Kup's Chicago - Irv Kupcinet [89]
Then there is Fritzel’s, a Loop restaurant with an attraction for celebrities exceeded only by the Pump Room. Owned by Joe Jacobson, who was the late Mike Fritzel’s partner in operating the Chez Paree for eighteen years, it has a variety of superb dishes, plus excellent service. Jacobson’s professionalism and ability to operate on a small profit margin have made it possible for him to offer one of the outstanding bargains among quality American restaurants. Complete luncheons, excluding drinks, cost only two dollars.
This and its central location make Fritzel’s the Midwest equivalent of New York’s Toots Shor’s. At midday it is the main congregating point for journalists, sports figures, radio-TV stars, judges, and other public officials. I’m usually there, too, interviewing the owner, if nobody else.
On the Near North Side, there are a number of restaurants offering fine food, elegance of service, and pleasing decor. Six in particular are my favorites.
Three are in the Drake Hotel: the Camellia House, decorated by the famous Dorothy Draper, is also a leading night spot; the Cape Cod Room, possibly Chicago’s leading seafood restaurant; and the International Room, which is restricted to Club International Members only.
Nearby on East Walton Place there is the Imperial House, one of the most exquisite continental restaurants in this hemisphere, presided over by the ebullient world traveler Max Guggiari.
Among smaller establishments in this class, I never tire of The Red Carpet, where both French and Caribbean dishes are the specialties, and Maison Lafite, whose roast duckling cooked the French way is the best I’ve ever tasted.
For superb food in surroundings almost as lavish as these, there is a long list of outstanding establishments.
Phil Wrigley has had established in the building which bears his name a first-class dining room. He also ordered that the prices be kept moderate and the martinis potent, which make both its bar and dining room a magnet for Chicago and New York advertising men. Phil himself, incidentally, is one of the restaurant’s best customers. You can often find him dining with friends at a large round table just inside the lobby entrance.
Other prominent restaurants associated with Chicago landmarks include the President’s Walk in McCormick Place, beside the immense convention hall with its incomparable view of the lake shore; the Oval Room of Executive House; the French Room of the new Hartford Insurance Building; and the Water Tower Inn, which offers a view of the old Water Tower and a photo gallery of famous former and present-day Chicagoans.
Due to changes in transportation and marketing patterns, Chicago’s stockyards have declined in recent years. But their pens still cover a greater total area than those of any other city and Our Town remains one of the chief beefsteak bastions of the world. Anyone who appreciates good steak will want to dine at one of our restaurants famous for this specialty.
Al Farber’s Steak House in the Loop and the Belden Stratford Hotel are two of my favorites. Along with excellent steak, the London House offers excellent jazz. Don Roth’s Blackhawk Restaurant, another first-rate steak and chop house, retains the aura of once having been one of the city’s most prominent night clubs. The Sirloin Room of the Stock Yard Inn attracts diners to the fascinating neighborhood where the leading cattle marketers of America gather. Here you are invited to select your own cut and initial it with a branding iron.
For barbecued spareribs, few restaurants anywhere enjoy the popularity of The Singapore on Rush Street, established by a little Irishman, Tommy McDonnell, who blew a bosun’s pipe whenever a celebrity approached, and Frank Howard, a veteran café owner. Tommy’s base is now