Lines wrapped around the block last Friday night at Lost Lake after the bar wrote on social media it will be closing for good.
Citing rising cases of the coronavirus, the bar’s ownership said via Instagram, “We’ve been trying to ward off this moment since #flattenthecurve, but as it turns out, a super-spreader surge that wiped-out what would usually be our busiest time of year was the last little straw this camel could handle. ... Maybe someday we’ll be back in one form or another, but it looks like this is it for now.”
According to the Illinois Policy Institute, 35 percent of Illinois’ small businesses have closed since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Logan Square bar was named best American cocktail bar by Tales of the Cocktail in 2018, and was nominated as a James Beard Award finalist for outstanding bar program in 2019.
A spokesperson from Lost Lake told the Chicago Tribune, “Lost Lake is very grateful for all the support over the last seven years, and particularly the past two.”
Lost Lake’s final weekend will kick off Jan. 13; seven years from their opening date in 2015. While reservations are sold out, and few spaces are available for walk-ins; bottled cocktails are available for walk-up on a first come, first serve basis.
Another Chicago-area culinary landmark, Bob Chinn’s Crab House in Wheeling, wrote on Facebook it would be closing for a month. Citing “unforeseen business circumstances“ related to vaccination requirements in suburban Cook County, the restaurant closed its doors on Sunday and will reopen Feb. 7.
