Pauly wrote:Post pandemic nope.

It’s still a thing. Nothing is post.
Cheers.

marothisu wrote:

marothisu wrote:Some more popular Asian fusion food coming to Lincoln Park soon.

1) Mochinut opening at 733 W Fullerton in Lincoln Common next to Equinox. This is according to their website:

https://www.mochinut.com/il-locations

Website before got the address wrong. It's actually for 734 W Fullerton (now updated on the website). They got a permit for the company sign on Thursday (9/8). Hopefully opening soon enough. This is the former homes of Philly Bros and Green Bean Restaurant.

Five New Mochinut Locations Coming to Chicagoland
Sites include Chicago, Wheeling, Schaumburg, Niles, and Naperville

https://whatnowchicago.com/five-new-moc ... icagoland/

Suburban Farm-to-Table Stronghold Farmhouse Evanston Is Closing

https://chicago.eater.com/2022/11/11/23 ... go-suburbs

Nick Kindelsperger praises the recently opened Ragadan.

I’d love to be proven wrong, but I’m confident that Ragadan is Chicago’s only restaurant that purposefully combines the food of Jordan and Oklahoma. While the Middle Eastern country and the southern state might seem to have little in common, for owner Daniel Sweis, the two make perfect sense together. “I’m an Arabic dude who grew up in Oklahoma,” Sweis said. “The menu reflects me.”

This means you can swing by Ragadan and pick up a platter of hummus with falafel, while also scoring a double cheeseburger and a chocolate milkshake. All of it will be great.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Ragadan
4409 N. Broadway
Chicago, Illinois 60640
773-654-1788
http://www.ragadan.com

LeTour restaurant, opening this week in Evanston.
625 Davis St.
http://www.letourevanston.com

Dave148 wrote:Popular East Coast Bakery Levain to Drop Enormous Cookies on Chicago Later This Year. The cult favorite will take over the former Maude’s Liquor Bar in the West Loop.
https://flip.it/SjTbZe

Opening this weekend = https://chicago.eater.com/2022/11/16/23 ... lph-street

Crave Kabob on Niles Center Road just north of Touhy has closed. This was the place that had charged .75 cents for sauce but had changed that policy when I was there in late June.

Pauly wrote:Crave Kabob on Niles Center Road just north of Touhy has closed. This was the place that had charged .75 cents for sauce but had changed that policy when I was there in late June.

Too much competition for middle eastern food in Skokie. Also with opening of Mr. Falafel across the street in the Best Buy Strip mall on Touhy spelled the beginning of the end of Crave Kabob in that poor location in terms of traffic (foot and automobile) where there have been at least 3 restaurants in the past 5 yrs.

polster wrote:
Too much competition for middle eastern food in Skokie. Also with opening of Mr. Falafel across the street in the Best Buy Strip mall on Touhy spelled the beginning of the end of Crave Kabob in that poor location in terms of traffic (foot and automobile) where there have been at least 3 restaurants in the past 5 yrs.

West of Edens was a good place; the Mexican place never stood a chance as they opened I believe in February of 2020 and while I enjoyed the food at Crave Kabob it was pricey. Just under $15 for the chicken pita sandwich and falafels which were oversized and amazing. But not a lunch special to be found on the menu. Gotta have one to entice the lunch crowd and get repeat business.

Paris Baguette is coming to 2 new locations in the city, in ground floors of 2 hotel buildings. Right now the only one in the city is in HMart in West Loop. Paris Baguette of course is the South Korean bakery (like Tous Les Jours). The only other one in the area is in Niles.

1) 105 E Delaware - Whitehall Hotel in Gold Coast
2) 1100 S Michigan Ave - Best Western Grant Park in South Loop

Both locations are listed as Coming Soon on their website and also on Google at each address
https://www.parisbaguette.com/locations/

marothisu wrote:Paris Baguette is coming to 2 new locations in the city, in ground floors of 2 hotel buildings. Right now the only one in the city is in HMart in West Loop. Paris Baguette of course is the South Korean bakery (like Tous Les Jours). The only other one in the area is in Niles.

The latter location (in Niles) is also in the HMart there.

Kenta Ikehata, the restaurateur behind Chicago Ramen, Chicago Ramen Lab and Chicago Sushi, is getting ready to launch Chicago Ramen Wheeling at 743 N. Milwaukee Ave., in front of the Westin Chicago North Shore hotel.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2022 ... /221119284

marothisu wrote:Paris Baguette is coming to 2 new locations in the city, in ground floors of 2 hotel buildings. Right now the only one in the city is in HMart in West Loop. Paris Baguette of course is the South Korean bakery (like Tous Les Jours). The only other one in the area is in Niles.

https://www.parisbaguette.com/locations/

That's odd, there's also one in Glenview at Milwaukee and Central, at the far corner of the plaza with Joong Boo.

Not Chicago-close but interesting concept opening in Crystal Lake. The Other Side is a socializing space for sober living.

https://the-other-side.org/about/

Nhu Lan's Lincoln Square location has reopened following extensive remodeling. No surprise but prices are higher for banh mi: $9.88 or $10.88 for most.

GT Fish closing after NYE:

https://chicago.eater.com/2022/11/23/23475595/gt-fish-oyster-closing-chicago-boka-river-north

There's a new place called "Dave Froman's Sausage King of Milwaukee Ave" opening at Milwaukee & Sacramento-ish in Logan Square. An obvious nod to Ferris Buehler's Day Off.

Their menu has sausages of course, but also some burgers, pizza, gyros, and schwarma

Opening sometime soon
Dave Froman's Sausage King of Milwaukee Ave
2461 N Milwaukee Ave

https://sausagekingchi.com/menu

2 relatively new restaurants that opened recently:

Nash Bros - A new 100% Zabiha Halal Nashville fried chicken restaurant opened in the former DMZ Café location in Niles on Milwaukee Ave.

Nash Bros
9353 N Milwaukee Ave,
Niles, IL 60714
https://www.instagram.com/nashbros/?hl=en
https://www.toasttab.com/nash-bros-9353 ... ulfillment

Turmerica - A vegetarian Indian fast food restaurant in Schaumburg

Turmerica -
140 E Golf Rd A,
Schaumburg, IL 60173
https://turmericausa.com/

Another ramen place opened within a half block of the new Tomo Japanese Street Food restaurant on Clark in downtown Evanston about a month ago - Ton-Ichi Ramen. I had it last night. It was decent. A couple dollars cheaper than Tomo, slightly larger portion, but the broth wasn't quite as good. They don't have a website, but it looks like there's another location in Downers Grove.

Ton-Ichi Ramen
724 Clark St, Evanston
(773)729-9300

bweiny wrote:Another ramen place opened within a half block of the new Tomo Japanese Street Food restaurant on Clark in downtown Evanston about a month ago - Ton-Ichi Ramen. I had it last night. It was decent. A couple dollars cheaper than Tomo, slightly larger portion, but the broth wasn't quite as good. They don't have a website, but it looks like there's another location in Downers Grove.

Ton-Ichi Ramen
724 Clark St
(773)729-9300

That could cause confusion if anyone sees the 773 area code and goes looking for it at that address in Chicago!

The Hot Dog Box at 4020 N. Milwaukee is closing, per their social media. Their last day is December 16th. https://www.facebook.com/TheHotDogBoxOfficial/posts/pfbid02DVfbJBViotr8HrNS9Le37AaGwc18WyLfULGt787sbgwoT8EHTdzKiLSzvQYw2qXyl

The location of Northern City chinese restaurant in Bridgeport is now called Uncle Zheng Chinese Cuisine. Not sure if it was taken over by other people or what, but I assume so. They have some other things on their menu now from NE China like Harbin Sausage and a bunch of other smoked meats, and much more.

Uncle Zheng Chinese Cuisine
742 W 31st St (Bridgeport)
Mon-Fri 11am - 10pm, Sat-Sun 10am - 10pm

http://www.unclezhangtogo.com

Dave148 wrote:RealGood Stuff Co. is bringing its locally sourced food, juices and smoothies to the fast-growing Fulton Market.

The 2,500-square-foot storefront at 333 N. Green St. opened in May.

RealGood Stuff, Healthy Food And Juice Spot Born In Chicago, Closes All Locations

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/12/01 ... locations/

A Puerto Rican restaurant is opening in Uptown early next year after getting its start from a ghost kitchen during the pandemic. Marina’s Bistro will open in early January at 4554 N. Magnolia Ave., taking over the former Uptown Dry Cleaners spot in the Magnolia Plaza.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/12/01 ... in-uptown/

Boiler Room closed suddenly and screwed over their employees.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/12/01 ... find-work/

gnarchief wrote:Boiler Room closed suddenly and screwed over their employees.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/12/01 ... find-work/

The owners could/should have communicated better but based on information in the linked article, that seems to be their only "sin." There's no mention of anyone not being paid for work they did. etc. Businesses close and change hands all the time and for a variety of reasons, those transactions cannot always be conduced in the open. The owners are under no obligation to continue pouring money into a failing venture. But not warning employees about an impending closure/sale, especially at this time of year (and apparently, with virtually no severance), seems like a questionable decision and probably one that could have been avoided.

=R=

That's what I mean by screwed over. If they had just said, "We're planning to close soon when the deal goes through," employees would have had the chance to search for new jobs to avoid a period of no income. Not considering that closing suddenly during a holiday break might leave people over a barrel shows that the owners had no regard for the people who kept their business afloat long enough to sell it off.

gnarchief wrote:That's what I mean by screwed over. If they had just said, "We're planning to close soon when the deal goes through," employees would have had the chance to search for new jobs to avoid a period of no income. Not considering that closing suddenly during a holiday break might leave people over a barrel shows that the owners had no regard for the people who kept their business afloat long enough to sell it off.

Yeah, understood. I guess I've just been desensitized by all the 'far worse' scenarios that often play out when places close. This was ill-handled and probably self-serving and yet, it definitely could have been (and often is) worse.

=R=

Soul Good Coffee is opening in the former The Curragh Irish Pub in Skokie on Lincoln Ave. Soft Opening this weekend.

Come by the new pop-up space this weekend and see what we’ve been up to these past few weeks!

We’ll be open Fri-Sun from 8am-2pm serving up all your fav drinks (plus new winter specials!) and we’d love to see ya (no food service) - Who’s coming!??

Official opening is next week - YAY! We’ve missed you guys so much

Soul Good Coffee
8266 Lincoln Ave,
Skokie, IL 60077
https://www.facebook.com/soulgoodcoffee/
https://www.instagram.com/p/ClpDH-xPE3k/?hl=en

polster wrote:Soul Good Coffee

That name, and its trite play on the words "it's all good", are just like the use of the name Saul Goodman in "Better Call Saul".