BUCKTOWN — A beloved family-run cafe near the northeast corner of Paulina and Cortland Street in Bucktown — known for its deep fried Twinkies and friendly workers — served its final buffet-style brunch on Sunday and will be reopening under new owners in the fall.
"Everything has its end. With the community being what it is, it needed new owners for the new millennium. I have very, very good feelings about the site and new people coming in," said co-owner Mary Torres, who ran Riverside Cafe with her husband, Ruben Torres, for 31 years.
In a written statement, Torres said, "We wish to thank all our loyal staff, customers and friends for their unsurpassed support throughout the years. We also want to announce the launch of a new cafe and restaurant at the same location on Cortland St. with an entire new look and menu. We ask everyone to welcome and support the new Restaurant Group that will open this Fall."
Alisa Hauser says the new owners may hire some Riverside servers:
Riverside Cafe and the building it operates out of at 1656 W. Cortland St., — along with an adjacent garden that was a popular spot for events — was sold for $2.5 million on Friday to Vivek Sehgal, the owner and developer of Southport & Irving or SIP, a restaurant at 4000 N. Southport Ave. in Lakeview.
"We are restoring the building to its original roots as we did at Southport and Irving. We will update you as we have more info," Sehgal said on Monday. The 7,982 square-foot vintage building also has six apartments on the upper two floor Sehgal will be renovating too.
Opened in 1984, and described as a "a little gem stuck between all sorts of commercial buildings on Cortland just west of the Kennedy Expressway," by one fan on Yelp.com, the restaurant attracted droves of regulars and local families such as John Ladle.
Ladle, a Bucktown resident, has been taking his children to Riverside Cafe for brunch after Sunday mass at nearby St. Mary of the Angel's Church for at least the past five years.
"We loved their unique buffet and their staff was extremely kind, personable, and accommodating especially when our children were very young," said Ladle.
"We're all very sad. I totally understand the economics of selling after 30 years of running a business. When you see businesses like Beachwood Inn or Marie's Rip Tide juxtaposed against investor-fueled concept restaurants.... this is definitely a trend in today's urban development," Ladle said.
Mary Torres described Sehgal as "a fine gentleman and very loyal to his staff" who has already offered to hire the four workers who helped her and her husband operate Riverside Cafe.
"I am very concerned about the employees. I am compensating them for their time. They were there for me through thick and thin. These people were so loyal. People like that are hard to find," she said.
For fans hoping to keep a piece of Riverside Cafe history, liquidators are scheduled to run a sale in the near future that will include restaurant equipment as well as any remaining memorabilia like vintage posters and toy cars that Ruben Torres did not decide to keep.
Ruben and Mary Torres met at Lincoln Park High School in 1969, when the school was called Robert A. Waller High School. Both 63, the couple married at age 20 and bought the building at 1656 W. Cortland St., formerly a second-generation wholesale meat market and grocery store, in 1978 from a Polish family, Mary Torres said.
The Torres' have two children, both daughters who helped out with the family business before opting for careers in teaching and pharmacy.
When asked what she and her husband plan to do next, Torres said, "It's not until now that you get very emotional. We don't use the word retirement. We want to seek new adventures, reconnect because the business takes so much from you. You try to balance things up but it is very difficult. We are very committed people and never gave up on anything."
Riverside Cafe, 1656 W. Cortland St. in Bucktown has closed.
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