This better be true

Having lived a year in Hyde Park in Chicago and because I will be living there for another three (maybe more, who knows) one serious drawback is the utter lack of good places to eat. There is no cheap diner where I can get a bacon cheeseburger and a milkshake, there is no deli that I could drop in to get a sandwich (though there are Subways every two blocks, Subway is to Hyde Park as Starbucks is to San Francisco), there is not even a ton of diversity in food options. Sure there is that Thai restaurant, but that is about it. The Thai restaurant, Subway, and Quiznos; that is just unacceptable.

Hell, New Haven, arm pit of New England (in the goodway, not the badway, New Haven is great), has tons of great food. And I am not just referring to the pizza. Anyways, it seems that help is on the way. The Chicago Tribune had this to say (via Dan Drezner):

Where is Chicago's next hot restaurant zone? We've already seen the Miracle on Randolph Street, West Division's dining surge, the South Loop's gradual buildup. What's next?Would you believe ... Hyde Park?

Don't scoff. Or, go ahead and scoff. No one saw Randolph Street coming either.But Hyde Park, a largely well-to-do neighborhood (bounded by 44th Street, 60th Street, Cottage Grove Avenue and the lake) that for years has been underserved by the restaurant community, is poised to become, within a year or three, a legitimate dining destination.

"I love that area," says restaurateur Jerry Kleiner. "There are 50,000 people here [44,700, according to the neighborhood's Web site], you've got the university and the hospital, and the city has been fixing up Lake Shore Drive. I thought this would be a good opportunity."And so in spring 2006, Kleiner is opening a 160-seat, 4,000-square-foot restaurant in the heart of Hyde Park.

What has the dining community giddy with anticipation is the fact that Kleiner is regarded as something of a culinary pied piper. Where he goes, other restaurateurs quickly follow.

More to the point, Kleiner has a track record of launching successful restaurants in neighborhoods others regard as "iffy."It was Kleiner, with partners Howard Davis and Dan Krasny, who launched the Randolph Street Renaissance with the opening of Vivo. Kleiner and Davis got the fine-dining ball rolling in the South Loop by opening Gioco and Opera.

And now Johnny Restaurantseed is coming to Hyde Park.

Kleiner got an attractive lease from his landlord--the University of Chicago--and a great location at 5201 S. Harper Court. Next door to the Kleiner concept--actually sharing the same address--will be The Checkerboard Lounge, a legendary blues club that is moving from its location on East 43rd Street. The Checkerboard Lounge will have a liquor license but will not serve food.Hank Webber, vice president of development for the University of Chicago (Hyde Park's largest employer at 12,000), was instrumental in luring Kleiner to Hyde Park. "One of our real hopes," he says, "is that this new restaurant and the Checkerboard Lounge will continue the momentum that I think has been developing over the years."

Johnny Restaurantseed indeed. Anyways, read the whole article if you go to the University of Chicago. If you don't go there but are interested in coming to Chicago, just know that by the time you'd arrive here the situation will be improved.

Hungry no more,

Mr. Alec