CHAPTER XXII.THE RESTAURANTS OF CHICAGO.
Inresponse 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 orcafes(that is the fashionable term) attached, where the service is very elegant and the price pitched in a corresponding altitude. Cheap restaurants areto 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 finecafes, 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 hotelcafes. 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, Clarkand 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 affectionatecouples 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.
Thetable d’ hotehas 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.” Thetable 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 everydish 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 onetable d’ hotein Chicago comes very close to perfection. This is thetable d’ hoteinaugurated 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 8:00P. M.A very similartable 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 thetable d’ hoteis 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 restauranta la cartefor 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 thetable 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.