24 March 2013, Day 292 *** UPDATE: 20 April ***

The little hole-in-the-wall restaurant at 1343 W. Morse has had so many identities in the thirteen years that i've lived in Rogers Park that i've lost track. At one point it was a nice Jamaican/Belizean place with good jerk chicken, a very friendly owner, and homemade layer cake that tasted just like you wished your mother's did. Then it was a Cajun place where i stood waiting to order for ten minutes while the person working there labored over the chalkboard menu and ignored me until i left and never went back. Then it was empty for a few months until these much-welcome signs appeared. I hope that the food will be good and the business will survive. 

That block--on the south side of Morse between Wayne and Glenwood--has a poor track record, with the exception of the three stable businesses: Morse Gyros, the Golden Mini-Mart, and the dry cleaners. The other storefronts have either suffered frequent turnovers like the restaurant or sat empty like the creepy, abandoned laundromat that looked like someone locked the door one night and didn't come back for ten years. I always thought of it as the "laundromat of the damned," with its rows of empty washers and dryers, forgotten bottles of laundry detergent, and an old office chair all gathering cobwebs. It was finally cleared out last year and is apparently available for rent, but so far there've been no takers. The fact that this block was a popular gathering spot for local gangbangers didn't help much, but that situation has been much better in recent months.

So here's hoping that Fung's will have good food and be a good neighbor like Faisal Dossa at Morse Gyros.

***UPDATE: 20 April ***
There has been little evidence of activity at Fung's in the four weeks since i posted this picture. I hope this doesn't mean that this latest effort has already succumbed to the bad mojo that seems to plague this location.