Blackhawk (restaurant)

Otto Roth{{Cite news |last=Vettel |first=Phil |date=2009-11-02 |title=Don Roth's Blackhawk in Wheeling to call it quits after 40 years |url=http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2009/11/don-roths-blackhawk-in-wheeling-to-call-it-quits-after-40-years.html |access-date=2009-12-17 |work=Chicago Tribune}} opened The Blackhawk on December 27, 1920, at 139 N. Wabash.{{Cite web |last=Knack |first=Bob |year=2002 |title=Bringing Down The Blackhawk |url=http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/articles/bringing-down-blackhawk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106180706/http://jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/articles/bringing-down-blackhawk |archive-date=2009-01-06 |access-date=2009-12-15 |publisher=Jazz Institute of Chicago}} In September 1926, The Blackhawk began featuring a dance orchestra, Carlton Coon-Joe Sanders and their Kansas City Nighthawks. In addition to providing dance music for the local diners, the music from the Blackhawk was broadcast nationally as "Live! From the Blackhawk!"{{Cite web |last=Zeldes |first=Leah A. |date=November 5, 2009 |title=So long, spinning salad bowl! Don Roth's Blackhawk to close |url=http://blog.diningchicago.com/2009/11/05/so-long-spinning-salad-bowl-don-roths-blackhawk-to-close/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109043554/http://blog.diningchicago.com/2009/11/05/so-long-spinning-salad-bowl-don-roths-blackhawk-to-close/ |archive-date=November 9, 2009 |access-date=December 31, 2009 |website=Dining Chicago |publisher=Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide}} over WGN Radio and the Mutual Network.

By the time Coon-Sanders moved on from the Blackhawk in 1931, the broadcasts from the Blackhawk were so popular that a telegraph machine was installed so they could take remote requests. The Coon-Sanders band was followed by a rotating crop of musicians which, over the years, included Kay Kyser, Chico Marx, Louis Prima, Ish Kabibble and many more. Mel Torme, whose first paying performance occurred at the Blackhawk in 1929, became a frequent performer there. In 1938, Bob Haggart of Bob Crosby and the Bobcats composed "Big Noise from Winnetka" at the Blackhawk. Doris Day made her first appearance with the Crosby band at the Blackhawk in the spring of 1940.

In 1944, Don Roth (1913–2003) inherited the Blackhawk upon the death of his father.{{Cite web |date=2003-12-08 |title=Blackhawk Restaurant owner Roth dies at 90 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_49_37/ai_111404180/ |access-date=2009-12-17 |website=Nation's Restaurant News}} Roth used his experience as a theatrical booker to increase the restaurant's reputation in and outside Chicago.

When the Blackhawk stopped featuring orchestras in 1952 and removed the bandstand and the dance floor, Don Roth declared the restaurant's theme was "The Food's the Show" and focused on the house specialty of prime rib served from carts brought to the tables and its "spinning salad bowl". Waiters would bring a large bowl of greens set into a larger bowl of ice. As they spun it, the waiters would add ingredients and describe what they were doing to the diners. Roth borrowed these concepts from Lawry's in Beverly Hills, California.{{Cite web |last=Zeldes |first=Leah A. |date=December 9, 2009 |title=Eat this! Don Roth's Blackhawk salad dressing to go on spinning |url=http://blog.diningchicago.com/2009/12/09/eat-this-don-roths-blackhawk-salad-dressing-to-go-on-spinning/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121203102546/http://blog.diningchicago.com/2009/12/09/eat-this-don-roths-blackhawk-salad-dressing-to-go-on-spinning/ |archive-date=December 3, 2012 |access-date=December 31, 2009 |website=Dining Chicago |publisher=Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide}}

The Blackhawk remained open until August 31, 1984.

In 1969, Don Roth opened a second restaurant, Don Roth's Blackhawk, in the northwest Chicago suburb of Wheeling, Illinois. This location, which was later decorated with photos and memorabilia from the original Blackhawk, remained in business until December 31, 2009, when Roth's widow, Ann, nearing 90, elected to close the restaurant. The building was demolished in March 2014.{{Cite news |date=March 23, 2014 |title=Historic Wheeling restaurant demolished |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140323/news/140329359/ |access-date=April 18, 2015 |work=Daily Herald |location=Arlington Heights, IL}} Don Roth's Blackhawk continued to feature the "Spinning Salad Bowl" and prime rib.

The signature spinning salad featured two kinds of dressing, one of which the restaurant had specially bottled. The bottled dressing continues to be manufactured and sold in the Chicago area.

{{reflist}}

• [http://blog.diningchicago.com/2009/12/09/eat-this-don-roths-blackhawk-salad-dressing-to-go-on-spinning/ Blackhawk Spinning Salad Bowl recipe] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121203102546/http://blog.diningchicago.com/2009/12/09/eat-this-don-roths-blackhawk-salad-dressing-to-go-on-spinning/ |date=2012-12-03 }}
• [https://vimeo.com/18446449 Tribute video - "Spinning Through Time: The Blackhawk Restaurant Story"]

{{Restaurants in Chicago}}

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Category:1920 establishments in Illinois

Category:2009 disestablishments in Illinois

Category:Music venues in Chicago

Category:Restaurants established in 1920

Category:Restaurants disestablished in 2009

Category:Defunct restaurants in Chicago