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| Tastee-Freez has closed its last south suburban location in Hickory Hills. (Photo by Bob Bong) |
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy
The last Tastee-Freez location in the south suburbs and one
of the last in the Chicago area closed late last year in Hickory Hills.
The iconic chain, which was founded in Joliet in 1950 and
has been featured in hit songs by John Mellancamp and Trisha Yearwood as well
as "The Outsiders" novel by S.E. Hinton, shut its doors in November at
9348 S. Roberts Road.
The Hickory Hills location became the last one in the south
suburbs after the Tastee-Freez in Palos Heights moved earlier last year and
changed its name to Diane's Place.
According to the company's website, there are only two
Tastee-Freez locations in Illinois in Spring Valley and Mt. Carmel. But a reader, Rita Maniotis, of Berwyn, says
the brand is alive and well in her town. According to Rita, Tastee-Freez is alive and well in Berwyn on the corner of 26th Street and Clarence Avenue.
Calls to the company were
not returned.
The dessert chain expanded fast and there were almost 1,800
locations in 1957. The chain was acquired in 2003 by a California-based
franchising group and the number of locations has since fallen to less than 50.
Like many of the current locations, the Hickory Hills
location offered a menu that also included burgers and other fast food items in
addition to breakfast and ice cream treats.
New shrimp house
opens in Palos
Ongoing construction of LaGrange Road did not deter Tim
Keefer and his partners from going ahead with plans to open a shrimp house in
Palos Park last year.
Response to the Original Island Shrimp House at 12909 S. LaGrange
Road has been "surprisingly strong despite the road work," said
Keefer, who is the managing director for the partnership group.
"Word of mouth advertising has been very
positive," said Keefer, of Orland Park. "We are seeing a lot of
repeat business."
Keefer said serendipity played a hand in choosing the Palos
Park location. "I was driving down LaGrange Road. Saw the 'for rent' sign
in the Capri location. Dialed the number. Checked out the building and knew it
was the perfect place."
Keefer said the restaurant uses a lot of the same recipes as
Goose Island Shrimp House and features sauces developed with the help of a five
star chef.
Keefer said all of the food is prepared in house from fresh
ingredients.
The restaurant features fried shrimp, scallops, oysters,
white fish and calamari as well as New England lobster rolls (on weekends only)
and great desserts.
"The lobster rolls are a huge item for us," he
said. "We sell 200-400 a weekend. It's all lobster in there."
He also said the key lime tort is a big seller.
"We use key lime juice that is flown in from Florida.
We sell a couple of hundred a week."
Another popular item is the cornbread.
"We bake it daily and sell 70-125 a day."
Now that the weather is changing, Keefer said the restaurant
has added soups.
"We have New England chowder, shrimp bisque and
jambalaya."
Keefer said his only goal is for people "to come in and
leave saying it was incredible. We try to achieve that through quality. Quality
makes a huge difference."
He also prides himself on delivering a "great family
feeling and atmosphere."
The restaurant has seating for 65 in oversized and sturdy
booths. "We put a lot of extra effort into building sturdy booths. We also
put the booths and tables far enough apart so everyone is not in your conversation."
The restaurant is closed Monday but open from 10:30 a.m. to
8:30 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Keefer said franchising is an option for the future.
"We built it as a franchisable business," he said.
"We want to make sure we have everything perfect before we do it."
Nothing Bundt Cakes
opens in Oak Lawn
Nothing Bundt Cakes, a new bakery that specializes in those
funny looking cakes with a hole in the middle, held its grand opening late last
year in Oak Lawn.
The store at 10912 S. Cicero Ave. opened in November and is
owned by Jeffrey Reynolds and Ryan Devlin.
The Oak Lawn location is the eighth Nothing Bundt Cakes in
Illinois and another one is under construction in Chicago's Lincoln Park
community. The Las Vegas-based company has more than 100 locations nationwide.
Nothing Bundt Cakes offers a variety of sizes from
bite-sized bundtlets to eight-inch tiered cakes. There are nine standard
flavors such as red velvet and lemon and a 10th flavor of the month.
Customers
can stop in any time to sample the top four flavors of red velvet, chocolate,
chocolate chip, lemon and white chocolate raspberry.
All cakes are made at the bakery.
Hours at Nothing Bundt Cakes are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday
through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday.
The first Nothing Bundt Cakes in the south suburbs opened a
year ago in Orland Park. Chicago-area stores
are also located in LaGrange, Mount Prospect, Skokie, Wheaton, Elmhurst,
and Naperville.
If you see a new
business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.
