Bedford Park buys Southern Belle restaurant

Southern Belle's in Bedford Park has been purchased by the village. (Supplied photo)

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy 

Southern Belle’s restaurant in Bedford Park closed for the last time on Sunday after more than two decades at 6737 S. Archer Ave.

The village has a contract to purchase the site for $2.5 million. Closing is expected in the first quarter. 

Bedford Park Mayor Dave Brady said a plan to move the restaurant to 65th Street and Central Avenue didn’t work out because of the cost. 

Southern Belle’s restaurant in Bedford Park closed for the last time on Sunday after more than two decades at 6737 S. Archer Ave.

The village has a contract to purchase the site for $2.5 million. Closing is expected in the first quarter. 

Bedford Park Mayor Dave Brady said a plan to move the restaurant to 65th Street and Central Avenue didn’t work out because of the cost. 

Southern Belle’s still has locations in Yorkville, Barrington, Plainfield, and Carpentersville.

Brady said the Bedford Park building needs work.

Brady said village officials have discussed four possible options for the property. One would be building a courtroom and police training facility. Another would be turning it into an outdoor recreation facility such as a synthetic skating rink. A third option would be to beautify the property. Brady said the village could also turn around and sell the lot.

He also said the village board would consider other options, if they are proposed.

Brady said the village board was committed to upgrading the property and improving the southwest entrance to the village.

In a related move, Bedford Park late last year annexed a parcel of land near the restaurant that had been within Bridgeview boundaries until it was de-annexed.

Brady said the parcel was missed by both Bedford Park and Bridgeview when they did a land swap involving the former 3M property.

Wright’s Furniture closing

Wright’s Furniture Warehouse at 2936 Wireton Road in Blue Island is in the final weeks of its closing sale.

The store, which has been selling furniture in the south suburbs since 1980, is closing because its owners are retiring after more than 40 years.

The warehouse will close by March 6. The store is open Thursday to Sundays.

For more information, visit their website at wrightsfurniturewarehouse.com.

Starbucks opens in Lansing

Starbucks is now open in Lansing. (Photo by Bob Bong)

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy 

Starbucks opened its newest standalone store in the south suburbs last month in Lansing.

The new store is at 18007 Torrence Avenue, at the intersection with Thornton-Lansing Road. The site was the former home of Artlynn Photography. That building and a few others to the north including Rosemoor Funeral Home were torn down and the land cleared for development.

The developer is Glazier Corporation, which developed a similar Starbucks at the corner of 103rd Street and Harlem Avenue in Chicago Ridge in 2019.

Glazier is not done in Lansing. There are plans to bring in a Taco Bell to the north of the Starbucks and a Chipotle across the street on Torrence, next to Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop.

The new Starbucks is accessible from both Torrence and Thornton-Lansing Road. The shop has a drive-thru. 

The building is a typical Starbucks with a dozen tables, free Wi-Fi and a small outdoor patio.

Although a date for a grand opening and ribbon cutting has not yet been set, the store will be hosting a promotion on Thursday, November 17, when 400 red reusable Starbucks cups will be given away while supplies last.

Hours are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Pizza Castle moves from Gage Park to new home in Hickory Hills

Co-owner Rich Jensen cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of Pizza Castle's new home in Hickory Hills.

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy 

After almost five decades of serving pizzas from a small storefront in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood, Pizza Castle co-owner Richard Jensen had an opportunity to move into a bigger space and he jumped at the chance.

So, Jensen packed up the family business and made the move a few miles south to Hickory Hills. 

Pizza Castle held a grand opening November 17 at their new location at 7737 W. 95th St. in the Ricky Rockets plaza.

Rich Jensen and Kathy Jensen.

“The best news,” Jensen said. “Was that the pizzas are the same.”

He was worried because the pizza oven that he had been using since taking over the business in 1973 was too big to make the move to the new location and he had to buy a new oven.

“It was a great oven,” he said hinting that someone might want to move in and start up a new pizzeria.

“The oven is key to making good pizza,” he said. “So far, people are happy.”

Pizza Castle was already the name of the pizzeria when his brother Paul bought the place.

“We talked about changing the name, but decided to leave it be,” he said.

Pizza Castle was and remains a family business. Jensen’s wife, Kathy, and his sons Erik, Rick and Kris are all part of the staff. Kris is also a North Palos firefighter.

Jensen said the new location is about three times the size of the Gage Park location. “We went from about 750 square feet to 2,200 square feet,” he said. “We now have a walk-in cooler. Ten tables for sit down service. And we have outdoor seating.”

The new place also comes with a seven-seat bar that will allow Pizza Castle to offer gaming machines, as soon as their license is approved.

“We’ll have four machines, but we needed a liquor license. We only will sell beer and wine.”

Pizza Castle features very thin crust pizza. It has two house specialties: The King Arthur has sausage, mushrooms, green pepper and onion; the Pie by Di has sausage, mushroom, pepperoni and jalapenos. Pizza sizes range from 10-inch to 18-inch.

But pizza isn’t all they do at Pizza Castle. The menu includes sandwiches, pasta, wings, calzones and shrimp.

In addition to the new dine-in option, Pizza Castle offers catering, delivery and take out. 

Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

For more information, call 708-930-5600 or visit eatatpizzacastle.com.

They are still hiring, if interested.