Why I Oughta...

Just a couple of weeks ago, I posted about the apparent closing of Mimmo's in the Elmhurst City Centre here on the blog .  Mimmo's was in the spot just south of Starbucks on the same side of York as the York Theatre.   At the time, it looked like Mimmo's was closing, but it was rumored to be slated to be replaced by another Italian eatery.  Turns out...that rumor was pretty close to being right. If you walk by the location today, you'll see these new signs in the windows announcing:  Coming Soon:  Bacci - Home of the Jumbo Slice.  If you go to the Bacci site, you'll see that they really play up the Jumbo slice angle .  Over there on the site, you'll also see a listing of 11 locations at the bottom.  One of them already is Elmhurst! I've been to Bacci before and I don't have a strong memory of the place other than it was a slice shop.  I was working on a campaign out in Aurora for Bob O'Connor for Illinois State Representative.  And right ne

Downtown Elmhurst just lost another business with the closing of Goalie's Goodies on the west side of York Street, just one block south of the tracks.  If you walk by it today, you'll see this brown papered-up window along with this small sign that says they're moving to River Forest.  Sad news for Elmhurst. I covered the opening of Goalie's Goodies here on the blog back in the end of April of 2013 .  So, she made it for just under three years in Elmhurst. For those of you following along, you'll remember that Goalie's Goodies took the spot of the short-lived Bleeding Heart Bakery . We shopped - what I'd call - regularly at Goalie's Goodies.  We'd buy packs of their corn for my Dad or for other gifts/parties.  And the girls just loved the stuff, so often times we'd have dinner at Pints or somewhere else, and we'd end up at Goalie's Goodies for a few tiny bags of Cheese corn. On her website , Debbie (who I think *is* the Goalie!

If you walk by Mimmo's pizza place on York Street in the Elmhurst City Centre today, you'll see the front window covered in black plastic wrap.  Are they closing?  It is pretty odd because they have a 'Drivers Wanted' sign still up in the window and the menu and other promotional posters all hung between the glass and the black plastic. Anyone have the details? (**Update on 4/19/16:  Heard from a source who is in the know that it looks like Mimmo's is being bought-out by another 'smallish family-owned pizza chain'.  So...it looks like this place will keep serving pizza and salads and such.  That's good for the City Centre.  Once it reopens, I'll be sure we give it a shot!) I don't think it is a remodel because the place was gutted and cleaned up right before they opened not all that long ago.  Unfortunately...we've NEVER been there.  Yep...maybe that's part of the reason for the black plastic.  Blame people like us who never patr

If you walk down York Street by the train tracks today in the Elmhurst City Centre, this is what you'll see:  a boarded up building on the west side. There's a transformation of sorts taking place there.   Check out this post that shows how they're creating a unified exterior over those 3/4 previous store fronts .    What was once a combination of a super-weird nail salon, Meeder Industries, Polay's Interiors and a kid's clothing store is now going to be just two spaces:   Suite 100 and 101 . Last I heard, there were rumors of a Rosebud restaurant coming to the space.  Have no idea if that is real or not.  They have an outpost in Naperville's downtown, so it isn't totally unrealistic to think that they'd come to Elmhurst.  We do, however, have A LOT of Italian places up and down the restaurant spectrum.  From full-service/higher end places like Pazzi di Pizza and Francesca's to fast casual places like Mimmo's and dozens of pizza joints fro

From the Elmhurst History Museum Facebook Page comes this photo above of the Elmhurst City Centre in the early spring of 1975.  Besides the cars, there's a bunch of details that come to life when you look closely.  First...there appears to be a signal just north of the tracks.  See those three cars sitting north of the Union Pacific West train tracks while the yellow car crosses First Street?  That just feels like an accident waiting to happen.   Also, see the lack of gates/crossing gates on the north side of the tracks and by the sidewalks?  'Just go ahead...walk across!' On the right looks to be Stones Shoes where you could buy 'Nunn Bush Shoes' where the LW Reedy Real Estate office is on the corner.  And two signs north, the red sign on the east side of York Street reads "Chop Suey" where I think the York Furrier location is today. Also, check out the banner hanging across the street up where the Plass Appliance building is (was!) today.  Kind of

Just two months after the closing of MWD Photography ( blog post covering the closing ) on the east side of York Road in the core of the Elmhurst City Centre and just about two months after the closing of a *kinda* similar business in the Elmhurst Olive Oil Co just north on York Road , it looks like we're on the verge of getting a new retailer in the City Centre. And it is called Fuego Loco Sauce Merchant.  And looking at the windows, there's two telling signs:  one of them is that they're going to sell hot sauces of varying degrees (pun intended) and the other is that this place is an extension of the Salseria Grill and Cantina that is just a few doors south . We'll see what happens here.  I think it is great to see more retail.  Not service and not just restaurants, so I have my fingers crossed that they'll succeed.  I'm guessing that they'll be trying to sell out of their store, but also in today's economy, I'd think that they'll be se

Elmhurst 3rd Ward Alderman Danne Polomsky posted this update above to her public Facebook page that links to this document that was delivered last week  by the City Manager that shows a series of development updates around town.    I'm not sure if this was just delivered to the Board, but it is a good document for all residents. But, in addition to the info here, it is notable to discuss the nature of how this was shared.  This is a great example of a public servant sharing info and being transparent with her constituents.  I'm sure that this document could have been 'found' by someone searching the archives on the City's site somewhere, but Alderman Polomsky has made open communication with residents a top priority.  It was part of her pledge as a candidate that she's worked to deliver on during her term.  And this (and just the fact that she's active on social media!) is further proof that she's living up to that promise. Importantly, this is a f

I posted a few days ago about the a 5 unit retail plaza being marketed on North York Road , but during that same session in Roberto's where I was thumbing through the local rag, I also found this ad for "The York Building". Back last August, I posted about the new building that was being advertised in the windows of the old Plass Appliance building here on the blog .  And then just last month, I took a photo of the Plass building being torn down/apart .  Right now, it is just a big hole in the ground with rubble on the site. But, this ad sheds a lot of light on what is to come.  Namely...residential, office and retail. First, the residential:  They're only going to be building 4 units.  All of them are basically penthouses and will be 3000 square feet.  They'll all have 'large outdoor space', which from the look of the rendering will be terraces of some sort.  Those are some big condos, right?  3000 square feet? Luxury living! They're also pu

I spotted this commercial real estate ad in the local newspaper when I was sitting at Roberto's takeout waiting for our pie to finish up.  Seems interesting that they're listing this '5 unit retail/office building' that is right on York Street between 3rd and North Ave as being 'across the street from $55M York/Hahn TIF project now being built featuring 192 luxury apts and 12000 sf of new retail.' They go on to say that the new development will provide 'customer base for existing tenants moving forward' and that 'new tenants will gravitate here as well'.   20 car on-site parking.  Can be yours for just $625,000.00. For the right person, betting on the upside of the new apartment complex being built , there might be a great opportunity!

From the Facebook page of 3rd Ward Alderperson Dannee Polomsky comes this nice little nugget:  someone is applying for a liquor license for the old Cocomera location on York Street. I covered Cocomera's closing back in September of 2015 here on the blog .  Most recently, this holiday season, the space was used as a pop-up shop for the Elmhurst Art Museum . Here's the post from Elmhurst Alderman Dannee Polomsky:  (click it to make it bigger if you can't read this!) A quick Google search for [Elmhurst Craft Kitchen and Bar] turns up nothing new, so they haven't put up a site yet. This seems like great news for the City Centre and for the Downtown. Here's hoping that they'll be brewing their own, right? (UPDATE on 2/3/16:  I heard from someone that the the name "Elmhurst Craft Kitchen and Bar" might just be a placeholder and that they haven't quite settled on a name yet.  It *may* change.  Might not.  Also...heard from the same source that

Back in July, I took a photo of the demo on the site of the new massive apartment complex being built on the west side of York Street, just south of Panera.  The City of Elmhurst has been calling this the "Hahn Street Project" for years, but Morningstar, the developer, is calling it Elmhurst 255. That crane out front has been lifting sections of this development into place for the past few months and now it looks ( from the sketch in this pdf ) that at least this section of it has topped out.  Let's call it about half of the building is up.  The entire first floor, which will be retail and maybe parking(??), is up, but I think they're going to build a bit more out closer to the street/sidewalk area when it is done. 192 apartments.  Seems like a lot, right?  But, if it works, won't it be nice to have even more foot traffic for downtown?

 If you head over to Downtown Elmhurst today, you'll find this enormous hole in the ground at the site of the old Plass Appliance building on York Street.  It appears that the plan for the "York Building" - which includes condos upstairs and retail on the first floor is moving forward fast. With the Plass building down, it sure does make that building that holds Nu Crepes look better/more accessible, right?  Hopefully, the design of the new York Building will make that walkway/alley a bit more pedestrian friendly.  That...plus the new garage back there should mean more foot traffic.

Looks like tonight is your chance to get a look at the new Elmhurst Downtown Plan and provide some input.   According to the City's site , there will be both some review of the plan/open house followed by a presentation at 7:30 pm. What is the Elmhurst Downtown Plan? The Elmhurst Downtown Plan will serve as the City’s official guide for land use and development in the Downtown area over the next 10 years. It will act as a “road map,” detailing a long-term vision and policy agenda for important issues such as land use, parking, and circulation. Ultimately, the Plan update answers “What should our Downtown look like in 10 years and how do we get there?” The consulting firm that the City of Elmhurst hired has posted the draft plans on their site, so even if you can't get to the meeting tonight, you can still check it out here .

All the way back in February, I posted some photos of Polay's moving out of the northwest corner of 1st and York right across the tracks in the Elmhurst City Centre.  Then last summer, the contractors at Meeder Industries moved up the block to be on the other side of the York Threatre.  And then that weird nail salon with the odd fountain setup closed up shop.  And nothing went in the stores. There's been rumors of a Rosebud Restaurant was going to go into all four locations (the old Polay's, the Just for Kids store, Meeder and the weird nail salon). But, then I spotted these plans on the windows of the stores.  It calls for some exterior changes to make the building have a more cohesive look - which is great.  And it looks like the landlord is taking it from four small spots into two larger ones. This is the second major construction project that is taking place on the west side of York in the City Center ( the other being the condo project going up at the old P

How festive, right?  That's a look down Jefferson Street in Downtown Naperville recently.  We went to get Gringo tacos at Front Street Cantina and I was struck by how well done the Christmas decorations were in Downtown Naperville. Contrast it with the state of affairs in the Elmhurst City Centre.   I posted about the situation earlier this week and I've noticed that they've gotten a lot of the downtown now lit up - which is nice. Seems that the Elmhurst City Centre can learn a little from Naperville.  Both good and bad.  They don't seem to have totally solved the parking issues - and Elmhurst; with the new garage, seems to be trying to get in front of it - but the robust shopping district in Naperville is PACKED with retail.  Not salons. I know, I know....because of Oak Brook Mall, the Elmhurst City Centre will always be in a tough spot.  We're probably too close to attract major retail chains because they won't want to have two stores so close.  But,

Just two days after I posted about the Elmhurst Olive Oil Company closing on York Street , comes this photo studio leaving York, too.  Same side of the street as the Olive Oil Co and just south of construction going on at the old Plass Appliance site. The one thing that sticks out about this place is the weird bunny stuff.  Around Easter-time, they always had bunny and baby/kid photos in the windows and kept bunnies in cages right in the front window.  It always struck me as a bit weird.  But, based on how many bunny photos they had up, lots of parents must have loved the idea. So long, MWD.  I hardly knew ya!

After a bunch of nagging, i t seems that the City of Elmhurst and the City Centre are going to sack up and decorate the downtown business district with more Christmas lights . I have to say...the one tree that they *did* light up by the train tracks looks awesome.  Here's a shot in the very early morning hours on my walk to the train late last week.

We lost another retail business on York Street in the Elmhurst City Centre. This time, Elmhurst Olive Oil Company has closed their doors and the landlord has a 'for lease' sign up. We covered this place back in 2011 here on the blog when they opened. They made it four years and couldn't make it through the holidays this year.  This place replaced "Let's Have a Party". I think we stopped in there once in the four years it was open.  Well...besides the times when we went to the City Centre for Trick-or-Treat'ing over the years.  And that, folks, is part of the problem.

On the side marquee of the York Theatre in Downtown Elmhurst, they're advertising a special showing of a movie called "Hat Trick" that covers the Blackhawks championship run.  The movie is being shown this Saturday (December 5th) at 10 am.  Doors open at the York Theatre at 9 am. Here's the listing on the York's site .  Details: The Blackhawks’ full-length Stanley Cup Championship movie Hat Trick is coming to the York Theatre on Saturday, December 5 at 10:00 AM. Admission is $5 and ticket proceeds benefit Chicago Blackhawks Charities and Variety Club of Illinois.  Showings may include appearances by Blackhawks Ambassadors and the Blackhawks Street Team. Plus, the Blackhawks Store retail truck will be on hand so you can take home your very own copy of "Hat Trick". Sounds like a nice little event.  Ambassadors "may" appear?  Let's hope they do!

The plaza in the Elmhurst City Centre is all dressed up for Christmas with a big tree and a bunch of polar bears in the fountain. I took this photo on my way to the train this morning. I'm wondering...is this *the* tree for the City now?  We've gone to a tree lighting down by the Police Station on First Street in years past where the City had their official tree.  But...is this the tree they're going to light now?  Or still have that one down by the Police Station? That's one thing that the City Centre really lacks:  a real gathering place.  Would be nice to have a sizeable place - like a park of some sort - that is in the downtown.  I know...we have Wilder Park just a few blocks away, but that's NOT in the City Centre.