trader vic's chicago closing....again???

I heard from a reliable source that Trader Vic's Chicago has closed its doors once again. I don't see anything about this online. Is this true? Please tell me I'm wrong.

Hi

It wouldn't surprise me.
The past few times I've been there, the place was nearly deserted.
Last time was probably six months ago... it's a surprise that they hung on as long as they did.

My wife and I were there in August. We had some delicious cocktails at the bar and a very nice dinner. It wasn't as busy as I thought it would be or as busy as I thought it should be. I have no Tiki establishments anywhere near where I live. We made a special trip from Dayton, Ohio after Festiki with one of the main destinations being Trader Vic's Chicago. I do what I can to support Tiki. What a shame if it is closed. You can check out some of my pictures from the visit on my website here: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzep0565/id50.html

Well, it's not listed on the Trader Vic's website any longer, not good. If it had only stayed where it BELONGED in the first place. To Hell with the Palmer House!

False alarm, friends: Trader Vic's Chicago is still rolling along.

We just went there for dinner last night. There have been some changes, but all seem to be for the better.

We've had a tumultuous relationship with Vic's since they reopened... Food-wise, our first few visits were outstanding, then we had a couple of full-blown bad turns, and a handful of mediocre ones. The drinks have consistently been excellent, however, and their bartenders are some of the best around.

We continue to go there because (a.) we gotta support the cause, and (b.) it's the only true tiki haven within Chicago city limits (read: accessible by public trans so I can get stinky drunk and still get home in one piece.) Also, though it's certainly not the Palmer House (and it's on Rush Street- the highest concentration of Ed Hardy morons in the city)I think they did a SUPERB job recreating the vibe of the original Vic's with modern twist (when they aren't playing Aerosmith and football.)

This time, the food was quite excellent (I HIGHLY recommend the Ahi Tuna sandwich- it was outstandingly good!) Also, the menu was revamped so there are many lower-cost option so you can pop in and grab a $15 entree as opposed to a $30 to $40 entree.

We heard something from a little bird there that might explain the precipitous drop in quality of reviews on Yelp and other review sites...

Apparently when they opened, they had a chef who was outstanding and passionate and created most of the items on their menu. He left and was replaced with someone lacking in the passion department, which resulted in a discernible drop in quality. He has since (just within the last month) been replaced with someone who clearly knows his stuff.

We had a GREAT time- they played surf & 60's instrumental music the entire time, the food was excellent, and it was $5 Mai Tai night. I had five, so it was nice to be able to hop on the Red Line and get home in one piece.

No Trader Vic's means I won't be able to do that anymore...

I get the feeling there are people there whose hearts are squarely in the right place, perhaps they just need some guidance in the ways of True Tiki. If anybody local wants to start a Trader Vic's night (I recommend Mondays for $5 Suffering Bastards) I'd be game. With the new lower-cost food menu, a bunch of us could come out, grab a delicious-and-affordable dinner and grab some of the best tropical cocktails in the city limits.

Anybody up to the task?

Exact same experience on the food here. Started off great. But - it sucked for about the last year. I gave it several tries & eventually gave up on all but the ahi & pupus. That chef refused to use the Chinese oven & took all of the wonderful dishes that cam out of the oven off the menu. I would try to request them when I went, but no go. I am thrilled to hear there is a new chef. Fingers crossed he will embrace the Chinese oven & bring back some of the amazing dishes that come out of those ovens!!! I'd be going there a lot more often if they get back on track in that regard!

Similar experience on the drinks, here - they have generally maintained the quality on that front. At least more so than the food.

Good to hear on the music. I cannot say I have had that experience - usually bad pop music of one form or another & sports on the TVs. ICK. Kills the vibe. Big time.

We've got a group going tomorrow night. Will have to request decent music if it isn;t already going when we walk in the door.
Will be interesting to see where things are at.

The Trader Vic's in Chicago is still AWOL from the corporate website. And, its dedicated URL (http://www.tradervicschicago.com) now bumps you to the main corporate site.

I wonder what's going on?

I did notice the website issue, which is a bit disconcerting.

But at least as of a few weeks ago, that they hadn't updated their website in months, damn near since it was first put up. The events section was always empty, as were the drink specials (though they still HAD events and drink specials if you went to the source.)Both sections said "updates coming soon."

My theory is that they are overhauling the website, so they took it offline.

As far as it not being listed on the main Trader Vic's site, I'm no tech guy (far from it) but perhaps the way their site is linked up, if one of the locations' sites is taken down, it no longer shows up on the main site?

Not sure- it's a puzzler. I had meant to ask about it, but it somehow slipped my mind after five Mai Tais.

One promising thing we saw was that the corporate events space (down the hall from the main dining room) was in use. They had a buffet set up for 'em and everything. We've NEVER seen that room being used... hopefully if they start bringing in those fat corporate checks, they can keep the ship sailing. I know that I'd certainly rather watch a dull powerpoint presentation surrounded by oceanic artifacts and downing a Fog Cutter and crab legs than stuffed in a board room somewhere.

We're planning to go back in a few weeks (just in case.) I'll definitely ask about the website- if you guys get there sooner, let us know what you find out!

ALSO! Forgot to mention that you can grab some excellent coupons on Restaurant.com from time to time... $50 gift certificate for $25? Yes, please...

*On 2011-03-04 17:52, Ragbag Comics wrote:*If anybody local wants to start a Trader Vic's night (I recommend Mondays for $5 Suffering Bastards) I'd be game. With the new lower-cost food menu, a bunch of us could come out, grab a delicious-and-affordable dinner and grab some of the best tropical cocktails in the city limits.
Anybody up to the task?

This is a fine idea; but instead of waiting for others, why don't you start it?

Just FYI, I've already done that job... for the newer members on this thread (I see several, welcome) I organized a rather large monthly gathering at the old Palmer House location for a while, and then a less elaborate live music night during the first year of the current location.

http://www.tikicentral.com/search.php?term="Tabu+tiki+night"&submit=Search&srch=both&frm=all&usr=&srt=newest

It can be done.
If you plan it, Ragbag, I will come!

Hey James-

I should've guessed you were at the helm of those music nights... leave it to ol' anti-social me
to lurk in the corner and not introduce myself to anybody.

I see your challenge, sir, and I accept it.

I'll start makin' some phone calls wikiwiki. With luck, we can have something rollin' steady in the
next handful of months.

More tiki-related events in the Midwest, however major or minor, is definitely a positive thing.

We Chicagoans gotta scratch that Tonga Itch, too...

Wow, I thought she was a goner. I'll take this a sign to get my ass there more ASAP. Drives me nuts that some chef would ignore the great Trader Vic traditions, as well as the inexcusable non-existence in cyberspace---WTF?!

Thanks for following up on this guys!!!

Saturday night the place had a good amount of people 8:30-11:30, which was a nice change to see.

They have also finally started advertising in some of the tourist magazines, which should help traffic on an on-going basis.

The music was great - didn't have to say at thing - exotica, surf.....

Our favorite bartender from when they opened was back behind the bar, which was good to see. & therefore the drink were excellent :D

The Chinese oven was fired-up & in use - YEAH!! for the new chef!!!!!

Menu completely changed-up. Looks like it is headed in the right direction from all of the food our group tried. Excellent quality & tasty. Nicely presented, too. I would say the current menu is very much on the casual side of things, though. Would be good if also had a mix of the slightly nicer stuff on there, too. They said the menu is in progress & will continue to change. Also got some positive vibes that the 9-spice chicken is likely to be back on there, too - fingers crossed!!!

Drinks menu is more limited though & just a 2-sided laminate. Would be better to go back to the old drinks menu, please.

So.....yeah....things look to be headed in a better direction than they have been in the past year.

Let's hope the keep it up.

& GO if you are in the area - that's the best way to support these places & help they stay around!!!!!!!!

I live in Japan, so I won't be visiting the Chicago TV's, but I think this is great news.

The Tokyo branch of Trader Vic's is a 20-minute subway ride from my house, so that's where I go, but I get a sense of security when restaurant chains I like don't start shuttering locations.

Perhaps the site is down so they can get the new menu up on it.

Me and the missus were in the Chicago Vic's tonight, and had a pretty good time.
Beautiful place, but alas not many people... maybe only two tables... but then again, it's a monday night, and the Hawks were playing the Sharks across town.
Drinks were pretty good, except for that the mai-tai had way too much lime, not enough orgeat, and not enough rum. Fog Cutter, Gun Club, and Grog were all damn good, though.
We didn't eat because Morton's was next door... and dammit we wanted steak.
So, there you go... still open.
It ain't Emeryville, but hey, nothing is, you know?
I took some pics, I'll put 'em up tomorrow though cause I'm sleepy.
Night night.

Glad you're up for it, Ragbag, and I am also especially glad that some people have reported that this place is bootstrapping and trying to make a comeback.

You know, we don't need to plan something on the scale of a Tiki Oasis, a Hukilau, or even a Tabu Tiki Night - just put the word out the the Chicag'ohana that we're all meeting up one night, and let's have a Zombie together.

I wonder how many people are in or near downtown - I would totally be up for a weeknight happy hour.

a small group of us have been meeting once a month at traders.... trader vics is in no danger of closing as far as we can tell... they have changed their menu and lowered prices on some items.... for this reason it seems they have been getting little support from the home office at this location which explains the shortage of glassware and other items. they are kinda like the red headed step child of the trader vics chain because they are making changes not necessarily favored by corporate....I hear that the chicago traders is also not mentioned on the trader vics website but i have yet to confirm. - support the traders whenever you can. There are a couple events planned in chicago this year which will give folks an opportunity to check out the traders among other places.... i cannot say anything else about these events as i am not directly involved with them...you will have to wait till further notice.

trader vics chicago- alive and well.

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2011-03-16 11:08 ]

Dave, why not make a posting when you guys have your monthly meetup.
Seems like there are a bunch of people on this thread who'd be happy to join in.

Indeed-

There's a small enough number of us here in Chicago that we need not make a big ol' fancy deal out of getting together, but that said, I'm up for doing a little something extra to motivate folks to patronize Vic's (not that it hasn't been done in the past.) Hopefully it will be enough to reintroduce people and let 'em know that the doldrums are over.

I'm finishing up some projects at the moment, but once those are all wrapped up, I'll be gettin' on the Trader Vic's stick and getting some kind of monthly night going.

All that said, if anybody will be at Chef Shangri La tomorrow night, we'll see ya there!

--Pete

james,

I gave up on posting stuff like that here because the only ones that seem to show, are our same ol' group of tikiphiles that show up to every other event...

Besides, we don't meet at the trader's on the same day each month.... it's kind of an impromptu sort of thing....

speaking of which, when are you going to make an appearance at the chef 3rd saturday events?? It's been years since we have seen you last - last time otto came into town.....

Yeah, I just thought about it, and you're (basically) right, it has been a little less than a year since I have darkened the door of The Chef.
I am waaaaay overdue for a drive to the 'burbs.
One of these days....

But in the meantime, looking over this thread, there are a lot of people who'd apparently be up for a meeting at Vic's; we'll never integrate any new blood into the same ol' crew unless the word gets out about gatherings. Be it a planned event or an impromptu handful of people grabbing an after work mai tai, it never hurts to make a quick post.

A certain member of the Denver tiki group will be in Chicago next week, crashing at my place, so I imagine we'll be heading to both Vic's and The Chef/Hala Kahiki at some point.

I'll post here when a plan is in place.

Hi

OK, Michelle (burleyque here on TC, and Vivienne VaVoom to the burlesque community) is here.

We are going to The Chef tomorrow (Monday) at about 6:30, and Hala Kahiki after that, ETA 8:00-8:30.

We'll be at Trader Vic's on Tuesday for happy hour, about 6:00 to 7:30.

If these times change, I shall post.

Otherwise, hope a few of you can come out and play on a weeknight.

hey have a good time! :)
wish we could join you but it' too much for us to drive in and drink then try to wake up at 5:00am the next day. Wish we lived closer.

There is another thread out there from a couple days ago stating that this location is currently closed Sun-Wed (or something like that).
It needs support!

I'm the most thirstiesterest of all!

TRADER VIC'S stuff for sale on EBAY 1957SPUTNIK

http://shop.ebay.com/1957sputnik/m.html

well- here it is..... short notice... as it always is.....

this is for the benefit of James tikibars and anyone else in the area....... a small group of tiki folk are gathering tonight (saturday) at trader vics for the monthly mai tai fix...... around 8 p.m.

come on down and show your support ...

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2011-04-23 17:04 ]

I've just heard that the Chicago TV is no longer serving food, and only the lounge is open. Also heard of recent health code violations on yelp.com. I was all set on dropping big bucks down there today with my crew, but this is starting to sound like a lost cause. Say it ain't so!

Why did Trader Vic's fail in Chicago? Anatomy of a murder: http://chicagoist.com/2011/07/01/the_sad_story_of_trader_vics_in_chi.php

nice article-

and possibly the most brilliant quote to ever come out of tikibars james t's mouth. well put james.

Good post. As a result of this disaster, Chicago will probably be devoid of a Trader Vics for the foreseeable future, if not forever. Hope I'm wrong.

And sadly, a similar fate has now come to Trader Vic's Scottsdale, who never really embraced the tiki community, instead opting for the very fickle, and not at all loyal, 30-thousand-dollar-a-year-millionaire crowd, and sadly, you can see where that got them.

To quote the aforementioned and very well written article, which could have just as easily been written about Trader Vic's Scottsdale:

It's our conclusion that...Trader Vic's ultimately failed not due to the recession but because of bad management decisions, including a bewildering identity crisis and very poor marketing. The new management never seemed to reach out to the active community of hardcore tiki enthusiasts in the area...Instead they seemed hellbent on courting the...(non-tiki, fickle)crowd...

Once AJ moved on from Scottsdale, it was all downhill from there :(

sigh

Trader Vics - why are you afraid of us? We won't bite...hard

I think they chose a not so great location to reopen in. The Palmer House was a great location and got a lot of regulars as well as tourists and business travelers. They should have moved a little further down and closer to all of the hotels in the Loop and I think they would have succeeded. Of course, it also takes good management and good chefs too.

On 2011-07-12 17:12, tiki-tina wrote:
And sadly, a similar fate has now come to Trader Vic's Scottsdale, who never really embraced the tiki community, instead opting for the very fickle, and not at all loyal, 30-thousand-dollar-a-year-millionaire crowd, and sadly, you can see where that got them.

But, if one owned a business, one would want a larger market with disposable income, not a small single-interest group. If the Tiki crowd were that strong, Drift would still be open.

So is TV in chicago dead?

If so, is there another worthy Tiki bar in the city?

[ Edited by: Dapuma1 2012-08-20 00:14 ]

You can always go to the Hala Kahiki Lounge.

http://www.hala-kahiki.com/

...and don't forget Chef Shangri-La, in exotic North Riverside just west of Chi-town.