Economic times are tough and your local Uptown restaurants are counting on your patronage now more than ever. There are so many great restaurants in Uptown, and on Wilson in particular; places like El Pollo Loco, Viet Bowl, Magnolia Cafe, Three Harmony, Unique So Chique, Alma Pita (vegetarian combo featured right), and Fontana Grill. These businesses are counting on Uptowners. We are asking our readers to make a pledge to dine in Uptown as much as possible. Your tummy will thank you and so will the great owners of these Uptown businesses. Be sure to tell them Uptown Update sent you.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Call To Action: Support Restaurants On Wilson
Economic times are tough and your local Uptown restaurants are counting on your patronage now more than ever. There are so many great restaurants in Uptown, and on Wilson in particular; places like El Pollo Loco, Viet Bowl, Magnolia Cafe, Three Harmony, Unique So Chique, Alma Pita (vegetarian combo featured right), and Fontana Grill. These businesses are counting on Uptowners. We are asking our readers to make a pledge to dine in Uptown as much as possible. Your tummy will thank you and so will the great owners of these Uptown businesses. Be sure to tell them Uptown Update sent you.
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Please do not forget to patronize Uptown’s best kept secret, the Best Steak House. Pete, the owner, has run this restaurant for nearly 35 years (talk about a real Uptown pioneer) and we should only be so lucky that he decides to stay so that we can continue to enjoy his famous rotisserie chicken, grilled rib eye steak sandwich and his secret butter garlic sauce. While you’re in there, don’t forget to have a beer (the best priced alcohol in the entire neighborhood.)
ReplyDeleteI never could figure out why the UU never posts anything encouraging about Pete and the Best Steak House. Did anyone note how nice the place is looking with all the new renovations?
Maybe you could give us a clue as to where it is located?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't think so, and Magnolia Cafe is to blame. I went there on a UU recommendation. (1)The food was mediocre. (2)We were charged $112 two times on a $124 bill. (3)It took days to get it corrected (funny how they can instantly charge your card but it takes their sweet time getting a refund). (4)They included a $20 tip!
ReplyDeletePer the restaurant manager "We've been in business for years. We already have a following".
CLASSY.
Thanks for the reminder to check these places out. Will try to drag the wife down there for dinner one of these nights.
ReplyDeleteRe-Best Steak House-- when did it remodel? Last time I was by there it still looked pretty dumpy outside.
I have to second Muriel (although I think the food is excellent). The owner and the blonde hostess?/manager?/wife? are rude and seem to not care if they have your business.
ReplyDeleteWhat did I miss? UU posts to encourage neighborhood support of seven (7) restaurants and Muriel and Molly say "no" and blame it on Magnolia Cafe. Are they related? I'm pretty sure they're not owned by the same folks.
ReplyDeleteAlma Pita is always amazing with great service. I've only been to Fontana once, but it's wonderful. I plan to go there often even for just drinks.
ReplyDeleteThe Best Steak House? You're kidding me right? CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS FIRST, then I MAY consider it. And I don't think "bargain pitchers" of beer is such a good idea for that corner....
ReplyDeleteI guess the location of the Best Steak House will remain a mystery.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Magnolia Cafe several times over the years and always had great food and very good service. Just stopped by Fontana Grill for the first time last week and also had a very good meal and excellent service. Owner was very nice and brought us a couple things to try and give him an opinion.
As for those of you who may have had a bad experience, give them a second try before writing them off. Once could be a accident or a bad night. If the same thing happens again, then I wouldn't blame you. I worked in enough restaurants growing up to understand.
Ray, what did you find when you search Google for it?
ReplyDeleteHere is the info for Best Steak House: 4570 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640 773-334-2554
ReplyDeleteI have been to Magnolia numerous times over the past few years and have always had very good food. The service has been good too, but I can understand the frustration with reversing the credit card charge (I have had it happen at other businesses). Magnolia has one of the better brunches around. Highly recommended.
For those of you who have not visited Fontana Grill, give it a try. Located at 1329 W Wilson Ave. Very good food and friendly staff (and ownership).
YELP! has three reviews of Best Steak House...2 1-star and 1 5-Star. It's one of Helen's (office) neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI can find it for myself, AI. That wasn't the point. Just thought the person who was promoting the establishment in the first place might want to pinpoint the location of the restaurant and save all the wonderful UU readers a little time. Basic marketing. He says all these nice things about the place, but doesn't tell people where it is.
ReplyDeleteTeach a man to fish....
The Best Steak House is located on the southwest corner of Wilson and Broadway.
ReplyDeleteI used to frequent Three Harmony once a week, but the gangs have taken it over and make the pick up process tense. Three Harmony has got to do a better job policing who dines in there establishment. Five gang bangers do not need to split one side of beef fried rice while spouting motherf*@cker and mimicking the asian accents of the workers.
ReplyDeleteThat being said I am not saying not to eat there, just wear Kevlar. I will spend my 20 bucks across the street at the Pita.
There's lots of great places to eat in and around Uptown. As long as we're encouraging people to support them let's also remind people that in addition to helping out the great owners, you'll also be helping out some great service staff people. Most waiters/waitresses make about $3/hr so they really do need those tips! Keept them in mind when budgeting your night out!
ReplyDeletefalco_esq,
ReplyDeleteIn other words, just put up with it? Your attitude SUCKS!
If you have not checked out Cafe Tiztal on Clark I highly recomend it. I had the best potatoes and a great omelette there the other day. The owner was my waitress she is very nice.
ReplyDeleteAt Alma Pita - try the turkey burger. I know, you're saying, Middle Eastern restaurant, why would I order the turkey burger? But seriously, you'll never find a better turkey burger than Alma's.
ReplyDeleteMagnolia Cafe - I have to say, consistently one of the best places I've eaten. We've spent New Years' there a few times, gone after work for appetizers and drinks, and for brunch. Always had a great meal and good service.
Fontana - had a great meal there and will definitely go back. An interesting mix of styles and tastes...
Three Harmony - Chip, come on. It sounds like customers behaving badly and unless you were in there and saw a drug deal or someone pulled a gun, why don't we lay off the term "gangbangers." It's just incendiary. I've been to Three Harmony plenty of times and I've never felt unsafe. So, patronize them. They're lovely folks working hard and the food is really great. Chicken fried rice...best I've had in the city.
Thanks, UU, for the reminder about our Wilson business neighbors. Times are tough. We should support those close to home.
"They can probaly sense you are upset about it, so they get louder, because you are a stuck up white guy/girl."
ReplyDeleteYeah, your right, they are the victims. I never said anything about the kids race. So not only are your comments ignorant, but they are stereotyping as well. I should throw racist and patronizing on top of it because you are expecting less of them because you assume they are "black."
Your attitude is right out of the Helen Shiller book "How to Create Victims in a Nanny State for Dummy's"
Well the good news is your apartment in Wilson Yard is almost finished!
I dunno, Falco, when I go out to eat, it's supposed to be a treat. If I went somewhere that had loud and profane folks at the next table, I wouldn't go back. Heck, I get enough of that at home. ;-) Seriously, I really appreciate our mom&pop restaurants and try to spend my money in Uptown as often as possible, but behavior like that that Chip described would keep me away. It's bad enough we get loud voices screaming profanities on our streets and on public transportation. I don't feel like less of a Chicagoan or an urbanite because I choose not to have it next to me at dinner or lunch.
ReplyDeleteChip Douglas, that was a slam dunk. I would have liked to have seen falco's expression when he read your comment.
ReplyDeleteJeez, chip you are such a whiner! Do you really expect to be able to get some food without being exposed to gangbangers in THIS hood?! Do you think you are in Lincoln Park or something? Next I suppose you'll want to head down Magnolia without seeing drug deals or a shooting every week or two.
ReplyDeleteFalco, perhaps you would like to be the bodyguard for Chip. You can agree to meet and offer to show him around the area (as if he hasn't lived here for years).
But seriously folks let's get real. It is well known that the bangers hang out at the convenience store next to Three Harmony and all up and down Magnolia. This is a FACT. Falco, if you live in this area you already know this.
hmmm.....so now Uptowners shouldn't worry/be distracted by a group of taunting or swearing people in front of a business?
ReplyDeleteSorry Falco, but after living here for sixteen or so years, I tend to divert my course, in safer directions when confronted.
'stuck up' has nothin' to do with it. We're just looking for a peaceful place to eat.
Seriously, folks. I've picked up a lot of lunches and dinenrs from Three Harmony over the last eight years and I've never felt intimidated by any of the clientele in that retail strip. I'm sorry to hear that Chip's experienced something different.
ReplyDeleteI'm just a little vexed hearing commenters on this blog throw around the term "gangbangers" which seems now to apply not only to the actual gang members who are a problem in our neighborhood but also to groups of young men who eat at the Chinese restaurant acting loudly and behaving badly. Let me anticipate the outcry from Chip et al over this, but we've simply got to be better than throwing out the term "gangbanger" without actual cause.
And yeesh, why in the world does every blog entry have to turn into this war of comments, even something as good-natured as UU trying to attract attention to local small businesses? Seriously, if we're so worried about bringing business to Wilson and building up the neighborhood, why take every opportunity to trash the neighborhood, just for the sake of being clever?
Agreed, PIU, but there's a fine line between giving some misbehaving youth a break and enabling their behavior that will later get them in serious trouble.
ReplyDeleteChip alluded to the low expectations that some people have toward the youth or to people of a particular race. That's what I find more troubling than anything. To me, that's the worst kind of bigotry.
Ironically, this post was all about encouraging people to dine at some wonderful spots along Wilson. If this area was safer and less intimidating, there would be no need to do any promoting for some of us. My friends who come in to this neighborhood from other parts of the city are very used to the urban scene yet I still hear from them that they don't feel safe at times walking down certain streets. I'm not going to dismiss their concerns. I don't want to see Uptown become a Lincoln Park, but I certainly don't want to feel intimidated in my own neighborhood either.
I like it when people are clever with ridiculous comments. By the way where is the Irish Pirate? Maybe he is a pirate and the Navy Seals dealt him a setback yesterday.
ReplyDeleteAlma Pita is the best!
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for the reminder. My wife and I went to Magnolia Cafe last night and the food was outstanding. Quite different than we were expecting to find in Uptown, to be honest. But, yum! We'll definitely be back.
ReplyDeleteI'm having breakfast at Tiztal this weekend -- what do folks recommend as a not-to-be-missed...?
ReplyDeletefalco_esq,
ReplyDeleteIt is always funny to drop an outrageous comment on this blog. Nobody seems to understand sarcasm!
I really like the cool restaurants in our area. If only something could be done to get all the people that hang out infront of most of them cleared out. At night in the summer its pretty bad to feel safe walking past all of them.....
ReplyDeleteThis was a good topic, UU. In the spirit of supporting Uptown business, a group of 11 friends did brunch at Magnolia Cafe this weekend. Everyone there thought very highly of it.
ReplyDelete