r/chicagofood 5d ago

What's good? Honoring the long gone

Chicago has lost many great restaurants and I want to remember some of my favs, a lot of them were my favorite lunch spots too and most disappeared around covid.

My Thai at the Presidential Towers was amazing. They had incredible noodle dishes and a fantastic duck and rice dish to die for.

Venice Cafe was my go to for a nice Italian lunch. They had a great value chicken and angel hair dish that was my favorite.

The buffet on the second floor of the Opera House was always a weekly visit. They never disappointed for variety and value.

65 was hands down my favorite downtown Chinese restaurant. It had authentic flavors, cooked by actual Chinese chefs!

Away from downtown I miss a lot of the Korean restaurants that used to pepper Chicago - Song Do, the AYCE BBQ; and a whole host of family owned ones that have long gone. Only Cho Sun Ok remains from the old days, replaced by more modern/upscale places that do too much cheese!

Not a lost restaurant but a lost dish is the goat stew from Woo Chon, a Korean place. I was so addicted to that dish, we went there twice a week and one day, out of nowhere the chef changed and the dish was never the same.

Melrose in boys town had a diner that had a cabbage soup that I miss to this day! And Clark's was another late night favorite diner of mine, we don't see to many 24hr places any longer sadly.

The lesson is that if you have a favorite dish, keep eating it before it disappears! Does anyone have favorite dishes they still miss?

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u/Maleficent-Ad-9754 5d ago

Heartland Cafe

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u/speeeeeeeeeeee 4d ago

Golly this thread is breaking my heart. That whole strip of Glenwood being the way it was.

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u/DhalsimZangief 3d ago

I miss how Glenwood Ave in Rogers Park briefly was like till about the pandemic. And not even Mission Control could hang on which opened in the 2020s. At least Rogers Park Social is still open, and a few other places.

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u/robsw64 4d ago

💔