Sonny’s was a cafeteria owned and run by Rangsan “Sonny” Rattanavichit, which he opened on the second floor of the Columbus Drive building at the School of the Art Institute in 1989. Sonny’s prepared from-scratch, affordable, and diverse food that included on-the-go American grub like burgers, breakfast sandwiches, and cheap coffee as well as fresh and healthier options like vegetarian sandwiches. Perhaps, what set Sonny’s apart from your average college cafeteria, however, was his menu of made-to-order Thai food, which could be quite excellent on a good day. In 2012, the School of the Art Institute expanded its dining facilities and streamlined operations by contracting Food for Thought, a high volume catering service. Sonny inevitably closed his namesake café– perhaps Sonny’s was just not scalable to serve the ever-growing campus of SAIC, but that is probably why it was so wonderful. It was human scaled– tasty food made from scratch by a face with a name, who, in turn, always remembered your name. (Excerpted from “A Tribute to Sonny’s” by Eric May featured in Proximity #011: Food & Art Issue, out now!)
Join the Piranha Club on Saturday, November 9th, 12pm- 4pm at Roots & Culture 1034 N Milwaukee Ave. for a menu of Sonny’s classics featuring many of your favorites including egg rolls, egg bagel, crisp cut fries, avocado & cheese sandwiches, Pad Thai, Tom Kha Gai, and more!
We will be serving to order, first come first serve.
Illustrations by Carmen Price
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