Wheel & Brew Pizza Opening On Joliet's Jefferson Street

JOLIET, IL — You don't see many vacancies in the Jefferson Village along Jefferson Street right across from the Inwood Recreation Center. Now, a new Joliet bar and restaurant called Wheel & Brew Pizza Company intends to fill the empty Verizon Wireless storefront at 2941 West Jefferson St.

The liquor license for Wheel & Brew Pizza was reviewed by the Joliet Liquor Commission earlier this month, and the license could go before the Joliet City Council in the coming days for a final vote.

Wheel & Brew just launched its Facebook page. It proclaims that it will offer wood-fired pizza and be a pub.

The addition of Wheel & Brew Pizza comes at a time when Joliet's Jefferson Street is in the midst of a rebound. The old Kmart was purchased in December and will be turned into a Tony's Fresh Market, creating 250 new permanent jobs. An Evergreen Park restaurant owner said he is buying the empty Boston Market to open a new Pop's Italian Beef drive-thru restaurant.

Red Crab Juicy Seafood opened in December at the former Wildhorse restaurant. On nearby Larkin Avenue, the Steak N Shake, closed for nearly two entire years, just reopened.