Casa Catrina Opening, Joliet Has Never Seen Anything Like This Restaurant Before: Photo Gallery

JOLIET, IL — It's been nearly three years since MyGrain Brewing Company closed its microbrewery and restaurant inside the city of Joliet's Union Station at 50 East Jefferson Street, but starting next week, this space will spring back to life thanks to the new Casa Catrina restaurant.

Casa Catrina held a soft opening on Thursday night for invited guests and Joliet Patch was on hand to capture the moment, producing a Facebook Live video of the ribbon cutting plus several of the speeches given by the new restaurant's owners and Joliet City Councilman Cesar Cardenas, who is thrilled that Casa Catrina has made downtown Joliet its new permanent home.

Paulina Martinez, the city of Joliet's economic development, worked closely with the restaurant partners in securing their five-year lease agreement at the city of Joliet property.

Casa Catrina was chosen by Joliet after the city reviewed several applications seeking to fill the empty MyGrain Brewing location.

"This is a great example of an adaptive re-use. It really shows that people are interested in the city. They have been very responsive and honest and they know how to executive a plan," Martinez remarked.

Last October, Joliet Patch reported that the Casa Catrina ownership team includes Ángel Zamudio, Joaquín Anguiano and José Vázquez. All three individually own restaurants and other series of businesses, including Culichi Town in Stone Park, and Tequila CJ in Chicago on Archer Avenue.

The owners of Casa Catrina told Joliet Patch that not only will their restaurant focus on margaritas, sangrias, beer and an assortment of hard liquor, their menu will focus on a variety of steaks including 16-ounce tomahawk steaks in the $30 to $35 range. They also want to be known for their hamburgers and offer plenty of seafood and chicken entrees.

Starting next week, Casa Catrina will open to guests on Monday from 1 to 8 p.m. for its first official day of business. From then on, Casa Catrina will be open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

There's plenty of parking available in the giant parking lot across the street from Joliet's historic Union Station.