Why Did Chicago Style Grill Leave Joliet? Owners Blame Landlord

JOLIET, IL — Yesenia and Juan Sanchez, owners of the Chicago Street Grill, told Joliet Patch that they want their faithful, long-time customers to know that their recent decision to leave Joliet was not about declining business. That wasn't the case at all, they insisted.

But after six years of running the Chicago Style Grill restaurant at 221 Ruby Street, the restaurant owners said they got into an argument with their landlords in early June, and they decided enough's enough. It was time to leave 221 Ruby St. even if that meant breaking their three-year lease agreement and losing their $5,000 security deposit.

The husband and wife closed their Ruby Street restaurant on Saturday, June 5. The owners of Chicago Style Grill told Joliet Patch that they refused to pay their monthly rent since making their January payment because their landlords refused to address major building repairs after several years of complaints fell on deaf ears.

The building at 221 Ruby St has had numerous holes in the roof, causing lots of rain and snow to get into their kitchen, the restaurant's hallway and the women's bathroom.

This week, the restaurant owners showed Joliet Patch several photos and videos, some from as far back as 2017, showing more than a half dozen yellow buckets placed throughout their kitchen and in the bathroom at 221 Ruby St. to catch the falling rain.

Some of their photos from earlier this year showed a giant hole in the roof of the women's bathroom where you can see sunlight from the outside.

"We made the determination we could not operate like that," Yesenia Sanchez told Joliet Patch this week during an interview at her Chicago Style Grill's second location, the one they opened in January 2020 in Crest Hill at the Renwick Road Plaza.

"I can't deal with the leaks like the ones we were having," she said. "It was just too much. We were spending more time cleaning than prepping for my operating.

"We didn't want to close Joliet, it was our baby. We were emotionally attached to that building. We painted the walls and installed a new front counter."

Although the owners of Chicago Style Grill said they complained to their landlords and to city building inspectors, the owners of their property, Ed Kopinski and several of his brothers, chose not to fix the constantly leaking roof.

Sanchez said that city of Joliet officials had suggested she and her husband should sue their landlords, but the Sanchez's say they didn't want to pursue litigation.

"We don't want to be suing people, we just want to be in business," Yesenia Sanchez said.

Documents at Joliet's City Hall listed Ed Kopinski, Albert Kopinski and Joseph Kopinski all as the owners of 221 Ruby Street. The Kopinskis run the Symbolic Kustomz custom wheel and rim shop at 750 North Broadway Street.

Joliet Patch's editor visited Symbolic Kustomz on Wednesday and left his business card for Ed Kopinski, but he did not call back for comment. When Joliet Patch told a woman at the front counter of Symbolic Kustomz the purpose of the upcoming story, she began raising her voice, complaining how the owners of Chicago Style Grill had stopped paying their rent.

Last week, city officials in the building and inspections department told Joliet Patch that the owners of 221 Ruby Street notified the city in May about plans to "re-roof" the property.

Out in Crest Hill, Sanchez said she really hated to leave Joliet, proudly pointing out how they had managed to make it through the coronavirus pandemic and remain profitable.

Chicago Style Grill had a strong following of loyal customers from the nearby Cunningham Neighborhood Area, and it also attracted several employees from the Will County Courthouse for their daily lunch specials, according to the owner.

Chicago Style Grill is best known for having cheap daily lunch specials. While hot dogs and hamburgers are extremely popular, Sanchez said they are also known for their salads, panini and gyros.

"We sell a lot of hot dogs and our beef is made in house," she added.

Several Joliet police officers also regularly ate there, the Chicago Style Grill owner remarked. "Joliet PD is very big supporters," Yesenia Sanchez said.

She said that city of Joliet officials have urged her and her husband to consider bringing Chicago Style Grill back to Joliet, at a different location.

She said she is open to the idea of perhaps locating in the downtown Joliet area.

"I think if we could move, we would target the working community of Joliet," she said.

She pointed out that she and her husband remain committed to keeping their Crest Hill restaurant, so a return to Joliet would mean the opening of a second restaurant, once again.

Since opening the Crest Hill location in 2020, Chicago Style Grill has had a great response on Renwick Road including from the large retirement communities in Crest Hill, Yesenia Sanchez said. She's in the same strip mall as Burger Rebellion.

And because she's part of a large strip mall, any issues or concerns they have with their building are immediately addressed with their property management company, she said.

The Chicago Style Grill on Renwick Road is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and it stays open until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

"We have had a good response," she said.

On the other hand, dealing with Ed Kopinski and his family during the past several years at 221 Ruby St. in Joliet was a different story, she said.

She said the Kopinskis didn't seem to care that she and her husband were trying to run a daily restaurant, geared for walk-in traffic, at the same time the Chicago Style Grill building was in neglect and in need of repairs.

"They're just there to collect the rent check," Yesenia Sanchez said. "Everybody is self-employed in that family ... They were just not good landlords."

RELATED COVERAGE: February 2019 Joliet Patch Food Review of Chicago Style Grill