Ann Sather to open in former Stella's Diner location in Chicago's East Lakeview community; location to north to close

While the building that housed the flagship Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue is now being torn down, the renowned Chicago restaurant chain is now set to open a new Lakeview location.

However, the opening of this new location will mean the closure of another existing one.

A spokeswoman said Monday that Ann Sather, owned by former Chicago Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) has signed a lease to open at 3042 N. Broadway at Barry Avenue in the fall. This is the former location of Stella's Diner, which just closed.

This new Ann Sather will replace a location that has been in operation for decades about half a mile north at 3415 N. Broadway, at Roscoe Street. The spokeswoman said that location will close shortly before the new location at the former Stella's site opens.

In other words, the move will still mean a net of only one Ann Sather location in Lakeview, while for many years there had been two or even three.

The building that used to house the Ann Sather flagship, at 909 W. Belmont Ave. blocks away from both sites on Broadway, was under demolition as of this week.

The flagship location has moved to 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.

At the former Belmont Avenue Ann Sather site, a mixed-use development is under construction. Just to the east of the former Belmont Avenue Ann Sather, a building now rising will feature 46 luxury apartments.

This building replaced a two-story brown brick building nearly architecturally identical to the one that houses Ann Sather, which housed The Gallery Bookstore, Belmont Army Vintage, and other businesses.

A second 46-unit phase of the development, called the Belmora, will be built where Ann Sather stood.

The Ann Sather restaurant flagship 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.

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 not far from the new flagship on Division Street. 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.

Stella's, the diner that Ann Sather will supplant at Broadway and Barry, had been in business for 64 years.  

In 1962, Jimmy and Stella Mavraganes opened the restaurant as The Wheel-A-Round, Chicago Magazine reported. The name later changed to The Lakefront Diner, and after the founders' daughter and son, Maria and Gus, took over, they honored their mother by adopting the name Stella's Diner.

Current owner Marvin Barsky bought Stella's in 2021. Barsky owns The Bagel, across the street at 3107 N. Broadway, which he bought after owner Dan Wolf died in 2022.

Stella's and The Bagel were both closed by the Chicago Department of Public Health last month for cockroach infestations. Both reopened before Stella's went out of business altogether, and Barsky said the Stella's closure followed a sale that had been in negotiations for some time and was not connected to the health department issues.

The Bagel remains open for business as usual, and Barsky said plans are still afoot to open a new location for that historic restaurant in Glenview.