The lawsuit says SSP America used the restaurant's reputation to secure a contract for itself at the airport, and then damaged Gene & Georgetti's brand.

"This is actually about breach of contract at this point," Gene & Georgetti owner Michelle Durpetti said on CBS News Chicago on Wednesday morning. "We tried a lot of diplomatic channels and to have conversations for months."

The partnership goes back to 2019, when SSP America was looking to secure a restaurant concession at Midway, the lawsuit said.

"Defendant knew that partnering with Gene & Georgetti would greatly increase its chances of winning the restaurant concession at Midway Airport, as Gene & Georgetti is a woman-owned, woman-managed, and famous local restaurant in Chicago," the lawsuit said.

Gene & Georgetti agreed to partner with SSP America, and owner Michelle Durpetti set up G&G Midway to facilitate the partnership, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said SSP America repeatedly told Gene & Georgetti that the concessions operator hoped to form a longstanding relationship lasting years, or even decades, with the restaurant.

The agreement required SSP America to pay a $50,000 upfront fee to Gene & Georgetti in exchange for using proprietary material such as trademarks and trade secrets, and the Gene & Georgetti's good name, the lawsuit said. SSP was also required to pay licensing fees of 5% of net revenues generated at Gene's Bistro, the lawsuit said.

Gene's Bistro opened in 2020 at Midway as part of a 20-year deal.

"From day one, Gene's Bistro was an instant attraction in Midway as travelers recognizing the brand name Gene & Georgetti were eager to dine at Gene's Bistro," the lawsuit said.

But soon after SSP America had "secured the menus, brand name, and expertise" from Gene & Georgetti, the relationship between the concession operator and the restaurant changed, the lawsuit said. Specifically, SSP said it was struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and could not pay its fees to Gene & Georgetti that were required under the agreement, the lawsuit said.

"For us, the relationship was great and very reciprocal during the bidding process, but the minute it got awarded is really when it changed," Durpetti said.

Gene & Georgetti agreed to a request by SSP to waive both the licensing fees and the upfront fee for more than a year — allowing the concession operator to use Gene & Georgetti's name recognition, licenses, and expertise for free, the lawsuit said.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit said SSP America deviated from the core menu the parties had agreed upon, and began using recipes and serving dishes of lower quality at Gene's Bistro. When Gene & Georgetti complained about this, the restaurant was "met with [SSP America's] resistance, and even threats of terminating the partnership," the lawsuit said.

Then, SSP America decided to terminate its partnership with Gene & Georgetti, the lawsuit said. On Oct. 21 of last year, SSP America sent a letter to Gene & Georgetti announcing that it was "unilaterally" terminating the partnership and that Gene's Bistro would go out of business within 90 days, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said SSP America did not give any reason for this, but claimed that SSP America was in negotiations with Bally's Chicago for a space for slot machines at Midway, and was planning to turn Gene's Bistro into a sports-themed bar that would eventually include slot machines, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also said Gene's Bistro has received bad reviews, with people commenting in Google reviews, "This place is a joke," "I've never been verbally berated by a server quite like today," and "Got severe food poisoning from here."

Durpetti said powerful companies like SSP America take advantage of the good names of small restaurants like Gene & Georgetti to get their foot in the door for airport concessions.

"I think it's very much a David and Goliath story. We are an independent restaurant. We are the kind of business that concessionaires look for as an anchor brand to win this kind of business. And so what ends up happening is they combine us with like commercial brands that you'll see in an airport, right? But we're the ones that help them win in all of these cities," she said. "This is a publicly traded global brand, and they've decided to just marginalize us in this process and not speak to us, not answer, not be held accountable for anything—and to me, that's wrong."

Crain's Chicago Business reported that SSP America said in a statement that the lawsuit is "without merit," and that it remains committed to partnering with local brands and making the right business decisions. CBS News Chicago has yet to speak directly with SSP.

"I find it so interesting that they used the word 'merit,' and that it doesn't have merit, because their behaviors had no merit for the last five years," Durpetti said in response.

Gene's Bistro currently remains open.

The Boston-based sports gambling company said it had decided to discontinue sportsbook operations at DraftKings Sportsbook, at the northwest corner of Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue adjacent to the historic ballpark, following a review of its retail presence in Illinois.

DraftKings Sportsbook will remain open as a restaurant, bar, and sports entertainment venue, but will no longer offer in-person sports betting.

"While we are proud of what we have built alongside the Chicago Cubs, we are taking a more focused approach to where we invest in the state," DraftKings said. "The cost of operating in Illinois, including its high tax structure, makes it more difficult to justify continued investment in a standalone retail sportsbook. We remain committed to serving our mobile sportsbook customers."

Sportsbook operators pay between 20% and 40% in state taxes. Since July of last year, Illinois sportsbooks have also paid $0.25 on the first 20 million online bets statewide annually, and then $0.50 on every bet after that.

DraftKings and rival FanDuel instituted a 50 cent fee on every wager placed in Illinois as a result.

Sports gambling companies also fought to late last year to block new taxes and licensing requirements on the Chicago city level. The companies dropped an effort to block the laws immediately, but went ahead with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city's sports betting tax and licensing requirements.

The 2026 budget plan approved by the City Council last December imposed a 10.25% tax on the adjusted gross receipts from all sports bets placed within the city.

The DraftKings Sportsbook space opened in June 2023. The sports betting operation within opened in March 2024.

The same corner of the ballpark land was once home to the smaller Captain Morgan Club — which opened in 2009 and was torn down in 2018.

A sign in the window at the Ann Sather flagship, at 909 W. Belmont Ave., will be closing June 28. The building is to be torn down for a new apartment development.

A new location will open in July at 1819 W. Division St. in the West Town community — an area where Ann Sather has had a presence in the past.

The Division Street site formerly housed a location of the breakfast restaurant chain Yolk.

"We're delighted to return to the West Town area, where we previously operated a Milwaukee Avenue location from 2001 to 2007," Ann Sather owner and former Chicago Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said in a news release. "We closed the Wicker Park location only because adjacent construction caused structural issues in our building. Our new Division Street restaurant is an ideal location for Ann Sather as many of our customers live in the area."

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 919 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 has remained in business with the new building being built next door.

However, the building that now houses Ann Sather is still being torn down after all. A Crain's Chicago Business report in April noted that Mavrek Development is planning another 46-unit building on the site as a second phase of the new apartment project, called the Belmora.

The phase of the Belmora now under construction is expected to open for residents in the fall of this year, Crain's reported. Developers hope to complete the second building in the fall of next year, with demolition of the Ann Sather building to begin in the summer.

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 its 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.

While an Ann Sather on Belmont Avenue in Lakeview will soon be but a memory, the restaurant will still maintain one location in the community, about five blocks away at 3415 N. Broadway. This location has been in business for decades.

An Ann Sather location also remains in business at 1147 W. Granville Ave. in Edgewater.

Other locations have also come and gone over the years — including the one at 1448 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the Wicker Park neighborhood that Tunney mentioned in the news release. The building that housed the Wicker Park restaurant was severely damaged in a construction mishap and had to be torn down.

Another Ann Sather location opened in 1987 at 5207 N. Clark St in Andersonville, and was originally owned and operated by Tunney's sister, Debbie. The Andersonville Ann Sather closed in 2013, and the space is now occupied by a Raygun apparel and design store.

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.

Ann Sather locations have also come and gone at 3416 N. Southport Ave. in Lakeview, and 2665 N. Clark St. in Lincoln Park.

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

The New Town Alano Club, a recovery organization, was located upstairs in the Belmont Avenue Ann Sather building for many years, but has moved to 3326 N. Ashland Ave.

The five-year agreement, ratified on Tuesday, covers nearly 30,000 flight attendants at United. It includes an average 31% pay increase this summer, boarding pay worth an additional 7% to 8% in compensation on average and $741 million in retroactive pay, according to the Association of Flight Attendants.

"The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic," said Ken Diaz, president of the union's United chapter. "Our solidarity delivered the goods."

The union said the deal also secures expanded job security, restrictions on red-eye flying, pay for lengthy delays over 2 1/2 hours, higher retirement contributions, 10 weeks paid parental leave and the elimination of 24-hour on-call reserve schedules.

Both United CEO Scott Kirby and union leaders say the agreement — reached through mediation at the National Mediation Board — sets a new benchmark in the industry.

"The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for Flight Attendants — and it should," said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA, which represents more than 55,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines.

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Kirby said United is "lucky to have the best flight attendants in the world to represent our airline!"

"I am very happy that they now have the industry-leading contract that they deserve," he said.

For years, it had been standard across much of the airline industry for flight attendants to go unpaid during boarding, despite flight attendants already assisting passengers, resolving seating and carry-on issues, conducting safety checks and preparing the cabin for departure.

Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. airline to offer boarding pay in 2022, followed by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Last August, Air Canada's flight attendants put a public spotlight on the issue when about 10,000 of them walked off the job, leading the Canadian airline to cancel more than 3,100 flights. The strike ended days later with a breakthrough deal that included pay for boarding passengers.

It will be the Chicago-based fast food giant's first-ever naming-rights partnership.

The team said McDonald's will play an active role in shaping the fan experience at the new stadium, including the design of a McDonald's flagship restaurant and the involvement of the McDonald's brand in other fan experiences.

The $750 million privately funded stadium is being built on a plot of land called The 78, a long-undeveloped 62-acre parcel of land near Roosevelt Road and Clark Street along the South Branch of the Chicago River.

The land has been dubbed "The 78" for its potential to become the city's 78th official community area.

McDonald's Park is set to open in 2028. A groundbreaking ceremony for the stadium was held in March.

Vladimir Sklarov, 63, also known as Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley, set up a sham company, Astor Asset Group, that purported to be a legitimate and experienced loan provider that was connected to the Astors, federal prosecutors said. The storied New York family included John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America in the mid-19th century.

Although the indictment unsealed on Monday does not name the victim, court records in litigation in England show it was Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the Mexican TV, retail and banking magnate. Salinas also confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.

"I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?" Salinas Pliego told the newspaper.

Sklarov was arrested in Chicago on Saturday on the indictment by a federal grand jury in New York City, prosecutors said. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in federal court in Chicago, according to court records.

A public defender representing Sklarov in Chicago did not immediately return phone and email messages Tuesday.

"As alleged, Vladimir Sklarov represented his company to be affiliated with, and have the financial backing of the famed New York Astor family in order to burnish his brand," Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. "That was a complete lie. Sklarov used false prestige to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit."

In 2021, Salinas was seeking a $100 million loan that he intended to secure with shares of a company he owned, according to the indictment. Sklarov — using the name Gregory Mitchell and claiming he was "managing director" of Astor — and other, unnamed co-conspirators convinced Salinas that Astor was willing and able to provide the loan, prosecutors said. The other conspirators included a man who also used an alias, Thomas Mellon, whose last name is also that of a prominent and wealthy American family.

Sklarov and other conspirators told Salinas that Astor was originally established from the wealth of John Jacob Astor and that the company had high-profile clients including universities and investment funds, prosecutors said.

Under a deal signed around July 2021, Sklarov agreed to lend Salinas at least $115 million, claiming the money would come from the Astor family, the indictment says. Salinas secured the loan with company shares worth at least $450 million that were supposed to be held but not sold.

Sklarov then sold the company shares, used some of the proceeds to fund the loan to Salinas and kept the remaining hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and other conspirators, federal prosecutors said.

It wasn't until July 2024 that Salinas learned the company shares had been liquidated, the indictment says. A day later, Salinas received a letter from Astor falsely claiming that Salinas had defaulted on the loan, according to the document. A month earlier, Astor wrongly informed Salinas that it had the right to sell the shares, prosecutors said.

Authorities listed Sklarov's hometown as Athens, Greece. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sklarov is a Ukrainian-born American who had been convicted of fraud in the past.

The march began at Union Park in the West Loop, where crowds packed the park before making their way several miles to Daley Plaza. The rally drew workers from a range of industries, with demonstrators citing concerns including immigration enforcement, healthcare, and the war in Iran.

Mayor Brandon Johnson joined union leaders earlier in the day for a May Day plaque installation in the West Loop.

"This is not just a moment to commemorate, this is a day of action," Johnson said.

He also gave a shoutout to CPS students and educators "who declared this day of civic action," and said the labor movement is in good hands.

"We are going to make sure the working people of this city have all of the benefits they deserve," Johnson said.

In the crowd, you couldn't miss Sandy Perpieani using her Morton's Salt costume to protest the presence of ICE agents in Chicago.

"Implementation of immigration policies is unjust," she said. "If everyone did what they felt they could do – write a letter, make a phone call, tell a friend, talk to someone, which is hard – we're moving the needle."

One message was clear during the rally: "everyone is a worker today."

"In this moment, I am a history teacher that negotiated a civic day of education for all of Chicago's children to understand the power of workers in solidarity," Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates said.

The Chicago Teachers Union was among the groups demonstrating, with members calling for affordable housing, smaller class sizes, more school resources, and broader economic justice.

"We're here to fight for them just as much as we are here to fight for ourselves and our young people — if they don't feel comfortable showing up, just know we are going to continue to show up for you," said Corey Lascano, a CTU member.

The union had pushed for a full day off so students and staff could participate. Instead, CTU and CPS reached a compromise. CPS left it up to individual schools to allow teachers and students to take part in the protest rally and march. The district planned to have buses available for numerous schools, but in the end, sources said only a few schools that took advantage of that, with most principals opting out of taking their students to the May Day gathering.

The agreement also states that future May Days falling during the work week will be designated as teacher-directed professional development days, according to the union. Participating schools must follow standard field trip procedures, and CPS said a full instructional day was available for all students who opted not to join Friday's protest.

The decision drew pushback from some parents, who raised concerns about political advocacy being tied to the school day, a lack of parental input in the process, and what some described as placing students in a "high-risk" situation.

The nonprofit Kids First Chicago told CBS News Chicago that parents also expressed concern over the loss of instructional time.

The school board president had also argued the arrangement disrupts learning, while supporters said it underscores the value of civic engagement.

Several Chicago Public Schools students were among those who joined the protest march.

"We're here today to fight for our freedom. We're here today to preach to the people that we want to be safe again," said Kelly College Prep student Benito Rodriguez.

Funston Elementary School teacher Irene Jackson said her students were learning by taking part in the protest.

"Why not? It's a field trip like any other. Why not this and why only the Field Museum? Why only the Shedd Aquarium? Why not this?" she said.

Caution tape surrounded her students at Union Park. Jackson said it was for safety.

"This is kind of, 'Okay this is our space.' Even though I want them to see the people, I don't necessarily want a lot of extra people running through my students," she said.

One of her students said it was important to join the rally, "because, as Americans, we have our right to express our opinions, and in this current administration that right is being suppressed."

Don Villar, secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor, spoke to the broader significance of the day. "The fight for justice, dignity, respect, and the blood, sweat, and tears that were shed and the justice that workers endured to sacrifice," Villar said.

Chicago has deep roots in the history of May Day, dating back to the Haymarket affair, a pivotal movement in the labor movement, a labor protest that turned violent as thousands of workers marched to demand an eight-hour workday with no loopholes or cuts in pay.

Protestors said they're proud of Chicago's historic support for the labor movement, especially now.

"I think it's important that get out and express our views," said retired teacher Keith Moens.

"For us to be a part of this, this is us standing with our communities, and that includes all of us and all of our kids," said CTU member Corey Lascano.

The redesigned mall will feature new soaring ceilings and natural light, but fewer than half as many levels of retail.

As the mall at 835 N. Michigan Ave. just celebrated its 50th anniversary, the reimagining is intended to "modernize" the mall, while "honoring its enduring legacy as the United States' first vertical shopping center."

Retailers will be clustered on the first three floors, while floors four through eight will be set aside for other uses such as medical and dental offices, according to principals. Currently, there are eight levels of retail at Water Tower Place.

The retail spaces at the new Water Tower Place will include flexible suite sizes for both new and old brands, smaller-scale spaces that are not common on Michigan Avenue, and prominent anchor store spaces with street-level access, the mall said.

Mall principals also emphasized plans for a "dramatic atrium with a ground-floor pedestrian arcade," and other changes to the interior layout.

A rendering also shows the main escalators separated by a central corridor, rather than the current setup with two upward escalators separated by a cascading fountain.

"Throughout the center, updates to vertical circulation, sightlines, and wayfinding will create a seamless, intuitive journey, bringing new energy to every visit," Water Tower Place said.

Water Tower Place said next year, it plans to begin a phased construction plan under which retailers can remain open during construction.

The plan is set to be substantially complete by 2028.

Water Tower Place opened Oct. 20, 1975, with eight levels of retail as it has today and a 74-story skyscraper. It notably included a Marshall Field's store that became a Macy's along with the rest of the retail chain in 2006.

In January 2021, the Macy's at Water Tower Place announced it was closing. There was talk of a Target store moving in to take over the Macy's space — a proposal that Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas called "disgusting and embarrassing" — but no Target ever moved in.

Water Tower Place also remains home to the Broadway Playhouse — formerly the Drury Lane Theatre. The building has also hosted pop-up events such as a "Harry Potter: Magic at Play" experience in 2023, and a Lego village during the holiday season in 2025.

The owner announced earlier this year that the bar will not be renewing its lease at the building at the northwest corner of Irving Park and Sheridan roads.

On the bar's Instagram page, a recent post read, "Come see us before we go bye bye ❤️ Our last day is May 17th! We appreciate and love you all!!" the post featured a shot of white flowers and flameless candles in front of a photo of the bar and a couple of beer cans, shot in front of the building.

The Holiday Club, 4000 N. Sheridan Rd., was once described by the Chicago Tribune's Metromix as a self-proclaimed "Swinger's Mecca" with nostalgia "for the days of fedoras, martinis and lounge acts."

"Vintage movie posters and a larger-than-life cut-out of the Rat Pack prove that Sinatra and his cronies may be gone, but they are not forgotten," Metromix wrote of the Holiday Club.

The bar also features an original 1950s black-and-white film photo booth.

A new development is planned for the building at 4000-4006 N. Sheridan Rd. Published reports said the new building would include 91 apartments, 38 parking spaces, and 2,000 square feet of retail space.

The project will require the demolition not only of the Holiday Club, but also the massive vintage apartment building behind it, which published reports said was fully leased as of last year.

Roots Smoke Shop next to the Holiday Club will also come down.

Preservation Chicago noted that the residential portion of the building behind the Holiday Club dates back to 1904-1905. It was developed by architect David Robertson, some of whose buildings — but not this one — have been listed on the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, Preservation Chicago said.

The Gothic terra cotta storefront section jutting out toward Sheridan Road that houses the Holiday Club came later, Preservation Chicago said. It was designed by architect Adolph Woerner, who was also behind the Village Theater on Clark Street and North Avenue that partially survives as a façade for a residential high-rise entryway.

The Holiday Club space housed a Walgreens drugstore back in the 1930s, Preservation Chicago said. More recently, as of 1998 per a Chicago Tribune report, the storefront housed the also housed the JUF Uptown Café, providing hot kosher meals to those in need. The JUF Uptown Cafe is now located at 909 W. Wilson Ave.

The Holiday Club first opened in 1993 at 1471 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the Wicker Park neighborhood. That location closed many years ago, having been taken over by the Salud Tequila Lounge as long ago as 2004, and since having served as home to Rick Bayless' Fonda Frontera restaurant, which closed in 2018. A Sweetgreen now occupies the space.

The Sheridan Road Holiday Club opened as a second location in 2001, but has stood alone for most of its history.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the Lincolnwood Village Board approved a pre-development agreement for the mall property, providing a roadmap with the property owner for further preparations and government approvals for redevelopment.

The agreement includes a master plan for the redevelopment of the mall property at Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard. It will be composed of a large retail store with a footprint of about 150,000 to 175,000 square feet, an auto dealership, and other commercial and retail spaces, the village said.

The village believes the development, if it goes ahead, will have the potential to provide an economic benefit to the area.

Before any development can go ahead, the existing mall must be torn down. Phased demolition is set to begin in May, with the building that most recently housed Harlem Furniture on the southeast side of the mall coming down first. Afterward, the middle of the mall will be torn down, and finally, the Kohl's store.

During the demolition, the Village of Lincolnwood is working with the Chicago Transit Authority for a temporary relocation of CTA bus operations in the area. Pace buses will also be rerouted.

Lincolnwood Town Center has stood at Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard for 36 years. But the village previously said with occupancy declining, the 31-acre property was a prime candidate for redevelopment, given its location at the juncture of Lincolnwood, Skokie, and Chicago's West Rogers Park or West Ridge community.

A plan to redevelop the land where the mall stands has been on the table for some time. In June 2022, the village approved a Lincolnwood Town Center Concept Plan that proposed several redevelopment ideas — some of which would have kept parts of the mall standing.

Lincolnwood Town Center opened in March 1990, on the former site of the headquarters for Bell & Howell. The mall was anchored in its early days by a Carson Pirie Scott, a Madigans, and later a JCPenney, while the second-story food court featured a Sbarro and a Fluky's hot dog stand.

Published reports noted that Vanna White of "Wheel of Fortune" fame came to the mall to sign autographs the day it opened. In its early years, the mall hosted a variety of celebrities and entertainment, from walk-around cartoon characters for throngs of exuberant kids to a visit from Chicago radio icon Dick Biondi for autographs.

Washington Prime Group, the former parent company of Lincolnwood Town Center, filed for bankruptcy in 2021. The property was purchased in December 2025 by an affiliate of local developer Prairie Ridge Development.

The Batavia Pal Joey's has only been open since 2012, but the history of the pizzeria goes back 53 years.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, owner John Hamel announced that he was closing the storied restaurant "with so much pain, sadness and regret."

"We strived to be more than a place to eat. We made it our goal to be more for our guests and the community and tried to make a difference," Hamel wrote. "I know how much of a shock this is and all I can honestly say is, I'm sorry. So many things have gone into this decision suffice to say, dramatic changes to our business and so much more."

Pal Joey's first opened in West Chicago in the spring of 1973. Published reports noted that the original owner was named Joey, or Jseph Imbrogno, but the name is also a nod to a famous 1940 Broadway musical by Rodgers and Hart, and the subsequent 1957 movie adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, and Kim Novak.

The restaurant noted that its pizza was given four stars in the Chicago Tribune, and was named one of the best pan pizzas in the Chicago area.

The restaurant also serves a variety of sandwiches, pastas, and other entrées.

Owners Hamel and Greg Miller took over in 2001, and the West Chicago location closed in 2023. The focus since has been on the Batavia location, which started out on River Street in downtown Batavia, then moved to another location on Randall Road at Main Street in 2018, and then returned River Street in 2022, published reports noted.

Reports noted that Pal Joey's was known as a destination for youth sports teams and family events.

In his farewell message, Hamel suggested that he hoped Pal Joey's pizza could carry on in some way.

"I know this will not be forever. It means too much to me to try and positively impact others," he wrote. "Please come in over the next few days. Be overly generous and patient with my amazing staff. Support them as they take their next steps.  And when the time arrives, do the same for me as I hope to find a home for a carryout/ catering space where I can continue to offer our famous pizza and more."

Hamel's Facebook message did not indicate a last day for Pal Joey's, though Shaw Local reported it would be this coming Sunday.

Crain's Chicago Business and CoStar both reported Thursday that the firm is talking to Google about leasing 300,000 square feet of space. Google started marketing to find tenants last year, according to Crain's.

Morningstar is currently headquartered at 22 W. Washington St. in Block 37 downtown, on the several floors upstairs from CBS Chicago's office and studios.

Crain's reported Morningstar would likely move into the building in 2029.

Google is set to start moving into the Thompson Center next year.

The 17-story Thompson Center at 100 W. Randolph St. opened in 1985 as the home to state government offices in Chicago. From the beginning, the building was criticized as overly expensive and inefficient.

When it opened in 1985, the great massive open atrium inside and its floors of open offices were meant to pay tribute to transparency in government — the inspiration for architect Helmut Jahn — but the building's design made it extremely expensive to operate.

Former Gov. Bruce Rauner announced in 2015 that he planned to ask state lawmakers to ask him to unload the Thompson Center, and there was talk that it could be torn down. A sale ultimately never ended up happening while Rauner was in office, but his successor, Gov. JB Pritzker, finalized the sale of the building in 2022.

Google announced in July 2022 that it would be taking over the building.

The sale agreement allowed building to be preserved, while saving taxpayers $800 million in operating, maintenance, and repair costs, Pritzker's office said at the time.

Redevelopment of the Thompson Center began in May 2024. The old façade was removed, the interior of the upper floors was demolished, and new triple-paned glass windows were installed. After more than a year in place, the tower crane used for work on the Thompson Center was disassembled in February 2026 as the redevelopment entered its final phases.

Google is set to start moving next year into the Thompson Center, which published reports have noted is going to keep its name honoring late former Gov. James R. Thompson.

If Morningstar does move to the Thompson Center, it would likely happen in 2029, when the firm's lease at 22 W. Washington St. expires.

Morningstar was founded in 1984 by entrepreneur Joe Mansueto. The firm has been headquartered in the 22 W. Washington St. building since the building opened in the fall of 2008. WBBM-TV's offices and studios opened in the building at the same time, as the station moved from the historic CBS Chicago broadcast center at 630 N. McClurg Ct. in Streeterville.

In 2022, published reports noted, Morningstar considered moving to the upper floors of the Marshall Field building at 24 E. Washington St., above the Macy's Chicago flagship store. But Morningstar decided not to make this move, and signed a five-year lease extension at 22 W. Washington St. instead, reports noted.

Silverstein announced last year that a national grocery chain was coming to the ward — which also includes much of the West Ridge or West Rogers Park community across the North Shore Channel. On Friday of last week, Silverstein announced in her ward newsletter that Trader Joe's had officially applied for permits for a new store at Lincoln Village, located along Lincoln Avenue between the North Shore Channel and McCormick Road.

Silverstein noted that bringing in a national grocery chain was one of her top priorities for years, and the 50th Ward community has been calling for a Trader Joe's.

The West Ridge Chamber of Commerce and Community Organization launched a petition in 2020 calling for bringing a Trader Joe's to West Ridge. Reports in Block Club Chicago noted that residents had hoped a Trader Joe's would come to the former Bakers Square site on the southeast corner of Touhy and Western avenues, but a strip mall with a Starbucks, a Buffalo Wild Wings, and an Athletico Physical Therapy office ended up being built at that site.

Silverstein emphasized that the plan for a Trader Joe's in Lincoln Village, while exciting, remains preliminary.

"While this is a major step forward, I want to emphasize that this is still early in the process. The lease is signed and Trader Joe's has begun the permitting stage, but it will take some time before the store is ready to open," Silverstein wrote. "This is a very promising development, but please remember that they have not received all their necessary approvals yet and, as with all large projects, things could change very rapidly."

In a statement emailed to CBS News Chicago, Trader Joe's did not confirm plans to open a new store in Lincoln Village.

"We are actively looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country, including a few in the Chicago area, as we hope to open more new neighborhood stores each year," a spokeswoman wrote. "At this time, the only new location we have confirmed in [Illinois] is in Oswego."

The Lincoln Village Shopping Center has been in operation since 1952, published reports noted. In the past, the shopping center was laid out as a pedestrian-friendly open-air mall similar to the Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, which opened a few years later.

Lincoln Village once featured a Wieboldt's department store, a popular movie theater that later expanded to two buildings, What's Cooking? restaurant, and in later years, Diversions video arcade. The shopping center is currently anchored by a Ross Dress for Less, a Five Below, and a TJ Maxx.

A grocery store at Lincoln Village is far from a new concept, but one must go back in time quite a few years to find one there. A Kroger store is seen in photos dating back to the earliest days of the shopping center, and a National Food Store later took its place.

Perhaps most famously, the grocery store niche at Lincoln Village was occupied by a location of Treasure Island, the upscale Chicago grocery store chain famously called "America's most European supermarket" by Julia Child. Newspaper advertisements show the Treasure Island store was in business at 6125 N. Lincoln Ave. in Lincoln Village at least as far back as 1974.

In 1986, the Treasure Island location closed and became a Happy Foods. By the early 1990s, there was no longer a grocery store in Lincoln Village at all, with the old Treasure Island and Happy Foods site having been taken over by Old Country Buffet.

Treasure Island — which had flagship stores on Broadway in East Lakeview and Wells Street in Old Town, and also had locations in Lincoln Park, the Gold Coast, Streeterville, Hyde Park, Wilmette, and several other communities over the years — went out of business completely in 2018.

Trader Joe's has six locations within the Chicago city limits — at 667 W. Diversey Pkwy. and 1840 N. Clybourn Ave. in Lincoln Park, 3745 N. Lincoln Ave. in North Center, 44 E. Ontario St. in River North, 1147 S. Wabash Ave. in the South Loop, and in the former Treasure Island at 1528 E. 55th St. in Hyde Park.

Plans for another new Trader Joe's were announced in February in the former CVS drug store at 2053 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Logan Square. There are also plans for Trader Joe's stores at 804 W. Montrose Ave. in Uptown and in an apartment tower to be built at 170 N. May St. in the Fulton Market district, Block Club reported.

However, published reports noted that some other plans for Trader Joe's locations — including one in Andersonville — have not worked out.

Under a proposal submitted Monday to a state judge in Texas, The Onion would be granted an exclusive, temporary license to the intellectual property of Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, allowing the outlet to put its own content on the Infowars website and social media accounts.

Ben Collins, chief executive of The Onion, said the deal could be in place around April 30, if approved by Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin. He said The Onion has already hired people to run Infowars as a parody site including Tim Heidecker, one half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric known for their work on the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" shows.

"We'll build this into a bigger comedy network," Collins said in phone interview Monday, adding the Sandy Hook families would receive profits from the new operations.

"A big part of it for us is that the way people consume news now is they see somebody who has no idea what the (expletive) they're talking about staring into their camera and just like coming up with conspiracy theories or telling you health hacks that will actually get you poisoned, things like that," he said. "We're going to create a bunch of characters and worlds around those kinds of things."

After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, Jones called it a hoax staged by "crisis actors" in an effort to increase gun control. Many relatives of the victims, along with an FBI agent who responded to the shooting, sued Jones and his company for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

On his show Monday, Jones vowed to fight the licensing proposal in court but acknowledged he and his crew could be kicked out of the building at the end of the month. He said he would continue his shows in another studio he is preparing, and they would air on his personal X account and other new social media accounts and websites, as well as dozens of radio stations. He also has set up new websites for the merchandise he sells, including dietary supplements and clothing that bring in millions of dollars a year.

"I'm going to continue the exact same show," he said. "It'll just be called the 'Alex Jones Show.' So, it's the same satellite, same system. It's a different news site and news studio. So I'm not going anywhere."

The licensing deal with The Onion would be for six months, with the right to renew it for another six months as a court-appointed receiver works to eventually sell the assets of Infowars' parent company, Austin-based Free Speech Systems, and give proceeds to the Sandy Hook families. The receiver is supporting the plan, which calls for The Onion to pay $81,000 a month to cover the rent for the building housing Infowars' studios, along with utilities and other costs.

During a trial of the defamation suit in Connecticut in 2022, victims' relatives testified that people whom they called followers of Jones subjected them to death and rape threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media over the hoax claims. Jones argued there was never any proof that linked him to the actions of others.

A jury and judge awarded the families and the FBI agent more than $1.4 billion in damages. In a similar lawsuit in Texas, the parents of a child killed at Sandy Hook were awarded nearly $50 million. Jones appealed both awards. He lost his challenges to the Connecticut judgment, while his appeal of the Texas award is still pending.

Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022. In those proceedings, an auction was held in November 2024 to liquidate Infowars' assets to help pay the defamation judgments, and The Onion was named the winning bidder. But the bankruptcy judge threw out the auction results, citing problems with the process and The Onion's bid.

The attempt to sell off Infowars' assets later moved to the state court in Texas, where Guerra Gamble appointed a receiver to liquidate the assets of Jones' company. Jones is also appealing that ruling, which has put a hold on the liquidation.

A lawyer for the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones in Connecticut said they support The Onion's plan.

The Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce said in a social media post that the grocery retailer will be coming to the space at 827 W. Belmont Ave., in a vast building that spans the south side of the east-west thoroughfare from Clark Street on the west to Halsted Street on the east.

The building will also become home to VCA Blum Animal Hospital, which published reports say will be moving from its current location at 3219 N. Clark St. just north of Belmont Avenue.

The building, called Lakeview Connection, currently houses a Fifth Third Bank branch that fronts the southeast corner of Clark Street and Belmont Avenue. But the rest of the structure has been sitting vacant and waiting for tenants ever since it was finished.  

The 60,000 square-foot Lakeview Connection building was completed in 2023 by Hubbard Street Group. It replaced a gray stone building that had also housed a Fifth Third Bank branch and dated back to 1921.

The old bank building, which carried an address of 3179 N. Clark St., was originally known as Lakeview State Bank and later Belmont National Bank. Preservation Chicago took issue with plans to demolish the building, and reports noted that a petition to keep it standing gathered more than 2,000 signatures, but the building nevertheless came down in 2021.

An image of the old bank building that was torn down appears on the wallpaper in the vestibule of the Fifth Third Bank branch in the building that replaced it.

The old bank building had drive-up banking in the back facing Halsted Street, over the site of which the new building was also built.

An Amazon Fresh grocery store had been planned for the building when it was completed, but never opened, published reports noted. Amazon announced in January that it was closing its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations, with some being converted into Whole Foods.

Whole Foods already operates two locations relatively close. One is adjacent to the Center on Halsted at 3640 N. Halsted St., the other at 3201 N. Ashland Ave. at the busy intersection with Lincoln and Belmont avenues.

Whole Foods currently operates a total of 10 locations within Chicago, and several more in the suburbs.

Crain's Chicago Business reported efforts are under way to lease the remaining spaces in the Lakeview Connection building.

A date has not been reported for the opening of the Lakeview Connection Whole Foods.

Earlier this month, San Francisco-based Philz confirmed it would remove the rainbow flags from all its locations, with CEO Mahesh Sadarangani issuing a statement that while its support of the LGBTQ+ community was unchanged, "We are working toward creating a more consistent, inclusive experience across all our stores, including removing a variety of flags and other decor."

The company has most of its 82 cafés in the Bay Area, along with locales in the Sacramento area and Southern California, as well as in Chicago, the only city outside of California with Philz stores.

Philz workers, customers, and the LGBTQ+ community widely interpreted the Pride flag removal as a betrayal of the community, which Philz supported and built its brand around. Critics also noted the decision to remove Pride flags and other LGBTQ+ symbols from cafés came less than a year after the company's sale to a private equity firm. 

An online petition to urge Philz to keep the Pride flags up was circulated and immediately tallied thousands of signatures. 

On Friday, the company issued a press release saying that following meetings between Sadarangani, Philz executives and San Francisco Pride leaders, Pride flags would stay up and any flags that were removed would be put back up.

"I made a mistake, and I am sincerely sorry," said Sadarangani in a prepared statement. "To our Team Members, to our customers, and to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been with us since the very beginning, the confusion and hurt we caused around our new policy for Pride flags failed you." 

Sadarangani also said each of the company's stores would feature locally-created artwork "shaped by the voices of Team Members and the neighborhoods they serve, a living expression of the diverse communities Philz is proud to be part of."

"When Philz Coffee removed Pride flags from some of their locations, our community felt it," said San Francisco Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford in a statement. "That kind of action sends a message, especially right now, when LGBTQIA+ people are navigating a climate that feels more threatening by the day."

Ford added, "What gave me reason to engage with Mahesh was something I don't always see from a CEO in this situation: genuine humility. He reached out, listened and understood that this wasn't about optics. It was about whether queer people, and the employees who show up for them every day, feel safe and seen."

But despite the closures, veterans of the plant-based food business pushed back against prophecies of doom and, in one case, argued that, such closures notwithstanding, plant-based eating is only growing.

Kitchen 17 in Avondale was the first Chicago vegan establishment to close on Nov. 25, 2025. Native Foods in the Loop followed on Nov. 28, Chicago Raw in Streeterville on Nov. 30, and then The Chicago Diner announced the closure of its Logan Square location on Dec. 1.

That was four vegetarian or vegan restaurants closing in a mere eight days.

Since then, Bloom Plant Based Kitchen and Cinnaholic, both in Wicker Park, announced their closings. Meanwhile, Liberation Kitchen in West Town closed back in June after 12 years, and Lynn's Chicago Pizza in Woodlawn switched to catering only.

The trend was not limited to Chicago. Articles have documented waves of all-vegan restaurant closures in New York City, Los Angeles, and London, which have rattled customer bases and left some wondering what was going on.

Many analysts noted the restaurant industry as a whole has been struggling, particularly since the height of the COVID pandemic. Alice & Friends' Vegan Kitchen — which remains open in Edgewater and Oak Park — said costly ingredients and food made from scratch make for high costs and low profit margins, and vegan restaurants attract a niche audience.

Other analysts also pointed out that fewer people are seeking out eateries that offer strictly plant-based fare now that vegetarian or vegan options are on the menu at many mainstream restaurants. Others argued that vegan restaurants have stagnated, failing to market themselves on any selling point other than the fact that they were vegan, which made them lose their appeal, particularly given the prices.

"Recently went somewhere and it was basically a rice bowl, with some steamed veggies, a drizzle of soy-based sauce = $30," a Chicago Vegan subreddit user wrote. "The whole time I'm thinking, 'this is tasty, but I could make it at home.'"

Writing about the U.K., The Guardian said there seemed to be "two popular theories" about why vegan restaurants were closing: one being challenges in the restaurant business as a whole, the other concluding that consumers were turning away from veganism.

"Given the volume of chatter about the carnivore diet and the myriad myths concerning plant-based eating — that it is impossible to build muscle as a vegan, that plant milk is always bad for you, that kids should never be fed a vegan diet — the idea that people are forsaking veganism is understandable," Isabel Lewis wrote for The Guardian in September 2025.

Pioneers say the plant-based eating business has come a long way

Speaking to CBS News Chicago in February, Chicago restaurateurs and other local experts agreed with some of those points, not with the claim that plant-based eating is going out of style. Kay Stepkin, an icon in the Chicago vegan world, said just the opposite is the case.

For many years, Stepkin owned the natural foods store The Bread Shop, at 3400 N. Halsted St. in the heart of the Northalsted LGBTQ+ nightlife district. Its successor, the Beantix vintage shop, is far from new these days, but a visitor familiar with The Bread Shop might still recognize the hardwood floor and imagine the smell of wheat germ permeating the space rather than leather.

The Bread Shop was in business from 1971 until 1996. Stepkin noted that when she first opened, she had thought The Bread Shop was the first vegetarian business in Chicago, though she later learned there had been others dating back to the turn of the last century before the trend fell out of favor.

Stepkin also said that when The Bread Shop opened, many did not take her business seriously.

"Back in the 1970s, I actually had one newspaper article — I believe it was in the Sun-Times — about The Bread Shop that actually laughed at us. I don't remember exactly what she said, but she actually was making fun of what we were doing," she said. "You never see that today. You do not see that. And I think that even people who aren't vegan and aren't vegetarian, there's a certain respect for what we're doing that you did not see in the past."

Stepkin said around 20 years after The Bread Shop opened, there were 40 vegan restaurants in Chicago, and today there are 80.

David Lipschutz, a former employee of The Bread Shop, owns the lacto-ovo-vegetarian restaurant Blind Faith Café in Evanston, which he opened with two business partners in 1979. He said back when the Blind Faith opened, and for some time afterward, plant-based eaters had limited options.

"You know, 40 years ago if you were vegetarian, you could get a pasta primavera," he said. "That was your option at the restaurant."

Michael Hornick is president and partner at The Chicago Diner, which has been operating for 42 years at its original location on North Halsted Street. It was founded in 1983 by Hornick's aunt and uncle, Jo Kaucher and Mickey Hornick, who had both worked in the same space when Stepkin ran it as The Bread Shop Kitchen. Kaucher had also worked back at The Bread Shop across the street.

Michael Hornick said that when he started working at The Chicago Diner in 1991, omnivores were inclined to reject the very idea of eating at a plant-based restaurant.

"The challenge was that you could have four people dining out, three of them may be vegetarian, and it was the one person that wasn't that would veto it — 'Nope, can't go to Chicago Diner. There's nothing for me to eat there,' which always kind of made me laugh," he said. "At that time, I was already eating that way, and I was like, what do you mean there's nothing for you to eat? You can eat anything there. It's everybody else that you're dining with that's going to have a challenge somewhere else."

Today, Hornick said, The Chicago Diner appeals broadly to omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike.

"When I was cooking, you know, back in the '90s, I could easily say that 20% were omnivorous," he said, "and nowadays, I could easily say that 20% are probably vegan. You know, 40% are probably vegetarian, but we see a much bigger group that just comes in for great food."

More than meets the eye in closures

But if that's the case, why did The Chicago Diner have to close one of its locations? Hornick attributed it to changes in the restaurant industry and problems related to the location, as sidewalks along Milwaukee Avenue have been ripped up and parking has become difficult to find.

"Logan Square was a fantastic place. We met a lot of fantastic people. We have amazing people who have worked with us for, I mean, some people for well longer than that restaurant existed. We brought as many people as we could, but obviously, one restaurant needs fewer people," he said. "And it was hard. It was really, really hard, I mean, to go ahead and have to see something that did thrive as well as it did before the pandemic, to just never recover like that."

But Hornick did agree that focusing only on being a vegan restaurant is not a recipe for success, particularly if it comes across as preachy. He emphasized being inclusive toward all diners, rather than invoking moral authority at the table.

"If I go ahead and keep on slamming — 'We're vegan! We're vegan! We're vegan! You're not! You're wrong!' — who wants to dine like that, right? You know? I mean, we're coming in here to have a good time with our friends. We're coming in here to have a good time with our family. We're having a good time to escape all the nonsense outside of these four walls," he said. "So, yeah, why are we bombarded with what we're doing isn't right, as a guest? So my thought process was, we serve great food. We have great service. We're here for everyone."

Hornick said the restaurant does emphasize that its food is plant-based and is proud to do so, but that doesn't mean being confrontational.

"We don't preach at the tables," he said. "It's a safe space for everyone."

Meanwhile, Lipschultz said that if his restaurant had been a strictly vegan restaurant that primarily identified as such, it would not still be around after 47 years in business. He said the Blind Faith Café has succeeded with its ability to find a specific niche — not only as a vegetarian restaurant that serves dishes with eggs and dairy products, but features a menu that is about 50% vegan — but also as a "polished casual concept" featuring a menu with something for everyone.

"We don't have to be Middle Eastern or Thai or Latin or anything," he said. "We can offer it all, which I do. We have a very eclectic menu. It's all over the world."

Hornick also emphasized the value of broad appeal.

"We're not trying to be a Thai place. We're not trying to be an Indian restaurant. We're not trying to be purely Mexican or Venezuelan or French," he said. "It's something that's really kind of fun as a diner, because that is part of the conversation, and with so many different cultures and people from around the world, living in Chicago and visiting, we get to go ahead and do things that would appease them."

Lipschutz also pointed out that plant-based restaurants don't typically have the luxury of having large-scale funds like Chicago's biggest restaurant groups, and are dependent on the passion of both the owners and the customers. For this reason, he said, it might sting a little bit more — and capture headlines a little bit more easily — when a beloved plant-based restaurant goes out of business.

"When you find that place that your favorite food is, your favorite servers are at, and you feel safe eating there, it changes something," Hornick said. "And when they tell you that they're going to close in there, and it's as if you went ahead and found out that your grandma's not going to cook a holiday meal anymore."

Stepkin went further to say the closure of a few vegan restaurants might not be strictly bad news in the big picture, as more competition means a higher bar for quality and success.

"I think that our movement is really exploding. It's getting stronger and stronger, and back 40 years ago, 50 years ago, if you opened a vegetarian restaurant, it would most likely succeed, because all the vegetarians from all over the city would come to it," she said. "Nowadays, not only because we have gone from one to 80 vegan restaurants, vegetarian restaurants rather in Chicago, you'd better be good to succeed."

A strong tie to culture for some plant-based restaurants

While The Chicago Diner and Blind Faith feature eclectic menus not tied to one specific culture, some of the longest-standing vegan and vegetarian restaurants are deeply rooted in culture.

Annapurna Simply Vegetarian, 2600 W. Devon Ave., has brought South Indian cuisine to Little India since 1982. The restaurant's goal, according to its website, was not only to "deliver exceptional food but also popularize vegetarian cuisine."

Meanwhile, Soul Veg City, 203 E. 75th St., is a staple in Chatham known for its vegan soul food. It is also one of the oldest Black-owned vegan soul food restaurants in the entire country.

In 2022, co-owner Lori Seay told CBS News Chicago's Audrina Sinclair that Soul Veg City was created to "have a place to feed and provide the community with healthy food… to help with some of the diseases — diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension — just plaguing us over the years."

In 2024, Soul Veg City even expanded, opening Vegan Now 2 Go at 1536 E. 75th St. in South Shore, just under two miles east of the original Soul Veg City location. As the name implies, Vegan Now 2 Go is mostly carryout. 

Both Annapurna and Soul Veg City direct their focus on their food being fresh and healthy, rather than just emphasizing their vegan options. Indian, Ethiopian, Thai, and Lebanese are just some of the cultural cuisines that serve many vegetarian dishes, or diets that traditionally center on vegetables.

A 2016 Pew Research Center study found that as of that time, Black Americans were the fastest-growing group of vegans and vegetarians in the country. The survey, which is now a decade old, found that 8% of Black Americans identified as strict vegan or vegetarian, as compared to 3% of Americans overall.

Researchers at the University of South Florida investigated the lived experiences of Black vegans. The 2022 study found that Black Veganism is more than just a subset of mainstream veganism, but also a "new social movement" rooted in Black culture, history, strengthening community and reconnection with African heritage. 

Meanwhile, a 2024 UIC study found that Black women were more than twice as likely as white men to consider "animal rights, anti-racism and environmental protection" as reasons to embrace veganism. The author noted that these findings could be helpful for vegan organizations and support the argument against the perception that veganism is for white, affluent women.

A 2023 Gallup poll found that low-income adults were actually twice as likely to follow a vegetarian diet. 

The road ahead for vegan restaurants and plant-based eating

On the prospects for an entrepreneur looking to open a new vegan restaurant, Lipschutz was less than sanguine.

"I would have said a year or two ago that I was more hopeful," he said.

Lipschutz said a large part of the issue has to do with the marketplace for restaurants as a whole, which has been battered by the pandemic and inflation. Plant-based restaurants, given their niche market, face additional hurdles.

"I think, honestly, that places that are vegetarian or are vegan, they're going to be niche concepts in very specific markets where there's enough interest and desire and resources to support them," Lipschutz said. "I think any restaurant opening today has got a lot of challenges, they really do, you know? They're opening into a headwind. But I think location is probably the key. It has to be someplace where people will respect and put their money on the table for it. And so I think it can't just be any concept anywhere."

Hornick said a plant-based restaurant won't work without passion and a tough work ethic to go with it. He also said a restaurant owner needs to be realistic about financial realities — something that fans of The Chicago Diner don't always understand.

"I mean, and this is a big thing that a lot of people are always asking, 'Why don't you expand? Why don't you come to Milwaukee? Why don't you come to St. Louis? You do awesome in L.A. Dallas needs somewhere like you. Nashville is needing a place that's completely vegan. Nobody has a diner doing what you're doing,'" he said. "And it's financial backing. It gets really tough."

But Stepkin encouraged thinking outside the box when it comes to measuring the success of the plant-based eating movement, rather than limiting it to restaurants. One effort she pointed out was the Taste of Vegan meetup, organized by Jeff and Pam Olichwier. The group seeks out events at restaurants that will provide vegan and raw options for them, and encourages mainstream restaurants that serve animal products to incorporate plant-based items onto their menus.

Stepkin said the effort is working.

"That's one of the reasons why you find so many vegan and vegetarian options in meat restaurants," she said, "and so I think that's also helping growth."

One issue right now, Stepkin said, is a gender imbalance in the plant-based eating movement, with more than half of the people attending vegan events usually being women. But she said there were some reasons why the movement has taken off with women more easily than men.

"Our movement definitely has more women than men, and I just always wondered about that. Why is that? Why is that? My mind would just go back to it every once in a while. And one day, out of the blue, it occurred to me — it's because we have been in charge of the food for the past 200,000 years," she said. "So I believe that our instincts are just tuned in to the value of food, and so we have to bring more men along to it."

Stepkin also had some specific ideas for how someone opening a new plant-based restaurant could take health-conscious eating to the next level.

"One thing that none of them are doing yet — so I would suggest this for any new restaurant — is having all...whole-grain options. So even going into a vegetarian or vegan restaurant today, you're going to find that every one of them has white pasta. Some of them, a couple of them — two that I know of — serve brown rice as well as white rice. The others, as far as I know, have all white rice," she said. "So to me, that would be a very good thing is to focus on whole foods."

Stepkin said it was the emergence of Whole Foods — the grocery store — that made her decide to close The Bread Shop in the 1990s. But while businesses may come and go, Stepkin said the cultural shift toward plant-based eating isn't slowing down.

"Just the fact that a standard restaurant would work with the Taste of Vegan people, and agree to have some vegan foods, is a cultural shift, and that some of them keep vegan items on their menu after that is a cultural shift, and that meat eaters go into these restaurants and see a V for vegan or vegetarian — it just opens them up," she said. "It's like things are changing all around us."

In its Sunday edition, the paper published a summer reading list with the titles, authors, and descriptions of 15 books. But it turned out that 10 of those 15 books do not exist.

Author Isabel Allende was born in Peru to Chilean parents. She gained worldwide acclaim in 1982 with the publication of a novel "the House of the Spirits," which began as a letter to her dying grandfather. She is also the author of "Daughter of Fortune," "Island Beneath the Sea," and "The Wind Knows My Name," among other titles.

But Allende has never written a book called "Tidewater Dreams." Yet, there that imaginary book is, first on the Sun-Times list — claiming to be "a multigenerational saga set in a coastal town where magical realism meets environmental activism."

Chicago author Rebecca Makkai gained acclaim in 2018 for "The Great Believers," the powerful and heartbreaking story of the AIDS epidemic and its devastating effect on a group of young men living in and around the city's Boystown or Northalsted community in the 1980s. Following its publication, Chicago Magazine writer Adam Morgan wrote, "I'll never be able to look at my adopted neighborhood with the same naïveté."

Makkai's follow-up to "The Great Believers" was "I Have Some Questions for You," an acclaimed literary mystery novel released in 2023. She has never written a book called "Boiling Point" that "centers on a climate scientist forced to reckon with her own family's environmental impact when her teenage daughter becomes an eco-activist targeting her mother's wealthy clients."

But the summer reading list that ran in the Sun-Times claims she did, and calls it her follow-up to "The Great Believers" — something with which "I Have Some Questions for You" protagonist Bodie Kane might take issue.

"The Last Algorithm" by Andy Weir, "Hurricane Season" by Brit Bennett, "The Collectors Piece" by Taylor Jenkins Reid, "Nightshade Market" by Min Jin Lee, "The Longest Day" by Rumaan Alam, "Migrations" by Maggie O'Farrell, "The Rainmakers" by Percival Everett, and "Salt and Honey" by Delia Owens are all AI-generated fake titles too.

The authors attached to the names of the fake books are all real. Lee even wrote on X: "I have not written and will not be writing a novel called 'Nightshade Market.' Thank you."

The last five books — "Bonjour Tristesse" by Françoise Sagan, "Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter, "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury, "Call Me By Your Name" by André Aciman, and "Atonement" by Ian McEwan — are all real titles. However, none of those books are new as one might expect for a summer reading list — the descriptions even acknowledge that "Bonjour Tristesse" was published in 1954 and "Dandelion Wine" in 1957.

The Sun-Times special section was licensed from a national content partner that used a freelance writer. The section was not approved by the paper's newsroom.

"Our partner confirmed that a freelancer used an AI agent to write the article," Sun-Times parent organization Chicago Public Media chief executive officer Melissa Bell wrote Tuesday. "This should be a learning moment for all of journalism that our work is valued because of the relationship our very real, human reporters and editors have with our audiences."

The Sun-Times said it is updating its policies to ensure nothing like this happens again. The paper also noted that subscribers will not be charged for the premium edition in which the list appeartd.

The newsroom's union, the Chicago Sun-Times Guild, released a statement reading in part: "We take great pride in the union-produced journalism that goes into the respected pages of our newspaper and on our website. We're deeply disturbed that AI-generated content was printed alongside our work."