Before Blizzards, dipped cones and Dairy Queen became familiar sights at Southport and Waveland, the storefront at 3811 N. Southport Avenue served Thai noodles, curries and fried rice. Its name was Banana Leaf Kitchen, also remembered as Banana Leaf Cafe or Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine. And thanks to a remarkable 1995 newspaper review, we can reconstruct what this long-gone neighborhood restaurant was actually like.
A Southport Thai restaurant dating to approximately 1994
On February 5, 1995, Chicago Sun-Times writer Jae-Ha Kim published a restaurant review titled “Peel on Over for Some Tasty Thai Food.” The review described Banana Leaf Kitchen as less than six months old, placing its opening around the second half of 1994. The exact opening day has not been established.
Kim discovered the restaurant after attending a matinee at the nearby Music Box Theatre. The small dining room was bright and filled with plants, including an artificial banana tree, while stone paintings by a Thai art student decorated the walls. The open proximity of the kitchen meant customers could hear and smell their meals being prepared. Kim described attentive service and an extensive menu, with Thai cooking at its heart.
What did Banana Leaf serve? A look at its actual 1995 menu
The Sun-Times review preserves a surprisingly detailed snapshot of the food and prices. Among the dishes it mentioned were:
- Spicy chicken pad kee-mao — wide rice noodles, $5.25.
- Chili paste fried rice with shrimp — $6.50.
- Garlic shrimp — $7.95.
- Wide rice noodles with duck, cilantro, Chinese broccoli and bean sprouts — $5.95.
- Pork and vegetable gyoza — five dumplings for $3.95.
- Spring rolls — $3.25.
- American fried rice, an unusual preparation that included ketchup and raisins — $6.50.
Banana Leaf also served a banana dessert wrapped in an actual banana leaf. The prices above are historical 1995 menu prices, not current prices. The original review, linked above, is well worth reading for its firsthand descriptions of the dishes and the people eating them.
The story behind the name — and the owner
In that 1995 article, co-owner Ithichai Damprapa, who was also an architect, explained that the name reflected the Thai tradition of preparing food wrapped in banana leaves. It was a reference to a familiar cooking practice, not merely a tropical-sounding restaurant name.
The review also offers a window into a period when Thai restaurants were introducing many Chicago diners to flavors and dishes they had not previously tried. One customer described discovering Thai cuisine almost by accident at Banana Leaf. The restaurant was more than a name on an old storefront: it was part of the neighborhood’s dining culture during the 1990s.
When did Banana Leaf close?
The precise closing date remains unconfirmed, but a contemporary online discussion narrows the timeline. On July 8, 2004, a commenter on the Chicago publication Gapers Block wrote that a Dairy Queen was reportedly coming to Southport and Waveland in the space formerly occupied by Banana Leaf. That establishes that Banana Leaf had closed at this address by July 2004. Read the archived 2004 discussion.
While records and directories have also referenced a Banana Leaf business at 3819–3821 N. Southport, the documentation does not establish whether that represented a move, a separate location or another address designation. It should not be treated as proof that the 3811 restaurant remained open after July 2004.
Then came Dairy Queen — by summer 2005
On June 27, 2005, Gapers Block published “The Ice Cream Scene,” featuring the newly opened Dairy Queen at 3811 N. Southport. A writer who lived across the street recalled visiting on opening night, seeing crowds inside and lines stretching onto Southport. The writer ordered an Oreo Blizzard, while a companion chose a Brownie Batter Blizzard; the cashier even provided a complimentary treat. The account confirms Dairy Queen was operating by June 2005, although it does not establish its exact opening date.
The building itself dates to the 19th century
There is an even older story behind this address. Property records for 3811 N. Southport Avenue list a construction year of 1891 — decades before Banana Leaf or Dairy Queen. The property is identified as a masonry, three-story, mixed-use/multifamily building with approximately 3,557 square feet of living area on a 4,457-square-foot lot. Public-record aggregators can contain errors, so the 1891 date should be understood as the recorded construction year rather than a verified architectural survey. See the property record.
In August 2015, DNAinfo Chicago reported that the building had been listed for $3.2 million. The owner at the time, Tom Romano Sr., said his son operated the Dairy Queen and that the business would likely remain if a buyer wanted to keep it. The article explicitly identified Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine as the ground-floor space’s previous occupant. Read DNAinfo’s August 26, 2015 report by Ariel Cheung. The $3.2 million figure was an asking price, not a confirmed sale price.
From neighborhood Thai food to neighborhood ice cream
It’s an unusual little piece of Southport history: a Thai restaurant that began around 1994, was reviewed in a major Chicago newspaper in 1995, and disappeared from its Southport storefront by mid-2004. A year later, the same address had become an ice cream destination. The building behind both businesses had already stood for more than a century.
Southport Corridor News and Events first revisited Banana Leaf in a February 27, 2014 Throwback Thursday post. Now, more than a decade after that throwback, the archived newspaper review and early neighborhood web discussions help fill in the story.
Do you remember Banana Leaf Cafe? Did you eat there in the 1990s or early 2000s? And what other Southport restaurants do you wish were still around? Share your memories in the comments.
Historical sources
- Chicago Sun-Times, February 5, 1995 — Jae-Ha Kim’s original restaurant review
- Gapers Block, July 2004 — contemporary comment on the restaurant’s replacement
- Gapers Block, June 27, 2005 — firsthand account of Dairy Queen’s opening
- DNAinfo Chicago, August 26, 2015 — building listing and previous tenant
- 3811 N. Southport property records