Chicago Area Restaurant News – August 2018
Posted by Peter J. Poulopoulos at 5 August, at 10 : 38 AM Print
News from Chicago Restaurants August 2018:
From Eater Chicago:
Anthony Bourdain’s Most Memorable Chicago Quotes –
Anthony Bourdain felt a connection with Chicago, and many of the city’s residents were reeling Friday morning after hearing the news of his death. Bourdain brought the national spotlight to Burt’s Place’s pizza located in the suburbs, the South Side’s mother-in-law sandwich, and Hot Doug’s gourmet sausages. Back in 2009, when No Reservations aired its Chicago episode, he called the city “A colossus right smack in the middle of the country,” with “everything that I love about a city — tall towers, hard corners, and sharp elbows. And, of course, food.”
Greektown –
Another relic of the old West Loop has fallen. Roditys, which was around for 45 years at 222 S. Halsted Street, has closed.
From Chicago Magazine:
Get Ready to Rethink What You Know About Greek Food –
Gyros. Lamb chops. Grape leaves. Cheap rosé. That’s pretty much the extent of the Greek food repertoire that most Chicago diners have in mind. Chef Louie Alexakis is about to do his best to change that. “Greek food in the Midwest is still your classic home-style meal,” Alexakis says. “That’s fabulous, but I also think, as we’ve seen in many other cuisines, it’s nice to elevate the food a bit.” That’s the goal at Avli Taverna (1335 W. Wrightwood Ave., Lincoln Park), his new restaurant that is set to open this summer. Alexakis is a veteran of the Chicago food scene; long-time diners might remember him as the chef at the city’s first tapas spot, Ouzeri, in the mid-’90s.
Did City Racial Discrimination Cause the Shutdown of a Chicagoland Restaurant? –
The city of Blue Island shut down Island Bar & Grill in March after a shooting outside the restaurant earlier that month. But its owner — and “a dozen” protestors — believe that the real reason the city shut it down is because of its majority of African American clientele in a mostly white and Hispanic suburb.
Chicago’s Largest Restaurant Group Will Ban Plastic Straws at 120 Locations –
Chicago’s largest restaurant company, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, has declared its 120 restaurants will stop using non-biodegradable plastic straws, joining a growing movement sweeping the country. Rich Melman’s company announced they hope to phase out plastic straws at all 120 of its restaurants by the Fall, the Tribune reports. While Chicago does not have a law prohibiting non-biodegradable straws, cities like Seattle, Oakland, and Miami Beach have all implemented bans against them. New York’s city council is also considering similar legislation. Interestingly, it has been estimated that Americans use 500 million plastic straws daily.
Chicago Bar Under Fire For Defending Trump’s Immigration Policy –
Customers are calling Chicago bar owner Peter Malek a racist and contemplating a boycott after he posted a politically charged Internet meme criticizing undocumented Mexican immigrants. Holiday Club, his Uptown bar at 4000 N. Sheridan Road, has already apologized online for the post. Meanwhile, people have responded with a litany of negative Yelp and Facebook reviews. On Tuesday morning, Malek posted a meme of a mother holding an infant with the Mexican flag and a caption that read, “I don’t want you to take away my child,” and a second caption below that read “Well then, don’t become an illegal alien across our border”. Many members of the public quickly took screen captures and began publically sharing their outrage.
Lincoln Park’s Bricks Pizza To Close This Weekend After Two Decades –
The hits keep on coming for the area near Armitage and Clark in Lincoln Park, where a third high-profile restaurant is set to close its doors on Sunday. Bricks Pizza, the thin-crust specialist that’s been open for 21 years inside its dark subterranean space at 1909 N. Lincoln Avenue, has posted signs announcing that it will soon close. Big Bricks, located in North Center, seems unaffected by the news of its sibling restaurant closing.
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