Grand Lux Cafe on Chicago's Magnificent Mile to close
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Grand Lux Café on the Magnificent Mile announced Thursday that it is going out of business after 21 years.
The restaurant chain released the following statement Thursday:
"After 21 years, our Grand Lux Cafe in Chicago is closing. Our last day of service will be December 24, 2023. We are working with our staff to help them transition to other opportunities in one of our nearby concepts. We have enjoyed being a part of the downtown Chicago community and hope that our guests will continue to dine with us at our other restaurants in the area."
The twos-story Grand Lux Café opened in 2002 at 600 N. Michigan Ave. – a multi-story retail building that spans the west side of Michigan Avenue from Ontario Street to Ohio Street, and backs up west to Rush Street. The building also houses Under Armour, Ann Taylor, Levi's, Icebreaker, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx stores – and an AMC Theatres outlet.
The chain was founded by creators of the Cheesecake Factory, and the first location opened in Las Vegas at the Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino. The website for the chain says it was "inspired by extensive European travel exploring Italian trattorias, French bistros and the grand cafes and pastry shops of Vienna," but has the "sensibilities and spirit of an all-American restaurant."
In addition to the Chicago and Las Vegas Venetian Resort locations, Grand Lux Café also has locations at the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas; in Sunrise, Florida west of Fort Lauderdale; in Paramus, New Jersey west of New York City; in Garden City, New York on Long Island; and in Dallas and Houston, Texas.
The statement released Thursday did not specify why the Chicago location is closing.
As CBS 2's Marybel González reported, the news was upsetting to many who visited the restaurant Tuesday night.
"Really disappointed," one Grand Lux patron said, "disappointed that it's going to close."
I'm a little shocked," a man said. "I didn't realize this would be my last meal here," a man said. "My fiancée is upstairs. She's going to be disappointed when I go back and tell her, 'We may not be back, so we've got to hurry up and return.'"
The Grand Lux Café announcement comes about just six weeks after the famed Signature Room restaurant at the top of the former John Hancock Center also closed. The former John Hancock is located just a few blocks north and across the street on the Mag Mile.
In late September, the iconic Signature Room at the 95th restaurant cited "severe economic hardship" as its reason for closing.
The Signature Room under its current name and incarnation opened in 1993. But there has been a restaurant in the space as long as the John Hancock Center has been open.
Following the abrupt closure of the Signature Room, Chicago's hospitality union filed a complaint in federal court. UNITE HERE Local 1 accused Infusion Management Group Inc. of violating the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or the WARN Act, by closing abruptly.
No notice was given to the 132 restaurant employees represented by UNITE HERE Local 1, the union said.
Other famous restaurants on or near the Mag Mile have also closed in recent years.
At the end of 2020, Lawry's the Prime Rib, at 100 E. Ontario St., closed its doors after 46 years. In deciding to close, the restaurant cited an expiring lease, the COVID-19 pandemic which was in the midst of its height at the time, and the civil unrest that had erupted more than once downtown in recent months at the time.
Nearly three years later, the building that housed Lawry's the Prime Rub – which was commissioned in 1889 as a mansion for the McCormick family and later housed a famous Swedish restaurant and puppet theater – remains vacant and up for sale.
On the Magnificent Mile as a whole – Michigan Avenue from Oak Street to the Chicago River – retail vacancy is now around 30 percent.
"The Avenue is going through a tough time right now, but there are some very good things happening with signed leases," said John Vance, a broker with Stone Real Estate.
Potential new spots offer excitement with a side of hope for visitors like Stephanie Crowe.
"You want to like get your shopping done, try new restaurants – you know, things like that," Crowe said.
As to the nearby concepts where Grand Lux Café staff might move, The Cheesecake Factory has a location a few blocks away – also in the former John Hancock Center, but below ground level.
