The Berwyn location of Wishbone restaurant, 6611 W. Roosevelt Road, closed on Monday after five years in business.
Owner Joel Nickson said at dinnertime and on the weekend, the eatery has been relatively busy. But weekday breakfast and lunch business, which they tried in the first year of business, weren’t up to snuff. Their original five-year lease is up at the end of the month, and he decided to end things this past weekend.
He acknowledged that the never-ending state of construction on Roosevelt Road hurt business, but stopped short of blaming it on leading to the closure.
“It sure didn’t help,” he said. “It seems like it’s been three summers in a row of ripping up the road and all that, but I don’t want to blame it totally on that. It made it a little rough last year.”
Wishbone also has locations in West Lakeview and the West Loop, and Nickson said a handful of Berwyn employees will be transferred to those locations. They had originally hoped to move the local location to the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, but that deal never came together.
Nickson, 55, an Oak Park resident, said it’s possible they could return to the area, if they find a larger location with more foot traffic.
“We’ve put in the time here,” he said. “I feel like people know us and it’s kind of a shame to walk away from all of it.”