Chicago has contributed countless dishes to global food culture, from the obvious (deep dish pizza) to the less obvious (chicken a la king). 1942-present // South Loop Dearly departed: 15 Chicago restaurants Phil Vettel misses the most By 1910 she was divorced; she remarried and in later censuses she was described as widowed. Potato Head toys, while taking in nightly entertainment like drag shows and cabarets. Owner Joel Findlay was a brilliant chef, particularly when it came to fish, and his wife and partner, Catherine Findlay, created so many outstanding desserts that you'd have at least 15 to choose among every evening. 302 West was one of the finest restaurants the western suburbs ever produced. The outlawing of alcoholic beverages proved challenging to the Tip Top Inn, as it did to other leading Chicago restaurants of the pre-Prohibition era such as Rectors, the Edelweiss, and the Hofbrau, all of which would go under before the ban on selling alcohol ended. Inserra worked his way up at Gino`s and bought the restaurant in 1979. Sorry. Trotter's incredible legacy has stretched all across the city, as alumni of his kitchen have opened some of the best restaurants in Chicago. Somewhat surprisingly, even vegan soul food restaurants can be found now. I was going to go all inside-baseball and say the restaurant I really missed was Mistral, the John Hogan project that never quite got off the ground. In 1920 she was still running the delicatessen, i.e., grocery. I raved about the eclectic, but utterly professional, gem in Wilmette, a very pretty space done in aqua and salmon hues and dishes like Jarvis' wild turkey breast stuffed with truffle mousse. Henricis Pie in the skies revolving restaurants Way out coffeehouses Taste of a decade: 1890s restaurants Sweet treats and teddy bears Its not all glamor, is it Mr. Krinkle? He published a column titled Use Psychology on Your Customers in a trade magazine in 1965 in which he urged restaurant managers to be honest about the food they served. 27. Ham & eggs by any other name Good eaters: Josephine Hull Name trouble: Aunt Jemimas Reflections on a name: Plantation Dining on a roof Restaurant-ing on wheels Dinner to go Drive-up windows Dining during an epidemic: San Francisco Good eaters: bohemians Dining during an epidemic Fish on Fridays Image gallery: breaded things Lunching in a laboratory Women drinking in restaurants The puzzling St. Paul sandwich New Years Eve at the Latin Quarter Chinese for Christmas Turkeyburgers Themes: bordellos Finds of the day Early bird specials Franchising: Heap Big Beef Bostons automats Coffee and cake saloons Women chefs not wanted Entree from side dish to main dish Anatomy of a restaurateur: Woo Yee Sing Lobster stew at the White Rabbit Restaurants in the family: Doris Day Almost like flying Eye appeal Writing food memoirs Anatomy of a restaurateur: Ruby Foo Soul food restaurants Effects of war on restaurant-ing Behind the scenes at the Splendide Take your Valentine to dinner Lunching at the dime store Square meals Tea rooms for students Christmas dinner in the desert Green Book restaurants Dirty by design Clown themes Basic fare: meat & potatoes Dining with Chiang Yee in Boston Slumming Picturing restaurant food Find of the day: the Double R Coffee House Delicatessing at the Delirama Restaurant design and decoration Dining on a dime Anatomy of a restaurateur: George Rector Catering Dining in a garden Sawdust on the floor Learning to eat (in restaurants) Childrens menus Taste of a decade: the 1830s Check your hat How Americans learned to tip Image gallery: eating in a hat The up-and-down life of a restaurant owner Dressing the female server The Lunch Box, a memoir Crazy for crepes Famous in its day: The Pyramid Dining & wining on New Years Eve High-volume restaurants: Hilltop Steak House Famous in its day: the Public Natatorium Turkey on the menu Getting closer to your food Between courses: secret recipes Find of the day: Aladdin Studio Tiffin Room Americans in Paris: The Chinese Umbrella No smoking! 29. Its clever design may have been due to owner Bob Winters background in advertising. She lived to be 96. Then there was chef David Burke's menu, which included now-ubiquitous pastrami salmon and Burke's signature swordfish chop. 3. From Grant Achatz's Alinea and Next to Real Kitchen,. Restaurants from the 1990s that you miss | Chicago - Yelp Restaurant history quiz (In)famous in its day: the Nixons chain The checkered life of a chef Catering to the rich and famous Famous in its day: London Chop House Who invented Caesar salad? These are the closed Chicago restaurants, bars, nightclubs and more that we pine for the most, and the spots that have taken their place Tuesday September 9 2014 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email . Mob restaurants As the restaurant world turned, July 17 Dining in summer Dining by gaslight Anatomy of a restaurateur: Charles Sarris Womens restaurants Restaurant history day Charge it! 38. Aside from Prohibition, Hieronymus attributed the restaurants demise to the death of gourmet dining. Pre-1980 RESTAURANT SCENE Chicago Illinois IL AE0066. Although the company liquidated in 1991, there are a handful of independently owned stores left around the United States. (Chicago Tribune ). 1965-late 1980s // Lincoln Park (Cantonese) No one has yet equaled its egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, chicken sub gum chow mein, and pan-fried noodles. With his fingers in many pies, Chef Louis was assisted by his wife Sada and a contingent of relatives, not to mention quite of few of his compatriots from Hungary who served in The Bakerys kitchen and dining room (one going so far as to grow his own handlebar mustache). In his book Soul Food, Adrian Miller observed that Cleaver wrote in Soul on Ice (1968), The emphasis on Soul Food is counter-revolutionary black bourgeois ideology. Instead, wrote Cleaver, The people in the ghetto want steaks. Light on the tongue pizzas, terrific pasta dishes and clever desserts helped Sole Mio to a very nice, nine-year run that ended in 1997. The Street Life of Chicago in the 1970s through these - Bygonely Alinea (Italian) In a city with a proud red-sauce tradition, Tony Mantuano singlehandedly awakened us to the exquisite joys of Northern Italian cuisine. Alexanders Steak House Chicago magazine newsletters have you covered. I'm working on a book about the Rush Street area from the 1800's to the 1980's and the characters, movers & shakers, nightclubs, restaurants, and music that made it happen. What was the name of the restaurant located at 6930 south shore on the main floor in the 1970s. Aruns The Cave, in Old Town, opened shortly after The Bakery. . Phil's 50: Chicago's top restaurants rated, reviewed, mapped , 25 Chicago restaurants earn Michelin stars in 2017 , Craving: Italian -- a month of Chicago's best pastas, antipasti, pizza, secondi and more . Now no reason was needed at all. Spiaggia (steaks, Italian) If the walls of this 1870 edifice could talk, they would spill decades of political deals cut over perfectly char-crusted aged prime steaks. 12 Things You'll Remember If You Grew Up In The 80s In Chicago 37. 33. In 1944, during World War II, lines formed at the door. No, not the four-star restaurant by Curtis Duffy and Michael Muser, which is still very much alive. Savarin showed Hogan's mastery of French technique; the menu interspersed bistro classics with sturgeon-wrapped crab mousse and a knockout composition of sea urchin and crabmeat in lobster sauce with a sabayon gratin. Then Uno introduced deep-dish, and it was revolutionary. (Thai) Before Arun Sampanthavivat opened this jewel box, we had never tasted elegant Thai food. (steaks) The rolling-cart show of massive cuts of plastic-wrapped prime beef raised the bar on excessive steak consumption from maybe to mandatory. The restaurant made pan-cooked pizza that Inserra claims is responsible for the tradition of Chicago as a deep-dish pizza town. 1965-late 1980s // Lincoln Park 1979-present // River North The Most Historic Places to Dine in Chicago - Culture Trip Ambria Too obvious? The Eccentric, a Rich Melman creation with you-know-who as its most visible partner, opened in 1989 with Michael Kornick as chef (succeeded by Jody Denton) and had a very respectable six-year run in River North. Merci, Jean Banchet. Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1976 Celebrities who visited the restaurant included "Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds, Phyllis Diller, Michael J. The restaurant advertised heavily during the Lenten season. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions. The food was spicy, the music loud (vinyl only, played on a console stereo), the tablecloths reptilian. Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. 34. distinguished dining award by Holiday magazine. . For New York City, it broke restaurant listings into the categories Steaks, American Specialties, Seafood, and Chinese but not Soul Food. Still, in 1977 Cornell University named it one of the countrys six great restaurants, and, despite its loudly banging front door, too-brisk service, lack of decor, and awkward layout, its loyal patrons stuck by it and it remained profitable to the end. 7. Everest Louis Szathmarys restaurant, The Bakery, opened in Chicago at a time when restaurant going in that city was not a very exciting proposition. Greg Borzo's new book "Lost Restaurants of Chicago" celebrates departed eateries, from those lingering in recent memory to the nearly forgotten class, from high-end to bizarre, and spots serving everything from standard American fare to ethnic cuisine. In 1912 her daughter Maude Le Page created quite a stir and became a minor celebrity when she stood up in the balcony of a Chicago theater and loudly proclaimed that she would sell herself to a man for $1,000 so that she could escape working in a deli (!) By 1930, at age 71, her occupation was listed as tea room proprietor, but no longer in the 1940 census. Shangri-La Until 1995, the only way to experience chef Jean Joho's food was by digging deep into your wallet to dine at Everest. Check out these old photos to see what Chicago's restaurants looked like in the 1950s. Try the signature hand-cut . Gone were the days when people indulged in a nice restaurant dinner only when traveling or celebrating a birthday or anniversary. 1966-2005 // Gold Coast 11. What became known as edible soul food, such as chitterlings, pigs feet, greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and cobbler (to name just a few), had been popular in the South long before the words soul food were applied. (soul food) Long after visits from Martin Luther King Jr. and Aretha Franklin, this landmark spot remained the go-to for corn bread, smothered chicken, grits, and cobbler. 2158 reviews. Over the years but surely not simultaneously there were the Colonial Room [pictured at top ca. $2.99. With no meat on the menu, the restaurant would have had the advantage of escaping wartime food restrictions and shortages. But the restaurant almost certainly did not have all the exotic items available at all times. It took our breath away then, and it still does. 23. 36. Desserts included the opera-inspired Tosca's Kiss and the Otello, and the dining rooms were decorated with vintage opera posters American opera companies in one room, international companies in the other. This was the perfect fall restaurant, I thought; the menu offered game (chutney-glazed grilled quail, grilled venison with mustard sauce), and Carolyn's voluptuous soups were not to be missed. (1989-2018) Chicago's Blarney Stone / 3424 N. Sheffield Ave. Chicago, IL. Gibsons Steakhouse When I first moved to Chicago in 1993, our city had just become famous for its music scene. Gone but not forgotten: Chicago businesses we miss - Time Out Chicago In an opening advertisement Bowl & Roll promised a range of unusual soups such as Hungarian sour cherry soup, Scandinavian fruit soup, and kohlrabi soup. This seemed to hold especially true for those higher in social status. (French) This bastion of haute owes its successfour stars for 19 straight yearsto Jean Joho, the anti-trend chef who shows no signs of letting up. Revolving restaurants II: the Merry-Go-Round Basic fare: shrimp We never close Tablecloths checkered past Famous in its day: Tip Top Inn Find of the day: J.B.G.s French restaurant Dont play with the candles Interview: whos cooking? (The building is now a Cheetah Gym. As executive chef at Armour he helped launch the companys Continental Cuisine line of frozen entrees for the home and commercial market that came in polybags that could be immersed in boiling water and served. Chicago restaurants | Restaurant-ing through history We already have this email. We gathered them from experience, of course, but also from Chicagos voluminous files, avid conversations, and old guidebooks. Charlie Trotters Then, at Topo, he made creative Mexican fare a white-tablecloth experience. 6. Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! The illustrated menu shows 14 entrees. We still dream about the pasta neri. Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. Digesting the Madonna Inn Halloween soup Restaurant-ing with John Margolies True confessions Basic fare: pancakes Black waiters in white restaurants Catering to airlines What were they thinking? (Mexican) Did Rick Bayless think we had never eaten tacos or enchiladas before? The Suburban Chicago Cocaine Nightclubs of the 1980s - InsideHook Why the menu is named Trebor Dinner is a mystery. The first Taste of Chicago (1980) Flickr/Monique Wingard Set up along Michigan Avenue between Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building, you may have been one of the 250,000 people to first enjoy this one-day event if you lived in Chicago in the 1980's. Women belonging to the Social and Literary society of a Baptist church in St. Paul MN dressed in Colonial costumes and hosted a chicken and chitterlings dinner in 1916 to celebrate Lincolns birthday, an event where the identity politics were quite different than what would develop in the Black Power movement. Dj vu! We're far too young to have firsthand experience, but we still dream of sitting on the chrome stools in the pink neon glow every time we watch Risky Business, when Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay enjoy a bite after some slo-mo CTA shagging.What's taken its place: Still seeking a gastrointestinal lube job at 4am with a side of nostalgia? (French) In its heyday, the best French restaurant in America. 25. 1970s chicago restaurants. It was such a hit, in fact, that Gilbert opened another location in Lincoln Park in 2009. Szathmary, who claimed a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Budapest, had learned to cook in Hungary during WWII when he was conscripted into the Hungarian army. The building, designed in Moorish Gothic style by architect Harry S. Wheelock, was constructed in 1899 and razed in 1990. Early vegetarian restaurants Famous in its day: Blancos Blue plate specials Basic fare: club sandwiches Gossip feeds restaurants Image gallery: business cards Restaurant row At the sign of the . In 1945 another reporter from the Amsterdam News set out to find chitterlings in Harlem restaurants. 1935-1983 // Gold Coast Chef David Jarvis had me at pecan-breaded oysters, a crunchy, sweet and earthy dish that curled my toes in 1990. In their honor the restaurant posted one of Johnsons quotations over their table in which he criticized French menus, requesting thy knaves to bring me a dish of hogs pudding, a slice or two from the upper cut of a well roasted sirloin, and two apple dumplings., It was a popular restaurant, said to be especially well liked by male patrons. Fish & chips, inc. was conveniently located in the Loop, across the street from the central Chicago library, now the Chicago Cultural Center. Beef Steaks. Elijah Muhammad denounced soul food as a legacy of slavery that should be decisively rejected. Its extensive menu of specialties such as Stuffed Whitefish with Crabmeat and Suzettes Tip Top, some of the more than 100 dishes created by Hieronymus, was no longer in vogue. Whyland, proprietor of Chicago's great game restaurant, St. Elmo's at 145 Dearborn St., refuses to dine with a Mrs. Salisbury on the grounds that she works in a bordello. I loved the bustling look and feel of the place, the bagged demi baguettes that greeted you at the table; and when I griped in print about the lack of a coatroom, management quickly added one. She now writes a breakfast column for the Chicago Tribune, and while it's delightful, it's no replacement for the best breakfast spot in town.What's taken its place: A notable new breakfast place hasn't opened since the closing of Ina's, so we'll pick an old standby: Southport Grocery. Dennis Terczak (brother of John) was the original chef at Avanzare (a Streeterville restaurant that almost made this list), and Terczak took that spirit with him to Lincoln Park, where Sole Mio (which he opened with Jennifer Newbury) became a quintessential neighborhood restaurant, chock-full of regulars who enjoyed hefty portions, approachable prices and some of the best Italian cooking in the city. I narrowed my list to 15 restaurants, which wasn't easy. 15. Restaurants - Encyclopedia of Chicago Watch the restaurants Facebook page for the next appearance. First founded in Ohio in 1980, the 1950s-style restaurant grew quickly, with about 100 locations at its peak. EXTRA 20% OFF 3+ ITEMS See all eligible items and terms. Miller laments the decline of restaurants that serve soul food, marked by the closure of landmarks such as Army and Lous and Soul Queen in Chicago. Critic John Hess, in 1974, questioned the high regard that Holiday magazine bestowed on The Bakery and declared its Beef Wellington the quintessence of the pretentious gourmet plague. Patrons sent letters to Chicago newspapers saying the Roast Duckling was as tough as an auto tire, and charging that the restaurants acclaim was based on mass hysteria whipped up by Chef Louis himself. (steaks) This indie steak house nodded to its Jewish deli rootschopped liver, herringattracted celebs like Johnny Carson, and spawned a cheesecake empire. circa 1930-1978 // South Shore Oprah Winfrey, left, was known to stop by tables at The Eccentric, the restaurant she opened with Rich Melman. In the mid-1970s The Bakerys reputation began to sag somewhat along with continental cuisine generally.