How an 'Ugly Law' stayed on Chicago's books for 93 years.

In 1881, Chicago Alderman James Peevey had a mission: to rid the city of "all street obstructions."

By street obstructions, Peevey didn't mean food carts, construction materials, roadblocks, or potholes.

He meant beggars, such as the ones described in the Tribune as "the one-legged individual who, with drooping eye and painfully lugubrious countenance, holds forth his hat for pennies" or "the fellows who yell 'ba-na-naas'" and "the woman with two sick children who were drawn through the carding-machine in a woolen mill, and who grinds 'Mollie Darling' incessantly on a hurdy-gurdy on a street corner."

The alderman took issue with people displaying their disabilities on the street for alms or change — so he took action. In May of that year, Peevey pushed an ordinance through the City Council that banned anyone who was "diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, to be an unsightly or disgusting object" from being in the "public view." Beggars were fined $1 to $50 — a hefty sum in the 1880s — or shipped off to the Cook County Poorhouse.

Peevey wasn't completely heartless, though: He tried to carve out an exemption for a one-legged, one-armed soldier. But overall, his ordinance made the streets of Chicago unfriendly to those who were blind, deaf, or disfigured.

Chicago was just one of several cities to pass an "unsightly beggar" ordinance — what came to be dubbed an "ugly law." The trend started in San Francisco in 1867, only two years after the end of the Civil War, and spread throughout cities in the West and Midwest from 1870 to 1880.

At the time, reformers viewed these laws as ways to better their communities. In his book "The Welfare Debate," Illinois Wesleyan University professor Greg Shaw explains that the county poorhouse model (think: Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist") that was supposed to keep the poor off the streets and in work turned out to be too expensive and too corrupt to maintain.

In 1872, the Cook County Poorhouse — which shared the land with Dunning Insane Asylum, the county's psychiatric hospital — was dysfunctional enough to warrant a complete overhaul. Within 20 years, the place was labeled a "festering mass of moral corruption and official fraud" — again.

It isn't a surprise that the poor sometimes preferred the streets.

But fear spurred civic leaders to keep the streets clear. They worried that disfigured beggars would scare women. They were wary of the tensions between the lower and upper classes. They felt a sense of religious obligation to help the poor. Community leaders settled on an idiomatic solution: out of sight, out of mind.

The ugliest part of these laws came from the underlying mistrust of those who were poor and disabled. Throughout the 19th century, there was an ongoing debate over who was worthy of charity. According to Shaw, most felt that widows and orphans — victims of circumstances — warranted help from the state and the wealthy. At the same time, able-bodied paupers "were seen as chronically irresponsible and thus much less deserving of assistance."

Those with disabilities, however, were caught between "worthy" and "unworthy," and news stories gave people little reason to trust them. During an interview from 1880, the general superintendent of the Relief and Aid Society offered this advice to Tribune readers: "The fact is that nine out of ten of these street-beggars are either impostors or thieves, who come to spy out the houses and give 'pointers' to burglars. Nobody ought to give it unless the applicant is known to be worthy of relief."

When the ugly law was in its heyday, the Tribune featured reports of blind beggars who, when brought to court, could suddenly see and deaf beggars who could hear. Case in point this snippet is from a 1908 Tribune story about a deaf and blind beggar who had a hearing before a judge: "As if by magic the man's hearing and eyesight were restored, and he took $80 from one of his pockets and counted out the amount of his fine."

There were stories like the one of a blind organ grinder who, when arrested, was found with $710 on him and was said to treat his "lady friends" to car rides and cafe luncheons. Or the double-jointed 18-year-old who was put on probation for pretending to be disabled and begging for money. In 1902, the Tribune reported that the Chicago Police Department even declared war against a "beggar fraternity" that poured acid on their bodies so they'd cut a more pitiful figure.

Then came the first World War. Soldiers came home from battle, and their bodies were torn, limbs missing, minds addled. Attitudes toward people who were disabled started to change. In 1911, the CPD issued its edict "prohibiting blind mendicants, legless unfortunates and other seekers of alms from exhibiting their misfortunes to the public view." Still, no new ugly laws were passed after World War I ended in 1918. Instead, plans were made to help manage veterans' physical and mental care.

It was a slow process. The end of each subsequent war — World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War — and the work of activists on behalf of all people with disabilities shifted sentiments. Bans on jobs that were previously barred to disabled people — such as hotel clerks — were lifted. Mentions of Chicago police officers fining and arresting "ugly" beggars dropped off in the 1950s. The 1960s and 1970s saw laws drafted to protect the rights of the disabled and cities remade to be more accessible — and in 1990, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.

Policeman Stephen Schumack left and led a crippled man to a police wagon on July 22, 1954, from the skid row area in Chicago. (Photo: Luigi Mendicino / Chicago Tribune)

Somehow, Peevey's 1881 ordinance stayed on the books throughout that history. When the City Council finally voted to repeal it in 1974, a co-sponsor of the repeal, Ald. Paul T. Wigoda said simply, "It is cruel and insensitive. It is a throwback to the Dark Ages."

Chicago Tribune June 23, 2016
By Elizabeth Greiwe
Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The History of the Springfield Tank Natatorium at Beilfuss Park in Chicago.

The West Chicago Park Commission laid out Humboldt, Garfield, and Douglas Parks in 1869.

In the early 1900s, some of the independent Chicago Park Districts began building natatorium facilities with showers, indoor swimming pools, and gyms, to provide public bathing (Bath Houses) and recreational opportunities to the city's community parks with the quickly increasing number of residents. 

By 1915, Mayor Carter H. Harrison II and the West Chicago Park Commission had hit upon the idea of building natatoriums adjacent to city water pumping stations to take advantage of the excess steam generated there. The Springfield Avenue natatorium, nicknamed "The Springfield Tank," was adjacent to the pumping station in the Humboldt Park Community. It was one of three such facilities under construction that year. The others were the Roseland Natatorium (later Griffith Natatorium, in Block Park) and the Central Park Avenue (Jackson) Natatorium. 

The Springfield Tank at Beilfuss Park in Chicago

On March 29, 1915, at the suggestion of Mayor Harrison, the Special Park Commission named the new Humboldt Park facility in honor of late ten-term Republican Alderman, A.W. Beilfuss (1854-1914). A native of Germany and a printer by trade, Beilfuss was serving as Special Park Commission Chairman at the time of his death.

The current "Chicago Park District" was created in 1934 by the Illinois Legislature under the Park Consolidation Act. By provisions of that act, the Chicago Park District consolidated and superseded the then-existing 22 separate park districts in Chicago, the largest three of which were the Lincoln Park, West Park, and South Park Districts, all of which had been established in 1869.

Beilfuss Park, 1725 North Springfield Avenue, Chicago.

The Beilfuss Natatorium, located at 1725 North Springfield Avenue, was so popular that by 1935 it drew more than 300,000 patrons. During World War II, boys from Beilfuss Park began to publish a local-interest newsletter that was circulated to former patrons serving in the military around the world. During the same period, the Chicago Park District installed a playground adjacent to the natatorium, as well as an athletic field, that during the winter months, was flooded for ice skating.

The park district replaced the original play equipment with a new soft surface playground in 1992. In 1998, the out of date, 1915 natatorium was razed. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The History of the Relic House in Chicago.

At the rear of the Chicago History Museum (formerly the Chicago Historical Society), within a clearing in the bushes, lie unmarked chunks of molten masses of metal. The foliage is pruned just enough to allow the informed person the ability to see the objects hidden within the leaves if they know where to look. Knowing what these objects are is a different issue: no signage or other markers alert the viewer to their provenance. Many people learned of these mysterious artifacts by word of mouth. The reconstituted objects were created by the extreme heat from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. 

The Chicago Historical Society acquired these pieces of fire-altered iron, brick, and stone in 1921 as part of a large donation by Chicago candy magnate Charles Frederick Gunther. Gunther, a former director of the Chicago Historical Society, made his fortune from his popular caramel candies and used them to purchase art and historic materials, especially those relating to the Civil War (1861-1865).

The remains from a hardware store, after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, fused into a metal bolder that used to sit outside the main entrance of the Chicago Historical Society.

Perhaps because his own business was destroyed in the Chicago Fire, Gunther also extended his collecting interests to fire materials. In 1890 the estimated twenty-ton chunk of fire debris, eventually owned and donated by Gunther, was uncovered during excavations fo the footings of the Masonic Temple at State and Randolph Streets, along with a melted pair of steel scissors and part of a silver watch. Why these fragments are so hard to visually locate today—buried in the shrubbery on the east side of the museum—is not made clear by the Chicago History Museum. Although currently hidden, the fragments were intentionally preserved for some time after the Fire.

The "Relic House" was created to display and preserve the remnants of the Chicago Fire, to remember, to fascinate, and, at a base level, to serve as a construction material that purposely maintains a material connection to the initial event. In 1872, a man only recorded as "Rettig" constructed a cottage-sized structure from a melted mixture of stone, iron, and other metals at the corner of North Park Avenue (Lincoln Park West) and Clark Street. 

Relic House at Clark and Lincoln Park West. Robinson Fire Map 1886.

Further accounts state that the structure had walls made from melted globules of metal, masonry, sewing machines, and china doll parts, with an interior decorated with pre-1871-style furnishings.

Original Relic House, 900 North Clark Street, before the Refreshment and Music Hall, was added. (1872)

An 1878 advertising card shows the Relic House surrounded by streetcars, pedestrians, and prancing horses, and it lists Hermann Klanowsky as proprietor, whose father supposedly took over the establishment in the early twentieth century.

The Relic House—At the Entrance of Lincoln Park.

A popular account from the Chicago Tribune claims that around 1882, Phillip Vinter (or Winter) took over the Relic House and moved it to North Park Avenue (Lincoln Park West) at 900 North Clark Street (2021 North Clark Street today). However, an Albert Rettig—likely the same Rettig who built the Relic House in 1872—is listed as a saloon keeper living at 900 North Clark Street in the 1880 Census, casting doubt on the Vinter attribution.

William Lindemann bought the Relic House sometime before 1890 and established a 'refreshment parlor' in the saloon. By 1890 its importance had risen to a point that a Chicago Tribune editorial called for the entire structure to be temporarily moved to Jackson Park to display the city's history, specifically the 'fantastic freaks of the flames' from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, to tourists at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Such an exhibit was a fit medium to position the fair planners' narrative of Chicago's rebirth from the flame. Lindemann agreed: "It would make a good American curiosity," but only if he was paid enough for his efforts. This plan did not come to fruition, nor did Lindemann's proposed six-story revamp of the Relic House of 1896. Lindemann purportedly continued to add 'relics' to his establishment as new construction projects continued to unearth them. However, precisely what these items may have been have not been located in any documentation.

The Relic House served as a saloon into the twentieth century, and a speakeasy during Prohibition (1920-1933), and its ownership continued to change hands during this period. 

Legal Alcohol was available during the prohibition years in Illinois and America.

By 1906 John Weis had become the proprietor, spending time and money to improve his establishment. With 'the most tempting dishes... served in real German-style' in a setting newly decorated with stuffed moose and deer heads, stuffed sharks, engravings of German arts, and a large oil painting of the Chicago Fire, Weis encouraged visitors to his 'quaint monument and rustic resort.

In 1914 an advertisement shows it as one of the seven saloons in Chicago to have Munich's St. Benno Bier on tap. Its location, directly across from Lincoln Park, made it a prime spot for thirsty tourists traveling the Clark Street cable cars.

During Prohibition, the space continued to serve Alcohol as a speakeasy, as did other Chicago saloons. The Relic House continued to serve liquor until Mr. Volstead turned the place into a restaurant serving beer. However, it had served food from around 1900 as the "Familien Lokal," or family-style German restaurant, as well as during the Weis years.

The "Dil Pickle Club" (yes... only one 'L')  added a bohemian chapter to the Relic House story. The Club, started in 1914 as a cultural center by Archibald 'Jack' Jones, an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, found a decrepit barn on Tooker Alley, off of 867½ North Dearborn Street in downtown Chicago.

In 1920, having been kicked out of their previous address, anarchist Dr. Ben L. Reitman arranged for the Club to meet at the Relic house for the first of many poetry nights. The Club members renamed their venue the 'House of Blazes,' reaffirming its link to the 1871 Fire. Considered an offshoot of the Dil Pickle Club proper, Reitman leased it for two years. Other artistic uses for the Relic House included as a home for Meyer Levin's experimental Marionette Theater in 1926.

The Relic House was razed in 1926, only 57 years after it was built, and replaced by a 210-unit apartment building at 2000 Lincoln Park West.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The History of Rich Melman's "Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc." (LEYE) Chicagoland Restaurants.

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In this article, restaurant names are Highlighted. An alphabetical list of the 62 Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants that I mention are listed at the END of the article. 

From The Beginning

When Richard Melman began to get famous because of his restaurant success, he told several interviewers that he used to work for his father, Maurie "Morrie" Melman, at a delicatessen. Rich Melman was the guy at the cash register and the "Ricky" in Mister Ricky's. "Yeah, my dad named the place after me," Richie said. "The funny thing was, I hated being called 'Ricky.' My friends all called me 'Rich.' But the place was Mister Ricky's!"

Mister Ricky's Restaurant was at 9300 North Skokie Boulevard at Gross Point Road, in a nondescript strip mall on the northwest corner.

VISIT OUR MISTER RICKY'S RESTAURANT SOUVENIR SHOP

For years Melman did not get along with his father. "I would have worked somewhere else, but I didn't feel I had a lot going for me," he said. "I flunked out of college — well, I would have flunked out if I hadn't quit first — so I worked for my dad behind that cash register."

He had one dream: He wanted to be a partner in Mr. Ricky's. "That would have been it for me," Melman said. "That's all I wanted out of life."

He managed to save some money, and one day he asked his father and his father's partner if he could speak with them. He said he would like to join them — if only in the most minor way — as a partner in Mr. Ricky's. He was, after all, Ricky.

"My father told me no," Melman said. "He said I was welcome to continue working there but wasn't ready to help run the place.

"Come to think of it, even though I worked the cash register, my Dad would never let me total it up at the end of the day. He just wouldn't let me do it. So Melman quit. (NOTE: Stew Colton claims he knew Rich Melman, and Rich told Stew that his Dad fired him.)

Rich and his friend, Jerry A. Orzoff, opened R.J. Grunts (Rich [and] Jerry [are] Grunts) at 2056 North Lincoln Park West, Chicago, in 1971. Then Melman and Orzoff incorporated the business as "Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc." (LEYE). 

After one year, Rich and Jerry pay off R.J. Grunts. In 1972, Jerry talked Rich into retiring and moving to Los Angeles with him. After four months in Los Angeles, Rich is bored with retirement and anxious to return to Chicago, and he never thinks about retirement again.

The success of R.J. Grunts marked the beginning of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc.

R.J. Grunts Salad Bar.

In 1973 new ideas and concepts were created, including the debut of Fritz That's It! 

Fritz That's It! was located at 1615 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, next door to the North Shore Hotel. They had an excellent salad bar that included good Caviar. New Year's Eve was packed, usually an hour and a half wait, but the drinks and menu were half-price. There was no direct access between the hotel and Fritz That's It! 

Click Menu Cover for a Full-Size Image

Click Lunch Menu for a Full-Size Image

Click Dinner Menu for a Full-Size Image

Fritz That's It! was followed by the Great Gritzbe's Flying Food Show in 1974, Jonathan Livingston Seafood in 1975, and Lawrence of Oregano in 1976. Melman's style evolved with each new restaurant, and he thrived on the challenge.

Having mastered the off-beat casual restaurant style, Melman directed his attention and energy toward the world of fine cuisine when he reopened the famous Pump Room in the Ambassador East Hotel on Chicago's Gold Coast in 1976, which initially opened in 1938.

The force behind the original Pump Room was Ernest Byfield, right, with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The Bogarts were the Ambassador East Hotel and Booth One regulars, even honeymooning in an upstairs suite.

In 1979, Melman decided to expand to the Chicago suburbs and opened Bones in Lincolnwood, Illinois. In 1980, LEYE took the popular R.J. Grunts, added a more contemporary look, and opened a second location in Glenview, Illinois.

In 1980, Melman and Chef Gabino Sotelino traveled to France, where they insisted on bringing contemporary French cuisine to Chicago. This led to the opening of Ambria in the Belden-Stratford at 2300 North Lincoln Park West in Chicago. The success of Ambria inspired additional trips to Europe to study food and style. 

As a result of such visits, LEYE opened Un Grand Café, a French-styled bistro at 2300 N Lincoln Park West in Chicago, and the sophisticated Italian restaurant, Avanzare. In 1983 Melman opened a Gino's franchise unit in Rolling Meadows. Also opened in 1983 was Rupert's Club 33 at 1701 Golf Road, Rolling Meadow.

Ed Debevic's at 159 East Ohio Street, Chicago, opened in 1984 as a retro-themed diner. It closed in 2015. Then came Shaw's Crab House in 1984 and The Blue Crab Lounge in 1985. In 1986 a Spanish tapas and small plate restaurant, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! opened along with an upscale dining experience at Everest the same year. Let's not forget the southern Italian trattoria, Scoozi!, also opened in 1986.

A new innovative Mexican, Hat Dance, opened in 1988, then Tucci Benucch opened at 900 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, in 1988. Then and its cousin, Tucci Milan, in 1989.

Bub City's River North Location.

The first Bub City restaurant opened in 1989 at 901 West Weed Street in Chicago and closed in the late 1990s. A new Bub City reopened in 2012 in the River North neighborhood at 435 North Clark Street, Chicago. 

The Eccentric at 159 West Erie Street, Chicago, opened in 1989 and is best known for high-profile partner Oprah Winfrey. Closed on Friday, September 29, 1995. 

The creation of the Frequent Diner Club Program in 1991 was a game-changer in the restaurant industry, as one of the first loyalty programs of its kind.

In the 1990s, LEYE opened The Original A-1 Border Beanery Bail Bonds & One Hour Perms in Chicago in 1990, Maggiano's Little Italy in Chicago in 1991 and Oak Brook in 1992. 

Papagus Greek Taverna in Oak Brook in 1991 featured Grecian delights and Mezedes amidst the friendly surroundings of a rustic taverna, and Big Bowl in Chicago's River North district in 1992, an Asian cafe featuring simple, fresh dishes under $10. Melman opened the Corner Bakery, a quick, casual restaurant chain geared towards downtown lunches, and M-Burger, a gourmet burger stand.

Tuchetti's opened in December 1992 at 4400 Fox Valley Center Dr., Aurora, Illinois. Specializing in "old-fashioned" Italian cooking, which is red-sauce Italian food that most of us grew up with. But it's not like the red sauce that every public and private Elementary and High School lunchroom served. The one that leaked orange oil; oh, and don't touch the orange oil. It'll stain your finger for 3 days.

In the spring of l993, Melman introduced two new innovative dining concepts with the opening of foodlife and MityNice Grill, located in Chicago's Water Tower Place. Foodlife, a revolutionary food hall, offers an abundant choice among 13 restaurant kiosks. MityNice Grill, located at the east end of foodlife, was a comfortable neighborhood grill with the decor and feel of the 1940s, accompanied by a diverse yet simple menu.

At the end of 1995, LEYE opened two new distinctive restaurants. Brasserie Jo opened in September at 59 West Hubbard Street, Chicago, as an authentic, lively French brasserie. They offered traditional French cuisine and an extensive selection of European cocktails. 

Wildfire, which features quality steaks, chops, and seafood in a warm and stylish environment, opened in December 1995. 

In 1996 Melman opened its first Chinese restaurant in January, Ben Pao, which, loosely translated, means firecracker. In December 1998, Wildfire opened in Oak Brook and a Wildfire in Lincolnshire in 1999.

In March 1999, Bones Restaurant (opened in 1979) in Lincolnwood reopened the rebranded restaurant as L. Woods Tap & Pine Lodge, a nostalgic Northwoods Supper Club with a log cabin feel. Ribs seem to become a conversation every time anybody says "L. Woods."

L. Woods Rack of Ribs.

Several exciting new concepts opened in 1999, including a fine-dining restaurant, Tru, with Chef Partners Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand, and Vong, with partner Jean-Georges Vongerichten. 

In April of 1999, Rich Melman and Gerard Centioli announced the formation of ICON, LLC (ICON), establishing partnerships with established restaurant icons for the expressed purpose of multi-unit expansion and development. 

In 2000 LEYE opened Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Chicago, styled after their iconic Miami restaurant. Mon Ami Gabi opened its third location in the Oakbrook Mall. 

Shaw's expanded to the Streets of Woodfield in Schaumburg with Shaw's Crab House and Red Shell. In early 2001, LEYE expanded into Chicago's Loop area with a brand new restaurant concept called Petterino's, located in the Goodman Theater building featuring prime steaks, fresh seafood, and classic specialties in a 1940s atmosphere. 

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Vong-Chicago was revamped into Vong's Thai Kitchen with a lower-priced menu and a vibrant atmosphere.

As the success of Wildfire continued, in June 2003, a new location was opened in Schaumburg, Illinois. Later that summer, LEYE developed a new fast, casual concept called Wow Bao, located at Chicago's Water Tower Place shopping center entrance. Wow Bao specializes in Asian-influenced savory steamed buns, nourishing broths, crunchy salads, specialty sodas, and teas. At the end of the year, Wildfire opened its sixth location in Glenview in December.

The second Wow Bao in the Chicago Loop location started off in 2007. In March, Wow Bao opened for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offering breakfast bao, entrée salads, dumplings, and potstickers. 

Frankie's Fifth Floor Pizzeria opened in the 900 North Michigan Avenue Shops offering Sardinian and Tavern Pizzas. In 2008, Frankie's Scaloppine opened next to Frankie's Fifth Floor Pizzeria, a neighborhood Italian restaurant with style featuring chicken, veal, and vegetable scaloppini.

The Reel Club at Oakbrook Center opened in 2008, with Sushi and fresh seafood shipped in twice daily. They closed in September 2018.

Rich Melman's sons, R.J. and Jerrod, opened Hub 51 in 2008, an American concept located in River North. Hub 51 duals as a restaurant/bar skewed to the young and hip with great food, drinks, and music. Hub 51 also opened in O'Hare Terminal 5.

L2O (Lake to Ocean) opened in Lincoln Park in 2008 and closed in December 2014.

L2O Interior.

The Paris Club Bistro & Bar opened in 2011 at 59 W Hubbard Street, Chicago. It quickly became one of Chicago's hottest nightclubs and celebrity hangouts, playing host to the biggest DJs and performers worldwide, including Justin Bieber, Calvin Harris, Snoop Dogg, Diplo, Chance the Rapper, and others. 

Saranello's in Wheeling also opened in 2011.

Rich Melman won the James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur Award in 2011.

The RPM Restaurant brand was born in 2012 with the opening of RPM Italian in Chicago, with celebrity couple Bill and Giuliana Rancic as partners.

Intro opened in 2012, presenting Modern Chinese and Dim Sum on Sundays. Closed in 2017

Lettuce Fly was created with the opening of Big Bowl in 2013 at O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 5.

The first location of Beatrix opened in River North in 2013. The neighborhood restaurant and coffeehouse had three locations in Chicago and one in Oak Brook, IL. It also expanded to include Beatrix Market, a grab-and-go concept highlighting Beatrix's best.

LEYE opened Joe's Live in Rosemont, Illinois, in 2016, a concert and music venue.

Studio Paris Nightclub opened in 2016 at 59 West Hubbard Street, Chicago, but abruptly closed in February 2019.

Naoki Sushi opened in 2016 and closed in December 2019.

Lettuce Entertain You opened Seaside in 2017, which became the organization's first virtual restaurant. Additional virtual concepts opened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including Ben Pao, Vong's Thai Kitchen, Coastal Soups & Salads, and others.

RPM Seafood, Pizzeria Portofino, and RPM Events open in 2019, overlooking the Chicago River, featuring four floors of outdoor dining space.

Dance Studio Vol. 1 replaces Studio Paris in River North. They opened in January 2020 at 59 West Hubbard Street, Chicago.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

62 Lettuce Entertain You Chicagoland Restaurants Mentioned in This Article.

Ambria Avanzare Beatrix Ben Pao Big Bowl Blue Crab Lounge Bones Brasserie Jo Bub City Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! Corner Bakery Dance Studio Vol. 1 Ed Debevic's Eccentric, The Everest Foodlife Frankie's Fifth Floor Pizzeria Frankie's Scaloppine Fritz That's It! Gino's Great Gritzbe's Flying Food Show Hat Dance Hub 51 Intro Joe's Seafood Jonathan Livingston Seafood L2O (Lake to Ocean) L. Woods Tap & Pine Lodge Lawrence of Oregano Lettuce Fly Maggiano's Little Italy

M-Burger Mezedes MityNice Bar & Grill Mon Ami Gabi Naoki Sushi Papagus Greek Taverna Paris Club Bistro & Bar, The Petterino's Pizzeria Portofino Pump Room, The R.J. Grunts Reel Club Red Shell RPM Italian Rupert's Club 33 Saranello's Scoozi! Seaside Shaw's Crab House Studio Paris Nightclub "The Original A-1 Border Beanery Bail Bonds & One Hour Perms." Tru Tucci Benucch Tucci Milan Tuchetti's Un Grand Café Vong's Thai Kitchen Wildfire Wow Bao

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.