CHICAGO | General Developments

[the urban politician]

Chili's, Applebee's, TGIF's, and Ruby Tuesday are all the same restaurant to me.

Chain sit down restaurants that all serve a variation of all the same reheated frozen crap for the masses with mediocre service. Throwbacks from the suburban ideals of the 90's

[mattshoe]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Chili's, Applebee's, TGIF's, and Ruby Tuesday are all the same restaurant to me.

Chain sit down restaurants that all serve a variation of all the same reheated frozen crap for the masses with mediocre service. Throwbacks from the suburban ideals of the 90's

I agree, but I think its sad that the option isn't available anymore downtown, it definitely serves a need. My parents came in last minute this year for Easter from Detroit and we met downtown, we couldn't find anywhere to eat without prior reservations. We settled on this Chili's and had an incredible time. Its not Chicago's finest, but we created memories. I sent them the news that this Chili's is shut down, and they were sad.

[denizen467]

Comfort food and/or no-fuss alcohol, open late, inexpensive, with reasonably reliable and predictable atmosphere and service. That's the niche that those restaurants fill and that most people need at least at one point or another - and that some tourists definitely need occasionally - at least as a fall-back when other plans flop.

It does feel great seeing these cliched chains close up (partly as schadenfreude), but on reflection I have to admit having a couple of them around downtown is desirable. In River North / Streeterville, the only place that comes to mind where you can eat from a full menu cheap and fast in the late hours, other than these hokey chains and without having to endure the noise and chaos of a bar, is the Tempo diner. If we had more late night indie diners that would be great, but I think those work better in the neighborhoods (White Palace; Hollywood Grill; Elly's) and can be loathe to open up in areas with frequent unruly tourists and revelers as opposed to regulars. Eggsperience was another, at Ontario/Dearborn, that used have all-night hours, but now it stops at lunch.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

reheated frozen crap for the masses with mediocre service. Throwbacks from the suburban ideals of the 90's

Gee, snob much?

Or maybe just overcompensating because you're posting from Libertyville.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by mattshoe

I agree, but I think its sad that the option isn't available anymore downtown, it definitely serves a need. My parents came in last minute this year for Easter from Detroit and we met downtown, we couldn't find anywhere to eat without prior reservations. We settled on this Chili's and had an incredible time. Its not Chicago's finest, but we created memories. I sent them the news that this Chili's is shut down, and they were sad.

Yeah, it serves a need - I guess if you don't have any smart phones or don't know where/how to look it can work too. However - as someone who lives downtown - there's plenty of restaurants downtown you can go without having to wait even when other places nearby have a wait.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Gee, snob much?

Or maybe just overcompensating because you're posting from Libertyville.

It's being a snob to want non frozen food from a restaurant?

[Freefall]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Comfort food and/or no-fuss alcohol, open late, inexpensive, with reasonably reliable and predictable atmosphere and service. That's the niche that those restaurants fill and that most people need at least at one point or another - and that some tourists definitely need occasionally - at least as a fall-back when other plans flop.

It does feel great seeing these cliched chains close up (partly as schadenfreude), but on reflection I have to admit having a couple of them around downtown is desirable. In River North / Streeterville, the only place that comes to mind where you can eat from a full menu cheap and fast in the late hours, other than these hokey chains and without having to endure the noise and chaos of a bar, is the Tempo diner. If we had more late night indie diners that would be great, but I think those work better in the neighborhoods (White Palace; Hollywood Grill; Elly's) and can be loathe to open up in areas with frequent unruly tourists and revelers as opposed to regulars. Eggsperience was another, at Ontario/Dearborn, that used have all-night hours, but now it stops at lunch.

A 24 hour diner is about to go in at Chicago & Orleans.
http://chicago.eater.com/2016/9/1/12...h-opening-soon

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by maru2501

Houlihans on south side of river just east of Mich also closed fairly recently. Now lets get a demo permit for rainforest cafe

The Rock and Roll McDonalds while we're wanting to destroy tacky restaurants.

I can honestly say that I've never eaten at Chili's in my life.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Freefall

A 24 hour diner is about to go in at Chicago & Orleans.
http://chicago.eater.com/2016/9/1/12...h-opening-soon

I didn't see that! Normally I'd be demanding a highrise on that major corner, but for some reason a 24-hour diner is totally acceptable to me. Maybe partly due to Edward Hopper, there's nothing that screams "big city" to me like a late-night diner.

As for Chilis - even Times Square has TGI Fridays, I don't think it somehow reflects poorly on the city as a whole to have a Chilis in River North. Still, cities like Paris, Rome, etc manage to serve massive volumes of tourists without a significant presence of chain restaurants. It's a particularly American thing that I think we can easily do without. I'm sure entrepreneurs like the Melmans, etc will step up to fill the void with tourist-oriented restaurants that are at least unique experiences. Portillo's already fills this void to some extent.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Freefall

A 24 hour diner is about to go in at Chicago & Orleans.
http://chicago.eater.com/2016/9/1/12...h-opening-soon

Yeah. Been seeing that one for awhile. Don't forget about Tempo Cafe on State & Chestnut which is also a diner and open 24/7. No frills - always people there and their breakfast food is not bad at all (amongst other types of food they serve).

[Suburban Shadow]

Anybody hear anything about St. Boniface?

The court date was set for 8/31

[ithakas]

LG's micro-apartment proposal for Printers Row got a haircut...




I liked it better when it met the top of the neighboring Franklin building.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Comfort food and/or no-fuss alcohol, open late, inexpensive, with reasonably reliable and predictable atmosphere and service. That's the niche that those restaurants fill and that most people need at least at one point or another - and that some tourists definitely need occasionally - at least as a fall-back when other plans flop.

It does feel great seeing these cliched chains close up (partly as schadenfreude), but on reflection I have to admit having a couple of them around downtown is desirable. In River North / Streeterville, the only place that comes to mind where you can eat from a full menu cheap and fast in the late hours, other than these hokey chains and without having to endure the noise and chaos of a bar, is the Tempo diner. If we had more late night indie diners that would be great, but I think those work better in the neighborhoods (White Palace; Hollywood Grill; Elly's) and can be loathe to open up in areas with frequent unruly tourists and revelers as opposed to regulars. Eggsperience was another, at Ontario/Dearborn, that used have all-night hours, but now it stops at lunch.

edit: dammit someone beat me to it!

HEY good news, Griddle 24 at the corner of Chicago/Orleans is opening up soon and should fill that niche perfectly, they will even be serving boozy milkshakes, in fact its the same ownership as white palace and Hollywood grill!

http://chicago.eater.com/2016/9/1/12...h-opening-soon

[the urban politician]

^ Already posted above.

I like the boutiquey micro apt proposal. I wish Streeterville got a few more buildings like that.

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by ithakas

LG's micro-apartment proposal for Printers Row got a haircut...

Just for reference...... and to piss people off

[tjp]

You haters have obviously never tried Chili's chicken tenders.

[Mr Downtown]

^Or the skillet queso.

[ithakas]

I know there's been some discussion about the lack of small retail in the city, and the need to encourage more of it (whether by districts, road diets, smaller developed retail spaces, etc.), but this illustrates just how far behind Chicago is compared to other cities:

http://public.tableau.com/views/Reta...play_count=yes

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I know there's been some discussion about the lack of small retail in the city, and the need to encourage more of it (whether by districts, road diets, smaller developed retail spaces, etc.), but this illustrates just how far behind Chicago is compared to other cities:

http://public.tableau.com/views/Reta...play_count=yes

What's the source of data for this? Doesn't really mean anything until we know where the data came from.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by marothisu

What's the source of data for this? Doesn't really mean anything until we know where the data came from.

A new source of “big data” on consumer spending patterns comes from the JPMorganChase Institute, which uses anonymized credit and debit card data from more than 16 billion transactions by the bank’s 50 million customers to measure consumer spending patterns across the United States. Their “Local Consumer Commerce Index” index reports detailed data on spending patterns in 15 major metropolitan areas across the country.

http://cityobservatory.org/who-patro...all-retailers/