Thursday, March 10, 2011

Grace O'Malley's Owners Mum on New Concept

Yes it's the Sloopin retail week and thus far everything we've posted about seems positive. Although this news from the Chicago Sun-Times isn't negative...it ain't positive and it doesn't tell us much of anything new:
The owners of Grace O'Malley's, a South Loop restaurant that closed Feb. 1, decline comment on Friday about the future of the site at 1416 S. Michigan Ave. The restaurant owner, Mainstay Hospitality LLC, issued a written notice to employees at its other eateries - Wabash Tap and The Chicago Firehouse - notifying them of Grace O'Malley's closing but revealing no other plans.
So no news on this front. We've been asking around and it seems like the employees are obliging their owners and not offering up any details on future plans for the building.

Wait and see...wait see...

For those of you who don't regularly read Sloopin we had a post about Grace O'Malley's closing a couple of weeks ago.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This just makes sense that they are being secretive. I thought the whole idea is to get people interested and talking about your new idea. Just another example why the owners of this place are just pure arrogant. Why the hell wouldn't you want a buzz around your new restaurant. The place going in for Opera (The Scout) was happy to share their concept.

They have had a monopoly on the area for too long and it has gone to their head. The product at many of their places has declined dramatically but with limited options our fine neighbors accept it. Go into Wabash tap and justify to me why most of their draft beer is priced similarly to bars in river north etc. Yuck enough of the arrogance. I will let everybody know that this place will most likely call themselves a gastro pub like everyone else and over charge on beer and under preform on their food.

Anonymous said...

Let's just hope its the complete opposite of grace o'malleys. I moved into south loop near this bar thinking itd be a place i'd regularly visit. I went a few times until I realized it was overpriced for mediocre food, the drink specials were normal prices at other bars, and had an uninviting environment.

Anonymous said...

A good BBQ place would be great!!! The new place on Cermak has really good food, but one within walking distance and where I can have a beer with my ribs would be great.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 9:03 pm -- Is Mary Lee's Smokehouse still open on Cermak? Their number was disconnected.

Anonymous said...

I walked by on the 28th, and it was open.

Unknown said...

Listen matt has no plans on doing anything himself with that spot. He is trying to lease it out to someone else but wants a king ransom for rent.

Anonymous said...

Once upon 7 years ago, Grace had some wonderful food and draft English beers. Then, it fell apart like leper. First the pretzel rolls, gone. Then London Pride, gone. Till there were only greasy tables. A pity.

Anonymous said...

Hope they don't hire the same staff back. Horrendous service from "Schmitty" or as we liked to call him "Schitty". The man knows nothing of replacing a beer in a decent amt of time. Complete bullcrap.

Anonymous said...

The best news for the hood would be if anyone ever affiliated with Grace O'Malley's (from owner to chef to staff) has absolutely nothing to do with the new concept. These guys took advantage of us neighbors for years, knowning that they could put out a crappy product and still make $$$ because of the utter lack of any viable option in the hood. I say good riddance to this place!!

Marinauser said...

Anonymous at 7:35 - Were you fired from Grace O'Malley's or another of their restaurants? Such bitterness towards a place when the simple answer is that if you don't like their food or the people, do not go there. What do you care is someone else likes the food or the place for whatever reason? I am always happy to have alternatives, no matter who is the owner. If I go and do not like it, I just don't go back. More importantly, as neighborhood participants, from what I have seen, the Grace O'Malley owners were very helpful to groups in the neighborhood like Old St. Mary's. What have you contributed to the improvement of the South Loop?

Anonymous said...

Dear Marinauser...I'm not the person that you were responding to, however the "don't go there, go somewhere else: advice is ridiculous to say to an audience that lives in the South Loop.

Look around Marinauser...there is no where to go! So,when a place that was great started serving shit food at high prices, people are going to bitch about it on this blog.

Grace O'Malley's isn't very helpful to large groups today are they? No...because they are closed! I had my rehearsal dinner there 3 yrs ago...the food was amazing, the service was amazing.
But, they chose to push their clientele out the door and that's why they are closed.

It's a shame. I agree with Anonymous at 7:35.

Marinauser said...

Quite honestly Anonymous, you don't know what the owners of Grace O'Malleys may still be doing for the community. More importantly, having lived in the South Loop since 1990, I expect I have seen a lot more here than most of the crying newcomers. The options today are vast and wide compared to 1990 and there are a number of options right on the edge with plenty of public transportation including Chinatown, Halsted, Pilsen and the west loop. Have we all become so lazy that unless we can simply walk out our front door and directly into fine dining then we are somehow disadvantaged. Quit whining, open your own restaurant or go to any of the wide variety of other restaurants available nearby. If you wanted lincoln park, you should have moved there but, wait, you probably could not afford the prices there and now just want to complain about how deprived you are. I have never seen a bigger set of crybabies that what we have today. Does your mommy still come and make you breakfast?

Anonymous said...

I just read on Yelp that Grace O'Malleys is having an open call for staff and that it is turning into a Breakfast/Lunch spot.

Anonymous said...

anon 6/9 - can you share a link?

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the Grace O'Malleys open call for Front Office Staff comment...I believe it is for the new breakfast/lunch place opening up at 1400. They have a craigslist posting, but the open call is for Thursday, June 9th and 10th at 1250 S Michigan, Ste A from 11am - 2pm. If interested - http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fbh/2423024154.html