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| Custom House (500 S. Dearborn) is closing its doors after seven years (photo via Eater Chicago) |
Yesterday, we read a blog post on Eater Chicago about one of the nicer restaurants in the Sloop closing:
Well here's a shocker: Custom House Tavern will close after service on Oct. 31. The news broke on 312 Dining Diva Monday night, but no explanation was given.Eater finally did get an update from owner, Sue Kim-Drohomyrecky:
She explained that this was something they've been considering for a while since the neighborhood is changing and more students have been moving in. "The hotel wants a sports bar and I don't want to do a sports bar," she said with a laugh. "They don't want a three-star restaurant anymore. I don't want to get into that game with them." Kim-Drohomyrecky said they love Custom House and that the concept may re-emerge in the future. "We may tuck this one away and see if there's an opportunity to do it someplace else. I think our new places are phenomenal and we're going to focus on those. We'll see what happens in a year or so."So the neighborhood is changing? Ok, but it seems like there is still a place for a restaurant like Custom House (especially given it's proximity to the Loop). Seems like an excuse if you ask us.
We imagine that something will replace Custom House in relatively short order.
We've had some solid meals at Custom House, but in reality we aren't going to miss it much. Every time we've been service has been very spotty and inconsistent.
Anyway, the bigger question we have is what do you think about the assertion that the neighborhood is changing? And that the hotel wants a sports bar? Is that what the Sloop wants? More sports bars (didn't Gino's East just open across the street with the sports bar concept)?
(Hat tip: EW!)
39 comments:
More sports bars will do great in the south loop. Even if we could bing in a club or ultra lounge that would be amazing. I hate having to leave the area to go to other bars and clubs. Sports bars with good food along with lounges and clubs have out other nighborhoods on the map and make them places that we all from the south loop travel to. This would bring in so many more people from other parts of the city and even the burbs.
Face it--- its a sports town, and the South Loop has a growing number of kids who want pizza/chicken tenders with their buckets of Coors while they watch the game. I see no problem as it is something everyone can enjoy.
Blake Hotel is shady though--- I read this past summer they are known to be one of the more "friendlier" hotels when it comes to housing alot of prositutes and the such. Custom House sucked
Wow, this was one of the best restaurants in the city—-classy, amazing food, no attitude. What a huge loss. Chicago needs more sports bars like like the East Coast needs more hurricanes.
Meatheads 1, Culture 0
Great — put a sports bar across from the pizza sports bar that already exists. I'm disappointed they're shutting down -- was one of my fav neighborhood spots.
Agree: Meatheads 1, Culture 0
Maybe you are just blind to good service but I am not. Custom House was indeed troubled by poor service and poor food quality. The reason they have moved on is likely to be these reasons and these reasons only. Plus that location is awful...put in a KFC and call it a day
wow, can't believe there are that many people out there that actually thought this place was good...
You need to get out more often to good resturants people
I must have eaten there over twenty times: never had anything but excellent service, the food was consistently top-notch. BetterThanYou, perhaps the servers smelled the KFC on your breath, and they were the ones who decided to call it a day?? :-)
What culture was Custom House responsible for providing? I thought they were contemporary American? Do you not get enough American Culture while living in America?? LOLOL
C'mon people, really?
We had some tough service in there last Friday. The waiter was a real jerk when we asked him about the $5 Burger special. He replied they have no specials and it is called a promotion and meant for regular customers. Hey douche, I'm a regular customer so please get me my burger. Anyway, I liked having the restaurant despite that waiter. A place more moderately priced will do much better in the space, though.
What a bummer! Yes, the service was pretty slow, but the food was consistently good. A loss for the South Loop...
Aw, I really liked Custom House. I thought it was a solid meal for a reasonable price. There are already a good amount of sports bars in the sloop, not sure another one is needed...oh well, you will be missed Custom House.
Loved Custom House -- both food and service! Sad to see it go.
A hotel is changing the theme of their in-hotel restaurant? SHOCKER!
The management is noticing that there are a lot of 20-somethings wandering around the neighborhood looking to spend their parent's money? Obvious, welcome to the 2010's.
They are going with an easy-to-manage and low-cost sports bar theme? Genius!
I hope it works out for them, I doubt that I will be going there anytime soon...
Custom house-- bad service and HORRIBLE FOOD. Glad its gone.... watch the 1%er's run and scurry like rats now. God forbid they eat at a "mid range" resturant
punks
I think this is a big loss for the neighborhood. This was a good higher end restaurant. A great place for date night. Sorry to see it go.
My parents stayed at the Blake when they came to visit. We went in Custom House for drinks and the hostess was a total bitch and completely condescending... to guests of the hotel! I couldn't believe it, and I was embarrassed that my family would get such a bad taste of a neighborhood I was proud to be living in.
Another sports bar, though? Please. We need something like SmallBar or Beer Bistro. There's no craft beer in the area now that Villains is gone (except for Hackney's, which I admit usually has a decent tap list), and higher-end craft beer bars tend to have decent food for a good price. If a Beer Bistro South came in, I wouldn't need to go all the way up to Fullerton for a good variety of decent drinks.
If they weren't good, why did they keep getting written up as one of the best burgers in Chicago/country/etc?
write ups about "best burgers", "best steaks" etc tend to mean 100% nothing but a case of who greased the magazines editor the best.
This place was a 2.5 out of 5 star place. Food tasted like it was microwaved and service might have been the worst in the city next to Popeyes chicken on Elston
ugh this has to be the dumbest thread yet on sloopin. Nobody ever talked about this place before but now all of a sudden all these dopes want to come out and call it "the best place ever, no more sports bars waawaawaaaa". maybe if you patronized your beloved Custom House more it wouldnt have to shut down. ( if you believe its because Blake wants to turn it into a sports bar youre as gullible as you seem)
i think 3 people actually liked/went to this place and they all posted on this blog entry.
I liked this place a lot. It wasn't as good as it had been since the chef changed, but it was different and interesting. I have to note, again, that since we restarted allowing anonymous posts the idiotic and racist postings have gone way up. I don't have much interest in continuing to be one of 5-10 posters that actually contribute to a dialog.
south loop sucks
Sooooo GLAD to see this place go. I gave it 3 shots over the past 5 years and always left wondering why I wasted my time. On one occasion we brought 8 people from the office for lunch...it took an hour and a half to get soup and salads and another hour to get main courses. At the 3 hour mark my boss was livid as they still wouldn't provide the check but kept pushing us to order dessert. Btw, the restaurant was empty and the food sucked! No loss in this one closing.
I have stated in the past that the best way to turn this neighborhood blog into the comments section at Tribune.com is to allow anon postings. I know of 6 people now that avoid this site because of the filth and idiocy that is spewed on this pages from braindead bums like the ones on this blog entry.
For what its worth, I enjoyed Custom House. My daughters friend was the hostess and said there were quite a few regulars and the food was top notch.
sorry to have ruined your otherwise profoundly wonderful day , Josh. Want me to post my name...ok.
im Billy Goilen and i like fish and grilling. I also enjoy water sports and barock Obama.
Is that enough info for you?
Chi Town represent!
Went here a couple of times. Thought it was overpriced and nothing special. I was always surprised over the years when I realized it was still there.
THIS PLACE FLAT OUT STUNK! Anyone with any sort of palate could tell you the food was frozen and the service rivaled the BP accross the street.
Glad its gone
This is indeed a loss for the neighborhood. The place was nothing special but solid. The owners explanation seems suspect, there is more to the story. Josh I agree, the anonymous comments are getting ridiculous again.
the south loop needs more bars like Scout
@BRENDAN - The Tribune comments use facebook.
I'll be fine with whatever goes in there, unless it's a club. There's a reason clubs are generally in less populated areas (noise, after hours traffic, fights).
I dont care if the trib comments section uses your social security number---- the comments that are spewed on those entries rival the filth that is spewed out by all these anon posters.
Shocked sloopy let this blog get trashy again with all these moronic posts, too bad.
College kids equal downmarket. The influx is bad and will get worse.
Whether you liked the food, service, atmosphere, etc or not, the fact that one of the very few "destination dining" restaurants in the sloop is gone ain't good for sloop. And the owner is on record indicating that they want to reopen elsewhere (ie, another neighborhood). Not good for the already tarnished reputation of sloop.
The Anonymous post are great for this site. I now come look on this blog multiple times a day to read what people are saying. Before when they were taken away no one was talking and it got very boring. Yes some post are just not intelligent but it does allow for the creation of more activity on the blog. Which is great for the site! Thanks again Sloopin for bring it back.
Back to the topic I am sure this place had its regulars but the owners are not willing to adapt the the changing clientel in the south loop so the hotel is getting them out and going to have a new concept. Times change and you have to make the right business decision and that is what is going on.
Not going to miss Custom House...I think it'd be nice to have a loungy, coffee shop-like place in the area. A good "work-from-home" environment, nice for all the students, and a place for some live music in the neighborhood... Does any one else miss the old Guarmond's (sp)?
Ditto Anon @10:18. Liked it or not, losing yet another south loop staple at a time when other neighborhoods see new places opening all the time is not good.
I miss Gourmand! Wish it - or even Mediterra - could have stuck around.
Never been to Custom House so I don't know what the interior/vibe was but would they benefit from looking at the spot that Alains occupied on Michigan? I'd love to have another true restaurant option there!
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