Right, because it's not like the whole magazine industry is built on appealing to certain demographic or lifestyle subsets of the population or anything.

senoritap wrote:

justjoan wrote:most of moon's clientele looks like neighborhood people who probably dont read timeout, so hopefully the negative effect of this mistake won't be too great. jj

If Justjoan is worried about poor journalism she should be careful about gross generalizations about who reads or doesn't read which publications.

Right or wrong, justjoan isn't a professional journalist, so I don't think the same standards apply.

=R=

senorita p: i did think carefully about what i wrote and while it was a generalization, i still think it is a fairly accurate one. i'm sorry if you took offense-no offense was intended by me either towards moon's or it's clientele. i love the place and have been eating there for years. part of its appeal for me is its friendly, neighborhood vibe. even one visit there and it's clear it has many regulars who live and/or work in the area. it's also true that it is in a rundown, economically depressed part of town-not an area filled with the boutiques, spas and nightclubs that fill the pages of timeout in both it's articles and ads. i think it's obvious that the target demographic of the magazine is a young, 'hip' crowd mostly populating lincoln park, wicker park and bucktown. again, a generalization, but i'm trying to explain my earlier reasoning. certainly there are timeout readers all over town and surely some of those readers eat at moon's. peace, justjoan

I was "gathering audio" at Moon's today, talking to grillmaster Henry James (a loquacious gent, with a Harvey Pekar-ish vibe). Henry introduced another guy behind the counter, who Henry said "Goes by Luke but has a LOT of street names." Luke is a singing corned beef cutter. So, I'm sitting there, dutifully recording the sounds of bacon sizzling, snapping photos of scrambled egges, and Luke comes up. I ask him to sing me a tune; he created one on the spot, just for me. The impromptu ditty began, "What is wrong with your Caucasian ass," which I thought was a good question, posed with a strong, danceable backbeat. Thank god my mic was on him.

More to come.

David Hammond wrote:
The impromptu ditty began, "What is wrong with your Caucasian ass," which I thought was a good question with a strong, danceable backbeat.

No wonder they call it Moon's.

GAF wrote:

David Hammond wrote:
The impromptu ditty began, "What is wrong with your Caucasian ass," which I thought was a good question with a strong, danceable backbeat.

No wonder they call it Moon's.

Stopped in Moon's today, and Henry gave me a big guy hug; a very warm, genuine fellow.

HENRY: Been a long time. Haven't seen you.

ME: I just stopped by to shoot a few pictures.

HENRY: Hold on. I'll get my tooth out of the car...I got a false tooth (he grins to show me gap). Vain.

The impromptu ditty began, "What is wrong with your Caucasian ass," which I thought was a good question, posed with a strong, danceable backbeat. Thank god my mic was on him.

david, i sure hope we'll be hearing this little ditty in your radio piece.... justjoan

justjoan wrote:

The impromptu ditty began, "What is wrong with your Caucasian ass," which I thought was a good question, posed with a strong, danceable backbeat. Thank god my mic was on him.

david, i sure hope we'll be hearing this little ditty in your radio piece.... justjoan

Oh yeah, this Wednesday (planning now is to have Soundbites run every Wednesday through October on Eight Forty-Eight) -- Moon's is the kick-off segment).

david, has 848 given you a regular time period within the 9-10am show??? jj

justjoan wrote:david, has 848 given you a regular time period within the 9-10am show??? jj

No, but the series will be running on Wednesdays for the next two months, and I'll be posting links to the specific episodes (can't do that until after the official broadcasts).

Gave up my Moon's Sandwich shop virginity today and it's one of those places that makes you hate yourself for not having been there sooner if your first visit is in 2010.

I don't have much to add, other than the fact that the corned beef sandwich on rye is absolutely astounding and the service and hospitality are going to make this place an absolute post-johnny's icehouse meal tradition for myself and likely my hockey teammates.

This thread deserves a bump, and if any of you LTHer's haven't been yet, do yourself a favor. You'll be just as happy with Moon's and just as pissed at yourself for not having been there yet.

Great find, great thread, great food.

Had a hour to kill before a class at Malcolm X on Monday and decided to stop and have breakfast at Moon's. Looking up from my newspaper my eye was drawn to the woodwork topping off the stainless steel backdrop behind all the cooking equipment and noticed that it carried thru and matched all the wood covering the walls as well.

Sitting there at the counter/bar I mentally removed the stainless backdrop and kitchen equipment and substituted a back bar and some mirrors,It suddenly dawned on me that at one time Moon's was probably a saloon.

Great little spot with a timeless vibe......Now, if only we could get the walls to talk!

JSM wrote:Had a hour to kill before a class at Malcolm X on Monday and decided to stop and have breakfast at Moon's. Looking up from my newspaper my eye was drawn to the woodwork topping off the stainless steel backdrop behind all the cooking equipment and noticed that it carried thru and matched all the wood covering the walls as well.

Sitting there at the counter/bar I mentally removed the stainless backdrop and kitchen equipment and substituted a back bar and some mirrors,It suddenly dawned on me that at one time Moon's was probably a saloon.

Great little spot with a timeless vibe......Now, if only we could get the walls to talk!

In lieu of a talking wall, you can always chat up Henry James, the griddle man, who seems never at a loss for words, and is more than happy to tell random customers about all he's seen in the past 20+ years he's been there.

Moon's may very well have been a bar, but it's been around since the mid-30s, and taking into account the dark years of Prohibition, I'm not sure when or how long it could have functioned as saloon.

Stopped at Moon's on Sunday. It's going strong, and there was a constant line for take out from 9:30 til we left around 10:30. I still ordered the Jumpball with giardinera. Why oh why can't I just for once order something else? Because, I like what I know! My panic item this time was the meatloaf special. Almost, but went back to the eggs. The corned beef that was being sliced and piled looked amazing. I saw a bacon sandwich go out that Henry scooped up, let the bacon drain into the toast, then he topped with cheese and eggs. The only thing different I noticed was that there were styrofoam cups for coffee now, instead of the paper in the plastic holders. And beware, that there is no a/c, so it was warm in there.

Great to see it on "Check, please".
Any bets on the under/over for the post viewing effect?

chainey wrote:Great to see it on "Check, please".
Any bets on the under/over for the post viewing effect?

I'm kind of guessing this is one of those instances where appearing on "Check, Please" will have a negligible effect on biz (due to location, style, and the fact that they close early).

chainey wrote:Great to see it on "Check, please".
Any bets on the under/over for the post viewing effect?

Agree with Mr. Hammond, negligible effect, especially as two of the three guests did not seem to 'get' Moon's. Speaking of not getting it, when the fashion designer seemed perplexed/bemused there was no hostess at Moon's to seat him and his two friends I 'bout split my side laughing. Was right up there with Double-Yum and Fred "its an accommodation" Soloman.

G Wiv wrote:

chainey wrote:Great to see it on "Check, please".
Any bets on the under/over for the post viewing effect?

Agree with Mr. Hammond, negligible effect, especially as two of the three guests did not seem to 'get' Moon's. Speaking of not getting it, when the fashion designer seemed perplexed/bemused there was no hostess at Moon's to seat him and his two friends I 'bout split my side laughing. Was right up there with Double-Yum and Fred "its an accommodation" Soloman.

Got to believe the "serenade" the young man was issued was along the lines of "What's wrong with your caucasian ass?"

David Hammond wrote:Got to believe the "serenade" the young man was issued was along the lines of "What's wrong with your caucasian ass?"

One can only hope.

G Wiv wrote:Speaking of not getting it, when the fashion designer seemed perplexed/bemused there was no hostess at Moon's to seat him and his two friends I 'bout split my side laughing.

That clown was hilarious. I sporked up my beer when he confessed that he was "thinking about sneaking back" sometime.

G Wiv wrote:Speaking of not getting it, when the fashion designer seemed perplexed/bemused there was no hostess at Moon's to seat him and his two friends I 'bout split my side laughing. Was right up there with Double-Yum and Fred "its an accommodation" Soloman.

His comment was so over the top (well, as was he), there's just no way it could have been anything other than him joking. Right?

Anyway, They certainly made the place look nicely spacious in the piece. Glad to see it and I need to drop in again soon for breakfast. It's nearly getting to about that time of year where it is positively freezing outside and as we hurriedly shake off our coats and enter the joint at about 7:00 on a biting December Sunday morning, the steam coming off the beef, we sit at the grillside area of the counter, and there is no warmer spot in the city of Chicago.

We order corned beef for lunch about every month or so, just in case anyone didn't know if the delivered or not.
I've yet to test the transportability of the Jumpball and side of grits.

G Wiv wrote:when the fashion designer seemed perplexed/bemused there was no hostess at Moon's to seat him and his two friends I 'bout split my side laughing.

Moon's this morning for a late breakfast of burgers, a real sleeper, asked for the hostess soon as I broke the doorway and this young lady turned, pen and pad in hand and, with a smile, said "Check Please, how many in your party"

Moon's Hostess



Moon's burgers with grilled onion, ketchup/mustard and extra pickle



Henry at the grill



Moon's Sandwich Shop



Enjoy,
Gary

Driving west on Madison the other day I noticed the gentrification has almost reached Moon's.

I wonder how that will effect it?

Needing something in my stomach before the 20+ shots of Jameson that were coming from my local watering hole, I opted for Moon's on Chicago's Amateur's parade day (for me its neighborhood tradition). I couldn't of made a better choice if I may say. Moon's corned beef sandwich with everything on rye.


Perfect parade day eats

I asked for extra pickles for the sandwiches and they gave me at least two full pickles worth on the side. Gotta love it.

Moon's Sandwich Shop
16 South Western Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60612
(312) 226-5094

The daily soup special was Turkey Noodle-
OK.....we'll start with that.......

Hearty Turkey Noodle Soup @ Moons Sandwich Shop by Man_of Steel, on Flickr

then my buddy ordered a bowl of the Beef Stew (another special)
(did I mention I'm a HUGE fan of the Daily Specials!!?!)

a HEALTHY postion of the Beef Stew @ Moon's Sandwich Shop by Man_of Steel, on Flickr
and,
now- I felt a tiny "pinge" of guilt about ordering a Corned Beef Sandwich.....
after I was "sated"......but-

Corned Beef w/Sliced Dill Pickle @ Moon's Sandwich Shop by Man_of Steel, on Flickr
I got over it!


Moon's is truly a Chicago Classic!
(well deserving of it's GNR status!)

That's a mighty fine looking serving of beef stew. I'll have to try that sometime.

G Wiv wrote:

I had a recent cameraless breakfast at Moon's and I'd like to report that they now have a spiffy new sign on the front of the building so it doesn't look quite as abandoned as it does in this picture.

I saw Moon's new sign today. It says "breakfast, lunch, & dinner." I thought they closed down after lunch?

Cogito wrote:I saw Moon's new sign today. It says "breakfast, lunch, & dinner." I thought they closed down after lunch?

Open til 6.