CHICAGO — Tavern on Rush will be closing nearly two months earlier than expected, the restaurant announced Thursday.
The famous Viagra Triangle steakhouse at 1031 N Rush St. announced in August it would permanently close Jan. 1 because its lease is ending. But those plans have been foiled after the restaurant failed to extend its management contract beyond Oct. 31., restaurant owner Phil Stefani said in a letter on the restaurant’s website.
“Due to contractual matters beyond out control, we recently learned that we are going to have to pull our closing back,” the letter said. “We are disappointed that we have to speed up out closing date. We tried to extend that but could not.”
The restaurant’s last day will be Oct. 26 to give it enough time to transition out of the building by Oct. 31. The owners of the building plan to renovate the space for another restaurant, Stefani told Block Club in August, but no word yet on what the concept will be.
All reservations for November, December and New Year’s Eve will be canceled, Stefani said. The restaurant previously had plans to “go out with a bang” on Dec. 31, Stefani said.
Stefani assured staff in the letter that they would be employed through the end of the year. Previously the restaurant owner had said staff would be given transfer opportunities to other Stefani Restaurant Group locations.
“We will never lose sight of the fact that over our 25-year history, we have employed more than 4,000 people and served more than 8 million guests. What a remarkable run we have had,” Stefani said.
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