Food Fight! Check, Please! Slammed By Time Out

This is the time for year-end reviews, but Time Out went after five restaurants they felt Check, Please! "got wrong" this decade:

"1. Think (2235 N Western Ave, 773-394-0537), 2005. The biggest disservice to the city at the hands of a TV show. Almost overnight, the whole town went googly over any dish with a decorative sour-cream splatter.

2. Geja’s Café (340 W Armitage Ave, 773-281-9101), 2005. Yes, it really picked this skeezy fondue joint. But that’s what happens when you invite Steve Wilkos to recommend a restaurant.

3. RL (115 E Chicago Ave, 312-475-1100), 2004. The show said it was like eating in New York. A New York Ralph Lauren store, perhaps.

4. Tavern on Rush (1031 N Rush St, 312-664-9600), 2006. The panel actually acted as if this frat bar were a steakhouse.

5. Chaise Lounge (1840 W North Ave, 773-342-1840), 2009. To be fair, the guests conceded that this South Beach–style clusterfuck was sometimes better for the women than the food."

Pretty damn brutal there, but the last time I checked it was the guest reviewers deciding on what restaurants were featured on the show, not Check, Please!

Another Rosebud Blooming in VTK Space?!

The Rosebud on Rush location is only a few blocks away from Rosebud Eats, which is going into the VTK space in 2010. (Photo: Rosebud Restaurants, Inc.)


VTK lost its lease and will shutter after 10 years this week.

In early December, DISH reported that Lettuce Entertain You’s Rich Melman will possibly take the concept elsewhere.

Meanwhile, an Ultimate Insider tells 312DD a higher up at Rosebud Restaurants Inc. said to look out for Rosebud Eats to open at that location.

"They've already bought equipment (for the space)," said the source, who added that the restaurant plans to offer meals 23 hours a day when it debuts in March.