Although it is easy to overlook in the course of a magical dining experience, a restaurant is a business. And nowhere is that more evident than in the Loop, action central for the business community of Chicago and the Midwest.
Life in the Loop has not been easy for restaurateurs for at least a quarter century. The shock of the 1968 riots was followed by a gradual decrease in top-line stores and theaters during the ’70s. The Loop became an area of Manhattan-like energy by day that was empty at night. Overconfidence turned to despair in the late ’80s as the economy got stuck, forcing the abandonment or postponement of deals and construction projects and the appearance of a rash of “vacancy” signs.
Today, the mood has swung to accentuating the positive, a survey of Loop restaurateurs reveals.
A number of them, while acknowledging their challenges, say they are doing good business and believe more Chicagoans are beginning to come into the area at nighttime as well as during the day.
The opportunity to dine distinctively surely is there, as the listing that follows indicates. It spotlights restaurants of more than routine interest located between Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive on the east and west and Lake and Harrison Streets on the north and south.
Curiously, while special factors that impact on doing business in the Loop were cited by virtually every restaurateur interviewed, most came back to food quality and pricing as the keys to long-run success.
“Wherever you operate your restaurant, it always comes down to the same things,” comments Daniel J. Rosenthal, president of the Rosenthal Group, which operates Trattoria No. 10 (10 N. Dearborn St., 312-984-1718), one of the Loop’s premier dining spots. “You have to provide the basics-quality, value, ambiance, service. Also, over time you have to keep refreshing the restaurant, keep it looking clean and fresh and change the menu.”
“One result of the turmoil in the ’70s,” reflects Frank Capitanini, who has been part of the ownership team of the family-owned Italian Village, 71 W. Monroe St., for almost 40 years, “is that we have stayed as a place that offers good value for money. We never let prices get out of line and that helped us survive. Lots of people folded, but those few who were operating in the Loop in the ’60s and are still here now-Binyon’s, Miller’s, Berghoff, us-all offer value.”
There are challenges unique to the Loop, however. Among them the dramatic ebb and flow of the daily population and its extremely diverse nature, the cost of doing business in a high-rent district, and countering the negative public image of the area as a place that’s too congested at midday and eerily empty at night.
Clientele
There is no single audience for restaurants in the Loop. The area teems with bankers, lawyers, traders, politicians, government bureaucrats and their support staffs, of course. But it also draws shoppers, museum- and theatergoers, conventioneers and tourists.
“Sure my clientele’s diverse,” says Jim Bannos, whose Heaven on Seven (111 N. Wabash Ave., 7th floor, 312-263-6443) does 200 to 400 lunches a day, “and they show up at different times. I’ll get people who work at Marshall Field’s early because they have to be in their store during the regular lunch hour, students late in the afternoon and people in the building to see the doctors here at any time.”
A few blocks west, Joe Di Carlo, whose Caffe Baci (231 S. LaSalle St., 312-629-1818) is an Italian deli with flair located on the ground floor of the Continental Bank, says people from the commodity and stock trading operations “start showing up at 10 or 10:30 (a.m.), then at 11:30 all hell breaks loose. By 2:20 or 3 (p.m.) we’ll do about 500 to 600 sandwiches.”
Bob Ballister, who directs Streetside Chicago (1 First National Plaza, 312-346-4700), says, “Most of our customers have half-hour to 45 minutes to eat, so we offer a streamlined menu and the staff almost attacks the table as soon as they sit down.
“There are so many people on the sidewalks looking for something to eat that we have a lot of walk-in business at lunch, maybe 60 percent. But dinner is a very tough market here. When nothing is going on in the arts, we have a bad time. People from the suburbs will come in before a concert or a show, but not just to have dinner.”
Conversely, Rosenthal says, “I thought Trattoria No. 10 would absolutely die at dinner. The original projection was 250 dinners per week, but now we do that on Saturday alone.”
Customer expectations
“The one thing my customers share,” says Bannos, “is they expect high quality and they expect to get their food fast. If there’s one rule about running a restaurant in the Loop it’s that you gotta be fast. If you have an hour here, you’ll be out in an hour, even if there’s a 10- or 15-minute wait in line.”
At Streetside Chicago, which had been closed before the Marriott Corp. took over the food service four years ago, Ballister had to redirect expectations. “The reputation was that it was a fancy place where you spent a lot of time and money for lunch,” he says. “Our challenge was to bring people back more than one day a week. We made the food lighter, the menu more fun and worked with the staff to change attitudes so no one would be stuffy or pretentious.” It’s a lot more comfortable here now and we have regular customers who come in four or five times a week.”
Caffe Baci’s Di Carlo thinks one plus of being in the Loop is sophisticated customers who appreciate quality. In spite of the time pressure, “they are willing to wait for us to make pasta and sandwiches to order because they know the food is really fresh, that the quality’s there.”
At Trattoria No. 10, Rosenthal says, “The Loop is a clubby market. Everybody wants in at noon and everybody wants to be known by name. You need to implement fresh ideas without overdoing it. We keep our regulars satisfied by offering new dishes as specials.”
Creating an image
Besieged in recent years by fast-food franchises and innovations such as ordering carryout or delivery food by fax, Loop restaurateurs have been forced to create distinctive images to stand apart. No one has done this better than Bannos at Heaven on Seven. Several years ago, he introduced creole and Cajun specialties to the menu of the Garland Building coffee shop and has steadily improved their quality and presentation. Spice-hungry Loopites responded in droves, and despite the elevated location and lack of street signage, Heaven on Seven has become Chicago’s most unlikely chic dining spot. It serves only breakfast and lunch except on the third Friday of each month, when it stays open until about 9 p.m.
In his quest to keep things moving, Bannos benefits, he says, from the nature of his food. Many of the dishes he serves keep well on a steam table and require no last-minute preparation. Nonetheless, each plate is styled and garnished before it goes to the diner.
Longevity helps, too. Allen Sternweiller, chef of Printer’s Row (550 S. Dearborn, 312-461-0780), points out his restaurant is “in most travel guides and is well known by the hotel concierges. As a result, we have repeat bookings for parties from exhibitors at trade shows and conventions and have customers from out of town who come in every year or two.”
At the Italian Village, which has been functioning on the same block for 67 years, Capitanini recalls, “When the slowdown hit (in the ’70s), we began to give services such as valet parking and went into a different kind of marketing such as special meals and buses for the Bulls, Bears and Blackhawk games. We created advertising campaigns to attract theatergoers and conventioneers. (Every downtown restaurant courts hotel concierges. The Italian Village established a direct line for them to use in making reservations.)
“We stay open seven days a week because we feel continuity is important. Our customers know we’re here for them when lots of other places are closed. But all of this pushes up the cost of doing business.”
Rent
An underlying concern in planning a restaurant in any area where real estate is at a premium is rent.
“A lot of operators want to come into the Loop,” says Bannos. “There’s room for people who will serve good food. But the lease is the most important factor. Paying $8,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 a month for space on the ground floor is a lot of food. If I were paying $10,000, I couldn’t do the quality of food I do at the prices I charge.”
Bannos says his rent is fair. So does Di Carlo, who adds, “If you make something that tastes great and you treat people right, you’ll do well enough that you won’t have to worry about the rent.”
Location
Di Carlo points out that the Loop, in reality, is several different environments. “Where I am, with the banks and the Board of Trade, is isolated after working hours,” he says. “There’s no reason for me to be open at night or on the weekend.”
He also traces his 2-year-old business’ lone setback to a lack of residents in the neighborhood.
“I wanted to have a real deli,” he explains, “and sell meat and cheese and other products imported from Italy. But a grocery store doesn’t work here. No one wants to take anything home that isn’t already made.”
Printer’s Row chef Sternweiller says he finds the south Loop is “growing residentially,” while his restaurant’s proximity to hotels and arts centers brings him conventioneers and theatergoers.
The future
In sum, the Loop restaurateurs are hopeful.
Says Di Carlo, “My worries are good worries. I need more seating, more space. I’m delivering as far north as Water Tower and will be opening a second place in the Donnelley Building (77 W. Wacker Drive) in August.”
At Streetside Chicago, Ballister is enthusiastic about his deli operation, Below Monroe, on the First Chicago plaza level. Rosenthal, too, has launched an eat-in or take-out deli operation, Sopraffina’s (Italian for “first class,” he explains).
Rosenthal thinks the public’s negative attitude toward the Loop is being “mitigated” and credits the city government for working to “stabilize the viability of downtown. The place looks good, clean. The city services, including quality foot patrol by the police, are good. There’s an improved sense of comfort and safety. With vacancy rates greater, rents are coming down. If the real estate tax rates follow, business will come down here.”
Sternweiller’s conclusion: “Over the six years I’ve been here, the neighborhood has changed 100 percent for the better. It’s no longer moonscape, but more of a live urban scene.”
In addition to those described above, here are some distinctive Loop restaurants:
Berghoff and Berghoff Bar (17 W. Adams St., 312-427-3170).
Binyon’s (327 S. Plymouth Ct., 312-341-1155).
City Tavern (33 W. Monroe St., 312-280-2740).
Everest (One Financial Plaza, 440 S. LaSalle St., 40th floor, 312-663-8920).
Exchange (Midland Hotel, 172 W. Adams St., 312-332-1200).
Russian Tea Cafe (63 E. Adams St., 312-360-0000.)
Mia Torre (Sears Tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive, 312-474-1350).
Miller’s Pub (134 S. Wabash Ave., 312-263-4988).
Prairie (550 S. Dearborn St., 312-663-1143).
Yvette Wintergarden (311 S. Wacker Drive, 408-1242).
