Stella's Diner in East Lakeview closed for health violations, weeks after sister restaurant The Bagel
Inspectors last week shut down Stella's Diner in Chicago's East Lakeview community after finding a cockroach infestation and other health code violations.
The Chicago Department of Public Health shut down Stella's, at 3042 N. Broadway at Barry Avenue, on Thursday of last week.
The closure comes less than a month after inspectors closed The Bagel, across the street at 3107 N. Broadway. The deli has common ownership with Stella's.
Inspectors suspended the license at The Bagel after documenting a cockroach infestation during a complaint investigation on June 2. On June 26, the same thing happened at Stella's.
The city ordered management at the restaurants to treat the facility for pests, and to remove the dead insects that were found inside.
The Bagel reopened a few weeks after its closure. A sign in the front door at Stella's indicated it was still closed as of Tuesday.
Stella's dates back to 1962, when 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.
Stella's is known for its all-day breakfasts, sandwiches, and milkshakes, as well as the enormous first clutching silverware over the door, which honors cofounder Jimmy Mavraganes.
The Bagel was founded in 1950 by Chaim and Elsa Golenzer, and their daughter Ruth and son-in-law Edward Wolf. Ruth and Edward's son, Dan Wolf, a child survivor of the Holocaust, took over in 1969.
The Bagel was originally located at 4806 N. Kedzie Ave. in the Albany Park neighborhood. In 1977, The Bagel moved from Albany Park to 3000 W. Devon Ave. in West Rogers Park, a location that became a campaign stop for the likes of Mayor Harold Washington.
The Bagel in turn moved from its West Rogers Park location to its current space at 3107 N. Broadway in East Lakeview in 1992.
The Bagel also opened a location at the Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie in 1987, but the Old Orchard location closed in 2018. Plans were announced this past spring for a new location in Glenview.
Dan Wolf died in 2022, and current owner Marvin Barsky took over. Barsky by then already owned Stella's by then, having purchased the diner in 2021.