Probably because safety codes have improved for the cooks and food inspection requires that the oil be a lot cleaner LOL. Part of the flavoring I’m sure was a couple decades of old oil coating those deep fryers at the old location.
Still remember that bullet-proof turntable. The ladies running the place knew their stuff and wouldn’t take crap for anyone. You gave them a problem, no chicken for you.
@ThankYouforHelp @JBStillFlying Thank you for bringing back the good memories of the Hyde Park of the 1980’s. Nowadays 53rd Street positively looks pristine and suburban to me.
Another dining gem in Hyde Park: Valois at 53rd and Hyde Park Blvd. I had so many meals there in the 1980’s that I lost count. It is still there today and enjoys rave review:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/valois-chicago
It would be a good weekend option for current students.
I too enjoy those spicy HP details. These joints all came after my time in the 60’s. The one I remember with special fondness (and I see by a quick google that it still exists) is Tai Sam Yon on 63rd near Kenwood, a mere hole in the wall reached after traversing what was then a region of darkness (no street lamps) and danger (well, it was the Woodlawn ghetto and Blackstone Rangers territory). That was the first Chinese food I, a kid from the hinterlands, had ever eaten. I figured it must be good because I once saw Jamie Redfield and Herman Sinaiko, then dashing young profs and bon vivants, dining there and engaged in animated argument. Indeed, on a Sunday evening (when the BJ cafeteria was closed) students and profs jostled for position in the tiny place. Once, when it was relatively vacant on a weekday around noon, a neighborhood fellow (possibly a Ranger) came through the door making loud and threatening demands for money. It must have been some sort of stickup. The cashier and waiter simply refused to acknowledge that this was his intention - they got him to sit down, brought him tea and fortune cookies, on the house, completely refused to be fazed or flustered. I myself, sitting alone, munching on noodles and reading Hegel, was keeping an eye on the situation and poised for anything. Very invigorating, a very good model for conducting oneself in such a situation. I felt I was witnessing a practical application of the wisdom of the East. The guy came in with larcenous intent, raging and out of control, but, treated firmly but with decency, left a perfect gentleman. I learned something from this not in books (possibly Redfield and Sinaiko had learned it before me). This too is a part of one’s education.
HydeSnark, do BJ kids still make the trek to this little joint and have similar feelings about it?
@marlowe1 - don’t think I ventured south of the Midway for food. Will need to let my kid know about this one, esp. if she ends up in BJ.
@85bears46 we ate at Valois quite a bit - See Your Food! Mostly their burgers but b-fast was/is supposed to be excellent. For about a year I referred to it as “Val-Wah” (French pronunciation) before someone pointed out that it’s actually “Vuh-loys”. Of course. Like Dess-Planes, IL and Go-Thee St.
We also ordered quite a bit of pizza from Falcon Inn. Good pizza!
@marlowe1 Unfortunately, I don’t think it doesn’t exist anymore.
The 63rd St Commercial Corridor has been devastated, there is a small commercial strip clustered around the Green Line station on Cottage Grove, but from Drexel on west it’s empty lots and churches with one lone hipster coffee shop on Woodlawn.
I think the institutional plan is to revitalize it with the help of the Obama library. I wouldn’t be surprise if the university pays for new development and businesses at first. I’ve heard rumors that the university used to pay certain Hyde Park restaurant’s rent when they were trying really hard to change 53rd St.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if they push really hard to turn the Metra Electric into a CTA line and increase service on it to every few minutes. The university wants to keep more students in housing and they know they can only do it if getting an apartment is much more expensive. So they need to make Hyde Park and the surrounding area more popular and (therefore) expensive.
I appreciate all the discussion regarding off-campus food venues, above! I still have two questions to pose as the OP 
If my student enrolls, can my kid take a visiting family member to eat in one of the 3 principal cafeterias? That is, can she bring us to any of the 3 cafeterias where we can purchase a meal pass for a single meal? Or is there another venue set up for this eventuality? Also, I would not want to embarrass my kid if this is not done…
Out of curiosity, does anyone out there remember the Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop Restaurant which I believe used to be in Harper Court before it was torn down? Does anyone recall the Court Restaurant that used to sit in that building in the 70’s?
@Sam-I-Am Yeah, students get 5 guess swipes per quarter. you can also pay for your own meal. Grad students who aren’t on meal plans and visitors eat at the dining halls pretty regularly.
“I also wouldn’t be surprised if they push really hard to turn the Metra Electric into a CTA line and increase service on it to every few minutes. The university wants to keep more students in housing and they know they can only do it if getting an apartment is much more expensive. So they need to make Hyde Park and the surrounding area more popular and (therefore) expensive.”
@HydeSnark have you actually heard this? Doesn’t SouthShore/SouthBend run on the same tracks?
It think it would be nice if the students’ passes worked on Metra as well as CTA.
Speaking the Metra line has anyone visited or used its stop at 59th Street recently? Has the station’s condition changed for better? I remember a few years back the Metra station at 59th street was in a terrible condition (a passenger had to go through a shady tunnel and climb up a broken room to the platform upstairs).
@JBStillFlying Yes, people have been pushing for this. I don’t know of any official university involvement, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they came down heavily in favor at some point in the near future, especially as they pivot all their focus on"revitalizating" Woodlawn. I expect this will coincide with the opening of the new dorm where the Harris School is currently (Harris is moving to New Grad), the opening of the Obama library, and the opening of the Rubinstein Forum. As the campus center shifts southward, so will the university’s attention.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-metra-electric-discussions-20160623-story.html
http://www.cnt.org/blog/going-for-the-gold-line
http://chi.streetsblog.org/2016/02/17/gray-line-advocate-mike-payne-wants-rapid-service-on-metra-electric-line/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metra_Electric_District#Potential_expansion_or_service_alterations
http://activetrans.org/blog/more-rail-service-needed-along-south-lakefront
The fact is the rails there can support rapid transit, even with the South Shore line. There are six parallel tracks along the ME, it’s absurd that they aren’t running more trains on it. The trains used to come at high frequency until service was reduced in (I believe) the 60s or 70s.
@HydeSnark - they are going to build a new dorm where Harris currently is? What are the details on that? Any idea what it will look like architecturally? It’d be great to have one more significant dorm on campus.
Interesting. Are they building another undergrad residence?
The issue with CTA is that it run on a different electric conductor (if that’s the word) than does ME. CTA is third rail, while ME is overhead. Not sure why it couldn’t be retrofitted and of course Metra and L run on tracks very near each other at times. Ownership issues, too, of course but the space is probably there. L would need to swing over westward (at McCormick?) to meet the loop.
You probably need at least two sets of tracks, actually, for ME and SS/SB due to the different energy sources for each. The latter is diesel and a totally different size (much larger - more like the conventional Metra trains). But that third set with retrofit third rail? Maybe . . . just maybe.
Electrify two sets of rails and leave the other four dedicated to ME and SS/SB? Alternatively, they could make pantograph-powered CTA cars that work on the ME tracks, though they would be limited to that line.
@Cue7 Yes. It’s still in planning stages, though, and it does not have a design yet. It’s going to replace I-House and Stony.
What exactly is the plan for I-House? My kid is thinking about asking to be assigned there as a freshman starting next year. Will it be replaced/moved during the next 4 years?
@HydeSnark the problem with using the same line as ME is that there not only are different schedules but the CTA doesn’t terminate under Grant Park. They’d need to run it off to the west to meet up with the rest of the L lines in the loop. Presumably they can run it west again on the southern end to meet up with whatever CTA line is south of HP. There might also be spacing issues with that third rail. Not sure. Definitely above my pay grade. Like your ideas, however. Frankly, if your issue is just have more trains running that line (and don’t change the tracks . . . ) then why not just push to have ME run more often. I commuted via ME for a few years and it’s a wonderful ride to the downtown. Metra trains are clean and safe (or were when I rode them).
@JBStillFlying Scheduling isn’t a huge problem - the lines are not utilized 90% of the time. It could easily have much more frequent trains. As for connection - I don’t see why you can’t make one platform of Milllenium Station for the CTA. You don’t necessarily need to have it connect to the rest of the system for passengers, you can get from there to the red line and blue lines via the pedway in the loop. There’s already a rail connection at McCormick Place for moving trains between the lines.
I’m all for increasing frequency of ME but I think the idea is to get it so that Ventra cards work on it.
@Sam-I-Am I think Boyer said they’re looking at opening the new dorm in 3ish years, but they might push it forward.
This is the last step of Boyer’s big residential life overhaul. After that I don’t think they’re planning on building any more dorms for a while.
When 2nd-4th year students move off campus, do they then purchase a smaller meal plan? For instance, is it common for such a student to eat breakfast and dinner at the apartment but eat lunch in a school cafeteria?
@Sam-I-Am Sometimes that happens, but I think it’s cheaper to just buy the meals individually from the dining hall. Plus, if you aren’t on the meal plan you have no obligation to eat (relatively mediocre) dining hall food, so they eat more from Z&H, the Med, one of the food trucks on Ellis and University, or even Hutch, etc.
@HydeSnark, OK thanks!