Dining in Chicago

[Dark Saint Alaick]

Originally Posted by Advocate_Arham_Ali

सूत्र निर्माण के लिए निश्चय ही आप प्रशंसा के पात्र है अलैक जी किन्तु , वर्तमान शिकागो का वर्णन और सूत्र का प्रस्तुतिकरण अगर मात्रभाषा में भी मिल जाता ........तो जाने कितने ही हिंदी प्रेमी आपके मेहनत पर शिकागो घूम आते !

आपका कहना उचित है बन्धु। किन्तु अमेरिका और इंग्लैंड की यात्रा के लिए अंग्रेज़ी जानना जरूरी है, बाकायदा साबित करना होता है कि आपकी अंग्रेज़ी ठीक-ठाक नहीं, बल्कि बेहतर है। हिन्दी वालों को वीज़ा नहीं मिलता। इसीलिए मैं इस सूत्र के लिए अंग्रेज़ी ही उपयुक्त समझता हूं।

[rajnish manga]

Originally Posted by Dark Saint Alaick

CHEZ LOUIS

Cuisine for the Epicure

Louis, with his suave Gontinental manner, his youthful dash, his rare good taste in providing the unusual in decor y and M. Rene Seurin, of Bordeaux, trained in the kitchens of Paris and as skillful in the culinary art as Bach was in the art of music....

..... the service is genuinely Gontinental and completely satisfying, and the Ghicken Salad a la Louis -- well, try it yourself....

Saint Alaik ji, I am delighted to find so much information about chicago's restaurants - their names, addresses, special cuisines, decor and even the names of chefs they flaunt. This is a real treasure trove for those planning to visit US in general and Chicago in particular or for armchair travellers like me. Thanks.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

BOLLARD & FRAZIER'S CHOP HOUSE

20 West Lake Street

In this age of the equality of sexes, Bollard & Frazier's historic chop house and sea food restaurant stands out like a Gibraltar of masculinity. Stubbornly and consistently, down the years, it has refused its fine cuisine to Milady, remaining one of the last of the stag restaurants in Chicago. Therefore, it has become the sportsmen's headquarters of the Loop. Contiguous to the Randolph Street theatrical district, it is also a popular gathering place for actors, race horse fans, newspapermen and politicians.
Here, you may dine on the same bar (as well as at tables) which did service over a generation ago in George Bollard's famous old Edelweiss Buffet in South Wabash Avenue. Located next door to Von Lengerke & Antoine's, the pioneer sporting goods house, the Edelweiss attracted huntsmen, fishermen and trap-shooters. Nowadays, they come to George Bollard's place on Lake Street. Jess Frazier, the other member of the firm, is himself a hunter of no small ability. Photographs of famed trap-shooters line the walls; stuffed samples of tarpon, brook trout and "muskies" are also displayed; and the atmosphere is thick with cigar smoke.
This is a favorite dining place for Sidney Smith, Sol Hess, and S. L. ("Mescal Ike") Huntley, the newspaper comic strip artist; Clark Rodenbach, the movie critic; Bob Becker, editor of "Field and Stream" in the Chicago Tribune; Lloyd Lewis, the drama critic and writer; Jimmy Murphy, dean of police reporters; William Hale Thompson, former mayor and yachtsman; Con Rourke, the political writer; Charley Ellison, the race horse owner; and Sam Lederer, the noted press agent.
For the names of any other celebrities who dine here you will have to see Jimmy Morris, who has been with Mr. Bollard for fourteen years and who knows everybody in the Loop worth knowing. Jimmy will also help you in making selections from the Bollard & Frazier menu. The steaks, chops, and sea foods, prepared under the expert eye of Chef Carrodi Arrigoni, are incomparable for their savoriness. Meals are a la carte and prices within reason.

Malire d' hotel: Jimmy Morris

[Dark Saint Alaick]

LINDY'S 75
West Randolph Street

Situated in the heart of showland, Lindy's is one of the most popular theatrical restaurants in town. Go there any hour of the day or night (it never closes) and you will be certain to find some star from a current show, or a host of near-stars and satellites. Sam Horwitz, the entertaining proprietor, is well known to them all. Mostly you will find them here after the show, from midnight on -- dining, laughing, telling stories, greeting each other or partaking of Sam's toothsome after-theatre specialties. That group over there in one of the booths under the mezzanine, exploding in laughter at frequent intervals, might be listening to stories from the lips of Julius Tannen, the comedian. Or those two jovial fellows in the corner might be that incomparable team of funmakers -- Clark and McCullough. Others come here when they are playing in Chicago -- Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, Herbert Rawlinson, Texas
Guinan, Rudy Vallee, Phil Baker, George White, Georgie Jessel.
Many local newspapermen eat here; also such noted Randolph Streeters as Milton Weil, the music publisher; Phil R. Davis, the poet and divorce lawyer for theatrical people; Gail Borden, the columnist; and Sam Gershwin, the theatrical advertising man. They all come because they like Sam Horwitz and his foods. Sam, by the way, was the founder of the original Lindy's in New York City.
Emil, who made a name for himself as chef in De Jonghe's famous old Chicago restaurant, presides over Sam's kitchen and is responsible for the popularity of those after-theatre specialties -- Italian spaghetti with mushrooms, Chinese chop suey, French pancakes, Emil's special chicken a la king, German potato pancakes, fried New York counts, kosher frankfurter sausages, American ham and eggs, shrimp salad a la Russe, and Mexican chicken chili con carne. The service in Lindy's is quiet and quick and the waitresses are always helpful. There is a $1.75 table d'hote dinner that is commendable. The a la carte is less expensive.

Mattre d'botel: Sam Horwitz

[Dark Saint Alaick]

PETE'S STEAKS

161 North Dearborn Street

There is nothing inviting about the exterior of this place. A blunt ordinary sign out front merely announces "Pete's Steaks." Glancing through the window, you see only an ordinary white-tiled counter lunch room. Nowhere is there any outward hint of the inward culinary delights of this small, unpretentious Dearborn Street restaurant, a few feet north of Randolph.
But go inside, mount the steps at the rear to the gallery, and you will find yourself in a unique' dining room -- long, narrow, and looking much like a dining car. Dozens of framed photographs of noted actors and actresses, personally autographed to the proprietor and his wife, decorate the walls. And the tables are crowded with gay laughing theatrical people -- vaudeville artists, chorus girls, song boosters, press agents, box office men and, almost nightly, a "big time" star or two.
What brings these show people and celebrities -- as well as many other people -- to this place are the steaks. And what steaks! Thick, juicy, tender, dripping with real butter, and smothered in a heaping mound of cottage fried potatoes, radishes, green onions, peas and sliced Bermuda onions, these steaks have made the proprietor, Bill Botham, known from Broadway to Hollywood. His place is to Chicago what Beefsteak Charlie's is to New York. And we feel that Bill is deserving of his fame, for to eat a Pete's Special here is to indulge in a gustatory adventure that is rare indeed. No truer catch phrase was ever adopted than the one Bill uses for his restaurant: "Where Steel Knives Are Unknown."
Whenever Paul Whiteman, Al Jolson, Rudy Vallee, the Great Nicola, Eddie Cantor, or the popular Chicago Jazz Idol, Paul Ash, become "steak conscious" while in town, they go to Pete's Steaks. So do many local celebrities outside the theatrical field, notably Dr. Herman N. Bundesen, city health commissioner and one-time mayoralty contender. And you may also see well-known local newspapermen here any evening -- Jim Doherty, of the Tribune; Nate Gross, of the Times; Eddie Doherty, of Liberty magazine; and Orville ("Doc") Dwyer, Ted
Tod, and Maurice Roddy, all of the Examiner. Pete's Steaks is also the hangout of that picturesque Rialto character, Grover ("Red") Gallagher, stage manager of the Harris Theatre.
We know of no other restaurant in the theatre sector where the "personal touch" is so much in evidence as in this place. Bill has even gone further and made it a sort of family restaurant, for his wife, Marie, assists him as does his brother, Eddie, and his sister, Ethel. They are all gracious hosts and hostesses and always solicitous of the welfare of their guests. Two can dine here easily for $4.00. Don't miss Pete's Steaks -- which, by the by, derives its name from Pete Soteros, who formerly conducted a restaurant around the corner in Randolph Street and which Bill bought out many years ago.

Mattre d' hotel: Bill Botham

[Dark Saint Alaick]

DEUTSCH'S

28 North Dearborn Street


And now we come to Louie Deutsch, caterer of Jewish edibles to the Rialto. For over sixteen years, in his Dearborn Street restaurant and delicatessen store, Louie has been purveying most delectable dishes -- chopped liver with schmaltz, spitz brust and sauerkraut, gefulte fish, schnitzel a la Holstein, steaks and chops, and toothsome pastries -- to many an actor, actress, lawyer, judge, financier, clerk, and stenographer. And not only do Jewish people eat here, but gentiles from all parts of the Loop come to enjoy Louie's excellent cuisine.
Louie is our idea of the perfect restaurateur. He takes a personal interest in the whole establishment -- counters, tables, kitchens, selection of foodstuffs, and upstairs dining room -- and is always on hand to welcome a new customer or shake hands with an old one. You will like Louie if you should be fortunate enough to meet him -- and it ought not to be hard.
Louie has lots and lots of old friends, both of high and low degree. Adolph Zukor, the movie magnate, always dines here when he is in town -- and why shouldn't he, Louie being his brother-in-law. Another movie magnate, Jesse L. Lasky, partakes of Louie's board whenever he, too, passes through Chicago. And such well-known local movie theatre owners as Aaron Jones, Barney and Max Balaban, and Sam Lubliner, are frequent patrons. So also are General Milton J. Foreman, General Abel Davis, Paul Ash, Superior Court Judge Harry B. Miller, Attorney Sam Bachrach, and the great, baggy-trousered, Clarence D arrow. For good Jewish- American cooking try Deutsch's -- and don't forget the pastries. Maitre d* hotel: Louis Deutscb

[Dark Saint Alaick]

MAULELLA RESTAURANT

786 West Taylor Street ... Although a mile or two away from the Randolph Street bright light area, being located across the river among the tenements of "Little Italy," the Maulella Restaurant gets into this chapter because it is a favorite spaghetti restaurant of many persons whose names loom large in the radio and amusement world -- musicians, radio announcers and stars, continuity writers, and orchestra leaders.
Mike Maulella, the proprietor, who is himself one of the leading violinists of the town, and Mrs. Teresa Maulella, his sister-in-law, who can cook spaghetti, chicken dishes, and ravioli with as much skill as her relative can handle the bow, are the ones responsible for the name and fame of this little "one flight up" eating parlor in the crowded Italian quarter. Everything is clean and orderly here, the food is of good quality and cooked under sanitary conditions, everybody knows everybody else, and the establishment is open all night.
For these reasons, the musical and radio people come here -- Quin A. Ryan, director of Station WGN, and his wife, Roberta Nangle of the Chicago Tribune staff; Joe Gallicchio, conductor of the Chicago Daily News Concert Orchestra; Husk O'Hare, the popular orchestra leader; Mary Hunter, announcer over Station WGN; Pat Gallicchio, announcer over Station WMAQ; Art Benson, another well-known orchestra leader; Franz Pfau, the pianist; Ennio Bolognini, the cellist, and lots of others. You will find the Maulella Restaurant a delightful and informal place, particularly at midnight. A taxicab will bring you there in a jiffy.

Mai ire d' hotel: Mike Maulella

[Dark Saint Alaick]

SCHULDER'S SEA FOOD INN

172 North Clark Street

Schulder's is the best known and most popular sea food restaurant on the Rialto. But it has us puzzled. We can't make up our mind as to which serves the best planked Lake Superior whitefish in the Loop -- the Rainbo Sea Food Grotto, in South Dearborn Street, or Schulder's. We've tried both, and the question still remains in our mind. With your kind permission, we shift this weighty gastronomical question to your shoulders and bid you try to find the answer yourself.
In any case, the Lake Superior whitefish served here is a milestone in your gustatory career. Such tender and sweet-tasting food, done to just the right turn by a chef who is nothing if not skillful. You have not tasted the best in sea food until you have made short work of a Lake Superior whitefish as prepared at Schulder's.
But they have other sea foods here just as thrilling. To attempt a description of the a la carte menu -- and it is large and varied -- would be like trying to name all the fishes in Shedd Aquarium. We could devote no end of space to eulogies over their fried Lake Michigan perch; their Florida pompano is also excellent; and the fresh shrimps a la De Jonghe are admirable and completely satisfying. All forms of oysters, clams, shrimps, scallops and crabs are here, as well as New England lobsters -- from lobster cocktail (90 cents) to lobster Bordelaise ($2.25).
Go into Schulder's any evening for dinner and you are sure to find some luminary of the stage, or of the political world, at one of the tables. Mike Schulder -- fat and amiable -- has many friends among both classes and is well-liked by all. There is another Schulder's establishment at 17 South Dearborn Street.

Mattre d' hotel: Mike Schulder

[Dark Saint Alaick]

THE ROMA 117 North Clark Street


The Roma was not built in a day. It is, on the contrary, the oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago's theatrical district. Signor Virgil Nottoli, the proprietor, even goes further and affirms that it is the oldest Italian restaurant in the downtown district. Picking up a pencil, he will write: five years at State and Monroe Streets, two years at State and Congress Streets, four years at Wabash and Congress Streets, and eighteen years at its present location,
117 North Clark Street. That makes a total of twentynine years -- more than a generation.
The reason it has lasted so long may be easily discovered in its first-rate Italian-American cuisine. Signor Nottoli takes a personal pride in his dishes, true restaurateur that he is, and is always willing to point out some of the more delectable items that his brother, Signor Frank Nottoli, who is chef here, prepares in the kitchen. The a la carte dinner menu is a veritable happy hunting-ground to those fortunate persons who consider eating one of the fine arts.
Here, you may partake of that choice Italian entree, veal scallopine al Marsala -- tender veal covered with mushrooms and an appetizing sauce. But if you want to taste the specialite de la tnaison order spaghetti a la Roma. Only Signor Frank knows the secret of preparing this highly pleasurable viand and the sauces that give it its distinctive appeal. Another specialty of Signor Frank's is chicken a la Cacciatore, served in hunting style.
The Roma clientele is interesting and cosmopolitan. Among some of the frequenters are Robert Herrick, the Chicago novelist; Rosa Raisa, the opera singer; John ("Bathhouse John") Coughlin, picturesque alderman of the First Ward and poet laureate of the city council; and Georgio Polacco, the opera conductor.
The Roma also gets its share of public officials, being located across the street from the County Building and City Hall. Mostly these are judges, officials, and attorneys of the Italian persuasion. Theatrical people come here, too.

[Dark Saint Alaick]

HARDING'S GRILL 131 North Clark Street


Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, greatest of gourmets, in his classic work on gastronomy, 'The Physiology of Taste," says, in eflFect, that history has been made in cafes and restaurants. The truth of this observation is nowhere more fittingly illustrated in Chicago, we believe, than in Harding's Grill, on North Clark Street, across from the County Building and City Hall and around the corner from Randolph Street.
For during the days when Al Capone was sucking lollypops in a New York tenement doorway, Harding's Grill was the famed Righeimer's Bar -- where Chicago political history has been made. Need we go further than to say that Righeimer's was the cradle of "Big Bill" Thompson.
Today, Righeimer's lives on -- the same bar is here, the same furnishings, the same "Ship's Cabin" upstairs, and it is still a political rendezvous. Only the name is changed -- and the molecular density of the products offered for consumption. For, since John P. Harding, known as The Corned Beef King, took over Righeimer's and changed it into a sandwich shop and restaurant, it has become popular in the town for three things -- its corned beef and cabbage, its roast beef, and its steaks and chops.
Harding's Grill is worth visiting, both for the food and the old-time atmosphere. They have a fine a la carte dinner menu in the "Ship's Cabin," where you may take your wife or sweetheart. The service in the cabin dining room is from 5 P.M. to 11 P.M. And the waiters are civil and alert. The whole establishment is open for breakfast, luncheon, dinner, and after the theatre.
Other Harding Grills in the Loop district are at 68 West Madison Street and at 4 North Clark Street.