The Buzz Café will not be reopening. But Laura Maychruk and two partners have repurchased the Arts District building, which long housed the well-loved neighborhood spot, with the goal of controlling its future as a local restaurant.
Maychruk, her husband Andrew and Mark Finger, a long-time Arts District landlord, closed on the property Nov. 7. They purchased the two-story building at 905 S. Lombard Ave. at a discount from what they sold it for just two years ago. In August 2023, Forest Park-based Kribi Coffee made Maychruk an offer for the business and the building, and she accepted.
After acknowledging on social media early this fall that the Buzz had lost its buzz under its ownership, Kribi announced it would close the eatery on Oct. 18. Kribi’s owners listed the property with a national real estate company specializing in restaurant properties.
Maychruk, who said she could “tell things were not going well” at the Buzz, said she told her husband that they should buy the business back if it closed in order to control its future use.
Maychruk has focused on building a residential real estate business in recent years. It is housed in a building just south of the Buzz. She remains president of the Oak Park Arts District on Harrison Street. And it is that involvement that led her to decide to repurchase the restaurant building.
“We’ve grown the district into a beautiful place, and I want to maintain that,” she said. Doing well by the district “was the biggest driving force” in buying back the Buzz site.
Maychruk is adamant she is not reopening the café. “I’m 100% not opening the Buzz,” she said.
Instead, the trio of owners is actively seeking a local operator with a fresh idea to bring new life to the storefront. Their preference is that it remains a breakfast and lunch spot with a focus on high-end food offerings.
Maychruk said she already has two letters of interest from prospective local buyers and will be talking with others this week. She has also reached out to a couple of eateries in Chicago she hopes might consider a second location in the Arts District.
“I’m not a person who lets moss grow under their feet,” she said, expressing confidence a new venture could be signed on within a couple of weeks or months.
