HYDE PARK — A partner-and-spouse restaurateur group not too long ago procured a Hyde Park eatery which is been a 53rd Road fixture for decades, and they’ll substitute the eatery with a soul food stuff principle they’ve unfold across the city.
Oooh Wee It Is purchased Mellow Yellow, 1508 E. 53rd St. in Hyde Park, about a thirty day period ago, owner Mark Walker verified Friday. Walker operates Oooh Wee It Is with his spouse Shae.
Mellow Yellow, which opened in 1976 and specialised in ’70s fare like quiches, crêpes and baked potatoes, will near subsequent its very last day of operation Sunday.
It will be changed by a new Oooh Wee It Is area, showcasing the brand’s “soul food stuff with a twist” specialties, its trademark cereal bar, a pasta bar and robot servers, Walker mentioned.
“Knowing that Mellow Yellow has been a staple given that 1976, [it’ll] be ideal to be in Hyde Park interval — just to have our brand there,” Walker explained. “When my realtor named and told me this was a deal that could be on the desk, I jumped at the prospect.”
Renovations to the house will just take about 60-75 days to finish, with construction beginning Monday. Oooh Wee It Is is anticipated open up in Hyde Park in August, Walker said.
The robot servers will handle Walker’s worries about staffing the restaurant, even though all current Mellow Yellow workers will be able to preserve their positions, he said.
Present workers will be transferred to other Oooh Wee It Is outposts until the Hyde Park renovations are entire.
“We’re just trying to modernize Mellow Yellow and carry a couple of various things to Hyde Park that it does not at this time present,” Walker explained.
The sale includes Mellow Yellow’s spot and manufacturer identify, Walker said. He declined to share the order selling price, but said the manufacturer will be rebooted this fall as a tenant in a new foodstuff hall principle he’s opening at 79th and LaSalle streets in Auburn Gresham.
“We will be running a foodstuff hall with about seven diverse eating places in that one particular distinct locale — a person currently being Mellow Yellow, [which is doing] breakfast only and closing at 3 p.m.,” Walker said.
Two other foodstuff corridor tenants are locked in so considerably, Walker reported. They are Kim Stratton’s Kitchen area, a Southern cafe based mostly in Calumet City’s River Oaks Mall and Bill’s Grill, a barbecue joint which also sells its sauces at Complete Meals.
Oooh Wee It Is begun in 2014 as a line of sweet teas designed with area uncooked honey alternatively of sugar, which were sold at the 87th Avenue Harold’s Chicken close to the Dan Ryan.
The Walkers opened their initial dine-in restaurant in south suburban Burnham in drop 2020 and have since opened quite a few other places in Chicago, like types in Chatham and Wicker Park.
They are searching to increase into Texas and Georgia, as nicely as open up franchising possibilities for other restauranteurs, Walker mentioned.
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