I would like to thank Dr. Ken for mentioning Raymes. That's a place I had never heard of. I'll make it a point to get there. My wife and I love these types of places. She and one of her friends used to have a website called "Museum of Suburbia" and my wife did reviews of them. Sadly, there are fewer and fewer of them every year. Thank God for the Wisconsin supper club which I'm sure will exist at least for the duration of my lifetime.

What makes a place "old school"? Well, there are various criteria as far as I'm concerned. If you offer a relish tray, you're old school for sure. Also, a place that has had strange additions with odd steps between rooms seems to qualify, e.g. Merichka's.

I know these places aren't really popular among Millennials, but does anyone have any favorites? I love Petey's Bungalow Inn.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Palm Court.

Went there for dinner a few ago and I think I was the youngest person there by 30 years.

There is a place by me called Dover Straits that is like that. Seafood joint, live bands, dance floor...and the salad boat!



Wife and I went there and brought the median age down from 62 to 61.75.

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@audioidkid

I grew up in Arlington heights, can't believe that place is still open.

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How about a cracker basket? I remember going out to dinner (or supper as we called it) with my grandpa when I was a kid. I always looked forward to snagging some Club crackers to take home.

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-- source

I recall being quite partial to these ...

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

There's a place in downtown East Dundee called the Anvil Club. I went once as you have to be a member. Someone that was a member took us. It is older than old school. They even have a wine cellar where members put their own wine for future dinner outings. The guys wear a sport coat. They usually have live music.

If you're interested, I could get you in.

http://www.theanvilclub.net

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Hawaii (fuck) You

anything where the dinner comes with bread basket, soup, salad, relish tray, coffee or tea, choice of jello or spumoni for dessert

Good call! Yes, I would pocket those as well.

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-- source

I was thinking Palm Court and got beaten to it twice. Gotta love mediocre food with mirrors and fake plants. Where again in Arlington Heights did you grow up, SpiralStairs?

Not "fine" dining, but the old Chessie's in Barrington certainly had an old-school feel to it with the cracker/breadstick baskets and all that jazz. I think they've freshened up the place in recent years. For a while it wasn't even called Chessie's.

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Lived right off Kirchhoff and Wilke road, right across the street from the driving range.

I remember Chessie's too. You could eat inside a converted boxcar or something.

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Not sure if Jorr meant Petey's on 95th street? Anyway, there are a few of these out here in western PA. I love those places.

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There is a place in Edison Park that calls itself a supper club. I have never been in so I don't know if it does this to be old school or hipster ironic.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

If there isn't a line snaking around the block then it's a normal supper club.

Oh, neat. I grew up off Palatine and Schoenbeck -- the "almost Prospect Heights" part of town as opposed to the "almost Rolling Meadows" part of town. Anything not within like a mile of the train station is almost somewhere else.

It was an old-fashioned dining car, not a boxcar, as I remember it. I can't remember what they tried to rename it about seven or eight years ago. One of those faux-trendy names with a number in it.

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Per Wheaton Zack, just don't go to any of these places if you are hungry!

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Host of the weekly "We Fish ASA" podcast
Weekly columnist for the Northwest Herald
Bi-monthly columnist for Illinois Outdoor News magazine
Former host of The Outdoors Experience on WIND and The Great Outdoors on CLTV
http://www.wefishasa.com

yea if it hasn't happened already, i'm wondering when the hipsters will make a sterilized version of supper clubs the newest trend

"upscale" salisbury steak

Artisanal Dover sole!

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My friend Missy who occasionally tends bar for me at my club works there. I'm a fan of Palm Court.



The Mecca. It's okay, not great.



Millie's on Lincoln near Fullerton. It's not too bad. Great Old Fashioned.



The Anvil Club is a cool old place. It's in an old blacksmith shop. I've been there a couple times. The men's room is wall-papered with old stock certificates. The CEO of this public company I was involved in was a member. I had over two million shares of the company. When it went bust some of the other large investors and myself used to joke that we were going to donate fresh wallpaper for the Anvil Club bathroom.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Joe,you sure get around.

You are the CFMB "Fritzy"!


I miss that guy.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Yes. Awesome neon. Weird old building. The best relish tray I ever had and that includes Wisconsin. On Sunday it even includes little meatballs.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Fritzy is around. His regular hangouts are Player's OTB and Psistaria. I'm sure he misses Lucky Magee's and Myron & Phil's as much as I do.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

JORR, Palm Court is more of what you are talking about than Raymes these days.

Raymes was exactly what you are describing a few years ago before the big flood made their building uninhabitable. It was barely inhabitable before but they couldn't get beyond the health code issues after the flood so they had to knock the old place down.

In its place, they've built what can only be described as a Hilton Conference room with tables. The menu is still very old-school but you're eating in a space that could just as easily be used for a discussion on Increasing Engagement to Achieve Learning.

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https://twitter.com/DrKenCast

Ever try this little gem out? Great food,not a fancy sit down place though.

http://www.avanticaffe.com/

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Yeah, real old school places don't do well with modernization. Usually it's one of the kids fucking with the menu and adding healthier options in an attempt to draw a younger crowd.

There's a place on Golf in Skokie that has been there forever called the Charcoal Oven. I can remember my mom making fun of the little deep-fried rolls they give you when I was a kid. The owner was an old Greek guy named Phil who died several years ago. Phil was awesome. The menu was handwritten on big sheets of paper. Sometimes they would be out of stuff. One time he was waiting on us himself and he recommended the scrod. My wife asked some questions about other fish dishes and he said in a kind of brusque manner, "The scrod is the only fish I recommend." My wife thought that was weird. Like why is the other stuff on the menu then? You wrote it out. Once we went there on Valentine's Day and after we were done eating Phil gave us a paper bag full of the best tomatoes I ever had. In fucking February! I asked him where they came from and he just said, "The Greek farmer." Anyway, his kids now run it and it isn't quite the same. They have downtown prices.

http://www.charcoaloven.net/

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Of course. We use him to cater a lot of events at the club. Are you one of the guys that hangs out in there drinking coffee every morning with Nick and Tony and the boys?

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

The Foundry, Aurora

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I go to the one in Mt. Prospect. Just the drive-thru. I don't talk to nobody.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Any VFW with a Fish Friday

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JORR, have you ever been to a supper club in WI called Johnny Manhattan's?

My wife is trying to drag me there and I need a recommendation from someone I know.

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