Openings

The first-of-its-kind Boar’s Head Cafe (210 W. Lake St.) charges into the Loop, with sandwiches (fresh and pre-made) galore. While all of those delicious deli meats are beamed in from the Boar’s Head mothership, the veggies, eggs, and bread all come from local vendors.

From Alpana Singh (the former Check, Please! host turned restaurateur), Terra & Vine opened last week in Evanston. Alinea Group alum Andrew Graves mans the kitchen, which specializes in crowd-favorite Italian fare. Think pizzas, pastas, and plenty of Italian wine.

Morsels

Guess Red Robin Burger Works wasn’t, well, working. The fast-casual spinoff of burger chain Red Robin had five Chicago-area locations, and all of them are now closed (per a Crain’s report). Burger Works never quite realized its potential—based on our informal walk-by surveys, the downtown locations were rarely busy even at peak lunchtime.

If you feel strongly about Uptown country-music hub Carol’s Pub (4659 N. Clark St.), you can do your part to try to save it by donating to a GoFundMe campaign. The bar’s been shuttered since late September after a bevy of back-tax problems led to the loss of its liquor license (it could be reinstated if the bar pays more than $50,000 in owed sales taxes).