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  • Luella’s Southern Kitchen to Leave Lincoln Square

    Luella’s Southern Kitchen to Leave Lincoln Square


    For years, Darnell Reed has pondered the future of Luella’s Southern Kitchen, the ode to his grandmother which opened in 2015 in Lincoln Square. Should he expand? Maybe it’s time to leave Chicago? For Reed, the father of two girls, being a family man has helped him make his decision.

    “My goal is to spend more time with the family,” Reed says.

    His lease is up in October and Reed says he’ll close Luella’s sometime that month. He’s in the process of searching for a new location that will serve brunch daily. He’d rather spend his nights with his family rather than offer dinner service. While some items could be holiday specials at the new restaurant, say goodbye to classics like Luella’s gumbo and cornbread. Shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles should make it over to the new place.

    So why can’t he stay in Lincoln Square? Reed doesn’t feel the neighborhood could sustain a full-time brunch restaurant with morning and afternoon hours. He’s considering neighborhoods including Bronzeville, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, and suburban Oak Park. Reed says his staff has known for about a year that a change was coming. When he shared the news with the local chamber, they reacted as if Reed could change his mind over the next 10 months. Might as well give workers ample notice, unlike some restaurant owners who don’t give their employees that luxury.

    It’s been a journey since opening. Luella’s would open a second restaurant, one that focused on fried chicken, but it closed in 2020, part of the first wave of shutters during COVID. Reed would also open a stall at Time Out Market Chicago, the food hall in Fulton Market. But as rent and expenses increased, Luella’s would depart. Luella’s has also enjoyed success selling food to Bears fans and others at Soldier Field. Reed is hopeful to expand operations next season in the stadium.

    After spending 18 years working for Hilton Hotels, Reed reserves a special place for breakfast and brunch with hotel restaurants needing to serve those meals to hotel guests, especially during holidays. The lifestyle is different. Reed also has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He feels hotel chefs get a bad rap, that they’re not considered as talented as restaurant chefs.

    While he’s happy to prove that notion wrong, experience as a restaurant owner has mellowed him.

    “It’s going to be a good brunch, and I’m content being with comparisons,” Reed says. “I’m going to give you great food, and if you think somebody else does it better? I think I’m good, and I’ll leave it at that.”

    Luella’s 2.0 will be a bit of a departure, but he knows one thing: Grandma’s name will definitely be part of the new space’s name.

    In the meantime, fans have a little less than 10 months to visit Reed in Lincoln Square.



    Ashok Selvam

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  • El Hefe, the Troubled Hubbard Street Clubstaurant, Appears Closed

    El Hefe, the Troubled Hubbard Street Clubstaurant, Appears Closed


    After more than a decade on Hubbard Street, controversial nightclub El Hefe has closed its doors. The River North bar, owned by Scottsdale-based company Riot Hospitality, has been erased from the brand’s website.

    The duration of the closure, however, remains in question. The company has “suspended operations” at 15 W. Hubbard Street, but would not confirm whether or not El Hefe will return, according to Block Club Chicago. Though the bar developed a bad reputation among locals, River North tourists continued to give the venue business.

    A self-described “super macho taqueria,” El Hefe made its Chicago debut in 2013 amid the notoriously bustling nightlife strip in River North, operating as a Mexican restaurant during the day and an adults-only spot for dancing and drinking at night. But as the years passed, troubling incidents began to accrue, culminating in two women filing lawsuits against the club in 2019.

    A Florida woman, whom attorneys dub Jane Doe, alleged in a suit that while visiting Chicago in October 2019, she was drugged and raped in an alley behind the bar while security guards stood about 100 feet away. Doe also alleged her attacker was known to El Hefe’s staff. The incident was recorded on a security camera and paramedics went on to transport an unresponsive Doe to the hospital.

    That footage inspired a second plaintiff to file suit weeks later with allegations that she was also drugged and sexually assaulted in 2014 at El Hefe and that staff failed to intervene. At the time, according to the suit, a toxicology test and rape kit taken at the hospital confirmed the plaintiff was raped and drugged with Acetone.

    For its part, El Hefe released a statement on social media in 2019 responding to the first lawsuit, claiming that its security guards did not witness an assault and promising to cooperate with police investigations. At the time, one of the women’s attorneys called the statement “absurd” and alleged that club management was withholding evidence from law enforcement. A spokesperson for Riot Hospitality later issued a more contrite statement, asserting that “reports like these are unacceptable in any part of our city… Any incident that tears at the reputation of the City of Chicago impacts all of us.”

    That tone, however, didn’t extend to a January 2020 court filing in which the bar’s attorneys leveraged a common legal tactic: claiming that Jane Doe “was more than 50 percent of the proximate cause of the injury” — essentially, that Doe was responsible for her own assault.

    The move was met with near-immediate criticism, and in the same month, more than 5,700 Chicago hospitality workers signed a petition calling for city officials to suspend El Hefe’s liquor license until police completed their investigations. The petition specifically pointed to the club’s policy of removing overly intoxicated customers through a back door, precisely as alleged by Doe in her suit, thus perpetuating a “dangerous workplace culture.”

    Protracted legal battles followed. The second plaintiff’s lawsuit was dismissed for want of prosecution in March 2021, while Doe’s case was dismissed “by stipulation or agreement” (which could mean a settlement) in early January 2024.

    Originally founded in Scottsdale in 2010, El Hefe also operated another outpost in Tempe, Arizona, which has also closed. The Scottsdale location remains open. Reps for the company have not yet responded to a request for more information.



    Naomi Waxman

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  • Galit and Chef Paul Virant Earn Local Banchet Honors

    Galit and Chef Paul Virant Earn Local Banchet Honors


    Sunday night marked a new beginning for the Jean Banchet Awards, the local honors that recognize Chicago restaurants and chefs (it’s also named for the esteemed French chef). The Banchets skipped 2023 as the committee of local chefs and tastemakers who vote on the awards reassembled itself with a new charitable beneficiary. Those efforts produced a brisk two-hour ceremony at Venue SIX10 where Galit, the upscale contemporary Middle Eastern eatery, won Restaurant of the Year.

    “I want to thank this lovely chef and bald gentleman, Zach [Engel], for giving me a call several years ago,” Galit co-owner Andres Clavero said Sunday night while onstage. “The stories of food have been so emotionally important and personal to the two of us. In a year where everyone was asked to do what’s changing what is different and nothing has changed — we will continue to share stories of those that are unheard and food that is meaningful and showcase people who don’t necessarily have a voice.”

    Clavero and chef Engel keep adding to their trophy case. The Lincoln Park restaurant has already achieved a Michelin star status for the last three years. Engel is a James Beard Award winner for 2017’s Rising Chef of the Year while he worked at Shaya in New Orleans. Later this year, the duo plans to open a second restaurant, a few doors away from Galit on Lincoln Avenue.

    Meanwhile, Paul Virant, a venerable chef behind hits like Gaijin in Fulton Market and Vistro Prime in suburban Hinsdale, won Chef of the Year. Virant’s influence, through cookbooks and as a role model to many chefs who attended the ceremony, is also evident at two of his shuttered restaurants, Perrenial Virant in Old Town, and Vie in suburban Western Springs.

    Awards host Michael Muser, the master sommelier and co-owner at Ever, kept the event running smoothly. While he peppered the show with jokes, he had only one meaty comedic bit which came in the opening monologue, a David Letterman-style Top 10 list, “Top 10 Ways to Tell if Your Restaurant Employee is High on the Job.”

    “No. 5: You serve a consummé that tasted like bong water because it actually is bong water,” Muser said.

    Muser dedicated that line to retired Chicago Tribune dining critic Phil Vettel, the recipient of the night’s Culinary Excellence of the Year Award. Breakfast Queen Ina Pinkney, looking spry before her 81st birthday on Valentine’s Day, presented the awarded Vettel with a charming story about when Vettel, then an anonymous critic, revealed his identity to her while interviewing her before her 2013 retirement. Vettel would retire in 2021 after 31 years at the Trib.

    “Do you know what a forager bee does?” Vettel told the audience. “The forager bee looks for flowers, looks for nectar — finds areas with really good quality nectar and then it goes back to the hive and does this little nectar dance which tells all the other bees ‘follow me I know where the good shit is.’”

    “And that’s my career.”

    For 2024, the Banchets partnered with Chicago Chefs Cook, a nonprofit that formed in 2020 and has raised more than $1 million for numerous charitable causes both internationally and locally. For the previous 20 years, the awards were associated with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, but after the 2022 show, the sides separated.

    For Sunday’s event, Chicago Chefs Cook picked James Beard and Jean Banchet award winner Erick Williams’ group, the Virtue Leadership Development Program, as the beneficiary. Williams has stressed the importance of mentors — one example is Damarr Brown his chef de cuisine at Virtue and the 2023 Emerging Chef of the Year by the Beard Foundation. Williams spoke about the need to invest in underserved communities, and how those resources impact growth. Equity (versus equality) is about more than just what spaces look like in terms of representation.

    “By having the opportunities — or tools, equipment, the books, the support, the mentorship, and the development — I have the grand opportunity to speak with heads of states, heads of cities, and everyone down to someone’s 90-year-old grandmother who wanted to just celebrate being 90 years old,” Williams said.

    Another highlight from Sunday came after Rubi’s on 18th, the winner of Heritage Restaurant of the Year. Members of the family who owns Pilsen taqueria — once a staple at the Maxwell Street Market — took the stage. Owner Gilberto Ramirez hid tears behind a white cowboy hat he used to cover his face. After his family gave their remarks, he took the podium and simply yelled “I love Chicago!” That earned the loudest applause of the night.

    1462 E. 53rd Street, Chicago, IL



    Ashok Selvam

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  • Make THC-Infused Chicken Wings With a New Cannabis-Spiked Sauce

    Make THC-Infused Chicken Wings With a New Cannabis-Spiked Sauce


    Super Bowl Sunday is typically marketed as a high-energy event with fans downing beer and snacks while watching a gladiator-style competition. Certainly, that’s what fans are gearing up for a Sunday, February 11 when the Kansas City Chiefs will clash with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.

    But nearly four years after Illinois legalized recreational cannabis, the big game might take on a more mellow tone thanks to a limited-edition THC-infused Buffalo wing sauce.

    The sauce, a collaboration between Wicker Park sports bar the Fifty/50 and Cresco Labs, infuses that familiar mild orange wing sauce with 100 mg of THC via odorless and flavorless distillate cannabis oil. The 10-ounce containers will hit shelves on Friday, February 2 at Sunnyside dispensaries in River North and Wrigleyville, as well as suburban Buffalo Grove and Schaumburg. The sauce will also be available at Okay Cannabis, the dispensary chain that shares some of the same investors as Fifty/50.

    Cresco, which also works with star baker Mindy Segal on her line of edibles, is selling the sauce under its Good News, a cannabis brand.

    Each 10-ounce container includes 100 mg of THC.
    Cresco Labs

    One of Chicago’s top spots for fried and smoked chicken wings, the Fifty/50 is especially well-loved for its honey-tinged OG Buffalo sauce (co-owner Scott Weiner has told reporters, “wings are my happy place,”). The company, also behind West Town Bakery, is already acquainted with the wide world of weed as last year it unveiled THC-infused cake and brownie mixes.

    The oil doesn’t impact the consistency of the sauce, says Cresco spokesperson Jason Erkes, adding that it features a hybrid strain that won’t leave fans to spend game day melting into the couch. The team estimates that the 10-ounce container has enough sauce to dip about 24 wings, delivering a microdose of 3 to 5 mg smothered on each wing.

    While the infused wing sauce will only be available for a limited time (the collaborators expect it to sell out quickly), there’s plenty of room for hazy hijinks down the road, says Erkes. “As the cannabis industry matures, this is the natural evolution of where cannabis products could go,” he says. “[At Cresco], our whole mission is to normalize and professionalize the industry.”



    Naomi Waxman

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  • ‘Groundhog Day’ Reunion Aims to Cure Chicago’s Wintertime Blues

    ‘Groundhog Day’ Reunion Aims to Cure Chicago’s Wintertime Blues

    Navy Pier, like most Chicago restaurants and tourist attractions, struggles to attract business during winter. But one restaurant owner has an idea to address the problem. Grant DePorter is no stranger to stunts. The president and chief executive officer of Harry Caray’s has blown up a baseball and served it in spaghetti sauce. Last year, he even promoted the beloved baseball announcer in a campaign for mayor (of Rush Street).

    Now, he’s celebrating the life of one of the restaurant’s partners, legendary filmmaker and comedian Harold Ramis. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Ramis’ death, and the city of Chicago is prepping to declare Friday, February 2 — Groundhog Day — as Harold Ramis Day. Ramis is responisble for hits like Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, and Groundhog Day. The latter is the 1993 comedy starring Bill Murray.

    DePorter and the rest of the staff at Harry Caray’s Tavern at Navy Pier are prepping a special event on the date. DePorter has spent the last few weeks gathering artifacts and props to throw a Groundhog Day ceremony that would make his friend proud. He’s even procured the Armani coat Murray wears in most of the movie and has commissioned a 150-pound tree stump. Movie producer Erica Mann Ramis, the director’s wife, will also appear at the event.

    “I’m just trying to get people excited in February to give people a reason to come to Downtown Chicago,” DePorter says.

    The restaurant world is slow during the winter in Chicago. Weather forecasters put folks on edge with their storm alerts, warning folks about snow that sometimes never comes. And that leads to empty dining rooms and cancelations. There’s also a sometimes negative perception of Chicago coming from the suburbs. These are challenges that restaurant owners around town have expressed frustration to Eater Chicago about.

    Events like this aim to combat those hurdles. Ald. (2nd Ward) Brian Hopkins and Ald. (42nd Ward) Brendan Reilly are expected with the latter reading the proclamation. Meanwhile, several actors from the movie will appear — including Brian Doyle Murray (Buster Green), David Pasquesi (the Psychiatrist), and Peggy Roeder (the Piano Teacher). But the real star of the show is the groundhog; the fuzzy critter holds the fate of Chicago’s winter by whether or not it sees its shadow. Groundhog Day is a popular event in Woodstock, Illinois. And that’s where DePorter found a groundhog handler to provide the animal for next month’s event.

    The average lifespan of a groundhog is 12 to 14 years in captivity. So, alas, the same groundhog from the movie is no longer available. There is a chance the stand-in is a distant relative; DePorter says they’re using the same handler that was used in the movie.

    Harry Caray’s will also serve food and drink inspired by Tip Top Cafe, the restaurant featured in the movie, where Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell repeatedly dine. DePorter says when word got out about the tribute to Ramis, several Ghostbusters fans reached out and pledged to show up in full costume. DePorter says he owns the jumpsuits worn by Bill Murray and Ramis in the original movie.

    For anyone placing a bet if the groundhog will see its shadow, DePorter has no inside information.

    “All I can say is that we’re not sticking to the script,” he says.

    “Groundhog Day’ reunion and Harold Ramis Day, 3 p.m. on Friday, February 2 at Harry Caray’s Tavern Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Avenue.

    Ashok Selvam

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  • Bongo Room Co-Founder John Latino Helped Define Chicago’s Brunch Culture

    Bongo Room Co-Founder John Latino Helped Define Chicago’s Brunch Culture


    John Latino, the chef and founder of the Bongo Room, the Wicker Park restaurant that helped usher in the phenomenon of brunch in Chicago, has died.

    A South Side native, Latino opened the original Bongo Room in 1993 with longtime friend and business partner Derrick Robles in Wicker Park. The duo earned legions of fans over their 30-year partnership, attracting admirers and imitators with a joyful take that raised the bar on breakfast and brunch all over town.

    The 58-year-old Latino died suddenly of natural causes on Thursday, January 11 in Chicago, Robles says.

    “John really spoke with his food,” Robles says. “He was a quiet man, shy most of the time… We never really sought out recognition, we just kind of kept our nose to the grindstone and blinders on to focus on the restaurant, letting John’s food and our service speak for itself.”

    They would move from the original Damen Avenue location four years after opening. Long weekend brunch lines would regularly stretch onto the sidewalk of Milwaukee Avenue outside the current location in Wicker Park with customers indulging in specialty pancakes and other items. While chefs famously hate brunch, Bongo Room embraced it and customers woke up early to get on the waitlist. Bongo Room is hailed as one of the restaurants that turned Wicker Park into a brunch village. Bongo Room also provides a haven for weekday breakfast for neighborhood locals.

    Derrick Robles (left) and John Latino (right) founded Bongo Room in 1993.
    Derrick Robles

    Robles, who grew up in Beverly, met Latino in 1992 when they worked together at Gold Coast’s famed Pump Room, but the men had crossed paths before. Robles recalls first seeing Latino in 1988 across the room at now-shuttered LGBTQ nightclub icon Berlin. “He was kind of goth back then, he wore kilts and combat boots and had his hair spiked up 10 inches high,” Robles says.

    While Robles was growing weary of hospitality, Latino, then a student at Kendall College, always wanted to open a restaurant. That dream became a reality faster than they anticipated when a friend of Latino wanted to get out of a lease at 1560 N. Damen Avenue, the present site of Stan’s Donuts. That’s where Robles and Latino debuted their first location. After struggling the first year and a half with operations, challenges that Robles says contributed to the end of their romantic relationship, Latino developed a series of dishes that would become the restaurant’s signature, like fluffy lemon ricotta pancakes and banana bread French toast.

    Derrick Robles and John Latino pose on the patio at Bongo Room.

    Robles and Latino were best friends and business partners for three decades.
    Derrick Robles

    1994 was a red-letter year for Bongo Room thanks to rockstar Liz Phair, a Chicagoan who recorded her debut album Exile in Guyville at nearby Idful Music studio. Phair (also a former regular at indie rock dive Rainbo Club) met a reporter for an interview in Rolling Stone over Latino’s blueberry pancakes, and the restaurant snagged a mention in the article.

    Longtime friend Margaret MacKay held several positions at Bongo Room in the late ‘90s and says the restaurant’s popularity never went to Latino’s head. “He was a perfectionist,” she says. “He wanted to touch every plate [because] every plate had meaning to him. He felt like it was a reflection on him and [Robles].”

    During the early years of Bongo Room, Chicago businesses generally didn’t advertise their LGBTQ ownership. While the restaurant was never awash in rainbow flags, Robles says they never hid who they were. He credits that to the accepting atmosphere of Wicker Park at the time, then an artist enclave where “everyone could be who they wanted to be and live without judgment,” relative to other parts of the city.

    Latino and Robles sought out a larger space and in 1997 relocated to 1470 N. Milwaukee Avenue. Six years later, they opened a South Loop location (it closed in 2019) and expanded in 2012 to Andersonville. Since 2020, however, the business has struggled, says Robles.

    As he grieves for Latino, he is unsure of what the future holds for Bongo Room. Weekend business has returned to about 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels, but weekday numbers remain dramatically reduced.

    “[His] passing, on a personal level, has been so incredibly devastating and soul-crushing for me,” Robles says. “For me, it’s kind of like losing my left arm and I don’t know how to envision staying open without him…. it’s knowing there will never be another John Latino spring or fall menu — that was a rude awakening. It was a jolt, that it won’t happen again.”

    News of Latino’s death spread quickly among the extended Bongo Room community, with friends and former employees across the country reconnecting to share memories from years past. MacKay remembers Latino’s affectionate, kind demeanor, as well as his apparent inability to say a bad word about anyone, including the most difficult patrons.

    “I’d like for people to think that about me, but it really was the case with [Latino],” MacKay says. “He was always just lighthearted to be around, loving, like a unicorn. To me, he was one of a kind.”

    Robles agrees. “In the restaurant business, you can come across some pretty challenging customers, and we did throughout the past three decades,” he says. “But John never had an unkind word for anybody… He’d do anything for the people he loved. It wasn’t easy to get into John’s circle, but once you were in, you were in for life.”

    Funeral services were held on Wednesday, January 17 at Lawn Funeral Home in Tinley Park.



    Naomi Waxman

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  • Where to Dine on Heated Patios in Chicago

    Where to Dine on Heated Patios in Chicago


    Le Sud

    Chicagoans can stand the cold better than most, but it’s a lot easier with a fire pit or heater

    The cold is here to stay in Chicago, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to head indoors. Midwesterners are always made of sterner stuff and have a tolerance for low temperatures. Many of the fire pits and propane heaters that were en vogue in 2020 have become fixtures all over town, as have insulated tents that protect patio diners from bitter winter winds. Check out this list of the city’s best heated patio options.



    Naomi Waxman

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  • Inside the Ramova, a Righteous Restoration of a Bridgeport Classic

    Inside the Ramova, a Righteous Restoration of a Bridgeport Classic

    On Friday night, the team behind the Ramova Theater will celebrate the venue’s reopening, reveling in 95 years of history and a reopening that involves the city, a trio of celebrities, and 49 local investors. There’s also a local chef who grew up in Bridgeport in charge with a notepad brimming with ideas.

    “If you had told me, a year or two before Duck Inn, that I would open up a restaurant on the street I grew up on, I’d have told you you were insane, that will never happen,” says Kevin Hickey.

    The Ramova on Friday will hold a symbolic sign-lighting ceremony. Hickey, who is also celebrating Wednesday’s news that the Duck Inn had earned a James Beard nod for outstanding restaurant, is the chef behind the venue’s restaurant component, the Ramova Grill. It’s his second restaurant in the neighborhood. The Ramova is part music venue, restaurant, community gathering place, and brewery. New York’s Other Half Brewing has taken residence, but due to delays with licensing, they haven’t brewed on-site. The limited supply of beer that’s been sold has been shipped over from other breweries. The venue officially opened on New Year’s Eve.

    “For us to be community- and artist-owned is rudimentary,” says Nevius, rattling names of nearby supporters, like Zhou B Arts Center and Let’s Boogie Records and Tapes. He’s also been in contact with the Dinos family, the owners of the original Ramova Grill: “They’re very excited, they’re very happy to see the Ramova Grill coming back.”

    On Friday night, the Ramova will hold a sign-lighting ceremony.

    The two co-founders of the Ramova Theater stand behind their bar.

    Emily and Tyler Nevius are the Ramova’s co-founders.

    The restaurant closed in 2012 at 3520 S. Halsted Street. Hickey is flooded with memories of a vibrant commercial corridor. He says his family’s history in the area extends to five, maybe six, generations. The Hickey family story is a familiar one, and one of the reasons Tyler and Emily Nevius worked so hard to restore the Ramova. They found a trio of celebrity investors who also helped, Quincy Jones, Chance The Rapper, and Jennifer Hudson. Tyler Nevius says they’ve all been helpful. Hudson, for example, helped make sure the artist’s green room was laid out properly. He adds that he considers other local businesses as partners. Its proximity to Sox Park will make baseball season exciting. Nevius is stoked to see fans of Other Half — which has breweries in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C.— wear their visitor jerseys and pack the place.

    Hickey sees the project with the potential of revitalizing the area much like Thalia Hall did for 18th Street in Pilsen when it reopened in 2013 with eventually Michelin-starred Dusek’s as its flagship restaurant. Nevius agrees with the sentiment but says Bridgeport has a different rhythm.

    A diner with red stools and black and white checkered floor.

    The original Ramova Grill closed in 2012.

    a Bowl of Chili

    Ramova’s chili

    “16” On Center is so impressive,” Tyler Nevius says of Thalia Hall. “But we really have to earn our spot at the table now.”

    The restaurant Hickey with an outlet to try ideas like Pork Chop Suey. Read that literally — it features a bed of noodles and vegetables beneath a grilled char siu-style pork chop. Hickey says he’s been dining at Chinatown restaurants to ensure he gets his dish right.

    Pork Chop Suey is a Tuesday special at the Ramova Grill. The standard menu features chili, a Ramova staple. Hickey takes a few liberties here, noting that “no one has tasted that chili in 12 years,” which is when the original restaurant closed: “I don’t remember what it was like,” Hickey says.

    The chili was a celebrated item at the old Ramova, and Hickey created a bit of a tall tale when he cooked it for the festival circuit, involving his dad in the telling, calling it “Jack’s Stolen Chili.” Ramova’s chili is a little thinner than Midwesterners are used to, which lends it well when mixing in mac and cheese or a dollop of sour cream. The chili is also ideal for dunking, for friends or with the duck-infused corn dogs. Another departure is the vegan version which uses portobello mushroom stock.

    Another highlight is a dish few have ever seen. Back before on-demand streaming, DVDs, and VHS tapes, hotels used a service, called Spectra Vision, which played movies on a loop as in-room entertainment. One of the films featured when Hickey watched incessantly on family trips was The Jerk, a comedy starring Steve Martin. The film features a scene where Martin is eating something called “pizza in a cup.” Hickey says he’s been obsessed with creating his version and was inspired several years ago when Moody Tongue Brewing chef Jared Wentworth made the dish at a food festival in Lincoln Park.

    Ramova’s pizza in a cup is a communal snack, a fried flatbread surrounds a cup filled with melted cheese, sausage, giardiniera, and other pizza toppings — it’s like a fondue, Hickey says. Break off a piece of the crispy ring and dip it into the cup.

    There have been some bumps. Social media revolted after the Ramova charged $16 per beer on opening weekend. Tyler Nevius apologized, saying it was a problem with signage, a perfect storm of missteps. He feels bad for Other Half and takes accountability for the overcharge: “I don’t think we understood how hard it was going to be,” Nevius says.

    But once they secure their beer-making license and have the right signage up, Tyler Nevius says visitors will start seeing the Ramova’s true potential. Take a look around the space in the photos.

    Ramova Grill, 3520 S. Halsted Street

    Ashok Selvam

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  • Here’s the Next Great Angle on Chicago’s Beloved Rat Hole

    Here’s the Next Great Angle on Chicago’s Beloved Rat Hole


    The Lunar Calendar may read that this is the Year of the Dragon, but so far in Chicago it looks like the Year of the Rat… Hole.

    Even though a squirrel may have left the indentation, this story has provided viral gold to news organizations all around town and beyond. We at Eater are simultaneously champing and chomping at the bit for a food-related angle to show itself. But will it? Or will we yet again stand around lonely, fumbling our thumbs and watching another story of the century pass us by? We vowed Chance the Snapper wouldn’t happen to us ever again, yet here we are. Sure, locals might be sick of the rat hole, but the rest of the country is hungry for rat hole content. To sate them, here are 28 completely untrue restaurant world headlines related to Chicago’s rat hole.

    The Rat Hole now shows up on Google Maps.
    Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

    • Will ‘The Bear’ Feature the Rat Hole in Season 3?
    • Grant Achatz’s New Alinea Menu Pays Tribute to the Rat Hole
    • Lou Malnati’s Rat Hole-Shaped Deep-Dish Pizza Wins Over ‘Emily in Paris’
    • Swedish Bakery Returns for Fat Tuesday With Rat Hole Paczkis
    • Lettuce Entertain You Rebrands RPM Italian, Swaps ‘Rancics’ For ‘Rat Hole’
    • CH Distillery Finally Takes Malört Too Far With New Rat Hole Infusion
    • Kroger Discards Jewel and Mariano’s Brands for Rat Hole Finer Foods
    • Hogsalt to Open Sexy New French West Loop Spot, Randolph’s Rat Hole
    • Disney Threatens to Sue Hogsalt Over ‘Ratatouille’-Themed French Restaurant
    • Harold’s Chicken to Sell Mild Sauce in Rat Hole-Shaped Bottles
    • Rat Hole Enrages Rick Bayless Even Though He Hasn’t Seen It In Person
    • Stephanie Izard Reinvents Herself With This Little Rat Hole Diner
    • I Drank Jeppson’s Malört Out of the Rat Hole and Lived to Tell the Tale
    • Goose Island Launches Rat Hole County Stout Aged in Rat Holes Made From 3D Printers
    • Inside the Rat Hole, A Not-So-Family-Friendly Affair in Roscoe Village
    • Rat Hole Pops Up in Hyde Park; It’s as Far South as It Will Go
    • JP Graziano Announces Limited Edition Rat Hole Giardiniera Collab With Old Style
    • What to Serve and Wear at a Rat Hole-Inspired Party
    • Rat Hole 2.0 to Open in Avondale With More Seating, Expanded Menu
    • Wieners Circle Staffer Yells ‘You Look Like a Rat Hole, Bitch’ at Tearful Customer
    • Vandal Fills Rat Hole With Ketchup, Discovers a Use for the Hated Condiment
    • The St. Louis Department of Provel Claims It Discovered the Rat Hole First
    • Jean Banchet Committee to Honor Rat Hole With Its Lifetime Achievement Award Presented by Jones BBQ and Foot Massage
    • Ten Speed Press to Release ‘Cookery Fit For a Rat Hole’ With Forward by Paul Kahan
    • DoorDash Unveils DJ Khaled’s Rat Hole, a New Virtual Restaurant
    • Foxtrot Debuts Rat Hole At-Home Meal Kits
    • The Rat Hole Is Eater Chicago’s Restaurant of the Year
    • Readers Ask Eater to Stop Writing About the Rat Hole — Go Back to Covering ‘The Bear’



    Ashok Selvam

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  • Megan Thee Stallion’s Halloween cosplay shows off peak anime taste

    Megan Thee Stallion’s Halloween cosplay shows off peak anime taste

    Megan Thee Stallion blesses us with banger after banger. This time, it’s not a song, but yet another one of her incredible anime cosplays. On Monday, the American rapper shared photos of her cosplaying as Death the Kid from Soul Eater. The fitting pick just goes to show that Megan Thee Stallion has always had peak taste in anime.

    You can view the full gallery of photos on her Instagram. She largely stayed true to the overall look of Death the Kid where she word an angular suit and black hair painted with his iconic three white stripes. She even recreates the typical top-down camera angle that Soul Eater often uses in one of her photos. Still, she infuses the character’s presentation with her own flair by adding a sick set of pointy nails and art that depicts Death the Kid’s companions, Liz and Patty Thompson with darker skin.

    Soul Eater isn’t exactly a niche series. The manga had 19.6 million copies in circulation as of 2019 and was available to stream on well-known streaming services like Netflix. Still, it’s far from the super popular anime series like Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer. The series aired back in 2008 making it an older series at this point. At this point, anime fans might be more familiar with Shinji Aramaki’s later series, Fire Force.

    But Megan found the perfect fit with Death. Both characters have iconic three-part names with a “the” to emphasize their stardom. On top of that, Death the Kid also has an incredible theme that’s also a rap.

    Image: Studio Bones/Cunchyroll

    Megan Thee Stallion’s love of anime has been a regular aspect of her career and persona. You could write a long list of all her nerdy shenanigans, but we’ll include a couple here to give you an idea: She cosplayed Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia in 2019 and Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui in 2020. Last year, she performed in Japan in full Sailor Moon cosplay. On top of all that, she launched a line with Crunchyroll and has written anime references into her music.

    Megan Thee Stallion is a geek through and through, and now we’ve been blessed with one of her best cosplays yet.

    Ana Diaz

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