini-resurgence of German(-ish) restaurants in Chicago...The last few years have seen the opening of The Radler, Prost!, Gene's Rooftop, Himmel's, Glunz Tavern, Bohemian House and Table, Donkey and Stick. Granted, some stretch the definition of German restaurant...

I was at Table, Donkey and Stick the week before last and this post is the first I've realized it's a German restaurant by any stretch. Our party of four shared several apps in addition to our main courses, so we got around to a fair portion of the menu. We loved everything, by the way. Just didn't know we were eating German. (I suppose the Swabian Pretzel was some sort of giveaway, but I thought that was more of an international "one-off" than a signifier that I was in a German or even quasi-German restaurant.)

riddlemay wrote:I was at Table, Donkey and Stick the week before last and this post is the first I've realized it's a German restaurant by any stretch.

My list of new restaurants was roughly in decreasing order of German-ness (the old restaurants were listed alphabetically) and Table, Donkey and Stick barely made the cut. I listed it, though, because it does seem to be part of the recent vaguely-German trend. I haven't eaten there yet, but think they are often said to serve Alpine cuisine. From their website: "Chef Manley's menu features creative, seasonally driven dishes inspired by the mountain cuisines of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Slovenia." I completely agree their menu isn't overtly German, but I like it a lot and am happy to hear another positive report on the restaurant.

Anyone know why Apart Pizza closed on Montrose?

Per the Apart Pizza website:

Our Lincoln Square location is currently closed for remodeling; we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

We will be providing delivery from our Edgewater location and invite you to visit us there.

Bow Truss coming to Uptown. Bow Truss Coffee Roasters is bringing a new cafe to Uptown at the corner of Clark and Lawrence.

http://www.uptownupdate.com/2016/03/fro ... op-to.html

Uptown will be well caffeinated with Bow Truss, Baker & Nosh, Heritage Outpost, and Bella 'Mbriana all within less than 1/2 mile of one another.

Without a specific Frite Street thread to post in, this seems like the next best place to post that Frite Street has closed its storefront on Elston in Avondale and plans to re-open at 400 S. Financial on March 8th.

Hewn Artisan Bread bakery in Evanston is doubling its footprint, by taking over the former Paramour Bungalow home accessories store at 812 Dempster (they moved to Andersonville). Nice development.

Hewn Artisan Bread
810 Dempster St. Evanston, IL 60202
847-869-HEWN(4396)

knitgirl wrote:The Northman Cider Bar is opening next month in North Center. http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160106 ... n-february. We could really use some more decent lunch options in the neighborhood.

Just when it looked like the highly-anticipated and much-delayed cider pub from the team behind Fountainhead would actually open, the ribbon cutting has been postponed again.

http://chicago.eater.com/2016/3/7/11174 ... ayed-again

Drover wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:Garibay Tamales, 3859 N. Kedzie, is papered over, so no more tamales for me on laundry day.

They're still in business, sort of. They sell their tamales at the flea market at 4545 W. Division on Saturdays and Sundays.

Tamales Garibay
4545 W Division St
Chicago, IL 60651
(773) 512-8212

Dammit, looks like they'll need to find yet another new home.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/fire-breaks ... k/1236240/

I was going to stop in some time this weekend or next to grab a couple tamales. So much for that.

The previously discussed M Pub had its soft opening last night, official opening tonight (March 11).

Culver's coming to Skokie (on Skokie Blvd, across from Portillo's).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/s ... story.html

Aloha Poke Co. in the French Market is officially open:

http://www.alohapokeco.com/

gnarchief wrote:Aloha Poke Co. in the French Market is officially open:

http://www.alohapokeco.com/

Visited this week. Still need to work out some kinks. There were 2 guys preparing bowls which should have taken under a minute but there was easily a ten-minute wait with about 6-8 orders ahead of me. Presentation is not great and it really wasn't much of a meal. I enjoy a good poke (that reads funny), but I'll stick with the version at my local sushi place.

Longtime Chicago institution Mirabell has now been officially replaced by M Pub, which opened over the weekend.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016031 ... ar-is-open

^^ Already noted three posts ago...

Baocos, the Asian-Mexican fusion spot on Western near the Blue Line stop, has closed. Space was dark when I got off the L tonight and sign on door saying "closed until further notice."

Not that surprised... it was never that busy, and the people I know who'd tried it said it was pretty mediocre. I walked past it almost every day since it opened and was never tempted to enter in spite of loving both Mexican and Asian food.