Restaurant On Essington Rd Closes, But Something New Is Coming

JOLIET, IL — Last fall, Joliet Patch revealed that the Street Kitchen restaurant would open on Sept. 8 at 1003 Essington Road, but after less than six full months of business, Street Kitchen has bitten the dust and closed forever.

Although there are no closed signs on windows of the restaurant, it's closed.

Staff at Double J Sports Bar next door said that the Street Kitchen closed at least a week ago. It turns out that someone else is remodeling the empty restaurant. Joliet Patch saw three gallons of paint inside the empty restaurant, and some of the walls have already been painted with new signs reading "PANZA Mena CORAZON" and "UN TACO AL DIA ES LA LLAVE DE LA ALEGRIA."

Another wall is painted with the word "Tacoria" and there is a sign inside the window that reads, "Open Late Night."

If a new takeout restaurant is opening soon, it will no doubt be drastically different from the Street Kitchen. Last September, the chef for the Street Kitchen predicted that the following menu items would become some of the customer favorites: "The Philly cheese steak, the cheese curds. The smash burger. I recommend the whole menu. Everything here is made from scratch, all our tenders, all our sauces and the burgers."

But that did not happen, and now Street Kitchen is gone forever, a reminder to everyone about the challenges of trying to open a new restaurant in an area that already has several long-time popular restaurants on Essington Road including Metro Grill, Cemeno's Pizza, Hamburgerseria, the former Great American Bagel restaurant owned by Tom Grotovsky that has been changed and renamed as The Curator's Café, plus there is also the Angie's Pancake House.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Angie's Pancake House Makes Breakfast Until 10 At Night: Owner

New Joliet Restaurant On Essington Rd: 'I Recommend The Whole Menu'

Great American Bagel Reopens With New Name, New Menu: 10 Photos