The South Side burger joint Mazos (3146 S. 27th St.) did something in September that made its closing even harder to bear. They didn’t give us the chance to say goodbye. To many of us, the Facebook post announcing its effective-immediately demise was a surprise. A business open for 90 years, as Mazos was, seemed like it could, would, should carry on forever.

If you love burgers, Mazos wasn’t a choice, it was an obligation. Here was the butter burger whose juices didn’t pool on the bottom of the plate but made their presence felt all through the patty, which fulfilled its mission with melted American cheese and fried onions on a fluffy, toasted bun.

Your choice of sides was legendary – among them, greasy-crisp American fries, smoky baked beans and homemade soups (always classic good ones, like beef barley). There was something I liked better than the food. It was being inside that timewarp, which had mystifying paintings of old-time musicians like Johnny Cash on the walls.

For all of its life, the restaurant was run by a Mazo – most recently, Jackie, granddaughter of founder John. Jackie’s closing post made wincingly clear that there’s a moment when it’s just time. “Due to the health and well-being needs of our family, we are unable to continue,” she wrote. I send my best to the Mazo family – and to all the small, family restaurants sticking it out, I see you.

Thanksgiving Cooking Traditions 

“I make a roasted turkey. I brine it, stuff it with my mushroom stuffing and roast it slowly with butter and basting liquids. The mushroom stuffing is usually a favorite – toasted baguette, sauteed oyster and porcini mushrooms, onions, celery, sage, Granny Smith apple, walnuts and, of course, tons of butter!” 

– Adam Siegel, chef/co-owner, Lupi & Iris

Food entrepreneur Kamal Shkoukani thinks of himself as a content creator. Just blocks from food hall Crossroads Collective, he runs a ghost kitchen called The Gallery (2335 N. Murray Ave.), with up to seven of his own restaurant concepts all under one roof. (Shkoukani originated these concepts at the defunct Paper Table food hall Downtown.)

Each one has a catchy name and serves foods trending on social media. Moon Burger, Secret Hot Chicken and High, Broke, and Hungry are his three most popular “brands,” he says, and the top-selling menu item overall is chicken tenders, followed by burgers, giving the virtual restaurant its busiest hours, 10 p.m.-3 a.m. – the rare East Side restaurant serving late-night.

“If you’re doing the ghost kitchens right, you’re using kind of the same ingredients within the different menus and giving them their own twist,” says Shkoukani, who also hosts occasional art and music shows. “I can’t even explain how I ended up here, but I definitely enjoy it. It’s hard work, but at the end of the day, you feel good.”

Opened in late 2023, The Wolf on Broadway (600 N.) changed its name (and menu) in June to become Uncle Wolfie’s Dinner Diner. A few months later, it’s rebranded again, as Uncle Wolfie’s Downtown, offering brunch, and a dinner concept serving a Southeast Asian prix fixe menu.  •  A new speakeasy called the The Loon Room opened in the lower level of Third Coast Provisions (724 N. Milwaukee St.). On its menu? Craft cocktails and sweet and savory fondue.  •  Specializing in Colombian street food, Capybara Cafe has joined the vendor lineup at Crossroads Collective food hall (2238 N. Farwell Ave.). It will offer arepas, empanadas, Colombian hot dogs and more.  •  Ash Hearth and Bar in the Iron Horse Hotel (500 W. Florida St.) reopened with new chefs and a new menu in October. Its selections include hay-smoked bone marrow and elk with hearth-roasted carrots and ancho dukkah.