Uncle Julio's closes only restaurant in city of Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Uncle Julio's Mexican from Scratch restaurant on North Avenue has closed its doors for good.
The only Uncle Julio's location in the city of Chicago, located at 855 W. North Ave. in the Clybourn Corridor area on the Near North Side, had been open for 32 years.
A sign on the door said the company has offered staffers at the restaurant positions at other locations. The national chain still has locations at the Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie and the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, as well as locations in Naperville, Orland Park, Lombard, and Vernon Hills.
Many changes in the area since Uncle Julio's opened
The North Avenue Uncle Julio's location opened in 1992. Back then, its neighbors included a massive John M. Smyth's Homemakers furniture store at 1500 N. Dayton St., and the New City YMCA at 1515 N. Halsted St. – which was opened to serve residents of the nearby Cabrini-Green public housing development.
The luxury NewCity "lifestyle and entertainment district" and its adjoining residential high-rise now stand on the footprint of the YMCA.
A nightlife district has also come and gone on nearby Weed Street since Uncle Julio's opened. Once joined by fancy nightclubs with memorable names and themes such as Zentra and Circus, only Joe's on Weed remains. The old Zentra location is now occupied by the Curaleaf Dispensary, much in line with the name of the street.
The famous Crobar nightclub was also formerly located nearby at 1543 N. Kingsbury St. It closed in 2010 after 19 years.
More recently in the area, the original Goose Island Brewpub location at 1800 N. Clybourn Ave. closed in December after 35 years in operation.
In their early days, the brewpub was an anchor of the 1800 Clybourn mall – which had been converted into a retail experience from a warren of buildings that had formerly housed a Turtle Wax factory. The mall was also known for the Remains Theatre stage company, Muddler's Pool Room, Metropolis 1800 restaurant, ArtGolf indoor miniature golf course, and A State of the Mind Center spa with its sensory deprivation tanks – along with an assortment of independent boutiques and specialty stores.
The mall closed in 1994 and most of it was demolished, but the portion with the Goose Island brewpub and one other section remained – with the brewery even naming the Demolition 1800 Ale in honor of the razing of the mall.
Now, the old brewpub and the other remaining pieces of the old mall – and the shopping center anchored by a Bed, Bath & Beyond that was built on the footprint of the demolished section in the mid-1990s – are also reportedly going to be torn down. Eater Chicago reported in December that a new residential development is to be built on the site. A city database search Wednesday night did not turn up any demolition permits.
Goose Island still operates a tap room at 1800 W. Fulton St. in West Town, and is set to open at The Salt Shed music venue later in the spring.
