M&G chargrill

20 of Chicago’s Most Beloved Closed Diners

"There was no Jim at Jim’s Grill, a hole-in-the-wall diner that began its tenure as a hot dog spot in the early 1980s. Instead, there was David Choi, a chef who moved to Chicago from California in 1984 to help his sister run the business. Choi’s arrival was a catalyst that transformed Jim’s into a restaurant ahead of its time, serving Korean and vegetarian food while luring a host of then-underground musician regulars like Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and Dead Rider guitarist Todd Rittmann throughout the 1990s. The diner closed in the mid-2000s, but Choi’s cooking can be sampled at Amitabul." - Naomi Waxman, Ashok Selvam