New Italian Restaurant Receives Grant To Renovate Kabul House Site

SKOKIE, IL – A new restaurant set to open on the the site of the former Kabul House restaurant on Oakton Street at Niles Avenue by the end of the year was granted the maximum of $43,000 from the village's Commercial Corridor Storefront Enhancement Program, the Skokie Review reports. The program is funded through Skokie's Economic Development Fund and is designed to help boost redevelopment along commercial corridors outside of the village's two existing TIF boundaries, with grants to retail and restaurants receiving priority treatment.

The new restaurant will be named Sugo Italian Street Food and plans to offer fast casual eat-in options as well as a grocery area with food to-go, owner Martin Castro told the paper. He said he intends to hire 25 employees and operate every day for lunch and dinner. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Skokie — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

The redevelopment grant will go to new signs, light fixtures, awnings, partial demolition, floors, doors, drains, bathrooms, painting, upgrades to plumbing, electricity and security and more as part of a total of $110,000 in planned renovations, according to the Review.

The former occupant of the 4949 Oakton St. location, Kabul House, relocated just outside Skokie earlier this year to 2424 W. Dempster St. with the help of a $50,000 forgivable loan from Evanston.

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_{Top photo: Location of the former Kabul House restaurant in Skokie, 4949 Oakton St. | Google Street View}