Great American Bagel Returning To Joliet: You Are Not Going To Believe Where It's At

JOLIET, IL — There is a saying that the more that things change, the more they remain the same. For more than two years now, Joliet has had zero Great American Bagel restaurants despite being the fourth largest city in Illinois. There was a Great American Bagel restaurant for several years on Essington Road, but longtime Joliet restaurant owner Tom Grotovsky closed up his Great American Bagel restaurant at the end of 2023.

Located at 1101 Essington Road, on Jan. 2, 2024, Grotovsky turned his restaurant space into the Curator's Cafe. After staying in that location for a year, Grotovsky relocated his Curator's Cafe into the Joliet American Legion Hall on Ingalls Avenue; however, the Curator's Cafe was not a success. People didn't patronize the Curator's Cafe as Grotovsky hoped, and he closed the Curator's Cafe down for good at the end of December.

Meanwhile, back on Essington Road, the empty space formerly occupied by the Curator's Cafe remained vacant all of 2025.

This week, there is a giant banner displayed across the top of the building advising people that The Great American Bagel is coming soon.

According to its website, "The Great American Bagel opened its first bagel bakery in 1987 in Westmont, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. This store was so well received that within a few short years, The Great American Bagel began opening bagel bakeries throughout Chicago and offering The Great American Bagel franchises to those seeking exciting new business opportunities.

"Today, The Great American Bagel proudly operates restaurants across the United States, Canada and the Middle East. Our stores offer a wide variety of bagels, cream cheese spreads, made-to-order sandwiches, gourmet soups, panini sandwiches, wraps, baguettes, coffee selections and catering."

But how soon Joliet's Great American Bagel will be back open on Essington Road remains a mystery.

Joliet Patch visited the property on Wednesday afternoon, and no one was inside the restaurant storefront. The return of The Great American Bagel to the Essington Shoppes will mark the second new restaurant to open in recent months.

Juybe's Breakfast And Lunch also opened at the other end of the strip mall, in the restaurant location that previously served as Loco's Mexican Restaurant.

News of Great American Bagel's return to Joliet comes just one week after Joliet Patch profiled the new Cup of Joe By Cemeno's restaurant that just opened inside the Inwood Athletic Club at 3000 West Jefferson Street.

Cup of Joe's focuses on making homemade delicious bagels, including gluten-free options.