Ed Debevic's is a popular 1950s-nostalgia-themed restaurant in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois, United States. [1] The original Chicago location opened in 1985 at 640 Wells in the River North neighborhood. [2] That location was closed in 2015, and the building razed and replaced with an apartment building. [2] The restaurant was decorated with "neon and aluminum signs, jukeboxes sitting at the tables, and glittery vinyl booths," and a sign hanging over the dining room that read "children left unattended will be towed at the owner's expense." [3]
Ed Debevic's was a project of Chicago restaurateurs Rich Melman and Lee Cohn. [4] The first Ed Debevic's was opened by Cohn in Phoenix, Arizona (1983–2003), and there was later a Beverly Hills location opened circa 1987. [5] By 1990 it was a chain with two locations in Chicago, two in California (Beverly Hills and Torrance), [6] one in Osaka, Japan, the Phoenix site, and a planned opening in New York City. [7] Bravo Restaurants bought Ed Debevic's from Lettuce in 1991. [2]
Melman ran a hospitality company called Lettuce Entertain You that ran restaurants that offered theatricality as well as food. [8] He would write "a description of each restaurant as if it were a movie script. The "setting" for Ed Debevic's was the year was 1952, 'just before teenagers went wild and Elvis was not yet a giant.'" [8] He told a reporter in 1986, "It's like directing a movie or a play...But if the waiter brings the salad too late or the silverware is dirty, the entertainment does not matter." [8] Ed Debevic was a character invented by Melman. [8] Melman imagined that Debevic was a "Polish Archie Bunker" type who opened a restaurant after returning to Chicago from Korean War service. [8] Employees would describe Debevic as a guy with a pot belly and point to a wall of trophies he'd supposedly won. [8] If guests wanted to meet him, he was unavailable because he was traveling to Buffalo the day. [8] Customers often enjoyed playing along with the fiction. [7]
Thanks to marketing hooks like the NFL cheerleader-inspired Refrigerettes and a weekly radio show broadcast from the Chicago location, the business served an estimated 15,000 customers a week. [4] In the 1980s the location on Wells Street had seats for 300 people in four rooms: Ed Debevic's, Versailles, Pavillion, and Ed's Back Room. [8] The dining room of the original location had a "grizzled, lived-in feeling" and was a popular location for birthday parties and school groups on field trips. [2] The Obamas once hosted a kid's birthday party at Ed Debevic's. [3] The food has been described as "adequate." [2] A memorable menu offering is the "World's Smallest Sundae," made with Mitchell's Ice Cream. [3]
Among the Ed Debevic's servers who went on to fame in other careers are David Schwimmer and Lamorne Morris. [3]
On the TV show The Bear , a visit to Ed Debevic's inspired the main character's dad to open a restaurant. [1]