THE RESTAURANTS OF CHICAGO.
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In response to the question, “Where shall we eat?” one might say: “You
pay your money and you take your choice.” There are more than six
hundred restaurants in Chicago and you will admit that the declaration
is not imperfect. That is to say, there are over six hundred now, but
at the present ratio of increase there will doubtless be a thousand or
more a year hence. It eventually follows that these restaurants are of
all grades. There are places where you can get a meal for ten cents;
others where no single dish costs less than 50 cents to $1.00. All
the leading hotels--the Richelieu, Auditorium, Victoria, Wellington,
and Palmer, as well as the family hotels, like the Metropole and
Virginia, have restaurants or _cafes_ (that is the fashionable term)
attached, where the service is very elegant and the price pitched in
a corresponding altitude. Cheap restaurants are to be found in every
quarter of the city. There is scarcely a block without one, but the
down-town trade is monopolized by a few large and well established
institutions that serve all sorts of meals at moderate prices.
Kinsley’s, No. 105 Adams street, is a place which caters to all
classes. On the ground floor is a lunch-room or restaurant in which a
good meal may be purchased for twenty-five to fifty cents. On the next
story are two fine _cafes_, one for the exclusive use of gentlemen and
the other for ladies, or ladies with escorts, in which the service and
prices are on the same grade as the hotel _cafes_. Other floors are
devoted to private dining-rooms of all sizes. There is also a banquet
and ball-room, which is at the service of large parties.
Other large restaurants, where good, plain food only is served at
moderate prices, are Thomson’s, 143 and 145 Dearborn street; Saratoga,
155 and 157 the same street; Central, on Randolph street near State,
and Tacoma, north-west corner Madison and La Salle streets.
The oyster houses of Chicago form a special feature in themselves.
There are four of this class. The Boston Oyster House, Clark and
Madison streets; Chicago Oyster House, Madison street between Clark and
La Salle; the Lakeside, Clark and Adams; Rector’s, Clark and Monroe.
Three of these serve all kinds of meats when desired, as well as fish
of every variety, but Rector’s is an oyster house pure and simple,
where only fish and game are served. Rector’s is a favorite resort
after the theatre. From eleven o’clock to midnight it is crowded with
people of all classes, with a very strong sprinkling of the sporting
and professional element. There are pretty actresses galore, some of
whom are attended by their hard-working husbands who have places in
the same company with them; others by young men of means who enjoy the
prestige of having been acquainted in that particular sort of social
worldliness. It is a gay scene in any event and the fun is often kept
up until long after midnight.
There are at least three places that make a specialty of catering to
patrons who desire the seclusion of private dining-rooms. These are
Lassagne’s, on South Clark street, opposite the court house; Weber’s,
and the Vendome, State street, between Madison and Monroe. Lassagne’s,
as the name would indicate, is kept by a Frenchman and the cooking and
service are essentially French. The service at Weber’s and the Vendome
is similar in almost every respect. The prices charged at these places
are not at all exorbitant, and a private dining-room is always in great
demand with affectionate couples who desire a tempting tete-a-tete
meal that would not be nearly so enjoyable if it lacked the charm
of privacy and the opportunities for the display of sentiment which
such privacy permits. These dining-rooms are small apartments, neatly
partitioned off and graded in sizes to suit parties of from two to
twenty. That these are liberally patronized may be inferred from the
merry bursts of laughter that are occasionally heard pealing through
the carpeted halls as the busy waiters go scurrying to and fro with
their piles of well filled dishes. It has been said that it is from
the sale of wines that the proprietors are enabled to maintain these
private-dining-rooms, consequently it is the proper caper to wash down
the very reasonably priced dinner with a bottle or so of one’s favorite
style of grape juice if the person can afford it, and if you can’t,
why, you have no business there.
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The _table d’ hote_ has become quite an institution in Chicago within
the past two or three years. It is presumed that every reader of
this book knows what the term signifies, but it will do no harm to
explain it. The term is a French one, signifying “the hotel table.”
The _table d’ hote_, then, is a course dinner, given at a fixed price,
upon payment of which the patron is entitled, if he wishes for it, to
a taste of every dish mentioned on the printed bill of fare. To so
grade the courses of a big dinner as to pamper the appetite and leave,
with the consumption of each course, a desire for the appearance of
the next, is a splendid art, second to none in the opinion of some
people, and at least one _table d’ hote_ in Chicago comes very close
to perfection. This is the _table d’ hote_ inaugurated by Mr. Leland
and since maintained by the purchasers of the hotel of that name. The
price of this dinner is $1.00, and in addition to the twelve courses
of eatables each person is entitled to a bottle of excellent red or
white wine. An orchestra stationed somewhere discourses sweet music
during the meal, which is served from 5:30 to 8:00 P. M. A very similar
_table d’ hote_, but without wine, is served at the Palmer House at
the same price. A most excellent dinner may be had at a little French
restaurant on Monroe street, one door west of the Columbia theatre, for
seventy-five cents.
In one respect the _table d’ hote_ is a most excellent arrangement.
Considering the lavishness of the spread a dollar is a very reasonable
price; the same dinner could not be purchased in a first-class
restaurant _a la carte_ for less than five or six dollars, if not more.
If a party of four or six people want to enjoy a jolly dinner at a
reasonable price, amid pleasant surroundings, they should patronize the
_table d’ hote_, always supposing they have plenty of time. The dinner
takes an hour to serve comfortably. Those who are rushed for time
should go elsewhere.
A chapter on restaurants would be incomplete without a reference to the
innumerable boarding-houses of Chicago. For a person who contemplates
a more or less extended stay a boarding-house is perhaps the best
place to go. It is certainly much more economical than living at a
first-class hotel. Excellent accommodations in boarding-houses in the
best parts of the residence districts may be secured at rates varying
from $4 to $10 per week, room and board. No need to describe the
location of boarding-houses. A glance at the advertising columns of
the daily newspapers will show you a quick route to hundreds of such.
If it is not desired to go to the trouble of selecting a boarding place
for yourself call at any of the many agencies--all of which print cards
in the “Board Wanted” columns of the Sunday papers--and tell the people
there exactly what you want. In nine cases out of ten they will send
you to a place which will be found suitable. There is no charge for
this service. The usual way is to charge the applicant a dollar, which
sum is deducted from the bill at the establishment he may select from
the list furnished by the agency.