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Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Kchi
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: November 05, 2013 11:40AM
I was recently asked by someone if I knew of any "family style" restaurants in the Rosemont area. Their definiton of family style is a non-chain type of restaurant where you can buy a entree with soup and salad all for one price, sort of like a diner.
These types of businesses seem to be disappearing. My assumption this is due to younger people growing up eating at national chains and being more comfortable lookig for places like Chili's, Outback Steak houses,Friday's or more recently a taste for Mexican type food rather than meatloaf.
I alos assume that these businesses in years past, were run as family businesses where the whole family was expected to work. With long hours, low pay and more opportunities, I assume youger people have no interest or expectation of taking over the family business.
Some places that I know of that still exist are Jack's in Skokie although they really cut back off on their hours, Sanders down the block on Touhy. Family Palace at Gunnison and Harlem.
Feel free to comment on existing restaurants or places that you remember from the past that are gone.
These types of businesses seem to be disappearing. My assumption this is due to younger people growing up eating at national chains and being more comfortable lookig for places like Chili's, Outback Steak houses,Friday's or more recently a taste for Mexican type food rather than meatloaf.
I alos assume that these businesses in years past, were run as family businesses where the whole family was expected to work. With long hours, low pay and more opportunities, I assume youger people have no interest or expectation of taking over the family business.
Some places that I know of that still exist are Jack's in Skokie although they really cut back off on their hours, Sanders down the block on Touhy. Family Palace at Gunnison and Harlem.
Feel free to comment on existing restaurants or places that you remember from the past that are gone.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Dunning1
(---.dhs.gov)
Date: November 05, 2013 12:10PM
Having worked in Rosemont for quite a few years now, I am familiar with most of the restaurants out here. Yes, it appears that the chain restaurants are taking over here. A longtime favorite was Abruzzi, in the shopping center just west of River Road on Higgins. It was formerly known as the Olympic. Abruzzi closed down about two years ago as there was some problem where they had to tear up the floor of the building. The owner, did reopen, however, taking over the old Mama K's on Lawrence Avenue, and now the restaurant is known as Richie's Place. They have a particularly good Italian sauce. Another favorite, maybe slightly upscale from the "family" designation, is Café Zalute on Devon, west of River Road, across from the casino. Its an Italian themed restaurant, lots of unusual entrees, and the best lobster bisque in the world on Fridays. A long time Rosemont staple, Pancakes Eggcetera, again on Higgins near River, just closed down because the building is coming down. They were offered the old Abruzzi space in the shopping center but it was too expensive for them. Al and Andy's, on Irving Park, is a classic family restaurant, quite reasonable, just east of 25th Avenue, on the north side of the street. I was quite surprised to find that Gibson's, the steak house, is very affordable for lunch and offers a wide selection, tho again not quite a family restaurant. A little bit further away, you have the Elmwood on Belmont, about 7700 west, which is also a classic family restaurant. Going back to Rosemont, I remember there was a wonderful buffet restaurant located on the current site of the Rosemont CTA Blue Line station, but the name escapes me at the moment. I remember it was the first buffet I had ever seen as a child. Just north of Higgins on Mannheim Road, in what is now the abandonded ACE car rental site, there used to be a nice restaurant called Burkley's, which was kind of a bar/restaurant, but served good food. The only other suggestion I can make is to go down Mannheim right under the bridge by Addison St., and visit Al & Joe's, who are famous for their subs. A hidden surprise is that they make some of their own pasta, and the dinner dishes can be quite good, and its a place you could take the whole family.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Dunning1
(---.dhs.gov)
Date: November 06, 2013 11:58AM
The name of the buffet on River Road, on the current site of the CTA Station came back to me. It was called Heuer's. I believe they reopened somewhere far northwest but not sure where. I was living in NYC at the time.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
trainutlen
(---.lais.com)
Date: November 07, 2013 02:20PM
I remember Heur's but wasn't it a little further south? My father worked for Clark Equipment in Rosemont and they had their X-mas parties there.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
(63.226.79.---)
Date: November 07, 2013 04:57PM
Dunning - great places you mentioned!
My uncle and aunt used to take me to Olympic, and also over to a tiny diner just south of Burkley's in the TraveLodge parking lot that made the coffee shop in the Ohio House motel look palatial.
Next to that, across the creek, there was an Uncle Charlie's on the corner where the McDonalds is now.
There was also a place called the Shady Rest Inn where the Giordano's now stands on Higgins - in fact the building was originally the 'new' Shady Rest but didn't last long and Giordano's took over.
My uncle and aunt used to take me to Olympic, and also over to a tiny diner just south of Burkley's in the TraveLodge parking lot that made the coffee shop in the Ohio House motel look palatial.
Next to that, across the creek, there was an Uncle Charlie's on the corner where the McDonalds is now.
There was also a place called the Shady Rest Inn where the Giordano's now stands on Higgins - in fact the building was originally the 'new' Shady Rest but didn't last long and Giordano's took over.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Dunning1
(---.dhs.gov)
Date: November 07, 2013 05:55PM
WayOut-The restaurant in the Travel Lodge was called "Snack Time." I remember it well because my mother's cousin had a restaurant with the same name at Fullerton and Cicero. No relation between the two. Another place that just struck my memory is a diner that was on the northwest corner of River Road and Higgins...I want to say it was called Mac's Diner. The building is long gone and the land was vacant for a long time. Now there is a new hotel/office complex going up there. I also forgot to mention where I had lunch today..not really a family restaurant, but a longtime Rosemont staple...Village Pizza. They used to be located in the same building as Pancakes Eggcetera, just west of the Rosewood and across the sidestreet from the 7-11. They used to have a nice lunch pizza buffet, but since they had to relocate into a new space behind the 7-11, they hardly have any seating area. Their Philly cheese steak sandwiches are great tho.
Trainutlen-I'm pretty sure that Heuer's was located on the southern end of the current CTA site....I remember it being between the two expressway overpasses.
Trainutlen-I'm pretty sure that Heuer's was located on the southern end of the current CTA site....I remember it being between the two expressway overpasses.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
trainutlen
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: November 08, 2013 08:22AM
You could be right-that area has changed so much since Clark moved out there around 1964 or so, from Belmont and Western, since it was then located on the grounds of Riverview at Roscoe.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Dunning1
(---.dhs.gov)
Date: November 08, 2013 11:43AM
Trainutlen-I am curious just where Clark Equipment was located out here. I work in that area between I-294 and Mannheim Road, right where the new baseball dome was erected. When we moved out here, there was a small freight terminal on the site of the baseball dome, but that was subsequently torn down. You can see the foundations of some buildings around here, but I am not sure what they were. I once heard something about Tropicana being out here. Also, I read a book about Sam Giancana that mentioned that in the pre-incorporation days of Rosemont, before the tollway was even built, there was a bordello at the corner of Pearl and Bryn Mawr. Interesting.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
(63.226.79.---)
Date: November 08, 2013 01:58PM
There used to be a lot of mobbed-up hotels in that area following the war - the Caravelle, which Don Stephens bought from Giancana; Manny Skar's Sahara further south on Mannheim, the failure of which ultimately led to his murder in 1965. Gene Autry later owned a whole bunch of that land (including the Sahara itself).
But you're correct; the stories of that area being a wide-open spot for vice go back long before that.
But you're correct; the stories of that area being a wide-open spot for vice go back long before that.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
trainutlen
(---.lais.com)
Date: November 08, 2013 05:04PM
I want to say that Clark Equipment was at Balmoral and River Road, I do know that it was due south of the largest hotel, at the time, and on the southwest corner. My dad retired from there in 1985 but I can remember having to go out there in 1967 and dig his car out of the parking lot. I also remember that Clark's original buidling in Chicago was bisected by the Greyhound roller coaster.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
rjmachon
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: November 14, 2013 06:07PM
Wasn't Clark Equipment at River Road and Ainslie? They sold forklifts there?
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
SWEDE
(---.lightspeed.iplsin.sbcglobal.net)
Date: June 03, 2015 12:26AM
Any southsiders remember a small restauant across from Lourdes High School on 55th and Komensky called Sir Ref? It was the owners name Ferris spelled backwards. It started out as a pancake house, then a steak house and then in the late 60's he added a lounge next door. I worked there all through high school. Who in high school could afford a great steak at a employee discount?
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Cragin Spring
(---.dhcp.stcd.mn.charter.com)
Date: June 04, 2015 12:35AM
Your exactly right about these family style restaurants disappearing. The main reason is the younger generation are attracted to chains. These family style restaurants are mostly owned by Greeks where you could get a good meal for a decent price with a big menu selection. I know of some but they are much more scattered in Chicago and the burbs.
You mentioned around Rosemont and others replied with some good choices. But going just east & west from Rosemont I can think of a few. One of my favorite nearby O'Hare is the Rose Garden on Higgins & Arlington Heights Rd. Another is the The Blossom Café in Norridge at Cumberland & Lawrence. Years back it was called something else. But one that had disappeared except for a couple locations is Dapper's. They had a location on Belmont & Thatcher, Cumberland north of Lawrence and one in Glenview. But all 3 closed their doors.
You mentioned around Rosemont and others replied with some good choices. But going just east & west from Rosemont I can think of a few. One of my favorite nearby O'Hare is the Rose Garden on Higgins & Arlington Heights Rd. Another is the The Blossom Café in Norridge at Cumberland & Lawrence. Years back it was called something else. But one that had disappeared except for a couple locations is Dapper's. They had a location on Belmont & Thatcher, Cumberland north of Lawrence and one in Glenview. But all 3 closed their doors.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
rjmachon
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: June 04, 2015 04:09PM
Cragin, It was the Phoenix Restaurant before the The Blossom Café in Norridge.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
rubydaubert
(117.247.203.---)
Date: June 05, 2015 05:30AM
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Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Dunning1
(---.dhs.gov)
Date: June 05, 2015 01:41PM
One thing I do remember about he old Phoenix Restaurant happened about fifteen or twenty years ago, when a waitress broke up with her boyfriend, who happened to be a private pilot. He was circling around the area, really in O'Hare flightspace, and was threatening to crash his plane into the restaurant unless she made up with him. The whole area was closed down for a while, don't remember the outcome.
Re: Family Style Restaurants
Posted by:
Cragin Spring
(---.dhcp.stcd.mn.charter.com)
Date: June 07, 2015 02:15AM
Thank you rjmachon. Dunning1 I do remember that incident with the pilot. He took off from Palwaukee Airport and was in dangerous airspace. I believe he finally landed was arrested and went in the hospital for evaluation.
