Is Nothing Sacred? Someday I'll Live in Vegas.
See, if I live in Las Vegas I'll be surrounded by an historic town that respects its history...then promptly destroys it. If I live there knowing that's how things work I can't be upset when landmark buildings and business institutions go away.
Here, in the Chicago area, we are being raped by corporations and robbed of our memories and pride on a daily basis these days.
The Berghoff, a Chicago institution, a landmark restaurant, and a fine place to enjoy some of the best things Chicago has to offer for the last 107 years will be closing on February 28, 2006.
Why? Are sales down? Has the food gone bad? Are constant bans on smoking, and other "sins" ruining the business? No. The place still sells more than 1,500 meals a day and countless gallons of beer.
The place is closing because the owners, Herman & Jan Berghoff, would like to retire and "start a new chapter of our lives together." Now I am all for retirement, new beginnings and all that, but at age 70, Herman, how many chapters do you plan on completing, much less starting? Seriously, you have faithfully maintained the restaurant your grandfather built. You have taken pride in being issued the FIRST Chicago liquor license after prohibition was repealed and you still have it on the wall. You have enjoyed years of being one of THE places people think of first when making their trip to Chicago. You, sir should have considered having a family that could take over the family business!
What's that? You DO have a family? Ah yes, a daughter...in the catering business! Hmmm...and you plan on leasing the building that has housed your family's legacy for over a century to her...so she can serve food...just not at the Berghoff. Let me be among the first to say, WHAT THE FUCK???
There's NOBODY in your family with the pride and the sack of walnuts between their legs to carry on your rich family's tradition? NOBODY wants to see their children and their grandchildren take the Berghoff name and the coveted downtown location into another century? This is a total sham! I applaud you for being in a position to retire and enjoy your golden years with your lovely wife. However I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed. You have a family member in the hectic food industry and she doesn't see the beauty and downright good business in a 107 year customer base? Something doesn't smell right.
I have eaten there a handful of times. However, working as many events as I do in the city, I have answered questions like, "What's fun to do in Chicago?", "Where can I get a good meal?", and "What shouldn't I miss on a trip to Chicago?" , all the time. Without reserve I mention the Berghoff. Why? BECAUSE IT'S THE FUCKING BERGHOFF!
This comes within three months of the awful news that Marshall Field's is being renamed Macy's (a good business move, so long as you KEEP the historic flagship downtown location as a Marshall Field's store...which isn't going to happen). Hell, Trader Vic's is even heading into the sunset.
What the hell is my beloved city of Chicago coming to? How can the Mayor let so much Chicago history simply fade away? I know all things must pass and that the city will survive. Somehow I always felt that Chicago was better than that.
8 Comments:
They are still dying the river green for st. patrick's day, right? right?
9:49 AM
Yeah, but they're talking about cutting the Magnificent Mile in half. The city is losing its soul.
;)
10:36 AM
The city is losing some treasures. The idea of no Berghoff to go to makes me cry (well, almost...I'm too much of a lout to actually cry). It's as if they decided to bulldoze Central Park or nuke the arch in St. Louis...WTF!!!!
6:44 PM
It wouldn't bother me so much if there wasn't a family member interested in taking over the biz. To have a member of the family, in the food service industry, not taking over the place is absurd. If this is the catering company I'm thinking of, I know them to be good business people (I've worked for them). How can they let something like this happen? Really, you can't run a successful catering company, do special events, and the like from a landmark location with seating, history, reputation for excellence...
11:32 PM
I can see your point with the daughter being in the catering biz and not taking over. That is strange. Guess she just was tired of being in her family's shadow and wanted to break out and be known for her own talents. (Don't yell!)
I'm not familiar with Chicago, but have seen the same things happening in Des Moines. It's rather sad. They've been re-doing the downtown area now for years and it just gets newer and fancier, but we're losing some of the great icons that have been there for years. Pushed out by the renovations. Sad, really.
11:50 PM
If it's the person and the company I'm thinking of, there's no worries about establishing her own identity nor living under a shadow. This person/company is among the biggest special event companies around.
It just isn't right. If not the daughter, surely somebody in the family would like to actually earn the large buckets of cash that the Berghoff name has provided them for a change.
12:01 AM
You know, someone should remind Da Mare that Chicago is not St. Louis (trust me - developers tore down a historic building to put up - get this - a parking garage).
It's funny, though, because there's a lot of St. Louis that reminds me of Chicago as it used to be. Now, the fact that St. Louis is looking more urban - and Chicago seems to be turning into one big strip mall - is a very sad thing indeed.
6:27 AM
Parking garages & reservation casinos have their merit too. There just needs to be some amount of pride and respect to history before decideing where things like that go.
12:38 PM
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