Ann Sather flagship restaurant location to move from current Belmont Avenue site, rep says

The flagship Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview community will be moving later this year, a restaurant representative said Tuesday.

A representative of the restaurant at 909 W. Belmont Ave. confirmed that Ann Sather will be moving from the location sometime in June or July, but a date has not been finalized. The restaurant is still working to pick a new location in the area, the restaurant representative said.

The restaurant representative did not know what would happen to the 909 W. Belmont Ave. building.

Next door to Ann Sather, a new mixed-use building is now under construction. The building, which will feature 46 luxury apartments, replaced a two-story brown brick building nearly architecturally identical to the one that houses Ann Sather.

The building that was torn down housed the American Vapor vape shop, Strings Ramen, BopNgrill Korean fast-food restaurant, The Gallery Bookstore, and Belmont Army Vintage, along with apartments above.

The original plans for the 925 W. Belmont Ave. building now under construction also called for the demolition of the building that houses Ann Sather. But the plan was scaled back, and the Belmont Avenue Ann Sather remains in business.

Ann Sather has been located on the south side of Belmont Avenue between the Chicago Transit Authority 'L' tracks and Clark Street since Ann Sather herself first took over an eatery on the block in 1945, but has moved several times. 

The restaurant moved to the current location at 909 W. Belmont Ave. in 2007. Most recently before that, it had been located at 929 W. Belmont Ave., the current home of Reckless Records and the Clarity Clinic.

Ann Sather also has locations at 3415 N. Broadway in East Lakeview, and 1147 W. Granville Ave. in Edgewater. Other locations have also come and gone over the years — including one each in Andersonville, on Southport Avenue in Lakeview, in Hyde Park, and in Wicker Park.

The iconic Chicago Swedish restaurant chain is owned by former Ald. Tom Tunney (44th). Sather sold the original restaurant to Tunney, then a 24-year-old graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, in 1981.

The Andersonville Ann Sather location, at 5207 N. Clark St., opened in 1987 and was originally owned and operated by Tunney's sister, Debbie. The Andersonville location closed in 2013.

Tunney's brother, Ed, opened a third Ann Sather location at 1329 E. 57th St. in the Hyde Park neighborhood in 1989, but that location closed five years later.

The restaurant chain is known for its cinnamon rolls, potato sausage and Swedish pancakes, among other specialties.