A popular River North restaurant and bar that was at the center of high-profile lawsuits involving allegations of sexual assault announced Monday that it was suspending its operations in Chicago.
El Hefe, located at 15 W. Hubbard St., operated as a Mexican restaurant that also offered VIP and bottle service. On a Jan. 14, social media post, the establishment described itself as the city’s biggest day party.
In a statement, the business said it was suspending its operations because of a rise in crime — not because of the lawsuits it had faced.
“Over the past few years, businesses like ours have faced challenges due to the rise in crime, and thus, we have suspended our operations and are considering our options,” said Lissa Druss, a spokeswoman for El Hefe in an email. She added that River North was a “vibrant and lively” neighborhood when the business opened 12 years ago.
The announcement comes more than two weeks after the establishment settled one of the lawsuits that had been pending since 2019 in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The lawsuit had alleged that the bar and the staff’s negligence contributed to a woman being drugged and sexually assaulted.
The woman had gone to El Hefe on Oct. 18, 2019, and believed she was drugged by a man at the bar, according to the lawsuit. Security guards for the bar kicked the woman out, and then allegedly witnessed as she was sexually assaulted by the man in an alley near the business, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was settled Jan. 11, and the terms of the agreement were to remain confidential, according to court records.
El Hefe, which was part of an Arizona-based hospitality chain, faced a similar lawsuit by another woman, and that lawsuit was dismissed in 2021 in Cook County, according to court records.
