This week, Newcity heads out to a newly revamped - but still BYO - HB (which now stands for Home Bistro, following the departure of the Hearty Boys), and the never-changing Diner Grill, which slings breakfast fare (and the rest of the diner cannon) 24/7.
Jenny Davis chronicles the handoff of HB from the Hearty Boys (Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh), who got wrapped up in their Food Network and other commercial responsibilities and decided to pass the restaurant off to an owner who could be in the kitchen, namely, their executive chef, Joncarl Lachman. He plans to keep things largely the same (after all, the restaurant is quite successful), but his efforts to personalize the place have included Dutching it up (he’s from Holland) and camping it down (no more “hunky waiter” coffee mugs).
Over at Diner Grill, Kevin Baum rhapsodizes about an oasis of 1970s Chicago diner culture, where bacon and coffee and a bit of ‘tude are available all day and all night. The Grill has been in the same family since it opened, and has been serving neighborhood families, late night drunks, and hardened regulars in the gruff but efficient manner that we demand from our greasy spoons. It’s places like this that are the backbone and hallmark of gritty but functional urban life, and we are thankful for them. Oh yeah, and it’s in an actual streetcar!
HB Home Bistro | 3404 N Halsted St | 773-244-8088
Diner Grill | 1635 W Irving Park Rd | 773-248-2030
A New Home [Newcity]
HB [MenuPages]
HB [Official Site]
The Great Grill [Newcity]
