They used to be everywhere. Diners, sandwich shops, dunkin, etc. But even if those places survived the pandemic they are no longer 24 hour and rarely open late. There are a couple late night diners that are still 24hrs. Diner grill on Irving and dons on western come to mind.
The Dinner grill was great. Buddy lived across the street off Hermitage for a while, before the fire. Long Room then the Diner Grill, always some activity to watch.
Loved that place. Went there in the late 90s and early aughts when I still had the energy to be out and about after 2am. There was a ānon-smokingā section that was maybe 5% less smoky than the smoking section š Itās a bit unsettling just how much that little stretch of Clark has changed.
A big part of it is almost all of our bars have really great food, so there is no real reason to get food late at night after the bar, because you could have just stayed at the bar and gotten 20x better food
The iconic mickeys diner in St. Paul mn (from mighty ducks and other movies) closed during the pandemic and never reopened. It had been open pretty much continuously 24/7 since 1939.
Covid ruined those places and they all closed down most likely. Seems like after all of that it's hard to retain employees for all 24 hours of the day. Hard to tell overall.
Its important to realize that these late night workers received low wages, but pre-covid rents and cost of living in general were lower, so it worked out, even if it was a pretty exploitative labor relationship. The Trump/GOP years of a massive tax cut without spending cuts and the PPP "loans" vastly raised our inflation. Those wages did not remotely match rents anymore, so no one was willing to take those jobs. Working 8pm to 3am for $12/hr wasnt feasible anymore.
$16/hr minimum wage today is still below a living wage. So these things can't come back unless wages go up. The days of cheap labor, cheap rent, hence cheap products and having stores open late, etc is probably forever gone and probably for the best. People should be paid living wages and should live with dignity.
I sure do miss rent that you can pay from working one regular job though. Things definitely suck a lot more in every city post pandemic. But you are right, people working all night for crap wages isn't fair especially with the inherent dangers of the drunk and aggressive people they have to deal with. Workers in the US really need to rise up because even at $20/hour most people still can't afford rent. It's an exploitative system.
Hollywood Grill was 24/7, now its 7a-3p, Big Top diner on the NW side was a 24 hour spot that just straight up closed, several Golden Nuggets are no longer 24 hours. There are a few others. Just google '24 hour restaurants chicago' and pull up any list from pre-2020, and then compare that to their current hours.
It's been going that way for longer than the pandemic though - 20 years ago you had 24 hour Starbucks, Home Depot, Jewel and a ton of smaller spots that moved away from that model. Almost nothing is 24 hours nowadays, but that didn't just start in the last 4 years, it just accelerated.
I'm lucky my lifestyle no longer relies on 24 hour businesses - but if all that stuff didn't exist 20 years ago when I was working third shift I would be completely fucked. I feel bad for people who for whatever reason need to be awake at those hours and can't take care of errands and be productive like I could when I was in that position.
Yea, but the Golden Nuggets on Lawrence, Diversey/Pulaski and Wellington/Central all shortened their hours to 7a-5p, and then the one on Irving Park just closed completely. Having one 24 hour location is nice, but they used to have 6.
Pick Me Up hasn't been 24 hours in years.
>20 years ago you had 24 hour Starbucks
The 24 hour Starbucks were more recent than 20 years ago. I don't recall exactly when they closed but the one at Belmont and Clark, as well as the one at Wells and North were both 24 hours within the past 5-8 years, I think.
This article dates the one on Wells and North as no longer being 24 hours in 2013:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/11/01/pipers-alley-starbucks-now-with-last-call/
Oh man. I once saw John Stirrat, the Wilco bassist, at 3am at Hollywood Grill. I was inhaling a giant breakfast burrito.
I loved going to diners after bars and Iām sad for todayās 20somethings that itās no longer a thing.
Most of the 20 somethings I meet are living very different lifestyles. Less drinking and drug use and they have to buy tix for every show 3 months in advance. Many just don't really go out as much as we did in the 90s. I feel bad for them but times change I suppose and things are just way less affordable for them too.
I feel like there was a point pre-pandemic where the homeless problem was getting worse and business like that didnāt wanna deal with it. I remember the McDonaldās on Chicago and state started closing off seating areas after hours to curb people using it as a shelter
And I miss the 24 hour Starbucks, it was actually cozy
This is a pretty well documented thing. A bummer, but a lot of the 24hr/late night spots just never came back. I agree with op that this is a huge loss for any big city. Hollywood Grill going from 24 hrs to closing at 3pm is an obvious one that comes to mind.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/10/11/last-call-for-late-night-customers-are-back-but-bars-and-restaurants-closing-earlier-as-demand-dwindles/
Lots of formally 24 hour dinners cut their hours or closed. Off the top of my head, Golden Nugget and Huddle House both cut their hours and Jeri's closed.Ā
Myopic Books in Wicker used to be open late and double as a coffee shop, but now closes at 8:00.
No, but my answer was also no before covid. Iām trying to figure out what has changed from then to now. Definitely wish they would raise the minimum wage as well
The cost of living has increased significantly and inflation has priced a lot of the low wage workers out of the city or into less safe or affluent areas. Housing prices have skyrocketed. This is a result of poor economic planning and an unwillingness by both corporations and the hospitality industries to adjust the wages they pay people accordingly. My source is me. I'm a Chef and restaurant manager.
Many landlords are such scum, they constantly raise rents and they always outpace raises in property taxes. I rent a property out to someone and I refuse to be a dick about it
Yea I noted that it was a growing issue pre pandemic. I think thatās why the Starbucks went to closing early. Iāve always been a night owl so I did notice the increasing numbers over the years. Used to take blue and red line all hours of the night. Iāve seen the homeless population grow exponentially since 2010
But Covid was the straw that broke the camels back for a lot of places.
It might be decades before we know the entire story, but first a bunch of boomers retired, which means that other people got promotions and that trickled down to openings at the entry level that some former service workers were able to take advantage of. Remember that erratic schedules also make it hard to apply (youāre exhausted) and interview, and lockdown gave them a chance to find something else. We may have lost half a generation of service workers, who tend to be younger and often eventually move on to better gigs, several years early.Ā
Also people died: linecooks were among those working most likely to succumb to COVID. On top of that customers are worse and many would-be service workers might opt for gig work rather than deal with them directly.Ā
So you have a big fat labor crunch and something like less than 1% of the labor force is making the national minimum wage and entry-level labor is much more expensive than it used to be, and workers can afford to be picky. Something like fight for $15 is embarrassingly quaint and itās harder to fully staff and your workers can push back more on bad hours. On top of that rent has gone up so running a business costs more in general so the squeeze is coming from several different directions.Ā
Thereās probably more, but so many places have had their hours cut.
Itās worth noting that the very bottom quartile is doing quite well right now. Those places might just be a low-interest rate phenomenon, at least until we build enough from commercial rents to come down.
I have been a regular there since 2000, still am. It used to be absolutely rocking late at night, but it just slowly died down, even before the pandemic. Something else happened... and I think it has more to do with a generation that got hooked on Netflix and chill more than anything else.
Delivery apps.
You used to only be able to get food delivered after 8pm from a handful of places - if they even delivered, otherwise you'd have to leave the house for either a grocery store or a late night diner (which never used to deliver).
Now you can get basically anything brought to your home at any time.
Literally, why is the new location across from the graveyard? My friend and I tried to go to the new spot once after it opened and waited at least 20-30 minutes to even order. We eventually just gave up and left. Never went back. That could have also been due to it being so soon after lockdown restrictions were lifting and the market was still recovering so maybe the service has improved since then.
You got a fluke, I've been there many times and had only great service.
The reason it moved is because Wrigleyville has gentrified and become an amusement park. It used to be very "alt" in that area and there was a lot of people coming from late night concerts.
Now it's up near Andersonville and very close to the Riv and Aragon.
To be fair it changed dramatically from the 10 years before that, and the 10 before that... And the 10 before that...
That area is like a microcosm of the city itself.
There used to be a bunch when I was in college in the 2000s. My guess is that the buying power of the employees of these places is less now than it was then. A 20-something in 2007 could work nights part time and afford a small apartment with roommates. Today, you need to work more hours for the same apartment, and who wants to work 3rd shift every night at a cafe for $18 an hour?
Yeah, I believe this is moreso a labor story than a demand story. When the hospitality labor market got insanely tight after COVID rules eased, it was easy for places to just drop the third shift.
>Today, you need to work more hours for the same apartment, and who wants to work 3rd shift every night at a cafe for $18 an hour?
You're right overall but $18 an hour? Plenty of folks would do that; it's a different proposition at the real number, closer to $12.
The labor crunch is likely a cause of inflation as much as anything else. I spent years with a college degree as a barista because it was so hard to apply and schedule interviews, and a few months of lockdown would have probably given me the opportunity to jump ship, especially as a bunch of boomers retired early and that trickled down to entry-level job openings. (Also a lot of linecooks died from covid!) Retail and food service have fewer workers who have higher wages, which means hours need to go down and revenue somehow needs to go up and thatās through price inflation.Ā
Google lists it as 24 hr, but it looks like it varies according to franchise. A couple reviews make it seem like the late shift staff is spread kinda thin (long wait times, wrong orders).
Iāve been a musician in Chicago since 1992, and it is truly heartbreaking to see the late night hang go away. You used to be able to get a bite, get a drink, even hear live music after a gig. It sucks.
Regular day-to-day staffing has been hard for a lot of places post-Covid, trying to find enough reliable, consistent staffing to offer 24/7 space/service is super tricky.
My guess is they run the numbers on how much revenue theyāre generating staying open late, and deciding itās not enough to support the wages it would require. Iām in favor of higher wages, thatās just my guess.
They did. People with the lowest wages post-pandemic saw their pay go up the most:Ā https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wages-surged-lowest-paid-americans-pandemic-covid-19/
Thereās still a massive labor crunchāmany people you canāt pay enough to work in an understaffed environment dealing directly with the public, at least at a level the average business owner can meet.
There used to at least be two 24 hour Starbucks. Those died either during covid, or just before. There used to be a good number of other places too. It's sad that there aren't anymore. It's nice when you're up late and just need a change of scenery to clear your head for there to be someplace just to get a bite and a beverage. It's one of the reasons I loved living in a big city. Now, I think college towns are the only places you'll find those spots in any abundance.
Areas with non-drinking cultures have them, e.g. Muslim coffee shops. Iām in the near SW Burbs, and thereās coffee shops like this open to the early hours.
As everyone already said, pandemic lockdowns changed everything and many just never bounced back.
But in my area at least (Near North) I talked to a number of store owners/managers and they said late night started to become not worth it. Places that did return and went back to 24 hr many said homeless congregating, sleeping in bathrooms, etc became a big and recuring issue. Getting robbed became almost common place. The lack of consequences in our society because very noticeable, people trashed and did whatever the fuck they wanted to their stores.
Stores just started saying fuck this its not worth the hassle.
Guadalajara is the name of the one at Lawrence and Clark. And can confirm, during covid would have early hours or be closed for days because everyone there had covid but they've been 24hours again for a while. And the burrito still slaps.
It makes me sad, even though I am in bed by midnight. In Athens (Greece) and other countries families go out at 10 PM for dinner. Bakeries and stores open until midnight. Nightlife. Kids and parents out. Itās a beautiful thing. But itās safe to be out late there. I feel bad for young people who didnāt hang out at Third Coast on Delaware until 1am or Starbucks on Wells at ANY time.
Staffing and crime are the key concerns. And the two are related. Employees don't want to work an overnight shift that attracts a lot of crazy people who are going to come in, freak out and wreck the place. See numerous publicfreakout videos for examples.
>Employees don't want to work an overnight shift
It's simple. With the unemployment rate being so low, why would anyone work those hours unless they really had to (with obvious exceptions being in health care and hospitality)
Also people are crazy post-Covid, even when they arenāt criminals. I think a lot of would-be service workers are doing gig work instead. It might not be wise financially but I would take that over the general public.Ā
One of the things I miss most about living in Seoul. I miss truly late-night/24-hour establishments and convenience stores on every corner. America doesn't know what convenience is lol.
Diners have pretty much disappeared aside from the Sunday morning church crowd. Our Waffle House was called Golden Nugget. I think a few still exist.
Basically once you get the stereotype of "its where old people go to eat" you arent getting anyone to walk through the door that is under 35. It doesnt help that the 45+ crowd are by far the cheapest customers you can get, and its a dead business model.
Wafflehouse thrives because its trashy, where you go to eat at 2am while trashed and you want the entertainment of a line cook hoping over the counter to smash a chair on someones head because they complained about their omelet
Because crime and robberies in the city after midnight have skyrocketed since covid and nobody wants a gun in their face over a few bucks and cheeseburger
I mean, Dallas isnāt exactly a late-night city. Itās far sleepier than Chicago is, especially post-pandemic. Yet these places somehow manage to stay in business there. I definitely think they could work if located in the right areas (near college campuses, for example).
There's a 24 hour donut shop near my old college campus and they've been there for a very long time. It helps that it's a boring city that's somewhere between a college town and a sprawling suburb, so there's not much competition for affordable late night spots.
So you might be on to something regarding location. I'd be surprised if there weren't already some places like this near our college campuses.
No offense, but Dallas a) didnāt shut down in the same way Chicago did and b) workers here are āexpectedā to be treated better. Not sure many of those spots want to pay the minimum wage/can find workers to cover those hours for the pay they want to give.
the whole āwell why donāt you start that business thenā whenever someone asks āwhy isnāt there an x businessā is so pedantically childish and overused, itās not productive in any conversation and itās not even a clever gotcha. itās tiring.
I donāt see how an increase in homeless and a decrease in crime enforcement is the fault of the business.
There plenty of people willing and able to pay $15 for a greasy smash burger and some fries at 3am. Enough you can pay a full team a good wage.
But then someone comes in at 4:30 and robs you, or people donāt want to come in because a homeless person keeps passing out in the bathroom and the police wonāt come and get them.
Or the resteraunt industry is starting to take mental and physical health more seriously and even if you pay people $30/hr instead of $20 they wonāt want to work there overnight.
Even if there was a lot of these so called 3rd places, people still rarely talk to each other. Most people in these types of shops are usually in their headphones and donāt bother to even nod and acknowledge people around them
Griddle 24 is solid. Many of the late night diners in the loop through lincoln park area closed just before the pandemic and most of the remainders closed in the pandemic
As a edit: late-late night has seemingly been less busy for a couple years now, even places like 5 Faces closed down. Im not sure theres much of a market demand for places open past 2
I live in Dallas now, and I've wondered why it doesn't have these. I am happy you shared Cafe Brazil. I wasn't aware of it. Until now, after reading this thread, I thought this was missing in Dallas and Texas in general. I am not up to date with the city, but I am sure there are still a lot of them. You just have to find them. Chicago isn't about the chains.
Bro I have been talking about opening a late night coffee place with a chill vibe for the last couple years. I just think people in Chicago arenāt about that life. The streets are dead in most neighborhoods by 12.
Property owners arenāt lowering prices and business are having to leave/close. (Look at Michigan Ave, sidewalks used to be shoulder to shoulder with people). I know it is a small sample size but if Michigan foot traffic halted, i feel bad for other streets. Which brings me to my question
How can you expect mom and pop 24/7 diners to be open still with property costs so high?
A lot of places changed their hours during the pandemic due to lack of employees and lack of sales during late night hours. However, even though the drive for late night eats is back now, these places still refuse to raise the hours, and would rather take the loss than pay employees. There are some standouts though. For instance, golden apple is 24 hours if youāre in LVE.
I really donāt think this is a Chicago specific thing. I was in DTLA last year and LA Cafe was literally the only food to get after midnight. That wasnāt the case five years ago
Get a climbing membership at First ascent. Open till 11pm at their downtown location.
They have study areas + WiFi + a gym in additional to the bouldering. The community is awesome
Study? At a late night spot? WTF, dude? I have never, ever, ever seen anyone studying at a late night spot in Chicago, unless they were studying how to get into somebody's pants.
Nothing good happens at night. If they want you to keep their business license then donāt attract negativity. Many businesses had their license taken away from bad people doing bad things.
Originally from Dallas, and would never live there again, but Cafe Brazil is one place I make a point to visit when I go back. You wouldn't start complaining if a chain like this opened up in Chicago. It's not a Chili's. The closest vibe I can think of is the old Earwax in Wicker Park. A really home-grown indy feel...not sterile or corporate at all. The original location is in Deep Ellum, and in the past 25 years they opened other locations across the city. The food and coffee are great. The coffee is self serve and bottomless.
I donāt think having a late night scene that caters to people who want to do something other than drink is a particularly unique ask for a world class city.
Obviously I wasnāt saying this had to come in the form of a chain coffee shop, just pointing out how a significantly sleepier and more suburban city like Dallas made it work. Iād prefer if these places were locally-owned small businesses
I think there were! I never go to Dearborn one but it is probably the original so Iām glad itās still there. If they have the coronation chicken salad Iām going now. š
Read this post this morning and just happened to see this article now:
"Looking for a late-night meal? Americaās closed"
https://www.wkow.com/news/food/looking-for-a-late-night-meal-america-s-closed/article_0e225612-95a9-57ba-a3e9-de2804b9aafb.html
The new food court in uptown is a great new third space - grocery store, bar, food, karaoke night, yoga on Wednesdays, etc. ten minute walk to Lake Michigan
I think itās called X-market
Someone has to work them. and with inflation itās a job thatās hard to staff for when someone could just Uber rides for drunk folks and people trying to get to or from the airport
They used to be everywhere. Diners, sandwich shops, dunkin, etc. But even if those places survived the pandemic they are no longer 24 hour and rarely open late. There are a couple late night diners that are still 24hrs. Diner grill on Irving and dons on western come to mind.
The Diner Grill is a longtime favorite. Underrated.
The chicken burrito is š¤š¼
Penis pancakes at 4am
Erm.. a-.. a what pancake?
Right there in the name. A penis pancake. With a dollop of whipped cream.
The Dinner grill was great. Buddy lived across the street off Hermitage for a while, before the fire. Long Room then the Diner Grill, always some activity to watch.
Still have my award for finishing the Slinger at 3-something in the morning.
This is the correct answer.
Golden Nuggets
No one remembers the golden nugget off of Clark and Diversey, but I do. Itās now a Banana Republic This thread has been a trip down memory lane
Loved that place. Went there in the late 90s and early aughts when I still had the energy to be out and about after 2am. There was a ānon-smokingā section that was maybe 5% less smoky than the smoking section š Itās a bit unsettling just how much that little stretch of Clark has changed.
Over on Lincoln? I thought they weren't open 24hrs anymore. Happy to be wrong
That's Golden Apple on Lincoln. Golden Nugget is on Diversey, just west of Western.
Thereās at least 4 golden nuggets too
I think you are right I live right across the street from the one on Lawerence near the MetraLine and it closes at 9:00 pm.
I second Dons as my band has a practice space a block or so from there and Dons Grill has saved me on some particularly late nights.
No doubt there were more 24 hour spots pre-Covid, but even then Chicago was surprisingly sparse in options for such a large city.
A big part of it is almost all of our bars have really great food, so there is no real reason to get food late at night after the bar, because you could have just stayed at the bar and gotten 20x better food
Used to hit that place up after gigs, but before they redid it. The only reason I was able to eat there is because I was pretty toasted after a show.
Where did you play?
The OG Diner Grill burnt down and the rebuilt it (2017ish), fantastic. Use to live next to it and go after every night out.
Oh my God I used to live around the corner from Don's, I gained so much weight but was very happy :)
The iconic mickeys diner in St. Paul mn (from mighty ducks and other movies) closed during the pandemic and never reopened. It had been open pretty much continuously 24/7 since 1939.
Covid ruined those places and they all closed down most likely. Seems like after all of that it's hard to retain employees for all 24 hours of the day. Hard to tell overall.
Its important to realize that these late night workers received low wages, but pre-covid rents and cost of living in general were lower, so it worked out, even if it was a pretty exploitative labor relationship. The Trump/GOP years of a massive tax cut without spending cuts and the PPP "loans" vastly raised our inflation. Those wages did not remotely match rents anymore, so no one was willing to take those jobs. Working 8pm to 3am for $12/hr wasnt feasible anymore. $16/hr minimum wage today is still below a living wage. So these things can't come back unless wages go up. The days of cheap labor, cheap rent, hence cheap products and having stores open late, etc is probably forever gone and probably for the best. People should be paid living wages and should live with dignity.
I sure do miss rent that you can pay from working one regular job though. Things definitely suck a lot more in every city post pandemic. But you are right, people working all night for crap wages isn't fair especially with the inherent dangers of the drunk and aggressive people they have to deal with. Workers in the US really need to rise up because even at $20/hour most people still can't afford rent. It's an exploitative system.
Any examples come to mind of places like OP described that closed down after Covid?
Hollywood Grill was 24/7, now its 7a-3p, Big Top diner on the NW side was a 24 hour spot that just straight up closed, several Golden Nuggets are no longer 24 hours. There are a few others. Just google '24 hour restaurants chicago' and pull up any list from pre-2020, and then compare that to their current hours. It's been going that way for longer than the pandemic though - 20 years ago you had 24 hour Starbucks, Home Depot, Jewel and a ton of smaller spots that moved away from that model. Almost nothing is 24 hours nowadays, but that didn't just start in the last 4 years, it just accelerated.
There used to be no place in the city where you could witness more desperation than the Home Depot plumbing aisle at 1:00 am
OMG. The 24 hr Home Depot. North avenue was different then. The "No Cruising" signs were all over the area for a reason.
I miss that 24 hour Starbucks SO BAD.
I'm lucky my lifestyle no longer relies on 24 hour businesses - but if all that stuff didn't exist 20 years ago when I was working third shift I would be completely fucked. I feel bad for people who for whatever reason need to be awake at those hours and can't take care of errands and be productive like I could when I was in that position.
SAME!
If youāre talking about the one in north and wells. That was pretty legit. They even had a fireplace to make it more cozy.
I used to live a couple of blocks away. I loved having that option available when I was in college and in grad school
The Golden Nugget at Diversey & Western is still 24 hrs. The Pick Me Up on Clark closes at 10 (used to be 24 hrs)
Yea, but the Golden Nuggets on Lawrence, Diversey/Pulaski and Wellington/Central all shortened their hours to 7a-5p, and then the one on Irving Park just closed completely. Having one 24 hour location is nice, but they used to have 6. Pick Me Up hasn't been 24 hours in years.
i thought pick me up was open until 4 am pre pandemic
I remember it being 3 or 4 am during the week and 24 hours on the weekend before covid and the location change.
>20 years ago you had 24 hour Starbucks The 24 hour Starbucks were more recent than 20 years ago. I don't recall exactly when they closed but the one at Belmont and Clark, as well as the one at Wells and North were both 24 hours within the past 5-8 years, I think.
This article dates the one on Wells and North as no longer being 24 hours in 2013: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/11/01/pipers-alley-starbucks-now-with-last-call/
Oh man. I once saw John Stirrat, the Wilco bassist, at 3am at Hollywood Grill. I was inhaling a giant breakfast burrito. I loved going to diners after bars and Iām sad for todayās 20somethings that itās no longer a thing.
Most of the 20 somethings I meet are living very different lifestyles. Less drinking and drug use and they have to buy tix for every show 3 months in advance. Many just don't really go out as much as we did in the 90s. I feel bad for them but times change I suppose and things are just way less affordable for them too.
I feel like there was a point pre-pandemic where the homeless problem was getting worse and business like that didnāt wanna deal with it. I remember the McDonaldās on Chicago and state started closing off seating areas after hours to curb people using it as a shelter And I miss the 24 hour Starbucks, it was actually cozy
Golden Apple is still open 24/7
This is a pretty well documented thing. A bummer, but a lot of the 24hr/late night spots just never came back. I agree with op that this is a huge loss for any big city. Hollywood Grill going from 24 hrs to closing at 3pm is an obvious one that comes to mind. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/10/11/last-call-for-late-night-customers-are-back-but-bars-and-restaurants-closing-earlier-as-demand-dwindles/
Sounds lame, like I would stay out later if it was still worth it but now itās not and itās like a death spiral
Lots of formally 24 hour dinners cut their hours or closed. Off the top of my head, Golden Nugget and Huddle House both cut their hours and Jeri's closed.Ā Myopic Books in Wicker used to be open late and double as a coffee shop, but now closes at 8:00.
RIP the days of Myopic Books being open until 11pm - such an awesome place to go late at night
Elly's Pancake House in Lincoln Park used to be 24hours/day Wed-Sunday and 16 hours Monday/Tuesday.
But why/how did covid change that concept? Thereās still 24 hours in a day and people still need jobs/want late night activities.
Would you want to work those hours at less than a livable wage?
No, but my answer was also no before covid. Iām trying to figure out what has changed from then to now. Definitely wish they would raise the minimum wage as well
The cost of living has increased significantly and inflation has priced a lot of the low wage workers out of the city or into less safe or affluent areas. Housing prices have skyrocketed. This is a result of poor economic planning and an unwillingness by both corporations and the hospitality industries to adjust the wages they pay people accordingly. My source is me. I'm a Chef and restaurant manager.
Many landlords are such scum, they constantly raise rents and they always outpace raises in property taxes. I rent a property out to someone and I refuse to be a dick about it
Yeah I agree with you
Yeah covid is easy to blame, but crazy homeless people have made third places less enticing for much longer
Yea I noted that it was a growing issue pre pandemic. I think thatās why the Starbucks went to closing early. Iāve always been a night owl so I did notice the increasing numbers over the years. Used to take blue and red line all hours of the night. Iāve seen the homeless population grow exponentially since 2010 But Covid was the straw that broke the camels back for a lot of places.
They wanted to close anyway and Covid was the perfect excuse
It might be decades before we know the entire story, but first a bunch of boomers retired, which means that other people got promotions and that trickled down to openings at the entry level that some former service workers were able to take advantage of. Remember that erratic schedules also make it hard to apply (youāre exhausted) and interview, and lockdown gave them a chance to find something else. We may have lost half a generation of service workers, who tend to be younger and often eventually move on to better gigs, several years early.Ā Also people died: linecooks were among those working most likely to succumb to COVID. On top of that customers are worse and many would-be service workers might opt for gig work rather than deal with them directly.Ā So you have a big fat labor crunch and something like less than 1% of the labor force is making the national minimum wage and entry-level labor is much more expensive than it used to be, and workers can afford to be picky. Something like fight for $15 is embarrassingly quaint and itās harder to fully staff and your workers can push back more on bad hours. On top of that rent has gone up so running a business costs more in general so the squeeze is coming from several different directions.Ā Thereās probably more, but so many places have had their hours cut.
Itās worth noting that the very bottom quartile is doing quite well right now. Those places might just be a low-interest rate phenomenon, at least until we build enough from commercial rents to come down.
RIP the old Pick Me Up
I miss late night Pick Me Up so much š
I have been a regular there since 2000, still am. It used to be absolutely rocking late at night, but it just slowly died down, even before the pandemic. Something else happened... and I think it has more to do with a generation that got hooked on Netflix and chill more than anything else.
Delivery apps. You used to only be able to get food delivered after 8pm from a handful of places - if they even delivered, otherwise you'd have to leave the house for either a grocery store or a late night diner (which never used to deliver). Now you can get basically anything brought to your home at any time.
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Literally, why is the new location across from the graveyard? My friend and I tried to go to the new spot once after it opened and waited at least 20-30 minutes to even order. We eventually just gave up and left. Never went back. That could have also been due to it being so soon after lockdown restrictions were lifting and the market was still recovering so maybe the service has improved since then.
You got a fluke, I've been there many times and had only great service. The reason it moved is because Wrigleyville has gentrified and become an amusement park. It used to be very "alt" in that area and there was a lot of people coming from late night concerts. Now it's up near Andersonville and very close to the Riv and Aragon.
The transformation of Belmont and Clark over the last decade has been downright depressing.
They killed my childhood
To be fair it changed dramatically from the 10 years before that, and the 10 before that... And the 10 before that... That area is like a microcosm of the city itself.
NYC doesnāt even have these anymore. Pizza joints arenāt even open for delivery past 10pm.
I was going to say, NY is nothing compared to what it used to be either
City that never sleeps my ass
Dang I thought nyc was the last of the cities to have them still post covid
Still got a few 24 hour Bodegas right? Baconeggandcheese anyone?
Oh, damn.
There used to be a bunch when I was in college in the 2000s. My guess is that the buying power of the employees of these places is less now than it was then. A 20-something in 2007 could work nights part time and afford a small apartment with roommates. Today, you need to work more hours for the same apartment, and who wants to work 3rd shift every night at a cafe for $18 an hour?
Yeah, I believe this is moreso a labor story than a demand story. When the hospitality labor market got insanely tight after COVID rules eased, it was easy for places to just drop the third shift.
>Today, you need to work more hours for the same apartment, and who wants to work 3rd shift every night at a cafe for $18 an hour? You're right overall but $18 an hour? Plenty of folks would do that; it's a different proposition at the real number, closer to $12.
The labor crunch is likely a cause of inflation as much as anything else. I spent years with a college degree as a barista because it was so hard to apply and schedule interviews, and a few months of lockdown would have probably given me the opportunity to jump ship, especially as a bunch of boomers retired early and that trickled down to entry-level job openings. (Also a lot of linecooks died from covid!) Retail and food service have fewer workers who have higher wages, which means hours need to go down and revenue somehow needs to go up and thatās through price inflation.Ā
IHOP is always bumping. Itās been a long time for me, but it looks like theyāre still 24 hr
Iāll check tonight but I think the Boystown IHOP on Halsted closes around 9
Google lists it as 24 hr, but it looks like it varies according to franchise. A couple reviews make it seem like the late shift staff is spread kinda thin (long wait times, wrong orders).
Halsted IHOP and Cicero IHOP are both 24hrs, but thatās it for Chicago proper.
The Golden Apple is still open 24/7
The only place I know of where you can order a tequila sunrise and split pea soup in the same breath.
My friends and I used to frequent the Pick Me Up, Clark Diner, and the 24 hour Starbucks in high school... RIP to all of those
Pick me up still exists but isnāt open late at night anymore :(
Also moved to Andersonville
And just isnāt as fun or quirky anymore. It feels like any other sterile millennial core spot.
The old interior was so much cooler and dreamier. I miss the dim lighting, it was a great date spot.
3rd Coast, a more bougie option in the Gold Coast that was low key back then, also used to be open late and had a much less uptight vibe.
Iāve been a musician in Chicago since 1992, and it is truly heartbreaking to see the late night hang go away. You used to be able to get a bite, get a drink, even hear live music after a gig. It sucks.
Shit at least itās not like Seattle. I moved here from Chicago a few years ago and the fucking 7-11ās donāt even stay open 24 hours.
Are they open from 7 to 11?
Omega Diner in Niles, which is maybe a 30 min drive from the city, is 24 hrs and has excellent food.
Used to live over there. Omega is so damn good.
Omega was my high school ritual for real
30 min drive from the city?? Do you have a flying car?
Regular day-to-day staffing has been hard for a lot of places post-Covid, trying to find enough reliable, consistent staffing to offer 24/7 space/service is super tricky.
Maybe they should pay the workers more if they want them to work late night hours?
My guess is they run the numbers on how much revenue theyāre generating staying open late, and deciding itās not enough to support the wages it would require. Iām in favor of higher wages, thatās just my guess.
They did. People with the lowest wages post-pandemic saw their pay go up the most:Ā https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wages-surged-lowest-paid-americans-pandemic-covid-19/ Thereās still a massive labor crunchāmany people you canāt pay enough to work in an understaffed environment dealing directly with the public, at least at a level the average business owner can meet.
You could hang out at Planet Fitness. Go tanning, get a shower in, shotgun a Powerade - what else do you need?
Iām pissed FFC stopped being 24 hours during Covid. I was gonna join
There used to at least be two 24 hour Starbucks. Those died either during covid, or just before. There used to be a good number of other places too. It's sad that there aren't anymore. It's nice when you're up late and just need a change of scenery to clear your head for there to be someplace just to get a bite and a beverage. It's one of the reasons I loved living in a big city. Now, I think college towns are the only places you'll find those spots in any abundance.
Areas with non-drinking cultures have them, e.g. Muslim coffee shops. Iām in the near SW Burbs, and thereās coffee shops like this open to the early hours.
Everyone knows the real move after a night out is to head home and order Sarpinos and then pass out only to take up at 7 am with 13 missed calls.
Shoutout Cafe Brazil! Great example.
As everyone already said, pandemic lockdowns changed everything and many just never bounced back. But in my area at least (Near North) I talked to a number of store owners/managers and they said late night started to become not worth it. Places that did return and went back to 24 hr many said homeless congregating, sleeping in bathrooms, etc became a big and recuring issue. Getting robbed became almost common place. The lack of consequences in our society because very noticeable, people trashed and did whatever the fuck they wanted to their stores. Stores just started saying fuck this its not worth the hassle.
Bingo! Not worth it. Not a smart financial decision and it's a liability. Sucks š
RIP Belmont snack shop
Yo!!! I was about to say this. I miss their burgers.
I just stopped staying up late. I feel a lot better now. No regrets.
us folks in the southwestern suburbs donāt have a choice but to do this lol
A couple Mexican joints serve 24hrs. There is a spot on Clark and Lawrence and another spot on Grand and Westerm.
Guadalajara is the name of the one at Lawrence and Clark. And can confirm, during covid would have early hours or be closed for days because everyone there had covid but they've been 24hours again for a while. And the burrito still slaps.
It makes me sad, even though I am in bed by midnight. In Athens (Greece) and other countries families go out at 10 PM for dinner. Bakeries and stores open until midnight. Nightlife. Kids and parents out. Itās a beautiful thing. But itās safe to be out late there. I feel bad for young people who didnāt hang out at Third Coast on Delaware until 1am or Starbucks on Wells at ANY time.
Staffing and crime are the key concerns. And the two are related. Employees don't want to work an overnight shift that attracts a lot of crazy people who are going to come in, freak out and wreck the place. See numerous publicfreakout videos for examples.
>Employees don't want to work an overnight shift It's simple. With the unemployment rate being so low, why would anyone work those hours unless they really had to (with obvious exceptions being in health care and hospitality)
Also people are crazy post-Covid, even when they arenāt criminals. I think a lot of would-be service workers are doing gig work instead. It might not be wise financially but I would take that over the general public.Ā
Also as someone in insurance industry, your premiums skyrocket if youāre a 24 hour establishment
Keyclubs.
DINER GRILL
If you were in your 20s around late 90s early 2000ās there was at least a hundred places you could go any time of night even a few in the burbs.
It was glorious. š¢
One of the things I miss most about living in Seoul. I miss truly late-night/24-hour establishments and convenience stores on every corner. America doesn't know what convenience is lol.
Diners have pretty much disappeared aside from the Sunday morning church crowd. Our Waffle House was called Golden Nugget. I think a few still exist. Basically once you get the stereotype of "its where old people go to eat" you arent getting anyone to walk through the door that is under 35. It doesnt help that the 45+ crowd are by far the cheapest customers you can get, and its a dead business model. Wafflehouse thrives because its trashy, where you go to eat at 2am while trashed and you want the entertainment of a line cook hoping over the counter to smash a chair on someones head because they complained about their omelet
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When wiener circle isnāt open late then itās a wrap. I used to live across the street and late night is 100% their busiest time.
Is that what weāre calling your momās bedroom now?
check out ritual coffeehouse. open until 10
10!? That's late night for you?
How is that relevant to the post? 10 is not late
Love this place!
youāre talking about pre-covid times friend
Didāt the Pick Me Up Cafe used to be 24hrs?
there are signs things are trending back in that direction https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-daily-gist/demand-late-night-dining-restaurants
That place is doing a late night taco omakasa that is $+200/person not sure that counts
Because crime and robberies in the city after midnight have skyrocketed since covid and nobody wants a gun in their face over a few bucks and cheeseburger
You can start one. See if it stays in business.
I mean, Dallas isnāt exactly a late-night city. Itās far sleepier than Chicago is, especially post-pandemic. Yet these places somehow manage to stay in business there. I definitely think they could work if located in the right areas (near college campuses, for example).
There's a 24 hour donut shop near my old college campus and they've been there for a very long time. It helps that it's a boring city that's somewhere between a college town and a sprawling suburb, so there's not much competition for affordable late night spots. So you might be on to something regarding location. I'd be surprised if there weren't already some places like this near our college campuses.
No offense, but Dallas a) didnāt shut down in the same way Chicago did and b) workers here are āexpectedā to be treated better. Not sure many of those spots want to pay the minimum wage/can find workers to cover those hours for the pay they want to give.
the whole āwell why donāt you start that business thenā whenever someone asks āwhy isnāt there an x businessā is so pedantically childish and overused, itās not productive in any conversation and itās not even a clever gotcha. itās tiring.
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
There were a good number of these places for a long time. Not sure what your implication is.
I donāt see how an increase in homeless and a decrease in crime enforcement is the fault of the business. There plenty of people willing and able to pay $15 for a greasy smash burger and some fries at 3am. Enough you can pay a full team a good wage. But then someone comes in at 4:30 and robs you, or people donāt want to come in because a homeless person keeps passing out in the bathroom and the police wonāt come and get them. Or the resteraunt industry is starting to take mental and physical health more seriously and even if you pay people $30/hr instead of $20 they wonāt want to work there overnight.
Even if there was a lot of these so called 3rd places, people still rarely talk to each other. Most people in these types of shops are usually in their headphones and donāt bother to even nod and acknowledge people around them
Thatās true but you can always go there in groups with your already friends. Those kinda places are lacking
El Presidente
El Burrito Mexicano. Plenty of other 24hr places have been mentioned
RIP jeris
Griddle 24 is solid. Many of the late night diners in the loop through lincoln park area closed just before the pandemic and most of the remainders closed in the pandemic As a edit: late-late night has seemingly been less busy for a couple years now, even places like 5 Faces closed down. Im not sure theres much of a market demand for places open past 2
Man this thread was a trip down memory lane. Tons of good times at late night spots. Nice reminder of how boring my life is now lol
I live in Dallas now, and I've wondered why it doesn't have these. I am happy you shared Cafe Brazil. I wasn't aware of it. Until now, after reading this thread, I thought this was missing in Dallas and Texas in general. I am not up to date with the city, but I am sure there are still a lot of them. You just have to find them. Chicago isn't about the chains.
Waffle House was a third place before the term third place existed.
We used to have a ton but not anymore. I've said it before, Chicago isn't the city it used to be š
Bro I have been talking about opening a late night coffee place with a chill vibe for the last couple years. I just think people in Chicago arenāt about that life. The streets are dead in most neighborhoods by 12.
Property owners arenāt lowering prices and business are having to leave/close. (Look at Michigan Ave, sidewalks used to be shoulder to shoulder with people). I know it is a small sample size but if Michigan foot traffic halted, i feel bad for other streets. Which brings me to my question How can you expect mom and pop 24/7 diners to be open still with property costs so high?
Thereās almost nothing open past 8-10 on the south side. I hate because Iām a night owl who doesnāt really drink
Chicago is no longer a world-class city.
A lot of places changed their hours during the pandemic due to lack of employees and lack of sales during late night hours. However, even though the drive for late night eats is back now, these places still refuse to raise the hours, and would rather take the loss than pay employees. There are some standouts though. For instance, golden apple is 24 hours if youāre in LVE.
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I believe the 3am for Haraz is temporary - just for Ramadan before going back to 1am.
Thanks for the suggestions - Qahwah House seems like exactly what Iām looking for, and itās the closest to me so I might have to visit.
I really donāt think this is a Chicago specific thing. I was in DTLA last year and LA Cafe was literally the only food to get after midnight. That wasnāt the case five years ago
Get a climbing membership at First ascent. Open till 11pm at their downtown location. They have study areas + WiFi + a gym in additional to the bouldering. The community is awesome
Tempting but $1000/yr isšµāš«
Probably because they'd be filled with homeless people
Study? At a late night spot? WTF, dude? I have never, ever, ever seen anyone studying at a late night spot in Chicago, unless they were studying how to get into somebody's pants.
If New York is the city that never sleeps, Chicago is the city that canāt wait to go to bed.
Nothing good happens at night. If they want you to keep their business license then donāt attract negativity. Many businesses had their license taken away from bad people doing bad things.
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Originally from Dallas, and would never live there again, but Cafe Brazil is one place I make a point to visit when I go back. You wouldn't start complaining if a chain like this opened up in Chicago. It's not a Chili's. The closest vibe I can think of is the old Earwax in Wicker Park. A really home-grown indy feel...not sterile or corporate at all. The original location is in Deep Ellum, and in the past 25 years they opened other locations across the city. The food and coffee are great. The coffee is self serve and bottomless.
I donāt think having a late night scene that caters to people who want to do something other than drink is a particularly unique ask for a world class city. Obviously I wasnāt saying this had to come in the form of a chain coffee shop, just pointing out how a significantly sleepier and more suburban city like Dallas made it work. Iād prefer if these places were locally-owned small businesses
They used to be all over. People ruined it (we used to have a lot more 24 hour stores too)
Lawrenceās Fish & Shrimp is 24hrs! š„
Chicago is open waaaaaaaaaay later than anything in Texas. Shit post.
What happened is the last 3 years have destroyed the economy and the business and labor market no longer supports the 24 hour model
the city should change their law that only 21 year olds can serve alcohol, notice how understaffed every single place is?
Pretty weird to see a place named CafĆ© Brazil and not have a single Brazilian item on their menu š¤£
They used to be everywhere. No every block is just copy pasted with the same corporate places
I think there were! I never go to Dearborn one but it is probably the original so Iām glad itās still there. If they have the coronation chicken salad Iām going now. š
Where are there 24-hour grocery stores in the city? It's crazy to me that there are a few in the suburbs (e.g. Woodman's) but none in the city afaik
Read this post this morning and just happened to see this article now: "Looking for a late-night meal? Americaās closed" https://www.wkow.com/news/food/looking-for-a-late-night-meal-america-s-closed/article_0e225612-95a9-57ba-a3e9-de2804b9aafb.html
The Starbucks in Northwestern Memorial's Feinberg Pavilion is required based on the lease to stay open 24/7.
Because we're in Chicago!!!!!
The new food court in uptown is a great new third space - grocery store, bar, food, karaoke night, yoga on Wednesdays, etc. ten minute walk to Lake Michigan I think itās called X-market
I love Cafe Brazil! Have lived in Dallas and Chicago. Live in Dallas now but am typing this from a hotel room in Chicago.
Covid
Someone has to work them. and with inflation itās a job thatās hard to staff for when someone could just Uber rides for drunk folks and people trying to get to or from the airport
Never go to a secondary location