For those of you who were planning to have a meal at the Berghoff restaurant during your visit to Chicago, I have some bad news:
Berghoff restaurant bowing out
December 29, 2005
BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter
Ach du lieber! The Berghoff restaurant is closing!
So it's auf wiedersehen to the melt-in-your mouth sauerbraten, the red cabbage and decadent creamed spinach, the rushed and old-worldly waiters and a place that bespeaks Chicago down to the creaks of its checkered floors.
And the beer . . . oh, the beer. But wait, there's hope for that.
It's the restaurant itself at 17 W. Adams that will be kaput after Feb. 28, representatives of the Berghoff family said Wednesday. Third-generation owner Herman Berghoff and his wife, Jan, said they leased the four-story space to daughter Carlyn Berghoff, who will move her own catering business into it.
More details here
You beat me too it Joe, I was just coming to post the sad news. I'm definately going to get down for a final meal before the end of February. As my favorite restaurant in Chicago, this is a sad day for me.
Count me in. That's too impressive of a group to not show up. Wow.
If memory serves, there is also a dilemma over the $500 deposit: I'd be more than happy to front the deposit in advance and let folks PayPal me at their leisure once the individual amounts owed are known. I'd also be more than happy to eat the small PayPal transaction fees for receiving the funds to keep the math simple. It would be well worth it for an opportunity to meet you fine people.
I would only insist that the alcohol/upgrades be billed separately, as I've seen many a bar-bill for parties exceed the cost of food at this kind of event. Ideally, we should ask that coffee and soft drinks (dessert?) be included in the price (so it's a true "flat fee"), and have a cash bar set up for the drinkers (me). Believe me; no one wants to be the credit card holder trying to collect various amounts owed for drinks on the honor system for an event this large (unless someone is extraordinarily generous). I would expect the location would readily agree to such terms and probably even supply cocktail waitresses for the opportunity to increase their revenues.
As for Craven's poker game; count me in! Providing of course that all standard No Limit Hold'em Rules apply (side pots, no buying chips once the cards are dealt, etc.)(which of course should be posted and understood by all in advance). I could also provide an official poker set with chips, rules and a handy locking case to eliminate the possibility of arguments over what a player actually has on the table at the deal (seen bent rules turn to ugly disputes too many times).
Please let me know if I can be helpful in these, or any other ways. I am very much looking forward to meeting you all.
Oh wow! Bill's coming! This is gonna be GREAT!!!
Bill coming, Berghoff closed, Bill looking for a second restaurant ... . :wink:
Well, I'm glad the group of the definitely coming is growing!
Seeing Bill post prompts me to say that it's been 3 days since I smoked a cigarette. Also, I hope all is well, Bill; it's been a while!
As the list of attendees grows, I find myself being sucked toward the "definite" group...
"Sucked" is not the best way to describe your motivation to attend the Chicago a2k Gathering. LOL
Dayum, I better get my arse into the Berghoff in Vienna while I'm still here, eh?
OCCOM BILL wrote:..If memory serves, there is also a dilemma over the $500 deposit...
Probably not an issue, I believe the gatherers are looking at going elsewhere.
so clary and i were looking into some cheap cheap cheap lodging... she found international hostel. for private bedrooms at $35 a night it's hard to beat. looks nice enough, though bathrooms are shared.
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php
anybody else inclined to go for it? the more the merrier, of course.
dagmaraka wrote:so clary and i were looking into some cheap cheap cheap lodging... she found international hostel. for private bedrooms at $35 a night it's hard to beat. looks nice enough, though bathrooms are shared.
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php
anybody else inclined to go for it? the more the merrier, of course.
As I mentioned
earlier (in a post now buried about fifty pages back), the HI-Hostel in Chicago is in a great location. It has also gotten
good reviews. Granted, it's a hostel: you get a room (with five or six other people) and a bed to sleep in and that's about it, but it's about as upscale as a hostel can be. And the price is impossible to beat.
yes, but i think we'd opt for private rooms. HI hostel doesn't have any private rooms, only rooms for 6 people and up.
I now see that the International Hostel is rather far out - but if there are enough of us, this may not matter! Dorm parties...?
If we can get 4 more ladies to share a dorm at the HI, that would be OK, I don't really mind if you don't!!!
a pyjamas party! <ever wondered what a bizarre word 'pyjamas' is? i'll name my first daughter that!>
ehBeth mentioned finding some really good deals via Craigslist; here's the pertinent page there:
http://chicago.craigslist.org/vac/
(Hmm, I think that's the right section, but it doesn't seem to currently list much in
Chicago... found a few...)
If Clary wanted to do a house swap, I bet she could get something NIIIIIICE...:
http://chicago.craigslist.org/swp/
Well, not that its any benefit to anyone else, but I'll prolly stay at my sister's farm about an hour and a half or so North-Northwest of Chicago, just inside Wisconsin ... though I might just for convenience sake take up a standing offer from a GoldCoast Neighborhood high-rise dwelling cousin (though the inevitablility of his of gradeschool and highschool aged kids living there too is a strong counterindicator
).
georgeob1 wrote:The thread has gotten a bit long. Will most of the group action be on the North or South side of the River? There are attractions in both areas and good options for hotels in each - but I can't easily tell where most of the interest here lies.
There's only one group activity planned (as far as I can tell): right now, that's set for
sublime's party pad on the north side. I'd say that the location of your hotel is largely immaterial: cabs are plentiful in the city and public transportation is pretty convenient and affordable, so getting around should be no problem.
List of attendees, new year's edition:
Definitely (10 total):
Cicerone Imposter, Dagmaraka, mac 11, joefromchicago, Occom Bill, Ossobucco, timberlandko, sublime 1, Thomas, Walter Hinteler
Probably (10 total):
blatham, Craven de Kere, Eva, jpinmilwaukee, Lola, Smog, sozobe, swimpy, wandeljw, yitwail
Maybe (24 total):
Calamity Jane, Clary, Coastal Rat, devriesj, dyslexia, ehBeth, Francis, FreeDuck with Mr.Duck and the ducklings, georgeob1, gustavratzenhofer, Husker, JamesMorrison with wife, kickycan, McTag, Merry Andrew, Mr. Stillwater, Phoenix, realjohnnyboy, satt_fs
Probably not (6 total):
Diane, dlowan, J_B, Jespah, Noddy, Ticomaya
Seemed interested to me, but haven't said anything explicit yet: (2 total)
Lion Tamer, Piffka
Clary wrote:I now see that the International Hostel is rather far out - but if there are enough of us, this may not matter! Dorm parties...?
If we can get 4 more ladies to share a dorm at the HI, that would be OK, I don't really mind if you don't!!!
You ladies are entirely more adventurous than I am. I'm afraid I'll be looking for a private room & bath. I still hope to get some of us in the same hotel. That one more drink in the bar routine sounded perfect.
Thomas, thanks for the updated list.