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Illinois Eateries (page 1)

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Chessie's Restaurant
Barrington, IL
Chessie's Restaurant was built from a former train station which was moved here in 1978 along with a 1927 Pullman railcar from the llinois Central Railroad. The railcar is installed inside the restaurant and used as a dining room. This caboose is installed outside. For more, see this website. [map]

Berwyn:
Berwyn Chicken Co.

Lem's BBQ House
Chicago, IL
Lem's BBQ House was established in 1954. This location moved to this location in 1968. I believe the building previously housed the Honey Hush Drive-in which was there by the late 1950s. I don't know if this sign was repurposed when Lem's moved there or if it was built for Lem's. It was previously red and gold and repainted to green and red around 2008. For more, see this website. [map]

Lou Mitchell's
Chicago, IL
Lou Mitchell's opened in 1923 and is a Chicago breakfast institution. It was either rebuilt or relocated here in 1949. The neon facade sign was installed then. I don't know about the other sign. [map]

former Old Heidelberg
Restaurant
Chicago, IL		 Berghoff Restaurant
Chicago, IL
This building originally housed the Old Heidelberg Restaurant which operated from 1934-1963. It then housed Ronny's Steak Palace from 1963-1990. It housed Argo Tea after that. Since 2022, it has housed a Blick Art Materials store. [map]

The Berghoff Restaurant opened as the Berghoff Cafe in 1898 and is still in operation. For more, see this website. [map]

Tutto Italiano
Chicago, IL
The Tutto Italiano restaurant opened in 1994 and closed in 2020. This Rock Island passenger railcar attached to the restaurant was used as a dining room. It was there before that when the building housed Staley's Restaurant. [map]

Palace Grill Sandwich Shop
Chicago, IL
The Palace Grill Sandwich Shop opened in 1938. In 1950, the name was shortened to the Palace Grill. The restaurant closed in 2024 after a fire and remains vacant. For more, see this website. [map]

Yellow Submarine [gone]
Chicago, IL
The Yellow Submarine had been around since at least the 1970s. The building had been vacant since about 2010. These photos are from 2012. By 2014, the building had been demolished.

Orange Garden Restaurant
Chicago, IL (now Highland Park, IL)
The Orange Garden Restaurant opened in 1924, making it the oldest Chinese restaurant in Chicago. The restaurant went by a different name until 1932. This sign was built by Flashtric and might be from then. Some say it was the oldest working neon sign in Chicago. The facade was probably from the 1940s. In 2022, the sign was sold. It was restored, and installed inside Madame ZuZu's in Highland Park, IL. For more, see this website.

commercial building
Chicago Heights, IL		 former Red Barn
Chicago Heights, IL
This commercial building might have been a fast food restaurant. It has housed Hy-Way Insurance since at least 2007. [map]

The former Red Barn restaurant was built in the 1960s. After it closed, it housed Tom's Beer Barn. The barn-shaped sign frame was gone by 2023. The building now houses Fara's Fashion Exchange. [map]

There were 300-400 Red Barn restaurants in 19 states built from 1961-1988. Although there are no operating locations left, many of the buildings have been adapted. For more, see this website.

Illinois Misc.
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