Serena Maria Daniels is an editor for Eater, Midwest region, responsible for coverage in Chicago, Detroit, and the Twin Cities. She’s a longtime Detroiter, by way of the West Coast and has been a journalist since 2006.
Sometimes, a restaurant closure is part of an establishment’s natural progression. Perhaps it’s outgrown its current space or a lease has run out. Other times, closure is a marker of more macro changes afoot, such as shifts in Americans’ dining out habits. In other instances, sometimes an establishment is forced to close out of safety concerns. Recent Chicago closures illustrate both such instances, with the shutter of a Midwest-style supper club founded by the Alinea Group, a longtime pizza chain with roots in suburban Chicago, and an iconic chain of gastro pubs that long had a spot in Printer’s Row.
The Shutter, a regular roundup of Chicago’s restaurant closures, is your resource to find out what’s on its way out. The list is by no means comprehensive. Have information on another closing? Send all tips to [email protected].
March
UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — The license for Lyon’s Den Hookah Lounge (2123 W. Division Street) has been revoked by the city, about eight months after police ordered the establishment temporarily closed following a July 2024 shooting. Neighbors and public officials had called for the lounge’s closure when a bouncer was shot and killed outside of the establishment on January 1, 2023. Another shooting took place on July 19, 2024, after a fight broke out inside the club, prompting the temporary closure ordered by police. Members of the group Ukrainian Village Safety Advocates pushed for the shutter to be permanent…