107yr old Chicago restaurant closing

[MrBern]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051229/ap_on_re_us/berghoff_closing
Famous Chicago Berghoff Restaurant Closing

By MIKE COLIAS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 3 minutes ago
CHICAGO - For generations, diners with a craving for apple strudel or a stein of cold German beer have sidled up to the bar at The Berghoff Restaurant, which is closing after 107 years in business, its owners announced Wednesday.

"We share the sadness that many feel about the closing of the restaurant," Herman Berghoff, 70, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Jan, said in a statement.

"It's been an honor to be part of the fabric of Chicago," he said, but the couple "feel that now is the right time to start a new chapter in our lives."

The restaurant's history is intermingled with Chicago's. It was such a downtown staple that after Prohibition ended in December 1933, the city issued The Berghoff Liquor License No. 1.

Herman Joseph Berghoff, a German immigrant, and his three brothers began brewing Berghoff Beer in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1887, according to the restaurant's Web site. Six years later, he sold it to fairgoers at The Chicago World's Fair, and in 1898 he opened a cafe to showcase the beer, which sold for a nickel.

During Prohibition, the business served near beer and soda and expanded into a full-service restaurant.

The Berghoff will officially close on Feb. 28. The restaurant's building will be leased to a catering company run by Herman and Jan Berghoff's daughter.

The restaurant's closure is the city's second loss of a treasured downtown institution in three months. In September, it was announced that the city's venerable Marshall Field's downtown department store will be renamed Macy's.

 

[Wild Root]

That's selfish. I mean, why not have the kids just take care of the place? Why change it? I have never been there but a place that has been in biz for 107 years is nothing to throw away!

Sad, just sad.

=WR=

 

[Miss Neecerie]

could be worse...

they could be knocking the building down....which they arnt...

be thankful for small mercies...if they are family they arnt trying to build condos there.

 

[Wild Root]

This is true however.... it's really sad to see something that has been in business for 107 years then just throw in the towel. There are places over here in LA that have been around for 80-90 years and they are going strong and have no plans on going out of business. It's a sense of tradition you know. The interior I'm sure is going to get gutted to some degree.

Still sad.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

This made me think of a local antique store that is housed in a beautiful old house. I get a lot of treasures there. It's the place where I can go and tune out the world and kinda pretend it's 1899 (I like the Victorian Era) because it's so large and full of gorgeous antiques. They were made an unsolicited offer and sold it. They are turning it into offices/condos. The same buyer purchaed a historic inn and there is rumor of converting that, too.

 

[scotrace]

Through The Doors of Luchow's

... Pass All the Famous People of the World.

Luchow's, another famous german restaurant (NYC) closed its doors in the early 80's after 100 or so years, and the building was gutted, if not raized.

 

[Harry Lime]

A prediction...

Perhaps cynical but steeped in years of observing the politics of "The City That Works." A city I love but a city that knows a thing or two about passive-aggression and dirty politics. Politics often discussed over a draft at the Berghoff by the likes of Hinky Dink, Bath House John, Mike O'Leary, Mayor Thompson, et al..

The Berghoff will close on February 28 as planned. It will be leased to the daughter-in-law for her catering business/bar to re-open later/other restaurant to open in it's place later. The catering business will continue. The re-open of the bar will get pushed back and back. And back. Another restaurant will never re-open in the space.

Time will pass. The shuttered Berghoff will become a fact of life, time will move ahead, it will become another memory of Chicago past (like the re-named Marshall Fields, Macy's - yecchhhh - a couple of blocks North.) The passions of many that would have erupted had they announced immediately the retaurant was closing and the site will be levelled will, in many cases, die. Then one day...

The news story will be that "a liquor license could not be reattained and a suitable tenet for the restaurant could not be found" and the "space proved inadequate for the catering business." So the building will become completely vacant. Useless. A "tax liability to the long-time owners." The building will "become available to buyers." A total sham...

...because in fact the family had sold the building on or about January 1, 2006. And that old four story building will be torn down and replaced with another multi-story condo. A huge glass tower, full of studios and one bedroom apartments. Bought by singles that the political powers hope bring more tax payers to the city, to fill downtown at night (which the Berghoff didn't do), people who will shop at the new "Macy's-on-State" and whatever crappy retailer moves into Block 37. Will it be a Pier One, Gap, Starbucks Target? Or a Office Max, Caribou Coffee and Bed, Bath and Beyond. I can hardly wait to find out what cookie-cutter crapola chain will move in. So I can buy the exact same junk downtown that I can buy in any suburb. Hopefully there will also be a Bennigans, Olive Garden, Subway so I can get something to eat.

Is there a silver lining? The Field's Store has been landmarked so it will be more difficult (but hardly impossible) to tear down. When Macy's fails on the location as it surely will over the next couple of years the building will make beautiful vintage condos. It will never, ever be a great retail Mecca again. (Let's hope it goes condo rather than chop it up into a bunch of "retail arcades." I can't bear the thought of a Karmel Korn and Orange Julius sitting square in the middle of Field's once-great tie department.)

Destroying the true fabric of Chicago a stitch at a time, building by building, distinctive retailers and restaurants one by one. Next time you're in Chicago you better hit Twin Anchors, Murphy's Bleachers, The Original Pancake House, Manny's Deli, Iwan Ries Tobacco Shoppe, the Original Heavan on Seven, The Artists Cafe and Kasey's Tavern on Dearborn. Odds are good that by the time of your next trip - they'll all be gone.

Some times "The City That Works" doesn't. It makes me sad. In the case of the Berghoff Building I hope I'm wrong. I'll bet I'm not.

Harry Lime

 

[Panamabob]

We have Berghoffsin our town. I went to school with one (trust fund babies!) and worked with the wife of another. They had the Berghoff Brewery and original Berghoff Gardens here in our town.

Some neat stuff:

http://www.fortwaynebreweries.com/berghoffbreweriana.htm

We were the home of the world champion Pistons, too! Everything good goes to a bigger city!

 

[Wild Root]

This made me think of a local antique store that is housed in a beautiful old house. I get a lot of treasures there. It's the place where I can go and tune out the world and kinda pretend it's 1899 (I like the Victorian Era) because it's so large and full of gorgeous antiques. They were made an unsolicited offer and sold it. They are turning it into offices/condos. The same buyer purchaed a historic inn and there is rumor of converting that, too.

See, this is what makes me sooooooo MAD!!! Why would they want to use an old Victorian home for office space? That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ridicules! I know it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s done but, a home is a home! The antique store sounded like a real fun place! I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m sure you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re not the only disappointed shopper. Why doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t the company just build their own building? That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s what so many of them do. I saw a 1940?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s market in town go office. It depressed me so much because it was so perfect! It had the original sign, art deco styling and would have made a great store of some sort. Some company bought it and gutted it, painted it fruity colors, took down the sign and turned it into a coffee sipping factory. That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s what I call offices.

=WR=

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Man, i'll miss the Berghoff. Nothing could beat the surly staff (well, i always seemed to get served by a suryly old man). And their beer was excellent. And if german sausage was what you were looking for - you knew where to go. Be pretty hard to knock the building down, too, without destroying the whole block.

RIP

bk

 

[feltfan]

A. Zito Bakery

While in NYC last week I tried to show my SO the
famous A. Zito Bakery on Bleeker. You have no doubt
seen the famous Berenice Abbott picture:

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424442658/berenice-abbott-zitos-bakery.html

What I found was an empty storefront. Here's the story:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9A07E2D9103EF93BA15756C0A9629C8B63

or perhaps this:

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/05/28/the_bread_no_longer_rises.php

 

[Cannon]

The Berghoff has Liquor License #1 from when Prohibition was lifted. Word is, they are going to auction off a lot of the stuff inside. Not too big on German food, but it was a fine bar to drink at.