It's been an interesting three months for Alain's (1355 S. Michigan), the high-end restaurant lead by chef Alain Njike and partially owned by Bears D-lineman Israel Indonje. After many months of build-outs and preparation, the restaurant finally opened on Friday, August 3rd. At the time we and others were excited about the plethora of new eating and drinking establishments at the intersection of 14th and Michigan.
On an ominous Monday in September (9/24), the infamous eviction signs showed up on the front door. Was it a misunderstanding with the landlord? Was it a short-term problem? Or was it a sign of bigger problems? There were clearly more questions then answers.
However Chicago Magazine posted that the restaurant would re-open on Monday, October 1st.
Well that didn't happen.
And now what appears to be the nail in the coffin..."for rent" signs on the window (see picture above).
It's unfortunate. We never like to see businesses fail in the neighborhood, but such is life.
So what can we take away from this? At least the space is now built out for a restaurant. Stay tuned...we imagine that we will be eating something there at some point soon.
21 comments:
Good riddance. At least they built out the restaurant infrastructure.
I've always said this location would make a great Qdoba.
The neighborhood really does not need any more fast food chain restaurants.
I hope something independent opens to take Alain's place.
I think a Starbucks would do gangbusters here. It's a bit of a hike to get to the one at Grand/Roosevelt. I know Karamela's is right down the road but I feel like that's a different experience.
I'd love to understand what exactly happened here... is this about not paying rent? Is this the chef's first restaurant? Why is the landlord posting obnoxious signs on a new restaurant?
I find is sad that in less than a month the landlord is throwing down the gauntlet and posting obnoxious FOR RENT signs on the windows so soon after an aspiring chef is opening his restaurant.
Why would any other new chefs want to deal with a landlord like that?
The South Loop will continue to struggle with new retail shuffling in and out among various locations. In order for these businesses to survive and thrive, there needs to be more customers. The easiest way for there to be more customers; allow more residential buildings to be built. Until then, places will keep popping up and then closing shop.
Anon 11:00: I am going to resist the urge to post something insulting towards you and just say...the landlord is trying to get a tennant in there asap. Posting a large sign is a way of getting attention. The faster someone occupies the space, the sooner the landlord can start making money off of it. Making money is the reason the sapce is there. It was not built as a free training ground for aspiring chefs. As a resident of the building, I don't want to see the space vacant very long and applaude the efforts of management to get attention.
Anon at 11:00-there is no way a landlord kicked out a tenant after just a month due to the way the business was going after just a few weeks. The landlord had issues with the tenant for at least 6 months prior to open. It is surprising they opened at all. Obnoxious signs killing an aspiring chefs dreams? More like chef turned pretend business man not paying his bills. Anon at 11:58-A lack of customers is certainly not the problem in the SLoop, the businesses that fail have bad business models. There are people literally stacked on top of these spaces waiting for quality options.
just about every building you see is either a residential, self storage, or grocery store. agreed that we need more quality businesses as customers are much more discerning these days. none of this red carpet crap smoke & mirrors crap.
i hate the south loop
1:50pm: does your name end or begin with "douche bag"?
The landlord is charging a very high rate compared to other locations within a few blocks of here. They also will not budge and that's why they have multiple empty spaces in the same building. I tried to negotiate for a space and ended up taking my business elsewhere.
I noticed that the cleaners on Roosevelt and State has tape on the windows. Any word on what might be going in there?
Also, ignore dump posts and the people who post them.
The residents of this community may feel like there is a lack of quality options as a good reason for businesses not surviving, but I don't think that prospective business owners will see it that way. I think they will be seeing something different. They will think that there aren't enough residents to support them or residents don't care for spending locally or the foot traffic isn't enough. We have greater density than hyde park and yet they are able to keep even their bad to mediocore restaurants afloat.
Rent is much cheaper in Hyde Park than the south loop. You can not compare the south loop to Hyde Park in any way.
I would rather have open storefronts than what was going on at Ole Hardwood/Grand Opening/Now Open/Exposure or Entourage Man/Alains. There are numerous examples of solid ideas and quality execution in Scout, Flo & Santos, Panozzo's, and many others. Nobody should accept garbage just because it's in the neighborhood IMHO.
All,
From a person that has the information about this place, this was a 50/50 thing, the Chef lacked the proper business acumen along with a overzealous landlord. Therefore this whole idea was doomed before it began, a few people tried hard to tell the chef this wasn't a good business venture and location, but you can never knock a person's dream...when you fall that only makes you stronger when you get back up, most successful people fail at first to only succeed!!!!!
I do not see how rent prices between the south loop and hyde park have anything to do with the success of local restaurants. In fact, because people pay more in the south loop, I would hope they have more disposable income to spend in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, I think there really is no comparison to the two neighborhoods more because of the hospital and university. There are no big employers in the south loop; there may be fewer people from other neighborhoods coming here for lunch and dinner.
I've lived in the hyde park area in the past and there are a few restaurants I frequented then and now mainly based on taste, price and atmosphere. Living in the South Loop, I do the same here. I love it when a new restaurant opens and I try to test it out early. I stopped by Alain but the menu did not appeal to me at the time, so we opted for City Tavern, which by the way, is excellent. However, I wanted to still try Alain. I'm sorry that it closed so soon...I hope a new business grabs that great corner an opens an awesome establishment.
Recent news:
http://www.chicagojournal.com/Blogs/South-Loop-Observer/10-25-2012/For_Rent
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/19789102/workers-sue-over-wages-at-south-loop-eatery-co-owned-by-chicago-bear?clienttype=printable
By displaying the largest FOR RENT signs I've ever seen, makes the landlord look like a total arse...
Based on the type of folks that frequented this place during its very short lifetime - no big loss!!!
Word is another "african" concept restaurant focused on catering. WOW! Its going to be another train wrack! I give it 6 months before another green notice aggears and an even bigger for lease sign :) Nice space, but needs a good old fashioned bar concept with simple food.
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