Sunday, February 7, 2010

Clarke's Diner Coming to the Sloop?

So don't get your hopes up yet, but the popular near north (aka Lincoln Park and Lakeview) diner "Clarke's" was mentioned within an article on chicagobusiness.com saying they are looking at options to expand and the South Loop is a neighorhood they're considering. The main focus of the article was about the diner leasing space in River North. However:
Mr. Moon (who is helping with the leasing) says he is actively looking for additional spots for Clarke’s in the Loop, South Loop and western suburbs.
Although it's not a definite, it would be nice to have another diner option in the Sloop. We would love to see them within the old Sam's store at the Northeast corner of Wabash and Roosevelt.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the restaurant their website is unfortunately under construction (link here), but here is a menupages write-up on the restaurant on Belmont.

42 comments:

Chitownmez said...

This sounds almost too good to be true!

Anonymous said...

A 24 hour place like this would do a killing in the old Gourmond/Doggie Bath House stretch of S. Dearborn!

Plenty of bar partons and Columbia students to keep it afloat.

Andy Sites said...

I second putting this where the Doggie/Bath House was!

Anonymous said...

Anywhere along Motor Row or Cermack would be great! Best would be anywhere on Motor Row, which is presently a virtual commercial ghost town. Plus, I'm sure there would be massive security concerns about placing a 24-hour diner on Cermack.

FGFM said...

Soul Queen used to be open 24/7 at Michigan and "Cermack" with no problems that I was aware of. What the Cappleman!

Organicstrings said...

rumor has it that the reason businesses have been closingin the Gourmand-->mediterra/doggie bath house space is due to recent exorbitant increases in rent.

It will be interesting to watch how long this prime real estate stays unfilled. I am guessing if the rumors are true it could be a while.

-- But it sure would be a great spot for a diner.

Andy Sites said...

I am a little surprised about Gourmand closing because it seemed decent, but that dog bath house seemed very overpriced to me. My understanding was you still had to wash your dog yourself, you just spared yourself the hassle of cleaning up your bathroom after.

Jim in the Sloop said...

I vote for the former Orange space. Such a shame to see that sitting there empty for so long.

Anonymous said...

With every month that goes by where those (GNC, Gourmand/Cafe Mediterra, Doggie Bath House) spaces are still vacant, you have to wonder what that property owner is thinking?

Raising the lease/rent and driving everyone out seems like a real stupid move when you consider how difficult it is for incoming small business to get banks to loan them money in the current economic climate.

Carl said...

The old ORANGE space does make more sense in relation to a 24 hour joint.

Anonymous said...

FGFM: If no problems, then why is "Soul Queen" no longer in business?

FGFM said...

FGFM: If no problems, then why is "Soul Queen" no longer in business?

Who knows? Restaurants open and close all the time, but you can still go to the Stony Island location. What the Cappleman!

www.soulqueen.com

Anonymous said...

If restaurants with good food and service close down, it's usually for three reasons: Location. Location. Location.

FGFM said...

If restaurants with good food and service close down, it's usually for three reasons: Location. Location. Location.

Feel free to speculate, but the chicken dude seems to do OK over there. Like I was saying, restaurants close all the time for any number of reasons.

Anonymous said...

"The Chicken Dude" is NOT a 24-hour spot. The restaurant mentioned in this thread - and the comment directed towards it - pertains to a 24-hour establishment; specifiaclly, how there would likely be safety concerns over a 24-hour establishment like Clarke's in the Cermak corridor.

FGFM said...

"The Chicken Dude" is NOT a 24-hour spot. The restaurant mentioned in this thread - and the comment directed towards it - pertains to a 24-hour establishment; specifiaclly, [sic] how there would likely be safety concerns over a 24-hour establishment like Clarke's in the Cermak corridor.

I doubt there will be any big problems wherever they are located. Try not to be such a spazz in the future.

Anonymous said...

I love that "restaurants with good food and service close down/location" post.

Idiot.

Anonymous said...

I love how FGFM turns into a teenage girl when challenged. He has thrown out the "spazz" insult on both the Uptown blog and Sun-times blog recently as well. I'm sure there are several other blogs that he also trolls. Really, is there any bigger troll on this blog than FGFM?

FGFM said...

I love how FGFM turns into a teenage girl when challenged. He has thrown out the "spazz" insult on both the Uptown blog and Sun-times blog recently as well. I'm sure there are several other blogs that he also trolls. Really, is there any bigger troll on this blog than FGFM?

I regret to inform you that no one takes you seriousl. You also happen to be only person I've called a spazz in years. What the Cappleman!

FGFM said...

I love that "restaurants with good food and service close down/location" post.

Don Roth's in Wheeling and Tavern on the Green closed after New Year's. The Pump Room also recently closed. None of these events had anything to do with the location of the restaurant or bad food/service as far as I can tell. What the Cappleman!

MarkChicago said...

FGFM has his/her racism/sexism/stereotyping/discrimination patrol badge out again. Nothing more annoying on this blog than the "What the Cappleman" comments.

Anonymous said...

What does "What the Cappleman" mean? I must be missing something...

MarkChicago said...

http://uptownbarbershop.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-cappleman.html

Seems to be a theme...

FGFM said...

FGFM has his/her racism/sexism/stereotyping/discrimination patrol badge out again.

I'm here to help.

Nothing more annoying on this blog than the "What the Cappleman" comments.

Nice to know that the racist anon doesn't bother you that much.

FGFM said...

Seems to be a theme...

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

FGFM said...

What does "What the Cappleman" mean? I must be missing something...

You should be used to it by now.

Tim said...

Just my two cents, but restaurants typically fail not because of location, but because profit margins in the industry are generally very thin.

And in defense of FGFM, who seems to be getting ganged up on by at least one person, I would have abandoned this blog to the racist anon(s) long ago if commenters like FGFM were not taking them on. Kudos, Anon, on breaking your previous record level of irony with the "troll" comments.

MarkChicago said...

No mentions of race on the page, quit projecting on everyone.

Tim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tim said...

Mark, if you're new to this blog I'll forgive you for being unaware of a certain anonymous poster's quest to turn every topic into an argument about race. I'm not talking about this page in particular, though I suspect he is among those arguing with FGFM.

If you are not new, but are in fact that same poster, I commend you for at least stepping up your rhetoric.

Anonymous said...

Race ONLY came into play on this thread when FGFM threw out his infamous racist phrase "what the Cappleman" (referring to a white gentleman in Uptown who ran for Alderman against a black female) and "Mark" followed-up by calling FGFM a racist.

Absolutely no anonymous poster injected race into this thread.

MarkChicago said...

FGFM is quick to the draw to label anyone a racist who points out obvious themes in our city.

Tim, I'm curious why you would come to the defense of a poster who turns every thread into a hostile discussion? I have seen no evidence of any anonymous poster explicitly being racist.

FGFM said...

Race ONLY came into play on this thread when FGFM threw out his infamous racist phrase "what the Cappleman" (referring to a white gentleman in Uptown who ran for Alderman against a black female) and "Mark" followed-up by calling FGFM a racist.

You know as much about Uptown politics as you do about the restaurant business.

FGFM said...

FGFM is quick to the draw to label anyone a racist who points out obvious themes in our city.

And I welcome your hatred.

I have seen no evidence of any anonymous poster explicitly being racist.

Explicit is the key word here. Not many anti-black racists are stupid enough to drop N-bombs all over the place, but I think that the average person can easily read between the lines on these threads.

MarkChicago said...

Nonsense. Please refer to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

Anonymous said...

FGFM: if you are going to use an ugly term like "racist" to label people, you need more than a 'read between the lines' defense/justification for doing so.

Again, just because concerned citizens raise legit concerns over crime and quality of life (for our children for pete's sake!), it doesn't mean anyone is racist!

If you go back through all the threads whereat race became an issue, it was YOU that started the downward trend. People like you are the reason racism will always exist. No matter the strides made towards a race-free society, people with nothing but racism to blame for certain problems will cling to it like crazy.

FGFM said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

Tell it to your buddy James Cappleman the social worker.

Carl said...

Is it Ok to be bored by all this?

Because I am.

FGFM said...

if you are going to use an ugly term like "racist" to label people, you need more than a 'read between the lines' defense/justification for doing so.

People can draw their own conclusions.

Again, just because concerned citizens raise legit concerns over crime and quality of life (for our children for pete's sake!), it doesn't mean anyone is racist!

You are like a broken record with the racial crap.

If you go back through all the threads whereat race became an issue, it was YOU that started the downward trend. People like you are the reason racism will always exist. No matter the strides made towards a race-free society, people with nothing but racism to blame for certain problems will cling to it like crazy.

You are not fooling anyone with this routine.

FGFM said...

Is it Ok to be bored by all this?

Feel free, but I'm not going to let the racist anon and his new pal go unchallenged as long as I am allowed to post here.

Tim said...

Mark, this anon has posted some really ugly racist non sequiturs on this blog, at least half of which were not triggered by FGFM (some were even first posts). It gets really tiring to see these posts mar what is otherwise a very pleasant blog.

FGFM may be equally as guilty of fanning those flames (perhaps especially in this thread), but when it comes to someone being continuously racist in an off-topic manner, I am going to defend those who take on that person every time.

I tire of having to look up examples every time this comes up, but I will be sure to point it out next time (and I'm sure I won't have to wait long).

Anonymous said...

FGFM @ 1:43pm on 2/10: "I regret to inform you that no one takes you seriousl."

What does 'seriosl' mean?