Return of an old-time Chicago place - Little Bucharest

For years, Little Bucharest beckoned at the corner of Ashland and Wellington, but it always made me feel sad for the disappearance of its cross-street neighbor, the Yugo Inn, where I happily dined on sheep's brain in the innocent 80's, before both Srebrenica and mad cow disease, and I never went in. Eventually Little Bucharest closed, and I could feel sad for the passing of both, though I'd never made it inside the second.

This morning my fiancee and I were traveling down Elston when I noticed that a nondescript corner north of Addison had become, well, descript. A fountain, a fresh coat of paint, Little Bucharest is back.

We returned tonight for dinner. It's an elegant interior with nice woodwork, some traditional embroidery on the tables, a bar that traverses the main room while managing to look like it fits in.

We scanned the menu and queried about the free glass of wine with entrees. From the look on the waitress's face, our guess is that the offer was outdated, but they honored it with a nice glass of a dry Romanian red. We started with an excellent Ciorba (soup) de Borscht and a roasted red pepper salad which the be-ringed woman compared to the spiced, sliced orange dish we made from last week's Times magazine recipe. She continued with vegetarian goulasz. I began smiling at her and laughing late in the meal, not wanting to spoil the joke by letting her in on it. She had cornered the last couple bites with her fork, pushing the couscous together. I had always assumed it was a religious thing - her habit of never cleaning her plate - a sort of daily leaving for Elijah or something, but her actions were speaking -- she was going to finish! I think she liked it.

I had Sarmaluta - cabbage stuffed with several kinds of meat with a light overlay of tomato sauce , on a bed of polenta. I didn't leave any either. We'd love to report on the desserts -they looked very good. But we were just too full to keep going.

The one down note was the pre-recorded music accompanying the live singers. We assume the pre-recorded music was off-key, since the alternative was to believe the band was singing that far offkey. We give it a big recommendation, but you might check the website to see who is performing first.

Little Bucharest
3661 N. Elston
http://www.littlebucharestbistro.com/

That corner has been Little Bucharest for years - I think it opened right before the place on Ashland closed. It has at times been called Little Bucharest, and at times been called Continental Cafe (with Little Bucharest as a subheading). I remember one particularly fun night at the Ashland Little Bucharest, where the owner came out at the end of the evening holding a big funnel in a phallic position, then proceeded to pour shots of ouzo from it directly into the mouths of the women with whom I was dining, all the while shouting "suck it, suck it, suck it good". Then he drove us home in his limo. Nice guy.

Hilarious. I guess we were bamboozled. The waitress said they reopened several months ago, and the owner talked about other customers who came because they remembered the old location, as if this were an active phenomenon. Anyway, the food was good.

I had a similar experience with the "suck it" stuff, at the table with a girlfriend. Never been close to being a prude, but I didn't find it cute. Rather low class and vulgar-something an ill-mannered 12 year old might do. Owners of restaurants, or anyone, shouldn't act that way with people they don't know. (or most people they do know.) Food was acceptable, but that was the deal breaker.

I've had a similar, thought less vulgar,
experience at one of my favorite Spanish
restaurants. It's not uncommon for the
owner to make the rounds with a wine-skin;
taking aim from precarious range. In this
case, it's been nothing but fun.

Wonder if they still have the stretch limo? Weird part was that it was painted brown not black.

I went here yesterday for dinner and had a great experience. The owner, Branko, is such a sweet fellow, so chatty and friendly, and he even gave me a hug goodbye. He reminded me of Chef Paco of New Rebozo. I had the saganaki (hooray! craving sated!) and roast duck with rum sauce. Really tasty, and the leg proved especially satisfying to gnaw on. I can't wait to return. Apparently Wednesdays are slow, so they're thinking of closing then, but they will soon be opening a new location downtown (Wacker between Dearborn & LaSalle area). I really felt welcomed here, lack of phalluses notwithstanding.

There is indeed a free limo service, but if your party is less than 4 they expect you to order $50 worth of food, which shouldn't be hard. Entrées ran between $15-20.

Hi,

I am new to this forum so I wanted to introduce myself. I run a neighborhood restaurant on Chicago's northside that specializes in Mediterranean and Eastern European food.

I believe that 'continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.' That is one of the reasons for me being here - to gather feedback on our ethnic food cooking skills and use it to improve said skills. The other reason is to connect with like-minded people that, like myself, truly enjoy being part of this industry.

You can find our full restaurant menu here:
http://littlebucharestbistro.com/dine-in-menu/
or read what people say about us here:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/little-buchare ... ro-chicago

Thank you,
Branko

Cross post from Eater item in the Openings, etc. thread:
Little Bucharest Bistro will shutter in October to make way for new American restaurant Gurst

A nearly 50-year-old Eastern European bistro will close its doors in Avondale this fall to make way for a new American restaurant from a San Francisco native. Gurst, named for a simultaneous gust and burst of wind, will open before Christmas at 3661 N. Elston Avenue, according to new chef and owner Phillip Martinez. The space currently houses Little Bucharest Bistro, which will hold its last service October 31.
...
Branko Podrumedic, who goes by “Mr. Branko,” first opened Little Bucharest Bistro on Ashland and Wellington avenues in May of 1970. He relocated the restaurant to Avondale 10 years ago, and said he has watched the neighborhood develop into a restaurant hotspot. “The old-school European restaurants are fading out one by one,” Podrumedic said in an interview.

Citing prominent closures like Harwood Heights’ Old Warsaw Buffet and German stalwart Mirabell Restaurant, he said he felt it was time for him to retire. “Many of these young people, they don’t know where Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria are,” he said. “I just simply think that I’m getting older and it’s time to pass the trophy to younger generation.”

Are they open or closed?

The website makes no mention of closing and the reservation system is up and running into at least November.

Little Bucharest Bistro isn’t closing after all.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Little Bucharest on Elston north of Addison will close after business on May 11th. They are claiming to be a Coronavirus casualty but they originally announced their closing back in August. The more likely explanation is a) the neighborhood isn't as Romanian as it used to be, and b) Romanian cuisine isn't exactly en vogue these days.

Drover wrote:Little Bucharest on Elston north of Addison will close after business on May 11th.

Wow. They've been around since 1970, and I went there a few years after they opened. Long-ago memories...

Eater has more on Little Bucharest.

This is Podrumedic’s second attempt to step away from the restaurant industry. In August 2019, he partnered with chef Phillip Martinez, who aimed to open a new American restaurant called Gurst. The partnership fell through and the restaurant was back on the market in October.

The closure isn’t entirely due to the coronavirus. Podrumedic is ready to retire as a new owner has a Mexican restaurant ready to take over the space.

Mis Moles, an “upscale, refined Mexican” is planned for 3661 N. Elston Avenue. The new restaurant, designed to celebrate seasonal and regional moles, will open when officials deem conditions safe from the novel coronavirus.

The new restaurant is from Geno Bahena, a chef who spent more than a decade cooking at Rick Bayless’s Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. Born in Mexico, Bahena has cooked in at last 13 Mexican restaurants around town. Bahena started helping his mother and grandmother make mole when he was 10 years old.

“Mole is something that I’m so in love with,” he says. “When I was growing up, moles weren’t an every day meal because of the preparation required...to have mole, we had to have a big celebration, and in a small town, sometimes things like that didn’t happen often.”

What sets Mis Moles new establishment apart is the chef’s selection of seven moles, one for each day of the week. On Sunday, for example, Bahena will feature a mole rojo (dried anchos and guajllos chiles, tomatoes, tomatillos, plantains, sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, Mexican chocolate, herbs, spices) with chicken, duck, or quail; Wednesday’s special is a mole manchamanteles (chile ancho, chorizo sausage,plaintains, pineapple, sweet potato) with duck or chicken breast.

LTHers may recall Geno Bahena from GNR Sol de Mexico. Hard to tell what if anything his involvement is there now. Their web site lists only his mother under the our chef section. IIRC she prepared the moles when Sol de Mexico opened.

I was a huge fan of Little Bucharest when it was on Ashland. IMO the quality of the food did not transfer to the Elston location. I tried it once and never returned.

Excited to hear about Geno Bahena taking the space. I hope he gets to open soon.

Boy oh boy do I miss going to restaurants.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:I was a huge fan of Little Bucharest when it was on Ashland. IMO the quality of the food did not transfer to the Elston location. I tried it once and never returned.

Excited to hear about Geno Bahena taking the space. I hope he gets to open soon.

Boy oh boy do I miss going to restaurants.

Giovanna

I suppose it doesn't matter much at this point, but before this place was Little Bucharest it was Continental Cafe. The same family owned both, and best I can tell they just up and re-named it "Little Bucharest" one day, some 5 years after the original LB closed. I don't think anything else changed about it except the name.

Their stuffed pork chop was a favorite, as were their desserts, which were the size of the plate and then some.

For the last 12 years I lived on the first floor in the condo building right across Spaulding from Little Bucharest. My yard was 20 feet from the front door. Loved the place, loved the owner. wish I went there even more than I did over the past 12 years.

Finally bought a house in the suburbs a couple months ago. Just read this thread and am so mad I moved now that there is going to be a fancy Mexican restaurant going in that spot. Focusing on mole sauces! Damn, me and the wife both love mole.

Between this and JT's Genuine Sandwich Shop opening down the block I really picked a bad time to up and leave the neighborhood.

The timing of JT's opening couldn't be more unfortunate. They weren't even doing carryout for a while. The proprietor is running a one-man show right now, it's hard to imagine he's doing enough volume by himself to keep the place afloat. Hopefully he can see it through but it seems awfully precarious.

shakes wrote:Finally bought a house in the suburbs a couple months ago. Just read this thread and am so mad I moved now that there is going to be a fancy Mexican restaurant going in that spot. Focusing on mole sauces! Damn, me and the wife both love mole.

Between this and JT's Genuine Sandwich Shop opening down the block I really picked a bad time to up and leave the neighborhood.

Depends on what suburb you moved to. I'm getting the sense it's not, but that location is so accessible via the Edens, if it's Lincolnwood, Skokie, Morton Grove, or parts of others, it's not too bad of a trip.

bweiny wrote:

shakes wrote:Finally bought a house in the suburbs a couple months ago. Just read this thread and am so mad I moved now that there is going to be a fancy Mexican restaurant going in that spot. Focusing on mole sauces! Damn, me and the wife both love mole.

Between this and JT's Genuine Sandwich Shop opening down the block I really picked a bad time to up and leave the neighborhood.

Depends on what suburb you moved to. I'm getting the sense it's not, but that location is so accessible via the Edens, if it's Lincolnwood, Skokie, Morton Grove, or parts of others, it's not too bad of a trip.

Sure, I'm in Deerfield so not that bad to get to Addison and Elston, but were talking about a trip that used to take me 5-7 seconds walking from door to door. Maybe I'll go there once a year now, but if I still lived there I'd be there so often they'd probably give me a W2 by mistake come tax season.