Grill Marx in Shorewood has closed. Sign on the door says:"due to uncontrollable circumstances, closed, will reopen soon"

Not a high class establishment, but Hope Buffet, located across from the Meijer in Plainfield has closed.

According to Penny Pollack via Chicago Magazine's Dish column: "After 10 star-studded years, Avenues in @ThePeninsulaChi will not reopen, after its Sept close to reconcept. There's still Shanghai Terrace."

Drover wrote:By the sounds of it, Kingfisher worked better as a working-class Jefferson Park joint ala Pier 5736 (where/which they should have stayed) than an upscale Andersonville spot.

It never really worked all that well as Pier 5736, either. Every time I went or drove by, the place was empty (except for th occasional weekend night). I never had all that much confidence ordering fish there. I feared a low turnover would adversley affect the product. Plus, it was a White Sox bar on the north side.

Hopped Up wrote:Never checked out Mista, but there are so many pizza options in the area (Calo, Great Lake, Ranalli's, and Homemade all within a block), it was hard to find room for it.

I'm disappointed that Mista closed. Their pizza was very different from the ones you named. More importantly, it was edible, something that can't be said for most of the others. But for me, Mista was also a great place for salads and wraps.

Just noticed another closure ... this time near my office:

Seems Cousin's Incredible Vitality (one of the raw food destinations in the city) on Irving Park has closed, although, according to their website, it says they're going through a remodel and were to re-open Nov 1 (it still looks pretty vacant). Over in the Yelp comments, many subscribers of their "Living Food Box" program were left in the lurch, and now it's a total sh*t-show: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cousins-incredi ... ty-chicago

Cousin's Incredible Vitality
3038 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL
http://www.cousinsiv.com/index.htm

Maria's Community Bar just posted on Facebook that Freddie's on 31st is now reopen. http://www.freddieson31st.com/locations.php

Hopped Up wrote:given the location on the north edge of the walking district

I just caught the above phrase.

What is a "walking district" here in Chicago? I've never heard that phrase.

kenji wrote:

Hopped Up wrote:given the location on the north edge of the walking district

I just caught the above phrase.

What is a "walking district" here in Chicago? I've never heard that phrase.

I took it to mean the section of Clark that has a lot of pedestrians (it was referring to Andersonville).

For instance, I live just south of Western and Division. When I walk my dog towards Wicker Park, I'm usually walking on side streets until I hit Leavitt or Hoyne, where I'll head up to Division because that's where the bars/shops/restaurants start. That would be a walking district (Division from Leavitt to Ashland). Any place where there is a lot of commercial property, and therefore, a higher number of pedestrians.

ziggy wrote: That would be a walking district (Division from Leavitt to Ashland). Any place where there is a lot of commercial property, and therefore, a higher number of pedestrians.

Gotcha. Thanks. We live just off of Milwaukee and Berteau, and there's tons of commercial property but not as much "pedestrian friendly" businesses as we'd like to have. Our new Alderman is working hard to change it within the entire ward. Lots of people around here use "Lincoln Square" as some kind of barometer of neighborhood success......

Interesting news in the A-Ville Daily (an on-line Andersonville paper):

"Finally some good news! Blommer Chocolate Company has signed a lease for a six month temporary store in the old Pastecceria Natalina space at 5406 N Clark St. The pop-up shop will be called The Candy Factory and is planning to open mid-November. If everything goes well they may even open a permanent store."

Tilli's on Halsted near Armitage has signs up saying it is closed for remodeling. Can't say I've actually seen any work going on yet. It is a great space and great location, but the food & service have always been very mediocre. Hopefully whatever happens is an improvement. Especially that patio in the summer.

New Hot Dog joint looks like they are opening 12/1 or early December. This used to be Peppe's for 40 years and the new owners said they are staying open late like the Wiener Circle and serving a simple great menu of Char Dogs, Polish, Grilled Salami, Fresh Fried Shrimp and Mac & Cheese.

Phil's Last Stand
2258 West Chicago Ave

http://www.philslaststand.com

The generic Taco place next to the generic Thai Place next to Scooters at 1648 W. Belmont has morphed into Funky Franks & Burgers--There's still a mexican items on the menu (tacos, jarritos, etc.) and the change was literally overnight without closing (as far as I know) so likely just a reconcepting of some kind. Regardless, the menu looks pretty generic. Was hoping for something interesting (ala Franks & Dawgs). Oh well.

Ursiform wrote:Maria's Community Bar just posted on Facebook that Freddie's on 31st is now reopen. http://www.freddieson31st.com/locations.php

Music to my ears.

chicagojacobs wrote:New Hot Dog joint looks like they are opening 12/1 or early December. This used to be Peppe's for 40 years and the new owners said they are staying open late like the Wiener Circle and serving a simple great menu of Char Dogs, Polish, Grilled Salami, Fresh Fried Shrimp and Mac & Cheese.

Phil's Last Stand
2258 West Chicago Ave

http://www.philslaststand.com

It was something else for a, very, brief amount of time too.

SSDD

LAZ wrote:I was sad to see that Peep's, a longtime landmark in Arlington Heights, has a "For Lease" sign up in front of a vacant building.

hhmmmmm, guess I should use my recently purchased Travelzoo brunch coupon soon!!

Kaufman's, the deli in Skokie, had a fire overnight and will be temporarily closed for the next few weeks, according to this story in the Tribune:

Skokie bakery damaged in overnight fire

nsxtasy wrote:Kaufman's, the deli in Skokie, had a fire overnight and will be temporarily closed for the next few weeks, according to this story in the Tribune:

Skokie bakery damaged in overnight fire

Plan "A" was for lox and bagels this morning.
I guess we will have to come up with plan "B"

Thanks for the tip---

cito wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:Kaufman's, the deli in Skokie, had a fire overnight and will be temporarily closed for the next few weeks, according to this story in the Tribune:

Skokie bakery damaged in overnight fire

Plan "A" was for lox and bagels this morning.
I guess we will have to come up with plan "B"

Thanks for the tip---

Plan B - NY Bagel and Bialy.

The Uptown Pie Company is closing on 11/27/11. You can read the farewell letter here, and stop in to say goodbye on the 26th. If you have a LivingSocial coupon as I do, it's a good time to order your Thanksgiving pie.

From the letter: Mark your calendars for Saturday, Nov. 26th. We’ll have free wine, free cupcakes, and free pie at the bakery. I’d love to say thank you in person for all of your support as well as have one final toast in the name of cupcakes & pies. Formal invites will be going out soon so e‐mail me (darius@everydaycookin.com) so I can add you to the evite list!

A waiter at Tillis had told us last spring that their rent was raised to a crazy level and they would be closing - not sure if that's what's happened but I'd miss the patio tho the food fluid use a serious upgrade.

headcase wrote:

chicagojacobs wrote:New Hot Dog joint looks like they are opening 12/1 or early December. This used to be Peppe's for 40 years and the new owners said they are staying open late like the Wiener Circle and serving a simple great menu of Char Dogs, Polish, Grilled Salami, Fresh Fried Shrimp and Mac & Cheese.

Phil's Last Stand
2258 West Chicago Ave

http://www.philslaststand.com

It was something else for a, very, brief amount of time too.

SSDD

Ski Dogs. It was around for a very brief amount of time.

I hope Phil's Last Stand chooses to leave out the staff/customer antics in his purported facsimile/homage to Weiner Circle. A quality late night dog place in the 'hood is always welcome, though I'm quite happy with Red Hot Ranch.

Very sorry to hear that! My wife and I spent many a Satuday having Dim Sum there.....what are people's favorite Dim Sum places.....Phoenix and "big" Three Happiness do not do it for my wife and I.

Happy Chef (R.I.P.)
2164 South Archer Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616[/quote]

aschie30 wrote:I hope Phil's Last Stand chooses to leave out the staff/customer antics in his purported facsimile/homage to Weiner Circle. A quality late night dog place in the 'hood is always welcome, though I'm quite happy with Red Hot Ranch.

Agreed on both accounts, but I'm still very happy about this place opening. It's closer to me than RHR and they'll be doing burgers....and the hood desperately needs a good char burger joint.

Opening in December 2011, Bread & Wine, 3732 W Irving Park Road, www.breadandwinechicago.com. Looks like a restaurant/market.
ampersand-- check!
"Farm-to-table", check!
I'm looking forward to trying this one-- trendiness factor notwithstanding.

Jen

Pie-love wrote:Opening in December 2011, Bread & Wine, 3732 W Irving Park Road, http://www.breadandwinechicago.com. Looks like a restaurant/market.
ampersand-- check!
"Farm-to-table", check!
I'm looking forward to trying this one-- trendiness factor notwithstanding.

Jen

You beat me to posting. We drove past the other night and I was going to do some research before I posted. Looks interesting!

Xippo on Damen and Grace has changed (concepts? owners?) to Revolver, whose menu seems to be a French-inspired version of pub food. Sounds interesting enough, but I'm not sure whether it will get any less empty than it always seem to be. I run by there several times a week and only see the staff sitting outside smoking.

Revolver
3529 N. Damen Ave.
(773) 529-9135
revolverchicago.com

i<3pizza wrote:Xippo on Damen and Grace has changed (concepts? owners?) to Revolver, whose menu seems to be a French-inspired version of pub food. Sounds interesting enough, but I'm not sure whether it will get any less empty than it always seem to be. I run by there several times a week and only see the staff sitting outside smoking.

Revolver
3529 N. Damen Ave.
(773) 529-9135
revolverchicago.com

apparently Revolver has some highfalutin chef...

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... w-open.php

jfibro wrote:

i<3pizza wrote:Xippo on Damen and Grace has changed (concepts? owners?) to Revolver, whose menu seems to be a French-inspired version of pub food. Sounds interesting enough, but I'm not sure whether it will get any less empty than it always seem to be. I run by there several times a week and only see the staff sitting outside smoking.

Revolver
3529 N. Damen Ave.
(773) 529-9135
revolverchicago.com

apparently Revolver has some highfalutin chef...

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... w-open.php

It's Aubriot. He's a bad ass