Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Chicago: Fox & Obel


Recommended Posts

As many in Chicagoland may know, Fox & Obel has been one of the premier groceries in the area but has had problems especially in recent years. It seems the latest is being shut down by the Health Department.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130715/streeterville/fox-obel-closes-abruptly-after-it-fails-health-inspection-report-says

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2013/07/16/fox-obel-shut-down.php

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130715/NEWS07/130719891/fox-obel-closes-citing-health-department-issues

Cockroaches running around near cooking equipment, fruit flies on the walls...Ick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ick is right. As much as I like Groupons, I figured that that was their kiss of death.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, that's an unfortunate turn of events. I remember it well from a day trip to Chicago a few years ago. They had a lot of interesting stuff you don't see everywhere. I kept saying "Oh, lookit that...".

It reminds me of our own local Roselyn Bakery (est. 1943) that went down in 1999 under very similar circumstances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's sort of sad. I'm assuming they'll rectify the health issues and reopen, but their financial health would remain an issue. With Eataly (presumably) opening soon, their future is further threatened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Well, that's an unfortunate turn of events. I remember it well from a day trip to Chicago a few years ago. They had a lot of interesting stuff you don't see everywhere. I kept saying "Oh, lookit that...".

It reminds me of our own local Roselyn Bakery (est. 1943) that went down in 1999 under very similar circumstances.

I loved, loved, loved Roselyn's brownies and chocolate eclairs. Broke my heart when they were shut down.

Fox & Obel is definitely up & running now.

It's sort of sad. I'm assuming they'll rectify the health issues and reopen, but their financial health would remain an issue. With Eataly (presumably) opening soon, their future is further threatened.

I'm sure you're right about Eataly - except that F&O has easy/free parking - & there's virtually nowhere to park by the Mart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
×
×
  • Create New...