Northbrook Historical Society: Memories still on the menus of long-gone restaurants

A favorite restaurant is something special, a sort of home-away-from-home featuring familiar faces, menu items, and surroundings.

Restaurants of all types have suffered greatly during the current pandemic, and many across the nation are projected to never reopen even after a return to more normal times. Such a prediction can't help but prompt recollections of once-popular Northbrook restaurants that now are only memories.

Plenty of long-gone Northbrook restaurants could be mentioned, but for now, many might recall five favorites that all were located along a 3.5-mile stretch of Waukegan Road between Lake-Cook Road and Willow Road.

Starting from north, first up was Phil Johnson's at the southeast corner of Waukegan Road and Lake-Cook Road, which years ago often was referred to as County Line Road. In fact, Waukegan Road - Illinois Route 43 - was named Illinois Route 42A until a change made by the state in 1967.

"Just Good Food" was the motto of Phil Johnson's. The menu included many chicken specialties, and there was a goldfish pond on the premises. Phil Johnson's opened in 1928 and was demolished in 1992 to make way for a Borders Books store, which in turn became the site of a current North Shore University Health System facility.

In an online memory of Phil Johnson's, one contributor said: "The charm of the place was that it seemed like a home rather than a restaurant, and the owners always gave you a heartfelt greeting."

Tucked into a wooded area about a half-mile south of Phil Johnson's and also on the east side of Waukegan Road was the Chalet Restaurant, which advertised "continental dining and atmosphere." In a look back to the mid-1940s, the Glenbrook Countryside Property Owners' Association website described the Chalet then as "charming" while located next to the 18-hole Blackheath Country Club.

Significant changes to that area began in 1958 when the Edens Spur was constructed to link the Tri-State Tollway and Edens Expressway. A full cloverleaf intersection had been planned at Waukegan Road, but that design was altered. The Chalet eventually was converted to the Snuggery Bar and finally was demolished in 1989 to make way for the Brookside Plaza shopping area.

Moving south of Dundee Road, two old-time favorite restaurants stood across from each other at the intersection of Waukegan and Shermer roads: Bartelme's Northfield Inn, which was located where the current Shermer Square condominiums are today, and Tonelli's Restaurant, now the site of a Walgreens.

According to "Northbrook, Illinois: The Fabric of Our History," the Northfield Inn - a welcome stop along well-traveled Waukegan Road, which before 1924 was known by various names including Little Fort Road and Timber Road - dated back to at least 1894. Frank Bartelme bought the property in 1901, and the Inn became famous for its chicken dinners and lemon meringue pies. The Bartelme family operated the Inn until its closing on Dec. 31, 1973.

Bartelme's Northfield Inn faced likely demolition until Northbrook residents stepped up to save the building, and on Jan. 17, 1975, it was moved to its present location at 1776 Walters Ave. After extensive renovation efforts by volunteers, the building officially opened on July 4, 1976, as the Northbrook History Museum. It is one of two historic buildings now under the guidance of the Northbrook Historical Society.

Facing the Northfield Inn on the other (west) side of Waukegan Road was another Northbrook favorite. It was at this location in the 1930s that Renaldo "Tony" Tonelli built Tosca Tavern and a new filling station. Later the tavern and restaurant became known as Northbrook Tavern, and eventually Tonelli's Restaurant. Tonelli's closed on Aug. 31, 2008, to make room for Walgreens.

Heading south from the corner of Waukegan and Shermer in the 1960s and '70s, travelers quickly found themselves in the open fields of Techny.

One of the few structures between the Techny seminary and Willow Road was described in a 1991 news story as having been "at times an icehouse, meatpacking plant, phonograph factory and seedy roadhouse" going back to about 1900. The building was located, all by itself, about where Waterway Carwash is today.

Despite the isolated location, as early as 1952, Gregario Salvi reportedly first talked about opening a family Italian restaurant at that spot. He eventually did, and it became The Caravel (or Salvi's Caravel), named after Christopher Columbus' 15th century schooners.

There is nothing lonely about the Techny area today, of course, as a 1988 annexation agreement with Northbrook led to construction of a variety of housing and commercial developments including Willow Festival shopping center, Meadow Ridge, Royal Ridge, The Lodge, Northbrook Greens, North Shore Ice Arena, Sheraton-Northbrook, Pinstripes, and others. The Caravel remained vacant during much of this construction before giving way to Waterway, which opened in 2015.

Over the years, local residents have collected fond memories of many other popular Northbrook restaurants that no longer exist ... Forty-One North ... Country Maid Cafe-Ette ... Ignatz & Mary's Grove Inn ... Henrici's Steak & Lobster ... Ted Gee's ... Victoria Station ... James Tavern. All these and others provide much food for thought - along with memories.