August, 2007 Update: Hennessey’s has been re-opened and is now called Giorgio’s Grill.

With sad news we report that Hennessey’s Steakhouse in Zion, Illinois has shut its doors. Their website just states:

Hennessey’s Steakhouse has closed its doors.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you.

While it is a tragedy to see their doors shut, it wasn’t unexpected. The residents of Zion, Illinois are currently experiencing a terrible recession — jobs lost, mortgages going up and foreclosures following. An upper-end steakhouse just didn’t seem to be in the cards. This is bad news for the city of Zion which dropped tens of thousands of dollars on a TIF fo Hennessey’s — in hopes of seeing sales tax income to pay down the investment.

Co-owners John Hennessey and Jimmy Mantzoros tried incredibly hard to find an upper-end clientele, but the restaurant just didn’t have the community around it to support it. Zion’s city leaders have done a fine job of running out most of the higher end businesses, and their irresponsible management of the town’s infrastructure have left the town with a large number of below-poverty level residents who wouldn’t be eating at a steakhouse any time soon.

We’ll miss you, Hennessey’s, and we hope to see you again soon.

5101 Washington St
Gurnee, IL 60031
(847) 623-8999

Chan’s Chinese Restaurant has been a staple of Chinese cuisine in Gurnee for years. We’ve been eating there for many years and have been extremely satisfied with the quality and taste of their food and the fast (and cheap) delivery service. Their main restaurant is located on the corner opposite Great America, at Washington and Route 21/Riverside.

While they have a large sit-in restaurant, I have never been there when there have been more than a handful (or less) of eat-in customers. I believe, from experience, that their main customer is the pick-up or delivery customer, especially on weekends. Their delivery service during the week is decent for a small restaurant, hitting my home within a half hour.

Placing orders over the phone is usually not too difficult, especially if one of the younger men is taking your order. Even the lady who regularly answers the phone is easy to understand and hasn’t made mistakes on writing down my orders — this is important as many Chinese restaurant order-takers I am experienced with can be difficult to understand.

The food is wonderfully flavorful and pungent, and it is very consistent from day to day. Our favorites are the “dinner for 1″ which combines any entree item with crab ragoon, egg rolls, and rice. Their crab ragoon order by itself is big with the ragoons packed with crab and cream cheese. The curry beef and onions can’t be topped by any other Lake County Chinese restaurant, and their egg rolls are so flavorful and fresh that they re-heat well for days. Always order twice as many as you think you’ll want!

My only issue with Chan’s Chinese Restaurant in Gurnee, Illinois is their lack of concern about their customers. I stopped going to Chan’s for an entire 6-months over an issue regarding just 2 egg rolls I had ordered but not received. We were having a dinner party and decided to introduce our friends to a variety of restaurants in Gurnee. We spoke very highly of Chan’s eggrolls, so we ordered a large order of different foods to bring home. Upon arriving, we realizing there were no eggrolls, but rather than stop our entertainment, we just waited until the next time we ordered. The lady taking the order was very mean and told me that she will not fix the order. While most restauranteurs will gladly fix a $2.50 mistake, this lady has repeatedly been mean and unconcerned in the past. We stopped our 6-month boycott, though, because the food is just that good and Chan’s knows it.

I’m giving Chan’s Chinese Restaurant in Gurnee, Illinois 5-Stars for Product Quality and 3-Stars for Service Quality, based on their lack of concern over an incomplete order. Definitely try their food, though, as their delivery service is perfect and the food always comes piping hot and tasty.