Eater Chicago | Daniel Gerzina & Ashok Selvam | March 4, 2019
An ongoing log of Chicago restaurant and bar shutters
March 4
HYDE PARK— Miriam’s Cafe, the food option at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, announced it will shutter at the end of the current quarter on March 15. The museum posted that “during a recent routine health inspection—our first since the city instituted new guidelines—we were instructed that significant and highly disruptive work was needed to bring the cafe up to code and maintain operations.” Management will “explore how a re-envisioned cafe, done right and to code, might fit with a broader vision of creating a Museum lobby space that is flexible and welcoming for all.”
LINCOLN PARK— Bar and nightlife spot The Drop Lounge is done after six years at 1909 N. Lincoln Avenue. It liquidated inventory with a “grand finale” party on February 25 with $3 everything, cash preferred. Owner Arthur Knutson posted on Facebook that “we were unable to come to terms on a lease renewal. It appears the building will be moving away from having any nightlife, much like the rest of the neighborhood over the past year.” He hopes to find a new location.
LOGAN SQUARE— Langhe Market, the reconcept of Animale at 1904 N. Western Avenue, closed on February 15. The more-casual spinoff of acclaimed Logan Square Italian restaurant Osteria Langhe first opened in June 2016.
OLD TOWN— Cassava Cafe has remained closed since January’s polar vortex in what was supposed to be a temporary shutter at 1211 N. LaSalle Drive. But the cafe never reopened and there’s now a “for lease” sign on the awning above the entrance. The coffee and boba tea shop opened in 2015.
RAVENSWOOD MANOR— Steingold’s Station, the spinoff of popular new-school Jewish deli Steingold’s of Chicago, closed back in October. Owner Aaron Steingold posted in a neighborhood Facebook group that “we are simply unable to deliver the consistency and quality that we strive for, that you deserve, and that we produce on a daily basis at our flagship location” and that he “will work on finding a space closer to the Manor with an actual commercial kitchen.”
WICKER PARK— Decade-old Italian mainstay Tocco is officially done in Wicker Park. After announcing it would close in March, owner Bruno Abate held its last service at 1266 N. Milwaukee Avenue on February 2. Abate is planning to open a suburban Winnetka location soon and could open city replacement too.