The original Blackhawk, 1920–1984.
I was so sad to see the news that Don Roth’s Blackhawk in Wheeling will close forever after serving dinner on New Year’s Eve. On Monday, owner Ann Roth, Don’s widow, announced the closing: “With my 90th birthday on the horizon and none of my children in a position to assume responsibility for the family business, it will be better to close Don’s last restaurant while it still is a going concern.”
According to a statement from the general manager, Bob Vorachek, who’s been with the company since 1986, the 135-seat restaurant’s closing isn’t related to the economic downturn that’s shuttered so many eateries. However, its 150-year-old farmhouse building on the Milwaukee Avenue Restaurant Row would have needed renovations if Don Roth’s were to remain open, a project its octogenarian owner didn’t want to take on. The property will be sold, but the Blackhawk name won’t go with it.
The news makes a doleful ending to the steak and seafood house’s 40th anniversary year. Forty years is a long time, as restaurants go. But this one’s history goes back even further, to the original Blackhawk on Wabash Avenue opened by Otto Roth, Don’s father, in 1920, and run by the family until 1984.
In its heyday, the original Blackhawk was known as much for its Big Band music as its food. Performers like Hal Kemp, Kay Kyser, Ish Kabibble, Jack Teagarden, Les Brown, Chico Marx, Ozzie Nelson, Perry Como and Mel Torme were regulars, and “Live! From the Blackhawk!” was broadcast nightly across the United States. In 1938, Bob Haggart of Bob Crosby and the Bobcats composed “Big Noise from Winnetka” on the spot.
Don Roth inherited the business on his father’s death in 1944. By 1952, the Big Band era was on the wane, so Roth declared, “the food’s the show,” introducing rolling roast-beef carts and the enduring signature spinning-bowl salad. Servers spin a big bowl of fresh lettuces at each table, pouring on the Blackhawk Dressing with its “21 Secret Ingredients,” gently tossing just six times so as not to bruise the tender greens, and topping each serving with anchovies or shrimp (or — my usual order — both). The bottled salad dressing is sold at many area supermarkets.
Roth went on to open several other restaurants, of which the Wheeling Blackhawk, repository of memorabilia from the earlier establishments, was the last. Ann Roth has continued the Wheeling restaurant since Don died at age 90 in 2003.
The salad will spin for a few more weeks at the Blackhawk, and through the end of November you can get it on Sundays through Thursdays with a 10-ounce prime-rib dinner for just $19.69. During December, the restaurant will open for lunch on weekdays as well as nightly dinner. Make your reservations now.
I can think of only a few places left that have such classic atmosphere and service … The Charcoal Oven in Skokie, Lawry’s The Prime Rib in River North (which also has a spinning-bowl salad), Sabatino’s in Irving Park … savor them while you may.
Related post:
Eat this! Don Roth’s Blackhawk salad dressing to go on spinning
I had the privilege of being in the group that traveled to Russia in 1990 to accompany the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Don and Ann were among the more popular members of the entourage and one night they had a little party in Moscow in their hotel room after a concert and I noticed that Ann had her fabuoous jewels (real) sitting on top of the safe. I pointed it out to her, and she said, “it was a tough choice, but there wasn’t room for everything. So I decided to put our cans of tuna and jars of peanut butter in the safe.” This lady has always had her priorities in order!
From the 1950’s to the 1980’s I used to go the restuarant on Wabash regularly. My wife and I have only been to Wheeling twice (its out of the way) but we’ll have to get up there sometime between now and New Year’s eve. Its too bad to lose this wonderful place; I hope there’s a Blackhawk’s in heaven, along with Fritzel’s, Henrici’s and Toffenetti’s; and just in case I hope all of them have brances in hell and purgatory too.
My best to Ann and her family. Don and she are (and were) class acts. I wish their employees well, but she’s making a wise decision. The place wouldn’t be the same without a Roth at the helm.
Sounds like a fun trip! I never had a chance to visit the original Blackhawk — I moved to Chicago the year after it closed — but I’ll miss the Wheeling restaurant. There are so few places with that sort of class.
Dear Ms, Zeldes,
Thanks for the reference to Lawry’s the Prime Rib in your story about the closing of Don Roth’s Blackhawk. My father, who at 86 is still active as our Chairman of the Board, was a freind of Don’s for many years.
Lawry’s The Prime Rib, Chicago, which opened in 1974 and became an immediate hit signed a 20 year extension to our lease this past year. Our location on the Magnificent Mile put us in the sweet spot of Chicago dining so we expect to be spinning lots of salads and rolling our prime rib carts tableside for many years to come.
And (a good thing for me) members of the fourth generation of the Frank and Van de Kamp families are currently active in the business, which tells me that Lawry’s will continue to be a strong brand in the industry.
Best regards,
Richard R. Frank
President and CEO
Lawry’s Restaurants, Inc.
You’re most welcome, and thanks for the great news that Chicagoans can count on Lawry’s great prime rib and classic service into the future. How about adding some Big Band music?