Oh, hey there. How has your month been?
So. I’m not happy. As seldom as I’ve been posting here lately, I have continued to submit regular columns to the Forum West–but of course, you knew that. This week’s column, just out today, is about the upcoming Roger Staubach edifice at the corner of 70th Road and Austin, which will replace several stores you don’t care about but also Restaurant Row mainstays Rouge and Narita. Rouge–which I thought was overrated anyway–is already gone. Fearing the end of FoHi’s restaurant mecca, I implored NFL legend Staubach:
The future tenants of the new building should be businesses that will make us proud, and on 70th Road, they must be restaurants that will keep the street the attraction that it is.
Well, I finally went by today, and guess what’s in the window of Rouge? A bunch of for-rent signs, most of which clearly and brutally specify: “NO FOOD.”
Gotta love how the only type of business I want just happens to be the only type of business Roger doesn’t. Quelle coïncidence!
In other news, as first reported on the forums–which have been busier than ever in my absence, by the way; I love you guys–long, long, longtime 70th Road fave UJ’s Luncheonette has closed as well, despite not being threatened by the Staubach development. They simply ran out of cash. There’s a really nice sign in the window thanking customers and asking them to visit eatatujs.com, where they can sign the guestbook and even recommend potential smaller, cheaper locations. (Lousy old Brothers Coffee Shop in AQUA on QB and 77th strikes me as a great possibility.) You know, I never thought I’d really miss UJ’s, but looking in the window and seeing all the kitschy bric-a-brac, I’m reminded that it was a great neighborhood place. And I don’t think many would argue that it was the best diner in town.