Salerno's on Grove

[The Jackal]

I'll give you guys a hint about the photo: beef sandwich.

Btw, looks like work is going on inside of Salerno's on Grove.

[whitesoxfan]

Jimmy B

[The Jackal]

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner!!!^^^^^^^

Btw, the new owner of the business at the old Salerno's should ring a bell for many who follow Chicagoland municipal politics...at least according to my sources!

[scottymac]

Totally forgot about the merger. Called 788-BEEF last night for a Brando's pizza. "I forget - the biggest one you got - cheese and sausage for delivery - this is Scotty".

I asked for the total, so I could have my kid pay the guy while I was working downstairs. $27.21!

I like to get rid of my money as quick as I make it, but $30 for 'za?

I love Brando's. Gianni and Brian know me and I love those guys. I'm writing this because I've posted very positive comments about their shop in the past, as well as championed their place to anyone who would listen to me.

What I'm saying is that $30 is alot for a pizza around here (unless when summer comes, and chicks in bikinis start delivering them. I can change my tune very easily!).

For the record, I will stop by there very soon, as I haven't had a meatball sam in awhile, and see the guys in person. Hopefully everything is happening very fast and they are working out the menu(s), etc.

SM




   

[justme]

Dang! You can get a football pizza from Al's for  $20! (extras for toppings, of course but still!)

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Dang! You can get a football pizza from Al's for  $20! (extras for toppings, of course but still!)

We just ordered a football size pizza from Al's the other day - half sausage and there was alot of sausage on it.  It was $25 with tax and we picked it up.  It wasn't cheap but it was GOOD and there was enough for dinner and leftovers.  We don't do that very often anymore but every once in a while you just have to give in to that craving for a really good pizza and I'm not talking Little Caesar's.

[seebee]

I have had the Salerno's on Grove 30 dollar pizza a few times, and when they are perfection (MY opinion of perfection that is,) they are damn near worth 30 bucks compared to other pizza joints. I will say this, I realy do not like their regular thin crust at all - it is too thick and bready. What I really like is their extra thin crust "available on request" per their menu. When they make those things right, price excluded - they have been the best pizzas I've gotten in town, hands down. Premium everything. I've had a few clunkers, but the ones they have done well are simply remarkable, imo. For the price tho, when they throw a pie at you that is anything less than stellar, it's a total rip-off. I haven't tried the Brandernos pie yet. For the prices they charge, I can really only afford to give them one shot. If they do not feel like they need to rebuild their brand by offering a quality product at that price point, then it's just simple economics. Your product is not worth your price, and you will fail in an area with a glut of similar products. I really liked their a-game pies:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=30495

[nativeson]

Looks like Salerno's is about to become "The Blue Penguin"...  that's the name on some quickly scrawled paper signs on the windows advertising for waiter and busboy positions.  A few weeks back, I spoke with a man named Jerry Genova who apparently is the (or one of the) new owners.  I asked him if it would continue to be an Italian Restaurant, and he told me they were going to try to take the place in a different direction.  Steaks and chops?

[Ted]

Looks like Salerno's is about to become "The Blue Penguin"...  that's the name on some quickly scrawled paper signs on the windows advertising for waiter and busboy positions.  A few weeks back, I spoke with a man named Jerry Genova who apparently is the (or one of the) new owners.  I asked him if it would continue to be an Italian Restaurant, and he told me they were going to try to take the place in a different direction.  Steaks and chops?

There is another Blue Penguin restaurant in Chicago.  I wonder if it is related:

http://www.trav-well.com/chicago-restaurants-109603-The_Blue_Penguin.htm

http://www.epictrip.com/The-Blue-Penguin-restaurant-reviews-t239749-v,Chicago,Illinois.html

[buzz]

It is.

[The Jackal]

Btw, the new owner of the business at the old Salerno's should ring a bell for many who follow Chicagoland municipal politics...at least according to my sources!

Looks like the Jackal was correct again, eh?

A few weeks back, I spoke with a man named Jerry Genova who apparently is the (or one of the) new owners.

[nativeson]

Sooo... that must be the Jerry Genova who was the mayor of Calumet City until he was sent to jail for corruption?  I thought convicted felons weren't supposed to be granted liquor licenses in Illinois...  must be a different Jerry Genova, right? 

[The Jackal]

I don't know if its the same guy, but I DO see a gray Lincoln with Indiana plates parked in front of Salerno's quite often.....

[buzz]

Calumet City is in Illinois.

[EC]

Same guy, I heard that he's "operating" it.

[The Jackal]

Buzz, I understand that. Nonetheless, manny for.er Val city resident now livein Indiana, including a Lake County (IN) judge and former NFL lineman John Jurkovic. Think of it as the Indiana counterpart of the Berwy-Plainfield migratory pattern.

[nativeson]

Can't help but wonder...  why on earth would a former mayor of Calumet City who did jail time for corruption suddenly surface all the way up here in Berwyn to "operate" a restaurant on sleepy old Grove Avenue?  Is it the generous TIF funding, the ease of getting a liquor license despite his felony conviction, the burgeoning Depot District with its high traffic and sophisticated, well-heeled clientele?  Maybe he has an extra warm and cozy relationship with the well-connected in this town...  relationships that the rest of us poor slobs paying ever increasing taxes would find verrrrrry interesting.  Or maybe Mr. Genova just threw a dart at a map and it landed on Berwyn, simple and as innocent as that.  I just really would like to know, of all the possible locations he could have chosen...  Why Berwyn? 

[buzz]

Buzz, I understand that. Nonetheless, manny for.er Val city resident now livein Indiana, including a Lake County (IN) judge and former NFL lineman John Jurkovic. Think of it as the Indiana counterpart of the Berwy-Plainfield migratory pattern.

So..... because of this migraine pattern, an Indiana resident can leave the nest and obtain a liquor license in Berwyn, Illinois ?  Thought you had to be a resident ?

[The Jackal]

Can't help but wonder...  why on earth would a former mayor of Calumet City who did jail time for corruption suddenly surface all the way up here in Berwyn to "operate" a restaurant on sleepy old Grove Avenue?  Is it the generous TIF funding, the ease of getting a liquor license despite his felony conviction, the burgeoning Depot District with its high traffic and sophisticated, well-heeled clientele?  Maybe he has an extra warm and cozy relationship with the well-connected in this town...  relationships that the rest of us poor slobs paying ever increasing taxes would find verrrrrry interesting.  Or maybe Mr. Genova just threw a dart at a map and it landed on Berwyn, simple and as innocent as that.  I just really would like to know, of all the possible locations he could have chosen...  Why Berwyn? 

That's the million dollar question, isn't it? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Jackal]

Or maybe Mr. Genova just threw a dart at a map and it landed on Berwyn, simple and as innocent as that.  I just really would like to know, of all the possible locations he could have chosen...  Why Berwyn? 

Hey, 40 years or so ago, five young lads from Edinburgh, Scotland threw a dart at a map of the US.....and shortly thereafter the Bay City (MI?) Rollers were born.

It CAN be done.

Why not Mr. Genova and Berwyn?