Restaurant News: Glunz Tavern Opens, Zealous Closing

By Anthony Todd in Food on Dec 19, 2012 8:40PM

- The Glunz Tavern opened for business Tuesday. The story of Glunz Tavern is pretty amazing. It was founded in 1888, closed just before Prohibition and sat, unused, for 90 years. They don't have to create a pre-Prohibition themed restaurant; they have an actual one to work with. It's serving a menu of German and French classics like escargot, wiener schnitzel and spaetzle. Oh, and of course, an extensive selection of beers. Take that, Prohibitionists—you couldn't keep these Germans down forever. The new bar is located at 1202 N. Wells.

- Zealous is closing after 20 years in business. Chef/Owner Michael Taus told Eater that, after New Years Eve, he was going to call it quits. "It is with a heavy heart that I announce Zealous Restaurant has decided not to resign a new lease which would increase three-fold. We do not want to commit to another ten years at this particular location." Taus trained under Charlie Trotter and doesn't have plans to open another restaurant at this time. If you're a fan of Zealous, make reservations now.

- The menu for Table, Donkey and Stick, the Alpine restaurant that crowd-sourced its chef, is now available on their website. The restaurant opens on Thursday, though reservations aren't available yet. The menu looks particularly hearty and includes dishes like sauerbraten of veal breast with braised red cabbage, Turnip soup with brown butter and lots and lots of "meat snacks" (pork rillette, duck liver mousse, pheasant galantine, bone marrow). Perfect for the cold weather that we hope is coming soon.