We’re heading to Chi-Town to The Taste Entertainment Center at 63rd & Lowe.  In July 1980, the Simmons brothers.  Lawrence and Donald and Lawrence’s wife, Marie, took a former Robert Hall clothing store in the Englewood area of Chicago and opened The Taste.  Donald’s wife, Minnie, joined the family business later.  The Taste was where everyone came to see and be seen.  Muhammad Ali, Rick James, The Isley Brothers, Anita Baker, Janet Jackson, Vanity, Tupac, Biggie, MC Lyte and more would visit while in town.  Prince even asked to use the red-lipped logo in the Purple Rain movie during a concert scene featuring The Time.
Do you remember the Taste Kittens showgirls?  What about the signature drinks, the Easy Living and the Hard Living? Share your memory.  Mayor Harold Washington would come to the club, go in the kitchen and put on an apron.  Members of the Bulls and the Bears hung out and record label reps would host promotional parties. Tom Joyner, Doug Banks and Richard Pegue hosted events.  Those were the days!The Simmons family held on as long as they could but patrons grew nervous about coming to the southside, business dropped off and they eventually closed.  Word is that the family is now developing a high-end boutique hotel in the Bronzeville area, close to the future Barack Obama Presidential Center.  No doubt if they kept Taste alive for 40 years with no prior experience, we’ll be seeing Hotel Taste soon!
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