HAMMOND | Brothers and former owners Michael and Christopher Probst are planning to reopen Phil Smidt & Son in a new location, but with a enhanced menu that still includes the perch, chicken and frog legs that had made the restaurant a region icon.
The original Phil Smidt's closed Oct. 20, after being in business for 97 years.
"Our intention is to bring it up into 2007," Chris Probst said Thursday. "We still want it to be a fine-dining restaurant, but we want it to be able to attract others. The perch, chicken and frog legs will be there, and there will also be some new items."
The Probsts are seeking a location, preferably in Hammond, which would provide easy access for customers from the region and for those traveling from Chicago and its suburbs -- possibly in the area near the new Cabela's store at Indianapolis Boulevard and Interstate 80-94, Probst said.
Mayor Thomas McDermott said he would be ecstatic if the restaurant were to reopen in Hammond.
Michael Probst of LaGrange, Ill., and Christopher Probst, of Munster, bought the restaurant at 1205 Calumet Ave. from Calumet College of St. Joseph in 1980. They sold it to David and Barbara Welch of Naperville, Ill., for a about $2 million, 20 years later.
Three years and three months later, Welch filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, with estimated assets between $500,000 and $1 million, and debts listed in a range of $1 million to $10 million.
The court dismissed the bankruptcy in late July, and "then it was open season on us and it was just a matter of time," Welch said recently, explaining why he was closing the historic eatery.
Welch also has said he may reopen in a new location, but Probst said Welch no longer has the right to use the Phil Smidt name, logo or even its dancing frogs.
The original purchase agreement between the Probsts and the Welches states that unless all monies owned to the Probsts are paid in full, the Welches only could use the establishment's intellectual property -- including the corporate and business name, logo, trademark and service marks -- while the business was located at the 1205 Calumet Ave. address.
Because the Welches still owe the Probsts' money, they have forfeited the right to retain the name and other intellectual property associated with it, Chris Probst said.
Welch contends Probst is wrong.
